Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco

by Blackdrag-rose

Exile: Not a Game

With Kleiver's race challenge complete, and the man had been bested by Jak's skills, Jak stopped by the rock that Pinkie had been sitting on and let her climb into the top of it, where she put on her goggles, which hadn't been left alone by the people that had found them, and they returned to Spargus. When they passed through the main gate, however, they immediately spotted Damas and Pecker waiting for them, meaning that the King had something important he wanted to tell them. Considering their usual luck when they talked with someone they knew that this was going to be another mission, though that thought made them smile as Jak brought the buggy to a stop close to where his father was standing.

"Nice wheel work." Damas commented, though he held up a hand to keep Jak and Pinkie from heading back into the city, indicating that their next mission likely involved the buggy they had just acquired from Kleiver, "I see that the vehicle skills you spoke of earlier were no empty boast."

"We can hold our own." Jak replied, knowing that Pinkie could easily do what he had done in the race with Kleiver, though at the same time he also knew that she didn't boast about her abilities, especially since her Eco based abilities seemed to freak her out.

"I can tell." Damas said, though both Jak and Pinkie detected a small amount of pride in the King's voice, indicating that he was proud of what Jak was able to do without his guidance, "To the matter at hand; there are a number of artifacts to be found in the Wasteland. Fresh storms churn the sand and reveal items that have been buried for centuries. Take the buggy and find as many items as you can before the storms come again."

"That doesn't sound too hard," Pinkie stated, knowing that with Jak's skills at driving they would be able to get through this challenge without any problems.

"And one more thing," Damas commented, causing the two of them to stop when they detected a hint of worry in his voice, which confirmed that he cared for them, or at least he cared for Jak, "if you get caught in the storms, they will tear the flesh from your very bones."

"Oh, great." Daxter said, shaking his head for a moment, because he didn't want that image in his head and now he wanted to get rid of it before it got stuck in his mind, "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Pinkie, why don't you take the wheel this time?" Jak commented, to which Pinkie actually stared at him for a few seconds, before she nodded and switched places with her brother.

Pinkie spent a few seconds looking at the controls, where she recalled everything that Jak had done when he was in control of the buggy, before putting her foot on the pedal and got the buggy moving. The moment they were passed the gate, and were heading towards the race track that Jak had raced Kleiver on, Pinkie noticed that the buggy came equipped with a sensor that determined where the next available artifact was located. Instead of figuring out how the Wastelanders knew where an artifact was located, when the sands released them anyway, she focused on driving the buggy, to which she raced over to where the first one was located and let Jak hang out to grab it.

Pinkie looked at the sensor and followed the path that it was guiding her own, though it quickly became apparent that the other group of individuals that lived in the desert wanted them dead so they could scrap their buggy and take anything of value. Jak responded by shooting out the tires of the vehicles that got close to them, allowing Pinkie to keep her whole focus on the path that she was following while Daxter and Raven helped out with the collecting of the artifacts. At it turned out the artifacts were of varying shapes and sizes, like one of them had a pyramid shape while another almost looked like a Power Cell, but Pinkie made sure that they gathered all of the ones that the sensor picked up... making sure that they left nothing for the people that were attacking them.

The last artifact that showed up on their sensor, for the moment anyway, was what appeared to be a pair of bracers that were made out of some sort of Precursor alloy, though once they had collected the final artifact Pinkie spun them around and headed back to Spargus... where they entered the garage with time to spare before the storm actually hit.

"Good work out there." Damas said, welcoming the group back to the city as they came to a stop, though there was a small hint of relief in his eyes as he looked at them, "That was... close."

"It is nice to see that Pinkie's skills haven't dulled either," Jak commented, though at the same time he pulled the artifacts from where he and the others had stored them and placed them in a waiting container that was sitting next to his father, "I know that you'll put these to good use in the city."

"And I can see that I can put one to use immediately," Damas replied, picking up the pair of Precursor bracers that the group had found, though at the same time he glanced at Jak for a moment, "Do you know what these are?"

"The bracers to some ancient suit of armor?" Jak replied, as that was the only thing that made sense, though at the same time he had the feeling that either his father or Pecker was going to tell him that he was wrong.

"Those bracers are part of the same suit of armor that Mar wore in his battles, back when he was fighting for the fate of our world," Pecker answered, though it was clear that he had recognized the armor immediately, meaning that Jak and Pinkie would have to brush up on their history to avoid this sort of thing happening again in the future, "they are very rare and very valuable... so don't lose them!"

"Wait, you mean you're letting me wear some of Mar's old armor?" Jak asked, because he was sure that his father would have had him hand them over so he could gift them to one of Spargus' greatest warriors.

"I can think of no one more suited to wear them than you," Damas said, to which he rested a hand on Jak's shoulder, before he glanced over at Pinkie as she put the buggy away, "and don't worry, something tells me that Pinkie will find some armor to wear in the near future. Oh, and before I forget, Seem told me that she wanted to speak with you when you returned from gathering artifacts."

Jak started to ask who his father was talking about, but then he remembered that the monk they had met earlier, who had been standing near a corrupted Precursor construct of some kind, had mentioned that they would speak again in the future... and he guessed that she wanted to speak with him now.

"Then we'll go speak with Seem," Jak replied, though he paused for a few seconds, so he could attach his new bracers, before he and Pinkie went back into Spargus, allowing Damas to deal with the remaining artifacts they had recovered.

As they entered the city they expected that Seem would be hard to find and only reveal herself when she was ready, but instead they found her tending to one of the leaper lizards in an area that was between the Arena and the garage. As they approached her, however, she stopped what she was doing and turned to face the group, though it was clear that she was pleased to see them, despite the harsh expression she was wearing.

"I see you got my message." Seem stated, though both Jak and Pinkie noticed that she was staring at them, no doubt making sure that her corrected assumptions of them were accurate and that she hadn't been tricked earlier.

"Yeah, Damas just delivered the message a few minutes ago," Jak replied, not knowing if he should be upset that Seem had used his father like a messenger or if he should be thankful, as the more time they spent together the quicker their bonds would grow, "I take it that this is about the Dark Eco Crystal we recovered from that corrupted Precursor construct?"

"Indeed." Seem said, to which she glanced over at the leaper lizard for a few seconds, before turning to face the group again, "My monks and I are sworn to discover and protect the secrets of the Precursors, and that includes making sure that certain artifacts and secrets don't fall into the wrong hands. I would prefer it if you handed over the Dark Eco Crystal, as it will have an effect on you within the next day or two... but even if I were to ask I know that letting go of it might be a little hard for you."

"Listen Seem, we get that you and your monks are trying to protect the Precursors and their secrets," Daxter spoke up, causing the monk to turn towards him for a moment, "but I am pretty sure that the crystal is actually safer in our hands... no disrespect towards you intended."

"I thought that this might be your response, which is why I came prepared with a counter offer," Seem replied, to which she gestured to the leaper lizard for a moment, which was followed by a few more monks showing up with their own mounts, before she produced a crystal that had Light Eco in it, "I have heard that you like to race, so I am willing to wager my Light Eco Crystal against the Dark Eco Crystal that you are currently carrying. If you win then you have one of each and their influences will cancel each other out, restoring balance to your body until you find another crystal. If you lose than I take both crystals... though either way the matter will be solved."

"Get ready to lose that crystal Seem," Pinkie said, to which she and Raven grinned for a moment, which was quickly mimicked by Daxter when he realized what she was going to say, "No one beats my brother in a race."

"We shall see about that." Seem stated, though there was some hints of a small smile on the monk's face, but she apparently noticed and got rid of it as Jak approached the leaper lizard.

The moment the race started Jak realized that they would be riding the leaper lizards through glowing rings, which had some experience with thanks to the various missions Torn had sent him on and his race through Haven with Errol. His earlier practice with the leaper lizards proved to have been exactly what he needed, as he was able to keep pace with Seem's monks as they made their way through Spargus. At first Jak allowed the monks to be ahead of them, so he could understand their movements as a team, before he got serious and started passing the ones that were the closest to where he was located.

By the time the race was over, and Pinkie had found where the finish line was, Jak succeeded in being at the head of the pack, meaning that he had beaten Seem's monks, though the monks in question were actually surprised by his skill with a leaper lizard.

"I must say that I am impressed," Seem said, to which she approached Jak and held up the Light Eco Crystal, which he carefully accepted from her, "The two types, Light Eco and Dark Eco, can form great energies when they are combined. So do be careful with them... and ask Damas to have them returned to us, should death claim either of you."

"I wouldn't count on us dying," Jak replied, though at the same time he made sure to carefully stash the new crystal with the old one, to which he wondered how many of each type of Eco he was going to find before he figured out what he was going to do with them, "Though that begs the question; why are you so obsessed with having a negative attitude towards everything?"

"Because of that!" Seem proclaimed, pointing into the sky for a few seconds, where the group could see a bright pink star, nearly as large as the sun from their perspective, shining in the sky, "The Day Star approaches, and every day it grows brighter! This planet's final trial is coming."

"Question," Daxter said, causing the group to turn towards him for a moment, to which he gestured to the pack that now contained one Light Eco Crystal and one Dark Eco Crystal, "you said that these two types, when combined, can produce great energies, right?"

"That is correct." Seem answered, though at the same time she had no idea what repeating the information she had told them was supposed to do, but she figured that humoring the creature would reveal why he was asking her a silly question like that in the first place.

"So does that mean that they can produce an explosion, or something similar to that?" Daxter inquired further, though this was mainly to make sure that he wasn't going to say something ridiculous in a few moments, especially when he revealed what he was thinking to Jak and Pinkie.

"I... I would assume so." Seem replied, surprising the group with the fact that she didn't have all the answers, but then they decided that no one actually had the answer to every question, "We have actually never tried to set the two types off, so I have no way of knowing what they could do when they are used together... only that their energies are great when they are combined."

"That means that our plan to save the world is much easier this time around," Daxter commented, to which he smiled to himself for a few seconds, before glancing in the direction of the star that Seem had pointed out, "we blow up the Day Star... and prevent our world's final trial from happening at the same time."

"This isn't a game!" Seem snapped, causing Daxter to stagger on his perch for a moment, as he hadn't been expecting that sort of response to come from the normally composed monk they had been dealing with.

What happened next, however, was something that the majority of the group wasn't expecting, as Pinkie started laughing over what Seem had said, causing the monk to look at her with a look of confusion on her face, indicating that she had no idea what was so funny about her statement.

"Oh Seem, you crack me up." Pinkie said, finding several pauses in her laughter to even get those words out, to which she threw an arm around the monk for a moment, with a smile on her face no less, "I can tell that we're going to be good friends in the near future."

Jak sighed and shook his head as he pulled Pinkie away from Seem, as he had no idea what was wrong with her this time, though he had to guess that she might have had a delayed reaction to the Light Eco Crystal... leaving behind a very confused Seem, who simply said that she needed to meditate before going in a different direction. Jak hoped that Pinkie hadn't ruined their relationship with Seem and her monks, but he knew that time would tell whether Seem would still be friendly or a little more hostile towards them.

Comments

[Nova Blaze]

And Pinkie's getting her fourth wall breaking powers back. I predict shenanigans in the near future.

[Crescent Glaive]

Seem is nice person. I like her

[Starcat5]

8483255
I guess that Light Eco Crystal is already having an effect on her. But then again, there was always a Fourth Wall Break at this point, so it makes sense for Pinkie to make it her own.

[HB_DS2013]

Jak 3 became a cakewalk the moment Pinkie relearned how to break the fourth wall.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

"Oh Seem, you crack me up." Pinkie said, finding several pauses in her laughter to even get those words out, to which she threw an arm around the monk for a moment, with a smile on her face no less, "I can tell that we're going to be good friends in the near future."

Pinkie you crazy mare.