Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco

by Blackdrag-rose

Exile: Another Path

As Ashelin departed from the oasis, and headed back towards Haven so she could deal with the war effort, Jak and Pinkie salvaged whatever ammunition they could from the slain brigands, as a good portion of the ammunition had been destroyed when Raven crushed the buggies in his true form. When they gathered everything that they could find, and were sure that they were leaving nothing behind, they climbed back into the Sand Shark and headed back towards Spargus' garage. Their plan was to switch vehicles, where they would return the one they were in and take the Dune Hopper out, and head back to the temple that the Precursor statue was located in, though Jak suspected that he knew exactly where to use his seal.

He thought back to when Pinkie used the Dark Idol to turn invisible and destroy some drones that had been guarding a button, though on right of the entrance they walked through was the same symbol that was on his seal, which had been on the door that lead them to the Light Tower when they were looking for the Tomb of Mar. All they had to do was reach the temple, find their way back towards the room he was thinking about, and he was sure that they would find another pathway for them to take... and likely another power at the end of it.

It took some time, and a lot more dead brigands, before Jak and Pinkie reached the entrance of the temple, where they climbed out of the Dune Hopper and started walking towards the pathway that they had walked down the last time they had been here. As they waited for the door to open Jak pulled out his Morph Gun and prepared himself, while at the same time Pinkie seemed ready as well, or as ready as she could be considering that her gun was practically merged with her bracelet. When the door opened, and they walked passed it, they found some Metal Head wasps flying around the area in front of them, though their enemies were easily put down with a single well aimed blast from their Blaster Mods, allowing them to progress down the path in front of them.

A few moments later they passed by the Dark Eco Vent that they had seen the last time they had passed through the area, along with Pinkie and Raven gathering a few bits of Eco to replenish what they had spent during their battle with the brigands, before they approached the door that Jak had spotted... to which he waved the seal in front of it for a few seconds and the door opened, revealing another path for them to take.

"Now we're getting somewhere." Jak commented, while at the same time stashing his seal back in his pouch and primed his gun, because there was no telling what was coming up next.

"That's the ticket!" Daxter exclaimed, because he was glad that they were actually making progress this time around, as it had been getting dull just wandering around Spargus while they waited for something to happen.

Once they crossed the threshold they discovered a few more Metal Head wasps flying near the ceiling of the passage they were in, to which Jak and Pinkie shot them down and moved deeper into the temple. Not a few seconds later they discovered a large chamber that was filled with neck-deep water that covered most of the floor, reminding them of what they had seen in the Tomb of Mar. They also discovered various motes of light that were scattered around the chamber, marked with the same colors as the symbol above the door on the opposite end of the chamber. Pinkie spotted several more passages that looked like they could only be accessible by something like the jet-board, which meant that Jak would be the only one to take on the challenge that was in front of them.

Jak, determining the same thing that Pinkie had been thinking about, pulled out the jet-board and jumped forward, to which he and Daxter passed through the very first mote of light and let it pass into the symbol above the door. Jak then maneuvered around the chamber, following the various paths and performing a number of tricks that he hadn't used in a long time. Pinkie, on the other hand, watched as several strands of energy flew through the air and passed into the symbol, though at the same time she smiled as she observed her brother and his tricks... until he collected what appeared to be the last mote of energy. The door opened and Jak used the jet-board to reach the opening, though when he turned back towards her Pinkie used some of her Dark Eco to shift through the shadows and appear next to him.

She only used this technique when she really needed it, because it did drain a large amount of Dark Eco and her energy, but this time around she was fine, which she attributed to the Light Eco inside her now, to which she and Jak continued deeper into the temple. They followed the passage in front of them and quickly noticed a Light Eco Vent resting in a small chamber before the Precursor statue, allowing Pinkie to restore her energy once more before they approached the large statue... or rather a different face of the statue anyway.

"We meet again, great warriors, but sadly your coming may be too late." the statue spoke up, though at the same time Jak and Pinkie stopped on the platform in front of it while Daxter and Raven jumped down to the floor, "You will soon meet the seed of our downfall. It approaches quickly, and I fear we no longer have the power to resist. Allow us to use what little power we have to grant you another power of the Light."

Jak and Pinkie stood there for a moment as they waited for the Eco energy to fade away, though even when it disappeared they both knew that their new ability was an interesting one. Jak rubbed his hands together, allowing the Light Eco to awaken inside him, before he brought both of them together above his head and clapped them, unleashing a wave of energy that seemed to slow everything down... while at the same time allowing him to move at his normal speed. He let the ability fade away and smiled at the others as Daxter climbed back onto his shoulder, to which he did the ability again and slowed down the nearby spinning platforms, allowing him to traverse them with ease. When he appeared on the other side of the path they needed to take, to get back to the surface, time resumed and it was clearly Pinkie's turn to test out her new ability... to which she clapped her hands and then suddenly appeared next to him, indicating that she had used the skill.

As they continued forward, however, Pinkie knew that the Light Eco had done more to her than what Jak realized, because she was sure that there were memories surfacing, ones that she had no idea what to do with them, up until Pinkamena spoke up and said that she would take care of them. She was shocked that her dark side was sticking around, especially with all the Light Eco abilities she had now, but it appeared that she was stuck with Pinkamena... though she was thankful that her darker nature was only a voice in her head.

They passed through another hallway that required the use of the jet-board, though this time around Pinkie simply used her teleportation ability to follow her brother until he reached the end of the area, which was when they came to a chamber that had three spinning blade puzzles. Jak and Pinkie looked at each other for a moment, because this was clearly a set of puzzles that were designed to test their Flash Freeze skill they had picked up from the statue, though it was Pinkie's name for the ability and Jak didn't care what they called it. The two of them took turns maneuvering through the spinning blades, using their new ability while they crossed the room they were in three times... before they arrived at a stone bridge that looked like it was about ready to collapse.

Jak and Pinkie looked at each other for a moment, where they grinned as they thought up the same idea, to which they gathered their Light Eco and clapped their hands, though they did so in the manner of giving each other a high five. Time slowed once more, allowing Jak and Pinkie to begin their charge across the ruined bridge, though after some time the stones started falling towards the lower area that they were passing over. They managed to reach the large door on the other side of the area they were in before the bridge completely collapsed, to which they discovered an elevator that was patiently waiting for someone to use it.

"So, do we have any idea where that's going to take us?" Daxter commented, staring at the elevator for a few seconds, because it was really the only thing they could look at considering that the bridge was taken out and the rest of the room was in a state of ruin.

"No, but I'm hoping to a Warp Gate that will take us back to the Dune Hopper," Jak replied, to which he stepped onto the elevator and turned towards his sister, who followed after him a few seconds later."

The group waited for a few seconds before the elevator started to lower itself towards whatever the next level was, while at the same time allowing Jak and Pinkie to consider what they had gotten themselves into this time around. When the elevator came to a stop, however, they found themselves in what appeared to be some sort of Precursor station, as there was a vehicle waiting for someone to use it. As they looked around they noticed that there was a lot of Precursor alloy sitting on the walls with blue lights coming out of them, making them all wonder what this place could have been when the ancient race was still wandering the planet.

They took a few seconds to observe the area around them, as they were a little bit fascinated by what they were seeing, though they also came to a stop when they approached the vehicle that was clearly waiting for them.

"It looks just like the catacombs we saw in Haven City." Jak commented, beckoning to the area around them, with all of the Precursor alloy everywhere, before he turned his attention to the massive tunnel that had been carved into the earth, "But where do they go?"

"There you are!" a voice proclaimed, to which Pecker appeared behind the group with a grin on his face, though Jak and Daxter were surprised to see him again, especially since they didn't tell Damas that they were heading to this location, "Ah, I am so squawking happy I found you."

"Look, Jak got his seal back." Daxter stated, pulling the seal out and waving it in front of Pecker's face, almost as if he was expecting it to lock Pecker's mouth or something, "And it opens doors!"

"Onin told me that we must get back to Haven City." Pecker declared, apparently not caring about what Daxter was saying or what he was doing, while at the same time he took a moment to stare into Jak's eyes, "She said that the catacombs are the key to the planet's very survival!"

"Question," Raven commented, causing Pecker to look at him for a moment, though due to the fact that Pecker knew about his true form he wasn't wearing an annoyed expression at all, "how do you know Onin told you this? We haven't see you talking with anyone, or a communicator for that matter, since we arrived in Spargus... and I'm fairly sure that your wings would have fallen off if you tried to fly back to Haven from the Wastelands."

"That would be because he's telepathic," Pinkie replied, to which the group turned and looked at her for a moment, while at the same time Pecker's jaw dropped, "What? I know that Pecker's been around Onin for a long time, long enough to recognize what she's saying when she's weaving her signs in the air, but all that exposure to her Eco energy had to have rubbed off on him. How else would he know exactly what she said when he hasn't been anywhere near her?"

This was one of those times where Jak simply nodded his head and accepted what his sister was saying, because she had said something ridiculous when they had seen that face on the Metal Head communicator some time ago. Sometimes Pinkie was right about what she was talking about, which made her smile to no end, and even when she was wrong she still found the time to be happy about being wrong, especially when the person told her the truth. Pecker, on the other hand, coughed and declared that it did not matter how he knew what Onin had told him, indicating that they had better get a move on.

Jak waved his seal in front of the vehicle and brought it to life, to which everyone climbed into it and let him start driving them through the tunnel that the Precursors had made so long ago. He maneuvered them through the tunnel, feeling the controls respond better than the buggies and the zoomers, while at the same time dealing with the various mines that had been left in their path. It took some time to reach the end of the track, especially with how long the tunnel was, but when they did reach the end Jak made sure to pull the vehicle to a stop and parked it, because they never knew when they would be along this path again in the future.

It was at that point that another Precursor, like the one that had revealed itself after Metal Kor's defeat, phased into existence in front of them, to which Jak and Pinkie wondered what Light Eco ability they would be getting this time around.

"You show promise, great warriors, but your bravery will not protect you from the foes you must soon face." the Precursor told them, while at the same time extending a hand towards them and allowing the Light Eco to watch over them once more, "Use this Light power to help in your quest. It is what little we have left to offer."

As the Precursor faded away Jak and Pinkie watched as a Light Eco sphere, a shield Pinkie realized, phased into existence around the two of them, meaning that they could negate some damage in the off chance that they were overwhelmed by their enemies... though once they knew what the ability was they cancelled it and headed towards the elevator that was in front of them. They had no idea where they were at the moment, but right now they knew that they were on the track to returning to Haven City and the war that they had been forced to leave behind.

Author's Note:

Anyone else wonder how Pecker knew what Onin was saying in this scene of the game?
This is my answer to that question.

Comments

[Crescent Glaive]

That tunnel part is one the best parts that i LOVE!!

[Daxen123]

Is this story ending with Jack 3 or is it going to do the spinoffs?

[Blackdrag-rose]

8528015 I'm ending it at Jak 3. Don't get me wrong, the racing one was a good game, but not enough for me to put it into the story... and the Lost Frontier, well, its a crap game with a crap story. Better for the story to wrap up at the end of the third game and honor the original trilogy.

[Daxen123]

8528021
Ok good because I just finished starlight of Solana(and am caught up with daughters of destruction) and I wanted to start reading this, especially since it looks like your almost done with it (kinda)

[Blackdrag-rose]

8528064 Yeah, I think I have the second half of the third game to go before I'm done with the story... and then there's a small arc that will detail her return to Equus.

And there are two other displaced stories I'm working on at the moment; a World of Warcraft one and a Dark Souls 2 one.