Jak and Daxter: Heirs of Mar

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Training and Developments

The first thing Torn did was open the door to the hideout, after making sure none of the Krimzon Guards were anywhere near this particular dead end, and beckoned for Twilight to follow him after the Human-sized stone door moved out of the way, revealing a set of stairs that went underground, which she supposed was appropriate due to the name of the group she was now joining, before stopping in what appeared to be a decent sized room that seemed to be about the same size of Samos' room, the part of the hut that held his Warp Gate, hidden bed, and all of the plants he worked with, only this place had a pair of bunk beds, one on either side of the bottom of the stairs, with a table in the middle of the room that had some papers on it, some maps on some of the walls, and a number of crates that likely held weapons, given what little she knew about the organization.

"It isn't much, but this is our base of operations... one of them, anyway," Torn remarked, his tone revealing that there were a number of locations that seemed to be under the control of the Underground and his superior had made sure they had enough spaces to use in case one of the hideouts was found and destroyed, and this one even had a furnace so whoever was here could keep warm, something he really didn't think about whenever he was in this area, before he noticed that they weren't alone, as there was another member of the organization down here and they were turning to look at the door Torn had walked through,"Tess, we have some new recruits."

Tess, as Torn called her, and Twilight could tell it was a lady based on the rather slender build to her body and the mounds on her chest, which made her look more attractive than what she was used to seeing three hundred years ago, though she had light blond colored hair that was cut short, to her shoulders to be exact, blue colored eyes, and fair skin, with the same pointed ears that all Humans had, where she noticed that Tess was wearing a green jacket that was low-cut and designed to show off her midriff, with both of its the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, had a pair of blue shorts, and came complete with a pair of boots that had brown cloth or something over her legs, like armor, but while she seemed cold at first it did look like Tess might be much friendlier than Torn was.

"Torn, as you sure they're here to join us?" Tess asked, where she walked up to where Twilight and Alvin were standing for a moment and studied them for a few moments, something that made her wonder if the lady was worried that she might not be cut out for the fight she was thinking of joining, though she guessed that either her attire or her body made Tess think that she wasn't ready for everything and everything that was going to be thrown at her in the future, since she was sure Torn would have her do missions while she looked for her siblings, "No offense, but you look like the Krimzon Guard would knock you down and arrest you if you tried to do anything to them... or be executed outright, given how some like to do that when they find people resisting the laws Baron Praxis passed a while back."

"I appreciate the concern, but its unnecessary," Twilight replied, speaking before Torn had a chance to say something, due to the fact that she had this and she could tell that he wasn't the only one that was interested in what she might have to tell Tess, as Alvin seemed eager to hear what she had to say as well, to which she focused on the lady that was in front of her and took a moment to realize that she had to be around her age at the very least, as in either fifteen, sixteen, or even seventeen, an odd thing due to the fact that they were rebelling against the Baron, "I'll have you know that I fought beside my brother Jak and our sisters, Starlight Shimmer and Cozy Glow, against some dangers that were threatening our home and the rest of the area we lived in, and we were hailed as heroes thanks to our efforts... in fact, we the four of us were on our way to Haven City when we got... separated... and Alvin was separated from his brothers, Simon and Theodore, as well, so we decided to stick together and find our siblings at the same time, and help you take down the Baron, after finding out everything he had done to his citizens."

"And, if you don't believe her, then why not spar with her for a few moments?" Alvin added, because while he hadn't seen Twilight in battle, other than using her magic to hold those Metal Heads against the wall so he could burn them to a crisp within a few moments, he suspected that, based on everything he had heard her say, Twilight had the power to back up a number of her claims and would be a viable ally in the Underground's war against the Baron, while at the same time he noticed that Torn and Tess were looking at each other, no doubt wondering if they should take his suggestion or use one of their own tests to see what Twilight was capable of, which was followed by Torn sighing for a moment as he focused on him and Twilight once more.

"A small combat test sounds good, though we'll have to move since this place isn't large enough for it," Torn said, where it was easy to hear that he wasn't too pleased with having to move to a new location for the two to have a match with each other, even though it didn't take him long to figure out where they could go and, even if it would be a totally untrue fact on their part, he had the perfect excuse if someone rounded the corner and noticed what they were doing, hence the reason he headed for the stairs once more, "We'll train outside, that way I can keep an eye on the movements of the Krimzon Guards and stop you two if one or more of them get close to where this hideout is located."

Twilight said nothing to that as she and Tess followed up the stairs and headed outside the hideout, back to the dead end that Torn had brought her to a few moments ago, where she watched as Torn walked over to the turn that allowed him to keep an eye on the rest of the city and watch the match between the pair, even though it was hard to tell if he was even interested in this or if he thought it was annoying, where it was hard to tell which option it had to be, before she and Tess shifted their stances for a moment as they stared at each other, the air shifting as they readied themselves for a mock battle between them. Not a few moments later Tess started the sparing match by running at Twilight and threw a fist right at her, which was where Twilight found that her speed was nothing to laugh at and that Tess was good at hiding her true abilities or expressions, as she had to winch for a moment as she blocked the incoming attack with her own punch, due to it being a little stronger than what she originally believed Tess was capable of, before she went on the defensive due to the speed of the punches and kicks that were coming her way, but even as she thought about that she knew Tess had to be a skilled member of the Underground and that they would find a use for all her skills, even the ones that she hadn't been shown yet. Interestingly enough Tess seemed to realized that they were getting nowhere if she was the one going on the offensive, pushing Twilight into a corner so she couldn't fight back, even though she wasn't using her magic just yet since she wanted to keep it a surprise for later, and seemed to slow down a little while giving Twilight more openings to work with, inviting her to lash out and try to knock her to the ground, though while it was most certainly a trap there was really nothing she could do and advanced on Tess, who seemed to switch to being defensive rather easily, making Twilight take a moment to wonder who had trained her, and possibly Torn for that matter, especially since her opponent dodged the first punch that came her way. Torn, despite the fact that he didn't seem all that interested in their fight, did glance their way every now and then as they exchanged a number of punches and dodges, which was around the time that Twilight added a few of the techniques she, Jak, and their sisters mastered before their first adventure started, as she lashed out with her hooves and kicked at her opponent, who almost got hit by the attack and had to keep her guard up for the next couple of moments, as Twilight went on the offensive and even spun around with the spin kick, which surprised Tess for a second as she dodged it as well, though while all of that happened Torn did nothing as he observed the pair.

After a few more moments of doing that, however, Tess seemed to get even more serious and lashed out at Twilight with the intent of pushing her back and knocking her out before the same, in a fashion, could be done to her, though that was when both she and Torn noticed something interesting as she threw a stronger punch at Twilight, a shimmering barrier appeared between her and her target, where she noticed that the power seemed to be coming from her opponent, before Twilight applied a little bit of pressure and knocked Tess backwards as the barrier exploded out in her direction, where it wasn't long before Twilight rushed out of the area she had been standing in and knocked Tess to the ground, with one of her fists raised to show she was ready for whatever her opponent had in store for her next.

"That's enough," Torn said, as while he knew that Tess could go on and would probably overpower Twilight again, just like how most of the fight had gone, even though he realized that Twilight wasn't a beginner and her fighting style needed a bit of work before she could match a Krimzon Guard, he decided that enough was enough, that this sparing match was over and he had seen enough, but even then the one thing he hadn't considered was the odd skill that had been used to knock Tess backwards and turn the tide of the battle in Twilight's favor, a power unlike anything he had seen in the past and it was easy for him to see Tess was thinking the same thing, "though I have to ask... what was that power?"

"You might not believe me, but its magic... and, as far as I know, only Starlight, Cozy, and I can use it," Twilight answered, though at the same time she climbed off of Tess and held out a hand to help her up, something that surprised the lady in question, despite the fact that Tess accepted the gesture anyway, before she focused on Torn and what she had said, as there was a good reason as to why she had revealed that particular piece of information to him and his ally, since it would give them an idea of what she was capable of and left them to imagine what else she could do, even though she really had no idea if this would work or not, "So far we can only make barriers, loose blasts, and even levitate things, but if I were to train with my magic, and experiment with it, I might be able to do more, something I could pass onto my sisters when we eventually meet up in the future."

"I see... well, we'll have to keep an eye out for them," Torn remarked, because he figured that if her sisters were as strong as Twilight was when it came to wielding the magical energies she had access to, something he really couldn't deny after having seen it with his own eyes, then he and the rest of the Underground would have to keep an eye out for them, to see if they would join the group in their war against Baron Praxis, before he removed himself from where he was standing, as he noticed that no Krimzon Guards happened to be coming their way, and headed back to the entrance of their hideout not even a few seconds later, causing the stone door to open as he beckoned for Tess and Twilight, plus Alvin, to follow him for a couple of moments.

Twilight followed him and Tess down the stairs once more and discovered something interesting, she had passed the little test, even though it was mostly due to her magic and the fact that they weren't going to turn away the help, especially due to the fact that her siblings were out there and having two more like her, with a skilled warrior in the form of Jak, would be a boon to the Underground, meaning from this point forward she was a member of the Underground and that both Torn and Tess would help her settle in before sending her out on a mission, which every single member of the group did, just like what happened when she first met Torn. Another thing she discovered was that there was a secret passage in one of the walls that allowed someone to enter one of the tall buildings, which were a bunch of houses resting side by side with a somewhat decent wall between the residences, though this served as a normal residence for one of their members and so far the Baron and his goons hadn't caught onto the fact that multiple people entered this house, as they had witnessed it themselves in the past, which meant the Krimzon guard could do so as well, hence why they changed their tactics and did everything in their power to keep their members safe. For now the house, which happened to have three bedrooms, even if they weren't all that big in the grand scheme of things due to space being a bit of an issue, was where Tess lived and, for the time being, Torn was sticking Twilight with her, to oversee her training and outfit her with some new attire before they sent her out into the field for her first mission, even though there were no reading materials since the Baron used most of the city's resources to fight the Metal Heads, something that made her a little sad since she was hoping for new books to have been written by this point in time, though Tess mentioned she could always get one of the pads that the operators of the various sections of Haven City used and, if she did get one, it would allow her to tap into a bunch of information, both a digital library and possible reports that were sent to the Baron. Another thing Twilight got, in addition to her own room for the time being, was a new set of attire that would replace her Sandover clothing, where she found that what Tess had to share with her happened to be nearly identical to what the lady was wearing, meaning a blue shirt that showed off her midriff and a blue pair of shorts that matched Tess' shorts, though given her legs she couldn't wear boots or shoes, but she did have to modify a few bits of the clothing to allow her tail to slip through without being harmed, though in the end Twilight glanced down at herself and found that she looked like a native of Haven City, minus the pony parts that would no doubt cause many to glance at her without delay.

After that Twilight spent the rest of her first day in Haven City in Tess' workshop, the area that the Underground kept their couple of vehicles inside, where she studied the various types of zoomers that existed inside this place, as while the round thin ones looked identical to her and Keira's A-Grav Zoomer, and seemed to operate the same despite the function that let them fly just above the ground and higher in the air, it was the other vehicles, the ones that could sit two people and were much larger than their invention, that held her attention as she took in their forms for a time, even though there were a number of other zoomers that only the Krimzon Guard used, where one of them seemed to be a thin one that could fire small blasts at the rider's target, while a second type was a much larger and more sturdy creation. Such a thing interested her, as she and Keira hadn't designed the zoomer to have a weapon attached to it, but that meant whoever had found all of their plans must have discovered a way to incorporate part of the Krimzon Guards' weapons into the vehicles, or maybe they had modified the plans and the vehicles in question to allow a gun to be added to them in the first place, but for now this allowed her to understand each and every new zoomer that was inside Haven City, something that would go well into the night and would no doubt cause her to fall asleep while she studied them. At the same time she thought about every spell she and her sisters used or thought about and wondered if there was one she might be able to use to hide herself, or at least hide her true form without showing off her hooves, ears, or tail to the residents of the city, though the best she could come up with was a spell that was designed to make her seem like an ordinary citizen, which she decided was more of an illusion spell and less of a combat spell, but it would take her some time to figure out the specifics of the spell and, more importantly, how much of her mana it would take to fuel it for an extended amount of time, which she was fine with since it gave her something to do. While all of that happened Tess also asked her what she was, due to the fact that she had never seen anyone like her before and she knew the same would be said for everyone in Haven City, as Twilight was the only one that had hooves instead of feet, pony-like ears, and a tail that matched the ears, not to mention the muzzle as well, where Twilight informed her that she was, to the best of her knowledge, a hybrid between a Human and a pony, due to that being what Daxter called her and her sisters, though she had no idea who her parents were and that made it hard for them to figure anything out about one of the species that she, Starlight, and Cozy belonged to.

When morning arrived she found that there wasn't much for breakfast, save for porridge and some crackers, due to Baron Praxis taking most of the good stuff for himself, based on everything Torn told Tess about what was inside the Palace that their foe lived in, meaning he was living the high life while his citizens had much less, which was enough to make sure they could go through their days and not starve until dinner, so she and Alvin shared what Tess gave them, making sure both of them had energy for the day, while hearing that the Underground also stole food and made sure the citizens had enough to get by, which was nice to hear after everything she had learned so far. Once they were done eating, and the dishes were put in the sink that Tess showed Twilight, the pair headed for the hidden tunnel after Tess made sure the door was locked, even though such a thing wouldn't stop any of the Krimzon Guards bursting into this house if they felt like searching it, and she made sure to seal the entrance so no one would find it if the place was invaded, before she, Twilight, and Alvin headed for the hideout that Torn seemed to call home, since he didn't dare show himself at his own place in case the Guards came after him, even though Twilight was sure he entered it in the shadows so no one could see him.

"The Baron is hurting the people who call the Slums, which is the part of the city we're located in, home, as I just received word from one of my informants that he's turned off the water valve," Torn commented, where he paused for a moment and spoke up the instant Twilight and Alvin walked in behind Tess, even though he had been pacing for a few seconds as he thought about everything he had been told just a couple of minutes ago, because while it might be too soon for Twilight to be given her first mission for the Underground, and see if she was able to actually help them, this did seem to be a good test of some of the other skills a member of this group needed, especially since the other members had more important missions and he couldn't spare anyone else right now, "now, its easy to fix this problem... however, one needs to navigate the Pumping Station before they can reach the area that the valve is resting in, so Twilight, Tess will be transporting you over to the door that allows one to go from Haven City and enter the Pumping Station... think of this as a test of the rest of your skills, as in your ability to move around the field and complete objectives."

Twilight said nothing to that and nodded her head to show that she understood what Torn was telling her, as she figured that he wouldn't just let her sit around and do whatever she wanted, hence why she followed Tess outside and discovered Torn must have prepared the vehicle they would be using ahead of time, allowing the two of them to climb into the seats as Alvin remained on her shoulder, allowing Tess to power up the vehicle and head out into Haven City, though this just so happened to give Twilight a chance to see if the residents of the city noticed her, be they the innocent civilians or the evil guards they had to worry about. The reason behind that decision was because she wanted to see if she needed to work on her illusion spell, to hide her true self while around everyone else and from the guards, though what Twilight, Tess, and Alvin discovered as they carefully flew through the city, apparently in traffic according to Tess, was that none of the people that were at their height seemed to care about them and no one focused on her, which was just weird since she stood out like a sore thumb, and even the three guards they passed didn't seem to mind their presence, meaning she didn't have to work on the spell for the purpose she had originally planned on. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't work on it anyway, just to see if it worked or not and, if the latter was the way things went, how she could change it so the spell would be usable anyway, something that she made a mental note of for later as she focused on where Tess was taking her and the fact that the Baron seemed to be tormenting his own people so he could rat out the Underground, to break them so he could turn his full attention back to the Metal Heads, but based on everything she had seen so far it sure seemed like it would be best if the Underground dethroned Baron Praxis and did whatever it was that they wanted to do with the city, something she was sure Torn or his boss would tell her about once they got close to their objective. While she did that she would take her time and look for her siblings, as she was sure that Starlight, Cozy, and Jak would have appeared in this city at some point, either landing in different parts of the city at the same time she did or further down the line, like a few weeks or months in the future, and that also extended to Keira, Samos, and Daxter, as she was sure they were here in this city as well and that she would have to figure out where they had gone as well, but for now she focused on helping the Underground in their mission to topple the Baron.

What she discovered was that the district of the city that the door to the outside was located in was mostly full of water, as in a steady amount that could make it more like a lake in a sense, and there happened to be a number of houses that were on stilts or posts which allowed them to be above the water, but she had the feeling that this might also be a cheap part of the city, before Twilight focused on where they were going and discovered the oval shaped opening that would let her and Alvin head outside, since she was sure Tess would be staying inside the city, or maybe she would join them and study their skills from a safe distance. Not a few moments later the zoomer came to a stop above the wooden walkway that lead to the oval opening and Tess made sure they came to a stop above some planks, allowing her to power down the vehicle and climb out, something that Twilight did as she and Alvin glanced out at the rest of this district, where she did spot a larger building that seemed to be at the end of one of the wooden paths that rested throughout this area, though that was when Tess informed her that this place was called the 'Water Slums', so it was just a watery version of the Slums they had been in earlier.

"Based on our scans, we've determined that there are no enemies guarding the valve," Tess commented, where she took a moment to open the door that was in front of them so she and Twilight could enter the smaller chamber that rested right in the middle of Haven City and what was outside the wall, though not a few moments later the door closed while the one that was right in front of them unlocked, meaning it was starting to open while the other one returned to being locked for the time being, where she refocused on what she had to tell Twilight, before sending her on her way, "like Torn said, this is going to a test of your other skills and how you deal with a path that is full of twist and turns... or at least that's how I'm sure he would explain things to you. I'll stand near the doorway and let you tackle the course to where the valve rests, so I can see your skills for myself."

Twilight nodded her head for a second and braced herself as the door opened, revealing that the Pumping Station was set up on a small island, or a number of small patches of land that would be considered an island, where she found a decent number of machines had been built at some point in the past and were likely designed to move water through a bunch of devices that would purify it and make it drinkable for everyone who lived inside the city, or at least inside the Slums that the Underground rested in, since she was sure there were more stations for the other districts, so the Baron could turn off access to the water for one district and not worry about his part of the city. As she walked away from Tess she found that the only way forward, which didn't include swimming through some of the water and potentially encountering one of the dangerous Lurker Sharks in the process, as she had no idea if they still existed or not, happened to be a pair of moving metallic pistons that would allow her to jump up onto the top of the structure they were next to, even though she did spot a pipe at this end and noticed that it seemed to go through most of this place, meaning if she followed it for a time it could lead her right to the valve. At the top of the structure Twilight found something interesting that must have escaped all of the scans that had been done on this place, as there were two small reptilian creatures with yellow colored skin and blue strips on what appeared to be their backs, since they seemed to be bipedal and stood roughly at Daxter's height, though instead of lashing out at them, like Torn or Tess might think she would, Twilight readied her magic and knocked both of her foes out, using a spell designed to put people and creatures in a sleeping state, one that was pretty much useless in combat. Alvin then informed her that these were Glubs, creatures that were pretty much like Yakows to the Humans of the city, meaning they were captured and turned into cages for the future, either as breeding stock or as food, which did make her wonder if the Underground could use a few of these to supply themselves with a somewhat decent supply of food, something that she would come back to once she did what she had come here to do, hence the reason she walked over to the edge of the structure and found that she would need to jump over a small gap and land on a section of earth that had been modified to be flat and serve as the path forward, something she easily jumped over since it was like when she and her siblings tackled Geyser Rock.

From there she found that there was a long metallic platform resting between her and the next part of the path, one that seemed to be coming out of the other raised piece of earth and wasn't connected to where she was standing right now, so she jumped over to the metallic item and landed on it with ease, allowing her to walk over to the end and jump up to the next area, where she gripped the edge of the ledge and pulled herself up onto the top of the pillar, where she was able to catch a glimpse of a quadrupedal creature that had red skin, two of them to be exact, running off in the distance, meaning she wouldn't be able to figure out what in the world they were until later, when she found them again. After that she found another part of the metallic pipe attached to this pillar and happened to be connected to a new structure, even though the pipe in this case was square shaped and seemed to rotate every now and then, while there was a third pipe that went over to the other section of the island, one that seemed to have less metal resting over it and appeared to be far more natural, before she quickly noticed that there was an electrical device moving from one end of the third pipe to the other end, like it was designed to shock intruders and knock them out so the Krimzon Guards could come and arrest whoever dared to go against the Baron's orders, or collect some food in a Glub was shocked by it. After taking in the area they were in Twilight quickly headed over the rotating pipe and jumped once to avoid being caught by the rotation, which would have dropped her onto a small beach of some kind, before pausing as the electric device reached her end of the third pipe and headed back to the other side, where the moment it reached the end she moved once more and rushed over towards the end of the pipe, making sure to jump over the device when it came back at her, allowing her to touch down on the platform that was on the other side of the end of the third pipe and she paused for a moment as she glanced around her area to see if she could find the smaller pipe. During that couple of seconds she realized that there was a flaw with this test, as without Tess watching her every move and decision, since she could tell the lady was back at the entrance and hadn't moved at all, meaning that this was less of a test and was more about seeing whether or not she was capable of following the orders she was given in the future, or maybe this would be one of those times where her thoughts were wrong and just reaching the end was enough to pass whatever test Torn had in mind for her, to which she used the pair of moving pistons to rise up to another part of the path and jumped over to the next ledge.

After that she found another pipe and some more metallic platforms for her to use to get around this area, breaking her thoughts about how this area looked, where one of them had two electric devices that she had to jump over so she could reach the next platform, though as she reached another spinning square pipe, and found a pair of pistons off to the side of the structure it happened to be connected to, Twilight spotted a pair of Ottsels standing near the area that the pistons were resting in, where one happened to have a blue tint to their body and the other had a green tint, even though both of them looked similar to Alvin did.

"Simon! Theodore! There you guys are!" Alvin called out, where his statement confirmed Twilight's thoughts on the matter, that they had to be Alvin's missing brothers, especially with the pendants they were wearing and their fur colors, though at the same time it appeared that Simon had a small pair of glasses in front of his eyes, which she hoped were for his Ottsel form and didn't mean he had poor eyesight, while Theodore seemed to have a little more fat than his brothers, where she wouldn't call him fat at all, though Alvin's statement caused the pair to turn towards him and her, to which Twilight quickly crossed over to the other side of the pipe and dropped down to where they were standing.

"Alvin?! We were starting to worry about you, when you didn't make it to the section of the wall that we decided to make our rendezvous point," the blue furred Ottsel replied, though he sounded happy to see his brother again, while Theodore, who Twilight assumed had to be the last one with green tinted fur, had a smile on his face as they stared at their brother, something that was followed by Alvin jumping off her shoulder for a moment as he rushed up to his siblings and hugged both of them not a few seconds later, which brought a smile to her face as well, before they noticed her standing there not a few seconds later and raised their guards almost immediately, "Alvin, who is this? And can we trust her?"

"The name's Twilight Sparkle, and we sort of... helped each other yesterday," Twilight answered, where she quickly figured out that Simon had to be the smarter brother, Alvin had to be the leader, and Theodore was likely the warrior, or at least this was her take on having only just met two of them and having spent only a day, if that, with the last one, but if Simon and Theodore were anything like Alvin, especially when she considered his transformed state, they would try to head into the city and tell the baron what they knew about the plans of the Metal Head leader, even though Alvin would likely tell his brothers the truth and they would have to spend some time determining what they were going to do now that their plan had been foiled, before she refocused on explaining herself, "and by that I mean that he was assaulted by some of the Metal Heads that had been chasing you, where I assisted him in taking care of them... and we agreed to join forces until we found both of you, in addition to my own siblings, two sisters by the name of Starlight Glimmer and Cozy Glow, with our brother Jak as well, plus Daxter, our Ottsel friend who is almost always by Jak's side, so that's two birds with one stone if we happen upon my brother at some point."

Simon and Theodora glanced at each other for a moment, where one was clearly debating whether or not to believe what she had said, even though the third didn't seem to mind having a new ally, before they pulled Alvin away for a few seconds and held a private discussion with their brother, no doubt about her and their own mission, something that she was totally fine with as she proceeded along the rest of the path and found a way up a metallic walkway that lead right to the valve she had been told to turn, though as Twilight walked towards it, however, the three odd Ottsels joined her and Alvin told her that his brothers needed time to think about things, but for now they were going to be joining her in her quest... so the moment the valve was turned, and water would be flowing back into the Slums, they headed back to Tess, as Twilight had the feeling that things were going to get more exciting in the near future.

Comments

[badninja]

So besides Jak I wonder who else will get captured and experimented on?

[PrismStrike]

hehe very nice now twilight has a small entourage of extremly powerful creatures to help her out. also Theodore was always more the heart, soul and conscience of the chipmunks.