Jak and Daxter: Heirs of Mar

by Blackdrag-rose

Renegade: Prison Break

After jumping through the Warp Gate that was inside the Power Station, and waiting for a few seconds to travel to the other gate that served as the exit, Twilight and Starlight found themselves in a square shaped chamber that was definitely inside the Fortress, given all of the metal that was around them, there were some boxes that rested near a vent, one that had a missing cover for some reason, and there were a couple of metallic doors that didn't seem like they would be opening soon, though that was before they noticed a massive square shaped chasm of some kind and it had a number of doors that had to be prison cells, meaning whoever was captured were placed underground for some reason, plus a chair that rested below a device that was in the middle of the ceiling, which they would worry about later.

"I was wondering when you guys would show up," a voice said, where Daxter rose up on a metallic platform, one that had to be for transporting prisoners up and down the chasm, which meant it was large enough for all of them, before he came to a stop at the top of the opening and beckoned for Twilight, Starlight, and the Ottsel brothers to join him, since none of them had any idea how long it would be before someone came into this area and found them, so their best option was to find Jak, arm him with his new clothing, and get out, before he grew serious for a moment, "come on, we don't have a lot of time... one of the guards I crawled by to reach where they stored these things mentioned that the Baron and Errol were coming by in the next couple of minutes."

"No doubt to discuss their Dark Warrior Program," Starlight commented, to which she sighed for a moment, because if the pair came to this chamber they would be forced to wait until they left the area, possibly the entire Fortress as well, before being able to leave, though that was when she and the others stepped onto the platform that Daxter had found and had moved to this area, before she nodded her head for a moment, to indicate that everyone was ready to move forward and see if they could find Jak, since the one of the major reasons they had done this was because their friend claimed to know where Jak was, hence why they came to aid him in freeing Jak, who likely had a bone to pick with the Baron after forcefully being trapped inside this place for two whole years.

Once they were all on the platform, and Daxter made sure of it, he activated the controls and they slowly flew down into the depths of the chasm that was below the chair platform, where they found that it rested on a thin pillar that seemed to go all the way down into the depths of the chasm, no doubt to the bottom level based on what they were seeing, though the speed he was using right now was to ensure that they made no noise that might alert others to the present of several intruders, plus they didn't want to alert the Baron or Errol to the fact that someone might be nearby and could hear what they were talking about. Neither Twilight or Starlight carried weapons on them, due to the fact that neither Torn or Krew seemed to trust them with the Morph Gun yet, even though they had lost track of where it was in the testing process, due to finding out about Jak and Daxter's arrival in Haven City and the former disappearing rather suddenly, though both of them knew that if they got into a fight they would be able to defend themselves with their magic and the various combat skills they had learned over the years, even though they were hoping to get out of here without drawing any attention to them, which may or may not be possible since they had no idea how skilled the guards were at responding to any alerts that might sound in this place. That wasn't counting the fact that they had Alvin, Simon, and Theodore with them, who had some skills in their Ottsel forms and would be able to defend themselves with ease, if they needed to anyway, but for now each of them remained silent as they headed down into the chasm and passed by a number of cells, ones that seemed to be empty, meaning either no one had committed enough crimes to be sentenced to this area or they had been cleared out not all that long ago, which worried them since Daxter had said that Jak was down here and this made all of them wonder if he had been moved before their arrival. A few moments later they stopped in front of a cell that had a number outside it, one that seemed to indicate that this was cell number fifty-seven, even if there seemed to be enough for there to be over a hundred, possibly two hundred, cells in this area, though as soon as they came to a stop Twilight and Starlight stepped up for a moment and glanced through the bars that were in front of them, where they expected to find Jak resting inside a cell that he didn't even deserve, for whatever crimes had been placed upon him, and only to found nothing on the other side of the bars, even though the nearby bed did make it look like someone had been here recently.

"Daxter, the cell is empty," Starlight quietly said, as she wanted to keep her voice down in case someone walked into the upper part of this section of the Fortress, once more to keep themselves safe from danger until they figured out where Jak was being kept, though even as she said that Twilight and her Ottsel friends glanced at the remaining cells that they could see and wondered if one of them held Jak, something that didn't make a lot of sense since there was no reason to move him so randomly, not unless Baron Praxis knew someone was coming for him and this was a trap, which would mean Vin would be a double agent for him and that seemed unlikely.

"I don't understand, he was here when I sent you that message," Daxter remarked, keeping his voice low as well, but even as he said that he had to wonder where in the world Jak had been taken this time around, because he had spent two years crawling around this place, and he was not kidding when he thought about that, and this was the only prison area that he knew about, save for the cells that rested near the chair's pillar, meaning Jak was either up near where the Warp Gate was located or he had been released from his cell at long last, to which he sighed for a moment as he raised a hand to touch the terminal that was in front of him.

Twilight quickly raised a hand and stopped him, as she heard someone up near the chair and Starlight heard it as well, so them moving up back towards the upper part of the chasm would reveal themselves to whoever was up there, which just so happened to be the last thing they wanted right now, before a pair of voices spoke up, ones that belonged to the Baron and Errol, according to Daxter anyway, which was when Twilight engaged her magic and wrapped a barrier around them, just in case someone looked down into the chasm and noticed them on the platform, so with the magic up they would be able to listen to what was going on and maybe learn more about this top secret project. Of course that was when everyone heard the sound of Jak demanding to be let go, confirming that he had been moved before their arrival and that he must have been in one of the cells they noticed earlier, before a computerized voice stated that whatever it was supposed to do was starting and it was followed by Jak growling in pain as a mass of darkness was forced into his body, where Twilight and the others found that the machine that was in the center of the chamber seemed to be some sort of surgical device that had the power to transfer energy, or Eco to be exact, into someone's body of altering them, revealing that the program the pair were working on thrived on the power of Dark Eco and that they were trying to create a 'Dark Warrior' from Eco, likely derived from Gol and Maia's research. This time Starlight stopped Daxter from doing anything, because while she wanted to go up there and stop what was going on, as it hurt to hear their brother in pain like this, using the lift now would reveal their hand to the Baron and Errol, no doubt leading to their own imprisonment and unwilling participation in the program that they were now listening to, which might cripple her and Twilight and have unknown effects on Daxter and the Ottsel brothers, to which their friend nodded his head and remained silent as they listened to what was going on right now, even if they would be ready to move the moment the pair left the area, or even the Fortress, before moving to Jak's side to free him from his bindings and get out of here, even though it still left Cozy's location up in the air. Twilight was sure that, once they were outside this structure again, they would be able to find their missing sibling and reunite with her, turning the full force of their group against the Baron and the Metal Head Leader, even though they would be figuring out a way to head back into the past and return to the time period they had been living in previously, despite the dreams that she recalled in great detail, which had been silent since she came to Haven City.

Eventually, after what felt like an hour or so, they heard the sound of the machine stopping the process that Jak was being forced through and that it seemed to be in the middle of retracting into the standby phase, though at the same time Errol and the Baron stopped moving as they waited to hear what the machine had to say, since there seemed to be something special that they were waiting for to determine whether or not this Dark Warrior Program was a success or not, though all of them were thankful that Jak was no longer growling in pain and had returned to being silent, where they hoped that the machine hadn't killed him, otherwise that would set Twilight and Starlight off.

Dark Eco injection cycle complete. the machine stated, where it sure sounded like it had been designed to have a female voice, not that such a thing really mattered in the grand scheme of things since what they had heard meant that there had to be a number of previous instances where Baron Praxis and Errol dragged Jak out of his cell and strapped him down so they could inject who knows how much Dark Eco into his body, which, given his powers to absorb and use the other four types of Eco, could have all sorts of disastrous effects on him, though that was when the group listened to what else the machine had to say, Bio readings nominal and unchanged.

"Nothing, just like the last couple of subjects!" the Baron huffed, his tone revealing that he was annoyed by the failure of his Dark Warrior Program and that he wasn't able to get what he was looking for, was was something Twilight and the rest of the group were happy with since they had the feeling that him not getting a Dark Warrior was a good thing, despite the fact that he was clearly experimenting on anyone that was brought to the Fortress and matched whatever criteria he was using for the program, though from where they were standing it seemed that he shifted his stance for a moment, like he might be beckoning to Jak for a second or two, "I was informed that this one would be different, especially after everything Gol and Maia wrote about him in that journal we discovered... you shouldn't have let that the rodent get away, as he might have been the key to solving this problem, though I still find it hard to believe that we haven't located the other two girls that the insane Dark Sages spoke of, as it would have been a boon to compare what the Dark Eco did to them to what we discovered when we experimented on their sister."

"Still, this one seems to be surprisingly resilient to your experiments, Baron Praxis," Errol replied, where the group froze as they heard what was going on, as they now knew what happened to Cozy and she had been trapped inside one of the cells that rested around them, for three years based on everything Twilight and Starlight were able to figure out from Vin, but for right now everyone remained silent as they listened to what was going on, as it seemed like the pair were staying near Jak and not leaving like they were supposed to, meaning it might be some time before they were able to move up the top of this chamber and climbed off the lift, "I hate to admit it, but it seems like the Dark Warrior Program, aided by the notes of two of the most insane individuals in our history, is an utter failure, despite one or two subjects showing some promise in becoming what you wanted... before their untimely demise."

"You, the one spoken of in high regards by the insane Dark Sages, you, at the very least, should be dead from all the Dark Eco that has been pumped into your body!" the Baron shouted, where the group had the feeling that he was holding Jak's head for the moment as he said that statement, his tone revealing that he was upset over Jak not performing to whatever specifications he had for this program and that he had to be getting frustrated over his constant failures, before the group heard the sound of him growling for a moment as he dropped Jak's head back and let it rest against the seat that he was now strapped to, even though they heard Jak moan for a few seconds after that.

"What do we do now?" Errol asked, though this time around he seemed a little worried about something, which made a bit of sense due to the fact that Haven City was under attack from the Metal Heads, even though Twilight and Starlight knew that there hadn't been any massive movements from the Baron's true enemies that were outside the walls, or at least that was what they assumed since Torn and Krew had said nothing to them about the enemy that was trying to breach the Eco Dome and enter the city, where everyone was interested in Errol's tone and listened to what else he had to say about the situation he and the Baron were in, "I've received word that the Metal Head armies have gotten bolder and that they have been attacking anyone and everything that enters their area... without a new weapon, one capable of turning the tide of this war in an instant, my men won't be able to hold them off forever!"

"I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to those vile creatures!" the Baron declared, where the group was a little surprised to hear what Errol had to say, that the Metal Heads were getting bolder and that they were preparing for the next stage of this war, something that Baron Praxis seemed unprepared for and had no plans to stop them, though it seemed like he had advanced on the area Errol had been standing in while he said that statement, who backed up a little as that happened, before he revealed something to the group, even if he had no idea they were listening to what he and Errol were talking about, "Move forward with the final plan... and finish off this 'thing' tonight!"

Based on what happened next Errol seemed to nod his head and agreed with what his boss was saying, before stopping by Jak's location and appeared to tell him that he would be back later to either kill him or drop him into the chasm to end his existence, which was followed by him walking behind the Baron for a few moments as they headed through the door that they had used to enter this chamber in the first place, though they waited for a few moments to be sure that neither of them returned to this section of the Fortress before activating the lift and headed up to where Jak rested, where it only took Twilight a few seconds to lower her barrier after determining that they were alone.

"Ding ding, third floor: body chains, roach food, torture devices." Daxter jokingly said, where the lift came to a stop at the top of the chasm and he made sure to position them near the chair that Jak was resting in, where he waved a hand at both Twilight and Starlight as they glanced at him, knowing that neither of them approved of his statement given what they had seen and learned so far, to which he sighed for a moment as he jumped off the lift and landed on Jak's body, which caused him to pause for a moment as he noticed that Jak was no longer scrawny, as he seemed more like a warrior and less like a noddle, if one were to use Daxter's terminology, "Though on a more serious note, what in the world did they do to you for the last two years? Come on Jak, it's time to wake up and get out of here, before the Baron..."

"I'm going to kill Praxis!" Jak snapped, his tone showing that he was definitely angry over what had happened to him and that the brother Twilight and Starlight were used to would need to get over his brand new anger, though that happened to be when both of them noticed that Jak's hair was longer and it appeared that he had grown a goatee as well, a small one anyway, but the look of anger in his eyes showed them that it was best if they unlocked his bindings and tried to convince him that they weren't a trick or something, hence the reason that Daxter jumped over to one of his legs for a moment to look at the metallic bindings.

It was in that moment that Jak unleashed a brand new skill or power, his body taking on a grayish hue as his hair followed suit a few seconds later, though the surge of power shattered the bindings and allowed him to climb off the chair, which was when Twilight and Starlight noticed that his fingernails had lengthened to look like claws of some sort and that a dark coloration had replaced his normal colored eyes, making him look more like a darker version of himself, a Dark Jak, where he lumbered towards them for a few moments, even though everyone backed up towards the Warp Gate as he did that, to put some distance between him and them, but as he raised his right hand, to rush at them and claw one of them down, a change washed over him as the darkness receded and he staggered for a few seconds, returning him to the form they had seen before Dark Jak emerged from it's hiding place.

"Jak, are you alright?" Starlight asked, though she had the feeling that the answer was a 'no', especially after everything the Baron and Errol must have put him through for the last two years and all of the injections he must have endured, but she felt the need to ask the question as Alvin and his brothers made sure no one was on the other side of the door that rested nearby, leaving Daxter to move the clothing over to Jak as she used her magic to summon a magical wall she and Twilight couldn't see through, giving their brother some privacy so he could put on some new clothing and set aside the terrible prison attire, which looked like rags in some places, that he had been forced to wear.

"Not really... though I feel better now that I've see you guys again," Jak replied, where he glanced at the three Ottsels that were with his sisters and Daxter for a few seconds, just before the magical wall was thrown up, and knew that one of them must have found the Ottsels after landing in this time period, since he had figured that his had to be the future, or at least he assumed it was despite the fact that this could be another world that was similar to their own, before deciding that they could talk about the newcomers later, once they were out of this building and headed outside, since he figured his sisters had a plan to escape, before he paused as he finished putting on the new clothing, "We need to free Cozy as well, as she's resting in one of the nearby cells and has been trapped in this place for the same amount of time that I have been stuck in my cell, plus another year since she was here when I arrived."

It pained Twilight and Starlight to hear that not only had Cozy landed in Haven City at the same time that they did, based on what their brother had said, but she had been trapped inside the Fortress for three long years while both of them were able to spend it in relative peace and quiet, save for the days that each of them were assigned missions to mess with the Krimzon Guards in some manner, before Twilight sighed and walked over to where the five more advanced cages rested so she could investigate which one held Cozy and then break her out of her cell, giving Jak a few more moments to make sure he was ready to leave as Alvin and his brothers made sure the door remained closed. As she walked over to the five cages, however, Twilight discovered that one of them seemed to be dented, as there were fist marks on the metallic door, and the barred part that allowed one to stare inside it had been broken open at one point, leaving a hole for someone to peer inside and see who was locked in it, not to mention giving them a new opening to toss whatever food the prisoners received to the one that rested on the other side of the door, something that made her hope Cozy wasn't inside it, as this would mean something terrible must have happened to her over the years. A few seconds later she heard something stir as she approached the door, which stopped her as Jak, Starlight, Daxter, and the others listened to what was going on, due to all of them being interested in what was going on as well while keeping their guards up, before the door shuddered as whoever or whatever was on the other side struck it with a charge, weakening the already weakened metal in the process and left a new dent that would worry the Baron or whoever was in charge of this part of the Fortress, before the prisoner smashed into the door again and sent it flying out of the frame that it was contained in, where the door flew into the large chasm and clanked a few times before hitting the bottom. While the group hoped that no one else heard that, as in Baron Praxis or Errol, or even anyone who was supposed to be keeping track of the prisoners that were inside the various cells, each of them kept quiet as the figure that called the cell home walked out, though that was when they found that Cozy had been trapped inside it and they were glad to see her again, only to pause as they noticed something odd as she stepped into the light, her hands had light gray scales covering both of them and her fingers looked like reptilian claws, or more like the dragon claws of Alvin's true form, and some of the scales reached the halfway point between her hands and elbows, while her legs had patches of scales on them and her tail had taken on a shadowy flame like appearance, just like her hair as the group noticed, and while her eyes had taken on a blood red coloration her teeth had become sharp, something that made her look like a predator or something.

Based on what they were seeing Cozy had been forced to wear the same prisoner attire that the rest of the prisoners wore while they were in this place, though hers was torn in the middle, revealing her stomach area to anyone and everyone that was around her, and parts of it were torn, either from her tearing at it or it being ruined whenever she acted up, and there were some metallic shackles on her wrists and the ankle area, but all of them were stunned by her form, as it looked like three years of Dark Eco injections had messed with her more than what had happened to Jak and the rest of the subjects that had been tested on, though them stopping was due to the fact that Cozy was looking at them with an odd look in her eyes. In the following moments, before the group had time to react, Cozy rushed forward and zeroed in on where Twilight was standing, as she happened to be alone since Starlight and Jak were still on the central pillar and Alvin's group was by the door, where Twilight found that she had enough time to raise a small shield to block what was coming next and that was when her sister, or Dark Cozy as they could call it in the future, struck it with her head and smashed through it like it had been a paper wall or something, stunning her for a moment as she came to understand that overpowering their twisted sister might not be possible right now. Cozy seized that opportunity, likely following whatever instincts this form gave her, and swung her right hand through the air with a speed that was as fast as the speed that allowed her to reach the area that Twilight was standing in, where her claws easily tore through the side of her body and she was sure that a few drops of her blood had landed on the floor, though it was rather painful and she was sure that part of it had to be due to the Dark Eco that had been injected into her sister's body, in addition to this being one of the worst pains she had experienced, but she could deal with a bit of Dark Eco poisoning as she tried to overcome her sister and her intense speed. Of course there wasn't much she could do in the grand scheme of things, as her sister was so much faster than she had been the last time they had seen each other, and she was sure that her power was far stronger as well, and sure enough that was followed by Cozy slipping by her wounded side and quickly raked her left hand against Twilight's back, causing her to stagger forward as she felt the material of her shirt break in the back and that she likely had three or four gashes in her back, where she weaved her magic through the air and did her best to stop her wounds from bleeding too much, showing everyone that was watching them that she was unwilling to attack her sister.

Of course the same couldn't be said for Cozy, who seemed to be in a Dark Eco induced haze or something, causing her to attack friend and foe alike as she rushed through the air and appeared in front of Twilight once more, where this time she actually drew forward and tore into Twilight's shoulder with her teeth, tearing through the fabric and her skin in seconds as blood was drawn once more, though that was when Starlight used her magic to force Cozy backwards as Jak grabbed onto her arms, doing his best to restrain their crazed sister, who stalled for a moment as she seemed to take notice of the fact that she had blood in her mouth.

"B... Blood...?" Cozy inquired, her voice sounding like it was either rough from being trapped in a beast-like state for all this time, as in growling and roaring at whoever dared to approach the cell that she had been trapped inside, or due to the fact that she hadn't spoken for three years and this was the first time she had said something to anyone, which was followed by Twilight noticing that the predator look in her eyes started to fade a little and that her sister was either fighting the dark influence or it was receding on it's own, before she stared right at Twilight for a time, like she believed that this was just another mirage or something, "Tw... Twilight?"

"Hey sis, we're here to bust you and Jak out of this terrible place." Twilight stated, hoping that the mention of Jak and the rest of their group would be more than enough to shock her sister back to reality so they could reunite with each other for a few seconds, before actually heading through the nearby vent since that seemed to be the best direction to head in, and she could tell that Cozy was slowly looking around this chamber so she could see the area she had been stuck in, before noticing Jak, Daxter, and Starlight standing nearby, which seemed to make the darkness recede even more and meant that she must have stuck the nail on the head.

Cozy seemed to break through the darkness after that, where Jak had to let her go as a mass of shadows surged all over her body for a few moments and this was to make sure he didn't get hurt by anything, though when all of that died down he and the others watched as Cozy emerged from it, back in her normal state to be exact, and they found that she had none of the Dark Eco related aspects that she had possessed a few moments ago, where she staggered for a couple of seconds, like she wasn't used to her normal form or something, before steadying herself for a few more seconds as she took in the area that was around her, only to pause when she noticed the blood on her hands and Twilight's condition, to which she quickly put two and two together.

"By the Precursors... Twilight, I'm so sorry! I... I didn't mean to do this..." Cozy frantically said, where it was easy for Twilight and the others to see that she was absolutely terrified by what she had done to her, meaning she either knew about the times where the feral side took over, like she was a passenger in her own body at times, or it was as simple as her putting the blood on her hands and in her mouth to the wounds that were on Twilight's body, which terrified her more than any of the enemies, traps, and events they had encountered in the past, something that told them that their sister was going to be traumatized by what she had done and what the Baron had done to her.

"Cozy, its okay... I don't blame you for this, rather I'm blaming the Baron for what he did to you," Twilight replied, as she wanted her sister to know that she wasn't going to pass any sort of blame on her for the wounds that had been dealt to her body, as it was the Baron's fault for injecting Cozy with so much Dark Eco that she became a feral version of the sister that she knew and attacked anyone that got close to her, be they friendly or an enemy, before she winced for a moment as the cuts on her side ached, though she was trying her best to keep the wounds in check and not bleed out, which would be even worse given everything that they had seen so far, "though we ought to get moving before the Baron or Errol come back to this chamber... and maybe we'll find some of the Green Eco healing boxes that the Krimzon Guards use to treat all of their wounds as we leave this place."

Cozy looked like she wanted to say something, especially after all the damage she did to Twilight's body over the last few moments before Jak and Starlight had stopped her in her tracks, before she nodded and followed Jak as he headed for the open vent that was nearby, which was when Starlight helped Twilight move over to the vent as the three Ottsels followed after them not a few seconds later, where they climbed up the boxes that were in front of them and carefully entered the vent, with Jak leading the way, not that he knew where he was going and that was why Daxter, who had returned to his usual place on his shoulder, directed him forward, even though he was looking for some healing packs. Based on what he discovered there were a number of small ducts for someone to pass through, if they went through the effort to dismantle the fans that happened to be in the way, before he found a large opening, much like the one he had climbed through, that lead into a chamber of some kind, one that had a locked door, a few shelves that seemed totally empty, and what seemed to be a path near the ceiling, where he had to jump up some boxes and a ledge to reach another square shaped opening, which seemed to lead deeper into the Fortress. Once he was sure that there were no guards in the area, even though he and Cozy wanted to smash a couple of them into the ground, he beckoned for the others to follow him and retraced his steps a little to help Starlight move Twilight up to where the opening was located, though it sure looked like the strain of what they were doing might be causing some havoc on her wounds, as he was sure that the cuts on her side were a little worse than when Dark Cozy had dealt them to her, and that was despite the spells Twilight was using to keep them in line, at least until they found some healing materials or a Green Eco vent, even though he had the feeling that the latter didn't exist in this time period. Fortunately there happened to be a pair of boxes on the other side of the opening he had found, even though they were now in a larger chamber that seemed like the perfect place for some Krimzon Guards to patrol in, and there was even a lift of some kind that was moving between two points, giving them a way forward, before Jak came to a stop near the boxes and pulled them open, finding that the first one just so happened to have a container of Green Eco inside it, with a plus sign on the six sides, where Twilight smiled for a moment as she noticed it and they accessed the energy that was inside it as she weaved it through the air, sealing her wounds in seconds, even though she now had dark gray scars where she had been struck.

Twilight took a few seconds to make sure everything was in order, and that none of her wounds were going to act up after being healed by all that Green Eco, though once she determined each of them were fine she noticed that Cozy had a look of relief on her face, to which she embraced her sister for a moment and did her best to make her understand that those wounds weren't her fault, that the only one she had to blame was the Baron for tormenting her for the last three years, something that seemed to work for the time being even though she knew that Cozy was going to be traumatized by what happened today, for some time anyway, before Jak opened the other box and they found a few bits of Dark Eco inside it, where one third was absorbed by Jak, the second third went into Cozy's body, and the final third, to their surprise, went to Twilight a few seconds later.

Of course all of them were surprised by that and determined that the scars might be the reason behind that happening to her, but instead of worrying about it everyone started moving forward and jumped over all of the metallic platforms that were between them and the moving one Jak had noticed earlier, where the moving platform brought them up to a lone walkway that seemed connected to nothing, save for the wall that had a higher walkway that seemed to be the direction they had to move in, to which Jak used the High Jump skill to reach the point in question, where they found that it just so happened to be even better than they recalled. Once that was done he turned around as Twilight replicated the technique and pulled herself up to where he was currently standing, mostly because he wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to her, though while that happened he found that Alvin and his brothers had taken up their positions on the shoulders of his sisters, with Alvin resting on Twilight's, Simon taking up a position on Starlight's, and Theodore doing his best to make sure Cozy was just fine as he took his position as well, even though he suspected that they would lash out at whoever tried to attack them, if the group didn't lash out first. As Twilight did that she found a Krimzon Guard patrolling part of the area that they were in, so while her sisters jumped up to where they were standing she rushed forward, passing several person sized terminals while she did that, before kicking her target in the back and sent him flying into the opening that was right in front of him, which was foolish of him to stand in front of such an area in the first place, though to be sure no alarm was raised she weaved a light sleeping spell around him to knock her target out, something that allowed Jak to move forward as Starlight and Cozy followed him, where he jumped up onto a raised part of the path and crossed over a small moving platform to reach another Krimzon Guard. Starlight watched as Jak punched his target into the nearby wall and made sure to knock him out, since most of the people who joined the Krimzon Guard seemed to be male, before he used the nearby spinning pole to reach the upper part of the section of the Fortress and reached another moving platform, which seemed to have no purpose when she and Twilight stared at them, though that was when they found an opening near one end of the platform and discovered that it contained the path that should allow them to leave this place, but first they had to deal with two more guards who were patrolling this place and noticed the group not a few seconds later.

Cozy was the first one to react as she rushed forward and kicked one of the guards in the side of his body, which knocked him away from his partner and forced him to collide with the wall, though while she froze due to the speed she had moved to reach her target, which Twilight suspected was due to the overexposure to Dark Eco, Starlight lashed out with her magic before the other guard could react, blasting him into the other wall and knocking him out in a few seconds, which allowed Jak and Twilight to catch up with them and found that there was a decent sized gap between where they were standing at the moment and the next part of the path. As such Jak did the Roll Jump technique and crossed the gap with ease, which was followed by his sisters following his movements as he scouted out the area beyond it, only to find a second gap that all of them jumped over so they could move forward, reaching a hallway that was slightly larger than what they had been expecting to find, especially since there were a few terminals lining the walls, before Twilight noticed that there were a fair number of holes in the floor, wide enough for a blast from a Krimzon Guard gun to slip through, and the moment one of them stepped onto it a guard called out to the others. Not even a few seconds later a barrage of blasts rushed up from the floor that was below them, a hallway to be exact, as a number of guards opened fire on them, forcing Twilight and Starlight to weave their magic through the air and make barriers around them and the others as Jak started to move forward, as he was heading for the other end of this area and was using their magic as a cover as his sisters followed after him, though at the same time Cozy could hear that the guards were annoyed that none of their shots were hitting them, even though they had great aim for the most part, before he found a grate on the other end of this area and proceeded to jump into the air and use the Dive Attack to smash it to pieces, opening the way for his sisters to join him. Fortunately it didn't lead them to where those guards were located, meaning they had to be in a new passage or something and moved forward to prevent the previous group of enemies from catching up with them, though now the alarm was sounding due to the red light and a siren of some kind sounding, which was when they found a small gap in front of them and jumped over it, entering a new passage that had two more guards standing near a grate, where Twilight knocked both of them into the wall with a shove of her magic and opened the way for Jak to smash the obstacle to pieces, allowing everyone to drop down to another level so they could get out of the Fortress.

What the group discovered was that they had to grind down a metallic ramp and jumped off the end to land in a decent sized chamber that seemed to be a trash room, based on the smell, and they landed on some metallic boxes, though that was when Starlight found an opening for them to jump up to and everyone moved forward without delay, as it was only a matter of time until someone tried to search this area, where they discovered that this was an actual door that happened to head outside, to which Jak jumped outside and landed in the streets of Haven City, even though he waited for Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy to follow after him before they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, we're outside at last," Twilight remarked, to which she started to move forward and headed away from where the Fortress was located, as she and Starlight knew that it was only a matter of time until the guards came out and started to investigate the area they were currently standing in, as now it was time for them to carefully head back to the hideout so she could tell Torn the good news and get Jak and Cozy, and possibly Starlight, in on the Underground's operations so they could bring down Baron Praxis and all of his allies, before dealing with the Metal Head Leader and making sure Haven City was safe from any additional dangers, which was when she lowered her voice so only her siblings could hear her, "we'll be heading to the faction that helped me out when I landed in this city, even if I ended up in the forest that's outside the Eco Dome, so we can take the fight to the Baron..."

"Twilight? Is that you?" a voice asked, where Twilight paused for a moment as an elderly man stepped out of a doorway in front of her and her siblings, where she found that he was wearing a blue robe with a white scarf or neck protector, with a skullcap over his forehead to either cover his bald head or protect it, though he had an interesting set of facial hair on both sides of his head, which was white colored for the most part, and he had a walking staff that he used whenever he moved from place to place, though it didn't take her long to figure out who he was, as she had seen him a couple of times around the hideout while she was looking for Jak and the others, though while the old man did that Alvin and his brothers paused for a moment as they braced their heads, like they were feeling something nearby, but for the most part it was too faint and passed with ease.

"Kor? I wasn't expecting to see you outside, well, the place we usually meet in," Twilight said, choosing her words carefully as she spoke, just so no one understood that she was referring to the Underground's hideout and tried to follow them to where it was located, though at the same time the only thing she knew about the elderly member of the rebellion was that he happened to be tasked with keeping an eye on four individuals that seemed important to the Shadow, where she saw the four little individuals standing in the shadows behind Kor, a Human boy and three pony girls, sisters who looked like miniature versions of her, Starlight, and Cozy, though this was the first time she had seen the younger versions of herself and her siblings, and she noted what happened to the Ottsel brothers, but figured she would be able to ask about it at a later date, when they had time to talk about this event.

Kor started to open his mouth, so he could say something to Twilight, though that was when he heard the familiar sound of the guards approaching and turned around for a moment, which allowed him, Twilight's group, and all of his charges to see that there was a force of Krimzon Guards approaching this part of the city, which meant that they either had bad luck and arrived in the part of Haven City that was being visited by a force of guards as they searched for rebels, which made sense when everyone thought about it, or they had already tracked them down and where here to punish them for even trying to steal some of the prisoners that had been trapped inside the Fortress.

"By order of his eminence, the Grand Protector of Haven City, Baron Praxis, everyone in this section is hereby under arrest for suspicion of harboring Underground fugitives. Surrender and die!" the head guard stated, while at the same time the rest of his companions fanned out and made sure to have their weapons pointed at everyone that was near Jak's group, which freaked out the civilians that were standing nearby, though at the same time Twilight suspected that this guard had to be one of Errol's henchmen or something, since he seemed too eager to inflict harm upon those he was supposed to protect from the Metal Heads, which just ticked off all of them.

The power inside Jak flared to life for a moment, as Twilight could see the strands of Dark Eco emitting from his hands as he lashed out and punched the head guard right in the face, breaking part of his helmet in the process as he sent him into a wall that was nearby, either meaning that Dark Jak was incredibly easy for him to trigger or he was just angry over having been held captive for two years and was forced to be part of the Baron's Dark Warrior Project, something his sisters didn't even need to think about as they joined him and fought the rest of the guards that happened to be coming at them, since there were at least ten more coming at them. Twilight and Starlight used their magic for a moment to stop the couple of blasts that happened to be coming their way, surprising the guards in the process, though while Twilight lashed out with a few punches and kicks, since she didn't want to spend too much of her magic right now, Starlight called one of the guns of the fallen guards over to her and used it more like a staff, hitting the guards in front of them and blocking their attacks as each of them tried to knock her to the ground, even though that was what happened to her targets as she knocked them out with her attacks. Cozy, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to fight at all, which was understandable since her Dark Form was incredibly powerful and just attacked whoever was nearby, given that she lashed out at and wounded her own sister earlier, so for the most part the guards seemed to ignore her and advanced on an elderly pair of citizens that were near one of the walls, though that was when she growled as that happened and darkness surrounded her as she rushed forward, transforming into her Dark Form in seconds as she grabbed onto the back of a guard's helmet and turned so she could hurl him into the opposing wall, giving the elderly pair time to flee before something happened to them, though that was when the other guard smacked her with the edge of his gun and found that it did little damage to her, which was the moment that she spun around and kicked him right into the wall the elderly pair had been forced against a few moments ago, dealing enough damage to knock her target out in a couple of seconds. This informed Twilight that Cozy's Dark Form was on a hair trigger, if she felt threatened or if someone innocent was in danger it would spring to life with little warning and attack whoever the aggressor was, like the guards for example, while the downside was that her sister was instantly pushed to the sidelines as her inner monster surged to the surface and it was possible that she would lash out at anyone who was near her, though that was when Jak was forced into his own Dark Form, as it was still in an uncontrollable state, and stood in front of Cozy for a few seconds as they stared at each other, something that eventually lead to the pair being able to revert back to their original forms.

In that moment Kor thanked them, after being sure that there were no more guards in the area, and told Twilight that they might be able to use the rest of her siblings in their battle against the Baron, even though he did announce that he had to escort the kids to safety and walked away before any additional guards came for them, to which Twilight sighed for a few seconds as she and Starlight lead Jak and Cozy out into Haven City, as this wasn't what she had been expecting when she learned where her siblings had been trapped, and she had the feeling that things were going to get much more serious in the near future.

Comments

[badninja]

Well Cozy is going to be a very loose cannon for a while. I hope they can rein her in when it happens.

[PrismStrike]

wow you actually made me want to hug Cozy Glow and try to comofrt the evil little pegasus... very well done author. Kinda feeling for Twi as well cause we all know how crazy unicorns can get when they get a little darkness in them (which is going to be anything but fun for the baron when it comes to a head seeing as what he has done to her siblings) also Starlight using a gun like a bo staff was priceless.