Haven City, All Weekend
While baby fever ruled Fandom, Jak had used the morning quiet on saturday to slip out for what he was told was an urgent mission. Onin had called him, in fact. He'd had to take a quick test to help her put the seal together from all the pieces he'd gathered lately, but it was done. Whole.
Now they could see about this whole Mar's Tomb thing. If it'd be any use at all. Jak wasn't much for esoterics.
A quick zoomer ride later found him standing in front of a set of heavy doors: the Haven City park.
He was on different business than last time. No more clearing out stray stealth Metal Heads. No hunting around for myths of objects that might or might not help the Underground.
The completed seal opened a door in the wall he'd thought impenetrable before. The path it led to - 'No Man's Canyon', Old Sage Onin's interpreter had told them - was devoid of enemies. It barely took even the lightest touch of Jak's JET-board to make his way through.
He'd gathered a lot of amulets and other Precursor artifacts over the past few months, and it was now time to use them. Carefully, Jak placed each piece in the slot it seemed to be intended for, at the array at the end of the pass.
And then he stepped back.
The machinery roared into action. A lone, impossibly bright blue light shot out suddenly, like eco. It pierced through the sky in a beam, far out of sight-- bounced off the lens-- and then. Then it died.
Jak's communicator crackled into action. "I'll be a monkaw's uncle! So it does exist!" Pecker - Onin's interpreter - squawked. "The beam of light is shining somewhere in the city! The Tomb of Mar was right under our noses all along. And thanks to me... you found it!"
---
Central square was in a panic. The Baron's large statue had suddenly and impossibly exploded in the center, sending pieces raining down to the ground. The Krimzon Guard had little idea how to handle it: they tried to cordon things off, but people were too panicked to really give them time to explore.
That meant it didn't take Jak a lot of effort to sneak past them, rush on down, and find the heavy doors to Mar's Tomb.
Right. Well. Now it was time to see if this hadn't been a massive waste of his time.
An elevator took him deep down into the bowels of the city.
There, he found Young Samos, Kor and the Kid waiting for him. A big empty room, full of Precursor symbols carved on the walls. Religious stuff. Ritual stuff. What-could-it-possibly-do-to-get-us-out-of-this-crap stuff. "You did it, Jak!" Samos cooed, "You found the Tomb of Mar!"
Jak snorted, crossing his arms. "Great!" he snapped. "Now what?" He shot the child - couldn't be more than four - a look. 'Heir of Mar', that bit he'd caught earlier. Blah blah, only the Heir of Mar can enter the tomb... "Send this poor kid into a meat grinder?"
Of course Kor wasn't paying attention - he was rambling something about this being the day he'd long awaited, blah blah, finally hold the Precursor stone in his hands...
"You must be careful, child," said Samos, demonstrating some parental powers Jak had never quite realised he had. "The Tests of Manhood are sure to be fraught with peril - and Mar's heir must face them alone!"
Daxter leapt onto the floor. "It's okay, kid! You can do it! It's just a pitch black... sure to be filled with painful death... old tomb..." Beat. "I wouldn't go in there."
Anything else that could have been said, wasn't: they were interrupted by one of those ethereal voices, the ones Jak still remembered from Sandover. A Precursor voice, loud and booming. As it spoke, the huge doors before them started to open. "Welcome, heir of Mar," it intoned. "Finally the chosen one stands before me. Enter, and prove yourself worthy of the secret within..." And then there was a short silence, as if it was taken aback. "This child is too young to face the tests!"
... Crap.
"No!" Kor said, panicked, shaking his stick.
The door began to close again, sliding down, down, down. "Do something, Jak!" Samos crowed, but Jak's feet were already moving, moving, moving--
"No! Jak!" Daxter called after him, "Remember the sure to be filled with painful death part!"
Like that had ever stopped Jak. Jak was in fact already barrel-rolling under the closing door before Daxter had finished speaking - and a few seconds later, he was yanking Dax under the treshold, seconds before the doors shut tightly behind them.
What Jak didn't hear was the Krimzon Guard shouting "FREEZE!" behind him; his eyes were too full of the suddenly-silent hall before him, majestic and beautiful like anything the Precursors had ever made. Covered in a flimsy layer of water, with death milling around in every corner...
Just his kind of scene. Jak's face set determined. He went.
He fought.
Only Mar's Heir can beat the Tests of Manhood, Jak's ass.
(Many eons ago, the Precursors were locked in a battle with the Hor'Quan, those Dark Mages you know as Metal Heads... Driven by their dark leader, they destroyed our entire civilisation... and then they swarmed across the universe, trying to find the last of our artifacts, to harness our power. Mar tried to hide the Precursor stone, to protect it. It is our last hope. And you are here to keep that hope alive.
"I think you've got me confused with someone else," Jak said, rubbing at his forehead. He wasn't in any position to be his own hope, let alone someone else's. "I'm just here for the stone."
It is time to fulfill your destiny. Behold--
And then there was noise.)
But things never go as you expect them to; and when Jak left the tomb, it was in the full knowledge that Praxis had used Jak's victories, had followed him, and had stolen the stone right from under his nose, and what was worse - he'd taken Samos, Kor and the kid, too.
Jak was not a happy man, and the idea of returning to Fandom - and its weirdness - was far from his mind.
He was very, very, very angry.
[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, and taken from Jak 2: Renegade! ]]
Now they could see about this whole Mar's Tomb thing. If it'd be any use at all. Jak wasn't much for esoterics.
A quick zoomer ride later found him standing in front of a set of heavy doors: the Haven City park.
He was on different business than last time. No more clearing out stray stealth Metal Heads. No hunting around for myths of objects that might or might not help the Underground.
The completed seal opened a door in the wall he'd thought impenetrable before. The path it led to - 'No Man's Canyon', Old Sage Onin's interpreter had told them - was devoid of enemies. It barely took even the lightest touch of Jak's JET-board to make his way through.
He'd gathered a lot of amulets and other Precursor artifacts over the past few months, and it was now time to use them. Carefully, Jak placed each piece in the slot it seemed to be intended for, at the array at the end of the pass.
And then he stepped back.
The machinery roared into action. A lone, impossibly bright blue light shot out suddenly, like eco. It pierced through the sky in a beam, far out of sight-- bounced off the lens-- and then. Then it died.
Jak's communicator crackled into action. "I'll be a monkaw's uncle! So it does exist!" Pecker - Onin's interpreter - squawked. "The beam of light is shining somewhere in the city! The Tomb of Mar was right under our noses all along. And thanks to me... you found it!"
---
Central square was in a panic. The Baron's large statue had suddenly and impossibly exploded in the center, sending pieces raining down to the ground. The Krimzon Guard had little idea how to handle it: they tried to cordon things off, but people were too panicked to really give them time to explore.
That meant it didn't take Jak a lot of effort to sneak past them, rush on down, and find the heavy doors to Mar's Tomb.
Right. Well. Now it was time to see if this hadn't been a massive waste of his time.
An elevator took him deep down into the bowels of the city.
There, he found Young Samos, Kor and the Kid waiting for him. A big empty room, full of Precursor symbols carved on the walls. Religious stuff. Ritual stuff. What-could-it-possibly-do-to-get-us-out-of-this-crap stuff. "You did it, Jak!" Samos cooed, "You found the Tomb of Mar!"
Jak snorted, crossing his arms. "Great!" he snapped. "Now what?" He shot the child - couldn't be more than four - a look. 'Heir of Mar', that bit he'd caught earlier. Blah blah, only the Heir of Mar can enter the tomb... "Send this poor kid into a meat grinder?"
Of course Kor wasn't paying attention - he was rambling something about this being the day he'd long awaited, blah blah, finally hold the Precursor stone in his hands...
"You must be careful, child," said Samos, demonstrating some parental powers Jak had never quite realised he had. "The Tests of Manhood are sure to be fraught with peril - and Mar's heir must face them alone!"
Daxter leapt onto the floor. "It's okay, kid! You can do it! It's just a pitch black... sure to be filled with painful death... old tomb..." Beat. "I wouldn't go in there."
Anything else that could have been said, wasn't: they were interrupted by one of those ethereal voices, the ones Jak still remembered from Sandover. A Precursor voice, loud and booming. As it spoke, the huge doors before them started to open. "Welcome, heir of Mar," it intoned. "Finally the chosen one stands before me. Enter, and prove yourself worthy of the secret within..." And then there was a short silence, as if it was taken aback. "This child is too young to face the tests!"
... Crap.
"No!" Kor said, panicked, shaking his stick.
The door began to close again, sliding down, down, down. "Do something, Jak!" Samos crowed, but Jak's feet were already moving, moving, moving--
"No! Jak!" Daxter called after him, "Remember the sure to be filled with painful death part!"
Like that had ever stopped Jak. Jak was in fact already barrel-rolling under the closing door before Daxter had finished speaking - and a few seconds later, he was yanking Dax under the treshold, seconds before the doors shut tightly behind them.
What Jak didn't hear was the Krimzon Guard shouting "FREEZE!" behind him; his eyes were too full of the suddenly-silent hall before him, majestic and beautiful like anything the Precursors had ever made. Covered in a flimsy layer of water, with death milling around in every corner...
Just his kind of scene. Jak's face set determined. He went.
He fought.
Only Mar's Heir can beat the Tests of Manhood, Jak's ass.
(Many eons ago, the Precursors were locked in a battle with the Hor'Quan, those Dark Mages you know as Metal Heads... Driven by their dark leader, they destroyed our entire civilisation... and then they swarmed across the universe, trying to find the last of our artifacts, to harness our power. Mar tried to hide the Precursor stone, to protect it. It is our last hope. And you are here to keep that hope alive.
"I think you've got me confused with someone else," Jak said, rubbing at his forehead. He wasn't in any position to be his own hope, let alone someone else's. "I'm just here for the stone."
It is time to fulfill your destiny. Behold--
And then there was noise.)
But things never go as you expect them to; and when Jak left the tomb, it was in the full knowledge that Praxis had used Jak's victories, had followed him, and had stolen the stone right from under his nose, and what was worse - he'd taken Samos, Kor and the kid, too.
Jak was not a happy man, and the idea of returning to Fandom - and its weirdness - was far from his mind.
He was very, very, very angry.
[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, and taken from Jak 2: Renegade! ]]