Darkness. That was all that he could see. Pure, black, inky darkness. And the air, oh sweet Precursors the air was so thick with Metal Head fumes. He couldn’t see, he could barely breathe, and one of the last Metal Head hordes was beginning to close in on him. Won’t be long now before they rear their ugly heads, the hero of Haven City thought to himself as he continued his struggle for breath. Ugh, how did this happen? One minute I’m clearing through a tunnel in the Wasteland with Dax in the Sand Shark, and the next thing I know I’m down here. Well, at least I found the nest. This should keep Torn off my case for a bit when I get back to Haven. . . . Okay, IF I get back to Haven. Hope Daxter made it out okay. Ha, who am I kidding? He’s probably already squirreled his way back to the tunnel entrance. How does he always manage to get through these things unscathed? Guess I’m just bad luck.

Jak’s internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of claws scratching against the tunnel walls behind him.

Blaster raised, he turned around and was met with the sight of three golden lights bobbing in the darkness further down the tunnel. From the shadows emerged three creatures, bipedal yet skulking forward in a manner akin to that of a chimpanzee (knuckle-walking). Their bodies were covered in a golden alloy that served as their armour, and atop their carnivorous heads sat a gleaming yellow jewel. Huh, only a couple Grunts? This is gonna be easier than I thoug…Oh sweet merciful Precursors this is bad. Closely following the Grunts was the sound of buzzing and soon at least twenty more small golden lights came into view. Creatures that looked like over-sized hornets came bobbing into view, stingers poised to attack. Jackets. I HATE Metal Jackets. As the swarm of Metal Heads neared him, Jak weighed his options and took in everything around him. He was stuck in the middle of a tunnel, the way forward was blocked by more than twenty Metal Heads, and the air behind him smelt even worse than the air where he was. This meant the path behind him led further into the depths of this nest, and most likely towards bigger and meaner beasties. The opening in the ceiling above him could take him back to the surface; he just needed a way to reach it. Flying’s out. I don’t have enough white eco stored to make such a long flight up. Besides, I need what little I have to keep myself alive down here. This left Jak with one clear way out: forward.

23 against 1. I’ve fought against worse odds, but never in this kind of darkness. My healing will only keep me going for so long. If these Metal Heads don’t kill me, the fumes will. Those gems on their heads are pretty convenient targets, but the Jackets are too fast for me to rely on them alone for sight. I’m way too close range for a Supernova blast. Not enough dark eco to blast them that way.

All in all, things weren’t looking up for the Wasteland Hero. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He’d fought against legions of Lurkers, Metal Heads, KG Robots, and destroyed TWO giant Precursor Robots. He beat the Metal Head leader, stopped an alien invasion, and saved this sorry dirtball of a planet more times than he cared to count. He’d won the Kras City Grand Championship and outraced every pro combat racer on the circuit. He’d even finally gotten together with Keira (they even had a date this weekend). Now he was here. Alone, in a stinking tunnel surrounded by Metal Heads and suffocating from the gases their stinking eggs make…

Wait…Stinking eggs?

Jak focused some of his remaining light eco into his hand. He created just enough to illuminate his surroundings a little better. Sure enough, just as he suspected, the wall to his left was literally covered in Metal Head eggs. Jak relinquished his focus and the light dissipated. A plan forming rapidly in his mind, he darted to the right side of the tunnel and as far away from the egg-covered wall as possible.

This is suicide. If I blast the wall I could bring the whole tunnel down on top of me.

Does it matter? Alone in the darkness with next to no eco remaining I’m as good as dead anyways. Besides, I’d rather go out with a bang than as a meal for some starving Metal Heads.

The Metal Heads had finally caught his scent. The Grunts lunged forward into the tunnel, and while Jak couldn’t see them, he could mentally picture their slobbering maws filled with razor-sharp teeth rapidly approaching. Jak swapped his Blaster mod for the Peace Maker. He began charging the weapon, sweat beads forming on his brow as the little golden lights moved closer and closer to him.

Come on, come on! Yes!

The ball of pure energy was now fully formed on the end of his weapon. The light it cast revealed the Grunts and Jackets closing fast.

It’s now or never. Time for some Hero Hell.

He fired his charged Peace Maker missile at the Metal Head egg-covered wall across from him. Time seemed to slow to a crawl (having slowed time to a crawl on numerous occasions before, Jak knew the feeling quite well) as the missile flew at the Eggs. Any second now the Grunts were going to be on top of him, and with no time to change mods he’d be a sitting duck. The Peace Maker met the egg-coated well with a bang. Chaos soon reigned in the dark tunnel as the wall exploded. Debris, gooey bits of Metal Head Egg, and the formerly advancing Metal Heads flew across the tunnel. Jak used his final reserves of light eco to create a shield encasing his form before a rather large piece of rock made him into a Flap-Jak.

Slowly, Jak made his way back to his feet, holding his head while waiting for the black world around him to stop spinning. Ugh, how can the world be spinning if I can’t even see anything?! He stooped over and picked up a glistening gem from the rubble around him. A skull gem, all that remained of one of the Metal Heads that thought they found themselves an easy meal. Jak looked towards the former tunnel wall and saw that, by destroying the eggs, he revealed a new passage. Funny how Metal Head eggs always seem to be covering up a tunnel or something. It wasn’t the fact that there was a new exit route opened up for him that intrigued Jak, but rather that there was a familiar purple glow coming from down the tunnel. Glow meant eco crystals. Purple glow in particular meant dark eco crystals. Dark eco crystals meant he could refuel his dark eco stores in case he was to run into something big…

It was just as he realized this that a head-splitting roar erupted from further down the tunnel.

Well, speak of the devil. Talk about stirring up the hornet’s nest.

Coughing and gasping for clean air, Jak made a break for the new passage. With the last of his light eco used up shielding himself, he could no longer keep himself from dying from the incredibly poisonous air around him. Momentarily stopping to drain a couple eco crystals of their power, Jak upped his pace as fast as his legs and lungs would allow down the passage. The good news, this passage seemed to be heading up to the surface. The bad news, whatever Jak pissed off was really pissed off. The tunnel behind him collapsed as something waaaaay too big for it barrelled after whatever woke it up from its nap (an important note about Metal Heads: they get really cranky if some unlucky fellow interrupts their sleep).

Great. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. There’s no way I can outrun this thing forever. If I can just get back to the Sand Shark I can outdrive whatever this is.

He was close. So close and yet so far. He could almost taste the fresh air from the Wasteland surface. The only problem: he didn’t know which way to go. After what felt like hours of running, Jak was faced with a T-section in the tunnel. And what was worse: the poisonous air had yet to completely leave his system, leaving him gasping for breath and his vision blurry. And what was even worse: whatever was chasing was just about caught up. And boy was it pissed.

“I’m getting too old for this. I think it’s time to retire to combat racing. Anything’s better than this,” Jak said to himself.

He had just about given up entirely when he heard a familiar annoying voice call his name.

“JAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Daxter?!” Eyes wide, adrenaline pumping once more, Jak strained his ears to listen for the ottsel’s voice.

“JAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

That way.

Jak ducked down the right, moving with renewed vigor and the familiar thrill of the chase beginning to settle in again. Who was he kidding? The day he stopped “adventuring” as Samos would call it would be the day he died. And today was not that day. For once, he had too much to live for.

Finally, he saw the end of this stupidly long tunnel. Blinking, stepping into the light of day he had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust. Soon enough, the blurry outline of his Sand Shark came into view at the mouth of a sickeningly familiar looking tunnel. And standing on the rim of his Sand Shark was a familiar orange fuzzy shape. Daxter was okay! And he was…panicking? What could possibly be so bad as to make him freak out so much?

It was at this moment that a ridiculously big and terrifying Metal-Pede burst out of the tunnel entrance, sending the Sand Shark and Daxter with it, flying across the dessert. The enlarged centapede-based creature erupted onto the Wasteland scene, pincers snapping and metal-covered hide glinting in the sunlight.

Oh. That.

The Sand Shark landed a little ways away with a crunch. The car’s automatic balancing system almost immediately righted the vehicle so it was right-side-up again. A dazed but unharmed Daxter crawled to the top by the machine guns mounted on the Shark.

The Metal-Pede charged the Sand Shark and ottsel in it. Jak needed to act fast. Pulling out his morph gun, he attached his Vulcan Fury mod and let loose a barrage of bullets against the colossal monster rampaging across the dessert. Most of the bullets harmlessly bounced off of the Metal Head’s armour-like hide, but Jak got its attention.

Knowing well that his weapons wouldn’t even phase the Metal-Pede, Jak holstered his weapon and took out his Hover Board. He still couldn’t outrun a raging Metal-Pede, but it would keep him alive for a bit longer, hopefully long enough for Daxter to start shooting at it with the Sand Shark’s guns. Metal-Pede armour was strong, but the Sand Shark’s weapons were designed with a mind to specifically tear through that armour.

Gliding across the dessert on his Hover Board, Jak led the Metal-Pede into the sights of the Sand Sharks weapons. All Daxter had to do was shoot.

“Daxter! Shoot this thing before it kills us!”

Jak was beginning to panic as he neared the Sand Shark and Daxter had yet to open fire.

“What’s taking so long?! Shoot her! Shoot her!”

“The guns are jammed Jak! I can’t get them working!” was Daxter’s panicked reply.

“THEN FIRE A MISSILE AT IT! IT’S STILL FULLY EQUIPED FROM THE KRAS CITY TOURNAMENT!”

“Oh yeah…”

“OH GOD DAMN IT DAXTER!” Jak screamed as he swerved out of the way and avoided crashing headlong into the Sand Shark, but the angle he turned at made him lose his balance and Jak was soon met with a mouthful of sand. Meanwhile Daxter readied the missile and had it aimed right for the maw of the Metal-Pede.

“Alright, you big ugly bug, when you get to Hell and see all your creepy-crawly Metal Head buddies, tell them ‘Orange Lightning’ says hello!”

With that, Daxter sent the missile flying.

And with that, everything exploded.

The missile collided with the charging Metal-Pede head-on. The resounding explosion knocked Jak off his feet and his face made acquaintance with the desert floor. Dazed, beaten, and dirty, Jak slowly got back to his feet wiping the sand from his eyes. The wasteland around him had become the scarred remains of the all too familiar battlefields he had seen time and time again. The Metal-Pede lay in pieces around him, charred pieces of metal head hide smoldering on the unforgiving desert landscape. Its body had already begun to decompose into the Dark Eco that was responsible for its existence. Jak himself was in pretty good condition, all things considered. His blue tunic had been burnt and torn after his exposé into the Metal Head nest, his Dark Eco levels were fully restored, ammo levels were in good supply, and he wasn’t too badly injured. The Sand Shark lay upside-down a little ways away, most likely due to its close proximity to the explosion. Hopefully his communicator was still intact so he could report into Torn and Ashelin back at Haven. All that was missing was a certain orange annoying fur ball, who also happened to be Jak’s best friend… Knowing Daxter’s luck, he probably ended up stuck in a sand dune somewhere.

Meanwhile in a sand dune nearby, Daxter found himself surrounded by darkness with a rather immensely huge migraine. Was it because he once again found himself shouldered with the responsibilities of killing the swarm of 10 rampaging Metal-Pedes chasing after his helpless best buddy Jak and saving Haven City for the umpteenth time? Maybe. Was is because, like all great heroes, he waited until the very last minute to heroically launch a volley a missiles at the army of 100, snarling beasts with chrome head-plates gleaning in the sunset? Very possibly. Was it because after annihilating the 1,000 monstrous Metal Heads the explosion launched him through the sky (in the most heroic way possible) into a sand dune several yards away? Most likely. Was is because after finding himself alone at the mouth of a Metal Head nest, chased by a Metal-Pede, and almost killed he screamed himself into a self-induced migraine and may have soiled his favourite pair of pants? Absolutely not. No way.  Definitely one of those other things he said.

…

What? You don’t believe me? That’s totally what happened. There’s no way a hero of such caliber as ‘Orange Lightning’ would be caught dead screaming in fear without his friend Jak to hide behind.

…

Anyways, after some struggling against the desert sand, Daxter finally pulled his head free from his sandy prison, but not without a mouthful of sand. Sometimes the universe just hates you.

“PLUH, PEW, BLUH!” he shouted as he rid his mouth of the offensive sandy material.

“Bleeaaaugh, what I wouldn’t give for a drink at the Naughty Ottsel right about now. Well now that that’s taken care of, courtesy of your friendly neighbourhood hero, let’s blow this popsicle stand. Right Jak?” he finished with his hands on his hips, striking a valiant pose (or as valiant as you can be as a two-foot tall furry rodent wearing a possibly soiled pair of pants in the middle of the desert).

Silence was all he got in response.

“I said, RIGHT JAK?” he said again in annoyance.

“Oh come on! Don’t tell me you’ve gone all mute on me again…” he started before realising that he had no idea whatsoever of where Jak was. Or, for that matter, where he was. Daxter spun around in a rising panic, looking for any landmark or anything familiar so he could find his way back to civilization.

He saw nothing of the sort.

He did however happen to notice a group of ominous clouds approaching rapidly in the distance.

“Okay, calm down Daxter. No reason to panic. Keep it cool. You’re just stuck in the middle of the desert…alone…with no way of getting back to the city…and there’s a sandstorm coming. What was it Kleiver said about Wasteland sandstorms? Something about ripping the flesh off your bones? Okay, only one thing left to do…PANIC!!!!!”

One thing was for certain as Jak wandered through the Wasteland in search of his friend, he was dead meat if he didn’t get to some shelter. A sandstorm fast approaching, Jak would be considered lucky if enough of his body was left over for them to give him a proper burial. Pieces of Metal-Pede littered the desert floor, and he was able to (with some difficulty) right the Sand Shark to run a system’s diagnostic. So far, everything looked to be in working order. The engine was more-or-less clear of sand, weapons systems were fully operational, and his communicator was fully functional.

Still, something seemed off. Jak was never this lucky. Mental recap of today’s events: successfully blew up the Metal Head nest in the southern section of the Wasteland? Check. Made it out of an encounter with a particularly nasty Metal-Pede with hardly a scratch on me? Check. Sand Shark still in piece? Check. Now all I need to do is find Daxter…

His internal monologue was interrupted by a familiar panicked scream for help and plea for survival.

Scratch that, I found Daxter.

And yet, Jak couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go incredibly wrong. It wasn’t the incoming sandstorm; Jak had dealt with those in the past. This was…different. He felt with certainty that something bad was about to happen, and he had no idea what it was or how he could stop it.

It’s probably nothing, just a little jittery after my spelunking escapade and near-death experience.

Jak honed in on the source of the frantic screaming (seriously, how can Daxter manage to scream that long and THAT LOUD without straining something?).

“Daxter! There you are! Come on, let’s get out of here before that storm hits us.”

After a quick and mumbled praise to the Precursors, Daxter took his familiar spot atop Jak’s shoulder and the two made their way back to the Sand Shark. Both hopped in and with the flick of a switch the engine hummed back to life. The wind had already started to pick up, blowing sand in all directions and obscuring vision to the extent that anything more than a few feet away became a dark brown sandy silhouette. Jak placed his goggles over his eyes and drew up his kerchief to protect his face from the harsh desert winds.

The Sand Shark took off and tore through the desert at breakneck speeds. With next to no sight, Jak and Daxter were forced to rely on their map and familiarity with the Wasteland region to navigate as safely as possible through the wastes.

After a couple minutes of driving, Jak turned on the communicator.

“This is Jak and Daxter calling Haven, Haven do you copy?”

The storm had already begun and created a great deal of interference with the communication systems. Through the crackle of static, Jak could just make out the gruff tone of his “commander’s” voice.

“Jak…this is Torn…incoming storm…ass back to the city…Metal Head nest destroyed?”

“Torn, I can barely hear you, the storm’s creating too much interference. The mission’s accomplished though, Daxter and I made sure those monsters won’t be bugging us again anytime soon,” Jak finished with a smug grin on his face and shared fist-bump with Daxter.

“Jak!...This is Ashelin…sensors indicate…eco fluctuations…going to explode…get out of there!”

“Umm, Jak? Did she just say something about exploding eco?” Daxter asked, his panic levels quickly returning to their fevered pitch.

“Boy I hope not. Ashelin? This is Jak, I didn’t read you there. Did you say eco fluctuations?”

The only response Jak got was the crackle of static over the communicator.

“Hello? Ashelin, come in. Ashelin!? Torn, do you read me? Anybody!?” Each attempt was only met with the crackle of static. And with each crackle of static, Jak’s sense of dread only grew.

Before he or Daxter could react, a huge tremor shook the valley they were currently driving through.

“JAAAAAAK!!! WHAT’S GOING ON??!!?!?!?” Daxter screamed hanging onto the rails of the Sand Shark for dear life.

“Hang on Dax!” Jak shouted in response as he struggled to keep the vehicle under control.

The tremors continue to grow both in magnitude and in number, and soon Jak found himself narrowly evading boulders and pieces of the valley wall coming down around them. Daxter frantically attempted to reach their friends in Haven City, but to no avail.

After another agonizingly long minute of dodging rocks and trying to keep the Sand Shark stable, the ground before Jak exploded and began to crumble away. Jak swerved to the right in a last-ditch attempt to avoid the spreading hole in the ground. The Sand Shark came to an abrupt stop as the tremors began to slow. Jak could only watch as the ground before him had broken away to reveal a large, purple glowing portal set in the very middle of the valley path.

Before he could ponder the meaning of this portal, a wicked purple bolt of lightning sent both Jak and Daxter reeling and launched them both from their vehicle. Jak landed with a resounding thud against the valley floor while Daxter was sent flying into the rocky outcrop of the valley wall. Senses on full alert, Jak scrambled to his feet and drew his morph gun, still set on his trusty Blaster mod. All went silent for a moment as the sky darkened and a black ethereal tentacle reached out and wrapped itself around Jak’s ankle and with a sharp yank pulled him into the swirling purple void before him.

Despite his struggles, Jak could only stall his advance into the portal before he felt himself with a familiar tingling sensation that came from traveling through warp portals.

Its victim claimed, the portal disappeared and the land re-sealed itself as quickly as it had broken apart, leaving a smoldering Sand Shark, an unconscious Daxter, and a world now lacking its greatest hero.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot…

The Grand Galloping Gala was in full swing! The central ballroom of the Canterlot palace was filled to the brim with guests, all in their finest suits and gowns, for an evening of fun and enjoyment that everypony looked forward to every year.

The ballroom was littered with large gourmet buffet tables full of delicious foods of all shapes and sizes. A rather popular new addition this year came from Ponyville’s own Sweet Apple Acres, and guests could be seen all around the ballroom gorging themselves on the Apples’ delicious baked goods.

Amongst these guests were 6 mares and best friends, better known as the Elements of Harmony. After the previous year’s horrible experience at the Gala, the six mares decided to enjoy the party together, and so far things were looking good and the mares were having one of the most enjoyable nights of their lives. Twilight Sparkle had taken to the dance floor with Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Rarity and Fluttershy were having a chat over tea by one of the windows, and Rainbow Dash had decided to partake in some of the famous pastries made by the palace’s top chefs and bakers.

Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna, along with their special guests from the Crystal Empire Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, surveyed the party while conversing amongst themselves from one of the many balconies overlooking the main ballroom. Despite her wishes for events at the Gala to be made more interesting and lively last year (by inviting the Elements of Harmony to the party, because everypony knows it`s not a party until Pinkie gets involved), Celestia found herself content with how things were turning out this year and was looking forward to a night of peace. If not for herself, then at least for Luna. Something had been bothering the younger alicorn, but Luna had been reluctant to sharing anything with her sister, always finding some way to change the topic without revealing anything. Nonetheless, Luna appeared to be enjoying herself, and that fact alone made Celestia`s heart glow. Adjusting to modern-day Equestria had certainly been a challenge for Luna, and she was still faced with several difficulties in fitting in and making some friends (not counting the several thousand changes made to the laws and practices of Equestrian court).

Or, at least, she was looking forward to a peaceful night in the company of her sister, niece, nephew-in-law, faithful student, and her friends. That is, until a large purple vortex opened up on the ceiling of the ballroom and deposited a single figure into the middle of the room before promptly vanishing in a puff of magic.

Ponies had already begun to panic, and her guards had already begun to create a perimeter around the mystery figure that had crashed into the central banquet table. From the wreckage of the table what was easily the strangest creature Celestia had ever seen slowly made its way to its feet. It was not very tall, even though it stood on two legs. The only fur on it was seen on the top of its head where a golden-yellow mane fell haphazardly behind it as well as what looked like a small green goatee growing on its chin. It was donned in bronze armour covering its legs, fore-hooves (arms in this case I suppose), chest, and shoulders. Underneath the bronze-plated armour it wore a tattered blue garment of some sort and a brown piece of cloth around its waist. It had long pointed ears and was carrying a strange weapon of some sort. On its back was an equally strange bronze disc of some sort. Perched on its forehead was a strange set of goggles and it had a red kerchief covering the lower half of its face. However, the most striking feature about this creature was its blue eyes. Eyes that showed a soul who had faced combat time and time again. Eyes that showed no mercy. In short, the eyes of a soldier who has killed and watched others die.

This creature was dangerous, that much was certain. Celestia had no choice but to capture this creature. Hopefully it would not try to resist capture…at least not too much.