[center][h3][color=tan]Courier 6[/color] and [color=orange]Ratchet[/color] and [color=sandybrown]Jak &[/color] [color=darkorange]Daxter[/color][/h3]
[b]Level 6[/b] - (18/60) EXP (+2),[b]Level 6[/b] - (7/60) (+2), [b]Level 4[/b] - (0/40) (+2)
[b]Location:[/b] Ancestral Farmstead
Dead Zone - Redgraccoon Police Department
[b]Word Count:[/b]1153
Courier Stress: 15

[i]Jak new skill: “Yes, you were that child. I took from Damas, hoping to harness your eco powers for my experiments.”[/i] Jak’s ability to channel eco has expanded to generating eco from his body. Not enough to use individual eco powers on their own, but enough to provide a steady stream of ammo for his morph gun. Essentially, he has infinite ammo for eco-powered weapons, though refill takes about as much time as it would take to reload manually.[/center]

The environment around them at the farmstead changed a second time, still alien but a more splendid sort of alien sky. Golden, shimmering, inspiring even. Just what was going on here? It kind of reminded the Courier of a nuclear glow off in the distance, but clearly wasn’t the case. Well it’s not like it mattered at the moment, one crisis at a time. Besides, chances were that once all the freaky alien brahmin crap was killed off, it’d probably go back to normal. Best to refocus on the task at hand, which was… Aw crap, not a lot of focus was being put into the brachydios anymore. It looked like pretty much just the Cadet, clinging to the monster’s back, was the extent of their fighting strategy right now. Things would turn sour right quick if that weren’t rectified.

And rectify it was, by the centurion, still battle-mad and blood crazed. The Roman advanced, slicing down the corrupted farmers in his way in the process, but leaving their husks to grow into those exploding crystals in the process. [color=tan]”Dammit you fuckwit! Ugh. Ivories! Git them buried, pronto!”[/color]

“Donphan!” Ivories replied, changing the trajectory of its spinning to head for the warpath of the centurion. Just like with those taken down by the Courier himself, the mighty donphan used Bulldoze to bury the husks in the dirt so they’d never again see the light of day. 

Meanwhile the Courier urged Drumstick in another direction, back down toward the brachydios. The thing rampaged and lurched with the Cadet upon its back, but it needed to be put down in a hurry before it could hurt someone in its thrashing and stomping. There was no way he’d let his chocobo get too close to that thing, nor did it show any inclination to do so, but it would be able to get him close enough for his plan to unfold. 

As they charged forward together, the Courier put away his pickaxe and instead produced his caravan shotgun. Five shots, that’s what was loaded. He wanted to save his ammunition for later, but this thing had to go down, and fast. The pair zipped past the centurion, the Courier throwing himself off his mount for the second time this battle, but unlike last time he did not intend to go up and over the beast. Oh no, quite the opposite, in fact.

6 waited for the right moment, the perfect opportunity, as the monster reared up its front legs while thrashing to get the Cadet off, and he activated it. [i]GRX Implant active - 3 doses remain.[/i] For a handful of seconds, he was the fastest creature on the battlefield. He charged in right beneath the brachydios, its head and, more importantly, the underside of its neck exposed, and unloaded all five shotgun shells into the beast’s most vulnerable part so quickly, others may not have even comprehended what happened. Then, as quickly as he came, the Courier dove back, real time returning to him as he rolled through the air.

[hr][hr]

Jak, Daxter, and Ratchet returned to the main hall where they met up with, and exchanged details with, the rest of the survivors. Ratchet honestly didn’t have too much to report, and he figured the less said the better in regards to the safety deposit box room. He knew Jak and Daxter fairly well and knew that they’d probably be less… Restrained when it came to looting other people’s property if they thought it would help them. Jak mostly remained silent as Daxter explained, in his own Daxter way, what they had located. The most the human of the duo contributed to the conversation was a gruff grunt and tossing the torn bag on the floor for everyone’s viewing pleasure.

It seemed like everyone else had far more interesting stories to tell of their own searching. They now knew at least something of what they were dealing with, and neither Ratchet nor Jak were intimidated by the size of the thing. Each had taken down more than their fair share of giant bosses before, after all. This confidence wasn’t extended to Daxter however, who nervously chewed at his fingertips. Then the scales were tipped as Blazermate returned with news of another foe they had to look out for.

[color=darkorange]”So you’re telling me that now, not only are we dealing with HORDES of the undead that could break down the doors at any minute, or flying gold-and-white freakshows shooting down aircrafts on top of our heads, OR a giant scary ghost that we can’t even physically touch! But now we’re dealing with a crazy serial killer that can freeze people in time?! Where’s my agent, I demand to be in a new game! This crossover is gonna be the death of me!”[/color]

[color=orange]”I’m sorry to hear that we lost someone,”[/color] Ratchet said in earnest. [color=orange]”But this is a task specially suited for me and Clank. See, Clank is the Chosen One of the Zoni, a race of time controlling aliens. Time powers don’t work on him, and he extends that protection to anybody he’s touching.”[/color]

Clank appeared from nowhere to continue to exposition. “Indeed, and since my usual position is attached to Ratchet, his full combat capability will be readily able to dispose of such a foul fellow most handily. In fact, I estimate that even should I not be manifested at the time, based on my ability to remain aware of our surroundings while even in spirit form, I could detect the moment Ratchet is caught in this suspended animation and act accordingly. Perhaps a sudden sneak attack? Hmhmhmhmhm.”

Ratchet nodded, and followed along with Donnie’s questioning of captain Howard. [color=orange]”And if you have any radios or similar communication, think we can distribute that out ot the group? Not that I’ll need one, just give us a frequency and Clank can keep tabs, but if we can all share info as soon as we get it that’d be great.”[/color]

“Indeed. This is a police station, is it not? The overall technology level of this station suggests they should possess short wave radios for just that purpose.”

[color=sandybrown]”Heh.”[/color] Jak broke his silence, first eyeing his morph gun, then his hand. A yellowish glow rippled around his body. [color=sandybrown]”Well I say bring it on. The zombies, the angels, the ghost, and the killer.”[/color] Jak hefted up his morph gun in its new form, showing off the harpoon generated from yellow eco. It began to spin around as he revved up a shot, then slowed again as he pulled his finger off the trigger. 

[color=darkorange]”Ooh, I know that look!”[/color] Daxter commented. [color=darkorange]”Is my boy back in form?”[/color]

Jak nodded. [color=sandybrown]”Yeah Dax. I’m generating eco again.”[/color]