You awake slowly to the feeling of cushioning under your body, a large red leather armchair supporting your lounging form. Stirring bit by bit, you begin to get a bearing of your surroundings. Around you is a hexagonal room of marble, decorative pillars of the gleaming stone at each corner. The floor shines bright with the light of the impressive glass chandelier above you, lit with no sign of a power source. Pushing up from the comfortable chair, you scan the room methodically. What strikes you immediately is the lack of any windows or doors, yet a slight warm breeze drifts through the room. During your observations your eyes fall upon a similar chair to the one you were sat in, facing away towards the walls. All you can make out it the arm of another inhabitant of this strange room, clothed in a navy blue suit and a white glove as far as you can tell. This figure's hand reaches down to a small mahogany side table, retrieving an ornate glass filled with some form of alcohol. Said glass vanishes behind the tall back of the chair, a soft sigh of satisfaction escaping the unknown figure. Before you can speak up, the person lounging in the chair interrupts, a polite, gentlemanly voice echoing throughout the chamber.

"Another inhabitant? How lovely! It has been far too long since I have had some company."

Standing up, the man in the chair turns with glass in hand, giving you a proper look at his appearance. Fairly muscular but not bulking, the lightly tanned man stood at 5 foot 11 inches, dressed smartly from shoulders down. Underneath the navy suit was a matching waistcoat and tie over a plain white shirt. As he paced round his small table, you hear the clicking of some extremely polished black Oxford dress shoes. Short jet black hair at the sides and neatly combed hair in a small quiff at the front decorates the top of his head. Deep brown eyes gaze at you behind rectangular glasses. To complete his look, his facial hair had been neatly trimmed into a David Brent goatee. Now stood before you, the man smiles warmly, extending a hand as greeting.

"You must have plenty of questions, so please… take a seat." Directed back to your leather chair, the man retrieves his own chair and the table he was using, placing it in front of yours but with a little distance. "Perhaps you would like a drink before I begin?" You nod, telling him your favourite drink. With a brief double-clap from the man, said drink appears beside you on your own drinks table.

"Now… I'm afraid you may be here for a quite a while. Even with my vast knowledge, I have not figured a way out." The man takes another sip of his whiskey, then dismissing what he just said with a wave of his hand. "Bah! Forget my rambling, the answers shall come in time. Maybe a story would pass the time? What do you think?"

You nod, not quite sure what else to do.

"Splendid!" Exclaims the man, then stroking his small beard in thought. After a while, his eyes light up. "Okay… so. You must have read many stories of heroes and their exploits in many worlds. Messy business if you ask me. I mean… all that work, and all most get is fame and more danger. But there is one hero, whose actions reaped a fairly hefty reward. What reward I hear you ask. Well… an all-expenses paid trip around the universe! With the catch of fighting more threats to the universe of course."

You continue to watch this sharply dressed man ramble on, confused as to where this is going, but equally intrigued.

"Now, originally this hero declined the offer to stay behind on his planet with his friends. But with the horrendously delicate situation of multiverse theory, one version chose to accept that invitation. I would go into detail on multiverse theory, but honestly, someone must have already explained it to you in some capacity. In short, the story I shall tell you is of a young man named Jak." The man began to gesture grandly with his hands. "Saviour of the universe from the supposed greatest evil of the Dark Makers, and champion of the Precursors." Leaning forward in his seat, the man grinned. "I shall also tell you of how his reward took a rather unexpected turn, bringing him and his friends to another world. A world of bloody evolution."

Spargus:

Jak had won. Errol, the crazed cyborg who sought to bring the Dark Makers to his world, was destroyed alongside the terraformer machine he had taken from the Dark Makers' ship. Now Jak stood in the centre of Spargus' gladiatorial arena, before the Precursors, who were quite amusingly, just small orange furballs known as ottsels (a cross between a weasel and an otter). Jak's hair was spiked back green with lighter tips and he had a small beard at his chin. He wore a blue vest with the Precursor armour layered over it. On one shoulder he wore a leather pad, the other adorned with more Precursor armour, the full set also consisting of arm braces and greaves. Aside from his armour he wore plain white pants and blue boots, with similarly coloured fingerless gloves that went up to just under his elbows. Wrapped around his neck was a red scarf that trailed behind him, designed for the sandstorms of the desert alongside his goggles, the right lens much larger than the left.

On top of Jak's leather clad shoulder sat his greatest friend, Daxter. Originally Daxter had been human, but a rather unfortunate… or fortunate incident, I forget which. Either way, an incident with a pit of Dark Eco changed Daxter into an ottsel. In other words, a Precursor. Decked in only a simple pair of blue denim pants and his goggles atop his head, the ottsel grinned with pride at his fellow Precursors.

Last but by no means least of the trio who would accompany the Precursors, was Keira Hagai. Daughter of the Green Eco Sage, Samos, and childhood friend of the heroes, her impressive knowledge and skill with technology had proved invaluable in helping Jak and Daxter with their adventures. With medium length deep blue hair that tipped into sea green suited her fair complexion. Wrapped around her neck was a pair of blue tinted goggles for her mechanical work, which sat above her reasonable chest. A pink, sleeveless crop top with a red trim at the bottom was all she wore above the waist, her purple leggings held up with a belt. Matching red boots and armbands completed her look.

"Are you sure you are ready?" Asked the round leader of the Precursor trio.

"If I'm going out there and I can't bring everyone with me… this is as ready as we'll be." Answered Jak confidently.

"Yeah! There ain't nothin' us three can't beat." Boasted Daxter with arms crossed.

Keira smiled at her friends, "Someone has to keep these two in line."

The leader of the three Precursors then stepped forward. This Precursor was quite rounded compared to his colleagues, and dressed in a toga with a Precursor staff in his left hand.

"Yes, very good. Let us be off." He said in his high pitched voice, uncharacteristic of a near all-powerful being.

"Hop on board, dudes." Invited the second Precursor with a very stereotypical surfer voice and manner. His attire matched the typical Californian surfer get-up, complete with a shell-piece necklace made of Precursor metal.

The Precursor Leader then made his way up the ramp of the Precursor ship, beckoning for out trio and his comrades to follow. "This way, a grand journey awaits us."

"It does?" Questioned the final Precursor. This one was far less intelligent than its fellow Precursors, having a Precursor metal cap sat atop its head and covering its eyes. Additionally, it had a goofy buck-toothed expression and laid-back posture. Rolling his eyes at his idiotic companion, the Precursor Leader continued up onto the ship. After him followed the Surfer, then Jak, Daxter and Keira. Realising that he was about to be left behind, the Dummy Precursor ran quickly inside. Once the hatch had closed, the Precursor ship, missile shaped but with a round base, rapidly ascended in a flash of light. Then our heroes were gone, set to travel the stars and discover new worlds.

Precursor Ship:

"So uh… how are we gonna do this?" Asked Daxter to his fellow Precursors as everyone walked the bronze coloured halls of the ship. "We just gonna hop from planet to planet until there are no more Dark Makers and Metal Heads?"

Without turning, the Leader answered Daxter. "Essentially. We Precursors created many planets and fuelled them with Eco. So we can follow the old star maps this ship has and liberate them one-by-one if need be."

"No need to worry about the Metal Heads though, dude." Continued the Surfer. "Those Hora-Quan* were only on your planet. Dark Makers only from here on out, which is pretty sweet." Daxter sighed with relief. If there was anything he hated most in his life, it was Metal Heads. Jak and Keira silently agreed with Daxter, especially Jak, who did not relish the idea of facing a foe like Kor again.

"What about other Precursors?" Asked Keira with curiosity. "Won't there be others on the planets? Acting just like you did?"

"Perhaps, perhaps." Mused the Leader as he made his way up to a large metal door. "If so, then it is likely they have built the same precautions as we did. But, we cannot assume every planet will possess living Precursors. Artefacts and weaponry, oh yes there will be plenty of those. It will simply be a matter of finding them."

While the large metal door slowly opened, folding into the sides, Keira daydreamed of all the Precursor technology she could find on their journey. Beyond the door, however, was a piece of Precursor tech that none of the trio expected to see again: a Rift Gate. Similar in size to the one they had activated years before, it sat dormant, panels and a Rift Rider waiting before it.

"I believe this is a piece of our technology you are familiar with, yes?" Deduced the Leader, observing the trio gawk at the device that had been responsible for teleporting them through time.

"I thought Kor said that our gate was the last." Jak mentioned, recounting how they had unleashed the Metal Heads into their original time. In his pocket, the Heart of Mar hummed in the presence of the Gate. Jak pulled out the Heart, a ruby gem shaped into a curved edged triangle, inlaid on a similar shaped Precursor metal case with two horn-like spike sticking from the top.

"The last to his knowledge." Corrected the Leader. "We made quite sure that Kor did not find us, and this Gate."

"We were missing a piece though." Interrupted the Dummy, who was immediately pushed aside by the Leader with his staff.

"Yes, yes, I was getting to that." Said the Leader as he regained control of the conversation, hopping up onto the Rift Rider. "As he said, we were missing the piece that would activate the Gate, the Heart of Mar."

Daxter hopped off Jak's shoulder onto the Rider, beckoning for Jak to hand him the Heart. "So this is just a glorified start button for most Precursor tech." He muttered with a little disappointment.

"That is… one way of putting it." Hesitated the Leader, watching Daxter set the Heart in place on the centre of the Rift Rider's dashboard. Jak walked around the Rider in thought, right hand in a thinking pose over his mouth. Stopping on the far, he gestured with his right hand palm up, pointing towards the Rider.

"But why do we need to use this if we have the ship?"

"We may not need it, dude." Stated the Surfer calmly, standing atop the Rider with knees bent. "Think of this as our secret weapon. Once we fix it up of course."

The Leader sighed with exasperation, not happy with the explanation given. "Although we have our ship, we simply cannot match the numbers of the Dark Makers. What if we go to one planet, but another will fall if we do?"

Keira grinned, knowing the answer before anyone else. "We split up and tackle both at once." Jak and Daxter cocked their heads at Keira as she hopped into the passenger seat of the Rider. "These guys go after Planet A, we take the Rider and jump to Planet B. If our Gate made us travel in time, why can't this help us travel across the universe?"

"Precisely. Although we do not know the full capabilities of this Gate." Agreed the Precursor Leader, dropping out of the Rider to let Jak sit in the driver's seat. "We can begin to work on programming the Gate properly if you place the Heart of Mar in, please." Jak complied, slotting the Heart neatly into its place. With a satisfied hum, the Gate slowly began to flicker to life, but not entirely activating. The trio grinned at each other, confident that they could achieve much now they could get the Gate to work for them. While the Precursors got to work plotting their course, Daxter sat behind Jak and Keira, lounging on the extra passenger seats.

"So how long do ya think all this'll take?" Daxter asked lazily as he scratched an itch.

"Which do you mean, Dax?" Jak questioned his best friend, slightly looking over his shoulder.

"I mean all this universe saving biz." Specified Daxter as he got comfortable.

"Getting homesick already, buddy?" Joked Jak as he turned round to chat with Daxter. This proved to be a big mistake, because as Jak turned he leaned on the dashboard, more precisely the Heart of Mar. The Rift Gate sprung to life, a swirling blue vortex forming in the ringed structure of the Precursor tech portal. Jak, Keira and Daxter all froze like deer in the headlights, expecting some monstrosity to appear through the Gate. But no, the outcome was simply another very violent and terrifying launch into the unknown. On the good side of the Gate, the Precursors all looked between each other in confusion and worry. Finally the Leader decided to speak up.

"Please tell me one of you has the coordinates."

"Nah bro." Answered the Surfer, only half as relaxed as he normally is. The Dummy simply shook his head from side to side rapidly, which produced a rather underwhelming two word response from the Leader.

"Oh dear."

?

Reality tore apart above a lush green forest, the blue vortex that formed spitting out the Rift Rider and its passengers. The forest was no longer tranquil with the loud banging of the Rider crashing through the treeline. On its nosedive descent, it collided with a tree, propelling the trio from their seats and to the earth below. Impact was painful, but Jak had felt worse. Keira was glad she had been clutching onto Jak in terror throughout their violent journey, as they were launched from the Rider together, Keira landing on top of Jak. Whether Jak had taken the hit for Keira intentionally or not, she was glad, now lying on top of him dazed.

"Ugh." Groaned Jak as he regained his bearings. "I'm… gonna claim… full responsibility for this."

"You alright, Jak?" Asked Keira with concern, still not moving from her position on top of Jak. Jak made a slight nod, pushing up off the ground with Keira still gripping him. Halfway up, he realised his close friend was still clinging tight.

"Umm Keira you're…" He stopped went he noticed something severely different with Keira, her ears. Rather than the long, pointed ears every human of his planet shared, they only had a half inch pointy tip. "… Ears." Jak finished his sentence involuntarily, reaching up for his own ears. Just like Keira's, they had shortened dramatically. During this time, Keira had also noticed the anatomical change, letting go of Jak and panicking slightly. Both were so transfixed with their change that they ignored the beautiful deep green forest that lay before them. Trees and brushes covered the area all around them, not many rays of light shining through the canopy. The forest was enrapturing and unnerving at the same time, because of the intense silence. Except the intense silence was rapidly shattered.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH" Screamed Daxter in the not too far distance.

"Dax!" Both friends yelled, bolting in the direction of the screams. Tearing through the undergrowth, Jak reached the location first, stunned at what he saw. Sat rocking back and forth on the ground, was a human. On closer inspection, Jak finally realised who this was. Daxter had reverted back to a human, with a few changes. His red hair was short and spiky, sat atop a slim face that no longer sported the bucktooth grin Jak knew from before Dax changed. Topless and also wearing his denim pants, Daxter still retained elements of his ottsel form: a deep orange tail, and his ears.

While initially silent, Keira's arrival snapped the best friends back to reality. "Looking good, Dax." Commented Keira upon seeing the Precursor.

"Good?" Dax questioned, hopping up and pacing about frantically. "I, well… it doesn't feel right."

"Not everything is gone, Dax." Jak stated reassuringly, indicating to the tail and ears. "You got the best of both worlds in my opinion."

Daxter's ottsel ears twitched at Jak's words. "Now that I think about it. My hearing is damn good. Like… way better than before!"

All of them grinned at the changes. Overall, everything had turned out far better than their last mishap with a Rift Rider. Unknown place, check. Alive, check. Armed men coming to arrest them, nope. Pitch black wolf creature stalking towards them, oh, wait. All three turned to the sound of growling, a pack of bone-armoured bipedal wolves circling near them. Jak couldn't shake the feeling they felt familiar, like they possessed something that he knew well.

One lunged, only to meet a crimson blast of energy that blasted it into a tree, but the blast was not from Jak. Keira stood beside Jak with her own Morph Gun in its basic Scatter Gun form. Shouldering the weapon, Keira noticed the looks of incredulity she was getting from Jak and Daxter.

"What? You thought Jak possessed the only Morph Gun?" Neither guys had a comeback as the growling intensified, a howl signalling the start of an assault.

"Dax! Catch!" Jak shouted as he slung his own Morph Gun at Daxter. Catching the weapon, Daxter grinned as he shifted it into its Blaster mode. Without his weapon, Jak resorted to a lunging punch at the nearest wolf, landing a solid hit on the side of its head. The wolf crumpled instantly under Jak's strength, dissolving into black mist. But then something strange happened. The mist swirled and coiled along the ground towards Jak, soaking into his body and filling him with a familiar feeling.

"These things are made of Dark Eco!" Shouted Jak to his friends as he leapt up to spin kick another wolf away.

"Dark Eco?!" Keira exclaimed in shock. "Since when could Dark Eco become a living being?"

"No idea! But give me a sec and I'll the rest out!" Declared Jak confidently while he sent one more wolf crashing into a tree, it dissolving into the mist that drifted towards Jak. Dropping back from the fight, Jak watched his friends battle furiously, Morph Guns tearing apart the strange wolves that attacked them. Inside himself, Jak felt a tugging power, one which he was happy to unleash.

His hair grew, turning white with a shade of purple. Jak's skin went pale and his ears contorted to their full length. Claws began to form on his hands, perfect for shredding and obliterating his foes. Opening his eyes, they were a void black, capable of unnerving even the most stalwart of fighters combined with his other external features.

Leaping up and forward, Jak cocked a fist back, ready to smash his enemies once he reached the ground. Seeing this, Keira and Daxter jumped back out of range, firing to ensure the wolves remained within the area of what was to come. Jak slammed down with great force, pinning a wolf under his fist as he unleashed a shockwave of Dark Eco energy all around him. Wolves disintegrated near the centre, while those caught on the edge were propelled into the treeline, undoubtedly meeting the same fate as those near Jak. With this strike, the changes made to Jak reverted as he stood tall. Letting out a deep breath, Jak rolled his shoulders and stretched out his muscles.

"Oh man that… does not get old." Said Jak with a grin as he finished up his stretches. Keira and Daxter walked up to him, clapping him on the back while Daxter attempted to return Jak's Morph gun to him. "Nah, hold onto it, buddy. If there are more of those things you'll need it."

Daxter nodded, resting the weapon on his right shoulder. "So what now?" Asked Daxter.

"We find civilisation?" Proposed Keira, to which the other two agreed. Little did they know, a civilisation had already found them. Or rather, one man as he watched them through the many hidden cameras throughout the forest. This man sat with his hands clasped together and his elbows resting on his desk, only one response elicited from what he just witnessed.

"Hmm."

The Chamber:

"So there you have it!" Exclaims the suited man before you. "The beginning of a fine tale I tell you. Full of action, adventure and mystery!"

You open your mouth to speak but he quickly stops you, a finger raised.

"Ah but you must be tired. And undoubtedly you have many questions." The man rises from his seat, picking up his glass of whiskey. "Please, rest. I will return to continue our riveting interaction once you have slept well."

Sleep calls for you, making you comply with the man's wishes. But as you settle deeper into the chair you have sat in for a while, the man speaks up one last time.

"Oh, shit. I was so wrapped up in our story that I forgot to introduce myself." Turning round he smiles at you and gives a small, polite bow. "I'm… Doctor Winston Arden. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Welcome, welcome, to my latest fanfiction. I have a deep love of the Jak and Daxter series (minus The Lost Frontier. It wasn't that great IMO).

Now I had a small OC submission for the inevitable team that will be formed. And the winner is...

AMVMASTER! Congratulations!

You will all meet his OC soon, but I must give runner-up commendations to Lightning Dragon King Virgil and Shadow Proclamation8 for some great designs too.

Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Dr Arden, whose character and design is a mashup of myself and some friends, with a sprinkling of Dr Monty from COD Black Ops 3.

As always, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you soon.

Wardtortle, out!

*Hora-Quan is the name the Precursors gave to the Metal Heads.