Disbelief. Fear. Pain. Anguish. These were the emotions running through Leo's mind when he fell to the floor, bleeding from a mortal injury. The most unbearable was the disbelief. Disbelief in the fact that he was bested so quickly. That he was going to die this soon. That he had been betrayed by the closest person to him. But the worst was the fear. The sort of tingling fear that freezes you to the spot, simply awaiting your fate. The kind you feel when the barrel of a gun is at your head, and the trigger is being squeezed...
"SAAMMM!-"
Jolting awake, Leo noticed he was drenched in sweat. '...Why now? Why is it starting up again? These dreams...they need to stop.' Leo thought to himself, as he held his head in his hands. He looked around for his watch to see what time it was, but eventually gave up on finding it. Seeing how dark it was in the room, Leo figured it still must be pretty early in the morning. When he heard movement outside his door, Leo cursed himself. 'Damn, I must have yelled and woken Mrs. Wakeman up...' He thought as he began searching for way to appologize for his outburst, when the door opened, a timid voice rung out to him.
"H-hello? W-who's th-there?" Jenny asked, sticking her head through the door. When she entered the room entirely, Leo gasped.
"My god, I knew you were going to be in bad shape, and that I had my work cut out for me, but...a wheelchair?" Leo said breathlessly. When Jenny heard Leo speak, her mood improved dramatically.
"Oh, you must be the guy who saved me!" Jenny said with a happy look on her face, which soured quickly. "I can't see anymore...but I recognize your voice from somewhere...who are you?" Jenny asked curiously, but didn't receive a response because Leo was thinking about his dream. "Hello? Are you still here?" Jenny asked with a concerned look on her face, which snapped Leo out of his trance.
"Hm? What? Oh, I'm sorry, I was..." Leo had paused, looking for a plausible excuse to his silence. Picking one at random, he hoped it wouldn't sound stupid. "I was just observing how your body is trying to adapt to it's situation...what was it you needed?"
"I asked who are you..I think I know you from somewhere." Jenny had repeated.
"Oh, you didn't hear me before I shut you off? I'm the same guy who helped you out last year." Leo had answered in a cryptic manner. Jenny had thought back, trying to place him, but got no results.
"Uhm...I can't quite remember. I hope my memory wasn't damaged, too...Mom said she wasn't sure of a way to find out except wait for a situation to arise where we could see." Jenny finished sadly, clearly concerned at her lack of rememberance.
"Oh...well, my name is Leo Silva. Does that ring any bells?" Leo asked in earnest. Not ready for the explosive reaction he got from Jenny, Leo jumped when she replied.
"Oh, Mr. Silva! That hottie from Sky-" Jenny shouted out loud before she covered her mouth and blushed intensely. Leo took one look at Jenny and laughed.
"We'll just put that down as crossed wires: What you mean to think goes to your voice systems instead." He struggeled to say, attempting to stem his laughter. "Also, as I had said last time we met...none of that 'Mr. Silva' crap, okay? I'm not much older than you, anyways, so I shouldn't have a title." Leo finished once he got his laughter under control. This perked Jenny's curiosity, and the teenager in her had to know.
"Say...how much older are you exactly?" Jenny asked, slightly blushing in a blue hue again.
"Thats right! I never answered your, ahh...A/S/L request, did I? You are...what, 16? Almost 17? Well, my birthday is about three weeks before your's, so I'm really not that much old-" Leo had begun, before he was cut off by an explosion of giddy laughter from Jenny. "Are you...okay? If you want, I can take a peek to see if some of your wires ARE crossed, or I can..." Leo began talking, but his voice faded away as Jenny began thinking to herself.
'Wow, he is even more clueless when it comes to girls than Sheldon! I didn't think that was possible...this should be fun.' Jenny had thought to herself with a devilish smile splayed across her face, to join her faint blush. Jenny finally came back down to earth when she realised Leo was asking her a question.
"Hellooo..? Earth to Jenny? Do you have the time? If its early, I didn't mean to wake you...if I did."
"Oh! Sorry, its 8:46 AM. I'm usually awake at 7:00 AM, and today was no exception. You didn't wake me up, so don't worry." Jenny had replied. Looking at Leo's confused face, she explained to him how the windows in the house work. He was throughly impressed by the windows suddenly losing a dark tint, allowing light to flood into the room. "What were you shouting about anyways? I thought someone broke in and hurt themselves badly." Jenny asked interestedly.
"Oh, it was just a small nightmare, nothing to worry about." Leo replied, downplaying the fear and anxiety the dream had caused him. He was about to drift off into deep thought about his dream again, when Jenny snapped him back to earth.
"So, did you wanna do anything today? We could call Brad over and hang out. I'm sure Tuck would like to actually see me. He hasn't since I..." Jenny had started, but then trailed off, looking troubled for a fraction of a second. Not wanting to let Jenny's suprisingly good mood be spoiled, Leo broke in.
"Whats your friend's numbers? I'll call them over to here. You're still too banged up to head outside just yet." Leo said in an attempt to get things rolling again. Visibly happy about Leo agreeing the hang out with her and her friends, Jenny sped out of the room in glee.
"Don't worry about it, I'll call them! I have a phone built into me!"
Brad and Tuck were a few minutes late, due to them having to decipher some of the garbled sounds that was coming out of Jenny's phone. When they finally arrived, Jenny heard them enter and scowled in the general direction of the door.
"Why were you late? I was beginning to think you were not going to show up." Jenny said with a hint of annoyance.
"I think your phone is damaged. We got alot of odd sounds while we talked to you. I hope we got everything right..." Brad said, unfurling a list, as Tuck ambled in carrying a bunch of CDs.
"At this point, I don't really CARE if we got something wrong! You have too many CDs, Brad!" Tuck complained. When Tuck looked over to Jenny, he gasped, and dropped the CDs. "Jenny...your eyes..." Tuck said sadly.
"Yeah, I'm...blind now. Mom says it should only be temporary, she is working on a new pair. Shes concerned about how long it'll take though, because she is making me a new body, too..." Jenny trailed off. As the three friends sat in silence, Leo suddenly burst through the basement door with a smug look on his face.
"Okay, everyone! I have wrangled that beast that Mrs. Wakeman calls a home theatre system and attached a CD player! We can now enjoy some real music, as opposed to Ludwig Van Beethoven...not that, I admit, I don't enjoy listening to him once in a while." Leo finished quietly. Brad, Tucker, and Jenny applauded his immense achievement, causing him to become confused.
"Dude, even SHELDON couldn't figure that thing out. And he is the nerdiest guy I know!" Brad explained.
"Quit waiting guys! My mom will be home in a few hours! I don't wanna be caught using her home theatre system while shes out, so lets enjoy it while it lasts!" Jenny said gleefully, as she wheeled herself onto a platform to go downstairs. As Brad and Tucker went to follow her, Leo stopped them both.
"Can I speak with you both privately for one minute?" Leo had asked, looking concerned. Brad just stared at Leo for a moment, and then nodded his head, an action that Tucker repeated. Just as Leo was about to speak again, Jenny peeked around again from the door.
"You guys coming, or what? I'm getting bored here!" Jenny complained.
"Uhh, yeah, one sec. Leo just has a question. You know: 'Guy Talk'." Brad said with cool emphasis on 'Guy Talk' to Jenny. Getting some hint unknown to Leo, Jenny blushed and whisked around the corner.
"I'll m-me-meet yuh-you d-down there!" was all Jenny had said before the three boys hear the platform slide down to the basement.
"So, whats up?" Brad asked as he turned back to Leo, wearing a concerned look on his face.
"Well...I'm concerned about Jenny...her mind, that is. We were talking earlier today, and it ended up on the events that...led to her current state. She had trailed off and then...well, she suddenly had an extreme look of sadness wash over her. It was only visible for a split second, almost unrecognizable, but I did see it. When I agreed to hang out with you three today, she suddenly looked very happy, although...I'm sure it wasn't sincere..." Leo had explained. Pausing to take a sip of water from a cup he hadn't been aware he had grabbed and filled, he continued. "Her inability to save the lives of the people on that aircraft must be weighing heavily on her, but she puts on a masking emotion when the situation asks for it, hiding what she is truely feeling. She hasn't come to terms with whats happened to her yet...but I can't blame her. I've gone through equally trying circumstances..." Leo trailed off again, in deep thought, only to snap back again when Brad spoke.
"So what do you want us to do? I want Jenny to...feel better soon. She couldn't help herself even in that situation, the only person she should blame is that monster that wreaked her." Brad said sharply. Leo looked at Brad, and then Tucker, before he looked out the kitchen window and spoke again.
"I'm going to ask you to continue to be a good friend to her. Remind her of her innocence to their deaths when you see she dwells on it, and keep saying it until it finally lodges itself in her head. The more people who do it, the quicker she'll heal mentally." Leo finished. Tucker finally spoke up with a question of his own.
"How do you know this will...make her happy again?" Tucker asked honestly. Leo looked down at Tucker, looking for a way to answer. When he finally found a suitable one, he spoke.
"Because I've seen the alternative." Leo replied.
As Jenny, Brad, and Tucker all sang along with the lyrics of the latest hit on the Teen Pop music scene, Leo was deep in thought again. He wasn't even aware that Brad was talking to him until he shook his shoulder.
"Dude, you need to loosen up. You always seemed to be thinking deeply about something really seriously. Its not like adults don't need fun once in a while." Brad said in a happy tone. Glancing up with a sour look and a sigh, he saw Jenny stifiling a laugh.
"Seriously, whats with this preconceived motion that I'm like...26? Was it because I was in Skyway Patrol? Need I remind you, Brad, that you were also in Skyway Patrol?" Leo replied in an angry tone. Suprised by his reaction, Brad answered Leo's retorhical question.
"Well, uhm, no...I remember that...it sort of, But, uhh...yeah. How old ARE you then?" Brad asked in an embarrassed manner, rubbing the back of his neck with his palm.
"...I'm only three weeks older than Jenny." Leo replied calmly. Both Brad and Tuck replied with a 'Duuuh...?', causing Jenny to be unable to contain her laughter any longer.
"Oh, I wish I could see the look on your faces! That sound was priceless!" Jenny said once she calmed down a bit. Leo suddenly snapped his fingers, got up, placed his hand under Jenny's chin, and lifted up lightly. "Wh-what are you d-doing?" Jenny stammered, while she blushed intensely.
"Hold still, lemme take a look at your eyes." Leo said in a soothing tone. Getting up and walking over to see what was going on, Brad asked Leo a question.
"What are we looking at, Leo? Is there a way to save her eyes or something?" Brad probed. Letting go of Jenny's chin, Leo replied.
"Well, save them, no. These eyes are written off, unfortunately." Leo said in a cocky manner. Looking back at Jenny, who was still confused, Leo asked her a question. "Jenny? Is your mom working on some eyes for you already?"
"Not yet...she said she was more concerned about my new body she is creating. She wanted to get that done first." Jenny replied, wondering where Leo was taking them with his line of questioning. She didn't have to wait long for her answer though, as he spoke up again.
"So would you guys like to help me get some poetic justice and simultaneously get Jenny a pair of new eyes?"
It only took about an hour for Brad to return from Leo's home on Toboco Island, after he borrowed the Exo-Suit that Sheldon had built. Leo had directed him to retrieve a crate from his shack in his backyard that had been labeled 'Rare Materials Storage'. As he was approaching the Wakeman Household from the air, he could see and hear Mrs. Wakeman shouting at Jenny.
"...only gone for two hours and you manage to trick Leo into high-jacking my recreation system, and rewire it to play CDs! Really, I didn't design my daughter to twist boys around her finger! And now I hear you have him building you new eyes! The poor boy worked himself to death on saving your life, and you're already pushing him to work on you more!" Mrs. Wakeman finished yelling at a visibly bored Jenny. When Brad landed with the crate infront of Mrs. Wakeman, she was about to speak, but stopped short when she noticed the contents label on the crate. Standing there with her mouth hanging open, Leo appeared from the front door and spoke.
"Yeah, thats Nelliumite. One of the rarest materials in the known universe..." Leo trailed off, where Mrs. Wakeman picked up.
"...and the best to use in robotic optics." Mrs. Wakeman said quietly. She turned to Leo, with an astonished look on her face. "How did you manage to get your hands on this? Especially this amount!"
"Well," Leo began, smiling, "this is where my poetic justice comes in. An ex-girlfriend of mine had given this to me as a present a while back. Then, shortly afterward, she allowed herself to be twisted by Vexus' ideals, and assisted her in attacking the area I had been stationed in at the time, which wounded me pretty badly. I've been trying to decide how to use it to get some justice, and this situation just screams for me to use it. Hence why I offered to begin work on a new set of eyes." Leo had finished. Looking between Leo and Jenny, she spoke up.
"You...offered? XJ-9 didn't ask you to make her any..?" Mrs. Wakeman asked with a rare look of sheer confusion on her face.
"No, mom, I didn't! I would have said something, but when you start yelling I can't ever say anything, so I was going to wait until you were done shouting. You told me this morning how bad he looked once he finished his work on me, so I wasn't even going to ask anything of him for a couple weeks." Jenny finished with a 'hmph'. and crossed her arms. Mrs. Wakeman was going about apologizing to Jenny when Sheldon came running up the street, carrying some rolled up blueprints.
"Hey! Leo! I got your message, and I made some mock-ups of possibilities. Here, take a look at this design! It has..." Sheldon started to speak in very technical terms. Leo, Mrs. Wakeman, and Sheldon began talking in hushed tones about the benefits and drawbacks of various designs, which left Jenny, Brad, and Tuck out of the loop of what was going on. Shrugging to each other, the trio went back into the house to listen to more CDs, while the others were still in discussion.
"Oh! I meant to ask, what was Leo's house like, Brad?" Jenny asked him, putting on her best attempt at an innocent looking face. Looking at Jenny, Brad laughed.
"You need to work on that face, Jenny. I can still tell when your questions have other motivations for coming around." Brad said, lightly elbowing a now blushing Jenny in the arm. Crossing her arms, she replied.
"Oh, stop being a jark and just tell me! He seems like an interesting guy, so I...you know...want to get to know him?" Jenny finished in a questioning tone. Brad just smiled and shook his head, but answered her previous question anyways.
"I can't even begin the describe the guy's house...it's MASSIVE! He is easily richer than that kid who attempted to wreak christmas using you. Don Prima's net value would probably look like pocket money compared to Leo's." Brad said in an astonished tone, recalling what he had seen. Seeing the confused look on Jenny's face, Brad continued to explain.
"Okay, basically...to purchase some land on Toboco Island, you need some serious cash. Probably about the same amount that Don Prima's and the kid's house combined would total." Brad had paused, doing some sort of calculations using his fingers. Giving up, he continued. "continuing that line of thought, his house is definately bigger than anti-christmas boy's is, And HIS house cost some serious dough, if I recall hearing the end value correctly. To top it all off, based on the reaction that Mrs. Wakeman had when she saw the stuff I had brought, he either has lots of friends who enjoy giving him some rare materials, or he is richer than sin. Leo has an entire storage house of different thing's I've never heard of, all of which must be rare, because the building itself is labeled 'Rare Materials Storage'." Brad finished. Having heard all this, Jenny began speaking silently to herself.
"Amazingly rich, extremely handsome if my memory is correct, and robot savvy..." Jenny said, her voice and body trembling. Tuck being right next to her, he became concerned about his safety.
"Uhh, Jenny? Are you going to explode or something? Cause I'd like to move fir-" he had begun to say, before Jenny began shouting with glee, and accidentally sending Tuck through the ceiling to the next floor.
"He is PERFECT! PERFECT! I just HAVE to go out on a date with him!" Jenny said, swooning. Brad attempting to calm a love-struck Jenny down, Tucker came back down the staircase with an irritated look and a bandaid on his face. Once Jenny had calmed down enough, Tuck 'ahemed' to get Brad's and her attention.
"I just heard Leo shouting something interesting down in the labs when I had to walk by their doors to get back here, you know. I thought about letting you know, but seeing as you just SENT ME THOUGH THE CEILING...I'm not so sure I will." Tuck said defiantly. Turning in Tucker's general direction, Jenny began to plead with Tucker.
"Please! I have to know what he said! PleasePleasePleasePlease! I'll do anything!" Jenny begged loudly. Smiling evilly, Tucker replied slowly.
"...anything?"
"..y-yes..?" Jenny replied warily, realising her goof even before Brad spoke up.
"Oh god Jenny...what have you done..?"
After an hour of the trio playing "Rabbit Sam's adventure in Candy Land" on the Xcylinder 1800 (Jenny routed the video output through her external input port first), Tucker finally spoke up.
"Okay, I think thats enough torture for one day." Tucker had said in a satisifed tone, to which Jenny tore out the video cable with haste, and began to make gagging sounds. Brad had dropped his controller, and curled into a ball in a corner of the room, shaking. Admiring his handy work, Tuck smiled.
"Now...tell me...what Leo said." Jenny said in-between heaves. Thinking back, Tucker realised he had forgotten most of what Leo shouted.
"Err, well...he said...uhh...heh heh.." Tucker mumbeled, glancing around for an avenue of escape. Expecting this, Jenny quickly grabbed his wrist and raised Tuck into the air.
"Tell me NOW, or I'll make you watch romance movies with me for five hours!" Jenny had threatened, causing Brad to look up and turn white at the sound of his brother's fate.
"Oh god! Tell her Tuck, I think she means it! I can't even wish that upon you, even after what you made us endure!" Brad had shouted at his brother out of fear, mainly because he'd be forced to watch them also as he was responsible for looking after his brother at the moment. Tucker began to panic, thinking wildly, before he suddenly shouted.
"Oh! I remember something now! Let me down and I'll tell you!" Tuck finished with a not-so-innocent smile. Not falling for his trick, Jenny slammed the input cable from the gaming machine back into herself and slid out the disc of the most lovey-dovey romance movie, that was released earlier in the year, from her center storage compartment in a threatening manner. Now fearful for his sanity, Tuck broke. "Okay! I'll tell you what I remember, even if you don't put me down! Fair deal! Just put the movie away!" he begged. Jenny complied, and snapped the movie container closed, tossing the movie inside of herself before closing the door to her central compartment.
"Now, tell me what you know. No second chances at this point, if I feel you don't remember enough, I'm strapping you down and grabbing a box of mechanic's oil wipes, and starting the movie." Jenny said in a very threatening manner. Getting the message, Tucker began to speak.
"Well...what I can recall is that he was shouting in what sounded like surprise and embarrassment at first. Something about you having your privacy from being seen bare." Tucker said while straining to remember what he heard. Seeing that Jenny wasn't satisfied, he continued. "I'm not completely sure of what your Mom and he spoke about, must have been what he had shouted about, and it sounded like she was agreeing with him about something. What I can remember, is Sheldon mumbling something that caused Leo to get angry. What he shouted then, I can recall clearly." Tuck had finished, attempting to cause a cliffhanger. Placing him on the ground, Jenny looked intensely at Tuck, while Brad finally walked over to the two of them.
"What did he say, Tuck? Just because I put you down, doesn't mean my threat still stands." Jenny said in a threatening manner. Waving off the threat, Tucker continued.
"Calm down, I'm getting to that. Anyways, Leo started to shout angrily at Sheldon, in technical terms that I can't repeat, I might add. Eventually he said something I could repeat. 'Jesus, Sheldon...Let me put it into layman's terms for you: She's getting a rack!'" Tucker had said in his best attempt at Leo's voice. Both Brad and Jenny stared at Tucker in a confused manner.
"A...rack? I'm getting a rack? What sort of rack? A weapon rack?" Jenny had asked Tucker in a confused tone. Unable to answer, Tucker just shrugged his shoulders. As Jenny was thinking what this rack could hold, Brad suddenly started making a series of jerky hand movements to his mouth.
"Oh.." was all he said, looking straight forward at a wall, halfway between concerned and laughing. Noticing Jenny looking in his general direction, Brad spoke up. "I'd better not say what I've come up with. I'm 99% sure I'm wrong, there is so many other things it could be. Anyways, what happened after that, Tuck?"
"Not much. Whatever they were talking about, Sheldon must have understood what Leo was trying to tell him, and he started to agree with him. He also said something about him preferring Jenny not kill him. I thought I heard footsteps coming towards the door, so I took off down the stairs to here." Tucker finished. Jenny and Brad looked at each other, trying to think about what the mystery behind Lab door #1 was.
After trying to listen in on what was going on behind the door a number of times, the trio eventually gave up and decided to wait and see what Jenny's new body would feature. Leo joined them periodically when they hung out, and even joined them on an outing into town when Mrs. Wakeman and himself agreed that she was in a stable enough condition to do so, but he mainly went to ensure she didn't degrade suddenly with no one to help her. Today was no different either, but Leo was a little more relaxed now, as Sheldon also accompanied them. Jenny had become self-conscious of how people had been staring at her and her wheelchair, when Tucker shouted angrily at a group of people who had done just such a thing while the friends sat at a table in Mezmers.
"Tuck, calm down! Its going to happen, there is nothing we can do but wait for my new body..." Jenny said, slightly depressed that her eyes and body had gone past their proposed deadline. Somehow sensing her disappointment, Leo chipped in.
"Jenny, don't sweat the time lapse too much. It just means we're trying to make it better, with less bugs to iron out later. About your eyes..." Leo trailed off, not wanting to let too much out of the bag. He glanced at Sheldon. who nodded lightly, telling him to continue. "Your eyes won't be available to you until your body is finished, because they socket has changed dramatically. They won't fit into your current body, as the eyes are now prongs instead of contact pads. There is also more prongs than pads, so more data can be received and sent to your optical processing unit." Leo had finished, hoping he raised Jenny's spirits a bit.
"That's kind of a downer, I guess...but at-least they'll work better than these did." Jenny finished in a slightly happy tone. Leo looked down, smiling at Jenny, when he noticed that rare flicker of regret again. He grabbed her shoulder, an action which surprised the three other boys.
"Jenny...don't let the past haunt you. You didn't get those people killed, they died because of that freak who attacked you." Leo said with a grim look on his face. Following his lead, Brad chimed in.
"Leo is right, Jenny. There was nothing you could do, even if you went ahead and got yourself killed in a last ditch attempt to save them." Brad finished, where Sheldon picked it up again himself.
"Don't let their death's weaken and destroy you. Let it be your fuel to a speedy recovery, so you can get moving again, and face that jerk in a fight where you and the rest of them can exact their revenge." Sheldon finished, looking fiercely at his friend. Even with the kind words of her friends, Jenny began to cry lightly.
"...but why am I being rewarded with a new, better body, when I...when..I.." Jenny tried to finish before she gave up and placed her head in her hands and began to weep openly. The entire restaurant had come to a stand still, and all the patrons had begun to stare sadly at Jenny, unable to comprehend the amount of emotional pain she was in. Unable to stand seeing his friend in this much pain, Brad reached over and hugged her tightly. Surprised at his action, Jenny warily returned the grasp, before she returned the tight grip and resumed crying into his shoulder.