Eric got out of his truck and closed the door behind him. He had been on his way home when he got a call saying that someone reported seeing strange activity happening at an abandoned warehouse that hasn't been used in years. It was just nearing dark when Eric had arrived. He looked around at the old building; everything seemed quiet.
Eric walked up to the door; he had his blaster gun ready just in case. He slowly opened the door, holding the blaster out in front of him. He stepped in, looking in every direction, but could see little. It was total darkness. Eric reached for his flashlight from his harness, and turned it on. With one hand he held his blaster firmly, while his other hand used the flashlight to guide him. The flashlight offered just a little light, but enough for Eric to see. He saw a few torn blankets and sleeping bags, scraps of food, and other trashy looking stuff that he didn't recognize.
"Strange activity? Ha." Eric reached for his radio. "Command Base, come in, this is Commander Myers."
"We read you, Commander."
"I checked out the location; it's clean. Probably just a bunch of homeless people looking for a place."
"Thank you, Commander. I'll cancel the backup."
"Alright. I'm out of here, Myers out." Eric turned off his radio and put it back on his belt. He took one more look around just to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He then headed for the door. The next thing he knew something had hit his head hard and then everything went black.
Eric was drifting in and out of consciousness. He opened his eyes slightly, but everything was a blur. He felt dizzy and dazed like the whole room was spinning.
"You didn't have to do that; we can trust him," said a voice. It was female, from what Eric could gather, and vaguely familiar to him.
"I want to be sure. There's no telling what could have happened when the CellBorgs were here..." said another voice. It was male, strong and firm and his voice, too, seemed familiar to Eric.
Eric tossed his head around as he was slowly coming back from being knocked out. He hadn't been able to pick up on much of they were saying. The voices drifted from being loud, then soft, and then nothing.
"He's waking up." It was another male voice but it sounded younger than the male who had spoken before. The three stared at Eric, looking at him in the little light from the ceiling, while they hid in the shadows.
Eric opened his eyes slowly, he could barely make out three people hiding in the shadows. It was too dark to tell who they were. Eric then tried to stand up, but was unable to. That's when he noticed he had been handcuffed to a chair. The Silver Guardian Commander struggled to get free but was unable to. He then tried to yell out, but his mouth had been taped up.
"Settle down, Eric, you wouldn't want to hurt yourself, would you?" said the male voice. Eric knew that voice, it was Tommy's. Jason had been right, Tommy was alive. "I'm sure you know who I am, thanks to Jason. But that's not important." Tommy took a deep breath as he stepped forward out of the dark shadows and came into the little light that was just above Eric.
Eric's eyes lit up. He still couldn't believe that it was Tommy standing right in front of him. It was so unreal. "I need to know I can trust you. It may seem like a stupid question, considering at one time we did fight alongside each other, but I have my reasons. Can I trust you?" he asked.
Tommy was right, it did seem like a stupid question to Eric. Why would Tommy be asking him if he could be trusted? It didn't seem to fit in. Eric gave Tommy a confused, he wasn't sure how he should answer or whether he should trust Tommy. Something just didn't seem right.
"Here this should tell us," said Tommy.
Eric watched as Tommy pulled a small device out of his pocket. It looked to be some scanner of some type. Tommy then moved closer to Eric and ran the scanner around his neck. Eric did not know what the point of this was, but he was sure he find out soon enough.
"Good, you're clean. Alright guys, you can step forward they haven't gotten to him," said Tommy.
They? Who's They? Eric wondered. What was Tommy talking about who hasn't gotten to him?
The two who had been with Tommy now stepped forward to finally reveal who they were. Eric's face turned white as a ghost. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. If he had ever been confused about anything he sure was now.
"Hello Eric, it's good to see you again…" she said softly.
Eric was still in shock from seeing the identity of the other two. But how is this possible? This was one more question to add to the list. A list of questions Eric needed answers for.
Tommy then moved in front of them, and then took the tape off of Eric's mouth gently. "Sorry about the whole knocking you out thing, but from where we come from you can't be too careful," said Tommy.
"Where you come from? What are you talking about?" asked Eric.
"We have a lot of explaining to do." Tommy dropped his head slightly and gave Eric a very serious look. "And I'm afraid you will not like what you have to hear…" he said softly.
Eric then noticed something about all of them that he hadn't seen until just now. They all appeared to be tired and weary as if they all carried the weight of the world on their shoulders. He could sense a great sadness among them, something was wrong, very wrong, something bad had happened. And he knew just by looking at them that whatever had happened to them was probably more than he would ever dream of.
The next day Jen and Wes were in their living room. Early in the morning they had gotten a call from Eric saying he needed to speak to them. He wouldn't say what it was about, only that it was important.
"Did he say anything else?" asked Jen as she sat down on the couch next to Wes, taking a sip of her coffee.
Wes shook his head. "No, only that it was very important and it would be too dangerous to say on the phone," answered Wes as he set his mug onto the coffee table. Jen turned to Wes looking at him with concern. It wasn't like Eric to be so secretive; they both knew whatever it was, it had to be very important.
"Do you think it has something to do with Sy-Kee?"
Wes shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. That would explain why he wouldn't say on the phone..."
Jen nodded her head, knowing that if it had something to do with Sy-Kee that it was possible for Sy-Kee to listen in on their calls. Not a second later Wes's morpher beeped. Wes and Jen looked at each other; this was it. Wes bit his lip, almost afraid to answer. Whatever Eric had to tell them it wasn't going to be good, that point had been clear by the sound of Eric's voice. It sounded shaken up and frightened.
Wes took a deep breath before answering. Jen placed her hand on Wes's shoulder and nodded her head. It was time. "Go ahead Eric."
"We're here, we came to the back door. Is everything clear?"
"Yeah. My dad let the staff off for the day and he left about an hour ago for a meeting. He said he'd be there most of the day."
"Good. See you in a few."
Wes and Jen waited in the living room for what felt like forever, even though it had been three minutes since Eric had contacted them. The two didn't know what to think. They both were scared and concerned as if their very lives depended on what Eric needed to tell them. Both of them felt uneasy as Eric walked into the living room alone. Wes and Jen looked up at him. Eric looked as though he hadn't gotten any sleep, he appeared restless and anxious.
"You said 'we', when you contacted us. Where are the others?" asked Wes, expecting to see someone along with Eric.
Eric didn't answer at first. He licked his lips, he felt very uneasy. He didn't know how he should act or whether what he was about to do was a good idea. He knew this was the last thing Wes and Jen needed, but he also knew if they were going to stop Sy-Kee they had to know, no matter how painful or how confusing it all might be. Eric took a deep breath, gathering up his courage. "….Yeah, I did," said Eric softly. He stopped, not knowing how to start this out. What to say or how to say it. It wasn't like this was going to be an easy thing to do.
Wes and Jen looked at Eric, concerned. This wasn't like Eric at all. He looked scared; more scared than both of them ever thought possible. "Eric, is everything alright? You don't look too good..." asked Wes, concerned.
"Eric, just tell us what is up or what is wrong. I'm sure once you do, you'll feel a whole lot better," said Jen.
In most cases that probably would be true, but if only she knew. Eric sighed heavily; no matter what he wouldn't feel better, not after what he had learned, and he would have to hear it all over again. It was just too much to bear. Eric bit his lip and took another deep breath. Time to get this over with, here goes nothing. "I wish it were that simple, but this time it's not going to be. I'm afraid what I found out wasn't good…." Eric sighed heavily.
Wes and Jen could feel their hearts sink. What could it possibly be that it's hard for even Eric to spit it out?
Eric turned his head towards the kitchen entrance where they had been waiting. "It's time, guys, you can come in…" said Eric softly. Knowing that what would happen next would come as a shock, be painful, confusing, and all too much to handle, but there was no other way.
Wes and Jen waited as three people walked into the room and stood right behind Eric. The room seemed to stop as the three strangers were revealed. But there was one who caught both Wes' and Jen's eyes so that neither one knew what to say or think. They weren't prepared for this. It was as if all time had stopped. The person who both of them couldn't believe they were seeing was…Jen.
For a long moment Wes looked back and forth at the two Jens, as if to check that he wasn't just seeing things. But it wasn't just him, everyone else saw it. And from the looks of it Jen was taking this the hardest; how was it possible for there to be two of her?
Tommy then stepped forward, getting in front of Eric. He looked at Wes and Jen sadly, he hated to do this to them, but they needed their help. "I'm sorry. I know this must be hard on the two of you..." He then turned and looked over at Jen who was standing next to the young man whom Eric had recognized as Justin. "And you.." he sighed. He could see how painful this was for her, after everything that had happened to them. Tommy turned back, looking at Wes and Jen. "But I'm afraid we didn't have much of a choice, we need help in defeating Sy-Kee….I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and we'll do our best to answer them, but some of the answers you may not like……" Tommy bowed his head, sighing. "…What am I saying? You won't like them. In fact it may be very difficult for you to hear…" Tommy sighed again.
Wes looked over at Eric and he could swear he could see tears building up in Eric's eyes. That's when Wes knew something terrible had happened. Wes then grabbed a hold of Jen's hand, having a feeling both of them were going to need it. "Whatever it is we're here to listen to…" said Wes, knowing he was going to regret saying that.
Jen held on to Wes's hand tightly. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that this was her worst nightmare come true.
In the next few moments, Eric and the others gathered around on the other pieces of furniture getting ready to tell their story.
Tommy dropped his head and grasped his hands together, as if praying for help in explaining what happened. He sighed heavily, he had heard once the more you talk about something the easier it gets, but somehow he knew this would never get easier no matter how much he talked about it. "Okay…." And just as he was about to tell them, they all heard a knock at the door….