"What are you talking about?" asked Wes, almost afraid to ask. Things were bad enough as they were. He didn't need any more…..
"Wait a minute," Jen stepped around from Wes so she was face to face with Merrick. "I just saw Eric a couple of days ago."
"I know," he answered, giving her a look like he knew what had happened between her and Eric. "He and I left to find you, which led us here, but along the way we decided to split up." Merrick knew he would have to explain things carefully; while he knew that Jen appeared to trust him, he wasn't so sure Wes did. Something was very different about him. He did not seem to be the man Eric had told him about. Something had changed. "Eric was captured. I later disguised myself as a cyclobot and found the location where Ransik and the Mutorgs are hiding."
"Ransik and the Mutorgs are working together?" exclaimed Jen.
"Yes, it appears that way."
"And you just left him there!" yelled Wes. He looked as though he was about to knock Merrick out of the chair, but Jen quickly grabbed a hold of him and pulled him back.
"Take it easy Wes, Merrick's on our side."
"Yeah." Wes looked at Merrick, as if he were disgusted with him. "Has a hell of a way showing it," announced Wes coldly.
"Wes, what's gotten into you?" Now Jen really was getting concerned, this wasn't like Wes. He would never lash out at anyone like that. Now she really wanted to know what was wrong with him. What he was keeping from her and why he wouldn't just tell her. "I'm sure Merrick has a perfectly good reason as to why he left Eric there."
"He better…" Wes looked right at Merrick, and if Merrick hadn't been the kind of man he was, Wes's intense ice cold glare would have sent shivers down his back.
"I wanted to get him out of there, but Eric refused. There were too many. We wouldn't have gotten out alive." Merrick kept his cool, not wanting to push any more buttons of Wes's, who looked like he could blow any second.
"That does sound like Eric," answered Jen. She gently placed her hand on Wes's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Doesn't it, Wes?"
"Yeah," answered Wes coolly.
Though he was growing tired and getting weaker by the moment, Eric knew he had to hold it together a little longer. He had been trained for situations such as this one and had passed with flying colors, although the Army never prepared with such creatures as the ones before him. Ransik, a self-centered mutant whose only purpose was to destroy all humans - and then the three creatures, with plans of their own in store. But either way Eric knew he could assume that humans weren't going to be part of whatever world they were trying to create.
But how long before they found him no longer useful? Would he still be alive by the time Merrick arrived with help? And even if he was, would they be enough to defeat both Ransik and the Mutorgs, while fighting against an army of cyclobots? It seemed more than what they could handle. It wasn't like him to question such things. Before, it was either do or die, at least until that day…..that one day. It was the day that changed everything. The day death stared him right in the face. The day darkness covered the city that he'd fought to protect.
Enough blood had already been shed. He knew if he could he would blow this whole building up, taking his life with it, if he had to. No one else should have to die…
"Feeling gloomy, human?" Ransik got right into Eric's face, breathing his hot and bitter breath into his face. "Don't worry. It won't be much longer. I promise to make your death swift and quick," he smirked. "Unlike your friend…"
Anger and rage flowed right through Eric's body, but he had to keep his cool. He needed to figure something out, just in case help didn't arrive. He looked over to where the mutorgs were gathered around each other resting and talking silently amongst each other. "If I were you I'd be more concerned who I'm in alliance with, and whether they can be trusted."
Ransik snickered and leaned closer to Eric. Out of all the humans he had been faced with, Eric was the one that had always stuck out in his mind, for many reasons. "You and I are not that different."
"I find that hard to believe." Eric looked him square in the eyes. "You and I are nothing alike!"
Ransik laughed. "Oh really? Why was it again that you made an alliance with the other rangers? Tell me you had no ulterior motives?"
And as hard as he tried he couldn't for the life with him come up with an answer to say that wasn't true. He'd had motives. He had wanted to have the kind of power they had and once he had gotten it…..but that was before...
"You see, we are alike," hissed Ransik.
Eric shook his head. "No. Maybe I was, but that was before I learned what being part of a team is all about." He looked Ransik hard in the eyes. "And that's what separates me from you and from them."
"Too bad, we could have used someone like you on our team."
Eric smirked. "And since when are you a team player? Last time I checked, Frax was dead and I don't see your daughter Nadira anywhere." Eric didn't know what had become of Nadira, last he knew she was alive, many of the Guardians had told him that they had seen her running around, but she appeared not to be herself. "What, she decided that she didn't like being on Daddy's team anymore? Too bad, maybe if she was still around, maybe then I would have joined. She was kind of cute."
Angrily, Ransik slashed Eric across the face for his smart remark, but it didn't even faze Eric. And Ransik knew it. Eric was tough and would take any blow thrown at him. He couldn't get to him, not like he had been able to get at the other rangers. He knew where their breaking points were. "Just a few more hours and then you'll be out of my hair."
"Why not just get it over with now?"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Ransik snickered and blew his hot breath into Eric's face. "But then, what would your friend come back here for…."
Eric felt his heart skip a beat. Merrick…. How had Ransik known? Even he hadn't known it was Merrick at first.
"That's right. I knew it was him all along. He may have acted like a cyclobot, but he didn't play the part well enough. He didn't fool me." Ransik pulled out his sword and began sharpening it. "And here's the best part: I sent one of my top cyclobots to follow him…." A wide grin covered Ransik's face. "And where do you suppose he'll lead them to?"
Anger and fury rushed through Eric's veins. He struggled to get free, but couldn't.
"Wes, I want to go with you," pleaded Jen, as she watched as Wes got ready. He was making sure his Silver Guardian blaster was fully loaded and clipped it onto his belt.
"No. Merrick and I can handle it. If we need help, you'll be the first person we'll contact," answered Wes. Just moments ago he had pretty much ordered Merrick to show him to the location where Ransik was keeping Eric.
"But Wes…." Jen started, knowing very well this was too much for Merrick and Wes to handle all on their own. Even Merrick had seemed to agree. He did not want to return to the location, not without the rest of his teammates, but for someone reason Wes wouldn't listen to reason. Jen couldn't decide whether he just didn't trust Merrick or whether it had something to do with the way he had been acting. It probably was a little of both.
"No buts." Wes turned to her and kissed her gently on the cheek, and gave her a warm smile. "You just stay here with the Guardians; get something to eat." Wes caught a glimpse of Merrick, heading right towards them. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," answered Merrick coolly. He didn't like this one bit, something was wrong here. He could feel it. "But I don't like this. We should wait for the others to arrive."
"And you haven't been able to get in contact with them," Wes reminded him. Merrick had been trying for the last half hour to get in touch with the other Wild Force rangers, but was unable to. "We're leaving."
Merrick saw it was useless trying to reason with Wes, and a look from Jen told him that this wasn't at all like Wes. "Fine. We'll do things your way." Merrick bid fare-well to Jen and gave her a nod, letting her know he'd keep an eye on Wes, and if necessary take matters into his own hands - which from the looks of things just might happen.
Jen made her way into a small storage room where all the food was stored. Most of it was canned goods, and an assortment of powdered milk boxes, dry cereal, dry fruits and a few boxes of fruit which didn't look too appetizing, but if someone was hungry enough…. Jen decided that a box of dry cereal looked to be the only safe thing to eat, even if it was stale at least she could tolerate it.
She sat down and started eating it. It wasn't until then that she realized how hungry she really was. It had been a while since she last ate, with everything that had happened food had been the last thing on her mind. But even now food still was the furthest thing from her mind, no matter how hungry she felt. Right now her mind was on Wes. The way he had been acting, ever since they had made love; but that couldn't be what started his strange behavior. He had been acting strange even beforehand. Jen continued to ponder the situation with Wes, when Nadira came in.
"Oh I didn't know you were in here," Nadira came to a dead stop, not knowing whether she should stay right where she stood or turn around and leave. "I'll leave if you want."
"No, you can stay." She might not totally trust Nadira, but Wes did. And if Wes trusted Nadira as much as he said he did, perhaps Nadira might know what was going on with Wes and why he wasn't quite himself. "Not that there's anything really appealing to eat."
Nadira smiled faintly and grabbed a can of food, and sat a little ways from Jen. She was right across from her but gave Jen enough space, just in case she wanted to be left alone. "You get used to it after a while."
A few moments of silence passed and Jen continued to eat. Jen knew she would have to make the first move to get this conversation started, knowing that in their past conversation she had made it perfectly clear she wanted nothing to do with Nadira. "So where's James?"
Nadira was a little startled. She hadn't been expecting for Jen to start up a conversation with her, but she wasn't about to back down from one. A lot of things needed to be said. Perhaps in time Jen would begin to trust her, just as Wes and the Guardians here had. "He's sleeping." Nadira smiled faintly, but then she added quickly. "Wes isn't his father."
"I know."
"I'm not his mother."
"What do you mean? He's really taken with you."
"Wes didn't tell you, did he?"
"Tell me what?" Now Jen was starting to get concerned. The look on Nadira's face was very concerned. Something very bad must have happened, so bad that it even brought Nadira near tears. "You know what's wrong with him, don't you?" And now Jen was beginning to wonder if she even wanted to know what had happened to Wes.
No words were said at first, as Nadira bowed her head down, sighing and putting her can of food to the side, no longer hungry. She had tried to help Wes through his pain, his guilt, his curse, as he called it. And at first he had allowed her to help him, but then he drew away from her help. When Jen showed up, she had hoped that Wes would confide in her. She knew how much he loved Jen and felt that because of that, he would let Jen get him through this. But the look on Jen's face told her she had been wrong. "Wes hasn't been sleeping."
"At all?"
"No. Not since he recovered from his injuries, after that was when things began to fall apart." Jen sat there motionless, listening to every word that Nadira spoke, as the nightmare became a reality. "He was a complete wreck when he learned what had happened and when he saw it with his own eyes……"
It was a nightmare; all he wanted was to wake up. …..but this was no nightmare, this was for real. The once proud city he had grown up in was no more. Darkness covered the city and dead bodies covered the grounds. People had died. Not everyone had made it out alive. It was sickening to his stomach and brought tears to his eyes, because there were not just bodies of dead Silver Guardians, but whole families, children. At that moment all he wanted was to die right there, that very moment he wanted his life to be over. "They're all dead, because of me…."
\He had been the one that sent the others back in time, to prevent their deaths, as their deaths. It had been what the messenger said to do. It had been what he had said to do, but now he was beginning to wonder if their ever really had been a message from him in the future. During the battle he never did find anyway that would have caused him to contact himself in the past. Maybe it all had just been another dream, like the one before, which made this all the more worst.
What if the others had been here? Could they have saved more lives had they been here? He would never know, but he knew he would always wonder. Wes dropped tos his knees crying out loudly in his pain and torment, a pain that he knew would never go away. He was a power ranger, it was his duty to protect the city, the protect the people, but instead…. "I failed……"
Tears covered Jen's eyes and they rolled down her cheek. It was worse than she ever could imagine and Nadira wasn't finished. "Some of the Silver Guardians resented him. They hated him, they were so angry when they learned he had sent you and the others back. They blamed him for everything that happened…."
"But he's working with them fine now. Right?" Jen choked. She had seen him working with the Guardians; they even referred to him as their commander.
Nadira bit her lip and sighed heavily. Even now it still haunted her in her sleep, the horror, the blood, and the screams. It would be a day she would never be able to forget. It was a day she wished she could erase from her memory. "They're no longer with us…."
"Wh-what do you mean?" But all the while she could see where this was headed. It was headed into a direction she never thought would ever be possible, but given the situation; it was only a matter of time. "They left, right...?" Jen was sobbing now. "Tell me they left…"
If only….. But unfortunately things hadn't gone that way, six of the Silver Guardians turned on him and started attacking him…
"You bastard! This is your fault!" roared the Guardian leading the rampage as he pounded a fist into Wes's already reddened face, knocking Wes to the ground. Due to the injures he had withstood from Ransik weeks before, he wasn't able to move fast enough as he felt several booted kicks pounding into his body.
Wes didn't even fight back, as if he somehow felt he deserved it. Two of the other Guardians picked him up and held him tight, not letting him loose, as they let their leader pound his fists into Wes's chest. "Come on, ranger, fight back like a man!" He threw a hard right into Wes' nose.
"Kane!" It was one of the Guardians that had been standing back along with the other group who had chosen not to partake in the beating of Wes Collins. "Stop it, that's enough!"
"Shut up, Jenson! He hasn't learned his lesson yet." Kane continued to punch Wes, while his gang held him up. "He needs to pay for all the deaths. All the lives that were lost…." Kane was more than just angry, he was furious to the point where he was like a raging storm. "He need's to pay for what happened to my wife and my unborn child!" His wife and child both had perished. She had died right in his arms, and now knowing the truth. And knowing that somehow her death could have been prevented. Made him the all more angrier with Wes, because it was his fault.
"No! He's had enough!" roared Jensen as he grabbed Kane by the shoulder, forcing him to turn around. "It's not even a fair fight."
"It's not fair!" Kane's eyes widened. "Do you think it was fair, what happened?" He shoved Jensen back a few feet and got right into his face. "Do you think it was fair that the city was demolished? Do you think it was fair that both my wife and unborn child were killed?"
Jensen stood frozen, not knowing how to answer. That very question scared him more then anything. It had been the one thing they all had been pondering for weeks, watching as Wes slowly recovered and learned the truth, bit by bit. He looked over, Kane's shoulder and watched as the four Guardians that had joined Kane continued to mock and beat Wes. He sighed heavily and his eyes softened. "The guilt he has to live with for the rest of his life is enough. He doesn't need you to be both judge and jury."
Kane couldn't believe it. He shook his head in disbelief and pushed Jensen to the side and got face to face with the other Guardians that had just been standing around. "Is that how the rest of you feel? Huh…is it?" None of them answered, most of them bowed their heads or turned away. They were afraid, not knowing what to do. "You guys are nothing but a bunch of sorry losers!"
"Leave them alone….." Wes announced as loud as he could.
Kane rolled up his sleeves and started back towards Wes, fully intending to finish the job. "I don't remember asking for your say in the matter!" He pounded his fist into Wes's gut.
The pain was intense, every bone in his body ached. He took slow breaths and raised his head as high as he could to look Kane right in the eye. "Your fight's not with them. It's with me….don't take it out on them." Wes coughed out some blood and his lips were bright red. "They didn't do anything wrong…."
Kane's eyes widened. "At least we agree on one thing." Kane eyed the two holding Wes. "Let him go. I want a real fight."
As soon as they let Wes go, Wes's feet gave way and he dropped to the ground, barely moving. "Get up and fight," ordered one of them.
"Stop this! Stop this at once!" cried Nadira as she ran towards them; she had been busy putting James to bed when she came in and saw all the commotion. "You're going to kill him!"
"That's the idea!" barked Kane like a madman, as he turned towards Nadira and pointed his blaster right at her. "And don't think for a second I won't use this on you either. You may have saved my life, but I don't owe you one damn thing. Because you're just as much to blame as he is."
Nadira didn't know what to do, she felt helpless, watching as Wes struggled to stand up. The other Guardians just stood around as if lost in a trance, not knowing what to do, each in their own struggle and torment whether or not to turn against one of their own.
"Morph and fight me, you pathetic excuse for a power ranger!"
Wes tried to get up, but couldn't find the strength or the will to do so. Nothing mattered anymore…. Jen and the others were gone…. The city had been destroyed…. Thousands had died, because of him…. He could never face his father or Eric again….. Maybe things would be better if Kane did just kill him…
"Morph!" ordered Kane.
"I can't…."
"What? Is that against the ranger code?" mocked Kane.
Though it was, that wasn't the reason he didn't morph. Wes slowly pushed himself up, just barely. He was trapped inside a circle that the five Guardians had created. "I don't have my morpher anymore….. It got destroyed, in the fight with Ransik…"
"Yeah. Then what the hell is that!" Kane pointed to the morpher Wes wore around his wrist.
Wes slowly raised it, almost forgetting that it had been there all along, not that it mattered. "It's not mine. This is Eric's morpher…."
"So you killed Commander Myers, too?"
"I didn't kill him!" Wes roared, finally having anger roar right through him, it was just enough to get him going. "I didn't kill him….. He gave me the morpher, to stop Doomtron!"
"You expect us to believe that?" Kane just shook his head. "I've had enough of your lies." He raised his blaster and set it to kill, he ordered the other four to do the same and they all pointed them at Wes. All of them ignored the pleas and shouts from the other Guardians and Nadira. "Any last words….?"
Wes didn't answer; he just stood there staring at the five blasters pointed right at him, letting fate decide what was ahead of him. His heart raced with fear, when he heard the shots of the blaster, they were heading right at him. And then….a bright flash of light shined around him. He felt his body fill with an energy and power he had never had before; it wasn't until it was over that he realized that somehow he had morphed into the quantum ranger. He was vaguely aware of the screams around him, but couldn't see anything. And once the light cleared and his body force-de-morphed and he dropped to his knees, that he saw the reason behind the screams. Five bodies of Silver Guardians lay before him, motionless…. Wes stayed where he was, horrified….
Tears ran down Jen's face, she was completely mortified. She knew it was bad, but she hadn't imagined it was this bad; it was no wonder Wes was torn. And now she could see why he might have found some comfort with Nadira, she understood better than anyone what Wes was going through.
"The other Guardians didn't blame him for what happened; it was so fast that no one was sure what had happened. But that was the big event that changed Wes. He was never the same…." Nadira bowed her head. "It was hard enough for him when I told him about James."
Jen wasn't even sure now if she wanted to hear James's story. With what she'd heard so far, it didn't seem a happy ending was in sight. "I don't know if I want to hear another one, but I guess it's better to just get it over with…"
Nadira nodded her head, agreeing. Though this story wasn't as bad as the last one, it would be something she would never be able to forget. There we burning cars all over, people running in every direction to get to safety and the she heard the cries of a baby. "I was the one that found James, he was in his stroller. His mother was right beside him, barely hanging on…' Tears filled Nadira's eyes. "She asked me to get him out of there, to find his father….and then she was gone…."
Jen didn't know what to say, but now she understood more than she ever wanted to. Wes was a changed man now, he was no longer that care-free young man she had fallen in love with. And the thing that scared her more than anything was that Wes would try to take matters into his own hands, getting himself killed in the process….