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The large gray doors opened as Sid led the group into a room specifically designed for training. There was a large weapons rack that stood to the right of the bay doors that housed a huge array of weapons, from many distant systems. A staircase could be seen past the rack, which led to the observation lounge. The rest of the training room was large, about 40 meters square and 20 meters high. Once the doors closed, a force-field enveloped the room to protect the walls from damage.
Sid and Spike headed towards the stairs. When they got there, they stopped, and looked at the two boys. Both boys noticed how devoid of love, those looks truly were.
Eric gulped as did Matt. Both boys walked towards the center of the room and stood looking at the observation lounge awaiting their next orders.
Sid pressed a button on the console in the lounge and looked towards the boys grinning. "I expect the two of you to go all out. Hold back and there'll be hell to pay... you know what that means Eric." Sid pressed another button on the console, and spoke into a microphone. "Bring him in; I think Eric would be happy to see him again!"
Just as Sid finished, the doors slid open with two guards holding a lad. The boy had a black cloth over his head, and could obviously not see where he was. The guards escorted him to the observation lounge.
Sid pulled his gun out of its holster, and pulled the black cloth off the lad's head. Eric's eyes went wide and his emotions jumped to a whole new level. His heartbeat increased as hatred for Sid grew exponentially. "You hurt him, you die!" Sid knew what Jason meant to Eric and was hoping for the very response he got. He also knew that appearances can be deceiving; which would prove true in this case. Sid had the bright idea of actually forcing a shape shifter to take up Jason's appearance. He actually found it to be quite amusing. Sid didn't really want to have to really force the lad to do it, but Eric gave him no choice when he seemed so reluctant to hurt his 'comrade'.
Sid burst out laughing so hard, he almost lost control of his gun. "Last time you said that boy, you almost found yourself in the pit for a month without food! Besides, with Jason right next to me, I know things will work in our favor, don't you think?"
Eric growled as waves of energy poured out of him. This had never happened before and Eric knew it. When someone you dearly love is threatened with their lives, you'd do anything in your power to protect them, even if it costs you your own life doing it. Matt looked at Eric, sensing just how much power was pouring out of his twin. He could not help but grin. Eric shifted his gaze towards Matt and stared into his eyes.
Spike chuckled, "Your kid has got balls saying that to you Sid, and considering that look he gave you."
"Hah, don't worry, he's mine, forever!" Sid looked at the boy, who appeared to be, Jason then back at the boys in the training room, "Begin!"
Matt crouched with such speed while his left arm reached around his back to pull out a long curved knife. Once he gripped the knife, he brought it around to the front of himself. The blade was pointing out and running almost parallel with his forearm, as if he wanted to slash Eric. Eric just kept staring at Sid, completely ignoring what his brother was doing. Matt sprang from his spot running directly towards Eric with his arms at their sides. Moments before Matt leaped in the air, Eric held out his right arm with his palm outstretched, as if he was going to let Matt slice his hand off. He closed his eyes and focused on the weapons rack. The rack was locked, but once Eric opened his eyes, weapons flew out of their resting place on the rack towards Eric and Matt. Matt's eyes widened as he heard the weapons coming straight towards him.
"Shit!" Matt used his right palm and pointed it to the floor to push him out of the way from the oncoming weapons. The weapons stopped just one inch away from Eric. He picked a long pole, spun it around, and then slammed it on the ground. Matt was wondering what he was up to as Eric suddenly looked up at him and forced a small grin. The pole began to rapidly extend straight towards Matt, hitting him in his abdomen and sending him flying towards the ceiling. The pain was sudden, but it did not last long and Matt didn't want to be crushed or impaled just yet. He pulled himself up, slightly above the pole moments before it hit the ceiling with a loud crackle as it nearly penetrated the force-field. His eyes widened as he looked back to see the damage as he was falling towards the floor. While Matt was distracted, Eric leapt off the ground at an amazing speed towards Matt. Eric never let the rod go as the base was following him straight up.
Once Eric was right next to Matt, he smiled. "Boo!"
Matt's eyes lit up and he quickly jerked his head around to face his brother. Eric was too fast for Matt as his rod connected with Matt's abdomen, sending him flying towards the ground with a loud noise. Eric landed a few meters from where Matt lay, with a soft thud.
Sid was chuckling at the amusing display the boys were putting on. Spike was standing cross-armed looking at Matt wondering why he wasn't moving.
Sid looked towards Spike and smiled. "Looks like my boy has the upper hand."
Spike smiled, "We'll see. Matt has been through far worse than this." He tilted his head towards Sid's direction, "Gloat all you want Sid, you've always underestimated your opponents, and this past mission is proof of that. I wonder... If Eric gets that trait from you?"
Sid slowly lost his smirk and growled to the point where it made Spike chuckle. The duo said nothing more and continued watching the boys.
Eric stood watching his brother lie on the ground. He somehow knew Matt had survived in battles far more intense than this, after being part of the little projection show. During some point, he had gained some of Matt's memories without him knowing it.
Eric took a few steps back and formed a defensive stance while watching Matt slowly come back to his senses. Moments later, he stood up holding his head as if he had been knocked out by a brick wall slamming into him. As Matt finally collected his thoughts, he began to wonder if Eric's emotions were the key to the source of his power. 'Damn, he's tougher than I thought. Time to take this to the next level, or go all out if I have to!' Matt thought as he began to formulate his next attack.
Matt looked for his knife and couldn't find it anywhere. "Looking for this?" Eric held up the knife and tossed it to Matt, which he snatched back and immediately inspected it. "You're better than I thought. I thank you for this, no one has ever pushed me this far... except Spike. Besides, let's skip the warm-up and show me what you can really do before I put your lights out."
Eric smiled and the rod retracted in his hand to nothing more than 6" and put it in his pocket. "I knew you'd say that, don't be surprised now, I've acquired a few abilities since your arrival. I don't know how, but you'll see them soon enough... bro!"
Matt Scoffed and laughed. "Really? It'll take a lot more than that to scare me!"
"You asked for it." Eric held up his arm and motioned his bro with a finger for him to 'come here'.
Matt growled and screamed as he pushed his energy out, increasing his power output. It only took a few seconds for his energy to reach a new level. Once the 'power up' was complete, Matt dashed towards Eric at a speed much faster than the first time. Eric just stood there watching his brother come closer. It had appeared that Matt had sliced the blade through Eric's abdomen, but it wasn't flesh he cut through.
Matt looked at his blade, "What the hell...?" He looked at Eric, or his image. 'Hmm, a mirror image reflection, makes things interesting!' Matt thought as he began to look around for Eric till he felt a tap on his shoulder. His eyes widened and he quickly turned around to find Eric right in his face with a punch that shortly followed. The punch wasn't any ordinary punch; it visibly had several electric sparks, making it a punch that hurt even more than a normal one.
"Damn..." Matt was feeling the pain on his jaw and also some new memories were popping up, happy memories. They were not Matt's memories he saw, but Eric's. Matt groaned inwardly. 'Now's not the time for happy memories!' He thought with a growl.
Eric smiled, as he knew what his brother was thinking. He sent Matt a small message, telepathically, **You must know them. Every time I land a punch on you that sends you flying, you also gain those memories. Maybe they will talk some sense into you! Now, prepare yourself!**
Matt looked up in time to see his twin coming at him with the same speed he did earlier. Eric pulled out the rod and extended it towards the ground, causing him to catapult into the air above and then, behind Matt. Once Eric landed, he took a swing at Matt's legs and missed as Matt jumped to dodge them. Once Matt hit the ceiling, he sprang back at such speed towards Eric, even Eric was caught off guard. His punch finally connected and sent Eric flying towards the wall with a loud crash and a buzz.
The shape shifter watched the battle, his eyes widening as he saw his comrade crash into the wall. A tear ran down his cheek as he felt helpless and powerless to do anything. He knew Sid told him to keep quiet or risk spending more time in the dark room, or worse, death.
Matt formed some sort of energy bands in his hand and sent them towards Eric, trapping his arms and legs, while another one went around his neck. The force-field buzzed angrily as it was trying to keep up with the amount of energy they were giving off. It was working overtime to protect the hull from further damage.
Eric shook off some of the pain he was feeling, only to see another punch connecting to his jaw then stomach. "Ooffff!" Eric let out a grunt of pain as more shots came flying at him.
"Had enough, ...bro?" Matt smirked as his words were awarded with a cold stare from Eric. As Eric visibly relaxed, Matt grinned from ear to ear thinking his victory was finally upon him. "Giving up already? I expected more from you."
"Not... quite... done... yet!" Sparks formed around Eric's body as he pushed more energy out of his body, increasing his energy level past his own brother's.
Sid and Spike's eyes lit up as they felt just how powerful Eric had become. "You best be careful with that boy Sid, he could kill you with the power he holds now."
Sid silently growled at Spike's remark, knowing very well it could be true. "I ain't worried about the brat. He knows that crossing me would put him in deep shit."
"Good." Spike turned to watch the battle as did Sid and said nothing further.
"Captain, we have received a subspace probe from Chase. It's for your eyes only." The com officer turned to face the Captain to gauge his response as he relayed the message.
"I'll take it in the Captain's room, thanks, Sinclair." The tall Captain stood up and walked towards his private room. The doors opened automatically then closed the same way as he entered the room. As he sat down, he punched in a few buttons on the console and the message began.
"Wedge, if you're looking for the right time to act, now would be it. I am submitting the current coordinates of the Vulture, it seems we have some unpleasant company aboard. Two Dark Council members are here, but not only that, Eric has a twin who goes by the name 'Matt'. He is also a member of the Dark Council. The other member is Spike. I do not recognize him, perhaps you have heard of him." Wedge hit pause and scowled and his eyebrows moved in at the mention of Dark Council, only to become angrier at the mention of Spike. He would deal with Eric's twin later, but Spike had seemed to be #1 on his list, next to Sid, and his time to act would be now. He hit the resume button to listen to the rest of the message. "I need to hurry up before I am caught sending this, or even making it. Sure, I knew the risks, but its all for the greater good. I have noticed a shift in Sid's attitude and emotions... it seems to me that Eric has begun to resist him more and it could cause Sid to go all out, you know how Tri-metamorphs are. Anyway, one last thing, I've noticed when the twins are together; their power increases 10 fold. I do know Matt has been trained personally by Spike, however I think Eric might turn him over to the light. Oh, and Wedge, you might wanna hurry while you still can. Sid and Spike made the boys fight against each other."
The message went black and Wedge clicked on a button then the screen went below the table. Wedge sat back in his chair digesting the new information, but was slightly surprised to see a shadowy figure standing in the corner.
"Well, Captain Bunker, what will you do?" The figure slowly walked out of the shadows and walked towards Wedge, but stopped at the edge of the desk.
"I plan on taking this opportunity to strike while I still can. Jason, I know you care about Eric, but I'll do what I must. If they handle themselves well, then they'll know to stay out of our way."
"Fine, the Council of Light agrees. Only on one condition." Jason held up his finger, signaling he meant the condition had consequences behind it. Wedge knew this all too well; after all, Jason and Wedge have been best friends for many years.
"You want me to make sure Eric and Matt get out of there alive and unharmed. All I can say to that is that you know very well how my missions always end up when it involves the Dark Council and Sid's army. I make no promises, all I can do is try."
Jason sighed, "So be it, do as you must. You have all the backup you need right outside your ship... about... now."
Right on cue, the ships alarms were going off notifying everyone of additional ships appearing from every corner of space around The Summoner. The Summoner is about the same size as The Vulture, except The Summoner is a sleek white ship with a huge saucer section spanning at 300m in diameter. The lower section of the ship contained Engineering, weaponry, and shuttle bays. The body extended another 300m past the saucer with nacelles for propulsion. They were folding nacelles, when the ship did not jump to such high speeds; the nacelles were retracted and closer to the lower body. When the ship was to take off at light speed and beyond, the nacelles expanded, depending on which speed was used. It was also one of the fastest ships in the galaxy as well as the most powerful. Wedge has never faced the Vulture, but some of his sister ships have survived its onslaught.
"So it begins. Will you be watching, Jason?" Wedge looked at Jason right in the eye making sure he wouldn't do anything he shouldn't do.
"Yes and so will the council. Don't worry I won't interfere. It's your mission, old friend."
Wedge stood up, feeling satisfied with his answer and walked towards the door. He paused and turned around to face Jason. "Just promise me you will only watch. I don't want Sandy to lose another Uncle."
Jason smiled, "Wedge, your son worries too much as do you, but the council will make sure I stay. Now, please go!" A bright white light shone in the room behind Jason after he hit a button on his forearm, causing Wedge to cover his eyes. Jason stepped in the white light and the light faded. "Good luck." were the last words Jason spoke before the light diminished.
Wedge smiled, turned towards the door and entered the bridge after the doors opened.
"Alright people, here's the rundown: We're intercepting The Vulture at coordinates provided by Doc Chase. Sinclair, access the files for the exact coordinates and send them to the helm. Andrew, once you receive them, send them to the fleet and engage at top speed, I'll explain the rest once we are underway." Wedge took a moment to look at the surprised faces of several of his crew members, but received several nods as they fully understood this will be a very dangerous mission. A few moments later, The Summoner took off in a flash, followed by a fleet of 20 or so ships of various sizes.
As Eric continued his assault, Matt was secretly planning his next move, which could cause Eric to fall into his trap. Matt had wondered if Eric was as smart as he was, but he soon found out. As Eric lunged forward, he stretched out his arm towards a large pole sitting in the corner of the room. It suddenly came flying towards him at a blinding speed. Once Eric caught it, he gripped it by both hands and slammed it on the ground just inches from Matt's feet. Eric used the pole as leverage to swing himself around to give Matt a kick to the side. It sent him flying towards the weapons rack and crashing loudly into it. When the dust settled, Eric walked towards the rubble to search for Matt, but didn't see him. He realized he might be either in the air or underground, however Eric was too slow to notice his true motives. Eric could feel his brother's presence and where he'd appear next, which did help him some, but not by much. Matt popped out of the ground as if he was cutting thru butter and his swinging foot connected to Eric's head, which sent him flying across the room. Eric hit the force-field hard, knocking him unconscious.
Spike let a sly smirk loose as Sid growled when he knew Eric should have seen it coming. "Damnit Eric, you're better than this!"
Spike turned to look at a red-faced Sid and a shudder ran down his spine. "Relax Sid, its not like Matt will kill Eric with that kick, he has given kicks worse than that, so please, calm down."
Sid turned his head to glare at Spike then returned his sights to view Eric lying on the floor. Spike sighed inwardly and continued to watch.
As Matt walked closer to Eric, his mind got flooded with every last memory of Eric's. He stopped and closed his eyes, watching all the events take place, all the good that was left during his time on Earth. Matt had been exposed to hate and violence for so long, there were very little amounts of 'good' left in him. As he watched a few memories, he shrugged most of them off, till the incident with the school bullies appeared. Matt's expression suddenly changed from despise to regret and love. Matt opened his eyes with tears flowing freely as he watched Eric struggle to stand up. 'It won't take him long to regain his strength, I know I should take advantage of it... but I can't... why not, and why now?!?!' Matt thought, feeling unsure of the new memories. He struggled to make a decision on what his next move would be.
Eric watched Matt for a few moments then decided to read his mind to find out what was happening. **Hey bro, you ok?** Eric questioned via telepathy.
**Yes... no... I dunno. When my hit sent you flying, I was also hit by all of your memories. I skipped through a lot of them, but the bully incident really bothered me.** Matt replied telepathically, still feeling unsure.
Eric looked down towards the floor and closed his eyes. **Yea, I remember that day like yesterday, it's like it's happening, here, all over again. I don't wanna go through that again, and with you no less! I want out of here, out of this dammed prison of Sid's. I can also tell that you don't like it here either. I'll be honest with you, home is so much better than being Sid's slave. Escape with me, please! We can take those two hags up there since we've been holding back a lot.**
Matt looked towards Spike and Sid then back at Eric. **You're right, they're getting pissed. Get ready!**
Spike and Sid sensed something was not right.
Spike spoke first, "Damn, maybe it was a bad idea bringing Matt along..." but he was cut off by Sid raising his hand.
"Never mind that... move!"
"What's our ETA, Andrew?"
"30 minutes, Captain."
Wedge turned to look over towards his right, "Ice, engage the cloak and instruct the fleet to do the same."
"Aye sir."
The 20+ ships traveling at high speed towards the Vulture went invisible. The Vulture's sensor range was able to detect 'things' up to 10 light years away, anything further however, goes undetected. The Summoner, being the most advanced ship, is able to scan twice that of the Vulture, but it comes with a price. While using top speed, its sensor range is limited to only 5 light years, hence the reason for cloaking so soon. All they had were the last known coordinates of the Vulture as the message received by chase was already 24 hours old.
'Damn, they could be anywhere with the coordinates Chase gave us. If what he said was true though, they could still be there!' Wedge thought to himself as he stared at the view screen for a few moments. He thought back at the announcement he gave to the ship on their latest mission and how his crew reacted. Sure, some were surprised, but most understood the dangers and were fully prepared for it. In his many years of fighting, Wedge has become an ace pilot with superior gunnery skills and his reputation is widely known throughout the galaxy. He stands tall and thin at 6'3" with sandy blond hair and light steel blue eyes.
Wedge stood as if to make an announcement, but the bridge doors to the turbo lift opened, revealing a young boy of about 13. He had sandy blond hair, dark blue eyes, freckles across his face, and was thin, but showing signs of muscle build.
Wedge turned his attention to see who entered. "Sandy, you know you're not allowed up here during missions."
Sandy's happy mood was replaced by a small frown. "I know dad, but Uncle Jason asked me to give this to you."
Sandy handed his dad a small gold heart-shaped locket with 'Matt' engraved on it. Wedge smiled as he looked at it then back at his son. "Thanks. I'll hold on to it."
"Uncle Jason would have wanted you to, it's supposed to be for Eric. Only he can open it."
Wedge smiled, then hugged his son. "It's time for you to go and please, be careful."
Sandy walked towards the turbo lift and the doors opened. As he entered, he shot back, "I will." The doors closed and Wedge turned to look at the view screen wondering how things would turn out once the fleet gets there.
"Don't worry too much Cap, you're the best and the guys here know it. With you leading us, there's very little that could go wrong."
"I hope so, Sinclair, I really do. Things don't always turn out the way they're supposed to though. It's best we prepare for that."
"I agree." Sinclair nodded his head as did the rest of the bridge crew.
Wedge turned to look around then back at the view screen watching space. 'For your sake Sid, you had better not escape this time.' Wedge thought to himself as he remembered facing Sid who last time had caused a distraction, where the Summoner had to go and rescue a disabled ship in mid-space. The ships core was about to blow up and Wedge was taught to always rescue first and fight later. Wedge despised that oath to a point where he wished he had had another ship with him so he could have gone after Sid, but circumstances weren't right. Now, however, the circumstances were right, and Wedge was free to engage Sid at any time.
Sid and Spike hurried down the stairs and burst out the door, which sent it flying across the room towards Matt. Eric saw this and in almost an instant, he was right next to Matt. As the door drew closer, its shape changed and split into two spears of glass with jagged edges around. It stopped only inches away from Eric and Matt. Both boys had their heads tilted towards the right. Suddenly the shape of the glass changed into a rotating saw-like disc as it went flying towards Sid and Spike. They tried their best to stop it, but it was too fast and too strong, they had no choice but to jump out of its way. Once the disc hit the force-field, it went right through it and into the bulkhead. As Sid and Spike managed to stand up, they turned to look at the damage. Seeing the gaping hole, their eyes widened.
"Time to get serious, don't ya think, Spike?" Sid shifted his attention from the hole to the boys.
"Yep; punishment for crossing a Council member is death. Are you prepared to face that, Matt?" Spike turned to face the boys with a serious and angry expression about him.
Eric and Matt looked at each other then back at Sid and Spike. They slowly brought their arms up and made a fist towards them at the same time. Their middle finger slowly extended with a silly grin plastered across their face.
"I've always wanted to say this, Sid: Fuck you!"
Matt giggled. "Yea, what he said, Spike."
Sid bellowed, "You little fuckers! I'll make you eat those words and you'll shit them out 10 times worse!" The echo reverberated off the walls, giving away some of Sid's true power.
Both boys' grins grew wider as Sid and Spike got even madder. They charged towards the boys at lightning speed. The instant before they reached the boys, they were hit by the weapons rack and were sent flying across the room at double the speed they started with.
Sid was the first to regain his composure. As he started to get up, he stared at the boys, truly despising them and wanting to end things here and now. Once he stood up, both boys cocked their heads slightly to the left and gave him the 'evil eye' look.
"You'll pay dearly for this. Say goodbye to Jason, Eric!" Sid held up his hand with some sort of remote device with a button in the center. Eric's eyes widened as he watched Sid begin to press it. In the instant Sid pressed the button, Eric had 'Jason' in his arms as the explosion took place directly below the observation lounge. Eric ignored the falling debris and focused on 'Jason'. The debris wasn't harming him as his body naturally expanded some invisible shield around him. He looked back up and glared at Sid before returning his attention to the boy in his arms. Eric knew he wasn't holding 'Jason', but he was pissed at Sid for pulling such a stunt.
"No Sid, you'll pay for that, but this isn't Jason. His name is Jaron and he is a shape shifter. Clever plot of yours to actually use him as leverage, but that won't work. You are truly twisted and you don't deserve to live."
Sid's expression was priceless as he listened to Eric talk and hold Jaron in his arms. He let out a loud roar, a roar that shattered the surrounding force-field. Sid began to transform into a large black creature that had curly and pointed horns on its head. The hairy black body was very muscular and showed signs of sharp edges at the tips of his fur. His claws stood out about 6" from the feet and fingers.
Spike was finally coming around when he heard the roar. 'Damn, I best stay out of his way!' he thought to himself. Trying to telepathically send Sid a message, **Dammnnit, Sid, you'll destroy the ship if you use more power!** He got no response from Sid after waiting a few moments for one. Spike sighed then growled and returned his attention to the boys.
Eric and Matt exchanged looks at one another then focused their attention on the huge creature that Sid had become. Eric floated Jaron towards the door, which opened and closed, putting him out of harm's way. Once it was closed, he made sure to lock the door. Once locked, both boys took their own preferred battle stance. This time, however, Eric and Matt were in a very similar stance, only like a reflection of one another. One arm was left outstretched and slightly angled towards the right while the other was tucked in close to the body. Sid made the first move by lunging forward at the same speed Eric used to rescue Jaron. Both boys were nearly caught by surprise, however they managed to surprise Sid by moving even faster than he was!
As Sid arrived at the spot Eric and Matt were, both boys appeared behind him drawing the lodged disc out of the wall. Once Sid turned around and raised his arm and extending his claws, the spinning disc sliced off his arm and flew towards the ceiling only to stop in mid-air. Sid howled and winced at the pain of his lost limb.
Spike, noticing his chance to sneak up on the boys, ran at lightning towards their backs with a long curved blade he found and had picked up right before he leapt into the air. A Slicing, squishing sound filled the air as Spike's body was sliced in half by the spinning disc, which was now hovering directly above Sid.
"Spike! Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!" Sid lost all control and powered up a massive amount of energy from within. The result of his power up had caused his body to harden and his lost limb had already been fully regenerated.
Both boys looked at each other then pushed their power to its limits. Everything in the room rose at the awesome output of power flowing around it. At some point, Eric and Matt had been forming all sorts of weapons and inserted a little bit of their energy into several of them so they could find a weak spot on Sid.
Sid looked down on the two boys and smiled. "Both of you look good to eat! Once you're part of me, I'll finally be invincible! Not even Wedge will have the power to stop me! Now... DIE!" Sid pounced towards the boys, swatting several of the weapons out of his way like they were nothing. At first he didn't notice it, but as he got closer, he started feeling the pain of needles pricking his skin. It slowed him down, but not enough. The boys tried to run out of the way of an incoming Sid, but they were too late as Sid whacked them in separate directions.
**Matt, ya ok bro?** Eric stood up rubbing the back of his head as he sent his bro a telepathic message.
**Yea, that last hit stung a bit.** Matt replying telepathically, too, stood rubbing his face then the back of his head.
Eric was about to make a move when Sid appeared directly in front of him and sent him flying towards the ceiling with an uppercut. Matt saw it coming and dashed towards Sid. Once he was there, he darted up the back of Sid and impaled the back of his head with a sword he found laying on the ground. Once the sword was inserted, Matt Jumped at a faster speed than Eric was flying and caught him right before Eric hit the ceiling.
"Damn bro, wake up!" Matt shook Eric to try to get him to wake up, but it wasn't working. "Com'on man, don't quit on me yet! I need ya!"
Eric opened his eyes moments later and they both landed on the ground with Matt still holding Eric. Matt looked at Sid struggle to remove the sword while Eric tried to regain his senses.
As the boys began to stand up, Sid charged at them once again, fully knowing his attempts to do so were futile. Once Sid came within 10 feet of the boys, he disappeared.
"WHAT?!" Eric and Matt shouted and began to furiously look around to see where he went.
"Oh no..." Eric looked around to locate Sid's body, but couldn't find it. He turned to look at Matt, "Bro, he's probably healing Spike, not good."
"He is what?!" Matt exclaimed, "Fuck... I don't think we can handle both! I mean that smelly beast is more than enough!"
They stood together, back to back, trying to sense where Sid had gone, and where he would be coming from. The silence was only broken when Matt asked, "You haven't seen anything yet?!"
Eric turned to face his brother only to give him a questioning look, "Huh?" Matt repeated what he said and Eric shook his head then returned to the previous position.
At the corner below the observation area, an explosion sounded the alarms in the room, causing the boys to shift to defense and prepare for what was coming. As a cloud of smoke dissipated, they could see Sid standing where the explosion had been. Another explosion in the opposite corner, revealed an angry Spike with veins bulging from his head and panting heavily. Spike and Sid exchanged glances, nodded and zipped at the boys.
"Get ready!" Matt formed a defense stance with his hands in a cross formation as if to block a massive attack.
Eric, not understanding a word Matt spoke, followed his defensive stance, except his arms were ready to defend the sides. Both boys now stood against each other's backs.
Sid took Eric's side and Spike went straight towards Matt. As they got closer to the boys, they both drew their weapons at the same time, both being long identical swords. There was nothing special about them, but both men knew how to use any sword to their will. Eric and Matt stretched out their right and left arms to telepathically call a sword to them. One from Eric's left arrived before Sid started to swing. Matt on the other hand, struggled to get his sword to answer his call.
**Dammnit, get over here!** Matt closed his eyes tightly and strained, hoping the extra energy he had left would help. Eric somehow felt this and gave a little boost of energy to Matt just in time at the last second before Spike's sword connected to Matt's head.
CLANG! The sounds of swords clashing together were loud and powerful enough to send a shockwave throughout the room, causing the force-field to finally collapse.
"Tell me, Eric, how bad do you want to live after this is over? You two have no chance in hell against the two of us." Sid smirked as he stared down at Eric.
"Got that right, Sid!" Spike snarled at a worn out Matt who struggled to match his strength. "You will eventually tire out, and when you do, expect to face the council!
Fear and panic took over the boys and all confidence was drained from them. Their legs grew weaker as did their arms as the two men continued to overpower them with their great strength. When all strength left the boys, Sid and spike let one free arm go and send a flying fist into their heads, sending them crashing into the wall at the same time with a crash then a thud. They were knocked out cold and left helpless as the two men approached them with ease. Sid began to relax and he had reverted to his human form by the time he and Spike had arrived at the fallen boys.
"And that's that!" Sid knelt to pick up Eric with one arm while Spike did the same with Matt.
"I best be going to handle this with the council. These two must never see each other again; I fear the council has no chance against these two when they are at full strength."
"Don't be so sure about that Spike!" Sid spat on the ground then glared at Spike for a second. "Besides... they have seen my true form and once in that form, I have no weaknesses."
Eric opened his eyes upon understanding what Sid said then closed them again, drifting into unconsciousness. Sid and Spike had no idea Eric came around to catch what Sid had just said.
Before Sid and Spike parted, they stopped at the door and looked at each other. Sid spoke first, "Eric is going to the dungeon with Jaron, for the next week and without food. It'll teach him to cross me, however, should he do so again, I will kill him."
Spike nodded with a grunt and left without saying anything further.
"Woah!" Sandy nearly jumped out of the first officer's seat he was sitting in.
"Woah, what?" Wedge looked at his son with a questioning look as he watched Sandy pull out the locket that hung around his neck. It was the exact same locket as Eric's, except it had Matt's name on the back of it.
"Dad! Look! It's glowing!"
"Hmmm, that can only mean one thing, Matt must have had his senses knocked out of him when meeting Eric. Their mother's message to me made it clear this would one day happen." Wedge turned his attention to the view screen and adjusted his thoughts to the message he was told. Even after all these years, he could still vividly recall the message, which was burned into his sub-conscious.
It was around 01:00 hours when Wedge woke up to a startling message from a vaguely familiar woman whom he had never seen in many years. Although it took him a second to recover from his sleep, when he became fully cognoscente of what was going on, he was wide awake. The message was loud and clear:
"Wedge, I know you never really forgave me for what happened during the time my twin boys were born, but I hope you can accept this, not only for me, but for my sons. I need to make this quick, so please listen, for once. I am using the last of my powers to send this gold locket to you and your son. You are my only brother, and I have always loved you, no matter what. Both you and Sandy are family and I trust my family the most. You must deliver this gold locket to Matt, when the time comes. You will know when the time is right, as the locket will glow. When it does, Eric and Matt will have found their peace to be true brothers again, but it also holds the key to unlocking their true potential." Trish held the locket with both hands and gently blew it towards Wedge's direction with only the love a mother can give. "On a final note, do not let the Council of Light know of this, there is a spy within their ranks, and only trust Jason." As the message began to fade, Trish spoke for the final time, "When the boys were born, I was sure I had a silver locket with me. That seems to be missing, but I suspect you might somehow stumble across it sooner or later. Farewell... bro."
As the vision ended, Wedge was sweating bullets wondering how she knew so much of everything that was happening. It then dawned on him, that although he had ignored his sister for over 300 years, she was still his sister, along with all her powers. She had changed a lot over the last few centuries, yet there was still something familiar about her. Not the familiarity that comes with being siblings, but something far more recent. What was it? He quickly turned the light on and went straight to the computer terminal and pressed a few buttons. Once he had found her, his expression became pale as a ghost. 'Oh my god! My sister is the founder of the Council of Light and the mother of Eric and Matt...How could I not have noticed this before?' He paused for a few moments before continuing his thinking, 'since when did she manage to find the time to form a council? I remember breaking off all ties with her as she claimed her son had been kidnapped in the hospital, even though there was no record of the event, and still she refused to seek therapy for it. I guess it really was true after all! If only I had been there sooner...' His thoughts were interrupted by a shimmering reflection coming from his nightstand. He walked towards it and suddenly realized he wasn't dreaming. "Damn, she actually sent it! That locket was supposed to be mine when my nephews were born." Wedge spoke out loud in wonderment.
A boy then emerged from the shadows rubbing his eyes. He appeared to be Wedge's son, only he looked slightly younger, but not much. Wedge and Sandy both shared a gene, which causes them to age abnormally slow. The gene itself remains dormant till the child reaches its 13th birthday. After that, the aging process gradually slows down. Trish also had the gene, but she was a carrier. It only activated after the second time she gave birth. It was rumored that the Dark Council had somehow obtained a similar gene for their serum, but there were no known hard facts to prove it.
As Sandy walked towards his dad, he looked at the gold locket and picked it up. After making himself comfortable in his dad's lap, he took a few moments to look at it. Once he was finished, he looked up at his dad and finally spoke, "I got the same message. I felt her presence in your mind, just as she felt mine. My mission is different than yours, but please dad, don't worry too much."
"Oh, munchkin, come here..." Wedge embraced his son in a tight hug and shed a tear while holding the locket in his left hand.
"I'll never stop worrying about you, it's part of my job. Ever since we lost Susan in that battle... I... I don't know..., I don't want to lose you; ever!" Wedge spoke of remembering the battle several years ago when he and his wife were on a rescue mission to save a planet from exploding.
"I know, dad, I know." Sandy was shedding his tears for his dad and also his mom as he was held in an embrace with his dad.
"Captain! Are you alright?" Wedge shook his head and nodded as he wiped a tear from his eye.
Suddenly the locket stopped glowing white and turned red.
"Oh no, that can't be good."
"Dad..." Sandy looked at his dad straight in the eye, as if he was communicating his thoughts to him.
"No..." Wedge shook his head fully realizing what the red glow had meant.
"It's time for me to play my part." Sandy turned to leave, but suddenly stopped as a hand gripped his left arm.
"Wait..." Wedge turned Sandy around to hug him before watching him depart to the turbolift. "Be careful, I want you to keep me updated with your every move!" The doors closed as Wedge let the last words fly out his mouth.
Wedge turned and slumped down in his chair while the entire bridge crew watched him.
20 minutes of silence went by then the sudden wail of the alarm startled the crew. Wedge barely managed to speak while wiping several tears off his face. "R-r-report."
"Sir, we found the Vulture, and there appears to be a dark council ship from it. There appear to be two persons aboard the small ship, one of them appears to be seriously injured! Also, The Vulture has left the area." Sinclair spoke from his station behind Wedge.
"Things have changed. Intercept that small ship! Andrew, how long till intercept?" Wedge turned his attention from Sinclair's direction to Andrew's.
"5 minutes, sir."
"Status, Ice?"
"The ship doesn't appear to be armed, something must have happened."
Wedge turned to look at his crew, once he was finished he looked at the view screen and sighed. "Gentlemen, all I ask of each and every one of you is to give it your best. This is the Dark council, if sensors read correctly, she is all alone. Let's use caution when approaching her!"
Five minutes had gone by as the crew had been waiting patiently and carefully, especially under cloak. Once all ships rapidly approaching, were in range of the lone dark council ship, they dropped out of max speed and settled down to thrusters. Once the ships were in position, each one de-clocked, surrounding the little black ship.
Spike was busy preparing a report for the council after inspecting his new scar that ran around his abdomen. He looked upon Matt, stood up and kicked him right in the gut. Matt groaned and continued to moan at the throbbing pain in his head from the hit Spike did earlier. The pain was too intense for him to get up so he just lay there as Spike resumed kicking him as if he was just a bag of trash.
"Ya think you're so tough now, ya little piece of trash?! You dared to oppose me by siding with that damn brother of yours! I thought I trained you better than that!" Spike kicked Matt once more and got a look from Matt he had never seen before. It made his skin crawl, although the thought of kicking him more appealed to him, but Matt's icy stare had something else behind it. He just couldn't figure out what. Suddenly Matt collapsed and fainted where he lay.
"Heh, I had thought the kid would have bored a hole thru me with that kind of stare..." Spike let out a sigh and continued back to his report.
Moments later when he had finished with the report, he closed the pad and secured it in a small pocket in his shirt. As Spike turned to look at the view screen, 20+ white spots and one massive ship appeared out of nowhere. The next moment, the alarms went off alerting him of the presence of ships.
"Ohhhhhh FUCK!!!!!!" Spike pressed several buttons in a panic, then the alarms suddenly changed within the ship.
The computer's voice was well heard over the multiple alarms going off. "Self-destruct, activated, core melt-down in one minute! All hands, evacuate the ship!"
Spike chuckled to himself. "So, Wedge, what card will you play this time?"
A shimmering light and low hum filled the ship as a masked boy of 13 appeared behind Spike. Spike turned around and set his eyes on the boy before him. He had seen him before, but couldn't remember where or when. There was a familiar shape about him, which caused Spike to drift off for a moment before the boy knelt down next to Matt and hovered his hands over him, as if to heal him.
"What the fuck?!" Spike started to move towards Matt and the boy, but he got stopped in his tracks as Matt started to wake up with the exact same stare as he held before.
Once the boy was done, the computer announced there were 40 seconds remaining till self-destruct.
The boy stood up and removed his mask. "Yes, Spike, you DO know who I am."
This left Spike speechless, but years of training and experience taught to recover quickly. He formed an attack stance and tried to dart after the boy, but to his surprise, he couldn't move a muscle.
"What? Why can't I move?" Spike asked in puzzlement then changed his mind to speak to the two boys, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the captain's only son, just what the hell do you think you're doing, boy?!" Spike tried to struggle to break free, but was unsuccessful.
The computer chimed in to announce '30 seconds'
Wedge had a bemused look on his face when he pictured the looks on the faces of the occupants inside the small black ship. He walked over towards Andrew to look at the controls to verify something till Sinclair spoke up.
"Sir, the ship has activated its self destruct sequence!" Sinclair turned to his console with a pale expression on his face. "Cap, you won't like this, Sandy transported himself onboard!"
Wedge was thunderstruck. The very words hit him like a ton of bricks. He stumbled back a few steps before shouting at the top of his lungs, "WHAT?! No way! He wouldn't dare!"
"Sensors show three life-forms onboard!"
Wedge growled at how careless his son was. He gave it some thought then turned to Andrew, "Andy, inform the fleet to erect a subspace shield around us, my experience tells me a ship that small might not look like much, but the blast could destroy most of us!"
"Message sent and acknowledged, should we raise the shields yet?"
"No! I want my son back now!"
Ice spoke up, "Transporters are disabled!"
"DAMN! ...Sandy!!! Just what the hell were you thinking?!"
"30 seconds till core meltdown!" Andrew announced.
Wedge growled and tears formed in his eyes. A shimmering light appeared on the bridge in front of the turbolift. It was Jason in a full white uniform. As he walked towards the center, each crewmember bowed his head, however Jason simply waved them off letting them know it wasn't necessary. Once Jason arrived next to Wedge's side, he patted him on the back and told him to relax.
Wedge never let his eyes drift from the view screen. He kept them glued on the tiny black ship till the very end. The ship exploded causing everyone to turn away from the screen, as the light was very bright. The Summoner shook violently causing Wedge and Jason to fall back into the seats behind them. Everyone else braced themselves. Some were thrown from their chairs, others were firmly holding on.
Wedge was silently crying once the shaking died down.
"So, Spike" Sandy spat as he said Spike's name, "you have a choice. You have 25 seconds to decide to live or die."
"I'd rather die than face Wedge! You lack the power to transport the three of us thru that subspace shield of theirs! Just how the hell do you plan to escape?! There is none!"
Sandy removed the gold locked around his neck. "Heh, you'd be surprised how much love a mother has for her long lost sons and what mysteries it contains." Sandy held up the gold locket in front of Spike. Matt studied it closely and held out his hand as if it were calling to him. Sandy placed the gold locket in Matt's hand and observed Matt for a second then returned his glare to Spike. Once the gold locket was in Matt's left hand, he looked it over, then dug into his chest with his right hand and pulled out a matching silver locket with the word 'Eric' engraved on it. Matt studied it closely and grinned.
"See this locket?" Sandy was pointing to the gold locket he had just handed Matt. "This locket was given to me and my dad several years ago by their mother, my Aunt. This thing is what you, the Dark Council, fears the most."
Spike's eyes grew miles wide as he finally realized what Sandy was talking about. "Do you have any idea what'll happen?!"
"Yep, 10 seconds!"
Spike growled and Sandy grinned even more. Sandy returned to watch what Matt was up to.
Matt formed a fist with the gold locket buried within and closed his eyes. He finally understood what Eric felt. Matt, then, no longer felt like he was a part of The Dark Council, but he felt like he was missing his twin. He also felt his energy being restored and he sat up then put the locket gold around his neck, right next to the silver locket and admired it for a second before giving Spike the same icy stare. Spike shivered and screamed:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Die." Matt spoke the word with so much hate, but said it calmly.
The computer began the final countdown. Time felt like it was slowing down, but it was Matt who was controlling the rate of time. He hadn't discovered what he could do yet, but it came naturally to him.
5...
Matt stood up and moved to stand side by side with Sandy.
4...
He exchanged glances with him as if he was communicating telepathically.
3...
He turned to look at spike with that icy stare.
2...
Matt smiled. "Goodbye Master. Enjoy hell! I'll enjoy tormenting you!"
1...
At the last second, Matt realized he could do one more thing, but he wasn't sure how to do it. It suddenly dawned on him as he realized some of Eric's happy memories and moments he had shared with him. Matt concentrated on the happiest one. The explosion was so bright; no one could see what was happening.
Eric screamed his brother's name in his mind as he was still unconscious. He was fully aware of what was happening and when it happened. He wasn't sure why he never felt this way before, but he had hoped he would find out.
Sid was on the bridge when the blast occurred. The ship shook from the shock waves and he wondered what it was from. It suddenly dawned on him when he realized it was Spike's ship that was closer to him than anything to have felt this powerful. He had one of the bridge crew to scan the area and discovered his worst fears: Wedge and company were still intact right next to the explosion! He ordered his helmsman to turn the Vulture around and head for the explosion!
Author's notes:
Ok, so what will happen to Eric? Matt? Spike? Sandy? Eric and Matt finally found their peace, only to be torn apart by Spike and Sid! Stay tuned to the next chapter to find out what happens next! Comments welcome at Hammerps@yahoo.com =)))))))) I think I better start digging holes! First and foremost, I apologize for keeping everyone in suspense and waiting for the long awaited ch7! It seemed one of the editors had other plans in mind to blame me for blaming him. I would also like to apologize to my readers if I haven't responded to their e-mails they had sent me, if they did. The problem with yahoo is, I get so much spam mail, and over the months, I didn't look in the spam folder for important messages such as replies to this story. I'm sorry if I accidentally deleted your responses without knowing. I would like to welcome and thank Roland for helping me edit this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Editor's Notes
Ummm, yeah, umm, hmm. I am not sure what I should say here now. There were some points where I wanted to accuse Hammy of being downright mean and nasty, and other times where I wanted to Whoop (is that still a word? Check with your editor) I thought that Sid was going to finally see the end of days, but alas, we still have to live with the cretin. Maybe in the next chapter? Till next time, (which better not be so far into the future) – Some weird editor guy.