In the year 1939, an event occurred that changed the world. Two beings, exhibiting superhuman abilities, appeared in the middle of the New York World's Fair. Waging battle, both died within moments of appearing, but it was enough to alter mankind's destiny.
Suddenly, hundreds of superpowered individuals began to pop up, governments around the world working to monitor, contain and control them.
Finally, after 20 years of wars and infighting amongst the global leaders, it came upon those with special powers to stand up and govern themselves. A group of heroes formed The Company, an alliance of heroes dedicated to protecting the world from those who used their abilities for evil.
The world entered a Gold Age.
One…that lasted for 22 years.
In 1981, several prominent heroes, including several of its founding members, were brutally murdered by the last remaining supervillain known as Kensai, aka Adam Monroe. Though Monroe was finally put to justice, the blow weighed heavily upon The Company. In the now imfamous press conference, the founding members Osmosis, Delphi, Crush, MindMaster, Ageless and The Doc announced that The Company would disband and by a unanimous vote, all heroes would retire.
Thus, the world entered its current age, returned to what it was before the events of 1939.
Or so, it would seem.
The epic journey of these heroes and their families begins here…
^&^&^&^
Volume One
Prologue
^&^&^&^
(April 29th, 2001- The Petrelli Mansion- Los Angles)
The first thing Claire felt was her father's arms around her.
It was not an uncommon feeling. She remembered well her father hugging her after a bad dream, holding her up high so she could see parades go by, being comforted when a boy broke her heart.
But never had see felt those arms around her like this.
Heat blasted her face, forcing her to shut her eyes. She cringed, burrowing her head into the hollow of her father's neck, body shaking as he rushed her out of her bedroom, down the hall she had walked so many times, practically flying down the stairs and out the door into the cool Spring night. In the distance, the screams of firetrucks could be heard, shaking her from her confusion.
"Dad?" The scared 11 year old whispered.
"Keep your head down, Claire." Her father said.
Her mother came rushing towards them, fear rippling in her eyes. Her father took a moment to her, while Claire just watched their home go up in flames.
A moment later, Peter Petrelli burst out of the building, coughing horribly as he stumbled onto the lawn.
"Nathan!" Peter called out.
"Meredith, hold her." Nathan said, handing Claire off to her mother and rush to his brother's aid. "Peter…Peter, talk to me…"
"Mom and dad…" Peter groaned out.
"They were away, remember Peter?"
Peter nodded. "Carter?"
Nathan frowned. "Carter was at the basketball game…"
Peter's eyes widened. "No…no…he came home early…I said good night to him…Nathan…Nathan he's still inside!"
The fire trucks roared into the driveaway, the brothers not paying attention as they argued about whether the 17 year old had been in the house.
They got their answer.
"CARTER!" Claire screamed, pointing to an upstairs window. The family watched as the teen pounded on the glass, flames flickering behind him as he tried to escape. Claire struggled in her mother's arms, trying to escape.
"Nathan!" Meredith screamed.
Nathan looked up at the terrified face of his adopted son, taking a step forward before a firefighter stopped him.
"Sir, the building is going to blow!"
"My son's still in there!"
"We'll get him out!" Nathan found himself shoved aside, watching as the firefighters rushed into the house.
Peter shook his brother's arm. "Nathan…Nathan you can save him…"
"Peter, they just…"
"Fly, Nathan." Peter said emotionally. "It's the only way."
Nathan looked around nervously at all the people that were gathered around. "I can't Peter…they'll see."
"Carter's going to die if you don't!"
Nathan tensed, his mind and heart waging battle. "They can get to him…they can get to him…" He glanced up, watching Carter turn away from the window…
BOOM
Peter and Nathan shielded their faces as the mansion exploded.
"CARTER!" Claire screamed, her wails joining with the sirens in the distance. Meredith fell to her knees, staring at the house for a few moments before letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
"No…" Nathan whispered. "No….NO!"
^&^&^&^
(Tokyo- September 29th, 2006)
"Ando, come in here please."
Ando entered Hiro's office. It was a grand place, larger than Ando's apartment, filled with enough art and tapestries that one, if they sold it all, could buy a chain of stores. Soft music piped through the intercom, giving the place a much more warmer feeling than it should have. It was done up in reds and golds, the walls lined with statues of famous warriors and relics from Japan's history. Here was a piece of wreckage from the Pearl Harbor attacks. There, the sword of the Kensai, used to kill White Beard. Paintings depicted the rise of the Nakamuras from simple farmers to the businessmen they were today.
"Ando?"
"Yes, Mr. Nakamura?"
Hiro Nakamura glared at his personal assistant. "Have you today's paper?"
Ando quickly handed it over to his boss, keeping his head respectfully bowed. Hiro ran a hand over his black suit, pausing for a moment to tug on the wrapping that kept his long hair in place in a long braid. He looked over the paper, the letters enlarged to allow him to read it. Hiro refused to wear glasses, even though he could barely read without them.
"That is all, Ando."
"Yes sir."
^&^&^&^
(San Francisco)
"LOOK OUT!"
Frankie barely had time to react before the snapping of the crane's cable filled the air, followed by the terrible whooshing sound of the shipping containing hurtling to the docks filled his ears.
"GET DOWN!"
The men dove away, but it was too late, the over-laden steel box breaking the cement dock down, a massive cracker formed where once had been smooth hard concrete. Men cried out as they were flung down into the choppy waters, bits of metal still raining down on them.
"HELP!" Frankie screamed, struggling to stay afloat as he felt himself being dragged further out into the bay. "HELP!"
"Someone call the cops!" The foreman bellowed, knowing full well that by the time a boat was even close, Frankie would be 10 meters below.
WHOOOOOSH!
And then, Frankie was standing before him, coughing and hacking, water spewing from his mouth. Behind him, his savior stood, a man in a silver bodysuit with black accents, including black eye lens, gloves and boots. Upon his chest was the image of a stick figure flying across a cloud. The man's black cape billowed behind him as he patted Frankie's back.
"Are you ok?" The mystery man said, it clear he was trying to make his voice sound much older than it was.
Frankie groaned. "Yeah…what…" He jumped back as he stared at the man. "Who…who the hell are you?"
The hero shrugged. "Call me the Silver Streak."
"Why that?"
The next instant the man was gone, and his name became clear.
In the sky there was a brilliant silver streak.
^&^&^&^
(New York)
"There was another sighting."
Chandra Suresh remained focus on selecting a tie, showing no sign he was paying attention. His son knew, however, that he was listening to every word.
"And what exactly is your source?" Chandra asked.
Mohinder frowned. "A few construction workers…say a man named the Silver Streak "saved" them."
"More likely set an accident up just to get paid." Chandra muttered in disgust. "Have you cataloged all of this?"
"Yes, every word and report and piece of footage."
"Good." Chandra said, selecting a red tie. "I want it ready for the United Nations tomorrow. Just another piece of evidence that we need to eradicate these mistakes."
^&^&^&^
(Las Vegas)
Murray Parkman groaned as he rolled off the whore he'd hired for the evening, utterly spent.
The woman took out a cigarette, lighting it up and glancing at the fat, disgusting man. "You want another round?"
Murray glanced at her as he got out of bed, scratching himself as he looked for his pants. "I'm good, thanks." The woman continued to watch him. "That's your cue to leave."
The woman frowned. "You still owe me, buddy."
Murray tilted his head.
'ioweyounothingioweyounothing ioweyounothingioweyounothing ioweyounothingioweyounothing'
"You…owe me nothing." The woman said, in a daze.
"Good girl." Murray said, turning to grabbing his shirt.
The door to the bedroom flew off its hinges.
"What the…" Murray snapped, just managing to duck as a knife flew by his face, embedding itself in the hooker's chest. He turned, defensively, as a new figure entered the bedroom.
The man or woman, Murray couldn't tell, wore all black, all of which looked like it had some sort of bulletproofing armor upon it. The figure's face wasn't visible, hidden in the shadows of the large hood that hung over his head.
"Who do you think you are, coming in here and attacking my entertainment?!" Murray snarled.
"Retribution." The figure said, his or her voice gravely. It sounded like rocks falling down a mountain, or the growl of some great beast.
Murray focused, eyes narrowing.
'leavethisplaceatonceyoudontwanttohurtmeforgetallaboutme leavethisplaceatonceyoudontwanttohurtmeforgetallaboutme leavethisplaceatonceyoudontwanttohurtmeforgetallaboutme'
"Trying to get into my head, Mr. Parkman?" The figure asked.
'leavethis..'
Murray screamed, gripping his head as he was assaulted by a mental defense, driving him back into his own brain and making it feel like his skull was on fire.
The figure calmly stepped towards him, staring down at the prone man. "Murray Parkman…the great MasterMind…reduced to cheating whores out of their cash." The figure poked Murray in the forehead, sending the man tumbling to the hardwood. The figure's voice continued, raspy and torn. "Do you know how many people died in the 10 minutes it took you to satisfy your own needs? 4 in this city alone. 2 of them you could have saved…but you, you gave up being a hero long ago, didn't you?"
Murray groaned. "Had too…"
"You never have to do anything, Murray. You only do what you want and make excuses for why." The figure snarled, his or her voice raw. "You were given these powers to help the world, and instead you have become worse than the villains you fought. At least they could delude themselves into thinking they were heroes. You know what you do is wrong…and worse…you've led your son down the same path."
Murray growled, making a move to grab the man, only to be twisted about and shoved to the ground once more, the figure pressing his or her knee into his spine.
'This world needs heroes, Murray…and if you aren't going to be one…" The figure placed a knife in Murray's hand. "We're in for a long night."
Murray screamed.
^&^&^&^
Author's note: For new readers, the character of Carter is from my other fan-fiction ELSEWHERE. In that story, Carter is the son of Meredith Gordon and Edward Ellis (Eden's father), making him Claire's half brother. Carter was adopted by another family, and, in that story, can manipulate the chemicals in the brain, making people feel or do things based on his desires. Yes, there will be some characters from Elsewhere appearing in this story.
Also note that, yes, some heroes will or did have cheesy names, 70s comic book names. Others are going to have very cool names. And still others will seem like they are rip offs of current DC/Marvel characters. The cheesy ones are cheesy for a reason, the cool ones for their reason, and the rip offs are just me not realizing there was already a hero with that name or just liking it too much.