Disclaimer: "Heroes" and related characters are created by Time Kring. The characters Oliver, Christina and Aline are mine. This one-shot is inspired on the "Heroes Graphic Novels".
My name is Oliver Grimm. Or at least, it has been officially for the past year and a half. The half-year before that, it's save for me to say that I've been through a stage in life where... well, something nobody else that I know of in recent history has been through, so I don't know how I should describe it exactly. What I do know, is that life had been taking a turn back to something I could call normal. That is, up to a certain degree.
As my new found friend Christina asked me, I joined her band, as the new drummer. In doing so, I thought my ability to transform into something else could be quite useful, as it gave something of a different dimension to our band, bringing in more fans. Unfortunately, since I know that these people from Primatech Paper, or whatever their real name is, or was, would immediately recognize me, so I had to use Christina's ability to change into my upgraded version. To the general audience, I'm just someone who loves to make costumes, much like the band's lead singes liking to use make-up. Also, despite my brief education in film school, I had been taught enough to know how to make a music video, so they would have one person less to pay. With my girlfriend Aline, who has educated herself in the art of drawing, even designing, especially with the computer, had helped the band even more, as she's friends with some of us band members, it was easier to compromise a price suitable for both parties. Regardless of what this may sound like, I didn't join the band for the money, however maintaining the band is costly, so our abilities, whether they're special or otherwise, helped us in a great deal of ways. We even managed to keep things at a minimum, so to not arouse too much suspicion. It is unfortunate that neither me or my two friends, could ever reveal our special gifts to the other band members, but the three of us had agreed that the less people knew about us, the better, especially after I had been informed about the existence of a man, a cop by all means, who is able to hear our thoughts. That info, I got from the one friend of mine who had never heard me speak, namely Hana. It's weird that she somehow manages to keep in touch, somehow always knowing where I am and where, much any worried sister would do, but I've never met with her again despite it all. In any event, she kept me informed on a lot of things. One of them being the following.
Given the gothic nature of our band, we are considered something of a threat to many states. A bit like using a school shooting to discredit Marlyn Manson, many have tried to do something in the same nature to us. Under that guise, the company had tried to get to us once. Hana did not know who they were sending, but I had to be prepared for the worst.
It happened after one of our concerts, when we went backstage. Pretending to take off some of her make-up, Christina used a handkerchief to "wipe" off the white on her face. Except that it didn't work. One of us joked that she had really overdone it this time, but that wasn't me who made the joke. Just to check, I leaned against the nearest wall. I tried to merge myself with it, but even when doing so in the slightest, so nobody would notice, that didn't work. Fearing the worst, I left my fellow band members to look for what may be causing this. As I feared, there was a dark man, the Haitian more than likely, who could decrease brain activity, which would explain why we couldn't use our powers. What this man didn't realize however, is that in my still transformed state, as I had just performed on stage and never transform back to my civilian form in front of anyone, I could still be a fearsome opponent. All he really did was disable my ability to change back. What I hadn't anticipated was his accomplice. At first she looked like a petite girl, but as I started towards them, she could shoot something that looked like electricity from her hands. If it were Veronica Mars, all I had to do was beat her in the stomach so to distract her, so I could knock the Haitian guy unconscious, unfortunately I'm dealing with her evil twin. I'm not kidding, as these two looked very much alike. I don't know if it was this realization, or the fact that I was too slow, despite my transformed form, which got her to knock me down easily, but the why doesn't matter as I needed to find a way to counteract that, which would be a lot more than just to use physical force. I had some, what some would call inhuman durability, but that was only enough for me to get up again and try to reach for her. Unfortunately, the Haitian was free to move whenever he pleased, so he stepped closer to me. That's when he received a sharp blow on his back, which got the electric girl distracted. It was Aline, who was to come by after, but this Veronica look-alike wasn't aware of who Aline is or what she can do. She tried to use her electricity, when suddenly rubber gloves appeared on her hands. With this, she had no counter measure, so I could knock her down. Given what I had learned before, I was able to imprint a memory into their heads, which would have them think they got mugged by some overzealous bodyguards, and therefor they had never seen me or Aline in any shape or form. Hopefully, that company would buy this and stay away.
I have to say that we were lucky this time. All things considered, I think we'll be alright, eventually. On a side note, numerous rumors are spreading about some kind of a flash appearing over New York City, a flying man who dropped a girl from several feet high though the girl is unharmed. The latter came from a drunk school girl, but that doesn't make it any less true. No doubt there are many out there who have special abilities too. My only hope is that none of them would misuse them for some childish dispute, like a certain somebody has already done.