A/N: This one was interesting. I had to decide what to do with the Animals and I think I made a fairly good choice. Just go with the explanation of the synthetic powers and all that. (Lord knows it never should have worked on Heroes anyway...)
Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes or Wicked.
(Fade in on a classroom, some time later in the school year. The students are in desks as Suresh arrives. As someone with a synthetic ability, he is very animalistic, since the formula has to be combined with animal DNA to activate. At first glance he appears to just be a normal Indian man, but a closer look reveals a small beard, two small horns sprouting from his head, and a small tail.)
Mohinder: Settle down, now! I have read your most recent essays. And I am amazed to report your progress! Although, some of us still tend to favor form over content...(He looks pointedly at Peter) Mister Pete-rellie.
Peter: It's Peter Pe-TRELL-i.
Mohinder: (trying again) Excuse me... Pete-ellie.
Peter: I really don't see what the problem is. Every other professor seems to be able to pronounce my name.
Gabriel: Maybe pronouncing your precious name isn't the sole purpose of Doctor Suresh's life. Maybe he's not like every other professor. Maybe some of us are different.
Peter: (dramatically) Oh no! He got mad and now my head's ripping open! (The class laughs, as Gabriel looks furious.)
Mohinder: Class, class! Mister Gray has a point! As you know, I am the sole Synthetic on the faculty. But it wasn't always this way. Oh, dear students, how I wish you could have seen it as it once was. Where you could walk down the halls and see someone with the speed of an antelope explicating a sonnet, the stealth of a snow leopard solving an equation, or the endurance of a wildebeest waxing philosophic. Don't you see, dear students, how our dear Oz is becoming less and less...(he looks at Gabriel)...colorful. Now, who can tell me what sent these events into motion?
Gabriel: (raises his hand) From what I've heard, it all started with the great drought.
Mohinder: Exactly. Food grew scarce, people grew hungrier and angrier. And the question became "Whom can we blame?" Can anyone tell me what is meant by the term "Scapegoat"? (Gabriel raises his hand again.) Someone besides Mister Gray? Ah yes, Mister Pete-ellie.
Peter: It's Pe-TRELL-i...with an ELL. (Behind him, Elle snaps awake from sleeping on her desk. She looks around, confused at hearing her name.) I don't see why you can't just teach us history instead of always harping on the past. (Elle looks at Peter with love in her eyes.)
Mohinder: Well, perhaps these questions will enlighten you... (He walks over to the chalkboard and turns it over. On it is written: SYNTHETICS SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD. Suresh appears angry.) Who is responsible for this? (No one moves) I'm waiting for an answer... (Still nothing) Very well, that will be all for today... (No one knows what to do) You heard me, class dismissed!!!
(All of the students exit except for Gabriel. Suresh is looking at the blackboard, lost in thought.)
Gabriel: (reading the board aloud) "Synthetics should be seen and not heard..."
Mohinder: Oh, Mister Gray, don't worry about me. Go along and enjoy your friends.
Gabriel: Oh that's all right, I don't have any friends. Would you like to share my lunch?
Mohinder: Oh, thank you! How kind.
(He pulls out a thermos with tea in it and some plastic cups. He offers some to the professor, who thanks him and drinks it. After finishing it, Suresh begins to nibble on the cup itself. Then he looks back at the board.)
Mohinder: I seem to have lost my appetite.
Gabriel: You shouldn't let statements like that bother you. I mean, I always do, but you shouldn't.
Mohinder: Oh Mister Gray, if it were only a matter of words on a chalkboard. But the things one hears these days...dreadful things!
A/N: The song's in the next chapter. And I wanted them to bond over tea, just like Mohinder and Sylar did canonically. I don't think it fully works but I'm okay with how it turned out. And I like my little joke with Elle. Plus it sets up nicely for the future...