HEROES Rebirth from the Ashes
Chapter twenty-one
Call my Sylar
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The two mercenaries climbed off the launch boat and up the side ladder of Hitler's personal submarine as Claire Bennett ascended before them. It had been a long night evading the authorities and disposing of the ambulance by the water front. The girl had gone quietly and had been quite submissive throughout the night's challenges. The driver of the ambulance had signaled the launch while they hid in an abandoned warehouse at the water's edge of New York City, just before dawn. They had waited less than an hour and finally were back on the ship. Gabriel Grey walked through the bowls of the submarine disguised as Claire, his hands were cinched together by a zip-tie; and held by a large soldier as he was led to a private cabin at the front of the vessel.
Peter also in disguise as a mercenary made brief eye contact with him as he was led down the passageway. Peter followed along with the ambulance driving mercenary beside him. Their hunting trip had paid off more than they could ever have expected. They had made it to Hitler's personal submarine. The one they had freed Claire from, and Noah had also escaped. Their prize set for assassination was on board and they were being led straight to him. They had agreed that their mission was Hitler, and now one else. The soldiers were only tools of Hitler and they should be ignored unless they prevented them from reaching their target. Peter had insisted they remain in disguise until the kill; that the assassination could not risked even if one of them was to die. Peter followed behind the pack with the other mercenary and concentrated on his surroundings just in case they needed options for a fast escape.
The group paused at a hatch in the passageway and Gabriel was led into the room beyond and the guards parted to allow the mercenaries to enter. Peter entered through the hatch and came to a halt in a room that looked like the Captain's personal quarters. One man stood in the center of the room with his back to them. He was a large man. His head only inches from the ceiling; his back was enormous, flexing strength and power as only perfect specimen of the human body could display. The mercenary beside Peter stepped around him and Gabriel disguised as Claire and in German announced their victory over their mission and triumphant return, ending with a vigorous "Hail Hitler."
"We return here with the girl and demand our reward, Sir!" he proclaimed
The Captain grunted and sat down on the top of his small desk, not moving a muscle in his face, "So you have…so you have." His glare slowly scrutinized Gabriel as Claire from head to toe, his eyes glued to her looking over every detail. "Interesting…" The Captain said in a low resounding voice. His voice made the small room reverberate and echo with his growl. He smiled a cruel smile at the young girl before him, "So you are the famous Claire Bennet," The Captain nodded at one of the guard just behind the mercenaries to step through the hatch, and into his cramped cabin room. The guard made his way through the group and pulled knife from his belt and cut the tie around the young girl wrists before him. Gabriel rubbed his small female wrists to bring back the circulation and to play along with their disguise. The guard then made eye contact with the Captain and walked back to the cabin hatchway; as he passed Peter and the other mercenary he drew a second blade and thrust both deep into the throats of the two men. Before they could react they fell to the floor choking in their own blood.
Gabriel remained still but forced himself to cry a single tear. "Claire would show sorrow at death, even the death of these evil men", he thought. "I must remain in character." The Captain turned back towards the young girl before him and swung his open hand around and slapped it against the young face. The power from the blow sent Gabriel to his hands and knees in the small room. He had not expected that blow. It had been so fast. The raw power in the Captain's hands made every bone in Gabriel's fabricated body shake and hurt. Blood flowed now from a long gash on his face. Blood ran down his female face and dripped to the metal floor. The Captain grabbed a handful of blond hair and pulled the small form back up off the floor and with great interest, watched as the skin, right before his eyes, knitted itself back together and the open wound closed. The skin even drew back into itself most of the blood on the young girlish face.
"You have been more trouble than I believe your worth. But He wants you." The Captain growled to Gabriel with a very low voice in his ear. "Now I understand why he wants you so bad. I had to see it with my own eyes. You are more valuable than any prize on the planet. With your ability, we will be gods amongst men. We will rule the mortals with immortality!" The Captain summoned the waiting guards. "Take the prisoner to the Brig, The Fuhrer will meet with her shortly." The man that had killed the mercenaries grabbed the young girl buy the shoulder and spun her around. He placed a new zip tie on her hands and lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her and down the passageway to the brig; Gabriel trying to remain in character as Claire swung his feet wildly banging on the walls all the way down the hallway.
The Captain looked down at the two mercenaries lying on the floor, their blood pooling on the floor panels near his feet, "Someone clean this mess up now!" He commanded and turned his back to the bodies as an orderly rushed from outside of the hall and quickly grabbed the first body by the arms, and pulled him out the hatch towards the infirmary. The Captain pulled back his seat behind his desk and settled his massive body down into the chair. He had some thinking to do, before Hitler was to see the girl.
The orderly dropped the first body with a thud onto the floor just inside the doorway of the cold infirmary morgue, enjoying the smack of the bloody body as it hit the floor. He grumbled under his breath as he left the room and soon came back with the body of the second man. The orderly swung the body up onto the service table for the Doctor to look at later as he decide the bodies were worth keeping until the Doctor decided if they were worth anything for research and experiments. Why dispose of such great potential.
He turned around to pick up the body he had dropped by the doorway, when he went back for the second body, it was gone. Where was it? He had dropped it right next to the hatch. Where did it go? Dead bodies do not just get up and walk away, he thought to himself. The orderly looked behind the hatch, and under the surgical table to make sure he was not mistaken, and that it had not rolled or moved due to the shifting of the submarine under water. Either someone took the body, or the mercenary was not dead! The orderly with sudden panic jumped for the alarm button on the wall. But something grabbed him from behind; he was floating in midair. He opened his mouth to call out but he could not open his jaw. It was like it was frozen shut. He felt two hands grab his head from both sides and cover his ears, and then an incredible searing pain throughout his entire body, then nothing.
Peter Petreli watched as the man turned to dust in his bare hands. By channeling his electricity in one single and powerful burst he had learned over 100 years ago how to vaporize a human body. He then concentrated and molded his face into that of the orderly. "No one pays attention to the janitor", he whispered to himself as he stepped through the open hatch and left the morgue. He had to find Gabriel, then Hitler.
X-X-X
Gabriel sat on the small cot in the brig cell, unknowingly the same cot that Noah Bennet sat on only days before. He sat with his hands cupped together between his knees, every cell in his body radiated with nervousness and emotional power. He wanted to explode and sink this submarine to the ocean floor. Gabriel tried to calm his breathing and slow his heart rate. He day-dreamed as he waited of ripping Hitlers head open with his bare hands. He thought back to Peter lying on the floor apparently dead. Peter was either dead or was somewhere on the ship trying to find him. Could Peter be killed so easily? No, he was looking for Hitler, and following the plan. Being stabbed and left for dead had not been part of the plan, but they had discussed the possibility if he was to be discovered and killed. Gabriel was to remain in character until Hitler and he were face to face, and then kill, kill, kill. Gabriel smiled to himself and in Claire's soft and feminine voice giggled out loud unintentionally with the pleasure of killing the man that had caused so much pain to his Claire.
"What are you giggling at?" the guard demanded, capturing Gabriel's attention from his thoughts. "Why do you laugh?" Gabriel for a moment lost character and looked at the guard in a sinister way. His chin held low and his eyes where cold and staring. He looked past the eyes of the man before him and deep into the very soul of the guard. His whole body coiled like a spring. He was the avenging cobra ready to pounce. It would be so easy to rip this little man apart, with just his thoughts. The blood lust burned at his heart. His hands began to shake and the little hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up. He quickly pulled himself back into character, but found it near impossible. He lowered himself back onto the cot and into the meek Claire Bennett costume. His eyes burned with rage, his blood boiled under the surface as he felt the little pricks of static shock from the blanket, mumbled at the guard in a raspy voice that defied his feminine appearance "nothing."
The guard stood from his chair at his post and crossed the small floor space and stared at the little female in his Brig. She looked small and frail; like he could break her with just one of his little fingers. He snorted, "Why do they all want you?" he said half to himself and half out loud, "You are just a little girl, why are you such problem?" Gabriel stood cautiously to his feet and sauntered to the brig cell door. He grabbed a bar with each hand and drew his Claire Bennet face close to the brig door. His nose now only inches away from the guards. He could feel the breath of the man on his skin. It smelled like stale sardines and vodka.
Gabriel disguised as Claire spoke in a low haunting male voice. "I am a powerful person. I can breathe fire from my mouth, and shoot lighting from my eyes; I can rip your skull off your head with the power of my mind. I can boil your blood inside your body with just my glare; I can see your thoughts, and can send your very soul to the grave with just a thought. I am your worst nightmare. I will rip open your soul and eat your brains. I am a monster that death can not kill, and life can not subdue. I will pull your heart our through your chest and drink you blood as you die watching. " The guard stepped away from the cell door, stumbling over his own feet in his urgency. His eyes grew big and he lifted his hands and placed them on his head; and then his heart. "I am the avenging angel of death and destruction!"
Gabriel returned to character in an instant and gave the biggest and sweetest smile at the man. He cleared his throat with a cough and in a perfect mimic of Claire's voice asked, "Why are your so scared of me? I am just a little girl." as he sat down on the cot and stared off into space. The guard walked backwards to his desk and sat in his chair hard as he could not take his eyes off the girl in the cell. He grabbed his newspaper and lifted it in front of his face, pretending to read, as he peered around the side of the paper watching the prisoner. He would not this one out of his sight.
X-X-X
Noah Bennet sat quietly in the rail car as the small group rested from the events upstairs. His mind whirling from the events, blood, and death he witnesses far above them in the mansion. He had hoped and prayer that he could escape the enemy for a few days and be able to rest with his daughter and the group. "No rest for the wicked" he resolved in his mind. What to do now? Do they escape and flee the mansion, or do they fight? They had wounded, and Angela was still out of sorts from the grenades at the restaurant attack. Molly was curled up in a ball and crying quietly in Tracy's lap. Hiro was playing ball with little interest on the platform with young Noah. Claire was up now and walking on shaky legs as she, along with Gretta took charge of the care of Alfred's head wound, and the twin girl's injuries; each laid out on the soft bench seat or the people transport. Noah had explained to Tracy what had happened upstairs only minutes ago. Angela needed to wake up before they would decide the next step to take.
Hans stepped up to Noah, "Mister, I am Hans! Master Peter told me if you were to arrive, I was to honor you like I do him. He is a great leader and Master. He is my boss, my General, and my friend. I will live, kill, and die for him. No I will for you." He stood at attention and waited for Noah to respond. His statue-istic presence filled the personal transport. His willingness to fight gave Noah encouragement and helped focus his mind. They needed to stay and fight. They needed to bring this war to an end. If Hitler believed Claire was here, he would be personally in the attack. He would not let another screw it up; not after so many near misses and escapes. They needed weapons; they needed a different way into the mansion than the elevator. They needed to prepare to welcome the Red eagle and pluck its wings once and for all. "Hans, we need weapons. We need another way into the mansion. Can you help?" Hans let a wide smile spread across his face, as Gretta looked around from applying a fresh bandage on an unconscious Emily, "Master Noah, you haven't Han's collection!"
"Good, we leave in five minutes!" Noah watched Tracy as she comforted Molly. She was so different than his late wife. Sandra was so soft, fragile, and motherly. Tracy was strong, his equal in every way. Yet, she was also loving, soft, and gentle, even motherly to Molly and Hiro. If they could just have time they might even form a loving family. He observed his Claire-bear. She had changed so much in these last few weeks. She was a mother now to little Noah. She had grown and become wiser and strong. He thought with just a hint of anger, she might not need him after this is all done. Once Hitler was dead or destroyed, would she push him to arms length once more and force him out of her life? Would she make him a side note to her musical concert? She was all that was important in his life now. Tracy had told him of the murders of Sandra and Kyle. Gretchen had killed them according to Gabriel, but he had secretly hoped it was a lie on her part; but those hopes had come crashing down when he saw the pictures in the hated envelope. The emotional pain Angela is suffering with her entire family wiped out was far greater than the physical pain from the grenade blasts.
Claire Bennet felt her father looking at her and looked up from tending to Alfred's head wound. She paused and they made eye contact. She missed her father so much that it hurt deep inside. These last few weeks, she had reviewed in her mind all the horrible things she had said to him when she was younger. She had cried herself to sleep, many nights thinking she would never see him again. When he pushed her into the torpedo tube, she knew he was sacrificing his life, for the hope she would live. He had always been there for her: larger than life; strong and powerful, never wavering or backing away from any trouble. She had remembered how he just wanted his little Claire to be safe. She remembered watching him die last year when he was shot in through the eye and how he came back to her alive again. She had been little more that worrisome, childish, burden to him these last few years. She was the cause of this death. If she had known the future and how many would die because of here selfish acts, she would have been a far different teenager. She promised to herself that she would never disappoint him again. She would become a woman he could trust, depend on, and fight beside him.
She could never risk that her childish thoughts might drive him away once again. Yet despite all of her failures he continued loving and protecting her, even now he was at the right time and place to save her life again. She needed her Hero, her Dad. Gently Claire finished Alfred's bandage and sat down beside her father. She lowered her head and tucked her arms around his massive and power body, and just held tight. "I love you." She said over her warm tears. It had been a long time since she had said those words, and it felt good. Noah wrapped his arms around her and just "was" for a few moments with his little girl. Gretta and Hans walked away from the group across the platform hand in hand, talking in whispers, and only Tracy saw the glistening in his eyes from the emotion and relief, of a father's heart overflowing.
Suddenly Angela Petreli sat up straight with a gasp, her hand grasping her heart. The wet towel balanced on her forehead tumbled to her lap. She looked around with confusion, her eyes wide and unfocused. Her makeup and eyeliner smudged and streaked down the sides of her face. Her gaze stopped on Noah, her eyes focused into sharp concentration, and her mouth opened in a scream. "We are all going to die! Flames, destruction, Pain! Hitler is coming! He is at the door and knocking! We are all going to die!"
Everyone stopped frozen in the alarm of her revelation. Was it true? Was this the last stand of this group? Would they all be dead in a only a matter of hours? Little Noah began to cry. Molly Began to breathe hard as if she could not catch her breath. Claire sat up from her father's embrace; but tucked her face into his embrace and held on even tighter. Alfred rolled over and sat up, holding his head in his hands; and Tracy lifted her hand and slapped Angela across the face.
X-X-X
Gabriel as Claire stood to his feet as three solders entered the Brig area through the hallway hatch and approached his cell. One was the submarine Captain and the other two were guards Gabriel assumed were here to take him to Hitler. Gabriel in his best female impression, smiled sweetly as the Captain took a key from the guard behind the desk, and unlocked the cell door. "Come." He commanded as the two soldiers grabbed the young Claire body's arms and lifted him off the deck and carried him after the Captain as he led the way out the hatch and down the central passageway of the submarine. Gabriel allowed himself to be carried down the passageway. Soon he would face Hitler and this was would be over one way or another.
"Where are we going?" Gabriel asked in his female voice. "You are going to see the Fuhrer," the soldier to his left said smugly. The Captain swung around and smashed his large fist into the nose of the un-expecting guard. The man took the brunt of the blow and never even flinched, as bone showed through his skin and blood flowed down his chin and onto his uniform. "Duncoff!" the Captain raged, "Keep you mouth shut! You are not paid to talk. Do you understand?"
The soldier stood taller and through his broken nose and the blood on his face called out a solid "Aye, Aye, Captain." The Captain grunted and nodded. He looked at the young captive and smiled, "You have an audience with the Fuhrer. You will come with us now." Then he turned and led the way along the passageway once more. The second soldier holding Gabriel-Claire's other arm, leaned around him and with a superior look at his fellow soldier, with the broken nose; and smirked at him, "Duncoff!"
Gabriel was brought into a large gathering room a few moments later in the lowest section of the ship. The room was full of soldiers; it looked to him like the entire submarine's crew had been assembled for this event. The room had a low ceiling full of pipes and conduits, and tables bolted to the floor. This was the dinning hall on the submarine. As the Captain stepped through the hatch all the men stood to attention and saluted. The Captain swelled his chest and with great power and performance led the way through the center isle and toward a large table at the far end of the room.
The room shook as the men cheered when the two guards brought Gabriel disguised as Claire through the hatch, making the two men smile despite them both having broken noses now. They lifted the small female figure as high as they could so that all could see. Their prize was won! The Captain lifted his hand for silence as a side door at the opposite end of the hall opened and in walked Hitler himself. Quickly the crew turned and as a single unit lifted their hands in salute, "Hail Hitler!" Hitler made his way to the head table and stood behind it glaring at the young girl before him. Anger showed on his face. Contempt was flashing in his eyes. He lifted one hand and in a deep voice that resounded in the room commanded, "Be seated!"
Gabriel counted more than 200 men in the room at the tables surrounding him, there were too many, he needed to get closer to make sure of the kill. His very blood boiled in his veins to see the man before him. He wanted to rip his arms off and club the man to dead with his own limbs. But he contained himself as he watched the proceedings continue. Where was Peter? He was nervous; things were not going as expected. But he ignored the imperfections of Peter's plan, as the blood lust licked at his soul now that Hitler was within his sights.
The soldiers carried Gabriel to the center of the room, and then stopped. Bolted to the floor was a steel plate of about 4 feet square with two chains mounted on either side, the Captain took a chain and strapped it to the wrist of the female body before him; first the left wrist and then the right. Gabriel began to panic. He could not get close enough to Hitler, if he was bolted to the ground. What was going on? He was trapped. No, Claire was trapped. He was just here to kill, kill, kill!
The Captain turned once more and faced the feminine features of Claire. He lifted his voice and spoke to the men in German. Gabriel did not know German. He did not know what was being said. Did Claire know German? His heart began to race, he could feel the pounding in his chest. He must maintain character! The Men cheered and pounded on the tables. Then everything went quiet. The Captain swung his fist around and smashed it against Gabriel's face; once, twice, thrice, and then again. Gabriel sunk to the metal floor under the blows. The fists felt like iron. The man was powerful. He took a slow breath as his healing kicked in and the pain faded away. The Captain then turned to Hitler and in English so that Gabriel could understand, he lifted his hand high to show a cell phone in his grip. On the screen was a picture of Claire Bennet, and the words "GIRL HERE FOLLOW GPS" in bold letters. "This one is an impostor!" The Captain proclaimed. "Since we know this is not the girl, it is either Peter Petreli, or Gabriel Grey." The Captain then pressed a button in his other hand and a charge of electricity straight from the submarine engines coursed through Gabriel's body.
Gabriel roared in pain. His body flew into convulsions as the power surge continued. The Claire mask fell away and Gabriel Grey was revealed to everyone. Smoke began to wisp and curl into the air from all over his body when the charge suddenly stopped and Gabriel slumped to the floor. Hitler stood and walked slowly around the table he had been sitting at and stood at the end of the room, "Kill Him!"
Gabriel struggled to his knees and he opened blood shot eyes, and glared at the Captain. His voice dripping with power and doom, "call me Sylar!" Then with all his might he pulled on the chains, funneling his power of the mind at the base of chains and pulled the plates free from the floor, his hands were still bound but he was free. He glared at Hitler and with a battle cry that ripped tables free from the floor and tossed them through the air toward Hitler. He stood to his feet: then all the lights in the room exploded.
X-X-X
Sylar grabbed the Captain by the face in one hand and tossed him into the crowd of soldiers. Men leapt to their feet and dove upon Sylar; to kill him, as the emergency red lights of the submarine lit up. Sylar shot lighting from his hands and men died as their blood boiled in their veins. The two guards that had held his arms drew their guns and emptied full magazines of ammunition into his back; but Sylar did not fall. Sylar grabbed the chains just below his wrists and swung the chains and plates around and through the air. The floor plates hit the two men shooting at him across the chest and several other men as a plus. Bullets flew, bodies flew, men died; and inch by inch Sylar made his way through the hundreds of soldiers towards Hitler at the end of the room.
Men threw themselves upon him. Knives stabbed and hand guns blasted as each soldier tried to kill the monster before it reached Hitler. Hitler just stood and watched with a smile. This was his glory to see the ultimate man fight the ultimate battle against all odds. He would have paid a kings ransom to watch this fight.
Sylar for a moment disappeared under the bodies of over a dozen men. Each stabbing and shooting into him. The rest of the soldiers cheered and raise their arms in triumph. Then the floor shook and with an explosion of light blinding hundred around him, Sylar stood throwing the men off him like rag dolls. He was only feet away from Hitler now. They could see the whites of each others eyes. Sylar reached for Hitler with his mind, but was then smashed behind the head with a machine gun. Then a shout "Protect the fuhrer!" and more men grabbed him. He lifted his head in defiance as he pulled one hand free and reached out for Hitler's uniform. But before he could grab hold, he was drug back into the fight by his legs.
Sylar braced his legs and laced his fingers through the open mesh of the submarine flooring. Inch by inch he crawled across the room. Men jumped on his arms, his legs, and his back. They threw themselves onto Sylar to protect the leader. He had to reach the goal. He had to protect Claire. He had to stop Hitler from killing and more of his family. His heart began to break with the dread that he might not be able to complete the mission. Was Peter still alive? Was he the only one left? Would Claire become this man's tool to reach world domination? Sylar drew his power into his heart and with a mighty roar placed one foot underneath him, and then pulled his second leg free and stood to his feet. He pulled his hands toward his chest and could hear the men holding on to the chains drag across the metal flooring. He began to radiate his body and with incredible energy began to melt the chains on his wrists. The soldiers rolled away but a dozen men on each hand held him back from reaching Hitler.
Hitler watched the man before him, an enigma. He was a freak of nature. He tossed his men aside like play toys and killed with little effort. This man was determined to kill him no matter the cost. He had played a charade and had gotten closer than any of the specials so far. But it was now time to end this…Hitler drew his sword.
Sylar heard the swing of the sword too late. He felt the bite of the blade at his neck and then all went blank, nothing. Hitler returned his sword to his side and without a second glance walked out of the room; leaving the Captain and the remaining crew to clean up the mess. The body of Sylar slumped to the floor and rolled over to its side with the dead eyes of Sylar staring blankly at the ceiling more than a dozen feet away from its body. Men stood slowly to their feet and backed away from the death in the room. Over a hundred bodies littered the floor. Their friends, comrades all dead; this giant of an enemy had killed so many of them. They left the room as the red alarm lights flashed for battle stations. They were at the GPS coordinates.
The Captain held his weight upright and on his feet by holding onto a pipe from overhead few moments to catch his breath. Only seconds before, his life was almost lost. He stood on shaky legs and stepped out the hatch into the passageway, just as an orderly rushed up to him and looked into the room. He recognized the man from this morning when he cleaned up the bodies of the two returning mercenaries and thought this was a much larger of a mess. "You might need some help to clean this mess up," the Captain grunted as he made his way to the bridge.
***IF YOU ENJOY THE STORY SO FAR – PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK***