Jeremy Maddox
Mexico City, Mexico
He knew of Sylar's attack on San Ribero, thanks to the information leak in the facility, but there was no way out of his cell as of yet. He knew the words branded on the door and hated them. Project: Omega, Code: Avarice. His name was Jeremy Maddox, and he was gifted.
He watched as the nurse came in to take his blood. She'd done it for the past ten years. Maddox liked her, watching as she grew older and he didn't. He didn't grow old; it was apart of his gift. The only thing he had to worry about was the deep itch he sometimes got in his body parts. It was the first sign of decay, followed by the smell and then the burning sensation of flies burying their eggs in his flesh. The itching was now in his eyes, and that could only mean one thing. It was time to leave this facility.
He waited until the needle punctured his skin, then he snapped, bringing his fist to the side of the nurse's head. He didn't kill her, just left her reeling. He was out the door in under a second. The only real problem was the Doc, the one assigned to deal with the whole of Project Omega. James Davenport was almost as talented as Maddox himself, or at least he knew how to use his gift.
He was barely down the hall when the gusts of wind started. At the far end, he could see the doctor staring at him. Putting his hands up to cut the wind, Maddox let himself go, flexing that one little muscle he found active after the last little present from the Project.
Maddox opened his eyes, and he was behind the doctor. He doubled his fists and slammed them both into the base of Davenport's neck. He felt the small connection in Davenport's spine crumble under the force of the blow, and Davenport went down, already half dead.
He leaned over the fallen doctor, ready to pluck the man's eyes out, but he heard the cock of guns just around the corner. There was no time. Floor by floor, Maddox 'jumped' until he found himself on the surface again, for the first time in a decade. The hot sun beat down on him, and he turned north, to the center of the city.
He remembered when he first got caught by the Company, how they implanted him with a tracking device, leaving the two small marks on his neck, before they decided he was too dangerous to let loose. There were others like him all over the place, although he'd only ever met one other like himself. That was a man named Grigori Ivanovitch, a massive man who lived to eat. For a second, Maddox wondered what ole Greg was up to, wondering if Greg found himself in Omega as well, then he turned his thoughts to more pressing matters; finding new eyes.
Maddox stared at the city, smiling. For the first time in ten years, he was free, and sporting a new name to boot!. He was greed, after all, and it was about time he started living up to the name.
Claire Bennet
San Ribero
The bed was small and hard. The more she thought about it, the more it blew her mind. This was the first time Claire found herself confined to a hospital bed, desperately in need of medical attention. It was just strange.
She watched entranced by the small drip as blood from her IV entered her. So this is what it was like to nearly die.
After the attack, Claire damn near drained her body of blood trying to heal the wounded. It wasn't until she collapsed that she realized that no one had been healed by her blood. Once more, she found her world twisting beneath her.
Of course, there were only two real casualties: Sylar and Elle Bishop, but then again, Sylar was no real loss. Elle, though, Elle had been important to the community, here. She was a fighter, and that, she was told, was the suspected reason Elle wasn't completely dead. No, Elle lay two beds down from Claire, in a deep, deep coma.
So, Claire watched the blood drip and listened to the slow, silent breathing of Elle, waiting for someone to come tell her what the hell was going on. It made no sense to her or to anyone she spoke with why her power quit so suddenly. Gavin was no help, just sitting there with his broken nose, looking at the ceiling when he wasn't off some where, reading. Only Heidi stayed for any amount of real time. She brought both of her boys, Claire's half-brothers around occasionally, but they seemed either disinterested or distracted to notice they now had an older sister.
Peter and Alphonse were gone, headed off somewhere so Pete could learn how to use all his talents in battle, as well as guns, swords, and whatever other weapons they thought he needed.
Nathan came and went, seeming only to want to check on everything to make sure it was still where he left it. He was beyond words to describe. It was sad to see him fall apart like that. He hadn't shaved, hadn't changed clothes, or, as far as Claire knew, showered. He was taking the world on himself.
Gavin's nose was broken after the attacks, by his cousin Will over Mackenzie. No one, it seemed, knew what had happened to her, but Claire noticed that Gabriel looked away whenever she was brought up. So did Heidi, come to think of it. Claire made a note to ask when her step-mom came back.
Gabriel now bore an scar-white spiral on his arm where the All-Gift exited him. He said it was a relief to be rid of it finally, but he was always nervous now, looking in all directions and just over all being odd. He was now moving about freely, but under the close supervision of the strange man from the portal.
Grant, as it was, was even stranger than he looked. He never looked right at Claire, and whenever the two of them were near, his face turned red and flushed, almost like a scorned or embarrassed lover. It got weirder when Grant got near Nathan. The two of them spoke in hushed tones, and Claire had only ever heard the words 'Death' and 'Blueberry Hill'. When she broached the subject with her biological father, it only made him smile forcefully and leave with his eyes tearing up. She wanted to hug Nathan, and tell them that she and Peter destroyed Blueberry Hill, that there was nothing to be afraid of, but she could never find the words when he was around.
All in all, it had been a week since the attacks on San Ribero, and Claire was starting to get the itch to move on from the island. There was something out there she needed to do; only she didn't know what. She knew Alphonse told her to leave when she had the All-Gift, and she supposed that was it, but there was still a driving need to leave. If only they would let her out of bed.
Claire turned her head and looked at Elle's lifeless body, her heart hurting for the girl. She would probably die alone, unless Peter came back to spend her last days with the comatose girl, and Claire doubted that. She wondered who, if anyone, would come with her, or if she too would be alone on this trip.
Jeremy Maddox
Mexico City, Mexico
The jail cell stank of piss and fear, and it wasn't helped by the burning in his eyes. The flies were having a feast there, and the eggs would hatch soon if he didn't do anything about it, but he couldn't rip out his own eyes without replacements. On top of that, his tongue was getting the itch of rot.
Maddox thought of the guards eyes and frowned. They were all an ugly brown, the color of thick dung, and he didn't want such in his own head. However, if another day passes without replacement, he would have to soil himself with them. Every day, the guards yelled at him in Spanish, and Maddox struggled to make himself understood.
Today, however, they brought him a gift, two of them actually; young woman and a young man. He caught sight of the young woman as they dragged her to an interrogation room. Her eyes were like emeralds, and he craved them so much his mouth watered.
The young man, on the other hand, had the usual brown eyes, only slightly better than the guards, but he spoke the local language and his tongue would do. After the guards had stuck the Latino male in the cell and left, Maddox smashed his fist into the small connection of spine, crushing it and paralyzing the boy. Leaning over the body, he ripped out the tongue and eyes of the boy, replacing his own.
Memories flood the mind of Maddox, one of the side-effects of the replacement process. The young man was Alexandro; the woman his sister, Maya. Her eyes, it seemed, were not just beautiful, but talented. This was going to be fun.
(A/N – While this is a small chapter, it serves it's purpose of passing time and introducing the new character and gives more than hints at his talent. It's all description, and it well give hints at the changes I've made since I finished the last chapter. A few things that have changed is that Elle is not completely dead yet. That will change, one way or the other. I also have a new to-whack list, and it's star-studded so far. I haven't plotted out the entire arc yet, but I'm halfway done, and I didn't want to put off posting too long. Oh, and the arc is no longer called 'Discovery', it's called 'Others Like Us.'
I still plan on limiting the characters in the driver's seat, and Claire is definitely one. Peter will be sitting out for awhile. As for others, Maddox, Hiro, and the ones who go with Claire will be the feature for the next few chapters. As for Peter, he's just learning to fight with his various talents. I have big plans for this arc, and I'm hoping to answer a lot of questions, so if you have any, let me know, and I'll see to it you get an answer. Love, Traumedy101)