(Petrelli Mansion- Los Angles)
Nathan Petrelli had long settled into a routine.
Wake up.
Shave.
Kiss his wife good morning.
Make breakfast.
Say hello to Claire.
"Bite me."
Smile weakly as his daughter refused to forgive him.
Five years. Five years of Claire hating him. One moment, one look from an upstairs window had robbed him of his adopted son and apparently his daughter as well.
It had been rough. Meredith and him had separated, his wife not able to look at him for a long time without thinking about how, if Nathan had been more willing to use his powers, Carter would still be with them.
It had taken almost two years before she could be in the same room as him, another year for her to allow him to touch her as only a husband should. He mentally thanked his brother every day, for it had been Peter that had forced him every day not to give into drinking and misery and instead focus on getting his family back.
Still…there was Claire.
What first everyone had assumed was merely a child's act of defiance had turned into five years of hatred. Claire had done everything she could to bring her father misery and let him know she blamed him for the death of her beloved big brother.
He took a moment to look over at the young woman that once had been his baby girl.
The long blonde locks that she had, long ago, loved to brush and put in pigtails, had been cut to a shoulder length bob, and dyed the color of purple Skittles. Her makeup was heavy and dark, giving her a dangerous look. Her nails were incredibly long and filed down into claws, the tips done in red. This day, she had chosen one that, to Nathan's horror, featured a cute vampire face with the words "I WANT TO SUCK YOUR COCK" emblazed upon it, the shirt cut so that it hung just below her perky breasts. That, combined with her very, very low riding jeans, let everyone see the lacy black thong she sported and belly piercing.
Nathan had a sick feeling she had several other…hidden areas…pierced as well.
"So…any plans today?" Nathan asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Yeah." Claire said, grabbing an apple and refusing to answer. "Mom, I'm leaving!"
"When will you be back?" Meredith called out.
"Whenever I want!" Claire screamed, ripping the door open and shoving her way past Peter. "see ya Douche Bag."
"Uh…Bye Claire?" Peter said confused.
"She meant me, Pete." Nathan muttered. "She meant me."
^&^&^&^
"You guys mind speeding this thing here up? My tenets don't like cops noising around."
Detective Audrey Hanson glared at him. "How would they like it if we visited every day?"
"I'm…going to tell them to suck it up."
"Good choice." Audrey muttered as she watched the ugly man scurry away.
(Murray Parkman's Apartment)
"Make sure he doesn't come back." She told one of the patrolmen.
The officer nodded. "Where's your partner, Audrey?"
"Right here, Spencer." Her partner called out, entering the apartment like he owned the place. His dark hair was slicked back, and he was dressed in a black suit with white undershirt and no tie. The only thing that belied his power look was the large box of Jujyfruit that was clutched in his hand.
"Nice of you to join us, Gabe."
Detective Gabriel Gray merely held out the candy. "Jujy?" When she respectfully declined, Gabriel popped a few int his mouth before he made his way to the body. "What do we got?"
"Murray Parkman. No known job, landlord said he liked to pick up chicks, different one every night." Spencer flipped through the notes he'd taken. "One wife, divorced and hasn't talked to in years. One son, Matt "The Bull" Parkman, currently at the fed down south."
Audrey looked down at the mutilated form of Murray while Gabriel inspected the hooker that lay dead in the bed. "Give me what we know."
"At 9:45, the landlord saw Mr. Parkman enter his apartment with the woman there on the bed. About another hour, and he heard the sounds of we now believe was the attacker struggling with Mr. Parkman. The landlord assumed it was them just getting busy."
Gabriel continued to examine the woman's corpse carefully, running his latex covered hand over her throat and then the knife wound. "She was dead around the time of the struggle."
"She's the lucky one then." Audrey noted, examining Murray's body. His eyes had been cut out, as had his tongue. Various gashes appeared all over his skin, and the tips of his fingers had been sliced clean off. His back was still bruised and battered, and it appeared that in the end he had died from a loss of blood from many…many different wounds. "Damn…who could do something like this?"
Gabriel kneeled down, looking over the corpse. "It gets worse." He muttered, pointing to one empty eye socket. "That cut there…the only way it could have been made…someone made Murray do this to himself."
^&^&^&^
"Why did you do this?"
Nathan and Peter looked up from their breakfast, looking very much like little kids being scolded by their father. Which made sense, since it was their father scolding them.
Peter swallowed his cereal. "Uh…do what?"
Arthur Petrelli threw down the newspaper, the image of the Silver Streak blazened on the front page.
"Nathan…" Peter began.
"Save it Peter." Arthur said sternly. "We both know Nathan would never go about breaking the cape rule."
The cape rule, the verbal agreement between all those that had powers to never don a costume. It was one of the strongest oaths in the world, breaking it could result in being blacklisted… in more ways than one.
Peter blinked. "What a minute…you can't think that I did this!"
"What am I suppose to think?" Arthur asked. "You've always wanted to be a hero…"
"No, I haven't."
"What about when I caught you wearing that spandex number a few days ago?"
Peter frowned. "You mean when I was trying on that Superman costume I want to wear for Halloween?" Nathan raised an eyebrow. "What? They were all sold out of Batmans."
Arthur held up his hand. "I don't care if they were all sold out of Booster Gold costumes…Peter, I am very disappointed in you. Do you realize how many hurdles I'm going to have to jump to get you out of this mess."
"Dad, it wasn't me! I was with patients all day! Ask Dr. Frey, she was on call with me the entire time yesterday."
Arthur nodded. "Don't think I won't, Peter…and if I find out you were away for even a few minutes, I will come down so hard on you you'll need that suit to cover all the bruises."
Their father storming off, Peter and Nathan shared a look. "That's why I rented my Batman costume months ago." Nathan said simply.
^&^&^&^
"Gabriel…look at this." Audrey hissed, motioning for her partner to come over. She had lifted up Murray's left hand, finding underneath it that the man had carved something into the hardwood with his own fingernails.
"The name of his attacker?" Gabriel asked.
Audrey studied the scratchy letters, doing her best to figure out what they said. "Az…Azra…"
"Azrael." Gabriel whispered, the color draining from his face. "Everyone freeze!"
Every officer stopped what they were doing.
"No one move…Spencer, call the CSI…tell them to get every expert they have and get them down here."
"Gabriel…what is it?"
Gabriel looked at his partner. "Someone forced this man to rip himself up and then names himself Azrael…" He grit his teeth, address the men and women around him. "People, we are now declaring this the scene of a potential serial killer, one that might have superhuman abilities."
The cops murmured to themselves.
"You sure?" Audrey asked.
"You know who Azrael is…the first one?" Audrey shook her head. "In Islam…Azrael is the Angel of Death. If that doesn't scream serial killer…" He stood up, making his way to the door. "I'm going to radio in for backup." Audrey nodded, letting Gabriel go.
Once the detective was away, he pulled out his cellphone, calling a familiar number. "Hello…yeah, its me…I need to talk to Arthur Petrelli."
^&^&^&^
(United Nations- New York City)
"Who are these superbeings?" Chandra asked. "Are they heroes, sent to protect us? Humans cursed to be different? An infected person, who just needs to be cured?" He shook his head. "None of the above. Ladies and Gentlemen of the United Nations, superbeings are criminals…they are monsters, beasts that do not deserve to be treated like a normal human. They look like us, the act like us, but they are not like us. Chimps act like us, gorillas act like us…but do we allow them to vote? The marry humans? To raise children?
"No. And neither should we allow these creatures, the super powered beings, to do these things. They are not humans…they are invaders, who want nothing more than to over run us. They intermix with us, pollute our blood with theirs. But a drop of their tainted genes is enough to render another, normal human soiled and unclean.
"Do not think they will be peaceful. Even now, they are running about in their costumes, breaking laws and doing what have you, all to control us! They rape our women and brainwash our children, and I tell you now, we must not stand by! We must rise, we must fight, and we must wipe them from the face of the Earth!"
^&^&^&^
(Los Angles)
Claire groaned, head thrown back and eyes fluttering. Her breath was coming out in weak bursts as she let out tiny mewling sounds, chin vibrating as she rubbed the spot where the injection had been given.
"Needed…that…" Claire moaned, stumbling into one of the brick walls in the alley, not caring as the bricks scratched up her arms. She collapsed onto the filthy, garbage cluttered ground, eyes squeezed shut as the drugs she'd gotten took hold. "You'll…you'll put me somewhere…safe?"
Doyle gave her a kind smile, his eyes dark with malice. "But of course…now sleep…sleep and let my candy take you to a magic place…pretty…little…girl…"
Once he was sure Claire was lost to the delusions of the drug, Doyle held up his hand, making her body rise and 'walk' towards him, gyrating like she was at a strip club.
"And let me take my prize." He whispered, licking her neck. He wiggled his fingers, Claire's pelvis grinding into his. "Now…which door should I knock on today?"
"How about none?"
Doyle turned towards the end of the alley, startled by the appearance of the figure dressed all in black, their face hidden under a black hood.
"I don't know who you are, but can't you see me and the girl want to be alone." He made Claire's drugged out body nod.
The figure took another step forward. "You want to know who I am?" He growled out, his voice raspy. "I'm the one that protects the pretty little girls from monsters like you, Doyle."
Doyle tilted his head. "Protect her from me?" He held up his hand, and the figure went stiff, his hand lowering against his will into his pocket and retrieving one of his knives. "And who is going to protect you from me?" He asked, making the figure bring the blade to his throat.
"I am." The figure snarled. Something pulsed in Doyle's brain. "Release me."
Doyle was shocked when he did just that.
"Let the girl go too." Claire's body fell limp to the ground. "Take a step back…another…"
"What…what did you do to me?" Doyle demanded, trying to use his powers. The figure didn't react.
"Its my gift, Doyle." The figure said coldly, taking several steps towards him, putting away the throwing knives and instead selecting a nasty curved blade he or she hidden on his or her back. "I take your gifts…and make then curses. I turn them back on you, and force you to feel everything you made others feel. I take the best of you, and make it your worst." The figure rushed forward, placing the blade under Doyle's chin. "I am the tenth plague, the smiter and the destroyer. I am Azrael…and I am your doom."
^&^&^&^
"We must rise, we must fight, and we must wipe them from the face of the Earth!" Chandra Suresh commanded.
"Would you turn off that dreck, sis?" Madrid Linderman asked.
Tina Linderman nodded, flipping it to a gameshow. "Dumbass."
(Linderman's Penthouse-Las Vegas)
Tina and Madrid were sisters.
One wouldn't guess it.
Yes, both were tall and dark haired, but that was where their similarities ended. Tina had pale skin and her mother's features, with her father Daniel's cunning eyes.
Madrid was Hispanic.
Madrid was the child of Mimic and Slipstream, two of the founding members of The Company…and the first targets of Adam Monroe's final rampage. Barely a toddler at the time, Daniel Linderman, feeling responsible for her parents death, as it was he that had first brought Adam to the Company to train, had adopted her, and raised her alongside Tina as his own.
The two of them were dolled up in the fanciest dresses they could buy, the kind that could feed most families for a year. Madridwas looking in the mirror, applying her lipstick, while Tina sat on the bed, pushing her boobs up then letting them bounce a little.
"Think this dress makes me jiggle enough."
"Oh yeah." Madrid said with a grin. "You are going to get some many guys looking at ya."
Tina stuck out her tongue. "Then I am changing!"
Madrid grabbed her arm. "I'm kidding! You know the girlies will be eyeing you up even more."
Tina flashed a smile. "Goodie."
"And where are my two favorite ladies headed this evening?" Daniel Linderman asked, entering their room.
"We're going clubbin'." Madrid said, grabbing her purse.
Mr. Linderman sighed. "Again? Honestly girls, I do not understand why you continue to waste away your youth going to clubs and gyrating to loud music."
"That's because you're old, dad." Tina said, giving her father a peck on the cheek. "Don't wait up!"
"Is my hair straight?" Madrid asked as they left.
"It's perfect."
Linderman sighed, wondering not for the first time when his girls would actually grow up. Ever since they'd been teenagers, they'd never had a job or any responsibilities…instead, they just went out, partied till dawn, then came back to the casino and holed up in one of the rooms. The only thing that calmed him was the fact that he'd never caught them with men, so he assumed they were virgins.
Little did he realize that Tina played for the other team and Madrid enjoyed flip flopping between them both.
The ringing phone startled him out of his thoughts, Linderman pulling out his cellphone and checking the ID. "Arthur?"
"Daniel…we have a problem."
"What's wrong?"
"Gabriel called…Murray's dead."
^&^&^&^
"Please…" Doyle sobbed in pain, quivering in the fetal position. "Make it stop."
"Why?" Azrael questioned, the black one kneeling down and watching him. "You got off and abusing the confused and the weak. You took the innocent and corrupted them, soiled them. Why did you do it?" Azrael grabbed Doyle's chin, forcing the fat man to stare at the place where the figure's face should be. "Tell me Doyle…or do you want to lose another finger." Doyle whimpered as Azrael took the man's remaining ring finger and placed it in the fat man's mouth. "Bite down, Doyle, bite down hard."
"Wait!" Doyle screamed as he began to bite another of his fingers off. Tears poured from his eyes as he pleaded.
"Stop." Azrael commanded. "Well?"
"I…I did it…because no one would touch me like I have them touch me…I did it because I see girls like her ignoring guys like me…and it makes me sick…I did it because I'm a filthy…horrible man…and I get off on that…"
Azrael nodded. "Was that so hard?" The figure moved, lifting Claire's limp body. "Your body isn't worth staining my hands."
"Thank you…thank you…" Doyle whispered.
"Don't thank me Doyle." Azrael said calmly. "Snap your neck."
"What?" Doyle asked, even as his hands moved to grab his face.
"Snap hard, twist it all the way around."
"No…no!" Doyle screamed.
SNAP
Azrael lifted Claire up and made their escape.
^&^&^&^
Next Time- Claire awakens to find herself the captive of Azrael, the Slayer of Heroes. But who is this killer, and what are his plans for her? Meanwhile, the Silver Streak makes another appearance, Chandra reveals his darker side (as if he weren't dark enough already) and another group of costumed heroes hidden from the world make their startling appearance.