Disclaimer Alert
The characters appearing originally in the Heroes series, web comics and novel do not belong to me. I think they belong to Tim Kring but I definitely know that some or a large part of it belongs to the NBC. That's right ladies and gentlemen behind every great concept there lies a face-less corporation.
Author's note
YUCK! That was what I thought when I read my previous chapter. It looks like I didn't proof read it but I promise I did. Sometimes the mind reads from the vision in the mind and not the text in front of it. This time I did not proof read immediately upon completion, so hopefully there'll be less grammatical and spelling errors.
Heroes: Brave New World
Episode 2
A man in a black ski mask ducked behind a car just as a rain of bullets shot at where he had been seconds before. He laid the body he had been carrying over his shoulder onto the dusty ground. The body turned over to look up, revealing the Asian face of Hiro Nakamura.
"Hiro! You've got to teleport us out of here!" The man said over the sounds of gunfire.
Hiro closed his eyes in intense concentration but as hard as he tried his mind could not gather enough focus to activate his ability.
"I still can't! They did something to me!" He said something in Japanese.
The man in the ski mask peeked from under the vehicle he was hiding behind and went back down just as bullets whizzed over his head. He had Hiro's katana in his hand but doubted it would do them much good at this distance against guns.
"They've got us pinned down, Hiro!" He said. "If you don't get us out, we'll die here."
Hiro closed his eyes again as a another volley of bullets hit the car. A bullet hit the fuel tank and the car exploded into a fiery blaze, killing anyone who had been near it.
3 days earlier
Mohinder Suresh - India
Suresh stood in front of the lecture hall teaching the students.
"Most scenarios that evolutionists use to prove the theory of evolution involve a change the environment. This change forces a species to evolve certain characteristics that will enable them to survive." Mohinder said. He began to write on the black board: 'Human vs Neanderthal'. "There was a point in time were the Earth was inhabited by both early humans and Neanderthals. Then the environment changed and the humans evolved and survived but the Neanderthals became extinct. That is an example of survival of the fittest, natural selection, you name it! Look at the Earth today, it has changed a lot during the late 20th century and into the 21st. However, unlike the other changes in history, this change is man made. Human beings innovation has become so great that we no longer need to adapt to realize our needs but we change our environment so that it may provide our needs. We bring rain to arid areas by seeding clouds; if a place is too cold we pump in warm air to make it warm; we even meddle with the very nature of other organisms by genetically modifying crops to be resistant to drought and parasitic insects."
A student put up her hand and Mohinder motioned for her to speak. "But by the rules of evolution shouldn't the parasitic insects evolve to survive?"
"Yes, they should and, who knows, maybe one day they will." Mohinder answered. "But there is a chance that other species affected by the man made environment will also evolve, this includes humans themselves. If a certain population of humans change the environment in such a way that it satisfies their needs but disadvantages another population of humans then the latter might have to evolve to survive their new environment."
A student raised his hand and Mohinder motioned for him to speak.
"Sorry sir, the lecture time is done."
Mohinder nodded and dismissed the class. "Don't forget to study for next weeks test and read chapter 12 of your textbooks!" He had to shout to be heard over the noise of people packing up and leaving. Some students hung around Mohinder for a while to ask questions but even they left after some time.
The lecture hall was now almost empty except for Mohinder who was packing his laptop and books away and a few students who were slow to do the same because they were talking to someone else at the same time. Mohinder could see two people walking down the stairs of the lecture hall from the corner of his eye. The man who was walking in front was very short while the man and they both wore black suits. Mohinder ignored them until he could not anymore. He was surprised when a shadow fell on to his books. He looked up and saw a big man standing over him. He realized that the very short man he had seen earlier was not really short, he was just dwarfed by the bigger man. As if to further prove this, two more men walked out from behind him, which Mohinder guessed that they had been walking behind him the whole time.
The two additional men who had just appeared completed a triangle of protection. One walked to his left and the other one stood behind him facing the opposite direction and the one who Mohinder had mistakenly thought was short was at the big man's other side. They all wore black suits and pants with black ties except for the big man who had on a red tie. Where Mohinder's head stopped the man's chest began.
He smiled and offered his hand. "Hello Dr. Suresh, I am Amir Prakesh."
Mohinder met the man's hand with his own. He half expected his hand to be crushed but was surprised to find that the man's hand shake was just firm. Mohinder had to mentally stop himself from using his super strength to injure the man the way he had been afraid to be injured.
"What can I do for you Mr. Prakesh?" Mohinder asked.
"I was listening to your lecture on evolution and humans, I found it quite fascinating, not only that but the way you spoke of it made me think that you have at least experienced it."
Mohinder involuntarily gulped, "I haven't experienced it." Mohinder was not sure if this guy had discovered his secret. Does he know of his abilities or was this just a coincidence. He looked around the lecture hall. It was now almost empty with the last students drizzling out. He looked at the man's three bodyguards and saw the faint shape of a gun handle protruding from their jackets.
He estimated his chances of survival if things got violent. By using his lecturing desk as a weapon he could swing it and take out Amir and his two bodyguards but the one who was further back would be a problem because he could turn around and shoot him down if Mohinder was not quick enough.
Mohinder placed his hand on the edge of the desk as Amir spoke. "Of course, your passion must have been inherited from your father. I believe he was researching the same thing?"
"Yes, he was."
"Well, he has been justified by the events that happened in America. I want India to benefit from these people and their abilities, therefore I have begun a project to collect them and study them. I want you Dr. Suresh to be apart of it."
Mohinder did not like how Amir said 'collect', as if they were things to be collected. Furthermore, his father had committed the same mistake of gathering people with abilities in one place to study them and it had disastrous consequences. Most importantly, his wife would kill him if he got himself involved in this situation in any way.
"Thank you for the offer Mr. Prakesh but I'm afraid I'll have to decline." Mohinder saw a flash of anger appear on Amir's face. Mohinder instinctively squeezed harder on the desk in preparation of a fight. He relaxed slightly when the angry face was replaced with a disappointed one.
"If you work for me, I'll pay you four times what you earn now"
At the mention of money, Mohinder remembered who the Prakesh family were. They were one of the most richest and powerful families in India.
Mohinder was tempted but at the end decided it was better not to. "I'm sorry but I still can't."
Amir Prakesh nodded and handed him his business card. "Okay but just in case you change your mind here's my card with my contact details."
Mohinder accepted the card and watched them leave. He knew nothing good would come out of this and he planned to be as far away from it as possible when Amir Prakesh's plans backfired. After some time he left the lecture hall. If he had looked back at his desk, he would have noticed his hand print imprinted deeply into the desk's side.
Molly Walker - Parkman family home, LA
Molly Walker sat cross-legged on her bed reciting something just under her breath. Light streamed in from the spaces between the door and its frame into the dark room. The only sound in the room was of her whispering to herself.
She suddenly felt as if there was someone or something watching her. She opened her eyes and looked behind her. It took some time for her eyes to re-adjust to the darkness. All she saw was her own image, in a mirror located behind her, looking back at her. She involuntarily shivered.
She heard Janice Parkman calling her name from downstairs for dinner. Molly jumped off the bed and opened the door. She stared into the dark and as she closed the door she could not help but think that she was not the only who had moved in with the Parkmans. There was someone or something else that was in the Parkman house.
Meanwhile, Matt Parkman was in the basement in a kind of trance. His eyes were completely white as he painted the image in his head on the canvas in front of him.
He began to withdraw from his trance as his pupils returned to his eyes. He looked at his painting that was still wet with paint.
The painting showed Matt and Janice Parkman standing over a empty crib. Matt looked worryingly at the painting but he did not have enough time to completely analyse its meaning before he heard Molly and Janice arguing.
He looked around the dark basement and found a sheet covering a table, with drawers, that had fallen into disuse. He placed the painting under the sheet before he ran for the door.
He arrived at the kitchen to find his wife and adopted daughter arguing. Janice was holding a crying Matt jnr. in her arms.
"I know how to take care and hold babies, Janice!" Molly said. "I am not a complete fool!"
"I never said that, Molly." Janice Parkman said.
"Then why will you not let me at least hold him?"
Matt stood between the two of them. "Come on now, what's this about?"
"She does not trust me with Matt. I tried to pick him up and she would not allow it." Molly said accusingly.
"Molly, I was planning on feeding him that's why I didn't want you to."
"See Molly, you overreacted." Matt said.
Molly shook her head. "Of course I did. I am just a problem child who is prone to overreacting and should be sent away to some boarding school." She ran up the stairs and into her room.
Matt felt like that comment was aimed at him.
When she got to her room she closed the door and dove into her bed. She silently cried into her pillow. After some time she got out of bed and carefully climbed out of the window. She had to be careful at climbing down the side of the house. When she got to the ground, guided by the stars and moonlight, she ran into the quiet street.
West and Micah Sanders - Manhattan
West sat in the blue recliner of the expensive apartment while drinking a bottle of some green soft drink with a straw. He pulled a small lever on the recliner and it eased him back.
He sighed while sipping his drink. "Micah, you've got it good."
Micah came from a hallway with a laptop under his forearm. "It is only temporary. While I'm visiting my aunt." He said as he sat on a couch adjacent West.
"When can I visit your aunt? Wait, that came out wrong."
Micah ignored him as he typed on the laptop. The bright screen reflected a blue light onto his face. West discovered something new about the chair.
"It even has a cup holder!" He said as he placed his bottle in the newly discovered cup holder. "This can no longer be considered as sitting down, now I'm lounging."
West's mobile phone began to ring. He looked at the screen and did not recognize the number that appeared. "Hello?"
From the other side of the phone came the voice of Molly. "Hello West."
"Molly, hey!" He said smiling at Micah who had begun to hide his face by leaning closer to the laptop screen. If only black people could blush, he thought to himself. "Are you okay? You sound like..."
"Yes, I am alright." She said in a quite voice. "I just got into a fight with the Parkmans. I do not think that I can do this any longer. I'm going back to India."
"But you haven't been here for very long. What would your grandmother say if you quite so early and over a' argument?"
"I do not know."
"Give it a few more days." West said.
"Alright, I will. Maybe I am overreacting."
"Are these your phone numbers?"
"No." Molly said. "I am at a pay phone."
"At this time of night? You should get your own phone."
They said their goodbyes and West placed his phone back into his pocket. He then stared at Micah for several moments. Micah continued to type on the keyboard of the laptop. West realised that Micah was not going to say anything, at least not about the conversation he had just had.
"Aren't you going to ask me who that was?"
He did not stop typing while he answered. "First, it's none of my business who that was because it was your call not mine. Secondly, I know it was Molly because you said her name."
"That was cold." West observed as he further eased the recliner back.
Micah stopped typing and looked up at West. "I'm sorry."
The recliner had been pulled so far back that West was now looking up at the ceiling. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"
"A few days after Rebel disbanded."
"Why haven't you two spoken since then? Did you have a fight?"
"No."
"Is she boring to you?
"No!"
"Oh! So you're scared to talk to her."
"What? No!" Micah said defensively. "I'll talk to her before she goes back to India. Can we get back to the reason why I called you here?"
"Yeah."
"There is this message that people with abilities including me got." Micah turned the laptop screen to face West who sat up to see the message.
West had to get up to see it. He began to read the message out loud. "Mainframe's invitation: Mainframe cordially invites you, with abilities, to a meeting on the 21st. Come, so that people like us, like you, people who are special, may unite."West thought about the message he had just read. "Almost looks like something you would do."
"Yes but I knew better than just gathering our people in one place. And I don't know why this guy is gathering people with abilities."
"You think he could be making an army?"
"Maybe. Or it could be a trap." Micah said. "Either way, I want to investigate this meeting. I would go myself but if this is a trap, someone who can get away quickly and effortlessly needs to go.
West smiled as he leaned back onto the recliner. "Someone like me."
"Yes. I know I'm asking a..."
"I'll do it, Micah."
The door to the apartment suddenly opened and Tracy Strauss walked into the room with plastic bags of food in either got up from the recliner so fast that he fell over. He quickly got on his feet. Tracy looked at the recliner that he had been sitting on. She was surprised that it could be pulled that far back.
"Micah, I didn't know you would have friends coming over."
Micah had removed the message on his laptop screen with his powers and opened a chess game. "He was just passing by."
West went over to her and offered his hand. She took his hand in hers. "Hello..., my name is West."
"Nice to meet you West."
The handshake took longer than normal. West was so captivated by Tracy Strauss that he did not want to let her hand go. He thought that she was a beautiful woman and she was blonde, West liked blondes.
Tracy was able to pull her hand away as Micah said something to her. "West was just leaving." He informed her.
West looked at Micah and sighed. "It was nice to meet you, Ms Hawkins. Micah, you'll call me right?"
"Hey." Tracy called out to him as he left. "I'm not a Hawkins, I'm Tracy Straus."
Tracy waited for West to leave before she sat down next to Micah who was concentrating on the computer game on his laptop.
"I didn't know you had friends here in Manhattan."
"I don't."
"So, is he special?"
Micah hesitated. He had an agreement with his aunt that if he wanted to stay under her roof, he would not be involved with his Rebel group.
"In his own way." Micah answered.
Tracy got up. "So, what do you want for dinner?"
Peter Petreli & Emma Kooldridge - Manhattan
Peter Petreli was talking on the phone while Emma patiently waiting for him to finish. She looked at the faint colours that his voice would make. They were not vivid colours so they could be easily ignored but she found it interesting to see what colours his voice would make. She had been focusing so intensely on his voice that she had not noticed that he was done speaking on the phone and was now talking to her.
"Emma. Emma." Peter said trying to get her attention.
Emma stopped looking at the colours and looked down on the table embarrassed. She made a few hand signals to communicate with him
Peter was still learning sign language and in the flurry of hand movements recognized the sign for sorry. "It's okay. I'm not much good company right now , with me getting ready to move to Washington."
Emma took out a pen and wrote on a piece of tissue and handed it to Peter. The message read: "This doesn't seem like a good time for you to be doing this. Maybe we should do it another time?"
"No." Peter protested. "I don't know how much time I'll have after I move. I might not have much time to spend with my friends and family." When Peter said this he instinctively reached out to hold Emma's hands. When he realised what he had done his heart began to beat a little faster.
Emma squeezed his hand. His warm hands felt comforting to her. She wanted to tell him that she did not want him to move but her hands were too preoccupied to sign or write.
"Hopefully not. Tracy said that we don't have to move there permanently, just until we can get everything ready."
Emma withdrew her hands from his at the mention of the other woman's name. Peter had told her of Tracy a few times but she had never met her before. She wrote on a piece of paper"Living together?"
"No." Peter said. "But thankfully she did help me find a place. You know, she is used to rubbing shoulders with the politician types so she knows Washington very well."
Emma felt a twinge of jealousy knowing how close they would probably be working together.
"I'll keep in touch via email." Peter assured her. His phone began to ring again and with a sigh Peter picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hello Peter." The voice of Noah Bennett said to him on the other side of the call.
"Noah, where are you?" Peter asked excitedly.
"I can't tell you that... yet." Noah said. "Peter, Claire is being hunted down and I need your help to protect her, to find out who is behind it."
"I'm going to have to stop you there Noah." Peter said interrupted him. "I have my hands full with my part in cleaning up her mess. This is a critical time for us. What happens now might determine our future."
"Our future? It's only been a few months since Claire had told the world and already she is being hunted down like a dog. What hope do you have for a future if you can't even protect her?"
"I'm sorry Noah. I can't do anything for her. Not now."
"Tracy has you whipped. This... This doesn't sound like the Peter I know."
"This is the Peter that I need to be."
Noah hung up on him.
"I guess that conversation did not go well." Lauren Gilmore said from behind Noah.
Noah turned to face her with disappointment on his face. "No it didn't."
They were in a storage facility. They walked through the area with Noah leading and Lauren following close behind. Noah stopped at one of the storage bunkers. Noah opened the garage door by sliding it up.
The bunker was filled with guns, a few grenades and other types of bombs. Lauren Gilmore walked inside the bunker with awe.
"I thought your weapons bunker was destroyed."
"This is my back up bunker."
Lauren giggled as she loaded a gun with bullets. Lauren turned around and saw Noah standing closer to her.
"I haven't heard someone laugh for a long time. It sounds good." He said. He leaned in to kiss her then his face took on a more serious look. "You don't have to do this, Lauren. Especially since we don't know what we're up against."
This time it was Lauren who instigated the kiss. "You're not going to get rid of me that easy, Noah Bennett."
Noah smiled as Lauren picked out a few more weapons that would be easily concealed. She also took a suitcase which had a disassembled sniper rifle. Noah put a few stun, fire and explosive grenades into a bag along with some ammo for the guns they had already took. When they were done Lauren left the bunker leaving Noah to close the garage door behind her.
"We should go to the FBI headquarters. I still have enough friends there who can help us track down these guys. And when we do they'll wish they never messed with your daughter."
Anita Rodriguez - Ohio, Vows Asylum
Anita Rodriguez sat in the small room. The sun was streaming in from the barred window of the asylum. Her room had a bed but she preferred to sit on the ground. The cold in the hard ground she was sitting on began to seep its way up into her legs. She ignored the discomfort and continued to sit on the floor.
She heard the latch of the door begin to slide to the unlock position and an asylum worker entered her room. He was a big man with muscles and a shaven head. In his hand he had a plate of food.
"Aren't you going to say hello, Rodriguez?" The man said.
"Hello, Brent." She said quietly.
"I have your lunch for you." Brent said. "But I can't give it to you. You don't give a dog food because it looks cute. You give it food when it does tricks." Brent bent down and held the plate of food out. "So do a trick for me."
Anita stayed quiet and looked down onto the floor.
"Come on now. Do a simple trick." Brent encouraged her. "At least bark for me, come on. Woof woof."
Anita began to bark quietly.
"You'll have to do better than that." He said. "Louder."
Anita began to bark a little louder.
"You are a useless dog. That was the worst barking I've ever heard and for that you deserve to eat off the floor." Brent turned the plate upside down and let it drop onto the floor.
He then left the room. When the doors closed Anita was once again alone. She began considering eating her lunch off of the floor. She decided against. She began to shiver as she remembered the cold of the floor she was on.
Anita looked at the light that was streaming in from the window on to her bed. It looked so inviting. She was about to get off the floor and onto the bed when she heard a voice speak to her.
"You shouldn't be treated like that." The voice said.
Anita kept still, too afraid to move.
"No one who is as special as you should be." The voice continued.
"You... you think I'm special?" She asked the voice.
"Of course." The voice assured her.
"How do you know?"
I can feel it... in my bones."
Ando M and Kimiko Nakamura - Japan Hong Kong
Ando opened the door and held it open for Kimiko to walk in. She looked around at the place.
"So, this is where you and my brother waste the company's resources." Kimiko said in Japanese.
"Hiro believes in this thing and so do I." Ando said.
Hiro Nakamura had not been seen since last night by Ando. Ando was initially not worried by it but Kimiko was, which made him worry. She had made him agree to take her to their headquarters.
"Do you have any way of knowing where he is?" Kimiko asked as she walked deeper into the heart of the headquarters.
Ando scratched his head. "Not that I know of. I guess we can look for some kind of note or something."
Ando began to look around for a while. Kimiko saw the computer in the room and noticed that it had a red light on. She looked at Ando who was still looking around for a note.
"Did you notice that your computer is on sleep mode?" She said while turning the computer on.
"That is strange." Ando said. "Hiro usually turns everything off when he leaves.
Ando stood besides his fiance while she looked over the computer screen. "Look at this webpage. It's in English."
"Mainframe's invitation?" Ando read the title out loud.
"It is an invitation for people like us." Kimiko said. "'People like us', what does that mean? People who are irresponsible, secretive and dreamers?"
"I don't know." Ando said, pretending not to notice the joke.
Kimiko stared at Ando. He began to smile nervously. He and Hiro had not told her of their abilities yet. He wanted to tell her before they got married but everytime he tried fear made him chicken out.
"You know, I wasn't just describing Hiro." She said to him.
When she said that to him he began to feel guilt along with his fear. "We'll find him."
"I hope so." She said putting her arms around Ando. "I've lost the people I love in some of the most awful ways or when I need them most. You and Hiro are the last family I have and I don't want to lose either of you."
"You won't." He said.
They turned to the computer and finished reading the rest of the message.
"I'll go to America on the first plane out of here." Ando said. We'll get him back."
Mohinder Suresh - Somewhere
Mohinder woke up with a start. He was not in his bed or even in his house. He instinctively looked to his side and saw that his wife was not there. That was what had made him wake up initially.
He was in a small room with a hard cement floor and prison bars at one end. He looked at the other end and saw a boy that looked familiar.
"Sanjog Iyer?" Mohinder said. "What is going on? Where am I?"
"It is not important." Sanjog said. "I am here to warn you. A man called Hiro 'Nakamua' just appeared in India. He believes he has been summoned to the Tamasha site to help but it is a trap set by Amir Prakesh." Sanjog had mispronounced Hiro's surname.
"Hiro Nakamura? How do you know this?"
"I've seen Amir's dreams and a friend of mine saw Hiro appear in the middle of the street."
Sanjog got up to walk to him but something pulled on his leg. There was a short ankle chain on the boy connected to the wall.
"What is that?" Mohinder asked. "Who has done this to you?"
"This is my punishment for not helping him." Sanjog said motioning with his eyes at the prison bars.
Mohinder looked at the bars and saw a big silhouette shadow standing on the other side. The shadow was quite but Mohinder knew who it was, Amir Prakesh.
"And he will do much worse to Hiro if you do not help him." This was the last thing Mohinder heard Sanjog say before he woke up in his bed.
"Are you okay?" His wife asked him, also being awakened by his sudden start.
"Yes, I am." Mohinder said still thinking of the big silhouette he had seen at the other side of the cell bars.
Claire Bennett - London, England
Claire's plane had landed in London two hours ago and was still waiting for the contact her father had set up to come fetch her. She wanted to go to the reception and ask for a plane back home to her family but she had no money and the ticket she had was a one-way.
"Claire Bennett." Someone from behind her called her almost like in a whisper but not.
Claire looked at the person who had called her. She smiled when she saw Renè formally known as the Haitian standing there smiling.
"Renè!" She said hugging him.
"So you live in London now." Claire commented as he led them out of the airport to his car.
"Yes," Renè said. "I came here in an attempt to settle down but I'm starting to think that that is impossible for people like us."
"People with abilities." Claire offered.
"No, people with conviction."
A light drizzle had begun to pour down onto the city. The sun was nothing more than a yellow disk in the sky. They drove through the busy streets of London to get to Renè's apartment.
Claire had excepted a small place but the apartment was of a decent size. It had two bedrooms, a living room, a small kitchen and a bathroom. Unlike the outside weather, the place was warm and dry. Renè led Claire to her room and placed her luggage on the floor.
"This will be where you will sleep. When you are ready, you can come to the kitchen and warm up some food."
Claire nodded as Renè left her alone in the room. Claire sat on the bed and looked out of the window at the sorry weather. Wondering how the people she left behind in her home country were doing.
Mohinder Suresh - India
Mohinder was walking through the streets of India. While walking he saw a peculiar thing in India. He saw a ski mask being sold at a hat shop. He thought it was strange that anyone would sell ski masks in India, considering that their winter was not severe enough to need a ski mask or even a hat.
"23 rupees." The seller said to him when he saw Mohinder looking at the ski mask.
Mohinder also saw a brown jacket. I'll take it and how much for the jacket.
Peter Petreli and Tracy Straus - Manhattan
Peter Petreli put a vase in a box. His apartment was beginning to be devoid of everything except big furniture pieces like the couch and fridge. Tracy emerged from the hallway.
"Peter," Tracy said. "You know one of the main points of moving is to get rid of all the things you no longer need or want."
Peter sat down on the couch and looked out of the window to the night sky. He remembered how he had the ability to fly. Although he had loved that ability he felt like he did not have enough opportunities to enjoy it. He thought of his brother, Nathan, and how he too did not get the opportunities to truly enjoy it.
"These things have sentimental value." Peter said still looking out the window, thinking of his brother.
Tracy sat down next to him on the couch. "Well, you'll have to pack away your sentimental value on your own."
Peter turned his gaze to her eyes. "Thank you for your help."
Tracy took off her heels and lifted her legs up onto the couch. "I didn't do much, Peter."
"No. I'm talking about you helping me with everything."
Tracy sighed and leaned closer to Peter so that he would take what she would say next, seriously. "Peter, I think you have the wrong idea about why I'm helping you." She said. "I... I'm not doing this to help people with powers. In fact I couldn't care less about them. I'm helping you to free myself."
"From what?" Peter asked.
"From everything. All my life I thought I was in control until I found out I had these powers. After that I found out I had an identical twin sister and that it is possible that every decision I've ever made up until that point might not have been mine. Then, Nathan amasses an army and imprisons me, which ended in my death. And don't even get me started on Sam and his Carnival. I'm helping you so that I can control my life and to be the one who pulls the strings behind the scenes for once"
"It doesn't need to be like that."
"Oh, but it does Peter." Tracy said while caressing his cheek. "This doesn't mean I don't believe in you. You will succeed."
Peter held her hand and they both kissed passionately which led to more.
Hiro Nakamura - India
Hiro tied his shoe lases. He had just woken up from a nap he had just taken. The sun was high in the sky over India. He had been sharing an apartment with some of the citizens that he had made friends with.
He walked through the busy streets to the sight that he had agreed to meet the minister. He was about to prove himself to be a great hero and the prospect excited him.
He wondered what they would want him to do. Would they ask him to take down some kind of secret society. Maybe an army of villains had gathered in India and they need a Master of space and time to defeat them.
Whatever it was he knew that he would try his best and he would succeed.
Emma Kooldridge - Manhattan
Emma was in a lift heading up to apartment that belonged to Peter Petreli. She had bought a few items of stationery that she believed would help him pack his things. She had things like sticky tape to secure the boxes and a marking pen to label them and a few other things.
The lift stopped and the doors opened with a ping. Peter's apartment building was not much better than hers. Something she found surprising considering where he grew up and who his family was.
She walked to the door of his apartment and gave it a knock. The door opened and instead of Peter she saw a woman in a striped white shirt that barely covered her underwear.
"Hello," Tracy said. "Are you room service or something?"
Peter saw Emma from over Tracy's shoulder. "Emma!" He said surprised and remembering that he had asked her to help him move.
Tracy glanced at Peter who was frantically getting dressed. She turned her attention back to Emma.
"Oh, you're Emma." Tracy said with her most friendliest smile and offering her a handshake. "I'm Tracy Straus."
Emma did not know what to do. She opened her mouth as if she would say something. She quickly headed for the lift.
Peter ran past Tracy chasing after Emma. "Emma wait!" He shouted as she turned into a corner.
She pressed the button for the lift and it opened.
"Emma." Peter called when he had reached her.
Emma shoved the stationery supplies she had bought into his arms.
She stepped into the lift leaving Peter in the hallway. "Emma... lets... let's talk about this."
Emma pointed at her mouth and shrugged as the lift doors closed. As soon as she was out of sight she began to cry.
Peter walked back to the room. He sat down onto the backrest of the couch. He would have to do some damage control first thing tomorrow.
Tracy stepped through the door and surprised him. "Wow! You're already dressed. That was fast."
Tracy was back in her suit, pure white shirt and black pants. It looked like she had never taken them off.
"So Peter," Tracy said. "Are you going to betray me like you betrayed Gabriel?"
The question had caught him off guard. "Huh?"
Tracy held out her hand like a claw and then suddenly Peter's windpipe was squeezed. Peter grabbed at his throat desperately trying to breath.
Tracy continued using the invisible force to choke Peter while she slowly approached him. Peter's confusion was added to Peter's terror as he saw another Tracy Straus walk out of the hallway. This Tracy Straus had on just her striped shirt and a pair of black pants.
The Tracy Straus strangling him with invisible hands began to change. Her body, face and even her clothes began to shift unnaturally until she became Gabriel.
Upon seeing what was happening to Peter, a stream of powerful water bursts out of her hands and hits Gabriel in the back. It had enough force to push him out of the apartment window.
Tracy rushed to Peter who's ability to breath had returned to him but had fallen over on to the couch. Tracy helped him up to his feet.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
Peter coughed once as he tried catch his breath. "I'll be fine."
"So that was Sylar?" Tracy noted. "I don't know what everyone is so afraid of. I took care of him easily."
Peter was about to say something when Tracy was pulled away from him by an unseen force. She was pulled out of the window that Gabriel had been pushed out of. Tracy began to feel the familiar feeling of falling as she passed a few stories in her decent.
On her way down she passed Gabriel who was flying up. Their faces met for a brief instance that felt longer to both of them. Gabriel not only saw the fear in her face but he could feel it too. After the encounter they continued on their respective paths, Gabriel being propelled up by his ability and Tracy being pulled down by gravity.
Peter ran to the window to see if Tracy was okay but stopped when Gabriel flew through it and landed in front of him.
"Gabriel, wait..." Peter began but was stopped when Gabriel held out his fist and opened it. Electricity leapt from his palm and struck Peter.
Peter was brought to his knees by the energy coursing through him. It took some willpower from Gabriel not to follow suit. His empathy ability made sure that he could feel some of the pain that he was subjecting to Peter.
When Peter was down on his knees, Gabriel began to close his hand. A few stray sparks leapt between his fingertips and when his hand was completely closed into a fist, the electricity and crackling sounds stopped. Gabriel wanted to keep Peter on his knees so that he would not lunge at him to touch him and mimic one of his powers.
"Why did you tell them were I was Peter?" Gabriel asked. "Why do you want me dead?"
"Gabriel, I didn't know they would try to kill you."
Gabriel felt the familiar tingle that told him that Peter was lying. He opened his hand again and let electricity hit him. Peter groaned under the pain of the electricity flowing through him into the ground. The smell of burning cloth began to fill the air. Gabriel had been holding back, making sure that the electricity was enough to hurt Peter but not permanently damage him or kill him.
"That's a lie." He said calmly.
"I'm sorry but I had no choice." Peter said getting up on to one knee. "Gabriel, people like us might be danger and all I'm trying to do is protect them. Not all of them can protect themselves like you can, people like Claire can't.
"Claire?"
"Yes," Peter said getting up on to his feet. "She's being hunted down. And she might be the first of many. That's why I have to do everything in my power to gain the governments trust, even ratting you out. I knew you could handle yourself, though."
Gabriel nodded. "Okay, I understand. You need to do what you have to."
Peter walked closer to him. "I'm truly am sorry." He said holding out his hand.
Gabriel knew that he was sincere. His lie detector ability did not go off and his empathy also told him. However, even without his abilities he would still know that Peter was sincere, that was the kind of person Peter was.
He reached out and shook his hand feeling stupid for what he had done. "I'm sorry too. For all of this. I guess I still have some way to go to change my ways. Don't worry about your blonde friend. I made sure her landing was soft."
"That proves that you're making good progress on becoming a better person. We all try to be better people and there are times when we fail. All of us."
Gabriel nodded and turned around to leave and when he got to the window Peter called out to him.
"Wait!" Peter said. "About Claire. Do you think you could help her? Protect her from whoever is trying to capture her?"
"Me? Help Claire Bennett. She wouldn't allow that, she hates me."
"Then give her a reason not to."
"Do you know where she is?"
Peter shook his head and Gabriel flew out of the window. Just as he flew out Tracy came bursting in through the door, ready for another round but saw Peter alone in the room.
"Where is he?" She shouted. "Where is Sylar?"
Peter motioned to the broken window that he would have to pay for before he moved. "Gabriel's gone."
She sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"
Peter nodded.
"Peter you need to get a better power than that weak rock moving thing you have."
"I told you that I can't. I need to appear harmless to these politicians so that they don't see me as a threat."
"Fine, then I'm going to get you a bodyguard."
"There is no bodyguard who can protect me against someone like Gabriel."
"Then we need a bodyguard like him."
Hiro Nakamura - India
Hiro finally arrived at the site. The Tamasha site was a barren land a few meters wide. It was scattered with boulders and just outside its brown and sandy boaders was the city. The site used to be a mountain that was mined out of minerals and now there were plans to build a blocks of flats at the site.
Hiro walked to the middle of the site were a man was waiting for him. He was a tall Indian man with a blue suit. Behind him was a Mercedes Benz with two men in suits leaning on the site.
The Indian man stepped forward to meet him. "Hello Mr. Nakamura." He said bowing to him.
Hiro in turn bowed to him. "Hello Minister."
"Thank you for agreeing to meet me."
"Anything I can do to help. Uhm... What do you need my help for?"
Amir Prakesh looked at Hiro from afar through binoculars. He regarded the small Asian man that he saw. He was a swordsman, a fact made obvious by the katana slung over his shoulder. He did not think though that he was a threat physically or in close combat. Amir was also an expert with the sword, training to master it since the age of fifteen. But he knew that the Asian's strength did not lie in his physical prowess but rather in the rumor that he could bend time itself.
Amir tore his gaze from Hiro and looked upon his sniper positioned some distance away from him and Hiro. The sniper was armed with a tranquilizer dart that would make it hard for him to concentrate. The research that he hired his people to do suggested that most of these people have to have at least some concentration to willingly use their abilities. But the sniper was a last resort if things did not go as planned.
Hiro was listening quietly as the Minister told him what he needed his help for. The Minister invited him to the car so that they could drive to a more secure location to further discuss the mission. Hiro nodded as he was led to the car by the Minister. Suddenly a car appeared at the far end of the site. It was shrouded in dust as it speedily made its way to them. The men who were leaning on the car sprang to action and fired at the incoming dust cloud.
The car did not slow down as it continued to barrel towards them. The excitement in Hiro was rising fast. He was already seeing some action. He withdrew the Kensie sword from its sheath lying on his back. The sword glinted in the bright sun of India. He was about to charge at the car when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck.
He instinctively grabbed at the spot where he felt the pain. He was surprised when he found something lodged into his neck. He pulled it out and found that it was a dart.
The oncoming car slammed into the Minister's Mercedes Benz. The car came to a stop as its momentum was carried over to the Mercedes. The Mercedes lurched forward. The car was a former white Toyota that now looked brown because of the dust. The car turned and headed for Hiro and the minister.
The Minister quickly ran out of the way leaving Hiro in its path. Hiro was still inspecting the dart in his hand. His mind had already begun to be clouded. He looked up too late when he saw the car coming. Hiro rolled out of the way but it was already too late. Lucky for him, the car swerved to the side to avoid hitting him.
Mohinder was relieved to have missed Hiro. If it was not for his heightened reflexes, Hiro would have been dead. It would have been strange if he came here to save him but ended up killing him.
He opened up the car door. Hiro was still lying on the ground trying to get up. Mohinder grabbed him and pulled him into the car and over his lap. Hiro swung his sword at Mohinder, unsuccessfully as he drove away from the men firing at the Toyota with Time Master's legs hanging out.
Mohinder had on a black ski mask and a brown jacket completed with faded blue jeans. He turned Hiro around who was unsure what to do. He began to close his eyes in intense concentration to stop time. He failed but was only able to slow it down. Hiro could see a bullet whiz by his kidnappers head into the windshield. The glass began to crack. Even in his confused state Hiro could see every crack on the windshield spreading out and splitting and branching. When the windshield's surface was 60% cracked, time began to speed up again and the cracks instantly reached every corner of the windshield.
Hiro was further confused by his failure. If his effort failed, he would need his sword. Where was his sword? Had he entered the vehicle with his sword? Hiro struggled to focus or even form a thought. He narrowed his eyes at the driver in the mask and was able to form only one thought.
"Who are you?" He asked.
Mohinder rolled the mask up enough to reveal his face but not take it off. "It's me, Hiro."
It took some time for Hiro to recognize the man. "Dr. Suresh!" He exclaimed then said something in Japanese.
Mohinder did not have time to decipher what Hiro had just said because the car suddenly came to a stop. A few seconds after a fire erupted from the front of the it. Mohinder opened the door and grabbed Hiro to drag him out.
There was only a small distance between them and the city but Mohinder was too afraid to cross the distance with Hiro while they were being shot at. Hiro seemed clumsy and his reflexes were too slow even for normal standards. He suddenly grabbed Hiro and threw him into the city. Hiro landed on the dust rolling. Mohinder was about to run when he remembered Hiro's sword. He dove back into the car to retrieve the katana. He then followed by running across to where a Hiro had landed. Bullets flew by him as he bobbed and weaved. He finally reached the Tamasha site's fringes and grabbed Hiro as he ran into the city.
Amir began shouting out orders on a two way radio. "Make sure they do not escape! Kill the masked man but I want Hiro Nakamura alive!"
The part of the city Mohinder and Hiro were at seemed abandoned. It was empty except for a few people who didn't lived near the surrounding area. Mohinder chanced a look back and saw more men with guns appear. He saw a car parked by the side of the road and began desperately running for it.
He ducked behind the car just as a rain of bullets shot at where he had been seconds before. He laid the body that he had been carrying on over his shoulder on the ground.
"Hiro! You've got to teleport us out of here!" Mohinder said over the sounds of gunfire.
Hiro closed his eyes in intense concentration but as hard as he tried his mind could not focus enough for him to activate his ability.
"I still can't! They did something to me!" He mumbled something in Japanese.
Mohinder peeked from under the vehicle he was hiding behind and went back down just as bullets rained over his head. He had a katana sword in his hand but doubted it would do them much good at this distance against guns.
"They've got us pinned down, Hiro!" He said. "If you don't get us out, we'll die here."
Hiro closed his eyes again as a another volley of bullets hit the car. A bullet hit the fuel tank and the car exploded into a fiery blaze, killing anyone who had been near it.
London
Mohinder and Hiro suddenly appeared in an alley under the gloomy skies of London. Mohinder rolled on the ground to put out the fire that was on his jacket. He was able to put the fire out, though it did leave smoke and singed leather as proof of its brief existence.
Mohinder rushed over to Hiro who was now unconscious. The act of teleporting them away from danger must have taken a toll on him. Mohinder head a metallic ping and looked up. A gun was pointed to his face.
"Don't move." The man with the gun said.
Mohinder did a quick analysis of the situation in his head. The man was flanked by two other men. One was a white man with rosy cheeks like the gun man and the other was a black man. They all looked young, maybe in their early twenties.
Mohinder grabbed the gun causing a misfire just above his head. After the shot went off he wrenched the gun from him and pushed him back with one hand. The gunman flew a little before he hit the ground and rolled three times. Mohinder began to get up but the black man kicked his legs and forced him down again while the other one lunged at him with a knife. He was able to pull his head back, dodging the knife, and with his open back hand pushed the knife wielder into the concrete wall besides him. He instinctively reached for the Kensie sword that lied beside him. Mohinder swung at the place midway the knees and feet of the remaining black opponent. He made sure to use a minimum amount of his super strength. His attackers jeans were sliced but his skin seemed untouched and he did not even fall to the ground.
Taken by the surprise of his failed attack, Mohinder froze and looked up at the man. In his face was only calm as he kicked Mohinder in the head the same way a soccer player would kick a ball. Mohinder flew back onto the cold tar, then suddenly everything went black.
To be continued...