Disclaimer Alert
The characters appearing in the Heroes television series, Heroes novel and various other webcomics do not belong to me. Seroiusly I'm just having fun here so please don't sue me NBC and Tim Kring
Author's note
TOO... MANY... WORDS... USED. CAN'T... MAKE... CORNY JOKES. EN... JOY!
Heroes: Brave New World
Episode 5
Wilcox, Mary, Macy, Mindy and Rebecca - Washington DC
Silence had begun to grow in Wilcox's office. He had just told his assistants that he was dying and needed Claire to survive. It was like his words were still echoing in his assistants' heads. The silence became uncomfortable as no one dared to speak.
"Your dying? Since when?" Macy suddenly asked breaking the silence. "Why?"
"Let's just say I've known for a long time." Wilcox said. "And why? Well, mass organ failure."
"But that can be fixed with today's modern medicine." Mary reasoned.
"It's not just one organ; its not just a kidney or a liver, it's almost every organ in my body. That's why I need Claire Bennett, there's a theory that her blood will be able to heal me."
"I'm... Sorry." Mindy said shyly looking down. Truthfully she was apologizing for more than his dying condition, she was apologizing for opening the email that caused this conversation.
Wilcox smiled bravely at her. He wanted to hug her and comfort her; tell her that she had nothing to be sorry about. But he didn't.
"Let's leave Mr. Wilcox alone." Rebecca said opening the door for the girls to file out of the office.
While she closed the door her eyes met with Wilcox's. He gave her a sad but brave smile.
They got outside the office where the silence continued. Mindy began feeling sick and ran for the trash can. She bent down and threw up her lunch. Mary held up her hair while she threw up.
Rebecca stood with her arms crossed, just thinking of everything that had transpired.
"What's going to happen, Rebecca?" Macy asked.
"With our jobs?" Rebecca asked raising her eyebrow.
"No!" Macy said, she calmed down and kept her voice leveled. "No, I mean with Mr. Wilcox."
"You heard him." Rebecca said. "He will die unless he can find Claire Bennett."
Macy bit her lower lip in frustration. It was so hard to read Rebecca. She had been with Wilcox longer than any of them and yet she showed little emotion, even when she has just found out that he is dying. "What can we do to help him?"
"Support him emotionally. Help him find Claire Bennett." Rebecca said.
"Help him find Clair Bennett? Can we do that?" Mary said from the floor.
"I'm going to." Rebecca said.
"I want to help him too." Mindy said getting up from the floor. She thrust her hand in front of Rebecca.
Rebecca smiled at the gesture and placed her dark skinned hand over Mindy's lighter one.
"I want to help him too." Macy said also placing her hand with them.
They all looked at Mary who smiled at them. "Well, of course I want to help too." She said joining there hands with her own.
There, at that moment they made a silent pack to help Wilcox by finding Claire Bennett.
Gretchen Berg - Washington DC
Gretchen could not believe how quickly Noah Bennett was getting around. He was crossing states like he was flying on a private jet or something. She had exhausted all of her resources trying to follow him. She ended up in Washington with no money and her credit card maxed out. Her parents were going to kill but she had done this for a good cause, she was doing this to help Claire.
All she knew was that Noah Bennett had been in Washington four hours before she arrived. Using the car tracker she placed on him, she had almost narrowed down his position. According to the tracker that she was tracking from her cellphone, he was only a few feet away.
The sun had just began to rise and there were a few people in this part of Washington. She could not see Noah Bennett and was beginning to fear that maybe he could see her.
The only person she saw that matched the tracker's movements was a tall, thin man in an overcoat. From what she could see of his face, she could tell he was younger than Noah. When the man turned left and the position of the tracker changed she realised that she was tracking him. Had Noah Bennett somehow moved the tracker to this man? Her fears were confirmed when she saw the tracker on man's black overcoat. She felt her anger slowly building up. This was a cruel way to throw her off Claire's path.
She decided to follow the man anyways while thinking of a plan to get herself home and back on Claire's trail. The man turned into an empty ally. Gretchen spied on him from a hidden position. The tall man looked around as if he suspected he was being followed, when he seemed sure he was not he did something that Gretchen found hard to believe. He began to rise up parallel to the building as if he was in an invisible elevator. If she had not previously seen Claire heal and had been attacked by an invisible girl, she would have checked herself into a mental facility after having seen that.
/
Peter and Ricky got into the apartment all smiles and talking loudly.
"I was so scared, Boss!" Ricky said. "Dropping from that height. I thought I'd break my spine."
"But you saved yourself and almost broke my spine!"
They both laughed. It had been a good night for them. They were successful in their mission. "We should buy a drink to celebrate."
"Are you old enough to drink?" Peter asked Ricky.
"Aw! It doesn't matter. No one will know."
"I will!"
Their happy mood was abruptly ended when they heard tapping on the window. They looked at it to see Gabriel standing there. At first Peter was reluctant to let him in but he reminded himself that Gabriel had changed. Peter opened the window and let him float in.
"Hello, Peter." Gabriel said when he landed. He smiled at Ricky, "whose the kid."
"My name's Ricky and I'm no kid." Ricky answered.
"Yes, this is my bodyguard, Ricky." Peter added.
Gabriel wrinkled his nose. "Bodyguard?" He said coming closer to inspect Ricky. "Ridiculous! If you needed protection all you needed to do was ask me." Gabriel said the last part looking at Peter. "Kid, you can go home. Your no longer needed."
Ricky clenched his fists into tight balls of anger. "You don't tell me what to do."
Gabriel could feel Ricky's anger rising but he was not phased. What could the kid do? He gave the kid a cocky smile and his voice got lower. "You must be too young to understand English, because I just did."
The movement was fast but effective. Ricky flexed his wrists and opened his palms. A green energy shot out and hit Gabriel. He flew back and crashed through a wooden table and finally stopped flat on the floor.
"Ricky!" Peter reprimanded him. "What was that?"
"I didn't mean to hit him that hard."
"So you did mean to hit him?"
"No I..."
While Ricky stumbled through his excuse, Gabriel got up. He could not believe the amount of power that kid had. He felt an undeniable craving for it. He readied himself for a feast as he approached him like a predator, involuntarily licking his lips.
"I can't believe you'd just do something like that! It's inexcusable." Peter continued.
"Well, he asked for it." Ricky answered.
Hearing the exchange triggered a memory of Gabriel's. He was a young teenager reprimanding an even younger Peter. "I can't believe you'd start a fight like that, Pete! Its inexcusable!"
"Well, he asked for it." A pouting young Peter in a ruffled school uniform said.
Nathan's memory snapped Gabriel out of his deadly trance. The Hunger had not been that strong for a long time. He made a mental note to be more careful and to keep it in check.
"Gabriel and I need to speak in private. Leave us." Peter said dismissing Ricky.
Ricky looked down and left the room.
"Spirited young man." Gabriel remarked once he left.
"Yeah but his a good kid." Peter said. "You want something to drink?"
"Coffee. Thanks."
Peter began making the brew. "So, what brings you buy? Do you have news on Claire?"
"Yes. From what I gathered, she's somewhere in England. Well out of the reach of anyone here." Gabriel said.
"Good! That must've been Noah's doing!" Peter shouted to be heard from the kitchen. He walked back into the room to place the coffee on the table. He saw that Gabriel had crashed so hard into the table that two of its legs had broken off. Peter sighed, it seemed everytime Gabriel 'came over' his expenses went up. He located him sitting on the couch and gave him his coffee there.
Gabriel could feel that Peter was uncomfortable sitting opposite him drinking coffee. They still had a long way to go in this uneasy relationship of theirs. "I found out where they would be keeping her if they did catch her. Although I don't know who exactly owns the place I can tell you it's some big politician."
"Then I think we've already dealt with that." Peter said. "Ricky and I broke into a place that was designed to hunt and imprison people like us. I think it is the same area your talking about. Its also owned by a big politician named Gilbert Vikes." Peter told Gabriel the address of the place.
Gabriel shook his head and told him the address he had.
Peter was now worried. Was it possible that Gilbert Vikes had more than one HQ. That would spell trouble for them.
"I'll infiltrate the building. See what I can learn." Gabriel offered.
Peter nodded and saw him out the door. It seemed that as soon as he dealt with one problem another would emerge from the woodwork.
Matt, P and Molly, W - Airport
Molly Walker sat patiently on a bench while Matt Parkman tried to con his way into a plane heading to India with his telepathy.
It came as a complete shock when she took Matt junior's baby shirt and tracked him in India. She was in such disbelief that she did it again and came up with the same location. It was almost like destiny was calling her, calling her back to India.
Matt came back with two plane tickets. "Alright, lets get going."
"But you don't even have a passport." Molly protested.
"Don't worry. I've got that covered." Matt said tapping the side of his temple.
"Of course. How could I forget." She said bitterly.
Matt gave an uneasy smile. He did not need to be a mind reader to know she was still mad at him for using his powers to take control of her.
/
Ando walked out of the terminal. He yawned as he walked through the airport. He could not get any sleep for he was too stressed. He had no idea how he would find Hiro in a whole country. It became obvious to him that he might have to first find Mainframe or at least attend Mainframe's Invitation event to get anymore leads on Hiro's location.
As he walked through the busy airport his eyes chanced upon a familiar face walking with a girl. He had not seen this face for so long that he almost did not recognise it.
"Matt Parkman?" A voice called out to Matt.
Matt turned his head to see Ando standing there smiling. "Ando! What are you doing here?" He said shaking his hand.
Ando's mood got serious. "I'm here to find Hiro. He's been missing for a few days."
"You think he's in America?"
Ando nodded. "Is there any way you can help me find him?"
"I'm sorry, no." Matt said. "If I hadn't just found out about your problem, I would have asked you to help me with mine. My son has been kidnapped and is currently being held in India. That's where I'm going now."
"Your son has been kidnapped!" Ando exclaimed. "I'm sorry. If I find Hiro, we'll immediatly go to India to help you."
Matt nodded. "Again, I'm sorry I couldn't help..."
Matt was interrupted by Molly clearing her throat loudly. She had been quietly listening to the conversation and decided this was the perfect time to interject.
"Oh! This is my daughter Molly..." Matt suddenly realised what a fool he'd been. Molly could help Ando find Hiro! "My daughter can track anyone! She can help you!"
"Really?" Ando said looking at Molly with hope in his eyes.
Molly nodded. Ando picked her up in his arms and happily spun her around in the air.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Ando said.
He placed her down and it took time for her head to stop spinning. "Then let us find him. I need something that belonged to him. A personal item of his or a picture."
Ando thought to himself for a little. "I don't have anything of his," he said taking out his iPad. "All I know is that his disappearance is connected with this..." He turned the pad around to show them Mainframe's Invitation webpage.
"Mainframe's Invitation." Molly said knowingly. This is what Micah and West were investigating.
"Can you track the person who sent this to him. Can you track Mainframe?" Ando asked.
"No, I..." Molly began thinking about her ability. It allowed her to find anyone by having anything they owned or at least anything that had a strong enough imprint of the person. That is why she could not track someone using emails and such things. They were cold, emotionless and indifferent. However, this webpage had been sent multiple times to a select group of people. Whoever had made it must have put a lot of work, time and energy on it, therefore it should have a strong imprint of its creator.
Molly placed her hand on the screen of the iPad. She could not believe she was even trying this. If it worked; if she finds out that she could have helped Micah and West by finding this guy, she would kick herself. Suddenly her mind was transported to a another place. She noted the address and came out of it.
"I know where Mainframe is." She said writing the address down on Ando's IPad. "Listen Ando. I wrote two addresses here. The first one is where Mainframe is. The second one is where a friend of mine named Micah is. He is also looking into Mainframe. If you go to him, he will help you."
Ando nodded. "I will. Thank you Molly; thank you Matt."
There was an announcement made in the airport. "Flight to India is about to disembark! I repeat, flight to India about to disembark will all passengers make their way to the terminal!"
Matt looked up. "That's us." He was about to walk away when he remembered the picture he had painted of Ando lying on a cracked pavement with blood coming out of his nose and mouth. He wondered if he should tell him. What if looking for Hiro was what would cause his death or what if telling him is what caused it. "Molly, I'll meet you at the terminal."
Molly got the message and nodded. "Good luck Ando." She said before leaving.
"Ando, I painted a picture of you a while back. You were lying on the ground and it seemed like you were..."
"Dead?" Ando said.
"Yes but you may have just been hurt. I don't know."
Ando nodded. "I'll be okay. Good luck finding your son. Hopefully, I'll find Hiro as soon as possible and we can help you with your son."
Matt smiled and they shook hands before he ran for the terminal. He was partly surprised that Ando was still willing to look for Hiro even if it may end up in his death.
/
Molly was standing at the entrance of the terminal trying to make a call to Micah. The automated machine response told her that he was unavailable. She clenched her teeth as she tried again and got the same response. She saw Matt running to the entrance, he rushed her in through the terminal. She sighed as she gave him his cellphone back. She bitterly thought how it would be uncomfortable flight for her because she would have to find a way to kick herself for the whole journey.
Claire, René and Valery - England
Claire Bennett was bored. She felt like she had done everything possible, she had read a newspaper front to back; cooked lunch for the guys and dinner for later that night; she had cleaned the house and was now beginning to consider having a pretend conversation with the table cloth.
Valery and René stepped into the kitchen at the same time and nodded to each other before continuing on in their respective paths. For Claire that was the last straw. This was what they had been like. She thought having Valery around would make René open up more, make him talk more. However, she found that Valery was just as quiet as René. They both lacked the skill to have a conversation. Whatever they said was straight to the point, they spoke no more and no less than what they needed to.
Seeing them nod to each other in their silent language made her want to scream. "There is no bread!" She said louder than she had expected.
They both looked at her surprisingly.
She got up and now quietly spoke again. "There's no bread and I want bread."
"I'll get it on my way..." René began.
"No, I'll get it. There's a certain kind of bread I like. So I'll get it."
"Claire. You are well known. You have to go out in public only when it is absolutely necessary."
"Then I'll wear a binnie to cover my hair and a pair of sunglasses."
René looked at her and sighed. He understood how she felt. She was not accustomed to being trapped in one place. "But I can't accompany you. I need to go somewhere."
"Valery will come with me."
René looked at Valery who continued to remain quiet. He was still not sure if he could completely trust his newly discovered nephew.
"Come on René." Claire pressed.
"Okay. If Valery agrees." He relented before he left the room.
Claire gave Valery one of her sweetest smiles.
/
Soon, Valery and Claire found themselves driving to a store. There were closer shops but Claire wanted time to breath in the air. The weather was uncharacteristically clear and warm.
"What store are you going to buy your bread from?" Valery said, sitting shotgun besides Claire.
Claire realised that she had not spoken to him ever since they left the house. "You'll know when we get there." Claire said trying to be mysterious. "So, are you ever going to go back to Africa?"
"Perhaps." He said.
She frowned at the simple answer. She remembered their kryptonite was holding a conversation.
She drove into the store parking lot and parked the car then they entered the store.
"You go and get the bread, I'll get a little junk food.
"But I don't know what kind of bread you like."
"Just get anyone." Claire answered before disappearing into a shopping aisle.
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes had noticed there entrance into the shop. The man watching them made sure he was hidden from sight. He picked up his phone and quickly punched in some numbers and waited for a reply. "Vida... Yes, it's me. You won't believe who I saw."
/
They had finished with their shopping and were now exiting the store. They got to their car only to find four guys standing by it. Valery recognised them instantly. They were members of his old gang.
"Hello, Val." One of them said upon seeing him.
"Do you know these guys?" Claire asked him.
"Yes." He answered. "What do you want?"
""We want the bag you took from Kurt's place."
Claire remembered that when they first met Valery all he had was a bag. Ever since that time she had never seen it again.
"Ask Kurt where it is." Valery said.
"He doesn't have it and if you don't tell us where it is, we're going to break your bones and your pretty friend too." The other said.
"Hah! Try it!" Claire shouted out defiantly.
They began to surround them. Valery gritted his teeth. "I don't have what you want but if you do this, you'll live to regret it. Assuming you live through this."
One of them lunged at Claire, pulled off her binnie and grabbed her by the hair causing her to drop her shopping bag. She moaned as she squirmed to get her hair out of the man's grip. Valery reacted too late as two of the other thugs grabbed him on either side and made him stand still. The fourth attacker took out a long knife and pointed it at Valery.
"Don't be stupid, Val." He said to Valery whose arms were being held by two of the thugs.
Valery could hear Claire's grunts as she tried to escape. He hated to drag her into this. He thought that maybe she could handle herself since she was with his uncle but he was starting to think otherwise.
Claire was wrestling to get her hair out of the man's grasp. The man kept laughing as he pulled her head around using her hair. Everytime Claire tried to grab him, he'd simply jump back and pull her hair to the side.
The man was toying with her and she knew it. Although it made her mad, she tried to not do something rash. He would pay soon enough; her father taught her 'the enemy you underestimate, is the most dangerous'. Claire stopped lunging at the man and let him pull her hair around for a while in order to make him drop his guard. She would pull a little to make it seem like she was still struggling.
"What's the matter blondie. Can't you free yourself. Come on, you can do it!" The man said while laughing and yanking her hair cruelly.
Claire suddenly took the opportunity to surprise him. She planted her feet to the ground and with all her strength pulled her neck back and hoped that the roots of her hair were strong enough. Although some of her hair snapped off either in the middle or at the root, enough of it held through to pull him forward into Claire by this action and his nose was pulled right into Claire's left jab. His eyes were suddenly blinded by tears as he cradled his bleeding nose.
"You bi...!" He was silenced by an upward kick to his nether region. The man crumpled to his knees after the low blow. Another lesson she was taught by Noah Bennett, 'Never fight fair.'
As soon as Valery saw that Claire had dealt with her attacker, he began to deal with his. He bent his knees, thereby lowering his height, and he brought his arms together above him causing the craniums of the two men holding them to crash into each other. Because his legs were already bent, he was able to quickly launch himself to the knife wielder in front of him. The knife wielder thrust forward with his knife and Valery met the knife point with his open palm. As soon as the knife stopped in his palm he maneuvered his hand to grab the blade of the knife. Valery twisted the knife out of his attackers grasp using his newly acquired grip while simultaneously bringing his other hand up for a hook aimed at the man's face. He was able to knock the man to the ground. The two assailants he had taken cared of began to rise along with the one he had just punched. Valery flipped the knife in his hand so that he held it by its hilt instead of its blade. It looked like he would have to deal with these people... permanently.
Suddenly a car stopped beside him and Claire, through the window, called out his name. Valery abandoned his plan to kill these men and ran to car. Once he was safely in, it sped off before the people they had fought recovered.
Gretchen Berg - Washington D.C.
Gretchen had been following the tall, pale man for a while. He stopped in front a building and was seemingly staking the place out. He then made a visible effort to touch one of the employees from the place. He was very sly about it.
The man then went into a public toilet. She expected the same man to come out the toilet but instead a woman came out! Not just any woman but the woman he had touched after he staked out the building. The tracker was now corresponding to the movements of the woman.
Gretchen gasped when she began to get some idea on what was going on. "Noah Bennett is a Skrull!" She said to herself. She realised that whoever this person is, he was impersonating Noah Bennett. All this time she had been helping a bad guy find Claire.
She saw the shape shifter enter the building. Whoever this person was he or she seemed to be very interested in this building. Whatever the shape shifter was up to, she'd stop it.
She went into the building after him.
Matt, P and Molly, W - India
As soon as their plane landed, Matt and Molly went about finding baby Matt. Molly used her power to pinpoint his exact location. They ended up in front of a three story brown building. It seemed to have guards posted at its entrance.
"So, you've located him in there." Matt confirmed.
"Yes." Molly said. "Now all we have to do is get him."
"Okay. Stay close to me."
They approached the building with Matt leading the way and Molly following behind his bigger figure. When they got too close one of the guards stepped forward and put his hand up in the universal sign to stop.
Matt did not even slow down. He just tilted his head to the side and sent out a thought. You know us, he sent out the thought.
"We know you." The guard said.
Let us through, Matt commanded with his mind. The guards stepped aside and let them enter.
Once inside Molly led the way. While she was walking down the hallway an employee of the building appeared from a corner. She hesitated and stopped moving.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "I'm making him ignore us. You just keep moving, I'll keep you safe."
Molly nodded and continued with her work. Whenever she saw someone she no longer hesitated because she knew Matt would handle it. With every step she could feel it; they were getting closer to the baby.
Emma Kooldridge - Manhattan
Emma was studying some notes off her laptop. The page she was studying from disappeared when a blue webpage appeared on it.
Pop-up ads on an offline document! She angrily thought to herself. Emma's finger was already on the touch pad, instinctively moving the mouse pointer to the close button. She was about to double tap close when her eyes caught the headline of the document.
The blue document's headline did not begin with 'you win' or 'your the [nth] visitor', instead the headline was 'Mainframe's Invitation'. She was about to read on when she heard a knock on the door or more accurately saw the sound of a knock . She would have to read this later.
She got up and walked to the door. She looked through the looking glass to see who it was. At first she could not see anything, it was like there was some kind of obstruction in front of it but as her eye adjusted to the sight she realised she was looking at an eye! Although she was slightly freaked out by the eye, she still opened the door. She was not sure why she did but she just did. When the door opened she saw a Mexican woman standing there, then Samuel Sullivan appeared from the side with a friendly smile on his face. Emma's eyes went wide with fear and she quickly tried to slam the door shut. However, Samuel was too fast and he wedged his body in between the door so that she could not close it. They struggled for a while with Emma trying to close the door and Samuel trying to open it. Samuel grunted and gave a big shove forward. The door flew open thereby off balancing Emma and forcing her to the floor. She got up and ran to the phone, she needed to dial 911 to get help. She grabbed the phone and began to dial but Samuel knocked the phone out of her hand and grabbed her.
Samuel dragged her to the couch and pinned her there. "Anita! Do it now!"
Anita helped pin her and placed her face to Emma's. Emma wanted to call out for help. She wanted to tell this woman to help her and that Samuel was not only dangerous but evil too, however all that came out of her was panicked breaths that would occasionally wheeze and hiss through her mouth.
Anita looked at the panicking woman deep in her eyes. Her face was so close to hers that they were sharing each others breaths. Anita, using her ability, tried to make her trust Samuel. She tried to ignore the immense panic Emma was feeling only to find her fear, her fear for Samuel and under the fear was hate for him. What had Samuel done for this woman to harbor such negative feelings towards him, Anita thought to herself. He had only showed her kindness and wisdom about Anita's powers but what if he was hiding a darker side. After all, he was in an Asylum but then again so was she. Success, she found the feeling she was looking for in Emma, beneath the sea of fear and the desert of hate she found a spark of trust. The spark was remnants of how she felt a long time ago about Samuel but it was rapidly disappearing. She tried to save the feeling intensifying it. The spark grew into a small flame, next it became a raging inferno that engulfed Emma's hate and fear.
When the job was done, she fell back on to the floor, exhausted and perspiring. Samuel released Emma and asked her if she was okay. Emma nodded calmly. Anita had succeeded, Emma now trusted Samuel and hopefully, will now do anything he asked.
"This is my friend Anita Rodriguez," Samuel began. "Anita, this is Emma Kooldridge... my friend."
Emma nodded. She bent down next to Anita. She noticed that she had bruises and was close to the point of malnutrition. She signaled to her that she would return and disappeared to her room.
Anita struggled to get up. Using her powers like that took a lot from her. "Why does she not speak, Samuel?"
"She is deaf." Samuel informed her.
"I don't see how she can be of any use to us. Maybe we should leave her alone."
"Don't underestimate her usefulness." Samuel said. "She is like us. You see Anita, people like us are weaker when we are apart. The rest of the normal people will take advantage of that and put us in any deep hole they can find, like they did to you..." Samuel saw Emma's laptop and walked to it. "... like they did to me." He said as he began to read the message on the screen. "She will help us bring our people together so that we can be strong against anyone." Samuel read Mainframe's Invitation and was surprised at what he read. This Mainframe-person was gathering people like them, he was unknowingly building an army. Samuel's abilities were currently weak in the state they were in but if enough specials got together in one place, his power would exponentially strengthen. He smiled as he thought that with both Emma and Anita at his side he could easily hijack this Mainframe's Invitation event.
Emma got back and began to tend to Anita's bruises. Samuel was thankful to Emma because if his plan was to work, he would need all the members of his team to be at their best health. He was fortunate to have found Anita, he had encountered a similar ability in a carnival member. Anita had the ability to intensify or dull any emotion or feeling that a person had but it seemed her ability depended on her having eye contact with the person she was using it on.
He took the phone he had knocked on the ground and began dialing a number. He placed the phone to his ear. "Eli, this is Samuel. I'm planning something big and I may need your help."
Claire and Valery - England
Claire and Valery walked into the house.
"René! René!" Claire called out. "He must have already left." She said to Valery.
"Claire, if you don't mind..." Valery began.
"Don't worry. I won't tell René what happened at the store."
Valery nodded his thanks and disappeared to his room. Claire sighed. Back to silence again, she thought.
Valery reached under his bed and from it took out a black bag. This was the bag that Kurt had sent him to deliver. He opened it to find plastic bags of drugs in it. He was not really sure what to do with them. He could sell them and keep the profits or anonymously give it to the police. He had to think about it.
Claire heard the doorbell ring. She got up from the couch and opened the door. Vida was standing there with the some of his cronies. Claire recognised one of them to be the man she had fought in the parking lot of the store. The man took out a gun and shot Claire four times in quick succession.
Claire was able to get the door shut before she fell back. When Valery heard the gunshots, he grabbed his gun and the bag and ran to the kitchen. He saw Claire lying on the floor with blood smeared on the door. Valery tucked his gun behind his back and lifted her body. He carried her onto the couch.
He looked at her wounds and was amazed when they began to close up right before his eyes. Two bullet wounds in her chest spat out round balls; one in her shoulder forced a bullet out and began disappearing and the wound in her stomach no longer existed. Claire looked like she was about to throw up when she spit out a bullet in her hand and let it drop.
Valery was stunned; she was like him but in a different way. He suddenly remembered something from his time in America. A blonde girl, who jumped from a high height and survived. "Your her. Your the girl who jumped."
"I think our friends from the store are back." Claire said getting up.
As if on que, the door burst open and the thugs rushed in with guns drawn. Valery covered Claire while running for the next room.
"Stay here!" He commanded before running out to shoot at the intruders.
"No!" Claire shouted out trying to stop him. He was breaking the rules she was taught on how to survive a firefight. Noah told her in a gunfight where you are outnumbered you should find adequate cover where you can pick the enemy off one by one and pray that you're faster on the trigger.
Valery however was not following those rules. He was less worried about the 'finding adequate cover' part than 'picking off his enemies' part. He was able to shoot one of them in the leg before they ran for adequate cover. Vida was confused; there were five of them and Valery was in full view of his gang and they each got off more than one shot at him. Yet , Valery was still standing and to make matters worse he was able to shoot one of them. Were all of them really bad shots or was Valery that lucky?
Claire dropped a heavy vase on the head one of Vida's men. The man collapsed unconscious and Claire relieved him of his gun. She checked how many bullets were still in the cassette and when satisfied she pushed it back in the gun. She analyzed the situation. There was a trail of blood on the floor and since Valery seemed perfectly healthy, she came to the conclusion that he probably shot one of them. Also, although Valery was outnumbered he seemed to have the upper hand because they were hiding from him.
Valery walked through the house which except for the sound something breaking a while ago was deadly quite. Valery was looking around carefully, although their guns were useless on him, he could not allow them to gang up on him or he would lose his advantage.
And, as if they were reading his mind, one of them jumped from behind him and tackled him into a table. Valery's gun was knocked away from him during the attack. He quickly got onto his feet and charged at the attacker. The attacker took out his gun and shot straight at the oncoming man yet he did not slow down. Valery knocked him on his back and they wrestled for the gun while the man on his back got off a few more shots at Valery's face. Valery was able to get the gun and hit the attacker over the head with the the butt of it, knocking him unconscious. Another thug came out of hiding and fired at him. Claire appeared from a corner and fired at the legs of the thug shooting at Valery. The man being surprised and hurt limped away, out of the house.
Valery got up and tried to warn Claire that there was someone coming up from behind her but it was too late. Vida grabbed Claire and pointed the gun at her temple.
"Careful Blondie! Or I'll put a bullet in your brain, just like I did to Kurt." Vida warned her and indirectly Valery.
So he did kill Kurt. Valery slowly approached him. "Vida, don't do this. I'll give you the bag, just don't hurt her."
Vida smiled. He finally had the upper hand. "Throw it over."
Valery took off the bag from around his shoulders and threw it to the floor next to them.
"You shouldn't have trusted me." Vida said squeezing the trigger.
"Wait!" Valery stopped him. "If you kill her, I will kill you. But if you let her go, I'll kill myself."
"There's no need to do this. You've seen what I can do." Claire said to Valery.
"Shut up! Do it!" Vida spitted out.
Valery placed the gun in his mouth and squeezed the trigger. His head jerked when the bullet hit him and he fell backwards. Vida was surprised by what he saw. He could not believe he did it.
Vida threw Claire onto the floor laughing. "The idiot! I can't believe he did it!"
Claire was about to unleash a savage attack on him when Valery sat up and fired three bullets into his chest. Valery got up on his feet while Claire instinctively checked on Vida's pulse. He was dead. She looked at Valery surprised he was still standing before her.
"How are you still alive?"
He spat out a smoking bullet into his hand and let it fall to the floor. "Your not the only one who can spit out bullets." He said.
Claire realised that Valery was invulnerable. "I hope you didn't shoot yourself so that you could say that!"
Gretchen Berg - Washington DC
Gretchen entered the building that Gabriel had entered in the guise of one of the employees. Her plan was simple: she would find the shape shifter and stop him.
Gretchen began feeling uneasy when she saw that the building was full of armed individuals. She made sure not to make direct eye contact and to act like everything was normal, like she was meant to be there.
Gretchen saw the shape shifter. Now was her chance! She quickened her walking pace to confront him... her... it. However, as soon as she approached, the shape shifter would begin to move away. She followed it into a room, out of a door, left, right until she eventually lost her.
Gretchen began to realise that she was not going to catch up to the shape shifter. She would need help and she knew of only one way to receive it in this place. She waited until she saw one of the armed men. When the armed individual passed by her, she jumped on his back and began pounding on his back. The man was able to wrestle her to the floor and pin her down.
/
Gillian McKay had been working at the facility for longer than anyone else. He was the only employee who knew he worked for Kenneth Wilcox but that was understandable since he was the director of operations. He was hired because he was the best and he had has seen and dealt with everything. So he was the most qualified man to deal with a young woman kicking and screaming and asking to speak with the 'leader', which, in the absence of the real leader, was him.
The woman was trying to get out of the hold of the guard who held her from behind. He gave the the young woman one of his 'you don't want to mess with me' looks and she stopped squirming.
"If you promise me that you'll calm down, I'll tell my man to let you go." He said to her calmly.
The tall, brunette woman nodded.
Gillian nodded to the man holding her and he let her go. "Now, what's your name and why do you want to see me?"
Gretchen had found the person who was in charge of this place. She now hoped that he would be able to help her but first she would need him to believe her. "I followed someone in here and that person is a shape shifter. He... or since his currently a girl, she is in this facility right now."
"How do you know this." Gillian asked.
"I... I was helping him to find Claire Bennett. He made himself look like her father..."
"Noah Bennett?" Gillian asked trying to hide his excitement. They had been hunting down Claire Bennett for a while now but she had always found a way to slip through their fingers. If this girl could somehow help her then she would be an important asset but first they would have to look into this shape shifter business. "Can you identify the shape shifter now?"
Gretchen hesitated before she answered. She had not exactly seen the shape shifter's new image up close. No, she could not doubt herself now this was to protect Claire. "Yes!"
Because they were in the security room, the facilities security cameras were near by. "Bring up the security footage!" Gillian said as he lead Gretchen to the security monitors. "Try to find her."
Gretchen looked at the tv monitors hoping she would find the shape shifter. Her eyes moved over the monitors but the people she saw were not the shape shifter. She was beginning to doubt her memory and then she saw her, she saw the shape shifter!
"There she is!" She excitedly pointed at the monitor while jumping up and down. "That's her right there!"
/
Gabriel did not know what he did wrong. He had found a computer and began to access its information. He found out the name of the person in charge of this place. It was a man named Kenneth Wilcox but before he could find out more, a few armed men surrounded him.
"Excuse me ma'am," one of the men said. "May we see some identification?"
"Oh, okay." Gabriel said in his new high pitch voice. He made a mock effort to look for some identification that he knew he did not have. "I seem to have forgotten it. Can you guys give a lady a pass?" Gabriel said fluttering his guise's eyelashes and smiling sweetly.
"You'll have to come with us." One of the men said.
"Oh well." Gabriel said. He flicked his womanly hands and two of the armed men fell to the side. Then he began running for the nearest window.
He had to get out of this place as quickly as possible. In his flight to freedom he jumped over desks and knocked over a few computers.
"Everyone get down!" One of the armed men shouted before he opened fire at the fleeing woman.
The bullets raced through the air to hit Gabriel in the back and legs. He stumbled and fell to the floor. The bullets were still raining down on him so he moved a few tables in front of his body. His breath became shallow as he waited for his wounds to heal. Looking around the room he saw that it was too small to fly through. He had to get to a window fast.
The men began approaching the tables that had mysteriously moved in front of their target. In a pincer movement they moved around the table in a plan to trap their target.
Suddenly Gabriel ran out of the pincer formation. He was close to the building windows now. He put his thumb and middle finger together. He was preparing to activate his disintegration ability. He could feel the window glass' resistance to breaking apart and because he was running he could not focus enough, resulting in the process being less than instantaneous. Nevertheless, the glass finally succumbed to the ability and disintegrated into a thousand small pieces resulting in the release of the pressure holding his thumb and middle finger together, causing him to make a snapping sound. Gabriel's body began to change into his own original body before he jumped out of the building and flew away to safety.
/
Gretchen watched the security monitors in horror as the shape shifter somehow smashed the windows without touching them and flew away. Gillian was so frustrated that he was shouting orders into his communicator and banging on the table.
"Aw man! I forgot he could do that." Gretchen said.
"You knew he could do that!" Gillian said angrily.
Gretchen stepped back in fear, "I've seen him fly but it's the first time I've seen him do all that other stuff."
"I want you to tell everything you know, about Claire Bennett and this shape shifter." Gillian said. He knew that this girl was the key to finding Claire and he would use her in any way he could.
Kenneth Wilcox - Washington DC
Kenneth Wilcox spun around in his chair as he read a document. He stopped spinning and placed the document on the table. He was surprised when he saw a red dot appear on the white paper under him. Then another dot appeared, then another. His hand rushed to his nose to stop the bleeding. He found his handkerchief and pressed it to his nose. He had had this before; this kind of nose bleed could not be stopped. He would have to wait it out. His health was deteriorating before his eyes. He looked down at his pot belly and thought maybe he should have exercised more. He was little over weight which was a result of fast food and a serious lack of exercise. He wished he could exercise his health problems away like any normal person.
He looked at his phone to see if he had time to wait out the nosebleed and was surprised to see that he was fifteen minutes late for a meeting. He grabbed his jacket and put it on while calling his associates.
"Hello, this is Kenneth Wilcox. I'm sorry that I'm late for the meeting, there must have been a mix up that my personal assistants didn't notice..." Wilcox kept quiet while the man on the line spoke to him. "Oh really? Okay, then I'll see you next time." Wilcox said before hanging up and dialing a new number.
Rebecca was explaining something to someone important when her phone rang.
"Excuse me Sir. My boss is calling me." She said excusing herself.
"If it's Wilcox, tell him that he better be careful cause I might steal you from him!"
Rebecca giggled before she answered. "Yes Sir."
"Rebecca, what's this I hear about you taking over my duties?" Wilcox asked.
Rebecca covered her mouth and began speaking more quietly so as not to be heard. "Ken, you need to focus your energy on other things, like your health."
"In is not your responsibility to..."
"Yes it is." Rebecca interrupted him. "We are all working to try to help you. Me, Mary, Macy and Mindy. The least you could do is honor our efforts by focusing on your health."
Wilcox was about to argue when she hung up. He could not believe she had done that! What had gotten into her? He calmed himself down and was able to think clearly. He realised that she was acting this way because she cared for him, they all did. And how did he show his appreciation? With anger and frustration. He felt very ashamed of himself.
/
"I think I found something!" Mary said.
Mindy and Macy rushed to the freckled red-head's side.
"You've found Claire?" Macy asked.
"Or an incident involving her." Mary corrected. "There was a report of an incident outside of an England store involving five men and a blonde woman who, from the security camera footage, looks like Claire Bennett.
"Do you know where she is exactly in England?" Macy asked.
"No. I can't pin point exactly where she is." Mary said. "And because the number plate of the car she was in is not shown clearly, there's nothing I can do."
"Well, if you find other footage of the car maybe we could see the number plate." Mindy said quietly.
"How would she even do that?" Macy asked.
"Well, if she went to England recently. Maybe if we look at the airport footage..."
"We could find the car's license plate and track her down!" Macy said snapping her fingers. "But can you hack into the airport security footage?"
"Of course." Mary said, increasing the speed of her typing.
Mary had been working for two hours. In those two hours Mr. Wilcox went out and came back half an hour later with lunch for them. Macy informed Rebecca what they were doing and Mindy was working quietly in a corner.
Mary jumped up excitedly and threw both arms in the air and shouted, "I did it!"
Mindy was violently pulled out of her own quite world by the noisy announcement. She looked at Mary bewildered.
"Did you hack into the airport!" Macy jumped up excited.
"Even better! I've found the license plate and tracked the car down to a neighbourhood in England." Mary said.
"Now, let's tell Mr. Wilcox." Macy said.
Mohinder, S and Amir, P - India
Mohinder was walking with Amir. Amir had finally let him see and enter the facility. He tried to keep calm and keep his composure. Somewhere in this place, Sanjog Iyer was being kept prisoner and he and Hiro could save him, if they could only find him.
"This is where we keep them." Amir said. "Your experiments will be conducted on the inhabitants of this building."
So this is why he was collecting people with abilities, he wanted to use them as guinea pigs, Mohinder thought to himself. Someone had to stop. "Okay, so when can I start." Mohinder said playing along.
"When you have something to..." Amir was disturbed when a service man ran to him.
The service man whispered something of great urgency to Amir. The service man had to stand on his toes in order to get close to Amir's ear. Amir nodded.
"Excuse me, Dr. Suresh. We seem to be having a problem." Amir said before going with the service man.
Mohinder wondered where they were going and what the emergency was but he also recognized this moment as a chance to find Sanjog and any other prisoners.
/
Amir ran through the hallway. He heard the unsettling news that a man and a young woman were caught on camera in the facility. No one knows how they got this far into the facility without being apprehended. Whatever the reason, Amir would make sure that there journey ends here.
/
Molly walked past the eighth armed man who seemingly could not see them. She pressed on and soon her ability was no longer needed. They could hear Matt junior's cries, as if he knew they were near.
Suddenly Matt was knocked into a wall. Molly heard him stumble and looked back at him. All she saw was Matt on his knees rubbing his cheek, other than that there was nothing or no one else, just a large silver vase and mirror. Molly did not believe her eyes when she saw a pair of hands come out of the mirror and grab the vase to throw it at the unprepared Matt Parkman.
Matt threw up his hands to brace for the incoming projectile. It bounced off his forearms and landed at his feet. Hands shot out from the vase and grabbed him by the pants and began pulling him to the vase. Molly ran to his side and pulled the vase away from him. Matt seized the hands and also began pulling them the opposite direction to which Molly was pulling the vase. This had the affect of exposing their attacker. It was like pulling back a sleeve to reveal the skin underneath but instead of a sleeve there was a vase and instead of revealing skin, there was a full human.
They struggled to get their assailant out but soon her face was out and the rest of the woman's body seemed to be hidden within the vase's reflective surface. Lwando struggled to stay in the reflection of the vase but Matt was too strong and the vase was also being taken away from her. Matt realised that the woman was exposed, she was no longer protected by the barrier of her powers.
"Get out of there, now!" Matt compelled her with his powers.
Lwando immediately stopped struggling and made an effort to exit the vase. Once she was fully out, Molly threw the vase into the mirror, thereby shattering it. She took off her bright orange jacket and threw it on the shattered pieces of the mirror and the vase. She did not want anymore people coming out of them.
Once the Lwando was out, Matt grabbed her by her collars and slammed her against the wall. He wasted no time in invading her mind. He was so aggressive in finding information that the process was physically painful for her and she screamed and in a matter of seconds, he had found out everything he wanted to know and more. He found out about where his son was; her name, Amir Prakesh and the 23 dogs. He was so angry that this woman would kidnap his son and whatever reason she had was not enough to excuse her actions. He wanted to empty her mind out and leave her hollow, without her memories or even her personality. However, he did not. He refused to be to go down that path, especially because of his anger. He let her drop to the floor. She quickly lost consciousness because of the violent process.
"Come on." He said to Molly.
The roles had now changed; Matt was now leading them to his son and Molly was following close behind. Matt stopped and held out his hand for Molly to do the same.
"What?" Molly whispered. She sensed that they were close to Matt jnr. and the crying was now louder.
"There are two guards where he is being kept." Matt said.
Molly knew that left to the hallway was were baby Matt was being kept.
"I'll get rid of them." Matt began concentrating.
Molly saw Matt's pupils disappear. Blood began trickling from his nose. He had seen him use his powers before but she had never seen him do this.
"Matt! Matt, are you okay?" Molly said shaking him lightly. She was too afraid to do anything more than that.
Matt did not respond. He continued to look out at the hallway with a literal blank stare. Molly was unsure what to do but she knew they were close to their target. Should she try to get them out and come back another day or should she press on and rescue the baby and hope that Matt did what he said he would do? She bit her lip as she tried to decide what to do. She grabbed his hand and pulled him on to where Matt junior would be.
/
Mohinder was looking around the building, looking for clues to where the prisoners would be. During his exploration he had to hide to avoid being spotted by the occasional armed men. He was not completely sure what was going on but he knew it was big. He heard a group of men running his way and he ducked into a room as they passed by. As he heard them running past it occurred to him that maybe these men were going to where the prisoners were kept. He got out of the room and began secretly following the men to wherever they were going.
/
Molly peeked from a corner and saw two unconscious men on the floor in front of a door. He looked back at Matt who was still in the same state that he was in before. He was still able to walk when pushed or pulled, he was still breathing normally but he did not seem to be fully conscious.
Molly walked out of the corner she was peeking behind and ran for the door. However on the way a few more armed men appeared. They pointed their guns at her and she tuw to run back to where she was for safety. In Hindu they commanded her to stop but she did not. She kept running for safety and when she reached Matt she pulled him along.
"Matt! Please, you have to..." Molly began but was interrupted by a loud gunshot sound.
The noise brought Matt out of his trance. His pupils returned in time to see Molly drop to the floor. He got on his knees and raised her head off the floor. Blood spread from her abdomen and stained her t-shirt.
"Molly. Molly!" Matt desperately called out to the girl who was breathing shallow.
The group of armed men, who one of them had shot Molly, began approaching them. Suddenly a curbit flew across the hallway and struck the group of men, knocking them unconscious.
Mohinder rushed out and stepped over the unconscious bodies. "Matt? Molly!" He leaned down next to her. "What happened to her?"
"I think she was shot." Matt said surprised to see Mohinder.
"We need to get out of here and get her some medical attention." He said.
Matt nodded and lifted her in his arms. "We need to go this way." Matt said nodding to the direction where his son was.
"But the exit..."
"We're going this way." Matt said walking to the direction they were heading for previously. "Ignore us!" He compelled the oncoming guards.
They all just passed them. With the use of his ability his pupils began to disappeared again. He stumbled as he began to enter his white pupil trance. When Mohinder saw Matt lose his balance, he used his extraordinary quick reflexes to catch him and Molly before they fell.
"Matt!" He called to the man.
Matt shut his eyes tight to fight off whatever was happening to him. The trance he was going into felt familiar but different. It was similar to the trance he would go to when he was about to paint the future. However, this trance did not seem to have a purpose; it was like his mind was stuck. He opened his eyes and had successfully fought off the trance.
"I'm okay." Matt said regaining his balance and holding Molly tightly. He now knew he could not use his power for the time being because there was something wrong with it.
Matt continued down the hallway and reached the door that he was going to before he had his first trance.
"Mohinder check what is behind that door." Matt said.
Mohinder tried to open the door and found it locked. He forced it open by pushing it with one hand and breaking its lock. Mohinder ran in and surveyed the room. He looked back at Matt. "There's nothing here."
Matt cursed inwardly. They must have moved his son when they knew he was coming. He looked at his adopted daughter in his arms. He knew he could not go after his son with his powers off commission and with Molly seriously injured. "Let's go." He said to Mohinder.
/
Amir Prakesh rocked the baby back and forth to comfort him. "It is okay young one. You will be fine."
A service man appeared and bowed slightly and quickly. "Sir, the security cameras have caught images of Mohinder Suresh with the intruders. It seems that his helping them by showing them the exit."
Amir kept quiet for a while. The news of Mohinder was disturbing. Were they forcing him to help them. "How close are they to the exit?"
"Very close Sir."
"Get men to pursue them. I don't want them to escape even if you have to kill them but do not harm Dr. Suresh." He said rocking the baby to sleep.
/
Mohinder, Matt and Molly, who was being carried by Matt, were nearing the exit. As they got out men chased after them. They ran behind a tree.
Matt laid Molly on the ground and began shooting at their pursuers. Mohinder was fighting off some of them. He immobilized a few and he dived besides Matt.
"We are going to lose. We are outnumbered." Matt said, analyzing the situation. There were more men in there and they would rush out to apprehend or kill them.
"Then I guess it's a good thing I have back-up." Mohinder said taking out his mobile phone. "Hello, we need your help now." He said into the phone.
As soon as Mohinder hung up, Hiro appeared in the middle of Amir's men. He began fighting them. He kicked them, cut their guns with his katana and slashed at their legs. Once he had dealt with them all he rushed for the door. He saw an army of men coming out for them. There was no way he could close the double doors in time and yet they went from open to closed instantly. Of course Hiro had stopped, or more accurately slowed, time and closed the door but anyone who could not manipulate the flow of time would have failed to see that.
Hiro ran to where Mohinder was. He smiled when he saw Matt. "Matt Parkman! Dr. Suresh."
"Hiro, we need to go. Molly needs medical attention." Mohinder said.
Hiro nodded and touched Molly's shoulder. In the next second both Hiro and Molly were gone.
Matt and Mohinder looked at each other in shocked silence.
"Did he leave us behind?" Matt asked Mohinder who looked equally as stunned.
"It would seem so."
Hiro then reappeared in-between them. "I forgot to tell you to hold on to me." He said grabbing their shoulders with each hand and teleporting them away.
Ando - Eastside
Ando spied on the house where Mainframe apparently was. He was saddened that he would have to do this alone. Molly's friends were no where to be found. He went to the location that she said they would be at only to find out that they had already moved out. It seems he would be going solo on this quest.
He walked to the house hoping that he would survive this experience. At the back of his mind was what Matt had said he painted.
/
Chuck Filch was staring intently at his computer screen. The artificial light from the screen bounced off his thick glasses helping to further illuminate the dark basement he was in.
Chuck had not left his house in days and the only time he left this room was when his mother forced him to take a shower. He reached for his sandwich stuffed with salt and vinegar crisps and ate it as crumbs fell on his already messy floor. Although Chuck had hardly moved and had gained weight, making his already obese figure even bigger, he had been working very hard.
For all of his life Chuck thought he was alone. In primary, highschool and even in his adult life he had been an outcast. He had found solace only in his ability. Chuck could understand and modify the binary code that composes all digital signals. This allows him to manipulate the flow of data and information passed through the internet. Whenever he told people of his ability no one believed him which only made him more isolated and fall into a deep depression that made him consider taking his own life but then she came. A girl he had never met had saved him and given him a purpose in life. When Claire Bennett jumped off the Ferris wheel she proved that he was not alone, that there were people like him out in the world and he made it his mission to gather them so they, and he, would never feel alone. For that reason he created his Mainframe alias.
He was so absorbed with his work that he did not notice his basement door open. He was snapped out of his intense concentration by a voice that he did not recognise to be his mother's. He swiveled around in his chair to face the intruder to his basement of solitude. It was a tall Asian man with short black hair.
"Oh! You must be here to deliver my new server. You guys do your delivers late though." He said looking at the time on his computer screen; It read 21:36.
"I'm not here to deliver anything. Are you Mainframe?" Ando asked.
Chuck panicked when the Asian man mentioned his alias. He had been discovered! He withdrew a plastic gun with four light fixtures at its end and pointed it at Ando. "Careful, this is a special gun. If I fire it... well best case scenario, you'll puke; worst case scenario, you'll have a seizure."
Ando raised one eyebrow skeptically at the weapon. He began approaching the man. "You have been sending out messages on the internet..."
"So you know!" Chuck said. "Well, I am Mainframe and you'll never get me alive!" Mainframe pulled the trigger of the weapon and the light fixtures began going off in different colours. Except for illuminating Ando in a few coloured weak lights, the weapon had no affect on him. "Awe man! Last time I buy a gun from the internet!" Mainframe said before he got up and pushed Ando away.
Ando stumbled back but was able to regain his balance. All he wanted to do was speak to him but Mainframe seemed to have taken him as a threat. "Listen..." Ando began trying to calm him down.
Mainframe threw the useless weapon at Ando's face. The weapon connected with his nose. Ando grasped his nose and ran to stop Mainframe from leaving. Ando grabbed the bigger man. He could not get his arms around Mainframe's body. Mainframe fought hard to get Ando off of him. Ando mistakenly sent out a crimson charge through Mainframe's body before he was able to shake him off.
Thanks to Ando, Mainframe's powers were instantly supercharged. He could not only manipulate more digital signals at once but he no longer needed a device, like a computer, to view their results. He felt like he was the internet but he knew he was not. The internet was so massive that it was difficult to separate himself from it but they were separate and he now knew that the internet was a sentient and intelligent being. Unsure of its nature he asked the internet for help and waited to see if it would oblige.
Suddenly a burst of electrical energy was sent to his basement. All the technology in the basement connected to the power supply exploded with overflowing electricity. Ando was standing next to Mainframe's computer when it exploded into a magnificent white light with sparks. The sudden event knocked Ando to the floor.
The basement was devoid of light now that even the light bulb had exploded. Mainframe ran over Ando on his way out. He got out of the basement then he locked door behind him. His mother appeared from the kitchen with a plate of nachos.
"I was about to bring you and your friend a snack." His mother said.
"That's not my friend, ma! That's my nemesis. Never let my enemies in again!" He said before he ran out the door.
Ando got up still a little dazed from the explosion. He shook the feeling away and ran after Mainframe. He did not bother trying to open the door. He just cupped his hands at his side, next to his hip and thrust them forward to open them into a tiger's claw hand sign. Orange energy shot out of his palms and struck the door open.
Mainframe was clearing his yard and was already running out of breath. It had been a long long time since he had to move this fast. Ando was close behind as he ran out of the house. To Mainframe's surprise a taxi pulled up right in front of his house.
"Chuck Filch?" The taxi driver asked through the window.
Chuck nodded and got in the back seat and commanded the driver to drive. As the car pulled away Chuck looked upwards and silently thanked the internet.
Ando got to the street but it was too late, the car was already on the move. Unless, he could stop it. He cupped his hands to his side and energy began accumulating between his palms. Stray sparks of orange and red would occasionally snake out between his fingers and palms. He prepared to unleash the devastating energy and then... let the energy dissipate harmlessly.
He reasoned that if he should shoot out the energy and it hit the car Mainframe was in, the results could be disastrous. And anyways he doubted that a guy like Mainframe could defeat Hiro, in anything except a video game.
Claire, René and Valery - England
Claire and Valery sat on the couch side by side. They were preparing themselves to tell René the events that transpired earlier that day. Claire knew she would not get in trouble but Valery would. This only made things harder for him because unlike her, he had to prove he could be trusted.
Claire tried to dissuade him from doing it but Valery insisted on telling René because as he said, "Too much damage has been done for him not to notice." Now they had Vida's corpse in a plastic bag in the bathroom.
René walked in and was surprised to see them waiting for him on the couch. The landline suddenly rang and Claire jumped up to pick it up, anything to stall this moment.
"Hello?" She answered. She listened in horror as Gretchen called for help because she was being threatened by the invisible killer who tried to kill her. "Gretchen where are you?" But the phone was hung up before Gretchen answered.
"What is wrong?" René asked when he saw the worried look on her face.
"My friend Gretchen is in danger." She said. "She needs my help." Claire said running to her room.
René and Valery exchanged glances before going after her. René stopped at the edge of the entrance to her room.
"You can't go." René said. "It's not safe for you."
"It's not safe for her!" She retaliated. "And that is my fault."
"I can't let you go." René said.
"How do you know that this is not a trap?" Valery added. "He is right, it's not safe for you."
Claire stopped packing her things. "Your right." She said flopping down on her bed looking defeated.
/
The night was slowly passing. René woke up. He did not know why. He checked the time and saw it was one in the morning. He got out of bed to check on Claire. This was something he had done for a long time even before he and Claire had officially met a long ago when she was still a cheerleader and he a company agent.
He quietly opened the door to her room and saw humps and curves under her bed sheets that showed she was sleeping soundly. He slowly closed the door as not to awaken her but then stopped when he noticed something out of the ordinary, Claire was not breathing! He ran to the bed and pulled covers back to find pillows and teddy bears. Claire was gone.
Hiro, Matt and Mohinder - India
Mohinder paced around the hallway of the hospital while Matt and Hiro sat down on a bench. Matt was fidgeting, his leg was shaking. Hiro was, unlike Matt, completely still. He was deep in thought as he stared blankly at the hospital walls.
"Mohinder, maybe you should sit down." Matt said.
"I can't. I'm not used to doing nothing. Not knowing if Molly is okay or..." Mohinder said.
"She'll be fine. I know she'll be." Matt said to convince himself more than anyone else. He thought of his last girlfriend Daphne who was also shot. "Molly will survive." He said again quietly.
A doctor finally came out and Matt and Hiro instantly stood up.
"How is she?" Mohinder asked.
"She has been stabilized." The doctor said.
They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"That is good. Molly is okay." Hiro said.
Matt sat down and his shoulders dropped. Mohinder stood before him.
"What was Molly doing there anyways?" Mohinder asked Matt.
"We were trying to save my son. He was kidnapped and I guess he was brought to that building."
"Amir Prakesh probably had a hand in that." Mohinder said.
At the mention of the name Hiro felt anger rise in him. This anger was directed at himself. He had come here to help and was taking too long in helping these people. And now Matt Parkman junior has been dragged into this.
"So this guy kidnaps babies, kidnaps my son... and you work for him?" Matt said accusingly at Mohinder.
"No, I'm Matches Malone." Mohinder said.
Matt raised an eyebrow as he was genuinely confused. "Huh?"
"You know, when Batman takes off his mask."
"I thought Batman was Bruce Wayne when he took off his mask." Matt said.
"That's exactly what I said! I'm spying on him. Prakesh has more than one prisoner. Hiro and I made this plan to save them."
Matt nodded because he now understood what they were doing. He wondered when Hiro had arrived in India to hatch this plan with Mohinder. Matt hit his head, he forgot to tell Hiro about Ando. When he looked to where Hiro had last been he found that there he was no longer there.
"Where's Hiro?" Matt said looking around.
Mohinder joined him but little did they know that Hiro was no where near, he was not even in the same building anymore.
Claire Bennett - England
Claire was able to successfully buy a plane ticket back home. She did not care what René said, she would help Gretchen no matter what.
/
René and Valery entered the airport. René thought that it would be wise to bring Valery along as they could both cover more ground. He deduced that Claire would come to this airport because she wanted to get back to America and this was the nearest airport to where they lived, the same airport she arrived in.
Once in they split up. They did not need to discuss the plan. Valery searched along until he saw her. She was wearing a binnie to cover up her blonde hair but he was able to recognise her nonetheless. He ran to where he had seen her but a man blocked him.
"I'm sorry Sir. Only ticket holders past this point." The security guard said.
Valery calmly stepped back. He looked around and saw a man who spoke with an American accent asking for the bathroom. Valery followed the man and once he was in the bathroom he ambushed the man. He slammed the man's head against one of the sinks, knocking him out then liberated him of his ticket.
/
Claire sat down and looked out to the city. She was finally going to go back home. Someone sat besides her in such a way that she was forced to look at him.
"Valery!" She exclaimed. "If you're here to take me back..."
"There's no point, the plane is taking off." Valery said.
On cue the pilot announced departure and the plane began moving.
"It looks like you get your wish Claire Bennett. I hope you did the wise thing because you've dragged me into your problems."
Claire smiled. She knew she would need all the help she could get.
Amir Prakesh - India
Amir was sitting in his office signing off on some documents when Hiro Nakamura appeared out of thin air into his office. He got on his feet when he spotted that the short Asian man was armed with his signature katana.
"Hiro Nakamura." Amir said.
"Amir Prakesh, if I help you with whatever you want, will you release all the prisoners you have?" Hiro said getting straight to the point.
Amir was not expecting this. He had no time to think so he made his decision rashly. "Yes."
Hiro nodded. "What do you want."
Claire and Valery - America
The plane finally landed. The sun had begun to rise over Claire's home country. She stepped out of the airport followed by Valery. As soon as they stepped onto the street a black SUV pulled up. Agents got out trying to make a grab for her but Valery was too fast for them as he pushed Claire out of the way and engaged the agents in hand to hand combat. Claire threw herself into the mix. Because there were only three agents out at the time they were able to immobilize them.
"It seems like this was a trap!" Valery said trying to take a gun from one of the men on the floor.
An agent still in the car began firing at him at point blank range. The bullets bounced off the top of Valery's head of hair. He was able to liberate the gun and returned fire.
Two more black SUV's pulled up as both Valery and Claire stepped back.
"Get behind me!" Valery said trading fire with the newcomers. He was using himself as a human shield to protect her.
Valery took a few down before he ran out of bullets. He was considering running away to distract them from Claire but she had other plans when she stepped in the line of fire to charge at them. Bullets shredded in and out of her but she did not slow down as the wounds disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared. She threw her body into the group of agents, thereby flooring them. Valery fought off a few agents who were not caught in Claire's reckless attack. Claire was fighting savagely. She does not know what came over. She guessed she was just tired of running and being hunted. Now she would give whoever dared to cross her or anyone she loved hell.
An agent noticed that their guns had little affect on them. What made things worse was that there were two of them. They needed a different weapon or a different tactic. He reached into the big car and produced a weapon with a wide barrel that needed two hands to hold it. The agent aimed it at Valery.
Claire saw this and shouted out, "Valery, look out!"
Valery turned his body just in time to be fired upon. Whatever was shot out of the weapon hit him with enough force to knock him to the floor. What would have broken every bone in a normal human's chest did not even make a scratch on Valery. However, in the time where he was stunned and lying on his back he coughed on the smoke that bellowed from the cylindrical canister lying on his chest.
"Valery!" Claire screamed.
She tried to get to him to see if he was okay but was stopped when a few agents grabbed her. One agent stuck a needle in her neck and she began feeling dizzy. Her body was already clearing her of the invasive knock out drug they injected her with as they dragged her into the car.
Valery got up as a few strands of saliva escaped his mouth. He knew they had shot him with a canister of modified teargas. He knew it was modified because there was something different about it. He took three steps forward and realised why the teargas was different, it was making him lose consciousness. The last thing he saw was Claire being driven away before he fell on the pavement and his vision being flooded with black.
To be continued...