(New York-The Future)
"You sure this is the right place, mom?"
The leader of the Four Hunters nodded as she gazed at the run down building. The years had not been kind to this place, and as a result the once grand building was falling to pieces. The night air was cold, the moon hidden behind clouds, and the streets, for once, quiet. "This is where the tip leads, Blaze. If it's right, we have Company agents in there with an innocent person as hostage."
"Do we have to use those stupid codenames." The younger of the two men with her complained.
"Yes, Paladin, we do."
"Doesn't seem necessary, considering how we're family and all…"
"And if someone is listening?" The older of the two men asked.
Paladin sighed. "Yeah, yeah yeah."
The older of the two men frowned. "Anyone sense anything?"
The leader of the group frowned. "Doesn't matter…Company would block us."
Blaze nodded. "Then I say we kick the door down and say hi…you with me mom? Dad?"
Blaze's parents glanced at each other before nodding. "Lead the way.
^&^&^&^
"You know the history behind this place?" Paladin whispered.
"Quiet." The older male hissed.
"Shove it, Boss-man." Paladin said, his tone cold yet teasing. He leaned closer to Blaze. "A lot of famous heroes used this building as headquarters."
"Did we?" Blaze asked.
Her mother shook her head. "No. We have Morbius."
Blaze nodded. "I can't believe the company is still around."
"One of the few things to survive from the good ol' days." Her father stated. Blaze was about to ask him another question, but he held up his hand. "Shhh…we're here."
The four of them stared at the door, the simple chipped wood belying the dangerous situation.
"Plan?" Paladin asked.
The leader of the group smiled under her mask. "Shock and awe."
Blaze grinned, igniting her hands. "One…"
"Two…" Her father whispered.
"Three…" Paladin added.
"NOW!" The leader cried, the four rushing in…
…to find an old man seated at an old table.
"I was wondering when you would show."
Blaze slowly put her flames out. "I suppose we can't hurt him."
"No, we can't." Her mother said, walking towards the old man. "Hello Malcolm."
The man smiled. "Hello, my dear…so nice to see you…all of you."
Paladin sighed. "Let me guess…you brought us here for some strange, twisted reason?"
"Strange, no." Malcolm stated. "Twisted…in a way, yes."
The 4 hunters were use to dealing with Malcolm. One of the oldest members of The Alliance, Malcolm tended to prefer grnd gestures to simply picking up a phone and talking to people. In fact, they were all a bit embarrassed they hadn't figured out this was his way of getting them to come.
"Should have known…only you would want to hang out in Isaac Mendez' loft." The older of the two men commented.
"A lot of history here, my boy." Malcolm stated, holding out his hands, wizened hands directing them to points of interest. "It was here that Hiro Nakamura first witnessed the potential destruction of New York. Here is were Isaac died, as well as his lady love. And this was the sight of Mohinder Suresh's work…and transformation."
"Wonderful, wonderful." Paladin commented. "Now, we really need to be going, thanks for the history lesion…"
"History is why you are here, child." Malcolm said coldly, his tone serious. "History is broken."
That got their attention.
"How?" Their leader asked.
"Peter Petrelli."
The Four Hunters groaned.
"What did he do now?!?" Blaze complained. Whenever the fabric of reality was in danger, one could either blame Hiro or Peter. "I swear, those two are a menace."
The older male of the hunters nodded. "They don't bother to think for a moment that a paradox is just waiting to happen every time they go mucking up history. At least I study everything with Malcolm before I have to make my jumps to the past."
"Which is why I have called you here." Malcolm said quietly. "Because you four are making a journey to the past…a couple actually."
"And why is that?" The leader of the hunters asked.
Malcolm sighed. "Peter Petrelli…one from our past, went back to the early months of 2008. He shot and killed Nathan Petrelli, only for him to come back to life. That has set off a tale spin of trouble."
"How so?" Paladin asked.
"Santa Cruise was destroyed…nuked."
The four Hunters all paled under their black masks.
"What…what else?"
"Because of him, an army was raised in the future, one set up to control the world and spread the will of the Pinehearst Company."
Blaze's father shook his head. "That makes no sense…Pinehearst was defeated, and the only army created…"
"Was by us." Malcolm stated. "Yes. I have seen the timeshift, my boy…it is coming soon." He paused, black lightning flashing in his eyes. "We need to go, now!"
The Hunters nodded, a time portal opening before them. They just managed to slip in before reality shifted, the world becoming a horrible, destructive place.
^&^&^&^
Blaze looked around the void. It was pitch black, an endless place of timelessness. "I hate this place."
"We all do." Her mother said, wrapping an arm around her. "But it is the only safe place now…we would have been caught in the timeshift if we haven't." She turned to the old man. "Malcolm…you have a plan."
Malcolm nodded. His power was a powerful one, something most people wouldn't suspect when they first heard it. Malcolm could see in what he called "ChaosTime". This meant that when he chose too, Malcolm could see the changes in the world, and how they had come to be, both past, present, and future. By looking around a room, he could figure out how best to punch a man to knock him out. He could pinpoint exactly why a certain man became rich while his brother was poor. And he could tell you how your sneeze would cause a tornado in Kansas 5 weeks later.
It also allowed him to see how time worked, and what was happening…or what had changed it.
"What Petrelli did isn't that major of an event…infact, for our timeline, it is needed."
"But he changed the timeline…"
"And for us, actually made it better. The problem is other actions he took have altered the stream away from our timeline. Had he just shot Nathan and left, all would be ok…instead, his actions have totally changed history for the worse."
"How so?" Paladin asked.
"There are three moments of key importance that must be corrected. We'll start with the first.
"In the original timeline, Merrick Delpine was transferred to Level 5. There would be an attempted break out several weeks later, in which a man, Jesse, would kill him."
The leader of the Hunters nodded. "Right…what happens in the new timeline?"
"Sylar…Sylar arrives."
^&^&^&^
(Altered Timeline)
"come on!" Knox yelled at Jesse, wondering why the man that had kept him sane was bending over Elle, talking to her. "We need to go!" he shouted.
Jesse/Peter nodded, a bit dazed, moving away from Elle and hurrying towards the exit. Turning the corner, he saw Knox and The German working the lift a comatose man from the bed he was strapped to.
"Need help?" He asked.
"Nah man…lets just get this guy out of here!"
"Why are we taking him?" The German complained.
"I heard the lightning bug say this guy was powerful…he could be some use to us." Knox said. "And at worse, we can use him as a decoy."
^&^&^&^
(The Time rift)
"Marie Delpine discovered her husband's escape, and using her power, freed him from the prison made for him. The two of them go on to murder Helena Daniels."
Blaze trembling in fear. "no…" She whispered.
"The Daniels family would react, and out of grief make a foolish attack run…they were slaughtered." Malcolm said sadly.
"What must we do?" Paladin asked.
^&^&^&^
"A…Alverez." Merrick whispered in horror, his first sane thought in weeks.
"Didn't you get the memo?" The woman asked, drawing a gun from her belt and pressing it to Merrick's skull. "Its Daniels now."
She fired 3 shots, reducing Merrick's brains to mush, before she pulled her mask back on. "One down…"
^&^&^&^
Malcolm watched as the 4 Hunters returned to the rift. "That's done." The woman said.
Malcolm nodded. "There is still more work to be done. The next event takes place several days later. Hank and Biddy Delpine were attacked by Quint, the 2nd Horn of the 7 Horns. In our original timeline…"
^&^&^&^
(Original Timeline)
"Yous thinks you can avoid mes like that?" Quint called out, his Jersey accent cutting threw the panicked screams of the French. "Yous thinks that there disappearin' act will hides ya from me?" He laughed, the stone hands he had created raising high in the air. "Try this!"
Hank's eyes widened as the two stone hands slammed into the road, crushing pavement and sending a massive wave of that knocked him and his fiancée off their feet. Hank shook his head, forcing himself to remain invisible.
"I can dos this all day!" Quint called out, fingering the horn pendent around his next while slamming the stone fists once again.
"Even more wonderful." Hank muttered bitterly.
"HEY!"
Quint turned just in time to get a punch in the face, knocking him out cold. Daphne, the speedster, glared at him.
"I'm trying to sleep, you jerk!" She kicked him once in the balls before nodding to Hank and Biddy. "You're welcome!"
Hank blinked. "You…don't see that every day." He walked up to Quint, pulling out his phone. "Helena…send a wagon…"
^&^&^&^
(Time Rift)-
"But thanks to Peter's changes, Daphne was away, dealing with Hiro Nakamura. Quint managed to pin them down…
"What?" The older of the male Hunters asked.
"He murdered Hank in cold blood." Malcolm whispered. "I'm sorry, my boy…"
Blaze's father grit his teeth. "What happened next?"
"The death of Hank drove Biddy mad…she reverted to her Bee Bee persona and went on a murder spree…"
"enough." The leader of the Hunters said. "What do we need to do?"
^&^&^&^
Quint smiled. "Thanks…but I prefers this more." He clenched his hand, the cage tightening.
"NO!" Biddy screamed
CLANG!
Biddy blinked, staring in disbelief as the stone cage crumbled to dust, Hank falling to the ground, unconscious. She rushed to him, gathering him in her arms and staring at their savior.
The woman was dressed all in black, from her black boots to her black bodysuit, to the black mask that covered her head. Only the green lens that covered her eyes broke the darkness that was her outfit. In her hand she held a wicked blade, one that reminded Biddy at once of Carter's 'godfire' samurai sword. She examined it, before suddenly thrusting it behind her, shattering a stone hand that was trying to sneak up on her.
The woman turned to Quint, holding up her blade. "1 down…"
^&^&^&^
"There is one final step." Malcolm said. "It will be the longest of your tasks."
"What is it?" The leader asked.
"Because of Peter drawing his past self into the future, the Peter of 2008 went too soon against Pinehearst…and wasn't there when he was needed most."
^&^&^&^
(2 Days After Carter's Nightmare)
Carter glared at Joseph, his eyes narrowed. "You'll pay for hurting my family!"
He rushed him, Joseph just managing to slide out of the way. "You know, normally I would take my time killing you…but lets just go for the big finish!" He laughed as he pulled out a gun, aiming it at Carter. "Goodbye, Metatron."
BANG
Carter took a breath, staring down at his chest, then back at Joseph. The older man blinked, reaching down and touching the bullet hole in his shoulder, before falling to the ground, the butt of a pistol taking him out.
"Hello Carter." Mr. Bennet said, Peter Petrelli and Claire hurrying towards him.
"Claire…" Carter whispered, rushing to his sister and giving her a hug. "Thank God…" He turned to Bennet. "Thank you…"
"Thank Peter. He's the one that had the vision of you being attacked. Without him…"
Carter held out his free hand, clasping it in Peter's. "Thank you."
Peter smiled. "Glad to be of help."
^&^&^&^
"But because of his actions, Peter wasn't there…leaving Carter alone…" Malcolm stated.
^&^&^&^
(Altered Timeline)
"Goodbye Metatron"
BANG
Carter stared down at the hole in his chest, his eyes growing fuzzy. He licked his lips once, took a short breath…then feel deep to the floor.
"Carter!" Madrid called out.
"Two for one!" Joseph cackled with glee, shooting Madrid in the forehead with ease.
"NO!" Vally screamed, trembling as her body erupted in pink flames. "DADDY! MAMA!" She cried out.
"What's wrong, little one…gonna cry?" Joseph taunted.
Vally trembled…her flames turning black.
"NO!" She boomed, her voice distorting horrible. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The energy from her body exploded, shooting into the night sky and sweeping across the land. All around the world, technology failed, powers were lost, whole cities were destroyed by the outraged cry of the little girl that had lost her father. Men and women of all sizes and races fell to the group, their bodies losing all strength, their hearts failing and brains shutting down. And still Vally screamed, her power erupting forth with her grief. In Japan, Hiro Nakamura, having traveled to the future, stared in horror as Tokyo was leveled. At Pinehearst, Arthur Petrelli sat powerless as his body was torn to pieces. None were safe, friend and family alike, as Vally unleashed her rage. In his lab, Mohinder felt only a moment of joy as his curse was lifted…then agony as he felt true pain. In his room, Knox tore the flesh from his skull as he overloaded from the utter fear bombarding him. Claire Bennet felt pain for the first time in weeks…and wondered why she had longed for it. Even Marie Delpine fell to her knees, blood pouring from her eyes as she died.
And then, it was quiet.
The toddler sniffed as she crawled over to her mother and father's fallen forms, her own body shutting down. "Ma…ma…da…dy…" She whimpered as she too died, the last creature on Earth taking her final breath curled around the parents so cruelly stole from her.
^&^&^&^
"No!" The leader of the Hunters screamed, watching the event take place.
Her husband took her in his arms, just as shakened. "What must we do?"
Malcolm smiled as he pulled out a faded sketch of Madrid and Carter surrounded by what appeared to be dead bodies. "See that this comes to pass."