Heroes - Continued

While Peter waits for the cure to be ready, he takes power-suppression pills and slowly comes to communicate with and befriend Adam, who currently resides in the adjacent cell. Adam eventually convinces Peter that The Company will not help him, and the two escaped.

Prolog

“Breakout”

“Wait, what’s that alarm?” says Peter.

“Who cares,” says Adam, desperate to leave the prison that has held him for so long. “It’ll distract them while we escape.” He placed his hand on Peter shoulder to reinforce his resolve to flee the facility. Peter focused his mind on the task at hand and the abilities held within him. His hands placed on the wall of the facility began to sink slowly within the stone, pushing their way though, the two prisoners found their way to freedom. Seconds pass briefly as the alarm continued to echo through the isles before two armed soldiers flew back hard into the hallway wall, cracking bone and rendering the men unconscious. As they laid there, the light that shown down upon their unflinching bodies was… pulled away from the bulbs. No circuit was broken nor were the bulbs within the fixture damaged in any way, but never the less, the light wasn’t there anymore. It had been taken away.

The hall darkened, the light continued to go out in each fixture gradually after the last one’s light was stolen. A shadowed figure walked the hall, bare feet slapping the cold hard floor with each casual step. Not the steps of a fearfully person or the silent step of a person unsure of his surroundings, but of a confident one. The man draped in shadow paused in the spot that was occupied by two men like him only seconds ago, looking down the long illuminated corridor in front of him as a group of the same armed guards that lay on the floor to his side turned the corner. They leveled their weapons at the man in the dark corner making no demands as they rushed toward him. The guards formed up in rows thirty feet from him, the front row on one knee as the second remained on their feet. They gave warning to the man to surrender, but the prisoner said nothing as he took one step forward his eyes glowing red within the darkness. A barrage of bullets shot through the air at the man with the glowing eyes, stopping in the air feet from their target before they dropped to the floor. They didn’t bounce or ricochet as they touched the linoleum; they simply fell and rested on the floor. The guard’s faces were a mixture of shock, surprise, confusion, and fear. Soon, all their faces matched the fearful expression as the lone man raised his right forearm in a simple gesture with his palm open and took the light from their resting spots all along the corridor, only the man’s eyes shinned in the dark. Shouts and curses joined the sound of the alarms as panic filled the group of highly trained soldiers. Sparks of brilliant blue joined with flashes of warm crimson in a chorus of sounds ranging from screams and grunts to more gunfire and orders not followed. When the light finally returned to the hallway, the prisoner was gone, leaving the armed guards scattered over the once clean floors.

The prisoner felt freedom with every floor he ascended, feeling the warmth of the sun soaking in his body through the ground. Cloaked in darkness the man came to an open area, standing opposite the door that would lead him to the floor level, and escape from the underground cage that held him for what seemed an eternity.

“Well, isn’t this a sight,” said a dismembered voice from within the darkness. He tracked the voice to a girl leaning up against the sidewall. “Prince Charming awake from his slumber to venture off into the world.” She shoved off the wall, walking confidently in between the man and his way out, arms folded across her chest. “Well, sorry handsome, you can’t leave. Company rules.” The man stared, eyes glowing. Not moving or speaking, just standing in place.

“The strong silent type. I like that,” said the girl and though the room was dark the prisoner could see her smile. “Come back with me and maybe we could have a little fun before they put you under again.” She raised one hand to show off the small sparks discharging from it.

The man tilted his head, nothing more. “O-Kay, you want to do it the hard way that’s fine with me.” The girl stabbed her hands into the air blasting two bolts of electricity straight at the escaped prisoner, the flashes showing a glee across her lips at the opportunity to use her abilities in such a manner. The Prisoner extended one of his own arms as if to feebly try to protect himself from the fury of the attack, but the bolts never connected with him. Instead, it gathered in a ball in front of his palm. The girl, noticing what had happened, losing the look of enjoyment as she poured more power outward; the man stood unscathed collecting the raw power being produced from the most unlikely source. The girl began to weaken, she tried to sever the link she had made but to no avail. The Prisoner was draining the energy from her, depleting whatever internal batteries that she relied on for power. Slowly, the girl lowered to her knees, unable to find the strength to stand but still forcefully continued to fire streams of lighting. Sweat dropped from her scrunched brows, gritting teeth under the strain she was only able to say “please…stop… beg…u.”

The connection’s backfire sent her hands rushing back to the side, man stood in front of her with the sphere of electrical energy hovering over his open hand.

“Impressive,” whispered the Prisoner, coldly. “My turn.”

A thunder bolt twice the size of the girl’s shot from a single hand dead center to her chest, throwing her back with undeniable force. She lay unconscious on the floor clothes burnt and smoking where she was hit, the skin damaged, but still alive. The Prisoner went to her side, looking down upon the chard ragdoll at his feet, eyes narrowed before he went past her to the door that led to the outside world.

-Day after breakout-

“You wanted to see us?” said the woman at the door.

“Yes. Please come in.” said Bob inviting the group into his office. The woman was first, a young albino woman of twenty something years old, her white hair pulled back in a business like style. The second person to enter was a man around the same age, who wore his trademark sleeveless black button down, showing off his muscled arms. The third was an awkwardly looking lightweight that looked like he could be blown away with a simple breeze. Once the door to the office was closed, Bob turned to address them. “I am taking you off your current assignment at the facility; I’ve a new job for you.” Bob pulled three vanilla folders out from his top drawer and flopped them atop his desk for each of the three to take.

“So Adam and this companion have been captured?” said the albino woman.

“Not yet, but Elle and the Haitian are currently working to solve that particular problem.”

“Wait, if Adam is out, we know what he’s going to try to accomplish with the virus,” said the lightweight. “Shouldn’t we all be focusing on finding him? I mean, if he releases the virus we’re...”

Bob held up his hand to stop the lightweight from continuing the sentence. “We’ve got a hold of that situation for the moment. We’ve another problem to deal with that needs our attention.”

The man in the sleeveless opened the folder in his hands. “No Way! He got out? How?”

The other two opened their folders to see what sleeveless saw and their eyes widen.

“We don’t know. All we do know is that he’s the one that started the breakout that caused the others to slip out in the confusion. You three have been given this assignment because you’re the one’s …best qualified, to take care of him. ”

“You want him taken out!?” said the albino.

“He was able to escape under heavy sedation and suppressants; he then took out Elle without breaking a sweat. His breakout was proof that he’s to dangerous to keep alive. It’s a same really, we could have learned so much about his abilities.”

“I take it that’s why I’m here,” said sleeveless.

“Yes.”

“How’s Elle?” asked the lightweight.

“She’s a little sore. If it wasn’t for the fact that she has semi-immunity to electricity she would’ve died that day.”

“When do we leave,” said the albino indifferently

You’re leaving right after this for his home town. We believe that is where he’s most likely to show up.”

The lightweight took another look at the folder. “That’s a good distance away.”

“That should be a problem for you, now should it,” said Bob. The Lightweight grinned back at him.

“You’ll have a dozen operatives at your disposal, and you’ll be staking out the HighCloud residence under the cover that you’re FBI agents going after a fugitive, the usual alias. If the family gives you any trouble then I’m counting on you to keep them out of the way…” he addressed the albino woman who nodded in compliance “… but don’t hurt anyone.”

-Days after-

“You must have the wrong guy,” said Natalie HighCloud. “I can’t believe that you would accuse him of kidnapping and hurting my daughter, of all things.”

“Sorry ma’am, but the evidence leads to him. We have to bring him in for questioning, you must understand that,” said the albino woman. They were presently residing within the kitchen of the HighCloud family, along with her husband, two twin children, and grandfather. The agents dressed in their black suit and long coats had come to their home near the Rocky Mountain wilderness to tell them that they had suspected the reason for their oldest daughters recent disappearance was caused purposely by her boyfriend of several years.

“I’m sorry, but we al know him and we all know how much he loves our daughter,” said David, holding one of his sons at his side trying to ease his worry of the strange people in their home by acting strong, when he himself felt the same. “Preposterous! Hell, he’s as much a part of the family as anyone. He wouldn’t hurt us or Ashley in a million years and you tell us that he might come after us. What’s this really about?”

The agent with the slender build that was pulling back one of the window curtains turned his head to the family with a friendly smile. “You’re probably right, but we would rather be safe than sorry. If he is innocent and comes with us quietly than we can have all of this sorted out.” He turned his attention back to the window after a few seconds bringing the small radio microphone located on the inside of his long coat’s collar close to his mouth. “All unit’s, sound off. What’s it looking like out there.”

The signal went out to all the under cover ops in position around the grounds. From the men next to the wooden logged house that was in between two mountain bases, to the ones near the heavy forest of mixed trees a few yards behind the collection of buildings. Some stood near the pair of totem poles on the rocky banks of a large lake in the front, and across the lake stood a small town. In ever direction was an operative watching and waiting with anticipation. Each one of the men sounded off on their own radio sets till it came to the last man located within the depth of the dark forest.

“Agent 12, no sign of anything out here.”

“Stay alert,” said the electronic voice from the other end. Unnoticed to him that a hand was reaching out from the foliage behind him. An electric shock surged through the false FBI agent as the hand clasped hard onto the man’s shoulder, making the body shake violently. Falling to the ground, the hand receded back to the leaves as the Prisoner surveyed the grounds ahead of him. He was enraged to see the place that he loved so much, the people he cared about more than anyone in the world hounded by the same people who took him. And Her. But he had to focus, focus on saving his family, focus on taking care of the men around his home, and focusing his eyes to see the heat. Over the rims of the sunglasses he wore, his glowing eyes picked up every source of heat in his line of sight, seeing a small group huddled close together and three separate individuals among them in the same room. He needed to get to them, but cautiously, he didn’t want to alert everyone just yet.

He moves out from the bushes in the cover of the trees, never making a sound as he walked down the hill form tree to tree, he had been taught by the best. The Prisoner came to the next operative simply enough, rendering he useless with a jolt of electricity and lowering him down. The next two were together before the line of trees ended, he lowered them softy as the shock shorted out their nervous systems. Unfortunately the light of the discharge was seen by one operative that had turned the corner of the house; he transmitted to the rest that the prisoner had been spotted behind the tree line. The quiet became a rush of heavy feet running to confront their target, un-holstering their handguns and cocking them back, making them ready for use as the turned of the safety catch.

The albino woman transmitted “You are going to execute the order...” she turned to her to male partners awaiting their orders “…Let’s go.”

Hurrying out the back door, with the family close behind them save for one of the twins, the three got to the location just in time to see all their remaining men form a line in front of the trees aiming their weapons in the area that the first man was aiming in. Giving the command the line opened fire at the forest brush, their guns thundering the mountains until their clips were empty. They hurried to reload while listening and watching for some sign that they had hit their mark, or more precisely, a lack thereof. The Indian family was stunned at the fact that the people who came to merely talk shot at him without a single word spoken between the each other. When they finally got over what they had seen the Highcloud family shouted their anger protest, it was cut short by the barrage of white tendrils fingering out to every member of the line, singeing their hair and causing smoke to rise from their scorched bodies. As the men fell, the Three could see a pair of glowing eyes look intently at them from within the dark woods.

“Impressive,” said the albino woman only load enough for her partners to hear. “You can come out. No sense in trying to pretend.”

“No! Don’t!” yelled Natalie

A foot extended into the clear open night, moonlight peeking through the cloud cover, shinning down at the Prisoner as he emerged, a white man in his twenties dressed in black attire covered by a black duster going down past his knees. He wore a pair of sunglasses that rested low on his nose despite the fact that it was night, partly showing the same glowing red eyes. His long hair at the side of his face still kept his face in shadowed somewhat.

“You took out all of my men; we could use a guy like you with the Company. What do you say?”

“If you wanted me to begin with, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me.”

“That wasn’t me, and I want you. They didn’t. But if you agree to join up I could assure you that you’ll stay alive.”

“I’m not interested in the torture and imprisonment of others.”

“Shame,” said the albino. “Caleb, Michael, take care of him, I’ll deal with the family.”

The man to her right removed his coat showing his arms bare from the shoulder down. “Bob said they weren’t to be harmed.”

The albino stopped her walk toward the Highcloud’s and gave Michael a devilish look. “Accidents happen.” She continued her stride as the two “FBI agents” addressed the man in front of them.

“You stay away from them!” said the Prisoner.

“You’ll have to stop her,” said Michael. “To do that, you have to get past us.” His arms started to tense as two pairs of points emerged for the outer side of his forearms. Michael turned his forearms up slowly as they shook, pushing the curved, boney blades out of his body. They extended forward about two feet as a single blade protruded back from his elbow, the Prisoner wasn’t intimidated. Caleb snickered with a casual “Showoff”, before disappearing in a blur.

Volume III: “Villains”

Chapter 1

“Consequence”

Matt Parkman & Peter Patrelli

Odessa General Hospital, Texas.

“BP’s dropping, we’re losing him!” yelled the nurse tending to the bloody man rushing to the E.R.

“Is the room ready?” said the attending doctor running along side the gurney with the other six people trying to keep the wounded Nathan Patrellie alive. His younger brother, Peter, and detective Matt Parkman tail the group of lifesavers with concern on their faces and blood staining their cloths. They followed until they reached the doors of the operating room where they were halted by the nurses closest to them.

“I’m sorry, you can’t come in.”

“You don’t understand,” said Peter. “I’m the only one who can save him.” He tried to push his way through the little nurse in his way but she was a scrapper and knew how to throw her weight around when she needed to.

“No. You. Can’t!” said the nurse with a shove. “You need to let us do that, okay.”

“Peter, she’s right. You have to let them help Nathan,” said Parkman hold him back. Peter knew he could easily force his way in, one thought could send them flying through the air unable to stop from being with his brother. But he thought better of it; after all, that’s what got his brother in this mess. Because Nathan had stepped forth to expose the Company and reveal their abilities to the public he had been gruesomely fired upon, possibly lying on his death bed right now. Peter shrugged off Parkman’s restraining hands, walking a few steps away to the observation window. Only till the nurse went inside to the room did he turn to Matt.

“I need to get in there Matt,” demanded Peter. “My blood is the only thing that can help him.”

“For you maybe, but how do you know it will for him?”

“I’ve got to try something. I can’t just let him die there when I could have brought him back. He did the same thing for me.”

Matt sighed. “And exactly how do you intend to do that, hmm?” Peter looked around to make sure no one was looking in their direction before he went invisible.

“Wait,” whispered Matt into empty air. “Peter you can’t do this. What if you mess something up? How are you even going to get your blood in him?’

<I’m a hospice nurse, Matt. I know how to use a needle,> said Peter projecting his thoughts into the man’s head. Matt saw one of the doors to the ER open slightly, enough to let himself in but not enough for one of the nurses or doctors to notice.

<This is crazy,> said Matt telepathically. That’s when he saw one of the needles disappear suddenly from the counter. He waited nervously outside pacing back and forth, keeping his eyes looked on Nathan to stand straight up healed from the sniper’s bullet and scaring the doctors half to death.

He waited until he couldn’t wait any longer. <Peter? Peter, what’s happening?>

Peter reappeared beside Parkman holding up one arm and the used needle dripping red liquid drops onto the floor. Quickly working over the surprise, Matt waited for Peter to say that it work, that Nathan would be all right.

“Well, did you…?”

“Twice,” said Peter. “It’s should of happened.” The noise of the heart monitor started to beat erratically as Nathan’s unconscious body convulsed. The doctors moved quicker to stop the tremors shouting out what they needed to the nurses who tried with speed to match. Matt and Peter were up to the glass hanging on every moment, both fearing that it would be Nathan’s last, Peter thinking that he was about to lose his brother, Matt thinking that another person is paying for his own incompetence with their life.

But as sudden as the fit appeared, as hope seemed lost, Nathan’s body relaxed and became still. The doctors stopped and looked at each other, then to the monitors that showed a normal heart rhythm. Flabbergasted eyes looked to each other for some explanation, but none was given. They went back to work, not questioning the miracle that they were given.

“What just happened?” said Matt not letting doctors in the room out of his view.

“I guess the blood worked a little,” said Peter.

Hiro & Ando

Yamagato Industrie, Japan

<”Hiro?”> said Ando in his native language. <”Are you okay?”>

<”Adam almost killed everyone in the world because of me. Because of what I did to him.”>

Ando entered the cubical where his friend was sitting. Two different people then what they were since last they occupied the small space. <”You cannot blame yourself for what someone else almost did. If you did, the weight of it all would be too much.”>

<”But it’s true.”> said Hiro, his head bowed in defeat. <”If I was the hero I was suppose to be I wouldn’t have betrayed his trust, I would have saved him, but I failed. I failed to save my father, failed to stop Sylar, failed to save Charlie.”> Hiro raised himself softly from his chair and turned to leave, unconsciously taken a hold of the infamous sword of “Takezo Kensei”, the sword he no longer felt like he deserved to wield anymore. Ando looked upon his friend, seeing despair where there once was hope and a bright optimism. <”I’m not worthy of this blade, or my power. I can’t be a hero anymore.”>

Hiro handed the sheathed katana to Ando and walked away, never looking back.

Peter & Matt

Odessa General Hospital, Texas.

“Mr. Patrelli?” said the Doctor that came forth into the waiting room after twelve hours of surgery. Peter sprang from his seat to meet the doctor’s eyes. Matt, who was talking to the guard coordinator, went to join him at his side. Both awaited the verdict with eager optimism. “We we’re able to repair some of the damage that the bullet had caused, but it is to severe. If we can’t get another heart for him, He’ll die within days.”

“No, don’t say that,” demanded Peter. “There must be something more you can do. You can’t back out now. He’s a fighter, he can pull through.”

The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have survived this long but something happened to him on that table. We’ve already but him on the donor list but with the amount of time he has left he’d need another miracle to make it through.” The doctor lowered his head, removing his eyes so as to let the knowledge that his brother was going to die, sink in. He so much hated giving bad news like this to loved ones, but it came with the job. “If you have anyone, any family, you would like to contact so that they can say goodbye to him, I’d make the call now.”

The doctor quietly left Peter and Matt alone to greave, Matt put a fist to his mouth, trying to conjure up the words to say to comfort Peter. “I’m sorr…”

“He’s not done yet,” said Peter calmly, determination set in his eyes.

“Peter, I know it’s hard to accept but the doctor said that…”

“The doctor said I should contact family, and that’s what I plain to do.” Peter took out his cell phone and went down the list of contacts to stop at the number for Claire Bennett.

Claire Bennett

Coast Verde, California

Claire sat next to her bed, her legs drawn up to her chest wrapped with her arms. Her chin rested on one of her knees, a single tear streaked down the side of her troubled face. She thought of nothing but what her father had been forced to do to keep them save, the things that the Company will make him do, since earlier this morning when he showed up alive at their door step. It’s too much for me, she thought to herself. I shouldn’t have to deal with these kinds of problems. I shouldn’t have found out that my father is still alive only to lose him again.

Her cell phone in her pocket began to ring, she hardly noticed. She thought even less about answering it, whoever it was, it wasn’t as important as what she was facing at the moment. She thought nothing would ever be as important as losing her father twice in one week. It’s probably West calling to apologize or something. She half heartedly withdrew her phone to look at the small screen atop it, seeing the name of Peter Patrelli. She rushed to flip the phone open before the rings stopped.

“Peter! Peter, are you there?” Hope hung on a thin strand, if there was anyone that could help her get her father back, it was Peter. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

“Claire! Thank God I reached you, listen…” said Peter’s electronic voice coming from the speaker.

Claire cut him off before he could finish. “I’m so happy you called, too. I need your help, the company my father works for. They have him. There blackmailing him. I need your help.” Her voice raced a hundred miles a minute, sounding like nothing but a jumble of incoherent words to her uncle on the other end of the transmission.

“Claire, Hold on a sec. Where are you?” said Peter.

After Claire gave him the address of the house her family was staying in Costa Verde, Peter appeared inside her room as if he was there the entire time. Claire dropped her phone to the floor running into her hero’s arms. He held her close, making her feel like she always did when he was near. Safe. Secure. Protected.

“Easy, easy. It’s alright, now,” said Peter whispering words of comfort as Claire’s tears fell onto his shoulder.

Claire looked up at her uncle wiping away the tears. “No it’s not. My father, they killed him, the Company. I couldn’t stop it.”

“Wa… Wait, Claire, slow down,” said Peter trying to calm her down enough to pick up on what she was saying. Claire gave Peter the short version of what had happened earlier.

“Please, you’re the only one I know who can help get my father back from them.”

“I promise I’ll do what I can but I need your help on something first. It’s Nathan, he’s been shot.”

“What?”

“Earlier today, he was trying to expose the Company by going public with what we can do, about our abilities. He was shot through the heart before he could though and the doctors saw he has only hour’s left, days at the most.”

“That’s what I was about to do!” exclaimed Claire. “After they killed him, I was going to show the files he had to the press. They brought him back to stop me from doing it”

“Yeah, well the Company took a different approach with Nathan,” said Peter. “Anyways, I tried to heal him with some of my blood but it didn’t work that well. That’s why I need you.”

“You want my blood,” stated Claire.

“You’re blood can do that, right? Can it save his life?”

“Yes,” said Claire as her face turned determined and strong. “It’s what saved my dad the first time…” she said to no one, then addressed Peter. “…And I’ll be damned if they’ll take my other father away from me, too.”

Matt Parkman

Odessa General Hospital, Texas.

Matt watched Peter bend the very fabric of space, making him do a double-take. A little warning of where you’re heading would’ve been nice, thought Matt, hoping that Peter would bring the miracle that would save Nathan. He turned to look at the dying man in the hospital bed, he had tried earlier to talk to him while he was unconscious, projecting words from his own mind to Nathan’s, but he had never responded to them. He feared that maybe he was far to gone to hear them, but he tried again anyways.

<Don’t worry, Nathan, Peter’s going to get help. Hold on a little bit longer.>

The hairs on the back of Matt’s neck suddenly began to rise as he got that feeling that everyone can identify in its uniqueness, the sensation of someone watching you. Not just a nurse or a doctor, but something that presented a threat. Matt, being the cop he was, had learned to trust those feelings and listen to them long before he acquired his telepathy. He slowly let his hand creep to his gun holster at his hip as he took in a deep breath, straightening himself. Matt began to reach out with his mind to getting a read on the person watching him, but as he did some kind of interference stopped him, a kind of static white noise that he would hear through his old patrol car’s CB radio. He turned, quickly palming his weapon, readying himself to draw if necessary, but as he looked out the room’s observation window he saw only darkness. His first thought was a blackout, but he could see glowing lights in the hall that belonged to wall intercoms and the like, as well as their room was still lit. It only meant one thing to Parkman, someone from the Company was coming to make sure that they did their job right, or to finish it. He drew his gun in both hands, not wanting to wait for the person to get the upper hand on him, he honed in on the static that he was preserving. He found the source to be at the opposite side of the window, looking a little closer, he saw that the glowing lights coming from the dark hallway were not illuminated buttons but the eyes of the one that he felt watching him. They burned like the red-yellow suns that had been contained within the person’s eyes, stirring with a fury of power that he though was once only reserved for the great gaseous giant in the sky. He stood shocked and terrified as the eyes seemed to judge him, but was still able to draw his firearm at the figure at the window.

“Who… Who are you?” called out Matt in the best authoritative voice he could muster, which didn’t work to well.

The eyes continued to stare, then left. A few seconds after it had moved out of the frame, the lights in the hall shown again brightly, Matt went to the hall out of impulse to stop the person with the glowing eyes, yelling freeze into the receding darkness traveling down the hall. The eyes turned into view in response to the detective’s command. Parkman attempted another read of the person’s mind, but this time was different. He got something, like the person had wanted him to hear it, opening a gap in the static just enough to let it through.

<You’re friend’s light is fading. He is not long for this world. Go to him.>

<”His light is fading”? What does that mean?> The eyes turned to leave again. <Wait, who are you? What are you doing here?>

The lights came on in the hallway revealing nothing but empty space. Nurses came up from behind him checking on the commotion the Parkman had caused, careful not to get to close as they saw the exposed weapon in his hand.

“Detective, what’s going on?” said one of the nurses.

Matt continued to look down the once dark hallway that went on for yards, confused as to what just happened. “Good question.”

Hiro

Tokyo, Japan

Hiro walked the night feeling despair that he had never experienced before. It was because he let his feelings get the best of him that caused Takezo Kensei, his childhood hero, to try and kill everyone on Earth with that virus. He betrayed a friend’s trust and Humanity almost paid for it, how could a hero put the Earth in such danger? How could he? He had endangered millions of lives, and for that, he could no longer go on as a hero. He would live out the rest of his life as an office worker and never again be a hero. He paid no attention to the surrounding buildings passing him, rather keeping his eyes looking down at their feet walking the path he’d walked countless times, not bearing to look up because of his shame. Unaware of the person appearing from the shadows behind him, to which even if Hiro was fully alert, wouldn’t have perceived his presence. A hard shot to the back of the head rendered Hiro unconscious, falling forward in a heap, as the man dressed in black attire that hadn’t be worn in this country in centuries pulled the limb body into the closest back alley. The shadows of the buildings covered them as they ventured deeper into the alley, only the occasional light from a passing car shined into its depth for the briefest of seconds, till the next car came to pass, revealing no one presently occupying the dead end alley.

Matt, Claire, & Peter

Odessa General Hospital, Texas.

Matt jumped in his chair, going for his gun, as the air opened up a Peter teleported into the hospital room. He had a girl with him, the cheerleader whose life he had saved.

“Easy, Matt, it’s just me,” said Peter.

“Officer Parkman?” said Claire in a mix of surprise and confusion.

“Actually, It’s ‘Detective Parkman’ now,” said Matt with a hint of pride. “Just call me Matt.” He turned his attention to Peter. “Where the hell have you been and why’d you bring her here?”

“Because she’s like Adam, her blood can heal Nathan,” confirmed Peter.

“Who’s Adam?” said Claire.

“I’ll explain later, right now Nathan needs you.” Peter went to the counter drawers retrieving a needle wrapped in plastic. Claire drew up her sleeve readying herself for the transfer of her blood to another while Peter ripped away the covering away.

He aimed for a vein in Claire’s arm, and with a small thrust, withdrew as much blood as he could. He then went to his brother’s side an injected the life giving blood directly into the bloodstream. After a minute of anxious nail biting, Nathan’s eyes slowly opened, and a rush of relief poured over them.

Nathan weakly looked up to his younger brother from the hospital bed. “P…Peter?”

“Its okay, Nathan,” said Peter, comforting his older brother. “You’re safe.”

“I was… At the station. Cameras. Then… pain.” Nathan went to put his hand on the spot over his heart were a bullet went through. “How am I not dead?”

“It was her,” said Peter, looking back at Claire’s amazed faced. Nathan beckoned her close with a wave of his hand, she softly gripped her father’s hand as he spoke, “Thank you.”

Claire shrugged her shoulders with a sad smile she commonly wore. “You’re my dad, I couldn’t let you die.”

“Well, I haven’t been the best example of that lately,” said Nathan faintly, looking around at his surroundings, sitting upright in his bed. “I knew their wound be consequences when we went public, but I wasn’t expecting it so soon, or like this.”

“Do you have any idea who would shoot you?” asked Claire

“Don’t worry about that,” said Parkman. “We’re looking into it.”

”Did you get a read on the shooter, either of you?” asked Nathan looking first at Matt then Peter.

“I was too focused on you to get anything,” answered Peter.

“All I got was the same static I get when that Haitian guy is around. You can be pretty sure it was someone in the Company though.”

“And I think I know who,” spoke Peter from the corner of the room next to the monitors. “Claire had mentioned that her foster dad had been blackmailed by the Company to stop her from doing what you were going to do. A man who’s been with the company, rounding up people like us, who knows how to get past our abilities.”

Claire looked at Peter with disbelieve as she realized what Peter was suggesting. “No, you can’t be serious. You can’t think that…”

“That your foster dad tried to kill Nathan,” finished Peter. “Yes. I do.”

Noah Bennett & Bob

Odessa Air Field, Texas.

The man with the horn rimmed glasses walked to the personal liner that waited for him on the private airstrip, reserved for the Company’s use, trying to ignore the balding man at his heels.

“We’ve opened Pandora’ box,” said Angela’s voice through the cell phone’s speaker.

“You may be right, Angela, but it had to be done and you know it,” said Bob in his normal tone of voice. No one would have known that he had set up an assassination attempt from the sound of him. He slapped the cell phone in his hand closed and caught up to Noah’s side

“You let me down Noah,” said Bob.

“I did what you wanted, he’s down and unable to cause any more problems,” said Noah. It left a bitter taste in his mouth as he said it.

“You were supposed to silence him, permanently. He still might make it through.”

“The chance is very slim.”

Bob put a hand on his arms to stop him walking. “You know that’s not what I wanted you to do.” Bob’s voice lowered as he continued. “Now if you can’t honor you’re end of the deal then we’ll have to reexamine our working arrangement.”

Noah looked sternly through is horn-rimmed glasses. “Don’t you dare!”

“I don’t want to, but if you keep this up, I’ll be force to.”

“You stay away from my family,” said Noah as he reached for the scruff of Bob’s jacket. Bob retorted with his own hand on the bare skin of Noah’s arm. Noah began to grunt in pain as the molecular make-up of his body’s blood became something else more dangerous.

“Remember who you’re talking to, Noah,” said Bob. Bob’s portable phone began to ring again, releasing Noah’s arm so as to answer.

“He’s here,” said the female voice coming from the other end. Bob’s blood went cold.

“You listen to me very carefully,” said Bob dead serious in the intent of his instructions. “You do what ever you have to do to dispose of him. You understand me?”

“Crystal,” said the woman. Bob could picture the grin forming on the woman’s face.

Bob turned to the recovering Noah, gripping his forearm as he arose to his feet. “We have to leave, now!”

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Said Noah as Bob passed him to the plain. “I told you to get rid of him when we first got him. I said the same thing about Sylar and look at what happened. People died because of you, because you were too ignorant to do what you should have done and now more people will die again because of it.”

”My people are very capable of handling this particular problem,” said Bob faking confidence. “We’ve become better prepared for this kind of thing since Sylar.”

“That was the same thing that was said when we had Sylar, and this one is going to make you eat those very same words, just like him.”

Primatech Paper

Odessa, Texas.

A man walks through one of the shipping floors of the factory, his longcoat billowing a little behind him as he steps over the chard bodies lifelessly strewn on the cold cement floor. Smoke rose off the freshly electrocuted guards, mixing with the smoke of their recently fired weapons, the bullets of which lay perfectly unmolested on the concrete ahead, as dead as the bodies themselves.

“Pardon me, gentlemen,” said the man as he passed them, indifferently. “Just passing through.”

Hiro

Abandoned building, Somewhere.

Hiro woke up to find himself tied to a hardwood chair in the middle of an old, worn out room. Walls faded, showing water spots on the spots that actually had drywall still present. Counters holding various broken objects, steel pipes, and rusted tools, stood at his right and to his rear, standing guard over him. The back of his head was throbbing in pain where he was hit by something, his body stiff from the rope cutting off the circulation of blood.

<”Where am I?”> said Hiro to himself. A voice came from behind him, though muffled and incoherent, he could tell that it was growing louder. Whoever it was, they were coming closer. Hiro struggled to free himself from his bonds but the ropes were knotted too well.

The owner of the voice came into the room, talking to someone. <“…I will contact you soon with instructions.”> A beep from a wireless phone of some kind came soon after. <”You should not waste your energy on trying to get free, my friend. No one can escape from ropes that I tie.”> Hiro craned his head around to see the man speaking fluent Japanese to him, apparently holding him hostage, but the man stayed behind him.

<”You are very lucky to have a sister who cares about you, and is the CEO of a very profitable company. It will be easy for her to retrieve the money I asked for you’re save return.”>

<”Who are you? Why are you doing this?”>

<”I thought it obvious at this point, you are being ransomed.”> The man walked to the table at Hiro’s side placing the portable phone on top, then turning to face his captive. The man wore an outfit of black, a mask wrapped around his face made his eyes barely visible through the slit, let alone any identifying features or recognizing his voice. But what drew Hiro’s attention the most was the two curved blades that were sheathed at the man’s side, inserted through a sash belt of cloth at the waist. Hiro knew who it was that had kidnapped him, or more precisely, what had kidnapped him.

<”You’re ninja!”> said Hiro

<”You are familiar with the look, I am impressed,”> said the ninja sarcastically.

Hiro’s clasped his eyes shut and concentrated. Vanishing from his holdings, the ropes that once held him fell loosely to the ground. Hiro reappeared feet away from the chair, small smirk on his face.

<”Impressed now?”>

Though startled at the sudden teleportation of his prisoner, the ninja wasn’t acting like he hadn’t seen something amazing and thought impossible before.

<”Very,”> said the ninja. <”You just became a most profitable item for some people I know.”> The ninja pull one of his swords from its scabbard. <”They will find you very useful.”>

Hiro teleported again, coming back with a piece of steel pipe from the table. He gripped the curved end attachment as he would his old sword and took stance against the ninja.

<”So, the little man things he can hold his own against a Ninja. You have been reading too many comics; ninja are not so easy to kill.”>

<”Ninjas are dishonorable assassins, murderers, and thieves. Cowards who would rather run to save their own skins, than stand a fight for a purpose greater than themselves, catering to no one but themselves.”> The strength and confidence that Hiro had possessed in his past adventures returned in an instant as if they had never left him. The honorable spirit of the Samurai looked down upon him, but as soon as it had come to him, it was lost. <”You are right though.”>

<”And what would that be?”> asked the ninja.

<”I have read too many stories.”> Hiro lowered the pipe in his hands. <”Do not come after me again.”>

He closed his eyes, concentrated, and was gone in the next second.

Primatech Paper (lower levels)

Odessa, Texas.

The alarms were growing annoying to the man with the glowing eyes walking down the large hallway. A mere glance at them put an end to their ear deafening rattle. Free to walk without losing his thoughts to the sound he went to the end of the corridor and through the door. What he saw was not what he had expected, within the middle of a dark nothing was a light that shined down from no apparent source, at a girl lumped forward against the straps that held her from falling forward on a chair. The man with the glowing eyes cautiously stepped forward to the raven-haired woman, a drip in the distance was all that could be heard.

-Drip-

-Drip-

-Drip-

Stepping into the light he readied himself for the high probability that he had walked into a trap, his left hand crackled with sparkling electricity as his right reached out to raise the woman’s head. The dripping he had heard echoed in the nothing around them wasn’t from anything out there; it was from the blood slowly dripping out of the whole in the girl’s forehead.

-Drip-

-Drip-

The eyes of the Indian girl were glazed with death, her mouth was slightly open due to the fact her muscles no longer worked for her, her face torn and bruised when once it was smooth as silk and heavenly to touch. As he went to close her eyes, they came to meet his, the life returning to them with rage. The strapping’s that had once held her confined were no longer present, freeing her hands so as to thrust them at the man she knew, causing him to be thrown back to the floor by the sudden rush of her body at his.

“YOU KILLED ME!” shouted the girl coming back from the dead, her hands inches from clasping around the man’s throat, fighting and squirming. Out of the halo of light, the woman could not see the man’s face contort to a disgusted fury, sending an electrical jolt up the woman’s arms and through her body. All the muscles in her body tensed as she screamed through gritted teeth, throwing her back and dispersing her into vapor. As he righted himself he waited for “the man behind the current” so to speak.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” boomed a thunderous voice. Except in this case the man was a woman.

“I have to tell you,” said the voice over his shoulder, close enough to make the man think she was inches away. Spinning around to confront the one behind the attacks, he only found that his surroundings had been replaced in a blink of an eye by a dense jungle on a pitch black night. Things stirred in the foliage as eyes shined in the shadow. “I never thought you would get away from me the first time, let alone get this far, murderer.”

The stranger’s fists clinched in anger at the sound of the voice, his eyes glowed brighter, more fiercely, than before. A roar sounded as a large beast pounced out of the jungle toward the man with the glowing eyes. A blast of lighting turned the threat to billows of fumes and smoke. Two more beasts leaped to face the man only to receive the same punishment. The stranger knew the tricks of his attacker, no of this was real, he just had to force his way out. Focusing his will, he ignored the sounds of the jungle as a static charge built up around him. Reality began to distort around him, the pillar of this fabrication crumbling at his feet. Then in a shattering blow, the man with the glowing eyes returned to his senses, his body, and his mind. Back to the real world finding the woman responsible for pulling him away on the floor in front of him. Recoiling from the stranger’s counterattack strands of the albino’s white hair streaked across her face as she looked up at him defiance, due to the feedback of the man’s defenses.

“I’ve evolved since we last met,” stated the man.

“I’m going to kill you!” retorted the albino through her teeth as she tried to use her abilities again, distorting waves started to radiate outward from her eyes. “It was a man like you that killed my sister, making ‘them’ fear us, causing us pain, and I’m going to kill you for that. Every last one of you!”

The stranger prepared for another attack, but it became clear that her powers were weakening as he saw the waves grow smaller. The man took a step, his hand extended, the woman scrabbled to keep away but her body was too weak. Drawing closer the man went down on one knee beside his enemy, the extended hand glowing a bright white, the albino woman couldn’t do much to stop the stranger from placing his hand over her eyes and shining a blinding light over them as she screamed in fear and pain.

Matt & Peter

Odessa General Hospital, Texas.

Peter walked out to the opposite side of the glass followed closely by Matt, watching Claire telling Nathan what she had gone through in recent weeks since they saw each other in New York.

“What is it?” asked Peter. Matt had telepathically told him that they needed to talk outside only moments ago. “Why the secrecy?”

“I need to tell you something,” answered Matt. “While you were… away, for an hour…”

“An hour!” exclaimed Peter.

“What, you didn’t know? I assumed you were trying to find Claire”

“I teleported straight to her and then back, I didn’t know I was gone for an hour,” said Peter. Was something wrong with the powers that I got from Hiro.

“Never mind that. The point is while you where gone, someone came here. Someone like us.”

“How do you know?” asked Peter. Matt filled him in on the details of encounter. Of the effects of the lights, the stranger’s glowing eyes.

“A man with glowing eyes. Do you think he was here for Nathan?” questioned Peter.

“I don’t think so,” said Matt. “If he was, had his chance and didn’t take it. That and I got something from his mind.”

“I thought you couldn’t read his mind.”

“I couldn’t, but he let me have something. He said that Nathan’s light was fading. I think he meant that Nathan was going to die. Why warn me if he was here to kill him”

“Or maybe he didn’t see the point in killing a dying man,” said Peter turning his head to look at his brother, alive and healthy.

“That’s my concern, what if it’s leaked out to the press that Nathan is alive with no signs of ever being shot through the heart. It’d be like painting a bulls eye on his forehead, and if Glow Eyes wasn’t here to try and kill him then the Company could come back to finish it.”

“But if he does go to the press, he could use it as proof about what we can do. Help us bring the Company down.”

“Are you willing to bet his life on them trying to kill him again before he can? I’m not, and we can’t rely on Claire forever, what if the next one is a kill shot?”

Peter took him a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. “What do you suggest we do then?”

Primatech Paper (lower levels)

Odessa, Texas.

The albino woman whimpered as she lay on the cold floor, the surrounding areas of her eyes burned too severely to ever heal, rendering her blind for the rest of her life and her power useless. The man with the glowing eyes still kneeled at her side.

“Unless you want me to take something more vital, you will tell me what I need to know.” He brought her up by the scruff of her clothing, close to a searing heat she couldn’t identify but could fell it none the less.

“Where. Is. He.”

In an unknown location, a woman is taken into a room of elegance and wealth. A place she could only dream of ever seeing. A fire burned at the far wall, the mantel holding a priceless clock in its center, clicking away the seconds of time. In front of the fireplace were to leather chairs, one of which was already occupied by a man.

“Nice to see you have arrived, my dear,” said the man. “Please take a seat.” He extended his hand to the chair parallel to him.

The woman took it reluctantly. “I sure you have many questions, Nikki, but they will be answered in due time.”

To be continued…