I opened the chapter with an odd, almost poetic scene between Trevor and Future Trevor. It brings home one of the major themes of how one thing comes hand in hand with another. The beginning of the end. I sort of used the scene to address the vulnerable side of Trevor, something you don't see ever. He still feels alone without his fiancee and in a strange way, remembers to think about her everyday, kinda of like when you call your loved one on the phone every day at a certain time. It also sets up the final scene and answers if one can change after such a tragedy.
THE FIGHT
So if you compare Future Trevor's past as seen in the previous issue, you see some similarities that are intended while some other things changed. I thought it'd be interesting that Trevor still uses Future Trevor's death trap idea but puts his twist on it by involving various Undaunted people. And if you think about, Trevor didn't have to do anything other than give the signal, hence his amusement. He was toying with Keith the whole time. The final piece of the puzzle was Athena Leuce. After re-reading her bio about how she can mess with the 5 senses, too, the lightbulb in my head went off.
A-SQUAD
I had fun with pacing out and writing everyone's individual scenes and what power they'd be fighting. I wanted to use Wyatt and Renn Leuce for awhile and I'm glad I was able t fit them in here. I tried to stick to the HSG bios as much as I could; show how smart Renn is, showcase Azuteor's power and personality, making force field's lethal, and Johnston's strategy. After the ending, I had these fight scenes plotted out before writing the actual story.
FUTURE TREVOR
I wanted to end this arc, Future Trevor, Undaunted, and this year's worth on a good note. Out of them, Future Trevor drew the long straw on that. That was probably the first thing I had completed. He was going to change right in front of them then shift back to his world thanks to sci-fi logic. And he appears to be married and with a child. Huh. Cool. That's what you're supposed to think. Then maybe you wonder, can this happen for our Trevor? Will he fall in love again? Is love just going to happen in the other universes not this one because it's the prime? Who is this woman?! As of this time, even I don't know. I have three that can be that woman but I'm saving it for a future story somehow.
EPILOGUE
So I sort of left Undaunted resolved yet unresolved. They are together again but both their hideouts not so secret. United, they vow to redouble themselves and keep on walking forward. And the beginning of the next issue is sort of a placeholder on this year, the overall theme of the series, and something unexpected. So it goes back in time to when Trevor first arrived in Hawai'i to start his last job. The interview is interlaced with scenes from various chapters, sort of for irony and to recap things a bit. Trevor, a father?
DELETED SCENE
Yes, there was actually a small scene I cut out. When I concluded that things must all end on a happy note, I changed the end of the fight in Shawnee. Originally, after Kelly returns from teleporting Keith's cohorts to Gitmo, Keith sort of has his last ditch effort and launches part of a spear tip into Trevor. Then it's ambiguous as to what happened to him, if he survived or not. They take him back to others and the rest happens with the flashback and the alternate universe. I cut it out and am glad I did really. No need for a cliffhanger like that, it was too much, the reader will be distracted to be in awe of the ending, and so on.
December 15, 2009
Part Five - The Beginning of the End - Part Five
Here is the final chapter of the year. Commentary to follow today or tomorrow.
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
It is pitch black night. Trevor and Future Trevor are sitting down near each other. It’s late and it seems like they are the only two who are awake. They are shaving something with knives.
Trevor - “Every night, since it happened, I lay awake at 1:35 am and I think about her. I think about how much I loved her. I think about what we had. But I…”
Future Trevor - “Slowly forget what her face looks like. How can it be possible when I can remember everything? Is my heart trying to forget? Is it trying to deal with the pain?”
Trevor - “To love and to have lost.”
Future Trevor - “That mysterious duality.”
[Loose Reference to M-Theory]
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART FIVE: THAT MYSTERIOUS DUALITY - in Heroes title font - pasted on the forest
The Next Day…
A group of specials watch a grove of trees. The camera point of view comes up behind them. Trevor is sitting down on a stump looking at his e-reader in the grove with his back turned to them. Their leader, Keith, is walking toward Trevor. Keith raises his right hand. The camera shifts back to his five cohorts. They watch in anticipation.
Karl - “He’s by himself? Where’s everyone else?”
Kevin - “We should get to that soon. I want to see him do in Trevor, first. He won’t see it coming.”
Behind them, in the bushes, are Wyatt, James Kelly, Samuel Whitman, Aaron Leuce, Mack Johnston, John Bishop, and Azuteor. Wyatt is visibly focused, his power being used on them to render them invisible by sound to the other faction.
Whitman - “Dibs on the jerk.”
Johnston - “Everyone remembers what to do? Kelly teleports away with Wyatt. The bubble is lifted. Azuteor splits the faction up. We take them one-on-one.”
Everyone nods.
Leuce - “We wait for Trevor to give the signal.”
Keith is about to use telekinesis when Trevor tosses the e-reader out in front of him. Trevor shoots it straight through the middle with his gun. Keith pauses.
Johnston - “Now!”
Kelly teleports away with Wyatt. Azuteor uses his repulsion manipulation to scatter the five. They wail in confusion. Whitman, Leuce, Johnston, Bishop, and Azuteor run towards their respective opponents, some in the forest and some in the clear. Keith turns and sees what happened. He turns back and Trevor has turned around and is staring right at him. Trevor holds out his gun to the side, pointing right, and shoots at a tree.
A rope snaps. A giant log swings forward at Keith. He stops it just as it is inches away from hitting him. He smiles and telekinetically shoves Trevor into a nearby tree. Keith walks a few steps forward.
Keith - “A log? How uninspiring, Trevor.”
[This Keith has similar words with Trevor as what Future Trevor recounted last story]
Keith trips a wire. A dozen sharpened dart sized sticks launch at Keith. He stops them in mid-air. He looks at him and they drop to the ground.
Keith - “This is your big plan?!”
Karl and Leuce face each other.
Karl - “Beat it kid, this is grown-up stuff. You might live long enough to understand.”
Leuce - “It’s Renn to you.”
Karl frowns and his left arm extend toward Leuce and shoves him into the dirt. Karl has the power of plasticity.
Karl - “Then you’re dumber than you look, Renn.”
Leuce “Maybe I like people to think that way.”
[Renn’s HSG Bio]
Karl scoffs and shapes his hands into hammers and is about to pound into Leuce. Leuce just stands there. Zoom in on him smiling. Zoom out. Karl is frozen in place. Leuce was altering Karl’s molecular state the whole time.
In the forest somewhere, Azuteor is walking fast, almost teleporting. The camera zooms in from his point of view, things start to slow down. A leaf slowly drops to the ground. Azuteor is using time dilation to survey the area for his opponent. He sees an odd streak. Azuteor passes his hands through it and it makes a chime. Azuteor follows the streak with his eyes. The leaf touches the ground finally. He turns and sees Matthew running at normal speed at him. He tackles Azuteor and his time dilation field is disrupted. They plow into the ground hard because Matthew’s Enhanced Speed returned. Dust is kicked up. The dust settles. Matthew is in mid-air, stuck in place. Azuteor is several inches above the ground. A crater is self-contained with dust frozen in place underneath him. Azuteor stands up slowly. Matthew grunts. Azuteor thinks to himself for a while. The gravity around Matthew intensifies and compresses to the point that he passes out from the strain.
Azuteor - “Checkmate.”
[Azuteor’s HSG Bio]
Kevin has his fists covered in granite and is trying to land a hit on Whitman. Whitman dodges every punch. Every miss creates craters in the ground.
Kevin - “Stay still so I can hit you!!”
Whitman - “Oh, is that what you’re doing?”
Whitman stops and waits for Kevin. Kevin is dumbfounded then jabs at him. Whitman holds out his palm and catches Kevin’s fist and doesn’t move. Kevin grunts. Whitman squeezes Kevin’s fist. The granite crumbles. Whitman drop kicks Kevin. He goes flying into a tree then bounces into another and another. Kevin managed to morph part of his skull into rock but is woozy getting up. He looks up and Whitman is racing toward him and socks Kevin. Whitman runs forward and catches Kevin, who is unconscious.
Keith is walking toward Trevor.
Keith - “So, you knew we were coming? Nothing gets past you, Trevor. Maybe I was wrong about you.”
Keith falls into a hole. He drops in up to his forehead is visible. He telekinetically pushes himself out, not looking too pleased.
Keith - “Cute.”
Future Trevor jumps from a bush with a knife. Keith sees him at the last minute and freezes Future Trevor. The knife is just an inch from his heart. Keith squirms and telekinetically throws Future Trevor into a tree. Trevor is just watching and is smirking.
Keith - “Only you would find some humor in this.”
John Bishop has a shield raised on him. Stan screams and a sonic burst rumbles toward Bishop. The field vibrates and dissipates. Bishop draws up another and Stan tears it down again.
Stan - “How long can you keep this up? Face it. All you do is put up shields, you can’t retaliate against me. Once I find the right tune, you’re dead.”
Bishop - “Try me.”
Stan is annoyed and is about to let out another burst. A thin force field envelopes Stan. The sound burst and field shatter, Stan goes flying.
Lane pats some dirt off his shoulder. Johnston waits for him.
Lane - “Nice trick. But stopping us won’t save your boy. Keith will kill him.”
Johnston - “The thing about Trevor is he’s a walking curve ball. Just when you settle into predicting what he’s going to do, he goes and does the unexpected, right out of left field.”
Lane - “Well, Keith’s the bat that’s going to score the home run.”
Johnston releases arc electricity and prepares to shoot Lane. Lane waives his hand and a sphere of water encapsulates Johnston. Johnston screams in pain. He is faint, can barely stand, and is smoking.
Lane - “It’s a bit humid today. Lots of moisture for me to toy with. Looks like you picked the wrong playmate, bub.”
Johnston - “I’m right where I need to be. A few drops of rain won’t put me out.”
Lane forms surrounding moisture into a tidal wave and nails Johnston. When the water washes away. He is lying flat on the ground. He staggers up.
Johnston turns into pure electricity.
Lane - “What you can do, I can do.”
Lane turns into pure water and gushes toward Johnston. Johnston shoots through him and the electricity shorts throughout the liquefied Lane. Lane screams in agony. Lane erratically wails around trying to shake off Johnston. The electricity increases. Lane stops moving and twitches in place. He turns back to normal and faints. Johnston jumps out of him and turns back to normal.
Johnston - “Water is an excellent conductor.”
Keith is looking at Future Trevor.
Keith - “I don’t get it. That shapeshifter a fanboy of yours?”
Future Trevor gets up and throws his knife at Keith’s head. He stops it, aims it at Future Trevor and shoves it at him. Future Trevor tosses his leather coat to block it and he rolls away. He runs toward Keith. Keith backs up and stops Future Trevor. Keith summons the knife.
Keith - “Now, what do you really look like? Guess I’ll just have to peel you like a banana.”
The knife zig zags around Future Trevor. A second log flies toward Keith. He stops it. He turns to Trevor in anger.
Keith - “Do I look stupid?!...But you gave me an idea.”
Keith summons the log to him but it stops in mid-air. The rope is stuck and won’t let the log move anymore. Keith smirks.
Keith - “Among factions, you stick out too much Trevor. You know what happens to the nail that sticks out? It gets hammered down.”
[Phrase used in Japanese culture]
Trevor - “There’s always an exception.”
Keith has had enough and telekinetically clips the rope holding the log. The rope pulls back. A row of wooden spears rises up below Keith and impales him offscreen. The camera zooms on the lower half of his body. It is stiff and blood starts to trickle down. Trevor and Future Trevor land on their feet. An illusion is lifted. The row of spears becomes more visible along with the rope that was holding the log. It was connected to a counterweight setup with the spears. A bush suddenly turns into Athena Leuce. She was hiding the trap and messing with Keith’s senses until he came to stand over the final trap.
Whitman, Renn, Azuteor, Johnston, and Bishop gather around Keith. They toss their opponents into the center. Leuce walks over to her brother, Renn. James Kelly appears and shakes his head.
Kelly - “You timed that too well, Trevor.”
Trevor - “Take them to a prison somewhere. How about Gitmo?”
[Guantanamo Bay and HSG bio- James often teleports criminals into prisons.]
Kelly - “Why not?”
Kelly teleports away with them and reappears alone.
Kelly - “What now? This place is compromised. Probably Kaua’i, too.”
[9th Wonders - Undaunted]
Trevor turns to Future Trevor. Future Trevor shrugs.
Future Trevor - “This never happened to me, remember?”
Future Trevor fades away for a few seconds. Everyone is startled. Future Trevor looks at his hands.
Future Trevor - “The timelines across the multiverse are shifting. This is the prime.”
Bishop - “Meaning?”
Johnston - “He was never here.”
Future Trevor becomes transparent. The blood and wounds from the fight disappear. The missing eye heals to normal. Future Trevor touches that part of his face in amazement. Then the missing arm returns. His clothes change. No one notices, but a ring appears on Future Trevor’s ring finger. He becomes further and further transparent.
Future Trevor - “Thank you. Everyone.”
Trevor - “You’re welcome, Steve.”
Future Trevor - “…It feels right.”
[Previous chapter - Seal and Trevor]
Future Trevor fades away for good.
Trevor - “We’ll just start over again. Find another home. Find everyone again. We will persevere.”
Everyone nods. Everyone huddles around Kelly and place their hands on his shoulders and arms. They teleport away.
They appear somewhere else. Seal, Marc, Tanner, Orbit, Clara, Luna, and others are waiting and greet them. Hugs. Hand shaking. High Fives.
We always will.
We are different from each other. Yet we are the same.
That Mysterious Duality.
END OF SPECIAL THREE
SPECIAL FOUR
INFLUENCE
DECEMBER 22, 2004
HONOLULU, HAWAI’I
HR Lady - “Okay, Trevor. Where do you see yourself three years from now?”
Trevor - “I like to think, I’ll be off traveling the world and making a difference.”
HR Lady - “That’s a rather bold declaration, isn’t it?”
Trevor and his team kick in the door to find the database stolen and missing.
[From Phase Three]
Trevor - “It is. But it’s what I want. To change the world for the better.”
Fushimi Inari Shrine; Trevor gives his key to the wild animal.
[From Phase Three]
HR Lady - “How do you plan on doing that?”
Trevor - “One person at a time if I have to.”
Trevor talking face to face with the last duplicate sent to kill Undaunted on Thanksgiving.
[From the Beginning of the End]
HR Lady - “We could use someone like you on our team.”
The crack team gathering in the Nevada desert for an operation.
[From Phase Three]
Trevor - “When may I start?”
Leona Mills hands a red file to Trevor in Washington DC.
[From “Spook” in first arc]
HR Lady - “How about next week Thursday?”
The HR Lady stands up to conclude the appointment. Trevor stands up. The camera zooms in on them shake. The screen fades to white.
[From Trevor’s Primatech Assignment Tracker or HSG page. Worked for a Credit Union in Hawaii.]
HR Lady - “This is the beginning of the rest of your life, Trevor.”
It’s another time and place. The lower half of a person fills the camera. It shifts to the left. He holds out his hand with a wedding ring. It is Future Trevor. A woman’s hand reaches out to hold his hand. The camera shifts to the right. A child is holding his other hand.
Trevor - “I’ll keep an open mind.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
JANUARY 2010
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
It is pitch black night. Trevor and Future Trevor are sitting down near each other. It’s late and it seems like they are the only two who are awake. They are shaving something with knives.
Trevor - “Every night, since it happened, I lay awake at 1:35 am and I think about her. I think about how much I loved her. I think about what we had. But I…”
Future Trevor - “Slowly forget what her face looks like. How can it be possible when I can remember everything? Is my heart trying to forget? Is it trying to deal with the pain?”
Trevor - “To love and to have lost.”
Future Trevor - “That mysterious duality.”
[Loose Reference to M-Theory]
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART FIVE: THAT MYSTERIOUS DUALITY - in Heroes title font - pasted on the forest
The Next Day…
A group of specials watch a grove of trees. The camera point of view comes up behind them. Trevor is sitting down on a stump looking at his e-reader in the grove with his back turned to them. Their leader, Keith, is walking toward Trevor. Keith raises his right hand. The camera shifts back to his five cohorts. They watch in anticipation.
Karl - “He’s by himself? Where’s everyone else?”
Kevin - “We should get to that soon. I want to see him do in Trevor, first. He won’t see it coming.”
Behind them, in the bushes, are Wyatt, James Kelly, Samuel Whitman, Aaron Leuce, Mack Johnston, John Bishop, and Azuteor. Wyatt is visibly focused, his power being used on them to render them invisible by sound to the other faction.
Whitman - “Dibs on the jerk.”
Johnston - “Everyone remembers what to do? Kelly teleports away with Wyatt. The bubble is lifted. Azuteor splits the faction up. We take them one-on-one.”
Everyone nods.
Leuce - “We wait for Trevor to give the signal.”
Keith is about to use telekinesis when Trevor tosses the e-reader out in front of him. Trevor shoots it straight through the middle with his gun. Keith pauses.
Johnston - “Now!”
Kelly teleports away with Wyatt. Azuteor uses his repulsion manipulation to scatter the five. They wail in confusion. Whitman, Leuce, Johnston, Bishop, and Azuteor run towards their respective opponents, some in the forest and some in the clear. Keith turns and sees what happened. He turns back and Trevor has turned around and is staring right at him. Trevor holds out his gun to the side, pointing right, and shoots at a tree.
A rope snaps. A giant log swings forward at Keith. He stops it just as it is inches away from hitting him. He smiles and telekinetically shoves Trevor into a nearby tree. Keith walks a few steps forward.
Keith - “A log? How uninspiring, Trevor.”
[This Keith has similar words with Trevor as what Future Trevor recounted last story]
Keith trips a wire. A dozen sharpened dart sized sticks launch at Keith. He stops them in mid-air. He looks at him and they drop to the ground.
Keith - “This is your big plan?!”
Karl and Leuce face each other.
Karl - “Beat it kid, this is grown-up stuff. You might live long enough to understand.”
Leuce - “It’s Renn to you.”
Karl frowns and his left arm extend toward Leuce and shoves him into the dirt. Karl has the power of plasticity.
Karl - “Then you’re dumber than you look, Renn.”
Leuce “Maybe I like people to think that way.”
[Renn’s HSG Bio]
Karl scoffs and shapes his hands into hammers and is about to pound into Leuce. Leuce just stands there. Zoom in on him smiling. Zoom out. Karl is frozen in place. Leuce was altering Karl’s molecular state the whole time.
In the forest somewhere, Azuteor is walking fast, almost teleporting. The camera zooms in from his point of view, things start to slow down. A leaf slowly drops to the ground. Azuteor is using time dilation to survey the area for his opponent. He sees an odd streak. Azuteor passes his hands through it and it makes a chime. Azuteor follows the streak with his eyes. The leaf touches the ground finally. He turns and sees Matthew running at normal speed at him. He tackles Azuteor and his time dilation field is disrupted. They plow into the ground hard because Matthew’s Enhanced Speed returned. Dust is kicked up. The dust settles. Matthew is in mid-air, stuck in place. Azuteor is several inches above the ground. A crater is self-contained with dust frozen in place underneath him. Azuteor stands up slowly. Matthew grunts. Azuteor thinks to himself for a while. The gravity around Matthew intensifies and compresses to the point that he passes out from the strain.
Azuteor - “Checkmate.”
[Azuteor’s HSG Bio]
Kevin has his fists covered in granite and is trying to land a hit on Whitman. Whitman dodges every punch. Every miss creates craters in the ground.
Kevin - “Stay still so I can hit you!!”
Whitman - “Oh, is that what you’re doing?”
Whitman stops and waits for Kevin. Kevin is dumbfounded then jabs at him. Whitman holds out his palm and catches Kevin’s fist and doesn’t move. Kevin grunts. Whitman squeezes Kevin’s fist. The granite crumbles. Whitman drop kicks Kevin. He goes flying into a tree then bounces into another and another. Kevin managed to morph part of his skull into rock but is woozy getting up. He looks up and Whitman is racing toward him and socks Kevin. Whitman runs forward and catches Kevin, who is unconscious.
Keith is walking toward Trevor.
Keith - “So, you knew we were coming? Nothing gets past you, Trevor. Maybe I was wrong about you.”
Keith falls into a hole. He drops in up to his forehead is visible. He telekinetically pushes himself out, not looking too pleased.
Keith - “Cute.”
Future Trevor jumps from a bush with a knife. Keith sees him at the last minute and freezes Future Trevor. The knife is just an inch from his heart. Keith squirms and telekinetically throws Future Trevor into a tree. Trevor is just watching and is smirking.
Keith - “Only you would find some humor in this.”
John Bishop has a shield raised on him. Stan screams and a sonic burst rumbles toward Bishop. The field vibrates and dissipates. Bishop draws up another and Stan tears it down again.
Stan - “How long can you keep this up? Face it. All you do is put up shields, you can’t retaliate against me. Once I find the right tune, you’re dead.”
Bishop - “Try me.”
Stan is annoyed and is about to let out another burst. A thin force field envelopes Stan. The sound burst and field shatter, Stan goes flying.
Lane pats some dirt off his shoulder. Johnston waits for him.
Lane - “Nice trick. But stopping us won’t save your boy. Keith will kill him.”
Johnston - “The thing about Trevor is he’s a walking curve ball. Just when you settle into predicting what he’s going to do, he goes and does the unexpected, right out of left field.”
Lane - “Well, Keith’s the bat that’s going to score the home run.”
Johnston releases arc electricity and prepares to shoot Lane. Lane waives his hand and a sphere of water encapsulates Johnston. Johnston screams in pain. He is faint, can barely stand, and is smoking.
Lane - “It’s a bit humid today. Lots of moisture for me to toy with. Looks like you picked the wrong playmate, bub.”
Johnston - “I’m right where I need to be. A few drops of rain won’t put me out.”
Lane forms surrounding moisture into a tidal wave and nails Johnston. When the water washes away. He is lying flat on the ground. He staggers up.
Johnston turns into pure electricity.
Lane - “What you can do, I can do.”
Lane turns into pure water and gushes toward Johnston. Johnston shoots through him and the electricity shorts throughout the liquefied Lane. Lane screams in agony. Lane erratically wails around trying to shake off Johnston. The electricity increases. Lane stops moving and twitches in place. He turns back to normal and faints. Johnston jumps out of him and turns back to normal.
Johnston - “Water is an excellent conductor.”
Keith is looking at Future Trevor.
Keith - “I don’t get it. That shapeshifter a fanboy of yours?”
Future Trevor gets up and throws his knife at Keith’s head. He stops it, aims it at Future Trevor and shoves it at him. Future Trevor tosses his leather coat to block it and he rolls away. He runs toward Keith. Keith backs up and stops Future Trevor. Keith summons the knife.
Keith - “Now, what do you really look like? Guess I’ll just have to peel you like a banana.”
The knife zig zags around Future Trevor. A second log flies toward Keith. He stops it. He turns to Trevor in anger.
Keith - “Do I look stupid?!...But you gave me an idea.”
Keith summons the log to him but it stops in mid-air. The rope is stuck and won’t let the log move anymore. Keith smirks.
Keith - “Among factions, you stick out too much Trevor. You know what happens to the nail that sticks out? It gets hammered down.”
[Phrase used in Japanese culture]
Trevor - “There’s always an exception.”
Keith has had enough and telekinetically clips the rope holding the log. The rope pulls back. A row of wooden spears rises up below Keith and impales him offscreen. The camera zooms on the lower half of his body. It is stiff and blood starts to trickle down. Trevor and Future Trevor land on their feet. An illusion is lifted. The row of spears becomes more visible along with the rope that was holding the log. It was connected to a counterweight setup with the spears. A bush suddenly turns into Athena Leuce. She was hiding the trap and messing with Keith’s senses until he came to stand over the final trap.
Whitman, Renn, Azuteor, Johnston, and Bishop gather around Keith. They toss their opponents into the center. Leuce walks over to her brother, Renn. James Kelly appears and shakes his head.
Kelly - “You timed that too well, Trevor.”
Trevor - “Take them to a prison somewhere. How about Gitmo?”
[Guantanamo Bay and HSG bio- James often teleports criminals into prisons.]
Kelly - “Why not?”
Kelly teleports away with them and reappears alone.
Kelly - “What now? This place is compromised. Probably Kaua’i, too.”
[9th Wonders - Undaunted]
Trevor turns to Future Trevor. Future Trevor shrugs.
Future Trevor - “This never happened to me, remember?”
Future Trevor fades away for a few seconds. Everyone is startled. Future Trevor looks at his hands.
Future Trevor - “The timelines across the multiverse are shifting. This is the prime.”
Bishop - “Meaning?”
Johnston - “He was never here.”
Future Trevor becomes transparent. The blood and wounds from the fight disappear. The missing eye heals to normal. Future Trevor touches that part of his face in amazement. Then the missing arm returns. His clothes change. No one notices, but a ring appears on Future Trevor’s ring finger. He becomes further and further transparent.
Future Trevor - “Thank you. Everyone.”
Trevor - “You’re welcome, Steve.”
Future Trevor - “…It feels right.”
[Previous chapter - Seal and Trevor]
Future Trevor fades away for good.
Trevor - “We’ll just start over again. Find another home. Find everyone again. We will persevere.”
Everyone nods. Everyone huddles around Kelly and place their hands on his shoulders and arms. They teleport away.
They appear somewhere else. Seal, Marc, Tanner, Orbit, Clara, Luna, and others are waiting and greet them. Hugs. Hand shaking. High Fives.
We always will.
We are different from each other. Yet we are the same.
That Mysterious Duality.
END OF SPECIAL THREE
SPECIAL FOUR
INFLUENCE
DECEMBER 22, 2004
HONOLULU, HAWAI’I
HR Lady - “Okay, Trevor. Where do you see yourself three years from now?”
Trevor - “I like to think, I’ll be off traveling the world and making a difference.”
HR Lady - “That’s a rather bold declaration, isn’t it?”
Trevor and his team kick in the door to find the database stolen and missing.
[From Phase Three]
Trevor - “It is. But it’s what I want. To change the world for the better.”
Fushimi Inari Shrine; Trevor gives his key to the wild animal.
[From Phase Three]
HR Lady - “How do you plan on doing that?”
Trevor - “One person at a time if I have to.”
Trevor talking face to face with the last duplicate sent to kill Undaunted on Thanksgiving.
[From the Beginning of the End]
HR Lady - “We could use someone like you on our team.”
The crack team gathering in the Nevada desert for an operation.
[From Phase Three]
Trevor - “When may I start?”
Leona Mills hands a red file to Trevor in Washington DC.
[From “Spook” in first arc]
HR Lady - “How about next week Thursday?”
The HR Lady stands up to conclude the appointment. Trevor stands up. The camera zooms in on them shake. The screen fades to white.
[From Trevor’s Primatech Assignment Tracker or HSG page. Worked for a Credit Union in Hawaii.]
HR Lady - “This is the beginning of the rest of your life, Trevor.”
It’s another time and place. The lower half of a person fills the camera. It shifts to the left. He holds out his hand with a wedding ring. It is Future Trevor. A woman’s hand reaches out to hold his hand. The camera shifts to the right. A child is holding his other hand.
Trevor - “I’ll keep an open mind.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
JANUARY 2010
December 10, 2009
Commentary - The Beginning of the End - Part Four
Yes, another possible end to Undaunted on the horizon? And as much as I love making Trevor the X-Factor, I thought, why not throw in a Future Trevor? No, he's got to be one-eyed, one-armed, and four years from the future of his parallel universe's present Trevor. Are you with me?
Ultimately, this chapter was serving to stoke many fires. It set up Future Trevor's story, set up where this arc is going, raise the stakes, and revisit what Trevor is really good at, banter; mixing the comedy and drama of things.
After being explained everything from Future Trevor, all our Trevor cares about is still to save Undaunted. The multiverse, not so much. It's like at this point, Trevor has a purpose and Future Trevor has a higher purpose and the story is mainly about developing their relationship, making them see eye to eye, and ultimately, Trevor deals with the plot point that Lydia revealed in part three about making a choice.
This flashback of how Future Trevor's world turned out was a scene was playing with a lot. At first, it was the last scene in the story. Then it was the beginning to throw the reader off, then in the middle to throw the reader off...but then I figured out a way for it to be credible. Seal pops in and reads Future Trevor, and sees his past, and the reader sees it through Seal's point of view. I'm not kidding but on the to do list, was a scene where Trevor and Seal talk about some sliver of his past while Seal eats a sandwich. Something so normal and relateable, it's perfect to me. But the weird thing for Seal is how do you react to seeing an alternate you getting killed. Hmm.
And going back to the to-do list; page one is almost done...then it's to page two, mwahahaha. Yeah. A-Squad and Steve were some ideas I had for awhile. But some readers will be like huh, what's Azuteor got to do with this? Part Five will be the conclusion of this arc and the last one I'll post this year (unless I really get into the zone). I, however, completely promise this will be a happy ending and not a cliffhanger, big omg, ending even though there will still be small questions left to answer. There won't be a scene where Trevor falls off a cliff and we don't see where he goes. But I admit, one of the final scenes will be a jaw dropper and I'm good for that, right? It's only a coincidence that this happy ending happens during the Christmas season. But course, before the happy ending, there must be a big, fat battle grand royale.
Ultimately, this chapter was serving to stoke many fires. It set up Future Trevor's story, set up where this arc is going, raise the stakes, and revisit what Trevor is really good at, banter; mixing the comedy and drama of things.
After being explained everything from Future Trevor, all our Trevor cares about is still to save Undaunted. The multiverse, not so much. It's like at this point, Trevor has a purpose and Future Trevor has a higher purpose and the story is mainly about developing their relationship, making them see eye to eye, and ultimately, Trevor deals with the plot point that Lydia revealed in part three about making a choice.
This flashback of how Future Trevor's world turned out was a scene was playing with a lot. At first, it was the last scene in the story. Then it was the beginning to throw the reader off, then in the middle to throw the reader off...but then I figured out a way for it to be credible. Seal pops in and reads Future Trevor, and sees his past, and the reader sees it through Seal's point of view. I'm not kidding but on the to do list, was a scene where Trevor and Seal talk about some sliver of his past while Seal eats a sandwich. Something so normal and relateable, it's perfect to me. But the weird thing for Seal is how do you react to seeing an alternate you getting killed. Hmm.
And going back to the to-do list; page one is almost done...then it's to page two, mwahahaha. Yeah. A-Squad and Steve were some ideas I had for awhile. But some readers will be like huh, what's Azuteor got to do with this? Part Five will be the conclusion of this arc and the last one I'll post this year (unless I really get into the zone). I, however, completely promise this will be a happy ending and not a cliffhanger, big omg, ending even though there will still be small questions left to answer. There won't be a scene where Trevor falls off a cliff and we don't see where he goes. But I admit, one of the final scenes will be a jaw dropper and I'm good for that, right? It's only a coincidence that this happy ending happens during the Christmas season. But course, before the happy ending, there must be a big, fat battle grand royale.
Part Five - The Beginning of the End - Part Four
People live their lives thanks to circadian rhythms that allow them to function at their best during a certain time of day through stimuli of familiar objects called associative triggers. We are creatures of routine and systems. But there is that third elusive structure that can lead to all sorts of amazing feats: spontaneity.
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Trevor is still staring at Future Trevor.
Trevor - “I hate practical jokes and I’m not above shooting you in the leg to show you my exact level of affection for them. Which one are you, Sterling or Marcusse?”
[Heroes Survival Game - Undaunted members]
Future Trevor - “I’m no shapeshifter. Not an illusion, neither. I am you. A one-eyed, one armed 4 years from the future parallel version of you.”
Trevor - “It’s easier for me to believe you’re a figment of my insanity. Plus, that’s a mouthful.”
Future Trevor - “For us, it was never about belief, not really even purpose, it is about conviction.”
Trevor - “It looks like your conviction got you where you are just fine.”
Future Trevor - “It’s time for both of us to accept the truth. Trevor Tanaka wants to save the world. But what if Trevor Tanaka could save the multiverse?”
[Hiro to Tadashi “Acceptance”]
Trevor - “Bored now, bye bye.”
[Justice League Unlimited - Question to Huntress - “Double Date”]
Trevor raises his gun again.
Future Trevor - “You know that won’t work on us.”
Trevor fires. Close up and slow frame on the bullet as it exits the gun chamber then slowly pan to Future Trevor. He stares at the bullet, counting off in his head, and sidesteps the bullet with ease.
Trevor - “…Because I memorized how long it takes a bullet to travel. That still doesn’t prove anything, only that I have to use a knife or my hands to kill you.”
Future Trevor laughs.
Future Trevor - “This always happens…”
Trevor - “What do…”
Future Trevor - “I mean? I spent 4 years traveling to multiple realities, meeting parallel Trevor’s; I get attacked, I explain everything, and I try to help them rectify one event that will change everything for the better.”
Trevor - “How can you even know what’s better?!”
Trevor drops his gun and tries to punch Future Trevor. Future Trevor sidesteps it, a second punch, a sweep, and punches Trevor as he’s about to deliver another round.
Future Trevor - “Again. Conviction.”
Trevor - “Why now?! You can..you can save her.”
Future Trevor - “Because she always dies.”
Trevor shakes his head in disbelief and strikes Future Trevor and tackles him into the dirt. He punches and punches Future Trevor repeatedly.
Trevor - “Who are you?!! If you don’t tell me now, I’ll have someone rip it out of you!!!”
[Homage to Matt Parkman]
Future Trevor - “My name is Trevor Tanaka. But when I was born, I was named…”
Zoom out. The conversation is inaudible. Trevor is taken aback and adjusts his posture and stands up. His breathing calms down. He offers to help up Future Trevor. Future Trevor is intrigued.
Future Trevor - “They never help me up. Never punched me, for that matter…Could this be the one? Is it true?”
Trevor - “That you’re a glutton for punishment?”
Future Trevor - “I did it. I found the original. Earth-Prime!”
[DC Comics, Dark Tower]
Trevor - “The original universe from which all universes originated from?”
Future Trevor - “Not just that, the keystone!! Change something here and you change the outcome in every universe.”
Trevor - “That’s totally not going to make me self-conscious for the rest of my life.”
Future Trevor - “It was some time before I could find James since I had no resources and was going on memory. We came up with a plan to try and stop this from happening. I’ve tried to save Undaunted 51 times and failed over and over. Then we decided on something more radical…Earth-Prime. This is it. This is my, our chance to make sure no more lives are lost here and anywhere. It takes only one small thing to upset the balance and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across time and space.”
Montage of Trevor and James visiting various realities.
[DC Comics - 52 and Ray Bradbury “A Sound of Thunder”]
Trevor - “You being here qualifies for that.”
Future Trevor - “They split an atom and dropped it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
[World War II - Atom Bomb]
Trevor - “Oh, well now I get it. But I only have dynamite.”
Future Trevor - “Of all the universes, you are the most abrasive.”
Trevor - “Now you’re just buttering me up.”
Trevor turns at the graves and holsters his gun.
Trevor - “My family is shrinking and our graveyard is getting bigger. Are you here to help me stop that?”
[Samuel - “Once Upon A Time In Texas”]
Seal walks out of the clearing looking at a piece of crumpled paper, not noticing the two Trevor’s.
Seal - “Trevor, you see this? We’ve got a big development going on…”
Seal looks up and sees the Trevor’s.
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART FOUR: POINT OF REFERENCE - in Heroes title font -
NOVEMBER 30, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Trevor is sitting on a stump, going over data on his hacked e-reader. Seal is sitting near him with a sandwich.
Seal - “What would you have named her?”
Trevor - “I don’t name my computers.”
Seal - “Your daughter.”
Trevor - “…We decided on Elisha. After one of my grandmothers.”
Seal - “Elisha.”
Seal is suddenly raised in the air by an unseen telekinetic. Trevor is unresponsive. Then a large explosion goes off in the background. Seal drops, Trevor catches him. He runs within the forest and brushes off a door. It opens and Trevor is about to throw Seal in, they are telekinetically shoved apart. Seal’s neck is snapped and he drops to the ground. More explosions are set off. Trees are seen falling.
Trevor walks toward the explosion. He sees a woman pinned under a tree trunk. He shoots at her offscreen. He keeps walking and shooting at three others, counting off with his free hand. He stops at a dead man.
He telekinetically shoves Trevor into a standing tree. Trevor wheezes. His ribs are broken. The man rises up slowly. He pats himself down, brushing dirt off of his clothes, and wipes blood off his forehead. He raises Trevor up with telekinesis.
Keith - “Explosive perimeter? How uninspiring, Trevor.”
Keith telekinetically slices across Trevor’s forehead.
Keith - “That was your big plan?!”
Keith telekinetically slices down Trevor’s right face through his eye. Trevor screams out loud.
Keith - “This is one big disappointment.”
Trevor - “Sorry, I just love the classic’s.”
Keith - “Famous last words. I’m going to just finish this fast. I’m not a big fan of the outdoors.”
Trevor - “It’s the smell, isn’t it? I’m not too crazy about it myself.”
Keith is unimpressed and is about to slice him again when another explosion detonates right under him. Trevor goes flying. He lands and tries to stand. He looks down and his arm is missing. He is silent, and then crawls into the forest. The smoke is finally clear, camera zooms out for a wide shot, bodies are everywhere, revealing the enemy faction’s handiwork.
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
Camera angle zoomed up on Seal’s face. He read Future Trevor.
Seal - “Trevor, my Trev..umm…can I talk to you over here?”
Trevor’s nod at each other. Trevor walks over to Seal.
Seal - “Alternate realities?”
Trevor - “Do you believe him?”
Seal - “He believes himself.”
Trevor - “Again, he could just believe in his lies.”
Seal - “But Trevor…he’s a future you.”
Trevor - “Yeah…it may get confusing and I have this gut feeling to call him Steve. It feels right.”
Seal frowns.
Trevor - “My objective is to protect everyone that is a member of Undaunted. He has intelligence that may prove useful toward our survival.”
Seal - “And the whole ‘saving the multiverse’?”
Trevor - “Meh.”
The Trevor’s are conversing alone. Future Trevor is typing on Trevor’s e-reader.
Future Trevor - “This is everything I know.”
He passes the tablet to Trevor.
Trevor - “Their leader is a skilled telekinetic. This won’t be the easiest kill.”
Future Trevor - “Two Trevor’s are better than one.”
Trevor - “Ugh. Can’t believe you just said that. I wish I could shoot you.”
Future Trevor - “When else can I use that phrase?”
Trevor - “Ah, good point. Where’s Future James?”
Future Trevor laughs at the term. Then has a grim look. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a stopwatch, running.
Future Trevor - “I have to find him at certain points and times around the planet. His body…couldn’t perceive the space-time continuum anymore and the only thing that could anchor him for a limited time is the planet’s leylines.”
Trevor - “But if this works, your reality at least, will reset and you won’t have to worry about finding your James. You two won’t even have time to click your heels together…”
Future Trevor - “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Trevor - “Meaning it’s not really about your Earth anymore.”
Future Trevor - “Where is Azuteor?”
Trevor - “I don’t know, probably procrastinating for a physics exam…You thinking A-Squad?”
Future Trevor - “A-Squad.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Trevor is still staring at Future Trevor.
Trevor - “I hate practical jokes and I’m not above shooting you in the leg to show you my exact level of affection for them. Which one are you, Sterling or Marcusse?”
[Heroes Survival Game - Undaunted members]
Future Trevor - “I’m no shapeshifter. Not an illusion, neither. I am you. A one-eyed, one armed 4 years from the future parallel version of you.”
Trevor - “It’s easier for me to believe you’re a figment of my insanity. Plus, that’s a mouthful.”
Future Trevor - “For us, it was never about belief, not really even purpose, it is about conviction.”
Trevor - “It looks like your conviction got you where you are just fine.”
Future Trevor - “It’s time for both of us to accept the truth. Trevor Tanaka wants to save the world. But what if Trevor Tanaka could save the multiverse?”
[Hiro to Tadashi “Acceptance”]
Trevor - “Bored now, bye bye.”
[Justice League Unlimited - Question to Huntress - “Double Date”]
Trevor raises his gun again.
Future Trevor - “You know that won’t work on us.”
Trevor fires. Close up and slow frame on the bullet as it exits the gun chamber then slowly pan to Future Trevor. He stares at the bullet, counting off in his head, and sidesteps the bullet with ease.
Trevor - “…Because I memorized how long it takes a bullet to travel. That still doesn’t prove anything, only that I have to use a knife or my hands to kill you.”
Future Trevor laughs.
Future Trevor - “This always happens…”
Trevor - “What do…”
Future Trevor - “I mean? I spent 4 years traveling to multiple realities, meeting parallel Trevor’s; I get attacked, I explain everything, and I try to help them rectify one event that will change everything for the better.”
Trevor - “How can you even know what’s better?!”
Trevor drops his gun and tries to punch Future Trevor. Future Trevor sidesteps it, a second punch, a sweep, and punches Trevor as he’s about to deliver another round.
Future Trevor - “Again. Conviction.”
Trevor - “Why now?! You can..you can save her.”
Future Trevor - “Because she always dies.”
Trevor shakes his head in disbelief and strikes Future Trevor and tackles him into the dirt. He punches and punches Future Trevor repeatedly.
Trevor - “Who are you?!! If you don’t tell me now, I’ll have someone rip it out of you!!!”
[Homage to Matt Parkman]
Future Trevor - “My name is Trevor Tanaka. But when I was born, I was named…”
Zoom out. The conversation is inaudible. Trevor is taken aback and adjusts his posture and stands up. His breathing calms down. He offers to help up Future Trevor. Future Trevor is intrigued.
Future Trevor - “They never help me up. Never punched me, for that matter…Could this be the one? Is it true?”
Trevor - “That you’re a glutton for punishment?”
Future Trevor - “I did it. I found the original. Earth-Prime!”
[DC Comics, Dark Tower]
Trevor - “The original universe from which all universes originated from?”
Future Trevor - “Not just that, the keystone!! Change something here and you change the outcome in every universe.”
Trevor - “That’s totally not going to make me self-conscious for the rest of my life.”
Future Trevor - “It was some time before I could find James since I had no resources and was going on memory. We came up with a plan to try and stop this from happening. I’ve tried to save Undaunted 51 times and failed over and over. Then we decided on something more radical…Earth-Prime. This is it. This is my, our chance to make sure no more lives are lost here and anywhere. It takes only one small thing to upset the balance and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across time and space.”
Montage of Trevor and James visiting various realities.
[DC Comics - 52 and Ray Bradbury “A Sound of Thunder”]
Trevor - “You being here qualifies for that.”
Future Trevor - “They split an atom and dropped it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
[World War II - Atom Bomb]
Trevor - “Oh, well now I get it. But I only have dynamite.”
Future Trevor - “Of all the universes, you are the most abrasive.”
Trevor - “Now you’re just buttering me up.”
Trevor turns at the graves and holsters his gun.
Trevor - “My family is shrinking and our graveyard is getting bigger. Are you here to help me stop that?”
[Samuel - “Once Upon A Time In Texas”]
Seal walks out of the clearing looking at a piece of crumpled paper, not noticing the two Trevor’s.
Seal - “Trevor, you see this? We’ve got a big development going on…”
Seal looks up and sees the Trevor’s.
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART FOUR: POINT OF REFERENCE - in Heroes title font -
NOVEMBER 30, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Trevor is sitting on a stump, going over data on his hacked e-reader. Seal is sitting near him with a sandwich.
Seal - “What would you have named her?”
Trevor - “I don’t name my computers.”
Seal - “Your daughter.”
Trevor - “…We decided on Elisha. After one of my grandmothers.”
Seal - “Elisha.”
Seal is suddenly raised in the air by an unseen telekinetic. Trevor is unresponsive. Then a large explosion goes off in the background. Seal drops, Trevor catches him. He runs within the forest and brushes off a door. It opens and Trevor is about to throw Seal in, they are telekinetically shoved apart. Seal’s neck is snapped and he drops to the ground. More explosions are set off. Trees are seen falling.
Trevor walks toward the explosion. He sees a woman pinned under a tree trunk. He shoots at her offscreen. He keeps walking and shooting at three others, counting off with his free hand. He stops at a dead man.
He telekinetically shoves Trevor into a standing tree. Trevor wheezes. His ribs are broken. The man rises up slowly. He pats himself down, brushing dirt off of his clothes, and wipes blood off his forehead. He raises Trevor up with telekinesis.
Keith - “Explosive perimeter? How uninspiring, Trevor.”
Keith telekinetically slices across Trevor’s forehead.
Keith - “That was your big plan?!”
Keith telekinetically slices down Trevor’s right face through his eye. Trevor screams out loud.
Keith - “This is one big disappointment.”
Trevor - “Sorry, I just love the classic’s.”
Keith - “Famous last words. I’m going to just finish this fast. I’m not a big fan of the outdoors.”
Trevor - “It’s the smell, isn’t it? I’m not too crazy about it myself.”
Keith is unimpressed and is about to slice him again when another explosion detonates right under him. Trevor goes flying. He lands and tries to stand. He looks down and his arm is missing. He is silent, and then crawls into the forest. The smoke is finally clear, camera zooms out for a wide shot, bodies are everywhere, revealing the enemy faction’s handiwork.
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
Camera angle zoomed up on Seal’s face. He read Future Trevor.
Seal - “Trevor, my Trev..umm…can I talk to you over here?”
Trevor’s nod at each other. Trevor walks over to Seal.
Seal - “Alternate realities?”
Trevor - “Do you believe him?”
Seal - “He believes himself.”
Trevor - “Again, he could just believe in his lies.”
Seal - “But Trevor…he’s a future you.”
Trevor - “Yeah…it may get confusing and I have this gut feeling to call him Steve. It feels right.”
Seal frowns.
Trevor - “My objective is to protect everyone that is a member of Undaunted. He has intelligence that may prove useful toward our survival.”
Seal - “And the whole ‘saving the multiverse’?”
Trevor - “Meh.”
The Trevor’s are conversing alone. Future Trevor is typing on Trevor’s e-reader.
Future Trevor - “This is everything I know.”
He passes the tablet to Trevor.
Trevor - “Their leader is a skilled telekinetic. This won’t be the easiest kill.”
Future Trevor - “Two Trevor’s are better than one.”
Trevor - “Ugh. Can’t believe you just said that. I wish I could shoot you.”
Future Trevor - “When else can I use that phrase?”
Trevor - “Ah, good point. Where’s Future James?”
Future Trevor laughs at the term. Then has a grim look. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a stopwatch, running.
Future Trevor - “I have to find him at certain points and times around the planet. His body…couldn’t perceive the space-time continuum anymore and the only thing that could anchor him for a limited time is the planet’s leylines.”
Trevor - “But if this works, your reality at least, will reset and you won’t have to worry about finding your James. You two won’t even have time to click your heels together…”
Future Trevor - “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Trevor - “Meaning it’s not really about your Earth anymore.”
Future Trevor - “Where is Azuteor?”
Trevor - “I don’t know, probably procrastinating for a physics exam…You thinking A-Squad?”
Future Trevor - “A-Squad.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
December 5, 2009
Commentary - The Beginning of the End - Part Three
I'm so happy I questioned my outline and this shifted story to the part three slot. It's a nice epilogue to the previous two while setting up more plots. Einstein, Walt Whitman, and Future Trevor have been on the list for awhile. I never imagined it'd be in the same story.
Anyway, here we are continuing directly after the end of part two and the story shifts back to Trevor. I noticed how he's always has his tech set up before hand and his dynamite on timer so here I threw in the bit of him tinkering. Apparently he knows how to hack a Kindle and turn it into a tablet PC, go figure. Must be from those years growing up on MacGyver. This scene also lends to the idea that Trevor feels he can't return to his hideouts right now because of past events and they might be compromised, too. So it seems like he's setting up something in Shawnee...without tipping off the park rangers.
I also had some fun including some operative terms in Trevor's dialogue. From studying Primatech's files for so long, he starting to talk like them, in a way. Very subtle but if anything it gets a giggle out of me. I also felt the need to bring back the compulsive side of his power, too, with the various quotes and references when he speaks to Sparkplug. And it always seems like Trevor is self-absorbed or two steps ahead of everyone so I planted that here when he's triangulating the Carnival and Sparkplug is still talking or he pulls the ol Batman and vanishes. Then there's the impiled joke that he wants to use Sparkplug as a glorified battery pack jumper.
Seal's opening scene was in the plans from when I had the massacre in mind. Toying with the rules of his power, I figured a horrific event like this is enough to mess with Seal's emotions and control of his power. Trevor knows this and tries to help him get his groove back. It was also an attempt on my part to explore a cynical side of Seal. Even guys like him can have a bad day.
After watching "The Fifth Stage" I did a quick edit of the story and integrated the episode into this story to make things mesh better and take care of continuity. I planned on having Trevor and Lydia meet but modified it after the episode, too. I hope people got the feel that Trevor didn't care or knew what Lydia's reading was before he stepping in there. He just wanted to establish to Lydia that he knows about Amanda and extended an olive branch to her. Never thought I'd quote Gretchen but it works. The Carnival is essentially the opposite of Undaunted. Both want to protect their own but it soon deviates after that. One stays of out of sight, One stays in plain sight. One makes money off their powers, one doesn't. And so on.
And sort of in the theme of the world turned upside down, Seal is down on his luck and Trevor reveals more about his own thoughts on love and such. And to top it off he uses Jennie Bowman, who is adorable, to help Seal remember. And part of it I used Charles Deveaux words with Peter in his precog dream from the season one finale, which is one of my favorite moments to date.
The Versa. Why not? I kept the explanation out, but I suspect Trevor asked Kutar for a car and he got this. It would have been comic gold but some things are best left out for a reason. And to signal that Seal got his powers back, he senses some evil things going down. I imagine this is when Samuel kills the drunk pitcher.
Then do the send off with one my favorite parts of an episode but equally tricky to execute, the montage of muted scenes with the Heroes theme. Walt Whitman is up there with Frost as a favorite poet of mine. But I was little miffed when I saw a Levis commercial that used some of the same verses I did. Go figure. Then just when you're in that mode of awe and the emotions are settling down...bang, I throw you a curve ball! Say hello to Mr. Future Trevor.
I found it logical and silly to make Future Trevor dressed in black and scarred like the rest of the Future Folk. So as one would guess, this sets up a new direction in the arc. A second Beginning of the End scenario! Didn't see that coming didja? So yes, there's going to be one-two more parts left before I take a break from writing this year. It'll address Future Trevor, how'd he get there, what does he want, what happened to his face and arm (I ain't waiting...Future Peter), will he convince our Trevor to do what he wants, will there be a phrase that involves a cheerleader?, all that and a bag of B-Story featuring another Undaunted figure.
Anyway, here we are continuing directly after the end of part two and the story shifts back to Trevor. I noticed how he's always has his tech set up before hand and his dynamite on timer so here I threw in the bit of him tinkering. Apparently he knows how to hack a Kindle and turn it into a tablet PC, go figure. Must be from those years growing up on MacGyver. This scene also lends to the idea that Trevor feels he can't return to his hideouts right now because of past events and they might be compromised, too. So it seems like he's setting up something in Shawnee...without tipping off the park rangers.
I also had some fun including some operative terms in Trevor's dialogue. From studying Primatech's files for so long, he starting to talk like them, in a way. Very subtle but if anything it gets a giggle out of me. I also felt the need to bring back the compulsive side of his power, too, with the various quotes and references when he speaks to Sparkplug. And it always seems like Trevor is self-absorbed or two steps ahead of everyone so I planted that here when he's triangulating the Carnival and Sparkplug is still talking or he pulls the ol Batman and vanishes. Then there's the impiled joke that he wants to use Sparkplug as a glorified battery pack jumper.
Seal's opening scene was in the plans from when I had the massacre in mind. Toying with the rules of his power, I figured a horrific event like this is enough to mess with Seal's emotions and control of his power. Trevor knows this and tries to help him get his groove back. It was also an attempt on my part to explore a cynical side of Seal. Even guys like him can have a bad day.
After watching "The Fifth Stage" I did a quick edit of the story and integrated the episode into this story to make things mesh better and take care of continuity. I planned on having Trevor and Lydia meet but modified it after the episode, too. I hope people got the feel that Trevor didn't care or knew what Lydia's reading was before he stepping in there. He just wanted to establish to Lydia that he knows about Amanda and extended an olive branch to her. Never thought I'd quote Gretchen but it works. The Carnival is essentially the opposite of Undaunted. Both want to protect their own but it soon deviates after that. One stays of out of sight, One stays in plain sight. One makes money off their powers, one doesn't. And so on.
And sort of in the theme of the world turned upside down, Seal is down on his luck and Trevor reveals more about his own thoughts on love and such. And to top it off he uses Jennie Bowman, who is adorable, to help Seal remember. And part of it I used Charles Deveaux words with Peter in his precog dream from the season one finale, which is one of my favorite moments to date.
The Versa. Why not? I kept the explanation out, but I suspect Trevor asked Kutar for a car and he got this. It would have been comic gold but some things are best left out for a reason. And to signal that Seal got his powers back, he senses some evil things going down. I imagine this is when Samuel kills the drunk pitcher.
Then do the send off with one my favorite parts of an episode but equally tricky to execute, the montage of muted scenes with the Heroes theme. Walt Whitman is up there with Frost as a favorite poet of mine. But I was little miffed when I saw a Levis commercial that used some of the same verses I did. Go figure. Then just when you're in that mode of awe and the emotions are settling down...bang, I throw you a curve ball! Say hello to Mr. Future Trevor.
I found it logical and silly to make Future Trevor dressed in black and scarred like the rest of the Future Folk. So as one would guess, this sets up a new direction in the arc. A second Beginning of the End scenario! Didn't see that coming didja? So yes, there's going to be one-two more parts left before I take a break from writing this year. It'll address Future Trevor, how'd he get there, what does he want, what happened to his face and arm (I ain't waiting...Future Peter), will he convince our Trevor to do what he wants, will there be a phrase that involves a cheerleader?, all that and a bag of B-Story featuring another Undaunted figure.
December 4, 2009
Part Five - The Beginning of The End - Part Three
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Trevor is sitting on a stump trying to modify an e-reader. He is inserting various components into the reader’s exposed compartment. Trevor closes the compartment back up and turns on the device. It chirps on and boots. After a few seconds, Trevor begins to touch the screen and skims through something. The camera angle swoops around and from Trevor’s point of view, he is looking at a list of messages that are running down the screen. The top of the screen reads “Urgent Requests.”
[Heroes Survival Game - Urgent Requests]
Up ahead, Mack Johnston walks out from the forest, without his signature baseball hat on. Trevor doesn’t look at him and continues reading.
Sparkplug - “Are we going to answer any of them, today?”
Trevor - “No. Seal approved a lockdown protocol and the word is being spread to whoever is still listening or cares.”
Sparkplug - “And that goes for recruiting, as well.”
Trevor - “Especially. Who knows if there is already grass planted.”
Johnston pauses, studying Trevor’s choice of terminology.
Trevor - “The Powers That Be often plant double agents abroad. It takes years, even decades before they are finally commissioned to complete their mission.”
[Lone Wolf and Cub]
Johnston - “A lot of us thought the same thing about you when you arrived without warning from Seal or Marc. But.”
Trevor - “But?”
Johnston - “Since then, most of us concluded on crazed loner, bud.”
[Justice League Unlimited “Flash and Substance”]
Trevor - “Mnn. Close enough.”
Johnston - “Ha. Sometimes, it still amazes me how we’re all together; protecting each other, fighting the good fight, and maybe even saving the world one day.”
Trevor looks up and puts the reader aside.
Trevor - “I’ve been hunted for two years, ten months, and four days by various people. But I hunted them back; criss-crossing the world, never staying in one place for long, that is until Undaunted came to my attention. Along the way, I always learned something new. Everybody has a talent, Mack, it was only a matter of moving around until you discovered what it is.”
[George Lucas]
Sparkplug - “But are you happy?”
Trevor - “…Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.”
[Albert Einstein]
Sparkplug - “Huh. Whoever said that was no Einstein.”
Even Trevor laughs at this.
Trevor - “It’s all relative, I suppose.”
Sparkplug - “If you could, Trevor, would you change your past? Do something different?”
Trevor - “No. Another me somewhere in the multiverse made that choice. If I did, this conversation would become hypertime and the other reality would probably implode.”
Sparkplug - “How about if there were no multiverse, just the one?”
[Science, Comic Books]
Trevor - “Whatever happened, happened.”
[Lost]
Sparkplug - “Even if time was running out and you had to make a decision that would kill billions of people?”
Trevor - “Time is fickle. It’s not something you just fight and that’s the end. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a non-spatial continuum in which events occur linearly usually in the direction of increased entropy.”
[Justice League Unlimited “The Once and Future Thing” Part Two: Time Warped]
Sparkplug - “Alright. Say a future you showed up and gave you a set of instructions.”
[Volume One]
Trevor loses interest and picks up the e-reader. He suddenly sees something very important and focuses on it.
Sparkplug - “What is it?”
Trevor - “Looks like Undaunted is answering a message today, after all.”
Trevor stands up. Part of the message can be seen on the screen: “…found the Carnival…Amanda”
[Heroes Survival Game - Faction Message]
Sparkplug - “Need back up?”
Trevor - “Just need to triangulate then Google Map it…Ohio? Well, that’s too good to pass up. I need you for something else. Kutar and Kupe are summoning various electronics I requested for new infrastructure.”
[Google Maps and Heroes Survival Game characters in Undaunted]
Sparkplug - “On it. Be careful, eh?”
Trevor is already gone. Johnston laughs out loud.
[Batman]
Seal is knelt down in the middle of the graveyard. He cups his mouth with his right hand and both eyes are closed.
Trevor - “Even though we’re temporarily shielded and hidden from sight, you shouldn’t be alone out in the open.”
Seal turns around and sees Trevor standing near the forest.
Seal - “How in God’s name could He let this happen, Trevor?”
Trevor - “God doesn’t factor into this. We’re the ones who act as gods and that is always a dangerous game, Clark.”
[Volume Two - Hiro and Kaito Nakamura’s conversation]
Seal staggers up onto his feet.
Seal - “94 deaths and dozens have left in fear. We should…”
Trevor - “I agree. But we can’t recruit right now. We just have to find who’s still with us."
Seal - “Disband.”
Trevor - “Oh.”
Seal - “Undaunted started out to protect people. We didn’t do a very good job lately.”
Trevor - “It’s not your fault, Clark. Not anyone’s.”
Seal - “You’re one man. I am, too. We were hundreds in number and we still got caught offguard in the blink of an eye. Melody didn’t calculate it. The telepaths didn’t detect it. The precogs never saw it. Tell me how we could have known.”
[Melody Beatrix, Undaunted, Heroes Survival Game]
Trevor - “Come with me, Clark. This will do the both of us some good. It’ll help you realign your ability”
Seal - “How did…Where?”
Trevor - “You’ll see.”
The camera zooms in on Seal.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER…
SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN OHIO
Seal and Trevor are standing in the parking lot looking at a colorful sign: Sullivan Bros. Carnival.
Seal - “A Carnival? Never pegged you as the type, Trevor.”
Trevor - “You’re right. I’m not.”
Seal - “You have your gun, don’t you?”
Trevor - “Have I become that predictable? I must be in a rut…”
They walk forward into the entrance.
Seal is eating cotton candy and Trevor picks at popcorn.
Seal - “I’m not sure about this.”
Trevor - “Everything tastes better when you’re a child.”
Seal - “Wasn’t talking about the food.”
Trevor - “Neither was I.”
Seal - “What do we know about this Amanda?”
Trevor - “Today, she’s our pair of dice.”
Seal - “We all pegged you as a man of science.”
Trevor - “Faith has its place. Both intersect eventually.”
[Lost - Man of Science, Man of Faith]
The two walk past a Milk Can Toss booth. A burly man is playing as a young girl, Claire Bennet, and Gretchen Berg watch. They overhear an announcement for Lydia.
[Volume 5 “The Fifth Stage”]
Trevor - “Speak of the devil.”
They enter the tent. Lydia is sitting inside.
Lydia - “Hello, boys. Which one of you is paying?”
Seal - “Trevor, wait, she…”
Trevor holds Lydia’s hands. She closes her eyes and reads him.
Lydia - “You’re the one that got away, Trevor Tanaka. That is what you call yourself these days, isn’t it?”
Trevor’s face appears on Lydia’s arm as a tattoo. But the right side is obscured in darkness.
Lydia - “Living in two worlds…that must be difficult. The past and present intertwine. You yearn for someone left behind but put it aside for your people…Trevor, you can only have one life. You will become a great man, but you must make a choice.”
Trevor - “So it seems. Thank you, miss.”
Lydia - “You’re welcome. Thank you.”
Seal walks out. Trevor is about to but stops at the entranceway.
Trevor - “Are you the one that needs our help?”
Lydia - “Sorry. Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Trevor - “My mistake. Could you tell me where I can find Amanda Strazzulla’s mother?”
Lydia - “…”
Trevor - “We’ll be watching. When the time is right, Amanda will be extracted. Just don’t lose that cell phone.”
Lydia - “Enjoy the rest of the night, boys.”
Trevor and Seal continue walking through the Carnival.
Seal - “So we’re not rescuing this girl, tonight?”
Trevor - “Just nailing down the lay of the land. Every one of these carnies has an advanced ability. It won’t be a standard op.”
Seal - “But these people don’t have bad intentions…”
Trevor - “They’re super powered con artists, Clark. Completely opposite of how we do things.”
[Volume 5 “The Fifth Stage” - Gretchen Berg]
Seal - “Why am I here again, Trevor?”
They stop.
Trevor - “You came here because you needed to. When I look into your eyes, Clark, I see compassion, empathy and most of all, I see hope. This world won’t be saved on strength and smarts, alone. It needs heart. Love.”
[Volume One “How To Stop An Exploding Man” - Peter Petrelli and Charles Deveaux]
Seal is more than dumb-founded as Trevor motions him to look forward. The Bowman’s perform their act. Jennie Bowman lets out a pyrokinetic burst in a solo performance. She cheers at her accomplishment. Amanda steps forward and raises two columns of flames. They take acknowledge the crowd’s cheers and clapping, embrace each other, and leave the stage. Seal smiles.
Seal - “Love.”
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART THREE: NEVER THE END - in Heroes title font -
Trevor and Seal are leaving and are entering a blue Nissan Versa. Seal flinches in his seat. A flash of Samuel’s face appears in an instant and vanishes.
Trevor - “What is it, Spidey?”
[Spider-Man]
Seal - “We need to leave, fast.”
The Versa drives off.
A muted montage scene begins with the Heroes theme playing.
For we cannot tarry here
Elle Bishop storms down the hallway of Level 5. The inmates watch.
[Volume Three]
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger
Trevor points his gun out from the shadows.
[Phase Three]
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend
Matt Parkman holds his son. Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi watch.
[Volume Four]
Pioneers! O Pioneers!
Trevor walks up to a grassy field and sees Seal.
O you youths, Western youths
Hiro Nakamura, Ando Masahashi, and Kimiko Nakamura pose for their photo at the Carnival in Japan.
So impatient, full of action, fully of manly pride and friendship
Claire Bennet hugs Gretchen Berg and says her goodbyes at the Carnival.
[Volume 5 “The Fifth Stage”]
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost
Samuel Sullivan and Lydia watch Claire and Gretchen.
Pioneers! O Pioneers!
Dr. Mohinder Suresh smiles in glee as he cracks the password on his late father’s program in India.
[Volume One]
Have the elder races halted?
Charles Deveaux and Angela Petrelli have their final discussion together.
[Volume One]
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
The Company founders quiet and pose for their group shot.
[Volume 2]
We take up the task eternal and the burden and the lesson
Peter Petrelli, Nathan Petrelli, and Matt Parkman discuss plans in Primatech Paper’s Level 3 Vault.
Pioneers! O Pioneers!
[Walt Whitman]
Trevor and Seal stand in the graveyard. Trevor pats his right hand on Seal’s shoulder. He nods and smiles. Seal says something and walks away. Trevor remains and stares at the graves.
All of a sudden, he turns around with his gun drawn. He is almost literally paralyzed with shock at what he sees. The camera pans around to see who it is. Trevor is aiming at another Trevor. The second Trevor’s right side is half cloaked in the shadow of the forest, just like Lydia’s tattoo.
The second Trevor walks forward two steps and reveals himself. He is dressed and layered in black much like Future Peter and Hiro. His right eye is covered up and a scar runs down it from his forehead to his cheek through the eye. Another scar goes horizontal across his forehead.
From the second Trevor’s point of view, Trevor slowly lowers the gun in disbelief. The camera rotates to give a full shot of the second Trevor. Noticeably, his right arm is missing as his empty sleeve flutters in the breeze. Zoom out as the two stare at each other.
TO BE CONTINUED…
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Trevor is sitting on a stump trying to modify an e-reader. He is inserting various components into the reader’s exposed compartment. Trevor closes the compartment back up and turns on the device. It chirps on and boots. After a few seconds, Trevor begins to touch the screen and skims through something. The camera angle swoops around and from Trevor’s point of view, he is looking at a list of messages that are running down the screen. The top of the screen reads “Urgent Requests.”
[Heroes Survival Game - Urgent Requests]
Up ahead, Mack Johnston walks out from the forest, without his signature baseball hat on. Trevor doesn’t look at him and continues reading.
Sparkplug - “Are we going to answer any of them, today?”
Trevor - “No. Seal approved a lockdown protocol and the word is being spread to whoever is still listening or cares.”
Sparkplug - “And that goes for recruiting, as well.”
Trevor - “Especially. Who knows if there is already grass planted.”
Johnston pauses, studying Trevor’s choice of terminology.
Trevor - “The Powers That Be often plant double agents abroad. It takes years, even decades before they are finally commissioned to complete their mission.”
[Lone Wolf and Cub]
Johnston - “A lot of us thought the same thing about you when you arrived without warning from Seal or Marc. But.”
Trevor - “But?”
Johnston - “Since then, most of us concluded on crazed loner, bud.”
[Justice League Unlimited “Flash and Substance”]
Trevor - “Mnn. Close enough.”
Johnston - “Ha. Sometimes, it still amazes me how we’re all together; protecting each other, fighting the good fight, and maybe even saving the world one day.”
Trevor looks up and puts the reader aside.
Trevor - “I’ve been hunted for two years, ten months, and four days by various people. But I hunted them back; criss-crossing the world, never staying in one place for long, that is until Undaunted came to my attention. Along the way, I always learned something new. Everybody has a talent, Mack, it was only a matter of moving around until you discovered what it is.”
[George Lucas]
Sparkplug - “But are you happy?”
Trevor - “…Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.”
[Albert Einstein]
Sparkplug - “Huh. Whoever said that was no Einstein.”
Even Trevor laughs at this.
Trevor - “It’s all relative, I suppose.”
Sparkplug - “If you could, Trevor, would you change your past? Do something different?”
Trevor - “No. Another me somewhere in the multiverse made that choice. If I did, this conversation would become hypertime and the other reality would probably implode.”
Sparkplug - “How about if there were no multiverse, just the one?”
[Science, Comic Books]
Trevor - “Whatever happened, happened.”
[Lost]
Sparkplug - “Even if time was running out and you had to make a decision that would kill billions of people?”
Trevor - “Time is fickle. It’s not something you just fight and that’s the end. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a non-spatial continuum in which events occur linearly usually in the direction of increased entropy.”
[Justice League Unlimited “The Once and Future Thing” Part Two: Time Warped]
Sparkplug - “Alright. Say a future you showed up and gave you a set of instructions.”
[Volume One]
Trevor loses interest and picks up the e-reader. He suddenly sees something very important and focuses on it.
Sparkplug - “What is it?”
Trevor - “Looks like Undaunted is answering a message today, after all.”
Trevor stands up. Part of the message can be seen on the screen: “…found the Carnival…Amanda”
[Heroes Survival Game - Faction Message]
Sparkplug - “Need back up?”
Trevor - “Just need to triangulate then Google Map it…Ohio? Well, that’s too good to pass up. I need you for something else. Kutar and Kupe are summoning various electronics I requested for new infrastructure.”
[Google Maps and Heroes Survival Game characters in Undaunted]
Sparkplug - “On it. Be careful, eh?”
Trevor is already gone. Johnston laughs out loud.
[Batman]
Seal is knelt down in the middle of the graveyard. He cups his mouth with his right hand and both eyes are closed.
Trevor - “Even though we’re temporarily shielded and hidden from sight, you shouldn’t be alone out in the open.”
Seal turns around and sees Trevor standing near the forest.
Seal - “How in God’s name could He let this happen, Trevor?”
Trevor - “God doesn’t factor into this. We’re the ones who act as gods and that is always a dangerous game, Clark.”
[Volume Two - Hiro and Kaito Nakamura’s conversation]
Seal staggers up onto his feet.
Seal - “94 deaths and dozens have left in fear. We should…”
Trevor - “I agree. But we can’t recruit right now. We just have to find who’s still with us."
Seal - “Disband.”
Trevor - “Oh.”
Seal - “Undaunted started out to protect people. We didn’t do a very good job lately.”
Trevor - “It’s not your fault, Clark. Not anyone’s.”
Seal - “You’re one man. I am, too. We were hundreds in number and we still got caught offguard in the blink of an eye. Melody didn’t calculate it. The telepaths didn’t detect it. The precogs never saw it. Tell me how we could have known.”
[Melody Beatrix, Undaunted, Heroes Survival Game]
Trevor - “Come with me, Clark. This will do the both of us some good. It’ll help you realign your ability”
Seal - “How did…Where?”
Trevor - “You’ll see.”
The camera zooms in on Seal.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER…
SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN OHIO
Seal and Trevor are standing in the parking lot looking at a colorful sign: Sullivan Bros. Carnival.
Seal - “A Carnival? Never pegged you as the type, Trevor.”
Trevor - “You’re right. I’m not.”
Seal - “You have your gun, don’t you?”
Trevor - “Have I become that predictable? I must be in a rut…”
They walk forward into the entrance.
Seal is eating cotton candy and Trevor picks at popcorn.
Seal - “I’m not sure about this.”
Trevor - “Everything tastes better when you’re a child.”
Seal - “Wasn’t talking about the food.”
Trevor - “Neither was I.”
Seal - “What do we know about this Amanda?”
Trevor - “Today, she’s our pair of dice.”
Seal - “We all pegged you as a man of science.”
Trevor - “Faith has its place. Both intersect eventually.”
[Lost - Man of Science, Man of Faith]
The two walk past a Milk Can Toss booth. A burly man is playing as a young girl, Claire Bennet, and Gretchen Berg watch. They overhear an announcement for Lydia.
[Volume 5 “The Fifth Stage”]
Trevor - “Speak of the devil.”
They enter the tent. Lydia is sitting inside.
Lydia - “Hello, boys. Which one of you is paying?”
Seal - “Trevor, wait, she…”
Trevor holds Lydia’s hands. She closes her eyes and reads him.
Lydia - “You’re the one that got away, Trevor Tanaka. That is what you call yourself these days, isn’t it?”
Trevor’s face appears on Lydia’s arm as a tattoo. But the right side is obscured in darkness.
Lydia - “Living in two worlds…that must be difficult. The past and present intertwine. You yearn for someone left behind but put it aside for your people…Trevor, you can only have one life. You will become a great man, but you must make a choice.”
Trevor - “So it seems. Thank you, miss.”
Lydia - “You’re welcome. Thank you.”
Seal walks out. Trevor is about to but stops at the entranceway.
Trevor - “Are you the one that needs our help?”
Lydia - “Sorry. Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Trevor - “My mistake. Could you tell me where I can find Amanda Strazzulla’s mother?”
Lydia - “…”
Trevor - “We’ll be watching. When the time is right, Amanda will be extracted. Just don’t lose that cell phone.”
Lydia - “Enjoy the rest of the night, boys.”
Trevor and Seal continue walking through the Carnival.
Seal - “So we’re not rescuing this girl, tonight?”
Trevor - “Just nailing down the lay of the land. Every one of these carnies has an advanced ability. It won’t be a standard op.”
Seal - “But these people don’t have bad intentions…”
Trevor - “They’re super powered con artists, Clark. Completely opposite of how we do things.”
[Volume 5 “The Fifth Stage” - Gretchen Berg]
Seal - “Why am I here again, Trevor?”
They stop.
Trevor - “You came here because you needed to. When I look into your eyes, Clark, I see compassion, empathy and most of all, I see hope. This world won’t be saved on strength and smarts, alone. It needs heart. Love.”
[Volume One “How To Stop An Exploding Man” - Peter Petrelli and Charles Deveaux]
Seal is more than dumb-founded as Trevor motions him to look forward. The Bowman’s perform their act. Jennie Bowman lets out a pyrokinetic burst in a solo performance. She cheers at her accomplishment. Amanda steps forward and raises two columns of flames. They take acknowledge the crowd’s cheers and clapping, embrace each other, and leave the stage. Seal smiles.
Seal - “Love.”
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART THREE: NEVER THE END - in Heroes title font -
Trevor and Seal are leaving and are entering a blue Nissan Versa. Seal flinches in his seat. A flash of Samuel’s face appears in an instant and vanishes.
Trevor - “What is it, Spidey?”
[Spider-Man]
Seal - “We need to leave, fast.”
The Versa drives off.
A muted montage scene begins with the Heroes theme playing.
For we cannot tarry here
Elle Bishop storms down the hallway of Level 5. The inmates watch.
[Volume Three]
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger
Trevor points his gun out from the shadows.
[Phase Three]
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend
Matt Parkman holds his son. Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi watch.
[Volume Four]
Pioneers! O Pioneers!
Trevor walks up to a grassy field and sees Seal.
O you youths, Western youths
Hiro Nakamura, Ando Masahashi, and Kimiko Nakamura pose for their photo at the Carnival in Japan.
So impatient, full of action, fully of manly pride and friendship
Claire Bennet hugs Gretchen Berg and says her goodbyes at the Carnival.
[Volume 5 “The Fifth Stage”]
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost
Samuel Sullivan and Lydia watch Claire and Gretchen.
Pioneers! O Pioneers!
Dr. Mohinder Suresh smiles in glee as he cracks the password on his late father’s program in India.
[Volume One]
Have the elder races halted?
Charles Deveaux and Angela Petrelli have their final discussion together.
[Volume One]
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
The Company founders quiet and pose for their group shot.
[Volume 2]
We take up the task eternal and the burden and the lesson
Peter Petrelli, Nathan Petrelli, and Matt Parkman discuss plans in Primatech Paper’s Level 3 Vault.
Pioneers! O Pioneers!
[Walt Whitman]
Trevor and Seal stand in the graveyard. Trevor pats his right hand on Seal’s shoulder. He nods and smiles. Seal says something and walks away. Trevor remains and stares at the graves.
All of a sudden, he turns around with his gun drawn. He is almost literally paralyzed with shock at what he sees. The camera pans around to see who it is. Trevor is aiming at another Trevor. The second Trevor’s right side is half cloaked in the shadow of the forest, just like Lydia’s tattoo.
The second Trevor walks forward two steps and reveals himself. He is dressed and layered in black much like Future Peter and Hiro. His right eye is covered up and a scar runs down it from his forehead to his cheek through the eye. Another scar goes horizontal across his forehead.
From the second Trevor’s point of view, Trevor slowly lowers the gun in disbelief. The camera rotates to give a full shot of the second Trevor. Noticeably, his right arm is missing as his empty sleeve flutters in the breeze. Zoom out as the two stare at each other.
TO BE CONTINUED…
November 30, 2009
Commentary - The Beginning of the End - Part Two
Part two was my first real challenge to write and I shuffled a lot of plot points and racked my noggin getting into the mindset of someone else's character, Sparkplug. The story was supposed to double as both a 'eulogy' of sorts to part one and convey that deep thinking characteristic of him. I'm not a 100% happy with the final product but I think it achieved the solemn yet powerful tone.
I had this sub-plot involving the Carnival but I felt it detracted too much away from the Massacre and spun it off for part three.
NOVEMBER 27
My nickname for this section was 'The Revenge Squad Strikes Back.' I wanted to the reveal of Trevor, Mack, and John to be loosely based on the bad-assery from that one scene from The Matrix when the whole team appears in the Matrix to meet the Oracle. Going with the pov of Sparkplug, I replaced the phone as the medium of introduction with a streetlight.
Saved from last issue, I decided to reveal the final words of Phillip DeParis for this one and delivered it through an evolution of Sparkplug's power, to generate an electromagnetic pulse. The writers of the show seem to bounce from reason to reason, but I'm pretty sure emotions are a sticking point for controlling powers. Here, it comes into play. Since Sparkplug is a reserved and introspective person, being able go beyond what he knows of his power requires a lot of anger.
Of course, we've got Trevor and his gun but the majority of the story is Mack in action. Then to cap off the attack with another cool use of a power, I wrote in Azuteor to demolish the building and send the faction leader down to the center of the earth, not the best way to die but justifiable?
NOVEMBER 28
I starting writing this issue with the idea that Mack would narrate the majority of it as he speaks to Blue at his grave and explain to him what happened after he died. It was his way of resolution and saying goodbye to a good friend. Another idea I had was to have Sparkplug have his interpretation of teammates revealed, Trevor and Seal in particular. It's always interesting to me to see how people view each other.
Then to end the day, I imagined Mack would make a gesture to Blue's grave and nothing was more fitting than using his iconic baseball hat.
2000
I've been a fan of the implied optimistic endings so I decided to stick in this flashback of when Mack first discovered his power. In comparison with the A-Plot, this epilogue of sorts is meant to strike home that even in the darkest hour of life, there is always hope.
NEXT TIME...
Tattoos, Gypsies, Props, and Choices
I had this sub-plot involving the Carnival but I felt it detracted too much away from the Massacre and spun it off for part three.
NOVEMBER 27
My nickname for this section was 'The Revenge Squad Strikes Back.' I wanted to the reveal of Trevor, Mack, and John to be loosely based on the bad-assery from that one scene from The Matrix when the whole team appears in the Matrix to meet the Oracle. Going with the pov of Sparkplug, I replaced the phone as the medium of introduction with a streetlight.
Saved from last issue, I decided to reveal the final words of Phillip DeParis for this one and delivered it through an evolution of Sparkplug's power, to generate an electromagnetic pulse. The writers of the show seem to bounce from reason to reason, but I'm pretty sure emotions are a sticking point for controlling powers. Here, it comes into play. Since Sparkplug is a reserved and introspective person, being able go beyond what he knows of his power requires a lot of anger.
Of course, we've got Trevor and his gun but the majority of the story is Mack in action. Then to cap off the attack with another cool use of a power, I wrote in Azuteor to demolish the building and send the faction leader down to the center of the earth, not the best way to die but justifiable?
NOVEMBER 28
I starting writing this issue with the idea that Mack would narrate the majority of it as he speaks to Blue at his grave and explain to him what happened after he died. It was his way of resolution and saying goodbye to a good friend. Another idea I had was to have Sparkplug have his interpretation of teammates revealed, Trevor and Seal in particular. It's always interesting to me to see how people view each other.
Then to end the day, I imagined Mack would make a gesture to Blue's grave and nothing was more fitting than using his iconic baseball hat.
2000
I've been a fan of the implied optimistic endings so I decided to stick in this flashback of when Mack first discovered his power. In comparison with the A-Plot, this epilogue of sorts is meant to strike home that even in the darkest hour of life, there is always hope.
NEXT TIME...
Tattoos, Gypsies, Props, and Choices
November 29, 2009
Part Five - The Beginning of The End - Part Two
As I hinted in one of these previous posts somewhere, I was going to experiment with making more stories that come from the point of view of someone other than Trevor. This, hopefully, is the first of many to come. It was a challenge to write and I'll talk more about it, tomorrow:
Time is that quality of nature that keeps events from happening all at once. Lately, it doesn’t seem to be working.
NOVEMBER 27, 2007
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
It’s evening. There’s an empty bench and flickering streetlight. A newspaper blows past as the streetlight flickers off.
The light flickers back on and now standing in front of the bench and light are Trevor Tanaka, Mack Johnston, and John Bishop. They look across the street at a seemingly innocent looking five story building.
Trevor - “The only access points are through the ground level and it’s been outfitted with safeguards salvaged from Primatech. It generates a field that disrupts our capacity to use our abilities. If were to just storm in now, we’d be powerless.”
[Volume One to Three - Primatech prison cells]
John Bishop - “Just the three of us? Tell me this doesn’t sound just a little insane?”
Mack Johnston - “I know. They don’t stand a chance.”
Trevor - “I’ve got another on his way but in the meantime, we can clean house. Johnston, I need you to generate an electromagnetic pulse and overload the building’s power grid. Then we can slip in and say howdy.”
Johnston - “Alright.”
Johnston focuses. A brief hum is heard, the streetlight turns off, then the hum fades and the streetlight turns back on. He tries again and fails. Johnston is about to try again when Trevor interrupts.
Trevor - “Most advanced abilities are empathic in nature. Think of a memory, an event, something that happened to you that you can never forget, something terrible.”
Johnston - “I got just the thing.”
Sparkplug closes his eyes as does the camera then opens again.
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Johnston - “Are you sure your parents won’t mind?”
Phillip DeParis - “ ‘Course not. They’re used to me bringing friends over for dinner all the time. Thanksgiving isn’t any different.”
Johnston - “Thanks, Blue. I owe you one.”
DeParis - “No prob.”
DeParis shapes his hand into a gesture.
DeParis - “Live long and pros…”
[Star Trek]
Bone protrusions erupt into the scene. Close up on DeParis’ face as he gets stabbed below his chest. He falls over offscreen.
Johnston - “Blue!!”
Johnston kneels and holds Blue in his arms.
Johnston - “I’m going to get help…Just put pressure on it and you’ll be fine!”
DeParis - “There is no time…It’s okay, man…”
DeParis is dead. Johnston looks up and electricity surges from his body. He screams. The scene shifts back to the present, with the exact position on Johnston. He screams as an electromagnetic pulse emanates from him. The building blacks out. The trio walks forward, and then they notice the rest of the city blacks out in succession.
Trevor - “…They probably have candles…flashlights…back-up generators.”
Bishop - “Yeah…”
Johnston - “Let’s do this.”
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART TWO: THERE IS NO TIME - in Heroes title font -
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Johnston is talking to someone, offscreen.
Johnston - “They never stood a chance.”
Scenes from the building raid are interlaced with Johnston.
Johnston shoots down the door with electricity. Bishop generates a force field on himself and Trevor. Trevor goes in. Shots are heard soon after.
Johnston - “Trevor went in guns a blazing. I’d bet money he had the blueprints memorized, how many of them were in there, what their powers were, and what size jeans they wear.”
Johnston turns into pure electricity and parts of the room light up as he races forward, Trevor and Bishop are unaffected, various people are jolted and fall offscreen. Trevor comes into view and shoots down at them.
Johnston - “He’d never admit it but Trevor was just as affected by all this like the rest of us. Maybe more. Maybe he blamed himself for not figuring out it was going to happen in time and save everyone. He wasn’t going to let any of them get away. There was this rage in his eyes during the attack, like you’ve never seen before.”
Camera focuses on Trevor. His eyes are cold and full of death. He’s staring at the man whose duplicates were sent to Colorado.
Johnston - “You’d think I was nuts to say this, but past all that brooding and sarcasm, is a heart. A big one. We all have one to stay together this long.”
The man shoots several bone protrusions at Trevor. Trevor is about to shoot but a bolt of electricity shoots past him, slithers around each bone, and pierces the man. He goes flying backward into the wall.
Johnston - “Seal sounds corny sometimes but he’s always right. We’re simple folk that don’t like being bothered with.”
The trio exits an elevator and enter the last room. A lone man is waiting for them. He is shrouded in the dark. Johnston is about to act when Trevor says something and stops him.
Johnston - “But then we always return in kind.”
Bishop places a force field around the man. Trevor sheathes his gun in its holster. The camera zooms out behind them. They turn to greet the fourth Undaunted. It is Azuteor.
Johnston - “Then Trevor reveals his ace in the hole, as usual.”
Azuteor uses his gravity repulsion power on the man. The gravity around him gets stronger and stronger. Then he falls through the floor, and the next floor, and the next, until finally dropping through the earth, never to be seen again.
Johnston - “But he’s kept us alive like that and being two steps ahead of us.”
Bishop shields everyone. Azuteor brings the building down. After the dust settles, the four are standing on the ground floor nonchalant, like nothing happened.
The scene shifts back to the present. Johnston takes off his signature baseball hat and walks forward offscreen.
Johnston - “They all needed to know we’re not going anywhere. Not by a long shot. That it’s not all for nothing…Rest in peace, bud.”
Johnston walks away without his cap on. The camera abandons him and turns around to reveal who he was talking to. A grave with a pile of rocks as a headstone. The cap is resting on the headstone.
The camera pans out to reveal several rows of graves and similar headstones. The sun is about to set and illuminated the sky in an orange glow as Johnston walks into a nearby forest. He looks back one more time at the graves, then turns and disappears into the brush.
Thinking is the very essence of, and the most difficult thing to do in life.
Boise, Idaho; in the year 2000. A 16 year old, Mack Johnston is working on an engine in his parents’ garage. His back is turned to the sky and a solar eclipse.
If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to think, you’re no longer in control of your life.
[David Kekich]
The engine roars to life, much to Johnston’s shock and curiosity. He notices electricity coming from his fingertips. Close up on Johnston as he looks closely at his finger. Nothing. Then a jolt of electricity jumps from his fingertip. Johnston smiles and laughs at his new discovery.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Time is that quality of nature that keeps events from happening all at once. Lately, it doesn’t seem to be working.
NOVEMBER 27, 2007
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
It’s evening. There’s an empty bench and flickering streetlight. A newspaper blows past as the streetlight flickers off.
The light flickers back on and now standing in front of the bench and light are Trevor Tanaka, Mack Johnston, and John Bishop. They look across the street at a seemingly innocent looking five story building.
Trevor - “The only access points are through the ground level and it’s been outfitted with safeguards salvaged from Primatech. It generates a field that disrupts our capacity to use our abilities. If were to just storm in now, we’d be powerless.”
[Volume One to Three - Primatech prison cells]
John Bishop - “Just the three of us? Tell me this doesn’t sound just a little insane?”
Mack Johnston - “I know. They don’t stand a chance.”
Trevor - “I’ve got another on his way but in the meantime, we can clean house. Johnston, I need you to generate an electromagnetic pulse and overload the building’s power grid. Then we can slip in and say howdy.”
Johnston - “Alright.”
Johnston focuses. A brief hum is heard, the streetlight turns off, then the hum fades and the streetlight turns back on. He tries again and fails. Johnston is about to try again when Trevor interrupts.
Trevor - “Most advanced abilities are empathic in nature. Think of a memory, an event, something that happened to you that you can never forget, something terrible.”
Johnston - “I got just the thing.”
Sparkplug closes his eyes as does the camera then opens again.
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Johnston - “Are you sure your parents won’t mind?”
Phillip DeParis - “ ‘Course not. They’re used to me bringing friends over for dinner all the time. Thanksgiving isn’t any different.”
Johnston - “Thanks, Blue. I owe you one.”
DeParis - “No prob.”
DeParis shapes his hand into a gesture.
DeParis - “Live long and pros…”
[Star Trek]
Bone protrusions erupt into the scene. Close up on DeParis’ face as he gets stabbed below his chest. He falls over offscreen.
Johnston - “Blue!!”
Johnston kneels and holds Blue in his arms.
Johnston - “I’m going to get help…Just put pressure on it and you’ll be fine!”
DeParis - “There is no time…It’s okay, man…”
DeParis is dead. Johnston looks up and electricity surges from his body. He screams. The scene shifts back to the present, with the exact position on Johnston. He screams as an electromagnetic pulse emanates from him. The building blacks out. The trio walks forward, and then they notice the rest of the city blacks out in succession.
Trevor - “…They probably have candles…flashlights…back-up generators.”
Bishop - “Yeah…”
Johnston - “Let’s do this.”
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART TWO: THERE IS NO TIME - in Heroes title font -
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, ILLINOIS
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Johnston is talking to someone, offscreen.
Johnston - “They never stood a chance.”
Scenes from the building raid are interlaced with Johnston.
Johnston shoots down the door with electricity. Bishop generates a force field on himself and Trevor. Trevor goes in. Shots are heard soon after.
Johnston - “Trevor went in guns a blazing. I’d bet money he had the blueprints memorized, how many of them were in there, what their powers were, and what size jeans they wear.”
Johnston turns into pure electricity and parts of the room light up as he races forward, Trevor and Bishop are unaffected, various people are jolted and fall offscreen. Trevor comes into view and shoots down at them.
Johnston - “He’d never admit it but Trevor was just as affected by all this like the rest of us. Maybe more. Maybe he blamed himself for not figuring out it was going to happen in time and save everyone. He wasn’t going to let any of them get away. There was this rage in his eyes during the attack, like you’ve never seen before.”
Camera focuses on Trevor. His eyes are cold and full of death. He’s staring at the man whose duplicates were sent to Colorado.
Johnston - “You’d think I was nuts to say this, but past all that brooding and sarcasm, is a heart. A big one. We all have one to stay together this long.”
The man shoots several bone protrusions at Trevor. Trevor is about to shoot but a bolt of electricity shoots past him, slithers around each bone, and pierces the man. He goes flying backward into the wall.
Johnston - “Seal sounds corny sometimes but he’s always right. We’re simple folk that don’t like being bothered with.”
The trio exits an elevator and enter the last room. A lone man is waiting for them. He is shrouded in the dark. Johnston is about to act when Trevor says something and stops him.
Johnston - “But then we always return in kind.”
Bishop places a force field around the man. Trevor sheathes his gun in its holster. The camera zooms out behind them. They turn to greet the fourth Undaunted. It is Azuteor.
Johnston - “Then Trevor reveals his ace in the hole, as usual.”
Azuteor uses his gravity repulsion power on the man. The gravity around him gets stronger and stronger. Then he falls through the floor, and the next floor, and the next, until finally dropping through the earth, never to be seen again.
Johnston - “But he’s kept us alive like that and being two steps ahead of us.”
Bishop shields everyone. Azuteor brings the building down. After the dust settles, the four are standing on the ground floor nonchalant, like nothing happened.
The scene shifts back to the present. Johnston takes off his signature baseball hat and walks forward offscreen.
Johnston - “They all needed to know we’re not going anywhere. Not by a long shot. That it’s not all for nothing…Rest in peace, bud.”
Johnston walks away without his cap on. The camera abandons him and turns around to reveal who he was talking to. A grave with a pile of rocks as a headstone. The cap is resting on the headstone.
The camera pans out to reveal several rows of graves and similar headstones. The sun is about to set and illuminated the sky in an orange glow as Johnston walks into a nearby forest. He looks back one more time at the graves, then turns and disappears into the brush.
Thinking is the very essence of, and the most difficult thing to do in life.
Boise, Idaho; in the year 2000. A 16 year old, Mack Johnston is working on an engine in his parents’ garage. His back is turned to the sky and a solar eclipse.
If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to think, you’re no longer in control of your life.
[David Kekich]
The engine roars to life, much to Johnston’s shock and curiosity. He notices electricity coming from his fingertips. Close up on Johnston as he looks closely at his finger. Nothing. Then a jolt of electricity jumps from his fingertip. Johnston smiles and laughs at his new discovery.
TO BE CONTINUED...
November 24, 2009
Commentary - The Beginning Of The End - Part One
So I think I went a little over in page length but who cares!
Part One starts with the second time November 26 happened, continuing directly from the end of Phase Three. Some things repeat and some things are different, such is time manipulation and butterflies. I throw the first hint of how they got murdered with the bone. And a bit gruesome, but the running joke was that in each scenario of November 26, Trevor always gets injured. And it's so weird how instead of Trevor being hit in the gut and in the arm, that allows him to scan the field and ask Nox to save three other people.
Then I use the rewind as a legitimate way to reveal the second part of Trevor and Seal's visit to Leona from the first arc. The things being discussed make more sense here so that's why it got held off until now. I had fun with the dialogue because eventually you left wondering at what point is Trevor talking about, the omelet or the scheme or both? I must have had some weird craving at the time and threw in the honeycomb metaphor. But "Bears named Sylar?" had me rolling in laughter when I first thought it of it because I imagined a bear with Quinto's eyebrows.
Trevor's snide remark with 'Punch God in the face' was another favorite line of mine from Sin City. I also tend to use it a lot in real life along with dancing with leprechauns and riding unicorns under a rainbow with the Irish Spring commercial cast. Golden toilets, too. Hmm...but it is also supposed to imply and remind those that Trevor has grown to care more about the faction than going after the agents that killed his fiancee, whose name I never gave away yet.
I still love the Leona and Trevor scenes. He knows he's being manipulated but Leona makes light of it. With everything, Trevor loses it and his power takes over, hence he recites that line about point of view, sorta like with Charlie in "Once Upon A Time in Texas." And to remind the audience about the main story, I put in the line about deja vu. Since this is happening again because of Redo, I'd think a few specials would at least sense something was up. Since Seal is an empath, maybe he would most of all. And no, I don't hate Connecticut. Neither does Trevor, I think he just had low blood sugar or something.
The title, It's All Relativity is definitely a reference to messing with timelines and taking different frames of reference (in this case points of view) to see the big picture. It's the overarching lesson of this arc, which I hope pays off in the finale.
And I guess in a weird twist, Eli appears in the graphic novels and I bust out duplicates. But they had it first since these things are written way ahead of time. Another case of being on the same wavelength.
Blue's death was the big shocker scene. After some events with someone leaving the faction on his own accord, I got a brainstorm and did a rewrite to kill off Blue, his character, and make Sparkplug's anger more justified and tie-in the two are close. There a few hidden homages that are only for fellow Undaunted members. I know one figured them out already. Sparkplug's display of powers is all taken from his HSG bio and for interested parties, he'll come into play in at least Part Three and this death will play a big role in it.
After seeing Ando bust out red lightning in Volume 3, I feel in love with the shiny FX. So I knew it immediately when I read Luna Yu's bio on HSG, I would use her a couple times as I wrote. It was on the to-do list to have this big scene for her when she used the power on a whole heap of people at once.
And always, ton of 9th Wonders! references, good and bad. Undaunted appears to be on the verge of losing its lofty #1 spot but hey, it helped me write an awesome line. And something I don't thing I did in awhile was reference another Undaunted character, Karma. When I was flipping through the roster, I almost thought Undaunted had no healers but we got one! Phew. Trevor would have been in trouble since Nox and Redo died for good this time in the third November 26th.
Lot of people totally got murdered (94 Undaunted and the 36 duplicates=130 deaths) but that is only to tip off the readers that the scales are getting higher, to emulate Trevor's word of caution with Seal in the Diner scenes, and foreshadow the rest of the arc. Ooh, and I kinda hinted at who the enemy is in the line after the Karma reference. Whew, good thing there is a second Garden of the Gods or everyone would be crashing at Mr. and Mrs. Zhang's house.
Earlier, I said this arc will be a four parter, but now after proofing and plotting out, I might tighten it a little and make a three parter. We'll see. I don't plan on making the last part a total downer but to end it on a good note, somehow, whether it's implied or totally out there plain as day. After that, I'm pretty sure I'm going to take the rest of the year off from writing and start fresh posting in January. I say that now, but things can change.
Part One starts with the second time November 26 happened, continuing directly from the end of Phase Three. Some things repeat and some things are different, such is time manipulation and butterflies. I throw the first hint of how they got murdered with the bone. And a bit gruesome, but the running joke was that in each scenario of November 26, Trevor always gets injured. And it's so weird how instead of Trevor being hit in the gut and in the arm, that allows him to scan the field and ask Nox to save three other people.
Then I use the rewind as a legitimate way to reveal the second part of Trevor and Seal's visit to Leona from the first arc. The things being discussed make more sense here so that's why it got held off until now. I had fun with the dialogue because eventually you left wondering at what point is Trevor talking about, the omelet or the scheme or both? I must have had some weird craving at the time and threw in the honeycomb metaphor. But "Bears named Sylar?" had me rolling in laughter when I first thought it of it because I imagined a bear with Quinto's eyebrows.
Trevor's snide remark with 'Punch God in the face' was another favorite line of mine from Sin City. I also tend to use it a lot in real life along with dancing with leprechauns and riding unicorns under a rainbow with the Irish Spring commercial cast. Golden toilets, too. Hmm...but it is also supposed to imply and remind those that Trevor has grown to care more about the faction than going after the agents that killed his fiancee, whose name I never gave away yet.
I still love the Leona and Trevor scenes. He knows he's being manipulated but Leona makes light of it. With everything, Trevor loses it and his power takes over, hence he recites that line about point of view, sorta like with Charlie in "Once Upon A Time in Texas." And to remind the audience about the main story, I put in the line about deja vu. Since this is happening again because of Redo, I'd think a few specials would at least sense something was up. Since Seal is an empath, maybe he would most of all. And no, I don't hate Connecticut. Neither does Trevor, I think he just had low blood sugar or something.
The title, It's All Relativity is definitely a reference to messing with timelines and taking different frames of reference (in this case points of view) to see the big picture. It's the overarching lesson of this arc, which I hope pays off in the finale.
And I guess in a weird twist, Eli appears in the graphic novels and I bust out duplicates. But they had it first since these things are written way ahead of time. Another case of being on the same wavelength.
Blue's death was the big shocker scene. After some events with someone leaving the faction on his own accord, I got a brainstorm and did a rewrite to kill off Blue, his character, and make Sparkplug's anger more justified and tie-in the two are close. There a few hidden homages that are only for fellow Undaunted members. I know one figured them out already. Sparkplug's display of powers is all taken from his HSG bio and for interested parties, he'll come into play in at least Part Three and this death will play a big role in it.
After seeing Ando bust out red lightning in Volume 3, I feel in love with the shiny FX. So I knew it immediately when I read Luna Yu's bio on HSG, I would use her a couple times as I wrote. It was on the to-do list to have this big scene for her when she used the power on a whole heap of people at once.
And always, ton of 9th Wonders! references, good and bad. Undaunted appears to be on the verge of losing its lofty #1 spot but hey, it helped me write an awesome line. And something I don't thing I did in awhile was reference another Undaunted character, Karma. When I was flipping through the roster, I almost thought Undaunted had no healers but we got one! Phew. Trevor would have been in trouble since Nox and Redo died for good this time in the third November 26th.
Lot of people totally got murdered (94 Undaunted and the 36 duplicates=130 deaths) but that is only to tip off the readers that the scales are getting higher, to emulate Trevor's word of caution with Seal in the Diner scenes, and foreshadow the rest of the arc. Ooh, and I kinda hinted at who the enemy is in the line after the Karma reference. Whew, good thing there is a second Garden of the Gods or everyone would be crashing at Mr. and Mrs. Zhang's house.
Earlier, I said this arc will be a four parter, but now after proofing and plotting out, I might tighten it a little and make a three parter. We'll see. I don't plan on making the last part a total downer but to end it on a good note, somehow, whether it's implied or totally out there plain as day. After that, I'm pretty sure I'm going to take the rest of the year off from writing and start fresh posting in January. I say that now, but things can change.
Part Five - The Beginning Of The End - Part One
After taking time to do other projects and make sure this one got done right...without further ado, the third arc begins:
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Dozens of corpses are strewn across the field. Trevor lays motionless, lying on his stomach, with his back to the camera, and a bone-like protrusion is sticking out of his left shoulder. The bone looks broken off from its original source. There is silence for what feels like an eternity.
Then, Trevor gasps for air and wheezes, blood is pooling somewhere in his body. He reaches behind himself with his right hand and rips out the protrusion and tosses it aside. Trevor struggles to stand up and winces over to two bodies that are barely breathing. Trevor kneels between them and uses all his remaining strength to flip them over. One is Regan "Redo" McCairn and the other, Dixon "Nox" Cheung.
Trevor - "Nox…you got to…undo this from ever happening to me…"
Trevor looks around frantically at the dead.
Trevor - "Luna Yu. Mack Johnston. Lilia Chacon. Make them survive, too."
Nox struggles to concentrate then it works, Trevor is unwounded. Nox hacks out blood, then his head drops. Nox is dead. Trevor closes his eyes. Redo was watching what happened.
Trevor - "Reset us as far back as you can, McCairn. Farther than you’ve ever gone. Everyone’s lives depend on it."
Redo uses her time reversing power. Things start to go backwards like a video tape rewinding, then everything turns into a blur of images and sound. Then a white flash envelopes everything.
LATE SUMMER 2007
LYNEBORO, CONNECTICUT
MABLE'S DINER
Leona Mills sits down. Trevor scoots over. He doesn't take his eyes off her. Seal finishes his breakfast. Silence.
Leona - "Well, say it Trevor."
Trevor - "The Omelet Surprise is terrible."
Seal - "You want me to consolidate every faction into one and lead it?"
Leona - "It's more than that."
Trevor - "Tell Mable to lower the heat, next time."
Leona - "All we've ever done was protect each other. But now, all these little honeycombs are popping up and doing whatever they please. Too many. You know what that attracts? Bears. Big, hungry bears."
Trevor - "Bears named Sylar? Yeah, sure. Right away. No problem."
Leona - "The omelet isn't that bad."
Trevor - "But it doesn't mean you could try harder."
Leona - "You can do this. I know you can. You want to."
Trevor - "Don't worry. I'll put it on the to-do list, right under 'punch God in the face.'"
[Sin City - Marv]
Trevor looks away and finishes his food.
Leona - "Seal, you’ve been quiet. What do you think of all this?"
Seal - "Between the Carnival and other factions attacking us for resources…"
[Volume 5 and Heroes Survival Game - Phase Three]
Leona - "You can't. Now's not the time."
Seal - "I'm sorry, it's a great idea."
Leona - "Don't be. These things, they require timing, finesse, and a lot of luck."
Trevor - "Schemes. Do you forget that every time you come up with one, the price goes up? You're willing to sacrifice us like chess pieces but what about Rachel? Would you strap a bomb on her and parade her through Washington?"
[Partial quote from anonymous person and Volume 4 - Matt Parkman - Washington D.C.]
Leona - "Trevor, I'm disappointed. You always had a healthy disregard for the impossible…I'm on the clock. You boys come back again when you can."
[Larry Page]
Leona walks away like nothing happened and right as rain.
Seal - "She was convincing when I read her."
Trevor - "That only means she believes in the lie, too. Think hard about this, Seal. Doing great deeds requires…equal suffering."
[Plutarch]
Seal - "Take her point of view, Trevor. She's been around longer than us and…"
Trevor is worked up and cuts Seal off.
Trevor - "Point of view? Oh, the scarcest of resources. The quintessentially human solution to information overload! An intuitive process of reducing things to an essential, relevant, and manageable maximum…"
[Paul Saffo]
Everyone in Mable's Diner is staring at their booth. Trevor stops. He exhales.
Trevor - "Let's go. I hate Connecticut."
Seal - "Hm. Déjà vu. Feels like I heard you say that before."
[Implied reminder that the timeline is repeating itself thanks to Trevor and Nox]
They exit the Diner and find James.
Seal - "Are we going to do it? Help her?"
Trevor - "To her, this is one big game of survival. Let's go with the Big Stick Diplomacy for now."
[Heroes Survival Game and President Roosevelt’s foreign policy]
The trio teleports away.
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART ONE: IT'S ALL RELATIVITY - in Heroes title font -
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
About half of Undaunted is gathered in the main field. Among them are Trevor Tanaka, Seal, Lilia Chacon, Mack Johnston, Luna Yu, Phillip DeParis, Clara Zhang, Dixon Cheung, and Regan McCairn.
Seal - "I want to thank everyone for coming today and checking in. A little goes a long way to say you're committed to this. Only so many people in the world get to have two families that love them, much less one. I don’t want to ramble so ummm…that's all. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!"
[Places this story during Volume 5 "Thanksgiving" and 9th Wonders! Forum - The good kind of rambling happens among Undaunted members]
The crowd happily murmurs and separate among the main field chatting. Lilia is with Seal, Johnston with Blue, Clara and Luna, Dixon with Redo, and Trevor, by himself as usual. The Heroes theme plays over the muted scene.
What is life?
It becomes apparent there are some here who don't belong.
A madness.
Their faces dissolve, revealing they are all the same man.
[Appearance Alteration, the power of evsdropr, one of them anyway]
What is life?
Trevor, Luna, Mack, and Lilia all notice.
An illusion.
The men, 36 in number, all grin evilly.
[9th wonders! - HERO - 3+6=9]
A shadow.
Bone protrusions, dozens of, erupt from each duplicate and impales everyone.
[Graphic Novel - Perrin Crocker's power]
A story.
Mack Johnston turns his body into electricity and avoids the spikes. DeParis isn't as lucky. Johnston is in shock as DeParis falls over, dead.
And the greater good is little enough.
Lilia Chacon grabs Seal and protects him.
[Chacon was created in HSG to protect Seal]
For all life is a dream.
[A quote from Pedro Calderon de la Bara]
Trevor lunges away but still gets impaled in his left leg. He lets out a scream of pain, then quickly breaks the bone off with the butt of his gun.
[In every timeline, Trevor gets impaled]
Luna pushes herself and Clara out of harm's way. Red lightning litters the area. Redo and Nox are impaled and die immediately.
Bodies stack up on the field. Trevor, Chacon, Seal, Johnston, Clara, and Luna eye out the 36 duplicates.
Trevor shouts an order to Clara. She runs to Chacon and Seal. The three teleport away as several bones barely misses them.
In slow motion, they march on the remaining three but the camera focuses on Luna. She stands tall and raises both hands in the air. Red lightning sparks and shoves the duplicates into the air and the frame speed slows down. The camera pans onto Johnston. He is still kneeling over DeParis and whispers something.
Sparkplug - "No."
He looks up at all the duplicates in mid-air, shifts his entire body into electricity, and surges through all of them violently as the camera frame speed goes to normal. Miniature explosions pop from each duplicate as Johnston passes through them. The duplicates all drop to the ground with huge, black scorch marks on their chests. One is still alive and feebly crawls away. A foot stomps down in front of him and blocks his escape path. It is Johnston. He arcs electricity and a screeching sound makes the duplicate scream in agony as blood trickles from his ears. A hand comes over Johnston's shoulder. It is Trevor.
[Johnston's power, listed on HSG, is Electric Mimicry. What he do with it is only limited by his own experience]
Trevor - "That's enough."
Trevor kneels down to the duplicate, who is panting irregularly.
Trevor - "I know you can't hear me but…what you did today was really, really stupid. We don’t like being bothered."
[Ghostbusters - Winston and The Undaunted mandate]
The duplicate spits out blood and gloats.
Duplicate - "Undaunted's…days…are…numbered…"
Trevor smiles, stands back up, and shoots him; twice in the head and twice in the chest. He sheathes the gun back in his holster.
Luna Yu - "Trevor, your leg."
Trevor - "I'll ask Karma to fix it later. Appearance Alteration. Limited to 24 hours. Tactile Organic Duplication. Spike Protrusion. No one faction alone has any of these three specials in combination."
Trevor rips the rest of the spike out of his leg. He tosses it then rips off part of his sleeve and ties a tight knot over the wound. James teleports in.
James - "Okay, who’s…first."
From James' point of view, the camera surveys the massacre. Then pans to Trevor.
Trevor - "Take us to the alpha site in Shawnee. Put out the word…this place is scrubbed."
[Alpha Site term taken from Stargate SG-1 and 9th Wonders - Two Garden of the Gods exist in the USA]
Luna Yu - "It's not over, is it?"
[In her HSG bio, Yu grew to be wary and skeptical of things]
Sparkplug - "This is just the beginning."
Trevor nods as they all teleport away.
TO BE CONTINUED...
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Dozens of corpses are strewn across the field. Trevor lays motionless, lying on his stomach, with his back to the camera, and a bone-like protrusion is sticking out of his left shoulder. The bone looks broken off from its original source. There is silence for what feels like an eternity.
Then, Trevor gasps for air and wheezes, blood is pooling somewhere in his body. He reaches behind himself with his right hand and rips out the protrusion and tosses it aside. Trevor struggles to stand up and winces over to two bodies that are barely breathing. Trevor kneels between them and uses all his remaining strength to flip them over. One is Regan "Redo" McCairn and the other, Dixon "Nox" Cheung.
Trevor - "Nox…you got to…undo this from ever happening to me…"
Trevor looks around frantically at the dead.
Trevor - "Luna Yu. Mack Johnston. Lilia Chacon. Make them survive, too."
Nox struggles to concentrate then it works, Trevor is unwounded. Nox hacks out blood, then his head drops. Nox is dead. Trevor closes his eyes. Redo was watching what happened.
Trevor - "Reset us as far back as you can, McCairn. Farther than you’ve ever gone. Everyone’s lives depend on it."
Redo uses her time reversing power. Things start to go backwards like a video tape rewinding, then everything turns into a blur of images and sound. Then a white flash envelopes everything.
LATE SUMMER 2007
LYNEBORO, CONNECTICUT
MABLE'S DINER
Leona Mills sits down. Trevor scoots over. He doesn't take his eyes off her. Seal finishes his breakfast. Silence.
Leona - "Well, say it Trevor."
Trevor - "The Omelet Surprise is terrible."
Seal - "You want me to consolidate every faction into one and lead it?"
Leona - "It's more than that."
Trevor - "Tell Mable to lower the heat, next time."
Leona - "All we've ever done was protect each other. But now, all these little honeycombs are popping up and doing whatever they please. Too many. You know what that attracts? Bears. Big, hungry bears."
Trevor - "Bears named Sylar? Yeah, sure. Right away. No problem."
Leona - "The omelet isn't that bad."
Trevor - "But it doesn't mean you could try harder."
Leona - "You can do this. I know you can. You want to."
Trevor - "Don't worry. I'll put it on the to-do list, right under 'punch God in the face.'"
[Sin City - Marv]
Trevor looks away and finishes his food.
Leona - "Seal, you’ve been quiet. What do you think of all this?"
Seal - "Between the Carnival and other factions attacking us for resources…"
[Volume 5 and Heroes Survival Game - Phase Three]
Leona - "You can't. Now's not the time."
Seal - "I'm sorry, it's a great idea."
Leona - "Don't be. These things, they require timing, finesse, and a lot of luck."
Trevor - "Schemes. Do you forget that every time you come up with one, the price goes up? You're willing to sacrifice us like chess pieces but what about Rachel? Would you strap a bomb on her and parade her through Washington?"
[Partial quote from anonymous person and Volume 4 - Matt Parkman - Washington D.C.]
Leona - "Trevor, I'm disappointed. You always had a healthy disregard for the impossible…I'm on the clock. You boys come back again when you can."
[Larry Page]
Leona walks away like nothing happened and right as rain.
Seal - "She was convincing when I read her."
Trevor - "That only means she believes in the lie, too. Think hard about this, Seal. Doing great deeds requires…equal suffering."
[Plutarch]
Seal - "Take her point of view, Trevor. She's been around longer than us and…"
Trevor is worked up and cuts Seal off.
Trevor - "Point of view? Oh, the scarcest of resources. The quintessentially human solution to information overload! An intuitive process of reducing things to an essential, relevant, and manageable maximum…"
[Paul Saffo]
Everyone in Mable's Diner is staring at their booth. Trevor stops. He exhales.
Trevor - "Let's go. I hate Connecticut."
Seal - "Hm. Déjà vu. Feels like I heard you say that before."
[Implied reminder that the timeline is repeating itself thanks to Trevor and Nox]
They exit the Diner and find James.
Seal - "Are we going to do it? Help her?"
Trevor - "To her, this is one big game of survival. Let's go with the Big Stick Diplomacy for now."
[Heroes Survival Game and President Roosevelt’s foreign policy]
The trio teleports away.
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END - PART ONE: IT'S ALL RELATIVITY - in Heroes title font -
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
About half of Undaunted is gathered in the main field. Among them are Trevor Tanaka, Seal, Lilia Chacon, Mack Johnston, Luna Yu, Phillip DeParis, Clara Zhang, Dixon Cheung, and Regan McCairn.
Seal - "I want to thank everyone for coming today and checking in. A little goes a long way to say you're committed to this. Only so many people in the world get to have two families that love them, much less one. I don’t want to ramble so ummm…that's all. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!"
[Places this story during Volume 5 "Thanksgiving" and 9th Wonders! Forum - The good kind of rambling happens among Undaunted members]
The crowd happily murmurs and separate among the main field chatting. Lilia is with Seal, Johnston with Blue, Clara and Luna, Dixon with Redo, and Trevor, by himself as usual. The Heroes theme plays over the muted scene.
What is life?
It becomes apparent there are some here who don't belong.
A madness.
Their faces dissolve, revealing they are all the same man.
[Appearance Alteration, the power of evsdropr, one of them anyway]
What is life?
Trevor, Luna, Mack, and Lilia all notice.
An illusion.
The men, 36 in number, all grin evilly.
[9th wonders! - HERO - 3+6=9]
A shadow.
Bone protrusions, dozens of, erupt from each duplicate and impales everyone.
[Graphic Novel - Perrin Crocker's power]
A story.
Mack Johnston turns his body into electricity and avoids the spikes. DeParis isn't as lucky. Johnston is in shock as DeParis falls over, dead.
And the greater good is little enough.
Lilia Chacon grabs Seal and protects him.
[Chacon was created in HSG to protect Seal]
For all life is a dream.
[A quote from Pedro Calderon de la Bara]
Trevor lunges away but still gets impaled in his left leg. He lets out a scream of pain, then quickly breaks the bone off with the butt of his gun.
[In every timeline, Trevor gets impaled]
Luna pushes herself and Clara out of harm's way. Red lightning litters the area. Redo and Nox are impaled and die immediately.
Bodies stack up on the field. Trevor, Chacon, Seal, Johnston, Clara, and Luna eye out the 36 duplicates.
Trevor shouts an order to Clara. She runs to Chacon and Seal. The three teleport away as several bones barely misses them.
In slow motion, they march on the remaining three but the camera focuses on Luna. She stands tall and raises both hands in the air. Red lightning sparks and shoves the duplicates into the air and the frame speed slows down. The camera pans onto Johnston. He is still kneeling over DeParis and whispers something.
Sparkplug - "No."
He looks up at all the duplicates in mid-air, shifts his entire body into electricity, and surges through all of them violently as the camera frame speed goes to normal. Miniature explosions pop from each duplicate as Johnston passes through them. The duplicates all drop to the ground with huge, black scorch marks on their chests. One is still alive and feebly crawls away. A foot stomps down in front of him and blocks his escape path. It is Johnston. He arcs electricity and a screeching sound makes the duplicate scream in agony as blood trickles from his ears. A hand comes over Johnston's shoulder. It is Trevor.
[Johnston's power, listed on HSG, is Electric Mimicry. What he do with it is only limited by his own experience]
Trevor - "That's enough."
Trevor kneels down to the duplicate, who is panting irregularly.
Trevor - "I know you can't hear me but…what you did today was really, really stupid. We don’t like being bothered."
[Ghostbusters - Winston and The Undaunted mandate]
The duplicate spits out blood and gloats.
Duplicate - "Undaunted's…days…are…numbered…"
Trevor smiles, stands back up, and shoots him; twice in the head and twice in the chest. He sheathes the gun back in his holster.
Luna Yu - "Trevor, your leg."
Trevor - "I'll ask Karma to fix it later. Appearance Alteration. Limited to 24 hours. Tactile Organic Duplication. Spike Protrusion. No one faction alone has any of these three specials in combination."
Trevor rips the rest of the spike out of his leg. He tosses it then rips off part of his sleeve and ties a tight knot over the wound. James teleports in.
James - "Okay, who’s…first."
From James' point of view, the camera surveys the massacre. Then pans to Trevor.
Trevor - "Take us to the alpha site in Shawnee. Put out the word…this place is scrubbed."
[Alpha Site term taken from Stargate SG-1 and 9th Wonders - Two Garden of the Gods exist in the USA]
Luna Yu - "It's not over, is it?"
[In her HSG bio, Yu grew to be wary and skeptical of things]
Sparkplug - "This is just the beginning."
Trevor nods as they all teleport away.
TO BE CONTINUED...
November 19, 2009
Commentary Part 2 - Phase Three
In my haste to post my thoughts about Phase 3, I forgot to mention a few things. So I'll do them here and throw in some more food for thought in terms of the third arc that I will start posting next week.
THE DREAM
The dream did come in part from my disappointment that Uluru would never appear on the show they way he did when Isaac Mendez got high in the graphic novel, at least that's what Kring confirmed. And in equal disappointment, I hated how the Hunger was the mechanism used on the show. It made no sense to me after awhile. When Sylar was powerless in Volume 2, he still suffered its effects and fixated on Maya.
Story-wise, when Trevor was a child, his nightmare always ended on when Uluru grabs him and there's darkness. All those images up to that point is enough to freak out a child. Figuratively, it's something that Trevor had to solve, something about himself, he had to admit to himself what his purpose was and accept it. Up to this point, it was a finality he was ignoring by drowning himself in faction affairs and organically presented itself as faction fighting intensified.
The final line when Uluru scuttles away as a roach, was another nod to the show's motifs (haven't seen one in awhile...) and tied in with Trevor and the game (a symbol of survival). But more importantly, his last line of advice was drawn from the idea that the journey, the growth is more important than the end. Indeed, this was Kaito Nakamura's lesson to his son in season one when he struggled with finding his power again and pushing himself to kill Sylar.
INARI SHRINE
Clearly, on some deep level, Trevor enjoys trading quips with James. However, he can't do it here because Zhang is a different type of person and he's sort of flabbergasted in trying to keep talking to her. He tries to talk about hair and has an epic fail. He tries to be serious (or is it macho?) but fails. She sort of chips away at the chinks in his armor and we get to see a rarely seen side of him.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
After a week of outlining and drafting some scenes I knew I wanted to do, it looks like this will be another 4 parter. Things got confusing since I introduced the concept of 'messing with time' so I had to do a different type of flowchart and map out this happened first and as a result this changes and do that for everytime the timeline changes. So yes, Redo and Nox will appear again.
-DISASTER
Something is coming for Undaunted and they will have to deal with it right away but there will be a reveal that will be OMG, I hope. Then we will have to deal with the how this came to happen in the first place and a final battle. I'm still making decisions on will stay dead and who will get a second lease on life because of the timeline shifting, I'm not even sure if Trevor is going to survive for that matter. The fun parts of this is creating the big fight scenes, who will appear, how they use their power in battle, and how it sucks for the person on the receiving end.
-THE PAST
Surprise. One or two more pieces of Trevor's past will figure into this arc as well as the meeting with Leona Mills. But there will be more shifts in point of view. This arc won't be as heavily from Trevor's perspective as the past two arcs...so far...but sometimes Trevor takes control of the keyboard.
-SUGGESTIONS
If anyone is reading this and has a member in Undaunted and wants their character used in a certain way, feel free to pitch it to me in a Private Message in the 9th Wonders! forum and we can talk further. Otherwise, it's up to my evil mind to think of ways. Just kidding.
THE DREAM
The dream did come in part from my disappointment that Uluru would never appear on the show they way he did when Isaac Mendez got high in the graphic novel, at least that's what Kring confirmed. And in equal disappointment, I hated how the Hunger was the mechanism used on the show. It made no sense to me after awhile. When Sylar was powerless in Volume 2, he still suffered its effects and fixated on Maya.
Story-wise, when Trevor was a child, his nightmare always ended on when Uluru grabs him and there's darkness. All those images up to that point is enough to freak out a child. Figuratively, it's something that Trevor had to solve, something about himself, he had to admit to himself what his purpose was and accept it. Up to this point, it was a finality he was ignoring by drowning himself in faction affairs and organically presented itself as faction fighting intensified.
The final line when Uluru scuttles away as a roach, was another nod to the show's motifs (haven't seen one in awhile...) and tied in with Trevor and the game (a symbol of survival). But more importantly, his last line of advice was drawn from the idea that the journey, the growth is more important than the end. Indeed, this was Kaito Nakamura's lesson to his son in season one when he struggled with finding his power again and pushing himself to kill Sylar.
INARI SHRINE
Clearly, on some deep level, Trevor enjoys trading quips with James. However, he can't do it here because Zhang is a different type of person and he's sort of flabbergasted in trying to keep talking to her. He tries to talk about hair and has an epic fail. He tries to be serious (or is it macho?) but fails. She sort of chips away at the chinks in his armor and we get to see a rarely seen side of him.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
After a week of outlining and drafting some scenes I knew I wanted to do, it looks like this will be another 4 parter. Things got confusing since I introduced the concept of 'messing with time' so I had to do a different type of flowchart and map out this happened first and as a result this changes and do that for everytime the timeline changes. So yes, Redo and Nox will appear again.
-DISASTER
Something is coming for Undaunted and they will have to deal with it right away but there will be a reveal that will be OMG, I hope. Then we will have to deal with the how this came to happen in the first place and a final battle. I'm still making decisions on will stay dead and who will get a second lease on life because of the timeline shifting, I'm not even sure if Trevor is going to survive for that matter. The fun parts of this is creating the big fight scenes, who will appear, how they use their power in battle, and how it sucks for the person on the receiving end.
-THE PAST
Surprise. One or two more pieces of Trevor's past will figure into this arc as well as the meeting with Leona Mills. But there will be more shifts in point of view. This arc won't be as heavily from Trevor's perspective as the past two arcs...so far...but sometimes Trevor takes control of the keyboard.
-SUGGESTIONS
If anyone is reading this and has a member in Undaunted and wants their character used in a certain way, feel free to pitch it to me in a Private Message in the 9th Wonders! forum and we can talk further. Otherwise, it's up to my evil mind to think of ways. Just kidding.
November 12, 2009
Commentary - Phase Three Part Three and Four
Sort of like a save the best for last and tie everything all together conclusion.
THE DREAM
The dream continues with Uluru transforming into the symbol and attacking Trevor, mirroring how Trevor was overwhelmed by his power and went insane. Then he learns to control the 'evils' that come with that power. So what do I think Uluru is...a metaphysical manifestation of the negative aspects of mankind embedded in the souls of all human beings? Yeah. Way better than the way the Hunger was used on the show.
THE OPERATION
Like Part One, I adapted a faction message from Heroes Survival Game and made a plot out of it. Doing a telekinesis free for all and the line about Trevor aiming for the head was on the to do list so I used them here and loved how it came out. Instead of making it another faction, I wanted to tie it into iStory and Volume 4 with a group of ex-Building 26 folk since Tracy Strauss didn't kill them all.
TREVOR'S PAST
Been saving this one for awhile like the last puzzle piece in the sorted past of an enigmatic figure. It wasn't just a girlfriend he lost. Trevor really was the man who had everything, he was going to get married to his soul mate and about to have a child with her. Then everything was gone in an instant. I think it was a good idea to hold back to here and relate to the overall theme here that Trevor traded one family for another and he's not going to lose this one, no matter what, even if he has to go on his killing ways and give up his obsession with revenge for good, which I implied with the lines about the Haitian/Rene and Thompson Jr..
THE CONSULTANT
I had this scene planned for awhile (yeah, the had the ending before the beginning written sort of deal) and it came out great. Here is Trevor at his best, he completely defeats the Consultant and outsmarts him then ends it. And I tried to make the Consultant seem as pathetic as possible, a total reversal of his other appearance, the tides have turned on him. Also took care of a loose end and revealed who that dude was that was stalking Trevor in my first arc. Ten you are supposed to get this Aha moment when you realize the Associate may have been beating the crud out of Trevor as retribution along with doing his job.
INARI SHRINE
If you didn't believe me that Trevor cares about his faction, this conclusion where he meets up with Zhang will seal the deal for you. And it takes some edge off the violence and ends things with a lighthearted beat...thanks in part to a random Zoolander quote and a favorite scene from Memoirs of a Geisha. What an unlikely combination.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Then I totally kill the happiness with a cliffhanger ending. Born out of my desire to make a jaw dropper cliffhanger, it also was my sendoff to the writers of Heroes. If you want to alter the timeline (and make it three years instead of one!), this is how you do it!! Note that Nox prevented Trevor from getting fatally wounded permanently so we'll see if that's enough to prevent the Garden massacre. Massacre? What is this massacre? I can confirm it's not aliens nor an apocalyptic natural disaster. It's definitely people-related and tied to the desire to 'survive.' Remember I haven't given away the conversation between Trevor, Leona, and Seal yet...could it be related? Hmmm. Will I give away Trevor's real name at last? Only if it's a super cool bro-mance moment like how Peter and Noah had in season one, then the answer is a resounding "yes."
THE DREAM
The dream continues with Uluru transforming into the symbol and attacking Trevor, mirroring how Trevor was overwhelmed by his power and went insane. Then he learns to control the 'evils' that come with that power. So what do I think Uluru is...a metaphysical manifestation of the negative aspects of mankind embedded in the souls of all human beings? Yeah. Way better than the way the Hunger was used on the show.
THE OPERATION
Like Part One, I adapted a faction message from Heroes Survival Game and made a plot out of it. Doing a telekinesis free for all and the line about Trevor aiming for the head was on the to do list so I used them here and loved how it came out. Instead of making it another faction, I wanted to tie it into iStory and Volume 4 with a group of ex-Building 26 folk since Tracy Strauss didn't kill them all.
TREVOR'S PAST
Been saving this one for awhile like the last puzzle piece in the sorted past of an enigmatic figure. It wasn't just a girlfriend he lost. Trevor really was the man who had everything, he was going to get married to his soul mate and about to have a child with her. Then everything was gone in an instant. I think it was a good idea to hold back to here and relate to the overall theme here that Trevor traded one family for another and he's not going to lose this one, no matter what, even if he has to go on his killing ways and give up his obsession with revenge for good, which I implied with the lines about the Haitian/Rene and Thompson Jr..
THE CONSULTANT
I had this scene planned for awhile (yeah, the had the ending before the beginning written sort of deal) and it came out great. Here is Trevor at his best, he completely defeats the Consultant and outsmarts him then ends it. And I tried to make the Consultant seem as pathetic as possible, a total reversal of his other appearance, the tides have turned on him. Also took care of a loose end and revealed who that dude was that was stalking Trevor in my first arc. Ten you are supposed to get this Aha moment when you realize the Associate may have been beating the crud out of Trevor as retribution along with doing his job.
INARI SHRINE
If you didn't believe me that Trevor cares about his faction, this conclusion where he meets up with Zhang will seal the deal for you. And it takes some edge off the violence and ends things with a lighthearted beat...thanks in part to a random Zoolander quote and a favorite scene from Memoirs of a Geisha. What an unlikely combination.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Then I totally kill the happiness with a cliffhanger ending. Born out of my desire to make a jaw dropper cliffhanger, it also was my sendoff to the writers of Heroes. If you want to alter the timeline (and make it three years instead of one!), this is how you do it!! Note that Nox prevented Trevor from getting fatally wounded permanently so we'll see if that's enough to prevent the Garden massacre. Massacre? What is this massacre? I can confirm it's not aliens nor an apocalyptic natural disaster. It's definitely people-related and tied to the desire to 'survive.' Remember I haven't given away the conversation between Trevor, Leona, and Seal yet...could it be related? Hmmm. Will I give away Trevor's real name at last? Only if it's a super cool bro-mance moment like how Peter and Noah had in season one, then the answer is a resounding "yes."
Part Four - Phase Three Part Three and Four
The two part conclusion to the Phase Three arc! I loved it more than anything else I wrote so far. It's got revelations, even more subtle humor, a different side of Trevor, some jaw dropper moments, and some pwn'ing. Anyway, here it is:
When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.
DREAM
There is only a Void, Bird's Eye Point of View, on Trevor Tanaka. He is standing in it somehow. The camera view pans down slowly to close up on Trevor's face. His eyes and mouth are covered by a DNA Symbol each. Flames appear from the void. Trevor is standing on a rock.
Uluru - "Who dares to defy me?! I am Uluru the Invincible!"
Trevor turns to face Uluru, his face is back to normal.
Trevor - "I dare!"
Uluru reaches to grab Trevor with his right hand. Uluru clenches his hand with Trevor sticking half way out. He brings Trevor closer to his face.
Uluru - "How your world is filled with filth and lies. The comingling of good and evil in mortals only upsets the natural balance."
Uluru transforms into a giant DNA Symbol, it slithers around Trevor and constricts on him and like a snake and they fall into the flames. Black out.
[The Helix references the DNA Symbol and the numbers, his power]
Trevor jolts awake. He is standing in a dark alley with four others. They are looking to him to say something.
NOVEMBER 1, 2007
WASHINGTON D.C.
Trevor - "A splinter cell composed of former Building 26 special agents are based in this abandoned hotel. There are seven of them. And they have an old database with files on highly evolved beings compiled by the Primatech Company. The intelligence is too dangerous to for them to keep. We're here to liberate that database."
[Volume Four and iStory Book Six]
Marcus Kane - "And to maximize this effort, you brought in as many absorbers as you could on short notice?"
Trevor - "Something like that. I need telekinetics. Since you power absorbers are so fond of telekinesis, it would be more expedient to use you. Two on the roof. Four on perimeter. One on guard."
Kane - "I call roof."
Trevor - "Wait. Tell the security system to shut down with your technopathy."
Kane - "My what now?"
Trevor - "Technopathy. You can talk to the machines. Disable the security system with your mind. They are connected wirelessly so it should be even easier for you."
Kane shrugs and closes his eyes and focuses.
Kane - "Okay. Now if you'll excuse me."
Kane telekinetically pushes himself up. Trevor, Radburn, Phillip "Blue" DeParis, and Antonio Dourado look up. Two agents are telekinetically pushed onto the rooftop edge. Their guns fall over. Kane looks over and waves them on.
Radburn opens the door with telekinesis. The four walk into the hotel lobby. Four agents stare at them. They are armed with shotguns and tasers.
[Kane's use of telekinesis references Sylar speculation.]
Trevor - "Four of us. Four of them. Nobody miss."
[A loose reference and pun on "One of Us, One of Them.]
Trevor shoots one and he goes flying. The second gets shot into a nearby wall. The third's legs are blown out and his face crunches onto the floor. The fourth is launched up into the ceiling and dropped.
[References when Noah Bennet shoots people, they go flying. Various references to uses of telekinesis seen on the show.]
Dourado - "Never saw one of these up close."
Dourado telekinetically opens the shotgun into pieces and floats them as he observes them with earnest interest.
[Heroes Survival Game - Dourado has a keen interest of the world.]
Radburn - "This wasn't that hard. It could have waited."
Trevor - "It was a limited time offer. Four hours tops. If we didn't take advantage of time differences, another faction would have pounced on this place."
[Heroes Survival Game - Faction Urgent Request]
Kane walks down the stairway and rejoins them. There is a gunshot wound on his left ribcage that is healing. His body pushes out a bullet. No one knows speaks.
Blue - "Let's Scooby Doo it and split up."
[Heroes Survival Game - Blue is a nerd and would know animation]
They hear someone laughing in the background.
An agent is reading a 9th Wonders! comic book, with Uluru on the cover. His earpiece is removed. He sees the evolved beings and almost jumps off his chair. He puts his earpiece back in and aims his gun, shaking.
[9th Wonders! comic book, Issue #13. Loosely ironic with Trevor's nightmare]
Double doors flap open as the agent backs up with his gun still aimed. He fires at them. The bullets are frozen in mid-air and fall on the ground like rain.
[Volume One "Parasite."]
Agent Johnson - "Damn…"
Blue telekinetically knocks the gun out his hands. The team walks forward unafraid. The agent backs away and screams into his earpiece.
Agent Johnson - "They found the pigeon coop! Repeat, they found the pigeon coop! Respond!!"
[9th Wonders! Forum - The Hang Out - The Burnt Toast Diner]
Johnson is agitated by the lack of any response.
Agent Johnson - "Where is everyone…"
He realizes what happened and runs.
Trevor - "He's going to wipe the hard drives."
Kane - "Can't have that can we?"
Trevor shoots in the right leg. The agent falls forward and skids onto the floor.
Dourado - "Nice shot."
Trevor - "I was aiming for his head."
They walk up to Agent Johnson.
Johnson - "You're all a symptom. A disease. This is our world."
Blue telekinetically flips him out a nearby window.
Blue - "The moron was asking for it."
Trevor looks ahead to a door. He has a running start and kicks in the door. Everyone looks in and is in shock. The room is in disarray, wires dangling everywhere, and hard drives are emptied out. There is a key laid on the floor.
Dourado - "A key?"
Trevor picks up the key and examines it.
Trevor - "I know the place. It’s in California, 1319 Racing Avenue."
[Volume Four - Noah Bennet has a storage unit there]
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
PHASE THREE - PART THREE: OFF THE BOOKS PART ONE - in Heroes title font -
COSTA VERDE, CALIFORNIA
Trevor, alone, stares at the key then walks up to storage unit 108. He unlocks the unit and walks in. There is only a camcorder sitting in the center of the room. He walks up to it, turns it on, and flips open the viewer.
Woman - "Is it on? Wait, what are we going to say?"
Offscreen Man - "Anything!"
The point of view starts rocking and Trevor appears next to the woman. He is holding the camcorder in his right hand.
Trevor - "It's December 28, 2004. We're in Tokyo to visit her parents."
Trevor walks up to the camera and whispers.
Trevor - "Her dad hates me."
Woman - "Yeah, whatever."
The woman walks up to the camera.
Woman - "Daddy adores Trevor."
Trevor - "We weren't supposed to be here until the 30th but we wanted to take in the sights."
Trevor points the camera down at the snow.
Woman - "Shh…hey, that's a secret."
She giggles at the notion of it.
Trevor - "I love you."
Trevor kisses her on the cheek.
Woman - "Love you, too."
Trevor - "Color me toxic, but this looks like a great spot for something I have planned."
[9th Wonders! Forum Member]
Woman - "Yeah…what's that?"
Trevor - "This."
He gets on one knee and brings out a ring with his left hand.
Trevor - "Will you marry me?"
The woman lights up.
Woman - "Of course! Yes!! Yes."
Trevor exhales in delight.
Trevor - "Yes? Great."
She takes the ring. Trevor stands up and puts the ring on her left ring finger. She smiles at it then looks up at Trevor. They kiss again. The footage ends.
Trevor freezes up and the camcorder drops to his side. His other hand is trembling. He stares into the storage unit wall in disbelief.
The video is still running and sounds like it jumping to another recording. The voices can be heard, slightly muffled.
Trevor - "What color is it?"
Woman - "I don't know…Oh my God…We're…"
Both cheer in excitement.
Trevor drops the camcorder onto the storage unit floor. He rests against the unit wall and slides down. He stares at the camcorder then bangs his head against his knees. He stops and starts crying uncontrollably.
SOME TIME LATER
Trevor is standing. He wipes his face with his arm. Clara Zhang teleports in.
Zhang - "Got your text. Where to…were you crying?"
Trevor - "Yes."
Zhang - "Oh. Uhhh…"
Trevor - "Take me to Tokyo."
Zhang - "Okay."
Zhang shuffles through her purse, skimming post cards.
Zhang - "Wait, weren't you supposed to go back to Colorado?"
[9th Wonders! Forum - The Garden of the Gods]
Trevor - "I've got business, first."
Trevor's face has formed a murderous look as he faces away from Zhang, staring at the camcorder.
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT: PART FOUR - OFF THE BOOKS PART TWO
Life is a game of patterns and chance, and those who play well will win.
DREAM
There is only a Void, Bird's Eye Point of View, on Trevor Tanaka. He is standing in it somehow. The camera view pans down slowly to close up on Trevor's face. His eyes and mouth are covered by a DNA Symbol each. Flames appear from the void. Trevor is standing on a rock.
Uluru - "Who dares to defy me?! I am Uluru the Invincible!"
Trevor turns to face Uluru, his face is back to normal.
Trevor - "I dare!"
Uluru reaches to grab Trevor with his right hand. Uluru clenches his hand with Trevor sticking half way out. He brings Trevor closer to his face.
Uluru - "How your world is filled with filth and lies. The comingling of good and evil in mortals only upsets the natural balance."
Uluru transforms into a giant DNA Symbol, it slithers around Trevor and constricts on him and like a snake and they fall into the flames.
Upon impact, the flames disperse like water and turn into ones and zeroes.
Trevor - "What you represent is a constant. An element. Equilibrium isn't as predictable…it is caught in a cycle of paradigm shifts…"
The Symbol breaks off. Trevor coughs and gasps for air. The Void has returned.
Uluru - "How can a variable like you tell the difference?"
Trevor turns and sees himself, but with Uluru's demonic eyes.
Uluru - "Do you have what it takes to be like me?"
Uluru transforms again, into classic dressed in black Sylar, with the demon eyes.
Uluru - "To be the most special?"
[Repeated by Sylar]
Uluru transforms into Adam Monroe.
Uluru - "And have the discipline of the gods?"
[Graphic Novel, "Revolutionary War" Part Two]
Trevor - "To believe in that would only lead to arrogance and subjectivity."
Uluru transforms into Arthur Petrelli.
Uluru - "That's not a belief, it's a fact."
[Volume 3, "Eris Quod Sum"]
Uluru transforms into a common cockroach and crawls away into the Void.
Uluru - "Always seek the truth, mortal. Never find it."
[A loose reference to Andre Gide]
Black out.
TOKYO, JAPAN
NOVEMBER 2, 2007
A room. It is pitch black except for the center where there is a man waiting at a table with a closed box. Another man enters the room.
The Consultant - "You've secured the database and left the bait?"
The Associate nods and gestures at the box.
The Consultant - "Good. The sniper team is on standby if we need them. The powers that be will be satisfied after that fiasco in Peru."
[Reference to Angel and Destiny webisodes]
A gunshot goes through the Associate's heart. His body falls over onto the table. Smoke wafts in the shadows. A voice emerges.
Trevor - "The Associate, I presume. You were the one chasing me in Costa Verde four months ago. Small world."
[See Undaunted Part Three]
The Associate doesn't respond.
Trevor - "Oh, right. Dead."
[Loose reference to a scene in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]
The Consultant - "H…how…"
Trevor - "What? Didn't do that good a job researching me? I'm smarter than the average bear. Kidnap me…I let it slide. Screw with an urgent request…I swallow my pride. Taunt me like you did…your days are numbered. My power was already activate during the video. Did you think I would be so upset that I wouldn't remember the building in the background or the faint chlorine smell from storing medical supplies in there between then and now?"
[Yogi Bear and Urgent Request - Heroes Survival Game]
Trevor holding his gun out at the Consultant slowly emerges from the darkness, like a film breaking off of him.
Trevor - "The thing you don't seem to understand is: I'm the same with or without my power. It's not a crutch, it's a gift. A godsend, even. Now, call off the snipers."
[Volume 1, Ando Masahashi translates Takezo Kensei's symbol as "godsend"]
The Consultant slowly shaking, pulls his Sprint cell phone and makes a call.
The Consultant - "Stand down. Repeat: Stand down. Do not engage."
The Consultant gulps, fearing his impending death.
The Consultant - "The Haitian…last sighted in Arlington, Virginia before Halloween."
[Volume 5 "Shadowboxing"]
Trevor - "The Haitian? He's got a name. He's not some blunt object. He's a human being."
The Consultant -"Er…Eric Thompson, Jr. he…"
Trevor - "You're not saying anything I don't already know."
The Consultant sweats.
Trevor - "Did you ever think about what's more dangerous than an enemy?"
The Consultant nervously shakes his head.
Trevor - "Standing in the way of someone who had everything…who found someone to share it with, unconditionally. Then she dies because of a lie. Something she never knew about. Your heart breaks in half and you try to fill it with revenge…to only end up stained a color you can never get rid of. Try to defeat that person."
The Consultant - "You should get some sleep."
Trevor - "No thanks."
The Consultant is shocked. His power didn't work.
Trevor - "I was too busy staying up doing my homework."
Trevor taps a skin-colored ear plug in his left ear.
The Consultant - "But how…"
Trevor - "Do I understand what you were saying? I keep up with reading. Society is flooded with this hyper-abundance of content but I love a good book, you can always find something amazing, like how to read lips. It's a useful skill, especially if you have to deal with a highly evolved being with the advanced ability of sedation through modular suggestion. Having one of your colleagues mess with my dreams was a nice touch."
The Consultant - "I don't know what you're talking about. Only myself and the dead man over there were assigned to you, and he was…ordinary."
Trevor focuses his eyes on the Consultant and realizes he is telling the truth. Trevor smiles and laughs at himself, realizing the nightmares came on their own accord.
Trevor - "I'm sorry to leave now, but I have a family to help take care of and in my line of work, it is better to apologize than ask for permission."
[Trevor mocks something the Consultant told him two stories ago]
The Consultant grits his teeth. Trevor shoots and the bullet connects with the Consultant's head. He falls over. Trevor shoots him in the head once more and twice in the chest. He checks the contents of the box, closes it, takes it, then walks into the darkness. From the darkness, Trevor shoots the light bulb, turning the room completely dark.
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
PHASE THREE - PART FOUR: OFF THE BOOKS PART TWO - in Heroes title font -
ONE DAY LATER
FUSHIMI INARI SHRINE, KYOTO, JAPAN
Clara Zhang walks up a path of the famous torii columns. She is taken aback by the sight of them. Up ahead, Trevor is waiting near the entrance to the inner shrine.
Zhang - "Done with your business?"
[Irony. Inari is the god of business.]
Trevor - "Yup."
Trevor holds up a USB thumb drive and puts it away. A fox darts out onto the path. Zhang is surprised. Trevor walks up to it and holds out the storage key unit from part one. The fox takes it in its mouth and runs away.
[Foxes are thought to be messengers, are often seen in Inari shrines. Statues depict them with a key (for the rice granary) in their mouths.]
Zhang - "That was so cool!"
Trevor - "Y'know, With your complexion…you really shouldn't be wearing your hair pulled back that tight."
Zhang - "What are you talking about?"
Trevor - "It pulls back the skin on your forehead...creating a tension which clogs the pores. That's why you have some light pattern dryness around your scalp. Read it in a magazine once."
[Zoolander]
Zhang - "C'mon d-bag. Let's go make an offering before I return you to your life of high fashion."
Trevor sighs but waivers.
Trevor - "I miss James."
Zhang - "What?"
Trevor - "Nothing."
Zhang tries to look authentic and makes an offering in the shrine. Trevor just stands there.
Zhang - "Aren't you going to do it, too?"
Trevor - "I already did."
Zhang - "Back there with the fox?"
Trevor nods.
Zhang - "Cool. But don't you want to make a wish or something?"
Trevor - "No…I've got what I want."
Zhang - "And what's that?"
Trevor - "A purpose. Kindred."
Zhang - "So you don't want like a new scarf or something?"
Trevor squints at Zhang.
Trevor - "Colorado, please."
Zhang - "You're no fun."
Zhang puts her left hand on Trevor's right shoulder.
Trevor - "Pft. Define fun."
They teleport away.
THE END OF SPECIAL TWO: PHASE THREE - in Heroes title font
SPECIAL THREE
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Dozens of corpses are strewn across the field. Trevor is wounded somewhere in his abdomen. He crawls over to two bodies that are barely breathing and leaves a trail of blood. Trevor uses all of his remaining strength to flip them over. One is Regan "Redo" McCairn and the other, Dixon "Nox" Cheung.
[Two characters from Heroes Survival Game and part of Undaunted]
Trevor - "Nox…you got to…undo this from ever happening to me."
Nox struggles to concentrate then it works, Trevor is unwounded. Nox spits up blood laughing then his head drops. Nox is dead. Trevor closes his eyes. Redo was watching what happened.
Trevor - "Reset us as far back as you can, McCairn. Farther than you've ever gone. Everyone's lives depend on it."
Redo uses her time reversing power. Things start to go backwards like a video tape rewinding, then everything turns into a blur of images and sound. Then a white flash envelopes everything.
NOVEMBER 25, 2007
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
A laptop is turned on but the seat in front of it is empty. Pan right, Trevor is standing, hunched over on a window. Point of view on his back. He shakes his head.
Trevor - "It's finally happened. They're coming."
[Homage to Lost Season Six Finale]
TO BE CONTINUED...
When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.
DREAM
There is only a Void, Bird's Eye Point of View, on Trevor Tanaka. He is standing in it somehow. The camera view pans down slowly to close up on Trevor's face. His eyes and mouth are covered by a DNA Symbol each. Flames appear from the void. Trevor is standing on a rock.
Uluru - "Who dares to defy me?! I am Uluru the Invincible!"
Trevor turns to face Uluru, his face is back to normal.
Trevor - "I dare!"
Uluru reaches to grab Trevor with his right hand. Uluru clenches his hand with Trevor sticking half way out. He brings Trevor closer to his face.
Uluru - "How your world is filled with filth and lies. The comingling of good and evil in mortals only upsets the natural balance."
Uluru transforms into a giant DNA Symbol, it slithers around Trevor and constricts on him and like a snake and they fall into the flames. Black out.
[The Helix references the DNA Symbol and the numbers, his power]
Trevor jolts awake. He is standing in a dark alley with four others. They are looking to him to say something.
NOVEMBER 1, 2007
WASHINGTON D.C.
Trevor - "A splinter cell composed of former Building 26 special agents are based in this abandoned hotel. There are seven of them. And they have an old database with files on highly evolved beings compiled by the Primatech Company. The intelligence is too dangerous to for them to keep. We're here to liberate that database."
[Volume Four and iStory Book Six]
Marcus Kane - "And to maximize this effort, you brought in as many absorbers as you could on short notice?"
Trevor - "Something like that. I need telekinetics. Since you power absorbers are so fond of telekinesis, it would be more expedient to use you. Two on the roof. Four on perimeter. One on guard."
Kane - "I call roof."
Trevor - "Wait. Tell the security system to shut down with your technopathy."
Kane - "My what now?"
Trevor - "Technopathy. You can talk to the machines. Disable the security system with your mind. They are connected wirelessly so it should be even easier for you."
Kane shrugs and closes his eyes and focuses.
Kane - "Okay. Now if you'll excuse me."
Kane telekinetically pushes himself up. Trevor, Radburn, Phillip "Blue" DeParis, and Antonio Dourado look up. Two agents are telekinetically pushed onto the rooftop edge. Their guns fall over. Kane looks over and waves them on.
Radburn opens the door with telekinesis. The four walk into the hotel lobby. Four agents stare at them. They are armed with shotguns and tasers.
[Kane's use of telekinesis references Sylar speculation.]
Trevor - "Four of us. Four of them. Nobody miss."
[A loose reference and pun on "One of Us, One of Them.]
Trevor shoots one and he goes flying. The second gets shot into a nearby wall. The third's legs are blown out and his face crunches onto the floor. The fourth is launched up into the ceiling and dropped.
[References when Noah Bennet shoots people, they go flying. Various references to uses of telekinesis seen on the show.]
Dourado - "Never saw one of these up close."
Dourado telekinetically opens the shotgun into pieces and floats them as he observes them with earnest interest.
[Heroes Survival Game - Dourado has a keen interest of the world.]
Radburn - "This wasn't that hard. It could have waited."
Trevor - "It was a limited time offer. Four hours tops. If we didn't take advantage of time differences, another faction would have pounced on this place."
[Heroes Survival Game - Faction Urgent Request]
Kane walks down the stairway and rejoins them. There is a gunshot wound on his left ribcage that is healing. His body pushes out a bullet. No one knows speaks.
Blue - "Let's Scooby Doo it and split up."
[Heroes Survival Game - Blue is a nerd and would know animation]
They hear someone laughing in the background.
An agent is reading a 9th Wonders! comic book, with Uluru on the cover. His earpiece is removed. He sees the evolved beings and almost jumps off his chair. He puts his earpiece back in and aims his gun, shaking.
[9th Wonders! comic book, Issue #13. Loosely ironic with Trevor's nightmare]
Double doors flap open as the agent backs up with his gun still aimed. He fires at them. The bullets are frozen in mid-air and fall on the ground like rain.
[Volume One "Parasite."]
Agent Johnson - "Damn…"
Blue telekinetically knocks the gun out his hands. The team walks forward unafraid. The agent backs away and screams into his earpiece.
Agent Johnson - "They found the pigeon coop! Repeat, they found the pigeon coop! Respond!!"
[9th Wonders! Forum - The Hang Out - The Burnt Toast Diner]
Johnson is agitated by the lack of any response.
Agent Johnson - "Where is everyone…"
He realizes what happened and runs.
Trevor - "He's going to wipe the hard drives."
Kane - "Can't have that can we?"
Trevor shoots in the right leg. The agent falls forward and skids onto the floor.
Dourado - "Nice shot."
Trevor - "I was aiming for his head."
They walk up to Agent Johnson.
Johnson - "You're all a symptom. A disease. This is our world."
Blue telekinetically flips him out a nearby window.
Blue - "The moron was asking for it."
Trevor looks ahead to a door. He has a running start and kicks in the door. Everyone looks in and is in shock. The room is in disarray, wires dangling everywhere, and hard drives are emptied out. There is a key laid on the floor.
Dourado - "A key?"
Trevor picks up the key and examines it.
Trevor - "I know the place. It’s in California, 1319 Racing Avenue."
[Volume Four - Noah Bennet has a storage unit there]
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
PHASE THREE - PART THREE: OFF THE BOOKS PART ONE - in Heroes title font -
COSTA VERDE, CALIFORNIA
Trevor, alone, stares at the key then walks up to storage unit 108. He unlocks the unit and walks in. There is only a camcorder sitting in the center of the room. He walks up to it, turns it on, and flips open the viewer.
Woman - "Is it on? Wait, what are we going to say?"
Offscreen Man - "Anything!"
The point of view starts rocking and Trevor appears next to the woman. He is holding the camcorder in his right hand.
Trevor - "It's December 28, 2004. We're in Tokyo to visit her parents."
Trevor walks up to the camera and whispers.
Trevor - "Her dad hates me."
Woman - "Yeah, whatever."
The woman walks up to the camera.
Woman - "Daddy adores Trevor."
Trevor - "We weren't supposed to be here until the 30th but we wanted to take in the sights."
Trevor points the camera down at the snow.
Woman - "Shh…hey, that's a secret."
She giggles at the notion of it.
Trevor - "I love you."
Trevor kisses her on the cheek.
Woman - "Love you, too."
Trevor - "Color me toxic, but this looks like a great spot for something I have planned."
[9th Wonders! Forum Member]
Woman - "Yeah…what's that?"
Trevor - "This."
He gets on one knee and brings out a ring with his left hand.
Trevor - "Will you marry me?"
The woman lights up.
Woman - "Of course! Yes!! Yes."
Trevor exhales in delight.
Trevor - "Yes? Great."
She takes the ring. Trevor stands up and puts the ring on her left ring finger. She smiles at it then looks up at Trevor. They kiss again. The footage ends.
Trevor freezes up and the camcorder drops to his side. His other hand is trembling. He stares into the storage unit wall in disbelief.
The video is still running and sounds like it jumping to another recording. The voices can be heard, slightly muffled.
Trevor - "What color is it?"
Woman - "I don't know…Oh my God…We're…"
Both cheer in excitement.
Trevor drops the camcorder onto the storage unit floor. He rests against the unit wall and slides down. He stares at the camcorder then bangs his head against his knees. He stops and starts crying uncontrollably.
SOME TIME LATER
Trevor is standing. He wipes his face with his arm. Clara Zhang teleports in.
Zhang - "Got your text. Where to…were you crying?"
Trevor - "Yes."
Zhang - "Oh. Uhhh…"
Trevor - "Take me to Tokyo."
Zhang - "Okay."
Zhang shuffles through her purse, skimming post cards.
Zhang - "Wait, weren't you supposed to go back to Colorado?"
[9th Wonders! Forum - The Garden of the Gods]
Trevor - "I've got business, first."
Trevor's face has formed a murderous look as he faces away from Zhang, staring at the camcorder.
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT: PART FOUR - OFF THE BOOKS PART TWO
Life is a game of patterns and chance, and those who play well will win.
DREAM
There is only a Void, Bird's Eye Point of View, on Trevor Tanaka. He is standing in it somehow. The camera view pans down slowly to close up on Trevor's face. His eyes and mouth are covered by a DNA Symbol each. Flames appear from the void. Trevor is standing on a rock.
Uluru - "Who dares to defy me?! I am Uluru the Invincible!"
Trevor turns to face Uluru, his face is back to normal.
Trevor - "I dare!"
Uluru reaches to grab Trevor with his right hand. Uluru clenches his hand with Trevor sticking half way out. He brings Trevor closer to his face.
Uluru - "How your world is filled with filth and lies. The comingling of good and evil in mortals only upsets the natural balance."
Uluru transforms into a giant DNA Symbol, it slithers around Trevor and constricts on him and like a snake and they fall into the flames.
Upon impact, the flames disperse like water and turn into ones and zeroes.
Trevor - "What you represent is a constant. An element. Equilibrium isn't as predictable…it is caught in a cycle of paradigm shifts…"
The Symbol breaks off. Trevor coughs and gasps for air. The Void has returned.
Uluru - "How can a variable like you tell the difference?"
Trevor turns and sees himself, but with Uluru's demonic eyes.
Uluru - "Do you have what it takes to be like me?"
Uluru transforms again, into classic dressed in black Sylar, with the demon eyes.
Uluru - "To be the most special?"
[Repeated by Sylar]
Uluru transforms into Adam Monroe.
Uluru - "And have the discipline of the gods?"
[Graphic Novel, "Revolutionary War" Part Two]
Trevor - "To believe in that would only lead to arrogance and subjectivity."
Uluru transforms into Arthur Petrelli.
Uluru - "That's not a belief, it's a fact."
[Volume 3, "Eris Quod Sum"]
Uluru transforms into a common cockroach and crawls away into the Void.
Uluru - "Always seek the truth, mortal. Never find it."
[A loose reference to Andre Gide]
Black out.
TOKYO, JAPAN
NOVEMBER 2, 2007
A room. It is pitch black except for the center where there is a man waiting at a table with a closed box. Another man enters the room.
The Consultant - "You've secured the database and left the bait?"
The Associate nods and gestures at the box.
The Consultant - "Good. The sniper team is on standby if we need them. The powers that be will be satisfied after that fiasco in Peru."
[Reference to Angel and Destiny webisodes]
A gunshot goes through the Associate's heart. His body falls over onto the table. Smoke wafts in the shadows. A voice emerges.
Trevor - "The Associate, I presume. You were the one chasing me in Costa Verde four months ago. Small world."
[See Undaunted Part Three]
The Associate doesn't respond.
Trevor - "Oh, right. Dead."
[Loose reference to a scene in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]
The Consultant - "H…how…"
Trevor - "What? Didn't do that good a job researching me? I'm smarter than the average bear. Kidnap me…I let it slide. Screw with an urgent request…I swallow my pride. Taunt me like you did…your days are numbered. My power was already activate during the video. Did you think I would be so upset that I wouldn't remember the building in the background or the faint chlorine smell from storing medical supplies in there between then and now?"
[Yogi Bear and Urgent Request - Heroes Survival Game]
Trevor holding his gun out at the Consultant slowly emerges from the darkness, like a film breaking off of him.
Trevor - "The thing you don't seem to understand is: I'm the same with or without my power. It's not a crutch, it's a gift. A godsend, even. Now, call off the snipers."
[Volume 1, Ando Masahashi translates Takezo Kensei's symbol as "godsend"]
The Consultant slowly shaking, pulls his Sprint cell phone and makes a call.
The Consultant - "Stand down. Repeat: Stand down. Do not engage."
The Consultant gulps, fearing his impending death.
The Consultant - "The Haitian…last sighted in Arlington, Virginia before Halloween."
[Volume 5 "Shadowboxing"]
Trevor - "The Haitian? He's got a name. He's not some blunt object. He's a human being."
The Consultant -"Er…Eric Thompson, Jr. he…"
Trevor - "You're not saying anything I don't already know."
The Consultant sweats.
Trevor - "Did you ever think about what's more dangerous than an enemy?"
The Consultant nervously shakes his head.
Trevor - "Standing in the way of someone who had everything…who found someone to share it with, unconditionally. Then she dies because of a lie. Something she never knew about. Your heart breaks in half and you try to fill it with revenge…to only end up stained a color you can never get rid of. Try to defeat that person."
The Consultant - "You should get some sleep."
Trevor - "No thanks."
The Consultant is shocked. His power didn't work.
Trevor - "I was too busy staying up doing my homework."
Trevor taps a skin-colored ear plug in his left ear.
The Consultant - "But how…"
Trevor - "Do I understand what you were saying? I keep up with reading. Society is flooded with this hyper-abundance of content but I love a good book, you can always find something amazing, like how to read lips. It's a useful skill, especially if you have to deal with a highly evolved being with the advanced ability of sedation through modular suggestion. Having one of your colleagues mess with my dreams was a nice touch."
The Consultant - "I don't know what you're talking about. Only myself and the dead man over there were assigned to you, and he was…ordinary."
Trevor focuses his eyes on the Consultant and realizes he is telling the truth. Trevor smiles and laughs at himself, realizing the nightmares came on their own accord.
Trevor - "I'm sorry to leave now, but I have a family to help take care of and in my line of work, it is better to apologize than ask for permission."
[Trevor mocks something the Consultant told him two stories ago]
The Consultant grits his teeth. Trevor shoots and the bullet connects with the Consultant's head. He falls over. Trevor shoots him in the head once more and twice in the chest. He checks the contents of the box, closes it, takes it, then walks into the darkness. From the darkness, Trevor shoots the light bulb, turning the room completely dark.
UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.
PHASE THREE - PART FOUR: OFF THE BOOKS PART TWO - in Heroes title font -
ONE DAY LATER
FUSHIMI INARI SHRINE, KYOTO, JAPAN
Clara Zhang walks up a path of the famous torii columns. She is taken aback by the sight of them. Up ahead, Trevor is waiting near the entrance to the inner shrine.
Zhang - "Done with your business?"
[Irony. Inari is the god of business.]
Trevor - "Yup."
Trevor holds up a USB thumb drive and puts it away. A fox darts out onto the path. Zhang is surprised. Trevor walks up to it and holds out the storage key unit from part one. The fox takes it in its mouth and runs away.
[Foxes are thought to be messengers, are often seen in Inari shrines. Statues depict them with a key (for the rice granary) in their mouths.]
Zhang - "That was so cool!"
Trevor - "Y'know, With your complexion…you really shouldn't be wearing your hair pulled back that tight."
Zhang - "What are you talking about?"
Trevor - "It pulls back the skin on your forehead...creating a tension which clogs the pores. That's why you have some light pattern dryness around your scalp. Read it in a magazine once."
[Zoolander]
Zhang - "C'mon d-bag. Let's go make an offering before I return you to your life of high fashion."
Trevor sighs but waivers.
Trevor - "I miss James."
Zhang - "What?"
Trevor - "Nothing."
Zhang tries to look authentic and makes an offering in the shrine. Trevor just stands there.
Zhang - "Aren't you going to do it, too?"
Trevor - "I already did."
Zhang - "Back there with the fox?"
Trevor nods.
Zhang - "Cool. But don't you want to make a wish or something?"
Trevor - "No…I've got what I want."
Zhang - "And what's that?"
Trevor - "A purpose. Kindred."
Zhang - "So you don't want like a new scarf or something?"
Trevor squints at Zhang.
Trevor - "Colorado, please."
Zhang - "You're no fun."
Zhang puts her left hand on Trevor's right shoulder.
Trevor - "Pft. Define fun."
They teleport away.
THE END OF SPECIAL TWO: PHASE THREE - in Heroes title font
SPECIAL THREE
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
NOVEMBER 26, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS
Dozens of corpses are strewn across the field. Trevor is wounded somewhere in his abdomen. He crawls over to two bodies that are barely breathing and leaves a trail of blood. Trevor uses all of his remaining strength to flip them over. One is Regan "Redo" McCairn and the other, Dixon "Nox" Cheung.
[Two characters from Heroes Survival Game and part of Undaunted]
Trevor - "Nox…you got to…undo this from ever happening to me."
Nox struggles to concentrate then it works, Trevor is unwounded. Nox spits up blood laughing then his head drops. Nox is dead. Trevor closes his eyes. Redo was watching what happened.
Trevor - "Reset us as far back as you can, McCairn. Farther than you've ever gone. Everyone's lives depend on it."
Redo uses her time reversing power. Things start to go backwards like a video tape rewinding, then everything turns into a blur of images and sound. Then a white flash envelopes everything.
NOVEMBER 25, 2007
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
A laptop is turned on but the seat in front of it is empty. Pan right, Trevor is standing, hunched over on a window. Point of view on his back. He shakes his head.
Trevor - "It's finally happened. They're coming."
[Homage to Lost Season Six Finale]
TO BE CONTINUED...
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