Part Four - Phase Three Part Two

Without further ado, here is my latest story. Ultimately, the plan is to wedge smaller character stories that rest the reader between the big op stories I have planned and set up future story plots. Commentary to come:

My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.

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.

[Expanding more and more on Trevor's childhood nightmare each chapter]

Uluru - "Who dares to defy me?! I am Uluru the Invincible!"

[Uluru the Invincible from the 9th Wonders! comic book]

Trevor turns to face Uluru, his face is back to normal.

Trevor - "I dare!"

Uluru reaches to grab Trevor with its right hand. Black out.

Trevor jolts awake. He is sitting down on a wheelchair, restrained with a black bag over his head and hands and legs tied down. He is being wheeled somewhere. The chair comes to a stop. Trevor hears a door close. A switch is thrown. A bright light glitters through the bag fabric.

OCTOBER 31, 2007

[In Late October 2006, Peter Petrelli was in a coma from absorbing too many powers and experienced a frightening dream. The date was intentional because, similarly, Trevor had a dream on the same postulated day, one year later.]

LOCATION UNKNOWN

The Consultant - "Hello. Trevor. We've never met but you can say you are my current assignment. I am masking my voice to protect myself and those who contracted me. I apologize that we are meeting like this, but in my line of work, it is better to apologize than ask for permission."

[The last line is a clue on who the Consultant works for. In the Destiny webisodes, SLW makes a similar comment.]

A garbled laugh comes from the black bag over Trevor's head. He raises his restrained hands as far as they can to show - "Like I have a choice."

The Consultant - "I am going to ask you a series of questions. You will answer them. If that becomes a problem, my associate, who happens to hate lies, will correct you."

The Consultant - "Remove the bag."

From Trevor's point of view, the bag is lifted from his head. He is also blindfolded.

Trevor - "And you also have a nullifier. That's remarkable. They're so hard to come by."

[Term from the Evsdropr arc in the graphic novels. Also comments how only the Haitian and a DHS agent from an alternate future had the ability to nullify other people's.]

The Consultant - "You have no idea."

The Consultant - "Tell me your name."

Trevor - "You just said it."

The Consultant - "Your real name. Tell me your real name. The one you were born with."

Trevor - "It is irrelevant because in the fullness of time, we are all dead. Hmm. I had a chicken sandwich with avocado for lunch, today."

[The first sentence is a quote from Justice League Unlimited in the episode "Dead Reckoning."]

The Consultant - "How many people have you killed?"

Trevor - "I don't know. I'm far from done."

The Consultant - "You say you're one of us. You walk among us but you aren't anything like us. Who are you? Who is Trevor Tanaka?"

[The first two sentences are a reference to Lost in the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land" and the last question is a reference to a blog of the same name.]

Trevor - "My name is Undaunted, for we are many."

[A pun on the Bible verse of when the Devil tried to tempt Jesus Christ.]

The Associate punches Trevor in the face.

Trevor - "I plead the Fifth."

[A reference to Chappelle's Show, and the character Tron.]

The Associate punches Trevor in the face again.

The Consultant - "What do you know?"

Trevor - "The truth. The truth is there is no good and evil left in the world. There are no monsters. Just visions that are placed in our minds."

[Heroes, Volume One, Future Hiro's Yamagato blog.]

The Associate punches Trevor in the face a third time.

Trevor - "I, an outcast, never belonged. I longed to bleach this dark world with the truth. But our lives are timed to a precision and cross with each other. Communication is the conductor of truth."

[Heroes, Volume One, Future Hiro's Yamagato blog.]

The Consultant - "Your proclivity towards deflection amuses me. What do you know about the factions?"

Trevor - "We're all pawns of watchers and dreamers. No matter what initiatives we take, what precautions we imagine…the factions will continue to fight each other. Fear and distrust are the foundations of each faction's tenant."

[Trevor refers to the Watcher and Angela Petrelli. Also a loose reference to the paranoia and hype surrounding Phase Three of the Heroes Survival Game.]

The Associate punches Trevor in the face a fourth time.

Trevor - "It is all a distraction. There is something gathering strength in the shadows…gathering the strongest of us all. Then, it will swallow us whole in one gulp. Heh. And you are so focused on stealing my toilet paper."

[A joke about Phase Three and what Resources are.]

The Consultant - "The Carnival?"

[Heroes, Volume Five]

Trevor - "Samuel Sullivan. Sylar."

[This places the story after Sylar is recruited to the Carnival.]

Distorted voices murmur among each other.

The Contractors - "…Sylar?!...Isn't he dead?...He's bluffing…They don't kill kindred…"

The Consultant - "Do you mean to say this Carnival is a threat to evolved humans and humans, alike?"

Trevor - "Yes. Especially if you start a sentence with a no."

The Associate punches Trevor in the face a fifth time.

Trevor - "This is getting old. Throw in a kick or something fresh."

The Consultant - "Does Seal know any of this?"

Trevor - "Yes. He knows what I know. Doesn't matter if he does or doesn't know."

The Consultant - "Why?"

Trevor - "He is a fan of democracy and diplomacy. By the time there is a consensus among the factions on what to do about the Carnival, we'll all be six feet under. All they're good at is pushing buttons."

[Another joke about the nature of Heroes Survival Game.]

The Consultant - "Then why did you even join Undaunted?"

Trevor - "The insurance benefits."

The Associate punches Trevor in the face a sixth time. Trevor looks up with a grim expression, a scowl and bleeding.

Trevor - "This is who we are."

[Reference to the code used by the Millennium Group in the series Millennium.]

There is silence for a minute.

Trevor - "I would be happy if one of you out there were a healer because I can confirm that I am bleeding and my face hurts."

There is another minute of silence.

A hand comes over Trevor's face. It heals him.

Trevor - "Thank you."

The Consultant - "I will ask you one more question then I will release you."

Trevor - "Release release me or release me, throw me out an airplane, release me?"

The Consultant - "How many of us will it take to destroy the Carnival?"

Trevor - "None. It's not our fight. Besides, I have a gut feeling they sowed the seeds of their own destruction. Until then, it's a game of survival."

[A bad pun on Heroes Survival Game.]

The Consultant - "Go to sleep."

[Samson Gray's Sedation power or an aspect of Telepathy?]

Trevor's head drops down. Black out.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

TWO HOURS LATER

Trevor is sitting at his computer. The program he was running on it is still on. It looks like a graph with a constantly moving oscillation. In one corner, the words "Timewave Zero" are visible. A hardcover book is opened next to the keyboard. Two parts of a page are highlighted in yellow. They read, "Genes determine obesity, blood pressure" and the second, "out of the thirty billion possibilities, one might contain the potential for human flight." The book is Activating Evolution. A cell phone, the battery, and the chip are laid out next to the book. Trevor's eyes flicker and he wakes up.

[Reference to Timewave Zero, a way of calculating the apocalypse, and Dr. Chandra Suresh's book, Activating Evolution. The quotes are from "One Giant Leap."]

UNDAUNTED - in Heroes title font - graces across the panel.

PHASE THREE - PART TWO: THE CONTRACT - in Heroes title font -

Trevor grabs a piece of paper from his desk and jots down words very quickly: Voice modulation, Nullifier, Telepathy (?), Healing Touch, Consultant (2), Faction (3 Males Present), Medical Supplies-Wheelchair, Warehouse (Abandoned?), Chlorine scent, Floodlights.

Trevor - Just because my ability is Enhanced Memory doesn't mean my regular memory is terrible, Consultant.

Someone knocks on the door in Trevor's room, three times, three seconds apart.

Trevor - "Come in."

The door opens and in walks Jasp.

[Jasper "Jasp" Red from Heroes Survival Game.]

Jasp - "Ready?"

Trevor - "Yeah."

Jasp - "Where to?"

Trevor - "The Garden."

[9th Wonders! Forum]

Trevor tucks the paper in his shirt pocket. He closes the book and puts it under his left arm. He types in a combination in the keyboard. He reaches under the desk.

Jasp stares at the door and concentrates. He grunts then holds the door open, Trevor walks in then Jasp.

[For long distance travel, Jasp has to concentrate a little harder.]

THE GARDEN OF THE GODS

The restrooms are locked. The door opens. Jasp and Trevor walk outside.

Trevor - "Thank you, Red. Good luck with the new semester."

[Jasp is in college but stays in contact with his allies.]

Jasp - "Welcome. Most people don't call me that."

Trevor - "I'm not most people."

Jasp closes the door.

Trevor exhales. He looks at the book. Then looks up to the sky. He marches up to the path. The field is within sight. Marc and Seal are there.

Marc - "How're you feeling?"

Trevor - "Much better, thanks for asking. Here's your book back."

Marc - "Oh yeah, thanks. What'd you think?"

Trevor - "Mmm, no potential for a TV movie. Maybe nine seasons."

[A loose reference to the X-Files]

Seal chuckles. Marc laughs nervously. Trevor pulls out the paper he wrote on. Trevor's demeanor changes.

Seal - "What? You were kidnapped…by a faction."

Trevor - "It shouldn't be too hard to find out which one."

Trevor waives the paper.

Seal - "But who were these people that interrogated you, freelancers?"

Trevor - "Awhile ago, there were numerous companies that employed highly evolved beings, not just Primatech and Pinehearst. Others who have no names, no initials. I heard a rumor once that there is a company that contracts out evolved beings to people with deep pockets. Assassination. Intelligence. You name it, there's a price. They were last sighted in Chicago and Peru a couple months ago. Fits the M.O., could be them. "

[Webiseries - Destiny]

Marc - "What do we do?"

Trevor - "When's the next inter-faction assembly?"

Seal - "It's a secret. Your idea. Might be in two days."

Trevor - "Someone wanted to do their homework before then. Make sure you watch for any changes in attitude."

Seal - "You're not coming?"

Trevor - "Doubtful. Paranoid and all that."

Marc - "I can help you with that."

Trevor - "No, I've got bigger fish to fry. I need these people for a special op I was about to commission before I was distracted by my new friends."

Seal looks at the back of Trevor's paper.

Seal - "But they're all investigating active events with their teams. They'll ask what this is for. Things are shaky enough as it is."

Trevor - "They'll understand. I can be persuasive. We'll all meet at the secondary site."

[Two Garden of the Gods were considered on 9th Wonders!]

Seal - "Fine. Extend an olive branch to whoever you're going after, first."

Trevor - "I'm not sure they understand that currency."

Seal - "Make the bird want to sing."

[Reference to the book, Taiko]

Trevor - "That I can do."

Seal - "Without your gun."

Trevor - "Oh. Right. The semantics again. Ever tell a fish not to swim? Order a bird not to fly? I have no illusions about what I do, but it must be done."

[Biology/Darwin]

Seal - "Trevor. Do you really think any of us are going to get through this?"

Trevor - "Well, I might."

[Serenity - The Operative and Zoe & Jayne]

Trevor walks away back down the path as Seal and Marc look at each other.

TO BE CONTINUED

NEXT: PART THREE - OFF THE BOOKS PART ONE