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…