Part Six - Influence - Part One

Trevor - There is a surprise. True love. It has a major impact. It should last forever. After the fact, the event is rationalized by hindsight as if it had been expected. Then it is lost.

[Undaunted Part One but with a twist]

Peter Petrelli and Isaac Mendez consoling Simone Deveaux.

[Volume One "Parasite"]

DECEMBER 1, 2007

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA

The camera is zoomed out on a pristine white sands beach. A couple is lounging on it all by themselves. The woman lies on her stomach, in a bikini, flipping through a magazine. The man is buried behind a newspaper on a typical beach chair. We can see he is wearing a pork pie hat with a brightly colored madras plaid collar shirt. They are both wearing wedding rings. The camera tracks onto them and slowly zooms in. The couple is none other than Trevor Tanaka and Clara Zhang.

Clara - "I read this thing nine times already. When are we getting our drinks?"

Trevor - "18 minutes, 54 seconds. He takes that long for everyone."

[9th Wonders! - Nine - HERO]

Clara - "That's 18 minutes too long. You should have gotten an umbrella, too. The Sun is right on top of us."

Trevor - "Why? You look fine from here."

Clara - "You should use your super memory now because it's the first and last time you'll ever see me in a bikini."

Trevor frowns then huddles back into the newspaper. A waiter approaches them with two drinks on a platter. He places them in the tree stump stand between Trevor and Clara. The waiter pauses in front of Trevor.

Konrad - "Is there anything else I may get for you or your wife, Mr. Lee?"

Trevor is still hidden behind the newspaper.

Trevor - "Yes, there is something, Konrad. I hope you can help me with it."

Konrad - "Yes, of course, sir. We go above and beyond for our guests…"

Trevor - "Where’s Keegan?"

Konrad is surprised and looks around a few times.

Konrad - "… noui consilia et ueteres quaecumque monetis amici, "pone seram, cohibes." sed…"

Trevor - "quis custodiet ipsos custodies?"

[Satires of Juvenal - … I know the plan that my friends always advise me to adopt:
"Bolt her in, constrain her!" But who watches the watchers?”]

Konrad - "Corner of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue Saint-Jacque. Room 126."

[Intersection from Volume 2 "The Line"]

Trevor - “Thank you.”

Konrad - "Didn't think someone from the gang would reach out so soon."

Trevor - "Me neither."

Konrad flinches. A silencer goes off. A bullet rips out from the newspaper and goes through Konrad's skull. Camera cuts away with an implied impact. Clara closes her magazine and stands up.

Clara - "Boys and their toys."

Clara reaches for her drink. Trevor stops her.

Trevor - "He could have duplicated one of them. Let's go."

[The Beginning of the End]

Clara - "Fiiiine."

They teleport away. Camera shifts to a bird's eye point of view. The Symbol forms in the white sand with Keegan’s head in the center.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Clara and Trevor teleport into the mezzanine floor of the Zhang Family mansion. Trevor takes the ring off and tucks into his shirt pocket. He takes the other ring from Clara. He stares at it then quickly puts it away. Clara proceeds to go to her room. A servant appears.

Mr. Lee - "What shall I prepare for your lunch, Ms. Zhang?"

Clara is about to speak when Trevor interrupts.

Trevor - "Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Whole wheat. No crust."

Mr. Lee - "Very good, sir."

Mr. Lee walks away.

Clara - "What, you're digging through my trash now?"

Trevor - "Puh-lease. I go through everyone’s trash."

[Justice League Unlimited “Fearful Symmetry”]

Clara stomps out in front of him.

Clara - "Wait out here."

She closes the door on Trevor.

30 MINUTES LATER…

Trevor is still outside, holding a tray of two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Clara opens her door with new clothes on. Trevor snaps out of it and Clara takes the sandwiches.

Clara - "Montreal?"

Trevor - "Montreal."

They are about to teleport away. The camera zooms in on Trevor. The teleportation FX makes a distorted sound. Trevor looks around confused. He is startled. Zoom out. He is at a desk in more formal clothing, with a file in his hand. Zoom out. He’s in a credit union, a hanging banner reads "2006."

SEPTEMBER 26, 2006

HONOLULU, HAWAI'I

Doug - "Trevor, did you finish your pass on the new loan request?"

Trevor - "Uhh…yeah, it's right here."

Doug - "Thanks. You okay, man? Looks like you got a bad case of déjà vu."

Trevor - "No, I'm alright. You'll see why when you read my report."

Doug - "Haha, gotcha. See ya."

Trevor - "Right."

Trevor looks at his computer for the date. He reclines back in his seat in disbelief.

Trevor gets off a bus and walks on the sidewalk. He looks up at a building and walks in. He opens an apartment door with one of his keys and walks in. He turns around to draw out the deadbolts.

Woman - "Trevor?"

Trevor turns around to see his fiancée, alive and well.

Trevor - "Tanya."

Tanya - "Trev, you look like you’ve seen a ghost."

Trevor pauses.

Trevor - "It was just a lot of new accounts, today."

Tanya - "Nothing you couldn't handle, right?"

She walks over and kisses him, then walks back into the living room. Trevor is still standing at the door.

Trevor - "Yeah."

Tanya - "What? C'mon. Are the insurance people still following you?"

Trevor - "24 times today…"

[Trevor's HSG bio/AT 2.0 file]

Tanya appears again with a piece of paper.

Tanya - "I forgot these at the market. Could you go get them for me? Please?"

Trevor shifts his eyes to the door and instinctively reaches for his gun but it isn’t there, yet. He smiles.

Trevor - "Sure. Do you have the Club Card or do I?"

Tanya - "They stopped using it in February. Are you sure you're okay, Trevor?"

She touches his forehead. Trevor hugs her.

Trevor - "I love you."

Tanya - "Love you, too…Trev. You're being weirder than weird, today."

Trevor - "It feels like I haven't been able to say it in a while, y'know?"

Tanya smiles and they kiss.

Tanya - "Make sure the eggs aren’t cracked this time."

Trevor leaves their apartment. He looks at the staircase then the elevators. He sees a janitor's closet. He breaks the lock by bashing his cell phone over it and hides in the closet. He exhales. Then all of a sudden he clutches his face with his palm and tears stream from his eyes. Then he hears voices.

Eric Thompson Jr. - "Offline for 5 minutes…must have used some cheap crap from China."

Felicia Brooks - "Let's do this, already. I freakin' hate California during fall."

Trevor is about to kick the door out when the weird teleportation FX sounds off again.

DECEMBER 1, 2007

MONTREAL, CANADA

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

INFLUENCE - PART ONE: DEJA VU - in Heroes title font - pasted on the rooftops

Trevor and Clara appear on the corner of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue Saint-Jacque.

Trevor - "…"

Clara - "What?"

Trevor - "Uhhh…bikini?"

Clara sighs and walks away. Trevor looks around and reaches for his gun. He wonders for a second if all that really just happened or not. They pass by a row of warehouses.

Clara - "This one is 121."

The Symbol is above the doorway.

[Adam Monroe's room - Volume 2 "The Line"]

Trevor - "Must be down this way."

Trevor turns around and misses a bone protrusion as it crashes into the door of 121. The camera turns to look to see a man that looks like the one duplicated from Thanksgiving.

Trevor - "So much for discreet. Clara, go get me some back up."

Clara - "Screw that, give me your spare!"

Trevor - "What spare?"

Clara kicks Trevor in the shin and teleports away.

Trevor - "That was uncalled for."

Trevor barely dodges another shot. Trevor shoots. Keegan blocks the bullets with a bone protrusion shaped like a 3-D snowflake. He runs. Trevor chases. A woman stares at Trevor and his gun.

Trevor - "ll est britannique!"

A subtitle appears in the middle between Trevor and the woman. It reads - He's British!

Keegan runs into a dead end. He stares at the wall as Trevor catches up to him. Gun drawn on Keegan.

Keegan - "Well. Everyone's dead if you're here."

Trevor - "I get that a lot."

Keegan turns around to face Trevor.

Keegan - "Not anymore."

Camera zooms out. Bone protrusions erupt above the wall. Then nothing. Silence. Keegan looks out then runs away. Trevor appears out of nowhere and clotheslines him. Keegan holds his throat then looks up to shoot. The bone protrusions stop midway and start cracking then shatter. Keegan screams in pain. He kneels over and grasps his arm. Azuteor and Clara walk out from an alley. The tip of Trevor's gun touches his head gently. Keegan laughs.

Trevor - "He is handy."

Keegan - "If one continues along the same lines, the initial problem will recur infinitely and will never be solved."

[Dr. Michael Ridge - The Infinite Regress]

Trevor - "We are nothing like them."

Keegan - "Are you sure? The Company started with the best of intentions: protect their own kind. What was a few grew into a dozen, then hundreds. Somewhere along the way, they became corrupted…lost sight of their purpose. They destroyed the lives of those they once swore to protect. Despite everything that happened, here I am still staring down the barrel of a Company-issue gun, held by a fellow posthuman."

Trevor - "One can justify with a circular argument, but this sacrifices its validity."

[Hans Albert]

Keegan smiles.

Keegan - "Find The Mulligan."

[HSG, iStory Purpose]

Keegan gestures to attack Trevor. Trevor fires. Keegan drops to the ground.

Azuteor - "Who's The Mulligan?"

Trevor - "A new set of dominoes to play with."

Trevor twirls his gun and holsters it. Clara places her hands on Trevor and Azuteor’s shoulders. They teleport away. Snow begins to fall.

TO BE CONTINUED…