A cult religion is defined by a religious grouping outside the mainstream that is regardless as dangerously obsessive to its members by the outside world. A cult is often accused of mind control, isolating its adherents from the outside world and emphasizing an oversimplified solution to their problems, often being the religion itself. Of course, most groups labeled as such reject the negative connotation of the term. Such blind loyalty can be dangerous, but where is the line drawn? Christianity and Buddhism emerged out of Judaism and Hinduism as small, devout sects. And armies utilize similar tactics to bring unity and a sense of brotherhood to their troops. There is just as much danger as giving no trust as there is too much. What part of a man’s soul allows him to shake hands with another without fear of violence? What part allows him to sacrifice himself, his life for another man? When sacrifices are made, will we revere or ridicule them? The day will come, many times, when a line is drawn, and people must choose their sides.
: : :
Flint Gordon
Pinehearst Company
2011
Standing at the entrance,
Matt, now in the elevator, not burned in the slightest, traveled to the fifth floor while, downstairs, Flint continued to attack Pinehearst employees that Matt made him think were him. Once the sprinklers came on in the lobby,
Her room was empty. The bed was empty. All the medical devices: her heart monitor, her brain wave monitor, her blood IV were all remaining, but no Daphne.
He heard the two pairs of footsteps behind him: a woman’s boots and a man’s loafers. He felt the tingling in his brain that prevented him from using his ability. He turned his head, screaming, “What have you done with her?!”
Even though he couldn’t search her brain, he felt the sincere confusion in Claire’s voice, “We didn’t do anything with her. Unlike you, she was a loyal agent of this organization who has paid her dues. We’ve been trying to save her.”
Matt turned around fully to face Claire and the Haitian. “Then where is she?!”
“I don’t know,” Claire insisted, “We’ve had her here ever since you brought her in, pumping her full of my blood, hoping we could revive her from the coma. We’re having trouble recruiting quality talent,” she snipped.
Matt held the half-full packet of blood in his hand. “Fine, let’s say I believe you. Then who checked out Daniella?”
“She went missing from the nursery. We assumed you’d taken her along with Molly.”
“Molly escaped by herself…” Matt replied distantly, but freezing mid-sentence. With awareness, he added, “…and I haven’t been able to find her yet.” He turned around and approached Claire, standing too close to emphasize his height. “Look, we’re in a zero-sum game here. I’ll make you a deal. Go ask Grandpa what he did with my wife and daughter and I’ll let you know where I hid Peter Petrelli’s body.”
Claire considered the proposal.
: : :
Hiro and Ando
Cádiz, Spain
2008
Hiro fell backwards after one punch from the burly man, leaving Ando standing alone with six men much taller than him.
“I would like to apologize on behalf of my friend. He is just trying to save the world.”
One of the men, the alpha male, replied, “Listen, we don’t like Chinese folk breaking into our warehouse demanding we cease our perfectly legitimate business activities.” He gestured to the large box with the Pinehearst logo on it. “And we don’t like tattle-telling witnesses, either.”
Then, the goon fell over. The two men beside him were thrown across the room. Another tried to take a step forward, falling flat on his face, and breaking his nose on the unforgiving concrete. The man on the far left suddenly tumbled to the ground, groaning and holding his groin. Suddenly, a tiny blonde woman appeared before the last man standing and said, “Boo.”
He raced out.
Ando put on his best sneer face. “Daphne.”
“What up, Sidekick? Thanks for protecting the merchandise.” She surveyed the boxes, happily finding them intact.
“We are not here to protect them. We are here to destroy them.”
“In that case,” Daphne noted, pulling out a bully club, and waving her hips threateningly.
Ando took a casual step forward and plucked the club out of her hand.
Daphne looked dumbfounded, “Clearly, I underestimated you.” She had the club in her hand again a microsecond later. She reached into her back pocket and handed him a business card. “We’re always looking for a few good men. And women.” She grinned sheepishly.
Ando scowled again, and took the card, noting the engagement ring on Daphne’s hand. “Congratulations,” he commented politely.
Daphne looked down at her hand and smiled despite herself, and replied awkwardly, “Thanks. Your invitation probably got lost in the mail,” she finished insincerely.
“Pinehearst only employs Specials. I am ordinary.”
Daphne zipped away again, smashing a box in super-speed. She reached into the broken box and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. “Luckily, they have a shot for curing ordinary.”
“We are trying to fight this,” Ando replied defiantly, throwing the shot on the ground. As it was made of plastic, it didn’t break. “We are fighting the future. Stopping the world from cracking in half.”
Daphne responded immediately, “Then join us. We’re trying to stop the very same thing. Why else recruit so many Specials?”
“I will never betray Hiro. He will save the world.”
Daphne lowered her head to look at the unconscious Hiro. “Will he?” she asked gravely.
Ando didn’t answer the question. “And if I take the shot?”
“You take the shot; you work for us.”
Still defiant, Ando noted, “You are villains.”
“Really? What’s the last villainous thing you remember us doing?”
Ando is struck silent.
Daphne circled Ando. “Hiro may pride himself as some sort of world savior, but just because his idealistic Superman fantasies of intangible ‘justice’ put him at odds with our objectives doesn’t make us the bad guys. Perhaps when you’re done playing Robin Boy Wonder, you can join us in making a real difference.”
“What has Pinehearst done lately?”
Daphne disappeared and reappeared in an eye blink, holding a recent copy of the New York Times. “Read the news. ‘Synthetic’ Specials with terrakinesis and hydrokinesis have irrigated
Ando knelt down and smacked Hiro across the face. His eyes popped open and surveyed the area. He looked to Ando, “You go Chuck Norlis on them?”
“Something like that, Hiro. We need to talk.”
“Of course. Heroes must come together and make plans on how to maintain the balance of the world. We fight for justice and equality and happiness for all!” He thrust his fist out triumphantly.
Ando remained unmoved, “Hiro, you know when Robin became Nightwing?”
“Of course! He had to move out of Batman’s shadow. Become his own hero.”
“Hiro, I think someday soon I will have to become Nightwing.”
“But… you mean…” Hiro didn’t know what else to say. When his head was turned, Ando picked up his discarded shot and slipped it into his pocket.
“Not today,” Ando stated.
Hiro noted the broken box and pulled out an Evolution shot. “You know, I’m disappointed. I expected it to be green or purple or something.”
: : :
Audrey Hanson and Meredith Gordon
Primatech Research Facility
2011
“Audrey Hanson,” the woman introduced herself to Meredith, extending her hand. Meredith checked her hands for flames before shaking it.
“So, you’re replacing Vic while he’s on vacation?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“Heard you maimed the last one.”
Audrey sighed. “Rookie mistake. I get a veteran then?”
“Stop making me feel old. I’ve worked her for four years.” She grinned, “Though I must admit, I am lucky to have stayed alive. We don’t have what you would call a competitive turnover rate.”
“So…” Audrey baited, “we work with a serial killer. Kind of second-guessing my job hunting skills now.”
“A reformed serial killer,” Meredith corrected, her tone as flimsy as the excuse.
“You’re okay with that?”
“What he did as Sylar is inexcusable, and believe me, he did it to someone very close to me. But I’ve seen him with his wife and kid, and it’s almost sweet. Part of Gabriel is still a good man. And he’s a good agent, too: smart; and we need that. Plus, I’m kind of friends with his wife.”
Surprised, Audrey prompted, “Really?”
“As much as one can be with friends with her. We bonded over popping out Petrelli kids.”
“Who’d you have a kid with?”
Meredith inhaled deeply. “The story starts with a naïve 18-year-old swept off her feet by this handsome Navy man…”
“Nathan Petrelli? You have a child with the President of the
“It’s not a state secret, but try to keep that on the down-low. Scandal might get him kicked out of office.”
“And that’d be so terrible? I have nothing against the man in particular, but it’s no secret that the Presidency’s in bed with Pinehearst, the guys who are putting those shots on the street.”
“The Nathan I know only wants the best for this country.”
“You still have feelings for him.”
“I will always have a soft spot for Nathan. But I’ve moved on. I got married. It’s still awkward with the First Lady, but life goes on.”
: : :
Gabriel and Elle Gray
Primatech Research Facility
Elle began to button up a sky blue cardigan as she walked down the halls of Level 1. Gabriel handed her a pair of leather gloves, which she slid on over the cuffs of her sleeves. In his other hand, he held a box filled with drinking glasses.
A calm-looking woman in her twenties sat in front of the window of one of the cells.
“Hey, Trisha,” Elle called.
“Mrs. Gray. The kid’s fine,” she noted upbeat. “Had peanut butter and jelly, carrot sticks, and milk for lunch. He watched the same episode of VeggieTales five times and then The Land Before Time. One of them, at least. He threw a ball at the wall a lot.”
Gabriel and Elle opened the door to greet their son. Noah raced through the room, littered with metal blocks and balls, toward his parents. He began to head toward his mother, but his father grabbed him first. “You know the rules, champ, you hug me, and Mommy hugs you. Softly.” With extra care, Noah hugged his father around the neck, thankfully not snapping it like he’d done earlier in the week. Elle hugged him from behind, careful to let her cheek only rest against his soft hair and not his sandpaper-rough skin.
Gabriel let his squirming son down, the abrasions of his neck healing. He surveyed the walls of his son’s “room.” The metal-coated walls were covered in dents and dings, matching the majority of Noah’s toys, which were similarly deformed.
He looked over and watched his wife sending small electrical bursts at the back of their son’s head.
“Elle,” he chastised.
“What?” she defended, “I spend four years being extra careful not to electrocute my baby and I find out and it turns out he was immune the whole time?”
Noah looked over curiously and Gabriel announced, “Mommy’s making lightning on your head.”
Noah looked as if he couldn’t have been any more excited, pleading with his mother to show him. With a superior grin, Elle send sparks, arcs, and balls of lightning toward her son, who reacted as if he were being tickled.
His attention span was not super-human, however, and he soon became absorbed with building a castle out of his blocks.
Still seeing her husband looking at her with criticism, she pointed her eyes toward the toddler-sized indention in the ceiling and the matching one in the floor directly below it.
“What Dad doesn’t throw his boy into the air?”
“What Dad doesn’t catch him?”
The conversation was dropped as Noah was eager to show off his new trick. He raced into the wall, face first, and fell backwards. His parents didn’t even flinch. Gabriel pointed this out, “
“We’re not normal parents and he’s not a normal kid.”
Next on the agenda for the Grays was letting Noah practice controlling his superstrength. He was handed a series of dinner glasses, which he was instructed to pick up. Sixteen glasses in a row shattered to Noah’s tight grip.
“Makes you wonder if the kid’s real dad was Trevor Zeitland.”
Scowling, Gabriel answered, “Elle, Sweetie, I don’t think you understand the levels of morbidity in that joke.”
Elle took a moment to pause and consider her joke. Her lips curled. “I totally did not. It’s so much more hilarious now.”
Unable to keep a scowl in the presence of his wife’s most sadistic grin, he smiled, too. “Okay, I’ll admit, it’s a little funny. Though, I like to think I’m one of the few men virile enough to actually impregnate a thunderstorm like you.”
Elle twitched her eyebrows enticingly, “Is that so? I think you might be right, Mr. Gray.” Slipping the gloves into her back pocket, she took his hands in his, lightly sparking against his knuckles.
Their faces only inches apart, Gabriel noted breathily, “This is probably not the most appropriate time or place to be having this conversation.” In unison, they turned their heads toward the back of the room and caught a glimpse of their son picking up the broken shards of glass and sticking them in his mouth.
Sighing disappointedly, Elle noted, “Our child is eating glass. Where did our parenting skills go?”
“Don’t worry, Babe. He’s gone indestructible organs.”
After a pause, she asked, “Does he?”
In a half-panic, the pair scrambled to Noah’s side. He was fine.
: : :
Peter Petrelli
Suresh’s Lab
Peter heard a familiar voice call his name from the door.
“
She walked down the stairs and hugged him. Peter remained suspicious.
“
“Your brother is worried about you. You were kidnapped from Pinehearst.”
“I was rescued. Pinehearst had me killed.” His voice a whisper, he added, “by Claire.”
“Well, if that’s true, then Pinehearst has been adding more spin to their reports than I have.” She chuckled at her own joke. Peter didn’t.
Mohinder interrupted, “This sounds like a private conversation. Molly and I will be in the next room.” He took her hand, which she gingerly held back on account of the strange scales on the back of his hand.
“Was that Suresh?” Barbara asked.
“Yeah,” Peter replied, “moonshine Evolution shot. Bad idea.”
Once in the next room, Mohinder immediately prompted, “Where’s Tracy Petrelli?”
“In the next room,” Molly noted absently.
“No, where is she?”
Molly thought for a moment, “
Mohinder shushed her. “Tracy and Niki Sanders are triplets. That’s the third.”
“How did you…?”
“Her heartbeat was too fast. She was sweating. I could smell the deception chemicals.”
“Whoa. Have you been around any crickets?” Molly stared at the ceilings.
“Crickets?”
“Super-hearing. And don’t ants have a good sense of smell?”
“We can discuss it after we save Peter,” Mohinder suggested pointedly. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” Molly replied plainly.
“Then you’ll forgive me for this.” He grabbed her around the shoulders and leapt to the ceiling. Covering her mouth, he began to cover her in webbing. “I’m so sorry, Molly, I’ll get you down soon.”
Once a suitable hammock-like web was created, Molly replied, “This is absolutely disgusting. I’ll only forgive you if you promise not to do it again. And buy me a new jacket.”
Mohinder leapt back down silently and reentered the room, covering his ears. “Does anyone else hear that?” Peter and Barbara look at him strangely. “Must be my super-hearing,” Mohinder explained. He noticed Barbara covertly scanning the room. “If only Sylar were here. He stole that ability from a Special.” He made eye contact with Peter, adding inconspicuously, “He just listened and could hear everything.”
Peter concentrated. Over the ruckus of every amplified sound within five blocks, Peter made out Mohinder’s voice: “Peter, if you can hear me. That’s Barbara. She’s after something.”
Peter made eye contact with Barbara, who immediately realized she’d been revealed. She made a sprint for the formula sitting on the table, but Mohinder leapt with grasshopper-like agility and kicked her into the wall. Peter grabbed the formula and immediately faded to invisibility.
Mohinder felt the ground fall beneath him as a powerful sense of vertigo warped his senses. He made a commanding leap and dug his fingers and feet into the first wall he connected with, holding on as if his life depended on it.
“Peter,” Barbara called menacingly from the floor, “come out, come out from wherever you are.” She began to wander the room. “You may be able to stay invisible, but I doubt you can move, even concentrate enough to use another ability. Try to take one step and you’ll stumble over.” She continued around the table, probing the air with her foot. “You know, I can make it a lot worse. I can make it so that you don’t even trust gravity. That you’re so nauseated that you pass out from the confusion. I can induce a migraine. Ever little sound…” she started to stomp her high-heels into the ground as she walked, “is like a drum beat in your ear. Light,” she said, pulling the tin foil off the windows, “is like looking directly into a flood light. Your vision blurs.”
On the wall, blood began to flow from Mohinder’s clenched fingers.
“I’ve got all day,” announced Barbara.Episode 15: The Tongue of Deceit
Director's Commentary: Just another bit of praise for Greg Grunberg, who I work way too much. Also a bit for Ali Larter for her bone-chilling portrayal of Barbara Zimmerman. And Zach and Kristen just steal the show whenever I include them.
Something to look for in the future is me bringing back more character from both the show from Seasons past as well as this series. There will be a straight run of episodes until 18, at which point, we'll be put on hiatus so that other writers can get a chance to play will webisodes. I'll be finishing out the series after that, assuming we're successful.
Written and Directed by Christopher VanDrey
Kristen Bell ... Elle Gray
Zachary Quinto ... Gabriel Gray
Greg Grunberg ... Matt Parkman
Hayden Panetierre ... Claire Bennet
Milo Ventimiglia ... Peter Petrelli
Ali Larter ... Barbara Zimmerman
Adair Tishler ... Molly Walker
Sendhil Ramamurthy ... Mohinder Suresh
Jessalyn Gilsig ... Meredith Gordon
Clea DuVall ... Audrey Hanson
Brea Grant ... Daphne Millbrook
Masi Oka ... Hiro Nakamura
James Kyson Lee ... Ando Masahashi
Jimmy Jean-Louis ... The Haitian
Blake Shields ... Flint Gordon
Jena Malone ... Trisha
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