by Adam Sklar
CHAPTER NINE: A PALADIN’S ABSOLUTION
As Noah Bennet summarises his journey from America to England, time seemingly and suddenly slows down to a halt, as Noah Gray falls unconscious. A figure emerges in his mind.
“Hello, Noah. My ears were burning.” A figure mutters slowly. “It’s about time you and I spoke about… matters of life and death.” He continues to mumble.
“Who are you?” Noah grunted, struggling to see the face of the mysterious stranger.
“What, you don’t recognise your own father?” He states rapidly. “Sorry, not your real father, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up.” The Nomad reveals himself as he emerges from the shadows. Noah instantly reacts by attempting to attack him. “I’m afraid that I must disappoint you by revealing that I’m not really here, I am merely inside your mind.” He clarifies.
“How are you doing this? We destroyed the chip. Do you have the power to stop time too?” Noah shudders.
“Perhaps I’m nearer than you think. And not at all, I certainly wish I had that abilitiy. Our conversation will be over before it even begins. It is amusing how the mind can be manipulated in such a way that our lovely chat can feel like an eternity to finish, when really it’ll take but a millisecond.” The Nomad explains.
“What do you want?” Noah exclaims angrily whilst The Nomad changes the scenery in Noah’s mind, revealing the bunker in which Noah grew up in.
“I wanted you to know that you’re ready. You seem to have taken your eye off the ball as far as the Godsend Device is concerned, I’m here to correct your course and lead you to the right place. Thank you, however, for taking care of Wildcard. He’s the first clone to rebel against the programming of the Machine. You truly are a remarkable one.” The Nomad chuckles dryly. “I must admit, I wondered if you would recognise Frank. I will declare that it was truly painful for me to wipe your memory, given that I’d raised you myself.” He utters.
“You didn’t raise me. You imprisoned me and turned me into a murderer. The only thing that helped me see the error of my ways was Riley’s presence. How such a kind and caring person could have come from you, I’ll never understand.” Noah huffs aggressively.
“That’s a fair comment, but it won’t be forever. Your adolescent years were filled with extremely vital training. After our plan has come into effect, you will be free to do whatever you like.” The Nomad responds carefully.
“No. Everything I did was a consequence of the choices you made. My very existence here is a consequence of the choices you made. My life, this entire path was set out for me before I could even walk.” Noah mutters whilst The Nomad changes the scenery again, taking them to the field where he was hit by the missile.
“Oh, do be quiet. If I left you in that other universe, you’d have died by the time you were nine. I checked your future out before I rescued you from that hellish universe, do you think I would have taken you with such reckless abandon? Everything I have done is for the greater good.” The Nomad lies through his teeth.
“If you could truly see the future, which you can’t, then you should’ve seen that your plan was ultimately flawed.” Noah grunted.
“No, no, no. Definitely not. There’s only ever been one complication with you, the tinnitus you developed after The Event actually blocked me from being able to read your mind. That was challenging, to say the least. Aside from a few rocky moments with Wildcard, the plan is totally intact. Hisoka may have given you evidence that turned you against me, but he actually corrected your course without realising it.” The Nomad explains hastily.
“What makes you think I’ll operate the Godsend Device now, after everything you’ve done?” Noah speaks sharply.
“What made you kill Hope? Years of training, pure instinct. The very same instinct that will drive you to using the Godsend Device. If you should happen to exhibit a bit of free will, I’ll just have to encourage you some other way.” The Nomad answers softly.
“I won’t ever—” Noah grunts, as he as rudely interrupted.
“Shut up. You saw the future, did you not? Let’s take one last look.” The Nomad titters and changes the scenery one last time, revealing the desolate wasteland of the future. “With or without me, this will happen. Have you ever considered that perhaps I’m the one who can prevent it?” He speaks quietly.
“No. I don’t believe you. People have died because of you.” Noah mutters.
“No, people died because of you. I never wanted The Preservation of Eden to kill people whose powers had been categorised. That was all Simon’s doing. He intimidated Jorah. I only wanted to kill time travellers.” The Nomad scowls.
“So that makes it okay, does it? I told a friend of mine that I was merely a Marionette, and that you were the Puppeteer. You’re cross because I’ve severed your strings. You were solely responsible for all the bad I did, and now that I’m good, you’re unhappy.” Noah argues.
“Good? You will never be good. You were born to be evil, like your father before you.” The Nomad murmurs bitterly. “And like your father, you too will succumb to your need for power. Enough of this, I need to remind you of something that you clearly missed. Do you remember the first man I wanted you to kill, the one I made you kill instead? The man whose powers were fuelled by human flesh? He was at home, in the bunker. When you were at Petrelli Manor, I made sure that you were slipped a subtle clue, that somebody whose powers were fuelled by human flesh was incarcerated underneath Petrelli Manor. Are you getting it now? Do I need to spoon-feed it to you?” He grimaces. Noah looks down in shock, facing the revelation that the bunker he lived in was beneath Petrelli Manor all this time. “I had to keep you close, didn’t I? I told you, everything was planned, I hand-crafted every single one of these dominos for you.” He continues to glower. “See you very soon, Noah. I’ll be waiting.” He whispers and fades away.
“Noah!” Noah Bennet shouts as he attempts to wake Noah up. “Noah, can you hear me?!” He continues to shake Noah who slowly wakes up, startled by the vision he saw.
“Are you okay, Noah?” Hiro asks caringly.
“The Nomad, he appeared to me. I think he made me collapse just so he could speak to me.” Noah reveals.
“What?!” Noah Bennet shouts.
“First it was Hope, then Riley, now it’s the Nomad. I’m having too many of these telepathic discussions that require me to be unconscious.” Noah stammers as he begins to stand up. “I know where he is. I know where I need to go.” He explains impatiently.
“You’re not going alone. This is why we’re here. We have to be here.” Noah Bennet argues.
“I can’t have your blood on my hands too.” Noah complains.
“You won’t, Noah. I promise, but we’re coming with you. No arguments.” Noah Bennet insists and notices that Hiro has disappeared. “Hiro?” He calls out in panic and looks around the house, unable to find his dear friend. Minutes pass and there is no sign of Hiro. “Can you find him?” He places both his hands on Noah’s arms as they stand next to the window.
“I don’t know, my powers aren’t that straightforward.” Noah answers.
“Noah.” Dillon speaks quietly as she stands beside Hiro.
“Hiro, where were you?” Noah Bennet exclaims.
“The future.” Hiro whispers.
“Dillon, where’s Quinton?” Noah wonders.
“He’s fine, he’s still at one of the Manors helping refugees out. Hiro brought me back, he needs us two to help him.” Dillon answers.
“I have an idea, Noah.” Hiro explains as they all gather around in a circle. “The Nomad wants to kill me. He will succeed. I have an idea that might prevent that from happening.” He suggests.
“You don’t know that, Hiro. Angela wouldn’t send you to your death, surely?” Noah Bennet shakes his head nervously.
“Perhaps she didn’t see it.” Hiro answers. “Noah, Dillon, I want you two to see if you can create a replica of me, like you do with your powers, Dillon. If we can convince The Nomad that I’m dead, he won�
��t go after me anymore. I don’t want you to make a clone like the ones made in that machine of theirs, just an illusion. I know it’s hard for you to use your powers, Noah, so perhaps if you work with Dillon, you might be able to do it.” He states.
“I’ve done it before. I know how.” Dillon answers.
“Do you need Noah to help?” Hiro wonders.
“Yes, I couldn’t do it alone before, but with Noah here, I should be able to do this. We need to join hands.” Dillon instructs them whilst they join hands together. Noah Bennet walks towards the window in the living room.
“I’ll be home soon, very soon.” Noah Bennet whispers to himself as he stares longingly into the night sky, the crescent moon glimmering on the dark street. Hiro, Dillon and Noah continue to hold hands as they focus on creating a copy of Hiro. Suddenly, a duplicate of Hiro emerges from his body and stands behind him.
“Thank you, Dillon.” Hiro smiles and nods.
“You’re welcome, Hiro. I just hope this works out.” Dillon replies happily.
“What are you going to do, Hiro?” Noah asks patiently.
“I shall stay here whilst you go and confront The Nomad. If you need my help, use my duplicate self.” Hiro insists.
“That won’t work, he’s just an illusion of yourself, he can’t use your abilities.” Dillon answers regretfully.
“Damn.” Hiro grunts. “Noah should be able to help, but if you truly need me, come and get me.” Hiro suggests.
“Of course, but I’m not putting you at risk.” Noah states. “I’m so tired. I haven’t slept since… well I don’t think I’ve had a proper sleep since this all happened.” He complains as Dillon and Hiro walk out of the back room with him.
“You better get used to it.” Noah Bennet walks up to him and places his hand on Noah’s shoulder and smiles, staring into the back room that Noah came from.
“We’ve sorted out the first manor, but I should get back to Quinton, we’re waiting for a lift to the next one.” Dillon nods energetically.
“Okay, I will take you back and take you and Quinton to the next manor.” Hiro smiles. “Good luck, Noah, and other Noah too. I will be waiting here for you both.” He added.
“You better hope The Nomad doesn’t catch wind of this.” Noah Bennet murmurs.
“Let’s get going.” Noah nods and places his hands onto Hiro’s illusion and Noah Bennet, teleporting them into the bunker in which he grew up in.
“What is this?” Noah observes as a specific path of lights and petals have been laid out in the hallways of the bunker, designed to lead Noah straight to The Nomad.
“It might be a trap.” Noah Bennet whispers.
“He doesn’t want me dead, he needs me. It’s you I’m worried about.” He murmurs and follows the trail down through the corridors of the bunker. “Wait.” Noah stops dead in his tracks as he senses something from a door at the end of a dark, unlit corridor. He slowly turns his head towards the ominous door and tilts his head cautiously.
“What is it, Noah?” Noah Bennet asks as he places his hand apprehensively onto his gun.
“His office is down there… I can feel something coming from inside.” He answers quietly and proceeds to walk down the blackened corridor.
“That’s leading away from the trail, Noah.” Noah Bennet mutters whilst he realises that Noah is completely ignoring what he is trying to say. He reluctantly follows him, as Hiro’s illusion lags slightly behind. Noah carefully wraps his hand around the cold door handle and steadies his breath, unsure of what he is sensing from inside this room.
“Are you okay, Noah?” Noah Bennet speaks quietly and places his hand on Noah’s shoulder.
“No. This is his office. He never usually let us in here. He might be inside.” Noah answers worriedly and hesitates to open the door. He slowly gains the confidence to enter the room, slowly pushing down on the handle and swinging the door open. The door to the small prison room casts a dark shadow as it lies open, an unusual state for such a secretive room. Noah slowly walks through the door and his lips begin to quiver, he slouches with a heavy heart as he refuses to believe what he’s seeing.
“Is that—” Noah Bennet whispers.
“Riley.” Noah grunts mournfully and stares at his step-brother’s corpse, which has been placed inside one of the jail cells in order to keep it safe.
“Why didn’t The Nomad bury him?” Noah Bennet wonders.
“As heartless as he is, even he hoped that one day he’d have his son back.” Noah answers and kneels down next to Riley’s body and places his hand onto Riley’s cold cheek.
“Can you save him?” Noah Bennet talks with anticipation.
“In another future, I did. It’s too late in this one.” Noah whispers tragically as he realises that no matter how hard he concentrates, he is unable to restore Riley’s conscience and his life force. The dominant conscience in Noah’s body has destroyed what remains of Riley.
“Hope, are you there?” Noah whispers to himself. “Can you hear me?” He mutters. With no answer, Noah continues trying to restore his stepbrother’s conscience into his body. “Please, please, please.” He murmurs under his breath, forcefully pushing both of his hands against Riley’s body.
“I’m sorry, Noah. He’s gone. The explosion sped up his decay, when it weakened your body, it lessened your hold on him. I think I’m only here because somehow my body is too. The Nomad didn’t predict Wildcard going rogue, therefore he never predicted anything that could have happened following the bomb, including the exponential state of decay that Riley’s conscience faced.” Hope answered.
“He’s gone.” Noah stammered.
“I’m sorry, Noah. I really am.” Noah Bennet expresses his condolences as he fiddles around with a small keypad on the wall.
“He had the ability to create clones, why didn’t he create a clone of Riley in order to put his conscience into my body instead? He didn’t know that powers didn’t work on clones back then. Or anybody else’s for that matter? It never had to be Riley.” Noah murmurs.
“Perhaps somehow, he knew. You know how secretive The Nomad is, he couldn’t let any outsiders get involved with his plans. It had to be Riley.” Noah Bennet explains and continues tampering with the keypad, revealing another secret room next to The Nomad’s office. A warbling sound emanates from the dimly lit room as Noah discovers another machine.
“What on earth is this?” Noah Bennet mutters anxiously.
“I think that’s Michael, my stepsister Alex told me stories about him when I was a child, but I always thought he was a myth. She used to break into these hidden rooms, you see, but I never believed her.” Noah talks alarmingly and rushes towards the machine.
“The Michael? Dillon and Quinton told me about him.” Noah Bennet follows Noah towards the machine.
“What use could The Nomad possibly have for Michael in this machine?” Noah ponders.
“I think I know. When I was with Dillon and Quinton on our way to find you during your fight with Wildcard, I theorised that somebody from your universe would find their way over to ours in order to rescue you. The Nomad had to ensure that would never happen and to do so, he put Michael into a machine to block others from ever entering our universe.” Noah Bennet stares and nods slowly as he observes a middle aged woman who is also connected to the machine. “That’s what she’s here for too, if Michael’s powers are just to jump into other universes, that’s not enough to block people from coming into our universe. This woman must have power blocking abilities or something similar that’s tuned into the machine in order to prevent anybody with Michael’s powers from crossing over into our universe.” He continues theorising.
“How do you work all of this out?” Noah shrugs.
“I was at the top of my field for a very good reason.” Noah Bennet smiles.
“Wait a minute.” Noah mutters to himself as he walks up to the vat containing the unconscious woman. “Somebody who helped me yesterday, Hisoka, he told me that The Nomad was h
olding onto his wife. What are the chances that this might be her?” He contemplates and places his hand on the vat. The woman suddenly awakes inside the container and panics at the presence of three strangers in the room. Unlike the machine Dillon and Quinton were trapped in, this one contains no liquid. With a respiratory mask on her face, the woman is unable to scream or speak. She slams her hands on the glass container and gives a distraught look towards both Noahs.
“Stand back.” Noah Bennet raises his gun at the console and prepares to shoot.
“What are you doing? There’s no guarantee that will do anything, it might even kill them. Plus, it’ll cause a lot of noise. Let me try something.” Noah suggests whilst the female figure watches on unsure of what they are saying. He walks back towards the vat and places his hands onto it, concentrating on the female figure inside. Noah closes his eyes as the thick glass begins to vibrate. He immediately opens his eyes and successfully teleports the woman outside of the container and next to Noah Bennet.
“You’re learning to control it.” Noah Bennet smiles surprisingly. “Are you okay?” He takes off his jacket and gives it to the barely clothed and trembling woman to wear. She nods rapidly and pulls the respiratory mask from her face and drops it onto the floor.
“I could feel it. Him. Death. I think he died some time ago, but his powers were still filtering into the machine. It has a system to keep the most basic functions of the brain working, I know because I helped make it. Because we were connected through it, all I could feel was this absolute depression resonating from him through me.” The woman explains snakingly. “Thank you, thank you so much.” She cries.
“Michael’s dead?” Noah mutters and walks up to the container to gaze upon the old, lifeless and preserved body of Michael, his abilities still functional through the machine. “This machine is different from the one Dillon and Quinton were plugged into, it looks older.” He observes and places his hand onto the container with Michael inside.
“Noah was wondering something, are you Hisoka’s wife?” Noah Bennet asks quietly.
“I am! Do you know Hisoka? Is he alright?” The woman exclaims. “I’m Catherine Quincy, by the way.” Catherine introduces herself.
“I’m Noah Bennet, he’s Noah Gray. We share the same forename.” Noah Bennet responds calmly.
“Who’s he?” Catherine mutters quietly.
“My name is Hiro Nakamura, master of time and space.” Hiro’s illusion smiles as a muffled scream suddenly emits from Michael’s vat.
“He’s back.” Noah exclaims.
“Ever since you left this place, you’ve really begun to hone in on your abilities, I’m pleased. Maybe we can stop The Nomad after all.” Noah Bennet smiles whilst Noah teleports Michael out of the container.
“Are you Michael?” Noah nods questioningly.
“Noah? You’ve grown so much. I am… I am.” Michael murmurs with a surprised tone.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know you, Michael.” Noah mutters regretfully.
“It’s okay. You’re what, seventeen, eighteen? How many years have we been in this machine for?” Michael shudders.
“I’m seventeen. My powers still haven’t reached their full capability based on what I’ve heard. Needless to say, The Nomad wasn’t happy about the delay in his plan when my powers came about later than normal.” Noah explains hastily.
“I was loyal to The Nomad. He sold me a very different idea from the one he wanted to enact. I strongly believed he wanted to save the world and that I’d have a part in doing so. I’m sorry.” Michael stammers.
“You have a part in it now.” Noah reassures Michael. “Listen, the Nomad isn’t far, you and Catherine need to leave as soon as possible.” He instructs Michael and Catherine.
“Where’s my husband?” Catherine stumbles towards Noah and mutters with great concern.
“I intend to find out, but for now, please go. I promise I’ll find him.” Noah answers whilst Michael nods and leads Catherine outside of the room. “Wait.” He calls out quietly.
“What is it?” Michael asks carefully.
“I should teleport you somewhere safer so he can’t just come after you. Just in case.” Noah insists. “Now, with my powers as they are at the moment, I can only teleport you to places I know about or see in some form. I’ll send you to a safe-house, there’ll be a man there named Hiro, tell him I sent you two and he will help you.” He explains whilst placing his hands onto Michael and Catherine.
“Isn’t this Hiro right here?” Catherine mutters.
“My name is Hiro Nakamura, master of time and space.” Hiro’s illusion smiles whilst Catherine stares at him with great confusion on her face. Noah Bennet shakes his head and waves his hand as a gesture to disregard Hiro’s illusion.
“Trust me, Hiro is waiting for you at the safe house.” Noah utters confidently.
“Thank you.” Michael and Catherine express their appreciation. Noah nods and teleports them away to safety.
“Are you ready?” Noah Bennet stares into Noah’s concerned eyes.
“Promise me that if things go wrong, you guys get out of here.” Noah requests.
“No. I won’t.” Noah remarks, withdrawing his gun and walks outside of the room whilst Hiro’s illusion follows him. “Are you coming?” He argues. Noah sighs as he reluctantly follows them down the corridor, continuing to embark on the trail The Nomad has set for them.
“This is where it happened.” Noah whispers to himself as they reach the trail’s end.
“Where what happened?” Noah Bennet wonders.
“This is where my brother died.” Noah answers.
“Yes it is.” The Nomad abruptly enters the corridor from behind a corner. Noah Bennet aims his gun towards him. “Let’s just talk about this calmly.” He approaches them steadily, causing both Noahs to slowly step back in apprehension. “I must thank you for stopping the bombs from falling. My company is being investigated now, looks like I won’t be running it for much longer, it might undergo a facelift. No matter, soon enough that won’t be a problem at all.” He expresses his gratitude.
“We fixed your problem, Nomad. You need to fix the rest of them.” Noah Bennet insists.
“What problems? The plan is still intact. Noah doesn’t need to be fully trained to use the Godsend Device. This will give us all a better future, Noah. Your daughter won’t ever have to be afraid of not being normal anymore.” The Nomad nods as Noah Bennet rapidly approaches him, pressing his gun into The Nomad’s forehead. “Why do you see me as a villain? May I ask you that? How is it that I’m the villain here?” He continues nodding, pleading for an answer.
“How is it that you cannot see that you’re the villain here?” Noah argues. “You kidnapped me as a baby, took me from my parents and probably killed them too. You killed your own son and sought to kill anybody who got in the way of your precious plan.” He shouts.
“I consider myself to be… chaotic good… on the alignment system. I do what I believe is the right thing.” The Nomad shrugs his shoulders and purses his lips.
“No. No good person kills another. You’re evil.” Noah Bennet murmurs.
“Listen to me carefully, Mr. Bennet. I’m giving you the opportunity to have a perfect life with your daughter. No more fears, no more concerns and certainly no more complications. It’ll be a perfect life for us all. Humanity will prevail more than ever before.” The Nomad speaks encouragingly.
“As nice as that sounds, it’d never last. You would end up either causing the extinction of humanity, setting off the bombs again, or worse. We’ve seen it. I’d rather live a life with Claire filled with love and anger than to live in an almost emotionless one.” Noah Bennet clamours.
“Don’t be stupid. Time travelling to the future is the most useless ability there can be. Once you arrive into the future, you’re touching an alternate timeline because the future may have already changed by the time you’ve arrived there. Time is fluid, the future changes with every single choice made by
every single individual. The tiniest snowball grows into the largest avalanche, changing the course of history in one way or another.” The Nomad argues and spits, growing tired of the endless complaints that are being presented to him. “One of the main reasons I set up the Preservation of Eden was to ensure that we could imprison or destroy all those with time travellers. Luckily it’s such a rare ability as it is. I see you brought the time traveller with you. Risky choice. I told you that the next time I’d see you, you’d die. I can’t afford to have somebody wandering through time and space and altering my plan.” He growls.
“My name is Hiro Nakamura, master of time and space.” Hiro’s illusion smiles.
“Yes, I know. We’ve met.” The Nomad drawled in annoyance.
“Leave him alone.” Noah grunts.
“Oh I’m not going to do anything, Noah. You are.” The Nomad smirks and begins to control Noah’s mind, forcing him to raise his hand towards Hiro. “Now, your father used to kill his victims in a very artistic way. Let’s have you adopt his signature move, shall we?” He growls, forcing Noah to keep his index and middle finger up and aimed towards Hiro’s head, who stares at Noah in complete silence.
“Don’t do this.” Noah stammers. “Please.” He groans.
“Goodbye, Hiro.” The Nomad grunts, controlling Noah’s powers and making him slice his fingers sideways, slashing Hiro across the forehead through and through. The top of Hiro’s illusion’s head slides off onto the floor, followed by his collapsing body. The Nomad examines their reactions and closely inspects Hiro’s body from a safe distance. “Very clever. Oh I’ll admit that is very clever indeed.” He chuckles with a smirk and walks up to Noah, rapidly placing his hand onto Noah’s forehead and sees into his memories.
“Noah, Dillon, I want you two to see if you can create a replica of me, like you do with your powers, Dillon. If we can convince The Nomad that I’m dead, he won’t go after me anymore.” Hiro suggests.
“You thought you could trick me?” The Nomad mutters.
“What do you mean?” Noah grunts.
“Don’t play games with me!” The Nomad yells. “I know that isn’t Hiro. Both your faces are a big tell. I’ve seen people who have watched people die in front of them. Some fall into shock, others into despair, but both of your reactions were somewhat forced.” He reveals calmly.
“Noah.” Noah mumbles fearfully.
“It’s okay.” Noah Bennet mutters. “It’s okay.” He nods reassuringly.
The Nomad lifts his hand impatiently and lifts his head, focusing on controlling Noah’s powers again with the intention of teleporting the real Hiro to their location.
“How are you able to do this?” Noah grunts in pain.
“You misunderstand, my dear boy. I have had a great many years of experience with my abilities and the abilities of others, controlling other people is second nature to me. You haven’t had enough time to learn how to control the full extent of your abilities yet.” The Nomad explains whilst he successfully teleports the real Hiro in front of him. “Now, shall we try again?” He whispers menacingly.
“Hiro, go!” Noah Bennet shouts towards Hiro.
“Oh, no, no, no. You’re not going anywhere, Hiro.” The Nomad continues to control Noah’s mind and forcing him to prevent Hiro from leaving.
“I’m not doing this.” Noah shuddered.
“I do not tread on butterflies, Mr. Nomad. You have already committed a genocide upon these butterflies, altering time to your own gain. You are an evil man.” Hiro commented.
“You know, during my stay in America, I once met a woman who said a very similar thing to me. She could dream of the future and she saw me pulling the hypothetical trigger on the world.” The Nomad reminisces whilst Noah Bennet realises that he must be talking about Angela. “I told her that she must be wrong, all I want to do is improve the world so that we may hone our focus onto more important things like curing all cancers and diseases, saving our planet and terraforming it into a safer one, ridding the world of hunger and allowing every living soul to live their life in peace and happiness. No more war, no more terror. Do you know why I want to do this?” He mutters mournfully.
“You make your intentions sound good, but I know who you saw in America, because that’s how we found out about you. Angela is never wrong. If she saw you end the world, you will end the world.” Noah Bennet responded harshly.
“No. I never will. And I’ll answer my own question for all your sakes. I want to save our world and expand because we may very well be the only intelligent civilisation in existence. We may be the first, we may be the last. Each possibility is equally frightening. If we carry on hindering progress with pointless wars, we will be the cause of our own extinction.” The Nomad insists.
“If we let you go forwards with this plan, something will happen further down the line where you decide to end the world one way or another. We cannot afford to let that happen. I’m giving you this one chance to come with me and sort this out peacefully. I thought you of all people would appreciate that.” Noah Bennet suggests.
“You’ve become too much of a headache for me. Do you understand what you’re hindering? The very future of humanity, the future of existence itself!” The Nomad yells.
“Be quiet. It’s over. I’m not going to let you get away with all you’ve done so far. Either you come with me, or I’ll find a way to make you die right here, on this very spot.” Noah Bennet firmly gives the Nomad a choice.
“No, Noah, you can’t kill him, you know he reflects any damage.” Noah whispers.
“I like you, Bennet, but I want you to see that I’m right. So… I’ll let you go for now.” The Nomad rasps as he raises his hand and twists it into a fist, causing Noah Bennet to disappear.
“Noah!” Hiro shouts.
“What have you done?!” Noah yells.
“I sent him to where you came from… The Noah Bennet from that place is dead, much like your father. So he might just settle in over there.” The Nomad sneers evilly.
“You… You told me you couldn’t take me home… You took Michael’s powers?” Noah groans.
“He was my good friend, the man you freed from that machine, that’s okay by the way. I forgive you. We won’t need that machine after today. Michael was the one who found you for me and he was the one who believed in my plan with such dedication and passion. He agreed to be the first candidate for one of my Machines, one that I’d designed with the intention to copy powers over to another person. Unfortunately for Michael, he had second thoughts about my plan, so I had second thoughts about him too…” The Nomad explains monotonously. “Come on, Noah. Don’t be foolish. Surely even you know that I could never risk you going home, I could never risk somebody from the other side coming over to bring you back. Not with all that I have planned. The Godsend Device came from the other side. I’m fascinated by this device, it’s man-made, yet awe-inspiring. A true achievement. I feared to use it, however. Everybody who tried to operate the device just… ceased to exist. It was then designed to work for one single person, you.” He removes The Godsend Device from his jacket pocket and stares at it with admiration.
“Noah, don’t listen to him.” Hiro shudders quietly.
“Why me? What makes me so different?” Noah groans in shock.
“Omnipotence. Your power, of course. It is so great that even you cannot harness it yet. One day you will have the ability to do anything you can imagine, but you just need proper training and experience. You’ve not had long enough to explore them fully. Noah, you are the only living entity in all the universes I have explored who has such a power. You truly are a Godsend.” The Nomad speaks with admiration.
“Don’t… don’t call me that. If I were truly a Godsend, I’d have helped the hundreds or thousands of people out there who you’ve made to suffer!” Noah shouts. “I saw my father. I don’t know if it was a hallucination, but he was telling me about how weak I am, that I’m a waste of a life and he’s right. You took the pos
sibility of a good life away from me.” He continues to mutter angrily.
“Oh, stop your whining.” The Nomad groans with impatience.
“You have one chance to go back from all of this, Nomad.” Hiro speaks reassuringly.
“Oh no… I’m too far gone. The plan… is too far gone. This needs to happen.” The Nomad exclaimed.
“Why don’t I just destroy the device? Have you ever contemplated what might happen if I tried to do that?” Noah huffs under his breath.
“The Godsend Device is beautiful as it is devastating. If it were destroyed or used incorrectly, the powers within it would manifest and explode with the strength of a hundred supernovas… An Epinova... I’m not telling tales either, I saw the onset happen in another world. However, the world we live in is the only world that resulted in the Sullivan Incident. All the others I visited it had it happen elsewhere, or not at all…” The Nomad informs Noah of the uniqueness of this universe and all universes.
“You may not be my father, but you raised me. You sure as hell know I’d rather die before letting you kill everybody.” Noah speaks sharply.
“You misunderstand my intentions, Noah. I merely wish to improve the very condition of the human race, to make certain… changes for the future.” The Nomad clarifies and puts the Godsend Device back inside of his inner jacket pocket.
“Through manipulation and murder? No. You can’t be trusted.” Noah grunts.
“Only those who stand in our way, like the time traveller here.” The Nomad clamours. “You need your training, Noah. You need to understand the true extent of your abilities.” He insists, whilst controlling Noah to raise his hands once more towards Hiro.
“I’m not doing this, Hiro.” Noah stammers fearfully.
“I know.” Hiro answers. “It’s okay.” He smiles with courage.
“Well, well. Time to go.” The Nomad rasps.
“Remember what I said, Noah? It is not the sword, it’s the man. You don’t need it this time. You never did, neither did I.” Hiro murmurs confidently. Immediately, Noah breaks free of The Nomad’s control and raises his hand towards The Nomad, violently throwing him against a wall whilst Noah takes the full-force of the impact. The Nomad stands up impatiently, having felt no pain at all from reflecting it onto Noah.
“Then I’ll have to do it myself.” The Nomad growls whilst he shakes his jacket.
Noah raises his hands again, forcing The Nomad to remain stuck in place and preventing him from moving or using his powers completely.
“This… is… interesting.” The Nomad chortles as he tries to break free.
“Hiro, go!” Noah struggles to hold The Nomad in place.
“I won’t leave you.” Hiro remarks and walks up to Noah.
“You have to. You have to. We’ll find Mr. Bennet, I promise. I can’t let you die. Please.” Noah pleads.
“Noah, I will go, but I’m coming straight back. I’m going to get help.” Hiro reassures Noah and teleports away.
“Goddamn it!” The Nomad screams angrily and expresses a fit of rage and causes Noah to suffer from a great deal of pain. He grabs his head in pain and loses his control of The Nomad. “I raised you! You dare disrespect me?! You ignore my every instruction and rebel against your own father?!” He yells, spitting from his mouth. Noah falls to his knees in great pain and attempts to block The Nomad from using his powers. Slowly, he stands up and begins to repress the uncomfortable levels of damage being inflicted upon him. Noah begins surging his powers and heatwaves begin to emit around his body.
“You’re not my father.” Noah growled.
“So, this is what it comes to? We’re back to where we started. How poetic.” The Nomad shakes his head in annoyance.
“Except this time, you don’t have another son to kill.” Noah retorted as his abilities begin emanating shockwaves and the concrete walls begin to crack. “I can feel you trying to dig into my mind. Try it.” He dares The Nomad, who begins to repress Noah’s powers and causes them to die down. The lights begin to shatter and the room falls dark.
“Don’t do this. Look at it, look at how beautiful it is. We can do this together.” The Nomad implores as he reaches for the Godsend Device.
“You can’t stop me without having something like another conscience to keep my abilities at bay. That’s how it works, right?” Noah murmurs as his powers are constantly growing and shrinking as the two mentally fight against each other for control over Noah’s powers. Noah shouts with an echo as his orange eyes begin to glow, becoming one of the only light sources in the darkening room. The constant battle reverberates around the entire room as The Nomad struggles to keep Noah at bay. Suddenly, a stupendous shockwave leaves Noah’s body as he wins the fight. The blast collapses the entire corridor and its floor, causing Noah and The Nomad to fall through it. The wave continues obliterating the walls and floors of the lower levels until they crash violently into the sewer below.
Hiro teleports next to Angela in the park where he and Noah Bennet last met her. Hiro slowly approaches Angela, hesitant to reveal the outcome of their plan.
“Angela.” Hiro mutters whilst steadily approaching Angela in a park.
“Hiro. What’s happened?” Angela asks worriedly.
“It’s Noah Bennet. He’s gone. The Nomad sent him to another universe.” Hiro answered. “We will save him. We will bring him home. I have to get help. I’m going to need Ando, I want to teleport as many reinforcements as possible. The Nomad is a bigger threat than I ever imagined.” He speaks reassuringly.
“This is all my fault, Hiro.” Angela reaches out to hold onto his arms as she loses her balance. Hiro helps her to sit down on a bench.
“What… what do you mean?” Hiro whispered.
“I left out a very importance piece of information from my dreams, it was so selfish of me. If I hadn’t done so, perhaps Noah would still be with us.” Angela stammered.
“He is still with us, just not in this world. What did you leave out, Angela?” Hiro asked nervously.
“It wasn’t just you and Noah that I saw in my dreams, Hiro. Somebody else was supposed to go with you too, but I didn’t tell you, I didn’t tell him.” Angela’s lips begin to shake.
“Who?” Hiro presses.
“Peter, my son.” Angela reveals. “I didn’t tell anybody because in my dreams, The Nomad had him killed. I couldn’t bear to lose another child.” She explained fearfully.
“You don’t know that. The Nomad wanted to kill me, but Noah and a friend of his created an illusion of me instead, so it only looked like I died. That might have been the same for Peter if he went.” Hiro responded.
“No… They saw your death coming because you’re a time traveller. Peter isn’t.” Angela shook her head in defeat.
“He might have been if he came along, he might have borrowed the ability from me.” Hiro pointed out a possibility. Angela stammers, unable to form an intelligible response. She takes a deep breath and sighs towards Hiro.
“Either way, Noah Bennet is gone because of me, because of my selfishness.” Angela stared blankly.
“We will save him, Miss. Petrelli.” Hiro reassures Angela.
THE FINAL
