Interlude: Message From The Future II

The train was crowded with passengers from all walks of life and backgrounds as it moved along the underground tunnel.

People sat in front and behind me, some stood near me to my sides, grasping the handrails above them, and behind me also.

The air was thick with the scent of coffee, perfume, sweat, and a whole lot. Mohinder, who was wearing a brown jacket on top of his white shirt with his brown bag slung across his body was standing near me on my right with a stoic look on face as his left hand hung on the handrail.

A couple was making out a few meters away from him but everyone ignored them. My eyes shifted to him and we made eye contact and I thought of words to say.

"...Listen, when we get there do you mind if I'm the one who does the talking?" I suggested, my voice almost a whisper, "He's ugh, kinda a heroin addict."

His eyebrows furrowed, "A heroin addict? You neglected to mention that." He said, almost sarcastically.

"Dispend the skepticism until you meet him okay." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm a scientist Peter, skepticism is my and every scientist's default position."

"Well you father managed to get around that. He took a pretty big leap, you've got to respect that." I rose my shoulders and grabbed the rail above me with my left hand.

His face changed.

"I did more than respect him, I believed him. He was my father, I had to." He remarked, his tone a little helpless, shifting his black eyes to his right.

"Can't be the only reason why you believed him." I looked at him and flashed him a small smile.

"...I mean look at our planet. Famine, draught, war, global warming, overpopulation, terrorism, environmental degradation. We all know somethings wrong deep down but no one is doing anything to change it.

"My father always believed that our very species would go extinct, sooner or later, and that a few who are more unique and extraordinary in one or more ways would adapt and survive to propagate the human race again," He paused his passionate explanation, his mouth slightly open as he noticed the smile and look I was giving him.

"...He had a romantic take on evolution." He looked away and I chuckled. I didn't know him or his father very well but I could tell he admired him a lot despite his behavior and that he had some belief in his father's theory.

He was just hiding behind the mask of skepticism, just like Nathan...

"And you don't? You're both geneticists." I told him and he shrugged, a faint smile drawing on his handsome face.

"That is also evolution. We are all different variations of the last model, whether we like to believe it or not."

"Yeah tell me about it. We are all just cheap knockoffs of our father. It's funny when you think about it." I chuckled and added softly and I could the agreement in his eyes.

We both became silent after that, our bodies trembling occasionally due to the movement of the train. After a few minutes, the train stopped at the brightly lit station filled with waiting people and the door slid apart, allowing the passengers to move out.

"C'mon let's go." I told Mohinder and we both walked out of the train. We passed by the next batch of passengers as they moved towards the train and ascended the staircase to the surface.

Light shined on our faces from the sun above and the bustling sounds of cars honking and moving, pedestrians chatting, sellers hawking, etc buzzed in my ears as we came out of the subway station.

The cold air filled my lungs as I admired the roads, the towering skyscrapers and everything around me. It was a bit refreshing taking it in.

"Isaac's place is just around the corner, we'll get there in no time with a cab." I turned to Mohinder and said with a slightly loud voice that wouldn't be drowned by the noises in our surroundings.

"Sure, let's just get this over with." He nodded and said, as if uninterested.

I sighed and then gestured for a yellow cab that was about to pass by to stop, it did. I opened the door of the backseat and stepped into it, Mohinder followed and closed the door with a small bang.

"Take us to 215 Reed Street #7." I removed a couple of bucks from my wallet and told him as I gave it to him.

"Alright." He responded dryly and the next minute, the car started moving. The car weaved through the traffic expertly, passing through some streets that acted as shortcuts due to the number of taxis and vehicles that passed through it also.

The car came to a stop in front of the familiar multi-story grey apartment building shaped like a tower. Numerous buildings like it covered most of the square inches of the area.

Mohinder opened the door and climbed out and I followed, closing the door behind us. The car sped away as we examined the opened entrance of the building.

"So this is where he lives huh? The prophetic painter," Mohinder commented, a smirk drawing on his face. "Let's go see him then."

I suppressed a comment and walked into the building. Together we walked into the elevator and I pressed the button of the floor Isaac's studio was. We arrived with a ding and coming out, I lead Mohinder to Isaac's door after rounding a corner.

The outside of his studio had lots of shut blinders covered by glass retractable windows. On our right was a sight of the darkening city sprawling with lights behind a couple a metal rails, the cold air hugging our bodies.

I could see lights on through the spaces of the blinders and glancing at Mohinder who looked a little uninterested, I knocked on the door.

Please be at home...

"Isaac! I'm Peter Petrelli, a friend of Simone's." I said loudly as I knocked. There was no reply.

"Isaac!?" I knocked again but there was no reply, bringing a frown to my face. Was he out? Or was he just ignoring me because of Simone?

Mohinder sighed behind me and tapped on my shoulder.

"Let's go Peter, he isn't around." He remarked and without even waiting for me to reply, turned and started walking away.

I glanced at him as he walked and then turned back to try and peer through the blinders. I couldn't hear anything so it was either he was asleep or he had gone out or he was ignoring any visitors. Either way, I wouldn't be able to prove anything today.

I turned to look at Mohinders back, a distance away from me and sighed helplessly. Hopefully, we'd be able to meet him tomorrow. But why did it look and feel like that wouldn't be the case..

•••

"What if we went back tomorrow, maybe he'd be around at that time." I suggested to Mohinder who was standing beside me, near a cream door. We were inside another train heading back to Brooklyn.

Looking at his slightly annoyed face, it was clear he wasn't going to come back to Manhattan anytime soon...

"Look, I'm not trying to discount your experience or anything like that. Its just that a week ago I was a respected professor in my own country, "He started, his tone a little accusatory. "Now you want me to stalk a heroin addict who allegedly pa...ints t..he f..utu..."

Suddenly, his words started breaking and he froze all together like a statue, his eyes unblinking with the lights around me now blue.

"Mohinder?" An eyebrow rose in surprise and I waved my hand in front of him. I got no response. Confused, I turned to look at the passengers upon noticing the eerie silence, no one was talking and the sounds of the motion of the train was nonexistent.

Terror gripped me up, my eyes widening in shock as I saw everyone frozen as a block of ice. Hot water that was pouring out of the vacuum flask into the cup of a dark skinned man was frozen in midair, the steam was even frozen.

Weak with fright, my bag shifted from my shoulder and fell on the ground as I stared at everything with open eyes.

"What in God's name was going?" I muttered and gulped in fear. Seeing nothing changing, I started walking past the frozen passengers to the steel door that lead the outside.

When I got to it, I looked through the small pane of perspex glass on top of it and saw the dark train track. Everything outside was frozen also, even the dirt particles and the birds.

My terror increased as I saw this and anxiety came in to mix, making me pound on the door.

"Let me out! Somebody help!" I yelled on the top of my lungs as I pounded the steel door in frustration, my fear increasing every second.

Who was doing this? How was time stopped? How was it even possible? And why wasn't I frozen? Was this some sort of prank or act?

I yelled and yelled and yelled as these types of questions plagued my mind until I got tired with only grunts and groans coming out of my mouth as I helplessly banged on the door.

Breathing heavily, I turned back to face the frozen passengers. Not knowing what to do, I slowly started walking towards Mohinder, trying to search for any clues.

As I took a step, I heard a bang above and I quickly turned my head to look above at the white metallic ceiling. Who was there? Is there going be an attack?

Terrified, I continued walking to Mohinder as footsteps sounded from above, my body shifting, turning and tensing with each footstep I heard.

I finally got to Mohinder and my body froze as I heard the footsteps now behind me. Sweat trickled down from my forehead to my neck, my arms shaking so I clenched my hands into fists.

Hearing the footsteps stop behind me, I slowly turned to face the person, my fists trembling with my palms sweaty.

"Peter Petrelli." The moment my eyes fell on the person, a slightly deep accented voice mentioned my name and I jumped backwards in surprise.

The person was a short Asian young man, probably in his early thirties and Japanese, with black silky straight hair tied in a ponytail behind him, small bead-like black eyes, a narrow chin, small pink lips that had a cylindrical patch of hair below it, a small nose, sharp black eyebrows, and an oval white smooth face.

He was dressed in an all black jacket, black jeans, black combat boots, a black bag was slung across his torso, and he had a long sword at his back.

Despite the smile on his face, he looked incredibly dangerous but I was getting the same feeling I got from Eden on him also. How the hell did he know my name?

And how did he just pop up inside the train? How was he also moving? Is the one responsible for all this?

My back touched the other door, my eyes open with fear and suspicion, breathing heavily as my chest moved up and down.

"I don't know you buddy." I suppressed my fear and told him, his sad smile broadened by a fraction.

"Sorry, you look different without the scar," He commented with familiarity as he observed my face. "You don't know me yet. My name is Hiro Nakamura and I'm from the future. I have a message to deliver." His smile dropped and he explained seriously.

Scar? Future? A message? What the hell was this nutjob talking about?

"I don't have much time, I'm risking a spatio-temporal disturbance just by coming here but this is our only chance," He stepped closer to me and I backed to the side but he drew closer till our faces were only a few feet apart. "Tell Xander to kill Sylar."

"Who?" I blurted out in confusion when I noticed he wasn't going to harm me.

"Xander, tell him to kill Sylar the moment he gets a chance. It's the only was to prevent the war and stop all that from happening."

"What war? And what happened?" I couldn't help but ask despite my surprise due to how serious he sounded and the absurd situation.

"...Everything happened, too much death and destruction," His face fell and he looked so sad it was almost pitiful. It affected me. " There's no time to explain and give all the details, search for cheerleader, Claire and you'll find him. Go to Isaac Mendez, the painter. He'll know. When I call you, you must tell me where to meet." He paused as he stared into my eyes. I was confused but I held my mouth and waited for him to continue, listening attentively.

"...You told me how many time you felt lost when everything started. This is what you've been waiting for, your destiny." He continued with a smile that strangely made all my fear and suspicion vanish.

I hadn't told anyone this, not even Nathan or my mother. I've always felt like I didn't belong, that I was meant for greater things that no one could understand. That my destiny was so big that it was unimaginable.

If he had an idea about that then maybe I wasn't losing my mind and maybe all what he was saying was true. If I and Nathan could fly, and Isaac could paint the future, then what showed someone couldn't stop time or time travel...

"Find and guide him, he's the one we need. The one who can make create a brighter future." He added solemnly, looking into my eyes with conviction. "And tell him...I'm sorry, it wasn't his fault. She...never mind." He continued after a brief pause, his eyes lowered and his voice almost cracking.

I couldn't help but nod dumbly in response, as his sadness drowned me. Whatever happened in the future must've been so terrible that time travel was the only option, so bad that it almost broke him. To be honest, I was starting to be scared...

At that moment, it didn't even cross my mind to ask him again about what happened in the future, no my fear prevented me from doing that. Whatever happened back there, I didn't want to know...

"Understood." I muttered and he rose his head to face me with a serois look on his face, his eyes slightly reddened.

Seemingly satisfied, he turned around and started walking to the other door.

Where was he going? I needed more explanation. Where was I going to meet him, Xander and the cheerleader? He had to at least make this make sense.

"Hiro wait!" I shouted at him and stepped to follow him as he walked briskly to the door.

"Find the cheerleader, save the world!" He said loudly as he almost reached the door.

"Hiro wait! You have to explain!" I shouted back at him, about to sprint towards him but the next second, he disappeared, and the time resumed, the lights now normal.

"Shit!" I cursed loudly, attracting attention from the passengers.

"Peter are you alright?" Mohinder grabbed my shoulder and asked worriedly. I only signed helplessly in response and shook my head.

First, a bomb sets off in New York and now a time traveler comes to tell me to find someone who would save the world from a threat I didn't even know.

The only thing I could do now was to get to Isaac. It seemed he had the answers. The fate of the world was practically on my shoulders but I was getting excited. I had finally found what my destiny was and it would start when I find the cheerleader...

•••

Hi guys, it's been a rough week. My phone got spoilt so I wasn't able to type the chapters for the week and I'm sorry for that.

I've gotten a temporary phone for now that I'll manage with for the meantime and to try and type the chapters but it isn't going to be easy because it's a small phone and I'm not familiar with devices like that when it comes to typing.

I'll try for you guys though. Wish me luck and do the needful with the stones, reviews, comments etc for the needed support.

Thank you and have a nice weekend.