(no subject)
Title: Mirror Image (Part 2)
Characters/Pairings: Sylar, Zach, Masi
Rated: PG
Word Count: 4,066
Spoilers/Warnings: Up to Season 2.
Notes: More cracky RPF! Totally not real and if you think it's real, would you like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge too?
Summary: Sylar finds a way to break on through to the other side.. into the real world. He reaks havoc while Zach tries to save the world.
Previously On Mirror Image: Part 1
By the next morning, the plan was set in place. Hiro, or Masi as he still wanted to be called, had gone over the details with Zachary and Sendhil in length the night before. They would drive out to Topanga State Park, practice defensive maneuvers and fighting skills then focusing on attacking Sylar.
Masi promised to talk to the others and get a group together, a crime-fighting, supervillan-stopping team, so Zach wouldn't have to do this alone. As the night wore on and he did some thinking on the matter, Zach began to worry about dragging more people into this chaos. If he was going to get his ass kicked by a fictional character, that fell on his own shoulders but he wasn't about to watch his friends get hurt on his account. It was bad enough what happened to Dania.
Still, as he walked out to the meeting place, the spot in the back of the cast parking lot, Zach smiled as he saw Adrian and Masi waiting for him. They were joking with each other, the atmosphere easy and laid back. Neither looked as if they were heading off to mortal danger. Pieces of the conversation caught his attention as Zach walked closer, something about computers and video equipment.
It was still weird to think of Masi as Hiro, though they shared too many similarities that Zach felt he should have known something was up. And there he was today, still pulling off the act in front of Adrian, wearing the mask of his alias Masi Oka. Zach shook his head, he was never going to get used to this breaking the fourth wall weirdness.
“Hey Zach!” Adrian spotted him and brought his camera up to eye level, switching it on. “How does it feel to know that we are moments away from embarking on a trip to catch and destroy your alter ego? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Zach put up his hand, blocking the camera from seeing his face. It was way too early in the morning to be making any public comments. “Can't this be off the record, Buckshotwon?”
“But I'm supposed to be the filmographer on our mission.” Adrian attempted to get him on film from a different angle. Zach furrowed his brows, giving Masi a silent plea for help. “I was going to use the Mission Impossible theme song as music in the background.. no, wait, I already used that song for another vid.. maybe The Final Countdown by Europe..” He trailed off, thinking of the possibilities as he shut the camera down. When he looked back up, he spotted some others in the distance. “Hey, look, Grunny and Ali. Hey guys!”
“You guys made it!” Masi shouted, a grin forming on his face. He looked like he was about to shout 'yatta' any minute now. “We're just waiting for Milo and Sendhil now.”
Zach whirled around, surprised that even more people had come to support him. Now that they had a plan and knew how to help, they were focused on the goal and not on distancing themselves from him. A goofy smile spread across his face. “Are you coming too?”
“You can't leave without your plucky comic relief,” Grunny said.
“Or the Femme Fatale!” Ali added. “If the writers have taught us anything it's that nothing can be done without having a hot chick nearby. I mean, seriously, this trip would overload on testosterone without me.”
Zach bounced on the balls of his feet and then, when he couldn't contain himself any longer, he reached out and gave the two of them a big hug. “I love you guys! You're like the best friends anyone could ask for.. and I'm not just saying that because we're all about to possibly be killed horribly by my evil twin.”
Before either of Ali or Grunny could reply, a van made a turn into the parking lot, driving over and stopping as it neared the group. After rolling down the window, Milo stuck his head out. “Everyone who wants to fight the good fight and show Sylar he can't mess with us, hop on in. And make it quick, I accidentally stole this van for the duration of our trip. NBC doesn't know yet but I have a feeling they will soon.”
“Little brother,” Adrian began a jesting reprimand, as the group started piling into the van. Sendhil was waiting inside for them, with their bags and some food already packed. “What did I tell you about stealing company property?”
“Don't do it,” Milo repeated verbatim, pouting slightly. Then his mischievous nature came out and he added, “Unless there's an emergency where the world is at stake or we are being chased by a bunch of screaming fangirls who want to make you wear more lederhosen?”
A shiver ran up Adrian's back as he climbed aboard. The lederhosen incident was one he would have rather forgotten. For that very reason, he refused to go to Germany if they ever did another Heroes World Tour. Though, he supposed this did constitute an emergency. The fate of the world lay in their hands, which probably wasn't all that safe a spot to place the fate of the world.
Before Zach could climb into the van, Masi touched his arm and gestured for him to follow him to a spot beyond earshot of the others. Once they were there, the Asian man took off the sword he was wearing strapped to his back. Zach hadn't even noticed it there before, not until Masi was taking it off and handing it to him. “I wanted you to have this before we go. You'll need a sword to train on.”
In total awe, Zach gripped it in his hands, feeling the power that emanated from within its woven leather and sharpened metal. The heroes symbol was displayed proudly in gold on the side. “Oh wow.. is this really the sword of Takezo Kensei, the one that Yaeko's father smithed and which you later used..” he glanced around, hoping no one heard that slip. “Er, I mean, which Hiro later used.. to stab Sylar in the stomach.”
“Nah.. I found it in the prop room.” Masi shrugged, deflating Zach's excitement just a notch. “It's a good replica, sharp and pointy. It'll serve its purpose. Do you really think I would let you handle the real Kensei sword?” He laughed and began walking back to the van.
“Oh, come on,” Zach followed behind him, as he stabbed the sword on his back. Even though it was only a replica, it would serve its purpose. That didn't stop him from feeling slightly upset that Masi didn't want him using the real one. “I've taken some stagefighting courses at Carnegie Mellon University. I was pretty good back then.”
Masi entered the van, not willing to change his decision. Zach sighed and then noticed two girls leaving the makeup trailer. A lovely blond, all prim and proper, the one who was always one time with her lines memorized. And then there was the other, a munchkin only four feet tall, who managed to split her time between playing pretend with her friends and playing pretend on the screen.
Adair broke away from Hayden and skipped over to him. Today, the fear in her was gone, all traces seeming to have vanished with the new day. She gestured for him to come closer, so he bent down to her eye level and gave her his full attention. “Is it true that you're going to go fight Sylar?”
He nodded.
“Do me a favor?” She asked and again he gave his consent; Adair was too cute not to give in to her requests. The sweet, cuddly air around her faded as she said, “Kick his ass! And tell him he should stop picking on people because it isn't very nice.”
He ruffled her hair, “Sure thing, pipsqueak.”
Hayden joined them. The sun was bright today, shining in his eyes but the brightest thing had to be her smiling face. It was a fake smile though, full of optimism he didn't think she really felt. “Adair wanted to say goodbye and good luck. I thought it was best to come along with her. I'm worried. No one should be walking around alone these days.”
Zach stood back up. He could tell she was holding back so much of what she wanted to say. “Hayden, you don't have to worry about us. We'll be back before you know it, with Dania. And I promise to bring Milo back in one piece.”
“Milo? Who said anything about Milo.. I didn't say anything about Milo..” Glancing at the van, she blushed and bit her lip. “Do you really think he'll be okay?”
Rolling his eyes, Zach leaned in and whispered, “Eventually, you are going to have to tell him about your little crush.. you know that, right?” When she glared at him, he knew he'd hit it on the nose. Those fansites were good for something at least, if not for just the guilty pleasure of reading dozens of fangirls discuss things as trivial as how bushy your eyebrows were getting. “When we get back.. and we will all be coming back, you should tell him.”
Hayden nodded and then gave him a tight hug, “I can't believe you're doing this. You're kinda my hero, Zach. Text me or call my cell from the road, okay? I'm going to worry about you guys until the moment you come home.”
“Milo has your cell number. I'll tell him to call and leave dirty messages on your answering machine.” Zach smirked. Then he waved goodbye to the two of them and headed for the van. This was it. The adventure of a lifetime was about to begin. He only hoped he lived through whatever dangers it would bring his way. The replica sword brushed against his legs as he walked; reminding him that he was one of the good guys, a hero from the cast of Heroes.
Topanga State Park was approximately one hour away from the studio, long enough for Zach to take a nice relaxing nap in the back of the van. At least it was supposed to be relaxing, his dreams were slowly morphing into something that was clearly not so comforting.
He found himself lost in the dark, Sylar's voice ringing in his ears. “What do you think you're doing trying to stop me? I've eaten brains of people who were stronger than you, killed them before they could even blink.”
“I always wondered about the brain eating thing.” Zach mumbled, his voice seeming to work on it's own. He should be running, but all he saw was a pitch blackness that went on forever. “Kring never told me what you did with them.”
“There's a lot you don't know about me,” Sylar replied, using this as his advantage. “Only twenty-something episodes and you think that you've gained enough knowledge to make a difference. Did you know one of my abilities is to dreamwalk?”
“Is that what this is then?” Zach's head was cloudy, the dream-state effecting him more than it did Sylar. He needed to wake up, get out of this and back to the van, with his friends. Nevertheless, he kept pushing for more information, sorting out more of Sylar's backstory. If it didn't help him defeat him, at least it might help in his job, if he ever did get back to the studio. “What other abilities do you have that we haven't seen yet?”
Sylar deflected the question. “Enough to destroy you and your friends with, quite easily. Let's just leave it at that. Besides, why should I give away the surprise? You'll learn what I can do soon enough.” He paused before asking, “Do you still want this fight to happen?”
“I'm not going to let you hurt Dania. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“I'm giving you an option out of this mess, Zach. We are one and the same, after all. Two sides of the same coin.” How Sylar knew this fear of his, the actor didn't know but he was certainly using it to his advantage. All those times fans had asked him the 'how much are you like the character you play' question and Zach still didn't know what to tell them. “You created me; you're as evil as I am.”
“I'm nothing like you!” He shouted to the unending blackness, not quite sure where he should be directing his anger. Sylar's voice still sounded like it was coming from all around him as it erupted into a harsh, cold laughter that filled the dreamworld. “Nothing like you.. nothing..”
Suddenly he was back in his body, nearly jumping out of his seat. Sendhil was shaking him gently, a worried expression on his face. Zach's gaze darted around, taking in the familiarity of the company's van and assured himself that he was okay.
“You were having a nightmare, Zach.” Sendhil told him, as a few of the others watched cautiously. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, not wanting to get into the details of the dream. They didn't need to know how worried he was or how scared. It was best to just forget about his conversation with Sylar. Instead, he focused on the conversation going on in the van. They were discussing which characters they'd played in the past and whether those could be real or not too in some bizarre alternate universe.
“I really hope Jess Mariano doesn't turn out to be real.” Milo said from the driver's seat, recalling his Gilmore Girl days. It was sort of odd how in both universes he'd wound up dating Rory/Alexis. Some things were meant to be, but seeing as how both relationships broke up, apparently that wasn't one of them. “He was a troublemaker. He wouldn't so much try to destroy the world, but he'd probably hit me up for some cash.”
“I always seem to play troublemakers,” Ali replied as she fiddled with the radio, stopping on a song by the Dixie Chicks for Adrian's benefit. “Really troubled women who are messed up in the head. I wonder what that says about me.” She stopped in mid-thought, glancing over to Zach and quickly added. “Not that it has to mean anything at all.”
Zach attempted to show that her slight gaffe wasn't a big deal. “It's okay, Ali. I'm starting to get past the whole 'Sylar is me and I am Sylar' thing.. really.” It was a total lie, but she bought it for now. “I mean, I played this very openly gay character Sasan on SoNoTORIous back in 2006. And I'm not, well, you know.”
“Wait, you're not gay? I have got to stop reading those fan boards.” Grunny burst out with chuckling sarcasm. It was common knowledge amongst them that the fans had theories on stuff like that; scary, fucked up theories that made them sometimes cringe at the thought of them being true. “What about you, Masi? Do you think any of the characters you ever played could be real?”
Masi had been sitting very quietly throughout this whole conversation, there were only two other people in the van who knew why. He didn't say much, just repositioned his glasses and replied, “I don't know Grunny, perhaps Hiro is real, somewhere out there.”
Zach and Sendhil shared a secret glance. This conversation was veering towards the top-secret side of things, rather quickly. Pulling the conversation in his direction, Sendhil butted in rapidly, “I played Jesus in The Miracle Maker.” Upon realizing the inherent creepy weirdness breaking that fourth wall would bring, he went on further. “The philosophical issues that brings up.. it's mindboggling.”
“First Yoda and now Jesus,” Zach snickered, “You have this whole Higher Power thing going on Sendhil. You could start your own cult.”
Later that same day, the group was gathered in the deserted hills of Topanga State Park. It was quiet up here, no one would bother them as the practiced and the police who had been questioning them incessantly wouldn't be able to witness Zach swinging a deadly weapon around. The police were just looking for a reason to bring him in again, any little slip might cause them to rethink letting him go simply because his alibi could be verified.
Everything was going fine so far. In the art of kendo, Masi held the rank of shodan. As Hiro, he was a master of the sword-based martial art Battojutsu. That together might have been enough to show Zach how to use a sword but there was the added benefit of the actor's previous stagefighting classes.
For a few hours, Masi and Zach practiced footwork, dodging and parrying. It seemed like it was going to be simple enough. That is, until Grunny came up with an added teaching method. He had discussed it with Masi, who unfortunately believed it would be a great idea. And now Zach was blindfolded, learning how to attack with his sword using only his hearing.
He could just see the press stories that would come out of this debacle: 'Heroes Star Found Impaled, Blindfolded and Naked In Topanga Park', because somehow in his mind, if he was ever found dead by the press, it would be naked. Just like John Belushi.
“I fail to see how this is going to teach me anything,” he complained, waving the replica sword around attempting to not get hit in the process. He was going to trip and fall, killed by his own sword. He wondered if this master plan had been worked out weeks ago. First Grunny takes him to listen to his band play, ruins most of his hearing and then they bring him out here into the middle of nowhere and force him to defend himself blindfolded.
“You never know how Sylar will attack.” Masi told him, his badassery showing through. Then, he added with an extra hint of geekyness. “It's just like Star Wars.”
“Unfair analogy, Obi Won,” Zach pointed out, thrusting forward and catching his foot on a branch. “Luke could use the force. Besides, I'm much more of a Star Trek fan myself, I mean.. I am Spock after all. In some universe at least.”
The others were laughing, amused by the fact that he was doing all he could to stay upright. Eventually, Sendhil came over and tapped him on the shoulder, making sure he took a wide berth so as not to wind up on the wrong side of the sword. He lifted the blindfold from Zach's eyes, “I think that's enough. Wouldn't you agree, Masi?”
Masi sheathed his own practice katana, crossed his arms and nodded. “For now.”
Zach sighed happily, “Thank you.”
The group disbanded, while Milo and Adrian went to go fetch the portable barbecue out of the back of the van. They were going to have a small cookout, one last party before the final showdown. That way, no matter who didn't make it back, at least they would have one last group party. Though, Zach refused to think like that.
He shoved his sword into its holder that was strapped to his back, feeling the sweat dripping off his neck. Masi was a damn good swordsman and a pretty decent teacher. He glanced over in his direction, surprised the other man was watching him too. Masi gestured over to a nearby clearing, far enough away so that they could talk. Zach nodded and they left the group, heading for the open space Masi had been pointed to.
“You're a natural, Zach.” Masi beamed with pride.
“It's easy when you have a good teacher. Though the blindfolding made it slightly more difficulty. As long as I'm not fighting Sylar in pitch blackness, I think I'll be alright.” He paused, reconsidering. The things that murderer could do to him, to them all, it made Zach question the logistics of this plan. He really hoped he wasn't leading some fool's crusade.
“Hopefully, you won't have to fight Sylar at all. I've been working out the plan of attack in my head.” When Zach cocked an eyebrow, curious and slightly confused, Masi continued. “When I first broke the fabric between our worlds, I did not know it would come to this conclusion. If it wasn't for me, Sylar wouldn't have been able to travel as easily from that universe to this one. Once I figured out what I had done, I knew I needed to warn people. Do you know the game the Heroes 360 Experience?”
Zach nodded, he'd heard it was just a promotion the network was using to advertise the show.
“I used that to recruit others, hoping that would be enough to get people mobilized. It wasn't. Most people laughed it off. Humans, no matter what universe they come from are very similar in one key aspect: they never believe anything until it's too late.”
“Do you think it's too late now? I mean, we can stop Sylar, right?” All this talk of it being too late was starting to worry him, bringing up the anxiety he kept forcing down. “You said you had a plan.”
Masi nodded. “I'm taking him back to my world. I don't want to go back. After Ando died and Homeland Security set up their base of operations in New York, there was very little for me to enjoy in life. I fought them both for many years, turned back the clock so many times but the same old story kept playing out. It was relaxing to come here, pretending to be an actor and being considered special for something other than my abilities.”
Zach smiled, the life of an actor wasn't that bad. He'd often thought he'd hit the jackpot getting to star as a prominent character on a tv show, not even thinking how wonderful it might be if his early life had been as bad as Hiro's had been. Seeing everything and everyone you loved, destroyed by one man and one political agency and then to come here and be famous and admired by fangirls everywhere. It must have been one hell of a life change. “So, what's the plan for getting him back to your world?”
“All I need you to do is help me get close enough to touch him. Then I'll teleport out.” Masi replied, then with a touch of regret and guilt, he continued, “I'm sorry that you and your friends had to be dragged into our fight.”
“Masi, you can't just leave.” Zach grabbed the other man's shoulder, attempting to shake some sense into him. “You've built a life here. What's left for you back there? I've seen the Five Years Gone episode, it's not pretty.”
“It is not a warrior's way to run away and hide. Especially not when his actions are putting people in danger.” Masi crossed his arms. He'd thought this plan out carefully, leaving no room for second opinions. “I've pretended to be someone I'm not for far too long.”
“Are you even going to tell the others?” Zach sighed, wanting so much to talk him out of this idea.
“No. It would be too hard for me.” He glanced back at where the rest were lounging around, joking with each other and cooking hotdogs and hamburgers. “It was a fun vacation but I'm not who they think I am. And I can't go on lying to them forever.”
“Is there any chance of a Plan B?”
Masi sighed, lifting a piece of folded up paper from his jeans. He straightened it out so it could display a drawing, done in the style of Isaac Mendez. In it, Zach was stabbing Sylar through the chest with the Kensei sword. Or maybe it was the other way around, perhaps he was the one who got stabbed. Drawn in black and white, it was nearly impossible to tell which twin was which. “Peter found this for me, right before I left. The future is not written in stone but I fear it will not end well for you if I stay.”
Zach sighed. To lose a good friend or to die at the hands of Sylar. Given these two options, he really didn't want to choose either of them.
...To Be Continued...
Characters/Pairings: Sylar, Zach, Masi
Rated: PG
Word Count: 4,066
Spoilers/Warnings: Up to Season 2.
Notes: More cracky RPF! Totally not real and if you think it's real, would you like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge too?
Summary: Sylar finds a way to break on through to the other side.. into the real world. He reaks havoc while Zach tries to save the world.
Previously On Mirror Image: Part 1
By the next morning, the plan was set in place. Hiro, or Masi as he still wanted to be called, had gone over the details with Zachary and Sendhil in length the night before. They would drive out to Topanga State Park, practice defensive maneuvers and fighting skills then focusing on attacking Sylar.
Masi promised to talk to the others and get a group together, a crime-fighting, supervillan-stopping team, so Zach wouldn't have to do this alone. As the night wore on and he did some thinking on the matter, Zach began to worry about dragging more people into this chaos. If he was going to get his ass kicked by a fictional character, that fell on his own shoulders but he wasn't about to watch his friends get hurt on his account. It was bad enough what happened to Dania.
Still, as he walked out to the meeting place, the spot in the back of the cast parking lot, Zach smiled as he saw Adrian and Masi waiting for him. They were joking with each other, the atmosphere easy and laid back. Neither looked as if they were heading off to mortal danger. Pieces of the conversation caught his attention as Zach walked closer, something about computers and video equipment.
It was still weird to think of Masi as Hiro, though they shared too many similarities that Zach felt he should have known something was up. And there he was today, still pulling off the act in front of Adrian, wearing the mask of his alias Masi Oka. Zach shook his head, he was never going to get used to this breaking the fourth wall weirdness.
“Hey Zach!” Adrian spotted him and brought his camera up to eye level, switching it on. “How does it feel to know that we are moments away from embarking on a trip to catch and destroy your alter ego? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Zach put up his hand, blocking the camera from seeing his face. It was way too early in the morning to be making any public comments. “Can't this be off the record, Buckshotwon?”
“But I'm supposed to be the filmographer on our mission.” Adrian attempted to get him on film from a different angle. Zach furrowed his brows, giving Masi a silent plea for help. “I was going to use the Mission Impossible theme song as music in the background.. no, wait, I already used that song for another vid.. maybe The Final Countdown by Europe..” He trailed off, thinking of the possibilities as he shut the camera down. When he looked back up, he spotted some others in the distance. “Hey, look, Grunny and Ali. Hey guys!”
“You guys made it!” Masi shouted, a grin forming on his face. He looked like he was about to shout 'yatta' any minute now. “We're just waiting for Milo and Sendhil now.”
Zach whirled around, surprised that even more people had come to support him. Now that they had a plan and knew how to help, they were focused on the goal and not on distancing themselves from him. A goofy smile spread across his face. “Are you coming too?”
“You can't leave without your plucky comic relief,” Grunny said.
“Or the Femme Fatale!” Ali added. “If the writers have taught us anything it's that nothing can be done without having a hot chick nearby. I mean, seriously, this trip would overload on testosterone without me.”
Zach bounced on the balls of his feet and then, when he couldn't contain himself any longer, he reached out and gave the two of them a big hug. “I love you guys! You're like the best friends anyone could ask for.. and I'm not just saying that because we're all about to possibly be killed horribly by my evil twin.”
Before either of Ali or Grunny could reply, a van made a turn into the parking lot, driving over and stopping as it neared the group. After rolling down the window, Milo stuck his head out. “Everyone who wants to fight the good fight and show Sylar he can't mess with us, hop on in. And make it quick, I accidentally stole this van for the duration of our trip. NBC doesn't know yet but I have a feeling they will soon.”
“Little brother,” Adrian began a jesting reprimand, as the group started piling into the van. Sendhil was waiting inside for them, with their bags and some food already packed. “What did I tell you about stealing company property?”
“Don't do it,” Milo repeated verbatim, pouting slightly. Then his mischievous nature came out and he added, “Unless there's an emergency where the world is at stake or we are being chased by a bunch of screaming fangirls who want to make you wear more lederhosen?”
A shiver ran up Adrian's back as he climbed aboard. The lederhosen incident was one he would have rather forgotten. For that very reason, he refused to go to Germany if they ever did another Heroes World Tour. Though, he supposed this did constitute an emergency. The fate of the world lay in their hands, which probably wasn't all that safe a spot to place the fate of the world.
Before Zach could climb into the van, Masi touched his arm and gestured for him to follow him to a spot beyond earshot of the others. Once they were there, the Asian man took off the sword he was wearing strapped to his back. Zach hadn't even noticed it there before, not until Masi was taking it off and handing it to him. “I wanted you to have this before we go. You'll need a sword to train on.”
In total awe, Zach gripped it in his hands, feeling the power that emanated from within its woven leather and sharpened metal. The heroes symbol was displayed proudly in gold on the side. “Oh wow.. is this really the sword of Takezo Kensei, the one that Yaeko's father smithed and which you later used..” he glanced around, hoping no one heard that slip. “Er, I mean, which Hiro later used.. to stab Sylar in the stomach.”
“Nah.. I found it in the prop room.” Masi shrugged, deflating Zach's excitement just a notch. “It's a good replica, sharp and pointy. It'll serve its purpose. Do you really think I would let you handle the real Kensei sword?” He laughed and began walking back to the van.
“Oh, come on,” Zach followed behind him, as he stabbed the sword on his back. Even though it was only a replica, it would serve its purpose. That didn't stop him from feeling slightly upset that Masi didn't want him using the real one. “I've taken some stagefighting courses at Carnegie Mellon University. I was pretty good back then.”
Masi entered the van, not willing to change his decision. Zach sighed and then noticed two girls leaving the makeup trailer. A lovely blond, all prim and proper, the one who was always one time with her lines memorized. And then there was the other, a munchkin only four feet tall, who managed to split her time between playing pretend with her friends and playing pretend on the screen.
Adair broke away from Hayden and skipped over to him. Today, the fear in her was gone, all traces seeming to have vanished with the new day. She gestured for him to come closer, so he bent down to her eye level and gave her his full attention. “Is it true that you're going to go fight Sylar?”
He nodded.
“Do me a favor?” She asked and again he gave his consent; Adair was too cute not to give in to her requests. The sweet, cuddly air around her faded as she said, “Kick his ass! And tell him he should stop picking on people because it isn't very nice.”
He ruffled her hair, “Sure thing, pipsqueak.”
Hayden joined them. The sun was bright today, shining in his eyes but the brightest thing had to be her smiling face. It was a fake smile though, full of optimism he didn't think she really felt. “Adair wanted to say goodbye and good luck. I thought it was best to come along with her. I'm worried. No one should be walking around alone these days.”
Zach stood back up. He could tell she was holding back so much of what she wanted to say. “Hayden, you don't have to worry about us. We'll be back before you know it, with Dania. And I promise to bring Milo back in one piece.”
“Milo? Who said anything about Milo.. I didn't say anything about Milo..” Glancing at the van, she blushed and bit her lip. “Do you really think he'll be okay?”
Rolling his eyes, Zach leaned in and whispered, “Eventually, you are going to have to tell him about your little crush.. you know that, right?” When she glared at him, he knew he'd hit it on the nose. Those fansites were good for something at least, if not for just the guilty pleasure of reading dozens of fangirls discuss things as trivial as how bushy your eyebrows were getting. “When we get back.. and we will all be coming back, you should tell him.”
Hayden nodded and then gave him a tight hug, “I can't believe you're doing this. You're kinda my hero, Zach. Text me or call my cell from the road, okay? I'm going to worry about you guys until the moment you come home.”
“Milo has your cell number. I'll tell him to call and leave dirty messages on your answering machine.” Zach smirked. Then he waved goodbye to the two of them and headed for the van. This was it. The adventure of a lifetime was about to begin. He only hoped he lived through whatever dangers it would bring his way. The replica sword brushed against his legs as he walked; reminding him that he was one of the good guys, a hero from the cast of Heroes.
Topanga State Park was approximately one hour away from the studio, long enough for Zach to take a nice relaxing nap in the back of the van. At least it was supposed to be relaxing, his dreams were slowly morphing into something that was clearly not so comforting.
He found himself lost in the dark, Sylar's voice ringing in his ears. “What do you think you're doing trying to stop me? I've eaten brains of people who were stronger than you, killed them before they could even blink.”
“I always wondered about the brain eating thing.” Zach mumbled, his voice seeming to work on it's own. He should be running, but all he saw was a pitch blackness that went on forever. “Kring never told me what you did with them.”
“There's a lot you don't know about me,” Sylar replied, using this as his advantage. “Only twenty-something episodes and you think that you've gained enough knowledge to make a difference. Did you know one of my abilities is to dreamwalk?”
“Is that what this is then?” Zach's head was cloudy, the dream-state effecting him more than it did Sylar. He needed to wake up, get out of this and back to the van, with his friends. Nevertheless, he kept pushing for more information, sorting out more of Sylar's backstory. If it didn't help him defeat him, at least it might help in his job, if he ever did get back to the studio. “What other abilities do you have that we haven't seen yet?”
Sylar deflected the question. “Enough to destroy you and your friends with, quite easily. Let's just leave it at that. Besides, why should I give away the surprise? You'll learn what I can do soon enough.” He paused before asking, “Do you still want this fight to happen?”
“I'm not going to let you hurt Dania. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“I'm giving you an option out of this mess, Zach. We are one and the same, after all. Two sides of the same coin.” How Sylar knew this fear of his, the actor didn't know but he was certainly using it to his advantage. All those times fans had asked him the 'how much are you like the character you play' question and Zach still didn't know what to tell them. “You created me; you're as evil as I am.”
“I'm nothing like you!” He shouted to the unending blackness, not quite sure where he should be directing his anger. Sylar's voice still sounded like it was coming from all around him as it erupted into a harsh, cold laughter that filled the dreamworld. “Nothing like you.. nothing..”
Suddenly he was back in his body, nearly jumping out of his seat. Sendhil was shaking him gently, a worried expression on his face. Zach's gaze darted around, taking in the familiarity of the company's van and assured himself that he was okay.
“You were having a nightmare, Zach.” Sendhil told him, as a few of the others watched cautiously. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, not wanting to get into the details of the dream. They didn't need to know how worried he was or how scared. It was best to just forget about his conversation with Sylar. Instead, he focused on the conversation going on in the van. They were discussing which characters they'd played in the past and whether those could be real or not too in some bizarre alternate universe.
“I really hope Jess Mariano doesn't turn out to be real.” Milo said from the driver's seat, recalling his Gilmore Girl days. It was sort of odd how in both universes he'd wound up dating Rory/Alexis. Some things were meant to be, but seeing as how both relationships broke up, apparently that wasn't one of them. “He was a troublemaker. He wouldn't so much try to destroy the world, but he'd probably hit me up for some cash.”
“I always seem to play troublemakers,” Ali replied as she fiddled with the radio, stopping on a song by the Dixie Chicks for Adrian's benefit. “Really troubled women who are messed up in the head. I wonder what that says about me.” She stopped in mid-thought, glancing over to Zach and quickly added. “Not that it has to mean anything at all.”
Zach attempted to show that her slight gaffe wasn't a big deal. “It's okay, Ali. I'm starting to get past the whole 'Sylar is me and I am Sylar' thing.. really.” It was a total lie, but she bought it for now. “I mean, I played this very openly gay character Sasan on SoNoTORIous back in 2006. And I'm not, well, you know.”
“Wait, you're not gay? I have got to stop reading those fan boards.” Grunny burst out with chuckling sarcasm. It was common knowledge amongst them that the fans had theories on stuff like that; scary, fucked up theories that made them sometimes cringe at the thought of them being true. “What about you, Masi? Do you think any of the characters you ever played could be real?”
Masi had been sitting very quietly throughout this whole conversation, there were only two other people in the van who knew why. He didn't say much, just repositioned his glasses and replied, “I don't know Grunny, perhaps Hiro is real, somewhere out there.”
Zach and Sendhil shared a secret glance. This conversation was veering towards the top-secret side of things, rather quickly. Pulling the conversation in his direction, Sendhil butted in rapidly, “I played Jesus in The Miracle Maker.” Upon realizing the inherent creepy weirdness breaking that fourth wall would bring, he went on further. “The philosophical issues that brings up.. it's mindboggling.”
“First Yoda and now Jesus,” Zach snickered, “You have this whole Higher Power thing going on Sendhil. You could start your own cult.”
Later that same day, the group was gathered in the deserted hills of Topanga State Park. It was quiet up here, no one would bother them as the practiced and the police who had been questioning them incessantly wouldn't be able to witness Zach swinging a deadly weapon around. The police were just looking for a reason to bring him in again, any little slip might cause them to rethink letting him go simply because his alibi could be verified.
Everything was going fine so far. In the art of kendo, Masi held the rank of shodan. As Hiro, he was a master of the sword-based martial art Battojutsu. That together might have been enough to show Zach how to use a sword but there was the added benefit of the actor's previous stagefighting classes.
For a few hours, Masi and Zach practiced footwork, dodging and parrying. It seemed like it was going to be simple enough. That is, until Grunny came up with an added teaching method. He had discussed it with Masi, who unfortunately believed it would be a great idea. And now Zach was blindfolded, learning how to attack with his sword using only his hearing.
He could just see the press stories that would come out of this debacle: 'Heroes Star Found Impaled, Blindfolded and Naked In Topanga Park', because somehow in his mind, if he was ever found dead by the press, it would be naked. Just like John Belushi.
“I fail to see how this is going to teach me anything,” he complained, waving the replica sword around attempting to not get hit in the process. He was going to trip and fall, killed by his own sword. He wondered if this master plan had been worked out weeks ago. First Grunny takes him to listen to his band play, ruins most of his hearing and then they bring him out here into the middle of nowhere and force him to defend himself blindfolded.
“You never know how Sylar will attack.” Masi told him, his badassery showing through. Then, he added with an extra hint of geekyness. “It's just like Star Wars.”
“Unfair analogy, Obi Won,” Zach pointed out, thrusting forward and catching his foot on a branch. “Luke could use the force. Besides, I'm much more of a Star Trek fan myself, I mean.. I am Spock after all. In some universe at least.”
The others were laughing, amused by the fact that he was doing all he could to stay upright. Eventually, Sendhil came over and tapped him on the shoulder, making sure he took a wide berth so as not to wind up on the wrong side of the sword. He lifted the blindfold from Zach's eyes, “I think that's enough. Wouldn't you agree, Masi?”
Masi sheathed his own practice katana, crossed his arms and nodded. “For now.”
Zach sighed happily, “Thank you.”
The group disbanded, while Milo and Adrian went to go fetch the portable barbecue out of the back of the van. They were going to have a small cookout, one last party before the final showdown. That way, no matter who didn't make it back, at least they would have one last group party. Though, Zach refused to think like that.
He shoved his sword into its holder that was strapped to his back, feeling the sweat dripping off his neck. Masi was a damn good swordsman and a pretty decent teacher. He glanced over in his direction, surprised the other man was watching him too. Masi gestured over to a nearby clearing, far enough away so that they could talk. Zach nodded and they left the group, heading for the open space Masi had been pointed to.
“You're a natural, Zach.” Masi beamed with pride.
“It's easy when you have a good teacher. Though the blindfolding made it slightly more difficulty. As long as I'm not fighting Sylar in pitch blackness, I think I'll be alright.” He paused, reconsidering. The things that murderer could do to him, to them all, it made Zach question the logistics of this plan. He really hoped he wasn't leading some fool's crusade.
“Hopefully, you won't have to fight Sylar at all. I've been working out the plan of attack in my head.” When Zach cocked an eyebrow, curious and slightly confused, Masi continued. “When I first broke the fabric between our worlds, I did not know it would come to this conclusion. If it wasn't for me, Sylar wouldn't have been able to travel as easily from that universe to this one. Once I figured out what I had done, I knew I needed to warn people. Do you know the game the Heroes 360 Experience?”
Zach nodded, he'd heard it was just a promotion the network was using to advertise the show.
“I used that to recruit others, hoping that would be enough to get people mobilized. It wasn't. Most people laughed it off. Humans, no matter what universe they come from are very similar in one key aspect: they never believe anything until it's too late.”
“Do you think it's too late now? I mean, we can stop Sylar, right?” All this talk of it being too late was starting to worry him, bringing up the anxiety he kept forcing down. “You said you had a plan.”
Masi nodded. “I'm taking him back to my world. I don't want to go back. After Ando died and Homeland Security set up their base of operations in New York, there was very little for me to enjoy in life. I fought them both for many years, turned back the clock so many times but the same old story kept playing out. It was relaxing to come here, pretending to be an actor and being considered special for something other than my abilities.”
Zach smiled, the life of an actor wasn't that bad. He'd often thought he'd hit the jackpot getting to star as a prominent character on a tv show, not even thinking how wonderful it might be if his early life had been as bad as Hiro's had been. Seeing everything and everyone you loved, destroyed by one man and one political agency and then to come here and be famous and admired by fangirls everywhere. It must have been one hell of a life change. “So, what's the plan for getting him back to your world?”
“All I need you to do is help me get close enough to touch him. Then I'll teleport out.” Masi replied, then with a touch of regret and guilt, he continued, “I'm sorry that you and your friends had to be dragged into our fight.”
“Masi, you can't just leave.” Zach grabbed the other man's shoulder, attempting to shake some sense into him. “You've built a life here. What's left for you back there? I've seen the Five Years Gone episode, it's not pretty.”
“It is not a warrior's way to run away and hide. Especially not when his actions are putting people in danger.” Masi crossed his arms. He'd thought this plan out carefully, leaving no room for second opinions. “I've pretended to be someone I'm not for far too long.”
“Are you even going to tell the others?” Zach sighed, wanting so much to talk him out of this idea.
“No. It would be too hard for me.” He glanced back at where the rest were lounging around, joking with each other and cooking hotdogs and hamburgers. “It was a fun vacation but I'm not who they think I am. And I can't go on lying to them forever.”
“Is there any chance of a Plan B?”
Masi sighed, lifting a piece of folded up paper from his jeans. He straightened it out so it could display a drawing, done in the style of Isaac Mendez. In it, Zach was stabbing Sylar through the chest with the Kensei sword. Or maybe it was the other way around, perhaps he was the one who got stabbed. Drawn in black and white, it was nearly impossible to tell which twin was which. “Peter found this for me, right before I left. The future is not written in stone but I fear it will not end well for you if I stay.”
Zach sighed. To lose a good friend or to die at the hands of Sylar. Given these two options, he really didn't want to choose either of them.
...To Be Continued...