Dangerous Games: Chapter 1 Of fights and secret deals
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim to own, the Maximum Ride story or characters, I'm simply borrowing them with no intent of return.
"Yeah? Well I hope I never see you again!" Fang screamed as Max pushed heavily into the night. He had thought they were over this; he had thought she was alright with him going to the movies with Andrea. Obviously she wasn't… He stared at the receding speck in the sky.
"Where did Max go? Her thoughts seemed so sad a minute ago," Angel whispered behind Fang. He started, his mind returning to the small girl beside him.
"She's just going out for a flight, she'll be back in an hour or so," Fang replied, almost to himself. He hadn't realized this was that big of deal, but then again, Max could be a bit overly dramatic at times. She'd be back…
Max flew into the night. It was misty and a slight drizzle began to fall as she soared into the darkness, letting her wings carry her to who knows where. She couldn't get the picture of Fang and the little hussy girl holding hands as they returned from the movies. Yes, she had told Fang she didn't mind, but all that had gone out the window when she actually had to see them together. Naturally he would go for her; she had perfect blond hair, falling in perfect little ringlets around her face, with its perfect deep-blue eyes. She was gorgeous…Max was not.
She hadn't meant to be so harsh. Sure, the choice of wording could have been better; though at the time, 'never see that blond wench again,' hadn't seemed so bad. Of course, now that she thought about it, it could've been taken the wrong way. She would just blow off some steam for a while, crawl back into bed, and face Fang in the morning. Yeah, perfect plan.
As she formulated this plan, her wings began carrying her lower and lower, getting weighed down by the sudden downpour. Max sighed. Maybe flying off into the night in the middle of a massive thunderstorm hadn't been her best idea ever. As she flew, she realized she was going to have to find somewhere to set down for the night, seeing as the wind began picking up, driving the rain into her skin like little needles.
There! She spotted the small shack as she sprinted over the mud, deciding to give up flying before all her feathers were gone. True, its one window was broken and it didn't look like the door actually shut properly, but it was the best bet she had for making it through the night.
Inside, there was a small cot with a moldy, moth-eaten blanket, and a few shelves with dusty old bottles and magazines. It looked as though this had been the hot-spot hideaway for a teenage frat party a few years ago, but it was obvious it hadn't been used since then.
Settling herself down on the floor, her back against the door, Max let herself slowly drift into a state of semi-sleep. Outside, the wind howled, picking pieces off the already thin roof of the shack, but all this did was lend to the dream Max was having. She saw herself and Fang, fighting when suddenly a group of Erasers and Flyboys attacked. She fought them off as best as she could, but they slowly began to overtake her. She called out to Fang, but he offered her no help or comfort; instead, he stood laughing at her with another group of Erasers. He raised his hand, and, at his command, her pursuers stuck her with a sharp needle, causing her to cry out.
"NOOOO!" Max yelled as she sat up with a start. She sprang up from her place on the floor, her hands up and ready in a fighting position. She turned round, searching for her attackers, knowing they were there, knowing her dream had been a reality and they really had stuck her with some sort of tranquilizer. She let her eyes drift down to her arm, finding only a shard of glass from a nearby bottle which had crashed to the ground.
Max returned to her sitting position near the door. She even managed a small laugh as she thought of the Erasers trying to find her through the storm. Not only would it be difficult for them to even move, her scent would have been long since washed away. With this thought in mind, she let herself fall back into a light doze.
The wind reached a crescendo as the driving rain pelted him, laying his fur flat on his head. Normally, this would have bothered him immensely, but not tonight. Finally, he would have her and he would have his revenge. She was alone and defenseless, and he had an offer she would never refuse…
Even as the first group of Erasers fell to the mud, Max knew she was fighting a losing battle. If she had been against five or six, maybe…but not against the fifteen that surged foreword after the four she had already disposed of. Plus, they had slammed into the shack while she was sleeping, leaving her slightly groggy and at a major disadvantage in this rain. She dogged, blocked, and kicked her way through another three before she began to feel the strain.
Unfurling her wings, Max pushed into the sky. She hovered above the shack as best as she could to get her bearings, but one of the wolf-faced mutts though the broken bottle that had woken her up not even two hours before. She moved as quickly as she could, but between her rain-soaked clothes and wings, she was too slow. It hit her in the shoulder, sending her sprawling toward the roof of the shack. She crashed through the flimsy roof and onto the cot.
"My, my…you are one for the pummeling, aren't you Maximum?" a hard voice mocked from the door. Max whirled around, ready to fight whatever came at her, only to come face-to-face with a rather mangled Eraser. Her face showed no recognition, causing the wolf-man to laugh bitterly.
"No, you wouldn't recognize me, I suppose. Of course, it has been such a long time…" he trailed off. Max spit on the floor near his feet.
"Why should I recognize a filthy Eraser like you?" she snarled, her eyes drifting to the window, gagging whether or not she was too big to fit through it. The sound of his bitter laughter drew her eyes back toward him.
"Enough of this chit-chat…I suppose we'll have to get reacquainted some other time. We haven't come to kill you, sadly. We've come to offer you a trade," the Eraser growled. Max's eyebrows shot up at an alarming speed.
"Ok…" she said slowly. She wouldn't be willing to trade whatever they wanted, she was sure, but she would humor him and hear them out.
"We are willing to call off the hunt of your flock on one condition…" he said. The Eraser managed a grin at the sight of Max's jaw hitting the floor. It couldn't be that easy…it just couldn't. Max narrowed her eyes.
"What condition?" she asked cautiously.
"You," he smiled…well evilly smirked.
"And if I refuse?" Max asked.
"Then we kill you right here and you leave your flock's lives to the fates."
A/N: So yeah, that's the first chapter. There will be romance and all sorts of fun later on, so don't you worry about that. Reviews are appreciated! Ciao.