Alright, here's the first chapter! I'm so excited to be posting this at LAST! I'll probably update quickly, since I've already written this story up to chapter 28. ;) I hope you all like it!
Chapter 1, "The Skies Above…"
It was nighttime in the forest. The empty black sky was set ablaze by the dim light of the full moon, completely obscured by deathly black clouds. Icy hail and vicious winds tore at everything, causing the forest's animals to scuttle back into their homes. Leaves and debris flew everywhere in the confusing tangle of wind, as well as needle-sharp fragments of ice. The air seemed to be at war with itself, violently tearing up plants and spitting frigid air and ice at everything in sight, an uncommonly brutal tempest.
In other words, it was a dark and stormy night.
All avian life had abandoned the sky and returned to their twiggy nests, leaving the screeching wind to its deadly song. Only two objects flew, braving the howling wind and deadly spittle, the sky's fury, and those two objects were small airplanes.
The familiar green-with-darker-green-and-even-darker-green splotches of color splattered their surface, the perfect camouflage for the forest they flew over. They were slightly small, with two leather seats beside each other, with a medium-sized sleeping space behind them. Many plain buttons were sitting on the dashboard at the pilot's control panel, with labels like, "CLOAKING" or "SPEED BOOST", one that said "SMOKE TRAIL", and even a crescent-moon shaped blue one that read, "MACHINE GUNS", located just below the pilot's steering controls.
The peculiar airplanes were masterfully crafted, though, both incredibly strong and durable, yet lightweight and maneuverable. The wings had many metal flaps, which could open and reveal much heavy artillery.
Though the clouds unleashed their untamed fury at the two objects that dared fly into its domain, the hail, water, and battering winds could not sway them. Their flight swayed a bit, but flew on resolutely. The two pilots inside seemed to be in an argument. A high, somewhat shrill female voice sounded through the communications.
"I'm telling you Rhodey, I saw something! It flew right by us, and it wasn't another plane! We HAVE to see what it was!"
The other, who had to be Rhodey, sighed and said, "It was probably a bush or something, Pepper! Wind trash! Who would be crazy enough to be out in this weather? Other than us, I mean." His voice was calm, yet held a testy edge to it; it was apparent that they had been debating their topic for quite a while.
"That's not the point! I know I saw something, and it wasn't a bush! It was really spiky, with two HUGE wings, and whatever it was, didn't fly very well." The one called Pepper retorted.
"Pepper, I-" Rhodey started, but she was on a roll, bringing up every detail of the thing she had-supposedly-seen.
"I think it was some kind of animal. Its flight path was crooked, and it seemed to be wobbling a bit. One of its legs was hanging down, and something was dripping from it-probably blood. What's more, it's no bigger than us! If it really is hostile, we could easily gun it down, if necessary. But…" Her voice trailed off, and she began again.
"…But I think that whatever it is, it's hurt. If it is, we HAVE to help it, and-"
"Um, Pepper…" Rhodey said warningly, but she kept going.
"…besides, I have all this healing equipment, and no place to use it!"
"PEPPER!" he roared. "Port side! DIVE!"
"What-OH SNAP!" She shrieked, and threw her plane into a sharp plummet, and Rhodey did likewise. By doing so, they just barely missed being hit from behind by an enormous Lockheed sr-71 blackbird, a large metal net streaming out from behind it.
Pulling up put of their dives, and pulling their planes to a hover, they stared at the huge aircraft that had just barely missed them.
"What was THAT?" Rhodey asked, but Pepper was silent. "Um, Pepper? You there? Hello? Pepper! WAKE UP!" he shouted, and was immediately answered by her loud and angry voice.
"I AM awake! Rhodey, did you see the letters written on the side of that Blackbird?"
"No, what-"
"They were M.R.D. I think they found us!" Rhodey's eyes widened.
"No!" he whispered in horror. He and Pepper watched the M.R.D.' giant plane anxiously, but it didn't make any sign that it was after them. It continued forward, unfurling several packs of missiles from its wings.
"I…don't think it's after US, it's after what I saw! What I saw must be another mutant! And that means…"
"It means we're going in!" Rhodey finished grimly. They nodded, hit the "SPEED BOOST" button, and rocketed off towards the M.R.D.'s plane, readying their heavy artillery of weapons.