The Short Life Of The Immortal Firefly
By Danielle Mudgway (With character Raven Ride, by Scott Goldiner) (A Maximum Ride Fan Fiction)
Set 10 years in an alternate world where Max save's the world, The School and Itex are preparing for Round Two. Two subject's escape the complex and join The Flock. But after learning about Itex's plans one will fall and all will be saved.
Fireflies POV
I sat in my dog crate as it hummed, it was a weird dog crate as it seemed to be hooked up to some machine, it had wires and the bars were thicker, they vibrated every now and then. It always made noises. Raven's dog crate was stacked next to mine and he was humming a tune from a song he said came from a radio. It was always dark down here. We were in a room underground, isolated from everyone, we were considered dangerous, although I don't know why.
The School was a genetics lab where we spent all our days, we both had wings, but I was different, I glowed, like a glow stick. Raven always said that without me we probably wouldn't even know each other at all, his idea of a joke. Like I wouldn't hear him.
The lights flickered on, which signaled a white coat would be here any second.
"I'm scared Raven" I whisper reaching out to take his hand.
"Don't worry my little Firefly I'll get us out this time I promise, I won't let them hurt you no more" he whispers back, a determined look in his eyes.
I'm only 8 years old but Rave is 16, and I'm quite small for my age. My wings tend to drag along the ground. I was created as an energy source, basically a light bulb, so that after the end of the world when there was no electricity, I and all my clones (they would clone me after the end of the world) would be used to light everything and power everything.
Raven how ever only had the wings, a man called Jeb would take him away sometimes. He would always come back seemingly happy, clean and full, sometimes he brought me back treats. But living in almost complete darkness and fear not being let out unless for tests scared us, we always talked about escaping, we even tried once or twice. But I would always get caught and Raven would give himself up so that I wouldn't be alone he was like a father too me, protecting me, keeping me safe.
The door creaked open, I held my breath as the white coat walked over to Raven's cage and opened it, the Eraser next to him grabbed Raven with his clawed hands, grinning. Raven punched him the face and kicked him hard, sending him flying into the wall, the white coat panicked and ran towards the alarm button. But Raven threw himself at the whitecoat grabbing his feet making him trip and fall, Raven jumped on him, punching him till he was out cold.
Then he grabbed the keys hanging from his hand and unlocked my cage "Lets go Kiddo!" he said smiling, I hugged him hard "Thanks"
"Anytime"
We ran towards the door, and went through, so far so good, no one had even realized we had escaped. The white coat moaned on the floor his nose bleeding furiously. We ran down the corridor, the bright lights hurting my eyes, I blinked clearing my vision. We followed the exit signs to the roof running up flights of stairs. Suddenly we ran into Jeb at the last door. "Raven!" he said kinda shocked holding a cup of coffee and a clipboard
"Where leaving!" said Raven protecting me with his arm. Jeb stood aside "Off you go then" he said with a grin.
Raven looked confused but ushered me through the door. Brilliant sunlight shone down, it was warm, the wind whipped at my face, I took a deep breath enjoying it.
"You know how to fly yet?" Raven asked me, I shook my head.
"Take my hand and spread your wings"
I did as he said and we ran towards the edge jumping off the roof, he held me up and I used my wings to glide "Flap them!" he said as I went down his hand slipping from mine, I did so and I rose up high. "Whoo hooooo!" I yelled "This is great!" I looked at Raven grinning from ear to ear.
I heard the helicopter as we flew over a lake, my grin faded.
Raven grabbed me around under the arms, he flew faster looking around and saw the broken down house. holding on to me with a painful grip. I managed to look over my shoulder, the Itex's sleek black helicopter was gaining on us. "Tuck in your legs!" he yelled over the noise, I did so and the large half destroyed house loomed closer, I closed my eyes as we crashed through the window.
I coughed as dust filled my lungs, Raven put his hand over my mouth as my eyes watered. "shhhhh' he whispered placing a finger to his lips, the helicopters hovered for a bit then went over the house thinking we had gone out the other end "There leaving, oh thank god!" he says sliding down the wall in relief, "Are we safe now?" I whisper. Raven nodded hugging me close. We sat there for awhile.
The house was filthy, a thick layer of dust over everything, I went into the kitchen, on the fridge an old magnet held up a yellowing photo, I wiped the dust off it "Raven look its Jeb! He looks younger, And 6 other kids" he came in wiping a small amount of blood running from a cut on his forehead and brushing glass out of his hair. "So it is, this must be the flock he keeps talking about" he says taking the photo and studying it.
My stomach growls "I'm hungry" Raven nods "Lets go eat" he pulls out a stiff card from his shorts pocket "Stole it from Jeb when we escaped, he didn't even notice!"
"What is it"
"Its money, come on lets go get some greasy food"
I grin "I have no idea what greasy food is but it sounds good!"
We make it to the a burger joint about half an hour later, a large sign said it was called Wendy's. My stomach growled furiously again.
As we entered the building the people stared at us, we must look weird our wings and grimy faces, yet they don't seem truly bothered by us and continue with there meals "Humans know about people like us now, its no big deal" Raven whispers to me holding my hand.
"Okay, smells like heaven in here"
We walk up to the register, the lights flicker slightly, my head aches.
"Welcome to Wendy's what can I get you to...today" she looks up nearly seemingly having a heart attack when she see us. Raven pulls out Jeb's money card "Four burgers please and two lots of fries"
she types it in "Do you want it to go?"
We nod.
She hands us the food and we eat, I nearly inhale mine, "If this is food I want it like everyday" I say stuffing a handful of fries in my mouth, chewing loudly, people stare at us. I spread my wings to hide. A couple of people gasp, I have big wings. The lights flicker again, and one breaks, a sharp pain splices through my head. Raven looks at the broken light then at me "Are you doing that?"
I look at him rubbing my forehead "Doing what?" I say confused.
"Never mind" he says finishing his second burger.
We head back to the run down house, I'm yawning "Tired already!" he says ruffling my hair.
I shake my head, but that's when we hear noises upstairs.
"What are we even doing back here Max, seriously!"
"She wants her stuff and Angel wants all her stuff, god we should of bought more bags" says a loud voice,
"Well there's one thing shes not gonna find" says a younger voice giggling.
"Wheres my mickey mouse alarm clock it was here, right here!"
There's a loud thumping noise as the intruders come barreling down stairs, We hide, me behind the kitchen counter and Raven by the exit door.
The footsteps stop,
"Wait you two, I don't think where alone" a hand whips round and grabs me picking me up and slamming me into the wall before I could scream, the other hand choking me "Who are you and what do you want!" snarls the tall girl, her brown hair tangled and a mess and her brown eyes filled with anger, she almost an adult. The light bulb above smashes sending glass raining down over all of them.
"Let her go!" says Raven coming out of his hiding place, he whips out his wings, knocking an old vase of a vanity table, trying to look as threatening as possible.
The tall pale boy with glasses look surprised "Fang?"
Raven shakes his head confused "I'm Raven, Raven Ride" he says.
The smaller boy laughs "Where Max, Iggy and I'm Gazzy"
"Ride?" Max says eyebrows raised, but she lets me go, I slide to the floor coughing, rubbing my neck. "Yeah I took the last name because your my hero" Raven says blushing a little. Iggy begins laughing "Max? Your hero!? Are you serious!?" Max shoves him looking embarrassed.
"We escaped a few hours ago from The School, they had us underground, isolated, we tried escaping once or twice before, but we failed" he says beginning to help Max and Iggy and Gazzy with packing what remained of there house.
"Whats with glow girl and the huge wings?" Max says pointing over at me, my wings dragging along the ground as I pick things up, I ruffle them in annoyance. "Firefly is supposed to be an energy source as well as all the clones The School had planned once they ended the world, she's a little small but she manages, she's always glowed like that" He says stuffing a soft toy from the huge pile in a back pack. "That's just horrible, I mean a human light bulb, to be used like an actual light bulb that's just, just inhumane" Max says looking mad,
"You can stay with us if you like, we have plenty of room where we live now"
"Thanks!"
"Hey Rave look!" I hold up a soft toy. Its a bear with wings, its dress dusty and crumpled I love it. "Very nice dear, but I think it already belongs to someone" I give the bear to Max sadly "I think Angel wont mind if you can have it sweetie, although it explains why she wanted Celeste" she says gently, I perk up "Really? Whose Celeste" Max ruffles my hair "A silly expensive stuffed bear she manipulated a woman to buy for her" Raven snorts with laughter "I heard about that from Jeb"
As soon as we are in the air Max notices I'm unable to fly so she gets Iggy to help Raven hold me up, I spread my wings enjoying the wind and the sun, "Hey Rave do you think its nice where we are go...go..g" I don't feel so good all of a sudden, my head hurts, my body crackling with electricity. Iggy struggles to hold me up as hes shocked again and again, Raven grabs me round the middle, a jolt of electricity shocks him, he almost lets go but doesn't. I seem to glow brighter and brighter, everything hurts and then I release the built up energy, there's a huge explosion and everything goes black.
Voices, I can hear voices I think, "She been absorbing energy, that explosion could of killed her, the next one just might. Raven you said the crate she was in was different, perhaps it was dampening her power, keeping her from this" I open my eyes, everything blurry, a woman staring down at me, she's like an adult version of Max although different features make her less so "Hey sweetie welcome back, I'm Dr Martinez, Max's Mom"
I blink weakly moaning in pain, "Get some rest dear" I feel a prick in my arm, and my vision swims as I fall asleep.
RAVENS POV
"Is she going to be okay?" I ask Dr Martinez as she bandages my burnt hands and my torso, I make a noise as she touches a sore spot "Yes, and so will you be, you took quite a hit from that energy blast I'm surprised your hands didn't fall off"
I blush a little looking flustered "I'm kind immortal" I say, I hear a gasp, a boy who looks almost like me comes in "What did you just say!?" he comes in, his dark eyes boring holes into my eyes "I'm Immortal" I say, He looks at me, "Come we have some talking to do"
"So your Fang, I heard the white coats talk about you, they think your amazing, well your DNA anyway, they used it to make me and Firefly Immortal, like you, Jeb told me you and Max were my parents, they used your old samples from Itex's main building to make me, its weird though don't you think?"
Fang stares at the sky, his legs dangling off the roof as he thinks, I notice one of his wings seems fake, but seemingly workable "Whats with the fake wing?" I ask him,
"Jeb said my immortal DNA was dangerous and he had me killed, Dylan a boy like us gave me a new one and killed himself so that I could live, Jeb still thinks I'm dead"
I stare at the brilliant sunset "What a crazy shit faced world we live in" Fang snorts with laughter.
Fireflies POV
I'm dreaming, the white familiar corridor endless, its cold, I hear screaming, I start to run scared, the screaming gets closer and closer, until I'm the one screaming as a white coat stands over me holding a huge syringe about to stab me with it. I wake up sweating, scared,
"Oh why does the needle always have to be so fricking huge" I whisper, its dark, on the floor Raven is asleep, making soft snuffling noises as he does so. I get up a little woozy with what ever pain meds I had been given, my head still hurts, I walk over to a mirror examining my appearance, besides the brighter glow my eyes seem to have changed from blue to green and my blonde hair is now pure white, "What the actual hell" I whisper mad as a hornet "Stupid white coats have to mess with everything don't they" I open the door, my stomach growling again, "Still hungry" I whisper. I tread quietly down the halls trying to find the kitchen, when I do there's someone in there, she looks like Max, but with a bit of Fang mixed in, this must be Phoenix, there daughter. "Hi you must be Firefly" she says, getting off the laptop shes typing on "Here ill fix you a snack you must be hungry, Iggy made dinner, hes a great cook, keep telling him he should open a restaurant" I nod and sit down having no clue what she was on about "You don't mind if I turn the lights off do you, where tying to save power, Grandma said we have to limit our power right now, I don't know why" I shake me head "No go ahead, the lights hurting my eyes anyway"
she turns them off then looks at me quite shocked, "Well that's handy then" noticing my bright glow
"Its what I was made for" I say sadly.
P looks at me confused then looks kind of shocked when she realizes what I mean "Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea" she says all rushed "It's okay" I say stuffing a forkful of Iggy's cooking in my mouth, I hear a loud gasp as someone enters the room "Fifi don't look now but there's a ghost girl sitting almost right next to you" the girl says looking scared, P laughs and turns the lights back on, I notice her skins darker then the what iv ever seen and it makes me gasp, she's like chocolate, its rather a nice change from the whole white skin, I think to myself "This is Nudge, Nudge this is Firefly the new arrival" I wave.
Nudge waves back and sits next to me "So we definitely need to change your clothes hon" she says, I look down at my grey tshirt and shorts, The School's usual garb "Okay" I say smirking a little finishing off he food "We can go in the morning" I nod, P shuts down her laptop and goes back to her room "Night all" she says. Nudge opens the fridge pulling out an apple, "So who else should I know about?"
I put the empty bowl in the sink "There's me and Raven, he looks like Fang but hes not a clone, hes Max and Fangs son, but they didn't have him the same way P was made"
Gaz comes in "And what way was that Glow Girl?" he says smirking, "You know what I mean smelly" I say looking at him straight faced, Nudge almost chokes on her apple, Gaz blushes "Is there any cake left Nudge" Nudge shakes her head red in the face "All gone, Max had the last piece" Gaz frowns "Aw man, I hadn't even had a slice yet!"
He grabs instead an apple and heads back to his room "Night Glow Girl" he says smirking, "Night Smelly" I say back, this time Nudge does choke, I thump her back.
I'm sitting on the roof when the sun breaks through the horizon, its breath taking, the colors make my eyes swim, I see Fang walk out of the house and he flies up to meet me 'How did you get up here?"
"I climbed" I say, "How bout I teach you to fly, its real easy" he says watching the sun come up, he helps me stand up, "What you need to remember is you were made to fly, so its a natural thing, when you get in the air there are air currents you can glide upon if your tired, and don't worry if you fall ill catch you, I promise"
I take his other hand as he pulls me into the air, he places a hand on my tummy and holds me up so I'm horizontal, I put my wings out flapping them, Fang slowly lets me go, I stay in the air, "Okay now watch me" I watch Fang copying his moves, and soon I'm flying around doing loop de loops and gliding seamlessly in the air "This is so awesome!" I yell, "Good girl you got it!" says Raven joining us a huge grin on his face, his hair a mess. Max watches below smiling "Hey guys Breakfast in ten!" she yells at us. Fang flies down kissing her cheek "Morning Max" he says giving her hug "Get a room!" I yell. Raven laughs "Hey don't laugh those are your parents being gross" I say poking him.
Raven ruffles my hair once we land, "One day it won't be so gross"
"Yeah when hell freezes" I say rolling my eyes.
Iggy comes out holding a fry pan, his red glasses on his face.
"These glasses help me see, an invention that Nudge and Gazzy and Iggy made" he had told me.
He waves the fry pan "Oi Its getting cold, come on" he says. I run into the kitchen, yummy smells filtering through my nose I take a deep breath "Mmm what smells so good!" I say, Iggy gives me a plate and points at all the food items "Bacon, Waffles, Eggs, Banana and those are tater tots" he says "Thanks" I say digging in.
After breakfast I go see Angel "I heard you coming" she says "I'm Angel, I can read minds as well as numerous other abilities" she puts out her hand and I poke it "Am I supposed to do something?" I ask confused, "Never mind" putting her hand down "I suppose you want me and Nudge to get you some clothes huh, looking down at my uniform"
"I guess, but I was gonna ask you about my powers" I said clenching my fists "We can talk about that after we get you some descent clothes, come" she said taking my hand, Nudge joins us in the sky carrying three large reusable bags "Keeping it plastic free since 1983!" she says laughing, Angel rolls her eyes. I followed them to town and we land in a parking lot, people staring at us, I grab Angels hand rather scared "Its okay just ignore them, take a deep breath"
We enter the large store and I follow them to a kids clothing area, in half and hour Nudge and Angel had me showing off the outfits they had picked "Is this necessary" I say as they make me twirl, "Yes!" says Nudge clapping her hands "I will not have my niece looking like a homeless person"
"Niece?" I say eyebrow raised.
"Yes Niece, cause Ravens Max and Fangs kid, and where like Max and Fangs sisters and brothers so that makes you our niece and Max and Fang your Grandparents, but then that also means Fang and Max are brother and sister so its confusing, but if you ignore that fact it makes sense" Angel chuckled as Nudge rambled "Don't tell Max shes a Grandparent, she will go nuts"
Nudge laughed "True"
I ended up with two shirts, a hoodie and two pairs of jeans and ankle high boots. Our shopping bags full we made our way to the food court for lunch, and that's when I saw him, he was staring at us, with a huge grin on his face and Eraser sitting next to him, his model face getting looks from girls, I knew him! He was from my nightmares the one that stabs with the over sized syringe, he had been and The School too, always in charge of me and the tests I was involved in. I frowned and stood up walking over to him in my new outfit, the backs sliced open for my wings, which I had fanned out, the white coat stood up. I rushed at him kicking him to the floor, I could hear Nudge and Angel attacking the Eraser, "What do you want?" I growled, he laughed "If you don't come back to The School, your gonna die" he sang in a sing song voice, the Eraser was out cold, Nudge pinning him to the floor with a chair. His words chilled me "Why?"
"Your absorbing all the energy, your even doing it right now, look" I didn't look but in the corners of my vision I could see the lights flickering, people pointing at the show, "I'm Immortal I can't die!" I say with venom in my voice, I break his neck.
Then we're flying back, Nudge looks pale, Angel is expression free but she seems off.
As we enter the house I run to my room, slamming the door shut, wedging the door closed with a door wedge.
Ravens POV
Angels comes up to me "We ran into a white coat at the mall, Firefly killed him, the white coat kept saying if she doesn't go back to The School she will die, you might want to talk to her, shes pretty cut up about it"
"You don't think its cause she might actually die if she 'explodes' again do you?" I ask.
Angel sighed "Its possible"
I walk to Fireflies room and knock "Go Away!" she yells, I try the handle the doors been wedged shut, I put my weight on the door and manage to get it open enough to slide through, shes sitting on the bed, crying, I go over to her and put my arm around her, she leans into me, clutching my shirt crying harder "Shhhhh little one, its okay, its okay" I say rubbing her back between her wings. Once she's done crying I wipe her eyes gently and smooth down her hair, "Feeling better?" she nod.
"Raven, Firefly! Family Meeting!"
"Come on then, where wanted, since where family now"
I take her hand and we walk to the lounge.
Fireflies POV
Everyone is seated on the couch or on the floor, Angel looks sullen as she pours over large amounts of paper work in her hands "Okay so Fifi had been hacking The Schools system, and it seems we have a huge problem, Itex's is planning a Round Two with The By Half Plan" everyone gasps, Max goes pale, Nudge chokes on her food again.
"Do we have a plan?" Angel looks through the print outs from P's laptop, "The only way we can stop the plan is if we destroy everyone on the committee and those who work with Itex, but that would need a lot of firepower and we don't even have the firepower, even if Gazzy made enough bombs it would take years to make enough, Itex is huge, every building connected through wires that run underground connecting all the other buildings around the world. Its seamless, and we just wouldn't have enough firepower to shut everything down!" says Angel throwing the paper in the air with an exasperated huff.
I put my hand up
"Yes Firefly?"
"I think I can help, according to Dr M its almost time for another release of built up energy, if you can get me in, near the wires I could destroy it all!" I say. Everyone begins to protest, but Angel nods "Unfortunately it's the only way we can save the world, again"
"Lets do it" I say, Raven hugs me "Your so brave, I love you for that, you know" I smile, "I know, you look after everyone for me" Raven pulls away "Your not going to die, we will get you out, you won't die!" I nod "But if I do?"
Raven just shakes his head "You won't, you can't"
Everyone starts to prepare, Nudge brings out the large Map of The School, all its secret ways in, there for them to see, she wipes a bit of dust and mouse poop off it "Gross"
We find a way in and draw a line in black marker, "So when you release all that energy, you get out from here" Angel says pointing to a window in a nearby corridor, I nod taking a deep breath. We leave at nightfall.
The School seems busy, lights on, the entire place lit up by flood lights, She could see Erasers training in the grounds. They landed just near the edge, hiding from a patrolling Eraser, as he left they flew over the fence landing on the ground near an air duct, "Go in here" Max says pointing out the air duct, Gazzy braking the grate off, Raven gave me the Map, "Follow it here we will be waiting on the other side when you come out, good luck little Firefly" everyone hugs me.
I crawl through the vents, my head aching, its almost time, I feel sick. I check the Map, my glow lighting it up, the grate up ahead is the one I want. I roll up the Map and fit it in my shirt, and open the grate, jumping down onto the floor, bending my legs to soften the noise as I hit the ground, The hum is loud, and my head hurts more here, wires run all over some disappearing under the floor, the computer flickers on and off as I go near it.
I sit on the floor watching electricity crackle between my fingers, I close my eyes "Goodbye Raven" I say and then everything explodes.
Ravens POV
The entire complex seems to shake, Erasers run towards the building "Idiots" I hear Gazzy mutter, I'm looking for Firefly "Come on girl, get out of there!" I say agitated, the building crumbles, "FIREFLY!" I yell, trying to fly towards the crumbling building, but Max and Fang are holding me back, I'm crying, and screaming, trying to pull away from them as the building falls, trying to get to her. But its to late, and I hate myself.
"She saved us, saved the world" said Nudge tears running down her face, Iggy hugs her tightly, everyone shocked. As the building stops falling I land and begin sifting through the rubble. So many dead white coats and Erasers, even Subjects that lay there, twisted bars and cages, broken machines, torn wires spark, but I find her, she looks almost asleep, dusty and broken, her wings twisted and torn. With Max's help I wrap her up gently in a sheet Gazzy pulled from the rubble, tears leaking down my face. Fang puts his hand on my shoulder "Lets go home mate" he says, his hands leave dust prints on my shoulder.
All around the world Itex building's crumple to the ground, Fireflies traveling energy blast destroying everything inside. Real fireflies blink lazily amoungst the long grass and the ruins of the building, I give Max Fireflies body and I catch some of them and put them in a small chipped dusty beaker, barely broken, and cover it with my hands.
When we get home I fly onto the roof of The Flocks home, Fang gently take Fireflies body from Max and gently lays her on the ground, I lift the beaker up and take away my hands. Max and The Flock hug me tightly.
"Goodbye Firefly" I say, my voice all tight, the others repeat what I say, Nudge chokes on the words, Angel hugs her. The Fireflies fly away blinking there green lights happy to be free.
We bury her by the huge oak tree, where the fireflies are abundant every night.
She saved the world, no whining, not fear, she just did it. We owe her everything.
(For Those Who Like Songs For There Stories: Pompeii – Bastille, Not About Angels – Birdy, Angel On Fire - Antony & The Johnsons, On The Wing – Owl City)