A/N: This basically picks up a few days after MR3, but following Omega and my own added character, Phoenix as well as the flock. I do not own Maximum Ride.
It was too soon. She'd only left Itex two days ago. How could they have tracked her down so fast?
The former Director snapped orders to her detail of bodyguards, shuddering when they got too close. Immediately, the quartet of Eraser-like robots shot into the air.
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He swore angrily. There wasn't time to take down these idiots. He had to complete the mission. The mutant pulled up with several painful downward strokes, barely flying over the four robots. He dove and then strained to pull himself back around to face his opponents. For a moment, he watched in confusion as the robots came toward him, seemingly upside down.
He tilted his head and righted himself, instantly realizing why flying upward had seemed easier than usual. Blinking, the mutant also figured out that he'd fallen several hundred feet. Before he could plan his next move, the first machine was on top of him, droning on about how the mutant would not destroy the Director.
Snarling, the winged menace drove a powerful kick into the robot's artificial stomach. The robot retaliated violently, sending a flurry of bullets in his direction. Several of the projectiles grazed his skin, and the mutant wondered with morbid amusement as to what the commuters on the German street below would think when red droplets splashed on their windshields.
He twisted the robot's arm, biting back four-letter words when he realized that the gun was attached. Struggling to keep his clumsy wings beating, the mutant smashed the drone's head with his feet until the red light flickered out of its eyes. The mutant pulled the gun's trigger three times as the robot's deadweight dragged him down.
All three bullets hit their targets, taking care of the last of the robots. Perfect aim; so much more useful than his blasted wings.
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The Director broke into a run, looking over her shoulder to see the defeated robots fall to the ground. She eyes the distant black speck that had brought them down, thinking at first that it was one of Batchelder's failed avian hybrids.
When she caught sight of another mutant, this one running toward her at superhuman speeds, she knew who both of them were. With a sudden burst of inspiration, she dashed through the doors of an uninteresting skyscraper, heading immediately for the elevator. The Director pressed the "up" button in panic, mentally urging the elevator to arrive before the mutants.
The chrome doors opened with a metallic ding, and she rushed through as the mutant on foot reached the building. She looked into his silvery eyes in fear, not sure if the doors would close in time. They did, and the Director chose a floor at random before leaning against the back wall of the elevator and breathing heavily.
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Omega stared at the chrome doors for a moment, not knowing what to do next. He backed up to see the numbers above the elevator light up one by one.
"Omega!" a voice shouted, and he whirled around before realizing that it had come from his earpiece.
"Yes?" he said cautiously, hoping the person on the other side wouldn't talk so loud again.
"Where'd the target go?"
"Geez, lay off the shouting and the secret agent talk, Phoenix."
"Fine," Phoenix returned, his voice noticeably subdued. "Just tell me where the Director went."
"I think she's in the elevator."
"What elevator?"
"The one I'm standing in front of."
"Would it kill you to be more specific?"
Omega frowned. "No. How could it?"
"Never mind. Just tell me where you are."
"Isn't that what you do? Find people and shoot things?"
"It's harder when you're trying to fly with these stupid wings," Phoenix sulked. "Now hurry up and get to the Director."
"How? She's in the elevator."
"Aren't you supposed to be some kind of genius?"
Omega didn't reply, running to the staircase and taking the steps three at a time. He reached the twentieth floor and glanced at the numbers above the elevator to see that it had stopped on the twenty-second. The last two flights passed by quickly, and when he opened the door into the floor's main corridor he wasn't remotely tired.
The bleak emptiness of the hallway didn't feel at all unfamiliar, and the paper taped to the wall reading "Renovations in Progress" meant nothing to him. Omega prowled down the hallway, listening for any sign of life: breathing, footsteps, something being knocked over. Finally he heard the click of a door being shut, and he sprinted around a corner. He located the door with ease and kicked it off its sturdy hinges upon finding it locked.
The room beyond the door was almost completely devoid of furniture, with only a desk draped with a paint cloth resting in the center of the room. A half-empty can of white paint rest beside the now-doorless entrance along with a rolling paint brush. The navy blue walls were streaked with an incomplete white priming coat. The wall opposite the doorway was not actually at a wall at all, but instead a huge window overlooking the city.
Standing beside the desk and watching him warily was the out-of-breath Director. "What are you going to do now, Omega?"
"We have been sent to retire you," Omega answered emotionlessly, not moving.
"But you're not going to do that, are you? That's not your real job. It's just a test, Omega," the Director said, noting the confusion that washed across the mutant's face. "It's Phoenix that you're really supposed to kill."
Omega hesitated. "Kill… Phoenix?" He knew the Director. The Director had always told him what to do. Maybe his real job was to retire Phoenix.
He saw movement beyond the Director and looked up to see Phoenix soaring toward the window, wearing that black helmet designed to help him breathe better at higher altitudes. Phoenix's wings tucked in, and the mutant's momentum carried him straight through the window.
Both Omega and the Director ducked as shattered glass filled the office. Omega rose first, small cuts and scratches covering the arm he had used to shield his face.
"Phoenix," he said levelly, "I must retire you."
"What the heck?" Phoenix muttered, his black helmet, wings, and outfit standing out against the white-streaked walls. He dodged Omega's first punch, and blocked the second. "What about the mission?"
"This is the mission."
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"No, it's not!" Phoenix shouted, trying not to sound helpless. Omega kicked him squarely in the chest, and Phoenix was slammed into the still-wet walls. He bit back a yelp as pain rolled through the wings the whitecoats had grafted on several years ago.
His knees buckled to both his and Omega's surprise. Omega tried to pull back his next punch, but his fist crashed through the wall anyway. Phoenix seized the sudden opportunity and swept a foot under Omega's, knocking down the taller boy.
Before his opponent could attack again, Phoenix dove through the shattered window, dragging the Director with him. The mutant unfurled his wings hastily, not particularly eager to fall the twenty-two stories. He released the Director, letting her fall with the cold satisfaction of knowing the mission was complete.