Maximum Spirit
Summary: Max and the rest of the Flock have been captured once again! But hope is not lost. A new group of recombinant forms suddenly appears to save them…but when Max receives the dark message "beware the enemy under the hood," the new team is thrown against one another. Who is this "enemy under the hood?"
Chapter One:
"Are you serious?" demanded Sam as she shoved her long blonde hair from her face. Her odd-colored eyes, one green the other blue, glared darkly at the dark haired boy before her with the black cat ears. "And can you please explain this plan, or lack thereof, to me?"
Numair looked over his shoulder in annoyance. "Really, Sam?" he demanded. "Must you contradict everything I say?"
Sam snorted, gray wolf ears swiveling to focus on Kihaku behind her. The fox girl, Numair's chosen companion, threw up her hands in a 'don't involve me' gesture. "See, the fatal flaw with your plans, Numair," Sam growled. "is that I'm continually the one to pull your ass out of trouble." She crossed her arms over her chest.
For twenty years old, Numair had to admit that Sam was slightly…annoying sometimes. Though correct. "That's because you're trigger-happy," he pointed out.
"Am not," Sam sniffed. "You're just an idiot."
At that point, Eddie decided to jump into the conversation. "Are too, Sam!"
The wolf girl growled and turned on the elder of the raccoon twins. "Shut your trap, Ed. Or else I'll shut it for you." Eddie smirked, dark eyes gleaming. His rounded raccoon ears on the top of his head twitched and he made a face at her. "That is it!"
With a squeal, Eddie scrambled to escape the wolf's clawed hand as it grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, failing miserably. She thumped the back of his head and he sulked as she knelt down to glare into his amber-ish eyes. "Now, Eddie. Shut up, got me?" there was no humor in her eyes.
He mumbled a quick agreement and fell to the back of the group with Jaxon and his twin brother, Akio. "You deserved it, Ed," Akio murmured. "I wouldn't screw with Sam to save my life."
Jaxon laughed and ruffled the hair at the top of Eddie's head. "Chill out, Eddie. She won't really hurt you," she pointed out. "She loves you too much."
"That's a major exaggeration," snorted Sam. "More like it would be a waste to have put up with him all these years to kill him now," she eyed the twins carefully, eyes emotionless. "Besides, they serve their purpose."
"Oh, hush Sam," sighed Kihaku. "Just focus."
Sam growled at the fox and turned. "I would if I knew what the plan was!" she sniped. Numair looked back and rolled his eyes.
"We're going in, blowing stuff up, and getting out of there. Alright?" Numair muttered. "Bloody enough for you, Sam?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you serious?" she exclaimed. "That's your brilliant plan?"
He looked at her. "No. But you'll be unhappy with anything I say. That's just your part."
Sam mumbled something incoherently. "And then what?" she hissed. "We run away to where? You know they'll be on our asses as soon as we do anything."
Numair sighed again. It seemed he was developing a new pastime with her. "There's woods all around us. If they send out the bloodhounds, you can take them out."
The girl stopped for a second. "You know how I feel about…that. They're practically, I don't know, distant kin to me…or something."
"Very, very, very distant kin," Numair pointed out. "You are part wolf, they are bloodhounds. Big, scary dogs that would rip you to shreds in a heartbeat. Besides, Sam, you're the best shot."
Eddie coughed and Jaxon frowned. "No one could top the twins nut-check shot from five hundred yards," Jaxon's tail, reddish-orange and speckled with black, twitched. Her icy blue eyes were sparkling with humor. "Not even Sam."
Sam glared at Jaxon with faux anger. "Well, there goes my loyal sidekick."
Jaxon smirked and let out a bark of laughter. "Loyal sidekick?"
Numair listened without interest, deep violet eyes trained on the path they walked. Up ahead, he could make out a building. Old, white, with ivy crawling up one side. Big windows barred, through which he could just make out the shapes of cages. A figure passed before the window and he caught a glimpse of a long white lab coat. He spun around, slamming his back into the nearest tree and holding up his finger for silence.
The rest were pressed against trees adjacent to him, and he could see Jaxon's hand gripping tight the muzzle of her sleek, black M4. Sam had her pistol out and ready, just like that, the sun glinting of the silver metal weapon, glaring over her shoulder to peer at the building. Kihaku had the twins pressed against her, huddled at the base of a huge tree trunk.
Nervously, Numair peered out at the building. Not a shadow moved. His tail relaxed and he moved like a stealthy snake to the edge of the forest, Sam on his heels with the muzzle of her gun pointed into the dirt.
"Is this it?" she whispered through clenched teeth.
He nodded and motioned for Kihaku and the twins to catch up. Kihaku was at his side almost immediately. They were all jumpy and paranoid; their history making it almost impossible to relax. Even in sleep, they were ready to fight of flight at a moment's notice. Sam gave a feral smile, her fangs glinting in the sun. With one hand she pet her pistol from muzzle to handle, almost without noticing it.
"We're going to have fun with this," she murmured.
She looked to Numair, whose eyes were trained on the window. Suddenly, from around the corner, two men with large, hungry looking dogs approached, weapons tucked into their holsters. Numair shook his head and pointed to Jaxon. For a moment, Sam looked relieved, then somewhat angry. She blew a strand of hair from her face and motioned to Jaxon, pointing her pistol at the dogs. Jaxon grinned and raised her M4.
Four shots later, Jaxon nodded to Sam, who simply smiled at her and shared a high-five. "Nice shot, that last one," she commented.
The ocelot grinned again and pretended to blow smoke from her guns barrel. It whistled slightly as it passed over the hollow barrel and Sam was about to laugh when the sound of shouts and baying dogs reached her ears.
"Shit," cursed Eddie, and Kihaku smacked him over the back of his head.
"Couldn't have said it any better myself," snarled Sam as she readied her pistol once more.
Numair touched her hand, lowering the pistol. He motioned to the trees and, before she could respond, launched himself into one, hauling himself higher until he was high enough to escape detection. He nodded to the rest and leaped into the branches of another, moving swiftly. Jaxon stared after him and lashed her tail before following. Eddie and Akio were already hauling themselves after him, but Kihaku and Sam hesitated, ears pricked and quivering at the sounds of the baying getting closer by the second. Kihaku looked at Sam with apprehension.
"I-I can't climb!" she whispered, eyes wide behind her goggle-like glasses.
Sam shook her head and slid her pistol back into its holster. With a snarl, she jumped and grabbed a hold of one of the low-hanging branches. Stupid cats. Stupid raccoons. Wolves weren't meant to climb trees. When she finally managed to sit, panting, on the branch, she glared down at Kihaku.
"Let's go, Kihaku," she growled. "It isn't so hard."
The leaves to her right rustled and she tried to get to her feet, snarling, but only managing to lose her balance and land flat on her back on the ground. Her breath left her in a whoosh, and she gagged, trying to remember how to inhale once more. Numair laughed down at her, his ears still pricked. When she finally managed to take a breath, she heard the underbrush being crushed and she got to her feet with her pistol drawn.
A metallic looking dog with oddly misshapen limbs bounded out. His back legs reminded Sam of a frog, with them being crazy longer than the front, and his claws were wickedly sharp-looking. His jaws opened, revealing sharp fangs, and she fired twice, striking him once in the neck, and once in his shoulder. The bullets struck and bounced off, making clanging noises, like hitting metal. Kihaku screamed and Numair pulled her into the tree, yelling at Sam to "get out of there." His ears were laid back completely, his needle-sharp fangs bared. When Sam fired again, one of the bullets whooshed past her head, striking the tree behind her.
Numair and Jaxon, who'd also returned to aid her friends, grabbed her shoulders and hauled her, kicking at the crazy dog, into the tree. Within moments, another dog, identical looking, joined the first. Then a third as two men, both bearing semi-automatic machine guns, emerged from the woods. The dogs were going haywire, prowling around the forest floor with noses tilted towards them. Suddenly, one bunched its muscles and leaped, teeth snapping at Kihaku's leg as it soared ten feet off the ground. Again, Kihaku screamed, and Numair's foot connected with the beasts neck, issuing a sharp crack and a whine before it plummeted back to the ground in a crumpled heap. He looked at Sam in shocked comprehension when the animal didn't get up.
"Well," Sam said matter-of-factly. "that's a good to know."
One of the two remaining dogs lunged at the tree, striking it with its entire body. The four of them staggered, clutching at the boughs as the tree jolted and swayed under the impact. Eddie and Akio, a tree over hiding behind the leaves, motioned frantically. Numair shoved Kihaku gently, sending her crawling across the limbs just as a series of bullets struck the wood, sending fragments of bark scattering over their faces and body. He gave a grunt of pain as a stray bullet clipped his shoulder, drawing blood. Sam growled and Jaxon dropped one guard with two well-placed shots. The other cried out and raced for his comrade. The dogs continued to bray and smash against the trees; Sam glared down at them.
"Get lost, you two!" she snapped.
The dogs paused and stared up at her, slavering with dark eyes expressionless. "Masters tell us. Must kill invaders." One howled.
"Oh, yes. World domination. World domination." Number Two agreed.
Sam shared a look with Kihaku. They were dogs-or, at least, related to them-and could understand completely what their…kin were going on about. Kihaku looked disgusted and Sam snarled at them.
"They're brainwashed," she insisted. "Completely brainwashed. They don't know what they're saying. Stupid scientists." To the two dogs she growled, "Get away. Or else I'll kill you like your little friend."
The first dog looked at his fallen comrade. "Not important. Masters will not care. You must be killed!" He braced his two gigantic forepaws against the truck and barked, teeth bared. "Come down now. Come down."
Kihaku growled low in her throat. "Back off, stupid dogs."
Sam shot a pointed look at her face. "Chill with the dog insults, will you?"
"Let's go you two," called Numair from his place at Jaxon's side. Eddie and Akio were peering over the top of them, eyes wide and fearful that the dogs would somehow get to them. "We've already blown our cover. Let's just get on with it, then!"
As a group, they leaped from the trees, hitting the ground running. Sam slashed out at one of the two dogs with her foot, catching its head and cracking its neck, sending it crumpling to the ground. The other was too fast for her. Before she could turn, it lunged, grabbing her leg between its jaws and dragging her to the forest floor in a flailing pile. Its large paws planted on her shoulders, compromising her movement, and reared back to deal the death blow to her jugular. Suddenly, Numair had his arms around its neck, dragging it back fighting, paws slashing at the air as it tried to struggle free. They tumbled backward into Kihaku, who screeched and flung out her hands to protect herself. Numair, at hearing his chosen companions scream, grew furious, black ears pressing back against his head and baring his fangs. His claws scraped against the thin, protective sheet of metal covering the dogs body, issuing a shrill whine, before he threw the dog to the left, wrenching his hands back to the right.
There was a snap, and the dog slipped free of his hands, head bent at an awkward angle and body limp. Numair helped Kihaku to her feet before turning to Sam, face marshaled into an emotionless mask. "Let's go," he ordered.
Sam checked for her weapons and nodded at Jaxon, who had been protecting Eddie and Akio. The twins were shivering. They weren't fond of close combat; they preferred long-distance killing. Akio gave a shaky smile and nudged Eddie, whose eyes were wide and fearful. He looked down at the dog, and his expression grew grim. He shared a look with his brother.
Pointing down, he said, "We can fix that."
Max edged closer to Angel, taking her hand.
Once again, they'd been caught by the dreadful whitecoats and held against their wills in a place of torture. Their cage was small and cramped, and the scientists had been smart enough to singe their primaries, disabling their abilities to fly. Also, as an extra precaution, metal bands had been placed across their necks, squeezing enough to make their breathing shallow.
Gazzy coughed. "Max?"
The brown haired girl turned, wincing in pain as the movement tweaked her already sore muscles. "Yes, Gazzy?"
As the blonde boy opened his mouth to reply, there was the sound of gunshots, two of them, and the sound of baying dogs. Max whipped around as several whitecoats rushed into the freezing room, opening several crates. Three dogs tumbled out.
Max recalled when they'd been normal, with fur sleek and lush, but now they were monsters: elongated hind legs, like a frogs; metal-enforced fur; iron jaws and fangs. They were dogs…on major steroids.
The largest paused at the cage in which the flock was being held and bared its teeth, saliva dripping onto the floor. A scientist called out and it whipped around, running for the door. The room plunged back into darkness.
Shouts issued from the other room and then…silence.
Absolute silence. Even the baying of the three dogs was fading away. Angel and the Gasman huddled together, using one another for warmth and security. Fang touched her shoulder and she leaned into him.
"Something's going on."
She shot him a look. "No, duh, Sherlock."
His dark gaze fixed on her, mouth pressed into a firm line. "I mean, something big, Max."
Angel's voice quivered from the background. "She's right. I can feel someone coming. Several."
Everyone fell quiet, straining to hear beyond the walls of their prison. It was minutes before they heard anything at all besides their labored breathing.
There was first a shout, then a scream of terror, followed by…the baying of dogs? A crash sounded from the lab, and a huge dog, the same one, from the looks of it, that had stopped at their cage, scrabbled across a metal table, hind legs flailing as a guard tried to grab it. His jaws clamped down on the guard's arm as he fell, dragging the man down, across the metal table. The wheelie lab table overturned, spilling disarrayed instruments over the flailing figures. Max pressed her face against the bars of the cage trying to get a better look, only to see a blur as another dog leaped over his comrade and burst through the Plexiglas door.
He raced straight for a row of other cages, where dogs were throwing themselves against the bars. For a moment, the dog deliberated before lunging forward and catching one cage by the latch. There was a whine and the sound of grating metal as the beasts fangs tore into the thin metal and a dog yipped in pain. Soon, the door was ripped wide, and a dog-normal and un-mutated-emerged, shaking his broad head. His tongue lolled as he raced for the exit.
Max turned to Angel. "Angel!"
The blonde child had a look of fierce concentration on her face, eyes fixated on the dog. "I can't get a hold of its mind, Max!" An explosion in the lab send the flock cowering in the back of their crate and Angel touched Max's hand. «Max? They're here.»
Sam pulled the hood over her head and tightened the cloak, seeing Jaxon and the rest doing the same. Numair helped Kihaku tie hers and kissed her nose delicately before turning to address the other two girls.
"Take as many out as you can," he ordered briskly. "Kihaku and I will search for any others." His violet eyes leveled a glare at the twins. "How long do we have?"
"Ten minutes," replied a hesitant Akio. "Tops."
Numair shared a look with Jaxon and Kihaku nodding to them. "Let's go, then. No sense wasting time here. Sam, you come with me; Jaxon, stay with Kihaku."
Sam shot off like a bullet, her long hair whipping around her face as she ran. A scientist stumbled from a laboratory, wheezing into a cloth; Sam dispatched him with cold features, her claws whipping across his jugular. A woman screamed as she raced past and Numair jammed his fist into her throat, dropping her like a rock. Further ahead gathered several other scientists and guards, faces fearful and eyes wide. Numair darted off to one side, into a seemingly-empty room, stumbling over a fallen cart and the bodies of a dog and a scientist. He regained his balance and burst into an adjoining room where stacked cages greeted him. There was a robo-dog inside, tearing at some of the cages, his fangs ripping and shredding at the thin metal. It turned to him, eyes flaming, before bowing its head and returning to its task. Akio and Eddie had done well with resurrecting the dead mechanical dogs.
He heard a rustle of feathers suddenly and spun on his heels, peering in through the bars of the largest cage. Six faces peered back out at him. Wings stuck out behind them and the tallest female, a brown haired girl with matching wings and eyes, spoke first.
"Well, are you just going to sit there and stare," she snarled. "or are you actually going to do some good and open the cage?"