AN: Hey, this is my second story ever, and it will be a multi-chapter one. This Maximum Ride fic is a bit AU-ish. Not too much, though. This starts at the beginning of the whole series, and is mostly going to be sensitive to Fang's POV. The story will focus less on the environmental aspects of the series and more on the School. Also, the flock is somewhat older. Let's say Max, Fang, and Iggy are around 15, Gazzy is 9, Nudge is 12, and Angel is 7. Therefore, a lot of their powers have already appeared. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.
Fang blearily opened his eyes. He rolled onto his side so as to take the weight off of his raven-colored wings, sighing in relief when the pressure disappeared. He always tried to sleep on his stomach or side, but somehow ended up on his back anyway, leaving his wings stiff and sore in the morning.
He silently got up off of his bed in the E-shaped house, wondering how long they could live there. They had been there ever since Jeb had saved them from the School, which had been about four years ago. The Erasers hadn't come for them, but Fang knew they would eventually. He could only hope that that time wouldn't come soon.
Dressing quickly and silently in his black ensemble, he unfurled his wings. Rolling his shoulders, he extended his wings as far as he could without knocking them into anything. He stretched them for a few seconds before folding them back against his back.
Fang walked ever so quietly out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Most of the flock was already there- Max, Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, and even Nudge, which was surprising. She was a slow riser.
"Morning, Fang!" Max chirped. The others called out greetings as well.
Fang nodded. He sat in an empty seat next to Iggy, and silently took the plate Max offered him. It was piled high with pancakes, which were simply aromatic with the scent of melted butter and maple syrup.
He started eating, thinking that he hadn't had pancakes in a while. They were a rare treat for the flock, who used their meager supply of ingredients very frugally. As he ate, he raised an eyebrow at Max in question. She shrugged and said, "No reason. Just thought we'd try something a bit different."
Angel piped up, "Max, can we pick strawberries today? They're finally ripe!"
Max grinned, unable to resist the Bambi-eyed little girl. "Of course sweetie! We'll all go."
The Gasman then decided to live up to his name, and the flock choked while Fang sighed.
Nudge said, "Yeah, the fresh air will do us good."
Iggy, Max, Angel laughed, while Fang smirked at Gazzy's pouting face.
"Meanies," he muttered.
Breathing deeply and quietly in the crisp morning air, Fang trudged a few feet behind the flock.
It wasn't like he felt uncomfortable with them- not at all. They were his family, his brothers and sisters. They were the most important thing in the world to him. He just valued his personal space. He was a silent person, through and through. The whitecoats at the School had tried to make him talk to them, but Fang never said a word. That was one of his forms of rebellion.
God, it felt so good to be free, to be able to fly.
Fang loved flying, almost as much as he loved the flock. They'd never gotten to fly at the School, so he had been a little alarmed at first, but he had quickly fallen in love with it. They all had.
Listening back to the others' conversation, he saw Max telling off Gazzy for doing a voice imitation.
See, in addition to wings, they all had powers. Angel could read minds. Gazzy could imitate sounds and voices. Max and Nudge, no one was sure, but Iggy could sense the seriousness of wounds, which was very helpful.
Fang had powers that suited his personality very well indeed. He could walk and fly completely silently, but that was attributed to skill and practice more than anything. His true power was that, if he was completely still, he could blend in with his surroundings, making him invisible.
He practiced with his powers everyday. For the first couple of weeks, whenever he moved, the camouflage was broken and he turned visible. As time passed, however, he was able to move faster and faster without being seen. He could move at a relatively normal pace, minus any sharp or sudden movements.
He had a feeling that a new power was going to show itself soon, though. He didn't know why, or how, he had this feeling. He just did. Truth be told, he was anticipating its arrival.
He tuned his surroundings back in just in time to hear Angel scream in fear.
A silent chopper hovered overhead. Erasers were repelling down on rope ladders like a monsterfied SWAT team.
Fang looked at Max, meeting her gaze. His gaze asked, Up and away? Or stay and fight?
She hesitated for a moment. "Flock! Fight! There are only eight of them!"
Fang nodded, and the flock went on the offensive.
Fang crashed into an Eraser, pummeling it with his feet. It retaliated with a quick swipe, but Fang leaned back, evading it. It took another swipe at his head, but he ducked under it and threw his fist in its face. The Eraser's head snapped back and it dropped to the ground. It didn't get back up.
Fang felt claws rake his arm. He whirled around to see another wolfish Eraser. He kicked it in the chest, and heard the air rush out of its lungs as it exhaled sharply.
Suddenly, voices called, "Fang! Watch out!" The voices were Gazzy and Iggy.
When Gazzy and Iggy told you to watch out, the best action was to fly away as soon as possible.
Fang's wings extended in seconds, and he flung himself into the air.
He could still feel the heat from the explosion from 30 feet away. He saw the Erasers he and the rest of the flock hadn't taken care of get thrown back from the explosion. They didn't get back up.
"Alright!" Max called. "Report!"
Angel and Nudge said, "I'm fine!"
Iggy and Gazzy said, "We're good."
Fang said, "I'm alright. "
Fang lowered himself to the ground with the flock. They all huddled together, after pulling in their wings. Max met Fang's eye, and he nodded in agreement. They both knew that they couldn't stay.
Max looked put out, and Fang gave her a rueful half-smile. She relaxed her tense shoulders and stood up straight. "Guys, we need to go. The chopper is still around here somewhere, and we can't see it. Ig, can you hear it?" The flock turned to the bird-kid in question.
He shook his head. "I couldn't hear it before, either, so it could still be around somewhere."
"Okay," Max said, "be on your guard."
"Are we going back home?" Gazzy asked.
Fang met Max's glance. "No. We can't."
"Why not?" Nudge asked.
Fang entered the conversation. "They know where we live, now. We need to find another place."
Angel sniffed. "Where should we go?"
Max hesitated, then said, "West. Let's just go west for now, until we think of a specific place." She sighed, seeing everyone's dejected looks. "Look, guys, don't they say 'Home is where the heart is'? We can get a new place. It'll be fine." She looked at Fang.
"We'll be okay," he agreed. "We should go."
"We should fix your arm first," Nudge said. She got out the ever-present first aid kit and hastily bandaged it for him.
"Thanks," Fang said. It ached, but it would be pretty much healed by tomorrow. "Let's go west."
Fang and the flock had been flying for roughly fifteen minutes when things went to heck in a hand basket.
They stopped and took a lunch break, since they had not eaten anything since breakfast. They always had some sort of food on them for snacks, since bird kids needed to eat over 3000 calories a day. They were in the woods, resting, when suddenly Angel disappeared. She had been sitting against the trunk of a tree when she was yanked out from under it and she disappeared into the bushes.
"Angel!"
"Max! Help!" Angela's shrill shouts echoed around the forest.
An Eraser's voice stopped everyone in their tracks. "One move, the girl dies."
Max met Fang's gaze. Disappear, her eyes seemed to be telling him. He nodded and vanished, slowly stepping up against the trunk of a tree.
Two ugly, wolfish Erasers stepped out of the bushes and into the small clearing where the flock was. One said, "I'm going to take this kid, and none of you are going to follow me, understand? Or else she gets it."
The flock nodded.
The other Eraser spoke. "Now, I'll stay here with you all so you don't get any ideas." The beasts held up radios. "My buddy here will be listening at all times on the other one. So if I fail to respond, or if he hears ANY words at all..." He laughed. "Well, I think you can figure that out yourselves."
Obviously, these Erasers were a tad more intelligent than previous generations.
The Eraser who had spoken first cackled and ran out of the clearing.
Silently, Fang took off after him.
Fang knew that he needed to be looking for a car of some sort. The road was a few miles out, so he could either trail the Eraser that had Angel and definitely find out where the car was, or just hurry to the street and possibly gain an advantage by staging an ambush.
He decided to follow the Eraser for a while to see what direction he was heading in.
Swooping upward, he turned his gaze to the forest below. It spread out for miles in three directions, but was broken a few miles ahead by a road before continuing. His stare searched the trees for the beast that had taken Angel.
Fang caught sight of him bounding towards the road. He focused his eyes on said road. There was a huge black Hummer parked there, with the door ready and open.
Fang adjusted his wings, angling forward. He glided toward the Hummer, and decided to wait, undetectable, on the other side of the car.
He slowly, silently, lowered himself near the side of the car that wasn't facing the forest. Curious, he looked to the front passenger seat of the huge black car.
Through the tinted glass, he could only see a pale outline of a person, along with a flash on brownish-blonde hair. On the other side, he could see a man covered in a white cloth that stood out against all the black.
A whitecoat.
Fang scowled, but resisted the urge to attempt to rip the guy's head off. His time in the School had been terrible. He had been in the Fight Ward, fighting other experiments for about four days out of the week. For one and a half days, he had the same treatment as the rest of the flock, but the rest of the week... He shuddered. He didn't want to think about it.
The bushes at the edge of the forest rustled, and the Eraser and Angel burst out. Fang tensed, readying himself. He put his hand on the handle of the door.
The Eraser threw Angel in a bag the whitecoat tossed him. Then, the beast chucked Angel in the car.
In the same moment, Fang ripped the door open, the sudden movement causing him to become visible once more.
Angel flew past him, out of the car. Fang grabbed her and went up and away, holding the sack she was in with little difficulty. So as not to be seen, he dove into the forest of trees, surrounding himself with green leaves and brown trunks. He didn't bother to turn invisible; his dark colors helped him blend in, and the Erasers wouldn't be able to catch up, anyway.
Angel sniffed from inside. "Fang?"
"Yeah."
"Are we going back to Max and the flock?"
"Yes."
"But we can't go home, can we." It was a statement, not a question.
"No, we can't." There was silence for a while.
Fang landed just out side the clearing where the flock was. Apparently, the Eraser hadn't been alerted that Angel was gone yet. Telling Angel to be silent with his thoughts, Fang turned invisible and crept stealthily forward, alone.
Fang stood right in front of the oblivious Eraser, who stood still with an arrogant smirk on his face. Slowly drawing his right arm back, he gathered as much energy as he could into his arm and hand. He let out a silent breath, and shot his fist forward, into the Eraser's throat.
The Eraser collapsed, gasping in shock. It struggled to breath, but couldn't get enough air. Max stepped forward and kicked the beast in the head.
The Eraser fell still.
"Angel," Fang said. The girl mentioned stepped into the clearing, bag-free, and was clasped into a hug by Max and Gazzy.
"She's back?" Iggy asked.
"Yeah," Fang answered.
Nudge squealed and glomped Angel. "We were so worried! Are you okay?!"
"Yeah. Fang saved me before they did anything," the mind reader explained.
Max turned and beamed at Fang, and he felt his heart flutter. He flashed her a rare half-smile, and she blushed.
"We should go," Fang said.
As one, the flock jumped up in the air and flew away, to the west, and towards their new destiny.
AN: So, there's chapter one. We have a little mystery going on here- what new power will Fang have? What's with the Erasers' newfound stealth? Iggy couldn't hear the Erasers sneak up on them in the forest, either... Hope the ending wasn't too cheesy. Anyway, hope you all liked it, and thanks for reading this far! Constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated, but flames will be directed to the appropriate alchemist.