Nano Rain: So, yeah. Remember, don't read this fic unless you've read Angel! I don't want to spoil anything. This is more of an Alternate ending to Angel. I made up who's behind it all, so don't go around saying it's so and so! This is my first One-Shot so please be nice. I'm kind of mad at myself for writing this because I feel that it turned out terrible- oh well.
Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, duh.
Angel knows how it all ends.
There was no time. Seven little minutes till everyone in the Plaza goes boom. Max's thoughts were chaotic and indecisive. There was no time! I had to tell her to leave; Gazzy could surely handle this with my help. Right? Right? I wasn't not so sure anymore. Not since that last glimpse of Max forcing herself out of the sewer, leaving us behind to take care of the bombs.
It was only then I doubted my decision. Should I have let Max know? Know how it all ends? This group, the Doomsday Group… Can we really beat them? No. Not in the state the Flock is in, not with Fang gone to some new gang of inexperienced teens who don't know very well how to use their powers for a maximum effect.
I know who will destroy the world- the humans. For so long we've all wondered: what's the big deal? I don't see any danger. What's so powerful that overnight it'll destroy us all? By now the Flock should know. They just don't know. It's more than this Doomsday Group. More than White Coats. It's one. Single. Person.
My rapid thoughts are snapped in the middle of a big decision as I feel Gazzy's panic. He can't do it. There are too many bombs, too much complication. Fang is doing all he can, he just can't make up for actually knowing what to do. We're not enough. There's no more time!
"Let's go! We've done all we can!" We have to escape. My mind is swirling from a sudden wave of anxiety on the plaza. Did Max evacuate everyone? There are too many thoughts for me to single hers out. Gazzy has already darted out the room and Fang is ushering me out too.
With a nod to clear my head I inch away from Fang and begin to escape on my own. I'm relieved when I see how near the exit is, already Gazzy feet are disappearing onto the surface of Paris. I'm only a step away from the hatch when my ears pop. Things go in a sequence from there.
After the pop my ears reach an even heavier sound that envelops me. I'm reminded of thunder as my body is vibrated. I barely notice Fang's thoughts as he slips up the ladder- he assumes I've already gone up. Before I can shout the "thunder" intensifies. The roof begins shaking. The cracking is like the sound of gunfire and a dusty powder begins to rain down like fog.
I scramble for the ladder, my heart racing. I have to live! I have to tell them! I can't bear the burden of knowing all to myself. For once in my life I want to be a seven year old. I, deep down, don't want to be the leader of everything. Maybe I still do a little, it's a little hard, but I'm better at it than Max, but now… I miss the days back in the mountains. When Jeb was with us, when Max was more like a mom. Before the Erasers, and Ari. Before all of that.
After only two steps up large rocks begin to fall down. A medium sized one smacks me square in the face, knocking me off the ladder and painfully onto my wings. I push it away frantically and turn to run further down the sewer tunnel. If I can't get out from that one, maybe further down there'll be less chaos…?
The temperature seems only to rise. I think a fire was started down here, either from a bomb that didn't get defused or from whatever caused the first explosion. Either way I keep running. My eyes begin to sting. I lurch to a stop- is there gas down here? Something very icy slides down my cheek. I'm crying. "No!" I scream. "It can't end like this! I have to…" I begin to cough. Sinking to my knees I cough and choke. My vision gets further clouded as smoke sweeps the area. "I have to warn Max… The one behind all of this is…"
I collapse into a dirty, wet puddle. A few more weak coughs escape me. I can't breathe down here. I can't keep running in this condition. Frantically I try to project my thoughts to Max. I'm so sorry! Max, please hear me! Doomsday Group is behind this. But behind them is just one… One experiment. I caught a glimpse from someone's mind- I couldn't tell if it was a guy or girl. But it's an experiment. It described itself as…. I force myself back onto my feet. I'm not getting through to her. I'm not getting through to anyone. I have to keep trying, if only to keep running. It's my only hope.
Smoke has completely clouded my vision. I let the tips of my wings drag on the sickening ground only to tell me where a canal of water is so I don't fall in. I'm running again, a newfound strength giving me the will to go on. Behind me I hear a crack and a boom. Rocks are falling again and I think the other bombs have just gone off.
Up ahead- another ladder. Will I make it? I put on a little more speed. I'm a lot faster than average humans, currently I'm running probably as fast as an Olympic runner- if not quicker. In a second I've reached the ladder and climbed to the top. The manhole is shut, much to my fearfully beating heart. I punch it in the hopes it will open. When it doesn't budge I try again- and again- and again. Only when my lungs feel like they're going to burst do I give up and let myself fall to the ground with a painful thwack. It's now I smell pungent and sour scent. I shiver. Poison. It's all over now…
Tears begin to relentlessly flow down my smudged face. "Max!" I cry. "Fang, Gazzy, Iggy, Nudge! Someone!" I shriek and cry and sob, throwing a fit like I was five again. My body is beginning to feel coldly numb, but my skin still feels burning hot from all the smoke and heat trapped under here. Soon even my cries cease. I just sit and stare ahead. The will to do anything anymore is leaving. I still have to tell them. Even if they can't hear me anymore…
It described itself as the first experiment to walk the Earth, but the last one that was made. Max… The one behind all of this, all of this chaos, is none other than… Your Voice. It's a being wrought with power. It hates white coats, humanity… All of it. It wants it all to end. Don't listen to it anymore. Don't listen to anyone, not even the Flock. Only trust yourself, Max. You have to… Save the world…
My eyes droop shut and I begin to shiver. How terrifying and lonely it is… To die down here all alone… I miss them all so bad. I just want… I just want… To see them one more time.
I open my eyes, not sure what to expect. I jolt upright. Out of everything to expect, this was the last thing I'd imagined: A clear blue sky with large, calm white clouds. A field of healthy green grass with patches of flowers here and there. And a crystal clear lake. Ahead of me I saw a group of people- the y were waving at me to join them. Peering closer I made out some figures I thought I'd never see again. I smile.
She'd done it… Max had saved the world- and a very beautiful world indeed it was.
I quickly run over to join them, waving wildly back. All my sores and bruises gone. I was brand new again. Just like the Earth.
