Black Feathers
This is a Maximum Ride- Twilight crossover. Remember that girl with wings who Max set free in the second (or is it third? Or even fourth…) book? Well, she joined them later on. As the flock flies through night skies, traveling west by dimming light, they move closer and closer to Washington state. Erasers follow, and only on thing can happen when you throw vampires into the mix.
Chapter 1- Crash Landing
The sun broke through the clouds, shining light onto us. I rolled uncomfortably around on my branch, not wanting to get up. Then I felt something semi-hard connect with my stomach.
"Ouch!" I complained and looked up into the blue eyes of Maximum Ride.
"Get up Rogue, and get a move on." She said simply. I sighed. My name is Rogue, for lack of knowing my name. I found the flock after leaving when the freed me, I didn't have a name, but because I pretty much flew solo they called me Rogue. So, if you're reading this, all I can say is welcome to the hard-knock life of mutant bird kids. Max's head snapped up, and I knew it was the voice.
"Incoming everyone move NOW!" She shouted, immediately things went to hell. I snapped my wings out and pushed off the ground, my pitch-black wings stuck out during the day like a sore thumb, but I was almost invisible at night. So, those are the breaks. That's when I saw them.
Twenty Erasers, roughly, no on was going to stop to do a headcount. They took off into the air after us. "Evasive maneuvers!" Max yelled from the air, her brown and white wings ruffled as she turned, "Scatter!" I peeled of to the east, soaring upwards. Three Erasers followed me. Easy.
Diving for the woods, I dipped within two inches of the trees before slipping under their top branches. Two Erasers couldn't make it, and one was left as I wove through the forest. Where was the other one? I got my answer in the form of a clawed and fury backhand across my ribcage. I was trained never to cry out so I bit down on my lip and flew up to open sky. The Eraser followed.
Whirling in the air, almost like a ballet, I landed a few key blows to his head, neck and stomach. By this time, I had felt my nose crack under his paw and my arm was bleeding profusely. One final snap kick to the head and he dropped out of the sky like a rock.
Rogue- 3, Erasers- 0
Then I realized I had no effing clue where I was. I looked around, only trees and mountains no landmarks… Crap. Flying low, I scanned the area for other creatures, Erasers, the flock, a seal with a tattoo… Nothing. So, I landed, crashing through the branches after I misjudged the distance. Yelling a few choice curse words, I struggled to free myself from a tangle of green. I was upside down and my wings where caught. Great, this day just keeps getting better. It must be a Monday. Note to self: Do not anger the Monday gods.
But then again, I was not the cooperative type. "Hey Monday Gods!" I yelled aloud, "I hate you, just thought you should know that. Oh and, I hope you all jus-" I was cut off when I heard rustling in the bushes. I looked up, just as a pale, blonde male streaked out.
Monday gods really had it out for me… I struggled to free myself, but the blonde human hit me before I could. I gasped and air rushed out of my lungs. This was not human. This was a monster. I tucked my wings into my side and prepared for a fight.
"Stop him!" I heard someone yell as I crashed to the ground. The monster had me pinned to the ground, I pulled my legs underneath my and kicked his core as hard as I could. He was thrown back, but not nearly as much as he should have been. He was off me, but only by inches.
"Hey ugly," I snapped, even though he was the farthest thing from ugly I had ever seen, "If you're going to fight, you've got to fight fair. The old fashioned way, hand-to-hand." I was trying to sound like Max, and I hoped it worked. I tried to flex my wings, but I think I pulled a muscle near where the connected to my back.
He snarled, his eyes where black. "Speak English!" I growled at his face, landing a well placed kick on his shoulder. Max taught me that move, it's supposed to dislocate the shoulder, but I nearly dislocated my freaking ankle.
The monster lounged at me, faster than I could have moved away. I was thrown into the side of a boulder, my wings crumpling beneath me, some small bones probably being crushed. Don't scream, don't scream…
I screamed. Oh my god, everything hurt! My head had been whip-lashed into the rock and it wasn't so forgiving.
"Rogue!" Someone yelled from the sky, it was the rest of the flock!
"Max!" I screamed pushing hard against the monster trying hold him back. His teeth snapped only inches away from my face. She landed smoothly and yanked him backwards. Just then, three other pale monsters burst from the trees.
The blood loss and pain overcame me at that second, and I collapsed, blacking out.
Edward's POV-
"Hey!" Emmett yelled, "Look at that!" He pointed up to the sky where a black figure streaked across the skies, three others following. "That is a huge bird!" The figure dipped down, the sun hit it for a split second as it cut into the trees.
"That's not a bird…" I said slowly, and we all stared as a girl with black wings dive-bombed in and out of the trees until only one pursuer was left. My eyes zeroed in on the situation, one girl, short black hair, scruffy, tall, skinny, deep gash on left arm and ribcage, I made mental notes of everything. With one semi-graceful kick to the head, the last pursuer dropped out of the sky.
"That is so… not human." Carlisle said in awe. "It can't be, humans are…" He was dumbfounded, as the rest of us were.
The bird-human cross folded her wings and headed for the trees very close to us. She accidentally nicked one of them and ended up getting her jet-black wings tangled in the branches. She proceeded to curse the 'Monday gods' profusely. That's when the breeze shifted and we all smelled the blood. A lot of blood.
Jasper twitched and remained in place for a spilt second, fighting his thirst, but we were out hunting, and he had let his instincts take control. He lounged forward and tackled the bird-human thing right out of the tangled mess of branches.
I thought she would be dead the second he got his hands on her, any human would. Somehow, she was alive when she slammed into the ground at over eighty miles per hour.
"Stop him!" I yelled, and we all sprung out.
I was fully ready to pry Jasper off the bird-human thing, but it actually kicked him off. The human, or human like thing, had kicked a vampire several inches.
"Hey ugly, if you're going to fight, you've got to fight fair. The old fashioned way, hand-to-hand." The girl snarled.
All I could do was stare as a human tried to fight off Jasper in close combat. She avoided him once and brought a hard kick down on his shoulder, on any other human this would have meant a badly dislocated shoulder. It probably snapped her ankle in half. He picked her up and slammed her against a giant boulder. Her nose went off like a firecracker when he bumped into her. She bit down onto her lip until it bled, then shrieked like an animal in pain.
"ROUGE!" Someone yelled from above, I looked up, six more bird-human things. (I need to think of something better to call them)
"Max!" The girl said, Rogue? I dipped into her thoughts, her name was Rogue. The six landed and together pealed Jasper off Rogue who promptly passed out from blood-loss. I nodded at Emmett, and we began trying to remove the mutants from Jasper. The oldest male had him in a chokehold from behind, not that it would do any good. Emmett grabbed him and pinned him down, just to be safe.
"I don't care who you are," Max said quickly, "just hold that… that thing for a second and we'll be out of here." She growled, referring to Jasper. That thing… I wonder how that made him feel…
Max, the oldest male and the blond male rushed over to Rouge. The youngest girl, the younger boy and the girl with darker skin continued to scrutinize us, all looking jumpy.
Never seen anything like that before…
I wonder if they can be hurt at all…
Max better hurry, this one doesn't think like a normal person
I swear, if he hurt Rogue…
"Okay guys, who's got the backpack?" Max asked, the blond one handed it to her and she opened it, pulling out several bandages, alcohol, and a Swiss army knife. "This is it?" She demanded, frustrated.
"Well, next time we stop buy a hospital I'll be sure to steal a first-aid kit." The dark haired kid said,
"Shush, Fang, and hand me the knife." Max took the silver knife and began cutting up the bandages, while the blond one ran his hands carefully over Rouge.
"This feels bad… what did it?" he asked, he was blind…
"It looks worse Iggy, trust me, and hell if I know what did it, but I do know who." She glared pointedly at Jasper who was currently eating dirt, well… figuratively. Iggy was about to start putting alcohol and bandages on the slices in her side when Carlisle stopped him
"Wait! A blind person shouldn't do that, I'm a doctor, let me." Usually, the words 'I'm a doctor' calm people. Here, not so much…
"Bite me." Iggy snapped. Emmett burst out laughing, and Carlisle shot him a stern look. Iggy began to press bandages carefully down onto her side with a doctor's skill, knowing exactly where to place them and with how much pressure.
"She needs a hospital." The dark haired male, Fang, breathed, shocked at his own words.
"No. I refuse to let us go to another hospital and get mixed up in crap like that ever again" Max growled, she was obviously the leader. At that point, Alice, Esme, Rose and Bella stepped into the clearing with us. Max's head snapped up.
"Four more, scatter, up and away!" She yelled, "Fang, Iggy, get Rouge!" The two grabbed Rogue and snapped out their wings. I grabbed one of their wrists stopping them,
"Let go," Fang said coolly
"She'll die if you don't let us help you." I said very carefully. Iggy stiffened, but everyone's thoughts where slightly blurred by someone else.
Things I did catch where very complex, Fang and Max sorting through complicated combat maneuvers, trying to figure out how to fight us off, and the smallest girl was wondering why I could hear her thoughts…. WHAT?!
"Mind reader!" she yelled to Max. Max whirled and shot her fist at my head so quick it reminded my how completely un-human these kids where. She barely missed.
Fighting broke out amongst all of us, with Emmett holding Jasper, we where the ones who where the ones who were outnumbered. Still, they where pinned in a little over a minute. These kids fought hard, better and more agile than any soldier. Even the little mind-reading girl!
I had the mind reader and Iggy, restraining them by their wrists. Esme had the little blond boy, Rose had the dark skinned girl, Bella was almost struggling with Max and Carlisle had to wrap both arms around Fang's torso to restrain him. This left Rouge about two feet from Iggy, who had accidentally dropped her.
"Come on, we can help you. What other motive would we have? Besides, I don't think you would want to risk her life." Carlisle insisted.
"Fine." Max snapped, earning a quizzical look from Fang, "One condition, you tell us what you are."
I stiffened, "We will when you do, but not now. We need to get your sister… Rogue, back to our home."
"Is your home a hospital or a dog-crate facility?" She spat angrily,
"Uh… I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about." I muttered, absolutely confused.
"Alright guys, let us go and we'll follow." Max relented. I nodded,
"Fly seventeen miles north by northwest." Carlisle said, "We'll take Rogue, meet us there." With that, Carlisle grabbed Rogue and we started running back, I heard wings brushing against trees back where the kids were.
We were home in less than a minute, flying through the forest. "Get my bag Alice." Carlisle said before we were even through the door. He set Rogue down on the couch, Alice handed him his bag.
He pulled out a needle, and injected it right into her view, "Morphine." He said before I could ask. We all heard her heart-rate drop but it was still much higher than normal humans were, her temperature was higher too. Pulling out surgical wire he began to stitch the gashes on her side closed and the ones on her arm. There was really nothing we could do about her broken nose, it wasn't crooked so at least there was that.
"Who are they?" Esme asked, alarmed, "And what were those things chasing them?"
"I don't know." I said, "But these kids are certainly not human, from what I was able to hear, the youngest can not only read but control minds and at least one more of them is gifted as well. But they don't consider it gifts, they consider it mutations."
"She needs a transfusion." Carlisle said just as the bird kids burst through the front door. "What blood type is she?" He yelled to them,
"Bird type?" Angel asked, Max shook her head,
"It doesn't matter, we're all one blood type, but she can't get human blood." She pursed her lips, "I'll give her a transfusion."
About ten minutes later, Max was almost collapsed in a chair eating a muffin to fight the dizziness. "Good muffins…" she mumbled, "bad memories." She thought of the last time she had to give someone, Fang, a blood transfusion in a hospital.
"Your friend, uh… Rogue," Carlisle stumbled over the name, I found it weird to, "She's got four broken ribs, a concussion, a broken nose and severe gashes in her side that will take a while to heal." He looked at them for a second, "She'll need to stay here for a while."
Max was silent, the walked stiffly outside. No one followed her but turned their backs and stared at us instead. We weren't the only ones who heard her shriek of frustration, apparently her family had good hearing. She walked back in, looking annoyed,
"Fine. Fine. But tell us what you are." She demanded.
"Um… funny thing about that…" Alice began, the smallest kid's, Angel, head snapped up and she stared wildly at us.
"Vampires." She muttered.
"Well, yeah." Alice stammered, "But, we don't drink human blood, we're vegetarians and we won't hurt you, promise!" Alice said smiling and holding up two fingers like a scout would do. She leaned kneeled down and looked at Angel, "So, little mind reader, want to tell us your secret?" She was about to put a hand on the Angel's shoulder when Max grabbed her wrist and hauled Angel behind her back.
"No way." She snapped. "You expect us to trust vampires with not only our friends life but our secret?!" She was almost shrieking, "Are you mentally insane? Are you on drugs?"
"Listen, we made a promise, we're not going to hurt you we only want to help you." Carlisle repeated, "This is my family, Esme, Edward and Bella, Nessie, Rosalie, Alice, and Emmett will bring Jasper back later. I'm very sorry for how Jasper behaved."
Max just glared openly and hostile at us.
Angle cleared her throat, "Well, I'm Angel, that's Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, Max, Fang…" We almost smirked at that one. The name Fang, it was a little ridiculous. "And the one that the creepy guy attacked is Rogue."
"Interesting names," Alice said enthusiastically, "How did you get them?"
"Well Max's real name is Maximum Ride, and Gazzy is real the Gasman, but other than that we named ourselves and each other. We call Rogue, Rogue because after we let he rout of the cages in the underground School and Iggy blew it up, she went off on her own, like a rogue, but she came back later and found us." Angle babbled, "And then we're all like mutants because we where created in this lab, and there where these dog crates, but we got out and then they came to find us, and then they where at our house while I was kidnapped and Max was coming to get me, so the Erasers came so Iggy blew up their tuck and our house with a bomb and then I figured out how to control peoples mi-"
Max covered Angel's mouth with her hand. She laughed nervously, "Chatter box," she muttered.
"Erasers…" Esme asked
"You blew up a school?!" Rosalie said shocked, looking at innocent little Angel, who nodded happily.
"Our goal is to eventually get rid of all of them and any links to Itex that are left." Fang said crossly, "The School isn't a place to get an education, in case you were wondering. It's a place where the use genetic experimentation to create recombinant life forms. Which they then torture, test, and eventually… disassembled." He said very grimly.
"Oh my…" Esme mouthed,
"Basically we grew up in cages, we got away and we've been on the run from Erasers ever since." I was about to ask what they were when Angel chimed in,
"Erasers are lupine-human hybrids, I knew you where going to ask that because you where thinking about it." She smiled.
"And I thought one of you was annoying." Rose muttered.
"So, if Erasers are lupine hybrids you must be avian hybrids." Carlisle said,
"Yep." Max said simply.
"Would you mind if I examined your wings? Rogue's are pretty damaged and I need something to compare them against." He said, but Max he, being a doctor, just wanted to see how the wings worked.
"… Sure." She said after about ten seconds of consideration. Everyone immediately took four steps back, she shrugged off her jacket and in one, swift movement snapped her wings out. They where white with brown spots, the primary feathers where covered in dirt and had some leaves stuck in the. Alice pulled a stick out of one,
"What is this?" She demanded holding up the stick.
"Uh, I dunno Alice, a baby tree?" Max laughed sarcastically. Then Alice looked over the whole flock,
"You're all wearing dirty clothes!" She almost shrieked, "Torn, dirty, old, stained clothes!"
"Well next time we have money I'll be sure to get some new clothes." She responded sarcastically, though Nudge looked excited,
"Can we? Please!" She asked, begging,
"No." Max said flatly, and I could already here Alice planning an extensive shopping trip. Just then, I heard someone shock in a shocked breath. It was Iggy, his hands fluttered delicately over Rogue's side, which had several red slices through it, all stitched up. Because Iggy couldn't see, he was using his sense of touch.
"What is it Iggy?" Max asked,
"She twitched." He said excitedly, both his hands where on her side, feeling the gashes in her side healing. I was about to suggest he move his hands when she groaned,
"Iggy," She muttered, her eyes still closed, "Why can I feel your hands on my hip?" She said, almost groaning. Iggy blushed bright red.
"I… uh, I mean… well, I was… I was trying to see if your side was healing okay and because I can't see I was… touching." He said lamely, looking beyond embarrassed. Iggy quickly withdrew his hands; surprisingly she reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Please, help me up." She said quietly. Iggy grasped her hand and pulled her up. She grumbled a couple curses as she sat up. Her eyes where still closed, messy black shoulder-length hair falling in her face.
"You may have some headaches from the concussion," Carlisle began. Rogue's eyes snapped open. Kid had creepy blue eyes. Her eyes scanned the room and immediately found Jasper sulking in the corner. She reeled and leapt off the couch, flailing to an ungainly standing crouch, tipping side to side every second.
Max put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, he's a doctor, he probably saved your life. They're uh… vampires, but they're good, I swear. They're vegetarians." She said.
"Ooh… weird." Rogue said, "Huh… dizzy…" She wobbled and collapsed right into Iggy's arms, his insane hearing telling him exactly where and when to be. "Oops." She mouthed, and both of them blushed, Iggy rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously, effectively dropping Rogue in the process.
Rogue laughed and kicked Iggy's legs out from under, Iggy fell into Fang who knocked into Rosalie, domino effect. There was a mass of feathers tumbling about the floor as everyone struggled to their feet. Fang pulled on a loose feather of Rogue's, yanking it out.
"Hey," She said drearily,
"Take a shower." He said, "You smell worse than Gazzy and Iggy did after they blew up the school." He ruffled her hair, and dirt came out. Her smile dropped from her face into a mortified expression.
Apparently, Fang, Max, Iggy and Rogue where all approximately the same age. Nudge was somewhere around ten, Gasman was around eight and Angel was approximately six. They weren't sure.
"So," Rogue asked us stiffly, "do you have a shower?"
"No," Emmett said sarcastically, "we have a pond out back." She flipped him off,
"Bite me." She growled, just as Iggy had done. Emmett could not contain himself this time and burst into loud booming laughter, I barely kept a straight face, chuckling quietly. "What?" She snapped
"Uh, you just said 'bite me' to a house full of vampires." Max said patting her on the shoulder. Rogue made an 'oh crap!' face and Max laughed.