A/N: Hiya! So, sorry about the rushed prologue... I had to sneak onto my home computer to do it, since the site's blocked on my laptop. It will take me a while to update until I figure out a way to get around it. If anyone knows anyway how to get around blocks, please tell! Anyway, um, some constructive criticism would be much appreciated - this is my first story, so some help would be nice! So, erm, enjoy the first chapter, I hope!
Flight at Midnight
1.
January 17, 2017
Max POV
It's been seven years.
It's been seven years since I last saw my Flock.
It's been seven years since humanity was nearly destroyed, leaving behind only a few hundred people on the face of the Earth.
It's been seven years.
I sigh and stare at the crinkled picture I am holding in my hand, tears still welling up in my eyes, even after all of these years. The Flock. This picture of all of us had been taken by my mom, Dr. Martinez, a little while before That Day. Mom. I miss her, and Ella, too. A shiver went down my spine, and I glanced up to make sure no one was in the room to see me be so… weak. I was definite, though, that no one would be around. Ever since That Day, that ingloriously fateful day, I have only seen one other living person.
I went back to the picture. I looked at sweet little Angel, smiling in the picture, making everything like sunshine. No matter how annoying she could be with reading everyone's personal thoughts and whatnot, I still miss her so much it physically hurts. It is the same whenever I think of the rest of the Flock. My eyes scroll over the rest of the picture. I see Total, standing near Angel's feet, maybe thinking of something else to complain to me about. The Gasman, with his trademark mischievous look in his eye, probably contemplating the next bomb he was going to make. And there was Iggy, standing next to him, his pyro partner in crime, Iggy's unseeing eyes unnervingly finding the camera's lens. It was really spooky sometimes. Ah, there was Nudge, next to Angel, her mouth wide open, caught in the middle of a sentence when the picture was being taken. And then there, standing next to a fourteen year-old me was Fang. Fang. Just standing there, dark, handsome, silent, and brooding, his arm draped protectively around my shoulder. I twitched my shoulder, trying to bring back the memory of the feeling of his arm. I missed him the most, even though I would never admit it - I was supposed to love all the Flock equally. Except… Fang was special. I loved him loved him. And now he was gone. They all are. But hopefully, that was all soon about to change. I stood up from of the chair in Jeb's main office, and headed off through to door and down the hall towards his terrible memory-inducing lab located in the back.
"Is it almost done, Jeb?" I asked Jeb, my father, impatiently as I walked into the chemical-smelling lab. Yes, even after all these years of us two being part the few hundred lonely human survivors, I still would not call him dad.
"Yes, Max, almost," he said in a fatherly way. I nearly shuddered, 1) because he would never be a true father to me, and 2) because he was wearing a white lab coat while working on this experiment.
The one that could possibly change everything as I know it.
"Will it work?" I asked him, trying to get my mind off of the presence of the cold lab surrounding me.
"Yes, it is extremely likely that it will," Jeb said, sounding very scientific. It gave me the creeps. He continued tinkering with something on the small metal bracelet-looking type thing. I sighed with impatience, and I swear I saw Jeb smile.
"And it… is… done," Jeb said triumphantly as he put down the tiny wrench on the table and stood up.
"Really?" I said excitedly, not even attempting to act indifferent. I couldn't believe it. This could really work, and everything will be the way it should be.
"Yes, really Max," Jeb said smilingly. "Now, are you sure you want to go now?" I nodded my head vigorously up and down.
"ASAP," I said, trying to wipe the big, goofy smile I had gotten on my face, and failing miserably.
"Okay then, if you are sure," Jeb said, attaching the experiment to my wrist. Well, what do you know, it's a bracelet. Let's hope this piece of jewelry works.
"Do you know what you are going to say?" Jeb asked, while handing me all of the supplies I would need and stuffing them into my pockets. It was hard to fit everything, but I did it, making sure that I didn't crumple the picture of the Flock more than it already was. I then nodded my head yes in answer to Jeb's question. Of course I knew what I was going to say. I had been practicing what I was going to say over and over again ever since I learned of Jeb's idea.
"I thought so," Jeb said, chuckling a bit. "And I have calibrated the bracelet so that it will go to the correct place and the correct time. But you only have until this wire," he tapped a long, thin wire that went around the length of the bracelet, "burns out. This will take about two hours. When it does burn out, that is when you will return. And you only have this one chance, because it will be impossible to ever return once you come back. The space time continuum will not allow more than one passage. If there is more than one, the thread of time could unravel. We are already stretching it out as it is." I nodded again. I think I lost my voice in all of the excitement. "Alright then. Good luck Maximum. Go save the world."
"Piece of cake. Done it once, done it a million times, right?" I asked Jeb, referring to defeating Itex in Germany, and taking a crack at his good parenting skills. You know, raising me for the sole purpose of risking my life saving the world, and not raising me to have a daughter and let me to grow up and be successful in life, blah blah blah.
Jeb smiled at me, and pressed a button on the metal bracelet, making it light up in places. "I love you, Maximum. Good-bye, and see when you get back," he said as I began to fade away. I looked down at my hands, which were beginning to go translucent.
I decided to be nice to him for once. After all, he was doing something- well for humanity, but for me too- that meant the world to me. "I love you too, dad." I saw Jeb's face brighten up, but then it was gone in a flash of blinding white light, which I was now surrounded by. This surprisingly didn't hurt at all.
Here I go. Seven years into the past.
R&R? Also, feels free to voice any questions, comments, or concerns!
