Velocity Volume 1
Chapter 2: The Rise
-Later That Day- The flock made it back to their home and went to the kitchen. Each of them were wounded and bruised. Max walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit. Iggy slammed his hand onto the kitchen table and growled.
"Damn it! What happened?!" Iggy snarled as he stood up.
"We screwed up, that's what happened," Bruce sighed as he held his hand over his left eye. Bradley was silent as he sat against the wall and hung his head.
"I can't believe Momo got kitty napped, too," Emily groaned.
"I didn't want Momo to go with me... She's still too sweet," Bradley said to himself. Max knelt beside Bradley and patched up his broken left wrist. Bradley looked at Max and sighed.
"Max... I'm sorry I failed you," Bradley told her, snapping Max out of her trance.
"You did not fail me, little buddy... It was too much for you to handle at once. It's okay," Max told him as she looked at him.
"..."
"Hey... Remember, you and I are like this." Max crossed her fingers and held it up to Bradley.
"We are a family... All of us. We fail together... We rise together. Don't feel bad... Ok?" Bradley nods and stood up.
"Iggy... Listen. We still have a chance, ya know... Where do you think Ari and his wolf pack would take Momo and Angel?"
"I have a theory..." Nudge said as she stood up. The flock turned to her.
"A Game Theory?" Blake smirked.
"Shut up, Blake," Fang sighed.
"Go ahead, Nudgie... Whatcha got?" Bruce asked.
"Well... I was poking around the house... And, I found these lying around in Jeb's room," Nudge said as she pulled out several yellowed papers from a drawer and placed them on the table, "They're schematics... To a facility we all know. The School." Silence befell the flock as shivers went down their spines.
"I never thought I'd hear that word again in my life," Naomi shuddered.
"Ditto," Bradley sighed.
"If Momo and Angel are being taken there... We need to get them back now," Max said as she folds her arms.
"So, what do you suggest?" Fang asked Max.
"Let's all go get them!" Gazzy called as he nodded at Max.
"No... Half of you stay here. Iggy, Blake, Gazzy, Bruce... You guys remain here. I'll take Bradley, Naomi, Fang, Emily, and Nudge," Max told the flock.
"What?!" Iggy argued.
"Max, I'd rather stay... The boys might kill someone," Emily told Max.
"If that's your choice, then," Max sighed.
"But, that's my sister out there!" Gazzy told Max.
"Hey... That's another reason why we can't bring you along, Gazzy. If they have Angel as leverage, they'll take you just as easy," Bradley told Gazzy.
"Plus, we'll be putting some long hours ahead of us," Max said.
"You liars... That's not the only reasons you want us to stay," Iggy told them.
"Ok... You're blind. Can't have us guiding you the entire way, honestly," Bradley told Iggy bluntly.
"Why not take my head off while you're at it?!" Iggy told Bradley.
"If I had a sword, sure," Bradley said bluntly again.
"..."
"You done?"
"Jeb wouldn't have made us stay," Iggy argued. Max sighed and shook her head.
"Yes, you're right... But, Jeb's dead. And, he's not coming back," Max told Iggy, "The rest of you, get ready... We're leaving in 10."
"Yes, ma'am," Naomi said as she stood up. Then, she sneezed and a breath of ice escaped her.
"Cover, Naomi," Fang told her.
"Sorry," Naomi sniffles as she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose... When the tissue froze solid.
"Ha!" Gazzy laughed.
"Shut up!" Naomi told Gazzy. Suddenly, the air around Naomi seemed to freeze as she glared at Gazzy.
"Yikes! Calm down, Naomi!" Bradley shuddered as he hugged his forearms.
"Hmph!" Naomi pouted as the air began to heat up a little.
"Come on," Bradley told her as he puts his hand on her shoulder. Naomi sniffled and nods her head.
-Later- Max, Fang, Nudge, Naomi, and Bradley flew through the late afternoon sky and looked ahead. Bradley looked over at Naomi... Who was shuddering and folding her arms.
"Hey, Naomi... Are you okay?" Bradley called to the orange haired hybrid. She replied with a sneeze and wiped her nose.
"Man... Those sniffles are literally hindering her. Naomi, it's not too late to turn back," Max called to Naomi.
"I-I'm fine... Just the blasts of cold air in my face are kinda the reason I'm not falling asleep flying," Naomi sniffled.
"Naomi, you could get pneumonia," Bradley told her.
"I'm fine!" Naomi told him as she unfolds her arms. Suddenly, a blast of really cold air blew Bradley back.
"Whoa! What the?!" Max called as she folds her arms.
"Hey! I'm better!" Naomi gasped as she looked at her arms.
"Huh... That's weird. Why are you feeling fine after that?" Nudge asked Naomi.
"I don't know... But, I've never felt like this in 4 years!" Naomi told them, "How?"
"Look, we'll discuss this later... Let's keep moving," Max told them as she flew ahead. The others followed her.
-Meanwhile- Gazzy flung a pillow at the wall and lets out a frustrating growl.
"There's more pillows on the couch. Go nuts," Blake told Gazzy.
"Ha ha," Gazzy growled.
"Don't bite my head off," Blake smirked.
"I hope Naomi's okay," Bruce sighed as he looked down.
"Ooh... Look at lover boy here," Emily smiled as she poked him in the side.
"Yeah, yeah... Anyway, what should we do in the meantime?" Bruce asked. Gazzy sighed and walked over to Iggy, who was tying a shoelace onto a banister.
"What are you doing, Igs?" Emily asked Iggy.
"What? I'm bored," Iggy told her.
"No... You can't blow anything up," Blake told Iggy, "Not after you blew my guitar up in one of your mishaps."
"You are no fun, Blake," Iggy scoffed.
"Wait... That's not a bad idea," Emily said all of a sudden.
"What?!" the guys called at the same time.
"We all know that the Erasers could come here soon... So, why don't we leave them a present when they come by?" Emily smirked. Gazzy had the hugest smile on his face as Iggy pumped his fists into the air.
"What should we use as a timer?" Gazzy asked.
"I have one idea," Iggy smirked.
"Oh, this won't end well," Bruce sighed.
-The Next Day; Outside Lake Mead- The rest of the flock were flying through the early morning sky and looked around as the sun started to rise.
"Hmm?" Bradley said out of the blue as he looked down at the ground. A group of kids were surrounding 3 girls in an empty lot.
"Look, Venus... We gonna do this the easy way? Or, are we gonna do this the hard way?" a voice reached Bradley's highly sensitive ears.
"Hell no!" Bradley snarled as he dove through the sky downwards to the ground.
"What the hell?! Oh, god... Here comes the Dragon," Max groaned.
"No," Fang said.
"We have to help him," Max told Fang.
"He can handle himself," Fang said.
"Where's Bradley going?" Nudge asked.
"The Dragon is going to kick some ass," Fang said sarcastically, "And, Supergirl is trying to go to his aide."
"Well, I'm the Ice Queen... And, I say go help him," Naomi told Max, "We'll meet up at Lake Mead."
"I'm telling you... This is a bad idea," Fang said.
"When has that ever stopped any of us?" Max asked Fang. Fang didn't answer... Instead, he looked straight ahead with a frown.
"You can't please everyone," Max thought as she sighed.
"I know... I ow you guys," Max said as she flew downwards. She lands beside Bradley... Who was hiding behind a pile of rubble. He retracted his dragon wings as Max retracted her bird wings. He pulled a large black cloak out of his backpack and slipped it on to conceal his dragon wings. Max tucks her wings into a tight accordion shape on her back and concealed it with her brown windbreaker.
"There... Perfectly normal," Bradley said softly, "So, how should we go about this?"
"I'll draw their attention... You take out the 5 on the left and I'll take the 5 on the right," Max told him as she looked down at him.
"Sounds like a plan," Bradley said. Max snuck to another pile of rubble as she listened in on the conversation.
"I asked you a question, Venus," the same guy demanded.
"For the last time, Kyle! My name is Neptune!" an older girl's voice called, "And, I'd much rather that you leave us alone!"
"Neptune..." the smaller brown haired girl said as she looked up at her. The youngest girl had sky blue hair and brown eyes as she hid behind the brunette's left leg.
"Sisters... What are you gonna do?" another guy taunted.
"I will get really angry," Neptune snarled.
(Ok, don't get confused... She's not like Neppy. This Neptune has red and blue eyes. A/N.)
"Heh... What are you gonna do, redhead? Do a sexy dance for us? That's all you're good for," the same guy laughed. A vein popped up on the left side of Bradley's forehead as he glanced over at Max. He was seriously pissed... And, Max knew that. She sighed and motioned for him to go in. Bradley hops out of his hiding spot and whistled loudly. Everyone turned to Bradley and looked at him.
"I don't know what's going on here... And, I don't care. I don't tolerate bullies... It severely pisses me off!" Bradley snarled as flames licked at his lips.
"Oh, crap... He's becoming the Dragon," Max sighed.
"Did you eat a bonfire, kid? Might wanna go to the hospital for that," one of the guys told Bradley.
"Oh, really? How about I send you there, first?!" Bradley roared as he shot flames from his mouth at the guys. Neptune pulled her sisters to safety and looked at Bradley in shock.
"Your name is Neptune, right? Get out of here while you still can!"
"Thank you! I won't forget this!" Neptune called as she carried her youngest sister in her arms. The brunette followed her closely behind.
"Oh no you don't!" the head thug called as he pulled out a shotgun and points it at them. Max leaps out of her hiding spot and kicks the thug in the mouth. She lands beside Bradley and smirked.
"Dragon... You are one crazy bastard, you know that?" Max told Bradley.
"I know Damn well about that," Bradley told her with a sly smirk.
"Who are you?! What do you want with us?!" a thug asked fearfully.
"Like I said... Bullies piss me off to the fullest! Face my wrath!" Bradley roared as he slammed his fist into a guy's stomach. The guy slid to the ground, holding his stomach. 2 guys leaped on Bradley and tried to pull him to the ground. Bradley smirked as he leaped onto his back and slammed them to the ground. He got up and laughed at their pain.
"It's what you bitches get!" Bradley laughed. He stopped laughing and turned to another guy with fury in his eyes. Max elbows him in the side of the head and knocked him to the ground. She already took care of the other 5 thugs and cracked her neck.
"That was easy," Max smirked.
"Wish you had an Easy Button?" Bradley asked.
"Why? Do you?" Max asked as she looked at him. He pulled a red button out of his cloak and pressed it.
"That was Easy," the button replied.
"You actually had one?!" Max asked.
"Never leave home without it," Bradley smirked. Suddenly, the button was hit by a shotgun bullet and was knocked out of Bradley's hand. It cracked into pieces as it hits the ground.
"My... Easy... Button..." Bradley said as he trembled with rage.
"That was easy," the lead thug smirked as he spat blood onto the ground.
"You... Will... Pay!" Bradley roared as he raced over to the thug. Then, a bullet hits Bradley in the left side, tearing away part of his flesh! Bradley stops for a moment before he leaped on the thug and slammed his head into the ground. The thug lost consciousness as Bradley stood up and held his bleeding left side.
"Shit! Bradley, are you..." Max asked as she raced over to his side.
"Wait... Damn, that hurt. My Easy Button... That sucks," Bradley groaned. The other thugs got up.
"Let's get out of here... We've wasted enough time as it is," Max told him.
"Yeah... I know that," Bradley groaned as he followed Max into some woods. They kept running through the woods as some bullets hits several tree trunks and split apart some of their bark.
"Man... If Em was here right now, she would be punching the hell out of some thugs," Max said as she continued running.
"Agreed," Bradley said. Then, they came to a small cliffside.
"Damn... A dead end," Max said as she looked around.
"Hide for now... Let them pass," Bradley told her as he hid behind some bushes. Max hid behind a tree and remained silent. The thugs passed her by as they were swearing up a storm. Then, as the noise disappeared... Max took a small step out and steps on a fallen branch. The branch cracked under her foot. She froze and looked up... As a bullet pierced her left shoulder.
"Max!" Bradley called as she fell off the cliffside and into the thick forest below. Bradley came out of his hiding spot and leaps down into the forest below.
-End Chapter 2-