"Erasers, version 6.5," I muttered. How the heck had they gotten wings?
"Split up! Nudge, Gazzy! Nine o'clock! Angel, up top. Move it! Iggy and Fang, flank me from below. Fang, ditch the dog!" Max ordered, and we hurried to comply, very used to listening and obeying quickly.
"No, Fang!" Angel screeched. Her voice was in my head, whimpering. Fang, no! God, how annoying. She was incredibly attached to Total. Sighing, I held Total in one hand and unzipped my backpack quickly with the other. I shoved him in headfirst, ignoring his whimper as I tensed, ready to fight.
And then they were upon us. One swung at my head and I ducked and returned a punch of my own, connecting with his face and earning a loud oof. Pleased, I swung again, hitting him hard in the side of his head. His arm shot out protectively, his claws sinking into my skin slightly. More annoyed than hurt, I growled loudly and hit him hard in the stomach. He grunted and was very quickly no longer a problem. I spun to make sure Iggy was okay – his nose was bleeding a little, but he looked like he was doing okay. In fact, everyone was doing pretty well. We were a lot more agile than they were. It was as if they had wings but couldn't really fly. I turned to hit a furry body as it shot past me lopsidedly.
"You…are…a…fridge…with…wings," I muttered as I punched his face, whipping it back and forth with each word. "We're…freaking…ballet…dancers." I turned away from his barely aloft figure just as I heard a shout.
"FANG!" Max! I turned –
Claws sunk into my side and ripped across, shredding my jacket and the skin behind it. Gasping in pain, I flapped backwards and out of reach.
Ari. I blinked through the pain, staring at the flapping figure in front of me. He was dead… wasn't he? Max had killed him!
Ari and the members of his team that were still aloft gathered, glaring at us as they did so. "We'll be back," Ari spat at us. I suppressed the urge to hit him hard as they turned and flew away.
"Boy, you just can't kill people like you used to," I remarked, pissed beyond belief.