Yeah, im sorry, it did take a bit longer than i expected. But here it is! Some people thought i would just kill of the flock like some crazy person, and others were trying to figure out what was really going on. Well, here is when you find out.
A big THANK YOU to my reviewers. Hope you like this part.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, obviously. Just that you would even begin to think that is...ya...
ENJOY!
Max blinked, eyes adjusting to the lights. She glanced around, scooping out the lights on top of the stone walls as well as the ones strung through the trees.
Seconds later, she heard a sizzling sound and the light posts in the four corners of the fenced area lit up.
Max smirked. She had done it. She had won.
She looked down at Fang, who had been forced back against the roots of the tree behind him by that last shot. The heavy black vest he wore, as well as the usual black tee he had on underneath, were splattered with red. He was still staring at her in shock.
Max smiled smugly, resisting the urge to childishly stick out her tongue. "Told ya, I won." She repeated.
As Fang stuttered to reply, she turned and walked away.
Max walked to the edge of the boundaries and then beyond them, to the small log cabin.
She walked in and was greeted with a chorus of hellos. She waved her own greetings to the flock and proceeded to remove the bulky vest. As she hung it and her gun on the rack on the wall, Max observed the others, making sure they were alright.
"Oh my gosh! Paintballing is sooo much fun! I mean, you get to shoot people, which is scary, but they don't get hurt! I wonder who invented paintballs…Oh, do you know Max? Oh, I would love to meet him and ask how he can make balls of paint…"
With skill that had taken years to acquire, Max quickly tuned out the brown-skinned girl and turned her attention to Angel, who was watching Iggy and Gazzy fight over who had lasted the longest.
"Gaz, sorry to tell you this bud, but Ig did last a bit longer than you…" Max interrupted. Angel giggled.
The 10-year-old huffed, but then laughed as Iggy whispered something in his ear.
"Now, now Iggy…" The teen girl walked up to him slowly. "I beat you too, remember?"
Angel laughed even harder.
The birdboy frowned. "Well…yeah…but Max, that was sooo unfair! I didn't even see it coming! Ugh!" The slight glint in his unseeing eyes suggested that the pun was very much intended.
Max smirked. "So? What're you gunna do now? Stomp your feet and cry for your mommy?"
"Ooooh!" The youngest pair of the flock chanted. Even Nudge had stopped her ranting to listen in.
"No, but…" Iggy paused, finger extended. For a minute, Max thought he just didn't have a better insult to throwback at her. But by the way his—and the rest of the flocks—face paled and eyes widened, she could tell he was scared. Max had the sudden feeling someone was standing behind her. She could feel a warm breath on her neck and ear.
"No, but you should." A deep voice growled as arms wrapped around her from behind.
"Fang!!!" Max shrieked as he lifted her into the air, crushing her tightly to his chest. The flock laughed as their leader twisted and turned in her boyfriends embrace.
With a grunt, she pushed away and rounded on him. Max struggled to refrain from yelling; knowing the look in her eyes was scolding him already. Besides, he wouldn't listen anyway, so telling him off would be useless.
The flock was still laughing and now the boys were pointing at her. Looking down at herself, she realized that the paint from Fang's vest, which was still wet from her last attack, had spread all over her shirt when he'd hugged her.
Max glared at Fang as he took off the vest and hung up his gun. She watched as he stifled a laugh, his shoulders shaking.
"Okay, well, this is all of ya'll, I'm guessing…"
Max jumped, having not noticed the man standing in the corner. The tall, pot-bellied man was wearing jeans and a camouflage hoodie and she could see the pepper-gray strands in his short, black hair. His name, so he'd told them, was J-Dog.
The man stepped forward, clasping his tanned, calloused hands. "Did ya'll enjoy it?"
There was a chorus of yeses and yeahs and Iggy pressed a hand to Nudge's mouth to prevent a rant.
"It was awesome!" Max said to J-Dog with a smile. "Thanks a lot!"
"Well, great! Glad ya'll enjoyed it. Now ya'll get cleaned up and I've gots another group coming in soon." He pointed to a small sink on the wall and hobbled back to his corner, where he sat down at an old chunky computer.
Angel and the Gasman had already washed off most of the excess paint from their arms and face, as they had been the first ones to the cabin. The teen birdgirl watched as the motormouth helped the pyro wipe off the paint he couldn't see.
Max's stomach lurched as she watched the red paint swirl down the drain. The moment she'd walked into the cabin, she'd been attacked with the instinct to pull out the first aid kit and demand to know what injuries they had. She had to remind herself it was just paint.
Just paint…
Sighing, she walked up to the sink and proceeded to scrub her hands. With a quick glance around at the flock, she noticed they all had paint splatters in their hair. They'd all need showers—thank god they had that luxury right now—when they got back to Dr. M's house.
Max's uneasiness must have been obvious because Fang stepped up and grabbed her hand comfortingly.
"You alright?" He asked softly.
Their gazes met. In his dark eyes, Max could see that he was hurting too. The dark red color of the paint affected him as it did her.
"Yeah" She nodded, releasing his hand and his gaze, allowing him to clean himself off.
The girl turned her thoughts completely to her flock. Nudge and Angel were chattering away excitedly about doves and roses. The two trouble-makers, on the other hand, were smiling mischeviously and whispering something.
When Fang turned off the water and grabbed her hand, Max coughed and 'ahem'ed to get everyones attention.
She glanced at J-Dog, staring blankly at his computer screen. Then, in her leader-voice, she asked, "So…you guys hungry?"
They all cheered.
"We should get some mexican! I feel like tacos!" Gazzy suggested. "Oooh, burritos!"
"No, Chinese!" Angel shouted.
Nudge joined in. "No, I want French! Or is it called Italian? Oh, in that one movie, with the vampires, they called it italiano! They made the girl italiano because her name was Bella. I like that name! You should all call me Bella! But that would mean…"
Ignoring her rant, and the younger ones cries, Iggy spoke up. "We should hit some fast food. I could so go for a few Big Macs."
"Chinese!"
"I want Mexican!"
"The last thing you need is beans, Gazzy! Chinese is better!"
"McDonalds is easiest, guys! Or Burger King!"
Max shook her head with a soft smile and looked at Fang. "Guys! Come on! Settle down! Let's do something simple…"
"White Castle?"
Max shook her head again. Together, she and Fang said, "Pizza."
"Papa Johns!"
"Imos!"
"No, I want Little Caesars!"
The eldest girl groaned. "Guys! We're gunna hit the first pizza place we find, no matter what it is. Now let's get outside and U & A!"
The flock, grumbling but not arguing, walked out of the cabin.
"Now ya'll come back, ya hear?" J-Dog piped up from his spot in the corner. They all nodded and waved before walking into the trees.
"Ang, Gaz, go!" She instructed, and the pair jumped into the air, unfurling their wings and flying up high enough to not be seen by any random person on the street who just happened to look up.
She told Nudge to go, then Iggy. Fang slip smoothly into the air next and finally, she joined them.
"Pepperoni!"
"Sausage!"
"I just want plain cheese!"
"No animals! We are sooo getting a veggie pizza! With mushrooms and peppers and..."
The leader sighed for the god-knows-what time that day and slowed down a bit to fly next to her best friend, boyfriend and right-hand man, who was being characteristically silent.
"You okay?" Max asked, a slight smirk on her face.
"Haha…" Fang deadpanned, knowing she was referring to her last attack. "I'm fine."
Still smirking, she said, "Yeah. It was fun though, you have to admit. The kids had a great time!"
"Kept 'em out of the house. And kept the danger out of mind."
"Yeah, it was real nice of my mom to suggest that. As much as we all want a place to settle down, we get so easily bored when all there is to do is just sit around!" Max spoke the words quietly, but with the deep passion that came with telling her innermost thoughts. It seemed she was always revealing little things to Fang. She trusted him completely and told him just about everything, which was definately why they got along so well. They understood each other.
The birdboy, however, had no response, as was his usual modus operandi. He just nodded and relaxed his wings, soaring through a draft.
"You're still mad, aren't you?"
Fang, once again, had no reply. He just turned and looked at her, looked at the flock, and turned his attention back to the open sky in front of him. Max turned too, noticing that the flock had stopped fighting and were now discussing one topic or another. She scanned the ground, only seeing trees and estimating the distance to town.
Then, in only a whisper, her male companion stated, "No." She chuckled, and felt her heart skip a beat as the ghost of a smile crossed Fang's face.
"Riiiight…" Max drawled, adding a slight head bob. "Well…I did win."
She froze as Fang's head spun toward her slowly, like in those scary movies.
"Max, Max, Max…" With no warning whatsoever, he reached up and hit her lightly on the upper arm before flying away. "Tag! You're it!" He shouted.
The rest of the flock heard and took off in all directions. She laughed and struggled to tag one of them. As 'it' became Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, Gazzy, herself, Fang, Nudge, and Fang again, Max thought about her flock and how happy and peaceful and…free…they seemed. It may not last long, but she was sure as heck going to make the best of it.
And the more she thought about the afternoon, Max realized that she did win. Not just the silly game of paintball, but in life itself. Yeah, some freakish wolf-men were after her and everyone expected her to save the world, but she had the best family in the entire freaking world. And that's what mattered.
Yay! i made my dream come true! Well...actually...no...because i have yet to meet the Cullens, gain superpowers, or eat an ice cream sunday as big as myself without gaining a pound. But i did finish this and i am extremely happy! i loved writing this because of the suspense that came with it. it was awesome and sooo fun to write. And i totally added a moral at the end, cuz arnt all stories supposed to have some kind of main theme or moral? haha!
Once again, sorry for the wait but i hope you enjoyed it! And, please, REVIEW! tell me what you thought!
~amsrule