Hey! So glad you guys liked the first chappie and my cliffie! There's a Fang POV in this one, though I have a little trouble adjusting to his character. What do you think? Should I do more POVs, or stick with Max's side of the story? Enjoy!
Crap. A bat/human hybrid? That's insane. Absolutely insane!
As I was processing this frightening development, I was gradually slowing down. I was spending too much time trying to get over the initial shock and not nearly enough time moving.
Bat Girl isn't as fast as I usually am, but she's fast enough to grab hold of my legs in my momentary distress, and strong enough to keep holding on.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why didn't I go faster when I had the chance?
"Could you land please?" she asked in a disconcertingly calm voice. "I don't plan on taking you anywhere against your will. Nor do I wish to harm you. I'd only like to talk with you."
Riiiiiight. Then again, landing was starting to sound like a good idea; Bat Girl was pretty heavy.
"Listen, I'm not making your flight any easier, and I'm not letting go. You'll need to land soon anyway," she said, a speck of impatience creeping into her voice.
She did have a point. If she tried anything, I could probably take her. Probably.
"Ok, fine," I sighed.
I began circling; looking for a clear space where landing with a passenger wouldn't be hazardous. There seemed to be a little clearing in the middle of the forest. I gently coasted to the ground, and Bat Girl had the sense to jump off before my feet touched the ground.
I turned around to face her. Now that my feet were firmly on the ground, I got a better look at my pursuer. She was tall with a slightly olive complexion. Her dark brown wavy hair flowed past her shoulders, and her eyes were almost black. She was wearing a simple blue T-shirt with jeans, and no shoes. Odd.
I decided to get to down to business.
"Right. So what do you want?" I demanded. I didn't have time for courtesy.
"First, to apologize for startling you," she said. "My… abilities often have that effect on people."
No, really? I haven't the slightest idea why.
"Secondly," she went on, "to inform you of a group called 'The Resistance.' It's a society of free mutants and regular humans in the know."
Whaaaaaaat?
"Our
mission was previously about freeing other mutants and stopping Itex,
but since a certain family of human/avian hybrids won a war at the
Itex HQ… come to think of it, you're probably part of that
family. You're Maximum Ride, aren't you?"
I hesitated for a
moment. Could she be trusted? Well, I'm still alive and free,
aren't I? "Yes," I answered.
"I thought so," she grinned. "I'm Stella. Stella Santangelo. But anyway, maybe we could discuss this further with the rest of your family?"
"How do I know you're not lying?" I asked suspiciously. Being constantly on the run tends to make you paranoid.
"I can't really offer you insurance, Max," Stella said. "But there's only one of me and… six of you, correct?"
That's true…
"Fine, but one false move and you're dead."
"That's Ok, I'm used to that kind of reaction," she shrugged.
Just what exactly does this girl do on a regular basis? I wondered. I guess I'm going to find out.
"So, are we flying or walking?" she briskly inquired.
"Flying. Let's go." I rose into the night with Stella right behind me.
Fang POV
I woke up to the sound of Max's voice. I like Max's voice, and it would have been pleasant if she hadn't been shouting loud enough to wake up anyone within a ten mile radius.
"Ok everyone, up and at 'em!"
Everyone sat up and rubbed the sleep from their eyes. It was still dark.
"What the hell is going on, Max? It's 2:00 in the morning," I muttered darkly.
"We have a visitor," she said. "Guys, this is Stella."
And that's when I noticed the girl standing off to the side.
"What's she doing here?" Gazzy asked, staring wide eyed at the stranger. He took the words right out of my mouth. Everyone else was staring, too. (Iggy was staring in her general direction.)
Stella stepped forward. "Hi. I'm sorry to interrupt your rest, but I have something of importance to tell you."
Then she told us about The Resistance and how it had been fighting Itex and the schools behind the scene. "Our number grew slowly at first, mostly because the scientists have only been really good at making mutants for twenty years. Before then, most of the experiments didn't survive very long."
Her calm, controlled voice broke here, and she paused for a moment to collect herself. Then she went on.
"The number of new members each year has been growing steadily, but skyrocketed after you guys got rid of Itex."
Just doing our duty, ma'am.
"So, like, what kind of hybrid are you?" interrupted Nudge. I rolled my eyes and sighed inwardly. The day Nudge stopped talking would be the day I stopped wearing black.
With a slight rustling sound, Stella snapped out a pair of leathery, black bat wings.
Whoa. Didn't see that coming.
"I have bat DNA," she stated plainly, as if she were almost bored of the fact.
Everybody gasped.
"What happened, what did she do?" Iggy whispered to Gazzy.
"She's got bat wings, Ig," he hissed back.
There was an uncomfortable silence. I generously volunteered myself to get us back on topic.
"So, what are you getting at?" I asked Stella. "What does this 'Resistance' have to do with us?"
"Frankly, we could use your help," she began. "There are still a lot of problems world wide. Itex wasn't the only company hoping to gain control; we know of at least fifteen others who are planning their own schemes for world domination. We, that is, the Resistance hope to shut these down the way you did with Itex. So basically, I'm offering all of you membership to The Resistance."
Argh, it's so hard to write from Fang's POV! What do you think of Stella? I think I may put her POV into the next chapter so as to better develop her character.
Just so you know, the review button is a very lovely person… I'm sure you would get along just fine if you clicked it… ;)
Lothere