Eight reviews in one day, oh, you all make me feel so happy! I'm getting weird looks because I'm always smiling way too big and bouncing, and it's you guys who make me do that! I'm so glad you all like this story so far! I just hope you like it after this chapter though, things get kinda bad.
But because I like to stall so much, I'm going to thank the reviewers really quick. So IssytheWriter, Lauren, DarkBlade98, gazzyrules9878, Maximum Ride all the way, maximumride4ever, ghj1, and maximumlovr, you all rock! You all get a hug from me, a hug from Max or Rina if you're a boy (but don't get too attached), a hug from Fang or Iggy if you're a girl (whom Rina will make hug back, although don't get too attached), my mom's famous peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies, and a chance to fly with the flock (wings provided by Rina)! But I'll just stop thanking now. I don't want to stall for that long!
Oh, wait, one more thing: you guys are so close to getting your sequel that it scares me. Nine more reviews to go, people!
Disclaimer: I don't own Max or the flock or the whole "save the world" mission, I just own the plot and Rina, so don't steal Rina, or she will get the flock and punch your lights out before she comes back to little old me to give her something else to do. Did that make any sense? Didn't think so.
And now for chapter 7! I guess this is ironic because seven is supposed to be lucky, but what happens is not lucky at all. I mean, everyone gets so upset and- oh, wait, you want to see for yourself, right? Sorry. Here's chapter 7!
Chapter 7: Seeing (who else can think of a better title that sounds better yet doesn't give much away? Not me, that's who!)
POV Rina
After Iggy and I kissed (I still can't believe it happened!) we walked back to camp hand in hand. Iggy was excited to get there in a hurry because then he could actually look at the flock, even if they were sleeping. While we walked, we developed a plan to announce that we were together.
"Okay, I don't want to directly announce that we're…well, you know…"
"Together?" I finished.
"Yeah. So how about we sleep next to each other on the ground to start. What can we do with that?" Iggy suggested.
"How about we wake up and say I had a bad dream?"
"Yeah, that might work. And then we can tell Angel in our minds that she can announce what we really did."
"That's brilliant, Ig! Perfect!"
"It's been known to happen." I could tell he was pleased.
When we arrived, it was barely dawn. I had enhanced Iggy's vision when I fixed it so he could see better in the dark (like those evil scientists had failed to accomplish and had made him blind in the first place), so he got a good long look at the flock, even with the tiniest hint of light. I looked in his mind for the quickest moment, and he was really glad to see the flock after feeling and hearing them for so long. But why shouldn't he be? If I were in his shoes I would be jumping up and down for joy.
Then we lay down next to each other (once again, can't believe its happening!) to try and get some sleep. It seemed like we had only just lain down when the flock was waking us up with their constant stares. Max was the first to speak.
"Uh, Rina, what are you doingdown there with Iggy?"
"Huh? Oh, bad dream. Right, Ig?"
"Huhwhadyawantrynasleepere." he muttered. (A/N Translation: Huh? What do you want? Trying to sleep here!) Then he saw everyone staring at us. "Oh, yeah, bad dream."
"Well, why did you let her sleep next to you?" Dang, she had us cornered already!
I looked at Iggy and asked in my mind. "Tell Angel?"
"I'm on it." He responded. He then stared intensely at Angel, whose expression changed from confused to thrilled.
"Well?" Max demanded. Gee, not a morning person, huh?
"Max, they're not telling the truth." Angel piped up. She looked like she could barely contain her glee.
"What is the truth, then, sweetie?"
She took a deep breath before she continued. "Me and Nudge took Rina out last night and told her that Iggy liked her and she should do something about it and Gazzy told Iggy that Rina liked him and he should do something about it and then Iggy got a sort of plan and woke up Rina and took her for a walk in the forest to the ledge where you and Fang kissed and he asked Rina to give him back his eyesight so-" another deep breath "-she asked him what he wanted to see first and he chose Rina and Rina gave Iggy his sight back and when Iggy saw Rina and he figured out that he loved her and he asked her if she wanted to fly across the lake with him and she said yes and during the flight she made Iggy laugh and while he was laughing she figured out that she loved him back so-" another deep breath. "-they landed on the cliff and they tried making small talk and then Rina kissed Iggy on the cheek and Iggy was so shocked he didn't speak and Rina took it that he didn't feel the same way so she ran into the forest so then Iggy couldn't see her cry, but Iggy chased after her and forced her to tell him why she ran and-" another deep breath. She's going to pass out if she does this anymore! "-she told him that she loved him and he told her that he loved her back and then they kissed on the lips for like ten minutes and then they went back to camp and told me to tell you what happened so then they wouldn't have to announce that they were together themselves."
Wow. I think Nudge has a replacement. Then again, Nudge didn't know what happened, so Angel the mind reader had to explain everything, and there was quite a bit to explain. But how did she find out that stuff I thought? Oh, wait, my defenses were down. I gotta work on that.
The flock was stunned speechless. I think the moment of silence lasted maybe fifteen minutes. Angel had a huge grin on her face, Nudge and Gazzy had their mouths open wide enough to fit Antarctica inside them, Max's eyes were bulging out of her skull, Fang's eyes were widened by about a centimeter, which was Fang for "I'm so shocked I'm going to collapse", and Iggy and I had small smiles on our faces while we waited very patiently for their reaction.
Then Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy came over and hugged us and told us that they knew it would happen eventually and they were so glad we were together and so amazed that it happened so fast. Max was grinning at the scene, and even Fang managed to get through the little kids and give Iggy a pat on the back.
"Knew it would happen sometime, man."
I think they took it well.
Maybe an hour later (everyone was eating breakfast and talking about me and Iggy, so it was hard to tell)
"Aww, Max, do we have to go so soon?" Gazzy complained.
We were packing camp, but everyone seemed reluctant to leave. I have no clue what caused it, but they didn't want to go to Seattle today. Maybe it was that we were on a mini vacation, and we had to leave after one day.
"And what do you suggest we do if we stay here? It's not like we can go swimming or hike or anything. And we have to go to Seattle and spy on Itex!!"
"Well, we could use some of our wishes or see Rina's superpowers." Angel suggested.
"That is, if it's okay with Rina." Iggy added. He's so sensitive! Knowing that genies are people too, oh, that's so sweet!
"It's perfectly fine with me." I said. The kids cheered. "Is it okay with Max, though?"
"Well, it would be interesting, but-"
"Can I have a word?" Why was Fang getting involved? Oh well, he is second in command, he deserves to have an opinion.
"Fine." They walked into the forest. The kids were going to be really bored, so I said "Hey, who want to see what they're talking about?"
"How can you do that?" Gazzy asked.
"Like this." I produced a T.V on a stand with Fang and Max on it. Everyone sat in front of it to watch.
Fang and Max ventured a little more into the forest, and then Fang stopped Max in her tracks. "I think we should stay one more day."
Max was taken by surprise, and so were we. "How come?"
"Vacation. They deserve one. Keeps them happy. Lets them rest. And Rina. She can give us anything. Freeze time, show off for the kids, provide food. And we need to see what use she can be to us. We need to figure her out." Everyone turned to stare at me.
"I'm not that complicated, am I?" I asked.
"Well you don't exactly come with an instruction book." Nudge commented. Then Max and Fang started talking again.
"Well, yeah, but still, how do we know we're doing the right thing by taking a day off? Rina will be with us for the rest of our lives, and they might think that because she's there we can take a day off any time we like!
"You're just going to have to trust me. We could all use a break. They need a break. They can't fly across the U.S, spy on Itex's evil meeting, fly to wherever it is you're going to save the world, and do whatever they have to do to help you save it. We don't know what's out there, and we don't know when we're going to get a break next. Let them rest, then they'll be more able and willing to do whatever they have to." What a chatterbox. Only with Max! But he's got my vote.
"Fine." At that moment the little kids started cheering, but I shushed them.
"Now, what do we say when Max finds out that we already know we're staying?" I asked them in a motherly tone, like the kind you hear when moms remind their toddlers to say please or thank you.
"We say that Rina told us." Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel chorused.
"And do we mention that we were watching them talk on a T.V set?"
"Nope!"
"Very good! I have you trained well."
"You didn't train them at all!" Iggy pointed out.
"I know, but it's so nice to see them use common sense, especially since no one does these days." I sent him a somewhat sheepish grin, and he blushed.
"So true. But do I use enough common sense?"
"I think you're perfect." He blushed even more. We grinned and gazed into each others eyes for who-know-how-long.
Uh, lovebirds? Nudge asked.
"Yeah?" I was still kinda dazed from looking into Iggy's perfect eyes and imagining what we would be doing, were there no underage children around, but I still managed to respond.
"Max and Fang will be here in about two minutes, so Rina, stop staring at your boyfriend and get the T.V out of here!"
"Yeah, Iggy, shouldn't you be doing the dishes or unpacking or something?" Gazzy added.
"Oh, sure, just because the blind guy got his vision back he's not allowed to look at his beautiful girlfriend!" And that, folks, is why Iggy gets my vote for greatest person in the world. Sarcasm, compliments, and humor all in one sentence! My cheeks turned a deep red, and I suddenly became fascinated in making the T.V disappear. Gazzy, on the other hand, looked rather disgusted, but did his eyes flicker to Nudge for a second? I'll have to look into that later. But at that moment Max and Fang emerged from the trees.
"We're back! And the verdict is that we're going to stay one more day." Max's announcement was greeted by cheers that were only half as enthusiastic as when they first heard the news, but it was still enough to make Max content.
"So what do we do first?" Max inquired.
"I wanna see Rina's powers!" Gazzy blurted out.
"Fine. What do you want to see?" I asked.
"How about super strength?"
I walked over to the nearest tree, and in two seconds, it was ripped out of its' roots and balanced in my right hand. I tossed it to my left hand and back in a little game of catch. It was hard getting a good grip, but easy to do the actual holding and tossing, plus you should have seen the looks on their faces! And their minds were rather interesting, too. Everyone was basically thinking along the lines of "whoa," except for Max, who was also thinking "She better plant that tree back in before someone else sees."
"Well, Max, I think I'll do just that!" I responded to her thoughts. Everyone glanced at Max before turning to see what I was talking about. I placed the tree back in the whole where it used to be, and in maybe three seconds flowers, vines, grass, and dirt covered the roots. I let go, and everyone shielded themselves with their arms, as if expecting for it to fall, but apparently they didn't know me that well, because the tree stayed firmly in place.
Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Nudge shouted "Now do laser vision!"
I ended up showing them every power anyone's ever thought of. It was interesting to see their minds and faces, but for the most part I was seriously bored. I did get a hoot when Iggy asked if I had X-ray vision. To demonstrate, I stared at Max's stomach for a second, looked shocked, and asked what she would name him and when she was going to tell Fang. Her face got as red as a lobster, and Fang's was redder, and it only got worse when I started laughing like a lunatic fresh from the nut house. Everyone but Max and Fang joined in with the laughter, and when they tried to attack me, I held out my hands, and they froze- literally. The others stared at the icicles dripping off of Max and Fang's outstretched arms, and I said "And that, everyone, is the power to freeze."
POV Iggy
After Rina thawed Max and Fang with heat vision, she continued her display of powers, which included new clothes for everyone, a visit to a chocolate factory (invisible, of course), and a tidal wave of hot dogs surfing through the forest (I don't know what Gazzy was thinking on that one). It was nice seeing the looks on their faces (well, actually, being able to see their faces at all was nice), and she even smiled at me a few times during her demonstration, which almost made me melt along with her when she turned into a brown puddle of mud. And then finally Nudge suggested a brilliant idea.
"Hey, how about we go to the future and see what it's like over there!"
"Yeah, I want to see it too!" Angel agreed.
"I'm all for it." I said and glanced towards Rina. Would we be together in the future? I couldn't wait to find out.
"Can we, Max?" Gazzy asked. Everyone but me, Rina, and Fang gave Max the Bambi eyes, which weren't really necessary, because she already said yes.
Rina produced a swirling portal. "Okay, everyone, fly in there, that's about a hundred feet off the ground in the future, so be ready to flap!" Angel flew in first, followed by Nudge, Gazzy, Max, and Fang. I waited for Rina to fly in first before I followed.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Did that used to be the Great Salt Lake? It looked more like the Tiny Salt Water Droplet. There was hardly any sunlight due to the dark smoke clouds covering the sky, and the ground didn't look too safe either, covered with fires and the remains of life. My lungs prevented me from seeing more. I was coughing and hacking like crazy, my eyes hurt from the smog, and from the sounds of it, everyone but Rina was coughing. Then I breathed clearly, and felt what seemed to be a bubble over my head. I looked around to see everyone but Rina wearing clear bubbles on their heads. I flew over to Rina and placed my hand on her shoulder.
"I don't need to breathe, Iggy." She turned to face me. "Semi-immortal and immortal creatures never need to breathe." It was then that I saw a tear trickle from her cheek. I wiped it with my finger.
"Why are you crying?" I asked, my voice muffled by the bubble.
"I can't hear any life. No humans, no animals, no plants, no life of any kind. Only smoke and fire all over the entire world."
It couldn't be. It could never happen! "What about cities?" I pressed. "There has to be someone here!"
"No, there is no one, and no cities, either. Only the remains of buildings, and skeletons of the people that were trying to run away."
"Run away from what?" Angel asked. By now the entire flock was circled around Rina, listening to what had happened.
"Itex. They were killing everyone by any means necessary. Chasing after them in the streets with guns and knives. Cutting off their food and water supply. Tracking them down if they tried to hide. They decided at that meeting I told you about, the one in Seattle. No one was worthy to live. All the people who had useful skills were sick or weak in some way, and the ones who were in top shape had no useful skills. The scientists thought only of themselves. That they were the only ones worthy to live. They killed everyone else. And then greed took over and they killed each other to get more food and water for themselves." Rina was on the verge of tears now. She paused to try and stay under control. "They killed babies and toddlers. They killed all the parents and children, all the senior citizens and teenagers, all the mutants and disabled people, all the plants, all the animals. They killed us."
"What about you? What about all the other genies?" I probably sounded strangled when I asked that. It was all too much to take in.
"Us too. One of the scientists discovered my sister, Gina, and used her wishes to find out how to exterminate us. They killed her first." She was almost gasping, a look of so much loss in her eyes. "I was the last genie. I had to watch everyone die, my mom, my dad, my sister, my friends. There aren't even that many of us, but I was last. You all tried to protect me. But they got me anyway."
"But why would they kill genies?" Nudge asked.
"We have powers. We could do something to stop them. My sister had to use her power to stop us from doing anything about the By-Half Plan, or our killing."
"Who was the last innocent person to die?" Fang had to cut it right to the chase, didn't he?
Rina raised a trembling finger. "Max." Everyone swiveled around as fast as they could while flying to gape at Max.
"You had to watch everyone you did and didn't care about die." Rina continued. "They thought it wouldn't hurt to give you some emotional pain so you would be begging for death when it was finally your turn."
"I would never do that!" Max blurted out.
"I know. You didn't. They killed the flock last, and they killed Fang second-last. You were so full of rage at the thought of everyone being dead. You put up a brilliant fight, and you killed a few guys. I congratulate you." She sent Max a watery smile. "You just weren't good enough."
No one talked for a moment. Then Angel asked "How soon will it happen? When will this be the future?"
"December of next year."
The moment of silence was deafening. Everyone looked so sad. The little kids looked like they could cry if one more word was said, Max and Fang looked remorseful and shocked at the same time, and I don't know how I felt, but looking at Rina, I felt so upset that something could cause her that much pain. Her eyes, though watery, displayed remorse, pain, anger, rage, fear, sadness, loss, and any other feeling you could possibly experience in a situation like this. But there was one more thing in her eyes, and it was something she wasn't telling me. Something important.
"Okay, everyone, let's go back. Rina, can you make that portal again?" Max broke the silence finally. Rina produced the portal without a word. Everyone fought everyone else to get out of there. Everyone but me and Rina.
After everyone was gone, Rina grew a lily in her hand, plucked it out, and tossed it to the dried-up lake.
"I know it will burn." She turned to face me. "I just needed to do that out of respect to the people that lost their lives."
I nodded. "You first." She flew past me silently into the waiting portal. I followed to meet an unusually silent flock. They were scattered in places varying from sitting on the ground to leaning against a tree to perching on a rock. Rina plopped down on the last remaining boulder. Then she started crying.
I was the first to react. I half-ran over there and put my arms over her shoulders. All I could do was stroke her hair and make shushing noises every now and then. The rest of the flock crowded around her and tried to get her to calm down.
"I'm so sorry, Rina, it was my fault for suggesting to go to the future!" Nudge attempted to soothe her.
"No, I suggested we try out her powers!" Gazzy corrected.
"My fault." Fang grunted. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise, even Rina, with her bloodshot eyes. "Convinced Max to stay one more day."
"Yeah, but I agreed." Max amended.
"Look, guys, it's no point trying to blame each other. It was my fault." Rina looked up, her eyes dried back to their amazing blue in the speed only a genie could manage. She stood and turned to face us. "I never should have brought you there. Heck, I never should have met you. It's entirely my fault that you all haven't saved the world yet. And I'm doing something about it."
"Wait, you're keeping us from saving the world? But you're giving us help and supplies, and telling us what to do!" Max said.
"No, I'm keeping you away from your destiny. I'm helping too much. You all know more than you're supposed to, and at this rate, I'm going to save the world for you! And I'll try, but I won't save the world, because I'm not the one meant to save it. So I'm leaving. I can't continue serving you."
"But…but…but don't we own you? Aren't you supposed to stay with us until we're all gone?" Nudge tried to reason.
"There are genie laws. One of the laws says that a genie can leave if he or she is in the way of the master and the greater good of the vast majority of the people. And I'm in the way of you guys and saving the world. I can leave, I need to leave because the law says so. And I can't disobey."
"But what about you? Wouldn't you miss us?" Gazzy asked.
Rina sighed. "I guess I would. That's a risk, getting attached to your owners. But I'd miss you even more if you were dead, or if I was dead. And I can't let that happen. So no matter how much I'll miss you, it's a risk I'm willing to take."
"But Rina, when will you come back? How long will you be gone? Why can't you stay?" Angel asked.
"I don't know, I don't know, and the law said so. Don't you get it? I need to leave! I'm sorry, but I love this world and everyone in it too much to stay with you and let it get killed! I'm just a distraction! If I stay here any longer, it'll be too late for you to save the world! And once you save it, well, you'll just have to find me again. We can still be together later."
"But what are the odds of you coming back?" I said. I couldn't believe this. She was not going to leave me. Stupid genie laws, can't she avoid them? Could death be that bad? I didn't care, as long as Rina was with me I didn't care where we were!
"I won't lie. They're very low odds. I'm sorry. I have to do this! I'll do everything in my power to find you and be with you all once this is over, but for now…." While she was speaking, she made another iPod that seemed to be a duplicate of the original, and she changed the content so that the duplicate had all her stuff and the other was empty. She put the two iPods in her pocket and turned to us.
"Okay, who wants to say goodbye?" Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel all hugged her at once while trying to fight back their tears, and she tried to hug them back as best she could. Next, Rina pulled Max into a hug, and Max half-hugged back after a second. Rina knew Fang would never let her hug him in a million years, so they just did a quick handshake. And finally, it was time for yours truly.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." She said.
"Yeah, bye." I pulled her in for a last kiss. Thankfully, she didn't pull back. But when we stopped, I couldn't help but have my eyes be a little watery.
"There's something I want you to have." A present? I wasn't expecting one. But of course, I wasn't expecting this situation either. I watched as Rina pulled out the first iPod, the one that was just emptied, and placed it in my hand.
"I'll always be watching, so you keep that iPod. You can talk to it through video mode, and I'll get your message, but I can't guarantee that I'll respond back. Plus it has your songs in it." She kissed me on the cheek, like the first time, only sadder and sweeter.
She turned to face us. "Goodbye, guys." And with that, she rose into the air. The little kids were waving and trying not to show how sad they were. Max was looking pretty down herself, and Fang was being Fang, except he looked a little disappointed. I couldn't help it. I pulled on the bottom of her jeans as she rose.
"Don't leave us. Don't leave me."
"I have to." She pulled from my grip and rose higher and higher, until the clouds swallowed her whole. Now, being mutants with abnormal vision that could see much farther than the average human, I had to witness the entire agonizing experience much longer than usual. I think I saw a tear on her cheek just before she disappeared, and I felt one on mine, too. That was it. She was gone.
(sniff) Oh, don't you hate when someone has to leave? It's so hard and sad, especially when they're leaving someone who loves them. But once again, folks, this is not the end of Our Genie, Rina. There is more to come! And it gets pretty good, too.
So review for your next chapter! C'mon, you know you want to! The purple-ish button should be your best friend by now!
Also, you may not have noticed, but this is the new longest chapter ever! In fact, this is roughly 4,760 words. Sweet, huh? Way better than the 3,600 something words that Fly With Me was!
