AN- …oh my gosh. I have 94 reviews. You all don't know how incredibly awesome that is to me. Just- wow. I'm speechless. And- no, I'll save the gushy-OMG-THIS-IS-IT stuff for the end AN. –sniffles- Thanks for everything, and please R'N'R!!!
Disclaimer- James Patterson owns Maximum Ride and it's characters. The only thing I own is this plot, the MR books 1&2 in hardcover, and several gazillion notebooks. -sulks- Not fair...
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"'Well, crap.' I think as I stand back-to-back against Fang, with Iggy and Gazzy to one side of us and Nudge, Angel, and Total on the other, staring at the huge- no, massive swarm of Erasers surrounding and pressing in on us." Feeling my second in command's- and, now, boyfriend's- hand gripping my own, my other hand clamped on my baby's shoulder, I search the sea of faces for one in particular. Hey, I guess we have our answer now, huh?
Shut up and focus, Max. Fang's voice in my mind is annoyed, and I roll my eyes mentally, squeezing his hand. "Well, hello again, Max. Looking for me?" A familiar growl rises above the din, and the Erasers fall silent as the wolf-boy the voice belonged to materializes in front of me. Ha, going exactly as planned.
"Like he-eck I was." I snarl at Ari, ignoring Fang's muffled snicker behind me. Angel. Get them out of here- NOW I feel Angel's barely intelligible nod. Fang squeezes my hand, and I sigh slightly. Well, we know what's coming, so that's good, right?
We'll see, now, won't we?
Oo, sarcasm.
Shut up. I chuckle slightly under my breath, then squeeze Angel's shoulder as Fang taps the back of Iggy's hand twice.
Three- two- The younger members of the Flock leap straight up into the air, Total in Nudge's arms, and whip out their wings, speeding up and away. Both of Fang's hands wrap tightly around mine as the wolfies around us pull out guns, shooting into the sky. It's useless, of course- my flock's long gone my now. Well, except for Fang. Thanks for staying with me, love.
Hey, I'm just following the course of the dream.
Oh, thanks.
Oo, sarcasm I dig my nails into his palm, and his amusement washes through my mind.
"So, birdies, the rest of your little flock got away, but we've got the alpha male and female. Though, you don't use those terms, do you? Ha, we have the mother hen and father hawk." Ari snorts, and the rest of the Erasers chortle. "What ever will the little flock do without their parents?" I sneer at him.
"Stay the heck away from you, that's for sure."
"Do you really think that you're the only on we chipped, Maximum? We can follow them, no problem." This is actually vaguely amusing.
For you, at least, cuz you know the entire dream, inside and out. Well, you know what to do, yes?
Yup. I set my jaw, glaring at Ari. "Not if I can help it. Come and get me, Daddy's little experiment." He growls, striking out at me. Here we go. With quick precision, I lean back against Fang and kick out my legs, catching Ari in the face and- well, below the belt, if you know what I mean. He goes down hard with a strangled cry, and I push off again, this time following through and bonking two Erasers on the head as I flip over Fang.
"Good job." He mutters as we return to our back-to-back position.
"Oh, thanks so much." Muttering back, I hook my arms through his and jump in-sync with him to take out another handful of Erasers. I can feel him smirking as I snap a punch at an Eraser as it tries to come between us. Well, we're not gonna split, right?
I guess. He pauses to lash out at a few wolf-men as they advance. Just to see what happens, right?
Right. We stay back to back, fighting off the Erasers as the shift around us, boiling like a pot of water over a fire. Now, we're just waiting for the steaming liquid to bubble over. There's an obvious ripple of confusion shooting through the crowd, and they suddenly pull back, leaving us panting in the middle of their original circle. Ari appears out of nowhere again, clearly irritated.
"Well, maybe the two of you are smarter than we thought." He snarls, then pauses, obviously listening either to his Voice or the earpiece I could clearly see. "Fine." He mutters, seemingly to himself, before focusing his narrowed eyes back on us. "You're extremely lucky, Maximum Ride. But watch your back. I have plans, and they will happen. Move out, boys." He calls out, and they disperse, snapping at us or snarling something cruelly. Holy crap, that was… freakishly easy.
No kidding.
Well done, Maximum, Fang. You've certainly proved yourselves to be a force to be reckoned with. I sigh. Should have seen this coming.
Now, Maximum, that's not the best way to treat the person who just about saved your life, now is it?
So, what, is this thing a new power or just you
…I'm not sure yet. This last one was, at least, influenced by me. But there might be others in the future of your own accord. Fang exchanges a glance with me as the last of the Erasers disappear from sight and we take off into the mid-day sky.
That's a good thing. There's a slight question in his voice, and I shrug.
As far as I can tell, it is, Fang, but I can't be sure. Don't take the dreams lightly, of course, but examine them with a careful eye. See if anything seems out of place. And be careful, both of you. Now, since what happened in the dream didn't occur, the path of Fate has been twisted up, so… as Ari said, watch your back. I sense the Voice disappear also, and let out a long sigh, rubbing my temples.
"Hey." I shoot a glance at Fang. "We'll be okay. We're unstoppable, remember?" I crack a grin, flying closer to him and letting my wing brush against his.
"Right. Just have to wait and see, huh?" A smile lights up his face like the sun, and his midnight eyes spark with that now-familiar fire.
"You better believe it, Max. Always remember that we've got each other, and we can get through anything." He pauses, and then he smirks. "Besides- you love me this much." And he spreads his arms out wide, those eyes filled with mischief. I groan, dive bombing him.
"Shut up! I was drunk on laughing gas, okay?" He just laughs, speeding away with me close on his heels.
PLEASE READ THIS AN- Hahaha, you can thank Nightwingstar for sticking the idea of adding the "You love me this much" thing from MR3 at the end. She made a comment about it about the last chapter, so… I figured it fit. –grins- So… this is it. …-sobs- I'M GONNA MISS THIS STORY SO MUCH!! I worked so hard on it, and I still can't believe that I actually finished it. Really, it was thanks to all of you- those who reviewed, and those who just read without reviewing- that I kept going. If you guys hadn't responded to this like you had, I probably wouldn't have continued, so…thanks. I'm so proud of where this went, and how it turned out. As for their powers- I know what I'm gonna do. I haven't decided, tho, if I'm going stick the chapter at the end of this, or post it separately. (btw- thnx to Myrah, CrimsonScarz, plainyironic, Nightwingstar, and Supergirrl for their input about the power chapter!) Next are all of thank you's (which might take a while, believe me)- those'll be posted sometime within the next week or two.
THNX A'GIN, AND PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKED THE ENDING IN A REVIEW!!