The Angel Experience
By Holly-Batali
Disclaimer: I own Kat. I do not own the flock, Itex, or anything else Maximum Ride, which is property of James Patterson.
Chapter 10: "Nothing Like An Early Morning Workout"
After various visits to coffee shops, lots of web surfing, and even more caffeine, the flock and Kat had still come up dry. They had tried every search engine they had ever heard of, and every search that they could think of.
"Did you try 'Seattle genetic mutation?'" asked Angel, leaning on Fang's arm as he typed on Google.
"Maybe it's some kind of code," suggested the Gasman from Fang's other arm.
"Like what?" asked Nudge from the next computer. "Hey, maybe it's like the numbers code that we had to do in D.C? Should we type in a ton of numbers or something?"
"I've pretty much run out of ideas," muttered Max from the cafe table where she, Iggy, and Kat sat drinking coffee. "Iggy?"
"Ditto."
"Kat?"
"I'm just here for the caffeine." Max gave her a skeptical look as Nudge and the Gasman snorted, trying not to laugh. "No, I haven't thought of anything. Oh, wait--" she said in an I-lost-my-patience-about-ten-Starbucks-ago-and-I'm-buying-so-don't-test-me tone, "what about...let's just burn the damn place into the ground?!"
"Hey, I'm not disagreeing with you," Iggy mumbled, "I'll donate some charges."
"Kat, Iggy, we've already been over this. We are not burning it down. Not yet, anyway," she added in an undertone. "And if you keep it up, I'll stick you in there, then burn in down."
"Fine, jeez," Iggy and Kat said in unison. They both went back to drinking coffee.
"Anything yet Fang?" Max asked over her shoulder, half chugging her frappe.
"Nope."
"Max?"
"Yeah, Angel?"
"There are Erasers coming here, I think we should leave now."
Kat, Iggy, Fang, and Max all swore viciously and jumped to their feet, throwing their almost finished drinks into the garbage as they rushed out the door, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel behind them.
Kat was in the lead by three yards already, heading at an Olympic sprinters pace toward Alaskan Way and Pier 57.
"Kat! Where are you going?!" Max was gaining fast.
"The pier," Kat shouted. "I know the way around, we can lose them if they follow us. Plus, it's the opposite direction." Kat ignored any further questions, rocketing downhill, leaping over carts, diving and darting through traffic, leaving the flock to catch up.
"Hey!" The erasers were coming!
"SPLIT UP!" Max screamed. Kat didn't bother seeing where the others went, but chanced a glance back, seeing three erasers coming at top speed. Time for action.
Kat dived through a line of cars at a stoplight, ignoring shouts and horn bursts. She hurtled through Pike Place market, diving through crowds and shops, trying to shake her pursuers, who were gradually gaining. She raced downhill, trying not to loose her footing, weaving through flocks of pedestrians. Almost there... She could hear cries of protest in front of her as well as behind; they got louder as the Erasers came closer, causing plenty of disturbance themselves.
She got to Alaskan Way, heading down the street, toward the waterfront. She knew she couldn't loose them, and knew she had to fight, while her adrenaline was still pumping. She vaulted over a railing, landing down by the water. She spun away as the three Erasers came crashing down beside her.
"Ready to dance Catgirl?" One mocked her.
"Try me," she snarled, taking up a fighting position, arms up and feet in a crescent stance, knees bent. They rushed at her.
She waited a moment more, then hurled herself into the fight, spinning into the first, grabbing him from behind by linking their elbows. She used him as leverage as she jumped to deliver a double foot kick into rushing number two. She flipped back onto the shoulders of the first, then jumped off of him, flipping over the second and third. As she landed she gave a back wards kick into number three, sending him sprawling. Number Two rushed at her, and she ducked as he sent a punch right where her face had been. As her head came back up, she blocked his arm with her right, then used her left hand to chop his neck, then slam down into his shoulder with her elbow. As he collapsed onto his knees, she drove her elbow into his temple.
Number One was coming again, and she was prepared. She back-flipped over to meet him, twisting into a front flip two yards away. She landed on one knee and brought her arms up in a defensive two-armed block as he brought his arms together down at her. She joined her hands at her wrists, palms toward each other, then sunk them into his stomach, winding him. Then she jumped back onto her hands, bringing her joined legs up to grab his head, which he had bent over in response to her last move. She grabbed his head at the neck, then brought him over her, sending him flying behind her.
She gave a sweeping kick to Two and Three, jumping up as they fell. Number Two got up first, and she sent the heel of her right hand into his nose, snapping it. Then she finished him with a tornado kick and an elbow into the back of his head. He crumpled and lay as still as Number One. Number Three was the last one left.
He paused, regaining a fighters stance, just as Kat did. Then, after a moment of stillness, they rushed each other, both letting out wild cries. She spun counter-clockwise, arms out in a lopsided pinwheel. He countered with a double-arm block. He turned three quarters, ninety degrees away from her, then brought his leg in front, then away to knock Kat's legs out from under her, but Kat dodged, jumping back on her hands, Then forward, onto his shoulders. She jumped back again onto her hands, this time bringing him with her. He came down heavily; she turned over, onto her back and he followed, going onto his stomach. She flipped over him, using his back as a launch pad. She was back on her feet, and switched her weight rapidly from foot to foot, almost like a boxer, her fists up in front of her face. He stumbled to his feet, leaning down on one hand, then coming up, nose bleeding, face swollen.
Kat gave one last cry and rushed at him, then flipped onto her hands in a front flip. She sailed straight at him, driving her feet together into his collarbone. She heard a sharp snap as it broke and he fell to the floor. She continued one more flip to steady herself, then landed, one leg behind her, the other bent in front of her. Her hands were placed on the ground in front of her. She surveyed her handiwork, then, satisfied, straightened up, and stretched her arms. "Nothing like an early morning workout," she mumbled.
"I agree."
Kat tried to whip around, but a cloth sack was throw over her head. She struggled against invisible arms as a syringe of some sort was jabbed into her upper arm and an anesthetic injected. A hypodermic syringe, she had time to think. Then she went limp.
Authors Note: I. Love. Action Scenes. Please contact me, my information is on my bio page. So, what'ya think?