Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride

10

Naturally, Ari laughed at my quest for blood, easily sidestepping my launch attack. I sailed at him, but caught thin air. Ari knocked his elbow between my wings; the only way to make us pull them in involuntarily. I dropped like a sack of potatoes. After a ten feet drop, I swished my wings back open, shooting up like a bullet. I collided into Ari, swinging my fists at him. He caught one of them, holding my fist in his hand, but my other hand swung back and punched him hard in the eye. Ari roared, but maintained his grip on my hand. I kicked out my legs, knocking him in the gut. Ari released my hand, and I flew away from him.

Flyboys were coming at me from all directions, their robotic eyes glowing red. I swung my legs out in all directions, pummeling them. Quite a few of them were knocked down, but one stubborn one flew at me. I did what Ari did. I sidestepped, knocking my elbow between its clumsy wings. The Flyboy dropped, meeting Iggy who was below me. He swung out his right leg, knocking it down.

A sudden weight hit my back, staying on me, and I began dropping. Hot breath heated my neck. Ari, back for more. I was dropping down, feeling like I was free falling, then I managed to cup my hands around Ari's ear drums. Ari roared again, and let me go. I whirled up, beating my wings. But Ari wasn't through with me yet. He flew up too, and drew back his hand in a fist. Quicker than my eyes could follow, he punched me in the jaw.

I tasted blood in my mouth as I bit my tongue. I spit out the blood, coming back at Ari. I swung out my leg in a roundhouse kick, but Ari caught me, holding my ankle, and punching me. The pain came surprisingly quick, as I felt my nose break, and my gut wrench. I flailed out my arms, but I didn't hit Ari. He laughed at my helplessness. That's when I realized that my other leg was still free. I swung it out, aiming at Ari's head, but just before my combat boot made contact with his head, he ducked. "What's wrong?" Ari taunted, clearly seeing the tear streaks down my face from crying over Gazzy. "Do you miss your ickle little Gazzy?" he asked in a baby voice. I stopped fighting. Wait…Gazzy…how did he know about Gazzy? Realization dawned on me. Ari was the one who had hurt Gazzy so badly, as revenge for killing him back at the Institute. Either that or he just had a sick mind. "You sick jerk" I whispered, hanging limp for a few seconds. Ari laughed and punched me in the gut.

Okay, playtime's over.

Sucking in air, I swung my leg hard, grinning as Ari yelped in pain. He let me go, and without hesitating, I launched myself at him. I landed on top of him, kicking and punching every single part of him. He would pay for hurting Gazzy so badly. He would pay with his crummy little life. I clawed Ari's side, wishing that I had claws so that I could hurt him like he'd once hurt Fang. Ari fought back, punching me in the eye. He kicked me in the gut, and I fell down a few feet.

I sky rocketed upward, going into a flip and kicking Ari in the stomach with both feet as hard as I could. Ari keeled over, sucking in air, and without really knowing what I was doing, I went into another flip, smashing my heel on top of Ari's head. Ari's eyes fluttered shut and he fainted, falling down about five-thousand feet only to be caught by a Flyboy on the ground. Ha, take that you jerk.

"Max!" I heard Iggy shout. I spun around to see Iggy pointing toward a big semi truck. "Listen!" he shouted. I perked up my ears and listened. And I could hear it: The faint voice screaming for help, and the faint barking of a dog. Nudge and Total. "Fang!" I yelled. "Iggy! Cover me!" I swooped down low, weaving between all the Flyboys and dodging all bullets and bombs. I dive bombed to the ground, swooping horizontally just before I hit the ground. I grabbed a Flyboy's gun out of its hands and began shooting every Flyboy in sight. Normally, I don't approve of guns, but Fang told me how efficient they were, and I guess that I could bend the rules just a bit this one time…

I reached the semi truck in ten seconds flat, surprised to find the door to it unlocked. I immediately swung the door up, blinking in the dim light. "Nudge!" I called, jumping into the truck. "Are you in here?" "Over here" came the muffled reply. In the corner of the truck, I could see a knap sack wiggling and squirming. "Hurry Max!" Nudge cried. "We can't breathe! Total's already passed out!" Oh crap. "How long have you been in here?" I called, running to the knapsack and untying it. Nudge fell out immediately, dragging an unconscious Total.

"About twenty minutes" Nudge replied. Total passed out a few seconds ago. Suddenly, Nudge's voice got really faint. "Max, the room is spinning…and I feel sick." She's nearly passed out from lack of oxygen I thought to myself. "Nudge!" I directed. "Open your wings, and fly, okay? I'll get you to the others." I grabbed her hand, directing her out of the semi truck. Nudge opened her wings, but she didn't start flapping immediately. She seemed to be totally out of it. But she still held tight to Total.

I practically had to carry her to the guys, which isn't exactly a picnic, because, Nudge may only weigh about sixty pounds, but I had to fly, dodge bullets, and still manage to maintain carrying Nudge while doing so. It's not so fun, let me tell you.

But I managed, with the help of the now able-to-see Iggy and Fang. Iggy threw bombs at mainly all the Flyboys, narrowly missing Nudge and I about five times. Fang watched our back, fighting off every Flyboy that came near us. Eventually, the fight faded away, with three-fourths of the Flyboys gone thanks to Iggy's bombs. The fourth remaining hopped into the semi truck, not even daring to go after Nudge. How strange…

Fang appeared at my side, and took one of Nudge's arms. "Looks like you need help" he said calmly. "More than you know" I replied. Together, Fang and I carried Nudge up to Iggy. Iggy looked Nudge up and down. "So that's what Nudge looks like…" he muttered to himself. Nudge seemed to still be awake. "What do you mean…you can see?!" Nudge hissed. Iggy grinned. "We'll explain later, let's just get out of here." Nudge seemed to lose it again, because she went limp.

We flew for about ten minutes before I spotted an enclosed place surrounded by trees. I nodded my head to the ground. "Down there" I motioned. We circled the place for two minutes, gradually going lower and lower until we landed with a gentle bump. Immediately, I pried Nudge against a tree and shook her shoulders. "Nudge!" I cried. "Nudge!" Nudge's eyes fluttered. "Max…" she mumbled. "You're spinning…" "Nudge!" I hissed. "Where's Angel! Where'd they take Angel?" I know, that's kind of harsh on someone who's fainting, but I couldn't contain myself. Nudge's eyes fluttered as she passed out, but she whispered two words. Two of the very few words that can make my skin crawl and adrenaline pour through my system. "The School…" And then Nudge fainted.

Sorry it's so short. I'm trying to update as much as I can... Okay, now I'm totally begging. PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE!!