A/N: Thanks Metal Flowers, Kianga, Ashpee22798, EliseInWonderland227, (And yeah, you can steal the phrase 8D I didn't completely make it up myself though, I'm sure someone used it before, like in My Little Pony, but someone probably used that too) Afashonxdisaster for reviewing. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

~2XA

Chapter 9: The Boy with The Webs

EM

So flying at night was a haven for me, unlike the rest of the Flock. I could see perfectly in the dark of the night, my skin didn't tingle in an announcement of pain. I was in my element, which was night. I felt more and more like a monster by the second. I could tell something was making the rest of the Flock uncomfortable. At first I thought it was because I was leading them, and not Max, but then I realized that that wasn't it whenever Angel began speaking to me in my head.

Em, the flock is worried. She said nonchalantly.

Really? I didn't notice, I responded in a slightly sarcastic tone. Before she could protest at my crabbiness, I asked another question. Why?

Because of you, Angel answered with a slight hint of annoyance, probably not happy that they were feeling that kind of emotion about me. She was always protective when it came to that.

Oh great, what'd I do this time? I asked her, raising a brow even though she couldn't see the expression because she was behind me.

Nothing, it's not really like that kind of worried. It's just…you have this whole different sense about you when you're in the dark, Angel said, Like you belong here.

Because it feels like I do… I responded, realizing that she was right. I had felt as if I actually belonged in the dark. It had a warm sense of welcome to it that I couldn't understand. It didn't really matter though, because for once, I felt like I actually fit in. In the dark you guys can't see how freaky I look. You just see wings, and the faint outline of me.

We see flashes. A glint in your eye that looks like you're searching for prey, I wince, because I realized that I was searching for my prey; the School that held Pippa. A flash of your fangs with the moonlight shining off of them…I sighed, because no matter what I did, the fangs wouldn't go away. I hated it. Or just the feeling coming off of you…you have this strange sense of determination and predatory instincts…it's weird. It's like the bird in us is afraid of the bird in you.

Hey, I wonder if I'm part eagle! I joked, but only heard her inward sigh. I shrugged, not physically, but more of a mental shrug. Tough crowd?

You're a lot more confident now…Angel observed.

Well it's nice out tonight. I feel like I belong here. No one can see me completely. I feel confident here. I retorted, not trying to feel snippy, but I didn't really want her to talk to me while I was actually at peace for once.

I understand that…sort of…but really…what's your plan…? Angel asked.

Do you understand that I'm not a leader? I'm not Max. I answer sadly. I should probably have some infallible plan, but then again, I did plan on winging it so to say.

Max barely ever has a plan, Em. So really, you're almost just like her! Angel cheered. Maybe this will work, if you do things like Max.

I really doubt Max and I are that similar leadership style. I responded, but smiled at her optimism anyway.

You never know. You might surprise yourself. Angel said with happiness in her voice…well thought. Well, I did always surprise myself some way or another. I snapped my head to the left when I heard a sudden noise, almost like the sound of dead leaves crunching underneath your feet. It was weird, like a dry scratchy, but also crunchy sound. I listened closer; staring at the darkness beside me until I could make out outlines, shapes, and figures in the blackness. Nothing stood out too me, but I thought that I should probably mention it anyway.

"Anybody else here that?" I asked to the bird-kids flying behind me. I expected Iggy's answer to be the most helpful.

"Yeah…sounded like…who knows…I say we fly a little faster…just in case. The rest of us can't see as well in the dark as you Em," Iggy said, and I nodded. Speeding up and leading the bird-kids faster towards wherever I was going. That was another problem…I was going somewhere blindly. I had no idea which direction we were going, which state we were in, or which city. We could be in Twilight town for all I knew. I wasn't even joking, and I would say I was lost, except that I wasn't. I seemed to be going by instinct, and I think it was pretty amazing. It was like I was programmed to know where to go. Oh no…I probably was. Dang it was there still programming in me? Really? I didn't want there to be. I flew slower as a building came into focus ahead. It couldn't be the school, could it? I squinted, trying to see the building clearer, even though it didn't do anything. I felt a pang, as if this building was familiar too me. But it was a pang of fear. I took that as a signal I should stop there.

"Hey guys," I stopped flying forward, hovering lightly. Iggy and Max came to fly beside me. Max mousy brown hair was dim in the dark, but it was flying all around her face and head. Dylan was just a little behind Max, far enough away not to be hit by her wings. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel, were behind all of us. "Let's check out that place." I pointed to the building shrouded in darkness.

"Looks scary," Nudge said from behind me, and although I'm sure the rest of the flock heard Gazzy mutter; "I'll protect you", I'm also sure that Nudge didn't. "I'll stick to Angel, anyone shows up she'll know." I sighed, but didn't confront her about it.

"Well let's go then, right?" Max asked, her eyes meeting mine. "I want to finish this. I don't really like the idea of Jeb torturing a small little girl like you told me Pippa was. It makes me really…really…angry." Max's tone of voice was cold and harsh. I nodded.

"Maybe I should go first," I offer.

"Heck no!" Iggy yelled, louder than anyone of us would've liked. Max, Dylan, and I winced from the sound. "Sorry…but no." He whispered.

"Fine…then, Uh, I'll bring someone with me?" I look at Iggy, waiting to see what he'd say.

"Yeah, I'll go." Iggy smiled. Max nodded.

"I'm definitely going, but someone has to go with the kids." Max, and the rest of us, looked at Dylan, who had wide eyes as he realized what he'd be forced to do.

"No! I want to go with Max," Dylan protested, but Max smiled at him, and he was won over. We left him without saying anything, only smirking at each other in victory. We were half way to the building when I got this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Stop," I grabbed Iggy's arm before he could past me and keep going forward. "Something's…here…" I said, cautiously moving forward, outstretching a finger to brush the air. I pulled it back when I felt buzzing. I calmly lifted my nearly severed finger to my face. "Well…ouch." I said, eyes wide.

"What the heck? It's that stuff Ig, you know that stuff that scratched up you, Nudge, Gazzy, and everyone, the really small little lines. I can't even see them in the dark. Dang it, and you're finger is falling off Em!"

"Eh, Dylan'll fix it when we go back." I shrug. I narrowed my eyes, looking carefully at the spot where I cut myself. Finally, I could see the faint, metallic lines that were as sharp as diamonds. Iggy was holding up my hand, inspecting my cut. It was buzzing a whole lot, so I assumed that if I was really human, I'd be crying. I felt something wrap around the entire finger tightly. The buzzing suddenly increased enough to make me want to pull away, which made it worse.

"Don't move. Makes it harder because I can't see your finger," Iggy said, eyes narrowed as he concentrated on wrapping my finger with a piece of his shirt. He wrapped it so tight I couldn't feel the blood going into my finger. I sighed and waited with a small amount of patience as he finished wrapping it up. "There. Now don't get any more cut." He warned me, I offered him a small smile that he couldn't see.

"Let's keep going," Max ordered. "Wait, why would it be all the way out here if the building isn't up here, it's still all the way down there." She pointed to the building and looked around us. "There's something here, something that we need to see." She searched around, but careful not to touch anything or go far. I stopped her, because the more I stared the more I could see the silver metallic lines.

"I'll look," I told her, and I'm sure she was about to stop me, but I shot ahead anyway and started searching. I started going through the maze of sharp lines. I knew that I was constantly scraping myself, but I ignored it. I took a sharp turn and my side brushed against the line. It felt like the cut was on vibrate. I took in deep breaths, slowly flying forward, looking around. I was so busy looking around that I didn't see the web of lines in front of me. I screamed when I hit it and jumped back, knocking into some more with the back of my legs. I let out a hiss. My entire front half was buzzing, my side, and my legs too.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to get you?" Max asked me. I shook my head at her, but kept my breath so I didn't breath, because breathing really hurt. Finally, when I looked up and my eyes weren't watering from the buzzing that had actually started to hurt (even though it made me feel human I still wanted it to stop), I saw what they were trying to protect. It was surrounded by webs, and it was actually playing with them, pricking it-self with the sharp edges. In fact, it looked almost as if it was making them. Yet, that wasn't the part that surprised me the most. It's what it looked like, and what it had to be. It was a little boy, and his hair was black, as dark as the night, it fell to his shoulders, but because I couldn't see his face, I couldn't see how long his hair was on the other side. Every once in a while his hands would rise to the side and he would add or prick the lines beside him. He was humming a friendly song, and was swaying his head back and forth. I stared at him in amazement. He was sitting on a web, which was why he was able to be so high up. I moved my finger, and I think I pricked myself again on the metal. He whirled around fast, and he had a smile on his face.

"Hi," He smiled at me. "You're Ella." His grin was friendly, which truthfully didn't mean much because I wouldn't be surprised if he was going to get up and kill me. To his 'Ella', I shrugged.

"Kind of," I watched him study me. He frowned as his eyes rested on my cuts.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't know you would come. If you had, I would've made it much easier to reach your destination." He sighed. "But of course, being out here alone, I don't have any inside information, but I am their outside eyes!" He cheered, his smile returning.

"Whose outside eyes?" Worry seeped into my voice and I narrowed my eyes. Oh no, Jeb was watching me via web boy? Did he know what was going on right now?

"Pippa. She's inside, going through the change you had. When she went outside and saw you, something happened. Her and Jade are arranging a Rebellion to stop the making of all of them," Web boy's smile grew wider. "I'm excited I can help."

"A rebellion?"

"Oh yeah, it's a great one too. It's almost flawless," He looked away. "Except, a lot of people will die because we can't get rid of the ones who don't believe."

"The ones who don't believe?"

"The Shades, and the other new mutants. Some of them don't want to escape. Their lives outside of here were bad, and they have nothing to go to. They're a large amount, but they will gladly follow Jeb and the other White coats," Web boy shook his head. "And their leader, Gildan, he's strong, and smart, and fearless. It won't be hard for him to destroy us with his resources." He explained.

"Do I know Gildan?"

"Ella did. So I guess you 'kinda' do. Gildan, Ella, Pippa, and Jade were very close, but when you were thought to have been taken, Gildan went bad. He thought it was because you were wild, and that you went against orders, so he became loyal to the white coats. It was horrible," Web boy said. "But maybe now, since you're back, the old Gildan will be back and you can win. By the way, do you think you can take me back to your friends? I don't want to stay here forever. I want to be like Max's flock! A big huge family!" Web boy grinned. I smiled at him. That's what we were, a big family that fit together so perfectly. I decided not to ask him about this Gildan or all the other stuff he'd told me. I just needed to bring him back to the others.

"Yeah, but I can't get through there." I motioned to the webs. He looked at them thoughtfully, then, stood up on his web seat. He had no shoes, and his feet were even paler than the rest of him. His clothes were also black, like his hair.

"Hmmm. Well I'll come out then. The webs don't cut me." He smiled happily. He pushed apart the webs, walking on the fine lines that led to me. I watched him in amazement. His balance was perfect. He made it to me, bouncing down to land on the line while sitting. He held his hand up, looking at me. I grabbed it. It was a good thing he was smaller than me, mostly because he was younger than me. Or at least I thought he was younger than me.

"What's your name?" I asked him after I lifted him up and was holding him by his arms. He would spread the webs apart for me so we could fly through quickly. I was glad not to have any more cuts, even though my front half and legs and wing tips still stung.

"I don't really have one. The ones on the inside call me Widow." Widow answered. I now could see where the webs came out, right from his wrists. He would web the metallic lines to other that were above them so we had a nice pathway to go through. We finally made it to the others. Max was quick to take Widow from me when she saw how cut up I was. Iggy sniffed, then frowned.

"You're bloody," His eyes narrowed.

"How can you tell? I always smell like blood."

"Not anymore, but now you do, which means there's blood. A lot of it," Iggy snapped at me.

"Who's this?" Max asked while holding Widow with a look of caution.

"You're Max!" Widow cheered, a smile growing on his face. "I always wanted to meet you! I'm Widow, I'm actually a really important person in the rebellion. I give them the outside info. Like I told them you were here."

"Wait what? Who'd you tell, what rebellion?" Max looked highly alarmed and nervous. It was almost funny how scared she was.

"No! Don't worry Max, no one bad. Pippa and her friends, they're the rebellion, and I told them. They're rebelling against Jeb. They wanted to know when you came, because you guys are the reinforcements. It's your whole flock right? Not just you three?"

"Yeah. The whole gang came, we couldn't leave Em here by herself." Iggy said, and Widow looked up in surprise.

"Em," Widow seemed to be testing out the name. "That's what she's going by now?" He tilted his head. Max shifted him in her arms.

"Yes, but boy-I-don't-know-the-name-of, do you happen to know a place I can put you down?" Max asked, raising a brow.

"Oh yeah, here I'll make a spot up here. You won't cut yourself don't worry. My names Widow by the way," Widow said cheerily. He began webbing us a nest below our feet. In a matter of minutes we had a web that all of us could rest on. Max basically dropped Widow on it, making the rest of us bounce.

"My arms hurt," She muttered under her breath.

"Someone has to go get the rest of the flock," Iggy reminded us.

"I'll do it!" Max said, jumping up and spreading her wings, shaking them out before going on her way. "Be back." I sat down besides Iggy and Web-head, watching Max disappear.

"We're so glad you're here. You're everything we've been waiting for. Tess told us you were coming." Widow grinned happily as he made a miniature person with his web pile. It was a girl, with long, web locks and an old fashioned dress.

"Who's Tess?" Iggy asked, tilting his head and rubbing his fingers on the web we sat on.

"She's this girl that they gave really strong intuition. She always knows what's going to happen, except she has different ways things could turn out. Except, 'cause they messed with her brain, she's paralyzed, can't move. She told us that you were going to come, and that you would save us." Widow suddenly picked the girl up in his hands and threw her as hard as he could. The silvery sculpture flew softly down to the ground.

"Paralyzed? Gosh what else do they mess up?" Iggy snorted. I ignored the comment since I didn't think he wanted anyone to hear him say it.

"They've really want us to come." I said softly. Widow shook his head, a small frown in his features as he looked down and he picked at his web.

"No," His voice was quiet, almost blown away by the wind that was gently shaking our web. "They need you to come."

Then of course a whole bunch of monsters started crawling out of the building, and of course they were coming straight at us.

A/N: Well, there you go, next chapter. I was really distracted trying to write, but everyone wanted me to update so I tried. Sorry if it's not the best. I'm making up a lot of new mutants that Jeb's been making, so yeah, Shades, and things like Widow and Tess are just the first. (I love Widow 8D)

~2XA