Well done MissStud and wierdpeopleruletheworld! You guessed correctly! Each of you won a role as a hybrid experiment character! Wierdpeopleruletheworld – fox-girl. MissStud – panther-girl.
Disclaimer: Don't sue me! I do NOT own MR, although I do own all my OCs. They are MINE to do with as I wish! –Insert Evil Cackle– Mwahahahahahahahahaha!
Revelations
Last Time:
Finally the door swung open and light poured in, blinding me. Blinking, I made out a shape blocking the light. I focused on the shape and gradually made out its face. My whole world came crashing down around my ears.
Crystal POV
"C-c-Coal?"
It couldn't be, it just couldn't be! I had held him in my arms as he died. I had seen the inner light in his brilliant green eyes dim as death claimed him! For months I had mourned him, and I still dreamt of his heartbeat stuttering and desolately relinquishing its hold on his pathetic, pitiful, sorrowful excuse for a life. My mind was telling me it wasn't possible but all my senses were defying my mind. I breathed in and inhaled an all-too familiar scent, the woodsy scent of my brother. It wasn't a clone or a trick; I didn't know how I knew, I just did. Suddenly I couldn't bear it any more; I reached forward and scooped him up in a big bear hug. I pressed my cheek into his hair and held him close. By now I was back in the familiar reassuring stance of a big girl protecting her little brother. It had been too long since I'd had cause to act like this.
However, my bliss couldn't protect me forever and presently I realised that Coal wasn't returning my hug but rather tensely hanging back. Slowly I released him and crouched down to his level so I could stare into his eyes. Horror filled me.
Max POV
"Everyone got their stuff? Good, then stand back and let Nudge work her magic!"
Soon after the Voice/creepy boy had left the room we had come to our senses. As the creepy boy wanted us to leave Crystal behind, we decided to go get her while we still could. Nudge began her 'magic', placing her hands over the lock to magnetise the bolts. There was a definite 'click' and the door swung open. We all rushed out, waiting for alarms to go off any second now. We turned and skidded down the hallway, not having a clue where we were going. I pushed open a random door and saw a staircase leading down. Hmmm… Crystal had been below us when we had last seen her, maybe she still was. I motioned and we trundled down it.
At the end of the stairs there was a sliding door. We slid (no… you're kidding!) it back and slipped into the room. I had an eerie feeling of déjà vu as I observed the rows of dog crates. It gave me the same feeling as I had back at the Institute, setting Crystal free. In that second I made one of my famous Max snap decisions and started unlocking the cages. After all, Crystal had survived the world outside and so had we. Why should these experiments not be given the same second chance at life?
The first experiment looked like a fox/human hybrid. At the end of her spine hung a long, bushy, red tail that faded away to a delicate white point. Her hair was the same type of burnt orange-y red and fell thickly down to her shoulders, almost, but not quite, concealing her ears. They were definitely fox's ears, pricked up to identify even the smallest hint of danger. At first when she climbed out of the crate she just stood there, unsure as to our motives. For all she knew we were about to drag her off for more tests.
I spoke to her, "Go! Get out of here! You're free now; stay out of the way of normal humans, like the whitecoats and you'll be fine. If you want you can stay with us for a while."
She paused and her eyes glowed purple. Inside my head I heard 'Thank you'. The voice was soft and tuneful and I knew instantly it was the fox-girl's. Great, another voice in my head! The psychologist would have a field day. Then the fox-girl walked over to the window and smashed it open. Agilely, she leapt onto the windowsill and out the window. All 3 floors of it. I ran over and peered out, not quite sure how she could have survived. Of course, I was forgetting her fox genes. She had landed with no more than a bounce and a bend of the knees and sprinted off towards the forest.
I moved on to the next cage. In it lay a smallish girl, sleeping curled up. For a second I was confused. The girl seemed completely human. Gently, I reached out and tapped her shoulder. Suddenly she sprang up with a feral sounding snarl, revealing her long, pointed canines. I shrank back, startled by the vicious fangs that I knew from experience could slice through my arm as if it was butter. She swiped at me with her hand/paw from which she now extended claws. Unfortunately for me, these looked every bit as deadly as her teeth had been. I jumped backwards, shouting desperately.
"Max, friend! No hurt Max! Friend, Max! You free now! Run, no hurt!"
Slowly, agonisingly slowly, she began to calm down. She sheathed her claws and hid her teeth, appearing human once again. She looked so human I was sure she'd be capable of speech but as I spoke to her it appeared that either her voice-box was animal or else she was just very shy. To clear up matters I asked her the question that was on my mind. She shook her head. I frowned.
"But you can understand me, right?"
She nodded this time. I smiled.
"What type of hybrid are you anyway? Obviously something with claws so… a big cat?"
A nod.
"Lion?"
Shake.
"Tiger?"
Wrong again. This was starting to seem like 20 Questions. I hoped she didn't want to come with us, simply for convenience. I mean, it would take half an hour for her to ask us to pass the salt, by which time she probably wouldn't want it anymore. I considered it for a moment and then tried again.
"Panther?"
She nodded enthusiastically. I was impressed with my guessing genius. I could rival those 20Q orbs I saw on display in the shops. I set out to prove it by having a conversation with her (which I won't record as I don't want to be responsible for thousands of kids' deaths-by-boredom) which resulted in her decision to go after fox-girl. As I questioned her I looked more closely and noticed something else that marked her out as a freak. Panther-girl's eyes had no white, like a cat's, and were emerald green with golden specks. The whole effect was mesmerising. She walked to the window with predatory, stealthy movements a human could never achieve. I waved her off, this time remembering not to flinch as she dropped three stories.
I hoped they would survive, not fall apart like so many hybrids did. They looked pretty healthy and I smiled, envisioning for a second meeting them again someday. And they would have set up a colony of their own and we could visit sometimes, Hybrids United, and… I caught myself. I was letting my imagination get way out of hand!
By now Iggy had picked all the rest of the locks – what can I say, he may be blind but that doesn't stop him being a master lock-picker. And cooker. And bomb-maker. But oh well. I motioned to my Flock and they followed after me as I pushed open the door on the east side of the room. We were back in one of those corridors and I realised we must be near the entrance. I'd noticed on the way in that the further we went from the front door, the older I was in the pictures of my life. In the photos here I was about five, still at the School. I started wandering again, wondering where to go now. I turned the corner… and turned right back again.
"Wha-"
"Alphas. And lots of them," I said, answering Nudge's unfinished question.
That was all I had time for before I switched into battle mode. I felt the adrenaline rush through my system as I threw myself at one of the Alphas. I smashed my fist into her face, aiming for the nose. I heard something crunch – but not her nose. I hopped backwards, shaking my hand like crazy. I let out a moan that sounded similar to a half-strangled cat trying to sing. Pain is just a message, pain is just a message, I reminded myself. And I'm holding all calls. I kept on fighting, despite the fact I was sure I had just broken all the bones in my right hand. When you're in the middle of a battle for your life you can't just take sick days off. I soon found out my opponent was strong, very strong. Although I kinda worked that out when I broke my hand trying to punch her, and she didn't even flinch. Well, if she outdid me when it came to brute force, maybe I could outwit her. I began a series of my most complicated manoeuvres and managed to slide past her defences long enough to do some serious damage. She was down for the count.
I moved onto the next one and found this one had the normal level of strength for an Alpha. As we fought we worked out that all the 'super-alphas' were at the front while the normal ones were further back. By an unspoken agreement, the kids gravitated to the back, while Iggy, Fang and I fought the super-alphas. I heard a cry and twirled round to see Angel curled up on the floor clutching her leg, which was bleeding uncontrollably. I felt fury rise up inside me and I attacked her attacker with increased vigour. Within seconds he had been battered into unconsciousness and I unleashed my fury on a new victim. As I turned to a third I felt a searing pain flash over my shoulder but compared to my anger at seeing Angel – my baby, my poor defenceless baby – injured, it was nothing. I beat the Alpha's head against the ground until he collapsed. Gradually I was aware of strong arms attempting to drag me off his body.
I spun round, ready to fight the new threat and hovered in confusion as I saw Fang's face looming above my own. I asked, well, shouted, but you get the point, him what on earth he thought he was doing. He replied by saying that by continuing to fight I was doing more harm than good. He looked at my bewildered face, sighed, and turned my gaze to my shoulder. Shock filtered through my fuming as I noticed the huge gash in my flesh, where flawless skin had stretched before and left a blood-stained hole now. This must have the pain I had ignored before. Incredibly, Fang started laughing.
"Only you could possibly have a cut that deep and not even notice! We bow to you, Oh-Unobservant-One. Tell us the secret of being blind with your eyes open!"
I glared at him but his laughter merely became chuckling. Was I losing my touch? Anyway, I guessed some part of my subconscious had been monitoring the steady ebb of life, just the large part of my mind had been consumed by the rage. I winced as I remembered the anger that had coursed hot through my veins, replacing my blood as it dripped out of my shoulder. Then I winced again as I remembered what had caused it.
"Angel! Tell me where she is! Is she OK? Please tell me she's OK!"
"See for yourself," a young voice replied. "I'm as good as new! It looked much worse than it really was. You didn't need to worry."
"ANGEL!" I cried, flinging myself into a hug so tight I probably did more damage than the Alphas.
"…Ow, Max. I do need to, you know, breathe."
"Sorry," I replied sheepishly. "Hang on, if we're all over here… Who's fighting the Alphas?"
Crystal POV
"How did you survive your expiration date?" I asked, shocked beyond belief.
"The whitecoats found me and brought me back… but at a price. I'm not the same Coal I used to be."
Well, I'd guessed as much when I'd seen his eyes, but it was still painful to hear. Was it just wishful thinking or had his voice cracked a little with remorse at the end, like it pained him too?
"Why'd they bring you back?"
"They thought I would be useful in capturing the Flock. I almost succeeded in my mission until you arrived. They say you compromised the project so I am to terminate you."
He raised a gun, and there was something so profoundly wrong with that sentence that at first I couldn't take in what he was doing. My little brother would never take up arms against me. I called out to him, begged him to think about what he was doing, tried to remind him of the ties between us, both family and friend. I didn't fear death but I couldn't die at the hands of my brother. I couldn't do that to him. I was sure that somewhere deep inside that mask of cruelty my Coal still lurked. I just had to find him. Slowly, he pulled back the trigger. I kept on pleading, sure I could convince him. He was still there, beneath the surface. He had to be.
I heard a sharp bang, and it all went dark…
Dr Carter POV
I scribbled on my clipboard the latest results from the new Alpha models. I just had one more measurement to take down when the call came. The radio transmitter kicked into life and reported signs of an escape in the south-west quadrant on the fourth floor. I tensed, realising that was referring to the 'Flock'. Following the Alphas I arrived at the heart of the fight. I saw the blonde-haired kid collapse, clutching her leg and suddenly remembered my 'incident'.
Flashback
"Daddy! Dadda, wait up!"
Smiling I turned around and scooped up my daughter.
"Hey Chip, you're awful light today. Are you getting enough to eat?"
She giggled, "Yea dadda. Dose whitecoat men, dey say it cos of dis!"
She completed her sentence by sweeping out her huge squirrel tail. I was so shocked and appalled I almost dropped her and had to quickly re-adjust my hold.
Bursting into tears she replied, "Dadda no happy. Why no happy?"
"Too right I'm not happy. What is the director playing at?"
I stormed into the office.
"What on earth do you think you are DOING? She is my DAUGHTER! You can't just start experimenting on her! It's not right, it's… it's… inhuman!"
The director looked up at me calmly and I suddenly remembered she wasn't human, but part tortoise. Figures.
"And what about the grand scheme. You were fine with it when it was all those other children sacrificed."
"Yes, those sacrifices were necessary but just NOT MY DAUGHTER!"
As she continued to sit there, smiling smugly, my vision coloured red. Unable to think rationally, I lunged forward, fuelled by the anger that could only come from my natural paternal instinct.
That day, three scientists died and two lupine-human hybrids were heavily injured. The man who caused the incident was quickly transferred to the termination department after a three week exclusion. Experiment 00135A, formally known as Chip, was the cause and was therefore banned from seeing Dr Carter. Two years later it escaped with the help of six avian-human hybrids.
End Flashback
I realised that this girl must have been one of the ones that had saved my daughter. Just like her, they were innocent children who'd done nothing to deserve being made into freaks. She was just six… the same age Chip would've been by now. Making a snap decision I whirled around and unlocked the nearest cages I could find, enlisting their help in fighting the Alphas. I promised them freedom if they would just save the Flock. I smiled as I saw that I couldn't have chosen better mutants. These were one of the strongest and most durable experiments there were. The only reason they hadn't replaced the Alphas was their appearance. I mean, when you're trying to sneak up on someone you don't really want to use giant rabbits!
Max POV
I stared at our protectors in shock. "Bunnies… six foot bunnies… Nudge was right!"
"Max? Max, are you ok?" asked Fang nervously. Well, as nervously as Mr Emotionless could get.
"Yeah, she's fine. She's just in shock because Nudge told her they could use rabbits to escape and now it's come true."
Thanks Angel. I thought, relieved. After a second I was able to break out of my stunned awe.
"Anyway, we've got to go, go, go! There's no telling how long they'll hold up!"
I ran into the door. No, literally, I ran INTO it. I hadn't been able to tear my eyes away from our saviours and so had walked into it. Fang snickered.
"You see this thing here, Max. This is called a handle. You twist it and it opens the door."
I scowled. Fang, one, Max, zilch. He opened the door wide for me. I reached for where the handle had been before and began to grope through the air, a horrified expression on my face.
"Oh no! There's no handle! I can't leave!"
Fang rolled his eyes and I smiled innocently, knowing I had just raised my score to a healthy 'one'.
You don't laugh at Maximum Ride and get away with it!
Just FYI, that scene with Fang, Max and a door handle happened between my mum and my dad. Another just FYI is that although I try not to ask for reviews because it really annoys me when people do that, doesn't mean I don't want any. Once again, congrats to wierdpeopleruletheworld and MissStud and thanks to Ruko77 for reviewing. Sorry Ruko77 that you thought it was obvious.
Fly away
Zeorzia