WE'RE BACK ON TRACK, PEOPLE, AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!! Sorry, but I'm just so psyched. :D After some careful persuasion from me to dad, I finally got him to restore my whole computer. Basically, we have a truce, my files are back, and I'm not gonna have to reinstall every single program and rewrite every single document! Now, I have a few VERY persistent readers who want me to update already. WingsOfDestiny27 and Green.Winged.Mistress in particular owe me so big for this!! You two may as well gang up on me, chain me to the laptop, and hold a gun to the head through every letter I type. (rolls eyes) Long chapter, lucky you guys, but some explanations are necessary and all that.
Thank you so, so, so much for everything you guys said in your reviews, and by you guys, I mean Green.Winged.Mistress, WingsOfDestiny27, coffeelover369, Evil Angel of DOOM, Bubble Blower, MaxRideNut, and DigiNinMon, and also to S.L. Michaels for reviewing chapter 11 and everyone who offered sympathy and advice towards the whole "computer fiasco" incident. They really help with my motivation and courage, and I know I have such long chapters that the last thing you guys want to do is review when you get to the end, so just HUMONGOUS THANKS to all who did!! Now, we've got a chapter to get to.
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own James Patterson's Maximum Ride. And if I did, I'd be so pressured I'd probably collapse.
God, I hope this idea sounds as good to you guys as it did to me.
Now, without further ado, I present to you the hardly-edited-because-it's-very-early-in-the-morning-and-I-don't-wanna-freaking-edit-it-so-sue-me chapter!
Oh, no one pay attention to how early it is. If anyone asks, I updated at nine thirty.
You want me to just start the chapter, don't you?
Chapter 13: Unbelievable
POV Tali
I must have known somehow that something was wrong, because I woke up earlier than usual. It was four in the morning, and I jolted up in bed from a dream I couldn't remember. Jake's face coming closer to mine was all I could recall, but something must have interrupted us. I bet it was Newt.
Blinking to adjust to the lack of the light, I scanned the room. What could wake me up? Everything was too silent. No one was using the stairs, no one fell out of their bed, and no one was snoring besides Newt. But just to be sure, I crept over to the door, being sure not to step on the creaking floorboards.
What the hell? Only Newt was on the queen-sized bed, and frankly he looked happy to take the two spots that had once been Jake and Zak's. Syd and Shell's bunks were empty, and when I felt the blankets, they weren't even warm. How long had they been gone? Were they kidnapped??
"Ari 2's dead, Tali." I took a shaky breath and calmed myself. Mom always told us to be calm, because our kind could fix any problem and figure out anything. I knew half of everything in the world, so I could figure out where they were in a snap. Closing my eyes, I envisioned the four faces, and where they could have gone. Nothing. Now this was a problem.
"Newt!" I pounced on him, pinning him to the bed. "Where did they go?"
"Go away, sleeping." Newt threw me onto the floor with one arm. Stupid super-strength.
"Newt, they're gone, and I can't find them anywhere!" I grabbed his wrist so he couldn't toss me into the bunk beds.
"Bite me." Newt rolled over. Lazy git didn't even care where his four best friends were!
"Jake, Syd, Shell, and Zak are not in this room, and I can't find them anywhere." I hissed into his ear and grabbed the hair on his head so he'd be forced to listen. "You need to find them. Right. Now."
"Okay, okay, chill-ax." Newt yawned and sat up, shaking his head a few times. He paused, and looked at me with a worried expression. "Tali, did you send them back home in your sleep?"
"No, you know I can control that." I told him in concern. What did he mean?
"Because they're not in this time." He bit his lip. "They're probably kidnapped by a genie or had someone take them to some other time."
"Oh god!" I fell out of the bed by myself this time. "We gotta get mom and dad and ask for help!"
"Tali, we're pretty much grown up, don't you think we can look for them here first?" Newt anchored me back onto the bed.
"But…but…" I stuttered. Jake disappeared like this before, and mom couldn't find either him or dad! Ari 2 might have a genie ally! Or the Genie Government took them in for questioning! Mom never told us if going back in time to protect your parents was legal.
"Jeez, you look around the first floor and basement, and I'll take the second floor and gardens." My incredibly calm brother headed for the door. How could he NOT imagine the consequences? These were our best friends, and they disappeared! Regardless, I may as well look with my own eyes before I panicked.
"Jake?" I poked my head in the kitchen. Maybe he was getting breakfast for us, since he was such a sweet guy.
"No, it's James, remember?" James responded from the pick-up counter.
"You're up earlier than usual." Katie greeted me from her side, but I pushed her out of my way. "Fine, don't talk to me."
"Look, sorry, but Jake, Syd, Shell, and Zak are missing, and we can't find them anywhere!" I backed up just a bit to explain, and James grabbed me before I could speed off again.
"Wouldn't you know already?" He checked.
"Newt insisted we look, LET ME GO!!" I tried to pull away. Curse Newt, who got the super-strength! I needed to find them!
"Is this another Ari 2 incident?" Katie considered what I had already thought of. Knowing that she thought of that made me believe it was likelier than I thought.
"I don't know, we killed him, but maybe he had backup. Now make your boyfriend let me go!" I snarled, and Katie and James exchanged looks.
"We're siblings." James finally told me.
"We thought everyone knew that." Katie cocked her head.
"Oh." I softened for just a second, and then started twisting myself away from James. "I have to find them, they could be in danger! We can't get their signal!"
"Go find them, then!" James released me, and I almost smashed into the wall before regaining my balance.
"Good luck!" Katie's voice echoed behind me. I must have looked through the gigantic mansion in ten minutes tops when I met Newt at the stairs.
"Are they up there?" I fidgeted, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
"Nope. Maybe you're right, we should-" Newt started to agree, but I already knew he wanted me to transport us to the gardens where our families witnessed us leave just a few minutes ago in their time. I started glancing around for my guys, refusing to acknowledge the sudden unpolluted air or the fact that mom and dad knew who we were in this place. No one was around. Did they leave that early? Something was so wrong, I still couldn't find out what happened to them!
"Go to the dining room." Newt grinned, obviously knowing they were there, and I teleported us to the doors and swept them open expectantly. Jake, Syd, and Shell were seated at a huge table with Max and Fang! Jake was closest, so I hugged him happily.
"Oh, thank god you're alright!" I breathed, then straightened and beamed at Syd and Shell. "I was so worried! How did you all get here?"
"Who are you?" Fang broke the silence from the head of the table, and my smile froze. Did I really change so much that he didn't recognize us? After going through the time vortex, I thought we changed to the same age as when we left.
"It's us!" Newt came up from behind me. "Nice trick, guys, but seriously, come on. We have to figure out where Zak is."
"What are you talking about?" Syd shook her head, squinting at us. Something was different about her. She and Shell were wearing matching dresses! Syd hated dresses, Shell hated the color green on her, and besides, they never did that ever since I told them they could dress however they wanted, and not what the servants offered. Looking down at Jake, his hair was more attached to his head, like he had gel on. He even dressed neater, like he was at a semi-formal party, and…was that a belt? He had to be crazy. This was just some prank or something. Pretty soon they'd all yell "surprise!" and we'd laugh and go back to protect our parents, and THEN I'd punish them for freaking me out.
"Tali…" Newt put a hand on my shoulder. He looked distant, like when he was trying not to cry. "They don't know us. Really."
"Very funny." I shook him off. "You probably planned this, didn't you? Took over me and made me take them here?"
"I've got them." Max told Fang, and stood up. "You two, out."
"What the- Jake, you wouldn't do this, tell them to quit it!" I forced him from his chair and shook him. He only took it silently, like usual. When I stared into his eyes, trying to see the joke, there was something flat about them. There was no quiet awe or reassurance that he'd be there, something I'd seen for so many years that I took it for granted. He didn't…he didn't love me anymore. I choked. Oh god, it really was real. Syd and Shell really didn't recall how I'd play with them, and Jake didn't remember how we had been…how we were more than friends for one night. But I had to try, I had to try to get them know us! Something in them knew Newt and Tali Griffiths.
"No, let me go!" I screamed and pulled away when Max reached for my arm. "Don't you know me? I've lived next door my whole life!"
"That's not our house." Newt shook his head and passively accepted Max's grip. "It never was, according to them." He nodded towards the Denton family.
"Newt, don't say that! Where did it go wrong?" I turned sharply to Syd and Shell, hoping they couldn't see the tears in my eyes. "Did either of you do something?"
"We didn't do anything." Syd snapped back. She was still a little fighter, but I knew she didn't even know what I meant by "doing something".
"Are you the police or something?" Shell asked innocently.
"Don't worry, sweetie, just finish breakfast." Max calmed her daughters, put Newt and I in half-nelsons, and threw us out the double doors. "Katie, Camrina, do you mind?" She yelled down the halls, and two servant women came down the hall in matching uniforms and brown hair. My eyes widened.
"Katie?" I whispered incredulously. "Katie! Do you know what's going on?"
"I know that you're leaving." Katie hoisted me up by the arm and led me down the halls, with the girl named Camrina dragging Newt, who didn't bother struggling. He gave up so quickly.
"No, Katie, back when you were fourteen, you met six servants in an attic, and they were really the kids of one of your favorite books, Maximum Ride, and we're their kids, Katie, we're Rina and Iggy's kids!" I pleaded with her. She had to remember, she and James were some of the only friends who were human and knew that we were really genies/hybrids.
"What's she talking about, Katie?" Camrina turned to my captor, who only shook her head and spoke to me with harshness that couldn't be like Katie at all.
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but you have to be crazy to think-"
"ZAK!" Newt bellowed and squeaked the floor to get Camrina to stop pushing him. I yanked my head to my right, and Zak stared at us from the end of the hallway wearing a backpack and looking glum.
"Don't mind them, Reid, they snuck into the mansion and started bothering the Dentons with some strange story." Camrina rolled her eyes and managed to catch Newt off guard enough that she could keep shoving him to the doors. Why was she calling him Reid? That couldn't be his name, it didn't even sound like him!
"Reid??" I repeated. "Who said his name was Reid? He's Zak! Zak, kiddo, over here!" I tried to call down the hall to him, but he rolled his eyes and disappeared behind the corner.
"No, he's Reid." Katie shook her head, hardly able to believe I could think of something so ridiculous. "He's been Reid for nine years now."
"And what exactly happened in those nine years?" I retorted fiercely. I may as well get the whole story since the one I knew must not be correct.
"His parents adopted him from California and came to work here." She summarized for me. Fortunately she decided to tell me something about him and not keep responding with sarcastic answers.
"And this is where we stop." Camrina announced and shoved us out of the gates. The pain from falling onto the gravel only added to the tears already in my eyes. Newt just sat there, recollecting his thoughts and refusing to look at me shaking my head.
"Why are you so freaking calm??" I finally spat at him, trying to do anything but cry. "All our friends have forgotten who we are! Oh, god, we screwed up so big, and I don't even know-"
"Not everyone forgot us, Tali." Newt grinned a lopsided grin, then stood up and started marching down the street. I sniffed, then followed him weakly.
"Where…where are you going?" I trembled. Without the adrenaline and anger fueling me, I could hardly contain myself.
"You remember Maddy, of course. She'll help us, I mean, she can't have been affected because she doesn't know us TOO much, but she'll still remember us because I told her!" Newt smiled to himself, and I shook my head disbelievingly. Of all the stupid explanations in the world-
"It's not stupid!" Newt snapped at me, then broke into a run that had to be too fast for a human, but not fast enough for a genie. Was he trying to be nice and let me catch up? I decided just to teleport myself to Maddy's, but it took much more concentration that usual to achieve that. Newt caught up to me at the porch, panting slightly.
"Man, how long has it been since I've done that?" He shook his head, then straightened up and rang the doorbell. A short woman with Maddy's red hair answered. "Hi, can I talk to Maddy please?"
"Maddy? Door!" The woman (who obviously had to be Maddy's mother) called, and a few seconds later, Maddy herself trampled down the stairs.
"Hey." Newt beamed, but his little girlfriend didn't beam back or anything. I was secretly glad, because I never got good vibes from that girl. She was too self-centered for me to like her.
"Um…hi." She answered back uneasily, her gaze sweeping over Newt (who towered over her by about a foot).
"Yeah, I came back from my trip early, but the problem is, my friends don't really remember us. We must have goofed up or something when we were back there." My brother explained coolly, while I stood there struggling not to let a tear slip. Zak didn't even muster a smile when he saw us, something he always did. Syd and Shell didn't ask me if they could do my hair, and I didn't even have that silent promise from Jake that he'd help me if I ever needed him. What kind of hell did I come back to, where my closest friends didn't know my name?? And Newt was so naïve to believe that Maddy knew what he was talking about.
"Uh…good to know them." Maddy smiled uneasily, and fingered the door anxiously. "So are you new to the neighborhood?"
"No, and I'm not brain-damaged either. Don't you…?" Newt's smile froze, and his eyes narrowed as he figured out the truth. She didn't know him. And if she ever loved him, she didn't anymore. Realizing that, Newt turned on his heel and stomped off the porch and into the middle of the street.
"Sorry, he's…he's special." I muttered the most coherent explanation I could think of, then chased after him. The shock was so great that he didn't remember that he could use super-speed. Instead, once he was hidden in a small forest, he collapsed against a tree and started to cry.
"Oh…" I breathed when I saw the teardrops. My own brother, dare I say it, my older brother by two minutes, couldn't even keep it in. Seeing him upset made the problem seem all the more huge, and the dam burst. I slid next to him and started bawling like a baby. And no, this time Jake wasn't going to show up and kiss me and make it all better. I didn't have a reputation to keep with any of these people, so I may as well sob it out anyways.
"She didn't know me!" Newt howled, then sunk into a fetal position. I cried even harder. My empathy power, weak though it was, was screaming sadness at me. By now I could hardly breathe.
We stayed curled up against that tree for an hour or so, then Newt shot up and started punching the bark out of the tree. Anger flooded through my veins thanks to him, but it balanced with the grief so I had enough control to hold Newt's shoulders.
"Newt…" I pleaded with watery eyes. "It's not worth it."
"You're right." Newt dropped his fists. "But…what can we do? Force ourselves onto them? Maybe then we can make friends again."
"No." I shook my head in despair. It wouldn't be fair to them, and it wouldn't be the same, though that was probably our best option at the moment. "Can't we just try to make things normal again?"
"There you are!" Mom stumbled up to us through the dead leaves on the ground. Newt and I looked at each other with a mixture of confusion and joy. Mom was here! "What are you two doing here, in this part of town? Tali, did you sleep-transport again? Honestly, we need to control that." She rolled her eyes, and I gaped. I've had control of that for years!
"Mom, I-" I started.
"Now come on, let's get home." She looked at me expectantly, and I stared back vacantly.
"She wants you to help her get us to the house." Newt whispered in my ear.
"What? Help? Why? Can't you do it yourself?" I cocked a head at mom.
"Tali, we've been through this already. We're late already, let's go!" Mom commanded, and I squeezed my eyes shut in concentration. "Take us to the house we live in…wherever that is…" I thought, and we appeared in the living room of an entirely different house than I grew up in.
"What the hell-" Newt spoke both of our minds, but mom slammed two backpacks into our hands.
"Love you," She kissed my head a little too hurriedly. "Love you," She did the same to Newt. "Good luck at school, and come on, you'll miss your bus!" She held the door open for us, tapping her foot, but Newt and I stayed frozen.
"What are you doing, mom?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You need to get to school! You two are acting so- oh no!" Mom moaned as a yellow bus tore down the street and past our house. "And Iggy has the car! Tali-"
"No, mom, we're not going to school today!" Newt raised his voice, and mom stopped cold. "We're not who you think we are. We don't know what's going on here! Let us stay home, and we'll explain everything."
"Nice try, Newt." Mom said after a slight pause. "You may not want to face the principal after you spray-painted the side of the building, but seriously-"
"No, mom, we're serious, and I'm the honest twin! Or at least, I think I am in this weird place…" I added, and Newt nodded sympathetically. "Ask us anything, I bet we won't get it right."
"Tali-"
"Just do it, mom!" Newt was almost pleading instead of forcing, something that confused me. When Newt turned to begging, it was a serious situation.
"Fine." She sighed. "What's our last name?"
"Griffiths." I answered. What kind of a question was this?
"Tali's favorite food?"
"Quiche Lorraine."
"Which I never really understood." Newt gave me a freaked-out look, and I rolled my eyes back.
"Newt, your favorite gun?" Mom fired again.
"A.K 47. Look, mom, ask us something about our pasts!" Newt groaned.
"Where did we go for spring break last year?" Mom raised her eyebrow.
"We don't know." I shook my head.
"Where did we live when you two took your first steps?"
"No clue. You're telling me we actually moved?" Newt shook his head.
"Of course we moved! Don't you…?" Mom looked over me and Newt, realizing that we really didn't know. "Are you two from a parallel dimension or something? Where are my kids??"
"That's the thing, mom. We're right here in front of you, but we came from some future other than this one." I took a shaky breath. "Can we continue somewhere else? The door, and the windows…" I eyed them anxiously, and mom nodded. She (thankfully) knew that we were still suspicious of everything because dad raised us that way. After double-checking to see if everything was locked, mom led us to the basement I didn't know we had, and had a seat in the recliner. Newt and I took the couch.
"So if you don't remember the past, then what happened?" She started.
"Well, you remember the Flock, since dad's part of the Flock, but-" Newt tried to explain, but mom held up a finger to stop him.
"What do they have to do with anything?" She bit her lip, and Newt eyed her in interest.
"I hit a nerve, apparently. So tell us, what happened to the Flock that made you so upset?" He leaned back, ready for mom's story. She shivered in dread, then exhaled uncertainly and spoke.
"We were all happy, living in Fang's mansion. Mr. Denton died sometime after Iggy and I had our honeymoon, and Fang inherited the whole business. We were all waiting for Max to have her baby, but there was something that had us a little uneasy. The rest of the Flock didn't believe that Iggy and I killed Ari 2 by ourselves, because we must have had some help. And besides, they were mad that they didn't get a piece of the action."
"But you know who helped you, right?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, I remember." She gave a small smile at us. "You two, and then four other kids who were Max and Fang and Nudge and Gazzy's kids." I trembled just a bit hearing about my best friends, which mom noticed. "What's wrong?"
"We'll explain later, keep going." Newt waved her on, while I took in another breath, determined not to cry again.
"Well, one day Max and Fang talked to me and Iggy and told us that they thought we were lying about something. Of course, we couldn't tell them about you guys because you were supposed to remain undercover, so-"
"But we told them after your wedding!" Newt jumped up from the couch, astonished.
"No you didn't." Mom shook her head. "You told us specifically not to tell the Flock because bad things could happen if they knew what they were supposed to do."
"So…so because I told them and didn't listen to Tali, I saved us from not knowing each other! And you wanted to keep it a secret!" Newt swiveled around to give me an evil grin. "I knew I was right, I knew it!"
"Newt, could you just…" I whimpered. The accusation was making things so much harder to take. It couldn't be my fault! I tried so hard to be careful, so it should have worked!
"Lay off your sister, Newt." Mom scolded softly, and I sent a grateful smile her way. "She misses your friends enough already."
"Fine, fine, ruin my moment of triumph, why don't ya." Newt groaned and sat back down. "So you know our story, then?"
"I'm a genie, Newt, of course I know. I only needed one minute to scan your brains."
"But considering Newt and I can only do half the scan, can you please just tell us what happened next?" I requested with a hint of begging in my voice. I had to know the whole story if I wanted to see how I could prevent it from happening.
"Why? We know what's wrong, all we have to do is go fix it." Newt shrugged.
"But I, for one, want to know the full story in case there's something else we need to know." I snapped back.
"Tali, Tali, Tali, never happy with the easy way out." My very annoying brother shook his head in mock shame.
"Newt, Newt, Newt, never happy with doing a job well." I scowled, and motioned for mom to get going before he could make a comeback.
"Alright, so after the fight, Max, Fang, Nudge, and Gazzy were mad at us because we were a family and we shouldn't keep secrets. Angel knew our secret but couldn't tell either, and she tried to convince them that we were good, but no one listened to her because they thought I controlled her mind to keep her on our side. We were pretty much split, so finally Fang kicked us out of the mansion when Iggy and I tried to fight back."
"You fought back?" Newt looked impressed. "You really punched Max in the eye?"
"I was pretty mad." Mom admitted. "Gazzy didn't want to lose his bomb buddy, but he had a grudge against me, so he was upset anyways. Max and Fang had Nudge convinced that I was actually working with Ari 2 and I got Iggy in the deal." Mom dabbed at her eye at that moment. I felt her sadness, partially because of my empathy and partially because I now knew what it felt like to have my closest friends hate me. "I cried so hard that night. We moved around a lot, mainly because we couldn't raise genie kids without having a few mishaps. You two were so bored with having no one to play with but each other. Iggy and I were never the same after that, and I…well, have I ever told you of post-trauma effects?" Newt and I shook our heads. "I was so upset with having my best friends hate me, so my powers lost half their power. That's why I needed your help to get us here, Tali. I can't do it myself, unless I really concentrate and I'm only moving me."
"I thought I was getting some hazy reception in this thing." Newt tapped his head.
"So our powers aren't as strong as they were?" I checked.
"Exactly." Mom nodded.
"What about Jake and Syd and Shell and Zak? Did you ever meet them?" The words slipped out of my mouth. If I got my arm sawed off by a crazy guy with a chainsaw, I'd probably tell my friends to run before I started screaming and crying.
"And how did they disappear from their beds?" Newt added.
"No, I didn't meet them. Jake wasn't born until a few days after Iggy and I left the mansion. Angel's sent us pictures, though, because she's trying to keep the Flock together, if only by a thread." Mom sighed, and I knew she appreciated Aunt Angel's efforts. "And she never talked about Zak because he's a servant. As for the disappearing, they couldn't be back in time with you after the time warp because they never knew you, so at midnight they sort of left. It's what happens to all humans, they go back to whatever they where doing, whenever they were doing it."
"Wait, so Zak's not a bird kid, like us?" That was probably as close as Newt ever got to a whimper. Zak was his best friend and bomb assistant, so naturally he had to feel some concern for the poor guy.
"Nope. I wasn't around to give him wings." Newt moaned at mom's words.
"So, since you never told us about Zak's past, will you tell us now so we know what's supposed to happen to him?" I requested. Hey, now was as good a time as any.
"Sure. His mom's name was Raven, otherwise known as Nudge's little sister. She had a boyfriend named Tyler, and she…well, she slept with him, and found out she was pregnant. Tyler disappeared after she told him, so she was left alone. Her parents, a.k.a Nudge's parents, of course, found out she was pregnant and helped her through the pregnancy, though they weren't happy with Raven at all. Zak was born, and his mom died from an STD, so he was left with his grandparents, who set him up for adoption."
"Wait, wait, so Zak's mom, and by Zak's mom, I mean Aunt Nudge…she's actually his aunt?" Newt burst out.
"Small world, huh?" Mom quirked a smile. "And he only looks like Gazzy and Nudge because Raven and Tyler looked like Gazzy and Nudge. If you and your friends were around and still together, you would have picked baby Zak up, and dropped him at the Denton doorstep for Gazzy and Nudge to take care of. But since you six weren't around to take care of that, he got adopted by a servant couple who moved to serve at the Denton mansion. Frankly, you're lucky that he's in the same city that he's supposed to grow up in, let alone the same house."
"Alright, so now that we know all that, let's go back in time and-" Newt was about to get up and leave, but I grabbed his shirt and forced him back down.
"Our powers are half as strong as they used to be!" I snapped. "How could we manage that?"
"Um…steal a time machine?" Newt hardly thought about the matter and tried to force himself up again.
"And you might need a bit of backup." Mom told us in a worried tone, and we both turned our attention to her. "The Genie Government doesn't exactly allow this kind of time-travel. It's not a good idea to go to the same place twice, and because time warped, they'll know you want to fix it and be there to meet you."
"So we're fugitives? Awesome!" Newt cheered.
"Not awesome!" I grimaced. "How could they know we warped time? No one notices a difference!"
"Yes, but we're genies, sweetie. Genies don't get affected by time warps. Why do you think you two remember what was supposed to happen and the humans don't?" Mom clarified soothingly. Well, that explained a lot.
"Ooh, ooh, Tali, idea!" Newt eagerly raised his hand, like a little kid. No, no, like…Zak. I choked when my mind found the name. I had no clue how Newt could be so energetic when this was an entirely different world that was supposed to be our home.
"Newt?" I played teacher, to play along with his enthusiasm.
"Jake, Syd, Shell, and Zak are great fighters, so they can guard us! Since your cloning power is busted and all and we'll need someone to cover while we erase some memories and make everything good again!" He rattled off his plan.
"Good one. Except Zak hasn't had Aunt Nudge and Uncle Gazzy for his parents, so he won't know how to fight."
"Then it'll be a learning experience for him. Come on, you know you want to let him come, he's our friend all the same!" He was practically on his knees by this point, and although Zak was (admittedly) a liability, I had an urge to let him come along.
"Fine. Bye mom, we gotta save our pasts!" I got up, kissed mom on the cheek, and followed Newt out the door, up the stairs, and through the backyard.
"Be careful!" Mom called after us.
"So now what?" I asked Newt while he glanced around the open field to make sure no neighbors could see us. I didn't think mom and dad would pick such a vacant place to live.
"Take out your wings, we're flying there!" Newt grinned and stretched out his amber wings to catch the sun. I practically ripped mine through my shirt. Had it really been so long that I forgot what it was like to have the wind flowing through my feathers? Newt and I did a shaky takeoff, mainly because I was still remembering how to fly. This was not like riding a bike.
"So where's the Denton mansion?" I called over to Newt, who was trying to do a loop in midair.
"That way!" Newt pointed northeast, and we followed his internal navigator for a few hours. Finally, right as I was regaining my ability to fly without my wings trembling, Newt gestured to the ground, and we swooped in for a landing, trying to be as unseen as possible. We ended up in the forest between the mansion and Maddy's neighborhood. Well, Newt ended up on the ground, and I ended up in a tree.
"Just jump down, Tali!" Newt yelled up to me as I hugged the tall spruce anxiously.
"And die? No way!" I screeched back down. Newt looked like an ant down on the ground, and the branches between me and him were certainly strong enough to keep me from falling on the dirt. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, and I didn't really want to find out.
"Your powers aren't completely gone, so you can catch yourself!" He tried again.
"It'll still hurt!" I panicked, trying not to imagine the sight of my arm bent in the same funny shape as Aunt Angel's arm was at the fight at Grandma Stella and Grandpa Frank's house.
"I can't fly up and get you, you've gotta do it yourself!" Newt's eyes darted around to make sure no one heard that, and from the way they widened into saucers, I'd say someone had.
"Cool, you've got wings too!" A small girl with a backpack skipped towards him, and Newt backed away slowly. From the tangled brown mane and innocent tone, I'd say it was…Shell? She must have seen us on her way home from school.
"Shell!" Jake ran up behind her and grabbed her shoulder, making my heart flutter. He was so protective, and maybe even more so without me to do it for him! "Don't talk to strangers. Especially not about the wings." I wanted to smack myself in the forehead for Jake. Don't talk to strangers? How did he get to be such a mentor? Oh, right, we weren't around. It had to be that Max needed him to be the babysitter.
"And this one's strange all right, he's the guy who ran in at breakfast!" Syd came up behind them.
"Oh yeah!" Shell looked like her eyes could have lit up. "Where's your friend, strange guy?"
"My name's Newt, and she's up there." Newt gestured up the tree, and everyone stared up to look at me.
"Hi…" I smiled and waved uneasily. Of all the places to make a second impression, my place had to be up a tree. "Just…admiring the view."
"Cool, how'd ya get up there?" Syd crooned. "Didja fly or climb?"
"Ha, more like she fell into it when she was trying to land!" Newt snorted, and I glared at him. "You wanna make a comeback, Tali? Come down here and say it to my face." He smirked up at me.
"Oh, I'll make a comeback, I'll- AAIEE!" I shrieked. My foot slipped on the branch as I tried to climb down, and I crashed through the branches and onto the dirt. No, wait, that wasn't dirt. I dared to open my eyes, and looked to see Jake staring at me in shock. I landed straight in his arms! My face turned as red as a lobster.
"Sorry, sorry!" I apologized and let myself down. "Sorry." I repeated, brushing the bark and twigs off of my clothes.
"Wow, Jake's red! Just look at his cheeks!" Syd pointed to Jake's cheeks and giggled. Her topic, on the other hand, turned away from me and Syd, trying to hide the fact that his cheeks were a little pinker than usual.
"Shut up." He muttered.
"Syd, lay off your brother." I told her, and the Denton family froze.
"What the- how do you know my name?" Syd stuttered.
"I know all your names, actually." I stated, though my statement sounded more like an apology. "You remember this morning? We really do know you."
"So what, you're stalkers?" Syd snapped.
"Or spies?" Shell's eyebrows narrowed, something she didn't do a lot.
"Neither." Newt put an arm around my shoulder. "I'm Newt, this is Tali, and we're your long-lost friends. In fact, we're so close that we're sorta like your cousins. Sorta."
"Oh, so Aunt Ella had kids!" Shell squealed and hugged me. "But you're a lot older than we thought you'd be. And how'd you get the wings?"
"No, no, we're not Ella's kids. Did your parents ever tell you about Iggy and Rina? Yeah, we're their kids." Newt attempted to explain, and their faces hardened a bit.
"They told us that they were bad people." Shell responded. "Like, they were keeping secrets."
"Bad people?" I exclaimed, and Newt and I looked at each other. Hoo boy. "No, they weren't bad people. They kept a secret because we told them to, and that's what made your parents think our parents were bad. They were friends for most of their lives!"
"Look, this has been fun, but we have to…" Jake kept his eyes away from mine and tried to lead Syd and Shell away, but they stayed put.
"They were friends? Mom and dad never told us that!" Syd gazed at us eagerly, ready to hear the story.
"Come on Jake, can't we stay, please?" Shell gave Jake the famous Bambi eyes, and his eyes softened just a bit.
"Yeah Jake, you know you want to know if you had anything to do with my sister here." Newt gave my shoulder a squeeze, and I blushed a little. Our eyes met for the briefest of seconds, and I begged Jake to stay. Even though he hardly knew me, he seemed to listen to me anyways.
"Fine." He sighed. "But not for too long, okay?"
Half an hour later
"That was a really long explanation." Syd broke the silence when we summed up how we knew each other and what went wrong.
"So…your mom and dad were friends with our family but then we went back in time with you and changed it? Why would we do something like that?" Shell gaped.
"We didn't know we were causing it." I mumbled. Sadly, it was all too true. If there was any other way to make things back to normal, then we wouldn't be sitting on the forest floor without Zak talking about…hey, where was Zak, anyways?
"Yeah, what Tali thought, where's Zak?" Newt jerked a finger over at me, and Syd and Shell's eyes widened.
"Wow, you're really a mind-reader!" Syd's jaw dropped.
"Jake doesn't believe me though, he thinks I'm just faking." Newt nodded over to Jake, whose eyebrow twitched up. "And now he thinks I made a lucky guess."
"Prove it." Jake dared Newt, who grinned maliciously and sent a thought to him.
"What are you saying?" I glanced from Newt to Jake, but both boys ignored me.
"Liar." Jake glared after a second.
"Says who? You don't remember it. For all you know, I could be telling the truth." Newt smiled knowingly.
"Remember what??" I tried again, to no success.
"There is no way that could ever happen." Jake snarled disbelievingly.
"You thought that back then, too, but I swear it happened." Newt
"WHAT?" I shouted, and both boys finally turned to me.
"I'm trying to convince Jake that you kissed each other. Twice." Newt sent the thought to my mind after a brief second, and I froze.
"Well…um…thanks for not announcing it to the world." I began.
"Announcing what? It's not fair, you get to know and we don't." Syd pouted.
"Trust me, you don't want to. Jake…" I turned to my best friend (and almost-boyfriend) and smiled apologetically. "It did happen." Jake's eyes widened, and he looked over me, trying to decide if I was more trustworthy than my brother. I tried to avoid his gaze as much as I could.
"There, now you believe me. So where's Zak?" Newt smirked in his "I know something you don't know and I like it" smirk, but somehow I still knew he was worried about his little partner in destruction.
"You mean the kid who's supposed to be our friend too? He's a servant, I think." Shell shrugged, not really caring that one of the sweetest kids that I had helped take care of since he was a baby was missing.
"Hey, I think he cleaned up the ice cream I dropped last week." Syd turned to her twin.
"Yeah, but doesn't he like, work in laundry or something?" Shell added.
"Poor kid." I sighed sympathetically, and the Dentons gave me questioning looks. "Zak was assigned to laundry when we went back in time and worked at your place, and he hated it."
"So you wanna go back in time with us and help us make everything better again?" Newt offered. The three of them looked at each other, mulling it over.
"Mom and dad won't want us messing with you." Jake finally said.
"But we're not traitors!" I burst. "We're trying to fix the fight, and without you guys to defend us, nothing's going to happen!"
"So there are gonna be Erasers or something waiting for us?" Syd looked almost hopeful.
"No, but there'll be swarms of genies. Probably your biggest fight yet." Newt assured her, and Syd's eyes glazed over, dreaming of battling a genie. One down, two to go.
"But they've got tons of powers, right? Won't they hurt us?" Shell bit her lip nervously.
"C'mere." I beckoned to her, and she came close enough for me to whisper into her ear. "Don't tell this to your sister, but genies are forced by law to never purposely hurt humans, only to serve them. You're safe." Shell smiled in relief, and Newt and I turned to Jake.
"Just you left, man." Newt looked at him hopefully.
"But…how would you get us there? Your powers aren't exactly…" His gaze swept over me and Newt, and I frowned. He was right, how would I get everyone back in time to fix things?
"Tali…you wouldn't have to." Newt stuffed his hands in his pockets while I stared at him with curiosity. What did he think he was talking about? "I…um…look, do you promise you won't kill me?"
"Suuure?" I drew out my answer, not sure how to take whatever he was about to say.'
"Well, you know how Jeb Batchelder is our worst enemy and all? Oh, no offence." He added to Jake, Syd, and Shell, the grandchildren of our worst enemy. "I kinda went to Maddy's place, and Jeb was there, and he offered to give me some new superpowers and stuff and I said yes. And one of the powers he gave me was time travel, and I don't think they went away because they were planted inside my brain." Oh. Their. God. How the HELL did Newt think he wouldn't get tricked or killed from trusting Jeb??
"WHAT??" I shrieked. "What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?"
"I was thinking I wanted to travel back in time to keep touch with Maddy, and you'd laugh at me if I asked!" Newt bellowed back, and my jaw dropped. My brother was an utter moron.
"Newton…Dylan…Griffiths…" My teeth clenched together, and I hissed while my hands curled into fists. He put himself into danger by lending his brain to the School, and he could have endangered our whole family, too! And he did it all to keep in contact with one meager little human.
"Hey, don't kill me, we can get to the past this way because I made a stupid decision!" Newt held his hands in front of his face in defense. When he put it that way, I didn't know whether to hammer him or hug him. Both sounded like the right thing to do.
"Newt…don't you ever do something so stupid again." I decided to let him off with a warning, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can't you just look in the future and see if I won't?" He joked, but then winced at the look I gave him. Our lack of strength was exactly what we were trying to fix, among other things. Speaking of other things, they were watching us talk with interest.
"So…now what?" Shell finally piped up.
"Well, Jake has yet to agree to help." Newt hinted to Jake, and after an instant, he shrugged.
"Sounds good." He agreed, and I smiled gratefully, which he returned.
"Now, let's go get Zak!" Newt clapped his hands anxiously and marched through the trees. The rest of us followed, but on the way out, Shell tugged at my sleeve, like old times. It took all my control to keep my bird-kid heart from overflowing with happiness.
"Why do we have to get him?" She whispered to me.
"Newt and Zak were best friends since Zak appeared at the doorstep." I explained, and we both glanced over to Newt, who was still leading the way. "He misses him more than anything, like you would miss Syd if she didn't know you." Shell nodded, right as my brother swiveled around.
"So where would he be now?" He checked.
"I think he's still at school." Syd told him. "He goes in every afternoon to talk to the school counselor, Miss Stewart."
"The…counselor?" I gawked as we headed for the school. It couldn't be right! Zak was a perfectly healthy kid, give or take an obsession with bombs. "Like the kind where you talk about your problems?"
"Yeah, that kind. I don't know how you think he's so cheery, he's almost emo. Everyone picks on him, the servants, the school kids, you know." Syd made a face, and my shoulders slumped. Poor Zak had no one to make him laugh when he was a kid.
"Well then this way, he'll finally be happy." Newt grinned confidently and yanked open the humongous double doors that led into the school. We navigated the halls flawlessly (I knew the way because I got called down a lot to be recommended to different schools, and Newt knew the way because they sent him there a couple of times to figure out why he pulled so many pranks) until we got to the counselor's office. Zak was sitting in a chair across from the door, dangling his feet and looking down at the floor. He looked so upset, so helpless, it almost made me want to act sullen with him.
"ZAK!" Surprisingly, the call came from me, and I ran up and squeezed him until his eyes were practically bulging out of his sockets.
"Help! Can't…breathe!" He gasped, and I let go. Right, right, no bird kid genes. I wished mom was powerful enough to make him a bird kid right here and now. "What are you doing here?"
"So you remember us!" Newt smiled eagerly.
"Yeah, as the people who were being dragged out of the mansion." He slumped back into his chair. "My name isn't Zak. It's Reid."
"Yeah, well, we're calling you Zak because that's what we know you as." Newt snapped back. I bet he wasn't prepared for his uncooperative attitude. "C'mon, we gotta go."
"I'm not going anywhere until Miss Stewart comes back from her meeting." Zak clamped his hands to the bottom of his chair, like we were actually going to drag him away. But from the look on Newt's face, I could see why he felt that way.
"What is it with you and this Miss Stewart lady?" Newt growled. "You're coming with us to defend me and Tali while we try to warp some minds and get everything back to normal!"
"Are you crazy people?" Zak gazed at Newt with a mixture of curiosity and fear. "There are places they can put you."
"Newt, let's not scare him." I scolded, then turned to Zak and sat on my knees so we were seeing eye to eye. "My name is Tali, and this is my twin brother, Newt. We're part genie, so we have half the powers in the world. We knew you back when you weren't adopted by two servants. You were named Zak and adopted by two good friends of our parents, but they had a fight because Newt and I took you and these guys," I nodded back to Jake, Syd, and Shell. "Back in time to get our parents dating and made a mistake, and now you don't know us, but we know you. We're long-lost friends, all five of us."
"Trust me, it's a lot to get used to, but they showed us some powers of theirs and they're telling the truth!" Syd took a step forward, and I smiled gratefully. Who could ask for a better kid in a time like this?
"You three?" Zak raised an eyebrow disbelievingly at the Denton family. "You're my masters, you control me and my family. You're lying!" He turned to me and Newt. "You can't be telling the truth, I was adopted in California and I worked for most of my life, and you're telling me you're really my long-lost best friends and my name is really Zak!"
"Ever hear your masters talking about Iggy and Rina? Well, that's us, their kids! And your parents are really Gazzy and Nudge. So nice try, but we really are friends. Come with us before I make you!" Newt snarled, now in Zak's face. That was just low, threatening a little kid.
"Newt?" A different, adult voice echoed from the corner, and a woman slightly taller than I stepped into the corridor, revealing her angelic blonde curls and clothes that made her look like a lawyer. "Tali?"
"Miss Stewart? You're crazy too?" Zak cocked his head.
"Aunt Angel!" Syd and Shell yelled at the same time, and they ran to hug her. Aunt Angel accepted the hugs blankly, still staring at us for answers.
"Aunt Angel?" Newt asked incredulously, and our jaws dropped.
"What are you doing here? Iggy and Rina said they didn't want you two to meet…the rest of us." Aunt Angel gaped at us in shock.
"Why would they say that?" I finally gathered words together.
"Because of the fight!" She responded, and Zak jumped down from his chair.
"So they're telling the truth?" He pointed accusingly at us.
"Yes Reid, yes they are. Step into my office, please, all of you." Aunt Angel shook free from her nieces' grips, and held the door open. We filed in at once, ready to explain.
Okay, bad ending, but I had to end it somewhere, because I wanted to update before spring break was over, and it's the last day of spring break. Aww, now I gotta go back to school!! :( Well, reviews would be highly appreciated, if anyone wants to sympathize. Doubt it, but hey, I can hope.