Oh My God! Chapter 25! Hey guys, long time, no... writing? Yeah, just about, haha. This first part of chapter 25 took a whole ten months! Literally. Not like I've been putting much into it before. But this past week, I really got to work. About time, right? New year, new Resolution!
The Flock and I are about ready to head out, I thought, grimly, as I take in the living room surroundings. Mini's La-Z-Boy recliner by the entrance from the hall, my favorite Love Sofa that Jeb caught Fang and I making out on a few nights ago. The Movie Couch, placed directly in front of the television for after dinner movies that still has kettle corn popcorn kernels embedded into the seats. Mom's decorative fireplace, holding pictures of us all, captured in the moment.
There's one with Angel and the Gasman, their arms wrapped around each other with bright white smiles that are plastered on their clean faces. With their identical blonde hair and electrifying blue eyes; Just looking at it made my heart melt. It was that sweet. Somehow, it made them seem half normal. Despite the fact their wings were protruding from their backs, it was as normal as it was gonna get. Even for us.
My fingers lightly touch the one with Mini and I. To the left of the photograph, she's doing a one handed hand stand; her legs are spread out while her free hand is stretching out one of her legs to keep her balance. Her golden brown hair covered the crunchy grass below her head. On the other side of the picture, I'm practicing the famous toe-touch that I had sheer concentration on. my eyes squinting and with my tongue sticking out of the side of my mouth slightly. Of course, Nudge took the picture, so, it's probably the reason why my movement in mid-air was caught perfectly as well as Mini's form was ideal.
A faint smile appears to me as I glance over the pictures, grouped, doubled, family, and coupled. Mom placed two small pictures of Fang and I in a single frame. And she also did the same for my sister and Iggy, whose pose so simple, it made my smile hurt. Iggy had his arm around Mini's waist pulling her close as she looked up at him, her smile so pure, that anybody who looked at them would be able to feel the love between them pour itself out of the picture and into themselves. My eyes blinked, realizing how alarming to just know that your mom is into your own relationship more than yourself.
A presence appears beside me, out of the corner of my eye; identify my second half as I pick up a frame of Ella and Nudge. The sides of their faces were smeared together as they showed off goofy smiles that haven't been seen before.
Mini, arms crossed, stares at the same photo, her deep brown eyes appear to be blank; A trademark that has rubbed off from me to her. "You think we should grab them?" She asks, her voice monotone, emotionless. I turn to her, to really look into her eyes, the portal of the soul. And I knew that she was hiding her fears, the worries for the latter of the day.
Shrugging my shoulders," If you want to," I respond, watching my sister grab all the picture framesand shoving them into her backpack. I turn around just as my eyes meet our mother's soft brown ones.
Mom grabs our arms, and pulls us together so that we are standing in front of her. Her soft brown eyes are looking at us, mine to Mini's and then to mine once more. Her voice is soft, but serious; she knows what she's doing. "Protect one another. Keep each other's backs." She tells us, her voice beginning to get firm. Her eyes are taking both of us, as if she's trying to keep the memory of us alive. I force a smile, trying to make her know that what's she's saying will come true. Soon enough, my- our mother's eyes begin to water up, red and soft. "I love you guys, so much." She whispers, gathering us up into one giant hug. "Never forget that." She adds before she pulls away, wiping away the sneaky tears.
Beside me, Mini wraps her arms around mom's waist, burying her face in her neck, practically sobbing. But in the midst of it, she's telling her she loves her too. Mom instantly hugs back; squeezing Mini's tightly packed winged-back. Mom closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, releasing my twin from her grasp. This might be the last time they might see each other again… alive. I push back the wad of cotton that begun to grow in the back of my throat. Willing myself to not cry in front of everybody, I step up to mom and give her a quick hug and whisper in her ear. Maybe, I was just caught in the moment when I told her how much I appreciated everything that she did for us. How much I loved her, how amazing it was to have a real mom that didn't care about what I looked like. All she wanted to love was my heart, and that's what gained my trust towards her.
When we pull apart, her eyes are redder than before; a weak smile is what she offers before she takes hold of the Gasman, telling him how wonderful it was to get to know him, to see who he truly was. In response, my brother pats her back, feeling awkward and a little sad. "I love you too," He says, his voice distant. I send him a quick wink after they part, he was my trooper, and one of the things in life I taught him was that being a softy was never good, even If I'm such a hypocrite now.
Mom and Ella make their rounds, giving hugs to everybody. Telling everyone how much they love everybody. Most definitely sappy and mushy, and so not me. But the only thing that I can think of is how in the world they're going to get down the mountain alive. Fang and Iggy carry out their suitcases, while Ella comes up to me, taking in a hug that was much deprived.
Neither of us said a word. We didn't have to. Nothing was meant to be said. After we part, Mini and Ella, for the first time since she's been in our lives hugged each other. It was a short lived embrace, yet, it told everything silently.
Mom places her hand gently on Ella's thin shoulder's and directs her out the door. This was the parting, the goodbye. But how long this separation would last, left me clueless. Staying at Mom's place for such a long time, it gave vulnerability that we were all predicting. We took the risk by the bull's horns, and now all we have to do now is go for the ride.
I suppose, when it comes down to somebody being the 'Leader', I am the one who steps up to that plate. To take the bat in my hands and throw the first swing. You know, take one for the team. To get them that first goal so that everything else would fall into place later on; Even if it takes awhile to get there. But then, people wonder why me, a female is at that plate, instead of say, Fang for instance. Of course, I'll admit, I may be strong, I may seem as if I'm invincible, but the thing that probably keeps me asleep at night is that I know that I have Fang as my right winged man. Or something to that effect at least.
"Alright guys," I begin, putting my hands on my hips circling the flock into a group. Checking and double checking that everybody has their backpack. Their entire life was in those things. "The road in front of us is going to be harsh. But it can be quick." I say, getting in front of the Flock, making sure to make eye contact with everybody, including Iggy, which at the same time was kind of pointless. Seeing as how he was putting finishing touches onto his 'sticky bombs'.
I smile grimly, hoping that my choice of words wouldn't fall short. "Today… today will be the day we will tell the school, by actions, that we are not some lab rat, following instructions. We will tell them, that we are stronger than their newer robotic experiments." I nod my head, agreeing what I was to say. "We may be genetically enhanced, but remind yourself that being enhanced is the key term in all of this." I wasn't expecting to have a crowd of cheers, or for everybody to agree. I just wanted them to understand where I was coming from, as a leader, a sister, and a friend.
It took about all of fifteen seconds for the Flock to head up to the sky, with Fang and I left behind to catch up on the enemies' news. I strapped my back pack tight to my shoulder, the higher it was on my back, and the easier it was on wings to have a broader movement.
"Their a few miles into the forest," Fang began with the report, tightening his own straps as well. "Omega has Erasers, as well. There is a few lion ones who don't have wings and the wolf ones do."
'Fantastic,' I thought gravely. I suppose Itex missed their old companions. After getting rid of the original Erasers, they replaced them with Flyboys, which of course were flammable and were much easier to destroy. If these were the real Erasers, more than likely they are enhanced to fit the requirements to stay alive longer. "So, stay on our toes?"
"All the time," Fang responded, his mouth formed a grim line. "And… Akila..." He added, softly, his voice barely a whisper. "I found her remains while I was flying over the area."
I'm pretty sure that my train of thought went: That bastard, Omega. At least she's in a better place. Poor dog. Oh no! Total is going to throw a fit!" What do we tell Total?" I asked with wide eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest, and looked at Fang, who was also in thought.
"We tell him the truth; after we make camp tonight." He says bluntly before turning off the porch, spreading his dark wings and then in a matter of mere seconds, went airborne, flying above the house. Rising, higher each time his long wings flapped to the rhythm of nature.
A00fter idolizing Fang and the way he flew so gracefully, I spread out my own wings and took to the sky. I, too, followed the natural rhythm of the flapping of the wings. The faster, the farther I got.
I suppose it begins with pulling a trigger, like all guns are made to be. A trigger was pulled, thus, releasing a bullet that flew faster than I. I thank God for that. Because what I heard, what I felt scared me half to death than death that should have been presented towards me.
Loud, an echo from the forest, the result of making made my heart stop, and then I slowly descended, from stopping my momentum. Like fire, metal grazed the top of my head, leaving me with semi-burnt hair.
I fold my wings in fast enough for me to drop, and like any other raptor, I angled my body, nose diving towards the ground fast. Soon enough, as practiced, my body became parallel with the ground beneath me, the wings that kept me alive for so long, slowly spread in some dramatic way to keep me airborne long enough to skim the surfaces of the earth before rising to meet my frantic flock, like a rocket.
"This is war," I shout to my flock, anger coursing through my body like a freight train. I take in a deep breath through my nose as I sent out a glare. I don't handle being shot at fairly well now a' days.
"Max, are you okay?" Angel asks carefully, her wide blue eyes were filled with worry, and relief. She smiled, thankful that I was alive. We thought you died. She thought to me, her face sullen.
I thought so too. I sent back, with a small smile, despite my anger.
"We heard the gun shot and then we watched you fall. And then we thought you died. And then Mini started to cry. And then I started to cry…. And then, you were angling yourself like a plane, or those baby brown birds, they sound so happy when they sing, but there not singing now, so it's so sad. And then, you were flying. And then…." Nudges mouth was closed shut by Gasman's hand. I sent him a thankful smile as I pat the top of my head in annoyance. My hair was still hot.
I sent Fang a look that told him everything, a look that only he took to by heart. Nodding his head, he began to fly up and then after he got enough distance, he pulled off a quick loop dee loop before he took off, flying in a large circle to keep a threatened look at Omega's team.
"Alright guys," I start out, hands on my waist has I made myself to stay in the air, by the constant flapping of the wings. Despite that Fang was circling the area, I knew that he could hear me over the little rush of the winds. "Fang and Iggy are going to flank me from above through a sky attack. Iggy, you know what to do with your bombs and that big one." I point to the incredibly large makeshift bomb that was in Iggy's arms. He gave off a toothy smile before he rose in the air, making way. Nudge flew in and took Iggy's place to get a better grasp on the plan.
"Ange," I instruct, pointing to her, "I don't want you being one of the main targets in this battle." I told her honestly. "So, I'm gonna have you fly up the highest you can with your brain sill functioning to attack the Erasers from physic blasts." I explain, using my hands to express the great deal of wanting her to be safe.
"Got it, Max," She responded with a single nod of her head as she too, flew up vertically in the air, her head up as she focused to herself to rise high enough to still be safe and attack from a distance.. Total's black head was sticking out of the top of her back pack, his ears plastered to his head as I watched him squirm from the great deal of height. He'd have to deal for now, I thought with a dismissive glance.
Lowering my dictating finger, I looked directly at Nudge then Gazzy, with a crazy smile on my face. Sometimes I had to bend the rules a bit to get a head start in life. "This is probably the only chance I'm going to let you do this." I began, hurrying up my war speech as my gaze casted to below us.
The trees began to shake and a few collapsed as the School's new army of recombinant life forms made their way to the forest line and to the open field, with the tall home in the center. With their destruction for a place that the Flock and I called home, my anger towards Jeb, The School, Omega and the Erasers grew increasing. With a red face, I turned back to my soldiers.
"Magnetic Girl, Attract their weapons and destroy them quickly," I commanded, "Those guns are their strength and our weakness." With a quirk nod of her head, Nudge flew up and then did an immediate nose dive, with her torso folding over, like a swimmer, her legs followed her down. I watched her fly above the tree tops, her tanned palms of her hands facing the Erasers as she flew like a ballerina, dancing in the air in fast forward. As she flew, Nudge was able to attract a horde of dark guns, she flew even faster soon after, realizing that getting shot at wasn't on her to do list, either.
As Nudge flew higher into the sky, her tawny wings beating against the wind effortlessly, the circular ball of guns that she snatched from the Schools fancy Erasers trailed after her. I watched, appalled as Nudge whistled in a high pitch voice, catching Iggy and Gazzy's attention. As well as everbody else.
I didn't have to say a word as Gazzy sprung into action flying with speed and diligence that I haven't seen before. He flew up to Iggy, grabbed one of the 'sticky' bombs and literally threw it at the large mass of guns. Letting it explode, a rain of bullets shredded the forest and it's contents as Nudge dropped the ball of fire on top of a group of Omegas' team.
I grinned excitedly as Nudge and Gazzy started the beginning of the war. I was so proud of them.