CHAPTER 25

AN: Is it weird that I enjoy being busy and having little free-time? Because you appreciate spare time so much more when you don't have a lot of it. This is what I typed up in mine:

Aquarius waited until everybody was asleep—there was a slight pause in the babies cries that they all took advantage of—to separate himself from the group. Once he was out of hearing range, in case any of them were to wake up, he tapped the small earpiece and winced as loud static filled his head.

"They're all asleep," he reported, knowing that his Boss was listening. He was always listening. "A girl had a baby today, and that held this group up. They're almost out of food, and the blind mutant is totally clueless. So is…never mind."

"What were you going to say, 42?" The sharp voice was loud, since the Boss was the only one who could control the volume.

"Nothing of importance, sir. I was speculating." A deep sigh echoed through his ears.

"I wish to have the blind one exterminated, but we both know that is now out of the question."

"She'd recover," Rus muttered to himself, forgetting, again, to bite his tongue.

"If Maximum had only listened to my orders, we wouldn't have this problem," the Boss snapped, taking out his anger on Rus the way he did so often. "But she'll listen this time."

"And the blind one, sir?" He was getting better at saying 'sir', the way the Boss liked. There was another deep sigh.

"He is not of my concern at the moment. You know where the closest town is, you'll get there tomorrow, no? If food is too scarce, be sure not to let Her starve. If I find Her damaged in any way, you will be exterminated."

"Understood."

"It better be. Now, go to town before the group wakes up. Get yourself some food, and some for Her if it is needed. Be inconspicuous, remember. She hasn't spoken to me since the incident."

"Understood," Rus repeated.

"Good. End." Abruptly, Rus was left in silence. For reasons unbeknownst to him, he was not able to turn off the earpiece. He could only turn it on, but the Boss could do that, too, if it was an emergency.

Rus aimed his palms at the ground and blasted. He went high on the first blast, but the second was angled and propelled him forward. With all the water he'd stored up through the day, he went rather fast, leaving the small group to fend for themselves as he headed to the nearest Denny's.

•••

Max's POV

The worst part about having a Voice in your head, listening to your every pondering, is that it makes it pretty damn hard to plot against it. Naturally, I thought of about three plans as soon as I made the decision to follow the Voice's instructions, but I had to banish them from my mind. I had to find a way to make myself not want to scheme…even though I did. It's the most frustrating thing I've gone through thus far, and I was about ready to smash my skull onto a rock.

"What's the plan?" Fang asked. I kept my eyes on the forest under me.

"We do what it says," I answered simply. "Save Ella." I couldn't even give him the look that said I was acting. I couldn't even think that I was acting. The Voice would hear. It saw what I saw, knew what I knew.

"You can't be serious. You're Max. You don't give up without a fight."

"This time I do. I guess it…found my weak spot. Ella's my family." I could tell he was trying to make eye contact with me, but I couldn't let that happen. Not if I wanted any hope of coming out of this with the desired outcome.

"Max…What if it tells you to kill someone? Or do something really bad?" I closed my eyes in frustration.

"We'll play it by ear. My sister means a lot to me."

"So that's just it? No plan, no nothing?"

"Yep."

"Fine. I'll make the plan for you. We get in there, kick its ass, get Ella, and run away."

"That won't work," I stated. "It's in my head. It'll know what I'm doing." That's probably when he realized what I was doing.

I'm a planner. I might make up plans on a whim sometimes, or off the top of my head, but going into this with no plan is the scariest thing I can think of. Being a strong fighter alone can't save you. You've got to be able to think, hard, to be successful. Whoever the Voice was took out that option. I was like a robot without controls. Helpless.

Look down, the Voice commanded. I did so, and saw a vague outline under the trees.

Is that it?

Yes. I'm waiting for you, Maximum. Sketchy.

I nodded at Fang, and we descended into the forest. Once we got past the canopy of trees, I could see a small-ish building. It was in a weird spot, in the middle of the woods. But I suppose, that way, nobody can hear you scream.

I shook the thought out of my head, horrified at myself. Fang and I stared at the simple brick building, which looked more like a quiet, windowless house than…whatever it was.

"You ready?" He asked, and I nodded. We strutted up to the building, and I tried my hardest not to think or feel anything, anything at all. But we all know that sometimes, you can try as hard as you possibly can and it still won't be enough.

•••

Iggy's POV

I was standing on a beam of some sort. It was metal, and glinted in the early morning sunshine. I balanced precariously, my wings outstretched for balance and fully healed. A slight breeze ruffled my hair, but I couldn't feel anything. Slowly, I glanced to my right, then my left.

Put simply, the Flock was on my right, and the Pack was on my left. But to me, it was my friends, my family, the only people I knew for the longest time on my right, and the love of my life and her friends on my left.

It's not like they were all waiting there for me to decide. Everybody was fighting something…something we couldn't see. Gazzy threw a bomb toward the Pack, but as soon as it crossed the beam—the one I was standing on—it evaporated. Max and AJ were both punching and kicking furiously at what looked like nothing. I looked at Dory, to find her screaming at the air. Her words blended together, and I couldn't tell what she was saying. But she was pretty mad, I could tell.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew that I had to step of the beam. Nobody told me, but I got this urgent sense that told me to get off—now. I looked right, left, right, left. Either way, I couldn't win.

Behind me, the beam shot up at a right angle. Nothing I could do about that. Ahead of me, it seemed to stretch on forever. But it had to end somewhere. I knew it did.

Careful not to teeter to one side, I grit my teeth and began sprinting forward.

There was no end in sight. I was scared that I was wrong, and I'd end up running forever. Alone and confused for the rest of my life.

I knew I was moving, and fast, because there was wind in my face, curling my lips back, and I saw things like trees and buildings pass by in my peripheral vision. However, every time I dared to look either direction, the two groups were still there, fighting against an unseen enemy. Unseen to me, at least. It was like they were on a conveyer belt that was set to match my exact pace.

I kept running, never tiring, despair creeping into my every thought.

Maybe, if I'd run just a little bit longer, I'd eventually come to a point where the separating beam ended, and I could jump off and we'd all live happily ever after. But I'll never know, because after a short while, I was roused back to the real world by an exceptionally fussy baby.

•••

"I suppose we should find everybody else and lead them back," Angel mused, chomping on her burger as she and Gabriel ambled down the road. They'd found the town a few hours ago, and naturally, their first thought was McDonalds. Each of them was on their fourth happy meal. That would be eight unpaid for happy meals, total, thanks to their…abilities.

Suddenly, Angel picked up on some vaguely familiar thoughts.

Right, forward, left, forward, bite, rest, left, forward… The thoughts sounded like they were game commands, very organized and to the point. Angel and Gabriel both glanced up to see a boy flailing through the air. When he neared the ground, he caught himself….by blasting water into the pavement.

"Aquarius!" Angel called, identifying him immediately. She knew about his powers from the minute she saw him, but didn't take much interest in him. As a matter of fact, mutants were everywhere. Most liked to keep in hiding.

He stopped abruptly, staring at her with a mix of fear and confusion.

Damn, it's one of the bird kids, and Gabriel.

"My name's Angel," Angel huffed, offended. "Where are Max and everybody?" He remembered, as she said this, that the two were the ones who'd gone missing.

Angel went through some of his thoughts, discovering that the Flock and Pack had split into three groups.

"How come Max and Fang went off? I can't find it in here…" Aquarius blinked, his face blank.

"Have you forgotten?" Gabriel asked. "We're the ones who can read minds." As soon as he said this, a wave of fear washed over Aquarius, and Angel heard some thoughts she shouldn't have heard.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, astounded at the information she'd picked up.

"You really shouldn't snoop," Aquarius said in a grave voice. He didn't say the next words out loud, but he might as well have, because everybody in the situation heard them: Because now I have to kill you.

Angel couldn't help but snort. "Kill me? Yeah right. All you can do is—" She was cut off as a surge of water slammed into her, like she'd run into a solid building. Coughing, she stood from where she'd been knocked over. She had to be more careful.

We have every advantage, Gabriel mentally reminded her. She nodded, glaring at Aquarius. The problem was, he was trained to fight against people like her. He knew how to do things without thinking, and still have them turn out right.

He tapped his ear, and though anyone else might have been confused, Angel and Gabriel knew what he was doing. "I.D.C," he said gruffly. This stood for Information/ Data Clause, which was the code that told his Boss to send reinforcements because somebody knew too much.

"It's a shame you have to die," he said as Angel grabbed Gabriel and flew up. "You might have been useful."

Angel sped away, but she'd already seen his thoughts. She knew that those big bruiser-people would hunt her down. But at the same time, she knew that even if she couldn't outrun them, she could outthink them.

Or so she hoped.

AN: So, can you see what I'm up to? Still confused? The next chapter will be longer than most, and it might take a few days for me to write, but I hope it's worth it!