Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.

Max's POV:

My first reaction? Complete and utter shock. Luckily, my body was used to fighting, and I was ducking and punching and kicking instinctively.

"Max!" Nudge shouted, and I whirled around just in time to face a roundhouse kick from an Eraser. I grabbed his foot and rotated it, forcing him to fall awkwardly. In two quick snaps, I broke both his legs, leaving him unconscious and crippled on the floor. Moving on, next target. My next victim was Mr. Big and Ugly himself, who seemed to be from a newer generation of Erasers. He was fast, I'll give him that.

He launched two punches at me within the first second, and I was forced into defensive mode. Sure, I was stopping all of his attacks, but we were both tiring, and I was yet to hit him once. I winced as one of his kicks made solid contact to my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I grabbed his foot too, hoping to execute the same move as with the other eraser, but steroid boy was slighter smarter than your average goon. He lashed out with his other foot, so he was entirely off the ground. Using the power from his jump, he kicked my face. I didn't drop his foot fast enough, and my hands weren't there to block his kick. I staggered, because it hurt like heck.

He pressed his advantage, striking me in the stomach once again while I was still dazed. Ouch. I kicked him, finally landing a hit, but it only fazed him for a second, and I barely started to get up before he shoved me down. I pretended to close my eyes, although I was really squinting. Finally, a stroke of luck. He seemed to become overconfident, and he relaxed as he cocked his wrist to punch me one last time. His fist started coming down towards my face, and I was so pumped on adrenaline that time seemed to slow down. I caught hold of his fist, twisted it, and heard a satisfying CRACK as his wrist broke in at least three different places.

He growled at me, baring his teeth.

"Oh, I'm so scared." I snapped, which might not have helped my situation, but was extremely fulfilling to say.

He lunged for me, and I formed a defensive crouch. I swung to the side, and he sailed past me. I would have loved to use my advantage, wings, but the cave wasn't big enough. I didn't really have any use for breathing underwater either, so none of my superpowers could help me very much.

"MAX!" I hear a high pitched voice scream. Oh, no.

I whirl around to see Angel pointing out the cave. In the distance, less than fifty feet away was a black swarm, of Flyboys. Reinforcements, I thought, my heart sinking. From behind me, I hear a ferocious growl, and then I see stars.

Fang's POV:

Kick, duck, spin, punch, repeat. My mind and body are on autopilot as I fight the swarm of Erasers, trying to catch a glimpse of my family. I see Gazzy out of the corner of my eye, and try to turn invisible so I can walk over to him and see if he needs any help. I can't blend in, though, and I guess it's because I can't really concentrate with all his craziness around me. From a distance, he seems to be holding up pretty well, so I dismiss him from my mind and focus more on the threat in front of me.

"Maximum?" The Eraser asks. He's the one that spoke earlier, the one that is one a serious weight training program.

"Obviously not." I reply snidely, making a move to punch him in the gut. I have to give it to him- this guy is good. None of that weak, flimsy thing we're used to. Most Erasers are all brawn, no brain, which makes them easier targets, especially if we're clever about fighting. This guy is smart, and more human-like. Like he's been professionally trained.

He stops my punch easily, deflecting it but not returning it. He's looking around but still blocking my attack. I'm sweating and tired, and I've never tried this hard and not landed a single hit. Worse, my opponent's not even paying attention to me- which makes me wonder if he was, would I survive?

Abruptly, Big Ugly walks away, apparently finding whatever it was he was looking for in the midst of this swarm. My heat sinks as I realize that it's Max that he's headed towards, and I try to make my way to her, to him. I'm interrupted many times, but I'm not trying to beat my attackers, I'm just trying to make it to Max without getting beat up. She seems to do no better than me, barely landing any hits and getting hit more than once. By herself, she cannot take him, but if both of us fight him together, we have a chance. I'm a little hesitant about leaving the rest of the Flock on their own, fighting over a hundred Erasers, but Big Ugly is the bigger priority here. Without him, this is an easy victory for us.

"MAX!" Angel screams. I turn and look at where she's pointing, and my eyes widen in shock. There is a mass of something –Flyboys?- headed straight for us, reinforcements for our current enemies. And Big Ugly lets out an incredibly loud growl. I turn back, chiding myself for getting distracted, just in time to see Max fall to the ground, and to see Big Ugly triumphantly standing on top of her.

Oh, gods.

We are so screwed.

Angel's POV:

This is horrible. Let me list all of the reasons for you, shall I? For one, we have a soldier down, Max. Plus, we're already losing badly, and there's a swarm of Flyboys on the way. Lastly, and probably most importantly, NONE OF MY POWERS WORK. It's worse for me than the others because I have the most powers, and I use those most often. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody else even noticed, but I did, because I couldn't pick up anything from Big Ugly. He was obviously not a machine, and it was blank.

Worried, I tried to read Max next. Nothing. Then Fang, then Iggy. Nada, zilch, zero. I couldn't dwell on this for long, and was forced to pay more attention to my surroundings, to the fight around me.

I may be small, and I may not be very strong, but I've always been quick. This is what lets me survive in fights against monsters three times my height and weight. I snap a kick at the nearest Eraser, and roll under him when he advances towards me. He turns, confused, and I zip around him again to punch him in the face. Cross eyed, he manages to stay upright for a full couple seconds before falling.

The key is not hitting hard, it's knowing where to hit. As long as you hit a pressure point, or a major nerve endings receptor, the pain will send most people into a concussion, or at least in unconsciousness. I'm guessing this is what happened to Max, too.

Another Eraser approaches me. I snaked in a quick slap to the face of the creature, which was mainly meant to distract him while I slugged his gut as hard as I could. He stepped back, biting back a hiss of pain. In two more quick motions, I hit his jaw with my fist, punching up so that it broke at least a couple teeth. The Eraser retaliated by attempting to pull my hair, but I nimbly ducked and avoided him, as well as snuck in another kick, this time to the groin.

The Eraser let the air out of his lungs with a slow, raspy breath. I used both my palms to slap him on both sides of his head, near his temples. He fell instantly, stunned.

Great. Two down, only 398 more to go.

Iggy's POV:

Hell breaking loose is not a pretty sight. Of course, I shouldn't know anything about that, since I can't see. Not even a little; I can't even make out colors. I guess it's because everything is moving too fast for my brain to pick it up. You might think that being blind would seriously hinder me in a fight, but it really hones my skills. In some ways, I even have an advantage, since I hear things, and can't ever get distracted by something I see. For example, Angel has just screamed, and since I heard an obnoxious gasp from Gazzy, I can only assume that she was pointing out something.

Well, I also heard Max fall and I guess she's unconscious, because Nudge yelped next to me, and Angel just screamed again.

"MAX! No, come on!" She yells, and I just keep right on plowing through these Erasers, jabbing, punching, kicking.

"Max?" I hear Fang's deep bass voice ask. He sounds the same always, but I can detect a hint of panic in his voice.

One of the Erasers slashes my leg. It burns, but it's no more than a skin cut.

"Aw, get up, Max!" It's Gazzy this time, so everybody except me is clustered around her, I guess. An Eraser grabs me by the side but is suddenly thrown aside, proving that theory wrong.

"There's another to your left." Gazzy whispers, and I brush my hand against his to let him know I'm grateful. I faint to my right and kick to my left, and am reward by the sound of a defeated eraser falling.

"What's going on, guys?" I shout, wanting to at least know what's wrong with Max.

"There's a ton of blood, Ig. Her side is slashed open, worse than when Ari hurt me on the beach. She's unconscious, super pale, and her pulse is way too fast. Her body's going into overdrive to survive." Fang informs me.

"Will Max be okay, Fang?" Nudge asks, her voice slightly muffled. I assume it's because she's fighting.

I brace myself to hear Fang's lies, to hear him say that of course Max will be fine, she's just a little hurt. I don't want to hear those lies, I want to know the truth. What does he think, honestly, because I need to prepare myself.

But Fang doesn't reply at all, which is somehow much, much worse.

Fang doesn't like to lie, so if he isn't saying yes and stretching it that yes, she will be fine, eventually, it means he thinks she might not be fine.

It means he thinks that Max might die.

…..

Phew. Super duper long fight scenes. There will be a lot of fighting in the next couple chapters, so don't expect too much fluff. Hope you guys liked it! Review :)