A/N: Mwuahaha! The fight scene (and new power) will be here quite soon. But the real reason why I'm laughing is that I'm so dang relieved that the story, believe it or not, should be finished here soon. I've been writing this for a while, after all (eleven days from now marking the one-year anniversary), and it will be good to finish my first chapter-story. So, remember, criticism and reviews are always welcome!
They had just entered Goessel and were regretting their choice to bring Total along.
"You aren't acting like yourselves!" Total continued. "You must tell what's the matter immediately. Aside from the fact that Max, Gazzy, and Angel have been kidnapped."
"How do you know that's not the problem?" Iggy asked.
Total rolled his eyes and huffed, "We've all been kidnapped before. Whether on a rescue mission or being in need of rescuing, none of you have ever acted like this. You're so quiet and serious, like someone's just died or something."
All three bird-teens sighed in irritation. It was true that they'd managed to keep their calm for several hours, but now the matters at hand were refusing to be ignored.
"Someone could die soon, Total," Iggy pointed out. Nudge and Fang were being so kind as to leave all the talking to Iggy, despite how short-tempered they knew he was. "Sure, they've been wanting to capture us alive, but that could only be to run a few more experiments and then to dissect our fresh brains. We're acting like this because we're all-too-aware of the fact that the whitecoats might be dangling a deadline over their heads."
And even though Iggy was no mind-reader, he was confident that the same thought passed through the minds of all three bird-teens: Especially Gazzy.
None of them had been able to forget his latest vision.
The worst part was that they didn't know how and when he was supposed to die.
Total had silenced, and Iggy was thankful for it. He closed his blind eyes and tried to lose himself in the world of flight. The wind smoothing itself around his lean body; his strawberry-blonde hair being blow backwards; his powerful wings manipulating the wind to its advantage with each beat. This world was so relaxing, so predictable, so controllable.
The real world wasn't. Unfortunately, the real world wasn't letting his mind go.
It was times like this that Iggy hated his knowledge and deductive abilities. He remembered his conversation with Gazzy, which had taken place only the day before.
"You have to let me help you!"
"No. No, I can't. If I do, you might die, too."
That meant that Iggy and Gazzy weren't in the same place when this happened, right? Iggy would be in harm's way if he was with Gazzy in a situation like that, and of course Gazzy would warn Iggy. But he hadn't, meaning that Iggy hadn't been nearby. In fact, it meant that his knowledge of Gazzy's vision would probably affect him leaving Gazzy.
Also, what had been with that weird mind-attack Gazzy had had right before the Eraser battle? It had been related to his prescience, but it hadn't been a vision itself. And the way he'd gone running after Nudge, like he'd somehow known about the Eraser attack.
He had known. Which meant that he'd had a vision about it.
An Eraser attack wasn't involved in any vision Gazzy had told them about.
That meant that it had been a part of the last one.
Suddenly, Iggy was feeling sick. Gazzy's vision had taken place back there at that battle against the Erasers, he was certain of it. That couldn't mean…god, that didn't…
Was Gazzy already dead?
Feeling his mind whirling and his stomach churning, Iggy made a sudden beeline for the ground. He heard the others call after him, could hear their wings beating as they chased him. He ignored that, though. All that mattered was the fact that Gazzy was probably already dead.
Iggy's landing was more of a crash-landing than it was anything else. He ended up on his hands and knees.
Iggy had always been short-tempered, but the rage suddenly rapidly swelling inside of him scared him. All he knew at that moment was that Gazzy, his brother, best friend, and partner-in-crime, was dead. That and Iggy would kill the one that did it. He would butcher the Eraser. He would slaughter the Eraser.
His hand were suddenly feeling swollen. They itched terribly, and they were feeling unnaturally hot.
"What's wrong?" Nudge's frightened voice sounded in his ear. He felt her worried hands, one on his shoulder and one on his back. He yanked himself away from her, trying to push himself to his feet. He lost his balance, and Fang caught him.
When Iggy tried to wrestle away from Fang, Fang's grip tightened, and soon Iggy found himself pinned against the ground. "Calm down," Fang ordered, trying to sound stern, though Iggy could hear the worry in his voice. "Tell us what's wrong, Iggy. Tell us."
"What's wrong?" a new voice suddenly intervened. All three bird-teens and the bird-dog immediately froze. "What isn't wrong?"
Fang was off of Iggy and had yanked the red-haired young man to his feet in an instant. Iggy felt Nudge's presence on his other side, and he didn't doubt that Total was by her feet.
"Bane," Fang growled.
Bane laughed, and suddenly Iggy felt like he was bursting at the seams with rage. He wasn't just going to kill the Eraser that killed Gazzy. He was going to kill as many as he could get his hands on.
Starting with Bane.
