Chapter 1: Max
The world is a pretty fucked up place.
Max knew that and she had a feeling that the girl in front of her knew that too. Blood dripped slowly from her nose as she staggered back. She wore an obnoxiously colorful dress and had brown hair that was lighter at the tips. Something moved behind the girl and Max flicked her eyes to it. 'It' was a girl with long red hair in what looked like jean shorts and a white t-shirt with colored stripes. Normal kids.
"Up and away," Max said, turning to her flock.
There was a small gasp from the girls as Max turned around and she cringed. One of the girls stepped up and put her hand in the space in between Max's wings. She flung out her wings and the rest of the flock did as well. They took off, leaving the girls on the ground, staring up at them.
"Are you sure that we should leave them there?" Fang asked, turning his head to look Max directly in her eyes.
"What do you suggest we do, kill them? We aren't white coats and there haven't been any sightings of Erasers in a while."
"Wait!" One of the girls shouted, "please wait!"
"Don't," Fang warned, but Max turned around, mostly just to spite him.
"What?" Max snapped.
The girl with ridiculous colors held out her hand and rocks started floating.
"She's like us," Nudge breathed, "a mutant."
"El isn't a mutant!" the red-haired girl yelled.
Nudge held out her hand and the metal bracelet on the redhead's wrist flew to her hand. Nudge raised her eyebrows and smirked. The other girl, El, raised her hand and the bracelet flew to her. She smirked at Nudge.
"Oh shit," Total muttered.
The redhead and El exchanged a look and El spoke up, "Come with us, I think we should talk."
"So is someone going to tell me what exactly is going on?" Iggy said, crossing his arms.
The girls on the ground started walking deeper into the woods, the redhead leading the way.
"We're going?" Fang asked, glancing at Max.
"I think we should," Max said, "any objections?"
"So what happened to the lay low plan?" Gazzy smirked.
"I thought we abandoned that after the football game," Max snapped.
The flock followed, twisting in between the trees until the girls stopped at a cabin in the middle of the woods.
"What about Hopper?" the redhead hissed.
"He should be at work," El said, motioning the flock to land.
Once they were inside, El grabbed the Eggos that she'd been saving for Mike and her, and started putting them in the toaster. Max watched El carefully as she buttered the waffles. The flock stood near the doorway, stiffly.
The redhead girl looked over, "Any of you know how to butter waffles?"
"If it's food," Gazzy said, "Iggy can help."
Within minutes of Iggy starting to butter, there were enough waffles to feed everyone. The flock ate their waffles quickly and stood awkwardly.
"Were you a test tube baby too?" Angel asked, speaking for the first time since they landed.
"No," El muttered but didn't explain.
The redhead girl kept glancing out the window, "When's Hopper getting back?"
Max tensed, "Hopper?"
"He takes care of El," the redhead explained.
"He shouldn't be back for a while," El said.
There was another awkward silence as Max racked her brain for something to say.
"Didn't you say we had to talk?" Fang pointed out.
El nodded and Fang crossed his arms. El walked into another room and brought back a newspaper article. It was headed the picture of Iggy that had been on the news. There was an interview with his parents.
"I hear paper," Iggy scowled, "will someone tell me what's on it?"
"It's an interview with your parents," Max told him and he stiffened a bit.
"Where did you get that?" Nudge asked, pushing Gazzy aside to get a look at the article.
El pointed to the couch, "It was in there."
Max and Fang exchanged a look, "In the couch?"
El brought up her hand and sent the couch skidding backward. Under the couch was a trapdoor, she yanked it open and stuck her head in the opening. There were a few soft bumps, then El came up, bringing a cardboard box with her. That box was labeled "Lab"