Hey dudes and dudettes. Usual stuff. Not much to say, so let's get on with it yeah? Review please.
Chapter 2: Long Time, No See.
Soaring through the sky, my flock and I were cruising at a speed, not that fast, but not that slow either. I could always used my warp speed, and travel faster than them, but I had to wait for the little ones to catch up. It was honestly starting to piss me off. We needed to go faster. Like, way faster than this. Fang's life was in danger, and it seemed like I was the only one aware of it.
"Max…" Nudge nudged me with the tip of her wing. (Nudge nudged, get it? Never mind.)
"I'm hungry. Could we stop for a while? We've been flying for five hours straight, and Angel wants to eat too, so do I, and I bet everyone wants to eat, so could we jus-"
"Okay! I heard you the first time. We'll land there." I literally screamed, and you if Gasman could hear my voice like two wingspans behind, it were pretty loud for Nudge. Easy? Try screaming when you're flying at 80 miles per hour. Head first for five hours, let's see you try that.
Nudge recoiled at my sudden outburst of rage, and distanced herself from me. Even Gasman and Iggy had stopped their chattering at the back about some stupid video game. How could they even think about video games when Fang was going to die? How could everyone still be so relaxed? How could anyone still think about god-damn food?
Swooping down and landing at the clearing, I sat down on the ground, my back against my teammates. No one had said a single word, and I hoped it would stay that way. But it didn't.
"What's wrong with you Max? You didn't need to scream at Nudge. Yeah I know about how irritating she gets, but all she wanted was food." Iggy spoke up behind me, and I could feel Angel at my side, waving her hand, signaling actions to get Iggy to shut his big mouth. Too late boy.
"What's wrong?" I spun around, tears already streaming down my face, my head ready to snap.
"What's wrong? Fang is going to DIE. And he's all alone, all by himself, so we're supposed to be taking tea-parties every time, and we talk about Halo and all that kind of bullshit? You tell me what's wrong Iggy!" I had shouted literally so loud, I felt the trees around us shake a little bit. Hopefully that was the end of the argument, but too bad Max, nothing ever ends well for you.
You see, I forgot to mention, that though Iggy is blind, he never backs down in what he believes in. In this case, he believed I was a spoilt brat, venting my pent up four years of anger on everyone around me. What could I say? He was right.
"Look Max, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but Nudge didn't deserve that. And you got something against Halo?" Iggy explained, while I spun around, arms crossed, facing the other direction. Then, the bombshell dropped.
"Max, Fang LEFT us. He abandoned us. He didn't care. He took off, so why should we go save him? Yeah, sure I'll be sad that he's dead, but face it; he wanted to leave, so why get him back?" I could hear Angel hang her head in despair after hearing Iggy say that. Smart girl.
"Because he is our teammate! He had to do this for the flock's survival, he's been attacked by Flyboys every single fucking day, and you tell me how many fights did we get into this year. Not even four Iggy, and when he's in trouble, you go all chicken shit on me? So, you're right, he left us, but I'm sorry, I don't have such a cruel heart to leave a friend to die, even when I haven't seen him for four years! If you feel like going home, pack up, and leave. I sure don't want to have a liability around, wouldn't you Iggy." Okay, I have to admit, that was a little harsh, but still…
"Fuck you Maximum." Iggy packed his food, and grabbed his gear. I saw him turn around and prepare to jump, but he stood there, as if wanting an apology.
"I miss Fang as much as you do. Don't forget that." With that, he took off, and began to fly away. I thought he was going home, but he was flying in the direction that we were supposed to go. As if on cue, the flock packed up, and we all headed up to join Iggy. So much for tea parties. We had just one more state to cross, and we would be in Grand Canyon land.
Hang in there Fang, I'm coming.
FANG'S POV:
Unfurling my wings, I prepared to jump, after day two of spending some 'soul searching' that would last for the next 16 years. Leaving my oldest flock had already hit me hard enough, and now, I left my 'older' flock to fend for themselves, without a leader. At least Max could still take care of the old team without me.
I was in Arizona, and if you're wondering, I was being attacked by Flyboys every day. Every single day, they would increase in number, and every day I got hit worse and worse. My injuries healed pretty quickly, but my enemies come quickly as well. The sky was turning dark, and I was resting in one of the crooks on the Grand Canyon. My broken ribcage was holding up, all I needed was a good night's sleep. I turned my laptop on, and checked my blog (don't ask me how come there's Internet in the Grand Canyon). Checking my latest post, which was about stuff, and Max, I saw that there were already 2 million visitors to that.
I don't need two million, I just need five. Or just that 'one'.
Shaking that sentimental thought out of my head, I closed the laptop, and chucked it in my Dakine backpack. It was black, and my favorite part of it was, that it had a golden interior. Gold reminds me of...gold bars, gold coins, all things rich and good. Fine and Max. Just Max.
I wasn't lying when I said she was in my mind 24/7, because she really was. Every single day, I thought of her, and how she would look like when we finally met each other again. Would she bring another handsome guy that could fly as well, and say something like,
"Hey Fang, meet Handsome-Guy-Who-Didn't-Abandon-Me-And-Break-My-Heart. He's my boyfriend, and he proposed to me while we were flying together. I mean, how sweet is that? You would never do that right? Wanna know why? Cause you left me duh. I'd thought you'd be smarter now."
Ugh. See how negative I am? Some things never change I guess. I love her, and I miss her, but she's never going to see me again. So will I. Max was everywhere in my head, she was even in my dreams! Just last night, I dreamt of her flying beside me, determination and bravery on her face, before she swooped over and held my hand, before giving me that gorgeous smile of hers. When I woke up, I found myself all alone, in pitch black darkness. Even the fire had gone out.
Of course, what I hadn't said in the blog was that my mission wasn't going after my parents at all. I had long given up in hopes of finding them. My new goal was to find out why Angel had told me I was the first to die, and see if I could put a stop to that. I couldn't die now, not before seeing her one last time. She was everything to me.
My recent scouring across the Itex buildings in the South of the U.S had only led me to conclude that I was somewhat linked to Max, but in a positive or negative way, I don't know. The puzzle pieces that I had only told me that without me, the flock wasn't the same. Yet, stronger or weaker, I didn't know. Half-hoping that their hearts grew harder and stronger, I flew to Arizona, and went into hiding. My old flock couldn't follow, this was a personal mission, and I had to do it alone. We parted company at the beach, where Max first cut herself, and where we shared our first kiss. God, the taste of her lips, it was all… Max. Deprived of her for so long, hallucinations haunted me, day and night. I would occasionally smile at myself, when happy memories of me and her caught my mind, but soon the smiles would fade, when reality set in.
She wasn't here.
Clipping my backpack to my belt buckle, I leaned against the wall, tucked in my knees, and began to drift off to sleep. Sleep was my favorite time of the day, because it was the only time where Max was with me. Eye-lids heavy, I let them close, and I was sound asleep soon after that.
Max….
MAX'S POV:
I never slept much nowadays, the longest which I could remember was this year, when I had been so dead tired of crying, because the newspaper reported a dead avian-human hybrid body found at the top of the Empire State Building. It turned out to be a hoax, and that really ticked me off.
Taking first and second watch didn't seem like much at all. I bet if I wasn't forced to, I could take watches till morning. No biggie. The New Mexican night was beautiful, stars everywhere, the crescent moon bright. I knew if Fang was beside me, he would tell me about the constellations, and what each one meant. I found it irritating once in a while, and now I felt so bad about it. I wished I had listened to him. Maybe I wouldn't get my chance to anymore.
Sniffing back tears, I did a quick 360 to see if my flock was asleep. Everyone was, so I pulled out the pocket which held the picture of Fang and I, when we went on our first date together, before it got trashed by stupid Flyboys. This picture had been taken secretly, thanks to my dearest flock, but I was glad they did. Who knew it could come in handy one day. And hurtful.
Folding it neatly, and placing it back in my pocket, I tried to fight back the tears.
Maximum, don't fight the pain. It's good to let go sometimes.
Get the fuck outta my head Voice! I really don't need you right now…
Fang will be fine. If you're quick enough, that is.
Ohh, thanks for the reassurance. I'm glad we had this talk, it really made me feel better.
Max, just let go. You will feel much better after that.
Go away. Now.
Just like that, the Voice shut up. I wished he would listen to me more of the time. Rubbing my hand across my hair, I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and roll down my cheeks. They burned, maybe because they were filled to the brim with hurt and pain that I had to hold in for so long. Soon, I was sobbing, call it wailing if you want. The pain hurt so badly, and I couldn't control myself any longer. In frustration, I snatched a nearby rock, and threw it into the woods. It made a loud crack sound, and soon, I could hear my flock beginning to wake up and stir. Shit, they couldn't see me like this. Not like this.
"Max, are you okay?" Gasman asked, his hand on my shoulder. He looked at me, before looking at the floor. Picking up the picture of me and Fang, he immediately understood the reason for me being so upset. Darn picture dropped out.
Five minutes or so later, I wasn't the only one crying. We had a huge sob fest, and we hadn't had one this major in like two years. Angel and Nudge were the worst, followed by me and Gasman. Iggy was crying, but he kept his lips pressed tightly together, so that he wouldn't make a sound. That was when I realized, I needed Fang, and the flock needed Fang. Iggy was right about Fang leaving us, but we needed him back, and though no one wanted to admit it, I knew all of us realized that the day Fang left, something in us died. Nothing changed; we just went empty somewhere, only we kept quiet, and our emotions and feelings to ourselves. Fang wasn't just a teammate, he was a best friend, a brother, and a leader.
I wished I was strong enough to say that he was my boyfriend.
After what seemed like hours of just crying our hearts out, Iggy took over my watch, and motioned me and the rest to go back to bed. I looked at my watch, pressed the light button and the faint dim showed a time of 4AM. Good, three hours of sleep was more than enough for me. I shut my eyes, wiped the tears off using my sleeve, and went to dreamland, hoping I would meet Fang there.
Hold on Fang..We'll see you soon.
Soon, I found myself awake, in a white room, where everything was plain white. I got off the ground, and looked around for anything or anyone, but I couldn't see anything. I started walking, towards where I didn't know, all I knew was that this room was humongous because I wasn't going anywhere. Then, I heard something familiar.
"Max?"
My heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be. No way, it wasn't possible!
"Max? Where are you?"
"Fang? Fang is that you?"I picked up my pace, trying to find where the voice came from.
"Max? Where are you? Max? Max?" I had no doubt about it now, that was definitely Fang's voice, something that I would never forget, not in this lifetime, not forever.
"Fang! Fang!" Then I saw a splotch of black, a few hundred meters away. Fang always wore black. I ran towards the black patch, and it seemed like it was running towards me as well. As I came closer and closer, it became clear to me.
The black figure was Fang. I had found Fang. I reached out towards him, but my hand just slipped past through him. Shockingly, I tried to grab him again, and I was so sure that I passed through him another time.
"Fang..Fang no no no! Fang!"I was desperate now, my arms swinging wildly, trying to grasp him. I missed again and again and again. I was crying now, water flooded my eyes. I couldn't believe it…
"Max…Max…it's okay. I love you Maximum." Fang leaned down, and said those words, looking at me the whole time. He stroked my hair, and I could feel it. He could touch me, but I couldn't, my hands just slipped right past his entire being. God, I longed for his touch.
"I love you too Fang…I love you so much…"
Fang leaned in, and closed his eyes, then, I felt it. I felt his lips, his taste, and his love. I felt Fang kissing me! Closing my eyes, I savored everything I could, kissing him as hard as I could.
When the kiss broke, I opened my eyes reluctantly, and I saw him. But he was...fading.
"Fang? What's wrong? What's happening to you?" I stared in shock as Fang's figure slowly faded, disappearing slowly. He was disappearing into thin air. His figure flicked off and on like a switch, and then, when he was almost gone, I felt him caress my cheek.
"I'll always be here Maximum. I'll never be far away. Never."
With that line said, he flickered for one last time, before he was gone. I turned around and around, looking frantically for a black patch or splotch or whatever. I needed him, I wanted him, and he was just standing in front of me a moment ago, seconds later, he was gone!
"Fang! Fang! Come back.. Please…I can't do this alone... Fang I need you.. Fang!"
Then, I opened my eyes and sat up immediately, four pairs of eyes looking at me intently. I had been dreaming again. It was always a nightmare now, but I could never get used to it. Angel just gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, before she went back to lie down. Soon, everyone did the same. Iggy was outside the tent, and since he could practically hear things so clearly, it didn't even matter that he couldn't see. In fact, he was probably more alert than us when we were on watch, because he focused everything onto one sense, and that was his hearing. Gasman patted him on the back to signal that it was his turn, and soon Iggy crept into the empty space beside me.
Turning on my side to face the wall, I tried to go back to sleep again.
FANG'S POV:
Waking up to the heat of the Arizonian sun wasn't quite a good alarm clock. Even though I was sheltered under the ledge from above, the glare was intense. Giving my eyes some time to adjust, I checked to see that all my gear was in place, before I took the map out to plan out today. The Itex headquarters in Arizona had been destroyed, much like many others, but the Flyboys kept increasing in numbers. Where were they hiding?
Zzzzzzzzzzzz.
Talking about Flyboys, I heard their distinct droning sound which they emitted every time they flew. Carrying my back-pack, I jumped upwards and swooped downwards, into the valleys below. The Flyboys were strong, and they were fast, but given their heavy and bulky built, they could never be as nimble as me in the air. No one beats Nightwing right? Comic books rule!
The Flyboys were following me alright, but they definitely were having a hard time keeping up. Jutting rocks and narrow corners were just what I needed to throw them out of the air, and the Grand Canyon was full of these obstacles. Don't you just love Mother Nature?
Flying in zigzag patterns, I had learnt, made the Flyboys confused. They were wired to focus on the target, something like a lock-on in a jet. But you can't lock-on to something you can't get your sights on, so that tip came in real handy most of the time. With my raptor vision, I could see a dead end, and that was just what I needed. Slowing down on purpose, the Flyboys got closer, and I could see the dead end approaching.
Just as I was about to become bird food, I curled my body upwards, and flapped as hard as I could. The horizontal force was switched to becoming vertical, and I pushed myself upwards, my face just inches away from the rock. Hearing crashing sounds, I didn't even bother to look at the destroyed Flyboys.
It was always times like this where I missed Max the most. If she had been around, she would usually give me that look of hers, telling me to never do something that dangerous again. Of course, I wouldn't listen to her, and even now I won't, but it was the concern that tugged me. No one had been concerned about me for 4 years, and it wasn't going to change for a very long time. If that is, I get a 'long time'.
Changing my flight plan, I went recon, searching for any clues in the Grand Canyon. Itex was known to be 'adaptable' in their plans, and me and my former flock found bases disguised in mountains, underwater, all sorts of places that had space, Itex could use it. The Grand Canyon definitely had lots of space. Maybe they could have dug into the rock, and created a base inside of it. Who knew? Itex being Itex, they were unpredictable. Just one of the many other things that I hated about this corporation. Join the list.
After flying for over two hours, another Flyboy attack happened again. This time, there were hundreds of them, all around me. They literally appeared out of nowhere. It couldn't be happening, and to make things worse, they had guns. Max never let us used guns.
Shit.
Understatement of the year. The situation I was in right now was a deep pile of shit. All dumped over me.
"You will surrender now." One of the Flyboys mechanical voices spoke, the droning almost deafening me.
"Kiss. My. Ass." I charged at them, one against a hundred of these metal losers. They came at me, the nearest getting his head kicked off cause he was too slow to avoid a roundhouse from yours truly. Moving on to the next victim, I ripped his head out, (did I mention my strength increased as I got older?) and ducked several attacks. But it was impossible, they were everywhere. Ducking a punch meant getting a kick, and ducking a kick meant getting punched. I was surrounded. And to make matters worse, I forgot totally that they had guns, only until the first bullet got stuck in my left forearm.
When the bullet landed, the Flyboys stopped attacking with their fists; instead they flew around, trying to puncture me with another bullet wound. I dodged here and there, but soon more wounds appeared, and I was losing my mobility. Retreat was the only option.
Tucking my wings together, I dive-bombed downwards, careful not to hit any rocks, or the ground even. Flying almost near the ground, I flapped harder, and tried to out run them. Thinking I was victorious after the distinct Flyboys sound was gone, I slowed down, and started looking for a place to painstakingly take out the bullets one by one. Finding shelter under a cave, I crept inside to see that it was unoccupied. But that was a stupid question, who would actually live in a cave in the middle of the Grand Canyon? Nobody! Except me, Fang, the stupid loner. I don't even have a home.
Limping, I fell to the floor after my legs gave away. I surveyed the damage, and it was pretty bad. I caught two little buggers in my right knee and calf, one in my right arm, two in my left and one in my right chest.
"Aaargh! Fuck!" Digging my hand into my right chest, I felt around the wound for my bullet. After finding it, I caught it with my thumb and my index, and pulled the damn thing out. It hurt like hell! And I had four more to go. Damn!
I shall not describe the rest, because it hurt as well, and I cursed as well. Getting Band-Aids, I wrapped my wounds. End of story. Lying down against the wall, I closed my eyes, and I saw Max. Again, it was Max. I saw her gold hair, streaking beautifully, the wind blowing from the right, her eyes trained on the horizon as she stood on the top of a tall building. Her wings were tucked in, and she looked like an angel. Her golden brown skin radiated in the sunlight, and her head turned to look at me. She stared for a moment, before she gave me a smile. Her angelic, beautiful smile. I missed it more than I would ever admit. Shaking my head to get rid of these thoughts, I opened my eyes, and reluctantly got to my feet. Running of the ground, I flapped my wings twice, and I was up in the air.
Barely less than ten minutes of flying, I felt this sharp pain in my right wing, and it hurt so badly. Turning to look at it, I saw that it was slashed, blood gushing out its side. My flight immediately turned unbalanced, and I crashed to the ground, sand cutting my face and getting into my eye. It wasn't possible, I couldn't have heard anything and still get hurt.
When I finally opened my eyes, they widened in horror at the figure I saw, standing right in front of me.
"Hello, Fang." A smirk on his face, his bloodied blade hung and stuck out from this forearm. An evil grin spread across his face, his eyes delighting in my misery.
"Long time no see, Omega."
Max's POV:
After waking up later than scheduled, the flock and I passed Phoenix an hour ago. Our speed was good; we were making good progress, till…
Max, you need to hurry.
Can't you see what I'm doing?
You are not fast enough.
I'm trying my best here! You're not totally helpful.
Fang will die if you don't hurry. Use your speed to your advantage. Having one person as backup is better than having none at all.
As much as I'd hate to admit it, the Voice was right. We were clocking good time, but we had to be faster. I needed to be faster.
"Look guys, the Voice told me to hurry. Fang is in trouble, and I have to go save him now. Can you guys catch up with me later?"
"Sure. Right guys?" Angel was the first so speak, and soon everyone nodded. I hoped she didn't use her mind control power again.
Go Max, we'll be fine. Angel spoke to me through my mind.
Take care of everyone. With that, I closed my eyes, relaxed myself, before opening them, and I flapped harder, till suddenly, my speed increased thrice, and I was going at nearly three hundred miles per hour. Minutes later, the Grand Canyon was in sight. Now all I needed was to find….Fang? Omega? What was he doing here?
My raptor vision, focusing on the pair. Fang wasn't the one standing up, Omega was, and his right arm had a knife all bloody. I looked at Fang, and I saw that his wing had torn apart. This wasn't helping me suck my tears at all. Just seeing Fang again made me want to cry my guts out, and seeing him about to die, and me not being to do anything about it, made things worse.
Then, I heard sounds, droning sounds, and when I slowed down, hundreds of Flyboys had appeared in front of me. They were buying time, so Fang could be finished! I plowed my way through the first wave of Flyboys, rage, hurt and anger all fueling my fighting fuel. But I was getting hurt as well. These Flyboys had guns, and they were spraying them all over the place.
Think Maximum…think!
Got it! I ducked a few bullets, whizzing sounds flying past my ears. Grabbing hold of two guns from downed Flyboys that lay beaten on the ground, I pressed the trigger, and the machine sprayed bullets everywhere. I was mowing them through, and soon, the remaining Flyboys had been destroyed. But not with a price, a price that I couldn't bother the least. Not right now. Not till I saved Fang.
But I was too late.
