As an apology for not updating in a while I have brought you an EXTRA LONG chapter! This is one of my biggest chapters yet, and I really hope you like it! I am dedicating this chapter to my friend, Dominic, who inspired me to write the words in which you are about to read =)
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride because JP owns it!! However, Dominic is the property of ME. All mine. Mwahahaha!
Now on with the show!
As usual, I needed to size up the situation before acting. "And how are you going to do that, exactly?" I placed my hands on my hips.
Dominic's smile didn't falter for a second. "Well, come on into my lair and I will show you."
Ok, so that was a little strange. He gestured to a door on the far wall.
Just to be cautious, I gave the door a thorough inspection. It appeared to be made out of metal and very thick. If we needed to escape for any reason, we would need Nudge's powers to unlock it. It wouldn't be the fastest mode of escaping, but it would have to do.
I walked over to Iggy and tapped the back of his hand twice "Just be on alert, okay?"
He nodded and everyone followed Dominic to the door. He twisted the big lock and the door swung open, revealing a long, white hallway. This did not look pretty. We had gone from that zany art studio to this in just a second. Everything was so white and…ugh…the familiar antiseptic smell was making me nauseous. I looked behind me to check on the rest of the group. They all had similar looks of disgust on their faces as our heels clicked on the spotless white tile.
When we got to the end, Dominic suddenly made a left turn and knocked on a door of one of the rooms. The doors weren't labeled so I had no clue what we were in for.
"Just play along." He said. He winked at us just as a horde of whitecoats burst through the door and started grabbing us by the arms.
We started kicking and flailing, doing anything to get out of their reach. But they had needles, and big ones. Probably filled with something to knock us out. "Guys! Guys, stop!" I suddenly yelled.
My flock stood still and looked at me in confusion. The whitecoats stopped what they were doing, too, holding their giant needles threateningly near to us.
Angel, can you tell everyone that we need to stay calm? We're not here to escape; we're here to get Ella. Dominic said to play along, so let's do it. Maybe these whitecoats can take us to her,
I quickly relayed to Angel, and watched as looks of understanding came over everyone's faces as she passed the message on through their minds.
"Ok, ok!" I said to the scientists as I backed up slowly. "Take us where you need to, but there's no reason to put us to sleep so I would suggest you put those big ugly things away." I warned. "And I don't mean your stupid little needles." I added for effect.
They lowered the needles down carefully. "Come with us." One of them said. He was pretty tall, with lots of freckles and messy brown hair. However, he was also skinny as a beanpole, so he wouldn't be too hard to take down if need be. He and his cohorts led us into the next room.
As soon as I we stepped inside, I knew it was a mistake. There were about a dozen M-Geeks lining the walls and six cots. That meant one cot and two robots for each of us.
***********
Narrator's POV
Ella sat on the metal bench in her small holding room, clutching her head in her hands. Whatever they had used to sedate her was having some pretty nasty aftereffects.
She slowly opened her eyes against the bright light and looked towards the door of the room. There was a small glass window that showed her everything that was going on outside. From where she was sitting, it was hard to tell. With a groan, she lifted herself with shaky legs and used a hand to get a grip on the cold wall. She slowly and carefully walked to the window and pressed her face against it.
There were two guards on either side of the door. A "whitecoat", as Max called them, was talking animatedly, almost excitedly to them, as they nodded in agreement. When they noticed her they glared, but didn't try to shoo her away.
"Where is Max?" She whispered to herself. Max could never let her just rot away in this cell! She had to be coming for her soon, she told herself.
Her vision was starting to get blurry so she practically crawled on her hands and knees back to the metal bench. She heard footsteps leading away from the door, meaning the two guards and the whitecoat must have left. That didn't mean much, considering the door was most definitely locked.
She sighed, and crawled up in a ball, trying to escape the pain. Her body was feeling heavier and heavier every second. The medicine must be flowing through her bloodstream at an even faster rate now. She sighed heavily. Just earlier she had been telling Max how jealous she was of her life style. How could anyone like living like this! Being treated like an animal was not her idea of fun. Was this how Max felt? Like her wings made her feel less human and less in control of herself? No doubt, they were freakin awesome, but was there even a reason to feel jealous in the first place? Too many questions that may never be answered if she didn't get out of here…
She nearly jumped when she heard a scratching noise on the floor. With an almost mighty heave, she was facing the door again rather than the wall. She squinted her eyes to make out the object that was being pushed underneath it on the shiny white tile. It looked like a note. Her eyes darted to the window above, and a flash of black hair came and went in the blink of an eye.
She bent to pick up the small piece of paper. It was written on some sort of handmade mermaid stationery, and the paint in which the words were written was still drying. She picked it up cautiously and stumbled back to the bench. In big, dripping, letters it read:
Ella! Your sister and friends have come to save you! Did you think they would leave you here?! Hellz no!! So anyways, I am going to help by BLASTING all of these bad guys with my super powers!
-Dominic
Just as she finished reading it, she was surprised by an M-Geek who burst into the room followed by two scientists.
"Special Unit Number Two." The robot droned. "We have come for you."
One of the whitecoats approached her, and instantly stuck her with a large needle. As she felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier she had one thought in her mind… Please help me, Dominic, whoever you are. And Max, don't let them hurt me…
*************
Max POV
I looked around frantically, trying to see an escape route, but as far as I could tell we were completely trapped. I shot a desperate look at Fang and he looked at me apologetically. Almost in a defeated way.
I reminded myself of the plan: Play along. I just hope this didn't involve any of us getting hurt.
Angel started gesturing to the others to lie on the cots instead of fighting back, and they did. The anger on their faces was still present, though.
The skinny whitecoat laughed heartily. "Look! They are behaving! Down without a fight." He grinned at his accomplices.
As I grudgingly lay my head down on the hard surface of the rolling cot I snarled (in a VERY unladylike fashion) at him. "Don't think this will be happening often." I gritted out through my teeth as they strapped us down and rolled us down the hallway. They didn't take the time to be gentle by any means. My wrists were starting to bruise from the heavy latches around them and my stomach lurched as we jerkily turned corners and violently wheeled down long hallways.
At last, they brought us to another small room and deposited us nicely on some big comfy beds. NOT! No, actually they just dumped us like garbage bags on the floor.
Then they slammed the door behind us and left us to one big, empty room.
"Well…at least they didn't leave us any birdseed this time." Gazzy said to break the silence.
We all laughed half-heartedly. We still had our eyes on the prize: finding Ella and kicking some butt.
Iggy dragged himself over to a corner and sighed loudly. "I hope she's okay." He announced to no one in particular. We all nodded in agreement even though we knew he couldn't see us. But he knew how we felt about this situation without needing to see the looks on our faces.
"Max," Angel suddenly whispered, " Someone is coming. But their thoughts sound like they want to help us."
"It's probably Dominic…" Fang muttered bitterly from his corner.
What was that about? I looked to Angel for help but she just shrugged.
I looked over to where he was sitting but all I saw was a grey wall. "Fang, stop using your invisibility! It's getting creepy."
He reappeared slowly, the frown on his face the last and most noticeable thing to fade back into existence. " I can do whatever the hell I want, Max."
Ouch. That stung. What's his deal?
"O-okay." There he goes again, making me stutter! I think he's the only person in the world who can do that.
Before we could finish the conversation, the door swung open, proving Fang right. It was Dominic.
"Howdy there!" He exclaimed as he stepped into the room.
We all looked at each other with similar looks of "Who let the loony in?" He seemed like a really nice guy, but it was hard to tell whether he was putting on an act.
He's not.
The Voice suddenly rang in my head. Well, folks! There's your answer, straight from the crazy voice in my head. I waited but the Voice didn't say anything else as usual.
Fang stood up to stand next to me in a strange, guarded sort of way. However, Dominic's huge smile didn't falter a bit. Fang and I both looked at him curiously as a way of asking what he wanted.
"Oh-right! I'm such a silly hamster! I forgot why I came in here!" He chuckled.
I cocked my hip and raised an eyebrow. "Well we were sort of hoping you came in here to rescue us." I admitted.
Dominic slapped his forehead jokingly. "True, true! You're on the right track!"
"Look man, could you stop beating around the bush and playing these little mind games. We need to find Max's sister and get out of here, CAN YOU HELP US DO THAT?" Fang countered, the frown on his face returning and his voice rising dangerously.
There was a mischievous glint in Dominic's eyes as he replied. "Oh, yes, yes I can." He suddenly grabbed my hand and an uncomfortable look passed between Fang and I.
"I've told everyone that I will be needing the two of you for experiments, so away we go!" He grabbed Fang's arm and dragged us both out into the hallway.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I ripped myself from his grasp and Fang did the same. "What about the rest of my flock?"
Dominic rolled his eyes teasingly. "They'll be perfectly fine! I've taken care of everything. Come on, now!" He led the way down another hallway and we followed him curiously.
"In here, please." He instructed, leading us to yet another small room.
"So this is your 'lair'?" Fang scoffed, inspecting the room full of art supplies and tables.
But once again, Dominic seemed to be completely relaxed. "This is where I do all of my art. Mr. C wants to keep up with the pretenses that this place is an art studio, so I go along with it."
I couldn't help my curiosity. "But why? Why do you help him if you know he's a monster who likes torturing the innocent? You seem like a nice guy, I don't understand."
He looked as if he were contemplating whether to tell us or not. After what seemed like hours, he sat down at one of the tables and gestured for us to do the same.
His face suddenly lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. "Do you guys wanna hear a story?" He asked excitedly.
Fang and I looked at each other with our eyebrows raised. "Uh…why not?" We're only trying to save my sister here; it's not story time! I thought. Yet somehow, I felt like this "story" he wanted to tell us might give us some valuable information.
Dominic took a deep, dramatic breath. "Well it's like this…"
Flashback
10 Years Earlier
A tall, dark haired scientist walked into the lab to check on the progress of his latest experiment. "Dominic, how's the vile coming along?" He asked.
Dominic looked up from his work and smiled at him. "Almost done dad! I really think I'm getting the hang of this science stuff." He held up the vile proudly. It contained the special red liquid that would be injected into the experiment they called "Iggy" later that day.
His father clapped him on the back. "Good going, son! But you do know that being a scientist isn't your destiny? You can't live here forever."
"But, why not?" Dominic said in surprise. "Everyone else gets to stay! Why not me?"
"Well…the people who live here are one of two things: a scientist, or an experiment. Someone of value. Your test results weren't good enough to make you a potential scientist here at Mr. C's laboratory, and you don't exactly have any…erm…special abilities worth studying. Which is why I think you should pursue an art career! Besides, you're only fifteen, no need to worry about this now."
Dominic was thoughtful for a moment. "Hmmm...I do like art. But I wouldn't want to leave you, Dad! This place is my home, and I know I can figure out a way to belong here!"
He then looked mischievously at the vile of red liquid waiting to be injected into the little 4-year-old avian human experiment named Iggy, labeled FIRE.
Three Hours Later
"The experiment is here and he's been sedated. Is the needle ready?"
Dominic listened from behind a door as the scientists rolled a little sleeping boy into the room with his arms, legs, and wings strapped down securely. Just as one of them poised the needle right above the little boy's chest he decided it was Go-time.
He pulled the emergency alarm, giving the scientists a warning that the experiments had been let out of their cages. It had never been used before, so it was sure to make a lot of chaos. And it did. Just as he'd expected, everyone came running into the halls, yelling frantically and heading to where the experiments were held.
As the main lab room emptied out, he snuck in to stand by Iggy's side. The needle was lying on the floor, just begging for him to pick it up. But first, he started to unlatch all of Iggy's restraints, just as he'd planned. Just as his eyes started to flutter open and as Dominic heard the confused murmurs of scientists walking back down the hall, he grabbed the needle and jammed it right into his own arm, letting out a cry of pain. He could already feel it working its magic.
"What? What is it?!!" His dad asked, running into the lab.
"The experiment woke up!! I was trying to hold it down when it just grabbed the needle and stabbed me with it!" He lied, holding up his arms, which were slowly turning red and rising several degrees in temperature by the second.
His father grabbed him, wincing slightly as Dominic's hot skin slightly burned his own. "My dear boy!" He cried.
But secretly, Dominic was smiling. Now he truly belonged here. He wouldn't have to leave and he would hold this power forever.
End Flashback
Present Day
Max POV
As he finished his tale I needed to set some things straight. "So…wait! You've been here all this time? Raised by evil scientists?"
Dominic looked a bit amused (shocker). "They're not all evil! Just Mr. C. He's got this crazy brainwashing control over everyone. Except me."
"So you got what you wanted, then? How exactly did that work?"
He sat back in his chair with another huge smile. "Well, after they discovered that the Fire Serum actually worked on me, they figured they couldn't let me go. They feared that someone would discover my secret and reveal all of Mr. C's plans. So I've lived here ever since. I apparently wasn't 'smart' (or crazy) enough to be one of the scientists, and since I was the son of one of them, they couldn't exactly treat me as one of the experiments. That's where the art thing comes in. I've always had a natural talent for art, so now I help out the place by fooling the locals into believing that this building is really just an art studio."
Hmmm…a good plan, but very evil. "And what did this Fire Serum do to you, exactly?" I asked hesitantly, half expecting him to show us something dangerous.
"Oh, right! Watch my skillz!" He held up his hands and started pointing at different candles around the room. They lighted up instantaneously, brightening the room further. "As you can see…I can control fire!"
I looked at him in awe. That was a pretty awesome ability to have! It could really help us out, too. If he actually decides to help us, that is. I caught Fang looking at me, so I smiled. But he didn't return it.
"So…" Fang began, looking up threateningly through his thick black bangs. "You stole Iggy's power?"
"Fang!" I warned.
"No, no, it's alright Max. Fang's right. I did sort of steal his power." Dominic admitted.
Fang sat back in his chair angrily with his arms crossed.
"Let's me explain first! You see, I had spent weeks, months even, helping my dad create that serum. It was my idea, in fact! Iggy always did have a fascination with fire…even at that age…but I needed it so I could stay! This place is my home!"
I nodded my head. "Sounds understandable. I'm sure Iggy wouldn't be mad. I mean, we all have enough powers as it is. Fang?" I asked hopefully, looking over at my unhappy boyfrie- I mean best friend.
He shrugged. "Whatever." Back to his one worded replies, I see. He kept looking between Dominic and I suspiciously.
Wait! I think I know why he's been so rude towards Dominic. Is he maybe…jealous? Ha! I almost laughed but I was able to contain myself. He thinks I like Dominic! And Dominic is a whole decade older than I am! Surely he couldn't think that I would like anyone else but him. Of course I wouldn't admit that, but it was true.
As a little experiment, I did something totally out of character for me. I reached over, and placed my hand on top of Dominic's where it lay on the table. "Don't worry, Dominic. Fang is just protective over his brothers, don't let him put you down for a decision you made so many years ago." I told him sweetly, even batting my eyelashes for effect. Knowing me, I probably looked like I had something in my eye, but it worked anyway. I could see Fang tense and start to glare.
Dominic nervously pulled his hand away, looking at me strangely. "Ok…"
With that, Fang just stormed off. I looked at Dominic apologetically, but he just encouraged me to "Go find my little love bug" as he put it.
I followed Fang into the (thankfully) empty hallway and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He turned around fiercely, his scowl matching mine perfectly.
"And just where do you think you're going?!" I asked him. I can't believe he would risk our safety like this by thinking he could just go wandering around this place just because he let his anger get the better of him! Well I did kind of provoke him…but still!
He forcefully removed my hand from his shoulder and just shrugged.
"And what's your deal anyway?!"
He looked up at me so intensely that I felt like I was being hypnotized by his deep, dark eyes. "What's my deal? WHAT DO YOU THINK MY DEAL IS?"
I started backing away, surprised by his sudden outburst. "Shhh! Keep your voice down! We don't need an oncoming attack from those M-Geeks when you're being so melodramatic!" I was yelling, too, but quietly enough as to not bring any attention to us.
Suddenly I was being pushed back into a wall. Fang's hands were on either side of my head and he was breathing heavily. Normally I would have laughed at how much he resembled an angry bull, but the moment was too intense to do anything but stare.
"You know how much I care about you Max! I always have, but you just push me away! Then you have to go and act all flirty with Dominic right in front of me!" His voice was hoarse.
I laughed bitterly. "Flirting with him? Fang, if you think that's flirting then you seriously need a reality check. I hardly even know how to flirt!" I scoffed.
"But…the way you were looking at him. And you touched his hand! You know how I feel about you, yet you continue to play these little games!" He argued.
I looked down out of shame. "I know. And I shouldn't have done that. But he's 25! Do you actually think I would make a move on him? Of course not!" I tried to show him with my eyes how sincere I was.
I suddenly felt my chin being lifted up gently until I was looking him straight in the eye again. "Prove it." He said.
He closed the short distance between us and pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was different than our past encounters….it was more…determined. This time he didn't take it too far, probably in fear that I would push him away. But I didn't. I leaned into the kiss more, moving my lips against his in a way that I hope showed that I cared about him, too. He pulled away only seconds later. It was short and sweet.
"Believe me yet?" I asked as I rested my forehead against his.
He pulled away and smiled at me softly. "Hmmm…not yet. I think I need more proof." He said teasingly as he leaned in again. But as usual, someone just didn't want to let us have our happy moment.
"WHAT IS SPECIAL UNIT NUMBER ONE DOING OUT OF CONFINEMENT?"
We both broke apart instantly and glared at the whitecoats approaching us from all sides. I looked up, noticing that ceiling was higher than I'd thought, just enough space for us to…
"Fang! U and A! Now! Let's go get the kids!" I ordered, but he stayed glued to his spot.
"We can't, Max! What about your sister!" He pointed out.
"We'll get her, we just gotta get everyone else and then it's war!" With that, we both spread our wings and flew above the whitecoat's heads, despite their futile attempts to get us down. I looked behind me and saw Dominic already emerging from his room, trying to keep everything under control. I threw him a grateful look before turning a corner to where I knew they were keeping my flock.
The door was only locked from the inside, so we hurried in and warned the others. Fang stayed at the doorway to hold it open so it wouldn't lock on us. However, we were greeted by a surprising sight. Everyone was sitting together on the far wall. Iggy was the furthest away, holding something in his arms. It looked like something was bundled up in a blanket. As soon as I saw a lock of dark hair, I knew exactly who it was. Ella.
"You got Ella!" I cried, rushing over to her where she lay comfortably in Iggy's protective arms.
Angel came over and leaned against me. "Yep! While you guys were gone." She suddenly frowned. "But there's something wrong with her. She won't let us remove the blanket and she's really pale."
I took a closer look at the end of the blanket where Ella's face was barely poking out. She was pale just like Angel said and she kept groaning.
"We really need to get her out of here! Iggy, get a good hold on her and head on down the hallway to the right! It's faster to fly. Fang and Angel follow them. Gazzy, come with me and bring some bombs. We're going to try to fight off as many of these freaks as we can!" I directed.
As the rest of the flock tried to find the exit, the Gasman and I took an alternative route back to Dominic's "lair".
"Gazzy, do you have the bombs ready?"
"Uh…Max?" Gazzy asked nervously.
"Yeah?"
"I don't have any." He admitted. "But I can still help! I'm a good fighter!"
"Gazzy! The one time I don't scold you for your bombs, and you don't have any!" I cried. "Well, looks like we're going to have to do this the painful way."
As we got closer, dozens of M-Geeks and whitecoats started storming down the hall, chasing Dominic. We swooped down protectively in front of him.
"Wait! It's okay, Max, I got this!" He called. Oh, right. The fire!
In one, dramatic motion, Dominic raised his hands above his heads and the whitecoats gasped.
"You wouldn't dare!" One of them called out.
"Mr. C would never forgive you!" Another one said.
Dominic just grinned at them, and I could see the power slowly rising in him, waiting to be released. Small flames were beginning to flicker from his fingertips.
He looked as if he'd never been able to fully use his powers, like he'd been waiting all his life for this moment. "Do it!" I encouraged.
Suddenly, a massive tornado of fire came swirling from his hands. He sent it flying towards a group of M-Geeks who instantly withered away on the spot, leaving a smoking pile of ashes in their place.
He crossed his arms defiantly. "Never doubt me." He said simply. Then he turned around and winked at me, and Gazzy and I gave him the thumbs up.
Whitecoats began cowering behind the M-Geeks for protection and I couldn't help but laugh. "Not so tough, now, are you?!" I taunted.
The M-Geeks started advancing again and Dominic started laughing. I looked at him curiously.
"Th-they actually th-think they can d-defeat me!" He said in between guffaws. Then he straightened up his body and started moving his arms in a circular motion with his pointer finger outstretched towards the growing crowd. Little swirls of fire came shooting out at them like dragons, barely singeing the whitecoats coats (just enough to scare them) and destroying M-Geeks by the dozen.
Gazzy started doing a victory dance, singing, "Whoot, whoot! Go DP! Go DP!"
I joined in and soon Dominic had conjured enough fire to have the smoke alarms blaring and the walls turning black in just a few short moments. Once it was obvious that he couldn't be taken down, it seemed as if everyone in the building only wanted to find an escape route.
"Go, go!" Dominic yelled. He ushered us down the hall to the main room where all of his paintings hung. "I'll take care of it!" He promised.
Just as he started to close the heavy door I called, "Thank you Dominic! How can we ever repay you??"
He bowed and said, "My mind duck says no payment necessary." And with that, he left.
We ran across the room to the rusty front door and out into the dirt road again. "U and A!" I announced, and we flew up into the cloudy skies above, watching the smoldering building below us as it became surrounded by firetrucks and giant hoses. I truly did hope Dominic would be okay…
I liked him!
Angel told me in my head.
Yeah, me too. He really helped us out.
I replied.
He was kinda zany, but he was nice!
She said.
As we flew back to Arizona, we kept a watchful eye on the sleeping bundle that was Ella. They definitely did something dramatic to her, but the question was: what?
BIG reveal next chapter! I, really, truly hope this chapter was up to parr for everyone because I spent a lot of time on it. Because it was extra long and I put a lot of work into, PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! If I don't have at least 55 reviews then I probably won't update for a while because I like to know that people are reading my story and enjoying it. So ANY feedback you may have is very much appreciated!