Chapter twenty-six:
Fang's POV:
I dreamed. I dreamt the dream of her again. This time I was on the couch, where I had fallen asleep. She was different than she was last night. Her face looked a little better, and her ribs weren't as huge. The burns on her wrist were much worse. But something in her eyes hinted immeasurable pain.
"Fang, you know what annoys me?" she said completely casually.
I glanced at her.
"Myself. I'm torturing myself you know. That glance you just did? It's something you would do in real life. I know you're dead and my subconscious keeps making me see you." Tears welled up in her eyes as she said this.
I walked over to her and held her hand through the bars. For some reason I just let her do the talking. "I guess as long as your here I can tell you what he's been doing to me. Mr. Chu took me to one of his buildings in Mexico City. Well so far I have been beaten; that was yesterday, and I was knocked out several times. Today I was forced to watch a tape of you and the flock dying. He made me watch it again and again." Her tears flowed freely now. "I saw you broken. I broke you Fang. I'm just as bad as anyone we've ever fought. I'm worse." That didn't make sense. Why would I dream that?
"But I am planning on killing Mr. Chu like he killed you. Then I'll meet you wherever you are." She said sounding almost content. I was looking at her with horror in my eyes, If this really was her, she thought I was dead and she was going to kill herself soon.
"Hmm it looks like it's time to go. I love you." That was when I knew it was her.
"Max! Don't!" I said but it was too late. I woke up.
Max's POV:
I dreamed. I dreamt about him again. This time he was in the living room of our house in the mountains. It looked exactly the same as when we left it. Well it should. I thought. I am dreaming about it. He was sitting on the couch, looking at me. It hurt to see him when I knew he was dead.
"Fang, you know what annoys me?" I said completely casually to him.
He glanced at me exactly the way he used to when he wanted me to continue.
"Myself. I'm torturing myself you know. That glance you just did? It's something you would do in real life. I know you're dead and my subconscious keeps making me see you." Tears welled up in my eyes because I knew it was only my subconscious making me see him.
He walked over to me and held my hand through the bars. It felt as rough and calloused as ever. He didn't say anything. "I guess as long as your here I can tell you what he's been doing to me." It couldn't hurt, at least I could vent my feelings. "Mr. Chu took me to one of his buildings in Mexico City. Well so far I have been beaten; that was yesterday, and I was knocked out several times. Today I was forced to watch a tape of you and the flock dying. He made me watch it again and again." I felt my tears flowed freely down my face. "I saw you broken. I broke you Fang. I'm just as bad as anyone we've ever fought. I'm worse." I was sobbing now.
"But I am planning on killing Mr. Chu like he killed you." I was sure of this. "Then I'll meet you wherever you are." Even though it was killing myself, I smiled at the thought of seeing the flock again.
I looked around, the dream world we were in was starting to fade. "Hmm it looks like it's time to go. I love you." Even though he was a dream, I meant it.
"Max! Do-" I heard him shout, but I woke up.
Chapter twenty-seven:
Fang's POV:
I was a mess. Part of me was just relieved to know that she was alive and didn't desert us. Part of me was still flying with the knowledge that she really did love me. But the main parts, over-powering the others were, outraged, sad, worried, and scared.
I was outraged that Mr. Chu had done something like that to her. I was sad that she had to go through so much pain for us. I was worried that she may actually kill Mr. Chu; that just isn't her. I was scared that we may not make it in time.
"GUYS!" I shouted. "WAKE UP!"
Nudge's POV:
I woke up with a start to Fang's yelling.
We were all pretty messed up from Max leaving. Really messed up. Max didn't just lead the flock, she was the flock. Without her it just wasn't the same. But Fang had gotten it the worst. We all knew that Max and Fang were together, we didn't mind. We all knew it was bound to happen sometime. Fang didn't just love Max as a sister or mother like the rest of us did. He was in love with her.
He practically punched through a wall after he read his note. When I asked Angel why she said it was because Max said she loved him. Sure he already knew she loved him, but that was the first time she said it, and then she left.
"GET OUT HERE!" he shouted.
We all rushed out of our rooms and into the living room, where he was waiting.
"I developed a new skill." He said.
I knew what we were all thinking. Why had he waken us up over a new skill? Why was it worth yelling us out of bed?
"Well what is it?" Iggy said, sounding annoyed.
"I can talk to Max when I'm asleep." He had finally snapped. It wasn't his fault, I mean he had just lost the girl he was in love with, but still. Now Iggy would be leader, and I didn't think he was really cut out for it.
"No, he's telling the truth." Angel said, speaking for the first time since we got here. "He really did talk to Max." She walked over to him and held his hand.
All our eyes widened. Angel would know, she had seen it in his mind.
"Well? What did she say?" Gazzy asked.
"She's in Mexico. She's being tortured by Mr. Chu. She thinks we were killed by Mr. Chu, and she's planning on killing him." He gulped. Fang gulped "Then she's planning on killing herself."
Max's POV:
I was right. Having that dream made me even more depressed in the morning. It also raised the flames of my rage. They were getting closer and closer to Mr. Chu.
"The next stage of your punishment is today, Maximum." An M-geek said coming into my cell. I was immediately up, scissor-kicking it so hard that it broke in half.
Five M-geeks instantly rushed in the cell. I would have beaten them too, if one hadn't pulled out a gun and shot me in the leg. There was a lot of pain, and a surprising amount of blood. The M-geeks brought me to a white room with an antiseptic smell. They cleaned up my wound, bandaged it and took me to the room where they first tortured me, And they hung me by my wrists to the ceiling, and shackled my legs to the floor. The pain in my leg was spectacularly potent. I just didn't care about that kind of thing anymore
"Well, I hope you have learned your lesson about what happens when you fight back, Maximum." Mr. Chu said, coming into the room.
"It leads to pain. Pain isn't a factor in life once you have your purpose taken away." I said my face set in stone.
"Oh? I thought your purpose was to save the world." He said like he knew everything.
"My purpose has always been to keep my family safe. I have always done what it takes to make sure they stay alive." He grinned.
"Time for your third punishment." He said evilly.
Chapter twenty-eight:
Gazzy's POV:
We all stared at Fang. We all knew he had been taking this really hard. He didn't look the same. After he said this he looked like he was about to break down. I'm only eight. But I knew Fang was acting this because Max was part of him now. Without Max, Fang wasn't Fang. I was willing to bet all my favourite bombs that it was the same with Max.
Fang straightened. Cold determination flared in his eyes. "We're going to get her. Pack up."
Fang's POV:
We were in the sky, already halfway to Mexico. I could tell the kids were tiring, but we couldn't stop or we may not make it in time.
"Fang?" I had been hearing that phrase a lot lately.
"Yeah?"
"I know you want to get to Max as fast as possible." Iggy said so only I could hear. "But you know the kids can't take much more of this. They just won't say it because they're afraid of what you'll say."
I glanced at him.
When he heard my pause he said "Come on Fang, you know you've been really touchy with the whole Max thing. The kids have noticed."
I sighed.
"If we don't take a break, the kids won't be able to fight when we get there. They could get hurt or killed." I immediately knew why she got so annoyed when I reasoned with her.
"Guys!" Four heads turned to face me "I see some caves up ahead. We're there for two hours at most, capiche?"
They all nodded. We dropped into a cave and the kids ate he food in their packs and went to sleep. I couldn't sleep, not with knowing how close she was. I sighed and sat down near the cave entrance.
Max's POV:
The burns didn't hurt. Well they probably did hurt but I couldn't feel physical pain anymore. What hurt was what Mr. Chu was saying.
"When you killed your brother you were happy weren't you?" he said. "You got a thrill over killing him! You liked killing your brother! Say it!" He was holding a long metal rod with a red hot end, which he had burned me with twice already.
"I won't." I said in a death tone.
He pushed the hot metal onto my stomach. Seeing no response he pushed it to my arm and took it away.
He grinned. "You broke Fang." I almost gasped. "I know about these things. He was the one flock member who has never broken down. Whatever person you were up against none shattered his calm. But you did. You're worse than any villain. Say it." I almost broke, this time what he said was true. I was worse. But I couldn't let him win this battle. Or I would lose the war. I held my head up indignantly. Burns on my sides this time.
"When you saw my video and watched the flock die you were relieved. You wanted the flock to die. When the bomb exploded, their last thoughts were 'Max did this'." He smiled. His mistake.
Chapter twenty-nine:
Max's POV:
I was so enraged, I figured it out. I broke the shackles and cuffs off my wrists and ankles with force fields.
My shot leg didn't even bother me as I landed on my feet. Mr. Chu looked like he was looking at the scariest thing in the world. At that moment I wouldn't be surprised if I was.
I ripped the metal rod out of his hands by the hot part, not caring about my burnt hands. I slugged him. Hard. An M-geek took its gun out and shot but my force field popped up, deflecting it. The hitch in the force fields? They shine, really brightly. Everyone in Mexico could probably see it.
I made a force field around me and Mr. Chu, large enough to squish all the M-geeks against the walls like bugs on a windshield. Yes it was as gross as it sounds. But I only realized that after. Right then I was thinking about the most painful ways to kill Mr. Chu.
I broke his nose. I slugged him in the gut. I punched and kicked him until he was on the ground, rolling in pain, begging for mercy.
"I could give you whatever you want!" He gasped.
"I've heard that line before." I said. I sounded like I was from The Twilight Zone.
I was about to break his neck when the voice popped up.
Max don't. If you do this you'll be just as bad as him.
I'm just giving him a taste of his own medicine. I thought.
Max, you know that's not the only thing here. You're getting revenge.
Yeah, so?
Do the right thing, Max.
Ugh. That was when I knew I couldn't kill Mr. Chu. I would be as bad as him. With this sanity, I also knew I couldn't kill myself. What about my mom? I still had people on this earth that cared about me. I would still save the world and live my life. Though I knew the pain never really would go away. Just as I accepted this, Mr. Chu stabbed me in the stomach. I fell to the ground.
Sanity also brings pain. It hurt so much. My force field flickered off. And I saw him. I saw all of them.
Fang's POV:
It had been two hours. Two hours of her pain. We were flying now.
We reached Mexico City. "There's the stadium!" I yelled.
"Would she be in there?" Nudge asked.
"No she's in a Chu Corporation building."
We knew where it was. It was the biggest skyscraper in the city. All of a sudden a bright light shone out of one of the top windows. I had seen it once before. The force fields a week or two ago.
I guess it was her skill and she didn't know it then.
"Looks like we found her." I said.
"Huh?" Iggy.
I sighed. "Nudge?" and I flew faster.
We landed on the roof, silently. I lead us through a vent, and we followed the light. I saw her through a window. There were about twenty M-geeks squashed because of the force field. I was running.
She was really bad. Half of her face looked raw from burns. Her leg had a huge bloodstain on it. She was cut, burned, bruised, and had what appeared to be a couple broken bones. She looked like she should be on the ground moaning in pain. But her expression was savage. I had never seen her so mad. Through all of this she still managed to be beautiful.
She was slugging Mr. Chu, hitting, slapping, and kicking. It wasn't her usual fighting, that had a sort of grace to it, but a monstrous rage kind of fighting. I had made it to the door and the others weren't far behind. The force field. I couldn't get through. I tried ramming against it and I was propelled into the wall. I tried again. Iggy stopped me.
"THAT WON'T HELP HER!" He yelled at me. All I could do was watch.
She was about to break his neck, it looked like. He was on the ground with her leaning over him her hand poised to chop him. Then she stopped.
Her eyes unfocused. She stared off into space. I knew the voice was talking to her. Her face went from complete rage, to frustration, and then to bitter acceptance.
I watched in horror as Mr. Chu pulled out a dagger and plunged it into her stomach.
Chapter thirty:
Fang's POV:
I watched her fall to the ground. The force field flickered out. She turned and saw me, and her face lit up. I ran. I punched Mr. Chu so hard he was out cold.
"Max." I whispered. I knelt down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I love you."
Her breath was ragged. "I know." She said. A choked laugh came from me.
She stared off into space for a minute, and then smiled at all of us.
Max's head was in Nudge's lap, and the rest of us were around her, me the closest, holding her hand.
A force field went up around us, enough room to stand and walk.
"Ange, I don't know how long this will hold up, and if it goes away, keep everyone out of this room. If Mr. Chu wakes up make him forget and make him walk out of the room." The right leader was back. There was a lot of blood.
"Why did you leave, Max?" Said Gazzy.
"You guys have always been my world." She said, and ruffled his hair, which looked like it took a lot of effort. "It's my job to save the world now isn't it?"
She looked at each of us. "I missed you guys." She looked at me. "Wait here for at least twenty-four hours, I love you all." And then I watched Max die.
Max's POV:
I knew I was about to die but I couldn't help smiling. I knew when I got into this that I would probably die without seeing the flock again. So dying with them there? Not such a bad option. But that was probably the gaping stomach wound talking.
I saw Fang run. He smashed his fist into Mr. Chu's face, knocking him out cold.
He knelt down next to me. I loved seeing his face after I thought he was dead. "Max." He whispered. His voice was like a soft autumn breeze. He kissed me gently on the lips. It felt amazing. "I love you." He said. He couldn't have picked a better three words.
I drew in a hard breath. "I know." I whispered. He choked out a laugh.
Max, you're not supposed to die today. Make a force field and go inside yourself, you'll know when to come out.
I smiled; I was going to be ok.
I put up a force field around us.
"Ange, I don't know how long this will hold up, and if it goes away, keep everyone out of this room. If Mr. Chu wakes up make him forget and make him walk out of the room." Wow I felt a lot of blood around me.
"Why did you leave, Max?" Said Gazzy.
"You guys have always been my world." I said, and ruffled his hair, which took a lot of effort. "It's my job to save the world now isn't it?"
I looked at all of them. "I missed you guys." I looked at Fang. "Wait here for at least twenty-four hours, I love you all." Everything went black.
Chapter thirty-one:
Fang's POV:
I couldn't believe it. She was dead. If I had gotten there faster, if I had stopped her from leaving in the first place, She would be alive right now.
Her pulse was gone. She had no heartbeat. She wasn't breathing.
Her head was still in Nudge's lap, who was sobbing. Angel was crying, too, while burying her head in her chest. Gazzy was holding her belt loop, silent tears streaming out of his eyes. Iggy was sitting cross-legged by her feet, his tears dripping too. I was holding her hand, which was fairly seriously burnt.
I studied the planes of her face. She was still beautiful, though cut, bruised, burnt, and dead. I had loved this girl. She was an amazing person. She had suffered all through her short life. She had to grow up too fast; she had to take care of Nudge when she was about five, help her learn to speak through the crate. She did the same with the Gasman. And then came Angel. Jeb had broken Angel out of the nursery when he broke us out and she was the one to take care of her. She had to be a leader when she was twelve, still a kid. She had o take care of her whole flock, while being hunted down, tortured, and not knowing when she was going to die. She was strong and tough and beautiful. She had loved me. She had died trying to protect us.
"No, Max." I whispered.
I did something that had never happened before in my life. I let a tear escape my eye. It landed on her face. Then something happened.
Fang's POV:
She started to glow. Glow. Her whole body started to shine with a golden light. A force field that looked like the top of a table went under her body. It lifted her up, to the roof of the room. She was shimmering now. Angel jumped up and looked like it was the happiest moment of her life.
"She's alive!" She shouted gleefully. "I can hear her mind!"
I was overwhelmed; she was just dead! Now she was alive?! I wasn't complaining.
The glow left her body and all the force fields in the room vanished. She was falling.
Max landed directly in my arms; her face looked like it never even had a scratch. The most deep, beautiful brown eyes opened and met mine. "Nice catch." Max said almost smugly. She reached up and kissed me.
Max's POV:
I reached up and kissed him lightly. "Miss me?" I whispered. I couldn't help it- I burst into tears. It had been so much pain, so much torture, I had practically died. I had known it would be like that. I had chosen my family's lives over my own. I had thought they had died anyways. To have them all back with me, I felt so many emotions.
I buried my face in Fang's chest, and we were on the ground, and the rest of the flock was around us, touching me somehow. Angel was on my lap, my free arm was around Gazzy, Nudge was leaning against me. Iggy was by my feet. We were all crying-even Fang.
Fang was crying, not a lot, but there were a few tears in his eyes. That was when I knew he had missed me as much as I had missed him. His face was buried in my hair.
"Now are we gonna sit here all day crying like a bunch of weenies or what?" Fang said.
I laughed. "Care to let me go?" I asked Fang. He flashed a half smile and carefully, as though I were made of porcelain, unwrapped his arms from me.
"Now, how about we get out of here?" I said to the flock. "I've been dying- I mean I want to stretch my wings."
I walked over and grabbed Fang's hand and we took a running start, kicked out a window and fell through. We separated hands and I dropped a bit faster than Fang and we unfurled our wings. Much better. I watched with pure happiness as the rest of my family dropped out of the building one by one.
End