A/N: So I'm going on a trip to Canada for a few days, and I thought I'd go ahead and update before I left. Pretty long chapter too, so there you go.
The wonderful reviewers:
The Muse- *sigh* Yeah, I know I can. But it's so freakin' hard sometimes... :)
Ella Meadows- Oh, thanks! Could you point out the typos though so I can fix them?
Shahz- The 'try and get away part' is really close, but there's still a few twists coming up... And I personally think infiltrating the place would be the smart thing to do, but that would be kinda out of character for Max.
Amy- I guess it's good I sent them all to North Carolina then. =D
OnlyAtTwilight- Thank you, especially for reviewing more than once! Yeah, so that one part was overdone? Don't worry, I wasn't planning on having Max become a double agent in this chapter. Thanks again for reading and reviewing!
bookwurm96- Thanks. 'stupid lazy butt people', LOL. I needed that. :-D
cleo272- Thanks!
Fang Raven- Rob and Kristen are fine actors, but they're too old! I'm glad you signed the petition, and thanks for continuing to support my story!
Chapter 9:
Max's POV
"Why not?" I answered in a falsely bright voice. "So, how are you planning to kill the billions of imperfect people in the world?"
The woman's metal eyebrow twitched.
"Nuclear weapons maybe? And how exactly do I fit into your oh-so-great plan? 'Cause I am so ready to destroy innocent lives. Just call me Little Miss Mass Murderer."
The Director frowned slightly. "You are smarter than that, Max. Do not paint this picture against me. It's not like that."
"Oh?" I snarled, any fake friendliness gone. "How about you don't paint this picture of perfectness. Get real. You can't just kill everyone and expect everything to be all flowers and sunshine afterwards. I'm pretty sure radiation is still a danger to people who are already mutants. Unless, of course, you have another weapon besides nuclear bombs!"
Max, you always have impressed me. I'm glad you didn't let me down.
Oh, man. The Voice. Clearly I had one thing to do in this situation: Explode.
"Oh, my God, now you suddenly decide to show up! You're impressed! Well I don't give a rip! I can't believe I'm saying this, but Jeb was a better Voice than you! And that's extreme!"
Okay, so if I wasn't so majorly pissed, so totally mad, it would've been hilarious to see the Director look at me as if I'd gone loony. Behind me, the Director's Robo Guards edged forward, clearly uncomfortable with my less than sane reaction.
Max, I understand you're upset-
"Oh? Well, buddy, I'm a little more than upset!" I practically shrieked. "What is wrong with this world!? Where there are Schools, and Institutes, and Directors who all want to save the world but are filling it with their crazy plans of murdering everyone!"
Max, you need to calm down. You got the information I sent you here for-
And then- bam -smart little bird-kid I am, I figured it out. The Director had said I was in good ole North Carolina. The real Itex headquarters was in North Carolina and not Ohio. The Voice had gone through an elaborate plan from sending me to a fake headquarters to planting information there, just to get me to ditch the flock and find out what this mad Director was planning.
I noted the Director giving an order to take me back to my cell, and then I completely lost my head, fighting against the 'bots uselessly, getting bruises from chopping their metal limbs. Ouch.
Max, settle down. You can't fight them. And anyway, Fang is on his way to help you.
Yeah, because I'm totally gonna believe what you have to say, I snarled mentally, finally gaining enough sense to stop yelling aloud. I also quit punching the robots. In case you weren't aware of this, metal is freaking hard.
And this could not get any worse.
Max, listen to me. The only thing I lied about was that building in Ohio being the headquarters for Itex. All I knew was what one of my associates found out; that Itex was tracking you, and you specifically. I needed to know what they were up to, so I sent you.
Sent me? That's a pretty gentle term for what you did, I thought viciously. I finally registered the fact that I was once again in my cell, the robots gone.
You're pretty impulsive sometimes, when you believe your flock is in danger. I knew you might not trust me, so yes, I did set all that up.
I had a new goal in life: Track down annoying Voice owner and strangle him. Or her.
Of course, this was all assuming I got out of here alive.
Max, listen to me, help is on its way.
Sure it is.
Fang's POV
Fang pushed himself to the limit, straining his wings, only stopping when he absolutely had to. He flew harder than he ever had before, forcing himself to get to North Carolina as soon as he could.
Now would be an excellent time to gain the ability to teleport, Fang thought. Or super speed, like Max.
He thought about Max, about how pissed she would be when he came for her, but it'd be worth it. At that moment he didn't care whether or not Max liked him. He only focused on getting to her.
Before it was too late.
Angel's POV
It was really weird flying in a plane. I never got used the feeling. It felt good in a way, being able to look at the skies from up here, but it was like… like…
"I don't think I'll ever get used to being in a plane. I mean, we have wings. It's like, I don't know, a mermaid traveling in a boat or something," Nudge was saying.
"Yeah," I agreed, looking at all the clouds. I so wished I could be out there, flying with my own wings… If only we were faster than a plane. And we didn't get tired. Because, as Iggy explained to me, if we flew on our own he'd have to carry Total most of time, and it'd also take longer with all the stops and stuff.
I suppose it was nice being able to fly and having access to the bathroom and meals at the same time.
Anyway.
"So, what's our plan?" Gazzy turned to ask Iggy.
"Uh." Iggy said.
Plan, plan, what's my plan? Oh yeah, don't have one. Right. Gotta make it up.
Uh-oh. I wondered how Iggy would do.
"Well, we're going to just follow Fang, see if he needs help. You know, like back up," Iggy said, scratching his head. "Something like that."
Good job Iggy, I sent to his mind. Y'know, he wasn't doing so bad.
Max's POV
I immediately tensed when the door opened, and the devil queen herself walked into the room, flanked by a couple of robot guards.
"Obviously, Max, you are very unstable," she said briskly. "There is something wrong with your brain, most likely."
Well, I don't know, maybe it's the Voice in my head? Seems like a pretty likely cause for instability, if you ask me.
"And since you will not accept my help, something must be done with you," she continued.
"Uh-huh," I said. "So let me guess, this is going to cause a lot of pain on my part, right?"
"You're getting you're wings removed. I have a couple specialists here to carry out the procedure," the Director said, making my blood run cold. "It should take a couple of days."
"Excuse me?" I demanded, feeling a rush of panic, which I struggled to push down. "You're not serious. No one is touching my wings!"
"You're an experiment, Maximum." The woman's face was literally carved out of metal, hard and without a shred of mercy. Or sanity. "I want to see how well you can adapt. Maybe you'll decide to work with me after you finish your lesson in adaptation."
Of course. Some people have math lessons, flute lessons, dance lessons… but I get a freaking 'see how well you survive after some of your body parts are chopped off' lesson.
"You sicko! You can't- You-" A mix of hatred and panic made me unable to talk coherently.
"Take her to the labs," the Director ordered, walking away.
The robots marched me down the hallways, and then the smell hit me, bringing back a flood of terrible memories.
Terrible, painful memories.
Half an hour later I stumbled back into my cell, lightheaded from all the blood they'd taken from me. I had discovered actual humans were here, scientists to draw blood for God-knows-what and take X-rays and junk. When I tried to talk to the guys, they completely ignored me, and what with the Robo dudes still with me I had no choice but to go with what they wanted me to do. And I do not take orders well.
Head pounding, exhaustion dragging me down, I made it through the doorway already trying to plot my escape. Well, trying to plot my escape with a renewed effort. But I immediately noticed something different about the room.
There were two cots now. And guess who was sitting in the second one.
So, any guesses? Probably isn't too hard. Anyway, I'll try and update when I get back! Feel free to review...