Me: This was a hard chapter to write! I don't own Maximum Ride, I own my characters. Thanks to my lovely reviewers: UnbrokenSilences, kittiesrock90210, Anara Celebvilya, jazz4lyf or death, and Fangtastic ! You guys rock!
Chapter 30: Tensions
Hunter's POV
22:43
It's been a few days since the last mission. It's been quiet. Too quiet. So, my gang of merry mutants, humans and I were training because we live by the Fallen motto. Always be prepared.
Okay, so we jacked it from the boy scouts. Your point?
"Can we keep her?" Ghost whispered, staring into our super special virtual training room. I refocused in on Shadow, who was in the room, doing a shooting activity on level Super Hard. No one in the Fallen had ever passed that level with flying colors like she was. No one but Fang.
But he's not in the Fallen anymore.
I was standing in the computer room watching. Her vitals were excellent and she was still as fast and powerful, despite her leg. She had done several tests, agility, strength and fighting. Fang had been stronger than her, but slower than her. It's like they traded off, totally tied.
This shooting test would be the tie breaker. Fang put a lot of value in his marksmanship so it put a smile on my face to see someone as good as him. This had been her fifth time doing this level, since every time, she and Fang have tied.
Ding!
She was done. I looked up to see the room turn back to normal and she was standing there, not even breaking a sweat. It was as if that was what she was made for.
Then again, it probably was.
"Time?" she said calmly.
"200 targets in 20 seconds," Lies said, hesitantly.
"Fuck me!" she shouted, throwing the virtual gun on the floor. Ghost whispered something perverted to Iggy and they chuckled which earned a death glare from her and me.
"You've done better than any of us here," I said, reassuringly.
"Not better than Fang. It's a tie," Ghost said, mockingly. It really annoyed me when Ghost was in one of those moods. Shadow locked onto him, like a hawk going after prey.
"But beyond her expectations based on her vitals," Lies said, eyeing Shadow nervously. Shadow marched up to Ghost and got in his face. There was a few seconds of silence as she glared at him, and his smirk grew.
"I am better than Fang. Way better," she hissed, with real venom in her voice. She whirled away and marched off. Ghost just snorted. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Idiot." I muttered.
Max's POV
22:30
I felt like I didn't know anything anymore.
I stared at the picture with Jeb, the lady, Hunter, Ella, Ari and me and then looked up into the night sky. I couldn't exactly tell Fang, "Hey, you know your former best friend? Yeah, the one that threw you out of your super spy group because he thinks you're an Itex spy? He's my twin brother."
Actually, I don't think him OR Shadow would take that well.
My thoughts wandered to Shadow and I couldn't help but remember that rainy night…
"Shadow, please don't go," Angel had pleaded, stepping next to me and grabbing my hand.
"Have fun with your new second in command Max," Shadow spat, whirling around and walking with the Fallen.
"SHADOW!" I yelled, running towards, trying to grab her shoulder and pull her back.
She turned around, eyes blazing and shot the ground in front of me.
"I never miss Maximum. Never," she said coldly.
I shook my head, getting goose bumps from that night. I didn't like to think about it, she was my best friend. How could SHE betray me like that? I didn't betray her! I felt hot anger rush through my veins and immediately tried to quell it. If we were both mad at each other, we wouldn't be able to get past it. Plus, I had all that time after she realizes she's been a stubborn butt to rub it in her face.
If she even allows me near her. Stupid Omega and his stupid deceiving mouth. My thoughts wandered back to that day when we were SUPPOSED to go after our "antidote" aka crappy Itex tap water.
Shadow walked into the room cautiously. I watched with dread. If there was only one antidote bottle, she sure as hell wasn't sharing.
Then she turned around and looked at me, and I saw the old Shadow again. "Don't worry Max! I'll get the other one for you." I couldn't help but smile and started kicking Eraser butt with new vigor. Maybe this would bring us together. Maybe she could believe-
A gun loaded. "You're not Max," an eerily familiar voice said. I looked back to see Omega standing there, looking just…odd. Especially with the huge gun. What happened to the rich heir façade?
"Neither are you," Shadow said, her voice impassive.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE SHADOW!" Hunter yelled. But she couldn't hear us, we could only see her.
"Funny," Omega said and then his eyes flicked to me. I felt my heart drop into my stomach. "She probably sent you in so you could take the fall for her." Everyone in the Fallen glared at me and I put my hands up. Shadow took a step back, turned back around and then started running back towards us really fast. She slammed into the glass door just as a shot ran through the air. Hunter grabbed her and picked her up.
There was a HUGE bleeding hole in her leg.
I wonder if she's okay. By the time us Angels got out of there, Hunter was out of sight. Where had he gone? Could he reach super speeds like me?
That would make sense if he was my twin brother.
I growled in frustration. I was like Total when he's chasing his tail in a circle. I looked down at the picture and switched it with the other one behind it. This one wasn't as revealing as the other one. It was just my Flock, it proved that we were all together at one point.
Hunter, Ari and I were standing in the middle, beaming. Fang was standing next to me and I could see him holding my hand. Shadow was standing next to him and looking up at the sky at something. Angel was standing next to the Gasman and Ari and had a pink teddy bear. Iggy and Nudge were also in the picture, smiling huge.
I looked at Fang, and then Shadow. There was so much resemblance that I couldn't see before. 'Cause, c'mon, so what if they both have black hair and olive skin, so does a good portion of people in the world! I can't go accusing people of being related just because they look the same.
I switched to the picture of my family again and focused on the woman, my supposed mother. When Shadow had dreamed or remembered, an Eraser told her that Hunter's mother was dead. When she related it to me, it hurt, as if Hunter's mother was my own. I kept seeing this brown eyed woman in my own flashbacks, so she must be pretty important even if she isn't my mother. But she was, according to the tag in the back.
Whoever she is, she's dead. I think she would've popped up by now if she wasn't. But did Jeb really kill her? I remembered the day of the brain attack and how he electrocuted Shadow for treason. He was capable of cruel things, that's for sure. Shadow had always said that I was Jeb's favorite. Was it because I was his child? Why hasn't he told me about my mother yet? Was it Itex that killed her?
Okay Max, get it together. You sound like the ending of a bad afternoon drama. Will Greg ever see Sabrina again? Will their love survive? Will THEY survive? Find out next time!
I stood up, brushing myself off and balancing on the roof. I decided right then what I was going to do. You know, one of those dumb butt decisions that can either be the heroic saving of the day, or the stupidest thing ever.
I was going to pay a visit to Hunter.
Hunter's POV
22:50
"Ghost," I hissed at him. His eyes slid to me and his grin faltered a little. Good, he knows I mean business. "Stop picking on Shadow already. She's a member of the Fallen now, no need to be a total asshole."
Ghost raised his eyebrow at me. "I'm not being a complete asshole, I'm just teasing. She's not a big crybaby like you, she can take it."
I narrowed my eyes. "Excuse me? This crybaby is your Leader. This crybaby? He wasn't the one totally panicking and almost crashing the car when Max was on top of it trying to grab back Shadow. In fact, he was on the roof of said car, fighting with her." I stepped closer to him and lowered my head down to his level. "So watch who you speak to that way, got that?"
He glared right back me and Iggy stepped in the middle, separating us. "Whoa whoa guys. Calm down, it's okay. Do I need to put you in your time out corners?" I stepped back and Ghost rolled his eyes and walked away, throwing his towel on the floor.
"Ass," I muttered.
Iggy patted my shoulder. "It's alright Hunter, a good night's sleep should do everyone some good."
We walked upstairs together and as he was walking away, I put my hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Ig."
"No problem," he said, smirking. "Goodnight Hunter." He walked away and closed the door behind him. I wonder how bad the consequences would be if I got him bomb supplies as a gift. Since, ya' know, if the whole house explodes, I think everyone else would be pretty pissed.
I closed the door behind me got into bed, not bothering to undress. That would take too much energy, and I'd just change into my pajamas to change out of them tomorrow morning. I started dozing off and thought I heard someone land in the room from the open window.
"Shadow?" I said, not wanting to open my eyes to see if it was real or not. Who else could it be at this hour? Who else would come through the window? Anyone else would use the door.
"No," a very unwanted, familiar voice said. My eyes shot open and I looked at Max, standing in front of my door with a sheepish smile on her face.
Guess I was wrong about the door thing.
I shot up to my feet and clenched my fists. "What do you want?" I said, scanning the room for anyone else. I had been stupid to leave the window open; Shadow has always used the door before saying something about privacy. Then again, is a man not allowed to have a nice breeze in his room without some girl landing in that's possible going to kill him?
"I just want to talk," Max said, putting her hands and motioning me to stand down.
"Just the words a guy always wants to hear from a girl," I sneered. But I sat down; it would be easier to launch myself at her if she tried attacking me anyways.
"Hunter," she began and then closed her mouth. She was silent and then looked down at something at her hand. She then looked me in the eye, with new resolve. "Hunter. I found something. Something that proves that you and I are related."
I felt like she just punched me in the head. "Excuse me?" Usually, I was full of witty retorts, but right now? I just couldn't think.
"We're…twins Hunter," she said, hesitantly smiling. "Twins."
Shadow's POV
23:00
I landed in the backyard of the house and walked through the kitchen's back door. The lights were off in all the rooms and Hunter's window was open, but it'd be rude to just fly in. What if he was changing or something? I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks and dismissed the thought from my head. Hunter was my Leader and nothing more. I thought of that time at Omega's party and squashed the thought, looking at the fading burn mark on my wrist. Not now Shadow.
I walked upstairs to my room, stretching my wings out and yawning. It had been a long day and all I wanted to do was sleep. Then a door opened and Ghost came out of the bathroom, half naked and dripping wet from a shower. I resisted the urge to play Disassemble-A-Human and teach the Ari and the Gasman a human anatomy lesson.
"Hello there Shadow," he said smirking. I glanced at him and looked away which I guess was absolutely hilarious to him because he started laughing. I rolled my eyes.
"It's all in good fun Shadow, don't look at me like that," he stuck out his lower lip. "It hurts my feelings." I clenched my teeth and resisted the urge to punch him. He was SO irritating. Every single thing about him was irritating! His smirk, his remarks, even the way he stood made me want to kill him. All this time that I've been with the Fallen, he's been bugging me.
"What is your problem?" I snarled, snapping my wings into my back. His eyebrows rose.
"Oh, nothing at all," he walked up to me and scanned my face. We were about the same height. All I could smell was his noxious body wash. He walked even closer to me and I was backed into a wall.
"Back UP human!" I hissed. The water dripped from his hair onto my shirt. I clenched my fists to prevent myself from shoving him. I really didn't want to get on anyone's bad side here. They would be more loyal to Ghost than to me, the girl from the Angels.
"You just look so…cute when you're angry," he said. That's it. I raised my hands to shove him and he leapt away nimbly, laughing. "See? Plus," his smile faded, all humor gone from his face. "I don't trust you." He walked into his room and shut the door.
Males. Males and their stupid Y chromosome. Like literally, I think it sacrifices a brain cell every month. Females have periods; males lose a brain cell every month. Sounds about right.
I walked up to Hunter's room and tried to open it, desperately wanting a bed right now. The door was locked. I huffed in frustration, hoping he wasn't asleep and I would have to use the window, like a freaking criminal. Or worse, a super spy.
I crack myself up sometimes.
I rapped the door lightly. "Hunter?" I called. I pressed my ear to the door, expecting to hear Hunter's light snores.
Instead I heard...MAX?
I rubbed my eyes, feeling more tired. I must be hallucinating. Lack of sleep sucks, folks. I felt a slight movement and looked to my left. Was Ghost coming out again to harass me again? The dark hallway was empty.
Was the wall shimmering? It was moving, like on a really hot day. Slightly, but still so. I went out to go touch it, to see if I was dying and this was really what you see at the end.
My hand landed on a shoulder.
I yanked my hand back and jumped away just as Fang appeared. His black clothing stood against the dark wall and I went on high alert, pulling out a gun from the back of my pants and aiming it at him.
"What the HELL are you doing here?" I spat. Fang put his hands up in surrender.
"I'm just looking for Max," he stated. I narrowed my eyes.
"Trouble in paradise?" I hissed. Fang narrowed his eyes at me and I took a step closer to him. "We didn't capture her, she's not here. So what is your real reason for being here?"
"I told you m-"
"Hunter, why would I make this up?" I heard Max yell from Hunter's room. My eyes widened and Fang stuck his ear closer to the door.
"Shut up unless you want someone to hear you! I don't think anyone would take very kindly to you being here," I heard Hunter say. I lowered my gun and looked at Fang. Why is he spying on Max? I followed suit, wondering what was going on.
"Who cares? This is important, look at the similarities. That's YOU in the picture," Max said, barely audible. What picture? She whispered something back, but it was impossible to hear.
"That can't be." Hunter said. "You're lying. I knew you…stupid, not that stupid. Itex...easily…duh." Hunter's voice lapsed.
"I'm way smarter…you, bird brain!" Max whispered angrily. "It's…you're…we've…it's meant to be. It was the…not…because it wa…idden." I looked at Fang whose expression was hardening. What was going on here? What was she talking about? I hated being so confused at this hour.
"Conveniently so?" Hunter said. I could hear the disgust in his tone.
"Trust me Hunter, the last person I'd want it to be is you. But as-" there was a crash somewhere in the house, and I couldn't hear what was said. I hope that whatever happened to whomever, it hurt them. I heard Ghost moan. Especially him. "We need to stick together. We…power…down Itex. Why…separated…against each other. Us…team…beat Itex together!" There was a silence and then…
"Quit…lying to…Fang!" Hunter said with a hurt tone in his voice. I felt Fang stiffen next to me. I looked up at him and saw a dark expression on his face as he backed up from the door. I couldn't help be feel annoyed at him.
"Well," I hissed. "Glaring at the door is totally winning her over. She's running into your arms right now." Fang turned his glare on me, and he looked like he wanted to hit me.
"-Shadow?" I heard from the door. I turned my head back to it.
"No…not going to tell her," Hunter replied. I stared at the door in shock and Fang snickered.
"You're totally winning him over," Fang mocked. I glared at him.
"At least I'm going to do something about it, unlike you," I said, gritting my teeth. These boys were getting me soso mad!
"Oh really?" Now he was challenging me. Oh he'll see.
"Stick around if you're not too chicken winged to see the result," I said to Fang. He narrowed his eyes at me, obviously getting what chicken winged meant. Max and I usually taunted each other that way since chickens can't fly. I knocked on the door. "Hunter! I've been waiting out here for forever! What are you DOING in there?"
Outside POV
23:09
Hunter turned red and looked at Max. "Hide!" he whispered. If Shadow caught us, she'd want a proper explanation. Something that I can't give right now. If those pictures are fake and made up by Maximum, I could be putting everyone in danger. But if not…
Max hid under a bunch of clothes and regretted it. Phew, do boys ever do laundry?
Hunter open the door and Shadow was there, hand on her hip. "Finally. Were you sleeping naked or something?"
"No!" Came Hunter's embarrassed reply. "I was just in a very deep sleep."
Shadow soundlessly walked into the room. She looked at her bed, at Hunter's bed and up at the ceiling. Max wasn't hiding in her usual places. "I heard voices." Max felt her heart speed up and she looked around the room for the quickest escape. She had seen the gun Shadow had attached to her waist. If she threw the computer at Shadow and flew out the window at super speed, she would make it out alive.
"I was talking in my sleep, I guess," Hunter said, his voice even. Shadow looked at him and felt frustrated. She couldn't tell if he was lying or not. He IS a super spy, which is basically a legal con artist. He's good at his craft.
"Really? I heard a girl's voice," Shadow said, almost absentmindedly. Max knew that tone. Shadow was her ex-best friend, after all. It was a trap; she was assessing Hunter's reaction.
"I didn't know I sound like a girl in my sleep," Hunter said. Max peeked out and saw the innocent smile on Hunter's face.
Shadow wasn't sure anymore if she had heard Max. Maybe that whole ordeal with Fang in the hallway was a dream; she was very tired after all. She looked outside the window, and saw the hazy outline of Fang. It wasn't a dream…
"Are you okay Shadow? You're acting strange," Hunter said. Shadow walked to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water, feeling frustrated by the whole day.
I'm tied with stupid Fang at my best skill, my former best friend is hiding somewhere in this room and my only ally in this whole damn group of stupid men is hiding it from me. And let's not get started on the King of Annoying, Ghost, Shadow thought bitterly. She gripped the sink and then walked out the room, trying to smile. "I'm probably just…" she trailed off and spotted that all of Hunter's and Fang's clothes were bunched in one corner. It wasn't that way before, she thought. She made the outline of the 5"8' Maximum Ride hiding under the clothes and glared.
Hunter's heart sped up and he followed Shadow's glare. "Shadow?" he said, trying to sound innocent. Her silver eyes locked onto his in expectancy. Expectant of what?
A tense silence filled the air and Hunter couldn't stand it. "Earth to Shadow," he said, irritated. "Are you in there? I think you should sleep. You're acting very strange."
Max was annoyed. Don't invite her to sleep idiot! It's disgusting down here!
Hunter's heart froze. Did Max just say that…out loud? There were a few more moments of silence. Not only was it apparent that Shadow did not hear, but it was also very clear that she was angry. Very angry.
"I'm going out for a flight," Shadow muttered darkly. Her whole body was taut and stiff as she walked by Hunter. He immediately felt guilty and angry at himself for snapping at her. He went to go touch her shoulder. Quickly, Shadow smacked his hand away and glared at him. He put his hand down and clenched his fist. She knew. She had to know. Shadow turned back around and slammed the door as she left.
"NO SLAMMING DOORS," Lies yelled from his room. There were a few groans and the door leading to outside slammed even harder. Hunter heard a window open.
"HEY ANGEL," he heard Ghost yell. Oh no, Hunter thought miserably. "I don't know how your old rules were but-"
"SHUT. UP. VINCENT," Lies said. He heard a small struggle, and then a glass break.
"Have a nice night!" he heard Shadow yell cheerily from outside. "Enjoy the icy breeze!"
Max stood up from her hiding place and picked the clothes off of her. Her brown eyes met Hunter's gold and she frowned. "I'm not sure why Shadow stays here. You guys are rude and you smell. And you're dirty."
"Thanks," Hunter said, rolling his eyes. "Do you have anything else to tell me?"
Max looked down at the photo and pointed at Jeb. "Do you know this man?"
Hunter's heart started beating faster. He knew the first rule; Jeb is never to be revealed. Itex would kill him since he IS a regular human, and he was the one that organized us, after all. Hunter thought. He's more wanted to Itex than me. Although he is a jerk of a father, he is still my father. Hunter looked at the back of the photo. After all, Fang could've told Max that Jeb, Ari and I were related. This could be a trick.
Max scanned over him. Why was it taking him so long to answer?
"No," Hunter finally answered. "No, I do not. Do you?"
"No," Max said, matching his tone. "I don't either.
Fang's POV
23:15
After hurling a big rock at Ghost's window, Shadow stormed past me into the woods. I followed her, waiting to see how the dashing Shadow won her dear, Hunter back.
"Shut UP! I heard that!" Shadow turned around and yelled at me. I raised my eyebrow. I was sure I didn't say that aloud.
Shadow walked a bit more into a clearing and sat down by a lake. I stood behind her. I wasn't sure why I even followed her here. I should be getting back before Max goes back.
Max…
I felt angry all over again. Since we got back from the cabin, she has been distant. And I had respectfully given her space, thinking that she was shaken by the ordeal. She flew off into the night and I followed her, concerned that she would be attacked by someone if she was alone. Then she flew right into Hunter's open window, as if he was expecting her. And for some reason, when I was sneaking around the house, Shadow caught me.
"How did you see me?" I asked Shadow who was skipping rocks at the lake. She looked up at me questioningly. "When I was by the door."
"It was hazy where you were standing," she answered looking back at the lake. I must've not been concentrating hard enough then. No one has ever caught me before.
"I don't know why I'm here with you," Shadow said. I glared at her. She was so annoying.
"Likewise."
"At least you can just ask Max when you get home. Hunter's not going to tell me the truth," Shadow said, standing up and stretching.
"Max has been lying to me. Did you not hear?" I said. Shadow glared at me and clenched the rock in her hand.
"Oh whatever Fang!" Shadow snapped. "I'm trying to be nice here! Give you some kind of hope! But no, you're determined to be emo until Itex blows up the world!"
"I don't need your pity," I spat, stepping closer to her.
"Obviously you do," Shadow said, crossing her arms. "You can't even face the girl you claim you loved in some Itex memory." Now she was really pissing me off.
"Why are you so DENSE? Why do you keep running from what's proven to be real? What are you scared of?" I hissed at her.
"I'm not scared of anyone! Not you, not Max, not Ghost, not Omega, not Itex, not anyone!" Shadow said, putting her hands on her hips.
"You forgot a name," I said smirking. Shadow stared at me for a minute, confused and she realized who she forgot.
"I'm not afraid of Hunter either smartass," she snarled, clenching her fists. I decided to drop it before she lost it. She still had a gun on her after all and I was not armed. I walked away and looked at the lake.
"Don't worry about Ghost," I said, remembering their confrontation in the hallway. "He's just bugging you because you're the only girl."
"Sexist pig," she muttered, flopping down on the grass. It was silent and when I looked at her, she was examining her leg. I raised my eyebrow at her and she looked away. She had obviously strained it too much today.
"How can you believe," she began. "That we had a happy past. Look at us. We're freaks. Do you think you and I were born like this?" She said, holding up her gun. She concentrated and then shot a tree at a distance and the branch broke. "We're not naturally this good. Someone had trained us before we lost our memories."
"Yes," I interrupted. "But-"
"Has Jeb told you anything? You know, about your past?" It felt weird hearing Jeb's name coming out of Shadow's mouth. Then I remembered that he was her boss now.
"Jeb never told us anything. At least when I was there. Has he told you anything?"
"That man hates my guts," Shadow said, rolling her neck. "He loves Max though."
"Jeb knows Max?" I said. Now I was really confused. How could Jeb "love" Max? They've never met. Shadow sent me and quizzical look.
"Duh? Are we talking about the same Jeb? He's the blonde guy that goes to the house every so often. He's the Head of the Angels. Have you been sleeping through meetings?" Shadow made a tsking sound and looked away. I felt all the blood drain from my face and I sat down slowly. Shadow looked back over to me, looking irritated. "What is it now?"
"Jeb is the Head of the Fallen, not the Angels," I said. Now Shadow looked at me like I had grown an extra wing.
"No, Marcus is," she said.
"Who's Marcus?"
"The Head of the Fallen!" Shadow said, exasperated.
"Shadow. I was in the Fallen longer than you; I think I'd know who the Head is!"
"Right back at you about the Angels!" We both stared at each other, bewildered. "Who is the Head of the Angels then?"
"Giovanni," I said slowly.
"Who? The minute I leave the Angels, Jeb does too! Fuck me!" Shadow said, slamming her fist to the ground.
"When did this…Marcus appear?" I asked.
"The day you were kidnapped," Shadow said. She got up and started pacing. "That first day, I thought he looked like Jeb, but he rushed out so fast…"
I narrowed my eyes. "It seems as if Marcus and Giovanni aren't actually real," I said.
Shadow looked grimly at me and nodded. "We've been lead by the same person all along."
I felt angry, really angry. I never liked Jeb, and we were supposed to trust him. And it turns out we've been put against one another by the one person that we were supposed to trust.
"Fan-" Shadow began but then her eyelids dropped and she fainted.
Outside POV
23:44
Dr. ter Borcht was angry. Not only did he have to use his viruses early to make that avian girl shut up, but they knew.
It was a matter of time before they knew about him too.
Experiment M10116g25 also known as Maximum Ride must've found something and figured out that her and the one with golden eyes, experiment M09005h36, was her twin brother. If the doctor allowed experiment K1483710Z to speak with experiment K0372609A any longer, they also would've figured out that they were related.
Dr. ter Borcht watched as experiment K0372609A brought experiment K1483710Z into the house and dropped her carelessly on the sofa.
He was going to have to keep a close eye on those two. Especially the boy.
The viruses were going to take a week to fully manifest in all of their bodies. Until then, the doctor could not control them.
But when the week was over?
The world would be his.
Me: 12 pages on Microsoft Word! My fingers are bleeding :P. Experiment M10116g25 = Max. Experiment M09005h36 = Hunter. Experiment K0372609A = Fang. Experiment K1483710Z = Shadow. Alright, please review ^-^!