Okay...so, I haven't been laser tagging in two years. So if this chapter is retarded, that's why. xD

Chase's PoV

Turns out, laser tagging was way easier than we expected, and the teenage guys didn't expect us to be that good. "Ash!" I hissed, motioning her to cover my back as we crept through a twisted corridor of sorts. She giggled. "OMG this is fun I'm so glad we could do this! Are we winning? How do you even tell who wins?" "Shhh." I reminded her. "We determine who wins by which teams has more shots. We add it up at the end." I whispered. Ash was about to say something else but I raised my hand, and we both went dead still, listening intently.

We were trained to do this; made to do this, and it served us well against the clever but not at all stealthy teenagers. I heard one clomping down a passageway that connected to ours, and, as if Ash and I had the same thought at once, pressed ourselves against the wall and crept to the intersection of the passageways. The footsteps were getting closer, and I nodded at Ash that it was her turn to do this.

Right when the game started, Ash, Felix, Savannah and I had naturally split up into groups; Savannah and Felix, me and Ash. I worked better with Ash because I was less uptight than Savannah, and when Ash got annoying...Let's just say I was able to handle her much better. Plus, the both of us kind of had the same sense of humor. Savannah and Felix worked well together. because they were more focused, more intense, like... Nazis or something. Except not evil. And not focused on the whole "super race" thing.

Then Felix had told us his plan-we divide and conquer of sorts, surrounding them and herding them towards the center of this huge, huge room. Sure, maybe we were taking this a tad to seriously, but, as I liked to put it, it was "good practice for real life". Our real life, more like it. I doubted any normal person needed to worry about fighting and being on the run all the time, having to survive.

At the moment, Ash had on the most adorable "I'm ready to destroy you" face, tense and ready to leap out into the path of the oncoming teenager. Being the supreme expert of timing that I am, I closed my eyes and slowly ticked down my fingers from five to when she should attack. At one, Ash sucked in a deep breath and gave a battle cry, jumping out in front of the teen, pointing her pink gun at him, and shot him directly on his chest on the protector. The guy protested with a "HEY GOSH WHAT the heck are you doing?"

For extra measure, Ash kicked his knee sharply. "Playing the game. What, an eight year old can't beat you, I don't think so!" She laughed. The guy reeled back, rocking in pain. "You are a vicious little girl." He growled, unable to attack her back because his light was still blinking, meaning he couldn't shoot until it stopped. Ash bowed dramatically. "Thank you." She shot a quick glance at me and I stepped out, gun pointed at him. "Move. Backwards, now." I commanded sharply.

The guy looked confused, unable to understand why kids much younger than him were suddenly winning. Then,the light on his chest protector stopped blinking and he raised his own gun. "I don't think so." He snarled.

Ash and I looked at each other. "Not meaning for this to sound like a total threat, but...we could seriously hurt you. I suggest you do what we say." I said, sounding semi-pleasant. The boy, obviously not believing me, let his gun swing to the side and started towards me, free hand raised back into a fist. Before he could even think about what he was going to do next, I lunged at him, leaping into the air, and roundhouse kicking his chest. Yes, I somehow managed to do it in this small hallway. Anyway, I made sure to do it not hard enough to break his ribs, just making him fall backwards, gasping for air, looking stunned. "Crap." He wheezed. He glanced around on the ground, finding his gun, and picked it up and aimed for Ash.

Ash saw what he was about to do and unfortunately didn't have time to drop to the ground or somehow block the laser beam before it hit her, and she gasped. "OMG Chase he GOT me!" She shrieked. I nodded. "Sweetie it's okay, that's how it works." I reminded her, trying to decide whether kicking the gun out of his hands would be against the rules or not. I knew physical contact was not allowed, but I'm pretty sure no one cared anyway and the teenagers had already cheated a few times.

I decided against it, and wanted to regroup with Savannah and Felix to see how they were doing. So once more, just to get that valuable extra point, I shot the boy once more and signaled Ash to get out of here. Ash, bless her little heart, did NOT kick the boy, but I could feel the vibes that wanted to. Instead she stared at him with her evil death glare and whirled around, running off behind me.

"Where's Savannah and Felix?" I muttered as we hurried through the maze of corridors and barriers and all sorts of other things, trying to get to the center of the room. "I don't know!" Ash said, blinking chest pad finally stopping. Suddenly I felt a hand snake out and grab my wrist and yank me sideways through a door. It was Savannah, who looked very concerned. "Ugh. The teenagers keep cheating, and I'm starting to get worried." She admitted.

I took some deep breaths, half paranoid about teens finding and shooting us with [laser] guns any second, and half hyperventilating because I was in a dark room, this close to Savannah, with her hand still on my arm. Noticing that I wasn't particularly concentrating, Savannah let go of my arm and backed away a little. "Chase? What do you think?" She asked again. I hadn't heard her the first time.

"What? Oh yeah. Uhm...how are they cheating?" I managed. Felix spoke up with annoyance laced into his voice. "One of them punched me. It didn't hurt, cuz, like, I'm special, but it was still cheating." Savannah looked troubled. "And one-er-tried to distract me." "How so?" I asked. Savannah didn't reply for a long moment. Then she gave me a look that implied "let me tell you later". I gave a slight nod, and pulled Ash closer into the shadows. "Ash, tell him how the guy we ran into was cheating." Ash crossed her arms. "There was this teenager, yeah? And he like called me VICIOUS! I mean seriously? Anyway, Chase told him to back off, but then the jerk starts like coming AT Chase like he's gunna attack him. So, like, Chase does this SUPER EPIC roundhouse kick and the guys like on the floor looking all like "OMG"." She took a huge breath and continued, and Savannah's eyebrows were raised, and Felix looked only slightly interrested. "And THEN, he shot me!" She wailed in a whisper. If that's possible... "So Chase shot him then we got out of there and then we found you guys."

Felix stared at her. "You done?" He said after a moment. She nodded, raking a hand through her hair. Savannah shook her head. "That's not good. Okay, guys, so Felix's amazing plan isn't exactly working-" Felix's face fell, and Savannah quickly fixed that sentence. "However, it wasn't his fault. So, let's come up with something else."

We all thought for a second. "I'll bet Harlow would have an idea if she were here." Ash mumbled. Savannah sighed. "After this we'll go look for her, kay?" She said gently. Ash nodded. "I'm just getting worried." "Guys, why don't we worry about Harlow in about a half hour. Right now, we're facing life and death-I mean-getting money or Savannah going on a date with one of those creeps. So let's focus." I said encouragingly. Savannah shot me a brief, grateful smile. "Exactly. So anyone got a new plan?"

We went silent again, but after a few moments I spoke up. "Got it...guys, how about this. Felix and Ash go and sneak around the other side of the room and charge the boys from the back, while Savannah and I shoot 'em from the front?" I suggested. "Yes!" Felix exclaimed. He and Ash scurried out of our little hiding place, and just when I was about to follow them Savannah whispered "wait".

I stopped, and Savannah leaned backwards against the wall, dropping her head in hand. "Chase...one of 'em...tried to kiss me." I felt like the breath had been knocked out of me, and I could hardly believe what I heard for a second. "What?" I stammered. She nodded and pressed a hand against her mouth. "I don't know which one it was, though." She mumbled through her fingers. Then Savannah looked up at me, eyes filling with tears. She rarely cried or got emotional about stuff like this, so I was surprised and confused. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked gently, taking her in my arms.

She pulled away, shaking her head and swiping at her eyes. "Nothing. Come on, Ash and Felix will be wondering where we are." I took her hands in mine. "They can wait a second."

Ash's PoV

"Feeeeeeelliiiiixxxx!" I shrieked, hands clawing frantically at one of the boys who'd actually lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. "That is sooooo against the rules!" I protested. The guy laughed, not in a nice way. "Shut up. Gosh, you're such an annoying brat."

I was dying to unfold my wings, launch off of the boy and fly away from him and this game as far as I could go, but I couldn't. Savannah said no wings. So instead, I tried to quickly remember all the battles I'd been through where I had been the attempted victim of a kidnapping. Not too many times, fortunately, but an idea came to me. Once, Felix had showed me where the pressure point was in someone's shoulder, and I jammed my finger into this teenage boys. "WhaaAAAA!" He screamed, and it was like really funny because he sounded kind of like a hyena or something. Then I punched his jaw as hard as I could as he dropped me, and, just because that was how the game was played, I shot him with my laser gun.

I had a feeling we were winning, because when I glanced over at Felix, he was shooting the boys left and right, using totally wicked gymnastic moves to avoid getting hit himself. I was SOO impressed; he looked amazing! Then I remembered I wasn't supposed to like him. Oh well.

For a second I wondered where Savannah and Chase were-they said they'd come back us up, and right know we were in the middle of the huge room, ALL seven of the teenagers against me and Felix. Then I remembered Chase instructing me to ALWAYS get someone's back when surrounded by enemies more than you. "Yo, Felix! Come here!" I called, dropping onto the ground momentarily to block a laser then quickly scramble to my feet. He darted over to me, and I said "get my back! we can fight guys better that way!"

We both turned and went back to back, shooting guys until Felix gasped. "Ash, um...I found a really really good way to cheat." He whispered. "What is it?" I asked. Felix cleared his throat. "You can deflect lasers with your hand."

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that! At that moment, one of the boys aimed at my chest and before the laser could reach, I threw my hands forward. Sure enough, it deflected the laser and it stopped on my hand. My mouth twisted into a grin. "You cheater!" The guy yelled, but I shrugged. "That's the way this seems to be going." I called back.

Before anything else could happen, there was an alarm-like sound that made my heart leap and terror fill me. Whenever you heard anything like that at the school, it was really bad. Suddenly lights flooded the room, making me squint my eyes. "The game's over." Andre said, already starting to shrug out of his gear. "Um...okay." I said, confused over the sudden change of attitude.

"I'm going to like to see your ugly face when you lose" One of them said haughtily.

Sudden change of attitude? Wait...never mind.

"Well...um...your face is already ugly so I hate seeing it already." I replied. It really didn't make any sense, but it sounded kind of mean, therefore it was good. Felix glanced at me weirdly, pulling off his chest protector. "What she means is that you shouldn't bet on it." I shot him a look of appreciation. I took off my own chest pad thing, walking over near the door to get out of this room and hanging it up. Then I tossed my gun on the rack. "Yeah. Exactly. Don't bet on it." I snarled.

"Hey, where are your teammates? The girl and guy." One of the less-jerk-of-a-guy asked. "Chase? Savannah?" I called, then after a second, Felix and I walked back over to where we met up a few minutes ago. "EWWW!" I said, covering my eyes and turning away. "You guys...ugh! Can't you please NOT do that?" "I agree with Ash." Felix grumbled. "This is LASER TAGGING, not... "Ohhhh I'm going to go kiss in a corner!"" He mimicked Chase's voice. I giggled, and they broke apart. "Uhm...sorry. Got distracted." Savannah said, sounding a little strangled.

"You should stop getting distracted." Felix suggested. I nodded seriously. "What if something bad happened?" Savannah and Chase looked guilty. "You're right, guys." Chase finally said. "We'll stop." I clasped my hands together, shaking my head. "Nooo that's not it...We don't want you to stop, exactly.."

"Uh, yes we do." Felix reminded me. I nudged him away. "No. See, I like that you guys are in love." I admitted. "It's cute but it also makes me happy 'cuz you guys aren't happy a lot. Mostly worried or snappish a lot of the time. But it isn't your fault! It's the Erasers and Flyboys and M-geeks and all the scientists and bad people. So, seeing you guys happy makes me happy." I took a deep breath after that, surprised at how much honesty came out there.

"Well." Savannah managed to choke out. Then she smiled a little at Ash. "You know Ash, that kind of means a lot. Thanks."

"Uh, like, sorry to break this emotional moment or whatever here, but I have the scores." Azure, the employee lady said, holding up a slip of paper.

Harlow's PoV

"How old are you?"

I tucked my hands between my legs, shifting uncomfortably. This girl, Indy, had been grilling me for almost fifteen minutes, shooting off question after question. "Sixteen. I'm pretty sure." I replied. Really, this wouldn't have been to bad if it weren't the for the fact that Horace, the older man, had left to go get food, or something. Being with Indy, though two years younger than me, was still slightly intimidating.

"Who are the people in your flock?" Indy was starting to warm up to me, I think, because the edgy tone in her voice had softened a little. "There's a four year old, an eight and nine year old, and then two fourteen year olds." I said. "Names?" She prompted. "Andrew, Ash, Felix, Chase, and Savannah." I answered, without thinking. Ugh, probably would've been better to not say anything. Indy nodded slowly. "And you left because they didn't want you?"

"I think." I decided to be on guard again. Horace seemed trustworthy. But this girl...I didn't know about her. "I really wasn't the best fighter or anything. They just had me be the "mom" to Andrew." I said. Then I wondered about the flock. I'd been gone for almost two hours. I wondered if they cared, thought about coming after me, or what they'd thought about it. Knowing Savannah, she'd probably not come after me, knowing that I needed space. She kind of sensed things like that.

"No one isn't important in a flock." Indy said in a low, un-harsh way. I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not." Then I creased my eyebrows. "I have a few questions for you now." Indy crossed her arms. "Okay, go ahead." I was a little surprised about her willingness but asked away.

"How is Horace still alive? I don't get it. Weren't avian-humans supposed to...um..retire before they got old?" My voice dropped, even though Horace wasn't anywhere near us at all. Indy frowned. "Yes. However, my grandfather is a Generation 1 mutation. Back then, they didn't give them expiration dates. Or, if they did, his just never kicked in."

Wait a second...grandfather? "What do you mean by grandfather? Is he actually related to you?" Indy shook her head. "Not by blood, but...well..you know how a flock calls each other a family? Horace broke in and rescued me from the school when I was very, very young. He and I formed our two-person flock, and I'd started calling him grandfather. It just stuck." She explained.

For a moment I wondered why Indy was opening up so much, but then I remembered. Either it was some enhancement or just my natural personality, but people liked me. They just did. (A/N-I think, to get a mental picture of this, think of Jasper from Twilight)

"Horace is old, so how would they have the technology to create recombinant life forms?" I wondered. Indy pursed her lips. "You'd be surprised at the stuff they were capable of back then. Horace was born-I think that's the right word, in 1941, during World War 2. Nobody knew anything about parents, only that he was donated by them willingly. I'm assuming that they donated him because they didn't want their child to live through the war."

"How could you assume that?" I asked. "You wouldn't know, right?" Indy thought for a second, looking as if she were trying to decide whether to tell me something or not. "Horace and I did something very daring." Indy began, but the steel-tone returned to her voice. "We broke into the Institute to find records. The only reason I'm telling you this is so you know I'm not a liar, okay? And you can ask Horace if you don't believe me. Anyway; we broke into the Institute. We found out that Horace's parents did not receive any money for their donation of him." Then she shook her head, looking like she regret saying this.

"It makes sense, I guess." I said quietly. We were both silent for a moment. "How many Generation 1's do you think there are left?" I whispered. Indy stared at me with piercing eyes. "He's the last one, that we know of."

Suddenly I thought of something important. "Are you being chased, or under attack by Erasers and M-geeks and Flyboys and stuff?" I asked. Indy shook her head. "That's the strange thing-we haven't. Why, have you and your flock been?" "Near every day. We can't understand how they keep coming, or where they come from. We don't even know how their tracking us." I answered.

Indy looked up in the sky, and we both saw Horace flying back towards us. I still couldn't get over the fact of a 70 year old bird...adult.

Savannah's PoV

"Man..." I whispered. I glanced up at the teenagers who were standing over us, glaring down at us angrily. "Hahahahaha!" Ash laughed, dancing around, oblivious to the angry older boys. "We beat you by like, eighty points!" She cheered.

The boys looked at each other. "How did they do that?" One of them whispered. "How's that even possible?" Even Azure looked surprised. "Congrats, guys. I don't think anybody has beaten them before." Felix crossed his arms. "Well, we're special." He said with a touch of arrogance. "Now...I do believe you owe us something."

I had to admit, it was kind of funny watching Felix hold out his hand and each of the teenagers, who's expressions ranged from angry to annoyed to confused, each slap a twenty dollar bill in his hand. "Ha!" He crowed. "I guess we'll be leaving now." He turned haughtily on his heal, grabbed Andrew's hand, and stalked out. The rest of the flock looked at each other. "Uh, okay." I said, shrugging, and the rest of us followed him outside.

It was still bright and hot and I was blinded for a few seconds upon coming out of the laser tagging place. "Now that is one thing I never, ever want to do again." I proclaimed. Chase nodded. "Ugh. Just goes to show how stupid some people are." Ash shrugged. "It was kind of fun. But also kind of scary. I mean, why did those boys care so much about winning?"

I laughed a little. "Ash, hon, they're seventeen year old guys. All they care about are putting people younger than them to shame." Ash clapped her hands together. "We totally put THEM to shame though. It was so funny seeing their faces when they lost."

"I liked playing with Azure." Andrew spoke up. "She was fun. We played Duck Duck Goose." I looked at him. "You played with Azure?" Somehow, it didn't seem right. The bored, lazy employee who seemed kind of stuck up and trashy was playing a children's game with Andrew? "How do you play that with only two people?" Chase asked. Andrew scoffed, which was hysterical to see a four year old do. "We played it with the stuffed animals there, duh." He said.

I winked at Chase. "Yeah Chase, duh."

There ya have it. Now, I have some questions. You don't need to answer any/all of them, but feedback would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

1) How am I doing with getting the character's personalities? Are they developing wrong?

2) Do Felix and Ash sound older than they actually are?

3) What can I change or do better?

4)Am I putting to little of Andrew in here?

5) Is there too much romance?

6) Would you rather have longer chapters but longer time between updates, or vise-versa?

Thanks! REVIEW! It makes my day :)