Sorry for the long wait.
I was really excited about this chapter because there's a lot of Jace and Max.
I'm a little sad for what happens after this, so maybe I'll update later today instead of studying :P
Enjoy!
Jace, Crest and Iggy led the way of the crowd of mutants, running them down the halls. It didn't surprise me that on the second corner, a pack of Erasers met us. Blood was splattered and I had expected it to see one of the three in the front falling over, but it wasn't them. It was one of the Erasers in front being thrown backwards from Jace's punch. There wasn't even a second of pause before he moved onto the next one. I didn't feel as worried about him now. But two of the three guys up there hadn't killed an Eraser in two years; in fact, they hadn't even been in a chaotic battle like this at all. Maybe when they actually got hit they would come to senses.
Suddenly a fist came out of nowhere and just missed the side of my head. A nine-year old boy snarled at me as I curled my fists. "Long time no see Maxie." Ari growled amused. "Quite a war you've started," He continued and took another run at my head. I dodged and let his hand smash into the wall. "Let's see if you can finish it." He yelled and took a step back, preparing for me.
"Don't think I'm afraid to kill you." I snapped, getting ready myself. "After all, you're not even his real son. Just a dirty cheep copy." I added. "If that sick dad of yours rebuilt you once, he can do it again." I said as he gave off a low growl. "Of ours." I heard him and found myself smirking. "At least I don't follow him around like a lost puppy." I mocked. And with that he swung a fist.
I couldn't see anyone in either of my flocks from the crowd. Most of the mutants were severely defeated, but others actually had a fighting chance. Suddenly I spotted Jace from the corner of my eye. He was constantly disappearing and teleporting to different spots around his enemies. I saw him look my way, giving a deep glare before disappearing again. I had to right this wrong, and quick.
"Jace!" I shouted at him before he teleported again. He didn't even pause to look at me before snapping another Eraser's neck. "Jace!" I yelled at him, ducking from another one of Ari's punches. Suddenly, another Eraser decided to gang up on me with Ari and prepared to pounce.
"Jace!" Now I was getting furious with his stubbornness. He teleported about six feet away from me, swatting away the pouncing Eraser. His eyes were flaming again as he only shot me a sideways glace before starting another attack on an Eraser.
"What?" He finally yelled at me over the noise, not stopping. "Did you forget something? Is there another brother that I should know about?" He yelled sarcastically and resentfully at me. I sighed, aggravated, as I ducked under Ari's kick.
"Jace, it wasn't my fault!" I said, losing my focus as I tried to move closer to him. "It's just that-" Suddenly Ari's fist sunk into my stomach. He was growling at me, giving me a look that almost complained –Pay attention to me- like the nine year-old he was.
I got my breath back and faced Ari again. "It's just that what?" Jace shouted to me with his back turned. It seemed like we were the only ones around who were familiar. I panted and ran at Ari, hopping over him at the last second. Now only three feet were separating Jace and I.
"It's just that I was scared!" I shouted at Jace, shocked by the words coming out of my mouth. Ari turned to me and gave off a low growl. I could picture the steam rising from his ears.
"Well, that's stupid." Jace said a bit quieter but he was starting to set me off.
"No it's not!" I yelled at him, punching Ari in the mouth when he ran at me. He ran at me again but I threw a round house kick and caught him off guard, sending him crashing to the ground. "If I told you I was Jeb's daughter, you might've thought I was a spy or something." I said, jumping up when Ari tried to sweep out my legs. "I had just been abandoned. I couldn't let it happen again."
"So you didn't trust me then?" Jace shouted at me angrily. "Even after two years, you never trusted me enough to say anything?" Ari took another run at me and forced me backwards so that Jace and I were literally back to back.
"That's not true; you don't understand what it's like to be abandoned Jace. You have no idea how I felt!" I was screaming at him, feeling pricking at the back of my eyes, hating to relive the moment. He had just punched out the other Eraser when I finished my last word. He turned to me, panting heavily.
"You think I don't know?" Jace asked. "You think I don't know what it's like to be abandoned?" He said, not yelling, but more under his breath. "Should I remind you that I was the first kid experimented on by his father? That I was hung out to dry afterwards, kept in a cage for over six years. Do you know that I was in a group long before this one, that I stayed on my own for ten years after they abandoned me, after they found out about Jeb, about everything!" He shouted now. I could only stand as he looked at me, his anger trying to remain closed up. "I wouldn't blame you for not trusting me, but you were one of the first people I've trusted in a long time. This is what happened when you trust people; you get stabbed in the back." He said, clenching his fists and lost my gaze, looking down at the floor. " You've known me for two years Max, you're my half-sister..." He continued in a quiet but fierce tone. "But you know nothing about me." He snapped at me through clenched teeth, not bothering to look up at me.
"Your wrong." I told him quietly. He looked up with a mild shock. "I know plenty about you." I said and took a step forwards. "I know your favourite colour is green but you hate any food the colour green, I know you secretly get annoyed when I lose my temper... that you hate feeling useless... that as much as you pretend not to be, you hate the dark... you couldn't stand not teleporting... you've never loved a girl... never killed anything until today... you like rock music... you hold your tongue around the kids... it took you a month before you could trust me and you still don't know why you did... you don't know how to play chess... you suck at video games but play them anyway to keep the kids happy... you've wanted to be normal more than once, and wish you knew your mother... you'd do anything to keep our flock out of danger, and are secretly hating yourself for starting this. I know that you share my hatred for Jeb and only Jeb, and nothing will ever stop you from hating him. And that you would risk everything for just one other person you cared about. I know plenty more about you, and I'll learn more too. Like today, I've learned that you're my brother and as much as you hate me for not telling you, you'd still get killed for me. And you should know that I would do the same for you. And just because I didn't tell you two years ago, or anytime between then doesn't mean I don't care about you." I said quickly. "It just means I love you more." He looked at me for a long time and I stared back solemnly for what seemed a long time. I think I understood him a bit more that day.
I completely lost the adrenaline of the battle, and that was my undoing. Jace wasn't moving as the battle continued around us. He only stared at where I stood, his rage gone and a type of struggled understanding forming. But soon, I felt a foot sinking into my gut. I flew backwards and slammed my head against the wall, blurring my vision. But I could still see Jace, and how slowly his head turned to peer at me, not moving from his spot, and not looking like he was going to. Maybe he really did hate me and I didn't know as much about him as I thought.
Everything was merging together; nothing was clear. I thought about calling for Fang, but figured he'd be busy helping Iggy. I could faintly hear Ari tsking me. "You shouldn't lose focus in a focus Max." He said, shaking his head and coming closer. Nothing in my body would move as I watched Ari wind up for a punch, tensing as he brought down his fist. But it didn't hit me, and I had to pry my eyes open to find out why.
Jace didn't say a word as he caught Ari's fist, struggling to keep it away. He tsked loudly and twisted it behind Ari's back, letting him howl out with pain. "Let's not hurt our sister, little brother." He said, his voice straining as Ari fought against him. Jace pushed him to the ground as my vision cleared and I stood, trying to catch my balance. Before I could stop him, Jace pounced on Ari and the two started to fight, a series of punches and rolling on top of each other. But Ari was still stronger and by the time I was completely recovered, he was digging his knee into Jace's chest, holding him down by pushing Jace's neck into the ground, hard.
"Get off!" I yelled, my voice scratchy and dry as I ran at Ari. I wrapped my arms around his neck before hopping onto his back, trying to pull him off balance and upwards, but Ari wouldn't budge. We were one on top of the other, the hugest of sibling rivalries with intent to kill. None of us even notice when our shared enemy walked in. And wouldn't you guess he was part of our family too.
Several gunshots sounded as everyone turned, the hallway falling silent. "Enough." Jeb said coldly. He was glaring at the three of us, only Jace had his head turned away. We all stared at Jeb surrounded by a large crowd of men with guns, all pointed at our crowd. No one moved as Jeb scanned the crowd. He stared the coldest I'd ever seen, understandable since we'd cause possible the biggest conflict in history
"You three, the ones who started this. Get off each other." He demanded looking at us. Three? Oh... ha, we had dragged Ari into the conflict. Looked like all three of Jeb's kids were in trouble, even though Jeb only knew about two of us.
Still no one moved, at least I thought no one had. But Jace moved. He disappeared from underneath Ari, letting Ari's hand fall into the blood stained floor. "What the-" I heard some of the men whisper. Guess they hadn't seen a disappearing birdkid for a while.
Suddenly I spotted Jace appear behind Jeb without a sound. No one noticed him until he raised his foot and slammed it hard into Jeb's back before disappearing. The men started to swing their guns around, some to see if he was just invisible, and others to point where he might've turned up next. But none of them expected him to appear right from under Jeb. But I saw him and he grabbed Jeb's collar before snapping him high into the air, scowling darkly as Jeb tried to pry Jace's fingers away. The highest Jace could get him was a foot off the ground.
Finally the gunmen spotted him and pointed their guns, leaving a few on the outside to point their guns at the crowd. "Put him down." One of the men said, raising his gun up at Jace. "Put him down or I shoot." He continued to command, but Jace paid no attention to him. It felt as if I even breathed, they would pull the trigger. It made me jump even more when I felt a hand on my shoulder, but no one was there. Probably seeing my shock, Fang appeared beside me, his eyes still fixated on Jeb and Jace. Guess his appearing was a bit startling since one of the men shot a bullet at our feet. "Stay back." He warned. I wanted to shout, he never moved idiot, but I didn't. I only noticed Jace tensing and stepped back a millimetre.
"Put him down or I shoot!" The man was still commanding and finally Jace noticed him, getting annoyed. In an act of defiance, he moved his hand from Jeb's collar to his neck, squeezing tight and cutting off Jeb's air stream "I said drop him!" The guard was getting desperate. Either you shoot the experiment that he's probably been ordered to keep from escaping, or you let him kill your commander. Decisions decisions.
I wasn't sure what made him do it at the time, but Jace did drop Jeb. Jeb was only half conscious when he dropped onto his knees from the air, gasping and wheezing for breath. Still he pulled out a small device and whispered something into it, having gunmen help him to his feet. Jace stepped backwards one step, and I could feel him glaring just by looked at the back of his head.
"Bring him." I thought I heard faintly but it didn't matter what I heard. Because before Jace could move, a shock went through him and made him tense up as he started to fall forwards.
There was a silence through the hallway as Jace hit the floor, sparks from a gun still crackling as one of the gunmen put away the taser. I tensed as Fang's grip on my shoulder tightened. "Don't mov-" He started to whisper before a large shout interrupted him.
"Bastards!" I heard Caige's screams rising up from the crowd as several sparks flew into the air. I suddenly caught a glimpse of his platinum hair running through the crowd, a furious look on his face, "Caige don't, get back here!" Scholar's voice came next as she chased him behind. But Caige didn't stop. Instead he shot out sparks towards the gunmen, knocking them over like bowling pins. "How do you like it, huh?" Caige yelled. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jace. He was watching, his teeth clenched together hard as he watched Caige running, while he lay motionless on the ground. That much I think was killing him. Jeb went over next and injected something into Jace's neck and his eyelids started to droop.
I heard a small click and looked at the gunmen. One had his gun raised, right at Caige. "Get down!" I screamed and started to run for him, but I completely froze when a gun fired, the sound echoing through the silent crowd.
There weren't any screams or cries of pain. I turned towards the place I has seen Caige and started to move, Fang right behind me. I pushed through the crowd of mutants, trying to get a good view. And when I didn't see Caige or Scholar I started to panic. But when I reached the clearing, I relaxed a little. Caige was flat on the ground and underneath Scholar. She had pushed him down in time, ducking from the bullet that now hovered about them, only vibrating slightly.
"What the hell?" Iggy whispered and I noticed he and Gazzy were beside me. I traced they're eyes and spotted Crest standing behind Scholar and Caige with his hands out. He was keeping the bullet up and I could see the ghost of a smug smirk on his face. More men pointed they're guns at him and he looked down, dropping his hands. He let the bullet clank to the floor.
"Awesome." Gazzy whispered and I turned to him sharply. "No not awesome." I said while I heard more sparked and a loud thump. I turned back to where Crest had been standing. Two long wires were attached to him and a gunman. He was on the ground tensing just like Jace had been. And before the chaos, I could hear the silent sobs and whimpers from Caige.
"Let's kill 'em!" A shout emerged from the middle of mutants and more of them cheered, running forwards towards the gunmen. I only remember running to Crest before feeling a shock go through my body as I fell to the ground, hitting my head hard on the floor. I could feel the warm blood on my head before everything went black.