The Last Flight (A Maximum Ride fanfiction)

TLF Chapter 12.

Angel's words haunted him.

"Itex is back."

He'd sat there and stared at her in numb shock David's unconscious form clutched to him as if the boy were merely an extension of himself.

"Omega brought it back for one purpose only ... To kill us. He's taken the Flyboys and ... Improved them."

She didn't have to say anything more. The first three words were enough to make all of their blood run cold. "Itex is back."

Genotex, as David's memories called it, created only two things. The 'monsters' and the things the monsters flew around on.

As soon as he'd made sure the boy was OK Fang had left, trying to find the cliff David's memories last placed Aaron.

"There!" Nudge yelled and pointed to the overturned camper wedged precariously between a tree and a two-hundred foot drop.

It was a small motor home with black wings spray painted on the sides. The whole thing looked to have been partially crushed. And the entire up-facing side was torn open, as if a can opener had been roughly used to pry the metal sheets apart. There was blood everywhere along with bits of fur covered flesh and to Fang's horror there were also bloody feathers scattered amongst the debris.

They landed on the cliff and Fang held up his hand in a 'wait' signal. He peered over the edge of the cliff and down into the torn open motor home. Right away he saw a body and he nearly retched down on top of it.

It was a hideous thing, dark furry skin stretched over a metal Flyboy body. But the face ... It was a smooth metal mask with diagonal slits for eyes. Long, coarse black hair grew back off the head and long, billowing black robes swathed the creature from head to ugly, clawed foot.

Then he saw what looked like a small jet engine attached to a long slightly curved metal staff and he grinned, pointing down at it, "They're Wizards! They wear robes and fly on broomsticks!"

Then he saw its hands ... Or, its claws. Six inches long, razor sharp white and red glistening talons on black scaly hands.

Fang shivered. It was a monster ... The Wizards were plucked right from his worst nightmares.

He stepped off the cliff and gently fluttered down landing hesitantly on the side of the motor home. It rocked unsteadily and the scream of metal against stone reached his ears.

The whole area reeked of blood and some kind of mechanical fluid mixed with something that reminded Fang of Gasman Special. He looked up at the worried faces of Nudge Gazzy and Iggy then slowly lowered himself into the overturned vehicle.

He looked left and right in the demolished home searching for any sign of another bird-kid. His eyes strayed to the Wizard lying crumpled under the table. His fingers twitched and he grabbed up the nearest thing he could find, a broken broom handle.

Fang inched forward using the broom handle to slowly and carefully flip the metal facemask off of the Wizard. Unsettled by how smooth and flawless it was.

The mask made a metallic clacking sound as it tumbled backward to the mess of broken dishes.

As soon as the light hit the Wizard's tiny eyes they began to fade into blind white pus filed orbs.

It was hideous. Like a cross between a bat a lizard and a vole. It had a large mouth, which dropped open when the mask fell away and Fang jumped back frightened. The jaws were lined with four rows of long jagged needle like teeth, which grew at odd angles.

The broom handle touched the Wizard's tongue and Fang was appalled to see it was sticky, like a frogs and could stretch for what he guessed to be about ten feet.

It hits you with that tongue and just reels you in... Fang shuddered and began slowly making his way back through the rent in the side of the motor home.

"FANG! GET OUT OF THERE! ITS LEAKING GAS!" Iggy screamed shrilly.

Just as he was about to climb out something caught his eye.

A picture in a broken frame...

He hesitated, fighting the urge to duck back into the trap of a camper and get that photo. But the fight was short lived and he growled, grabbing the picture. The broken glass cut his palm but he didn't care. He climbed out and flew back up to the top of the cliff.

"Did you find him?" Nudge groped at his arm but he shrugged her off.

He stared down at the picture in awe. There was a tall thin young man and jaw length red-brown hair standing beside David, who was clinging to a thirty-something man's back a wide grin on his youthful face.

Fang knew the boy with glasses was Aaron because other than David he was the only other person in the photo with wings.

But, what startled Fang even more than how happy the three of them appeared to be, was the fact that the man David was clinging to looked exactly like him.

"FANG!" Gazzy screamed and pointed over the side of the cliff.

He looked up and saw what the boy was pointing to.

Sprawled at the bottom of the cliff, almost hidden because of the coloring of the landscape, his dappled white wings limp, was Aaron.