Marcus's Story

Well, while it was nice to see that they were encouraging me, and that evidently, flying shouldn't be a problem, somehow I didn't really feel any less nervous.

Truth be told, the only way I'd flown earlier was by hovering in the air and then flopping forward slightly before I panicked and righted myself... over and over again. I essentially was simply lurching myself forward, stopping, then lurching again. That was why it had taken me so long to surmount the roof of the building, not mention why it had been so difficult for me to get down again. But... they wanted me to fly, so... I would have to follow their orders. That was the only way.

"O-okay... I'll take off then, and try it..." I murmured, not sounding entirely convinced of the safety of these actions even though I was the one doing them. Still, it was the only choice, so I couldn't complain. I was a servant, which meant that doing something like that was out of the question, as was failing in my duties. They wanted me to fly, so I would have to fly, no matter how scared I was or how many times I fell. I couldn't have them worrying about me, nor could I afford to slow them down by being burdensome. So, slowly, I began flapping my wings again, and bit by bit I rose into the air. Not wanting to be unable to see my surroundings, I swiftly pulled back my hood once I was high enough that my face, and the fear in my eyes, wouldn't likely be seen. I didn't take into account, of course, the fact that my long, white hair immediately came flowing out and trailed behind me as I rose like the tail of a comet. I, myself, didn't realize at the time exactly how strange my hair was. It wasn't just that it was white, which contrasted greatly with my age. No, my hair was even stranger than that. It quite clearly had never greyed nor been bleached it dyed. Rather, it was obvious that my hair was naturally that color. Its hue, unlike what one would expect, was a pure, silvery white, like the light of the moon in reflected, or like the pureness of snow I had never seen. It seemed more like a void of absolute color than a dimming of whatever hue it had originally been, almost as though it was glowing with a light of its own rather than merely shining with the glistening moonbeams that filtered through its soft, straight strands.

A few more flaps, and I cleared the alley, floating upward with a speed I was rather concerned about. Unfortunately, due to my small form, I couldn't help but rise quickly, even given my rather small wingspan and my wings narrowness. Soon, I found myself stabilized somewhat as I floated over the alleyway, gazing down at the city below. For a moment, I couldn't help but shake off my fear and be consumed by awe and wonder. I never had dreamed something like this could exist, even here in the outside world. Vast expanses of masonry, lights gleaming from every surface... people bustling around beneath me, moving with a chaos despite the completely ordered cityscape around them. Each one of those tiny shapes was a living, thinking being... a "Human." I hadn't seen many of them, and couldn't help but wonder at how intricate, and yet how normal they were. This was the life form upon which I was based, a being that did not know the joy of soaring without limit above the clouds, of spreading one's wings and rising through the boundless heavens. Then, it struck me. I didn't know what that kind of freedom was like either. It might have seemed a little conceited, and more than a little foolish, but just this once, I wanted to act for myself... to feel what it was like to be "free."

And so, my curiosity and delight overcoming my fear for an instant, I cut out two flaps from my usual routine, and leaned my body forward, letting myself slowly begin to arc out into empty air, as though stepping off of a vast cliff. Then, forcing my body forward with an inexorable will, I began to flap my wings faster than I ever had before. There was only a mere second or two of acceleration, and then, I was off, rocketing into the vast and unbounded heavens. I streaked like a comet out into endless space, my flowing white hair and glistening wings trailing behind me like a gleaming tail as I eclipsed the moon, then banked to the side, slowing the movements of my right wing as I came about abruptly, my wings' protective covering the only thing protecting their delicate membranes from the strain of the sudden turnabout. Then, I turned my gaze upward, and with my wings beneath me, I continued to rise, my wine red eyes set firmly on the heavens as I spread my arms, aiming to grasp one of those tiny lights that seemed just a little beyond my current reach. As I pierced like an arrow through the clouds, I at last spread both my arms and wings to my sides, letting my momentum carry me as I slowly spun about, my flight beginning to dwindle as I rose on my final wingbeats into the endless heavens.

The world beneath me was white as I stared down from above the clouds, as though I, too, was a star in that unlimited sky, gazing down on the gorgeous world below. My eyes soon took in the entire panorama as I slowly spun, searching out over every inch of the immeasurable canopy beneath me. Then, with my arms spread wide for joy, I did something I had never done before.

I laughed. I laughed loud and long, my voice ringing out forever over the sky even though it did not reach the world below. In that instant, all of my fears were forgotten, for I had achieved what I and many others like me had thought impossible. I was flying at last, soaring through the endless world above the world that I had only dreamed about. I felt, for an instant, that my existence was validated, that I was meant not to serve, but to fly as I was now, from the moment I first took breath to the moment that I at last departed from the earth. If I had died in that instant, I would have done so without any regrets.

But, like all good things, that seemingly eternal moment came to an end. I felt gravity begin to take me, and with my wings no longer flapping to maintain my altitude, I slowly began to fall. For the first few seconds, I didn't do anything to stop myself, so transfixed was I by the new and unimaginable beauty before me. But, moment by moment, the realization came to me that this was a world in which I could not remain. I had enjoyed being a star, and overlooking the Earth, but for now, there were things I yet had to do before I could enjoy this moment forever. I had left my masters on the ground, and it was time I returned to them.

"I'll come back," I whispered to the heavens as my voice was drowned out by the air rushing around me as I once more pierced through the clouds, and began to fall.

Spreading my wings to slow my descent, I gave several powerful flaps until I found myself slowly fluttering downward, like a feather dropped from a height as it sways back and forth, seeming to go down in slow motion. Slowly, tentatively, I finally managed to calm my stressed nerves, and, overcoming my panic, I landed on the roof over the alleyway I had only just left. Gazing downward, I decided to wait here and see when my masters would come up to join me.

That was right... I wasn't born to be a star. I was created to serve, and until I had completed this duty, I would simply have to wait. Still, I had to admit... it seemed like before my eyes still was not this mundane world where one's feet must always touch the ground. Rather, the world I still saw, even after I had left it for the time being, was the unlimited sky.

Matthew

I grinned when I heard Samuel say democracy. I like the sound of that. We were working together, rather than having someone be the leader. I hoped that wouldn’t change. So far we were doing a good job without my sister or Euro here to lead us on.

"Always..." Samuel said, nodding in response to my previous question.

“Sure” Taylor responded, shrugging her shoulders. I could understand the look on her face. It was one of those ‘we’ve-got-nothing-else-to-do-so-might-as-well’ looks. Which was understandable. It’s not like we were normal anyway.

"As for the directions, I haven't got a clue. I'm sure we'll figure it out though." Samuel continued, helpfully.

I smiled. His casual response was cluelessly optimistic, which encouraged me not to give up.

Sam’s head turned before he casually sauntered over towards the waiting room’s door, peeking outside. Turning on his heels, he walked back to where we were.

"We could always split up and search the hospital individually." he suggested quietly, "Or... if things get bad enough we could always ask the doctors... politely."

Both Taylor and I snorted at the same time.

“Jinx, you owe me a soda,” I muttered under my breath comically, suppressing a mischievous grin.

“Right...” she said sarcastically in response to Sam’s idea, “I think that could be our last decision”

Putting a finger to her chin, she looked thoughtful.

“Searching the hospital could be a first choice though…Individually...”

That seemed to be our resolve. It was a good a idea anyway. If we were all thinking on the same wavelength, then we all probably thought we’d look way too suspicious running out together, all huddled up, and looking for our “sister”. Not to mention the fact that none of us had a single idea about which direction to head in.

I bit my lip, “I guess we’ll be splitting up then.”

Glancing toward the entrance of the waiting room, I could see the hall conveniently split up into three paths, as though it were meant for the three of us. Left, center, and right.

“I’ll go right,” I declared, eyeing the right hall. I’d just made a split second decision. All the halls looked equally dreary, and I deliberated the idea of splitting up again. Still, if we stuck together, it’d be too obvious. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ward caught us faster that way. After all, we were in a hospital. A hospital, that, by the looks of the hall, was one huge maze. I swallowed noisily and nervously.

Taking a deep breath, I looked back the two of them, before smiling. Sticking my right arm out in the middle of the group, I explained, “We should probably do one of those things where people stick their hands in the center of the group and then raise them,” I shrugged, “It’s corny…but since we are a team now…” I let my thoughts trail off, "We'll meet up back here if anything."

I glanced at the clock. It said 10:15.

"After about an hour. So, like 11?" I questioned, still patiently holding out my hand.

Marceline

"I thought that it was a trap to lure me in, even though the Vampire couldn't have predicted that I would've followed him into the woods. But then she started getting her tail kicked again and I jumped in. And she seemed to think I was going to take her head off next, which didn't help my suspicion any. But she started doing that beaten dog routine and I stopped worrying about it. Well, actively worrying about it. Now every time I express any kind of emotion she acts like I'm going to rip her head off."He rolled his eyes, and I chuckled warily, "I've just kind of decided to keep an eye on her... I'm not sure."

I nodded, complacently taking in the information. At least, from what I understood, Marcus was still keeping an eye on her, unsure of her or not. He was a good guy.

In a matter of seconds, after his explanation, we were taking off. Synchronizing our steps, we took a running start towards the opening of the alley. If felt a little awkward, running so close to him, and I internally sighed in relief when he put some distance between the two of us, allowing us to speed up.

The take off wasn’t so bad. I could hear the heavy flaps of his wings, and I knew he was working extra hard to help stabilize us in the air. I myself was pounding my good wing up and down, hoping it would help him somehow, and feeling extremely sour, bad, and regretful for the situation I’d put him in.

When we were stable enough, he seemed to tilt one wing up, allowing us to flow almost fluently through the air. I grimaced. If Marcus let me go now….I subconsciously tightened my grip around him, loosening it when I realized how wussy that must have looked.

He glanced behind us, probably scouting out for Eins. Her little display earlier made me grudgingly sure that she could keep up with us. All that complaining for nothing. She’d done just fine. And that, my friends, is what happens when people underestimate themselves. I really need to stop talking to myself…

He turned back to me, half smiling, half frowning. This still sucked. I couldn’t move on my own, and was completely dependent upon some boy I’d met not but ten minutes ago to help me. But, in the end, we were still in the air. That was what mattered.

I smiled wryly in response wondering if I was doing the right thing. On the plus side, I’d just added two new members to our cracked up family. On the down side, I had no idea if they were good or bad. I had to make myself believe they were good. They were on the run from the Ward too…but…

I sighed shaking my head.

"What now?" He said loudly, speaking over the commotion our wings, coupled with the night wind, were making. I pursed my lips. We’d head to the hospital.

Tilting my good wing, I angled us the in the direction of the hospital, depending on Marcus to straighten us out. As if by instinct, I replayed his earlier motion; glancing backwards, I raised my eyebrows at Eins as if to silently say ‘keeping up?’

“We’re heading towards the hospital,” I said, trying to keep my voice level enough so that I was able to be heard. All of a sudden, I’d found my throat all dried up, and found myself rather tired. I really needed to stop stressing out.

“We’ll go in through the window I left from. After that, I think we’ll search for the rest of them. Then we can get the heck out of there, and somewhere….better…” It wasn’t necessarily safer, being out on our own. There was always the chance that some Vampire would get us. But it was better than being in a stinky hospital all day.

It took us about twenty minutes to reach the hospital, and sneak back in through my window. It was cold, but I peeled off my sweater anyway, wondering if either Marcus or Eins had realized that the blackish-red splotches on it were really blood marks. Walking around a hospital with blood all over your clothing wasn’t exactly the best way to go, and so I simply wrapped my arms around it. I was unwilling to leave it; it’d kept me warm for almost a month, and God knows when I’d get another one. If I kept it hidden it wasn’t such a big deal.

But my wings. It’d be hard to hide those with the thin black t-shirt I was wearing. Hesitantly, I turned the sweater inside out, so that the fluffy inside was facing outwards. Slipping it back over my head, I smiled dryly at the two of them.

“Wouldn’t want any nurses to see all that blood,” I glanced at the entrance of the room, “Eins you might want pull your hood back up. Normal people don’t have natural white hair.”

I loosened my own hair, before wrapping it up in a tighter bun. “People out there are going to be suspicious. As far as they know, I was in here alone. So we’re going to have to be sneaky.”

The sound of voices and wingbeats beneath me told me that my masters had taken off as well, prompting me to spread my own silvery wings and follow them as they clumsily rose from the alleyway below, like some sort of giant, two-headed bird. I might have laughed at how silly they looked, but it wasn't my place to do or think such things. So, instead, I focused on not messing up and falling to my death as I still worried I might do at any second. They'd gotten a head start, which meant I'd have to catch up to them, or be left behind. And, even though they were flying two on two wings, they were still moving at a pretty decent pace, and already had quite a bit of distance between them and myself.

Gulping down my breath, perhaps as an instinctive method of filling the air sacs located adjacent my lungs, I took two steps, reaching the edge of the building, then leaped off of it, giving a powerful beat of my wings at that same instant. With an almost violent force, I was launched into the air, carried for a moment, then propelled further by the force of my second flap. My initial leap had already carried me into the sort of lunging posture that was apparently appropriate for high speed flight, so now all there was to do was go forward with my full strength! In an instant, my mind was consumed once more by the desire to fly, and to fly as fast as I could. I wanted to be free to roam that unlimited sky, to defy the laws of gravity as I moved ever farther, ever faster into the heavens. At the time, I didn't even notice the strength this desire seemed to give me, and even if I had, I probably wouldn't have thought it anything unusual.

From what I could tell, there were three steps to flying. Firstly was the launch. Through the strength of one's legs, a powerful jump could be used to gain initial momentum, and to carry oneself from the ground without overly straining one's wings. I had picked up this art back in my old concrete world when I had hovered to keep my wings from atrophying. But now, I had found two more steps. The second was the first segment of actual flight. Through several powerful wingbeats, each punctuated by a large intake of breath to replenish my air sacs, I could continuously bounce upward, catching the wind and launching myself like a rocket both straight ahead and into the air. Once I had reached a satisfactory height, the third step was key in maintaining my desired altitude, as well as in gaining speed. You see, while continuous, powerful bursts of energy would keep me aloft, they would also carry me progressively higher and higher until I was finally completely exhausted. At that height, a stall and the subsequent free fall would surely be fatal, with no chance of recovery. So, I reasoned, I would have to keep my speed and height without going beyond my original intentions. In this endeavor, any excess movements would only serve to knock me off course and waste my strength, which meant that the goal for the third stage of flight would have to be maximum efficiency, with each movement flowing into the next: that is to say, continuous wingstrokes that were strong enough to propel me, but subtle enough to keep me at my current level of altitude.

Therefore, as I flew, my wingbeats grew progressively faster and faster while also becoming smaller and smaller. After about ten seconds of flight, I found that I was moving fast enough to cause my eyes to tear up, and mentally made a note to search for some kind of eye protection later. But, for now, I was overjoyed at the prospect of the sudden freedom I had been completely ignorant of until now. This kind of speed, this kind of absolute movement over an endless expanse of space... It was surely what the people minding their own business far, far below me had always dreamed of, and it was something only I could experience. That realization gave me a sense of pride as my wings seemed to stop beating entirely, instead simply oscillating up and down at such a pace as to be like a blur of white light streaming off of my back, a celestial halo that carried me inexorably forward, my speeds continuing to rise with every passing second.

The wind must have given a loud, ear-splitting roar as I abruptly came alongside, then, in the same instant, passed my comrades, for I could see their hair and clothing blown to the side opposite me be the sheer force of my passing, overcoming even the overwhelming pressure of their flight, the wind of which should have been enough to keep these things pinned securely behind them like the silvery hair that trailed out behind me like a mane of light. I gave a joyous laugh as I sped on ahead, blissfully ignorant of the fact that I might have actually been moving fast enough to create a small vacuum beneath their wings in my wake, which would likely have carried them both ahead and downward at a somewhat dangerous speed. Fortunately, I hadn't yet achieved a sufficient speed to make a shock wave of sufficient force to actually destabilize them, so this faux pas ended up being rather harmless in the end. "You were right! It is easy!" I called back to them as I slowly halted my flight by turning my momentum into an upward launch, then looping back overhead to come down beside them, at which point I hovered along on their left in the semi-standing posture to which I was more accustomed, the slow pace of which kept me by their side as we limped our way to our destination.

However, as I flew at speeds that, although I did not know it, I almost certainly should not have been able to achieve, I never turned my gaze backward. Consequently, I never even noticed the faint trail of glittering silver particles left behind me as I flew, nor did I realize that not all of the light emitted by my gleaming metallic wings had been reflected from the moon above them...

A few minutes of flight brought us to the building known as a "hospital." I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but from the moment I entered it, I felt suddenly on edge. The sterile smell of its rooms, the perfectly ordered white cupboards and drawers, the mysterious instruments laid out all around... It seemed, somehow, that it was too clean, or perhaps too methodical. Remembering the many thoughts and pains I had obtained from Jude and the other mutants back in the lab, I immediately shied away from anything and everything that I didn't recognize to be safe - which is to say, the entire contents of the room. All the fears I had felt in the places of my fellow prisoners in the Ward now flooded my mind, as though a chorus of invisible voices was warning me that this place was dangerous. But, I didn't say anything, although I felt my skin grow cold and didn't doubt that I had blanched somewhat since my energetic, enthusiastic smile in the skies a few minutes ago.

I was quickly directed to pull my hood up again, so I did so, letting its warm, comforting folds wrap around my face and restore some of the heat that my inexplicable terror had sapped from me. As I folded my wings beneath my jacket - although I wore it more like a cape - a question occurred to me, however, that caused me enough curiosity to momentarily overcome my fear.

"Err... Why does everyone keep saying that my hair isn't normal?" I asked innocently, my voice sounding curious and just a little bit hurt. I knew that normal people had hair, and I also knew that "white hair" was also a common expression among Humans, so why was my hair so different from theirs? I didn't realize that "white hair" didn't refer to hair so purely and naturally that shade that it could truthfully be said to practically glow with a light of its own.

(Foreshadowing...!)

Marceline

"Because the only people who have natural white hair are old people and mutant escapees, and obviously you're not old. People will notice and remember you... maybe the wrong people."

"Like I said, normal people don't have white hair," I snapped, irritated by the repeated explanations. Some small voice in the back of my head told me it was wrong. Told me I should have given Eins the benefit of the doubt, be more light about it. But I wasn't in the mood to keep up with innocent curiosities when I had more pressing matters on my hands. I had just brought two completely clueless mutant children in a place that I was most certain they didn't want to be. My lips pursed as I warily eyed the door. I wondered if the doctor from earlier was still seething about my "masturbation" accusations. It left me grinning mischievously, almost evilly, and, for the benefit of my two new mutants, I quickly wiped the smirk off my face. At this rate, they were going to start thinking I was insane.

For a while, I deliberated on what to do, while Eins and Marcus stood off idly waiting for, I guess, directions.

"I don't think we could get out without saying we snuck in," Marcus said, breaking the silence, "Maybe... me and Eins should go back out the window and go in from the front. If they would let us in..."

I scrunched my nose, unwilling to leave the two of them alone. Eins had already proved to be more than enough to handle, and I didn't think she and Marcus alone in the hospital would do any good.

"I don't think, if we were normal you'd get in any trouble. But I'm willing to bet whatever I have," If I was wrong there went all my clothes, "That a couple of those nurses have been informed about my present...condition."

Meaning my wings. A sighed, resigned to our plan.

"Here's how things are going to go," I said quickly, trying to give as much information in a little span of time, "We're going to go out there casually. If no one asks us anything, great. But if stuff happens, we're just going to wing it. No doubt the commotion is going to bring the attention of the....family," I smiled wryly as I thought of referring to Matt, Sam, and Taylor as my collective family. If Marcus and Eins stuck around long enough, no doubt they'd become a part of that family too.

"Once we're all together we bust out of here."

I didn't wait for their approval. Assuming they were following me, I carefully opened the door, walking out with caution written all over my face.

A male nurse immediately threw me a grief stricken look, "Miss you're not supposed to leave..."

"My ass!" I said, pushing a hospital cart into his stomach before he could wrap his too big arms around me. He was too fit, too muscular, and way too accurate to be a hospital nurse. I could deduce from this that we were probably surrounded.

"Run!" I screeched last minute dodging the same nurse from before.

(@ Abridged and Tsuk
You guys can probably go into a fighting scene. We'll be up against a few nurses (male and female) who aren't actually nurses, but rather gov't officials. The commotion should bring all the other bird kids, who have split up, to the same point. From there, I'm thinking los government officials will apprehend them and bring them in for questioning.)

Alice

I looked at Mike intently listening to all his directions and observing his take off. I grimaced when he hit the air, flying what looked to be a dozen feet above me and circling my position. My teeth gnashed together. It looked so easy that it was laughable how frightened I was of the actual take off. Him circling me didn't make it any better; I could barely imagine myself getting in the air, much less angling myself enough to go round and round.

But I was determined not the let that deter. Putting on a confident face, I gave myself some space, trying to mimic the amount of the space Mike had given himself. He was taller than me so the space was no doubt more than what I needed to get in the air. My foot steps would not be as striding as his, and so I would be able to pick up speed in a relatively small space. The extra space made me feel comfortable though.

From what I'd seen of the bird kids, they didn't need to run to fly. I figured Mike was teaching me this was because I was just beginning. There was no way I was ready to just snap out my wings and fly from a stationary point.

Taking a deep breath, I snapped out of my standing position, racing forward. When I thought I covered enough ground to give me an adequate amount of speed, I jumped pushing my wings out, and pumping them fiercely in attempt to get in the air. And...it worked!

I smiled triumphantly for moment, before nearly tumbling out of the sky.

"Woah!" I yelped, forgetting about my momentary happiness in favor of trying to stabilize myself. I was not circling anywhere, at least not today. Looking up at Mike, I tried again for the grin. I didn't smile often, and the stretch on my mouth felt good.

"How was that?" I asked, as I waited for him to lead me on further to wherever we were going. All of sudden I was excited. What if I did see bird kids on this night?

Marceline

"Where?!" Marcus retorted sarcastically. Figuratively speaking, his sharp response provoked an equally sharp feeling in my chest.

It was like venom versus venom.

"Anywhere but here," I said, scathingly, pausing just enough to get in a pouting scowl. My own sarcasm burned my tongue; it was natural, for me at least, to act that way. To challenge when I felt I was challenged. And so, I flinched internally, hoping Marcus wouldn't take it badly.

The pseudo nurse was still coming after me, his long, heavy muscled arms outstretched in a threateningly uncomfortable way. Grimacing, I imagined that the incoming grip was a gentle hug, rather than the tight squeeze I knew I would feel in less than a minute. I gasped when his arms wrapped around me, quashing the breath out of my lungs and making my world spin with oxygen deprived dizziness. Ouch. I could feel my wing crushed up against my back; it disturbed me when I realized that my damaged wing had gone limp. I suppose the pain had been a bit much for it to endure.

I was in the air now. I was tall myself, but this guy was taller and stronger. With his height, my toes could barely reach the ground.

"Idiot," I grumbled under my breath, knowing he wouldn't hear me. He grinned down at me condescendingly, and I could feel my rage growing. Writing in his arms, I tried to slip out of his grip. Instead, my foot clipped him in the knee, forcing him to drop me as he doubled over in pain. Good. I hoped his knee would feel pain for a good week or two (you know, if he happened to survive this encounter.)

While he was wreathing on the floor, I found myself in the vice tight grip of much slimmer, more sure, arms. A woman. She'd been so quiet, I'd barely had time to react before I'd realized that her slim hands were wrapped around my neck. The best I could have done was slip out from under the delicate strangling half circle she created with her left arm, only for me to grab her right and fling her over my head. My wing (both of them, thank goodness) were beginning to feel normal again, as the blood flow previously constricted returned back to its normal flow, and I ripped off my blood soaked sweater. I was taking this bitch down.

She snapped up on her legs faster than humanly possible, and began charging at me again. I would have compared her to a hunting lioness, if I knew what one looked like.

"You are going down." I snarled charging back and snapping out my wings. The elongated hall of the hospital was perfect; flapping hard, it was less than three seconds before I was in the air at my top speed, my wings slightly bent to compensate for the fact that hall was smaller than the length of both my wings put together. For a minute second I wondered how the boys, with t their probably large wingspans, would have been able to cope with the claustrophobic space.

I have no idea what my top speed it; but, I do know that it supposedly breaks the speed of sound. Curiously I wondered if this was the fastest I could go. Could I break the speed of light? It was a good question, since I hadn't always been able to fly this fast. It had built up over the years, till I had hit a maximum speed. The Ward Master hadn't labeled it as my utmost max speed, and so it left me wondering how they had programmed my body.

And for that matter, for the first time in my life, my eyes. Normally, a bird kid, even with our advanced sight, would not have been able to see at my speed. Their eyes would have teared up and everything around them should have been a blur. But I was seeing just fine. A slight frown tugged at my lips; it had always seemed so natural that I had never considered it. Perhaps, when they had messed with my brother’s sight they had messed with mine too?

I didn’t have enough time to contemplate all those questions. Before the lady was able to hear the flap of my wings I had crashed into her (what with my faster than sound thing going on). I heard a sickening crack come from her arm, and a splatter of blood whipped across my face in a diagonal line. Ew.

We crashed into the very end of the hall, rolling in a discordant ball, and tumbling more than a few nurses out of the way. When we finally stopped, I was able to look back and check out Marcus and Eins.

To my surprise, and dismay, Eins seemed to have been hurt. However, he’d done it, Marcus had saved her. As I tried to get up, I froze, feeling a strange tingling sensation rolling down my back. It was stressful, as thought my muscles had tensed up, and I realized that was exactly what happened. To make matter worse, the muscle spasm had my left wing (the hurt one) constantly pulsing with pain. I kneeled on the ground, not sure if I was giving up or taking a break.

Matthew

I nodded briefly before dissolving from our little group to head down my hall. It was only now, when I was away from Sam and Taylor, did I realized how frightened I really was. My mouth feel dry, and I could feel the early stages of a headache crawling up along my brain. I needed an Advil or Aspirin, or whatever the hell people used to get rid of headaches.

I could give you all the boring details of my exploration through the hall but I’m not trying to kill you. All you need to know was that is exceedingly dreary and frightening to be alone and worried for my sister. It had all my nerves on end, and I found myself carefully picking my way from nurse to nurse, politely asking them discreet questions, hoping they wouldn’t relate me to my sister quickly.

After about fifteen minutes of searching I heard the strangest thing I’d ever heard in my entire life. Third floor, eastern corridor off of room 308. The Angels are under attack. Help them. I hissed (at least in the human approximation of the word) before I began making sense of the urgent invasion of sorts. It didn’t take me long to deduce how I had received such an alien plea for help; either a) there were other mutants in the hospital, or b) the Ward was trying to bait me. And either way you looked at it, if the Ward was trying to bait me or not, it meant that either Marce, Taylor, or Sam were in trouble.

Following the direction, I soon found myself close to room 308. And that’s when I spotted her. Relieft flooded through me.

“Marce!” I called out, elated. She was hurt, so that definitely meant something was going on. There was a woman not too far away from her with a deformed looking arm. She was slouched against the wall, her lips twitching angrily as she stopped me quickly lopping towards my sister.

“Don’t you dare,” the woman growled at me as I went in to pick my sister off the ground. I had been about grumble my own response back when I realized she was holding a gun to my face. I swallowed noisily waiting for her to pull the trigger. Time seemed to stop, and I barely had a fraction of a second before I ducked. The bullet careened off the metal top of the hall, reflecting back and digging itself into the flat marble floor.

I looked back at her stunned; had she really been out to kill me? Usually the Ward went for capturing, not killing. And there was nothing even remotely Vampire-ish about her. Out of my peripheral vision I was just able to spot the blurred shapes of two smaller (or rather thinner) people, about my age, I would guess. I didn’t risk glancing, too afraid that the gun was still loaded.

Alice

"You did great, I fell on my face a few times before I could even fly at all. You're a natural, When you want to land just get as close to the ground, flare your wings a few times to reduce speed."

I felt a genuine smile creep onto my face. How many times in my life had I even been complimented? I’ll answer that for you; not many.

Even with the space Mike was giving me, I found myself angling away from him, not wanting to be smacked by his mammoth wings. For a while, I admired the way he flew. It was far more graceful than me, and if there was anyone who was “natural” at flying out of the two of us, I would have thought it was him rather than me.

For a while we flew separately, until it seemed that he had something to tell me. Carefully, he angled his wings, coming close enough that I could hear him, but staying far away enough so that we didn’t collide.

"We'll be landing at the edge of the forest, we wouldn't want any bird kids seeing our approach." I nodded quietly, listening intently as he spoke.

Then, as he had described to me earlier, he began descending towards the ground, flaring his wings out in order to make a smooth landing. I watched him with envy; I knew this was the part of the day where I failed my flying test.

He called down for her, and she grimaced when he mentioned “handling this nicely.” This was not going to be nice.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered under her breath. Taking a steep (probably too steep) dive downwards, she angled herself as best as she could, for the ground. It wasn’t enough.

“Ouch,” she growled, as she tumbled in a pile of crumpled leaves and pointy bushed. Groaning, she asked sarcastically (something she had picked up from observing one of the bird kids), “How was that.” She rolled her eyes, not at Mike, but rather at herself.

Twisting around so that she could see her wing, she grunted when she realized that her Vampire wing, jet black as it was, was marred with the small trickle of blood that indicated a cut. Her pure white Angle wing seemed find, albeit a bit ruffled.

As suddenly as the pain had started, it stopped, air flooding back into my deprived lungs as I gasped desperately, trying to stay awake after the crushing pressure that had nearly incapacitated me. The arm grinding down upon my throat had been torn away, causing gravity to take effect once more as I fell back to the ground, stumbling forward due to my disorientation and swiftly overturning myself, causing me to slump against Marcus for support as he drew off his jacket and spread his own wings in the attempt to increase his mobility. Evidently, both he and my second master had thought along the same lines as myself, using our speed for advantage in close quarters even if we couldn't actually fly. Although, they must have had a harder time than myself, since it seemed that their wings, unlike my own, could not also serve the ancillary purposes of "Shield" and "serrated bladed weapon." I suppose I should simply give thanks to my own design, then, as it seems that my own capabilities are somewhat of an anomaly.

It seemed that our first ally had arrived, as a boy who looked quite similar to Marceline quickly showed himself and rushed to support her. I'd at least succeeded in one regard, then.

A sudden spurt of pain as my shoulder contacted Marcus reminded me of my previous injury, and I stumbled backwards somewhat, giving a quiet gasp as I instinctively clutched my dislocated right shoulder in a futile attempt to make the agony stop. Now that the adrenaline had slowed somewhat inside me, I was feeling the full effects of my wound, and despite my valiant attempts to compose myself, my vision rapidly blurred as I began to tear up from the inescapable torture of my badly jarred arm.

"It hurts..." I mumbled without even realizing it, nearly fainting from shock at the agony the likes of which I had never experienced, even whilst taking on some of the pain of my fellow mutants back in the Ward. Even if I managed to retain my consciousness, however, I could tell one thing.

I wouldn't be able to continue fighting from this point.

Samuel

Samuel nodded anxiously towards Taylor and Matthew, he took a deep breath before slowly turning his back away from them and stepping towards the left hall. As Samuel approached the opening he looked back briefly, before steadying himself and taking another step forward. This time however he didn't falter; he knew that he had to do this. As Samuel continued down the bleak, dull hallway he felt the cold chill of fear begin to creep up his spine, his eyes darted forward instinctively examining his new surroundings in more detail while he steadily continuing forward. The hallway seemed so still, serene came to Samuel's mind; there wasn't anyone walking through these halls, and the noise was now a hushed whisper. This added to the atmosphere, but most importantly it also added to Samuel's distress, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect from the unnerving silence. To put it simply: in a room full of people he felt safe, no matter how many were secretly against him, silence however was different he couldn't help but feel something was out to get him.

Samuel took a sharp turn before letting out a sigh of relief at the sight before him: there were people, although the amount was small Samuel's tension was eased considerably. They were mostly pushing empty hospital trolleys along, a few were heading in and out of rooms holding documents of data. However Samuel's momentary ease didn't last of long, he wasn't sure why, but the tension just seemed to return as quickly as it had left; he knew it had something to do with the way everybody was moving, it seemed rushed and slightly false. Samuel could just sense something bad, he wasn't sure if it was pure-avian instincts, or just common-sense; then again he had developed quite a paranoid streak since his escape from the Ward. Samuel gulped not exactly sure what to do, a sense of panic seemed to wash over him, he felt an irresistible urge to flee from this building and never look back. The feeling he felt there was similar to the feeling of being caught in a trap which had not sprung yet. For a second the feeling to escape wasn't a suggestion it was a maddening imperative.

Samuel sighed before shaking his head shakily he couldn't leave now, he had gone down this rabbit hole (on his own accord) and he had to see it through, he knew the consequences but for a moment he didn't really seem to care. All he knew was that he had to see this through. Samuel began to continue through the hallway until a thought struck him; he could at least prepare himself, it wasn't a solution but it would make him feel better. His eyes scanned the edge of the hallway until he spotted what he was looking for, a bathroom but that wasn't all he spotted. Two of the male nurses had spotted him from down the hall, which was non-surprisingly empty by now. He could immediately tell that these people weren't ordinary nurses, they didn't look the part, but he could also see in their eyes that there was harm, which was more distressing. The two nurses did not even attempt to stop him, but simply strode towards him, one had a case, and was unpacking it slow and steadily: he pulled out a long hypodermic needle, while the other pulled out a baton of some sort, both looked calm and business-like. Samuel stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds before his rationality regained itself, and he quickly rushed into the bathroom slamming the door behind him.

The bathroom was empty like everything else, and there were six empty stalls next to several sinks with urinals on the other end of the room. Samuel had originally intended to come inside here, and drain the power from the lights, he didn't have time to do it now of course, but he still had a rather vague plan in mind. Samuel's eyes glanced at the stalls, and then towards a small window which was tightly shut. Samuel had to act quickly; he dived over to the window and tried to force it open it didn't budge an itch it must have been or something, he hesitated before exerting more force, he could hear it creak and that willed him to push harder until the window was fully open. Samuel turned in panic, they were probably almost upon him by now he quickly ran over to one of the stalls shutting its door behind him and quickly getting up on the seat, he knew they were going probably going to check the stalls but they wouldn't be able to spot him: hopefully anyway. Samuel paused before closing his eyes and forcing concentration, he was trying to become invisible to no avail, he was beginning to panic now, rationality was beginning to crack as he heard the bathroom door creek open.

Samuel heard them shuffling forward, until a giant wham! entered his ears. Samuel winced he knew they were kicking the stall's doors open. He closing his eyes, shivering slightly. Another wham! had entered his ears, Samuel was in outright panicking now, he was positive he was in the third stall, and the surge of adrenaline that had washed through him had made everything slow down. As the stall to his door was kicked open, he saw the man with the baton fall back down from his kicking stance, before scowling adjectivally, he looked around in the stall failing to spot Samuel, who had by now relaxed and was breathing heavily; he wasn't sure how he had done that, but regardless felt a large weight lift of his chest. As the two nurses checked the last three stalls, the one with the needle muttered uneasily, "Where did the bugger go?" The one with the baton looked around, in thought before spotting the window that was open, he gasped before stating, "I think the little shit might of gone out the window." Samuel looked on casually aware that there was a slight pressure on his brain, he had another five minutes before he'd have to become visible again, but they'd be gone by then so it didn't really matter. Samuel watched laughing hysterically as the two nurses ran out quickly, he fell to the floor howling with laughter, this wasn't the funny sort of laughter but more of the, I-can't-believe-that-worked kind of laughter.

Samuel pushed himself off the floor, wiping his eyes; the occasional snort of laughter erupting. As Samuel looked around the bathroom, he decided it'd be best if he did what he had originally planned. Samuel slowly walked forward until he was directly under the light, he could feel a small buzzing sensation in his stomach and he raised his hands, almost as if to touch the light. Suddenly a spark of yellow static electricity escaped from the lamp and jumped into Samuel's hands, it buzzed around for a second before steadily feeding into his hands, the light was flickering on and off rapidly now, he was sure that other electrical appliances would be acting up, as he wasn't draining just this lamp, but the whole hospital but none of the appliances would be drained as bad as the light, since that was the source. After about a minute he let go satisfied that he had charged himself up enough. Samuel pushed himself forward, raising his right hand and sparking a small spark of electricity from his fingertips, "Perfect..." he smiled, before snapping his right hand shut.

As Samuel readied himself to leave the bathroom: a voice entered his head, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin, before looking around obviously startled and bewildered, Third floor, eastern corridor off of room 308. The Angels are under attack. Help them. the voice whispered, and then it was gone. Samuel looked around wide-eyed for a moment, before regaining his composure, he wasn't sure whether to act on this, it could be a trap, he hardly recognized the voice which had entered his head after all, but nevertheless he felt a certain obligation to do so. The obligation wasn't anything special, more of a natural curiousness which Samuel couldn't help but check, anyway now that he was charged up he felt confidence bubbling up, before he grinned. Samuel walked out of the bathroom with some hesitation however, but he was almost certain that he invisible anyway so it didn't really matter to him. Samuel walked out to see the hallway was completely deserted, he relaxed before letting himself become visible again. Samuel began running at a quickened pace forward, he looked up at a sign above the hallway's archway, which told him he was exactly on floor two, and in the western corridor.

As Samuel continued running down the western halls, jumping over the occasional obstacle he came across a small stairway, which he quickly dashed into and up a flight of stairs as quickly as he could, he didn't want to waste anymore time. As Samuel emerged he could hear something, which sounded like a gunshot, his senses were immediately on high alert, and he instinctively fell to the floor; he scowled edgily, before realizing the trouble the others could be in. Samuel dashed ahead, before sliding along and soon finding the eastern corridor, as well as the ominous room 308. The first thing Samuel noticed was the scene that had played out before him, his eyes went wide at what he had seen: a woman her arm a mess, was holding a gun in her other hand towards Matthew who was supporting his sister, behind him however was two others, both he didn't recognize; he could tell however he was a bird-kid due to his black wings, the other he couldn't get a good look at, but she looked different.

Samuel had fortunately however, emerged behind the scenes and had not drawn the woman's attention... yet anyway. Samuel stopped when he was a few feet away from her, hoping she wouldn't detect him. Samuel sprang with surprising speed off his legs and onto the woman's back, forcing her to the ground, he heard something slide along the floor, he suspected (hoped) it was the gun. The woman turned slightly before elbowing Samuel in the face a few times, they didn't do much damage due to him being on top of her, but they still hurt, and Samuel felt blood drip from his nose, it didn't matter all of his wounds didn't last for long after all. Samuel quickly grabbed her head, before slamming it into the ground repeatedly, her blows got weaker and weaker, until they stopped completely. Samuel rolled off the woman, before speaking roughly "Sorry I took so long..." he coughed, before spitting some blood on the floor and staggering to his feet, using the wall as support.

"Eins, we have to get moving," I snapped, in no mood to coddle her. Yeah, something was definitely wrong with her arm, but now was so not the time to worry about it. She wasn't dead, she wasn't bleeding, and she could walk. That was good enough for me. The sympathy would have to wait until we weren't about to be killed or captured by the Ward.

"We need to go back to Marceline," I said, really having no idea whether that was true or not. Was now a good time or bad time to be separated? I'm just not good at these decisions in the heat of the moment. I checked to make sure she was following and I headed back through the semi-crowded hall, shoving people out of the way and occasionally throwing a punch if someone tried to stop me. The hall seemed to clear in front of me and I soon found out why.

A nurse was holding a gun on a boy who looked remarkably like Marceline, and who I just instantly assumed was related to her. Marceline herself was a short distance away and seemed to be hurt. The sight filled me with as much panicky fear and anger as the the sight of the gun did.

Martial arts is kind of useless when a gun is in your face. You don't need to touch someone to hurt them with a gun. In the movies I'd watched, the hero used special martial arts to dodge bullets. The Ward had used guns on mutants with even greater abilities and had never failed to kill them.

As if to prove me right, the nurse pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening in the hall and I flinched, expecting to see blood gushing everywhere or to feel the unexpected pain of a bullet wound myself.

But since Marceline's brother was still in one piece and no one else (including me) was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, she must have missed. He had to have been lucky to avoid that at such close range.

I was wondering what I could do to take her down when another kid -probably a mutant- began to sneak up on her. I stared... I couldn't help it. Easy way to ruin someone's ambush, by staring at them while they sneak up on someone. Luckily my reaction didn't seem to ruin it; he sailed through the air and tackled the woman hard. I couldn't help but be impressed as he slammed her head into the ground repeatedly. I was even more impressed when she kept fighting. Vicious.

He climbed off of her when she stopped moving and apologized for taking so long.

"No problem. Not like we're facing a life or death situation or anything," I said sarcastically, but I half smirked at him to show that I didn't mean it. "Can we leave now?"

A couple of the nurses I'd taken down were closing in on us again, though now they were being slow about it, as if approaching dangerous wild animals. Which I guess is a good description. Oh, and they were pulling out guns too. Copy cats. My smirk disappeared in an instant and I tensed up again. I so did not want to get shot today.

"Now what?" I asked seriously, all traces of sarcasm gone. Not like we could rush them and they definitely weren't close enough for me to do anything. I was useless.