Maximum Ride: TBE | "His Return"

Chapter Five: Ari

"So what's the plan, boy wonder?" I mocked Chase once we were inside. We were all in an air vent, peering out of the grate and into the hallway.

"I can use my thermal scanner to scan for Iggy's anomolies and use my recognition app to check if it's actually him." He cleared his throat nastily, as the bruise had gotten even more purple than it was. Ouch.

"Just do it already," Bree spit hastily. "Please."

Chase's eye began to glow as he scanned the rooms nearby. He then made an unsatifactory groan. "Nothing. Let's move south."

Quickly and quietly, we made our way down the vent, when Chase scanned again. My bones were starting to feel sore from being so cramped.

"There!" Chase said urgently, pointing to the west wing of the School. "He's in there. Let's move!"

It took almost thirty minutes to crawl to where Chase had detected Iggy. If we had been walking, the trip would have taken five minutes. 

But hey, you try squeezing three bird kids, three bionic superhumen, and a forty year old man in an air vent and then try  moving. See how well it goes down.

 I peered down into the room Iggy was in and almost threw up. They hadn't sealed his wound, so his whole shoulder and half his body was a bloody mess. From what parts of his wings I could see, his left one was torn and the feathers were a matted mess, while the right wing was stained with blood. He looked way paler than usual.

He had lost a lot of blood in only a matter of hours, which meant we only had "X" amount of time to get him to safety and save him.

I unscrewed the grate and swooped down into the room. "Iggy!" I whispered. "Iggy, wake up!" I lightly tapped his shoulder and then began to try and undo his shackles from the gurney.

Bree dropped down next, then Fang, then Xena...you get the idea. Soon, we were all trying to break his shackles. 

"Wait, guys. Stand back," Adam ordered.

"What? Wh--" I began to question, but he used his arm to push me back. He then began to shoot his laser vision at each shackle, and soon, they were all melted.

"Great job, you got your friend unshackled. Now, let's see you try getting him out safely."

Douglas.

Just then, Iggy shuffled awake. "Guys!" he exclaimed weakly. "You came."

"You've fallen right into my trap, Maximum Ride." 

"Wha--" 

They began attacking in a matter of seconds. Hell, I don't even know where they came from. The only thing I knew, was that a ton of Flyboys were coming from every direction, getting their share of all of us--including Iggy.

As I fought them off, I just so happened to see Iggy trying to fend off his attackers. My heart squeezed. He was in so much pain, yet he kept fighting.

A Flyboy punched me in the nose, sending my blood splurting. I hit it over the head with a melted shackle. 

Two came at me from both sides. I flew straight up so they slammed into each other. In the mere seconds I was airborne, I saw it all happen.

Iggy's attacking Flyboys came at him all at once. He managed to hit one in the "nose".

And then it exploded.

Iggy went flying back into the wall, hitting a shelf of beakers. They shattered all around him, giving him more cuts than I've ever seen on the Flock combined. He dropped to the floor, the last bit of color draining out of his face.

"IGGY!" I screamed involuntarily. I started to fly towards him, tears beginning to sting my eyes as I noticed he wasn't moving. Iggy couldn't be dead...

Boom! A Flyboy slammed into me, knocking me over. My adrenaline began to rush--and I went into a blind rage. 

Iggy. Is. Not. Dead.

BREE'S POV

Whatever these things were, they were bad news. Adam, Chase and I were fighting back to back, fending off the enemy. 

And then I heard it. A loud crash. My eyes immediately went to the source--a shelf full of beakers had been shattered. 

"IGGY!" I heard Max scream. Oh, god, was that Iggy?!

"Bree, go cover Iggy!" Chase yelled gruffly. I saw that his lip was bleeding and he had a few scratches and cuts, and even a few more bruises. 

"On it!"

I sped away from the chaos, the robots not noticing me, over to the shelf which Iggy had slammed into. My heart seemed to stop when I noticed that he was still and extremely pale--and his wound had stopped convulsing.

"Iggy?" It came out as a soft, confused-sounding whisper. I dropped to my knees and began frantically trying to find a pulse. "Iggy?!" That one came out more frantic. "Please wake up..." My throat began to throb and I choked on tears. 

He moaned a little. "B-Bree..."

Relief swept over me and I sniffled. "I-it's okay. You're okay. It's going to be okay."

"B-Bree," he sighed again. "Ari...is...is pretending...to be Douglas...stop him..."

His head fell in my lap.

"No, no no no," I repeated over and over, tears spilling from my eyes. Completely forgetting the battle going on behind me, I began to search for a pulse again.

Nothing. Iggy was dead. 

"IGGY!" I screamed and cried, shaking him. "Iggy, please..."

My tears began to make me lose focus. I laid Iggy down gently and then whirled around to face the Flyboys. 

"YOU BASTARDS KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM, AND NOW, YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"