Maximum Ride: TBE | "His Return"

Chapter Twelve: Battle of the Triton (Part Two)

The next thing I knew, his eyes dimmed and he fell unconscious, sliding to the side.

"Adam?!" I rolled him onto his back and clutched the collar of his suit.

"It's okay, he just needs to recalibrate!" Chase told me.

"Max! Look out!" Bree yelled. I felt a body barrel into me. Fang pinned me to the ground. I brought my knee to the place it hurts. He winced but slammed me down harder.

"Fang! What the hell?!"

"Poor Max," he mocked.

"Fang, you son of a bitch," I muttered through my teeth. Using a tactic I learned from Davenport, I whipped around his wrists and flipped the positions. Now, I had him pinned. "Fang, I know you don't remember me, but god, I remember you. I remember you so, so well. I remember how we could speak a thousand words between each other even if we didn't talk. You know me, Fang. You're my best friend." I was on the verge of crying. "C'mon Fang, I know my brother's in there!"

He stopped struggling and focused on my eyes. For a moment, I thought it worked.

And then, he threw me across the room.

ADAM'S POV

My head was killing me. I didn't know what had happened. All I knew was that everyone was fighting each other.

And then Max went flying across the room.

"Max!" I yelled. Fang shot up behind me and began to walk toward me threateningly. Max slammed into a steel column and moaned, trying to get up as fast as she could. Anger swelled inside me seeing her look so weak. Whirling on Fang, I began screaming at him. "Come at me, bird boy! You think you're soo special, with your quietness. Well, you're not!"

I mustered up enough strength to activate my blast wave ability. Fang flew backwards but quickly regained himself with his wings. He accelerated as fast as a bullet and pummeled into me. Everything happened so fast.

"Fang, stop!" I heard Max scream. She pulled on Fang's feet, trying to pull him off me. "You have to remember!"

"M-Max..." I heard Fang mutter. He passed out and fell to the ground.

"Max, are you okay?" I rushed up to her and grabbed her into a protective hug.

"Yeah, but now's not the time! Total and Gazzy are still under the trance."

Bree supersped up to us. "Guys, I know how to fix Gazzy and Total."

MAX'S POV

Bree explained her idea. She thought that if we brought up Iggy, Gazzy would get in touch with his emotional size and break from the Triton App. And we needed to convince Angel to talk to Total.

I felt bad for using Iggy's death against his best friend--it was like rubbing a raw wound with salt. But it was our only chance to break him out of this.

I ran into Gazzy's line of sight. "Gazzy! Do you remember Iggy? Your best friend?"

I choked on tears but continued. "He loved you very much Gaz. You were the closest thing he had to a brother. Gazzy, please. Would Iggy want this?"

Gazzy dropped to the ground--obviously we had won the Triton App over.

I saw Angel wake up in the corner. "T-Total?" she stuttered. Our dog, Total, was rushing at her, preparing to make a mark. Angel took control of the situation, though, by entering his mind and deactivating the Triton App. He fell unconcious.

"Is everyone okay?" I checked.

"Everyone should be fine. We just need to get them to the infirmary at the Island to check up on any injuries. C'mon," Chase confirmed.

I picked up Total and checked on Gaz. He and Fang were both still out cold. Adam slung Fang over his shoulders. I gave Total to Angel and picked up Gazzy.

"Let's get out of here before Krane finds us," Bree hissed.

***

Gazzy and Fang woke up on the way to the Island. When we arrived, Davenport gave us a brief idea of Nudge's condition, which sounded okay besides the internal bleeding. I didn't worry too much, though because of our quick healing.

He let us into Nudge's room, where she was eating chocolate pudding. "Hey guys," she smiled.

"Nudge, you're okay!" Gazzy exclaimed, running to her to give her a hug.

"Yeah," she hugged him back. "I really want to fly again."

"You will soon, but right now you need to rest," Davenport instructed. "We'll leave you guys alone for a few."

As soon as he left, I locked the door. "Nudge, just perservere until tonight. We're leaving then, and this time, we're not telling anyone."

"Where are we going?" Angel asked.

I smiled. "Oregon."