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Fandom Winged

((Hey, so, um, can we skip to them getting to the facility? The School is on the islands? Maybe it should be in a cave somewhere and regular people have to use a boat to get in there. Maybe it should be Callie and her tracking skills that help find the entrance?))
 
((Also, since the two groups are separated now, they could go in separately and be separate inside the school. --couldn't think of a way of getting another separate in that sentence lol-- And since the second group are mostly the heavy lifters, it would be nice if the first group got more action/glorification. You know? Was going to post now but wanted to ask first))
 
((Yeah I like that idea. I was kind of thinking that maybe they could be separated for like a day or two? Just to see what would happen if they were split up into two groups. It might be interesting))
 
As they flew along the terrain below them became rockier and more mountainous away from colonization. That wasn't abnormal for the School's to locate themselves in remote locations. To Dimitri, it was more scary that they got away with building a secret human-experimentation facility right under the nose of the Navy. They were lead finally to an empty spot in a heavily wooded area. "Are we sure this is the right spot?" Dimitri piped up, his heart was pounding with adrenaline. "There isn't anything here, but the trail ends here..."


He suddenly tucked in his wings, dropping to the ground, he had an idea. Dimitri landed in a crouch. He pressed his hand against the ground and closed his eyes.


Then he felt it. "There's a huge structure under the ground." He said, looking up. "I don't know, I think this is the first time the School has gone James Bond on us. They usually hide in plain sight." He walked around some more. Dimitri pointed towards the ocean. "There's an entrance over there, come on." It was ten minute walk to the edge of a cliff. Waves crashed wickedly below, without hesitation Dimitri swan dived off the ledge. Before he hit the waved he threw his wings out, soaring up before turning around and inspecting the wall of solid rock. He spotted a small sliver of an opening down near the waterline. He allowed himself to drop down to further investigate. The opening was only around eight feet tall, tall enough to let in a conventional dingy but not much else. But it was wide, wide enough for his wingspan which was decently long, the girls wouldn't have much trouble, but he imagined Alex and Ethan might have some trouble, maybe Blaire, her wings were longer than his but only because they were narrower because of the species of avian DNA she was crossed with, an albatross. Dimitri's wings were wider and slightly shorter, from a Red Kite.


He looked at the others, "Ready?" Then Dimitri swooped down, gathering speed, he imagined he wouldn't have much room. He skimmed just above the surface of the water, careful not to drag any part of his body to touch the water, that would ruin his momentum and he'd have to resort to swimming at that point. It took a few minutes of gliding but they were finally inside.


Dimitri folded his wings and dove silently into the water, hoping the others followed his lead. The cave was huge, and inside sat a massive white fortress. The water went in a ways and there were Erasers standing at the shoreline around a couple of boats. Dimitri surfaced behind a large rock sticking out of the water, he waited for the others and peeked around. They were unloading passengers, but their flock was no where in sight. "They must have moved them inside already."


Dimitri looked at Callie, she was their leader. "How do we approach, should we wait for the others?" He peeked around again, more guards were coming out of the building, they were just standing around keeping watch at this point. About thirty of them. There wasn't much cover up till the shore, and the water was fairly clear, however it was dark. "We could sneak around the side? Maybe steal some uniforms? We don't have the firepower to rush it."
 
They were a considerable distance behind the first group of the flock. Blaire and the others had taken their time and wiped out all of the remaining forces before they moved on. Which also meant they were a tremendous distance behind the others.


Blaire was worried for them. She didnt like not being there and able to protect them. They were the only family she had. She wouldn't be able to stand losing a single one of them, not to mention her brother. Blaire pushed on faster until she realized she didn't know where to go, she was just going in the general direction she saw them go. Blaire looked at the other two, Ethan and Alex.


Ethan shrugged his shoulders, thinking the same thing she was, "Hell, I'm not a tracker,"


They both looked at Alex, "You have that freaky mind like with Lillie," Blaire said, "Can you follow it or something?"
 
Callie, like Demitri, was confused when she thought they were where the facility might be but there was nothing there. All of the others schools they had visited were usually way off the map, but not really hidden besides that. Maybe they were just getting smarter about their location choices.


While Demitri dropped to the ground, Callie stayed hovering in the air, flying in tight circles. She was both on the lookout for the other half of their Flock and any signs of danger. Once Demitri told them where the entrance was, she pulled her wings in and slowly dropped to the ground, landing with her knees slightly bent. She followed him, along with Brinley and Dally. She again waited by the edge of the cliff while he investigated. She walked to the very edge, so much that her toes were off the side. Any normal person would most likely be much too afraid to do this, they were a good three or four hundred feet above the rough waters below. But naturally, none of them were afraid of heights.


After Demitri's investigation, Callie looked back at Brinley and Dally who were sitting down. "Ready?" She asked. She didn't wait for an answer or for them to get up before she simly fell over the edge. She let herself free fall, snapping her wings out just inches before she collided with the water. She even felt the spray from the water slash her face lightly. It was refreshing.


She made sure to keep her wings from clipping the sides of the entrance. It was somewhat harder, her wings were made more for speed instead of strength so they were long and thin, apposed to someone like her brothers that, while still being longer than hers, were much thicker and had a higher height difference.


She came up behind Demitri, hiding herself behind the boulder. Brinley and Dally came up moments later. She watched the gaurds, biting her lip while trying to formulate a plan. "I think stealing some uniforms would be our best bet. Maybe me, you and Eliza could take a uniform and make it look like we were escorting Brinley and Dally." She thoughts aloud.


Keanu followed with Balire, Alex and Ethan while they fought to catch up with the others. After only a few short minutes it was obvious they were too far behind. He hated being separated from his sister after everything that had happened. Or even in general. Since their first day at the school they had been inseparable. Some people might say it was a twin thing, but he was sure being exposed to life threatening conditions everyday probably had something to do with it.


When Blaire mentioned getting in touch with the others he nodded. "Yeah, or maybe get in touch with Demitri or Callie. Myabe they could try and give their location and we could pinpoint where they are."
 
Dimitri nodded. He pointed to an area on the far side of the cove, it was hidden in shadows. There were only one or two guards patrolling that area. "There. That's our best bet. If we time it right we can slip by, if we get caught, we can take out the Guard easily."


He dove back under the water keeping his wings tight, once his feathers got wet, they would be heavy and useless. He swam along the rocky bottom of the dark water, he could see the shapes of the guards standing above the surface. He breathed out and in easily, it was easy to forget he could breath under water. He swam over to the darkest part, staying as low to the bottom as possible, the cool water felt good after a long day in the blazing hot sun. But this was no time for a relaxing dip. Slowly his head broke the surface, so that he made no sound and no waves. If Blaire were here could keep the water still, hell she probably wouldn't even bother, she could just walk up out of the cove in broad sight and made the water grab all the patrols and drown them. However, Blaire wasn't here, so they had to be a bit more resourceful. He remembered the last time they raided a School, when Callie and Alex had been captured. He didnt think Chu counted, him being mostly working for his own purposes and not so much for the School.


He crawled up on land, keeping flat to the ground, using his elbows and knees to move him forward. He motioned for the others to follow, the two guards were talking to each other, backs turned. It was now or never. They moved to cover behind a stray boulder. "Callie, if we can get them apart now, I could take one, you can take the other." He breathed, not daring to go above a whisper. "Then we would have two uniforms, then we could have three pretending to be prisoner." he looked around at the five of them; Callie, Eliza, Brinley, Dallas, and himself. "But we would have to be silent."
 
They were here at last. All of this was working out well, maybe not exactly how Eliza had expected, but close enough. They were all here, guards within her sight, and all too soon her mission would be complete.


And yet Eliza felt no happiness, not even a sense of satisfaction. Only a grim determination to follow through and finish what she had started.


As the other propose taking out the guards and stealing their uniforms, she nods assent, waiting for this to take place. She will neither help nor hinder at this point; there are two few guards and they are not yet within the building to betray the group now. They have to continue to think she is one of them. Once inside the belly of the beast, assured they cannot escape, THEN she will show them the real situation they've allowed themselves to be entrapped in.


"That sounds good," she whispered. "We'll hang back, I guess?"
 
Alex knew they were quite far behind the other group, so he was flying as fast as his wings would allow. Not to catch up to the first group - of course he cared about them, but he knew they could handle themselves - no, he was going so fast because he was trying to catch up to Lillie and Liza. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been. This was the SECOND time now that Lillie had been taken from him - the girl he had sworn to protect and he'd already failed twice - but now it was even worse because Liza was gone too.


He had failed them both, like he always did, and now all he knew was that he had to find them and fix it.


He glanced up then, realising Ethan and Blaire were both staring at him, and he was tempted to open his mouth and ask what they wanted but Blaire spoke up first and asked. He rolled his eyes at her description of his telepathic link with Lillie as 'that freaky mind' link, but he frowned lightly.


"I'm not sure. Lillie appears to be knocked out right now, or last I checked she was," His fists clenched at that, trying to hold back his anger at the thought of the girls being hurt. Thankfully Keanu stopped his temper from getting too high by suggesting linking up with Callie or Demitri instead, he nodded at that, "Yeah, I can link with either of them, gimme a sec."


He found himself focusing in on Callie, just because he knew he was closer to her than he was Demitri and they had spoken mentally almost as much as he and Lillie did - making their mental link a lot stronger. Once he had found her, he sent a quick message into her mind, 'We finished off those goons back there, on our way now, keep me updated' He then glanced back to the others, "Found her, follow me." He then sped off in the direction of Callie - his link with her at the moment allowed him to feel how close and far away she was and in what direction. He remembered that when Lillie had been taken - the first time around - he was able to feel how far away her connection was - so far that it was incredibly hard to find until he was close enough.
 
Callie followed Demitri's pointed finger, her eyes landing on two guards. They looked small, not too much of a problem to take out. A bad choice on the school's part, really.


She only nodded in response, before sinking below the water. She breathed slowly, not wanting to create too many air bubbles that would get to the surface. She pushed herself along the bottom of the water, gripping rocks to help to keep herself from floating up. Once she saw Demitri break surface, she kicked off a rock lightly and silently came up just behind him. As she came up, she got a message from Alex. After receiving it, she moved closer to Demitri to whisper to him. "They took all the goons out and now they're on their way," she whispered.


When implied that Callie would have to separate the two, she immediately started looking around for something that would make that possible. A few seconds later, her eyes landed on a narrow space in the rock wall that surrounded them. The path turned slightly towards the end, showing that it did in fact go to the other side that lead into the forest that surrounded them. She bit her lip, quickly formulating a plan. "Okay. Once one of the guards leaves, attack the other. Then wait for me." With that, she swam towards the crack.


It started right at the level of the surface of the water. Sighing deeply, she got her best grip on the slippery rock wall, hoisted one of her feet into the crack, and pulled herself up. Now, she could see just how narrow the crack was. She turned herself sideways, slowly easing herself in. The waves continued to crash against the rocks, sending a spray of water into the crack. There was at least an inch of water lining the bottom. Sucking her breath in, she tucked her wings into her back as tight as they would possibly go, pressing her back to the wall so hard it almost hurt. Callie momentarily worried she wouldn't fit through the crack. Closing her eyes for a second, she shuffled her feet sideways, moving her a few inches along the wall. It was an insanely tight squeeze, so much that the tip of her nose grazed the cold granite in front of her. Even with her abnormally skinny body they all had it was hard. She tried moving her head for more comfort, only scrapping her cheek in the process. She knew none of the boys would ever be able to do this. She went as fast as she could, the exit coming closer and closer. She guessed the crack was at least fifteen feet long, and in a few minutes she let out sigh of relief as her feet hit the spongy grass. Looking around, she spotted a rather large oak tree a few feet away. She walked over to it, stood a few feet away and let out a blood boiling scream. She let the scream drone on for a few seconds, before calmly stopping and quickly scaling the tree so she was close enough to the ground where she could jump without hurting herself, but hidden enough from the human eye.


Now she waited. In a few seconds, she expected one of the guards to come investigate the scream. In her time at the school, she had learned that outside guards were always required to investigate strange noises or happenings near the School. The did this to ensure that they wouldn't be found by any random civilian. All too many times Callie would watch from her bared cell window an armed guard coming out through the trees, body slung over his shoulders. They couldn't risk a human spilling their secret.


Callie kept her focus on the direction of the school, awaiting her visitor anxiously.
 
Dimitri nodded at Callie's message. The others were on their way, good, he didnt like being separated, but they couldn't waste time waiting for the second group to play catch up. The Whitecoats never wasted time once they got their hands on a specimen, who knew what they could be doing to the two small girls. Dimitri felt a shiver roll down his spine at old bad memories of his own time at the School, instantly followed by a wave of disgust and hatred. He wouldn't let them get away with this.


Dimitri slipped into the water, his eyes just barely at the surface, his dark blonde hair dark with water helped him blend into the dim environment of the cave. He watched as Callie what looked like painfully squeezed through the narrowest crack in the wall of the cave to the outside. Dimitri waited, nothing happened.


He rose slightly from the water, ready to investigate, sure she had gotten stuck, but the faint echo of a scream drifted in through a passageway to the outside on the route of the guards.


Dimitri sunk back down, watching. The two guards went on alert, exchanging a glance with each other, "You hear that?" One said.


"Probably a hiker."


"Fucking tourists. Third one this week."


"You would think they would learn to stay away."


"News blames the "disappearances" on a pack of wolves."


They both snickered at that. Dimitri could imagine the irony in that, most of the School's guards were Erasers, half-lupine recombinants. "I'll go check it out." One finally said. The other grunted in return, returning to guard duty back to roving his area. Dimitri smirked, he hadn't doubted Callie in the slightest.


The guard readjusted the weapon in his hands and sauntered out through the passage. Once disappeared from sight, Dimitri swam along in the water as the guard walked along the waterline. Once his back was turned, Dimitri eased out of the water. Earth spiraled out of the ground quietly, locking the Eraser's legs and arms to the sides and binding its mouth. While in human-form, Erasers were still dangerous and had a great deal of supernatural strength. Dimitri came up behind the struggling Eraser and swiftly wrapped his arm tightly around its neck, crushing the windpipe. Eventually the Easer quite struggling and fell limp, it's pulse gone.


With some effort, Dimitri dragged the body behind cover, out of the sight of any wandering eyes and began to undress the guard down to him underwear. Dimitri undressed as well, pulling on the yellow and black suit, dark colored cargo pants, that were a little loose around his waist given that erasers were more bulky than he was but nothing a belt couldn't help, pants tucked into combat boots. A skin-tight black shirt with a single yellow stripe running down each arm, a dingy yellow tactical vest, black gloves, and a darkly visored helmet. And of course, an assault rifle, which Dimitri couldn't fathom why a half-wolf easer needed for crying out loud. Everything was a bit loose on him, which was slightly uncomfortable, but generally unnoticeable. Ethan would probably have an easier time filling out this suit, he had the mass of an eraser.


He walked back to their group where Eliza was with the kids, he didnt bother hiding himself and ducking behind rocks since he now looked like an eraser guard he had nothing to fear. He did, however, crouch down with them behind the rock since he didnt want to be seen idling around. "It me," he said, flipping up his visor to them. "Where's Callie? Is she back yet?" He hoped she had enough sense to walk back in through the tunnel if she was dressed like one of them as well. He but his lip. 
Blaire nodded. When Alex took the lead she followed, a heavy stroke of her wing she caught up. She recognized the "frenzy", for lack of a better term, that Alex was in, that he got into when something like this happened. When Lillie was indangered. It was understandable. She loved Lillie as much as the next guy, same with Liza, the kid had grown on her in the past few months. They were family, the only family she had. You don't risk family.


She followed Alex over the cliff, she dove down head first and at the last second flipped her feet over her head and twisted so she was now hovering over the surface of the water. The waves crashed dangerously on the rock around them. Blaire was watching them when she notice the narrow cave. No way would she be able to fly through that. And there was no telling how narrow it might get if she did try to fly through there. And there was no way that the boy's wingspan would fit. Looked like their only option was to swim. Or....an idea struck her. Blaire touched down on the water, where her feet landed ice formed in a thick sturdy surface, frosted slightly on top to give some traction. The ice spread an even ten feet around her, reaching and stretching as she took more steps.


"Follow me," she said. Blaire started into an easy jog, the ice always growing so she had ten feet of maneuverability in all directions. "Keep close, this way we wont have to get wet." Even though if she got wet, she could completely dry herself off in a half a second.


She had to keep her head ducked so that it didn't scrap the top of the tunnel. "Do we have a plan once we get there?"


"I say we play it by ear." Ethan shrugged, his voice coming from the back of the group. "That seems to always work for us."


"Like we've ever had a choice." Blaire says solemnly. "We don't know what's ahead of us. I can feel a cave, but I don't feel--"


"DUCK!" Ethan shouts. He runs forward and tackles the bird-kids in front of him, sending all four of them to the frozen floor just as a missile flies over their head and explodes into the rock ceiling behind them with a earbursting explosion. Ethan and Blaire's ears ring, Blaire is slightly disoriented from the blast, cracks running through the ice.


She presses herself to the cave wall and grits her teeth. The cracks seal up, the ice becomes thicker, but she stays against the wall, not wanting anymore surprises. "Everyone okay?" she breaths, her gaze going over to Keanu who was also their pyrotechnic specialist.


"They're ready for us." Ethan growls, slapping a new clip in the weapon he had "borrowed" back at the park.
 
Callie remained perched in her tree, tapping her index finger on the branch. Seconds later, right on schedule, the guard what was sent out to investigate came into her line of vision. She watched as he reloaded his gun, ready to take care of whatever problem he ran into.


The eraser was almost directly under her spot in the tree. She jumped up onto her feet, remaining crouched and leaned forward, ready to spring. Since she was one of the Flock members that didn't have a controlled element, or at least not a well controlled one, she was often forced into hand to hand combat. She was about to jump down when a voice startled her. 'This eraser is faulted. Hitting him squarely between his shoulder blades will paralyze his whole body and put him into shock.' The voice had scared Callie so much that she had nearly fallen from her branch, which would have ruined her chances and possibly could have seriously endangered her. Although she was sure it must have been Demitri or one of the others, the voice sounded nothing like them. It was disembodied, weird...robotic, even.


She didn't have to time to think it over though, since the eraser was quickly passing her spot. Effortlessly, she flung herself from the branch. She dropped through the air, placing her hands on the erasers shoulder to balance herself, while she allowed her feet to harshly connect with the space between his shoulder blades. Almost immediately the guard went down, and Callie jumped back to keep herself from falling on him. Like the voice had said, the guard was laying motionless on the forest ground.


Callie flinched as she inspected the damage she had caused. Both of his shoulders were pulled back, making him comically look like he had his own pair of wings, his shoulders easily broken as a result from Callie pulling them back on her landing. She didn't think he was even still alive, but if the voice was right he was completely paralyzed anyway.


With a good amount of effort, she managed to roll him onto his side and then his back to get his uniform off. He weighed easily twice as much as Callie, making all of this difficult. Luckily, he was the smaller of the two guards, the clothes still looking rather loose, but at least they stayed on her small body. She decided to leave the body. They were too far out for it to be discovered right away anyway. She quickly made her way back to the others, not wanting to waste any time.


A few minutes later she reemerged from the came crack. It hadn't taken as long since she was used to it now. She came up behind the group. "Alright, we're all good," she mumbled, while readjusting her uniform better. She then looked up at Demitri. "Oh by the, thanks for the advice back there. It really helped." She nodded, talking about the thought she had gotten about the Eraser.


Keanu followed the others, also of course seeing the cave that had somewhat appeared to be their only entrance. He knew immediately he would never be able to get through that. Blaire seemed to realize this, because seconds later they were walking on a path of ice. He listened to Ethan and Blair converse, waiting for some kind of idea to form. He was about to interject, when he was suddenly tackled to the ice by his fellow flock mate.


He jumped at the noise of the explosion, his ears ringing from the loudness. It was one hell of a wake up call to realize just exactly where they were. They were back at the god damn school, and it looked like they weren't going back down without a fight this time.


"All good here," he called out, although his words seemed muffled. He watched as Ethan grabbed his weapon, Keanu pulled out his own, which was only a small gun. He didn't really have time to grab a bigger one, and he hopped he wouldn't need one anyway. Oh, Callie was going to kill them.
 
Remaining back in the cave with the other children, not quite in sight of the guards, Eliza watches as Callie and Dimitri disappear from her view, knowing the gist of their plans. She suspected that they would kill the guards, but this does not bother her. On some level, the guards are on her “side,” but she does not know them or care what happens to them, particularly. It would be preferable if they weren’t harmed or killed, if it would win her favor to prevent it, but it was more to her benefit at the moment, she thought, if she let the bird kids take control how they wanted. The longer they thought they were in control, the less they would actually have when she let the tables turn on them.


They seemed not to have any real problems doing as they had planned, returning with the suits from the guards and distributing them as needed. As the other children continued to talk among themselves, making plans, Eliza stayed quiet, remaining in the background, continuing to let them think they had full control. The less attention she drew to herself, the less they would suspect her of her actual intentions.


When Blaire iced over the lake, she started to cross with the rest of them, then as the missiles were fired, threw herself down with them as well, feeling her heartbeat quicken as much from anger as from fear. Why were they shooting?! Didn’t they understand that the scientists wanted them all there unharmed and ALIVE? They were idiots who should be fired immediately, they were failing at their job over a sixteen-year-old girl!


“They’re trying to kill us,” she said to the others, allowing urgency to creep into her voice. “We have to hurry. They might have already killed the little girls. We have to get inside, faster!”


She doesn’t take one of the weapons, not having brought one of her own. She will not need one, when they are inside.
 
Dimitri watched as Callie emerged from the crack wearing the other guard's suit. Good. Everything was going according to planned. Callie thanked him for advice. He didnt know what she meant but figured it was something that he had told her before, whatever that might be. "Uh, yeah, sure, no problem."


And explosion came from behind him. He twisted to see a few dark figured huddled on a platform of ice. The others. His first impulse was to rush over their and join them, but as Eliza pointed out, it wouldn't do them any good. It was actually a good thing, the guards were focused on the rest of the flock and not them. They could still pursue the plan.


He pulled out some length of cord from his vest, he handed it to Eliza, Brinley, and Dallas. "Here, tie your hands together loosely. We have to move now or we'll be discovered!"


There was the sound of water rushing and gunfire. A full out fight ensuing with the others, but Dimitri refused to watch. If he did, he'd have to get involved. He hated leaving anyone behind and getting separated even if they were so close to uniting. But he knew they would be fine, the four back there were some of the strongest fighters he knew.


He made sure that they were all tied together, he looked at Callie for the go-ahead then they moved out, heading for a great heavy-duty door implanted into the rock. It would take them inside the facility. A scanner scanned the barcode on Dimitri's "borrowed" vest and opened the door for them. Their group filed in, just as they did another missile rocketed towards the second group, he saw a wave of water swallow it and explode harmlessly right before the door closed.


Dimitri was breathing hard, behind his closed visor he fought to control his breathing and his racing heart. Soon the hallway came to a "T". Dimitri glanced at Eliza, "Left or right?" He breathed. She had a link or something with Liza, so he trusted her judgment here.


((Maybe Eliza could take them left, and the second group can go right. Eliza would guide them in the wrong direction. Dance, the flock doesn't have a "Jeb" character, do they? Maybe Dr. Akana could be their Anne Walker?))
 
The rope was a good idea, Eliza saw. Pretending that they were captured, that Callie and Dimitri had had them, was one up on any ideas of hers, and she was reluctantly impressed by it. Nodding and following the boy's commands to tie herself loosely, she checked to see that the others were listening as well before following Callie and Dimitri. Noticing the vests opening the doors for them, Eliza's heart beat faster. They were inside. Almost there, almost finished...


When Dimitri asks her which direction to take, she paused, thinking; she didn't bother to try to speak into Liza's mind, already knowing that the child was unconscious. Besides, it wasn't Liza she was leading them to. Nevertheless she pretended to be concentrating hard before lifting her eyes to him, pointing towards the left. This was not where Liza was, but she knew for a fact it was where one of the main operating areas was, where she herself had been impregnated, grafted, and otherwise tortured.


"Left...guys, Liza sounds really far off and tired...like maybe they drugged her. We have to hurry. I won't be able to know where she is if she goes to sleep."
 
Without even blinking, Dimitri runs in Eliza's direction not once doubting her. They run along, and soon a turn comes up, the sound of another wave of Erasers going out to join the fight against the second part of the flock. Dimitri slows to a walk and leads them around the corner. The Erasers dont give them a second look. He glances back at the two older girls, giving them a firm nod. It worked.


They picked up into a jog again. Moving through the facility, one-way-windows looking into testing room. Exotic and disturbing experiments existing on the other side. Toddlers standing in front of a series of white boards filled with advanced mathematic equations, a marker in their hand flying along without mistake, moving onto the next board. Babies with building blocks made of cinderblocks. Whitecoats standing around with clipboards. Dimitri shivered. They passed operating rooms. Bottles of liquids and sickly tools laying on trays, the sterileness of the slab of the table. His stomach rolled, horrible memories flooding his mind, images and pain he had locked away years ago. But it didnt matter what he was feeling, only what Lillie and Liza where being locked in a room with the villains wearing lab jackets.


"Eliza, which way?" He said.


((Blaire and Ethan in a second))
 
Bullets whizzed past his head. Ethan popped out of cover and gunned down a few of the Eraser's ranks. Not doing much damage as the Erasers just kept flooding out from the heavy steel door to the facility. Water grabbed erasers pulling them in and drowning him in the water. Ethan ducked back down again and slid the empty clip out with nimble finger. He felt sluggish. He'd only have that mercenary's memory for maybe an hour longer. Why couldn't he have a more useful power. Water blasted more enemies. Why couldn't he have it easy like Blaire and Alex. Trackers dropped their weapons when they got too hot to hold and the ammo began to overheat and make the gunpowder explode. Easy like Keanu. He slapped the new magazine in with the butt of his palm and began firing some more. The erasers snapped and growled. Nope he had to have the useless power. Assuming he would be able to get close enough to someone to make skin contact, assuming they had any useful powers or a limited of their own. Your average Joe didnt just fly to the supermarket to pick up milk.


"I'm going in." Ethan sunk in the water, tucking his wings in. Of course, his way always had to be the hard way when anything was concerned. He swam up to the shore, when an unfortunate Eraser got close, Ethan sprang up grabbing the Eraser's ankle and knocking it down. They wrestled for a moment before Ethan was able to get the chokehold on him. The eraser struggled, its claws lashing around trying to get at him. Ethan was already bleeding from his side where the bastard had got him once. They toppled to the ground, into the water. He heard Blaire scream his name, but she was focused on another group of baddies.


They both struggled for air, the Eraser suddlenly twisted, it claw heading for his vital organs. But Ethan was quicker. Ethan's body seemed to rip in half with pain, his face elongated, his body bristling with coarse golden brown hair. But his muscles also bulged and tightened on the Eraser in his arm. Ethan felt a snap and the Eraser went limp.


Ethan shot to the surface, gulped in air and hauled himself out of the water, his shirt in shreds and lucky he had chosen to wear running shorts that had an elastic waist that morning. A roar ripped between his jaws and he lunged at the nearest Tracker. Water miraculously avoiding him as he jumped around attacking.


Soon their enemies were all down, laying pathetically on the ground. Ethan attempted to shift into a partial transition so he would be able to speak in something other than grunts and growls.


Pain shortly followed, a burning crushing sensation. He didnt know how painful it was to transform. Ethan fell to his knees, gasping for air. His face human yet feral, his hair shaggy, his body thick with heavy dense muscles and less hair. Through the remaining burning sensation, he felt a hand on his back. Blaire couched next to him, wariness in her eyes.


"Thanks for not, you know, accidentally sending me to a water grave." Ethan's voice was a dark rusty baritone, rough on the ears.


Blaire ruffled a hand through his now shaggy hair. "You should file for workers comp, man," she joked with a tight smile. She helped him to his feet. He tore off the shredded bits of his black tee-shirt. "Rocking the muscle-man thing," she teased, squeezing his bicep. "I can see you on the cover of one of those romance novels everyone's grandma reads."


"Hah hah." Ethan said, still aching. He went over to the doors. "I got it." He jammed his claws into the door, and with a little sweat tore the door clean off. He looked at Alex, "Which way to Lillie and Liza?"
 
Callie's gaze flew over to where the missile exploded, and she caught the rest of their Flock hit the ground. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Yeah they were being shot at, but at least they had caught up. She didn't think they would be able to do this completely split up. She knew the School would continue to shoot at them. This actually kind of surprised her. It seemed like they were trying to kill them. The school had never done it before. The Flock was the School's most prized possessions.


Seconds later, the kids were tied up and they were in the school. It was a big building and they had no way of knowing where the girls were being kept.


Her group quickly made their way down the maze of halls, not even getting a second glance from the other scientists or guards. They looked like they belonged here. She chewed on her bottom lip, glance into every open door they passed and every metal cage. She was looking for Liza and Lillie, but she couldn't help but want to free all of the creatures here. She knew some of them wouldn't even be alive by the time they rescued the girls, but she thought about how awful it was that they would be have to spend their last few minutes of life in this hell hole. She swallowed and pushed the thoughts out of her mind, and continued to look for the girls.


'Lillie and Eliza are towards the back of the building. Take the next right.' The same voice as before clouded Callie's mind. She looked around, still trying to figure out who said it. She had suspected it was Demitri the first time it had happened, but he was right next to her now, so she was sure he would have just told her. She figured it must be from the rest of the Flock that was still outside. But how would they know to take the next right...?


"Go right!" She shouted to her group. She didn't know if she was to trust the voice, but it had helped her with the guard, whoever it was.


Keanu fired round after round of bullets into the heard of Erasers. It felt like they were barely even making a dent. It was like they just kept coming. A few bullets later, he swore under his breathe as he realized his gun was empty. He had already reloaded many times, and he was officially out. He growled in frustration and threw the gun, right as an Eraser came at him. He dodged the huge Eraser's paw, while kicking at it's knees, the eraser collapsing to the ground.


He continued to fight, taking down many erasers in the process. He used his skills to his advantage, easily overheated many of his victims. During one particular stand off, a bullet had managed to graze his leg. It slowed him down for a second, but Keanu was used to bullets.


Once it seemed to be that all of the Erasers were taken down, he regrouped with Ethan, Blaire and Alex. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, his nose dripping blood, more than likely broken. They wasted no time in making their way into the School building.


"Don't split up." He said, briskly walking down the white hallway. "The last thing we need is to have to look for a third kid." He mumbled. "Should we try and regroup with the others now? It might be easier to find the girls if there's two groups looking."
 
"Right? Are you sure?" Dimitri hisses at Callie. A pair of real guards turn the corner and he quiets as they pass. Once they're gone he says, "Can you hear them, too?" He looks at Eliza for confirmation, and turns right anyway. He doesn't know where he's going but he trusts these two with his life. So he follows orders.


He turns with their group. Dimitri sees a large gathering of Eraser guards ahead. He doesn't like this at all. He swallows hard in anticipation, feeling about the traces of earth around him, the metals in the wall, the rock in the structure around that. He'd have to be ready at moments notice. The boy took a deep breath and headed towards them.


((I don't know if they should be ambushed now or later?)) 
Once the door was taken care of, Blaire spotted another herd of guards charging at them at the other end of the hall. "We're already split in two, we're in unfamiliar territory, and not all of us have mental communication." Blaire said, pipes exploding from the walls, water soaking the creatures, freezing their feet and up their legs letting the cold slowly crush them while she let Ethan and Keanu open fire on them with their guns. "Yeaaahh, spliting up? Not a good idea."


The guards were too busy with their frozen appendages and the open spray of bullets flying at them that they wouldn't notice the enemy getting closer. Blaire got low to the floor so she was under the spray of bullets and advanced forward and passed the Erasers preoccupied with freezing and being shot to death to care. Ethan was on her heals, covering her back. They advanced on.


When they got to the first "T" in the hallway, Blaire turned right with little deliberation. Her thoughts were to go in the "right" direction that would take them the right way. It worked out either way, either they ran into the other group and they all found the girls together, or there would be a broader force for locating the girls. Even though they were'nt as far behind the first group, Blaire hoped to god that the other Flock found the girls first. She didn't want to think what the labcoats have done to the girls already, if one thing was for certain: those maniacs didn't waste time.


As they went on Blaire exploded the pipes in the walls as they passed, flooding the hallways with water, leaving a trail of destruction in hopes that it would draw the security team their way. Their half of the flock was the strongest and the oldest. She didn't know how the others were getting around, but they had the kids with them. If giving the extra security something to handle meant a distraction that lead to the others finding the girls first. Then Blaire was all for that. She ripped more and more pipes out, spewing water all over the sterile white floors, begining to flood the hallways. Blaire thought of Keanu, how the water dampened his powers of fire. She felt a little guilty, but if leaving a trail of destruction meant giving Alex and Blaire an easier way back for the flock, then everyone else would have to deal with it.
 
Eliza could hardly believe that they were actually inside the lab. All the ways she had messed up already, all the things that could have gone even more wrong, and still they were here. Perhaps no thanks to her so much as the others, but she would take what she could get. She was here and she would be rewarded, she was sure. A few more minutes and it would be all over.


She feigned concentration; in reality she knew exactly where Lillie and Liza were, and she was intent on leading them as far away from them as possible, just in case they did manage to play the hero and spring the children out. Slowly extending her index finger to the right, she said, "Here...ten doors down. I think...I think they're hurt, they feel faint, like maybe they aren't conscious..."


As the Eraser guards loom ahead, Eliza remains back, allowing the others to fight them, defending herself only as necessary. Once these are dispatched with, she moves ahead of the group, again feigning urgency, but really her heartbeat is quite calm. She stops suddenly, in front of the third door to the left; this is the room where she herself has been experimented on, where she had been raped and impregnated, in a sense of the word, with what had become Liza. This is a room with memories that she does not allow herself to think about, and this may be the room where all of this draws to a close.


She hesitates, knowing the others will have noticed, and then makes her decision. Reaching out, she opens the door, calling out to the two men in white coats inside.


"I have brought them," she announced, lifting her chin high, a trace of a smile on her lips. "As you asked."


As the men come forward, looking past her to the hallway to see that this is in fact true, a smile graces the lips of the first, and he reaches out to touch Eliza's shoulder, pulling her in closer to him even as he steps out into the hallway. He is looking at the others even as he speaks into the radio in his free hand, calling for back up assistance. As he puts his radio back to his hip, then picks up something Eliza cannot see from his pocket, he keeps his hand on her shoulder.


"Well done."


And then he jams the syringe into her neck, before Eliza has any time to react at all. Even as her eyes widen and her legs buckle, and she begins to fall, he pats her shoulder, his voice amused.


"Good and faithful servant."
 
Dimitri pushed forward trying to act normal, he was a guard, he looked like a guard, he could handle this. The girls were right down the hallway, they needed him. Lillie needed him. He kept walking towards the crowd of Erasers. But something felt wrong. He knew something was wrong from the start. The way they were standing. They didn't block their path, merely parted for them.


This couldn't be right.


The the visor of his helmet he saw on snicker silently. Of course it was and ambush. There was a burst of action. Erasers flew at them. Dimitri felt power surge through his feet, roots entangled legs, twisting up torsos, but he wasn't fast enough.


"Stop!" One roared. "Or the boy and girl die!" Two Erasers were holding Brinley and Dallas, an elbow around their necks and deadly looking claws pressing against their skin.


'I have brought them,' he heard those words, that familiar voice, 'As you asked.'


Dimitri turned. Eliza was standing there, a Whitecoat standing at her side, a hand on her shoulder.


"You!" Dimitri spit, anger surging up inside him making him feel like he would explode. Pieces to the puzzle started to fall into place. "YOU! You did this! That's how they found us! Kept finding us! You let them get captured! I bet you were standing right there when it happened in the park! You were one of us! We trusted you! You--YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!"


And two Eraser grabbed him from behind, another two grabbed Callie. But Dimitri didn't dare make a move, they would slit Brinley and Dallies' throats with zero hesitation. "You've been a pawn to them all along! Ever since the beginning! You never cared about us! Lillie and Liza, Dallas and Brinley! They're innocent! You betrayed all of us! AND THEYLL BETRAY YOU!"


"Get them out of my sight." Said one of the head dogs. The Eraser tightened his grip on Dimitri, he growled in pain. They started to haul the bird-kids away.


He heard a thud. 'Good and faithful servant.'


Dimitri twisted around to see Eliza laying slumped on the floor, a syringe sticking grotesquely out of her neck. Divine justice, Dimitri thought in rage, he expected nothing less of the School. For a second he felt a pang of guilt, but then reminded himself that she had just betrayed him and the Flock and gotten them all captured. He shook his head.


**


"They're this way!" Ethan barked--literally--still in partial transition. "I can smell them!" They ran down the hallway. And like Blaire had predicted, dozens of Erasers and Guards were running after them. They turned a corner and more Guards were there. Ethan lunged at them, ripping throats out, slashing through body armor with razor sharp claws.


"Better here than there, right guys?" She said, not knowing that the other part of the Flock had just been captured.
 
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