Along For The Ride

A Fiery Chat

-Ash-
Ash sat and waited glumly for Storm and the leader. "What was I thinking?!" He asked himself. "Heh, exactly, I wasn't thinking. I was being controlled! And now, I'm tied to a tree. These kids think of me as a monster and I bet even Storm hates me." Suddenly fear crept into Ash's heart. If Storm were to hate him, he wouldn't know what to do. Ash's head snapped up as he heard a twig snap. He looked over to see Storm, looking stern, and a blonde girl, who looked pretty deadly.
'Oh I'm so screwed...' Ash thought.
-Max-
She looked at the fiery guy in wonder. His face was tense and it was obvious he was nervous. She glanced at Storm, who was hiding behind a grim stone face. "Well, what do you want?" Max asked and did the signature arm fold.
-Ash-
Ash felt as though what he was about to do would wound his pride, he was a guy you know. Ash breathed deeply out and gave a glance to Storm before staring at the blonde girl. "Look, uh...Ms. Lady," Ash started. No one ever said he was good at talking. "I am...sorry." He said finally. The blonde looked at him. "The name's Max, and I know you didn't mean to. Obviously you didn't want to hurt us, or you would've." Max said and looked at Storm's burnt arm briefly. Ash stiffened.
-Storm-
She knew they were looking at her arm, but she didn't hide it. "I don't blame you, Ash. I'll fix it later." Ash looked down and Storm tilted her head. Then she realized that Ash was completely socially awkward.
-Max-
"Well, the thing is..." Max started. "You haven't shown signs of your chip glitching like Storm. So I'm not sure if I can trust you." She gave him a look of slight pity. Then she noticed that was a mistake when Ash looked really sour. His gaze lowered as Storm gave him a look. "Maybe we can, uh, break it?" Max suggested.
-Ash-
He looked at her with a quizzical expression. "Actually...that might work..." He looked at Storm. "How did your chip die?" He asked. Storm started to stroke her like she did when she was thinking or nervous. "Well, I think it was the shock...you know, about this flock, and how they were sooo bad. I was so shocked and so full of self hatred that the chip overloaded." Ash watched as Storm continued to stroke her hair and he sighed knowing they were in for a lecture.
-Storm-
"You see," she started. "The chip was programmed to feed off of our emotions and amplify our strength in that way. That's why the person being controlled is usually a snob, dick, or ass. Because they need to anger someone and make them hurt the said controlled person which, in turn, will anger the once again said controlled person." Storm was breathing in a new breath when Max interrupted her. "Wait, I thought you said that you didn't know much."
Storm nodded. "I don't know everything, only what was in a folder I had stolen." She smiled mischievously.
-Ash-
Ash was starting to get sore being tied up. "So you guys have to overstimulate my emotions?" He laughed slightly. "Storm, that's going to be hard." Ash said. Max raised an eyebrow. "What," she said. "You too manly for emotions?"
Ash scoffed slightly but said nothing.
-Hope-
She watched silently. "Hey Max, let me talk to you." Storm requested and walked away. Max followed and Ash watched in wonder. She touched Max's elbow and led them out of Ash's line of view. "Sorry," Storm said once they were out of his sight. "He can read lips..." Max looked slightly surprised and nodded in understanding. "So what's up?" She asked. Storm looked at her. "Well, he is pretty good with his emotions..." Storm looked slightly discouraged. "So I don't know what to do."
-Max-
Max held the bridge of her nose. "Ugh," she groaned. "Uh, I guess we can untie him and see what goes on."
Her and Storm chatted a bit and tried to find a solution. But they came to nothing. Sighing, both girls went back to Ash and untied him.