Chapter 22: Goodnight

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The sun warmed my face as my eyes slowly fluttered opened. I lifted my head and looked around. Everything was splotchy and brightened. I rubbed my eyes, but still no difference. I rose to my feet and looked for SkyBird and Connor. They were sleeping only a few feet from me, but because of my splotchy vision I didn’t see them. Instead I decided to walk forward and not look back. I walked for what was probably ten minutes before I actually realized I was probably lost. I was in some woodsy area that I wasn’t familiar with.

“You just want to be kidnapped don’t you?” a familiar voice said from somewhere behind me. I turned to see a male figure standing only a few feet from me. I couldn’t tell who they were because of my stupid vision, but my ears told me that it was Dr. I Want World Domination.

“How’d you know that I’d wonder off here?!” I asked as I got into fighting stance.

“Like I’ve said before I know all about you, Hero. Listen, Hero. You can join me and together we can conquer those pesky humans and rule the world!” Dr. Xander replied with an outstretched hand.

“No way! Like I’d just up and leave my friends and join forces with you! You must have hit your head because there’s no way I’d join you. Not even if I was  dying and you could save me! I’d honestly rather die before joining your stupid little pep team!” I spat with anger. The nerves of that man asking me that! What is he, two?!

“Fine, then I guess I’ll have to eliminate you right here, right now,” Dr. Xander scoffed. My eye twitched as I lunged at him. As I closed in on him I threw my right leg out. I kicked as I curved my body to the left. As I turned my body to the left, my right leg hit Dr. Xander square in the gut. I quickly turned to face him and swung my left arm in an upward diagonal. Dr. Xander fell back from the blow to the face.

“You little brat!” Dr. Xander shouted as he came right at me. I squinted my eyes as I dropped my body to the ground. Dr. Xander’s hand punched a tree that was right behind me. I grabbed his arm and swung myself up into the air where my foot greeted his face. Dr. Xander quickly grabbed my foot and swung me around. He then threw my as fast and hard as he could. I closed my eyes and grabbed a branch that was luckily sturdy yet thin. I swung and threw myself up into the air. I then made a perfect landing if I do say so myself.

“I’m sorry but I don’t think the grim reaper’s come to get me yet, but when he calls I’ll let you know,” I mocked.

“That’s what you think,” Dr. Xander replied with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by that? A loud bang pierced the air. I turned to the direction the noise had come from. Then it hit me. Oh God what about SkyBird and Connor?!

“Surprise,” a voice said as a burly figure tackled me. I struggled to my feet once I had hit the hard forest floor. My legs hurt like crazy and my head wasn’t doing me any favors either.

“What the?!” I said under my breath as I looked up to face my attacker. There, in front of me was a burly man whose eyes were a reddish pink. He had stitches on his forehead and his skin was a grayish green color. In simple words he looked like a more realistic version of Frankenstein, except he was actually real and living.

“I would like you to meet my little friend, Franky,” Dr. Xander said with a laugh.

“Little?! This dude’s gotta weigh at least two hundred pounds! That’s not little!” I replied with frustration. This guy was probably at least twice as strong as me. There was no way I could win against him. I closed my eyes and then opened them again. My vision was still splotchy. Looks like I was just gonna have to wing it... I mean foot it, or whatever a wingless person would say. I turned and made a mad dash away from that monster.

“Why are you running Hero? Come back and play with Franky,” Dr. Xander mocked. That man was crazy if he thought I was gonna stick around and let Franky throw me around like a chew toy. I could feel my heart beating, my adrenaline pumping through my veins, my breath racing as I ran like the wind. As I ran I could hear Franky behind me, and he was slowly catching up to me. Looks like my luck was almost out. And boy did I need luck.

As I ran I saw to my left a clearing. I quickly curved to the left as I ran to get to that opening. As I cleared through the opening I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a cliff and below that was...yep, you guessed it. The flipping ocean! I turned around and saw the burly monster and Dr. Xander closing in on me. I was a trapped as a mouse, and this time I couldn’t just fly off because I didn’t have wings.

“Looks like I win,” Dr. Xander smiled. I shook my head and furrowed my brows. This can be happening! What happened to the good guys always winning? In Maximum Ride Max and the gang were always able to get out of messes like this, and they always came out on top.

I took a step back and could feel my heel of my sneakers touch the edge of the cliff. The wind was blowing, and the waves were crashing up and down dangerously. It would be too risky to throw myself in the water. Those waves would just roll me right into the rocks then bring me under.

I felt a sting on my right leg and looked down. There was a tranquilizer dart sticking out of my leg. I yanked it out and looked up at Dr. Xander. He grinned at me as my world tipped over the edge of the cliff.

“Goodnight Hero,” were the last words I heard from the mouth of my worst enemy.

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