Break Time

Iggy felt the wind whip through his strawberry-blond hair. The sensation of flying almost made up for his lack of vision. Fang tapped his hand, signaling that they would be landing soon.

He wondered what the scenery would be like. As much as he hated the feeling of being trapped, forests were always the best places to take cover. He felt Gazzy move closer to him, his wings beat the quickest because he was the youngest. It was just Gazzy, Fang, and himself now. Max and Fang had had a fallout a few days ago, and she had taken Nudge, Angel, Ari the Eraser, and Total, Angel's talking dog, with her.

"We'll be landing soon," Gazzy informed him. "There's a little clearing towards the center of the forest." Iggy sighed.

"Thanks Gasman." He reached out a hand and felt a tiny fist bump into his own. Even though he was an avian-human hybrid that could hotwire a car to explode in fourteen seconds, Gazzy was still an eight-year-old boy, and he was scared.

"Landing!" Fang called. Iggy found his wind current and shot toward the ground. His feet touched down on damp earth and he tucked his (nearly fifteen feet long) wings closely to his back.

He heard a rustle of fabric and a zipper, and knew Fang had removed his laptop to check his blog. He had started posting more since it had reached its breaking point in views.

He waited a moment to sense his surroundings and found a tree a few yards away. He walked forward until the bristly leaves brushed his cheeks, then he turned around and sat in the cool shade. He heard the sound of Gazzy practicing his defensive moves, Fang typing away on his keyboard, and the usual sounds of nature. He wondered what Fang was saying; probably something and he and Max's "break up".

Iggy though about the time they had stayed with the psychopath Anne Walker. He remembered the night Max had come back from her date with some guy she had met at school. Fang wouldn't shut up about it, and that was saying something. No doubt he was going crazy now without her, even if he'd never admit it.

"Whoa!" Gazzy exclaimed. "This girl said we could live with her!" He heard a deep sigh, and a click as Fang closed the laptop.

"No Gazzy. She said we could visit and restock at her house while her parents are away," Fang corrected impatiently. "And you know we can't."

Iggy heard Gazzy groan, and guessed he was about to start whining. Surprisingly, he held his tongue; while Max was motherly yet stern, everyone knew sympathy was wasted on Fang.

"Oh sh-"

"Fang," Iggy warned him, instantly jumping up and crashing into two low braches. He listened intently for any sign of intrusion. And then he heard it: the sound of wings flapping above them.

For a glimmering second, he though Max had somehow found them. Then, reality sunk and as he realized the wing beats weren't light enough to belong to any of the M.I.A. flock. In fact, they were unlike anything he had ever heard before. It was clear the animals weren't meant to be avian, and they moved in sync so well, he couldn't tell how many there were.

"Guys," he backed up to where he felt the other two were standing. "What are they?"

"Erasers; a new batch by the looks of it. Less clumsy," Fang responded. He strained his ears to see if he could tell what they were like; he couldn't.

"Do they look any different? They aren't the same as before. Something's changed," Iggy concluded. He unfurled his wings, and prepared to take off.

"They don't look any different, except they're flying in a close V like birds do. And they're just hovering," Gazzy stated.

"Not for long." He felt Fang and Gazzy back up as they unfurled their own wings. He waited for a tap to his hand, signaling take off.

A whoosh of air caught everyone's attention, he could feel something-probably an Eraser-dropping quickly. He felt a tap on his right shoulder, a signal to run in that direction. He'd barely made it ten feet when a crash stopped him. These Erasers weren't meant for dive-bombing.

He heard the others still hovering above them. He walked to where he had sensed the crash.

"How bad is it?" he asked, knowing that it could get pretty gruesome.

"Define bad," Gazzy replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, bad as in normal Eraser bad? Or bad as in, they've-now-engineered-robot-Erasers-that-can-actually-fly bad?" Iggy groaned.

"Great. Hey Gazzy, do you still have a few of those Big Boys left over?" he asked as hopefully as he could when you just realized that your ultimate downfall was flying 30 feet above you.

"Nope. Used the last one when we left," he told him glumly. Then he perked up. "I did swipe some Black Cats the last time we were in town. They'll do quite nicely." Iggy could sense him smiling as he rummaged through his knapsack for matches.

Gazzy aimed the missile directly towards the center of the group and guided Iggy's hand to the fuse.

"You ready to like up the sky like a firecracker?" Iggy asked grinning. He lit a match and touched the flaming tip to the fuse. "Clear the area." The boys grabbed they things and got ready for flight.

"What would Max say at a time like this?" Fang mumbled sarcastically.

"Glad to know you're over her, boss," Iggy said saluting. He could feel him tense up, but managed to suppress his chuckle.

"Dude," Gazzy called nervously. "We have a problem." What Iggy couldn't see was that the match hadn't been properly put out. This had led to a few leaves catching on fire, followed by a branch, and a few trees.

"We'll fix it with or without Max," Fang spoke through clenched teeth. The firework flared into the sky and hit the center Eraser square in the chest. The sound ricocheted to Iggy.

"Yes! Bull's eye!" he cheered.

"Guys. Forest. Fire. Leave. Now," Gazzy said, tapping Iggy's hand. Instantly, they were in the sky flying at speeds well over 60 miles per hour. At least, two of them were.

"Wait Gazzy. Where's Fang?" Iggy asked, sensing his absence.

"Ah crud," Gazzy said, leading Iggy back to where they had been standing moments ago. "Fang! Fang!" he called.

"Here," they heard him croak out from beneath a tree. Iggy was glad that he couldn't see because he sounded bad.

"What was that girl's name?" Iggy demanded, searching the ground for laptop case.

"She could be a nutcase for all we know," Fang debated.

"Maybe," Iggy said, handing the Gasman the computer. "But we need her right now."

It's hard to describe how Iggy experiences things because I've never really had to experience something like that. I hope you enjoy the story nonetheless. Please remember to vote and favorite if you liked it. :) ~Des