Chapter XX

The first robot sprang at me, its metallic claws fully-extended. I tried a reverse roundhouse kick, but once I hit the robot’s chest, a whole new pain ran up my leg. I grit my teeth together and attempted to punch its horrible hybrid muzzle. I expected my fist to crumple its face, but I ended up jerking my hand back and shaking it wildly. “Ow! Dammit!” I shouted angrily.

“We have been updated,” the robot said with its routine voice. It lifted its long arm and swung at me like how a major league player would hit a baseball. I was suddenly in the air from the blow, but I couldn’t tell which way was up or where the ground was. Flustered, I flapped my wings, getting myself upright quickly.

“Guys, watch out! They’ve been reprogrammed!” I told the group.

Rafe was flapping in the air, holding his hurt arm and dive-bombing at one robot as another tried to sweep him with its arm. Rose was alternating between punches and kicks next to Logan, who was trying everything to keep Kara safe. Three robots surrounded Roxy; all of them had sparks flying from their bodies as she raked her claws against them.

So far, nothing was working on these guys.

Dolan jumped into the small circle enclosing Roxy, fangs bared and fists clenched. He punched a robot, which caused his blood to drip down its metallic chest. He then tried a kick, which knocked it back about ten feet.

Well, he was doing just fine…

Something unexpectedly grabbed a hold of my ankle. I had just enough time to glimpse down to see a robot getting ready to slam me into the ground. Instead of letting that happen, I flapped my wings in fast, yet strong, strokes. The robot was heavy, but not heavy enough to weigh me down completely. I flew a good ten stories up, then tried to make it detach from my leg.

Unfortunately, robots apparently have strong claws. It decided it wasn’t ready to let go, and reached up to try and snap my right wing.

Eryn! the bird shouted.

“What?!” I yelled, shaking my leg rapidly as the robot pierced my skin with its hook-like claws.

Think of the amphitheater! the human exclaimed.

The amphitheater? I glanced over at it, seeing the high concrete ceiling above the stage. Concrete! I pushed my wings into deep movements and soared to where the stage’s ceiling clashed with the color of the clear blue sky.

Obviously, the robot didn’t have very good judgment skills, because when I got close enough for anything with eyes to realize what was happening, it didn’t let go. So, instead, it got smashed into the concrete, sending little robot bits all over the ground. Three feet to the right, Rafe had followed my actions, this time shattering two robots against the solid roof. I looked up at him, and we both smiled in triumph while slapping high-fives.

“Eryn!” Logan called. He was trying so hard to fend off as many robots as possible while keeping Kara safe.

“Rafe, get Kara!” I told him. Swooping down, he grabbed her with one arm and tossed her up onto his back. He flew high up, keeping her out of harm’s way. Now it was my turn. I nose-dived down towards Logan, holding out my arms for him. As I passed over him, he grabbed on tightly. Increasing my altitude, I asked, “Are you okay?”

“For now, yeah,” he responded. “But I think I know how to kill these guys.”

“Really? How?”

“See that plate on their backs?” I peered at the robots, seeing the back plate glint in the sun. I nodded. “I’m pretty sure that comes off. If I can get off the back plate, then I can try to rewire it. But the only thing is, every time I get close, they attack. Can you fly me down there?”

“No problem.”

I tucked my wings tightly against my back and started to fall downwards. Logan and I passed over Dolan, who had blood covering his knuckles. “What are you doing?!” he shouted up at us.

“Winging it!” I called and dropped Logan onto the robot’s back. His left hand slipped, but fortunately three of his right fingers grabbed onto the shoulder plate. I altered my feathers and rose high above the scene, keeping a close eye on the group. Logan regained himself and started to tear into where the robot’s backbone would be. A faint crack appeared, opening a chance for him.

Unfortunately, the robot began to notice the monkey –or snake, in this case– on its back. It twisted around in tight circles, the long, grasping claws raking the air just above Logan’s head. But moving only increased the small breach in the robot’s body. Logan jammed his hand in the fissure and ripped apart the back plate, sending the two halves toppling to the ground. “Yes!” Logan whooped and began to yank, rip, and connect strange, multi-colored wires. “Got it!”

The robot froze, the metallic legs stopping instantly with a violent jerk. Logan, almost falling, had to wrap his legs around the waist of the robot. I watched as he put his hands back into the robot and pulled some more wires. This caused the metallic beast to take a rickety step then swing its arm brutally into another robot. Sparks flew, and the robot’s head popped off and came flying towards me. Huh…the only thing that can destroy the robots…is the robots…I thought as I roundhouse kicked the head in mid-air, sending it to Dolan. “Dolan, catch!”

His eyes clicked with mine for a nanosecond before jumping and grasping the head. Once he landed, Dolan gave an evil grin and wound up his arm like a major-league pitcher. “Batter up!” he laughed and hurled the head like a baseball at two robots standing in a row. The head rammed right through both robots, leaving fizzling, gaping holes with wires hanging out. But the head wasn’t stopping yet…it was launching right for Roxy. “Roxy!”

“I’ve got it!” she yelled, bumping the head off her chest as though it were a soccer ball. She guided it down her body to the ground, where she placed her foot on top of it. “C’mon you robots! What are you? Chicken?” She smiled as a robot took the bait and stepped towards her. Twirling in a circle, Roxy loaded a kick and slammed her foot into the head, sending it right for the robot’s legs.

Crash! The robot’s legs collapsed into small cylinders that looked like soda cans. Once down, Roxy grabbed the head and slammed it into the robot’s back. I grinned proudly, overjoyed that my group could work together like this.

Seven down, four to go.

Logan, still hanging onto the back of his robot, reconnected two wires, turning the robot’s eyes green. It started to move faster, heading for three metal creatures. Logan jumped off the back, landing near Rose, and watched excitedly as it slammed its weight into a tree. The tree started to sway, and finally crashed down on top of all three of them.

Now all but Logan’s robot had been destroyed.

The snake-hybrid, after jumping back onto the robot, ripped all of the wires out and stepped down. The robot’s eyes dimmed, and the body fell to the ground, obviously useless.

Everything, besides the heavy breathing from the group, was silent. Rafe and I landed, and he placed Kara gently on the grass. We scanned over the area, our eyes passing over the fallen robots.

We won.

Suddenly, a loud, excited cheering rose behind us. My eyes grew wide as I turned around to see the whole audience watching us. “Eryn…” Rose quietly said. “They saw…they saw the entire thing…”

Two people, a man and a woman, started to walk towards us. I stepped forward, puffing my chest out a little, trying to look tougher. Dolan and Rafe also stepped on either side of me, both looking rather pissed. “Oh my goodness! You guys were phenomenal!” the woman said. “That was the best, don’t you agree Tom?”

The male nodded. “Yes Jan! By far the best magic act I’ve ever seen!”

“Magic act?” Rafe repeated.

“Yes. Aren’t two of you Lance and April? The two who were scheduled to perform magic next?” Jan asked.

An idea sparked in my brain. I spun around, grabbed Logan and Rose, and presented them in front of the two humans. “These two are Lance and April,” I told them. “Yeah, they planned this whole entire magic show to turn out like that.”

“Astounding!” Jan exclaimed.

“Breathtaking!” Tom agreed.

I grinned. “Everything was planned perfectly! See, they picked us as volunteers, not knowing that we were also in acts. Isn’t that interesting?”

“Yes, what a coincidence!” Jan laughed.

“So everything was planned?” Tom asked. I nodded. “The explosions, the robots, the injuries?”

“Yes sir!” I said.

Tom came closer and grabbed Dolan’s hand. The wolf-hybrid winced as the male human examined the bloodied knuckles. “So fascinating! These almost look like real wounds!”

Dolan growled under his breath.

“Don’t they?” I smiled. “But the true masterminds of this act are Lance and April. They know everything about it!”

“We do?” Logan questioned. Rose elbowed him in the stomach. “I mean, yeah, we do!”

“How did you connect the wires to those two?” Jan asked, pointing to Rafe and I. “I mean, the costume design of the wings are fantastic, but they are obviously incapable of flight.”

The bird and the human both laughed.

“Well…uh…” Logan started as Rafe and I slowly pulled our wings in.

“The wires were connected to a pulley system high above us. One end was attached to the stage’s roof while the other was joined to a tree,” Rose explained. “Once landed, the two volunteers would be instantly released of the wires.”

“Where are these wires?” Tom questioned, his eyes searching the sky.

“As I said, once the volunteers hit the ground, they were released of them. The wires would then disconnect with their anchors,” Rose quickly covered. She paused, looking confused. “The wind must have blown them away…”

Excellent, Rose. Without smiling, I beamed at her with my eyes. She gave a small, shy grin.

“Well you two kids, looks like you’ll definitely be on the top of our list for a while!” Jan exclaimed to Rose and Logan, who both gave broad smiles. “Let’s get back to the Talent Show, shall we?”

They believed it. Holy cow, for genetic mutants with super small pockets of knowledge, we sure know how to fool people! With all seven of us smirking or grinning, we walked back to our seats in front of the amphitheater. Loud clapping still followed closely behind Rose and Logan, who both blushed and tried to hide their embarrassment.

Of course, waiting for us back for us near our spots were the three girls. They were all smiling at the boys and giggling constantly. Just seeing them snapped my memory back into place, reminding me that they were enemies…that they wanted the boys and nothing more.

As I scowled next to the others, we sat through the next boring act, which consisted of two adults dressed in clown suits tossing bowling pins back and forth. Yawn, been there, done that at least a thousand times.

“Would all the acts between twelve and fifteen please come to the stage? I repeat, would all the acts between twelve and fifteen please come to the stage? Thank you,” the announcer told the audience.

Dolan and Rafe stood up first, followed by Ashley and Ruby.

“Good luck!” Ruby told Rafe with a flirtatious gleam in her eyes.

“Yeah, I know you’ll do well!” Ashley puckered her lips slightly, as though expecting another kiss. I felt hot stings in my eyes, but quickly blinked them away. After all, I was the leader. Looking up, I saw Dolan’s eyes on me. Great, he saw me tearing up. Joy…

“Thanks,” Dolan quietly said. “Jason, let’s go.” Rafe nodded and started to walk behind the stage, one of his hands brushing against his sling. Dolan grabbed his guitar and turned to leave, but his eyes lingered on me. I threw him a glare, then looked away from him.

“Eryn, you better go, too,” Kara said.

“Right,” I agreed. I stood up as gracefully as possible and walked past Dolan without even glancing at him.

“What’s up with you?” Rafe asked as I stood beside him.

“Nothing,” I snapped. Dolan arrived beside me. “Ready?” He nodded.

“We’re first, so c’mon Dolan…” Rafe said and started to climb the stairs. Logan, who was following Dolan, helped get the amp up onto the stage before giving us all thumbs up and scurrying back to his seat. “Wish us luck!”

“Good luck you two!” I told them both. Edging around the amphitheater, I could see Dolan and Rafe without leaving backstage. “I hope you two do great…” Looking up onto the stage, I could see Dolan’s lips twist into a confused frown. He looked at Rafe, muttered something, and ran behind the curtain. Where the hell was he going? It was time for the show!

Two fingers tapped onto my shoulder. I spun around; fists clenched and ready for action. Dolan stood there, one eyebrow raised in a questioning position. “Come behind here for a minute,” he said and walked behind stage. I rolled my eyes and followed, reminding myself to behave.

“What?” I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.

“Jeez, someone’s got a temper,” Dolan chuckled. I blinked and dropped my arms. He was trying to make jokes? Now? “Listen, I’ll meet you back behind here directly after our act. Sound good?”

“Y-yeah,” I responded, slightly taken aback.

“Something wrong?”

“No, of course not.”

He removed his sunglasses, revealing his yellow eyes. They stared into mine, and I suddenly got that feeling that the world had stopped spinning. I took a breath and glanced at my feet. “You sure nothing’s wrong?” he asked.

“Positive.”

“Look, I’m sorry, alright? Truce?”

I looked back up at him. “Yeah, truce,” I said, letting my lips crack into a smile. I spat into my hand and held it out, waiting for Dolan. He smirked and did the same, grabbing on tightly and shaking. “Now that we have a truce, good luck.”

“You too, Eryn,” Dolan said, giving me his signature smile before he rushed back onstage. I ran back around the edge, keeping my eye on Dolan’s hands as he grabbed his guitar.

“Hello, I’m Jason and this is Drake,” Rafe spoke into the microphone. “We’re going to do a song for you.”

“Do well, guys…” I whispered.

Rafe grabbed onto the microphone with his good arm and closed his eyes. Dolan’s fingers slowly started to move over the chords, creating a beautiful, slow melody. “This world will never be what I expected. And if I don’t belong, who would have guessed it? I will not leave alone everything I own to make you feel like it’s not too late, it’s never too late,” Rafe sang, his voice like Heaven’s bells. Dolan’s fingers picked up speed, making the tune get heavier as Rafe’s eyes flew open. “Even if I say ‘it’ll be alright’, still I hear you say you want to end your life. Now and again we try to just stay alive. Maybe we’ll turn it all around ‘cause it’s not too late, it’s never too late.”

The music returned to the original sound, but still heavier and deeper.

“No one will ever see this side, reflected. And if there’s something wrong, who would have guessed it? And I have left alone everything that I own to make you feel like it’s not too late, it’s never too late,” the avian-hybrid sang onstage. I glanced over at the rest of the group, seeing their eyes full of pride and happiness. A few humans in the audience knew the song and began to sing with Rafe. The three girls, of course, clapped and cheered. “Even if I say, ‘it’ll be alright’, still I hear you say you want to end your life. Now and again we try to just stay alive. Maybe we’ll turn it all around ‘cause it’s not too late, it’s never too late.”

Dolan strummed the guitar harder; making the beautiful, heavy sound I realized that I had grown accustomed to. “The world we knew won’t come back. The time we’ve lost can’t get back. The life we had won’t be ours again.” Rafe, with lungs pumping hard, tried his best not to gasp into the microphone. “This world will never be what I expected. And if I don’t belong…” The guitar was slammed with heavy rock-n-roll music. “Even if I say, ‘it’ll be alright’, still I hear you say you want to end your life. Now and again we try to just stay alive. Maybe we’ll turn it all around ‘cause it’s not too late, it’s never too late. Maybe we’ll turn it all around ‘cause it’s not too late, it’s never too late. Never too late. It’s not too late, it’s never too late…”

Dolan’s fingers slowed down, ending the song with the divine, slow tune from the beginning.

Three seconds passed in silence, save for the sounds of nature and the humming of the amp. The humans in the audience all sat, gaping at the two seemingly normal teenage boys on the stage. Then the sounds of clapping and cheering erupted in a giant roar of noise.

The rest of the group jumped to their feet and screamed. Logan put two fingers in his mouth and whistled while Kara shouted congratulations. The humans followed suit, taking to their feet and applauding.

“Wow, very nice job!” the announcer said. “Next up, act number 13.”

I swallowed. Me? Next? Oh wow…I wasn’t ready! What if I failed epically? What if Dolan can’t play guitar for me? What if–?

“Alright, ready?”

I turned to see Dolan standing behind me, guitar slung over his back. He looked like a rock star. “Yeah…yeah, I…no, no I’m not,” I quickly said. “I can’t do it. There are too many humans. We’ll draw attention. Let’s just pack up and–”

Dolan pressed two fingers to my lips. “You’ll be fine. C’mon, they’re waiting for us.” He let go and walked towards the stage. I felt my face grow red and followed quietly.

Climbing the stairs to the actual stage felt like climbing Mount Everest. By the time I grabbed the microphone, my hands were shaking and I felt as if I would faint. I took a deep, shaky breath and said, “Hi, I’m Elizabeth and I’ll be singing a song for you all.”

I glanced behind me, seeing Dolan standing with his guitar in his hands. “I’m ready, Eryn,” he whispered. “Go for it.” I nodded quietly, then turned back to the microphone. The music started before I realized it. The guitar seemed to be much faster than on the CD, but I hoped that I was imagining it.

I swallowed one last time before opening my mouth and singing, “It’s time to fake what you say as you’re turning away, though it’s hard to be fake, facing you every day. With regret, with remorse for the things that were said but you know how alone we’ll end up in the end. ‘Cause I don’t want to see our lives destroyed by dismay. In these times of try, we live or die again.” I closed my eyes, noticing that seeing the humans watch me was nerve-wracking. “You’re my summer that fades to these cold autumn days. You’re my keepsake, my friend, and my fears. You’re the strength that’s inside and I swear on my life, I will always be there by your side.”

There was a mini guitar solo, which gave me enough time to suck in some oxygen. I shook my head slightly, then opened my eyes to see the audience’s eyes wide.

“It’s hard to live without love with the chance that you may find the whole world is waiting to hear what you say. From the heart, through your veins, to the answers that came here to save me, to guide me, to show me the way,” I continued.

I slowly understood that singing in front of others wasn’t that bad. Actually, it was really enjoyable! I started bobbing my head, keeping my fingers wrapped tightly around the microphone.

“So I don’t want to see our lives destroyed by dismay. In these times of try, we live or die again. You’re my summer that fades to these cold autumn days. You’re my keepsake, my friend, and my fears. You’re the strength that’s inside and I swear on my life, I will always be there by your side.” I started to jump up and down, smiling as I did so. “So take this time to see that I can’t leave this all to chance. So take this time to see that I have hope that lies will end.”

That’s when I heard it. The fast, silvery music of the guitar solo. I stopped jumping and turned my head, watching as Dolan’s fingers fleetly ran themselves over the strings, playing the guitar solo in such an impressive way it made my jaw drop. Literally. I was so absorbed in watching him, I didn’t realize that I had to sing soon. Dolan looked up at me while playing and mouthed, “Go!”

I snapped out of it just as Dolan stopped playing, giving me a solo. “You’re my summer that fades to these cold autumn days. You’re my keepsake, my friend, and my fears. You’re the strength that’s inside and I swear on my life, I will always be there by your side.” The guitar came back in, giving the duet life. “You’re my summer that fades to these cold autumn days. You’re my keepsake, my friend, and my fears. You’re the strength that’s inside and I swear on my life, I will always be there by your side.” My lips grew into a huge smile as I started to close the song. “I will always be there by your side. I will always be there by your side!” Dolan ended the song with a flourish, then completely silenced the guitar.

Just like before, there was nothing but utter stillness from the audience. I stared at the crowd’s wide, gawking eyes. Did I do something wrong? Was I that bad?

Then the roar of whistling, applause, and cheers detonated, causing me to turn a deep rouge color. “Another amazing act! Thank you, Elizabeth! Next up, act number fourteen,” the announcer said, his voice excited.

I walked off the stage, completely oblivious to the world around me. I sang. In front of humans; a large crowd of them, to be exact. With Dolan at my side.

“Eryn, you were amazing!” Kara exclaimed after the group ran up to me. Her little arms wrapped around my stomach as she continued with more praising words.

“Wow, I didn’t think you could sing but…wow,” Roxy said. I gave her a questioning glance. “You are the best singer I’ve ever heard, Eryn. I mean it!”

I smiled and blushed a little, noticing that they were telling the truth. Dolan put his hand on my shoulder and gave a wide grin, showing me how proud and happy he was. He was next to me the whole time; at my side.

“Don’t worry, Eryn,” he said, smiling, after we had sat back down. “As the song says, ‘I will always be there by your side’.”