A New Leader by Immeritus Noxnoctis

The idea for this has kinda been floating around in my head since I read Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever. So if you haven't read that yet, I suggest you don't read this. The story isn't really clear on what part it's based off of, but it is based off a comment Angel made.

Plus I just think she's evil.

So, if you like Angel, don't read this. If you haven't read SOF, then this might not make as much sense, but you could still probably read it. It is a bit of a dark fic, but nothing graphic.

Enjoy!

A New Leader

It had been ten years. Ten years since the original flock was together.

Now only she was left.

It wasn't her fault, really. It was their own imbecilic faults. They should have listened. Accepted. Followed. Let her lead.

Max was obviously the first to go. After all, she was the leader. So strong. So confident.

She wasn't so confident plummeting towards the ground. One of her 'brain attacks' dropped her in mid-flight over a rocky cliff. Even Fang couldn't save her.

That should have been the end of it. Nine years ago, she should have been appointed leader. But no, Nudge had to open her big mouth. Fang was nominated as the new leader.

Which was the obvious choice, anyway.

Nevertheless, Nudge had to be silenced. Permanently. It seemed lack of sleep had momentarily messed with her mind. It only took that one moment for her to fly straight into a jet engine.

That was gruesome.

Still, after that Fang remained leader. Despite her hints and prodding for her desire to lead. Which, it seemed, where made too obvious.

Fang questioned her. She played the part of a scared, innocent eight-year-old perfectly. But Fang was smart.

Not smart enough, however, to defend himself properly against and Eraser's attack. Or perhaps he was still grief-stricken by Max's death. Whatever the speculated reason, halfway through a fight with an Eraser, a fight that he was winning, Fang literally lay down in submission. Ari took one blow and Fang was no more.

Seven years ago. Only Iggy and Gazzy were left. But that was okay. Slowly, they let her take over. She even started telling Total all her plans, past, present, and future. He would never turn on her.

Iggy found out. Maybe she shouldn't have been talking to herself. Still, he couldn't have heard her. Total must have told.

Both had to go.

It was surprising how vicious Total could be. Iggy never stood a chance against the newly transformed, two-hundred-pound dog. He was down in an instant.

Which was sad. She had always liked Iggy.

A day later, Total was gone. She hadn't planned on Gazzy getting so mad. But Iggy had been his best friend.

She still had nightmares of Total's helpless yipping. He had been a good doggy. Until he turned traitor.

That was five years ago.

She resumed her role as leader. Gazzy, being the older brother, thought he was in control. He found places to stay, food to eat, and protected them. But really, she was leading. He was her pawn.

They searched for their parents a bit. Once they almost found them.

Parents would just try to lead them.

She convinced Gazzy, without mind-persuasion, to stop searching. They didn't need parents. They had been on their own this long. It would be disrespectful to Max and Fang, both parent-figures that had died for them. He agreed. He listened.

Two years ago. Thing began getting boring. No more Erasers, no more flock. Jeb hadn't given her any news in over a year. Nothing new. Boring.

So she suggested they raid the School. Get new experiments. Start a new flock. Rule them.

Gazzy didn't like it. He refused to do it.

She made him.

She had never used her powers on him, he was her brother. But this time she had to. He would come to see how great a plan it was. How when they gathered together a new force of mutants, they would rule. And they did.

A year ago, planning was complete. She had done all the planning. Gazzy, under her complete control, followed everything out. He did it perfectly. They gained twelve new experiments. They were powerful, they held a destiny. They listened to her.

She led them. They followed. Gazzy followed, still under her influence. Everything was going good. Erasers were attacking again. Her new 'flock' obliterated them. She had trained them. They had powers, she had great powers. Together they were unstoppable. Only Gazzy was falling behind.

She decided he needed to be trained properly. He needed to discover his powers, strengthen them. He couldn't do that with his mind all cloudy. So she helped him.

Slowly she took away her control from his mind. He began to learn. He became strong. She only had a bit of control over him, just enough to make sure he was still hers.

Finally she took all control off. He was confused at first. He wondered what had happened. Who this new band of mutants were. What they were doing. What had happened.

Somehow, he gained her memories. He knew everything that had happened. How their flock had mysteriously died. The real reasons, that even she had forgotten. She had done it.

He was mad. He was hurt. He was confused. How could she do something like that? They were her family. How could she?

Angel smirked. Yes, she had done all that. She had forgotten. But now she remembered how magnificent it had been. The perfect plan. The perfect plan for a perfect ruler. It had to be done.

Rain pounded around her, drowning out the last of her brother's pleas. Behind her he grew quiet. Blinking blindly, she finished wiping everything from his memory. She knew it was done when a sound resounded behind her, the sound of a body falling limply to the wet ground.

He couldn't know. Who he was, what he was destined for. What she had done. What he had been doing all these years. About her new army. He simply couldn't know.

Walking into their camp, Angel let her eyes travel over the sleeping forms of her new lieges. They were her family now. They were hers to rule.

She wouldn't tell them she hadn't disposed of Gazzy. He was her brother. She just couldn't do that to him.

Perhaps someday they would meet again. Maybe he would be more cooperative.

For now, she had bigger plans to focus on. Her new flock. Their survival. The plans to free all mutants, take over the world that belonged to them.

She would make Max proud. But Max wasn't the leader. She was, now.

A new leader.

Read, review, you know the drill. I'm trying to decide if I'll do a spinoff of this, so your input is much appreciated!