Blindingly Cliché: An MR Story by Happi Zebra

(A/N: Written for Rootlessdream's Writing Contest, and yet again, I'm warning for my Australianism because –dundundun- I know nothing about New York and don't want to screw up a fic for a place I've never been. So! The flock gets dumped in Australia, Gold Coast to be precise. Enjoy!)

Blindingly Cliché: An MR Story

The flock stood in a line overlooking the entire Gold Coast, the Hinterland black against the starred sky in the distance and the city fast-paced and moving below them. They stood on the observation deck of the tallest residential building in the entire southern hemisphere and turned to watch the storm gathering out over the ocean, it was fast approaching the coastal city and the flock looked as one up at the lightning rod climbing above them. The deck had long since been cleared of the humans and they had the place to themselves. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Fang, what would happen if I touched that?" Nudge asked innocently, pointing up to the rod.

"You'd light up like a Christmas tree,"

"Cool!" Nudge exclaimed and shot up into the air. Fang made a grab for her but she just laughed and flew higher, "Relax," she called, "I won't touch it; I'm not an idiot,"

Fang stared up at her, shaking his head anxiously, not liking the situation one bit, I didn't much like it either, but I was far too occupied with watching Fang's emo hair blow back from his face and mingle with the darkness of his ruffled black feathers to notice the eleven-year-old flying dangerously close to the pole – the sole purpose of which was to attract every bolt of lightning in the greater Gold Coast area.

"Max!" Nudge's voice screamed, torn from her throat by the savage wind, "Help me!" I tore my eyes from Fang's extremely masculine and secure form and stared wildly up at the small figure of Nudge being drawn inexplicably nearer to the pole. The wind blew in the opposite direction.

"Nudge!" I screamed and launched into the air, the wind tugging at my wings and twisted me around, away from Nudge. "What's happening?" I called desperately, looking from Nudge drifting ever nearer the pole to Angel staring in confusion on the observation deck. I aimed myself at the deck and poured on the speed, alighting on the guardrail briefly to look to Angel for insight into Nudge's mind.

"I think it's her magnetic power," Angel said, looking terrified, "She's being drawn to the metal in the pole the same way the lightning might be."

"Oh God, no," I whispered and sped off towards Nudge, the wind seeming to get stronger and forcing me back as I did. I fell back, obeying the forces of nature and stared as Nudge's small body collided with the metal rod. Lightning thundered and the bolt lanced down the rod into Nudge's vulnerable form. She fell away, her mouth open, eyes wide and curly hair standing on end and I shot towards her, pulling her back towards the observation deck. She was giggling faintly and I detected the fizzy hiss and crackle of her electro charged clothes, watching sparks dance along her skin.

"Cool," Gazzy exclaimed, staring at the lightning travelling over her dark skin, before clamping his mouth shut and giving me a sheepish look. I glared and he looked sufficiently cowed.

I shook her and she giggled again, opening her eyes to stare up at me, looking slightly delirious and a lot deranged. She grinned up at me in a perky way that I wouldn't have thought an electroshock victim capable of, "I'd say can we do that again but I think I might die," she told me then broke into another fit of giggles.

I sighed, looking up at Fang, "She's completely delirious," I told him, looking quickly back to Nudge so I wouldn't be enchanted by his dark eyes.

He nodded, "Should we take her to a hospital?" he asked, crouching to prod her arm.

I gaped. Yeah, let's take the birdkid to a foreign hospital for running into a huge freaking lightning magnet: that conversation would go down great. "Sure. And afterwards, we'll streak through the park." I said, with a large dose of sarcasm, "Just, you know, so anyone in this country that hasn't noticed us can get a nice long look at us; that'll be just dandy,"

"Well, that was going to be my suggestion, but okay, we'll do Fang's first," Iggy said, grinning.

I glared at him, but didn't wish that it wasn't lost on him, I had a moment of clarity and realised that that phrase was blindingly cliché – if you'll excuse the pun. I searched for a suitable insult for a bare moment, "You're... a beast." I said, finally, "A sexist, dirty-minded beast. Now, come on, I don't want to be stuck up here all day and that lightning pole is giving me the creeps."

We took off from the safety rail and coasted down between the tall buildings, cars and pedestrians buzzing around beneath us and the deep bass of music filtering up along with the sounds of engines and the general night activity of the party district; screams and shouts and drunken revelry. Looking around there were a lot of freaks out – not the lab made kind of freaks, the social oddities coming together in one wild bright place. We landed on the corner of a busy intersection, watching briefly as groups of all ages hurried across while the green man showed it was safe to walk.

"Hey man... hold this for me," a guy in his mid-twenties slurred, shoving a carton of drinks into Fang's arms and bolting, a second passed and a crowd of angry guys dashed round the corner looking around and taking off after the drunk. Shrugging at me, Fang pulled a can from the cardboard; if anyone had reason to drink it was us. We drank our way down the large street lined with nightclubs and bottle shops until we reached the end where a huge McDonalds dominated the corner, there we went on a drunken rampage, showing off our wings making out with randoms in exchange for as many double cheeseburgers as we could devour.

Nudge, still not over her recent electrocution, vomited up alcohol and salad into the bins outside while Gazzy laughed and signed his name in pee from the steps. Two cops and a bouncer from the Irish pub and nightclub next door came after us, so we bolted across the road and looked around in wonder as we found ourselves overlooking the dark expanse of ocean.

"Oi, you, stop!" the men behind us shouted and we fled down onto the beach, running clumsily through the shifting sand to the waters edge. Lightning lit up the night with a sharp crack and Angel screamed, backtracking into Fang and Gazzy pointed in horror at a dark figure in the shallows.

"Look! It's the hairy one again!" he shouted, eyes widening in terror.

I stared in panic at the dripping fur and dark eyes of our latest nemesis, our anti-Christ, and told the others sternly, "Wait until I give the signal." They all nodded.

"You think you can escape me by fleeing the country?!" his canine voice growled.

"Okay, attack!" Everyone lunged forward and started kicking Total's small furry body. Angel muttering with each of her small powerful kicks: 'I. Don't. Want. You. Any- more!' Total howl as Fang's foot collided with his skull and he finally lay still on the sand, his dark mattered fur wet from his adventure through the sea. We might never know how he found us here on the north-eastern coast of Australia, but we damn well know what killed him.

"Up and away, guys," I said.

"We're having steak tonight," Nudge said.

"There more booze?" Iggy asked.

And with that we took off into the clean ocean air, planning to stop by a bottle shop and maybe even streak through a park if we managed to ingest enough alcohol to keep our quick metabolisms from sobering us up.