2Chapter One: This is Gonna Suck
This was a riot. We could have been anywhere else in the USA. They just had to pick the coldest place since Ant-freaking-arctica to send us. Let me tell you, that trip was not fun.
There were reasons why I didn't like leaving California, and snow was one of them.
"Hey, we should get somewhere warm, guys," I told the Flock. Everyone gave me a grateful grin as we sauntered around Times Square in search for a safe haven.
"Go have fun," they had told us, "see the city."
Right after that, they had thrown us a couple hundred bucks and graciously kicked us out of the hotel.
Personally I didn't mind the money, but that seemed a little harsh. Besides, it wasn't that great of a city at the moment. Snow was flying everywhere, and the visibility (even with raptor vision) was somewhat sketchy.
To make matters worse, a stray taxi suddenly zoomed by, spraying our shoes with slush.
Great. Now my toes were numb and frozen as well. That was the last straw. I grabbed Angel by the arm and pushed my way through the crowd, opposite of the steady stream of bodies shoving past one another on the sidewalk.
"Iggster, there better be something so eat around here!" I demanded. I wasn't about to go anywhere that didn't have food. When I'm cold, I'm angry. Hunger just compounds that.
From behind me I heard a voice above the clamoring voices of the city.
"I smell hot chocolate, 9:00."
I glanced to the left. A bookstore. Not bad. I mean, I didn't read, but who cares about that? I told the troops we were heading in that direction, so all six of us went marching across the street. It must've been a sight to see, five teens and a little Scottie dog trekking across Times Square. They were staring at us, after all, and we hadn't even pulled out the wings yet.
Angel zoomed into the store ahead of us, though. Most likely she was going to go on a reading binge while we stuffed out faces, but I could care less. As long as she was close by where I could see her, that's all that mattered to me. When we reached the café part of the store, everyone sat down at one of those little booth things you usually see in family restaurants. Total thought it a great idea to it is frozen furry butt on my lap, but I wasn't about to argue with the pooch. Instead, I scratched behind his ears, and sent Nudge and Gazzy to go order us some grub.
About 30 seconds later Angel came running to the table, a book clutched to her chest.
"What's that?" I asked.
"A novel, Max!" she said, a blush across her face. "It looks like a good read!"
"Okay, fine….would you read it to me?"
And then I was thrust into the nightmare of what many call "purple prose".
"Dear Johan," read Angel, gushing over every word.
"How can I tell you how much my heart is ready to burst every time that I think of you in my waking moments? Every time I say your name, the calla lilies bloom in the arboretum, and the ambient light seems to shine all the brighter because of your ever-present radiance of kindness…."
God, how did I loathe whatever book she was reading to me. It was most likely a romance, considering how gushy it sounded.
"What is this?" I asked her, keeping my voice from betraying my disgust.
Angel stopped reading to glance at the cover.
"Oh, um… 'Sunset'," she said. "It's a best-seller."
"I wonder how…." Just where was Gazzy and Nudge with the food? I was dying over here! Between my hunger, the cold, and the terrible writing, I didn't think I could bear another second of sitting here. I had to move.
Scooping up Toatal into my arms, I went over to find those two.
Just imagine how surprised I was to find Nudge browsing through the books. My surprised face is a lot like my mad face, only….more anxious. I tried to say something, but nothing came out. I just stood there, staring at the girl, thinking something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
She only looked at us with puzzlement, her eyes wide.
"Nudge," said Total, when it was apparent that I wasn't speaking. "We're starving!" his little furry face searched the area. "Where's Gazzy, by the way?"
"I'm right here."
I turned around to see Gazzy and Nudge holding armloads of food. Well, that was a relief. I wanted to grab everything they had and scarf down as much as I could. But then my brain kicked in. If this was Nudge, who was…
I looked back to where I saw the girl who looked like Nudge. Well, she was still standing there, staring blankly right at us, coffee brown eyes confused. Nudge looked like she was about to speak, but the other girl beat her to it.
"Who are you?" she asked, sounding breathless. Her feet looked tense, like she was ready to run if need be.
"We were gonna ask you the same thing," Total said, wagging his tail.
"My name's Ebony," she muttered under her breath.
Obviously there was no explanation for why she looked exactly like Nudge, but I figured she was clueless as to why that was so.
"Maybe you're twins!" said Gazzy, looking ready to jump up and fly around any moment.
"Yeah, that's it," I said darkly. "That explains everything…"
But I already knew that explanation would add more questions than answers.
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Had to put this up on . It already was on Figment, and well, I just had to. It was a random plot bunny I had. This is AU obviously, because of...a lot of things you'll notice.
