Then she and David Michael dropped like rocks as Alex threw himself to the farthest corner of the prison. The glass shattered under their shared weight, shards cutting at their legs and arms. Angelica screamed and David Michael clawed at the air frantically. They fell to the bottom of the broken prison, landing hard. Alex uncovered his hands from his head and looked up. He was crouched in the corner of the cell, glass shards sticking out his hair like dragon spikes.

Angelica was flat on her back in the middle of the floor, covered in scratches. David Michael was pushing himself up next to her, slightly less cut up.  Alex stood up and walked over to the two of them, who were in a sitting position. He cocked his head. “Thanks, Angie.” he said. She bared her teeth. “And, I guess, thanks to you too, nerd.”

“Don’t call him a nerd!” Angelica spat. Alex looked offended.

“I can call him what I want!” he replied.

“Just because you’re a jerk—“

“A jerk, am I?”

“YES, YOU ARE!”

“Oh! Oh, well YOU—“

Their arguing voices swelled in the silence. David Michael looked frantic.

“Guys…” he said. “Stop it…” But Angelica and Alex kept wrangling, their voices growing louder with every passing second. David Michael bit his lip.

“YOU GUYS!” he yelled. “SHUT UP!” Silence fell over the lab as Angelica and Alex turned to look at him. His face was brilliantly red, his hair a halo of fire.

“Look, this arguing is ‘great’ and all, but soon scientists will be here and all this glass shattering and breaking out of stuff will have been for nothing! So seriously stop it!” Alex looked skeptical, then grinned.

“You know, Davie,” he said. “Maybe you’re not such a nerd after all.”

* * *

Alex turned his neck from side to side, the bones in it popping. “Oooh, yeah,” he said. “Ah, that hits the spot!” Angelica winced at every crack.

“Can you stop that?” she asked, annoyed. “It’s disgusting.”

“Does disgusting feel good?” he replied. “If so, I’m fine with it.” David Michael made no comment. Angelica rolled her eyes and lifted up a couple of feet. They were flying out over the lab words the nearest exit (or so they thought) to get out once and for all. Angelica was absolutely worn out, but she supposed she could rest once they were out of this godforsaken place.

Suddenly a shape rocketed up in front of Angelica. She turned a somersault backwards, slamming into a wall. The figure clapped it wings together (for by now she had figured out it had them), sending a gust of wind her way. It rolled her along the wall, pressed down. Angelica struggled against it to keep in the air. Wait a second! she thought. She smirked at the hazy figure, then clipped her wings close to her sides. The added weight caused her to drop down towards the floor, spreading her wings again at the last second before she hit the floor. She swooped up behind the figure, who spun around far enough for her to plant a boot in its face. The figure reeled back, clutching its nose, but managed to deliver a kick to her stomach. Angelica coughed and fell out of the air, clutching her stomach.

She was sure she was going to hit when an enormous force jolted her upwards so fast she really did almost throw up. She looked up to see David Michael straining to keep her aloft, his arms around her waist. She blushed furiously and pushed him away, hovering in place.

“Owww…” she said. “Whoever that was, they have pretty good kicks.”

“Do I? Why, thank you,” said a voice from right behind her. She spun around, lashing out her fist but stopped short when she saw the face of her attacker.

“Tanya?” asked David Michael incredulously. Alex swallowed in surprise. He had just now flown over to them, but flapped back a couple of feet in astonishment at Tanya’s sudden appearance.

“Yes, indeed, it’s me,” she said, picking at her nails, a bored expression on her face.