Chapter 55: CH55:NARROW ESCAPE
Tensions mounted higher and higher as the Gifted teens held on tight for dear life as their General fired shots at the evolved birds that could easily tear the ship they were in. Although they had state of the art weapons mounted on the ship, they still didn't think they would do any significant damage to ward off the birds.
To make things worse, more and more of these blasted birds came closer as they'd intentionally fly into the ship and nearly flung it from the sky. Luke tried his level best to shoot down as many as he could but the more he killed, the more birds surrounded the ship as each one of them would take out an important component of the ship.
"We're going down." Luke said while trying his level best to at least perform the least deadly crash land. However, two of the largest birds grabbed the wings, flapped vigorously as they each ripped the machine in two. "Everyone quick, through the exit hatch. GO GO GO!!' Luke ordered as they each jumped out with the parachutes on their backs.
The ship was finally reaped apart into tiny pieces as the birds fought with each other over who got the biggest part. None of them noticed the humans falling out, allowing them to escape unnoticed…or so they thought.
Since they quickly jumped out at fourteen thousand feet, they had no need for oxygen masks and they were accelerating quite quickly towards the ground.
*SCREECH!!*
One of the birds noticed, out of the corner of its eye, the little wingless creatures diving at a great speed. It quickly signaled the others, causing all of them to initiate a chase.
"THEY'RE COMING AFTER US!!" Jason panicked as he generated a couple of sparks in his palms. "I'm gonna try and shake them off.'
"Wait, Jason, don't…." Zain tried to warn Jason not to attack, but the Gifted boy already sent out multiple strands and bolts of lightning at the birds. The ending result was a large, thick cloud of smoke followed by the stench of burnt flesh.
"Heck yeah." Jason smiled but Zain couldn't help but force himself to swoop even faster than the others. "What's the matter, Zain?" Jason grinned. "I took care of those things…."
*SCREACH!!*
Through the smoke cloud flew ten more of those gigantic birds, each looking angrier and more terrifying than they once were.
"Those are evolved buzzards." Zain spoke out, "They see us as prey. We're prey that's fighting back and that's obviously going to PISS THEM OFF." Zain's muscles started to bulge. His arms grew longer and slightly thinner as feathers ripped through his skin. His skull broke apart and re-arranged itself, taking the form of the buzzards. His knees broke and bent backwards as yellow scales covered his legs with curved, three-inch talons replacing his toenails. His body ripped and tore the armor he had on as it became three times larger, stronger, and faster than it already was.
*SCREAH*
Zain, who took the form of the charging buzzards, collected Jason, Michelle, Lilly, Hurt, and Luke in his giant claws and started to dive as his upper body morphed again into that of a falcon. Known for their speed, a falcon was the perfect choice for diving. His now slimmer body allowed him to cut through the air faster than the buzzards could ever imagine.
"We're losing them. Alright, Zain. Woo!!" Michelle cheered, but suddenly and unexpectedly, Zain flipped all of them high into the air as his body collided with a buzzard that came from under him. Zain's morphed body, which was smaller than the buzzards, was tossed recklessly around as the others came and poked at him with their strong beaks and plucked the feathers off his body with their talons.
The boy desperately tried fighting back, but he was clearly out numbered and was slowly running out of energy. Michelle quickly forced herself higher with a mighty gush of wind that shot out of her legs. Being an elemental meant she could bend the various elements of the planet but at the moment, she wasn't close to any water or earth and fire wasn't going to be the best substitute at the moment.
Once she inched slightly closer, she placed her hands by the side of her body as she took in a deep breath. With her helmet off, she let out a terribly powerful gush of wind so strong that the buzzards and Zain was knocked back a little. Once freed, Zain morphed into a slightly smaller falcon and swopped further than the others. Once he was below all of them, he morphed once more into the same types of buzzards, collected the others on his large wings and gently but quickly glided to the ground.
Once their, he morphed back to human, only this time, he made sure to grow some fur around his manhood to protect it from unwanted eyes. "Excellent work, Zain." Luke said while gathering his thoughts, checking if all the armor suits were intact and if any of the Gifted teens were injured.
"We narrowly escaped that one, am I right?" Jason sighed with relief. "What now? Where do we go next?" Luke, who had no idea where to go, started looking around and scanning the area they were in. The only thing his aged eyes could see was a dark, empty space and the red moon that was starting to dim as it lowered past the horizon making way for day.
"We have a few hours until this place is too hot to move in. Michelle, if you'll be so kind to help us with small makeshift earth tents?" Luke kindly asked. Michelle calmly placed her hands together and quickly lifted them above her head.
The sand they stood on became solid as three earth tents formed. The only two girls shared one while the boys shared the second and Luke took the last one.
'Where are you, Ace Underwood?'
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone