NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED! I DO NOT OWN THE MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES (I WISH). I ONLY OWN THE OC'S.

I just want to say sorry to all my readers because I can't update regularly. I have a busy school schedule, so I might not update for weeks. Also, I would really appreciate anyone who reviews, because that is the best motivation I can get. Thanks!

BOOK ONE: IT'S RAINING MUTANTS AND BLOOD

Chapter 1

Max's POV

I still tasted the concrete dust in the air. The sky was gray. The land was gray. I was gray. Bomb crews in bright orange suits shuffled here and there, police officers with their cherry-red and sky-blue flashing lights hurried behind me, cautioning other people to stay back from the wreckage. Paris is ruined. The world is ruined.

My life is ruined. What's the diff? Don't be so bitter, says the Voice. That's hard to do, considering that I was born with it beside me. I reply.

A single tear drips from my cheek. I haven't cried since Fang left me. He doesn't care about you now. He left to pursue his dream. Let him go, says the Voice. Shut up! I scream back. Now Angel was gone as well. Angel, my cute-yet-freaky seven-year old, my baby, who had the heart to save a French woman's son, to sacrifice herself to save an entire city of people. She was dead.

Because of me.

I'm choking back sobs, but nothing stops the tears that stream down my face in a steady flow. I am a terrible, terrible leader. I try to stop the feelings of self-pity. Inside my head there are flashes: raging fires, a massacre, a death plague. Images flood through my mind, mostly of Angel. Angel laughing, smiling, even when she was a traitor, she always followed her heart and came back. But now she couldn't.

Strong arms embrace me. Dylan's arms. He's your soul mate, says the Voice. You said that Fang was, I growl. But I can't help but sink into Dylan, head perfectly level with his shoulder, clinging on like a little kid afraid of losing a teddy bear. The people who I loved the most are gone from my world. He's all I have left. He lets me wail and sob into the nylon of his running shirt. He traces little circles on the inside of my wing, making me feel somewhat comforted. When my spring of tears is dry, I am surprised as he tenses his muscles and starts to carry me inside a house. Exhaust hits me like a bullet. My eyelids feel like thirty-six pounds. Each. They droop, and I'm asleep before my head hits a pillow.

Fang's POV

I bang my head against a wall. Get out of my head! I screamed in my mind. I had been thinking about Max. Seeing her again, so broken beyond repair, I just wanted to come back and comfort her. But I had to leave her. What had I done? By leaving, her leadership might have actually gone worse. Flashing pictures blind my head: Max flying, wind billowing through her hair. Max laughing, a sound that I longed to hear over and over, like the tinkling of bells. Max's eyes, warm and chocolate brown, when she looked at me.

*Flashback - 2 days ago.

Did I just see Max? No, it's just another girl.

*Flashback - Yesterday

Max? Nope. I could have sworn that this was her...

"Arrgh!" I mutter. Wherever I go, it seems like some part in me longs to be with the flock again. It's been days, days, days I've been thinking about this. It'll never be the same. Even if I flew back, Max would probably never accept me. But I have to try. I raise my eyes from the drywall, taking in a breath of air.

"Guys... I don't know how to say this, but I think I have to leave the flock," I say simply. Better to be straightforward.

Ratchet looks stricken, Kate and Star simply quiet. Our motel room is eerily silent, as if everywhere we go, death and the Doomsday group will follow us forever. I clear my throat and continue.

"You guys... you can have Maya as a leader. I think she deserves it." I gesture to Max 2 - I mean, Maya. "I... need to go back. I need to take responsibility for what I've done..."

"Wait!" spits Star. "You can't just leave us, idiot. You brought us all here. Do something about it. It's not like you can get out of this responsibility as well: us."

"Yeah. If you start something, you gotta finish it," growls Starfish.

"He left his girlfr- Max," says Kate, catching herself, "and I think that is reason enough that he wishes to go back. How would you feel, Star, if someone you loved left you when you needed them most?"

"All the same," she says, snarling, "I think I would put that "someone" where his responsibilities lie. How do you even know that she will accept you, Fang?" she asks. I say nothing. I can't know.

"Look, Fang is a good leader, and I think most of his decisions make sense. He probably thought this through carefully, all the pros and cons. Sometimes you have to give up something for another," defends Ratchet.

"It just so happens that he is not making a profit here!" snaps Starfish. "If this is a business offer, he is losing money! He stays." Star nods her consent.

"This is not a business offer! Life is not some video game. Once you fail, you can't start from the last save point," Kate growls.

Maya stands up shakily from the comfy chair where she was sitting.

"Do you really wish to have a leader who no longer wished to lead?" she challenges. Star growls. Starfish just shakes his head. Ratchet has a relieved look on his face.

"I'm really sorry, guys. I want to be with you, and be your leader, but I can't. I can't bear living without Max," I finish. "Maybe, someday, we'll cross paths again..." I exit, shuffling out the door. One part of me feels relieved that I can see Max again. Another feels guilty about leaving my flock/gang. The last part just feels like saying, "What the hell?"