Welcome to Joyride!

SPOILER ALERT! This starts right in the second book of Maximum Ride, where they're breaking into the Institute to get their files and break out the other experiments. The angel wing girl is NOT there, and it is replaced with a couple of my characters. ;) You'll see who. Pretend the Flock knows who Ella is and where she lives, please? Thanks. WARNING! 100% FAX COMING YOUR WAY! MAXIMUM RIDE DOESN'T BELONG TO ME! Unfortunately…Remember, this is graphic novel based, so it will not be exactly like the books.

DISCLAIMER: MaxRide does not belong to me, but to James Patterson. -_- WHY

Max burst into the metal doors, and her eyes widened in shock of what she saw.

Hundreds of cages were staged on every corner of the room, each with a creature inside it. There was a reptilian girl, a dog that looked severely like Toto from Wizard of Oz, a crazed-eyed cat staring at them, a chicken-boy curled up in a shadowy corner of his cell. Max covered her mouth in horror. They all howled at the light from the open doors, and the flock walked around in astonishment at the experiments.

"How could there be so many-'' Nudge mumbled. Angel eyed the Toto dog. "This…is pathetic," Fang whispered. "Hi, doggie," Angel greeted. "You look like Toto from Wizard of Oz," she giggled, rubbing the dog on its head. The dog panted, joy in his eyes. Fang turned to Max, who was looking very depressed at the sight of all of the experiments.

"You know we can't save them all," he deadpanned.

"…I'm supposed to save the world, remember?" she replied. "Well, I'm gonna start with these guys," Max growled.

"Start popping latches!" she called. There you go, Max, the Voice said gently. That's the difference between you and Fang. Popping locks echoed throughout the room, squeals of happiness and relief following it. "Why are you doing this?" a voice whispered. Max spun around, startled. A row of three lone cages sat on the side of the room, where three teenagers were curled up inside. One was a small black-haired, skinny, pale boy, with a lock of onyx hair blocking his right eye. A headphone-like device was over his head, a thick antennae sticking out of the sides. He had two black cat ears sticking out of his hair, and a long shadowy tail stretching over his legs. He was wearing simple gray clothes, and was clutching his knees to his chest, showing his fright and terror. His crystal blue eye stared at her with wide eyes.

The middle cage sat a Hispanic girl, jet-black hair yet again covering her left eye, with angry red highlights ripping through the dark hair. She had bright scarlet eyes, and two dragon-like wings arching her back, transparent red layering her wing part of it. She wore simple gray clothing as well, but no dress, instead pants and a shirt. Her fists were clenched, and she stood strong against Max. She's an obvious fighter, Max thought.

The final cage held a blonde-haired boy, and unlike his cellmates he had no hair covering his face at all, gleaming sky-blue eyes completely opposite from the girl. He showed no abnormality at all, and stood strong like the girl. He wore the same uniform as his cellmates, and stood close to the right side of his cage, near the girl.

"What are you staring at?" the girl snapped. "I'm here to help you. All of you," Max replied, quickly unlocking her cage and going to the rest. The girl pushed the door open, her face very unsure. "You-you're just one of their tricks. You're probably going to dissect us or something," the girl growled. Max freed the cat-boy and the blonde one. "I'm against the Institute as well," Max replied. The girl crossed her arms, scowling. "Prove it," she challenged.

Max smirked, and unfurled her wings, making the kids stare in wonder. "Your wingspan is at least ten feet. Could you fly with them?" the cat-boy asked. Max nodded. "Definitely. Those are my friends over there, helping out the other experiments," Max said, pointing to the Flock. "That's Fang, that's Iggy, that's Nudge, over there is Angel, and lastly, there's Gazzy. I'm Max, Maximum Ride," Max introduced.

The group automatically broke into giant grins, and the dragon-girl hugged the blonde boy. "I told you she would come! And her friends too! And who didn't believe me? Ooh, maybe one guy named Matthew Zylo…" the girl pouted. Matthew punched her arm lightly. "It just wasn't likely," he responded. The cat-boy jumped up and down excitedly. "It's Maximum! It's Maximum! It's Maximum!" he squealed, and leaped about fifteen feet in the air. "We're saved!" he cheered, and the girl and Matthew chuckled behind him. "Wow…I didn't know I was that popular," Max admitted. The dragon-girl reached out a hand. "I'm Rix, by the way. The hyper feline boy over there is Ryuu, and this is Matthew. We've heard about you from the guards and Ari. Batchelder talks about you every time he checks up on us, and this entire room of experiments are probably some of your biggest fans. We've been waiting so long for you to save us from the Institute," Rix explained. "Who's this?" Iggy asked jokingly, the flock walking up to them behind him. "Oh, meet Rix, Matthew, and Ryuu," Max said, and said kids waved happily at them. "So, when are we escaping?" Rix asked, wings flared for flight.

"Never!" a deep voice growled, and Ari lunged out of nowhere at Rix, pinning her to the ground. "Get off me, you stupid dog!" she shouted, and kicked him in the gut, throwing him across the room. Rix turned her head to Matthew and Danny. "Matthew, Ryuu, get Max and the flock out of here! I'll hold off Ari the bad Wolf-Man cosplayer and all the other Erasers that are in here somewhere," Rix ordered, and the boys shook their head defiantly. "No! We aren't leaving you here!" Ryuu cried. Rix pushed him and the flock to the exit with a swift motion of her hand. "I said, get out!" she yelled, and Fang pushed them all out of the room. He was about to grab Max when she shook her head. "I have a score to settle with Ari for hurting you anyway. Meet back at Ella's house; we'll be sure to see you soon," she said, and Fang looked from the door to Max, and regretfully turned to the door.

"Just…be safe, okay?" he said, and Max smiled, nodding.

"I could really use some help here!" Rix called, as she was throttled to the floor again, Ari's hand trying to crush her neck. "You should go. I'll meet you at the cave again, okay?" Fang said, and Max nodded again. "Go," she said, and Fang left the room, rushing the flock to the exit. Max turned to the battle going on between Ari and Rix. The Hispanic girl was currently being held by her neck on the wall, and Ari growling maliciously near her face. Max dashed towards them, swiftly punching Ari's face, forcing him to let go of Rix. She gasped for air as soon as Ari's hand left her neck, and coughed to gain air. "Are you okay?" Max asked worriedly. Rix gave her a hopeful smile. "I'm fine. I heal fast anyway," she replied. Ari stood up, facing the two girls. "You are dead, freaks," he threatened. Rix sniggered. "Then why are we still alive?" she retorted. "Because Jeb's too much of a softie to let me kill you. First, by breaking you pathetic wings!" Ari shouted, and socked Rix in the gut, throwing her into a wall. "Enough!" a voice commanded, and all eyes turned to Jeb Batchelder, standing in the entrance. Rix and Max shielded their eyes with their hands at the sudden brightness. "Stop it, Ari!" Jeb yelled. Rix had a devilish twinkle in her eye. "Don't stop, Ari. Kill me now-it won't make much of a difference, anyway. I'll see my brother again," she mumbled. Max glanced at Rix nervously. "I can gladly make that happen, dragon-girl," Ari rumbled. Jeb blocked Max and Rix from Ari. "Cut it out, you two. Max, I don't know what you're doing here, but you are not to be hurt at all. Rafaela-''

"That is not my name!" Rix interrupted.

Jeb raised his eyebrow at her. "Rix, then, you can't be hurt either. This is all part of the plan…and you all must follow it," Jeb explained. Rix frowned, crossing her arms. "What about Ryuu and Matthew? They can be hurt all they want and nobody will raise a finger about it?" she said sarcastically.

Jeb shot her a don't-argue-with-me-or-suffer-the-wrath-of-the-Institute look.

Rix scoffed, and turned away from him. "I would leave now, Max. Rix, I'm giving you an opportunity of a lifetime here as well. Leave or stay," Jeb said.

"But Jeb-''

"Do not argue with me, Ari. This is all part of the plan," Jeb argued.

"All about this stupid plan of yours…" Ari muttered. Max turned to leave the room, holding out a hand to Rix. "Come with us, Rix. We'll give you a home," she assured. Rix hesitated, the same look crossing her eyes like the one when Max unlocked her cage. She looked to Jeb as if looking for an answer, but he just gave her a slight nod. Rix gritted her teeth, taking Max's hand firmly. "Let's go!" she said, and Max and Rix sprinted out of the room, escaping through the sewer tunnels. They stopped at a dead end, all the tunnels crossing into one pod.

Max unleashed her wings, about to take flight. "Rix, we have to fly," she said. Rix looked at her wings nervously. "I-I don't know how to fly. I've never flown before," she mumbled. Max's eyes widened, and her heart dropped to her stomach as she heard Ari's pounding feet splashing closer to them. "It's fine. Just jump a little off the edge of this cliff, and flap your wings a bit before you hit the bottom, or even right after you jump. The wind will carry you, and you just keep flapping those wings," Max explained.

Rix shut her eyes, and jumped, Max holding her hand. She opened her eyes-and gasped as she realized her feet were off the ground and not falling to her death. She broke into a wide smile, and looked to Max, who was grinning. "Let's get out of here, okay?" Max said, and Rix beamed at her, even with Ari screaming curses at them from behind. "Where are we going?" she asked. "We're going to a friend of mine's house. She and her mom helped me out when I was hurt," Max replied. Rix winced, holding her side. "What's wrong?" Max asked. Rix let go of her side, revealing a giant bloody gash. "Ari stabbed me with his claws when you were talking to Fang," Rix explained painfully. Max guided her down to the ground, and rolled up Rix's shirt to see the whole thing. "Oh, my…" she mumbled, shocked. "Come on, we need to get to Ella's house now. I'll help you out on flying," Max ordered, taking Rix's arm over her shoulder.

Man, I just LOVE hurting my characters! Right, Rix?

Rix Muse: ...

...Rix?

Rix Muse: ...

Alright, she's not talking. -_- Anyway, enjoy! If my writing seems different here, it's because this is an old story I found collecting dust in the back of my jumpdrive, so I wrote this when I was super inexperienced.

Bye!

-ZC