Hey Peeps! So I'm new and wondering what y'all think of my story? Set RIGHT at the beginning of School's Out - Forever where they're one their way to DC... Anyway, don't own Maximum Ride or any of JP's character's. Peace. Love. Maximum Thrills. 1 Sweeping, swooping, soaring, air-current thrill rides – there's nothing better. For miles around, we were the only things in the infinite, wide-open, clear blue sky. You want adrenaline rush? Try tucking your wings in, dive-bombing for about a mile straight down, then woosh! Wings out, grab an air current like a pit bull, and hang on for the ride of your life. God, nothing is better, more fun, more exhilarating. Sure, we were mutant freaks, we were on the lam, but man flying – well, there's a reason people always dream about it."Oh my gosh!" The Gasman said excitedly. He pointed. "A UFO!"I silently counted to ten. There was nothing where the Gasman had pointed. As usual. "That was funny the first fifty times, Gazzy," I said. "It's getting old." "Actually, it was never funny," Nudge chimed in, with about as much enthusiasm as me. Gazzy cackled from where he flew with swift strokes a couple feet away. Rising higher, I got a tighter grip on Total, the sleeping dog in my arms. Did we need a dog? No. Did I want a dog? Also no. Could we afford to feed a dog? Wait for it – no."Guys! Wait," Iggy shushed us all, and I smirked at the seriousness on his face. "Do you hear that?"He blinked, then began flying more slowly, drawing back as if he felt someone – something – coming. Feeling cold all over, I paused. "Erasers?" my voice was calm despite the pound of blood in my ears, and to my relief, Iggy shook his head. "More like ... hawk's." "Hawks?" I scoffed, doing a 360 sweep of the area. "There's nothing around. You sure you're not just hearing us? I mean, considering we're six pairs of wings?"Iggy shook his head and then cocked it to the side. Listening."What's that?" Gazzy pointed downwards, and again I tried not to lash out with a hand clamping his mouth shut. "I'm serious this time," he said. My better sense told me not to look. But I did anyway. Who wrote gullible on the ceiling, right?"It's pretty." Angel remarked. To my utter surprise, there was indeed something below us, swooping low to the ground. Hovering."We found your hawk, Iggy." I muttered. "And?" he asked "And it looks like –" "One of us!" Nudge exclaimed excitedly. I threw a cautious look that shushed her almost immediately. "Impossible." Iggy whispered, looking like he'd walked into a plate glass door. "What does it look like?" "It's pretty," Angel said again, "its wings look smaller than ours, and it's flying close to the ground – very slowly." "Hey, guys?" I shouted, hovering higher and turning so I faced all of them, "it could be ... a bird? Think of that, wise-guys?" "But birds don't have human faces." Nudge defended. "We're to high up to know that for sure," I stated. "So let's check it out." Gazzy began a descend."What about DC?" Without a reply, the rest of the flock followed Gazzy. "Fang?" He threw me a 'there's one of it and six of us' look before heading towards land."No, absolutely not. In case you forgot, there are Erasers after us. This could very well be a trap! And I refuse to lead us into the mouth." Folding my arms across my chest, I waited for the flock to turn around. "We were on our way to search for our – Nudge's – parents, remember?" Sometimes sacrifices are worth the risk. I sighed.Thanks, Voice, I replied, because you're the person in charge. But what could this thing do to us that we couldn't do back?"So choose," I said, "parents or investigating that thing." "We can go to DC tomorrow, Max. If it's like us, then maybe it's willing to let us stay a night." Gazzy said confidently, pointing to the house beside the it, and the other four flock members nodded in agreement. He looked tired – we all were tired. We'd had another long, ugly day in a series of long, ugly days. "If it's a trap?" I asked."If it's a trap, we blow the ice-cream stand." Iggy confirmed, smirking slightly while fist-bumping Gazzy. I sighed again. "Fine. But one word and we're gone."In sync, five feathery children nodded and began their descend. We dropped three miles and flew forward, approaching the bird-thing in no time at all. It occurred to me that this it was, in fact, a she. And she wasn't alone. I mean, God forbid we attempt something without proceeding to arrive in the middle of a battlefield."Iggy, two o'clock!" I shouted, just as the second girl threw her heel into Iggy's chest, knocking the air from his lungs. He spun through the air with an 'oof' and just managed to regain composure to beat his wings strongly. The two girls – one with wings and one without – took no time at all to lunge at the rest of us. "The flying one! She's more of a threat!" I yelled. But to my surprise, the girl with wings flew to the ground, landing on both feet. She sprinted towards Angel and Nudge while the other one jumped towards me. Big mistake on her part.Don't underestimate your opponents, Max, said my unhelpful voice just as Wingless threw herself to the air, flipping round and landing an extremely lucky kick to the side of my head. I know what you're thinking; that's impossible!First of all, I was hovering a good five feet above ground level. Second, she didn't even have wings and third: it hurt like a bitch, but just as I blinked back in surprise, she sprung again, solidly knocking the air from my lungs. There was a sickening crack as her foot connected with my ribs and I buckled in pain, setting Total on the ground where he growled and attempted to gnaw the toes off Wingless. But she ignored him like a pathetic leaf as she landed on both feet nimbly, ready for round four. She had no wings – not even invisible – and wasn't chiseled or over-grown like an Eraser. Scarier yet – I noticed with dread that the winged girl was identical to her. Clones."Holy crap." I muttered, wiping blood from the corner of my mouth. Fang was on Wingless, grabbing her by the throat. She put up a fight, but lost from lack of muscle. Fang threw her like a discarded gum wrapper, and she only barely managed to break her own fall by landing with one arm out-stretched, hissed and jumped forward, looking as if about to claw Fang's eyes out. But at the last moment, she changed courses and landed up kneeing him in the chin. His eyes flashed with anger while he took a different stance. In a second I lunged forward again, ignoring the pain of broken ribs. Wingless didn't see me coming, and I landed a strong punch at her solar plexus. She grappled back in surprise, just as Fang added a hit to her head, drawing a long gash accompanied by a ribbon of blood. Without the slightest cry of warning like a normal person would, she flipped again, landing a kick to the centre of my head that sprinkled stars across my vision. I cried out, falling to my knees, and noticed something – she kept glancing back to the other girl. "Get Wings," I called. Fang nodded and launched towards her, and I watched as Wingless blinked in surprise, leaving me unattended to rescue her clone. I soared through the air until I had Wings in a neck hold, choking her until I was sure Wingless would listen. "We mean no harm," I said slowly."Clearly," she replied bitterly. I let go of Wings and stepped back, tapping Iggy's hand so he did the same. We stood in a loose stance. "I'm Ella," I said, choosing a name that had slipped off my tongue. "This is Jaxon and Joe," I pointed to Iggy and Fang. "And I'm happy for all of you," Wingless said sarcastically, defensively stepping in front of the other girl. She was obviously created for one specific purpose – to protect Wings."Um... thanks." That wasn't a response I was hoping for. "So why does your clone have wings, but you don't?" Nudge asked what we all wanted to know. I shot her daggers, but turned back to the girls to see their response. "I'm not her clone, you nimrods." "Twins?" Iggy asked in alarm. "Wow," the girl shivered playfully. "You are amazing. Bye." She turned towards the house that had conveniently been there all along. No need to be more frank, thank you very much. We watched as they stepped up the porch, and as the door opened, Wings pulled something from she turned back towards us and threw it."Ella!" Angel warned in alarm, but it was too late. The object had been a blade, and aimed at just the right angle to impale the delicate tissue of one of my wings. I cripple in pain."Come in," Wingless said with a smile. "You might be here a while."

hey peeps! So that was the first chapter. Please RnR!