Disclaimer- I don't own Max Ride. I own the characters I've made up. See AN for details.

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Chapter 1

Ok, from what I've seen on CCTV, the School is probably the worst place I can think of. They treat mutants like dirt. Which is kinda unfair. There are all these laws against prosecuting someone because of the colour of their skin but absolutely none against prosecuting someone because of the fact they are not entirely human. Do I hear anyone saying 'mutantist'?

I mean, people fantasise about having wings and flying. And, in the world, there are twelve people with the 'luck' to have that ability. Six of them spent their childhoods in dog-crates at the mercy of sadistic spawns of Satan who were disguised as genetics scientists.

So what if they really were genetics scientists? They abuse the non-human rights act. Oh, wait- there isn't one. How unfair for mutants.

Some of you might have worked out by now that I'm not rambling on for any reason in defence of poor, defenceless children, and that I'm one of the twelve. Well done.

Thankfully, I'm one of the other six. Yeah, I have not had the 'Dog-crate' experience. And the genetics scientists who created me are more of angels than demons. Well, they provide chocolate-chip cookies. Which makes everything better.

Actually, the people who created me are kind, warm-hearted individuals. And although there isn't a mutant rights act, they consider us human enough to abide by the human rights act. So, rather than do evil experiments on us to test us to our limits, and don't stop until we faint/vomit/die, they test us 'till we say, "Stop". What kind people we have looking after us.

The only thing that we don't like is our names. We were allocated an 'Experiment number'. I, for example, am Experiment 625-Alpha. I'm the eldest. I'm in charge.

Though we've all come up with names for ourselves. Real names, and nicknames. I'm James Fox, or Foxy.

Then there's Robin Woodrow, and when he was about to come up with a nickname for himself, we decided to call him Robbie. We were bored. He likes it.

Amelia Jones is Amy, Jack Beddoes is John (None of us bother with it, though), Nathan Walker is, well, Nathan, and Geevahan Vaikundavasen (Who came up with that? Oh, wait, him) is Geev.

And I'm the only one who's British. In fact, I'm the only successful recombinant who's British. I'm the first British recombinant. Which means I can go in the record books.

We've spent our entire lives in this one building. Tomorrow they're letting us out.

--

Of course, before they let us go they had to brief us.

A large man in a completely tasteless suit was narrating a completely pointless PowerPoint on the flock- the six other mutants who we were supposed to protect.

Unfortunately, until today, we had no idea what from.

"This," explained Mr. Bad Suit, "Is an Eraser."

He pointed at a picture of what I presumed to be a werewolf. I had to hand it to these people; they were very good at CGI.

"Erasers are half human half wolf," he continued.

Just like werewolves then.

Robbie grinned.

'Werewolves?' He thought.

'Just what I was thinking myself.' I sent the thought back with the picture from the PowerPoint but underneath a full moon.

We both covered our mouths with our hands to stop giggling.

Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? We can all communicate via a telepathic field. It's a bit like MSN. Cool, eh?

"Erasers are usually heavily armed. They also blend in well."

'Yep, that thing would not stand out in a shopping queue.' Robbie thought.

I took deep breaths to avoid laughing.

"They can morph," explained Bad Suit Guy, noticing my attempts to not giggle, "From human to this state easily. Need I point out that this information may save your life, and therefore you should listen?"

I put on a 'who, moi?' expression, and closed the telepathic link.

Dr. Gillams, who was two years older than me (and had been a genetics expert since the age of two. Long story. Remind me to tell ya all later) stood up.

"Alpha, please listen to me, at least," he said.

"Ok," I replied.

"Erasers are dangerous…"

'No, you don't say.'

Robbie managed not to laugh.

"…and will also try to kill the flock. They will always outnumber all of you, so be on your guard." Dr. Gillams sat down.

Bad Suit Man stood up.

"You may go. You know the co-ordinates. Here are the people you must protect."

An assistant handed out pictures of all the flock with their names underneath each photo. Like we needed them.

--

I can understand why humans dream of flying. It's graceful. It's fun. It's good exercise.

It's flipping tiring.

"Foxy?" Moaned Geev, "are we nearly there yet?"

"I told you two minutes ago that it'd only be another five minutes."

I couldn't blame him. He was the youngest, and we had only had a thousand calories that day. We needed more than that- three times more than that. No wonder he was tired.

Robbie flew up next to me. Well, when I say next, I mean about thirty feet away. Our wingspans were 14 feet, and we still hadn't mastered flying with one wing over another person's wing.

"I was just thinking…" he started.

"What?"

"Well, those Eraser things look quite tough."

"They have pistols. I have a sniper rifle. You have an assault/sniper rifle. The others have twin pistols and machine guns. Plus we all have knives and real good close combat fighting skills. Easy."

"Ok," he said, though he didn't sound too sure. To be honest, I wasn't either. But when you're a leader, you have to lead. And that means being positive that you're gonna succeed.

We landed by the flock's house. I've got to admit, that architect was brilliant. Won't waste your time with descriptions, but it was pretty darn amazing.

We hid in the nearby woods until the sun set, then we crept over to the house. I motioned to the others to hide behind a bush, and pulled in my wings.

'Robbie, come with me' I thought. Reluctantly Robbie followed me to the window. We looked in. Max was sitting on a sofa, drinking hot chocolate, reading a book. Fang was just sitting down. The others weren't in the room at all. Probably in bed or out flying.

Out flying.

I looked to the south. I could see four dark blobs on the horizon, but they were getting larger. Uh-oh. Not good.

'Into the forest' I yelled mentally (mentally as in 'in my head' not 'mad'). The group obeyed. Robbie and I crept around the back of the house, as Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel arrived. They opened the door, and walked in. We waited five minutes, and went back to the window. Max was putting the younger flock members to bed.

'All clear'

The others went back to their position behind the bush.

--

A while later (like, an hour or two), Fang, Iggy and Max trailed upstairs to bed. They looked tired. Excuse me? Did I look tired? No. Had they just flown all day? Again, no. Had I? Yes.

'Ok, guys. Get some rest.' I thought. I trailed into the wood, and the others followed me. We soon found a clearing, and fell asleep within minutes.

--

AN- Ok, this is all there is before the events of 'The Angel Experiment'

Please R+R. I, we, really appreciate it. Thanks a load.

Any similarity to actual people, real or dead, is completely coincidental. Unless you know me. In which case it's completely coincidental