A/N: Sorry, I know I forgot a disclaimer. But I'm pretty sure James Patterson isn't in 7th grade in Atlanta. Also, he is not a girl. (That would be kinda messed up). And There are a lot of other differences between me and Mr. James, the details of which I won't go into right now.

Thank you to bridge to tabitha for showing me how to add new chapters.

Also, big round of applause to Samx5 for being the first person to review! Thankee, thankee. Everyone else, don't forget the second R of R&R!

Kisses, Schne

Chapter 2

I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Rex! You scared me!"

"Sor-ree," Rex said, grinning. "But seriously. You were in there for, like, eight hours!"

"Ten," I replied.

The first thing you noticed about Rex was the scales. Green and blue-ey, they covered the sides of his face, from the tops of his ears to the middle of his neck. Each scale was about the size of a pinkie fingernail, and they faded into flesh halfway across his cheekbones and at his collarbone. The topsides of his forearms were also covered, as were his shins, from the ankle to the knee.

The second thing you noticed was his hair. It was blue – not bright blue. Navy blue. But you could tell.

The third thing you noticed was his eyes. They were almost perfectly circular, and all white except for a small black dot in the center. No color whatsoever.

You might not notice the fourth thing about Rex. He does a good job of hiding it, when he wants to. It's also his craziest feature.

Rex has four arms.

Yes, four. This means, four armpits. This means, given the sad lack of deodorant around here, that the odor in this area of the warehouse is none too heavenly. The extra arms were also layered with scales, which made his pretty self-centered. It was like each of his scales had a tiny bit of ego injected in it, and put together with his already large self-appreciation, his head was rather swelled.

"Aw, who gives a crap," said a voice to my left. I turned and glared at my other best friend, Nifty. The first thing you noticed about her was her ears. Her ears, you say? Pardon moi?

Yes. Her ears are perched on top of her head. They are pointed and furry, highly resembling the ears of a cat. Ha, ha. They are the ears of a cat. Get it? Ha, ha…ha…okay, maybe that wasn't funny.

The second thing you notice about Nifty…hm, that would probably be her hair. It was extremely thick, and short, so that if you looked at her straight on she appeared to have a diamond encircling her head. It was kind of honey auburn. Nifty also has a long, furry tail curling out of the back of her hospital gown; she is 2% felis catus, or house cat. Rex is 2% lizard, but I think there's also some octopus thrown in.

Nifty's eyes are also kind of creepy; they are glassy and round, and golden, her pupils are vertical – and they glow in the dark.

And boy, did she have a cat-titude.

"Sorry, it's not like I was even conscious during the time I was serving," I hissed to my bosom buddies.

Rex looked miffed. He crossed all four arms. "So?"

Another voice reached my ears from across the aisle. "What's the status, Holls?"

I glared at the speaker, a small black Scottie dog with the unfortunate ability of the human language. Unfortunate for me, I mean. He really gets on my nerves.

"Me, myself and I are waiting over here," he continued.

"First of all, dog, it's Holly," I said. "Second of all –"

"First of all, Holly," the dog interrupted, "my card says Total. Not dog. I am civilized. I do not use the term "dog"." (A/N: Does anyone else notice how similar Total is to Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars? Or is it only me?)

"Don't you? We both know that Total isn't a name. It's a status – "

"It works for me," said Total, rather disdainfully. "Dog isn't a name either, smartness. And speaking of status –"

"What do you expect my status is? Drool plus?" Nifty reined in a snigger. She knew all about my problems with Monkeyman. "You really think it's changed?" I snarled.

Rex uncrossed his arms and held them up, four hands raised in surrender. "Whoa, Holly. What's going –"

"What's going on," I spat, "is that they're thinking of testing me more!"

I glared at the three of them, daring them to show sympathy. Rex's hands were all covering his mouth. Nifty was running her hands furiously along her tail, a nervous habit she'd developed long ago. Total's black maw hung open in shock, his pink tongue lolling.

"You're kidding," Rex said quietly.

I shook my head furiously. My long blond hair flew out in every direction. "Who would kid about something like that?"

"It doesn't matter," Nifty said suddenly, in a very un-Nifty-like manner.

I looked at her frostily. "Doesn't it?" I was in a wretched mood.

"No," she said dreamily. "I can sense something happening. Wheels settling into their places and starting to turn. This is just the beginning."

There was a startled silence.

"Well, folks," said Rex loudly, "this is it. Step right up to hear Nifty tell your fortune!"

"Creepy," said Total, shivering.

A thought struck me. "Does this have anything to do with subject Eleven or Maximum Ride?" I asked.

"Now Holly's got it too," Rex muttered, as though I had some sort of disease.

Nifty looked straight at me. "Yes, I think it does," she said quietly. "In fact, I'm sure of it."

Nifty: Ooh, I sound ominous. Like some sort of leopard. You know, if we ever get out of here, I'm going to have closets and closets filled with leopard-print-

Me: Get out. If you had wanted to be the narrator of this story, you would have volunteered. I don't care if your claws are too long. They're retractable.

Nifty: -

Me: Don't even start.

Nifty: I was just going to remind-

Me: ShH!

Nifty: -the readers to-

Me: Shush!

Nifty: R&R!

Me: Okay, fine. Now GET OUT.