Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews I got! They really mean so much! Well, here's chapter two! Enjoy! -Max

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, unfortunately. I only own the plot, Kuro, and Raz.

Fire.

Tons of fire heating up the air.

Raz, Kuro, and I watched as a branch of Itex burned to a crisp. Raz was grinning goofily. Kuro smiled in victory. I shivered, smelling burnt flesh in the air.

"Man, that was the biggest explosion yet!" Raz cried. "I'm giving it a nine-out-of-ten!"

"It was more like a seven or eight," Kuro stated.

I turned away from the fire. Let Raz and Kuro bask in their glory. I wanted nothing more than to put out the fire, or at least try and save those trapped inside.

Kuro, reading my thoughts, said, "Max, there was nothing we could do to save them. It's better that a few Whitecoats die than millions of people."

"I don't care about the Whitecoats," I stated angrily. Surprisingly, my voice was even. "It's the other mutants that were in there. We didn't even try to save them."

"You gotta let it go," Kuro said, wrapping his arms around me. I let him, though I did become a little stiff at first. "You have too big a heart, Max. That won't help us at all."

"I know," I whispered, happy that Kuro was thereto comfortme, eventhough I'd normallykill anyone who tried to.

"Let's go, guys!" Raz shouted. Kuro let go of me and nodded.

"Yeah, we've still got more branches to destroy before we can get to the main one," he agreed.

"Let's go, then," I breathed. The three of us snapped out our wings and jumped into the dark sky. We flew off towards the next branch. I locked all of my feelins away, except for the ones that would be useful to me now. I couldn't be kind-hearted anymore.

"Max, you ok?" a worried Raz asked. I blinked, trying to adjust to my new surroundings. I nodded slowly. That's when I realized where we were.

I was in a dog crate that was barely big enough to fit a fifteen-year-old mutant hybrid. That part didn't bother me as much as knowing exactly where we were did, though. We were at the school, the place I'd escaped from five years ago and been avoiding for the last two.

I sat up carefully and looked around. Raz and Kuro were in cages next to me. They looked very uncomfortable, not having been in this situation before. My old flock was also in cages lined up along the other wall.

"Max," Raz whispered. I looked over at him. He motioned to the cage next to me with his head. I turned and looked at Kuro. He gave me a weak smile as I examined him. He was covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. I raised my eyebrows questionably.

"I fought some of them," Kuro explained. "Not a good plan."

"Is there a plan?" Raz wondered. He and Kuro both knew the answer already, though he still asked. I didn't bother lying to them. They both knew that there was no plan.

"Max?" a small, scared voice called from the other side of the room. I refused to look at Angel. I was still mad and wouldn't talk tothem for any reason.

"Max, we're real sorry," Nudge stated beginning a rant. "Pl…"

"She won't listen, Nudge," Fang said cutting her off. Nudge nodded, understanding. "Jeb was right. You sure did change, Max."

Since when did Fang talk in complete sentences and say more than two words at a time? I guess I wasn't the only one who changed.

That guy likes you, Max, Kuro informed me. But you hate him. He's the one who made you leave, right?

He is, I thought.

The others like you, too, Kuro added. And they are truly sorry.

Good for them, I thought back. I was done with them after they made me leave. There was no way I'd go back to them now.

I moved to the side of my crate so I was next to Raz. He attempted to give me a smile but was unsuccessful for the first time I could remember.

"Can you break the bars?" I asked softly. Raz nodded and forced himself into a sitting position. I could tell it pained him but he didn't complain. He bent the bars so that he could crawl out. He then did the same for me, then Kuro.

"Should we set them free, too?" Raz wondered.

"I don't care," I answered spitefully. I heard some gasps come from my old flock. I ignored them.

Raz went over and let them all out. I knew he would. He's too nice to not help when it's truly needed, like now. I leaned against the wall, my hands crossed over my chest. Kuro leaned did the same. Fang crawled out of his cage, glaring at me.

Once Raz finished he punched open the only window in the room, which just happened to be big enough for us to climb through. He jumped out, followed by me, then Kuro. The others came next. Alarms went off and Whitecoats started screaming down the hall.

"Where to?" Raz asked. Kuro and I shrugged.

"Coast?" Kuro suggested.

"Oh, the beach!" Raz exclaimed. "Let's go there!"

I couldn't help but grin. Raz always made me smile, even when I didn't want to. I sighed, but I wasmore happy than angry.

"Fine," I agreed. Raz jumped up and down happily. Kuro and I rolled our eyes at each other and jumped into the air. Raz followed us. We unfurled our wings and started flying. Flyboys came rushing out.

"What about them?" Raz suddenly asked.

"Don't care," I answered shortly.

"Tell them that they can come if they want to," Kuro ordered. Raz nodded once and went over to where the others were talking in the air. Kuro and I hovered far above the school as we waited, watching the Flyboys apprehensively.

Raz finally came back over after a few long minutes. My old flock followed him. We turned from the school and moved west, towards the coast. Raz flew on my left side and Kuro on my right. I was careful to stay ahead of the others.

It didn't take long to reach the beach. We even found a large cave to sleep in. As soon as we landed Raz, Nudge, Angel, Iggy, and Gazzy ran off into the ocean. Kuro and I leaned against a giant stone. Fang sat off to the side.

"You never did tell us the deal with those guys," Kuro stated.

"I'll tell you later," I replied. Kuro nodded. He understood me better than Fang did when we were friends. He knew that what happened was a sensitive subject and didn't press for information.

"Max?" Fang asked, his dark eyes staring past me at Kuro. "Can we talk?"

"No," I answered shortly. Kuro shrugged at Fang. Fang glared at Kuro. The two boys had a glaring contest. I watched for a while, then got bored.

"I'll tell you about what happened, Kuro," I stated. Kuro grinned at Fang, having won the glaring contest.and helped me up. Fang stared at me angrily as Kuro and I wandered away. We sat down on a rock not too far from the cave, but far enough away that no one would be able to hear us or read our thoughts.

"This is what happened," I began.

There you go! Chapter 2! Hoped you enjoyed it!In chapter 3, Max has a flashback to when Fang kicked her out of the flock. Keep reading! I'll post soon! -Max