Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. NO! Max is gone, taken by this Ari robot and the whole flock is having an uproar! Gazzy is crying, grabbing things and throwing them everywhere. Angel is screaming, telling him to stop, tears rolling down her face. Total is whimpering in the corner. Iggy is facing the corner and I can't tell you what he was going. Nudge was next to Total, crying her eyeballs out. Me? I'm standing at the spot Max was at moments ago, staring flabbergasted into the sky.

"Why Max?" Gazzy shouted, grabbing the lamp and hitting it against the wall. "Why'd they take her?"

"Gazzy, get yourself together!" I shouted. Everyone went still and silent. I don't normally yell. "Max is gone—so what? We've been without her before. We've all been! For fifteen years! Get your acts together and get your asses in the air before I kick them! We're going after her whether Max likes it or not!" Everyone was still and quiet, staring at me with wide, surprised eyes. Except Iggy… He just stiffened in the corner. "GET OUT NOW!" I barked, louder than I intended. Scared, the flock unfurled their wings and jumped into the air, through the huge hole the Ari robot had left.

"Man, if I wanted a mom, I'd tell you," Iggy muttered as he passed. I closed my eyes for a moment and flew upwards into the sky.

We're coming, Max. And let me tell you, when I get my hands around that robot's neck, he's going to turn into a toaster, which will be blown up by Iggy and Gazzy. Then I'm going to take the ashes of the toaster, and drop them in the ocean!

I opened my eyes only to close them again. A white, blinding light stung my eyes. I blinked a couple of times to see about five white coats hanging next to me.

"The specimen is awake!" one of them shouted.

"Specimen…?" All of a sudden, I heard an annoying beep sound that rang through my ears. I let out a groan and turned my head to see what that beep was… Great, it was my heart—and it was quick. I took a deep breath, but the white light was doused by a large, black shadow.

It was Ari, of course.

"Do you know why you're here, Maximum?" Ari said, slowly and tauntingly. I blinked at him.

"To get killed and never save the world? Yeah, I've registered that, thanks," I spat at him. He merely smirked at me.

"No, Maximum. We messed with your mind."

"Of course you have. Because I have wings, and I'm getting chased by this robot who is like my half-brother who is dead. Okay, registered that… move on, please." I sighed. Why are my last moments so freaking idiotic?

"No, Maximum. We cut open your head and messed with your brain. We gave you new DNA and new powers. We have yet to see if you die, or not. To be honest, we over dosed you on purpose just so we can kill you quicker." Instantly, bile rose to my throat and since I was lying down, I couldn't throw up. I had a killer headache and my stomach felt like it was going through a meat shredder.

"What's the point of making me stronger?" I murmured, hiding my pains and winces. This seemed to displease Ari—whatever; I had more important things to worry about.

"So we can watch you fall most ungracefully."

"Hello—I don't have grace, idiot," I growled.

"You will, Maximum. See, we've enhanced your DNA. We've made you ninety six percent human, two percent avian and two percent feline." Whoo! I'm going to be a cat—wait, what? "Generally, cats attack birds. That's what we hope will happen to you. You'll kill yourself. Or—" Ari turned around and all of a sudden, a screen pulled down and a projector turned on. On there showed a picture of the flock flying. Everyone had red faces and eyes, except Fang. He had a red face and a pained expression painted on his body. "The one you call Fang will have his feline DNA activated."

"Wait, what?" I said quickly. Ari looked at me with his cold, blank eyes.

"Max, Max… We stole Total during the fifteen year period. What you have with your flock is a clone of Total, with eyes that give us visual footage of you and your flock."

I lay there, surprised. Oh, wow, they got me good. Can I go home, now?

"The real reason why Fang wasn't home on time is because that's not the real Fang… We have the real Fang here in custody." I opened my eyes wide at Ari.

"If he's here, let me see him!" I demanded.

And, to my surprise, he answered, "Of course." In came the exact same look-alike of Fang. I didn't know which one was real—they were so dang close!

"Max?" he murmured, surprised. His dark eyes opened wide, as if he hadn't seen me in fifteen years. Because he hasn't, the Voice murmured in my head. The noise of the Voice made my brain throb painfully.

"Fang…" I sighed.

Ari smiled wickedly. "Everyone leave! Let these kids have their reunion." he barked. Everyone hastened to leave the room. When everyone was gone, Fang slowly made his way to me.

"Is it true?" Fang whispered. I looked at him for a moment.

"Is what true?" I whispered back.

"That you love me? They made me watch all the tapes. I have to know—is it true you love me?" I blinked a few times before responding.

"Of course." He let out a sigh of relief and all of a sudden, he was on top of my metal bed. Surprised, I squeaked, "What are you doing?" He looked at me or a moment.

"Stealing the truth from the brain," he said quickly, before pressing his lips against mine.

Whatever train of thought I had earlier broke completely. He put his hand s tenderly around my face and neck, making me feel safe and warm, even if it was the School I was at. I struggled against my bonds to wrap my arms around his neck, but I couldn't.

"Awe, so touching," a very snooty voice snarled. Fang broke away and turned around to reveal Max II standing there and, truly, looking pissed.