I'm sorry I never updated sooner. But, here you go!
Disclaimer: AND THIS WILL GO WITH THE REST OF THE FIC. I AM NOT JAMES PATTERSON. I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. SADLY.
Nudge POV
Angel may be a mind-reader, but I'm smarter than people give me credit for. Sure, I've got a motormouth. But does that make me dumb? No. Not in the least. For instance, other than Iggy, I was the only one who had figured out how to block her. Keep her out of my head. And she didn't know it yet.
Unluckily for her. Because, after all, I know exactly where she'll be. And I've got gills too.
Cue evil laughter.
Anyway, I creep up to the lake and begin to wade quietly in. It's quite a big lake, actually, about twenty feet down at the deepest point. The whole thing is about fifty feet in diameter, and from the bank it slowly gets deeper, then drops off. Angel will probably be lurking somewhere in the far side, by the drop off, so she can hide in the weeds and muck. Luckily, she has no upper hand in this. Actually, I do; I'm a faster swimmer.
Gosh, I wonder what Fang's doing at the moment? He's probably off looking for Max or Iggy. Probably Max, seeing as they're all lovey-dovey. Gazzy? He'll be off exploding things somewhere. Maybe trying to attract Iggy.
The water is colder than I thought it was gonna be, but it's not freezing. Just enough to make me shiver once I finally sink into the liquid.
I creep over to the drop off and sink to the bottom of the lake. My toes – I had taken my shoes and socks off before coming in – squish into the muck on the floor. Tiny tendrils of plants curl around my legs. Finally, I take a deep gulp of the water. The oxygen continues down into my lungs, while the water flows out through the gills on the side of my neck. I grin at the satisfying feeling.
Pushing off from the mud, I begin to flash through the chilly water in the direction I assume Angel to be in.
Angel, watch out, here I come!
Gazzy POV
This is so fun! I don't think we've played Tag in, I dunno, probably like a year! Wow, this is so awesome! Gee, I hope I get someone out before I get tagged.
I know, I know, I'm not really the most awesome of the Flock; that would be Iggy, hands-down. Then, probably either Max or Angel, seeing as they're the leader and power-hungry-seven-year-old-little-sister. Fang and Nudge are pretty cool too; I mean, they both have gills, and they're fun. Well, Fang's just fun to prank, but that's the same thing.
Speaking of Fang…
He soars above me, his black wings flapping bored-ly (as always), and glides down to touch ground in front of the back door. He shakes his wings out and folds them, opens the door, and walks inside.
Oh, so Fang's out already, huh? That means… only three people could have got Fang out…
Unfortunately, all three of them were on the opposite team, so that narrowed down nothing.
Whatever. I should probably head in the direction he came from, see if I can get anyone out!
I start walking hurriedly back down into the woods.
I run into Dr. Martinez on the way.
"Oh! Hi, Gazzy. Sorry, but Ella got me out."
Ever seen Dr. Martinez pout? It's a sight.
"Oh, bummer. Fang's out too! Now I just have Nudge."
Dr. Martinez scowls. "Well, don't blame me. I was politely minding my own business, and she jumped out and tackled me."
I laughed and waved her away. "Okay, fine. I'm gonna go look for Iggy… or Max."
This time, I jumped into the air, spreading my wings and lifting off. The trees cause small nuisances as the leaves catch my wings, but I manage to not crash and burn.
Max POV
"Gazzy's coming," Iggy said. I looked towards him, my eyebrows raised.
"Huh. Who'd have thunk it?"
"Yeah. So, what'll we do? Oh, and your mom's out too. Nudge's going after Angel."
I stopped for a second, turning to Iggy.
"What?" he asked, halting as well and turning his head back.
I stare at him. And suddenly, just like that, I realize what I hadn't before.
Iggy has changed. Scarily changed.
And no, I don't mean the whole year-older-than-me-now thing. I mean… his gifts.
Yeah. He'd been hesitant to tell us at first. Actually, he hadn't said a thing… until Fang decided to take an IQ test.
Nudge had thought it would be neat if all of us did one, to see who was smarter. This was sort of a joke, seeing as none of us had had proper schooling, but we all complied readily.
Fang had managed a ten out of a hundred, Nudge twelve, me fourteen, Gassy seven, and Angel twenty-two. Then, it had been Iggy's turn.
"I don't need one," he said firmly.
"Aw, come on Iggy, it'll be fun! We all did one! Anyway, none of us will make fun of you if you do badly."
"I'm not afraid of doing badly. Not at all."
"Oh yeah?" Gazzy said. "Then what ARE you afraid of?"
"Nothing. I just know my IQ already."
"Oh yeah," I said, rolling my eyes. "You've snuck on the computer before and taken the quiz… need I remind you that you're blind?"
Iggy grimaced, and I momentarily cursed my brutality.
"No. They tested me at the School."
We all fell silent. Iggy hadn't ever talked to any of us about his Dream before. Of course, he now knew it was all… fake. At first, he'd been in denial, cursing and trying to get out to go find 'Meagan.' But, now, he accepted it. However, he never told us why he wanted so firmly for it to have been real.
"Oh, yeah?" Nudge chattered. "So, what is it? Are you, like, super smart? Like, a hundred IQ? Or is that actually just normal… what about two hundred?"
Iggy shook his head, pulling out the ear-buds from the iPod he'd been listening to.
"So, you're a genius, huh? What's your IQ then, if not two hundred? Three hundred?"
Iggy shook his head again.
"Four hundred? Five hundred? Six hundred?"
Again, he shook his head to each of them.
I heaved an annoyed sigh. So Iggy wanted to play games, huh? "Okay then, what's your IQ?"
"Above the charts," Iggy muttered. "Uncounted. The IQ test can't calculate."
Gazzy was the first to start giggling, then I laughed as well. Even Fang managed to crack a smile.
"Hey, just give him the quiz!" Angel piped up.
We sobered pretty quick.
"Okay. Lemme read you the questions, then we'll see who's right. I bet you fifty bucks you wont answer more than twenty right."
We all began taking bets.
"So, I think he can! I bet ten." Gazzy said.
"A hundred-and-thirteen and forty-two cents says he can't," Fang chanted in monotone, picking a completely random number.
"Twenty he can!" Angel sang.
"Hmm… I dunno, Iggy usually doesn't lie, but then I guess it's sort of unbelievable… hmm, I'm not gonna bet," Nudge decided.
"I've raised my bet to seventy-five," I spoke up.
"What about you, Iggy?" Angel asked sweetly.
"Are all the bets un-take-back-able?" he asked with a wry smile.
"Yup," I said.
"Okay. I bet all the money in my pocket. Here, Nudge, count this…"
It turned out to be a hundred.
"Okay. So, whoever wins gets their own money back, and then split the money from the losers," Nudge said, deciding to make the rules since she wasn't in on the bet.
"Okay, Iggs, question one," I started. "Capital of Nevada?"
"Carson City," Iggy said instantly.
"Okay, that was an easy one."
"One right!" Nudge announced.
"Oh, be quiet. Here… question two; how many ounces in a pound?"
"Sixteen," Iggy muttered.
"Two!" Nudge said.
"That one was easy too! Okay, how about… what date was John F. Kennedy assassinated on?" I didn't know this one; Iggy was a sure miss.
"November 22, 1963."
"Huh… right," I muttered.
"Three!" Nudge said.
"How about the amount of grains of long grain white rice in a pound?"
Ha, he wasn't gonna get this one!
"A bit over twenty-nine thousand."
"Right."
"Four!"
This went on, with each of us getting more intrigued, until he had answered the first twenty questions correctly.
And on again, until he had correctly answered all one-hundred.
We sat in silence for a moment.
"Uh, Iggy, is there something you're not telling us?" I asked cautiously.
Iggy sighed. "It's a new gift, guys. I'm like the smartest person, ever. I just… know everything."
Okay, sorry for the end of that chappie! However, I wanted to have the rest of the Tag game in the next, and if I included it here it would be way too long. Please, review! I love dem reviews!
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