Chapter six! Just to let you know, the only reason I'm moving so fast updating this is because I already have the beginning all written up; I just need to type it and upload it. That might end soon, so my apologies if I stop updating so often. I don't own Maximum Ride, only Ebony and her thoughts and interactions.

Max: Hey, you said it all by yourself this time.

Ryuu: …yes… I did… and?

Max: Someone generally has to remind you.

Ryuu: Nah, not anymore. I'll let someone else if they wanna, but it's become, like, my mantra.

It was an interesting feeling. It was obviously pain, but a strange kind of pain, a little closer to hitting the funny bone in your thumb than getting cut open without Novocain. The way I'd describe it is an Eraser gently raking his claws across a very sore spot. That's what it felt like.

It was a very small tattoo, so it was over within forty minutes. The woman turned the machine off, and rubbed a slippery substance on my cheek.

"There," she said. "Just keep it fairly clean for a while, and you'll be fine." She stood back to look. I started to loosen up the slightest bit. "I was right. It does look very nice on you. Don't worry about paying for this; it was part of the free makeover. Speaking of which…"Grabbing a skinny brush and a miniscule jar of something (honestly, what could possibly fit in there?), she ordered me to close my eyes.

She rushed through makeup in fifteen minutes, then propelled me out the door with a smile and a wink, pressing a finger to her lips. I swallowed, then nodded and turned to find the flock.

Max was pacing rapidly back and forth, with everyone scattered around.

"If she's not out in five minutes, we leave," she said.

"We can leave now, if you like," Fang said to her, catching sight of me over her shoulder.

Max turned, a scowl etched on her face.

MAX'S POV

I whipped around. This girl, Ebony, was a completely unfactored, unrelated variable in the hugely complicated problem of my life. She did not belong, staying with us as long as she had. I shouldn't have given in to Fang this time, and let her stay.

That was another thing that bothered me. Fang had somehow turned into her flock spokesperson, talking to me for her. He hardly talked at all on a normal basis, and now here he was, chatting away in her favor.

My sneer deepened when I saw Ebony. That girl could not be more fluorescent if the whitecoats had injected her with active neon gas. Her hair looked like one of those chocolate Funfetti cakes, with rainbow splotches interspersed throughout it. Of course, her makeup matched.

'Because all we need is a light-up rainbow arrow telling even more Erasers where to find us,' I thought.

I realized that I had muttered this aloud when I felt Fang's gaze boring into me and Ebony froze mid-step.

Be careful, Max, the Voice chimed in. You don't need to make any more enemies. What you most need right now is more allies.

"If I wanted your input, I would've asked," I growled. "Besides, I have all the allies I need."

FANG'S POV

I heard Max mutter something to herself. My ears caught the words, and I turned to stare at her. Max didn't generally act this way among others in desperate situations. It didn't take any stretch of imagination to see that Ebony was in a desperate situation: escaped only recently from something that was likely to be very similar to the School, now away from the only place she had lived in her entire life, with a huge world confronting her and nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Why was Max giving the girl so much trouble?

I could see a bit where she was coming from. She only wanted to protect the flock from an outsider, who may or may not have contained a tracking device. But they were probably already being tracked somehow. Angel had explained to him with her mind that Ebony meant no harm unless they harmed her; she only wanted a place where she could fit in and stay among 'others'.

Ebony had walked slowly to join the flock, her eyes trained on the floor. Now she stood, staring at her feet, next to Gazzy and Nudge.

I stood, snatched Max's arm, and dragged her a few yards away. When I came to a stop, I turned to find her eyes blazing at me in fury.

"Look," I said quietly, "if she's going to be a part of the flock, you need to calm down."

Max seethed. "What do you mean, 'part of the flock?'"

"I think we both know that she won't be able to survive if we leave her here alone. Where does she belong, if not with us? She probably has more bird genes than we do."

"Which makes her even more of a mutant freak than any of us! Now explain to me the part where she stays."

"She can help us."

"We're fine on our own."

"What I mean is, the number of Erasers isn't decreasing any. If she stays, she'll fight with us. I have a feeling she would hold her own well. And the more people we have fighting, the less injuries we'd sustain overall, the less resting up we'd have to do, and the faster we could get somewhere else and move on."

Max's face grew more infuriated with every second. There was nothing better to stop one of her rants than cold, hard logic.

"Just remember later, this was your choice, not mine," she finally muttered, striding away from me.

When I followed her, Ebony looked up and caught my gaze. Her eyes told me that she had somehow heard every word. I wondered if she had been truthful about not reading minds. But from the way the warm, thankful feeling washed over me, she was grateful I had stood by her.

Ebony's POV

"What is that?" Max demanded. I tore my eyes away from Fang's merciful dark ones to look at her. She was staring frenziedly at the small star stinging my cheekbone. I couldn't think of anything more intelligent to say that, "Um, a tattoo?"

At those words, the rest of the flock edged curiously closer. I glanced quickly around in irritation. Sheesh, the weird new kid never gets any space.

"I see that," she snapped acidly. "They're not allowed to give you one."

I shrugged, lowering my head and closing my eyes. Course, thinking about it, new kids at school went through something comparatively different from what I was going through.

Max continued fuming. "Why the heck would you get one? There goes the whole inconspicuous plan; that thing is the most distinguishing feature I've ever seen. No one's ever gonna forget it."

She stopped short and gaped as Fang sauntered up, lifted my chin, and peered at my cheek, gently poking it once. From what the other kids' faces looked like, this was incredibly out of character for him.

"It's fine," he reported. "We can't fix it now, so we'll deal." Then he ambled out of the place, letting in the raucous New York noises with the opening of the door.

Holy feckers. You know what I just noticed? can't change the fonts to anything interesting. I had all the change-of-POVs in pretty fonts according to character, but they show up as normal type. Darn. Um, you know what? I'll give you the fonts. Max's is Freestyle Script, Fang's is Matisse ITC, and Ebony's is Blackadder ITC. There. Now you can imagine that they're pretty.

Memo: I am a firm believer in Fax. Interpret that however you like, but I mention the fact for a reason.