Here ya go-

WARNING- rated for intense elements.

I don't own Maximum Ride

Chapter in Number 15's POV

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"15 years ago, as you probably know, scientists at Itex successfully created a flying human. It was extremely strong, and achieved things regular humans could never even dream of! But, they were frightened, with good reason. They knew that someday, it could backfire. Its strength and intelligence could cause it to go haywire… according to those who created it. So the scientists worked on a new project, a backup plan, a secret weapon to only be unleashed in the worst case scenario.

"They explored deep genes, long recessive traits that could be mixed to create their monster. Different things turned out into unusual results. In the end, they combined alligator, bat, and human successfully to create the worst predator to never walk the Earth… me."

I chose this moment to morph. My lip curled to show off my huge fangs. My skin darkened to turn brownish red. The bird kids in front of me gasped. Max took the little girl known as Angel, and tugged her close.

"Don't worry," I assured them, "I morph at will. I am completely in control." I opened my eyes wide and pointed to my pupils. "See? They're not red." I changed back to show them that I had power over the two forms.

"I grew up fighting. I was taught things, techniques used to take down opponents. Every couple days, the scientists in charge of my development scheduled fights to boost my ability. They observed me closely while I battled unusual mutants from their stockroom of genes. One day I'd heard about someone, someone who the scientists were desperately after… someone named Max. She had gotten out of control. They knew the time had come for the experiment of the flying humans to be terminated.

"I was intrigued when I'd heard that this person had escaped the school. I confronted the observers of my fight that day, demanding to know about this Max. That was when they told me that I had been trained all my life to… kill you.

"Then they increased my training. After that, they told me that I had to kill my opponents or I would be punished. And instead of giving me a food ration for winning the battle like usual, the only food that I got…" I swallowed hard, "were the corpses of the mutants from the fight."

The younger members of the flock, I did not know all their names yet, cringed. I did not blame them. It was gruesome. I'm sure they did not want someone with them who was a type of cannibal.

"They inserted the chip into my arm, saying that I was too soft. They constantly said that I needed to kill. The chip, as you have observed, causes me to go into a violent killing spree. It stirs my blood and turns my pupils a crimson red. I am no longer myself. But, that's not enough for the scientists. I must be my other self all the time. When they reinvented the chip, I was certain that it would turn me fully into a monster. I couldn't let that happen. They brought me into the operation room, to remove the current chip and replace it with the new one. They strapped me to the table, and proceeded to cut open my arm, without even giving me sedatives! It hurt so much, I morphed and began thrashing around. Blood was in the air. Looking over, I saw that the chip in my arm was out. Heat exploded in my chest, and rage ignited flames in my heart. I opened my mouth, and fire whipped around the room like ropes. I don't know how, but I obtained a new power."

I opened my mouth and breathed heavy, attempting the feat again. "But somehow, I haven't been able to use it since then."

"That's true…" Max said. "We constantly obtain new powers from time to time, like Angel's ablility to read minds, or my ability to fly abnormally fast."

"Really?" That was cool. These people were getting better and better. "After I blew fire into their faces, I took off, biting my hands free of the shackles and leaped into the sky. I was finally free." I closed my eyes, relishing my freedom, "But…" I touched my arm, were the fleshy pink strip gave the signs of a scar, "the chip had fallen back into my wound when I blew fire. As I traveled, I nursed myself back to health, unknowing that the chip was still inside. As I flew in a random direction, I got closer to this place, and I picked up a scent. I felt my blood rushing to my head, and realized I was going killer. I woke up, falling to the ground, and I saw your wings. I knew that I had found the bird kids, and I knew that I had caused them pain."

I turned away from them, clutching my arm. "I really am sorry."

The dark one, with long black hair, looked emotionless as he walked forward. "I'm Fang. She's Max." He pointed to the tale pale one, "That's Iggy. He's blind. He can feel colors. He's also a pyromaniac. Max, Iggy, and I are all 15." Then Fang nodded to the three younger kids. "That's Nudge. 12 years old. She's a chatterbox. There's the Gasman, 8. He's also a bomb maker; in more ways than one. And there's Angel. 6. The one who reads minds. And Total there is our Scottie dog who can talk and fly. Yeah. Not strange at aaal"

Nudge was rather short, but she had a large smile on her face. As short as she was, the Gasman was shorter. His blond hair was the same as Angel's but a boy's length.

I smiled. "It's nice to meet you all," I turned to the window where I saw trees, and the sky, and birds, "And it's nice to be free."

Fang put his hand on my shoulder. I liked that. "And you can travel with us."

Staring at him, I was speechless. "What?"

Max came up behind him. The blood from her bite dripped down her arm. I couldn't help but think that she hated me for doing that to her. However, Fang was in worse shape, could it be that his condition is what made her so upset? "Fang, what are you thinking?!! This is Omega all over again! And remember what happened then?"

He turned to her. "What else is she supposed to do?"

Max tried to rebut him, but apparently she couldn't find a response. She just kept quiet.

"I… I don't want to be a burden to you." I said quietly.

Max stared at me, anger in her eyes. "Fine… but if you as much as lay a SCRATCH on ANY of us in the flock, I won't hesitate to kill you."

It was understandable. "I will let you, if it ever comes to that."

She laughed, "Ha! You won't have to let me."

Max was fierce. She lived on her own for so long, on the run from mutants, and you can't trust anybody as a bird kid. Their life was hard, as mine would be from now on.

The Nudge girl came and shook my hand. Another pseudo-human's touch… it felt strangely comforting. "Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Nudge! And you are…?"

I had to think for a moment. Who am I? "I am Number 15."

"No, silly!" She shook her head, "your name."

A name? Wasn't I told that 15 was my name? After a short hesitation, I whispered, "I don't have one."

The flock was suddenly very quiet. Even Max, gave me a sad, sympathetic look from over her arm.

The Gasman threw his hands up into the air. "Well, we'll just have to give you one! Do you like um… Leah?"

Suddenly, the flock, with the exception of Max and Fang, started shouting out possible names for me.

"Brittney!"

"Carrie!"

"Katie!"

"Nichole!"

"Jenny!"

"No," I said, "I appreciate the thought, but I want to choose the perfect name for myself, and it may take a while for me to think of it."

"That sounds good," the tall one, Iggy, said, "You just let us know what you want to be called."

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Later that night, after all the injuries had been treated by Ms. Martinez; I lay awake on their couch. Thoughts raced through my head. Questions with no answer. The flock was sleeping in another part of the house. Max wouldn't let them sleep anywhere near me yet. I swung my legs off the comfy couch and put the blanket aside. A bookshelf on the wall held tons of books about animals, and their behaviors because Ms. Martinez was a Veterinarian. I didn't know how to read fluently, but I was curious. I randomly chose one and pulled it from the shelf. I brought it back to my couch and flipped through the pages. I stopped when I saw a picture… it was an alligator. Its mouth was open and the row of teeth was fully visible. It looked fearsome. It held an attractive gaze. There was a caption under the picture. I recognized some of the letters from the simple teachings that one of the nicer scientists was kind enough to teach me. It took a while for me to sound out each of the words. "Picture…taken…by Steve… Irwin."

"Hey 15, are you okay?" The young girl earlier introduced as Max's sister, Ella, entered the room.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine."

"I was kind of worried about you."

I looked at her. "Why would you be worried about me? I just… I didn't really think that anybody…"

"You've been imprisoned your entire life, so you don't know. People care for each other out here. You've got people who love you now."

The notion was foreign to me. "Love… me?" I'd almost killed Fang, and they loved me?

Ella smiled. "Of course! All of us do! Max seems touchy, but really, she'll warm up to you!"

It was all too confusing, so I dropped the topic.

"Hey Ella, what's this?" I pointed to the open page in the book I was looking at.

"Oh! That's talking about the behavior of Alligators. It says, Alligators can hold their breath underwater for 2 hours."

"Really? I'm part Alligator. I wonder if I can do that."

She kept on reading the page. "Oh, Steve Irwin wrote this."

I stared at the words blankly. "Who's that?"

"He's known as the crocodile hunter, but he also studies cool animals like snakes, spiders, lizards and cool stuff like that. He had a bunch of television shows and inspired a lot of people. A really great man. Too bad, he died a couple years ago. He was very famous."

I smiled. "I know my name."

She turned her head. "Really?"

"Yes. From now on, call me Irwin."

Her eyes lit up. "Sure thing… Irwin."

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Chapter 6

To inform you, Number 15/ Irwin is 13 years old, 2 years younger than Iggy, Max, and Fang. This chapter is more like a review of what happened, but there are bits of information throughout Irwin's story that are kind of vital, so if you didn't read that entire thing, you need to. And remember, Irwin's past is bloody, so don't read this if you prefer milder stories. I know Irwin's name is rather weird, but hey! Max is a girl and she's got a guy's name, and of course, there is Nudge, and Gasman. I thought Irwin was appropriate.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Special big thank you to-

Taylor N 12- "Yes, thanks for telling me. I knew there was some loose hole in the back of my mind."

Weirdpeopleruletheworld- thanks, and merry Christmas to you too! I would like it if you read Iggy's in the Spotlight, but there's only one chapter to it so far.

Sincerely, Secret Author Hikari