Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Maximum Ride characters, only the OCs and even then they are based off of real people I know.

School Names:

Max – Megan

Fang – Daniel

Iggy – Ian

Chapter Nine: Plots and Babysitting

We all sat in silence for a bit before Star finally broke it.

Now we all have some motivation to catching her, now don't we?

Oh, joy. If we don't get yo guys back to your own world your world's gonna end. Note the sarcasm. I thought at everyone.

All right that does it, forget about homework and studying and all that, lets focus on catching that stupid mouse that's causing all this! Max shouted in my mind.

"Ow! To loud Max, to loud..." I said as I covered my ears, as if that would stop Max's loud shouting assault on my mind.

A wide smile suddenly snuck its way across Iggy's face. We all turned to look at him while Angel read his mind and started smiling too. Angel told us in our minds about Iggy's plan and soon everyone was smiling, even Fang. We finally had a way to catch Clarus and end all this.

"Iggy, if you don't mind I think we'll go with your plan." Calen said.

Later that day we were ready to go and execute Iggy's plan. It first involved me, Max, Fang, and Iggy going out with Panda to get her car fixed. Don't get me wrong, it really did need to be fixed, but since Clarus's interest – from what Star tells us anyway – revolves around me and the older Flock members we would be going out to lure her away from the house. Meanwhile, Ari, Gazzy, and Angel would be going swimming just in case Clarus didn't follow us. Hassan would be watching them while they swam and Nudge along with some friends that Clarus hasn't met set up the trap. Once the trap was set up it was only a matter of time before that mouse was caught.

Hassan arrived to watch the kids while they went swimming. Me and the eldest Flock members left with Panda to go get her car fixed.

"So," Panda started while we were in the car, "what exactly is the reason for you wanting to get out?"

"Oh, well there is going to be a bit of construction I guess you could say going on at home so we wanted to get out of the house. Some people are coming over to fix the tiles under one of the couches. The younger kids went swimming and Hassan is watching them. Don't worry though, we told him about the bird-kids and all before we left." I told her.

"You should have seen his reaction when he found out. He was really mad that we hadn't told him earlier." Max said. We continued talking while I silently prayed in my mind that Iggy's genius plan would work and we would soon have Clarus trapped.

XxX

Nudge waited for the friends Sammie had told her about that would be helping her to set up the trap. Max thought that Nudge should help them because of her ability to see old memories and things just by touching something. This would help determent Clarus's most frequently used hiding spots.

The friends soon arrived. And those friends used to go to school with Sammie, that is, until she changed schools. Two other people where there to help her. They didn't know about the series that she and the Flock came from, despite Sammie's attempts to get them to start reading the series. One was a boy around maybe 20 years old and the other a girl only a year older than Sammie. Wahab and Abrar walked into the house with a hamster cage, hing-like things, and other tools needed to set up the trap.

"So where do we start building this mouse trap?" Wahab asked and they soon had gotten to work on building a mouse trap worthy of the Hall of Fame for mouse traps.

XxX

Meanwhile, the younger kids where swimming in the swimming pool next to the living room. A wall with large windows in it separated the two rooms and it was a closed in pool, so even when there was a sand storm you could still go swimming if you wanted to.

Hassan sat at a small table doing homework. Gazzy was splashing around in the shallow end and Ari was attempting to get on a floaty without popping it. Angel was swimming around in the deep end. She took a small breath and let it out before diving down underneath the surface of the water.

She stayed down there for one minute...two minutes...three minutes...

By now Hassan was worried.

"Uh, Angel..." he trailed off and now she's been under the water for four minutes straight.

"ANGEL!" Hassan dove into the water, not caring that he got his clothes wet. He just wanted to save the little six year old who was drowning.

Or so he thought.

Angel waved at him under the water. Hassan just stared at her and waved hesitantly back. Angel took a deep breath of the water and Hassan pulled her back up before she drowned herself.

"What was that for?" Angel shouted.

"You were about to drown!" he shouted back at her. Angel just chuckled.

"So Sammie didn't tell you, did she?"

"Tell me what? I know you guys are part bird and some of you have weird powers, but other than that not much."

"I can read and sometimes control other people's minds. I also have gills." she said happily. Hassan just stared. "I can show you, look."

Angel dove back under the water and took a deep breath of the water and let it out through her gills. She then came back up and showed Hassan the gills before they disappeared again.

"So you can read as well as control other people's minds, have wings so you can fly, and have gills so you can breath underwater?" Hassan asked amazed. Angel just nodded. "Cool!"

Hassan then looked down at his wet clothes. "So wait, I got soaking wet for nothing?" he shouted. Angel just laughed some more before disappearing to the bottom of the pool.

XxX

Clarus followed the elder bird-kids, Sammie, and Panda to the place where they were to get Panda's car fixed. She knew that they were all planning on a way to catch her, but at least they didn't underestimate her enough to try and catch her with those mouse traps that her idiot cousins fall for all the time.

However, having them underestimate her is what she wants. Overestimating her might involve a trap that she wouldn't be able to find where as underestimating her will result in her not being caught. Clarus wasn't going to get caught, she just couldn't. If she did then they might send her back to the School. Well, the humans from this world might. She thought that for sure Max and her Flock wouldn't.

She just really hoped that this brilliant trap of there's wouldn't catch her.