A/N- Wow, havn't updated in almost a month. Sorry, you guys, but I made myself promise I wouldn't update over spring break. xD Anyway, here's the next chapter for you. I hope you all like it.

Life of a Winged Teenager

Chapter 11

Flipping through a magazine with a cup of hot cocoa, almost ready to go to sleep in my own room, I had convinced myself that everything was okay. Nudge would get over it and come home. Iggy and Ella were happy. We were going to attack the School. It was all going to be okay, and best of all, I had Fang with me, and he was on my side this time. There would be no more Amber or anyone like her. Right then, I had convinced myself that all was perfect with the world.

Oh, shit.

Well, since I said that, you know it wasn't going to be. Ella flew into my room, dragging an all too excited Angel along with her, and they had smiles wider than their faces shining down on me. "What?" I asked, knowing that whatever was coming was not by any stretch of the imagination going to be good.

They pounced on the bed. "Why didn't you tell me you made out with Fang in the bathroom?" Ella squealed, bouncing up and down, rocking the bed, for good measure. "I would have told you when Iggy kissed me, only you were standing right there!" she complained. "Honestly, you're my sister, Max! How am I supposed to know things if you don't tell me?"

"Get them from Angel," I glared.

"Oh, I already did, that's how I know about it."

Angel smiled sweetly. "I had to tell her, Max. How could you not tell us?"

"Eh, because when Fang and I are off doing couple-y things, I'm gonna go to a six-year-old and a twelve-year-old for advice, praise or moral support."

"You have a point," Ella nodded solemnly. "Soo, wanna hear about Iggy and me?" she squealed again. "He is such a gentleman and he's so nice to me and he's such a good kisser-"

"That's where I draw the line!" I rolled my eyes. "Get out, and take your Iggy talk with you. I want some sleep!" Shooing them out, wondering why they weren't in bed, I frowned behind my bedroom door. Trust two little-ish girls to ruin my good time with their talk of Iggy –gag- and Fang –gag thanks to them knowing about it-. A knock at my door annoyed me even further. "What did I tell you five minutes ago?" I shrieked as I opened the door. It was Fang.

Well, this is awkward.

You know, I once read in a National Geographic issue that during every awkward silence, a gay baby is born. Just to let you know.

No, not really, you dork.

"Nothing…?" he asked, raising one eyebrow. "Were you, ah, expecting Ella and Angel, by any chance?"

"They attacked you too?" I moaned.

"A little, but it's okay," he reassured me. "I'm sure this is fun for them. Uh, anyway, I just came to say goodnight, but I'm not sure we can, they're probably watching-"

I ignored him and pulled him in for a kiss. Somehow, what began as a simple kiss ended as both of us pressed against each other in the doorway, fingers in each other's hair, hardcore making out. We ignored the giggling coming from Ella's room across the hall, and continued to kiss until Iggy broke the silence. "Well, that was fairly disgusting to listen to," he commented.

"Iggy!" I roared and lunged after him.

4:30 a.m. The alarm clock on my bedside table was ringing, and I reached over and hit the snooze button. Hard. My eyes widened after what I had interpreted to be thirty seconds, but was really twenty or thirty minutes. I leapt out of bed and sprinted down the hall to the bathroom, careful not to wake the flock up. I grabbed a towel and made it in and out of the shower in a rush, got into some clothes, packed a ton of food in our packs, and did it all without waking the flock up. Damn, I'm good.

Teeth brushed? Check. Hair brushed? Check. Room clean? Check. Everything ready to go? I hurried into Fang, Gazzy and Iggy's room to shake them awake, and left them groaning in bed as I rushed to wake Angel up. I rounded the corner and grabbed Total from his doggy bed, and took him outside before we had to leave. I sat and waited in the living room, trying desperately not to chew my nails off before we had to leave. Today was the day we would destroy the School, once and for all.

5:20 a.m. My mom walked into the kitchen groggily and started a pot of coffee, taking out nine mugs, remembering Total. Frowning, she put one back. Nudge wasn't here, and we all felt it. If she were here, we'd be fully awake and ready to kill her at her annoying mouth. Iggy, the last one, stumbled out of the shower, running into Fang as he came out of his bedroom. The rest of us were seated in the kitchen, drinking coffee and fully alert. "Come on!" he shouted. "It should be against the rules to be so awake at this hour!" I just smiled. "We've had it worse," I reminded him.

Ella skipped out of her room bright and perky, as if she already had three cups of coffee. Applying a fresh coat of lip gloss, she batted her eyelashes hopefully. "He's in his room, Ella," I groaned, and she paused. "Oh. Then, never mind." She skipped over to us merrily and had a cup of coffee with us. Like she even needed it. Draining it instantly, her eyes lit up as Iggy entered, and she offered him a cup, smiling at everything he did –gag part 2-. Doctor Martinez sat out plates of bacon, Eggo waffles, and muffins, and Fang, Iggy and Gazzy fell on them like starving children.

5:30 a.m. We were done eating. It wasn't like the rest of us actually got any, it was sitting happily in Fang, Iggy and Gazzy's stomachs. Curse them. I grabbed a granola bar and my backpack. I waited for them expectantly, but they stayed where they were. "What about Nudge?" Angel asked worriedly. "We can't leave, she might come back and not be able to find us!" I rolled my eyes. "Tough for Nudge. It was her decision to get all bitchy, so she can deal. We're leaving, with or without Nudge, to deal with the school." I gave them a glare so cold that they all scrambled to get their bags and be the first out the door.

6:00 a.m. Leading the flock in the sky with my mind bent on a lot of things, primarily the School, I knew this would be a great day in flock history. Let's destroy those bastards that messed with our DNA years ago. Hell, this would be the best damn thing I ever did. I was so ready to destroy the School.

Nudge was gone. I didn't know where she was, and she should have been back by now. It was scaring me. Sure, she had gone on a bitchy rant and had been the lousiest in the world to Iggy, whom she claimed she loved, but she was our Nudge, and she had been there through all of it. After this, we were going to find her, but for now, I had bigger things to worry about. Was it sad that half of what was concerning me was me and Fang?

I mean, there was no problem with me and Fang. After yesterday, it had been smooth sailing with kisses here and there. I was sure we both loved each other, and I wasn't worrying about us at all. But dang, that boy is addictive, if only just to think about. You might think this is all lovey and romantic and cool, and that's fine, we all have our opinions. But really, it was like I was on crack with miniature Fangs swimming around my head.

I didn't realize we had arrived in California until I was the last one in the air as the flock dive-bombed to the earth in front of me and I woke up from my miniature trance. Shaking my head to snap myself out of it, I aimed myself downward so I was freefalling behind the rest. Fanning out my wings after a few moments of wonderful peace, I glided down so gracefully angels would have been jealous. Oh, yeah. I'm so humble.

I checked in my backpack to make sure nothing dangerous had happened. Other than the food and basic necessities that we carried with us, each one of us had four or five of Gazzy's bombs stored with us. If Nudge had been there, we could have brought more, but we had to leave them behind. Fang double-checked his and then looked up at us. "We're hiking there," he confirmed to us like we couldn't speak English. "So they don't see us coming. The school is over a few more of those hills, but it's gigantic. We're going to have to do some serious crap. Max, Angel and I will handle kicking their butts while you guys go in and do whatever you do with the megabomb that'll destroy it from the inside." He might as well have been a college professor, don't you think so?

I unpacked a water bottle and poured the whole thing over my head, letting it run over my face, down my neck and sweat-drenched clothes. This was no picnic we were dealing with here. Determination fixed in my eyes, I made my way up the hill with the rest of them, sure I was going to see the School standing there, mocking us in its usual way, as if laying before us all of the horrible things that had taken place there. Things that were still happening there. Things that we were going to change today.

I was so wrong. The School was horrible enough to look at, believe me. And the sight I was seeing should have made me incredibly happy, but it didn't. Because I didn't see the School. I saw a giant site that looked as if it had been hit by a nuclear bomb. The School was completely gone, and in its place was a huge mess of junk and debris. No one was in sight, and there was literally nothing moving.

Charred and burnt cages were in the midst of everything, and metal littered the ground. Smoke and flames hung in the air, and I knew I was in the midst of the very presence of death. There weren't even bodies, just flames licking the ground, and smog so thick you could hardly see. Rocks around the area were crumbling, on the side of the hill that was black instead of green. I could see the remains of treadmills and mazes and cages and dog crates and science equipment, but no life. Broken glass cracked under our feet as we walked into the mess. What had happened here?

Angel's eyes were swimming with tears. "I…I can't hear anything," she said, her voice breaking. "I know they're all Erasers…but they're all dead, Max." I could feel my own eyes water, and I had a feeling that this wasn't even the worst of it.

It wasn't.

"Split up," I commanded to them, their faces full of shock and fear. "We don't know what happened here, but we're going to find out. Everyone go a separate way." They started to walk away tiredly, but I stopped them. "Oh and…" I paused. "I know it's hard, but…if you see any School worker alive…even in the midst of so much death…kill them," I breathed mercilessly. All I received were dead, solemn nods, the faces of the flock that was resigned to their fate rather than willing to fight.

And so we went our separate ways. I walked into the center of what used to be the School, still not seeing anything through the intense fog. I had the sudden urge to call my mom and say goodbye to her. I shook my head at the terrible thought. What could happen? Would the dead come back to attack me? I tried to laugh my mental joke, but it sounded like I was choking on broken glass.

The fog was clearing. This had been recent. I grabbed a sheet of metal, probably from the top of a cage, and started fanning the air. The smoke cleared from around me enough for me to see perhaps fifteen feet away with my enhanced vision, but what I saw was unbelievable.

In the very center of the remains, Nudge was on her knees with her wings partially fanned out. Dark red blood ran down the tip of her wings and collected in a pool by her feet. Her straightened dark hair covered her face completely, her eyes to the ground. In the dim light, she looked almost scary, and instead of running to her with open arms and tears in my eyes, telling her it was all okay, I backed away slowly.

She got to her feet and rose up eerily, eyes still downcast. She spread her wings out completely, and stood still for a few minutes. Looking up at me suddenly, I almost screamed when I saw her eyes, like they were going to pierce me through the heart if I moved. Red as the blood stained on her wings and so wide, there was something completely paralyzing about them. Finally I got the courage to scream, and the flock came running to the sound of my voice.

They stopped dead in their tracks as they saw her, and a snarl made its way through her lips as they showed fear. From what it looked like to me, the girl was completely possessed. Iggy took a step forward, and for a moment, her eyes became dark brown again and overflowing with tears, but when she blinked again, it was gone, the evil blood-red eyes in its place, staring us down menacingly.

"Max," she said in her normal voice, but it was laced with the smallest hint of a threat, which, let's face it, I would know for a reason. "You shouldn't have come, you guys," she smiled wickedly and raised an eyebrow. "Now you're all dead."

"Guess again," I snarled at her. Whatever she once was, she wasn't Nudge anymore. "Max, don't," Gazzy called. "Nudge is still in there somewhere!" I nodded. I couldn't kill her, no matter how much I was itching to for making us worry about her, and then this crap she was pulling on us. No, I wouldn't kill her.

"I'll take you on first," she smiled that evil smile at me, and before I knew it, she had lunged at me and knocked me to the ground with all her might and was now squishing me with all the strength she could gather. The evil glint in her eyes remained. God damnit, I thought as the blood trickled down my mouth. I brought my knee up to her stomach so hard that she groaned and fell off of me, and I seized the opportunity to grab her by the shirt and pin her where she lay.

With a wild cry, she threw me off her with so much force that I went flying into the air, just lucky enough to catch myself with my wings and hover there. "Maximum Ride," she proclaimed from where she stood on the ground, "You're done!" And with that, she took to the sky with me, and circled around me menacingly. I saw Fang down below me spread his wings, but I glanced at him, begging him with my eyes to stay where he was. If this was how it was, Nudge was the one who was done.

He bit back a groan of frustration as he continued to watch us circle one another, unable to do anything but watch and hope that I wouldn't get hurt, and at the same time, that I wouldn't hurt Nudge. One of us had to make the first move, and we didn't know who it would be just yet. I think I knew, though. With one quick motion, I lunged at her in mid-air, only to crash past her and catch myself a few feet below the ground to duck back around and into the air. She had nimbly moved to the side just in time to avoid me; she was too damn fast when she was possessed.

I wiped the sweaty hair away from my forehead and glared at her. This would be done soon. I couldn't do anything but take the beatings from her and try to avoid them. If I killed her, I killed Nudge, and I couldn't live with that. I knew Iggy couldn't live with that either. Despite how "happy" Ella and he were together, I could see from the look in his eyes that the only thing he was worried about now was Nudge.

Down on the ground, I could hear Fang and Iggy talking. Those bastards. I was up here doing all the work and they were down there having a conversation. "Why is she like that?" asked Iggy worriedly. "What did they do to her?" he asked furiously now. Fang was thinking hard on the matter, apparently, because I heard nothing. Typical. I dodged a quick punch from Nudge and growled furiously to myself. Listening in on their conversation was distracting me.

"She was already here," Angel mused. "So, either the whole place blew up around her, which is unlikely, or she did it all herself…which is still kind of unlikely. Either way, there was a lot of trauma involved, Iggy. That could have brought it on. It could be a new power, or a state of shock."

Fang, Iggy and Gazzy gaped at her like three dead fish while she beamed at them, clearly showing off her broad knowledge on the subject, because we all know that six-year-olds are such great thinkers and psychiatrists. Don't mind me; I'm just up here working my ass off to save yours. I spit out another mouthful of blood as she punched me hard in the face.

"Nudge, don't do this," I warned her. "We all love you and want you back. Snap out of it!" I cried at her, only to be rewarded with another evil death glare. "Silence," she spat at me. "You all betrayed me and left me for that rat Ella. I was your family!" she shrieked, and then launched herself at me once again, this time eyes narrowed, set on killing me. Pain and rage were prominent in her red eyes, and I braced myself for her next attack as I flew to the side again.

But the next attack never came. One second she was enraged, clearly intent on killing me once and for all, and the next her eyes had turned black, and she went limp. And, by limp, I mean, all of her went limp. Including her wings. As in, the wings that were holding her up, three hundred feet in the air. She dropped like a rock, right in front of me.

"No!" I cried out, and dived down to save her, caught so off guard there was no way I could catch up to her. I didn't have to. Iggy was already there, cradling her in his arms as the chocolate brown came back into her eyes. The look of pure evil was gone. In its place was the Nudge that we had all known. When she was strong enough to stand up, she did, and she turned to face me.

"I did it," she said. "I don't know how, but I did it. It didn't feel like me. It didn't feel like me when I was attacking you, and I couldn't make myself stop. To be honest, I didn't want to stop. What you guys did was terrible, but I guess it would have been worse if you hadn't saved Ella," she admitted. "One more thing, you guys, I never lied to you. I really am thirteen years old, and I really was in love with Iggy. B-but I'm okay now."

"I…I'm sorry I accused you of lying, Nudge," I said stiffly, knowing that she was lying about not loving Iggy. I rolled my eyes. "But why, why, why do you guys keep getting powers that involve you getting possessed?!"

Nudge and Angel smiled sheepishly. "I'm not sure I'll ever do it again," Nudge admitted. "I'm not sure how…and if I was sure, I wouldn't know how to control it, or how to not hurt you again," she added, seeing the bruises and scrapes on my face and arms. "I'm so sorry, Max." She nodded awkwardly and flew up out of the smoke.

"Nudge, wait," Iggy called. "Can I talk to you?" There was hope in his eyes.

"We should get back home," Nudge answered bitterly, and flew off in the general direction.

I looked around as Gazzy, Angel and Iggy glanced after Nudge with emotion stamped on their faces as plain as day, but I didn't know where Fang had gone. I backed up a few more steps and further into the mist, away from the others. I felt slim arms around my waist as I turned around to see Fang become visible again. "Hey," he said simply.

"Hardly the place," I breathed before he pulled me around into a kiss. Yup, kissing after a huge battle with your heartbroken sister in a destroyed lot that used to be a prison. The most romantic three seconds of my life. Yeah, three seconds. That's how long it took them to figure out that we were no longer there.

We heard them, no matter how far away they were. "Where do you suppose they went?" asked Angel sweetly, trying to spare some of my dignity, but not really succeeding thanks to Iggy's brilliant mind.

"I'll go look for them!" said a blissfully unaware Gazzy as he marched off in the wrong direction.

"No Gazzy wait!" hollered Iggy after him. "There are some things an eight-year-old should never see! This is why you knock when you go into your parents' room – Gazzy? Gazzy!"

Gazzy stopped. "Max and Fang are doing that somewhere in the fog?" he asked, bewildered. "I mean, I never thought Max was that kind of person, what with all her calling us sexist pigs and everything…"

"We are not doing it in the fog!" I shrieked as I stomped out into plain sight. I heaved a great sigh. "Moment gone."

"A-are you sure?" asked Fang. "Because I kind of didn't mind continuing, even if they were talking about us…um…" I raised an evil eyebrow at him.

"Sexist pig!" the whole world probably heard me bellow as I dragged them all into the air.

Eh, I don't have much to say here. Just, thanks for reading I guess. Review :P

~Rachel