AN: Reviewers are welcome!!! If you do NOT plan on reviewing, LEAVE NOW!!! So… read and review… Yeah
…………………………………………Max's POV………………………………………
"I want you all to work for me," Mr. Ackerson said directly when we asked him yet again what he wanted from us.
I snorted. "No," I replied without hesitation.
"Max, maybe we should listen to him first," Fang whispered in my ear.
I spun around and faced him. "Why are you on his side? He's a stranger, Fang. We don't work for strangers. We don't work for anyone. Remember how that turned out last time?" I pointed out.
"Max… He… has something we want… If we help him, he'll give it to us."
That made me pause for a moment. "What?" I asked cautiously. What could Mr. Ackerson possibly have that we would want?
Fang faltered, watching me. Mr. Ackerson stepped forward putting a hand on Fang's shoulder. Fang looked uncomfortable, but he didn't move away.
Mr. Ackerson smiled smugly. "I have the chance for you to get away. To live a life without… interruptions from everyone else that wants you dead, tortured, or in captivity of some sort. You can live on a small island that I will provide. It would be your own personal heaven."
Whoa. I was expecting him to say that he'd give us like… puppies or something.
"How do we know if we can trust you?" I asked in instant business mode.
He laughed deeply, rocking back on his heels as if I had just told him the funniest joke in the world.
"Max! I practically own this world! I have enormous amounts of money and with that, I have earned myself much respect. I can get whatever I want whenever I want it. I can make sure that nothing happens to you… That is, if you will promise to comply the few tasks I have at hand for you," he rang out in a very adult-like voice.
"No," I repeated.
"Why not?" Nudge groaned. "I mean, if his terms are agreeable, I think we should look into it. Wouldn't it be awesome to have our own personal island? We could be like the movie, Swiss Family Robinson! We can have our own tree house and we could have pet exotic animals and it would be totally awesome! We could go swimming every day, lay out in the sun, pretty much do anything we want without having to run away or kick butt or hide! I would so totally love that! Wouldn't you? I don't understand why we wouldn't at least—MMPHH!!!!" She was cut off when Iggy came up behind her and clamped his hand over her mouth-- a move that I was very glad for.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. "Why do you want us to work for you?" I grumbled. I didn't really want to hear why, and I was never going to agree to any of this, but I had to make the younger kids think that I was at least considering it.
Although I couldn't see it through my closed lids, I knew that Mr. Ackerson was smiling at me like I was a little kid. I also knew if I opened my eyes, I would snap and end up tackling this guy and squeezing his happy little head until it popped. (As you can see, I'm a very non-violent person.)
"I own a very big business. We've supported many companies and projects, but people only seem to remember ones that haven't worked out or have ended up badly." He sounded like he was working up to something big. Something that he knew I wasn't going to like. Fang obviously knew that this part was coming, because he took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "…Including Itex," Mr. Ackerson finished.
My eyes snapped open. "You?" I hissed. "You're the one who ruined our lives?" I started to advance toward him, crouching low as if I was going to pounce.
"Yes, I knew I would get that response from you," he mumbled, looking worried but not backing away. "Many people have opposed to Itex after reading Fang's Blog. When we found out about the uproar, we had someone look into his website. It informed us of the By-Half Plan. At first, we didn't believe it, thinking that some rebellious teenager just wanted to stop animal testing or something, but when we went to the Itex official, she confessed. We immediately shut everything down. Well, everything that was remaining, that is. You kids sure do know how to bombard a place," he admitted. "We want to bring back our reputation, but we need your help. Everyone loves you. If you could just help us this one instance, I would personally make sure that you children got everything you wanted."
I slowly came out of my attacking mode. I still wasn't sure about this guy…
You can trust him, my Voice echoed in my head. He may not be a good man, but he means no harm… As long as you promise to help him. He would be a valuable ally. It would be dangerous to have someone so powerful against you. He owns more than you think…
Hmm. Good point.
"C'mon, Max!" Angel pleaded with those sweet, irresistible Bambi eyes.
"I think we deserve a little vacation," Gazzy added.
Nudge opened her big mouth to rant on about her thoughts on the matter (again), but Iggy once again resumed his hold on her chompers. She struggled against him, but Iggy didn't budge.
He smirked. "I think Nudge agrees," he teased. She said something unintelligent that came out muffled through Iggy's tight grasp.
"But I agree as well," he said seriously. "It's time for us to kick back and enjoy life."
I looked at Fang. He hadn't said anything, which wasn't unusual for him, but I still needed some encouragement here. He was watching me with dark eyes and when he caught my eye, he smiled.
"Hey, I'm cool with anything," he said. Of course he was. He was Mr. Rock. He goes with the flow! I rolled my eyes. "But we do need a break. Especially you. We need to have time to be actual kids. Something we never seem to have time to be," he advised, wisely.
I tossed their comments around in my head and eventually decided that what really mattered was that we were all together. It couldn't hurt to take a chance…. Could it?
I guess it was time to find out.
Yay!!! Maxie is giving in! Island vacation, baby!!! Woohoo! I love me some good sunshine! Ahem… Sorry. Review.
