Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of it's characters. I do however own Carolynne, Nick, Derek, Harshad, Tabitha, Raina, and Avel (Plus my new characters every chapter, or so).
Head's up: this took me a little while to get up because i wrote three chapters. The problem was they were written unchronologically and i had to fix it up so that the story would make more sense. This chapter is about Iggy's first day with his assignment; it also includes Nudge and Audric's bet being carried out, soo...

Chapter 17: (The Feeling of) Triumph!

All Nudge POV

At breakfast, Angel saw Viktorya and went to talk to her. That was so quick. I wondered how she found her so fast. Probably with her mind reading. I took this time to get some food; I grabbed some blueberry waffles because they were my favorite to eat, and some water. I sat with my flock, and slowly everyone found their assignment. It was as if they could sense what they needed to do. The only people left were Max and I. We talked small and ate until class. We separated for the first class. She had Science and I had History. I was walking to class, and took this moment to look at my assignment.

Name: Audric Martin
Age: 17
Objectives:
-Become friends
-Find out about:
-Past relationships
-Who told him to stop talking?
-The higher power
Helpful Info:
-To get on his good side
-Challenge him
-Don't fit in
-Talk to him a lot
P.S. Your alias is Krystal Gage. O.K.? (Have fun!)

I was so absorbed in the sheet I bumped into someone and we both fell down, onto the cold floor. "I'm sorry." I quickly snatched up the paper that I dropped, earning an odd glance from the teen.

"It's okay; I'm used to bad luck."

He was such a downer. He helped me up. "Thanks."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Krystal, you?"

"I'm Audric."

Audric? That was easy; I found him. There was a major problem though. He was emo; I could just tell. I shoved the paper into my sleeve pocket. I wonder if Lyn planned this. "I like your name, Audric. What class do you have?"

He looked really nervous. "Uh, History."

"Me too. Walk me there, kay?"

I took his arm and we walked to the classroom. I figured the way to get these guys to talk to you by being really nice, but not overbearing. This guy was basically a Fang copy. I could handle this perfectly fine. I sat down and made him sit in the desk next to mine. I glanced over at Lyn and she gave me a small wave. I waved back and smiled. I looked back at Audric and he was staring into space. He is pretty anti-social; I can fix that.

"Hey, Audric?"

He heard my talking and it snapped him back into reality. "Yeah?"

"What electives do you have?"

"Art and Wrestling."

"Me too. I can kick your butt in a match," I taunted.

He chuckled. "You little pixie? I am a master of the sport."

"You think so? I can take you anytime."

"Wanna bet?" I smirked.

"Okay."

I'm already becoming friends. I am so happy. "Awesome. If I win, you buy me something from the phoenix nest (the school store) and yell to the world that pixies are fierce."

He laughed at the pixie part. "Okay, but if I win, you have to come to my friends' party with me and yell to the world that pixies are lame."

We shook hands. "Deal."

"Stop talking back there!" The teacher boomed. We remained quiet, thoughts of pixies resonating in our minds.

We left after class and soon figured out that we had the same schedule. No doubt that Tab and Lyn were behind this. In Math he was a genius, and I was completely lost. Science was totally boring. Formulas were frying my brain. Audric seemed to be good at every thing. We came to Art and mostly everyone we knew was there. The only exceptions were a few people on the side. Everyone was either in Lyn's group or a person that we had to investigate.

Audric and I sat at a table and tons of people clad in navy (the closest to black you could get) sat with us. They greeted him and some, me too. "Hi everyone; I'm Krystal."

There were a few "hi's" back and some didn't even acknowledge me. Rude. We got to work on a project where it was symmetry on both sides but done by different artists. Fang got called up to demonstrate with the teacher. Who knew he was an artist? When we were done it looked artistically lopsided. You know what I mean? I mean even though they were the same strokes, his looked like death. The colors I used were bright yellows, greens, pinks, and purples. I made it look like Easter. His colors were the opposites. There was puke yellow, garbage green, dried blood red and that gothic purple. It looked stupid. I wasn't even paying attention to it while I was painting but now that I look over it all it looked lopsided.

Now you know. Mrs. Thomas came over and complimented us. "I love it! It shows the light and dark sides of things. It contrasts my ideas."

I was feeling better about it, until she went over to someone else's picture. "I love how it's not at all symmetrical. Fight the power!" That hippie. We set our picture out to dry and that was Art. Next was Wrestling and I was ready to get out of here. I wanted to beat him. Oh yeah, and I'll say it one more time, that hippie!

Wrestling time! I turned to him. "Have your money ready?"

He laughed and the teacher, Ms. Beale was really pumped. "Are you ready to wrestle?"

There were shouts all over. "Yeah!"

"Well, we're going to do some practice rounds, to get you all into shape today. Go change into your gym clothes."

"Boo!" I heard Max shout from across the room. Ha ha.

I headed to the showers and changed into a gym uniform provided to me by Tab. She's so thoughtful. It was a short-sleeved white shirt and some blue shorts. I slipped them on and was surprised by their shortness. You could call them short shorts. I felt pretty self-conscious wearing them. Max did too she talked to Raina with me, and she explained it. Before they were shorter than this, because of a Japanese tradition. Then there were complaints from other people. You can't just satisfy one group of people's way pf life. It's humiliating. I'm suing; all were complaints. Then they were changed, perfected for agility and not having your booty hanging out. This is better than that, I guess, but I still didn't like their look on me. I'm tall and they look extra short on my frame. I sucked it up and went out. The boys had longer shorts, no fair!

She told us to get into three groups of ten. In my group had been me, Audric, Jov and Boris (Audric's friends), Angel (her assignment didn't have wrestling), Gazzy, and a few other people. Angel looked anxious; as of she was waiting for something. We paired up with each other, Audric and me. Angel and Gazzy and Jov and Boris paired up. Before we wrestled Beale said she had to write down our weight classes, Angel, Gazzy (plus flock minus Fang) and I (since we just got here today). Ms. Beale took out a clipboard and started reading names. "Can I have Anne, Krystal, Ariel, Zephyr and Jeffery come here? I need to find your weight classes."

I walked over to the scale, the flock trailing behind me, and stepped onto it. It stopped at, … 106. I'm lighter than I thought. I hopped off and happily walked back to Audric, Jov, and Boris who were holding a conversation. "You're so light, pixie. Are you sure you want to do it?"

I smiled, and a slight blush spread across my cheeks. He called me pixie. "Of course, I do. You can't underestimate me; this pixie has got game."

His face was hard to read, but I think he was up for the challenge. I glanced at the scale; the others were getting weighed. Gazzy weighed 111 (due to his seventeen year old physique he's normally much lighter), Max weighed 112 and Iggy weighed 117. Angel went up next, her face reading excitement. Since when is getting weighed exciting? I knew she had something up her sleeve. I knew her so well. It took all my non-giddy strength not to go squeal and ask her all about it but I restrained myself. I had to act cool for my assignment. We gathered in our ten-person group and started the freestyle matches.

First, Angel went against Gazzy. Their fighting style was careful, but strong. That remembrance lit in my brain; I need to make sure I don't break this guy. Bird-kid strength can only be a burden in regular situations. I guess this could hardly be called a regular situation. We were in a school for smart kids in St. Petersburg, Russia trying to find out about a kidnapping of Lyn's boyfriend, but the rules still apply. No powers unless needed and no strength, except on Erasers and things. I think I've got it under control, though. The match ended and Gazzy had won. He had a huge grin on his face and Angel had a pout. It's okay; he is years older than you, even though you look the same.

She heard my comment with her telepathy and she flashed a playful smile, which I returned. Next, Jov and Boris went at it. The fight was really quick and you could barely understand what was happening. Jov delivered numerous swift attacks, but Boris quickly blocked them and delivered blows. Jov would quickly see that and catch his attack, only to return it and bring him to the ground. So, it was some pretty intense stuff. Jov won and Boris was silent. He respected the loss and his eyes flashed for a rematch in the near future. Jov, by the way was the type of guy who took the win and shoved in your face later. He is extremely cocky at times.

"You want to go next?" I asked.

He nodded and we entered the ring. It was at this point I remembered I didn't know how to wrestle. Dumb, right? I have defeated a lifetime's worth of Erasers, but I had no technique. Don't worry Nudge; you can do this. I heard Angel shout, "go" and that was our unofficial way of making the match start. We circled around, in, you know, circles. I was looking for a way to jump in; he didn't want to hurt me. That's sweet, but stupid. I am the ultimate… What would you call it? Street fighter? No, that's not right, maybe it is. The point is; I'm not sure. I was tired of circling, and even heard taunts from outside. They were small noises in my ears; I was readily focused on our steady breathing.

I faked left and went right. He was still going left when I tripped him. He crashed to the ground face first. There was laughter all around. Not caring, he got up and charged at me. It was graceful, but also angry all at the same time. I braced myself for the impact, my arms waiting for the connection. It came, and I staggered back a bit, surprised at his strength. It was a stalemate. Ugh, this is boring. I shoved a bit more; he backed up. Then, I snuck out of his charge and knocked him down once again. Finish this… I was knocked out of thoughts and the ground came rushing to my face.

I hit it with a loud smack! It sounded as if it hurt like hell, but it was all noise. He was taunting me; he was trying to play things off. I accept your challenge Audric; I accept this battle of whatever this was! I lifted my head from the face plant and looked around. He wasn't anywhere. A pressure built on my back; there he was, straddling me! He had pulled my leg up to assert his victory. This wasn't going to work. I rolled onto my back, his grip still around my waist. He had let go of my leg; this isn't over, dear (got that word from Tab!). I peeled him off of me and rolled back onto my back, trying to slide out and pull his leg back.

It didn't work! He got me again, only I got a good idea this time around. I kicked him with my free foot and knocked him over, releasing me to get up with great agility. With speed, I got on top of him and held his kind of lanky leg back, holding the other down with my hand. I am going to win! Angel started counting. "10…9…8…"

He started thrashing wildly, trying not to lose. Your efforts are futile Audric; this pixie is a champion. "7…8…6…5…"

He tried to lift himself up with his arms. He almost threw me off. I grounded myself, with a little bit of bird-kid strength. I had to; I need to impress this guy. "4…3…"

Almost…"2…1… Krystal wins!"

There were cheers all around. I stood up and Audric, following suit, did too. A smile stretched across my face. He gets to buy me something. I started to wonder what it might be. Then, in the midst of the noise, in the middle of the cheering he shouted at the top of his lungs. I was not expecting this, at least not yet. "Pixies are fierce!"

Laughter erupted from all around the gymnasium. It's not everyday you hear a supposedly emo kid yell about pixies in the middle of class. What made it weirder was that it wasn't an insult. It was a compliment. A compliment for me; this was just about the sweetest thing. I thought we were kidding about the last part, but I wasn't complaining. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen! Ever. The best display of bravery and charm. I stepped out of the circle; I wanted to laugh too. I wanted to scream at the joy I was feeling. It was a familiar feeling I hadn't felt since the fall of the School. This feeling was new and somewhat old. This feeling was buried deep inside of me; this feeling was triumph and I loved it!