Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Less than a week until MR3 comes out. Can you stand it?
Conrad and Lily showed us to our rooms while Sebastian and Calypso needed to go back to the computers and monitors.
We went down another flight of stairs. Conrad explained to me that the building had three floors. The top was the living area, where there was the computer room, the living room, a kitchen, and a dining room. The second floor was everybody's bedroom and the guest bedrooms. The first floor was the training facility for everybody, except for Asch. He trained in a warehouse nearby so he wouldn't burn anything down on accident.
"So, how did you afford all of this stuff?" asked Nudge.
"Well, actually," said Conrad, "Itex is paying for it all."
"How is that?" asked Iggy.
"We sort of 'borrowed' one of those limitless cards that Itex has. They never noticed it was gone apparently and what we buy is nothing compared to what they get everyday. So they never really notice the higher bill."
"Whoa, now that's a risk," I said.
"Not really. These cards can't be tracked like normal credit cards, so no one would really know that we have them."
"So how old are you guys?" asked Nudge, "you look pretty close to our ages."
"Well, I'm ten now and Lily is eight. My sister Calypso is fourteen, Sebastian is fifteen, and Asch is eighteen."
We came to the guest bedrooms. "Here you go," said Lily, "one for the boys and one for the girls."
I looked into the rooms. Each one had three beds. Lily brought us girls into our room while Conrad showed the boys theirs.
The beds were really nice, and they looked really comfortable. I'd have preferred them to sleeping in a tree anyway. The room was nice light peach.
"And there's two bathrooms at the end of the hall," said Lily.
"Cool," said Nudge.
"You guys don't have any bags or anything, do you?"
"Nothing but the clothes on our backs," I said.
"All right, we'll have to go shopping for some clothes for you later."
"Yay, more shopping!" cried Nudge.
"Well, that's about it. You better get going. Asch can be a little impatient sometimes."
We all left the rooms and started heading upstairs. I bent down and whispered to Angel, "Have you been reading their minds just to make sure everything's legit? Not that I don't trust them, but I just want to be sure."
"I've been trying Max, but when I do, all I get is blank. I don't understand it."
"That's because ShawCorp knew about you, Angel," said Conrad from in front of us. We were both startled.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean when ShawCorp dug up the information on you, they found the specifics on you Angel. So the scientists who made us created what you could call 'mental blocks' so that way you couldn't read or control our minds."
"Aww, man," said Angel.
We got to the computer room and Sebastian stood up. "I'm going with you to see Asch. The others will stay here and hold down the fort."
"Great, let's go," I said.
Sebastian and the rest of us came to the roof of the building. I looked around to try to find Asch.
"He's over there," said Sebastian, pointing to the building across from ours. It was about ten stories tall. We all flew up to the building and found Asch.
He was looking through one of those giant binoculars that you could find in really scenic places.
He turned around to look at us and motioned for us to come over here. "Where did you get this thing?" I asked.
"We stole it from Golden Gate," he said, "We took out the blockers so that we don't have to pay a cent. Now take a look at that."
I went over to the binoculars and looked through them. I saw a huge building that must have been miles away. But then I saw what Asch was referring to. On the building there was a big sign that said "Itex".
As I looked through, Asch continued talking, "We got a problem. A big problem. That building was finished just about a month ago. Ever since, there have been these suspicious-looking trucks moving in and out of the place. I don't know what's in them, but we've seen workers throwing bags into the river that look like body bags."
I looked away from the binoculars and asked, "So what are they doing?" Nudge went to look through the binoculars.
"I don't know. We tried getting in but the security is tight. But our theory is that the building is for processing rejects. Taking the good parts out and dumping the bad. Sometimes the entire body is bad. I've seen them before."
"So what do we do?" I asked as Gazzy took his turn to look through the binoculars.
"We're not sure," said Sebastian, "maybe it's the paranoia talking, but that place got built a little too close to us for our comfort. So, we're keeping a close eye on them."
"So you think they might know about where you are?"
"You got it," said Asch.
"But wouldn't they have tried something by now if they knew where you were?"
"Maybe, but this is Itex we're talking about. They have this amazing amount of patience, like a frog waiting for flies."
"He's got a good point there, Max," said Iggy.
Asch was right. Itex was like an eye that was always watching us. They just waited and waited until it was the perfect time to strike.
Angel was looking through the binoculars now. She was standing on her tip-toes in order to do so. "Are you picking up anything Angel?" I asked.
"They're too far away," she said, "I can't read their thoughts."
"Damn," said Sebastian, "not even Angel can pick up their thoughts. If there was some way we could get into that building…"
Suddenly there was a loud smashing sound from below. We all looked to see a small fire from a Molotov cocktail on the ground near the Counter-Breed building. There were some voices yelling and a couple of people running.
"Damn it, not again," said Sebastian as he jumped from the roof of the building back to the Counter-Breed home.
"Those bastards never learn," said Asch as he was about to jump.
"Asch!" I shouted, "What's going on?"
"We're caught in the middle of a gang war," he said, "Two groups called the Fire Rats and the Tiger Sharks."
He jumped and flew back to the building and then we all followed. "So what do we do?" I asked.
"What else? We're gonna chase 'em off."
We ran back inside. "So how exactly do we chase them off?"
Everyone was running around. "Easy, we go outside and we make sure they don't try to get in here or destroy the place."
"What? They know about you?" asked Iggy.
"No, they don't know about us. They just know that we're here and they're pissed that we're on what they believe is their turf."
Sebastian came out of the other room with a box about the size of a large tool box. He placed it on a desk and opened up it up. Inside were several switchblades and a couple of guns. He pulled out the blades and handed one to Asch and Calypso. He slipped one in his pocket and then pulled a key out of the box. He walked over to a small locker and unlocked it. He pulled out what looked like a samurai sword and sheath with a shoulder strap attached.
"Is that what I think it is?" I asked.
"Yes," he said, running past me.
Asch went to the box and pulled out one of the handguns. He cocked it and handed it to Conrad. "Conrad," he said, "You and Lily stay here. Angel, Gazzy, you stat here too. Max, Iggy, Nudge, we'll need your help. You up for it? Six on the outside would be a lot better than three."
"Of course," I said.
"I'm up for some action," said Iggy.
"Yeah, let's do it," said Nudge.
Asch pulled out three switchblades from the box and handed them to us. "You might need them," he said, "Put them in your pockets and don't take them out unless a gang member does it to you."
We ran down the stairs and out the door that we tried to get into earlier. Just then two guys were running passed with another Molotov ready to be lit.
"Spread around the building," ordered Asch, "don't be afraid to chase anybody but don't leave the area. Watch out for gang-ups. And for God's sake, be careful."
He then ran after the two people with the Molotov cocktail. The rest of us separated around the building. I came across three guys who had red jackets on.
"I assume you're with the Fire Rats," I said.
"Yeah," said one of them, "and if you don't get out of our way, you'll be getting up close and personal with the pavement."
"Not gonna happen," I said.
The guys rushed me but they were no problem. I landed a punch in one's stomach and then a kick into one of the others. The other took a swing but I ducked and landed a hook right on his chin, knocking him to the ground. The first one who I punched tried to grab me but I slipped away and hooked my leg around his and pushed him, knocking him to the ground. I landed another kick square in the jaw of the second one and he staggered against the building.
But then three more came and the three I was fighting were up and ready for more. "Hey, guys," said one of them, "this one's a little hot-headed. I think we need to cool her down."
Six on one were not good odds for me in a gang mentality environment.
"Max, I'll help," cried Sebastian as he ran down. He unsheathed his sword as he came down.
"Oh, shit," said one of the gang members, "she must with those strays."
"And here comes that one with the sword. Get the hell out," said another. They all ran away as Sebastian came to my side.
"You're good to have around," I said, "Did they call you 'strays'?"
"That's a little nickname they came up for us," said Sebastian, "C'mon, there's still more around."
Sebastian ran in the direction the Fire Rat members ran while I kept going in mine.
I ran around a corner of the building to see another Molotov explode near me. I barely dodged the flames and then I saw two guys in black leather jackets getting ready to light another one. "Take this you frickin' strays," said one of them.
"Hey," I shouted to them.
They looked up to me. "Well, lookee here," said one of them, "looks like the strays got a new member."
"A nice lookin' new member," said the other.
"Oh, please, not a chance," I said.
The two goons lit the Molotov and tossed it at me. But in mid-flight, it exploded, missing me.
"Dammit," said the one who threw it. They started to charge me. But I quickly took them down. They began running away and I chased after them.
All around me I heard the sounds of people yelling, fighting, or smashing things. For about another hour this went on. Fighting and chasing away gang members. It was a couple steps down from fighting Erasers, but it wasn't exactly fun either.
We all met at the front door where we came out. Nobody seemed hurt.
"Yikes," said Nudge, "these guys are really stubborn. I think I chased the same group of guys at least three times."
"Yeah, they're pretty bad," said Sebastian, "but eventually they get the point. They know we're no pushovers."
"How often you got to deal with these guys?" asked Iggy.
"Not too often," said Calypso, "only about once every couple of weeks. It depends on how much they're feeling like a fight."
"Yeah, but it was easier now that we've got some new additions," said Asch.
"That's for sure," said Sebastian.
"Hey, no problem," I said, "I'm glad we could help. By the way, Sebastian, where'd you get that sword?"
"Oh, I found it at a pawn shop. I got a good deal for it. And it scares away every gang member who sees it."
"Well, now that this ordeal is over with," said Asch, "how about we clean up a little bit, and I'll make us some lunch."
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