Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. The new phonebook's here! The new phonebook's here! Uhh…I mean, the new Max Ride book's here! The new Max Ride book's here!

Breakfast almost scared me. Asch and Iggy were trying to outdo each other in the kitchen, trying to see who could make pancakes better.

And in all honesty, I had to call it a draw. Both of their pancakes were really good. I couldn't tell which was better.

After the having the competitive breakfast, showering, and getting dressed, it was time to unveil the plans for getting into the new Itex building.

Asch had a diagram of the building that he laid out on a table in the living room. "All right," he said, "Now this is just a basic diagram of the outside. We did some scouting of the area earlier. On the weekends the security isn't as tight. So we're gonna go in tonight, at eight o'clock."

"Tonight?" I asked.

"We've been planning this for awhile. Sorry to drop it on you."

"It's all right. If it involves getting the scoop on Itex, then I'm up for it."

"Yeah," said Nudge, "if it we can mess 'em up, we'll do it."

"Good," said Sebastian, "cause we could actually use your help. You've been in several Itex buildings, so we were hoping you could give us pointers."

"Oh yeah," I said, "We could tell you some things. First of all, watch out for Erasers. Second of all, watch out for Erasers."

"Okay, gotcha."

"All I could really say is expect the unexpected. Itex buildings can have traps anywhere. And they are all about security. I don't know if there is an inch of an Itex building that isn't watched. I don't think a fly could get in without being noticed."

"I see," said Asch, "so if this really is a reject building, then security would be all over the place."

"Most likely."

"All right, well, here's what we have planned," Asch said, directing our attention to the diagram, "We would have Lily open a rift behind this pile of crates here. We have a radio system so we can stay in contact at all times. Sebastian would stay here. He could hack into the security system no problem, as long as we let him know what they've got. Calypso could break open the door without setting off the alarm and Conrad could read minds through the wall to let me of know anyone coming that Sebastian can't see. Then I would go in and… then we'd see."

"Sounds like you've got it all worked out," said Iggy.

"Yeah," said Sebastian, "but if you guys help us, things could go a lot smoother."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Instead of just Asch going into the building, it could be you and Asch, Max. You could help him out and you'd cover a lot more ground."

"I guess that makes sense. All right."

"Then there's Gazzy, he'd be good in case of an emergency, not to make you sound like an object Gaz."

"How could I help?" asked Gazzy.

"What does it take for you to be able to mimic a voice?"

"Not much. I just need to hear them say a sentence and I've got it in my head. I can even throw the voice."

"So if you heard security guards talk…"

"Oh, I getcha. If we're about to be caught, I can mimic a guard and lure them away from us."

"Bingo."

"What about me?" asked Nudge, "What can I do?"

"Hmm," said Asch, thinking, "well, rather than me attempting to describe the security system to Sebastian, you could just touch it and tell him all about it."

"Yeah, all right. I'll do it. This is so cool, getting to sneak into Itex and mess with them."

"We're not trying to mess with them Nudge," said Sebastian, "We just want to get into the building and see what's in it. Who knows? Maybe we'll find more information on how they're restarting Re-evolution."

"What about me?" asked Angel, "don't leave me out."

"Of course we wouldn't leave you out Angel," said Calypso, "You could help Conrad scan for voices. And if a guard does see us, you could take control of his mind before he can tell his buddies. How does that sound?"

"That sounds cool."

"Hey, have we all forgotten about the blind kid here?" asked Iggy.

"Oh yes," said Asch, "what shall we do with the blind kid?"

"Hey, Iggy," said Sebastian, "did you know that you can make C4 using cement mixer, gasoline, and cat litter?"

"Seriously?"

"I have some bombs in the basement and the ingredients are in a closet on the first floor. And I've got a model that you could use. You think you can handle it?"

"Ohhhhhhhh yeaaaahhhh."

Sebastian had just hit Iggy's weak spot. Iggy's the only one I know who could obsess about bombs like he could. And manage to hide them on his person without anybody knowing. The only other one I knew was Gazzy.

"Okay, so we've all got jobs," said Asch, "this is great. Everybody will be able to help."

"So what do we do between now and eight o'clock?" I asked.

"We've actually got something to do at five tonight. Then we'll eat dinner and we'll get ready."

"What are you doing at five?"

"We're going to church. You can come if you like, but if you don't, that's okay too."

"You guys go to church?"

"Yeah. You don't?"

"We never really had the time to go with all of our travels. Except once when we were in New York, but it wasn't for a mass. We just…were there."

"Do you wanna come?"

I wasn't so sure if I wanted to try being in tune with God again. I didn't think He was going to be of any help to me. Although, I was fighting people who were trying to be Him. I might have had His wrath on my side.

"I don't think I wanna go," I said, "If you guys wanna go, it's all right with me," I said to the flock.

"Well, you've got the rest of the day," said Asch, "Think about it."

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I did think about it. And in the end, I still didn't go.

Everyone else went but me. I felt kind of bad for not going but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I stayed at the house while the others left.

I watched TV for a little while. But then I got bored with it. When you have had as many crazy adventures as I've had, what you find on TV just pales in comparison.

I decided to go exploring around the house a little bit. I had already seen the third floor, but I never really saw the rest of the place.

I went down to the second floor and looked through the rooms. I didn't go through anybody's stuff, I just looked. There were some interesting things that the group had. Sebastian had a couple more swords hanging on the walls. Calypso had a poster of almost every single singer that was around today. Conrad had a couple of movie posters, though the movies that they were for were disturbed me a bit for someone who was only ten years old.

Lily's room I realized I had already seen. It was the room she had taken me in before. The baby blue one with all of her drawings.

Then I looked into Asch's room. I knew I had already been in it by I was just curious. Inside was the keyboard. I looked over to one of his drawers and something caught my eye.

There were two framed pictures on it. One was of all of us. All of us meaning me and the Counter-Breed flock. We were all in the picture, smiling at it. Dr. Albert was even in the picture.

The other picture was of me and Asch. We were standing next to each other with our arms on each other buddy-buddy style. I suddenly remembered when this picture was taken. It was just a few days before my memory was wiped, before I was kidnapped by Itex. I wondered how Asch got those pictures.

I heard the others coming into the house. I quickly left Asch's room and came up the stairs to greet them.

"Hey, guys," I said, trying to sound enthusiastic, "How was it?"

"It was nice Max," said Angel, "You should have gone."

"I don't know," said Iggy, "I don't think you'd have liked it." I could tell he was just trying to make me feel better for not going. I guess it helped a little.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I just wouldn't have felt comfortable."

"It's okay Max," said Asch.

"Yeah," said Lily, "not everyone feels the same way about God, Max. It's fine."

That definitely made me feel better, especially coming from Lily. I couldn't help but smile.

"Now there we go," said Asch. "Now, I've got two good chickens in the refrigerator and some mashed potatoes and stuffing." He started heading into the kitchen.

"I'm going in there with you to make sure you don't mess up," said Iggy, going into the kitchen as well.

"Oh, this is gonna be good," said Nudge, "I have to watch this." She followed them into the kitchen.

For the next two hours, Asch and Iggy were arguing over how to cook whatever needed to be cooked, but in a friendly way. Not like they were going at it with two giant knives over whether Asch should use his power to cook the chicken for five minutes or ten. When it was time to eat, the food was excellent again.

And I guess that saying about time flying when you're having fun is right, because before we knew it, it was eight o'clock.

Time to rock n' roll.