Disclaimer: Sky doesn't own anything. At all. Fiction-wise, anyway. She does own a dog. That's pretty cool

"We know what we are, but not what we may be."

- William Shakespeare

My eyes opened slowly as I felt my body being lifted into the air. Hands were gripping my legs and arms tightly, making me wince as I let out a pained moan. My shoulder ached, stung, and throbbed, adding to my discomfort of being held in the air. What was going on? I had no idea. I had no recollection whatsoever of how I came to be in this situation, whatever this situation was.

After a moment, I made myself open my eyes the rest of the way, and let me tell you, I didn't particularly like what I saw.

Have I ever mentioned to you that I get really claustrophobic? Like, I start to get panic attacks when I'm in a small enough space. Trust me, it's not a pretty sight.

Well, whoever was holding me up was putting me into a dog crate. A very tiny, tight, dog crate.

Let's just say that was when my adrenaline and recollection of what happened kicked in. I immediately started to thrash around, which must have taken my captor by surprise, since he dropped me pretty quickly. I whirled around to face him, my heart in my throat.

"Sam?" My defensive stance went down for only a second. But that was all he needed to rush at me.

I feel a little embarrassed when I look back at this moment, but hey, it worked, didn't it?

I let him come at me.

That's right. I, the infamous Maximum Ride did not fight back.

Instead I dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes and let him trip over me. It was pretty funny. Sam face planted into floor, smashing his nose.

Quickly getting up, I started shouting at him. This was Sam. The loaded Sam that Iggy was always raving about. The Sam that I got along with so well. The Sam that asked me out three days before.

Don't tell anyone that part, I'm still embarrassed I said yes.

I narrowed my eyes at him as he continued to writhe on the floor. "What the heck, Sam? You freaking shot me!" Yeah, that's right. It was only a graze, but it still hurt like crazy, and the bleeding still hadn't stopped.

To my surprise, he got up off the floor and came at me again. But this time, out of instinct, I shot out my good arm and punched him in the eye. He fell to the floor once again, out like a light.

I'm such a loyal, considerate friend, aren't I? I guess that's what happens when you shoot me.

Grasping the opportunity, I went to make a break for it, but since I did not really know where I was, it was a bit difficult to get my bearings. But my first priority was finding Angel.

I ran around a corner to a door. Locked. I turned in the other direction. Another door. Also locked. I went back to where Sam was still on the floor. Only one door left. "If this one is locked, someone will end up dead." I muttered to myself.

Thankfully, I did not kill my first person that day. That would come later.

…Ahem. Anyway, the door was unlocked, but when I entered the room, I found it to be empty. Only a metal operating table stood in the center with bright florescent lights hanging overhead.

I whirled around when the door shut behind me. Sam was grinning from its small window, and I spat in his direction, making him flinch and me smirk.

"Now, now, Maximum. That is no way to treat others."

I turned around to face the person speaking, but to my surprise, there was no one there.

"Show yourself!" I shouted as I spun around the room. "Where's Angel?" I went and tried the door I had used before, only to find that locked as well. There were no other doors in the room.

I was trapped.

"Angel is fine, Maximum. Trust me. I would be more concerned with yourself at the moment."

My eyes narrowed. "I would be more worried about yourself, if I were you, because once I get out of here, you are so-"

"Threats do not work on me, Maximum. But I appreciate the effort."

"What do you want?"

"To be perfectly honest, we want you."

Chills went down my spine. "Why?"

The unseen voice chuckled. "That's like asking why the great inventors of old created their machines. In search of brilliance! Of revolution! Of the future! And you, Maximum, are just that. The future of the human species, or should I say human-avian species."

Oh, that's right. I'm part bird. I almost forgot about that part.

Without warning, there was an ache in my back that made me double over and scream. I began to become dizzy, and my vision blurred. "What's going on?" I said, although my tongue had begun to feel leathery and it was difficult to speak. I collapsed onto my hands and knees and vomited. This was not good.

The anticipation in his voice was almost tangible. "You are officially mutating, Maximum. Becoming the ultimate human being. Doesn't it feel exhilarating?"

"Not really." I groaned. "It feels more like death." Blood was coming out of my nose and mouth as I lay curled on the floor. This seriously sucked.

"Well, there are always side affects and casualties when it comes to advancement, Maximum. Surely you would know that. Death is always a possibility. But maybe this will be a little bit of an incentive for you to try to live. If you die, we bring new experimentation methods to your sister." The Creepy Voice of Doom spoke without hesitation.

I froze. "No."

"But we will. Trust me, we will."

There was a loud beep, and with that, the mysterious voice was gone.

I was still on the floor. My shoulder throbbed, my back ached, my stomach churned, my lungs were burning, and my head was pounding, I honestly could not think of anything worse that could happen to me.

Of course, there was. Because that's just how my life works out.

Three men in white lab coats came towards me, all of them wielding long, sharp needles.

I hate needles.

I tried to back away from them, but my movements were slow and sluggish, like I was moving through water. I wanted to scream, but my throat was raw and no sound came out. Tears streamed down my face like a river. This definitely was not my most glamorous moment.

Even though I was practically immobile, I still tried fighting off these three scientific thugs. One that looked like Harry Potter tried sticking one of the needles in my arm, but I smacked him as hard as I could. "Take that, Radcliffe!" I cried, since I wasn't completely all there, if you know what I mean. He just raised an eyebrow and tried again.

To be perfectly honest, this was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. Not only because of what they would do to me, but because of what could happen to Angel. If I could barely stand this pain and fight off these crazy scientists, then how could she? She was just a little kid. Angel shouldn't have to be put through that kind of torture. No one should.

My back was literally against the wall as the HP lookalike and the two other scientists lunged the needles at me. Drugs entered my blood stream, their effects overcoming me quickly. Drowsiness overcame me, and I wanted to pass out right then and there, but then there was a tugging at my back. The blood drained from my face as I reached behind me. There was a small nub, no, two small nubs protruding from my back. Tugging at the soft substance connected to them, something pulled off into my hand.

I almost threw up when I realized what it was.

A white feather

Wings had started to grow on my back.

I stared at the feather in horror, but not for long. One of the men in the white coats, lets call them White Coats for now, grabbed another one from my back, making me flinch. He stared at the clump in his hands with fascination.

One of them grabbed me and hauled me on top of the metal table in the middle of the room. "Get on your stomach." He said.

Too fatigued to even argue, I did as I was told. I could feel my new wings growing by the second. I could feel them being poked, prodded, tickled, everything. These new wings were a part of me.

I felt sick.

The excitement was practically dripping from the Harry impersonator. "It worked! I believe that we have a success here, sir."

No duh, Harry. Not particularly your brightest moment.

"Good." The Creepy Voice of Doom from earlier was back. "In that case, bring in the girl."

My face crinkled in confusion. What girl?

To my horror, I saw Sam, who was still looking quite beat up, mind you, carrying a limp girl in his arms. He dropped her on the floor like a sack of potatoes as HP went to pick her up. Sam glanced at me, and I thought I saw a look of regret on his face, but he walked away before I could tell. It didn't take me long to recognize who he dropped on the floor.

Angel.

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