Okay, sorry for the wait, anyway, here's Chapter Eight! By the way, if you need to see a picture of Spark, check out my profile pic! It's of her.

Setting; Flying for our lives right over a big, humongous lake.

Enemy; Some M-Geekie thingamabob that look like slightly short adult human men that are identical. And smell a bit like blood. Rippable.

My Position in All of This; getting forcefully yanked downwards, towards the lake, but an angry Max.

Did I mention I can't swim?

As if my prayer had been answered, an Angel saved me from possible drowning.

"WAIT!!!! M-Geeks can swim! Remember the sub?" A million thanks, Angel!

Now, remember, I had only been a member of the flock for three days. I had no idea whether they were talking about a Subway kind of sub, or a "we-all-live-in-a-yellow-submarine" kind of sub. I'm guessing the last one.

So, to my utter relief, Max released me and angled towards the shore.

"GUYS! I want you to land and get ready to fight! There are only about fifty of them!" she hollered.

And she finally let me fly by myself. She had been dragging me down.

So the flock aimed downwards like arrows while I calculated our odds. 50 M-Geeks against 7 of us. A bit uneven, I'd say. At least we didn't have to look out for Total. He had gone with Aikla and Dr. Martinez.

As if to answer my question, Fang called, "Only fifty? Against us seven? This'll be easy."

EASSYYY?!?!?!

But I'll admit, I wonder if he has mind-reading abilities like Angel….

No. That's too scary a thought.

We all landed, almost simultaneously. And turned and looked. Well, everyone except Iggy looked.

And it turns out the M-Geeks were about to land! On top of us.

Skittering backwards, I made sure that I was facing the lake, not running into it. Then I unsheathed my deadly, two-inch-long claws. Only to one inch, to prevent snagging. Yes, just what I need in the heat of battle, my weapons becoming useless and painful.

Thank goodness I had sharpened them this morning.

A quick M-Geek spotted me, and decided to charge. I gulped nervously, then threw away nervousness for bloodlust. Showtime, folks.

My first victim ran at me, fast as a flock member. I think he looked like a ninja. Maybe Fang was a ninja….

Anyway, I ignored these commentaries by happily and easily slicing down his face with a quick and precise slash from my claws.

And then a couple of his buddies had to get involved. And now, I had to fight three of these ninja-Geeks. At the same time.

Unfortunately for them, my claws worked just fine.

I slashed ones throat, then spun around and kicked one in the ankles, before turning and scathing the last one's belly deep before kicking it.

Anywhoo, I disposed of those three, although their wings, I'll admit, made maneuvering a tad more difficult. But I found another one, deciding I was a worthy target. Joy oh joy. I was getting a little tired. Remember, dear readers, I am not known for my "fabulous" stamina.

By this time I had seen the rest of the flock fight. Mostly punch punch, kick kick stuff. No elegance, like I had with my claws.

Aaaand Max was finishing off her last M-Geek, Fang had his own pair he was easily dealing with, and the rest of the flock had ganged up on four poor Geeks.

So they dealt with them quickly, and found me fighting my personal opponent. I was dodging his attacks mostly. I wanted the flock to see moi in action.

So I began with a classic move. A quick but shallow cut to the throat, then a spin, followed by another slash. I leapt up and kicked him/it. Meanwhile, on the up part of the jumped, I threw my hands wide, and on the fall part of the jump, I brought them together, hard, quick, and claws unsheathed, right onto his already bloody throat.

He dropped dead.

I hope I don't turn into a serial killer, but I'll admit, that was fun!

…And my new flock was staring at me, mouths open with shock. Oh dear. All my adrenaline drained away. I think I scared them…

Gazzy recovered first. "Spark…. That was AWESOME!!!"

Huh.

Then Nudge pointed out a small fact as to their shock at handling my opponents.

"Look at our M-Geeks. Then yours…" She said the fewest words I had ever heard her speak.

I obeyed like a good little squip. What is a squip, anyway?

The flock's victims were bruised and broken, only a little bloody. I then turned to mine.

Oh.

My opponents happened to be shredded. Blood everywhere. A few bruises. But…. Still shredded…

I then looked at my claws, which still were unsheathed. They were red, with bits of skin and gore underneath them. Yuck. I realized that the M-Geeks had a mechanical inside, sort of.

"Oh…" I said…

Angel looked at me, then unexpectedly grinned. "I think we got a good new member."

Max nodded. She and Fang alone had stayed unfazed. "Spark, please put away your claws."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"They're dirty! I need to clean them."

"Didn't you do that this morning?"

"That was before the fight, and they got all bloody and disgusting!"

Meanwhile, the flock's heads were going back and forth, from me to Max and back again. I could practically see them thinking, Max found a verbal sparring partner. For once.

No, I did not spontaneously mutate while my argument with Max continued. Their faces said it all.

Now, it twas the night before day two of our journey to Florida, and all around the campfire, everyone was cooking food on sticks, even a mouse.

… What? I invited a mouse who's main food supply we accidentally destroyed when we landed. I gave him more food and invited him to dinner. The flock's faces were… let's just say I never have a camera when I need one.

So, the younger kids and Iggy were chatting excitedly to one another, Max and Fang were quietly talking, and I was happily nomming a fish. All in the peaceful stting of a clearing surrounded by lotsa forest, under a star-filled sky. Ah, this was the life. It reminded me of living with Nuri and Nova, out in the wild, away from humans.

I had just finished eating my fish, impatiently waiting for another one to finish cooking, when a soft heat started at the tips of my fingers.

I sighed. I had had this heat thing where my fingertips glow (like a firefly) and get warmer than normal since a couple months before I got out of the Institute. I had no idea what it was, but it was annoying not to know. It happened about once or twice a week.

Gazzy paused in what he was saying to Nudge and Angel to stare at my now glowing fingers. "Uh… Spark? You do know that your fingers all glowing, right?" he asked.

Now me and my wonderous and supremely strange glow-in-the-dark fingertips were center stage in the flocks attention. Great.

"Yeah… It's done this for a while now…" I replied.

Then suddenly, the glowing warmth rippled up, to my shoulders, to my ear tips, down to my tail-tip. It was coming in glowing bands from my fingers. Even my wings were caught up in it.

"Whoa..." said Max.

I dropped my fish-stick in shock. There goes the fish.

Suddenly, one band starting at my fingers led something very strange across me. It… made my hands into paws, sorta, and they shrunk. Then the world got bigger when it spread to my head. What the heck was going on?

This ribbon on light and heat was the last one my fingers had made, and as it traveled down my back, I swear my clothes melted into my skin. Not a pleasant feeling, folks.

Then, after it had finished doing whatever then heck it was to my toes and tail-tip, I found I was sitting like an animal. A cat or dog.

This entire process of whatever the glows did to me took barely a second.

What in the world had happened?

…And now, every single one of the flock was staring at me, eyes as big as dinner plates.

"What happened? What is it?" I asked frantically.

Nudge gulped and pulled out a mirror. Why exactly she flies around with that in her backpack, I don't know.

I padded up to her. Wait, why was I on four feet? At least I still had my flickable tail and ears. And thankfully, I could feel my wings on my back.

When I looked in Nudge's mirror, even with the flock's eyes on me, I nearly dropped to the ground in shock.

Yes, I still had my black cat ears and tail. Yes, I still had my golden-black wings. But…

I had… fur. And paws. And a muzzle. And I was smaller. Cat-size.

WAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! I HAD TRANSFORMED INTO A CAT!!!!!

…And now we know what Spark's second ability is. Shape-shifting.

Anyway, Christmas and my birthday are coming up soon. You could give me a present by giving me a review…