DISCLAIMER: I don't own it!

Nothing Like This- Chapter 4 (School and New Powers)

MAX POV

I sat on the couch and looked around the room. Fang sat next to me on the loveseat, Angel and Nudge sat together on their blow-up 'PRINCESS' couch I had gotten them 2 years ago, Iggy sat on the single-seat and Gazzy lay on the ground, propping his head up on his hands. I swallowed nervously and began.

"Well, you remember that battle with all those erasers? Ari decided to play the pass-out game with me again, while I was fighting off 3 other erasers. Needless to say, I got out of that battle unharmed. I was brought back to school in a metal cage, not a dog-crate. It was like a miniature jail cell, a tiny miniature jail cell. The first few days, I sat in that in an empty room. The cage had been strapped down to as single table in the middle of the room. The only time I saw anyone was when a whitecoat came and drew blood. They didn't feed me, and I was famished. Of course, you know me; I wouldn't give up until I got out of there. All I did was think of you guys and think 'I have to get out of here to see them again!'"

Fang took hold of my hand and rubbed his thumb along the back nonchalantly. I smiled up at him, thanking him for this simple but reassuring gesture before I continued.

"I managed to knock my cage over, so after that, I was fed and put in a large dog crate. They stopped drawing blood after that and began feeding me once more. But, when I tipped over the cage, I fell off the table and that hurt."

I didn't know why I was telling them this. I instantly regretted it after seeing the look on the littler kids' faces, but I carried on.

"I broke my wrist when I had fallen, so Jeb was actually pretty nice to me for the next few weeks. And then, began the experiments. It was basically the same as last time. With the mazes, and starvation over a period of time, and they tried different drugs on me. One, like, cut off my blood circulation, yet kept me alive, and I passed out with that. But, they would use a drug, note its effects, and give me an antidote. Sometimes they combined them. I…by the 3rd week of them testing out different chemicals and potions on me, I wanted to snap. I felt like I was going to give up. I really did, I'm not going to lie to you and say I had the best time of my life. I…I wanted to quit…and Jeb noticed.

He had me put in this simple red room, that's it, all red. It was spacey, about the size of our bathroom, maybe a bit bigger. I was surprised, but what really confused me, was there was a drain, like a shower drain, in the middle of the room. I didn't know what to do, or what they expected me to do, so I just slept. I had just finished some mazes. Ari walked in and shook me awake. I got defensive, prepared to fight, but he just chuckled, threw something on the ground, and left, saying, "Here you go, have fun!" It was a leather case and inside it, was an iron dagger. OMG, I tried cutting the walls and everything. There were no possible escape routes. I heard a sliding and a small fraction of the wall opened up. I saw someone outside of it, but I could only see his or her eyes so I didn't know who it was. I went up to it and the person said something, before it slipped closed again."

I paused, taking a deep breath. My eyes were beginning to tear up so I wiped them and took another deep breath. "What did they say?" I heard Nudge ask. I wanted to stop there, but I had to go on.

"He said, "Try your wrist. Your wrist Maximum." That's when everything snapped into perspective. Jeb was giving me a way to…k…k…kill myself. I almost did too." I heard the flock gasp. "I almost did. But, that stupid voice in my head had to stop me. For once, it gave me a good idea. It simply said, "Your flock. Think about your flock Maximum." And I did. I thought about Angel's 6th birthday, remember? And Iggy and Gazzy's first bomb. I thought about when you got your power, Nudge. And when we came back here, and found that the house was still here. And then we freaked out cause Fang was gone. But the truth was he had gone invisible." The flock nodded in understanding and laughed at the memories.

"So I told no one in particular, "NO, I WONT DO IT." Then I was taken back to my cage and the experimenting began again. But, I just kept remembering those and other memories. And I got through it all."

I stopped, wiping my eyes once more. Nudge and Angel were wiping their eyes as well. And I could tell Gazzy was trying not to cry. I snuck a glance up at Fang. He wasn't crying, but I could tell he was angry, he was pissed. I took my left hand and grabbed hand that had long since stopped caressing my right hand. He looked my way and gave a quick smile. It was only a fraction of a second long, but my stomach flipped. "How did you escape?" Nudge finally asked.

"Well, they finally brought me outside, to be the erasers target, you know? And, while I was fighting one, I brought it towards the fence. And while it was aiming at me, I moved and it hit the fence, allowing me a way out. I used super speed and I was out of there in a flash. I heard Jeb cursing out that eraser as I flew away, he was pretty angry."

Relax Maximum. Take a deep breath. Don't you think you should tell them about your new powers?

"Oh, yeah, ok." I accidentally muttered out loud. The flock, who had begun softly conversing between themselves looked at me with looks of confusion.

A few moments later, we were outside. The flock was sitting or standing, waiting for me to begin. "Well, I developed a few powers at the school. Here is one." With that, I took the glass of water I was holding and set it on the ground in front of me. I called Iggy over and made him stand 3ft away from me. Once he was positioned, I concentrated on the water. 'These powers are going to blow them away!' I thought to myself.

I moved my arms and wrists in a smooth fluid motion and the water flew from the cup to Iggy's head. Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy laughed while Iggy scowled my way. Iggy went to dry off his hair when I told him to remain still. Looking to the flock momentarily I announced, "Water…"

I then moved my hands in a different fluid motion and a gust of air flew Iggy's way and dried out Iggy's once wet hair. Turning to the flock once more I announced, "Air…"

I pointed to the ground, moved my hands in another pattern, and pointed to Iggy. A handful of dirt hit Iggy's face, his pale skin now looking brown. I laughed along with the flock and I announced, "Earth…"

I threw a towel to Iggy and told him that I was done with him. He scoffed at me and the flock erupted with laughter once more. I stood in a clearing, away from hanging branches and leafs and held out my hand. I closed my eyes to concentrate and snapped my fingers. When I heard the flock gasp, I opened my eyes. Sure enough, there was a single flame rising from my fingers. I opened my hand, closed it in a fist, and the fire disappeared. "Fire. Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. Elemental Powers." I repeated. "I also have lightning to, but that's kind of dangerous to demonstrate." I added after a second thought.

I spent the next hour showing the kids the different things I could do with my elemental powers. After a while, I was officially worn out, so I told them and I head inside. Fang followed me, as I know he would, and the others remained outside. It was a nice day out, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and they should enjoy it. I sighed as I thought, 'at least I'm home with them again.'

OK, I thought is would be shorter but I guess not…lolz. Well, ill update soonz if you plz review. And, if you did not see or get to review my author's note, I need experiment ideas for the next chapter. 5 reviews and ill update!!! REVIEW!!!