icefox: hello everyone. Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been having writer's block problems with this story lately. Not on what to write, just how to write it.
Usually I like to respond to reviews via fanfiction email and stuff, but I got a few reviews from someone who's not an author here or just didn't feel like signing in, so here's my response to that person.
The story is progressing to quickly for your tastes. I'm sorry. When I started the story, really I wanted to start from the beginning of the Angel Experiment, but that would have been confusing, so I wrote enough in the prologue and the first two chapters for Percy to be born and get introduced to Max, Fang, and Iggy and get his avian recombinant DNA. From the beginning of writing the story, I didn't want to spend to much time on the past so I just wrote enough to get everyone introduced and get the story started. Plus, I thought people would get bored if the story was too slow.
"I have an idea" sounds a little lame. Again, i'm sorry you don't like it. I thought it might be better if we could sort of relate to the scientist at least by them speaking normally and some of them probably would sound kind of lame. I mean, its the School were talking about. They have to be pretty lame if nothing else to experiment on kids.
Their hair is BLACK. BLACK I TELL YOU! When I wrote their descriptions, I couldn't remember if their hair was completely black or if it was a really dark brown and in the movie, both Percy and Poseidon had medium brown hair so I went in the middle and said it was dark almost black hair. I also didn't have the book on me to look it up but I did just now and found where it said their hair colors (second to last chapter Percy said Poseidons hair was black just like his) so I will change it the next time the hair is mentioned if it bothers you so much.
This is confusing. For the third time, i'm sorry. Tell me how it is confusing and I will do my best to clear things up for you.
New name? Yes, Percy has a new nickname. None of the flock know their real name and have just named themselves (I mean, do you see a normal person naming their kid Fang, Iggy, Nudge, or the Gasman?) so it stands to reason that Percy would get a nickname as well even if he does find out his real name. Nudge finds out her name is Monique and Iggy finds out his is James Griffiths but they stick with their flock names cause they're familiar and more preferred.
No demigod abilities? Nothing? If you remember in the books (and the movie) Percy doesn't start to noticeably get his demigod abilities until the beginning of the first book when he is 12 years old and starts being attacked by monsters. He's been attacked by Erasers but monsters? Not so much because the avian DNA put into him combined with his human DNA and all the dirt and stuff on him from living like the flock does helps hide the scent of his godly DNA and blood. Plus, Jeb knew he was a demigod when he helped the flock "escape" from the School, so he probably had something done to the house to keep monsters away and maybe even suppress his demigod powers until he was able to use them without getting himself or anyone around him hurt or killed. His powers will start to show up soon, so no need to worry. Have I answered all of your questions except for whatever you are confused about? Or was the new name and no demigod powers what you were confused about? If everything was answered you don't have to answer, but it would be nice if you left a review if you are still reading the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Maximum Ride. The former is owned by Rick Rhiordan and the latter is owned by James Patterson.
Chapter 5: Problems With the School and a Few Surprises
(Max POV)
'Great. Now not only am I hurt and starving, I have to get drenched in freezing rain! This sucks! I wonder how long I can stand this?' I think as I slowly walk through the forest holding my left shoulder and letting my left wing drag. I hiss in pain as I hide my wings when I reach the edge of the forest. 'I need to search for shelter from the rain. Fang must be furious by now.'
"Come on, Magnolia." After hearing nothing but rain and my own footsteps splashing through mud and puddles the sudden voice makes me shudder and snap my head to the right. Standing in the yard of a nice house is a young girl holding an umbrella and a dog leash.
'She's the girls from before! They called her Ella, right?' I don't really want to bother her and it's probably not safe for me to trust her or go in her house, but I don't really have much of a choice, "Um... Ella?"
"Who?" she asks after turning around. She must not recognize me though I don't blame her. It's pretty dark and she doesn't have raptor vision like I do.
"It's me... from before..." I clarified.
"Oh! Thank you for helping me earlier." she says and her eyes widen when I fully step into the light cast by her porch. "Oh my god! Is that blood?"
"One of them managed to clip me with a shot." I say hesitantly, hoping she doesn't try and make me go to the hospital.
"Why didn't you go to the hospital? Come on! We have to get you inside quick!" Ella panics as she runs to her door and flings it open. "Mom! Mom! This girl needs help!"
I hesitate at the door for a moment but take a few steps into the house when Ella's mom walks into the living room. First the woman has me sit down on the couch as she introduces herself. I introduce myself in return and stay quiet while she looks at my wound through the hole in my jacket and two shirts.
"Why didn't you go to the hospital?... I take it you don't want me to call your parents?" Valencia Martinez, Ella's mom, asks me without taking her eyes away from my shoulder.
"..." What can I tell her? That I don't have parents because I was born in a test tube and modified with recombinant avian DNA and live alone with 5 other bird kids? Yeah, that'll go down real well.
"... or the police either, right?" I continue to stay silent but nod my head in affirmation. "All right." I look up at her startled to see a small smile on her face. "I'm a vet, so let me take a better look at your wound. Let's go to the bathroom. Ella, would you get my first aid kit and some juice for Max?"
Ella goes to get what her mom asked her to get while the vet led me to the bathroom. When we get there, Dr. Martinez has me sit on the edge of the tub and take my jacket and t-shirt off so she could get a better look at the wound. I do as she says and start to fidget when she examines the wound. She seems to be fine at first, only seeing the wound in my shoulder, but then she pauses and looks behind me and I know by her widening eyes that she sees my wings.
"Max... what is this?" The vet asks, voice almost a whisper.
"Um... it's a... wing. It's, um... … my, um, wing." I stutter while fidgeting, my heart attempting to beat out of my chest. "... it... … got hurt too."
I sit there and fidget while Ella, who just came in with the first aid kit and juice, and Dr. Martinez digest that information, trying to decide whether I should run or not when Ella's mom breaks the uncomfortable silence.
"Yeah, these are your wings, alright." The black haired woman says then pets my head. I look up at her with, unbelievably, a blush and teary eyes. "Don't worry, Max... I think the shot only nicked the bone a bit. I'll take care of it, so relax." I smile hesitantly and do as she told me.
The next morning
(Still Max POV)
I wake up, startled and gasping, from a dream I can't remember to find a strange Hispanic girl inches away from my face.
"You're awake, Max. did you have a bad dream?" The girl, Ella, asked.
I shutter in surprise and bolt into a sitting position then clutch my shoulder over the bullet wound that decided to start throbbing at my sudden movement.
"You startled me. Mom said you shouldn't move too much. Are you okay?" Ella said in response to my sudden movement with her hands held in front of her and a sweatdrop running down the side of her face. When I nodded that I was alright, the brown eyed girl continued with what she came to say. "Come on, let's have some breakfast."
I walk downstairs with Ella and walk into the kitchen to be greeted with the heavenly smell of a home cooked breakfast. Ella inhales her breakfast then runs out of the room, announcing she was going to school.
"Here, help yourself." Dr. Martinez says as she sets a plate full of wonderful smelling food in front of me. "And don't hesitate if you want to talk about... anything."
"... Th-thanks. It looks really good." Geez, am I still stuttering like a fool and making my face resemble a tomato? Yup. Dr. Martinez just smiles.
"Do you have a last name?"
"Yeah. I gave it to myself. My last name is Ride. Like Sally Ride the astronaut. Maximum Ride."
"That's a good name." She says, then pauses. "...are there others like you? Do you need help?"
"..." I stay quiet and pick at my food. The vet seems to notice my discomfort and changes the subject.
"Erm... Max... can you actually fly with your wings?"
"Well, yeah." I say while nodding. "My bones are... thin."
"Really? You can really fly?"
"My bones are thin and light, I have extra muscles, my lungs are bigger... … and my hearts more efficient. But I need to eat a lot. It's hard."
"Ah, I see... Max... can I ask... how... this happened?"
I stay silent for a moment and Dr. Martinez gets a worried look on her face. I hear her mumble 'Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up...' when I close my eyes. I open them again and tell her the truth.
"I don't remember."
I stare down at my breakfast and continue eating while the vet stares out of the kitchen window. I finish eating and put my fork down.
"Um... thanks for the meal. I... should leave now."
"Already?" Dr. Martinez asks, startled.
"Yeah, some friends are waiting for me. It's really important."
"How will you get to them? Can I give you a ride?" she asks with a smile.
"No... I need to, um, fly there. But I don't think I can yet." I say, making the vet frown and cross her arms.
"It would be dangerous for you to strain your injury before its healed. As of now, I can't tell you the full extent of it. But I could give you a better idea if we had an x-ray." She says, startling me.
"Do you have x-ray vision?" I ask. Her eyes go wide in surprise then she starts to laugh.
"No, not all of us have superhuman powers, you know. But some of us have access to x-ray machines."
Dr. Martinez's Veterinary Hospital
(Still Still Max POV)
"Hi, guys." Dr. Martinez greets when we walk into the animal hospital.
"Hi, Valencia." The two vets in the room greet.
"This is a friend of Ella's. She's doing a report on being a vet, so I'm giving her a quick tour."
"Sure thing."
While, the vet is talking to her colleagues, my eyes flicker to the medicines, the white lab coats, and the medical supplies. Seeing these things coupled with the antiseptic smell was making me remember all of the horrible experiments at the school and it was getting me on the verge of having a panic attack.
"Max. What wrong?" Dr. Martinez asks after pulling me into the x-ray room, distracting me enough to answer her.
"It's the white lab coats, the antiseptic smell, the medicines and tools. They remind me of the scientists and labs. Can we go now?"
"I promise you, you're safe here." The vet assures. "Can you just stay long enough to get an x-ray? We'll leave right after that."
After a bit of hesitation, I agree to the x-ray. It didn't take long to get the x-ray done and even less to get the x-ray developed. Once it was set up, Dr. Martinez gets to work studying the x-ray.
"Look, this bone is fine. It's all muscle damage. Can you see the torn tissue here and here? And your wing bones... all seem fine, which is good news. Unfortunately, muscle damage usually takes longer to heal than bones do. Though I must say, the rate of your regeneration seems strangely fast. And … huh? What's this thing?" Both of us look curiously at a little white rectangle on the x-ray on my upper right arm. "That's not jewelry, is it? Is it the zipper of the windbreaker?"
"No – I took it off." I answer.
"It's a... it looks like a... it's a microchip. We put something similar on animals to identify them in case they got lost. Yours looks like a... … like the ones we use on really expensive pets. Show dogs and such. They have a tracer in them in case they get stolen. They can be tracked, wherever they go. I'm not saying that's what it is... That's just what it looks like." Dr. Martinez explains, adding the last part when I start to look panicked.
"Take it out! Please take it out right now!" I ask, almost demand, but Dr. Martinez just shakes her head.
"I'm sorry Max. I don't think this can be surgically removed." The vet goes on to explain that my muscles and veins are in the way of removing the chip, but I honestly wasn't paying much attention. The only thing I can think for the moment is that the School is playing with us. All this time, they've known exactly where we are and have done nothing until just recently. Why did they wait 4 years to come get us? And why take only Angel and Kai? I'm pulled out of my thoughts when Dr. Martinez and I hear voices out in the hall. The vet has me hide in a closet while she drives the people away. Once the School agents leave, she convinces me to rest at her house at least until Ella gets home from school. Later, when Ella comes home, I get ready to leave.
"What? You're leaving already? But you just got here!" Ella panics as her mom gets an old bag and fills it with fresh baked cookies, some more homemade food, and spare money.
"I know, but people are depending on me."
"Will you come back to visit?" the girl pleads.
"Probably not. And I really can't accept this." I first answer Ella then protest as Dr. Martinez pushes the full backpack towards me.
"Please just take it. It's only an old backpack filled with leftovers and spare money. You've come to be like a daughter to me in the short time you were here and I'll worry otherwise." Dr. Martinez pleads but Ella corrects her.
"Well, we'll worry anyways, but you having food and money helps."
Since it would ease their worry, I accept the bag and sling it across my shoulders. I check to make sure I have everything and say goodbye when Ella and Dr. Martinez show me the way out.
Once I am in the air, it doesn't take long to find the cave Fang and Nudge are at. I don't expect to find Iggy and Gazzy there as well but isn't surprised at what happened when I remember the tracer in my arm. We exchange stories while eating the food Dr. Martinez prepared for me and fall asleep.
In the morning, we finish up the food and say goodbye to the hawks. Unfortunately, because of the way our bodies are made, it doesn't take too long for us to get hungry again. Since we aren't too far from the School and I have some money, I think a quick stop at McDonald's would be a good idea. (AN: Any of you read the maximum ride manga? If you do, look at the restaurant's sign very carefully. It looks suspiciously like taco bell, but they get burgers and fries. Anyone else think that was funny? No? Okay, I'll shut up now) It takes only minutes to get our food and sit down. We are able to eat most of our meal in peace, but once it was almost gone, we notice suspicious people dressed in suits. One of them has a familiar scar over one eye. We attempt to escape, but only Gazzy and Iggy managed to escape. Ari and the Erasers knock Nudge, Fang, and I out and when I come to, I am in a dark room staring at the sad familiar faces of Angel and Kai through the bars of my old dog cage.
(Normal POV)
"Angel. Kai." Max says, relief evident in her voice. Angel greets her the same way and Kai smiles.
"Max, there's something I need to tell you." Angel starts. Max nods.
"Of course Sweetie. You can tell me anything. What is it?"
"Well, I-" Angel starts but stops when the door opens.
"Maximum Ride. Oh, I've missed you so much." A familiar scientist says. Only one thing went through the minds of Max, Fang, and Nudge.
'Jeb Batchelder?'
Max goes away with Jeb for a while but comes back soon after. Max doesn't tell them what happened and no one asks her to. With all the cameras set up in the room, everything they say and do will be heard and whatever happened with Jeb, the School wanted it kept secret.
Not long after Max comes back from her visit with Jeb a few scientists roll in a cage with a dying reptilian boy in it. He has short light colored hair with one sad eye that keeps tearing up while the other is swollen shut. He has 4 arms, his original hands are webbed and only has 3 fingers and one thumb and his extra pair lays motionless at his sides. Covering his entire body are scales and warts and atop his shoulder blades are a pair of small skeletal wings, each about a foot long with hardly any feathers. It is like they tried to turn the boy into some sort of amphibian/reptilian/avian hybrid but failed miserably. The boy doesn't talk to them, which isn't surprising. The poor thing can't even breathe properly. All it can do is wheeze. The flock is really sad to see this happen, but are able to ignore it for the most part by turning their backs on the suffering boy. All except Kai.
Kai, in his cage right in front of the dying boy, can't tear his eyes away from the sight. Like the others, Kai hates seeing the boy suffer, knowing there is nothing he could do, but this isn't the only thing bothering him. Kai himself should have been like this, should have suffered the same fate. This thought brings tears to the boys eyes.
Fang, noticing the tears thanks to his raptor vision and the fact that Kai's cage was right next to his, reached his arms through the bars of his cage. Grasping the bars of Kai's cage, Fang pulled the trollied cage right up against his. Once that was done, he hugs the crying boy as best as he could. Seeking comfort, Kai wraps his arms around Fangs neck and pushes his head through the bars of both cages so he could bury his face in Fang's chest and sob quietly into his shirt.
The minutes go by with nothing to do but listen to the boys labored breaths and slithering sounds he makes when he moves. Around 5 minutes after he was brought in, the sounds coming from the boy cease. Kai cries even harder for his death, causing Fang to react by tightening his awkward hug. Max opens her mouth to say something to comfort Kai when the bird kids hear a door open.
"Well I'm not paralyzed but I seem to be struck by you. I wanna make you move because you're standing still!" A feminine voice sings.
"Ha-ha! Your voice is awful!" A deeper, more masculine voice laughs.
"What's this?" A slightly higher male voice asks as a figure moves towards the dead mutant. "Looks like it's dead. Ah well. Not our business."
The light dims enough for the flock to finally see the group. There were 3 scientists, one female and two males. The female was kind of short with dark hair pulled up in a slightly messy bun and wearing glasses. One of the males had slightly long light colored hair, glasses, and a clipboard and the other had short hair a few shades lighter then the woman's and pushing a trolly. All of them wore white lab coats. Accompanying the scientists were Ari and another light haired Eraser both in their werewolf like form.
"Let's get to work!" The bubbly female exclaims with a smile.
"Hey Max. Miss me?" Ari teasingly asks with a smile.
"Ari." Max 'greets'.
"Is the Director quite sure about this? It seems a shame – There's so much more we can learn from them." The light haired male inquires as Ari roughly picks up Angel's cage and throws it on the trolly, doing the same to Kai right after Fang yanks his arms into his own cage and shoves Kai's arms and head out.
"Angel! Kai!" Max shouts.
"Feel like some exercise? I can take you for a walk if you beg. Ke-ke-ke." Ari taunts with a strange laugh.
"Your the one whose their dog!" Max says with a smirk. "Why don't you get your leash and beg for a walk yourself?"
"SHUT UP!" Ari yells, kicking Max's cage and flipping it onto it's back.
"ARI! Watch it." The female scientist warns, her personality doing a complete 180. Ari glares back and goes to get Nudges cage while the other Eraser takes care of Max and Fang. Once all of the cages are stacked on the trolly, the group wheels the flock into a sort of yard outside. Looking to the left you can see a small fenced in area full of hungry werewolf like Erasers.
"Wanna race? Wanna play food fight? You're the food, piggy." Ari teases and grabs Max's face, who retaliates by biting the hand on her face. Ari roars in pain, picks the cage up, slams it back on top of Fang's cage, then tries to attack Max. The bars of the cage get in the way of Ari doing any real harm, so he roars again in anger and throws Max's cage into Nudge's. This causes the cages to scatter.
"Ouch!" Nudge complains as she pulls herself off of her cage's bars and notices that Max's cage has been thrown into her cage. The russet winged girl pushes Max's cage upright, leaving a hole big enough to escape.
"What the-" the unnamed Eraser starts.
"You're one stupid dog, for sure!" Nudge taunts once she's safely in the air. She then dives towards the female scientist and steals her keys, making the woman scream.
"Fang!" Nudge yells as she throws Fang, the nearest bird kid, the keys. The raven haired boy sticks his arm out of the cage to catch the keys then lets himself out.
"Thanks." Fang says with his Mona Lisa smile and runs towards Angel and Kai's cages. Ari runs after him and tries to grab Fang's glossy black wings but is stopped by a face full of hawks that just arrived with Iggy and Gazzy to save the day. While Ari is distracted with the hawks, Fang frees Angel and Kai, Neither the blond or the mute were in any condition to fly, so Fang took Angel to Nudge and Kai to Iggy before flying back to the ground.
"What a show." Max comments as Fang unlocks her cage door.
"You're so slow." Fang tsks and hold out his hand to help Max out.
"No, just at ease." Max responds with a smirk and accepts the help. The pair join up with their group and begin to escape with the hawks when they hear someone shouting to them.
"Maximum!" Jeb yells. "Max! Please! You were safe here! This was only a test! You have to trust me – I'm the only one you can trust! Please! Come back! Max!"
Max looks back briefly and looks forward again, squeezing her eyes shut and tightening her grip on Fang's hand when she remembers Jeb before he went missing. Fang glances to his right and, seeing Max's troubled expression, squeezes her hand back in a reassuring manner. Max opens her eyes again and responds, but is so quiet only Fang hears her.
"I don't think so."
(Max POV)
After escaping from the School, we retreat to our cave next door to the hawks. After everyone falls asleep, I have a talk with Fang. We agree that we can't go back to our E-shaped home in Colorado because Jeb knows where it is, so we decide to go east. We go to sleep and in the morning, say goodbye to the hawks. We go to Ihop for breakfast, then start our journey east. The journey starts off quiet enough, but it doesn't take long for the Nudge Channel to come on.
"Nudge, you-" I say to try and stop her babbling when I am interrupted by excruciating pain exploding in my head. A hear a pain filled scream, later realizing that scream was me, and feel the increased air pressure as I begin to fall out of the sky. I next hear everyone shout my name and feel myself fall into someones strong arms before blacking out.
(Normal POV)
The flock of mutant bird kids are flying over fluffy looking white clouds above a forest covered mountain when their leader screams in pain and clutches her head before plummeting towards the ground. Everyone screams her name in worry and her right wing man rockets towards her and catches her before she becomes a pancake.
"Max?" Fang asks in a worried voice. Max just clutches her head in pain for a minute before passing out. "We should find a place to land."
Everyone looks at the passed out Max in the visibly worried Fang's arms and open their mouthes to agree when they hear an inhuman shriek. They turn just in time to see Kai tackled out of the sky and into a clearing in the forest by a flying creature with glowing eyes and a mouth full of fangs.
Songs
Paralyzed by Finger Eleven (song the female scientist was singing)
Ninja of the Night by... I honestly don't know, but it's not by me
Avatar Season 3 by, I don't know. I couldn't find the name of the artist (Avatar the Last Airbender)
Caramelldansen (Speedycake Version) by Caramell (woo-hoo! Swedish music! XD)
Sadness and Sorrow by Toshiro Masuda (Naruto)
Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie
Desert Rose (With Cheb Mami) by Sting
Summer Nights by Rascal Flatts
Yura Yura by Hearts Grow (Naruto)
Agni Kai by same people who did Avatar Season 3 (Avatar the Last Airbender)
Frozen by Within Temptation
The Great Pirate of Gold by whoever did the One Piece Background Music (One Piece)
DVNO by Justice
Oceanspirit (Avatar the Last Airbender)
It Ain't Like That by Alice in Chains
Life is Like a Boat by Rie Fu (Bleach)
Tank (Kung Fu Mix) by Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop)
O, Spirit by Sayo Fukunaga (Highschool of the Dead)
End Theme by Toshiro Masuda (Ghost Hunt)
Wake Up by Three Days Grace
Our Farewell by Within Temptation