Homecoming.

Soooooo not worth the time I took to get ready.

Max POV

Stupid Misty for having a camera. Stupid Nudge and Angel for making me try on a dress. Stupid me for giving into Bambi eyes. Stupid Gazzy for showing it to everyo-

Maximum you have a mission to complete.

Stupid freaking Voice for nagging me in my head!

Your running out of time. If you don't get there by next week, the world will start to end. Mr. Chu already has the plans in place. He's started the proto types-

Yeah yeah I know. Worlds gonna end yaddda yadda yadda. Only I can save it, ect. I've heard all this before.

Maximum this is serious. They've found a method that not only enhances reflexes, senses, strength, and speed, but it also completely brain washes you to their side. It will be hard to save the world if the whole world is your enemy.

Fine okay we'll leave tomorrow.

Tonight.

Whatever. I sighed. Why did things always have to be so complicated? Why couldn't the world just stay saved just once?

"Saving the world, take 3," I muttered under my breath and louder, "Guys! The Voice wants us to save the world from Mr. Chu! We have to leave tonight!" This announcement was meant with enthusiastic cheering.

Not.

"But I still didn't get to do Misty's makeover!" Nudge complained.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Maybe if you bring some supplies you can do a partial one when we stop tonight." Her face lit up and she started counting off things she'd need. "But don't bring too much stuff," I added hastily." I don't want your bag to be to heavy." She nodded her face falling, but only for a second. Everyone went off to pack. I guessed I should probably tell my mom that we had to leave tonight.

I found her the kitchen, humming a cheery tune while baking cookies. Why did the School have to make me into a freak? She deserved a nice girly daughter who could bake cookies with her, not a genetic freak that had to keep leaving and almost gets herself killed on a daily basis.

"Max! How was shopping." She laughed at my grimace. "Would you like to help me make cookies?"

"Actually I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" She'd stopped humming in anticipation of whatever bad news I was about to tell her.

"We have to go for awhile. Saving the world and all that."

"Where are you going?"

"I have no idea, but we have to leave tonight."

"Well I guess if you have to, please try your best not to get hurt."

"I will don't worry."

"I'll try. Can you get the baking sheet for me?" I handed it to her and she began making little balls of dough. I was about to go finish packing when she turned around. "Oh I forgot to tell you some of the people I work with and I came up with an idea to help promote awareness of Global Warming. It's called the Coalition to Stop the Madness or CSM. We were wondering if the flock would be the spokespeople for it."

"Um. . ." I didn't really want to be involved in anything that would bring us more fame, but I really owed my mom for letting us stay with her and everything, and it was for a good cause. . . "Yeah we'll do it when we get done with whatever were doing." She beamed.

"Thank-you."

Misty POV

I leaned against the office door watching Jeb looking up files on his computer. Cherry was sitting on my shoulder like a parrot. The keys made rythmic clicking sounds as he search for something.

"Guess what." Click click click. "Hello? You listening?" Click click click. "Are you ignoring me?" I practically yelled. Click click click. Yep. "Go fly over and sit on his shoulder," I whisper-chirped into Cherry's ear. She flew over and sat on top of his head, twittering loudly about how rude it was to ignore people.

"What the hell?! How did a bird get in here?!" He swatted at her with his hand, but she kept jumping up over his hand. It was pretty funny to watch Jeb get outsmarted by a tiny bird. Finally, he turned around to look at me. "Is this supposed to be some sort of payback or something? For being a part of Itex? I told you I don't know how you got wings."

"This has nothing to do with that. Just thought you should know I wasn't a failure, and I have a skill now."

"So you did get your power. . . interesting. Show me."

"Ask nicely, even evil scientists have to have manners." I smirked at him.

"Please, Miss Stevens, show me this power you claim," he said with fake sincerity. I rolled my eyes and chirped for Cherry to fly in pretty patterns.

She did flips and spins and several spiral dives. "Training a bird is not a power."

"I didn't train her! I'm talking to her!" He looked skeptical.

"Make her fly to the kitchen and bring back a grape."

"Cherry, can you go get a grape from the kitchen and bring it back?"

"Why do you need a grape?"

"I don't, but Mr. Skeptical over there does." Rolling her eyes, she left to go get the grape pecking Jeb on the way out. "So how come you don't believe me? You gave me the power, you should know what it was. I got it around the right time too."

"Misty were you eavesdropping?" He sighed. "I guess you have every right to. It is you I was talking about. As for the skill, it wasn't talking to birds. You must be mutating on your own like the flock has started to." Cherry flew in and dropped her grape on Jeb.

"Tell him he'd better believe you 'cuz I'm not gonna do dog tricks for him."

"Alright, I believe you now. Go pack your stuff, your leaving tonight."

"Wait but what's my real power? And what do you mean I'm leaving? I-"

"Guys! The Voice wants us to save the world from Mr. Chu! We have to leave tonight!"

"How did you-never mind." I left as Jeb had started clicking away on his laptop again.

Well that was sure helpful.

The Academy, the very last Itex faculty. How it remained unknown, we had yet to find out. It loomed closer on the horizon. Tall, black, and imposing, it looked almost like a medieval castle. Now I had a perfectly good reason not to live in a castle. We landed silently in a clearing of trees surounding the building. Max had a glazed, slightly annoyed look which I now knew meant she was talking to the Voice.

"Huh. It looks like this is the training place of the future whitecoats, in addition to the evil lab part. That's interesting. Well I guess we should get some sleep, we'll check it out in the morning." I curled up in the branch of a large tree. Why wouldn't Jeb have told Max about this? Without destroying this there was a chance of Itex still being resurrected. And how come this place wasn't in any of the files about Itex?

I wondered about this until I fell asleep.

I started a new fanfic. It's called The World is Gone. The first chapter is bad but the rest are going to be better since I actually have a plan for them. R&R