A/N: okay, guys, I just found out how to check how many hits you've gotten for your story – I had been going off of how many reviews I received before. And…. WOW. You guys are amazing! I have, like, almost 200 hits! 200 hits, and barely over 10 reviews. I changed my mind. You are in trouble, people. Go sit in the corner.

Okay, I'm jk, but still. I need FEEDBACK, my dear readers! I want to know what you THINK! Is this story going to the dogs? Is it flying? Well?

Enough jabbering. Here's the chapter. Sorry for the wait…. I've been really busy. This is a very rough chapter, seeing as how I stayed up late writing it and didnt even edit it. sorry…

Disclaimer: if you don't know who really owns MR, then you obviously haven't been following the series and you shouldn't be reading this. But in case you forgot: I'm not JP.

Max's POV

Okay, I thought, I really need to get out of here.

First, though, I needed to figure out where "here" was. I stood up and looked around me. Hm… white walls, white floors, white tables… why was this all looking so familiar?

That there was a bit of sarcasm for you, folks.

I knew where I was. I was at the School.

Surprisingly, the panic didn't come. The sudden burst of terror? Gone. The tsunami of dread? Nowhere to be found.

Huh.

The rest of my surroundings began falling into place: flat white table, white bed covered in starched white sheets, window in the corner – too small to climb out of, even as scrawny as I was – and a white door. I was also sitting in a hard backed white chair, pushed up against a wall.

How the heck did I fall asleep in a chair? I wondered. Or more importantly, how did I get here in the first place? Where's my Flock? Are they okay? Are they here too? Shoot. I didn't protect them. I took a deep breath and forced myself to stop hyperventilating. Okay, Max, think. What's the last thing you remember? I racked my brains, but my memories felt oddly wiped out. The last thing I could remember doing was telling Gazzy to quit singing the macaroni song. It seemed like there was some huge gap in my memory.

Shoot. Had I like, lost some of my memory? Had the Whitecoats done something to me?

Memories can never be lost, Max. Just buried very, very deep. You simply need to reach into where they're hidden.

Wow, Voice. I thought. Long time no annoy. There was no response.

So, you gonna help me get out of this place? Still nothing.

I sighed. Okay, I'll bite: how do I reach into that part of my mind?

You need something to trigger it, something that would reach into your sub consciousness.

Sure, I thought sardonically. I'll just pop over to Mom's and have a poke around. I rolled my eyes in disgust. How do you expect me to trigger anything when I'm locked in a room at the School in California?

The School in California was destroyed, Max. You know that.

Okay, then! So tell me where I am and how to escape!

Silence.

Typical, I thought in frustration. I actually want a straight answer, and wham, it's gone.

When I stood up, my bones popped. I must have been in the chair a long time, for my body to seize up like that.

"Okay," I said aloud, "time for action." The cheesy line seemed to put some life back in me. I walked toward the door and seized the knob, not expecting it to open. To my utter surprise, it slid smoothly on its hinges toward me. I instantly crouched into defensive position.

Me waking up in an unknown room? That looks a whole lot like the place I had been turned into the mutant I was? And I wasn't locked up? And there was an open door?

Could you trap?

Cautiously, I peered through the doorway and down the hall. Long, blank, white… your usual Evil Genius Scientist décor.

I began moving down the hall, alert for any signs of life. Unlike my room, every door that I came across was locked as I continued.

The corridor reached a T, and I debated which way to go. Either way, I would undoubtedly reach something the Whitecoats wanted me to see, so I chose the one on the left.

I tested every door I walked by, and, after one false alarm (it was a bathroom – I guess evil scientists need to pee too) came upon another fork.

Just to be different, I chose the right passageway and strolled along, humming Escape's Futile by OneStepForward1 in my head.

And what's the point…

Only forward will get you there…

So what's the point…

Of always running away?

I laughed at the irony. Only forward will get you there, it went. Well, that was certainly true enough – it wasn't like I could escape, so I might as well keep on going forward where I'd probably meet some scientists. Maybe I could bash a few of their faces in…

So don't look back

Don't look for a window

Walk towards the door

And meet them head-on…

Hm. Now that was an idea. Head-butt. Humiliating andpainful, double whammy.

Lost in my little reverie, I almost didn't notice a little hallway branching out. Curious, I swerved into it. It was a narrow, but long. I continued down it, stopping to peer inside every window and test ever knob. The windows were curtained; the knobs, locked.

The hallway went on forever, it seemed, and got unnaturally cold the farther I went, until I was shivering. I pressed my face up to yet another covered window on a door and sighed. My breath made a little cloud in front of me. I wasn't getting anywhere. How long was this corridor anyway?

Wearily, I tested the knob, turning away even before I felt the resistance I knew would come.

Crap. Crap. This was useless, none of the doors were going to open.

I should turn back… I thought with defeat. There's nothing here.

I expected my Voice to pop in with some cryptic message and unexplained insistence that I should go on. But he didn't.

I slumped against the wall.

Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel… I thought. Were they okay? Were they here too? And how, how, had I gotten here in the first place?

I screwed my eyes up and clenched my fists, trying to remember. Remember what, I wasn't sure, but I was sure that there was something I was missing.

Okay, we were flying, away from Mom's house, we were leaving cause the Voice said we needed to, and we decided that we were going to go south, and then we had to turn around because we were going in the wrong direction… I flushed at the memory.

And the Voice said something, and, and, and Fang and I talked a little bit… the memories were getting hazy now, and I began to grow annoyed. And… and… Gazzy, he kept singing that stupid macaroni song… and… and… I ground my teeth in frustration.

Why couldn't I remember?

Think, Max, think.

I closed my eyes once again.

Gazzy, singing the macaroni song… and… and… a bomb. My eyes snapped open. A bomb? Where had that come from? Was there a bomb involved? I was getting closer, I knew it.

Smoke… I smelled smoke… but that was all, I couldn't get any more.

Ugh! It had something to do with bombs, I knew it. I was tempted to hit the floor with my fist, but experience taught me it would only result in a pained hand. I stared at the ceiling. This sucked. Majorly. I mean, worse things have happened to me, but that didn't make my situation any better.

Let's recap what's happened in the past hour or so: a) I woke up in the School, or someplace like it; b) none of my Flock were with me; c) I couldn't find a single living soul; d) I was walking into a trap and I knew it; e) I was freezing my freaking butt off. Oh, and f) there was a spider on the ceiling. I hate spiders.

Okay, I decided, one thing at a time.

I started with a. Well, I was doing all I could to escape. There wasn't really much more I could do.

B – where was my Flock? Anxiety clenched my stomach; I hastily moved onto c.

Well, there was that spider on the ceiling. Do spiders have souls? But other than that, zip. No one.

As for d, well, I guess I could do something about that – I could stop going. But where will that get me? I thought. The lyrics to the song I had been humming before popped into my head – Walk towards the door; and meet them head-on. Well, I might as well, right? Keep walking? It would show them I wasn't scared…

And e, well, maybe I could do something about the cold. Well, said the logical voice in me, the one that seemed to lay dormant for long periods of time, think about it. Why would it get so cold?

Extra AC? I thought sarcastically.

No, Max, said the voice of logic. What gets colder the more you venture into it?

I knew this one. Easy. Earth. And then it hit me – duh! The hallway was slowly going underground! And now that I looked at it, I could see the slight slope. Standing up, I turned around. Sure enough, I couldn't see the entrance where I had started, due to the tilt the floor was at.

Altitude… I thought with a sigh. Why didn't I realize it before? It's so obvious! The higher you fly, the hotter it gets. It's only natural for the process to be reversed.

Something stirred in my memories.

Iggy, waving his hands around, clearly explaining something.

Gazzy's guilty expression…

"So we got the ingredients, and made some in the Pit, but they're kinda hard to test. Cause the way altitude bombs work, they don't go off till you reach a certain height. Hence the name 'altitude bombs'." Iggy explained enthusiastically.

A bomb. They had set off a bomb while we were flying…

It was hitting me all at once; a flood of memories.

The grass was crunching under my feet, dry from the constant swell of heat coming from the fire. My eyes were glued to the girl – the tiny, glass-like figure framed by the roaring flames.

Something caught my eye. Little black specs, floating their way across my vision as I fell. Soot? They got darker, and clogged my sight. Move, I thought, with no real energy, I have to get the girl.

Fang bent over me, his eyes full of worry and horror and something I couldn't name. "The… girl?" I whispered, my voice raspy. "Did… did…" did she die? Was what I wanted to ask, but my throat hurt too much to get the words out. Fangs face was still tortured as he said soothingly, "Shh… she's okay."

Nudge, leaning over me, prying open my eyelids only long enough for me to see that I was in a forest of some kind. "Nothing…" Nudge's voice was quiet, and despite my struggle to stay with reality, I slipped back into the darkness.

Its warmer, we're not in the forest anymore. Fang, saying in a flat, dead tone: "This is it, guys. We don't know what else to do. We've got to bring her…." Gazzy's and Nudge's protests, Iggy's yell, Angel's sob…

When it was over, I was on the floor, up against the wall again, shaking – this time not from the cold but the shock too. It was clear now.

I had gotten hurt, badly hurt, in a fire trying to save a girl.

And I slipped into unconsciousness and wouldn't wake up. The Flock grew worried, and, from the bits I captured when I was hovering between sleep and awareness, they realized that they had nowhere to take me but here.

The School.

But… wait. Hadn't the Voice said the School was destroyed? So how had I gotten here? And how did my Flock know where to bring me?

Well, I thought wryly, at least I'm awake now.

I pushed myself off the cold floor and looked back up the hallway. I got this far, might as well keep going.

And so I went on, testing the knobs and gazing in windows and thinking about everything I remembered. Something wasn't adding up.

It was as I was looking at one particularly dirty curtain that it struck me – why hadn't the Flock brought me to my mom's? Why here? At least my mom was a vet, and not only that, they could talk to Jeb there. As much as we all hated him, he might have know how to wake me.

The tip of my nose felt like it had frostbite, so I drew back.

Why indeed…

I was standing staring at the tiny picture window, trying to think why on the Green Earth they would have brought me here of all places, when the curtain twitched. I held back a gasp.

Instincts kicked in as it moved again, and I leapt back and pressed myself up against the wall next to the door.

Someone, finally. But why now?

The door hardly made a sound as it swung open, but my highly trained ears heard the faint sss as the hinges slid smoothly together. My heart was in my throat as the person coughed once, and then walked out the door. I saw a foot emerge, and without hesitating, reached down and snatched it. Jerking it up so the person stumbled, I dragged them into the hall.

It was just a plain old scientist, to my disappointment. Complete with frizzy hair and glasses.

"Hey!" she squeaked, "put- put me down!"she wobbled dangerously on one leg. I smirked. "Wha- what are you doing?" she demanded, her voice getting even higher.

"Checking what brand shoes you wear," I said casually, "and FYI, Keds are so out." I gained this little tidbit of information from Nudge when we were stealing shoes from a Walmart a few years back.

She screeched indignantly. "They are not!"

I refrained from rolling my eyes, then thought what the heck, and rolled them anyway. I tugged her a bit closer to me.

"really?" I say, my voice losing its laid-back tone, "really? An escaped mutant is threatening to tip you backwards and knock you into solid brick and you're offended because she insulted your shoes?" she stared at me, wide-eyed. "Really, if this is what evil scientists are like nowadays, I'm shocked. I mean, come on – you should be angry right now. You should be threatening to like, dump me into a pot of bubbling acid or something!"

"But… they go with my coat!" I couldn't help it – I burst out laughing. This was really too funny. I mean, I almost made her seem human! For some odd reason, she reminded me of Briged. Maybe it was the way she got offended so easily over her shoes. This didn't help her any, however, as I hated Briged. I wiped the smile off my face.

"So," I said, "down to business. How does a person get out of this place? And what's the quickest way to a McDonalds? I'm starving." There was no answer except a squeak. Her hand, I noticed, was slyly sneaking toward the pocket of her robe.

"Ah… no no no!" I said with mock cheerfulness. I pushed her up against the wall and gently smacked her hand. "Don't be calling for help, now! That wouldn't be good for me at all!" I gestured back up the way I had come. "So, again, how do I leave? That way? Or the other?" my eyes narrowed. "And don't think you're gonna tell me the wrong way, either. You're coming with me, and if I see a single Whitecoat you're going to be on the floor, faster than you can say concussion."

Her Adams apple bobbed. I took that as an okay. "Well!" I said happily, releasing her leg and causing her to stumble a bit. "Lead the way!"

About a million turns later…

"So," I said conversationally, "do you, like, enjoy putting DNA of an animal into little babies and messing up their lives forever?"

I was holding the scientists arms behind her back and forcing her to walk in front of me – this way, I could carry out my promise should we come across another Whitecoat.

"I mean," I continued, "it must be nice, knowing how many people out there are in utter misery because of you. Gosh, you must feel so good about yourself."

She didn't seem to be liking the conversation too much, so I changed the subject. "Hey, how's Borchy? Is he off "retiring" any other innocent mutants? How's he getting on?" her eyes narrowed but she stayed as un-squeaky as ever.

"Come on," I said coaxingly, "I'm only a freak with wings that could kill you about 30 different ways. Don't be so nervous around me! Talk a bit!"

I poked her in the back, but aside from wincing, she kept her lips sealed. "Never mind," I muttered under my breath, "You're nothing like Briged. She couldn't keep her mouth shut."

The scientist tripped and I had to pull her hands hard to keep her upright. "Hey now," I said crossly, "I don't want to have to be holding you up."

She turned to look at me, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "You- you know Briged?" she asked with a gasp, but it sounded more like she was choking with her squeaky voice. I froze in my tracks.

"Maybe," I said cautiously. "Why?"

The lady began gasping and shaking, and I had to smack her to get her back to normal. "Why?"I demanded again, this time more urgently.

"Be- because she, she, she," she took a deep breath, "she's evil!" I stared. That was rich, coming from a person who tortured little babies.

"What did she do?" I asked.

She only shook her head and cowered.

"Tell me!" I said furiously, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "What's Briged done?"

A/N: I'm so sorry for the wait, and I hope this chapter made up for it, although I really didn't like how it turned out. Thanks to turtlelover0511 for the encouraging review; sorry this took so long. :) this is a sorta-cliffie…

Anywho – REVIEW, my darlings, if anyone is still reading this after all that time. Please. They are my inspiration to write. And my friend Bronwyn shamelessly begs you to check out our story, Date Gone Wrong, even though in truth the whole story is a bit of a joke.