Ace: Hi again. Here's chapter 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.

Chapter 2: Wake-up

Max

I woke up thinking I was dead. There was no way I could have survived those wounds.

Reality, however, deemed that I was alive, as I felt pain in my chest. If you were actually dead, you probably wouldn't feel pain.

Did that man capture me, or was it the ninja who did it? Was the ninja on my side, the cloaked man's, the School's, the Flock's, or on a completely different side?

I got up slowing, wincing at my pain. The room I was in was dim, and there was a door to my left. Other than the bed, the room was completely empty, and there weren't any windows. It was kind of small too, and I began to freak out. I hate cramped areas. I tried to move out of the bed, but my chest flared up with pain. As a result, I flopped back down on the bed.

Another pain hit me, and I realized that it was the fact that Nudge was gone. Nudge, I thought softly, I'm sorry for failing you. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I brushed them away. I'm Maximum Ride, and no one kidnaps my family and gets away with it.

Footsteps began to echo in the halls. I need to get out of here. I need to save Nudge. And I need to whip Angel and the Flock on their butts for abandoning me.

As the door began to open, I jumped out of bed and attacked the brown haired boy standing in the doorway, ignoring the pain in my body.

Ichiro

Some time before:

"Ichiro, would did you blow your cover?" the clan leader sighed.

"Dunno," I replied.

My friend Sasuke huffed in annoyance, while my sister Kami giggled. I shot them both a glare. It was bad enough when you had to talk about your failures in missions. It was even worse if your family and/or nakama are present.

Clan leader sighed. "Look at me Ichiro. We need to focus on the matter at hand."

Reluctantly, I did so.

Sensei stood in a corner, staring at me constantly watching me. His blonde hair fell over his eyes. He didn't smile, and wore the traditional clothing of a ninja. Everyone else but me did so, but who cares? I always wear ripped jeans and a t-shirt outside of battle, so it didn't matter.

Clan leader thought for a second, and then motioned for sensei to follow him. They left the room to talk with the elders about my report, leaving me with Kami and Sasuke.

The second they left; Sasuke went up and hit me in the shoulder. "Baka," he hissed, "You failed to save the girl. You let the oni get away. You failed your mission. That is against clan rules. What do you say to that?"

"Sore ga itai," was all I said.

Sasuke shoved me backwards. "That is not a good enough excuse."

My blood began to boil. Wasn't Sasuke supposed to support me?

"You weren't even there, Sasuke-domo. You were to busy hitting on Misaki instead of helping me, and Misaki wants to be with someone else."

"How dare you refer me as domo!" Sasuke looked like he was ready to kill me.

Kami piped up. "You deserve to be punished! You deserve to leave!"

"You know what," I said, "I don't deserve you as my nakama Sasuke. You're a baka who doesn't like to go outside to help me at all. And Kami, stop it, or else I renounce my claim as the next leader, and make you next in line."

Sasuke paled. Kami raised her hand to speak, but I was already gone. I tore through the village and dashed into the forest. I was the fastest runner in the village, and anyone who tried to follow me will end up exhausted and give up.

Sensei and father might support me, but Sasuke is an ass that wants to be next in line. He might enjoy it if I left.

Sasuke may know about the girl in the kimono, but he doesn't know about the girl in the jacket.

What bugged me about that girl, I thought to myself as I ran, was the fact that she was blonde and her name. Could she be Mana? But that was impossible. Mana died in the spring…

I ran to the secret fortress I found years ago. Hopefully that blonde was still there. If not, that would be problematic.

I unlocked the door. She didn't escape, as this was the only entrance.

I locked the door behind me to ensure that no one can enter, and walked through the maze. After a while, I approached the girl's room. I opened it, and proceeded to get kicked in the stomach.

Max

After knocking down the boy, I tried to run to the door. I would have made it, if the pain in my chest hadn't become unbearable. I gasped and fell down. Darkness enveloped my eyes.

Sometime later, I woke up in the same room. The boy I attacked was there, and was looking at the wall.

"What do you want," I growled. My chest still hurt, so I couldn't throw him against the wall, which depressed me a little.

The boy sighed. "Nothing. I merely pulled you to safety."

I glared at him. As if he would have saved me.

He didn't really respond. In fact, he had a faraway look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked. Maybe I could escape while he talked.

"Not much. I got into a fight with my friend, my sister dislikes me, my close friend died last spring, I failed to save your friend, I nearly died trying to save you, my friend's an idiot, you look like my dead friend, and a prophecy dictates that I'll die when I hit 18, which is a couple months away," he said calmly as he fixed a bandage on his arm.

"What?" I replied. I was confused. Did he say that so I would be lost? "Are you on the masked man's side?" was the only thing I said.

"You mean that demon? Nope," he replied. "I saved you from him. Once your wounds are healed, you'll be free to leave."

"How can you heal me? My wounds are hard to heal."

"With this," the boy said as he held up a bottle. "My name is Ichiro"

"Max. Maximum Ride," I said.

Ichiro's eyes relaxed a little. He smiled and said, "Use this. I don't want to…" he turned bright red and looked away. I guess he's modest.

I applied the cream to my chest (I was wearing bandages, which is weird. I didn't notice it before now), and to my amazement, my wounds began to fade away. After a few seconds, they were completely gone.

I rose out of my bed and grabbed Ichiro's arm. "Tell me everything, starting from the beginning."

Ichiro looked as if he was scared of what might happen.

White Coat (Location: The School)

"Sir, Maximum Ride escaped the trap. A ninja saved her."

His leader looked at the screen. "Don't worry. We always have a back-up plan."

The leader pressed a button near an intercom. "Release Project X."

Ace: Here are the definitions to the Japanese terms I used:

Nakama: Friend, but closer; like a sibling

Baka: Fool/ Idiot

Sore ga itai: It hurts

Oni: demon

Domo: cheeky way of saying sir

When Ichiro says "Sore ga itai", he wasn't referring to what Sasuke said. Is he in pain?

Sorry for the cliffhanger. But cliffhangers make the story much more fun to read.

Don't forget to follow/favorite/review.

Ace