Ace: *Sighs loudly*

Fang: What's wrong, Ace? You seem upset.

Ace: I keep misspelling and mixing up words in this chapter. AND I promised the readers an update before the 23rd, and yet it's the 25th.

Fang: Well, you had writer's block again, so I can understand the delay. But what do you mean by mixing up words?

Ace: For one of Nudge's sentences, I wrote a 't' in a word, instead of an 'r', and completely changed the meaning of the sentence.

Fang: Let me guess- it is somewhere before the new character appeared, right? And you deleted it?

Ace: Yep.

Fang: Bummer. Let me do the disclaimer while you relax so you can write me back into the story. *Smiles slightly*

Ace: *Shrugs shoulders* Sure. Make sure Dylan doesn't do anything stupid, okay?

Fang: No problem.

Ace: *Leaves the room*

Fang: All right. Disclaimer- Ace doesn't own Maximum Ride.

(To himself: 'That wasn't so hard. Why does Ace complain about uploading chapters? Is it really that hard to upload a chapter?)

Chapter 6: The Deal

Nudge

"This is so cool!" I yelled. I stood in front of a castle, chiseled out of rock. Sounds boring, but it seemed to have diamonds embedded inside of it. Pretty neat, right?

It looked like a giant Japanese castle, painted red and black. It was so huge; it might have been a labyrinth instead.

I walked to the doors, which looked like a giant gate. As I put my hand on it, it creaked, and suddenly, the gate burst open. Looking down, I saw something that looked like... A footprint? How strange. This place looked abandoned, and yet, there might be someone else here.

You're not the only one who came here by accident, the voice said in my head.

Say what? I responded mentally.

Just enter the castle, it snapped.

"Okay," I managed.

Holding my sword in front of me, I slowly entered the castle. Torches were lit along the hallway, and they didn't seem to go out at all. That creeped me out. Most people wouldn't be scared of that, but remember: I'm deep inside of a cave. Unless there was oxygen down here, these torches are either an illusion, magic, or it's me losing my mind.

Along the walls were paintings of bright and dull colors. Each one was different, but as I scanned them, they all had something in common: someone entering something and winding up somewhere else. That has to be true or a coincidence, right? Unless they all had a similar inspiration, that doesn't seem...normal. To me at least.

Nudge... The whispery voice murmured.

At that point, I lost my temper. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

That is no way to treat the one who will help save your sister Max, it snapped. Now go to the big room.

"If you say so..."

Gulping, I walked towards the big door, pushed it slightly, and peeked my head in.

It looked like a throne room, with gold everywhere and expensive furniture here and there. A big mirror stood in the dead center of the walkway to the throne, and a person stood in front of it, covered in black robes.

I ran to the person and tried to slash him/her with my sword. However, I failed epically. Mainly cause they sensed me enter and dodged. Then they grabbed me and took my sword away. I tried to bend one of my shurikens into something else, but it just moved closer to me.

What happened to my powers? I asked myself. Did they reverse? And why now?

The person who dodged my attack let go of me and stepped back. The hood was lifted up, and a young girl stared back at me. Her long brown hair fell to her back, and her skin was light. Her gold eyes pierced my soul like daggers, and I stepped back a bit.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Elżbieta. And who are you?"

"I'm Nudge. But my birth name is Monique."

She smiled, and her death glare disappeared. "Monique is a pretty name. Why are you here?"

"I ran from these demon people, and I came to this cave by mistake. Then some voice told me to come down the cave, and I wound up here."

Elżbieta nodded. "What dimension are you from?"

"Huh? What do you mean by 'dimension'?" I asked.

She sighed. "You see, Monique, there are multiple levels or realities/dimensions, and every one is different. I happen to be from your dimension, as I recognize that are you are part of the Flock, and I'll explain that later. Each dimension is normally sealed off from the others, but there are doors that led from one dimension to another. They appear randomly, and can disappear as quickly. Most people can walk through a second dimension in a forest, and they leave so quickly, they will never know they left their world. Other people aren't as lucky, and they are stuck in the dimension they fell in…forever."

"Sounds creepy," I muttered.

Elżbieta kept talking. "There are some abilities that are tied to dimensions. There are three special ones: The ability to find the doors between dimensions, the ability to see what is happening in another dimension, and the ability to create/destroy dimensions. These are rare, and the only way to get one is by chance, when one of the people with ability die."

"That's sad," I said.

She nodded. "One more thing: Depending on the dimension, you can either gain or lose powers."

My jaw opened. "No wonder I lost the ability to manipulate metal. It only works in the demon world!"

Elżbieta smiled. "You're catching on quick. Now, I need you to help me with something."

"What is it?"

She sighed. "Can you help me find the man I love, along with my friends? In exchange, I will let you met the kami of this palace, and help you cross dimensions."

I thought for a second, then nodded. "Of course. And I'll forget that I tried to hurt you."

Elżbieta smiled. "Thank you, Nudge."

I looked at her. "Actually, I prefer it if you call me Monique."

Fang: Ace had an all Nudge chapter to explain her mistakes in writing, in case you're wondering. Speaking of which, I need to go check o-

Dylan: Now it's my turn for a chapter!

Fang: Stop it, Dylan!

Dylan: All right people. I'll convince Ace to give me a solo chapter! And you can't stop me Fang. I'm- *Gets buried by snow suddenly*

Fang: Huh?

Ace: I told you not to let him do something stupid. So I had to temporarily bury him in snow.

Fang: Ace?

Ace: Yeah?

Fang: I'm sorry that I doubted your ability to publish these chapters. I didn't take Dylan into account.

Ace: Hey, I write at least two Fanfics, and a few other whinny characters.

Fang: You write more fanfictions?

Ace: Yeah. Doesn't mean I'm going to put them online though. And to my readers, ¡Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!

I'll update soon, with luck!

Ace