Maximum Ride

A New Threat

1
Flying by houses, trees, and clouds up in the air….it’s wonderful. My wings
steadily flapped up and down gracefully, as if it was something that was done
automatically. Ah….. Just a normal day with my mutant freaks and a talking dog. The
wind caught me and the others and we let our wings stop. Blowing us back felt good,
very good. Good is actually a trite word, ya know? Lets put it this way, “It felt
exhilarating”. After we were blown back a few feet, we pulled down out of the wind-
then a great whoosh allowed us to glide overhead. Nudge smiled and let out a truck
load of mouth. “Max, was that awesome? I know. Incredible. Don’t you wish you had
burgers right about now? But we have to wait an hour before flying again. Your mom
and Jeb had a book about that. Anyway- can we do that again? PLEASE. I know, no
time. We have to go before some evil agency gets us, right?” Nudge yapped with oh so
fast speed. You see, this eleven year old’s mouth runs on a motor and I believe she
revved it up this morning. As usual. The Gasman smirked and smiled at me. The eight
year old better not be up to something. I stared at Iggy next to Gazzy, hmm, both
smiling. My thoughts were correct, they were up to something. My sweet Angel, holding
Total and Akila plus her teddy bear Celeste was looking at me and smiling. Angel is
sooo sweet. Angel’s smile grew bigger. “I know I am,” Angel said. It kinda cracks me up
knowing we have a six year old mind reader. Fang just thinks she’s the opposite of her
name. I mean literally, the girl can talk to fish, breath underwater, read minds, control
minds, and change how she looks. But she’s just the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.
Speaking of Fang, he’s a nut job that thinks I can actually love him. No way José.
We’re fourteen and we shouldn’t let Nudge, Gazzer, and Angel see what Fang is doing.
Iggy can’t see but he’s our same age. So that doesn’t really matter.
 As we reached my mom and Ella’s house, Gazzy and Iggy sped up into the
house. They pulled out presents, and gave them to mom. “Happy Birthday!!” Gazzy
screamed.
“-ay..” Iggy mumbled. Well you can guess what my mom would’ve said after that. “Oh
thank you- but it’s not my Birthday.” Whoop tee Doo! Who would’ve guessed? “So
whad’ya get us?” Iggy asked, hands cupped together. “Well is it your birthday?” Mom
asked raising her eyebrows. They must’ve been ticked off. What a shame….Anyway I
ran over to mom and hugged her then ran up to my reserved room. The way I left it
weeks ago. Ella was probably at school, so I laid back and took a nap, but before that
Fang came in and interrupted my sleep, which by the way, I needed!

2
Fang..Ow. He does strike me like fangs, and he just lov- hates me like I do to
him. Fang just kicks my freaking butt off and scares me to know that I lov-hate him
sooo much. “Yo,” he said in his bad boy voice. “You are so stupid, you know that?” I
said glaring in his eyes. “You want to say ‘Yo’ again. Or ‘Hi’. Just leave Teeth!” Fang
stepped back and walked away. Aw don’t leave-I mean good riddance. Just as I was
going to sleep, Fang jumped back in to kiss me, but then- BOOM! I was never happier
to see we were under attack. Flyboys in fact. Wait, Flyboys? We destroyed Itex and the
school, so how could this be?! Then- you’re gonna crack up when I tell you this one.
Erasers were there too! Wow! What a great way to interrupted when you’re about
sleep! Gazzy and Iggy flew out the window before us and pulled out, you’d never
guess- explosives. Flyboys were depleted instantly, and an Eraser ran for the room me
and Fang were in. I punched it making its face bleed badly. It tried to kick me, but I flew
out the window before that could happen. Fang took out a metal rod (I don’t wanna
know where he got that) and stabbed it. “Aaah! Anymore tricks bird kid?” the Eraser
said and side kicked Fang. But of course, this Fang bites. Fang took the rod and
smashed its head against the wall repeatedly. The Eraser fell to the ground and stopped
telling its stupid jokes. I turned away from Fang to get Angel, who was looking at the
Erasers and making them kill each other. “Angel, sweetie go with Fang, okay?” I told
her. She nodded and flew to the window. Iggy was blind, but he was really kicking his
share of Eraser butt. But like Angel, he needed to go inside. “Ig, where’s Gazzy?” I
asked him now realizing Gazzy wasn’t there. “Um… I’m couldn’t see him anywhere!”
Iggy said sarcastically. Darnit. Why does Gazzy have to get lost when he’s with a blind
guy? Nudge flew by us and said something short in a split second. “Hi Max, missiles
are following me and now I’m flying away. Gazzy was hit by one and he’s inside with
Dr. Martinez.” Whew. I grabbed Iggy’s wrist and pulled him inside. The missiles flew
towards the house, and of course there’s always a hero and I guess that’s me then. I
flew out, and put my hands in front of it as if it would stop in the name of the law. Well
kinda. It blew up in front of me and I realized I had just touched it. I fell back feeling
less like a hero but a failure who hurt herself trying to make sure a house doesn’t blow
up.
 3
Angel’s Perspective

I knew this was a bad idea. Me and Total got lost. Max told me to go to Fang,
but Total was hungry and it was too dangerous to keep my precious doggy in there. But
Akila! Total looked at me with gleaming eyes. I knew he was hungry, I read his mind.
Fang thinks I’m a freak, and I do also. I just read a dog’s mind! My wings were moving
lazily while my freaky eyes looked for food. Total smelled something in the direction
of….um.. Never (North) Eat (East) Soggy (South) Waffles (West). He smelled in the
direction of …Eat, I mean East. “Hurry! I’m hungry!” Total said. “Don’t worry Total, we’ll
get food,” I said. Total sniffed the scent and looked satisfied. He thinks its as good as
eating.
As we went inside Waffle House, Total sniffed around and told me that he
wanted an omelet, bacon, juice, a doughnut, and pancakes. When the waiter came I
told her the order I wanted. “Sweetie, you ordered a lot, and for one person. Where are
you’re parents? I need their order too.” she said. “I ordered for one, and its not for me,
my dog. Plus my parents aren’t coming,” I replied smiling. “Sorry honey but I need to
call-” before she could finish I told her something with my mind. You will get my dog his
order. “I will get your dog’s order,” the waiter said. “Thanks,” I told her grinning. “Angel,
my owner!” Total said in a, Yo my brother! voice.

4
I was getting patched up with the Gasman, and Mom declared a horrid thing.
Angel wasn’t here. God. Angel was gone. I really wanted to go find her, but mom said
that Angel would come back. I hope so. After Gazzy and I were patched up, we headed
upstairs for a flock meeting. “Angel is gone, and she left Celeste and Akila,” Nudge
announced as if we didn’t know. I guess Gazzy get the newsflash ‘cause when he
heard that, he freaked out. “Not again! Not my sister again!” Gazzy screamed. My heart
was torn seeing the Gasman torn up like this. My body was filled with grief and sorrow
knowing we lost Angel again. I shed a tiny tear and let it slide down my cheek into my
neck, drying it up. Iggy bowed his head comforting his best friend Gazzy. “Well now that
Devil is gone…we can have a freakier freak gone from the flock. I mean who needs
her? Seriously. Freak Age 6 gone like saltlick, ” Fang said smiling. I stared in disgust at
Fang. I stomped over to him. “Why you heartless freak!” I screamed at him. After that I
slapped him in the face and told him to leave. Fang put his hands up. “Leave you
monster!” I said. Everyone stared at Fang .Fang opened the window and flew out
shouting, “The flock’s not worth it!” I looked out the window and then took the last look
at Fang’s wings. Then I slammed the window down. Fang was gone like Angel, but we
didn’t want to see him again.

5
Like every time, we leave my mom’s cozy home to beat our enemy’s butt off.
Whoever they where, they had Flyboys, Erasers and well, Itex stuff. On the news this
morning, the happy go lucky reporters announced that there had been world peace
since the election of every country finished. Nudge had a crazy idea that made us all
want to leave. She said that the elections were connected with the attack yesterday.
Maybe Itex operatives became owners of each and every country. I mean, world peace
ain’t bad, it’s just that:

1. How is Itex still operating?

2. All this to find us?
 3. They’ve gone too far

As we were flying, I caught a glimpse of Fang flying miles away. I sped up not
letting anyone know where I was heading. “Max, where are you going? A party? Please
tell its a party. C’mon. Oh well, you want to race? Nah you know I’ll lose. So it’s
probably an Angel sighting. Wait we are ….500 miles away from our location, so no. I
give up. Throw’ in in the white towel. I give.” Nudge said. My jaw dropped opened.
Sometimes I wonder why that girl goes all random in motor mouth racing. “I saw Fang,
I’m gonna try to see where he’s headed.” I said. “Max don’t go! We can’t trust Fang
anymore and Iggy’s blind!” Gazzy said. Iggy narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry Max, I’ll
take care of them, even if I am blind.” Iggy said as if it was something Gazzer should
hear. “I’ll be fine. And thanks Iggy,” I told them. Well I’m alone again. Now I was about
to find Fang.
At night, I followed Fang into the night sky. It was beautiful out there. It felt like
going to heaven with a guy who doesn’t deserve it. My freaking body was tired and of
course Fang did too. I watched as the monster set up a bed and slept on it. I set up
my bed until I heard a sound. Fang got up and flew up with his silhouette on the moon,
and literally, he looked like a witch without the broom. Ha Ha Fang’s a girl! You know,
because witches are women? Ah-forget it! I watched as Fang got assaulted by Erasers
one by one. He punched one back and it fell over to another. Once again, with his
metal rod, he hit them back and forth. One came up to him, but I guess they didn’t see
this coming because Fang flew up, and slammed the side of the Eraser’s head in
midair. Fang hit the ground and twirled his rod into each Eraser’s stomach. He dropped
the rod, then swooped by every Eraser with a punch every time he passed one. I mean
this guy was a freaking ninja! Fang came to the last one and was about to throw a
punch, but then Flyboys from behind grabbed him and took him away. I was gonna
help, but I realized that I wouldn’t help my ex-flock member. As the Flyboys flew away,
I heard footsteps behind me. My breath ran cold. I almost never get scared, but this
was night people! I mean seriously, wouldn’t you be scared at midnight after you saw a
guy get taken away by your sworn enemies? I turned around and saw Angel frowning at
me. “Fang-” she said pointing at the tiny dot in the sky that were the Flyboys and Fang.
“Fang left the flock honey. He’s left because you were gone.” I said in a voice that said
I’m sorry. “You didn’t save him because, he left to find me!” Angel cried. Total looked at
me, then looked at Angel. “Well I had a good meal, a nice day minus the attack, and I
think I’ll hit the sheets.” Total said.

6
“Angel, you don’t understand, Fang left because he was happy that you were
gone. The rest of us got mad and he left telling us that we were never worth it.” I told
her. Angel’s face changed. She looked up to the sky angry with everything. Angel
angrily stomped her feet and walked away making a bed. My baby was sadder than,
well what I’ve seen her before. I listened as she mumbled Fang go away all night. I
mean now that I realize it, I was kinda being over dramatic.
The next day, Angel and Total played in the field. This game called, “Three
Headed Dog named Total versus The Pretty Princess who’s name is very famous
throughout all countries except New Zealand” I didn’t comment on the game first of all,
because she’s such a sweetie, but now I look at it and think “Wow, that game sucks”.
Fang commented on it. (I’ll try to do this forget about Fang thing) Wait, who is this
Fang you speak of?! Pretty good huh? I know. After the fifth hour of battle, Princess
Angel defeated Total. “Great Game guys! Alright! We got a Fang to follow!” I said
making sure I didn’t sound sarcastic. “Sounding sarcastic on what?” Angel asked.
“Nothing at all,” I replied now making sure I wasn’t thinking. As we flew off, I smelled a
gas that was the Flyboys. Over the hills and plains, we go to the magical land of evil!
Angel laughed and went on ahead. Once we had gone as far as Fang went, we stopped
and looked at this sealed cave. What should I do?. A cave is nothing compared to
asking myself what to do. Use Total’s ability. I heard that voice in my head saying, “Use
Total’s ability”. Wait- Crud Nugget. Was this the best time to have the Voice in?
Maximum, use Total’s ability. I needed to know what Total’s ability is! Angel stared at
me wondering why I was under a lot of stress.
“Hey look at this!!” I heard Total scream from behind. I let Total and Angel play
in the woods and now Total found something. “What?!” I asked coming back there. “I
have super bark!” he said. Angel laughed and petted Total on the back. Whad’ya know!
You leave a dog and a girl in the woods and you’re freaking out due to some message
about the dog and- I couldn’t believe it. “Do it,” I told Total. “Okee Dokee, but ya might
wanna step back.” Total straightened up and barked the most sick bark I’ve ever seen.
The trees across fell over and Total licked his lips. Total came up to the sealed cave
and barked. The door didn’t blow up, it disintegrated. Well that was convenient, a new
ability, and a silent approach.

7
Fang’s Perspective

Great, I say something offending and end up in a cave. This place is like the
school but, um.. No difference. Max is such a loser. She and her friends are never
worth it. Never. My friends were there, everything. It was fun, considering the chases-
heh..
Friends. I just don’t like Angel, she’s creepy. Stating my thoughts at the wrong time
kicks me out of Max…Ma- Max, Ig, Gazzy, Nudge. The boys, were fun. We talked, and
saw violent movies, tackle each other. Nudge was the girl who had questions and she
asked me. I was her Obi-Wan-Kenobi master. Max just was someone I felt like, not
wanting to lose. Ya she was cute, but she’s just worth saving.
“Hello, Fang.” a voice bellowed behind a curtain. “Who are you Mr. Mysterious?”
I asked. “Fang, please do shut up. We have a job opening, and we’d like you to join it.”
the guy said as if I would say yes. “So just like that?” I asked not sure what he’s getting
at. “We’d like to recruit you to Itex’s secret operations.” he said impatiently. “You are a
human avian, and that gives an advantage to find the others. You will live luxuriously
and get revenge on the ones you hate,” he continued. Well that got me. Luxury, ya I’m
there. “Just tell us where they are,” he said. “Cool, they’re at this Dr. Martinez’s home.”
I answered having tiny regrets. “You’ll get your room, and will help create our New
Threat operation moving. This is bigger than ever before, we have stations around the
world, in government offices of every country. But our station in Arizona, here is the one
making progress. Fang find your friends, and kill them.” he said in a matter of fact
voice. Wow. I’m definitely joining. Mostly because they have the upper hand.
As I got my room, Erasers stared at me looking as if they didn’t trust me. “Chill,”
I told them. Well guess what? They pulled down their shoulders and took a deep breath
and relaxed. I was gonna love this.

8
Iggy listened to the kids play in the field not enjoying it. If only he could see
them play, he would have been able to point out how to play. All he heard was, “Go,
run!” or “My five beats your six!” Gazzy pulled out a bomb, and threw it at Nudge.
“Cheater! If Max were here, she’d bust you like cream pie! Cream pie from mama’s
boo…. Sum!” Nudge said grabbing it with her ability to attract metal. Iggy wanted to
know what the Gasman threw, but uh…he was freaking blind! Nudge threw it back with
a boom, and Gazzy fell back. Now Iggy knew. Iggy came by and slapped Gaz at the
back of his head. “Hey!” Gazzy said laughing. “You should stop playing, and just let me
play something that has nothing to do with seeing!” Iggy laughed.
After an hour, Iggy got bored so he just lay back and slept. After a nap, he
opened his eyes not seeing a difference between sleeping and awakeness. After a
minute, view blurred until it got sharper. But Iggy didn’t care, he could see! Soon he
saw hi-res views of everything. He was no longer blind! Iggy went to see Gazzy, his
best friend, and surprise him. The Gasman must be a sweet handsome looking kid. Iggy
ran to Gazzy, and took a deep look at him. “Eew..” Iggy said staring at Gazzy. Then the
Gasman noticed Iggy’s head moving. “Your head’s actually turning!” Gazzy said in awe.
Iggy narrowed his eyes. “I mean.. you’re not blind.” Gazzy exclaimed covering up what
he just said. Iggy had a lot to do in the next hour doing stuff you could do if you could
see! Iggy decided he would cook, and play games, and look at stuff. After ten minutes,
Iggy’s vision blurred, until, until- he couldn’t see again. Right at the right time, Gazzy
came up and asked Iggy to turn his head again. Iggy did it, but Gazzy had no idea that
Iggy’s skill wore off. “Um Gazzy, dude, I can’t see again. Guess my skill only lasts for
ten minutes” Iggy said sadly. Nudge came up looking bad for the fella. “Oh well, it was
fun having a moving head and fun to play with and not blind plus now realizing the
Gasman was ugly-um.. No offense. You still had to see how food LOOKS like. It makes
you want to eat some more. And…” Nudge babbled listing stuff Iggy could’ve done not
blind.










9














Total, Angel and I walked in slowly making sure no one saw us. That was hard
considering the fact that Erasers were everywhere! As Angel found a roomy spot, Total
licked a wire nearby accidentally electrocuting him. Owie. Angel grabbed Total and
hugged him close. Max feel your way to Fang, and you will find him. Thanks Voice.
Angel followed the thoughts of every person on the other side to find an opening we
could peep through. I prayed that the peephole wasn’t in a bathroom. Through the hole
was a control room that had…let’s see, Erasers, uhuh, Flyboys, yup- some whitecoats,
robots (Is this Star Wars?) and mutant freaks.













Then something caught my eye. Fang entered the room with his wings wide
open stretching out freely. But he entered by himself, not protected as if he was a
prisoner. “Ah Fang, please do sit down,” a man that was bald said directing him towards
a seat. Fang sat looking comfortable. Are you as confused as me? I mean nothing
surprises me much in this point of life, but Fang sitting and talking to a guy who I guess
is evil is just…well I don’t know-weird? I know one thing about the guy though, he’s
rich. He can afford all this stuff, and he’s evil. And that means he’s rich, because rich
people are always insane. “Our New Threat operation needs you to make a new enemy
to the flock. You’ve been with them, you know their weaknesses.” the man said. After
hours of boring tech stuff, Fang gave out his plan. Why that backstabbing traitor! Angel
shed a tear and listened intently. “Well most of them don’t like guns, so uh equip them
with guns. Make them have no thoughts, no mind. Just a chip that follows orders,” Fang
said. Angel opened her eyes wide open. “Their wing span should be maneuverable and
they must fly agile. Their hides should also be explosive proof. For blind people, make
the movement soundless and stealthy. Make sure they have duct tape at all times just
in case they feel like taping a person’s mouth.” Fang continued. All of these new foot
soldiers were gonna be immune to all our abilities. Good thing Fang hasn’t heard of
Total’s new ability.
Soon after, they were building an army of New Threat soldiers. Well call’em
anything you want, but they to me are the……..Hybirds! Not Hybrids, but Hy-Birds.
They looked like us! Two percent bird, ninety eight percent human. But they had special
functions, that could beat us up in minutes. You know what? They could’ve done this
earlier instead of creating flimsy Erasers and robotic Flyboys. This all happened when
Fang joined their side.














































10
The door on the other side blew up and sparks flew everywhere. Well someone
broke our cover, and now Angel, Total and I will beat them up! We dodged the Hybirds
and ran for the door. The dust flew out and I rolled up my fist to punch- Iggy? Iggy and
Gazzy with Nudge found us! “Hi Max! Com’in through!” Gazzy said flying up throwing
bombs at the Hybirds. “Gazzy! Wait-” I shouted, but it was too late. The explosions
blew out everywhere with unhurt Hybirds. I took Iggy’s arm and put him next to Angel.
“Iggy, stay with Angel, she’ll tell you everything.” I said getting a running start to flying.
“Wait Max,” Iggy told me stopping me in my tracks. Iggy’s eyes glowed up and then,
Iggy’s- Iggy’s head turned! “I can see for a limit of ten minutes, so I’ll take care of
myself.” Iggy said flying ahead of me. I ran to a Hybird ready to attack. I punched its
chest then flipped over and kicked him directly on his stomach. He grunted and stepped
back pulling out a gun. I flew up dodging every bullet, left or right. Soon, the Hybird
decided to join me on this battle filled evening and shot me on the back. Now he was
chasing me and my breath ran cold. Up ahead, a steel, shiny steel girder was up
ahead. I flew in a right angle fitting into the openings and flying through. The Hybird
flew around it still following me. I dived deeper into the cave then stopped automatically
picking a random time. The Hybird kept diving down, until he realized he wasn’t
following me. Now we were shooting up into the sky through the skylight, into the blue
sky. As we passed the clouds, the air grew thin, and we were both capable of
withstanding the pressure. Soon, there was no more air, and I was choking, so was Mr.
Hybird. Holding my breath, I punched him down, then gave him a big uppercut out of
the atmosphere. I flew down passing the clouds until I saw Gazzy and Iggy pretending
to be jets holding guns. I think I would l them use them. “Delta formation, go, go-Fire!”
Gazzy said sounding like a radio transmitter firing shots perfectly at the Hybirds. Of
course it took them every twenty shots, to kill one. Angel was ripping skulls off Hybirds
and Nudge’s metal attracting powers blew their heads open. Total was using his super
bark at squadrons of Hybirds with one “ruff”.
 11
I was honored to see my little babies handling things so well. After taking down
two more, the entire place was quiet. We all regrouped and talked. After that, we went
to the lower levels, checking everything out. At the lowest level, we found the energy
source and mine shaft complete with magma from the bottom of a cliff. “We have to be
careful, so look out,” I said knowing they would follow. “Aw man, magma!” Total
screeched in disgust. “How does it look like?” Iggy asked intently. “You know, yellow,
orangish, red hot jello inside the Earth.” Total answered as if he was scared. As we
went lower, we were literally in a dome protecting us from the magma outside. “Yo” I
heard something say from behind us. It was Fang, with Erasers and Flyboys behind
him. He smiled at me, and I frowned back. “You take the Erasers and erase those
Flyboys” I told my flock lunging for Fang. As I was about to punch his face, he moved
aside with oh so fast speed, and karate chopped me in the face twice. My hand was still
in the same position, so I pulled it over to Fang’s face then flipped over his body and
kicking his back, making him fall backwards. Fang hit the ground face down, and got up
just to kick me in the face. I was practically flying backwards smashing my body against
the glass. It didn’t shatter, but there was a tiny crack flowing tiny bits of magma in. I
darted forward tackling Fang down on an Eraser. He grinned, and picked the Eraser by
the legs, and smashed my head to the floor. Then he disposed it by throwing it on top
of Nudge. He wasn’t cute anymore, or cool, or Fang, he was the monster that used to
be my best friend. It was time to end this. I punched both times on his face, then twice
on his stomach, and flew up and shot down on him using all my weight. He grunted,
them screamed in agony. But he got up weakly, then punched the hardest punch I had
ever felt in my life. Fang flew up at the same speed he had before he got injured. Then
he smashed me over and over again on the crack. Then the thing shattered. The dome
collapsed and everyone flew out to the top. Except for me or Fang. We had a battle to
finish, and I was gonna finish it. I swooped into the door before it closed, and quickly
closed it when Fang was halfway through, killing him instantly. Then I watched as hs
body faded away and disappeared forever. A part of me stood there in pain agony and
a feeling of great loss. I had killed the guy I liked, hated, and despised at the same
time. Fang was gone, and the flock will fly with one wing missing once again.
At mom’s house we had a private funeral of Fang, even if we could never find
his body. I looked at the sky, and cried painfully. Then Fang’s figure appeared, and
said, “I made a mistake, but the flock must live on, and forget me. I’m sorry.” I stared
until he vanished and I cried more. After hearing that, I now understood that it was
unfair Jeb was unforgiving. I forgave Fang. I turned at Jeb and hugged him for a long
time. Itex is gone, and the memory of the School, and genetically wrong grafting ended
and the world remained peaceful. We saved the planet, and the flock.
Flying is a breathtaking thing! You zoom in and out when you want peacefully.
The serene air was quiet, too quiet. Quiet enough to be boring. So I decided to play,
“Pretty Princess named after a name that is known on all countries now including New
Zealand versus Total, Jets, and the motor mouth”. Angel smiled and we played a game
that was actually fun playing it. As we played the game we flew on forward to a new
life…