You know that feeling you get when something completely crazy and dangerous is about to happen, but you have no idea when, and that you should be as careful as humanly possible?

I had that feeling that night.

If only I had trusted it.

Earlier that day the Flock and I had liberated the mutants at the Institute. The Institute for Higher Living, to be exact. Which ended up being a pseudonym for the School. Lovely.

I know what you might be thinking. 'Mutants? What?' Well, welcome to my wacky world, with a bunch of crazy wackjob scientists ruining lives by creating genetic mutants. How do I fit into this, you might ask? Notice how I mentioned 'the Flock' earlier?

Yeah, that might give you a bit of a hint.

My friends and I, aka the Flock, were created in a secret laboratory in Death Valley called the School. When I was ten years old, we escaped, with the help of a whitecoat named Jeb Batchelder. Who we'd recently found out was a conniving little traitor.

But that's a story for another time.

We had been in New York City for about a day or two before that, but given the mission, I had never had time to truly enjoy just being in New York. So, that night, while the rest of the Flock was out sleeping in a tree in Central Park, I went out to explore the city.

I was smack in the middle of Times Square when it happened. Someone had been following me for a while, and I tried to shake the, off, weaving deeper into the crowds. Fat lot of good that did. The creep was still following me.

Then I heard gasps behind me, and a few screams. I turned and saw a fully-morphed Eraser. Great.

Erasers were also mutants created by the School. They were half human, half wolf. They were the Schools headhunters, the thugs, whatever you want to call 'em. And they were out for blood.

The Eraser had lunged at me through the crowd, and I made a break for it. In hindsight, going back into the city after I escaped it wasn't the best idea. Hey, I wanted a cookie, sue me.

I had ran out of the throng of people this time, hoping that the Eraser wouldn't hurt any bystanders. Although, that was probably just wishful thinking.

When the crowd had finally started to thin, I dared a peek behind me. There were three- no, four- no five!- Erasers. Five predators chasing their prey. And I was the prey.

I had three options. Number one, the classic up-and-away. That wouldn't work, there were too many people. And with the stunt the Flock and I had pulled the day before... yeah, no. Not gonna happen.

Option number two was to go back into the crowd and try to lose them. That wouldn't work either. I didn't want any innocents hurt.

That just left door number three.

Run.

I put on a burst of speed, pulling away from the crowds and the Erasers. There were more Erasers, but I was faster than a grown human man. I'd be able to outrun them.

I turned onto the first side street I could find, and kept going. Backroad after backroad whizzed by, with me hoping to find my way back to Central Park somehow.

I had been finally beginning to tire when I turned a corner and- nothing. Dead end. Zero. Zip. Nada. Game over.

I turned around and saw the five Erasers turn the corner, finally catching up. At that point, I knew I was a goner. I couldn't up-and-away, because the alley was only about ten feet wide. Not close to enough for my fifteen-foot wingspan.

It seemed kind of a cliche way to go. Typical horror-movie stuff. Trapped in a dark alleyway surrounded by bloodthirsty beasts. I mean, come on. With my life the way it is, you'd think fate would come up with a more creative way than that.

Apparently not.

But then I heard something.

It was sort of a mechanical wheezing or groaning. I'd never heard anything like it before. And for some reason, the sound was almost… comforting.

The Erasers paused in their advance, staring at something behind me. I was about to make some sort of snarky comment when I realized the sound… was coming from behind me.

I turned my head to look behind me, and there was… a big blue box? I couldn't really think about it, the only thing running through my mind at the moment was escape. So I did.

I opened the door to the box, quickly stepped in, and slammed it shut in front of me, keeping my grip on the handle so the Erasers couldn't pull it open. After a few minutes, when I was sure the Erasers weren't going to beat down the door, I turned around.

And almost ran right back outside.

The box was…

"...bigger on the inside." I breathed.

"I always love it when they say that." said a voice. I looked for the source of it, and saw three people standing by a circular... console... thing. Two guys, one girl. Both of the guys had black hair, but one had his hair close-cut and the others was more grown out. The one with the close-cut hair had big ears and was wearing a leather jacket, while the other one was wearing a coat that looked like it was straight out of World War Two. The girl was shorter than they boys, and she had long blonde hair, actually about the same length as mine.

"How did you get in? That's supposed to be locked." Said the man in the World War Two jacket.

The blonde girl hit him on the arm. "Jack, rude." she said. "She's in shock."

I'm not in shock. I thought. Wait… maybe I am.

"What the…" I said, looking around, and walking towards them.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor." Said the man in the leather jacket. He was just standing there by the console thingy, grinning away. It unnerved me a little bit.

"I'm Rose Tyler." the blonde said as I reached them.

"Captain Jack Harkness." The man in the WWII jacket introduced, holding out a hand for me to shake. I just eyed his hand wearily for a moment before he pulled it back, smiling sheepishly.

"What's your name?" Rose asked.

"Max." I replied, then realized it came out as a whisper. "I'm Max. Maximum Ride." I said, louder this time.

I was mentally kicking myself for how undone I was acting. I was Maximum Ride, Flock leader and avian-American supreme. I should be interrogating these people into a nervous sweat, not gaping like a tourist.

"Lovely name." Rose smiled at me, obviously able to tell how uncomfortable I was. But I wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. I just wanted to get back. But that obviously wasn't going to happen. My only choice at this point? Talk.

"So… what is this?" I asked, gesturing around.

"The TARDIS." The Doctor replied.

"The what?" I countered.

"T-A-R-D-I-S. Time and Relative Dimension in Space." The Doctor explained, but sighed when I gave him a blank look. "It's a spaceship that can travel through all of time and space."

"Oh." Way to go, Max. Great job expressing yourself.

"So, how did you get in? Not even Genghis Khan's army could get through that door, yet you managed. How?" The Doctor asked.

I shrugged. "It was open."

The Doctor stared at me. "Interesting. She usually doesn't let anyone in without a key. She must have let you in for a reason. I wonder what that reason is."

Just then, I remembered the Flock waiting for me back in Central Park, and possibly in danger. Mama bear mode engaged. "Look, this mystery is nice and all, but I have to get to Central Park. Now."

"Why?" The Doctor asked.

"Because my family is there," I snapped, "and they are in very possible danger right now. I need to get there now."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but then Rose shot him a look I knew all too well. I knew it because it was the look I gave the kids when they were acting a little too goofy at too serious of a time.

The Doctor sighed, and turned to the console, flipping switches and pushing buttons.

"You might want to hang on." Jack said. "He's not the best flyer."

"Says the one with a time pogo-stick." Came over the Doctors shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah." Jack shrugged it off.

"He's right, though." Rose said, leaving me to wonder if she meant Jack was right or if the Doctor was right. Maybe both.

"Hold on." The Doctor warned before he pulled a lever. In a moment of conformity, Rose, Jack and I all grabbed the railing around the console at the same time, bracing ourselves.

The TARDIS jerked, jolted, and tilted, and after about a minute, it stopped.

"Here we are. Central Park, New York City, barely a second after we left. Now, I believe you said you have family waiting?" The Doctor asked, looking at me.

"Yes, I do." I said, and there was an awkward silence for a moment. "Well, bye." I said before dashing out the door. I kept running and didn't stop until I had climbed up the tree the Flock was in and was lying on a thick branch.

I was hallucinating. I thought. That was just my crazy imagination. A time machine spaceship that's bigger on the inside. Yeah, right.

Little did I know then, that encounter would come back to haunt me. But later. In fact, much later.