The day began like any other. Howard and I had decided to spend the last day of summer break at the arcade. Howard Weinerman is my best friend and has been so for as long as I can remember. We spent our entire summer together and we are going to face our first day of being freshman in high school together. But my plans for the future changed dramatically the moment my best friend and I had used up all our cash and walked out of the arcade.

"What the juice is that?!" Howard exclaimed. I looked up and saw something I would have never expected in Norrisville.

"Maybe they're filming a movie here and we didn't get the memo," I replied. It sure looked like a movie. There was some guy dressed in black and red tights with a scarf jumping around with a sword. He seemed to be fighting a tall man with sickly green skin and wearing a hooded cloak.

"Cunningham, I don't think this is a movie." Now that he'd mentioned it, my idea didn't seem likely. There were no camera crews around and everyone was running in terror from these odd creatures. The creatures came in all colors and sizes, but they all had glowing eyes. The monsters were like nothing I've seen before and I wondered where they were coming from. I wasn't left wondering for very long.

"You won't get away with this Sorcerer!" yelled the man with the scarf. In return, the tall figure said nothing, but formed a ball of green smoke in his hand and threw it at the… ninja? With surprising agility the ninja managed to avoid it and a fleeing citizen got hit instead. She suddenly morphed into a giant lizard with six eyes. Note to self: avoid mutating smoke. Howard tugged on my arm.

"We have to get out of here!"

"Don't you want to see how it ends?" I questioned. What can I say? I'm a naturally curious guy.

"No!" He ran back into the arcade, but still watched through the window. I stayed out on the sidewalk, mesmerized. The ninja's moves were so bruce and I had to see if he would defeat the Sorcerer. He pulled a handful of balls out of nowhere and lobbed them at the Sorcerer. They never reached the intended destination as one of the creatures took the electricity for its master.

I was the only one left on the street at this point because everyone else had either run away or been stank'd (I made this verb up myself because it seemed appropriate). The former people now surrounded the ninja and he seemed to be running out of energy while the Sorcerer stood on the sidelines laughing. After ten hard minutes of fighting, a monster too bizarre to even compare to a specific animal slashed the ninja across the chest and he collapsed. The stank'd people moved away from the body as the tall figure approached it.

"No!" I cried out. This is bad. If there's no one to oppose him, this evil sorcerer could take over the world! Yelling probably wasn't the smartest idea because the sorcerer then saw me. We locked gazes for a moment. He grinned evilly and directed his smoke towards me. I quickly turned around and tried to hide myself behind something; but it was too late. I felt a hot burning sensation between my shoulders and I fell. Then nothing happened. I looked behind me to view the presumably dead ninja shoving his sword through the bad guy's heart.

I sighed with relief. I guess he just needed a distraction. The Sorcerer had a shocked expression and then faded from view. This started a chain reaction of the stank'd citizens turning back to normal. Maybe that's why I never turned; the sorcerer was dead before his magic had any effect. The victory was short lived as the ninja fell back to the ground. I ran across the street to see if there was anything I could do to help, but he had lost a lot of blood and was dying.

"Sir, is there anything I can do?" I felt this guy needed some respect after defeating a smoke wielding sorcerer all by himself.

"Take this… keep it safe," were his last words. I looked down to what he had put in my hands; it was the red scarf that had been wrapped around the lower half of his face. The black suit disappeared; revealing a stranger.

"That was the cheese! Did you see how-" Howard started to retell the battle, but I wasn't listening. This guy had just died after saving us all and he wanted me to keep his scarf safe? Ok then. "Cunningham, is your back ok?" Now that he mentioned it, my back did hurt.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied as I rolled the scarf up and placed it in my deep pockets. "I'll clean it up at home."

"So what just happened and who was that creepy guy?"

"No honk'in idea," was all I could say as we walked home.

I slipped into the house without being noticed; after all, I don't want my mom noticing the gaping hole in the back of my jacket. It would raise too many questions. When I got to my room I locked the door and took both my shirt and jacket off. The toxic smoke had made a hole in my shirt too.

"Great, I'm going to have to replace my McHoodie. At least I have a back-up for when it's dirty," I said to myself. Then I used the mirror in my room to get a better look at my back; the skin appeared to be charred just in the area where I had been hit earlier. I tried to take my mind off it by examining the scarf; nothing out of the ordinary there except that it was really long. I wrapped it around my face and then my neck like the ninja had it and it reminded me of a cowboy with his handkerchief.

The scarf started to glow, startling me. Ribbons came from nowhere and encased my body. This is so the cheese. I had the ninja suit! Knowledge of ninja skills filled my mind and I knew that I had a powerful weapon in my possession. For some reason though it changed my hairstyle in a way that didn't scream Randy Cunningham; I barely recognized myself with not as spikey hair and the lower half of my face concealed. It's still exciting though and I couldn't help doing a few experimental flips and punches until I knocked a lamp of my table. It made a crashing noise and my mom knocked on the door.

"Is everything all right in there Randy?" I quickly took the scarf off.

"Yeah!"

"You should get ready for bed soon; first day of school at Norrisville high is tomorrow."

"Got it mom," I called. That was close. I wonder what Howard will think. I then became conflicted about telling him; he might become jealous. I shrugged and placed the scarf in my backpack; I would figure that out tomorrow. I took my McSkinnies off and flopped on my bed.

That's when the itching started; right on the hard to reach area of the back. It is driving me crazy and no amount of shifting around in the sheets would stop it. I eventually gave up and rolled over on my stomach and hugged my pillow; hoping the itch would go away. It even started to hurt, like something was under my skin and trying to rip its way out. I stuffed the pillow in my mouth; muffling a scream. Why is this happening? After an eternity, the ordeal ended. I sighed.

Something soft brushed against my arm. I glanced over at it.

"What the carp!?" Feathers. Black feathers. I didn't realize how close to the edge I'd gotten and I fell off my bed. I landed on something foreign, but something mine. I was scared to look in the mirror, though I did.

"That sorcerer turned me into a mutant!" My back now sported two, glossy black wings. Thankfully, that was all that changed compared to the other victims of the dark magic, but still. Why did it take so much longer than the transformations for other people? Upon closer inspection, I discovered my wingtips were a shade of red. I gave them an experimental flap, but just because I have them doesn't mean I know how to use them. The wings weren't obnoxiously large, but hiding them under my shirt for school tomorrow definitely wasn't going to fly. No pun intended.

I felt watched. I know that's crazy; my wings are carefully hidden in the backpack. Unfortunately I've always used a satchel for school; however, I found an old backpack in the hall closet. I had cut a hole in it and placed it over the bird-like appendages. It was a tight fit, but manageable. Fatigue was also starting to overcome me for I hadn't gotten much sleep. The wings make sleep and pretty much everything else awkward.

My first couple of hours went by smoothly, however I wasn't prepared for gym. No way they'd let me wear my backpack, so I had to skip it until I could find a solution. I was very relieved when lunch time came around.

"Have you been avoiding me Cunningham?" asked Howard.

"Of course not!" Yes you have. "I…um…. Do want the rest of my popcorn chicken?"

"Really?" Howard then became completely focused on the food. I need to tell him everything. I prepared myself to confess why I had been avoiding him when something caught my eye. There was green smoke drifting across the cafeteria toward a visibly distressed student. I thought the ninja killed that guy! How? I never had a chance to finish my thought as the student- Bucky I believe is his name- got stank'd.

He grew into a large, purple, top heavy creature with bulging yellow eyes. For two whole seconds, the cafeteria was quiet. Then the screams began and everyone rushed to the doors. The sudden movement agitated the Bucky-creature and he threw tables out of his way as he ran around the room. Great first day. I was about to leave too when I remembered that the late ninja had done something to change all those people back. So I had to do something too.

Howard got caught up in the flow of students and yelled my name when he saw I was staying in the cafeteria with the raging monster, but he couldn't do anything about it. When everyone left I pulled out the scarf and took my backpack off. Once I put the scarf on, I became much more confident about my plan. As Bucky rushed towards me, I vaguely noticed that the suit had adjusted to accommodate my wings. When he got close, I jumped clear over his head with a wing assist. This left him momentarily confused, which was just enough time for me to get a clear picture of what was going on. The cafeteria is pretty much destroyed, Bucky and I are the only ones here and he's holding a triangle. Wut?

It was true; throughout everything the kid was still grasping his musical instrument. Inspiration suddenly came to me, like someone had whispered what to do in my ear. It was worth a shot. I drew a sword from somewhere behind me (It's a skin tight suit, how does that even work?) and jumped into the air again. This time I used my wings to stay aloft and though they are too small to sustain long flight, they help with long jumps. I angled toward the triangle Bucky was brandishing. The sword cleaved it in two, but the creature retaliated with a fist to the gut. Ouch. I slammed against the wall while my fellow student returned to normal.

I'm glad that's over. I wonder where the Sorcerer is hiding and why he's stanking students.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Who are you?"

"That was so bruce!"

These were all common questions as the student body filtered into the room again. I didn't know how to answer them and I was glad the suit disguised my identity. A black and red ball rolled into my palm from the sleeve and I had a pretty good guess at its purpose. I flew to where I had left my backpack and announced "Smoke bomb!" To everyone watching, it had looked like I vanished.

In the boy's bathroom, I replaced the scarf and my wings into the pack. I walked out like nothing happened and traveled back to the cafeteria. My best friend bumped into me before I reached my destination.

"What was that Cunningham?! I wasn't able to find you while that monster was attacking and I thought…" Howard faltered, "Thought that you didn't make it." He looked at me with sad eyes. Please stop guilt tripping me bro.

"Howard," I rested a hand on his shoulder, "I have something to show you after school."

"Don't change the subject!" he started but curiosity got the better of him. "What do you want to show me?"

"After school Howard." With that, I walked to my next class.

The last hours progressed smoothly and the bell finally rang; dismissing us all. Howard had been giving suspicious glances the entire day and he followed me right out of the building.

"Randy, you have been killing me all day! What's all the secrecy about?" I shushed and dragged him around the corner of the school.

"I'm not quite sure how to tell you… just don't be freaked out okay?" Howard just raised an eyebrow. I inhaled deeply and let my backpack fall off my shoulders. His eyes widened at the sight of my new wings. "And that's not all," I continued. I retrieved the ninja scarf from my pack and wrapped it around my face. The look on my friends face was priceless.

"This is the cheese! So you were that guy that saved Bucky and how did this even happen?!" I'm pretty sure he was shocked enough that I could've pushed him over with one of my own feathers.

"Well, it's a slightly confusing tale that I don't even understand myself. I do know one thing though; an evil Sorcerer is responsible and I'm going to do everything within my power to stop him."

Author note: There were a few things I had to change to fit my AU, but all in all I like it. Ever since reading Maximum Ride I've thought it would be fun to have wings. I also love my Au's ninja suit. I have a fetish for scarves and Randy's is the brucest one yet. R&R because I worked on this on and off for 6 hours when I should have been studying for exams. Was it worth it?

This may be continued, but there are a few things I'll have to figure out. Like Nomicon and whats going on with the sorcerer. Obviously he didn't die because hes like immortal or something. Norrisville high will also have to get used a ninja.I'll also have to bring in more characters… dang.