Another chapter is up! I wanted to get this done before I left, and it took me all day/night to finish it up. The first part of this chapter was almost right out of the book, since there was no better thing to do wth it. I'm making this chapter longer than the first two because I wont be updating in a while.

Diaclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, Super Smash Bros., or Fruit Rollups.
"This" is talking
'These' are thoughts
and for once there are not authors notes or comments

Chapter 3: Desert Fly

Max POV

I love flying. Whether if it's out free in the open space or even fleeing through a subway tunnel. It's just amazing. And so flying over Africa, boy we should do this more often.

"Max!" Iggy called over to me. "Why did they name the country Chad? Seriously, Chad. It's like naming the whole country Biff or Trey. I don't get it."

Of course Iggy would ask me that kind of question. What did I look like? A geography teacher? "Ig, don't be ignorant. It's not like all the people here name themselves."

"Why not? We named ourselves," Nudge noted.

"Only 'cause we're special." I gestured to her twelve-foot wingspan.

As we continued flying, we noticed some pretty cool stuff below us. Like a Martian-like rock formation in the distance. The trip was amazing, though I wish I could remember which countries we had already flown over.

"Mauritania, Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Chad together are all about sixty-eight percent desert," Angel said, literally reading my mind. She's powerful like that.

"Whatever. It's too muck freaking desert," Gazzy complained. "I wouldn't mind seeing a few cows chomping away at some grass right about now."

"A-plus-plus on the geography quiz, Angel. Gazzy, Iggy, extra credit when you check your attitudes at the door." Sometimes I forget that Gazzy and Iggy aren't related. They are like twins when it comes to their attitudes, likes and dislikes. Except Gazzy isn't a pervert.

"Listen, I know some of you are a little cranky from the long flight, but this is our chance to finally help people. Real people," I emphasized, as if we grew up in a plastic bubble or something. Well, we did, if dog crates in a lab counted.

"Real people…as in, not just a bunch of wack-job scientists," Fang clarified.

"Yup. Did it ever occur to you guys," I continued, "that when we were told we had to save the world, it might have actually meant saving people – like one at a time? I mean, this could be it, guys. Our destiny."

"Max is right guys," Angel said, agreeing with me for the first time in forever.

"Word on the street is that you have to save the world Max," Iggy reminded me. "The rest of us? Not so much." Wimp. Always trying to take the easy way out.

Not Fang though. "Hey, Max, wherever you go to save the world, I will follow…Mother Teresa." I smiled, and enjoyed the moment for about five seconds. I noticed three black dots in the distance. And they were moving straight towards us. Uh-oh. Not good.

"Incoming!" I shouted to the flock. "Down, down, down!" Fast moving objects directed at the flock usually meant imminent death or danger.

"Max! Relax! I think those are the CSM cargo planes," Fang said, stopping me. I remembered that we were supposed to meet up with the cargo planes somewhere along the trip.

I felt very stupid.

Gazzy called over to me, "I can't see anything!"

"I can't see anything either!" Iggy complained. Did I forget to mention he's blind?

"I'm rolling my eyes Ig."

"Not, there's, like, dust clouds below," Gazzy clarified.

I looked down. There were several black dots heading in the direction of the village we were supposed to go to. Something told me that they weren't CSM troops.

"Guys, look!" Angel said, pointing down. Some of the dust had cleared up in the back, and we could make out a tiny black dot lying on the ground. It looked familiarly like a human body.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Is that what I think it is?" asked Nudge.

I stopped to ponder a bit. Then I said, "I'm not sure, but I guess we'll have to find out." The six of us swooped down toward the laying object. As we drew closer, I saw I was right. It was a human body.

It was a boy, looking a little younger than Fang, Iggy, and I, but older than Nudge. He had chestnut colored hair and was oddly dressed in a tunic with sandals, clutching a bow and shield. Was he dressing up as some ancient Greek or Roman? In this heat?

But his clothing was stained in red, which seemed to be coming from the two dark holes in his back…

"Oh my God! He's been shot!" I realized, eyes wide. Everyone's heads whipped towards me, then back at the boy. Four more pairs of eyes widened. (Four because Iggy can't see)

"Is he dead?" Gazzy whispered, barely audible.

Angel shook her head. "No, he's alive. I can hear his thoughts, but they are very distant."

"Plus his chest is moving, to show he is breathing," Fang added.

"So…what do we do?" Nudge asked.

I had to ponder some more. Then came to a conclusion. "If we are going to be saving people one at a time, then we will start now, with this boy. We'll carry him to the village, and get him some medical attention."

"So we're going to carry him and walk to the village?" Iggy asked.

I turned to him. "Yes Iggy. We're going to carry him the remaining three miles we have left to go to the village. We're gonna fly of course!"

"But don't normal people weigh more than us bird-kids?" Nudge asked.

"Exactly. That's why we are going to take turns carrying him. First is Iggy. Next is Fang. Then me. After me, we go back to Iggy, and so forth. You three will carry his bow and shield, since I'm guessing he will want it when he wakes up. Any questions?" Everyone nodded their approval. "Alright then lets go!"

Iggy picked up the small boy in his arms. "He's lighter than I thought he would be."

"This is a poor part of the country and continent. I don't think most people here eat much, or weigh much because of that," Angel said matter-of-factly. So now she's using that tone on the rest of the flock? Great.

'Not exactly. You would have probably said the same thing though, Max,' She thought to me. I didn't like it that she was reading my mind, even though what she said was right.

It didn't take long to reach the village, and by the time I was halfway through my turn, we had arrived. We approached the tents that were the ones we would be staying in. Patrick Rooney, our CSM contact, greeted us.

"You guys are here. Awesome!" he said clapping his hands together. When he saw me holding the boy, his smile faltered. "What happened to him?"

"We don't know. We think he was shot but none of us are sure. But he needs immediate medical attention," I said.

"That's not good. The cargo planes that arrived just now were for food and water supplies. Any type of medicine or medical equipment doesn't come until tonight," he said, his eyes still on the boy. "Lets just hope he makes it until then."

I laid him down on the sack carefully. He looked completely innocent. Why would anyone want to shoot down a mere boy? Then again, all of us in the flock are (hate to say it) kids, and we've done some serious stuff no matter how innocent we can look.

'Like the way Gazzy blew up an Eraser hideout once?' Angel asked, mentally.

'Yeah, kind of like that,' I thought back to her. Then I turned to the rest of the flock. "Okay! Who wants to start saving the world one person at a time?" They all cheered, except for Fang who just nodded.

We were given our instructions to what to do. Fang and I were giving rice to everyone, making sure they each had two cups worth. Angel and Gazzy gave some of the younger children Fruit Rollups, and entertained them, showing off their wings and all. Iggy was helping with the crates, getting directions from Nudge, who was helping out the elderly.

About 20, minutes later, Angel came to me with a concerned look on her face. What could be the matter?

"Its about the boy we found," she said.

"What about him?"

"I don't think he's normal," Angel stated out straight-forwardly.

Her comment took me by surprise. "What do you mean you don't think he's normal? How so?" we've seen a lot of abnormal things, but what about this kid that is making her cautious?

She hesitated, as if someone might hear her. "Remember I said I picked up on his thoughts, but that they were distant? Well, I was still going through his mind, and…"

"And?"

"I hear him say he had wings," she finished. "And apparently he figured out we have wings too."

My immediate thought was that it had to be the work of the School or Itex. I haven't seen another bird-kid since that girl we freed in the Institute, and this worried me deeply. What if that boy was sent out to come after us?

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Angel said. If this was any other time, I might have gotten mad about her reading my mind, but this was important.

"We still don't know for sure what is going to happen with that boy, but first we have to see if he makes it through today alive. Whether he's innocent or an enemy, we have to be careful. We should tell the others, but we'll worry about it tonight."

Angel just walked back to Gazzy, but she thought to me, 'Should I tell you if anything else comes up?'

'Please do,' I thought back to her as I walked back up to Fang.

He looked at me, and I knew he was asking 'What happened.'

I told him what Angel had told me. "We shouldn't worry at the moment, but we should think this over once we're done," I added. Fang nodded, and continued handing out the rice.

During that time, I noticed that Angel came to me with what she had in mind. Something she hardly did these days. The issue could have been really small, or really bad. The boy may have been delusional, and it could have been all in his head. Or he may be a spy working for the white-coats. I think that we finally may be able to see eye-to-eye again.

After a long, and gruesomely hot day, we were happy to be in our tent. Usually we have a lot more energy than this, but usually we have about several thousand calories a day.

"Pass the grub," Iggy mumbled.

"The brown grub or the yellow grub?" I asked.

"Either one is fine." I could tell he wanted something more like a hamburger. All of us did. I instantly felt bad for people who had to eat this on a daily basis.

Fang picked two sleeping mats, and said, "I'll set up our beds."

I picked up two mats also. "I'll help you with that-" but I didn't get to finish my sentence. We all stopped and turned to the rustling noise behind us. The boy was waking up.

No Pov

Several workers were behinds screens and computers, typing away their business. Then several men walked in.

"Did you guys do it?" asked a high ranked worker.

One of the men stepped up. "We had to wait a while, but we were able to shoot down the boy. He wont be going anywhere soon."

The worker looked at the man. "What do you mean 'the boy?' Your target was six flying children."

The man just looked back, with a confused expression. "That's what our report said Dr. Gold, but there was only one. He looked about 13 or so. Had chestnut colored hair and pure white wings," he said, describing the boy.

"Anne! Human-avian hybrid, chestnut colored hair, around 13 years of age, male. Check to see if any successful subjects match." Dr. Gold said.

The woman looked up through the database, but none of the mutants matched this one. "We never created such a hybrid that matches who you said," she answered.

Dr. Gold thought for a while, then he dismissed the men. 'If we never created this hybrid boy they shot down, then who is he?'

Done and done. This will be the last chapter I will update for now, because I am going on vacation for three weeks. I will post an Author's Note with more detail. If there is no Author's Note, then the next chapter is probably up. Sorry there is no preview of the next chapter. I'm beat and I have another fanfic I want to update.

Oh, Anne and Dr. Gold arent important. I just felt like giving them names. It is frustrating to always say 'This man' or 'The man' etc. etc. so naming them is easier. I'm just letting you know that I dont plan on bringing these two back.

other than that, see ya
-Wolf