Hey, guys, I have no idea where VR is, since SHE WON'T ANSWER MY FLUFFIN PM'S! Honestly, if she doesn't get on here soon, I'll have to post without her…

Wait, this is wonderful! I get full reign over the AN's! So, thank you to those who have reviewed and as for the rest of you: you can go to he-

Random, you can't tell your readers to go to hello.

Who the heck are you?

I'm your conscience.

In that case, fu- *cough*

Woah Random, you really fly off the wall without me around.

We don't own MR

Chapter 1

It was ten o'clock my time, and even though I should have been at least a little tired, the three Red Bulls I had sucked down kept me wide awake. "Ari, it's your bedtime," I muttered, glancing over at my brother. In the past two hours he had somehow migrated out of his room and into the game room without my knowledge until he started talking and I realized how obnoxiously loud his voice was.

"I don't have a bedtime on Saturdays," he pointed out smugly and I groaned, looking at the ceiling and banging my head against the recliner a couple of times. "Listen, you little twerp, this is a game for the big leagues; not some first class newb!" I growled out, "Well, besides Sam." I added as an afterthought.

"Hey!" Sam snapped. "I'm getting better!"

"Yeah, when you can back that up by killing at least one enemy let me know," I drawled out, turning back to Ari.

"I'll tell Mom you egged Dylan's house," I threatened.

"That was you, not me!" My brother exclaimed, his irritating, whiny voice making my ears bleed.

"And who do you think mom will believe?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You, the average wannabee rebel who's been suspended seven times, or me? The straight A angel?" I mocked, batting my eyelashes at him innocently.

"Fine," Ari snarled, and I watched as he began to shut down.

"Max! We got more people to our right!" Angel exclaimed and I scowled as Ari paused right before he hit 'end game' and instead hit 'continue'. And unfortunately, once again my bratty brother was tagging along. I wanted to argue with him some more, but a bullet whizzed by my avatar and I had no time to think about dumb little brothers.

"Who's shooting at us?" Sam asked as I observed my surroundings. The bullets were coming from my right, and I started firing in that direction.

"Crap!" I heard someone shout. "Iggy she hit me!"

"Shut up, Gazzy," another voice hissed.

An indignant huff came from the headset. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Actually, I can; this is my x-box."

The bullets had stopped amid the bantering, as if they had forgotten they were playing the game. I edged my avatar forward, in the direction that the firing had come from. Now that I was closer to the wall, the darkness faded and I could see a hallway.

There were two people standing idly just a little ways away from the entrance. I could still hear Iggy and Gazzy arguing in my headset and aimed my gun, ready to take them out if needed.

"Wait!" Iggy yelled and I brought a hand to my ear, glaring at the screen. Didn't these people realize we were wearing headsets? A moment later he spoke again, this time at a normal tone. "Don't fire… Uh, we'll team with you."

"And what would I get for teaming with two idiots who can't talk and shoot at the same time?"

For a moment, everyone was silent, until a slightly higher voice that I guessed was Gazzy's, pleaded their case. "Our scores are already over a million!"

"Pft, mine's over ten million. Now try bribing me with something I actually care about," I snapped.

"Over ten million- The game's only been out ten hours!" Iggy exclaimed incredulously. I rolled my eyes at his shock, and tried not to sound too cocky. "Well duh, I'm Maximum Ride, I better have that kind of score in ten hours."

"Oh. My. God. GAZZY, IT'S MAXIMUM RIDE! IT'S THE MAXIMUM RIDE! WE ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF A FREAKING VIDEO GAME GOD! OH. MY. GOD!" Iggy shouted, and both Ari and I threw our headsets off, our ears ringing more than the fire alarm at school.

"Can you please use your inside voice?" I growled into my mike, afraid of putting the actual headset back on.

"Sorry," A faint, sheepish voice apologized and I carefully put my headset back on, followed by Ari.

"Well I can't say I blame you, I am a really big deal," I shrugged to myself and looked their avatar's over. "Over a million huh? Maybe you do have some sort of use to me," I mumbled and could just imagine Iggy drooling over his screen.

"We know every bomb mod there is for this game!" Gazzy piped up, obviously still trying to convince me they were worthy. I let out a breath of air, deciding that since I didn't know those mods, I'd let them tag along.

"Alright, come on boys. We have a lot of ground to cover and only till I fall asleep to cover it," I said and started heading off down the hall where I had just gotten two new recruits from.

"Where are we heading?" Gazzy asked and I grinned brightly.

"To victory, my virtual friend."

123

"When you said victory, I thought you meant it metaphorically. Not that you had no idea and no more of a plan than to walk around aimlessly until we happen to stumble across a key," Iggy muttered dryly about thirty minutes later.

"I have a plan," I grumbled. "It's just too complex to explain."

I could practically see Iggy rolling his eyes. "Is that why we've passed that door five times?"

"I'm making sure that no one's tailing us." I insisted.

"Yeah guys, you obviously don't know the Maximum Ride strategy plans. I mean, you claim to be her biggest fans and you don't even know the simple 'Code Green' tactic," Ari added and I glanced over at my goofy brother, slightly impressed that he knew what a Code Green was. However, I was soon angered by the fact Ari was giving my code system away. He was lucky enough to know it, and after this game I'd have to re-scramble it so he wouldn't be able to tell a bunch of random online players.

"Ari, shut up," I snapped and almost instantly his mouth bit closed. He must have realized what he had just done because he gave me a slightly apologetic look before turning back to the game. I rolled my eyes but let his slip-up slide for now. After all, I was too busy watching out for the person who had been following us.

I knew someone had to be because every time we came into an enemy fight there was always one extra bullet being fired then there should have been, and since I was the only one with the right hacks for two guns by the looks of it, that meant somebody was trailing us. Who, was the first question that came to mind. This person obviously had to be a skilled gamer, one who was watching to either use us as bait, or use us as their own personal hound dogs to find the keys.

Ever since I realized this extra person I had been keeping a close eye out for him or her, but I have had yet to see even a glimpse of our ghost follower. Which is why I had been going in a circle. I figured we'd either lose the third wheel, or they would have slipped up by now. However, neither of those options have come into play yet obviously.

"Code green?" Nudge asked.

I shake my head, realizing as I do it that she can't see me. "It's nothing, Nudge. Come on, we have keys to find."

I hear Nudge take a deep breath, but it's cut off by a noise over the headset.

"Fudge!" It's not a voice I recognize and I look around us. Had our tail finally made a mistake?

Before I can even fully turn around, the others are taking off down the hall, most likely running to their death. I quickly catch up to them, and block their way. "What are you doing?"

Angel's sheepish voice speaks up. "Someone could be in trouble. Shouldn't we help them?"

"I have enough trouble keeping you lot alive as it is," I grumble. I hear another curse- this one not so innocent- and the sound for someone losing a life.

"Max-"

I huff. "Okay, fine. We'll help, but we're not rushing into this and getting ourselves killed. Follow my lead."

I edge my avatar forward, until I can see what we're up against. One character, most likely the girl with the sailor's mouth, is facing at least twenty expert level enemies that would take a least a team of five to beat out- and even then just by the skin of their teeth. So, the fact that this person had held on this long was rather impressive. I kept the thought of a new team member in the back of my mind as I began to snipe the enemy out, one by one, nodding at Iggy and Gazzy to do the same while the rest just watched.

"Come on JJ, don't die now!" I heard the girl responsible for the wicked avatar mumble as she went rapid-fire on the enemy. I look around confusedly, trying to find the source of what could possibly attract this many high-level opponents.

Then I see it. A single, spinning key is slightly hidden in the corner, only noticeable if you were looking for something like it. I start making my way towards it, fighting off enemy after enemy as I go. That is, until the girl speaks up.

"Don't you even think about it. That key is mine."

Scoffing, I answer her. "Seeing as we're saving your arse, I'd say that we have just as much claim to it as you."

The girl is suddenly in front of me, but so are at least a dozen more of the enemy. We fight our way through, a silent face off to see who can take out more. Though she only has one gun, it's high scale, and even I can appreciate it. Together, we take out at least half of the people surrounding us, and I hear Iggy and Gazzy using mods for explosions behind me.

When the area's finally clear, I find that the only thing left to do is either convince this girl to join us or find a way to get the key without losing a life.

I decide to try the former since the girl is currently training her gun at me.

"Instead of shooting me, which I doubt you'd accomplish anyways, why don't you lower your gun-"

"So you can shoot me, instead?" She asks skeptically.

"No, so we can talk this out like the civilized people we are," I fire back.

I hear Iggy guffaw behind me. I don't turn around, but do ask him why he's suddenly turned into a hyena.

"It's just… you… civilized?" He begins another round of laughter and I roll my eyes.

"Please ignore the idiot in the background," I mumble.

I can practically see her ignoring my comment and analyzing the people behind me. "That's some group you got. Those two guys had some pretty good mods."

"They're okay for a group of newbs." I hear a cry of outrage from Ari and wave him off.

The girl starts to lower her gun, but it's still pointed at a fatal spot. "And I suppose that you don't consider yourself an amateur?"

I smirk. "Of course not. Maximum Ride, gaming legend, first on the leaderboards."

"Oh, really?" She snorts. "When's the last time you actually looked at the leaderboards?"

I look confusedly towards Ari, who shrugs back at me. "What do you mean?" Before she can answer, I see Iggy inching closer and closer to the key. Unfortunately, a moment after I see him, JJ does too.

Her gun is swinging away from me and pointed towards him before I can blink. He let out a yelp and must have smashed his hand against his controller because his avatar goes back and forth for a minute, then lunges toward the key. JJ fired and the wall behind where Iggy had been standing explodes.

The key disappears and Iggy lets out a little whoop, then ducks away from another one of JJ's bullets. His avatar rolls to the left and pulls out his gun, and I watch at they aim at each other, both eager to pull the trigger yet holding back.

"You shoot and you die," I warned, aiming my gun at her as well. Within minutes the whole team had her surrounded, and even Sam and Nudge were locked in on her head.

"Now, we either blow you off the map, or you lower your gun," Sam hissed and I smirked to myself.

JJ looked around at us, weighing her options before finally letting out a deep sigh and putting her gun away. "Kidnapped by the seven dwarves; the nerds at school will love this story," she growled out.

"Alrighty then. Welcome to the group. Your complimentary guards are right this way," Ari sneered out sarcastically just as Iggy and Gazzy stepped up to stand on either side of her. I looked over to my little brother and he smirked at the screen. I would never admit it out loud, but the kid was definitely learning some of my good qualities. Sarcasm being at the top of the list. He still had a long way to go, but at least he was making decent comebacks.

"We take tips; lots of them!" Gazzy chimed up and I heard Iggy snort before I began to talk.

"Alright Sleepy, Happy, Grumpy, Newbie, let's get moving," I joked, listing off a few dwarves. Fittingly, we all burst out into song (with the exception of JJ, who groaned in annoyance) as we walked off to our destination, wherever that was.

"Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work we go…"

Hello world! I didn't get to properly say that at the top since I was too busy watching TV to pay attention to Random. And normally I'd be all for a super long AN filled with crack, but I have A SHOW TO GET BACK TO.

Hear that, VR cares more about Switched at Birth than she does about us.

That is not true! There's just so many plot twists… and Emmett. Lots and lots of Emmett…- anyways, I love you guys, please review!

QoTC:

DO YOU LOVE EMMETT? ARE YOU TEAM BEMMETT?

NO ASK YOUR QUESTION TOO!

WHY IS VR PRESSING RANDOM BUTTONS?

MWAHAHAHAhahaha aww… no more caps lock.

Guys, I think something is wrong with VR, so we're going to have to go…

CAPS LOCK RETURNS! and now it's gone AND NOW ITS BACK gone BACK gone BACK gone gone BACK BACK gone BACK gone BACK!

Don't be a caps lock crack head,

-Blondie And The Vampire