“Guys, guys!” Fang shouted. His deeper voice cut through the high-pitched wailing. “This can’t be real! It isn’t real!”
You wish, freak, I thought.
135
Get this: I could follow their scent. I didn’t know if this was a newly enhanced skill or if they were just riper than usual, but I could actually follow where the flock had gone.
They’d gotten in through the air vents, and I tracked them, even reversing course a couple times, as they must have done. Finally I knew that they were near, and by concentrating, I picked up on whispered conversation. I found a ceiling vent that looked down into a computer room in the basement, kind of similar to the computer room at the Institute. As if there were an interior decorator who specialized in working with mad scientists.
I saw Fang! He was standing guard at the door. Angel was keeping Total quiet. I changed my angle and looked farther into the room. Nudge was at a computer, reading something. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, which made my heart tighten. Then—I saw her.
The other me.
“Max, Max, look at this,” Nudge said, turning to her, and my blood ran cold.
I mean, she looked exactly like me, and as I watched, she flipped her hair back impatiently, the way I always did.
Fresh rage ignited in my chest, making it hard for me to breathe. They had actually made a backup Max and substituted her for me.
This was, like, a seventeen on a diabolical scale of one to ten.
I was going to kill the other Max. And what about my flock? How could they not know? How could she be that perfect a copy? But I swear, it was like watching a hologram of me, a video of me, interacting with Nudge.
I glanced around again—and saw Angel looking directly at me through the vent.
I pulled back immediately, not wanting her to give me away. Then I had a horrible thought: What if Angel thought I was the impostor? What if the fake Max had them snowed?
Oh God, I had to stop this now.
Grimly I started to undo the clips that held the ceiling vent in place. Then, below me, I spotted my favorite combat partner barreling toward the computer room. Ari. I would have to take care of him for good this time.
At the same time, I would have to take care of my ultimate enemy: me.
136
In the middle of the chaos and screaming, a crashing sound made our heads whip around. Unbelievably, the old Max, Maximum Ride, dropped through the ceiling vent into the room. Where had she come from? She was supposed to have been taken care of!
But here she was, and she looked sooo mad.
“My invite must have gotten lost in the mail,” she said venomously. “But I don’t mind crashing this party.”
In that instant, the rats, the spiders, and the cage disappeared. While everyone else blinked, looking around—giving new meaning to the word dumb—I cursed under my breath. A fine time for the big guys’ latest super-top-secret holographic virtual-reality system to crash. This—along with the untimely arrival of my charming predecessor—was going to make my job a little more difficult.
“Max?” Ari asked, staring at the other Max.
“Max!” Nudge shouted.
“Yes,” we both answered.
The other Max looked at me, and her eyes narrowed. “They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” she said snidely. “So I guess you’re really sucking up.”
“Who are you?” I gasped, my eyes wide. “You’re an impostor!”
“No, she isn’t.” The little creepy one, Angel, turned to look at me. Her arm was still bleeding where Ari had bitten it. “You are.”
I swallowed my anger. Who did she think she was, her and her stupid dog? I gave a concerned smile. “But Angel,” I said, sincerity dripping from my voice, “how can you say that? You know who I am.”
“I think I’m Angel,” she said. “And my dog isn’t stupid. You’re the stupid one, to think that you could fool us. I can read minds, you idiot.”