Walking High Above the World
- After the fireworks, Max and Freak—still securely on Max's shoulders—head to the food carts.
- Freak is enjoying his new perspective when he sees Blade and his gang. He tells Max to go left, but Max gets confused because he's so worried. Freak's solution? He kicks him and starts to steer him like you would a horse.
- Max doesn't care—he just wants to avoid Blade.
- No luck. They end up cornered by some of his gang.
- Suddenly, Freak kicks Max's right shoulder and Max starts running. Yep, big Max is being steered by tiny Freak.
- It turns out Freak's brilliant plan is to run straight for the nasty pond where the fireworks were launched from. Max resists going in, but the sound of Blade's knife convinces him, and in he plunges.
- Max keeps going till he is up to his chest in water, and Freak finally stops him.
- They turn and see that Blade can't follow without getting sucked into the mud, so Blade and his gang start gathering rocks.
- Max can feel his legs sinking deeper and deeper into the mud. He's stuck like a fence post—which, incidentally, makes an excellent target.
- Blade and his gang start throwing rocks at the dynamic duo.
- Freak starts whistling loudly—like super loudly. So much so that it actually hurts Max's ears. And then, sure enough, the police show up.
- Blade and his gang scatter as the cops shine a light on the pond to see what the noise is all about.
- The cops pull Max and Freak out with ropes.
- As they're taking their information, one of the cops looks at Max and recognizes him: "Hey, isn't that Kenny Kane's boy? Must be. Old Killer Kane, is he still inside?" (7.43).
- Not exactly the nicest thing to say to a kid you just pulled from a freezing lake, but Freak intervenes. He tells them: "We're Freak the Mighty, that's who we are" (7.44).
- And so Freak the Mighty is born.