Here's the sequel to Separation! This takes place during their summer vacation, and Max is fully healed. Hope you like it

Around the World

"If you guys are just going to suck each other's faces off," Iggy said, irritated, "then why'd you come with us in the first place? I would probably hear your lips smacking a mile away."

Max and Fang laughed, pulling away from each other. "Shut up, Iggy," Fang said.

"Oh, no," Iggy wailed. "Max got you to start saying that, too!"

Angel giggled and said, "Yeah, shut up, Iggy!" She patted her sand castle. Gazzy was next to her, trying to carve in windows. He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, slowly poking his finger in and then outlining a square.

"Chill, dude," Max drawled, and pushed him into the sea. She laughed when Iggy landed on his butt.

"Is the water warmer yet?" Angel asked, dipping in her toe.

Iggy splashed some on his bare chest(He's wearing swimming trunks) and said, "It's fine."

Angel squealed and jumped in after him. The Gasman finally finished a window and waded in after her.

"I better make sure they don't drown or anything," Max said, standing up. She was wearing a loose t-shirt and shorts. Since the incident at the dance, she hadn't been comfortable wearing a swimsuit.

"Jeb's in prison," Fang said, getting up beside her. "He's not going to break out. Plus, if he does, how's he going to get here?"

Max shrugged. "You never know," she said suspiciously, then kicked water up at Fang's face. The way he looked was priceless. Mouth opened, shaped in an O. Some water went in and he coughed and spit it out.

Max laughed and swam to Iggy, who was carrying Angel on his back as he went deeper into the sea.

"It would be cool if I grew gills," Angel sighed, cupping some water and dumping it on Iggy's head. She muzzled his hair, giggling as she tried to put it up in a mohawk.

"Just be careful he doesn't run into some coral or something," Max said, hoisting the Gasman onto her shoulders.

"Oh, ha ha, so funny," Iggy grumbled. He went under, and Max kicked him. He resurfaced, gasping. "What you do that for?" He asked ungrammatically.

"Remember you've got Angel on your back," Max warned. "She gets hurt, you die."

At this time, she felt so normal. She felt like she was in a movie; a group of people who goes out to the beach during summer vacation. But that usually happened in sappy romance or horror movies. By the looks of what had happened in her life so far, Max knew this wasn't a sappy romance movie. And a horror movie? Well, unless zombies suddenly took over the world, this wasn't a horror movie.

So what was this?

"Max, Max! Iggy's taking Angel farther!" Gazzy tumbled off of her shoulder. Max squinted her eyes, then frowned when she saw that Iggy was farther away from them.

"Iggy, get back here!" She yelled. When Iggy didn't turn back, she dove under and started swimming towards them.

Something brushed past her side.

Max almost screamed, her mouth halfway opened. Bubbles spurted out and she broke to the surface. She looked down wildly. Fang popped up in front of her, grinning.

"Gee, Max," he said teasingly, "I never knew you could blow bubbles with your mouth."

Max screeched and dove after him. Fang laughed and swam ahead of her.

"You guys!" Gazzy complained, waving his arms. He could hear them laughing.

--

The jailer(named Ben) stalked the cell on the far end of the dark corridor. He carried a tray that was filled with stale bread and a cup of dirty water. He pushed it underneath the bars, a space small enough for only the tray and its contents to go through.

Ben kicked the bars and called out gruffly, "Lunch!"

A man came into view. His dark brown hair was flecked with gray, his eyes dark. His glasses had been broken while they wrestled him into his cell.

Jeb looked at Ben maniacally. He grinned darkly.

Ben's screams echoed down the hall, but no one heard him.

--

Max unwrapped the towel from her hair and threw it on her bed. She combed her wet hair and listened to the sound of Angel laughing in the next room. They were supposed to be packing up things they wanted to save. But instead they'd gone to the beach, and spent a few hours there. After that, when they got to Jeb's house, Iggy had gotten distracted when Angel asked him to play tag with her. And Max took a shower first.

Someone rapped on her door.

Max tugged a tank top on and a pair of shorts. She opened her door and was attacked by a screaming Gasman.

"Max! Fang's gonna kill me!" He screamed, hiding behind her.

Fang came out of Iggy's room with a plastic knife. Max whacked him on the head.

"You don't chase an eight-year old around with a knife," she said. "Even if it's plastic."

"I wasn't chasing him around with a plastic knife," Fang retorted. "He saw me rummaging through some of Iggy's stuff. I found a plastic knife, turned to him, then he ran away screaming." He was still in his swimming trunks, so for Max it was hard to keep her eyes on Fang's face.

Fang seemed to notice. He smirked.

"Well," Max said, turning away, "you shouldn't be walking around shirtless."

"With a plastic knife," Fang added. He grinned, grabbed his shirt from the railing, and put it on.

"Iggy, why do you have a plastic knife in your room?" The Gasman joined Iggy and Angel in the other room.

Fang pulled Max to him. "I never got to ask you if you did hear me back at the hospital."

Max smiled. "Course I did."

"Good. 'cuz I was thinking you were just smiling because I had dirt on my face or something."

"I was smiling?"

"Like a five year old."

Max rolled her eyes. "You should see yourself when you smile."

"Oh, really? Well, how do I look?"

"Like a four year old."

"You don't mean that."

"I do."

"That hurts," Fang murmured.

"Good," Max chuckled. This is definitely not a sappy romance movie, she thought. And there's still no zombies...

Her mind wandered back to the question she had earlier:

...So what is this?