AN: Okay, first order of business, THIS STORY IS A SEQUEL. The summary is not lying. If you're interested in this fic, I strongly suggest you go read my story The Battle of the Exes first, because this one won't make much sense if you haven't read that one.

Two, this story takes place about eight months after The Battle of the Exes. Max pretty much explains between this chapter and the second one. So now, all you have to do is read it!(:

The Battle's Just Begun
Sequel to The Battle of the Exes

Summary: The flocks have been training for months now, and they're ready to face whatever the world throws at them. Or so they think. That's when Jeb drops the bomb: their mission. And then everything goes wrong. Trust will kill them. Trust will save them. SEQUEL.

Chapter One: War Games

I took it all in, the boisterous noise around me. The yelling and screeching, the sound of flesh against flesh, bodies hitting the walls and the floor…

I loved it.

I waited to hear it, the sound that would tell me to go. The door moved.

I finally opened my eyes, throwing myself into the thick of things. I let my leg fly upward, my foot hitting some poor soul's chin. He grunted, but did not cease in his mission. He reached toward me, his fingers snagging my ankle. I punched him in the gut, hearing him oof! as his body fell to the ground.

There was another one at the door, her hair tied up in a loose bun. She was my height, so I mercilessly grabbed said bun and pulled. She screamed and joined her colleague on the floor of my bedroom.

Out in the hall, everything was chaos. I spotted Artemis, shoving one of them down the staircase of my mom's house. Just two feet away was Nudge, knocking another unconscious. I saw Iggy outside of Ella's room, her door shut, and blindly beating the crap out of a third. In the opposite direction, I could see an array of bodies sprawled out on the floor. I noted with dismay that almost half of them were on my side: Izumi, Angel, Dylan, and Pepin.

The bathroom door flew open, almost ripping off the hinges, as an undiscovered whitecoat made his way onto the scene, tackling me. What an entrance.

As he came at me, I got into the position to efficiently incapacitate him, my knee poised up, my fist ready to catch his jaw. It worked. Soon enough, he was moaning and groaning, crumpling to the floor in a neat little pile at my feet. I smirked, dusted my hands off, and stepped over his body.

"You guys handling them over there?" I asked Iggy, Nudge, and Artemis.

Iggy answered, "Yup. I think we got them all"

"Downstairs?"

"Fang's got it covered."

I tried not to show how much I liked to hear his name. Fang, Fang, Fang. The only person who had ever owned my heart.

"Good. Then we should probably get down there."

The three of them nodded, and I glanced behind me at the four others, lying on the ground with the whitecoats.

Iggy led us in our descent down the stairs, skipping over one body as if he could see it. On the other hand, I almost tripped on it.

Fang and his group met us at the foot of the stairs. Gazzy and Lux flanked his sides.

"You guys get them all?" Fang questioned.

"Yeah, we were just on our way to help you guys."

"We don't need any help; they're all down and out."

I looked up the stairs curiously, then back down. "You sure?"

"Positive."

"Then the alarm…"

"I hear him," Iggy interrupted.

"Where?"

"Closet." Iggy walked toward there with purpose in his stride. The rest of us followed cautiously, heading toward the same closet that Iggy and Ella had used as their hideaway so many months before. Eight, to be exact.

Iggy turned the knob, slowly, and the suspense was enough to kill a decent-sized elephant. The door swung open, creaking.

Three whitecoats tumbled out, landing haphazardly at our feet.

We sprang into action, kicking and punching, taking them down. Within seconds, they were disarmed and disabled.

The alarm sounded.

It was over.

Every one of us breathed out a sigh of relief. The whitecoats groaned, some of them rubbing their heads, and rose to their feet. I heard footsteps upstairs, and our casualties were soon in view.

Jeb walked out of the kitchen, a smiled plastered onto his face.

"Good job, guys. For once, you lost less than half of your troops."

I grimaced, not really liking the way he called us "troops."

"How much time?" Gazzy asked anxiously.

Jeb's smile widened.

"You guys took 'em down in…twenty-five minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Congratulations."

Angel and Lux beamed, clapping their hands together. Everyone quietly celebrated this little victory in their own way. I even spied a grin on Fang's lips.

Jeb held up his palm. "Now, before you guys get too excited, four casualties is an awful lot."

Iggy shrugged. "So? It's not like they died for real."

"You're missing the point. If there ever is an attack like this, I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose so many comrades."

Artemis chirped, "Can we just eat now?"

Jeb chuckled. "Sure. Why not?"

The eleven of us, plus Jeb, filed into the kitchen, murmuring excitedly. What would it mean, now that we had finally defeated Jeb's simulation and done it in record time?

The whitecoats, who weren't really whitecoats, all gathered their things together, peeling off their white lab coats, and abandoned the house.

In the kitchen, my mom had prepared food. We all sat at our places at the table, Ella coming in just after us and sitting next to Iggy. My mom sat at the head of the table, opposite Jeb and his girlfriend, Maya.

It was really weird, seeing my dad, in all his zaniness and nerdiness, having a girlfriend. The term was something I usually associated with teenagers, not grown men with daughters.

Fang's hand brushed mine as he passed me the bowl of French fries, sending a tingle up my spine. I had thought that, after being with him again for so long, not to mention growing older and—hopefully—more mature, his very presence wouldn't cause such a stir in me. Obviously, that hadn't changed.

He grinned at me, most likely knowing what was going through my head, and I blushed faintly. His eyes lit up, amused, and I decided I would get him back for that later.

But for now, I would enjoy this, the eerie calm after the storm, the lull in the action. I wanted to take this moment of peace and cup it up in my hands, never to let go.

Letting go. Something everyone has to do.

AN: AHH! So, two days ago, I (FINALLY) completed the first draft of my novel, leaving it at more than 82,000 words. *PHEW* Now for the not-so-exciting editing process...(I just had to get that off my chest, 'cause I'm saving at as a Christmas surprise for most everyone.) Sadly, though, the novel has made it more difficult than it should be for me to write this story, as the novel was present tense and I want this to stay past tense, and I keep getting confused...but I'll get over it.

So, just like I promised, it's Christmas Eve and I am posting this. If you want to give me a Christmas present, all you have to do is hit the "review" button and write a little something. REVIEW!

And have a very merry holiday season.(:

Best wishes,
eclipsed heart.