I kept a close watch on Angel as we walked.

"Make a left," she said dully every one and a while. "Go down the stairs. Turn right."

I had one hand clamped tightly on her arm, making sure she heard my thoughts. If she decided to try anything, she was in big trouble.

Her sorrowful gaze flickered up to meet mine. I felt a twinge of guilt. No you don't, Angel.

"Max," she said quietly. "I know you don't trust me."

"No, really?" I hissed. "You want the freaking apocalypse to happen. What's not trustworthy about that?"

Angel nodded glumly. "That's not untrue," she conceded. "But I'm helping you, Max."

I threw up my hands. "Are you going to tell me why?"

Angel ignored my sarcasm and studied our group thoughtfully. "Where's Iggy and Gazzy?" she asked after a moment. She still hadn't answered the question.

"How about you just pluck my response out of my mind?" I snapped. "You seem awfully good at that."

Angel cocked her head. "Explosives?"

I smirked. "How do you feel about the Institute, Angel?"

She didn't object, but as an expert on reading Fang I could see her jaw clench. "You're only making this harder for yourself, you know," she said.

I let the satisfaction of taunting her wash over me. Point, Max.

"Go down here," she said suddenly, turning to the rest of the group.

We had arrived at a stairwell that looked older than the rest of the pristine building. Angel typed in the keypad code, and one of the Erratics swung the door open. A stone staircase dove into the darkness, farther down than I could see.

"Max?" Nudge said nervously.

"I know," I said, not taking my eyes off the stairwell. I glanced at Angel. "This is the entrance to the Chambers?"

She nodded.

"Is anyone coming up the stairs?"

She paused to listen in her mind. "I don't think so."

I stared at her. "You don't think so?"

She frowned with concentration. "It's…fuzzy. Like something's blocking me."

That wasn't good. But how did I know Angel was telling the truth?

We'd just have to see, then. Letting out a sigh, I gritted my teeth and addressed my crew. "Okay. Erratics go first. Then Nudge, then Angel, then me. Got it?"

No one argued. We began to descend.

Let's hope Iggy and Gazzy get here soon.

The darkness enveloped us immediately. Soon I couldn't see Angel in front of me, which was worrying. The only light came from the occasional LED light mounted to the wall. I was almost to the point of shouting, "Roll call!" when I heard the footsteps.

They were loud and sudden, moving toward us from below. We stopped in our tracks.

"I thought you said you didn't hear anything!" I hissed furiously at Angel.

"I didn't!" she protested. "I still don't!"

Hm. That was interesting. I tucked that away for later.

But right now we had a problem. Someone screamed. One of the Erratics gasped, and I heard the unmistakable sounds of combat. Thump, thump, thump. They all collapsed.

I backed against the wall as far as I could, but the staircase was narrow. Angel and Nudge were beside me, holding their breath.

One of the LED lights a few steps away illuminated a figure. Her heavy panting drew closer.

"I know you're there, Fang. You can't hide. Shielding your thoughts was clever, but I can still find you."

I almost gave myself away from surprise. Fang had gotten away! And he had shielded his thoughts somehow, apparently.

"That was a nice try, bringing some backup like that. Only I'm a mutant, and they're not. You almost made it, Fang. Almost, but not quite."

Another thought struck me. Why couldn't she hear our thoughts? Nudge surely couldn't shield hers, and I wasn't especially trying.

No time to think about that. Without warning, I swung out a fist and decked the clone.

She didn't have time to cry out. I knocked her unconscious, leaving her with a bloody nose that shone by the light of the LED.

"Wow," Nudge whispered, speechless.

I stepped into the dim light so they could see me and took stock of the situation. The Erratics were knocked out, and Angimum hopefully wouldn't be eating solid foods any time soon. We still needed to find Fang and get rid of the Institute.

There was only one thing to do.

"Ready, guys?"

Angel and Nudge nodded solemnly, and together we stepped carefully over the unconscious Erratics, ready to face whatever the Chambers had in store while the seeds of a Plan B took root in my mind.

Why is Angel helping if she so obviously is still evil? And what is Max's Plan B? Review and tell me what you think!