A/N Thanks to all reviewers

Disclaimer: James Patterson owns them all. But Orphius is mine and so is the storyline.

Chapter XXXV: Fate's Hand

Max POV

We crouched in the water. Gazing from side to side, none of us wanting to make the first move. Dimly behind us, the light shone done in to the murky depths. If I gripped the pistol any harder, I swear it'll break.

My hands weren't shaking, and for that I was grateful, but my arms were getting sore and I had no idea how much longer I had to keep this up.

My eyes darted from side to side, my ears listened intently, but there was nothing. Was it something that I imagined? Or was there really a sound? I don't know, the few people with me heard as well so I should probably use that as an indication that I wasn't crazy. But being in this place for so long and witnessing so much death is bound to start affecting everybody sooner or later.

I closed my eyes for a second, to give them a rest. I give me a short amount of time to refocus myself. And that's when I heard it again.

That soft splash as footsteps made their way through the water. Opening my eyes, I looked over at where the noise came from and sure enough, there was the reminiscence of ripples. This time I was sure.

Closing my eyes so that the others wouldn't see and neither would the enemy, I changed my eyes. Shifting them from the usual to the unusual. I allowed my eyes to take the form of that of a wolf's. Immediately the tunnel lighted up as my eyes drank in the dim light, but at the same time, I could make out shimmers. A vague shape. A lot of vague shapes.

Dropping my left hand behind my back, I signaled at my group. Pulling the trigger, I aimed for the largest cluster of shimmers as I dived for cover. There was a couple seconds of silence as the ones from Itex computed what had just happened while my men went for shelter and slipped on their masks.

That silence lasted about. . . I dunno. . . three seconds?

After that, well, I think all hell broke loose is too nice a description. If anyone has a good description, please send it to Sorry, but it looks as if the email address was censored out by Itex. Damn them and their evil plans to take over the world.

Emptying my gun, I looked up from where I was bunkered and knew that there was no way we could win this battle. There was nothing we could do. Sure we could hold them off for a couple of minutes, but eventually they would overrun us.

Placing in a new magazine, I glanced up and had just enough time to a shimmering shape above me. The choices were simple, try to get the gun up in time to shoot the &(&!# and probably be shot first or I could do something that has a likelier chance of survival. For me anyway.

Throwing the gun in his face, he staggered back surprised. Lunging up from where I was, I tackled him to the ground, pushing his head under. Not waiting for him to drown, I aimed straight for his neck and snapped it in a similar manner as the first time I killed Ari.

One important rule in fighting, never leave your back exposed at anytime.

Keeping my hold on the body, I rolled, bringing it up on top of me as I went under. The taste and smell of that sewage is not something I am likely to forget anytime soon.

Letting go, I twisted and grabbed hold of the uneven ground, pulling me along under water as the body floated on the surface acting as a decoy. Moving off towards the side, I surfaced under the cover of shadows.

Pulling a whistle, the same whistle as the one I used before, I blew a sharp command. The sound soared over the battle and even as the echo faded, my men were already retreating. The Ghosts must have thought they were winning and pressed on the attack.

"Idiots!!" I called.

They spun faster than I though possible and looked straight at me. Every last one of them looked straight me. I'm sure that they all wanted to kill me, but I couldn't tell, after all I could only see a shimmer and nothing substantial.

Okay I lied, when they all start moving towards you like a pack of blood thirsty hounds, you know you're in trouble.

I moved back, keeping the distance between us the same. I cast a quick glance over my shoulders and saw of my people well out of sight. I glanced back, glad they hadn't used my momentary lapse as a chance to get closer.

"It's been fun," I told them sweetly. "And I would love to stay for the main show, but I've got to run."

I opened my wings and they all stopped startled before moving closer at an even faster rate.

"Or in my case fly, so. . . " I kicked off the ground. "Send me a postcard when you reach hell will you?"

Without further stalling, I reached into my pocket and clicked a button. With a sharp flap of my wings, I activated my super speed and got the hell out of there. Off in the distance, I could see the ground and walls shaking violently.

Up above, rocks were already falling downwards, blocking off the path back to the tower. At first it was just a couple of boulders, but with each second that passed, more and more room was lost. Until there was a gap so small, I would have to fold up my wings and pray.

But it never got that far. It never came to praying or hoping for the best. It ended before that.

Tucking my wings, I let my momentum carry me forwards as I attempted to tumble turn out of water. For those who don't know what that is, it's basically a forward flip.

As my feet touched solid rock, I kicked off and flared open my wings. Let me see, I was traveling about 250mph, factor in my weight and the fact that I pushed off from a wall and the answer is this. I was traveling very, very fast. And guess what's the dumbest thing someone can do in a situation like that? If you guessed coming to a sudden stop, you would be right.

I gritted my teeth and once again I blocked out the message. Block out the message and the pain disappears as well.

Leaning against the wall, I took a couple of deep breaths as I readied myself. Pushing off from the wall, the sound of running footsteps came closer. The grumbling didn't stop and stones continued to fall down, but I had bigger things on my mind. Like, a dozen or so Ghosts bearing down on me, intent on shredding me to pieces. And that was if they were being nice. If they weren't, well. I could end up in the hands of a society filled with sadistic mad scientists that were high and has no morale's what's so ever.

And what would these sadistic mad scientists that were high and has no morale's what's so ever do? Well, I'd rather not know. But it probably goes along the lines of performing a bunch of experiments that can only be carried out by sadistic mad scientists that were high and has no morale's what's so ever. Did I mention they weren't human either?

This is going to be just so much fun

If you missed the sarcasm. . . I'll just shut up now. After all mommy and daddy say if you have nothing good to say, you shouldn't say anything.

As they slowed to a stop before me, they fanned out and I was glad to see that they only had half of their numbers left. Lifting my arms, I slide easily into my fighting stance and waited. As I did, I let my arm morphed slowly into a claw. I needed every advantage I could get.

Total POV

A sudden rumble sent everyone onto the floor. Each seeking shelter where they could. There were a few however like Ella who stayed where they were, bent over the injured and continued working. Ignoring the shaking earth and the rumbling.

Slowly the earthquake subsided, almost as if it was reluctant.

"There might be a lot of injured coming in the next couple of minutes," announced Ella, not bothering to look up. "I want everyone to be ready. If there's too many, leave those that can't be saved and tend to those less injured. And when I say they can't be saved, I mean if it will take over a couple of minutes to save them."

She continued, speaking directly to me, "Total, I want you to contact Angel and see if she knows what happened."

I stared at her. It was a hard call she just made, something that even the most experienced doctors would be unwilling to make, but she did it without a second thought.

Nodding my head, I kept a close eye on her as I turned to my mental link with Angel. "Angel?"

"What Total? I busy right now."

"Did you feel that earthquake?"

"It was no earthquake. Someone let of a Gazzy grade bomb off underground. I'm still trying to establish who let t off."

"Do you have any ideas who it might have been?"

"Not yet. I've reduced it down to either Fang, Orphius or Max. Wait a sec and I'll get back to you."

"Well?" asked Ella.

"She's looking. It's either Fang, Orphius or Max," I reported.

"You do realize I have no idea what you're talking about don't you?" she stated.

"Sorry. Someone let off a bomb underground and. . ."

At that point Angel decided to chime in. "It was Max. Max set off the bomb underground."

"What's going on?" demanded Ella, but I held up a paw for silence.

"So far there's been no sighting of Max. No one knows if she survived or not."

I let out a whimper and flopped on to the ground.

"What is it?" said Ella.

"Max, she let off a bomb and no one knows if she survived," I whispered, not wanting to say it. Let along believe it.

"Max, is gone? My sister is gone?"

The desperation in her voice made me look up. "I'm sure Max will be just fine, she's. Wait, did you just say you sister!?!" I screamed the last half.

She nodded mutely. "Mum didn't want to tell Max when she came to our house four years ago. But after Itex first launched the attack, she was drafted back to Itex and they used me as hostage. At first I didn't know why they wanted my mother, but she told me the truth."

"Did you ever find out who your father was?"

"No, she wouldn't tell me. Every time I asked, she would tell me that it wasn't her secret to reveal."

I was going to pry further, but at that moment, a familiar scent hit my nose. Eyes widening, I leapt up and turned. Sure enough, the person that faced me was familiar. Certain features were different, but the way he walked and his scent said it all.

A growl emitted from my throat, as I gazed at him. I opened my mouth to warn Ella to stay back, but she shot out from behind me and threw herself into his arms. Sobbing into his chest.

"Hush Ella. It's alright, everything is alright," he soothed. "Everything will be fine."

"It's Max. She let off a bomb underground and no one's seen her since," she said between gasps of air.

"That explosion?" He sounded shocked and a trifle concerned.

"Stop acting as if you care," I spat. "You sold us out you worthless scum."

"Fang still hasn't explained that?"

"What is there to explain. You sold us out to Itex. You decided to change sides. You should be. . . "

"That's enough Total," commanded Iggy.

I looked at him shocked. At all the time he was leader, he had never used that tone of voice. There was something about it that made me shut up.

He looked down and hugged Ella closer to him. A tender look on his face. The same look that Max and Fang were exchanging before they separated.

"It's okay Ella. I promised I would come back and I did. I would never leave you. Never." With those words, he pulled Ella closer into a fierce embrace.

"I know Iggy, but. . ."

"Hush, everything is alright. Max is going to be fine. She's been in tougher situations before. She'll get out of it somehow. She'll be fine. You just watch and see. Everything is going to be fine."

Despite the pretty speech, I didn't trust him. After he had left the Flock, I doubt I'll ever be able to trust him. Fang better have a good reason r I swear I am going to shred him to pieces.

A/N Reviews would be nice.