[A/N] BATTLE!!11ONE!!1 Some POV changes here. And don't sue me because I can't write fight scenes. (…notice how each death so far has either happened by a gun or hand. Quick and easy to write. XD) It's Max, then Fang, then 3rd person, for the record. :D)

And part of the script here is based on xPwahaha's Khaini 2. Those two paragraphs in the middle. :D

And make sure to read the AN at the end! D:

(and like, for the POVs... I have some line breaks in between them. don't assume that it means it's a different person's POV.)

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[20.2] The Beginning of the End; Part Two

/Max's POV

When I came to, the world was slightly fuzzy. The drizzle was at its heaviest now, almost rain.

…what… happened? I wondered.

I was expecting the Voice to chime in with one of its "helpful" suggestions.

Voice? Hellooo? A little help? Fine. Leave me in a time of need. Gosh; you can be so bipolar sometimes.

I sat up and looked at my surroundings. From the gray, flat, bleak expansion, I assumed we were on a roof. I was guessing that it was well into the middle of the night by now. I blinked, by eyes adjusting to the blackness.

I stood up, my legs shaking. My senses were on red-alert; this place didn't feel… right.

"Welcome back to reality, Max. Now move your lazy ass.

"It's been a long three years."

I had replayed the scene of meeting you over and over again in my head. I knew… that one of us wouldn't get out of this alive, but I didn't know how determined you were to kill me. I never intended that I would be the one to kill you... nor that you would be the one to kill me.

It had always involved both of us alive and together. Never like this.

My head whipped backwards, jaw dropping. "Fang?"

"So it's really you…." I whispered. I knew I was looking straight at death.

Fang's eyes were now a fiery red. A blood red. The old Fang would have almost-black eyes, or a dark, rich brown, depending on the mood.

But never like this. It scared me.

My mouth went dry. "Fang… what have they done to you?" I uttered, horrified.

I reached out to touch his face. The Flock needs you back, Fang. I thought. I need you back.

/Fang's POV

I slapped Max's hand away. "I don't need your sympathy.* Can't you see? Itex has made me… so much better." My friends, my shadows, swirled around me. I raised my arms, relishing the immense power I had. Couldn't she see how much I had changed? The destruction I could inflict?

Her eyes welled with tears. "No Fang," she whispered. "Itex has just made you… a monster. Can't you see? All these years… we thought you were dead. But when Gazzy told me… what I had to do… my world shattered. I thought I could avoid it," she laughed bitterly. "I thought I could escape the cruel reality, hoping you had changed. And I was right. You had changed." She spat. "I was hoping you had changed for the better.

"But I was wrong. Though you'd changed… I now see you're just another one of Itex's guinea pigs. Can't you see Fang?" she was almost begging now. Her hurt looked sparked something inside me.

What was it?

No. Ignore it, I told myself. Don't listen to her. But something in her voice compelled me. She continued on, her voice broken.

"Can't you see how much we need you? How much the Flock needs you? How much I need you?"

"STOP IT!" I shouted. She didn't flinch; nothing was a surprise to her anymore.

I shot into the air, hovering momentarily. "Shut up, Max. I don't need this. I don't need…." Your sympathy. Your pain. The Flock. You."Forget it. Let's just finish this thing."

She flew to my level, inhaling deeply. "So this is how it ends…." She whispered. She stared at me, eyes containing no emotion. They were red from holding in tears- but not nearly as red as mine. I guess I won't be using my powers today, I thought. It wouldn't be fair, compared to what I can already do. I drew the shadows back in, taking up a fighting stance.

She brought up raised fists, and swallowed, waiting.

At the first drop of rain, it began.

/Third Person's POV

Fang, his monster boosting his strength and power, was almost as fast as Max in her super-speed mode. He threw a hard punch to her stomach, and she dropped a few feet, gasping.

Max rose again, and preformed a roundhouse kick. It missed Fang by inches, but his heart raced after almost getting hit. Max took this momentary distraction and punched Fang's jaw, over and over. Fang felt starbursts of pain.

Then, he saw in opening. Just a slight pause in her ruthless punches, but it was enough. He grabbed her arm, and flung her towards a wall. She hit the wall with a crack.

"Shit," she said. She flew up, grimacing in pain. She assumed that there was a bone in her wing that was bruised; a horrible disadvantage at the moment. It wasn't enough to stop her… but it was enough to slow her significantly.

Flapping awkwardly, she looked around her- no sign of Fang. "Come on out, you coward!"

"Surprise," a voice said.

Max felt a starburst of pain in between her wings, and crumpled, grunting as she collided with concrete ten feet below.

Though she was superhuman in most aspects, even she couldn't take all this bruising- tears ran, but not out of pain. It was out of sadness. A blurred figure knelt beside her, his face flawless, and barely a scratch on him.

/Fang's POV

I straddled her, and grabbed both of her wrists. After seeing Max fight for 14 years… couldn't be too careful.

With my free hand, I once again fingered the knife in my jacket, holding it close to me. I watched her tears, flowing freely- my heart twinged, but I did my best to ignore it. It's for the best.

"Just do it, Fang."

Startled, the knife I held dropped into her view. "I know you're going to kill me. Isn't that… what you have to do anyways?"

"…it's for the best," I murmured.

"The best of what?"

I stayed silent, letting the rain soak through me. "I don't know."

She sighed. "Well then- isn't it normally typical for the executioner to ask their prisoner for their last words?" I noticed how she had said executioner with malice and sadness. Was this… what I really was?

"Yeah. You have any?"

"Just one."

And then she kissed me.

[A/N] AND DUH DUH DUH DUHHH. I'M HOLDING IT RIGHT THERE. 8D (but like... though part of me, (which is a biiig hurt/comfort/romance junkie, ADORES this, but the "speaking in normal, un AU'ed" side of me... I'm dying at that. x_x)

Going to have to wait for next week! And yes, they were ever so OOC here. T-T Well, I find it better to be poetic in your last moments. Don't you? :D

And btw, when Fang's holding her wrists, it's like he's holding both of them in one hand, so he still has a free one. Get it?

Reviews are loved! (:

iBanana

*It's not like Fang hates her or anything, you know? It's more like he's acting cold towards her because he has to kill her and all the jazz. ):

BTW: Pleasepleaseplease read the next chapter! It's an epic important update which talks about my plans for Neon Lights... andmyshitwritingatm. -dies-