A/N - Delayed this one a bit to update my other story twice in a row heh heh... Let me know if the POV switching in this chapter gets too complicated -although I don't think it will, I drop plenty of clues-.

I woke up on the floor of my cage, knowing with a sickening sense of dread exactly where I was. I was still in the storage area, with no light, no food and no water. My stomach rumbled, and I craved one of Iggy's chocolate chip pancakes. But I didn't even know where Iggy was.

Gazzy was still asleep in his cage, his arms folded under his head in a makeshift pillow. "Zander" and "Zera" hadn't been back in, and I doubted if they would ever come back in. We had however long it was until this "showdown", and then we'd have to face off against each other.

And to be honest, I didn't know if I would win. I was equal to him in every way, but he was the newer model, and just like the cars, he was bound to be better/more efficient and all that. It also wouldn't be a fair contest between Gazzy and Zera, because she was at least two years older than him.

"You're right to worry," came a voice behind me. I jumped a foot off the cage floor and swiveled around, only to see Zander right in front of me. His back was to me, but I could easily see that it was him. "Of course it's me," he turned around and studied my expression. "I'm not even supposed to be here, you know."

"Then why are you here?" I asked incredulously. "I don't suppose you could ever just do the right thing and let us go?"

"I can't," he answered expressionlessly. This kid was practically a miniature Fang. "I work for the Director and Doctor Gunther-Hagen now. Her plan is already being put into effect across the world. I have to beat you if I want to stay alive in the new world they're creating. I won't lose to you."

"You're on," I snarled, and I surprised myself by how much I sounded like Max. "I'll beat you at your own game, Wonderboy. I promise that I'll personally kick your butt at whatever they have us do."

"Just try," he sneered.

My fists clenched in fury. "Listen, brat," I hissed, grabbing his shirt collar and dragging him dangerously close, "You ever seen an Eraser gnashing its fangs at you? You ever seen a pizza explode because there was a bomb? No? Well, I have. You're the toddler and I'm the senior citizen who's seen it all. So listen to me. You'll never win, as long as I'm alive."

"That's easy to fix," he whispered before releasing himself from my grasp and disappearing from the room.

I was heading south now, according to my internet map. So far, the blog hadn't been much help. I knew that by now, I was somewhere in northern Mexico, but I couldn't locate the flock as well as I had bragged to Dylan. At least I knew I was ahead of him. That dipstick was probably still back in the States.

I wasn't close enough for Angel to send me any mental messages, not like she even knew where I was or what I was doing. For all she knew, I'd been captured, too. I just didn't know.

As much as I hated to admit it, hunting for the flock was boring, painful and a dead end when searching alone. Dylan and I were now in a race to see who could get the flock first, but it was going slowly. At this rate, the world would be destroyed before I even got to Venezuela.

I sighed and dug out my cell phone. I dialed Mike's number. If anyone could help me locate the flock, I knew he could. It rang twice before he picked it up. "Yellow?" I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Dude, don't do that. It's 'Hello'."

"Picky, picky," he mused. "So, Fang, what can I do you for? Anyone you need finding, any hacking you need me to do, need a public service announcement? Hey, if you want a skywriter for this Max, it'll cost you something."

"Dude, what? No, no. I need you to help me find the flock again. Long story short, they kind of got kidnapped and I'm hunting them down as quickly as I can. I think they're somewhere in Venezuela. Can you help me or not?" I asked irritably.

"Not," he replied matter-of-factly. "I can only track people within the states. I'm sorry, Fang. If you need to track plastic surgeons in Venezuela, I can do that for you. Otherwise, you're on your own." He hung up, and my last option in the world was gone.

Suddenly, a dark helicopter appeared in the sky, coming from the direction that I had originally intended on going. Something about the mysterious aura and the black paint told me that I shouldn't be seen. I can't explain it, I just had a really bad feeling about it. So I flew down to hide in the trees.

I tucked my wings in, letting myself fall to the earth, then fluttered into the trees until I was well-hidden, but could still see. The helicopter passed me by, heading in the way of a town that I'd just come from. When it passed me, I followed it, despite my inner thoughts nagging at me that I didn't have that kind of time to be wasting.

Flying steadily and slowly behind the helicopter, I saw it losing altitude as it neared the town, but it made no move to land. Instead, nozzles opened on the side, spewing some kind of gas as it flew by, getting closer and closer to the town. First rule of being a birdkid – don't get near the gas, whatever you do. You don't know what it is.

I flew safely out of the way, maneuvering around trees so that it didn't come near me. The helicopter flew past, continuing its gas-spewing. The gas was hanging like a cloud over the village, a commotion erupting. Screams and wild cries erupted as I flew closer, trying to see what was going on.

I held my breath, knowing that I could do so for a minute or so, long enough to give me a peek of what was happening. And it was not good. Down in the village, the gas was doing something to the people. The iris of the eyes turned black, and every person who breathed it in immediately stopped struggling.

The people weren't suffering physically - there was a mental battle going on that no one else could see. They couldn't escape, and were forced to breathe it in. Every single one of them fell victim to the gas, and all went through the transformation.

But what did the gas do? That was something that I'd have to find out later. I had to get out of the gas before it was me, too, and Dylan was the only one who could rescue the flock. I flapped desperately and tried to turn myself around, speeding at last out of the gas zone. It was killing me, but I didn't breathe again until I was a mile away.

I didn't notice the black helicopter turn itself around and come after me.

Three days. It had been three stinking days since they had captured us and held us here, and I was going crazy being chained to a wall with Nudge, who, by the way, had barely spoken to me. They hadn't fed us, and they had offered us a small sip of water once during our stay on planet Psycho.

But that wasn't the worst of it. To top it all off, Angel had sent me a message this morning when she had finally located me. She told me everything – everything about Zander and Zera, everything she picked up about Iggy's match, wherever she was, the whole Anti-flock, and how Dylan was one of them, unknowing.

That wasn't what snapped my heart in half and stomped on it. She also told me that Nudge wasn't part of our flock. She was part of the Anti-flock, and not just any part. She just so happened to be Fang's match.

I knew that the matches didn't have to be in love with each other, but this explained so much. It explained why she had looked away when Fang and I kissed, why she had always been shy around him, and why Angel had even told me she liked Fang.

At the time, I hadn't listened to Angel, praying that it just couldn't be, and that she'd get over him, because he was with me. I was so wrong. At least I had nothing to compete against. Fang would always belong to me. Yeah, right. I tried to tell myself that, but because of Dylan, he was slipping away from me.

"Nudge," I whispered, trying to wake her up. I had to talk to her now, find out if all of this was real or if it was simply my overactive imagination. "Nudge!" I yelled, and she blinked slowly. "Max?" she asked sleepily. "Wha's goin' on?"

"I have something I need to talk to you about," I began, "and I want the honest truth, Nudge."

She shrugged. "Sure. Anything."

"Nudge, Angel gave me a mental message about a new kind of flock that's trying to replace us, called the Anti-flock. Basically, everyone from this flock has a match in the Anti-flock. Mine is Dylan…and you're Fang's."

"What's your point?" she asked.

"Do you like Fang or not?" I blurted. But now that it was out, there was no going back. "Because I hate to break it to you, but he's my boyfriend, and he'd never go for you, anyway."

Her jaw dropped. "And why the hell not? Because I'm black? Because I'm too young? Fang isn't that kind of person. The only reason he'd hold back would be you, you whore, going around with Dylan and then acting like nothing happened. You're the one who doesn't deserve him!"

"Excuse me?" It was my turn to gape. "You can't just insult me like that! You little boyfriend-stealing creep! Go get a boyfriend that doesn't already belong to someone else!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Come on, Max, you don't own him. And I didn't steal anything, I just like him, okay? If you really want Fang, then I suppose you wouldn't get angry if I told you that I could get together with Dylan?" Oh, she was evil.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "No, Dylan isn't even with me anymore. I was wrong. I don't love him. You can have him."

This was wrong. She was my sister, the same Nudge who had escaped from the School with me, who had actually taught me about makeup and who I knew hated orange and liked anything and everything pink. Now, was she turning against me for good?

She smirked at me, and I hated it. I could feel myself lying, but I didn't care. Who did I love, and would it make a difference, if I was to die here anyway?

"And I make a left here, and I go north here….north? Wait, that's not right…" I fiddled with the map, finally turning it upside down. "There it is! Venezuela. So glad I picked this year to learn the ABC's…" I turned myself around and started speeding towards Venezuela.

To be fair, that wasn't the best way to begin the mission/race to see who could rescue the flock first. At this rate, Fang would be the winner. …Not that winning mattered or anything. What mattered was to protect the flock and save them from Dr. Crazy, who just happened to play my father figure for a while. No big deal or anything.

It was faster just teleporting as far ahead as I could go. The thing was, I wasn't exactly sure where in Venezuela, so I'd probably end up teleporting to a place nowhere near where the flock was. It was better to go the slow way that Fang was, at least for now.

As I got closer every minute, I started to see a thick haze hanging over the trees. There was a village nearby, I had seen on the map, and I had planned on stopping for water and supplies –which we hadn't exactly brought when the Director had come to capture us-. But now, it looked as if the fog centered around the village.

And maybe they were having a barbeque or the fourth of July party or whatever. But I highly doubted it. I took a deep breath and teleported down into the center of the village.

It was terrible. There were people, and they were alive, but the town looked like it was in ruins. The people had gone ballistic and panicked at first, that much was clear from the burning buildings and all the wreckage. Then, something terrible had happened, I could feel it.

Out of the shadows, more people than I thought even originally lived in the town started crawling towards me. Their eyes were zombie-like, without souls. They dragged themselves over to me, crawling, or slumping over, like a marionette. I was backed into the center by them, and I was unable to breathe.

I had to find out what was going on here, even if it meant not being able to breathe. Maybe this was related to the Director and Dr. G-H in some way, maybe not. Either way, there was a nagging feeling that I had to know. So I let them crawl over to me, as slowly as it was, when I heard the sound of a helicopter approaching.

Another second and I was gone. I had teleported safely behind the trees out of the haze, perching at the top, hiding in wait for the helicopter. Dangling from a rope attached to the helicopter was…Fang?

Someone came out of the helicopter and started to reel him in, dragging his unconscious body into the helicopter and then landing in the center of the haze. They definitely had something to do with this. Helicopters weren't just that dark.

I teleported closer to the haze, holding my breath as the first of it reached me. I covered my mouth and nose, leaning closer to hear as three or four men got out of the helicopter, followed by Dr. G-H and the Director, confirming my fears.

"Halt," the Director commanded, and the villagers stopped altogether. "Stand up," she commanded, and they did. "Excellent," she marveled. "They're completely under my control. This is just what I'd hoped for. Leave them all here and spread the formula to other villages and major cities, starting in the U.S."

Fang was thrown out of the helicopter, and his eyelids opened. When he looked up and saw the Director, his face was stamped with fury and he struggled to be free of his bindings. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get free. Had he inhaled the gas, too?

"Fang, be still," she ordered, and he was.

She was escorted back into the helicopter, and it took off. I was expecting that when she was gone, everything would be back to normal, and the people would have free will. I was so wrong.

There was obviously a glitch in the formula. All the people remained standing, and Fang was frozen. His eyes were open, and they couldn't even move. When she told him to be still…he had to really be still. Which meant that his heart couldn't beat. And the villagers were forced to halt, which meant that their hearts could beat, but they couldn't move to eat, drink or sleep. They were stuck.

"No, no, no, no!" I yelled, and looked around for anything to help them, but I couldn't help them now. At least it was only a small village, but there were people here, mothers and fathers and children. They had people to love, and they were humans with souls. They wouldn't die quickly. They would suffer.

But I had to save Fang. I had to do something for Fang. Maybe there was still a chance, a chance that he couldn't be dead. And even though I was jealous of him, and hated him with every fiber of my being, I would never forgive myself if he was really the one Max wanted to be with. That, and I wanted to be a good person.

So I did the only thing I could do. I picked him up and carried him away. Maybe I could take him to where Max and the others were, and find an antidote or something for him. He was totally solid and weighed a ton, but I was determined to get him there, at least, so I dragged him along with me up into the air.

I was still going to do everything I could to fight for Max. I'd worked so hard to get her while he was gone, and he had shown up right as I was convincing her to forget him. They just weren't right for each other if he was willing to leave her side even as long as he did.

But one thing I didn't do was play dirty, which was what leaving him back there would have done. I needed Max to see him one more time, and I know like I was acting like her puppy, doing anything I could to make her happy, but I didn't care. It would be wrong of me to leave him.

Today, I was witness to a horrible thing. The people in that village would die, and although I felt guilty about it, I reminded myself that my hands were clean. I didn't do this – they did. The one person I thought I could trust did it. I was going to end this and end them once and for all if it killed me.

I'm coming, Max. I'm coming to save you.

I was reviewing some charts for Doctor Gunther-Hagen in our own personal lounge when Zander came into the room. Zarra looked up from her book and I put down my clipboard. He looked pissed, and I mean super pissed. Zarra picked up her whiteboard and a marker and wrote on it.

What's wrong?

"Ugh, I hate that little know-it-all! She thinks she's so much better than me, and that she can fight me, well, she's wrong! I'll beat the tar out of her, and take her stupid brother down with me!"

"I thought you said you liked her," I giggled. "I thought you said she was cute. According to my calculations, mister, that means that you aren't going to beat the tar out of anything. You'll sooner roll over and let her win."

"Zera, if we lose, we die," he emphasized, and Zarra and I stopped laughing. He was right. We had to beat the mutants, as much as we didn't want to. Well, I'll rephrase that. We wanted to beat them so we could live, but we were curious and happy that there were other mutants like us.

"Besides, what about your guy?" Despite my protests and growing embarrassment, he continued. "Yeah, Zarra has a right to know. Zera, you have a crush on your 'match', too! Don't be all high and mighty! You're in love with a guy that farts!"

Zarra took a moment to scribble something on her clipboard.

Love? Oh, do tell.

Zander grinned and continued, clamping a hand over my mouth as I struggled. "Yep. You should have heard her thoughts the day she met him. But she's such a good actor, the big walrus has no idea."

I ripped his hand away. "That is so not true! FYI, no one falls in love at age twelve, Zander! And, in case you forgot, I can burp your head off. So shut up." He smirked and turned away. I wanted to punch it right off his face.

"Oh, and let's not forget Zarra and, what was it…Iggy? Yeah, Iggy." Zarra's laughter died on her lips as she stared at him curiously. "She isn't like you, Zera. She isn't just mildly interested…she's intrigued. She can't understand why he could ruin her life, yet she likes him so much. And unlike you," he elbowed me, "she's sixteen, so she can loooove him all she wants."

She turned three shades of red and looked away pointedly. I knew that she was communicating with Zander because it was too much to write on a small whiteboard, and I went back to my book. In a few minutes, Zarra left the room angrily. I eyed Zander curiously, but he left in the opposite direction.

Great. No one ever told me anything. But what was worse – did I really like my 'match'? I was supposed to kick his butt when it came to the competition. Could I really do that if I liked him too much?

Oh, it's you, I heard as soon as I opened the door to Iggy's little room. Unless you brought food, get out. I have to admit that I felt disappointed when he 'said' that. I walked across the room and set a pizza box down next to him, and he felt around it until he discovered what it was.

I offered him a piece and pressed a can of Coke into his hand as I slid down next to the pizza box and got a piece for myself. We ate in silence for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear any of his thoughts that he didn't want me to hear, the same went for him.

I wanted to know him.

Being nice all of a sudden? He asked at last. I thought it was your job to starve us until we positively became anorexic from lack of food and water, then were too weak to fight you in the competition. I felt instantly guilty and bit the inside of my lip.

I don't hate you, Iggy, I sighed internally as I took another bite of the pizza. I don't even want to win the competition anymore. Either way, one of us dies, and I know you'd rather it be me. Well…I don't entirely feel that way.

His head swiveled toward me, and I felt small and weak, a feeling I'd never felt in my life. Because I'm with you, I can see what you see, he said, almost smiling. His expression became serious too soon. Then how do you feel?

I turned away. I don't want to fight you. I want you to live.

Is that all? His eyes were boring a hole in me. I cringed at the question's meaning. He wanted me to tell him how I felt about him. But it was too soon, and I didn't want to get hurt. I had always been quiet, guarded and tough as a weed, and he wasn't going to pull it apart now.

Yes, I answered, and walked from the room.

Hmm...not sure how the OC POV's turned out...but if you'd please give me your opinions, they'd be appreciated :) I take con-crit, too, just be sure to leave me a review! I will send my neighbor's mexican hairless dog after you if you don't. You've been warned. xD

~Rachel