Wow, everyone is right when they say I'm a fast updater! (What can I say? I'm addicted to writing! And muffins ^-^)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fangface, (if I did, I'd be dreaming) : (

Chapter Ten

"It's Nothing"

Tony watched, trying to keep himself from laughing, as the gang of kids closed in on Puggsy, knives drawn and fists cracking. Snake stood up on a dumpster, sitting on top of a cardboard box on top, ready to watch the action.

Puggsy stood up, holding up his fists. If he was going to go down, he wasn't going down without a fight. A kid to the left of him threw a punch first, but he dodged it and punched him square in the face, sending the boy toppling back. The rest of the guys lunged at once, grabbing him, scratching at any exposed skin, and pulling his hair.

Snake let out a whistle, causing them all to stop. He snapped his fingers and pointed at two boys, motioning them to hold Puggsy's arms around his back. The gang leader drew a knife- brand new, never been used, with a long sharp, glimmering blade, with a few scuffs on the side that showed he sharpened it. "I'm going to enjoy this." he said, smiling an evil smile.

Puggsy tried to run, but the two gang members held him down. Snake stepped up close, lifting the blade to his throat.

"This is why no one counter-rigs our matches. Any last words, traitor?"

"Yeah, you're 'nuts'," Puggsy replied, kicking Snake 'somewhere you don't want to know'. The gang leader heaved over and went into the fetal position. Puggsy kicked both the boys that held him down in the shins, weakening their grasps on him, giving him the chance to run.

Snake grabbed his ankle and pulled him down. He turned on his back to get up, but Snake grabbed his throat and pinned him down, raising his knife above his face. "Say your prayers, pipsqueak!" His voice would've been sinister if it wasn't in soprano, and Puggsy would've laughed at this if a knife wasn't above his head.

Suddenly, a hand gripped Snake's wrist, keeping it held back. "Hey, let go, man!" The gang leader turned to see who held his wrist. "I said let- Eep!" He gasped, dropping the knife, which landed, stabbing the ground, an inch from Puggsy's head. Yikes! That was too close for discomfort. he thought. He looked up at who was holding Snake back, and his eyes widened.

"Let him go!" Fangface snarled, as he gripped Snake's wrist.

Snake pulled his wrist out of the werewolf's grasp and stumbled away. He turned to his gang members, who stood behind him now, petrified. "W-well, don't just s-stand there! Get 'em!"

"Forget it, Snake," Puggsy sneered, standing on one knee. "You and your gang don't have a chance against a werewolf."

"Yeah, you don't have a chance!" Fangface growled in agreement.

"Ha! Don't be r-ridiculous!" Snake stammered, trying to sound brave. "We've got the knives and a strength in numbers! We can take you and that furball down!"

"You and what army?" Puggsy asked, grinning.

Snake turned around, seeing that the rest of his gang members were running down the alley in fear. "Get back here, you cowards!" He turned back to Puggsy, his eyes dark. He gripped his knife, wanting to lunge again and slit his throat, but dared not to, especially with the look Fangface was giving him: Do it and I'll rip your lungs out, it seemed to say. He closed the knife and put it back in his pocket. "This ain't over, Puggsy. You won't have that werewolf around to protect you all the time… in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it tried to kill you itself." With that, he ran off.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" Puggsy called to him, standing up. "Mess with me again, and you'll be wolf-bait!"

"Yeah, yeah! Wolf-bait!" Fangface repeated, letting out a chuckle, which sounded sort of like a 'chk chk' sound.

Tony snuck away, not wanting to mess with the werewolf. I'll need all the guys to take this one down. he thought as he snuck away in the shadows.

Fangface smiled- gloating- at Puggsy. "You're welcome." he said, then looked around the alley. "Hey, (grr) where'd that other guy go?"

Puggsy looked around too, noticing that Tony had gotten away. "Ah, dang it! He must've escapified while Snake's gang jumped me!" He looked down the alley, noticing a set of footprints. "But it doesn't look like he made a clean getaway." he turned to Fangface. "You think you can get his scent and sniff him out?"

"Of course I can! We werewolves are excellent trackers, you know."

Puggsy rolled his eyes. "Of course you are."

Biff and Kim arrived then, with two police officers. "Did you catch him?" Kim asked.

"No, he got away. But we found his-"

"Holy crap!" One of the police officers gasped once he saw Fangface. "Is that a… a…?"

"Werewolf? Yes." Biff answered. "Now, listen, we've got to find-"

"I don't believe it." The second officer said, amazed. "An actual, living, breathing werewolf!"

"Um, yes he is, now if we could just-"

"Hey, Marty! Go get a camera!" The first officer said. "And grab the guys, too! They won't want to miss this!"

"(grr) Sheesh, none of you have ever seen a werewolf before, have ya?" Fangface scoffed, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Officers!" Kim yelled, getting the two policemen's attention. "If we could set aside the 'werewolf' factor for a moment, we'd like to find the man who was stalking me!"

"Yeah, he's after Fangface, too-" Biff added.

The two officers laughed. "Fangface? Is that what you kids call him?" The first officer asked, bending over, laughing.

"How cute. They gave it a name." The second officer chuckled.

"FYI, sir, they didn't name me!" Fangface snapped. "I came with the name! (grr!) And, for the record, I am a 'he', not an 'it'! (snarl!)"

The two officers gasped, the first one backing away. "Holy smokes, it can speak-" the second officer stammered.

"A-hem,"

"Er, I mean, he can speak!"

"Officers, there's a dangerous man on the loose!" Biff said, a bit annoyed. "And he's working with a group of dangerous men! Forget about our wolf-friend and send some men out to track them down. Please."

"Oh, fine, kids." The first officer said, finally paying attention to them. "We'll send out some men at once. Could you give us a description of the man you saw?"

"He had short, spiky hair, muscular, looking as if he were in his late 30's, and had dark brown eyes."

"Any distinguishing characteristics?"

"He had a tattoo," Puggsy said. "On his right arm. It said 'ynoT'."

The second officer wrote all this down. "Alrighty then, we'll keep an eye out for him." he said, then turned his attention back to Fangface. "Man, this is so cool!"

"C'mon deputy, we've got some work to do," The first officer said, then turned to Fangface. "But, before we go, you mind if I get a picture with you?"

"Just. Go. Get. That man." Kim said sternly, anger flaring in her eyes.

"Okay, okay," The two officers left. The second one took another glance at Fangface and turned to his partner, smiling and saying something.

"Is it just me, or are they hiring more pinheads on the police force?" Puggsy asked.

"We'd better help them out," Biff said. "With the way those officers reacted to Fangface, the whole force will probably be looking for him rather than that mad-man."

"Yeah, they treat me as if I'm some sort of celebrity or something," Fangface scoffed. "Which is kind of flattering…"

"Flatter yourself later," Puggsy said. "Right now, you've got to sniff out that creep, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Fangface walked over to the footprints. Getting down on all fours, he sniffed the trail, following the scent. The others followed him.

Kim then looked at Puggsy, noticing he had scratches and bruises all over. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"Eh, some creepos just had it out for me," Puggsy said, shrugging as if it were no big deal. "Nothing to worry about."

"Are you kidding?" Fangface scoffed, pausing from his tracking and looking up at the teen. "That one kid was about to cut you to itty bitty pieces, (grr) if I didn't show up…"

"Alright, so it was a big deal, but still nothing to get all shaken up about. I'm fine."

"Thanks to me," Fangface said under his breath, though Puggsy still heard him.

"Just get back to sniffing, you weird-wolf."

Fangface gave him a warning growl, but resumed tracking.

They walked for almost 20 minutes when they reached someone's backyard. Fangface bumped into the wooden fence that surrounded the yard. "I think he's behind this fence!" he whispered to the others. Opening the door and peeking into the yard, he snuck in.

Biff, Kim, and Puggsy waited, listening for any signs of trouble. Hearing nothing, they walked in. "Fangface, is he back here?" Kim asked, then saw that Fangface was standing in the middle of the yard, scratching his head in confusion.

"That's weird…"

"What, did your sniffer snuff out?" Puggsy asked, noticing there was no sign of Tony anywhere.

"No… Well, yeah (grr) sort of, but… this is my yard."

"Really?" Kim asked, looking around. "You live here in town?"

Puggsy gulped, realizing that a werewolf had been living just a couple blocks down the street from him all his life. Okay, now I'm officially creepified out. he thought.

"Why would the scent lead us to your house if he was following Kim the whole time?" Biff asked.

Fangface shrugged. "Beats me. Unless… (gasp!) he was stalking me too!" he said, looking around the yard to see if he was being watched.

"I highly doubt some guy would stalk a werewolf," Puggsy said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, he did say he was working with a group of men who were trying to catch Fangface." Kim pointed out. "So, it could be possible."

"Let's go inside and check things out," Biff said, then turned to Fangface. "That is, if you don't mind…"

Fangface's face lit up. "Sure! Gosh, I've never had anyone come over, before!" he exclaimed.

They entered his house. There was a small painting of a sunrise on the wall, and Fangface saw it, and 3, 2, 1, he was Fangs again. "Whoa, what happened? How did I get back into my house?" he asked, startled and confused. "Hey, Pugs, what's-" he then saw Kim and Biff. "Kim! Where have you been? …And who's he?"

"This is my friend, Biff," Kim said, lying a hand on Biff's shoulder. "Biff, this is Sherman."

"Hello," Biff said, sticking out his hand. Fangs grabbed it and shook it hard.

"Hey, Biff. Nice to meet you," Fangs said, happily. "Gosh, this is great! I'm meeting new people every minute! It would be better if those goons weren't chasing after me-"

"S-Sherman?"

"Yeah, Biff?"

"C-could I h-have my a-arm b-back?" Fangs looked down, noticing he was still shaking Biff's hand. He let go.

"Ooh, ooh! Sorry. …And you don't have to call me 'Sherman', you can call me Fangs."

"Fangs?" Kim repeated.

Huh, boy, here we go… Puggsy thought, slapping his forehead.

"Yeah, Pugs gave me the nickname, and-" Fangs began to explain, then paused. "Ooh, I forgot to introduce you to him-"

"We've already met!" Puggsy said quickly.

"Really? When?" Then he gasped. "Pugs, what happened to your face?"

"What, don't you remember-"

"Uh, that reminds me!" Kim spoke up, jumping into the conversation. "Would you mind if Puggsy and I used your bathroom, so we can, uh, take care of his cuts?"

Fangs shrugged. "Sure, second door to the right." he said, pointing down the hall.

"Thanks. C'mon, Puggsy." Kim grabbed Puggsy's hand and pulled him toward the bathroom.

"Um, Kim? I can take care of it myself-" Puggsy began to protest, but Kim had already drug him into the bathroom.

Fangs turned to Biff. "So… when did you show up?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

Biff recalled what Kim told him about Fangface not remembering that he was Fangs, so he assumed it was the same vice versa. "Um, I saw her in the alley, being attacked by some guy." he replied. "Do you… remember any of it?"

Fangs thought about it, then shook his head. "Nope. All I remember is that Kim and I were running from these guys, and we stopped to take a breath on someone's lawn. Then, all of a sudden, I blacked out. I think I fell asleep from exhaustion or something, because I had this really weird dream that I was running through the forest… Then I woke up, and saw that I was actually in the forest! I must have been sleep walking again, I guess. Then, I met Puggsy, and we were walking through the forest and found a dirt road. We were following it back to town, when I blacked out again… And now here I am."

Biff stared in surprise at Fangs, amazed that he had said that whole sentence in just one breath. Wow, this guy can really talk. he thought.

"So… how did I get here?"

"Um, we found you and Puggsy and brought you back here,"

Fangs arched an eyebrow. "Really? How did you find out where I lived? Huh? Huh?"

"Um… we looked your name up in the phone book and found your address."

"Oh. Okay."

They heard a door open and saw Kim and Puggsy walk out.

While Biff and Fangs were talking…

"Um, Kim? I can take care of it myself-" Puggsy protested, but Kim had already drug him into the bathroom. She sat him down on the toilet (lid down, of course) then began looking through the medicine cabinet. "Sheesh, what was that all about?"

Kim took in a deep breath, then exhaled. "Fangs doesn't remember that he's Fangface," she explained. "And Fangface is unaware that he's Fangs, too." She grabbed some peroxide and some cotton balls.

"So, why not tell 'em? It would make things easier."

"I tried to tell Fangface, but he wouldn't believe me, and I doubt Fangs would, either." She pressed a cotton ball against the opening of the peroxide bottle, tipping it upside down and quickly back right-side-up. "Hold still." She dabbed a cut on Puggsy's cheek with the cotton ball.

"Ouch! That burns!" he cringed.

"How did this happen?"

Puggsy sighed. "A gang of morons jumped me and tried to murdify me. They mostly just punched and scratched me. No real damage."

Kim looked at his arm, noticing a trickle of blood running down it. She noticed there was a hole in his sleeve, and she rolled it up, noticing a knife cut. "No real damage, huh?"

Puggsy examined the cut on his arm. "Okay, so one guy nicked me with a knife. It's not the first time-" he stopped himself.

Kim's eyes widened. "You mean… this happened before?"

Puggsy nodded, sighing heavily. No use hiding it now, he thought, scolding himself. "Yeah… I was part of the gang of kids that were- are- after me. We used to get into fights like these all the time… sometimes it was part of our initiation into the gang."

"Why are they after you?"

"Well, we held these boxing matches down at the old gym downtown, and I was their champion fighter. At our last fight, Snake- the leader- told me that he wanted me to throw the fight the first round, trying to rig the match. I didn't listen, though, and beat my opponent, busterating Snake's whole gamble. And now, he and the rest of 'em have it out for me."

"Oh." There was a long pause after that as Kim continued to treat Puggsy's cuts. She took some bandages and wrapped them around the cut on his arm. "You know… You should be thankful that Fangface was there. He saved your life."

Puggsy sneered, but nodded. "Eh, I'll thank him when I see him next… just as long as he doesn't try to attack me."

Kim shrugged. "I'm sure he won't… just as long as you're nice to him."

Puggsy rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

"I mean it, Pugs. If you don't quit giving him attitude, you'll have a lot more to worry about than those gang members." She put the bandages and peroxide away.

"Sheesh, you sound like my mother," He followed her out of the bathroom.

"How's the face?" Fangs asked.

"It burns like 90 degrees now, from the peroxide." Kim gave him a look, and he sighed. "But, it's nothing now. Besides, the burn means it's healing." He smiled at Kim. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Kim replied, smiling a little, then turned to Biff. "So… what are we going to do, now?"

"We should stay here for the night-" Biff began.

"No way!" Fangs cried, frantically. "If those creeps come back here, they'll get me for sure!"

"What about your cousin's house?" Kim asked. "We were heading there, earlier."

"Yeah, but what if they follow us? Or worse, what if those goons Puggsy was being chased by earlier jump us in an alley? Or what if-"

"Ah, shut up!" Puggsy snapped. He saw that Kim was giving him an irritated look, and he calmed down a bit. "If you're so scared of staying in your own house, then come and hang out at mine. None of those goons know where I live, and my parents are home, so we'll be safe there."

"Sounds like a good plan." Biff said. "We can stay at your house tonight, then find out where those men are hiding out in the morning, and take care of those stalkers once and for all."

Fangs shut off all the lights in his house and locked the door, then followed the others as they snuck through backyards and ducked behind bushes and fences to keep from being seen. When they reached Puggsy's house, he was amazed that they were only a couple blocks away from each other this whole time.

Puggsy opened the back door, guiding everyone into the kitchen. "Okay, keep quiet," he whispered to them. "If my parents wake up, they'll get suspi-"

"Whoop!" *CRASH!* Puggsy turned on the lights, only to see that Fangs had tripped over a broom and knocked over a stack of pans. A small measuring cup fell on top of his head. "Ow."

"Shush! Are you trying to wake up my parents?"

"Well, excuse me! It's not my fault I can't see in the dark!"

"Alright, alright. Just keep quiet." Puggsy walked over and started stacking the pans back up. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Pugs?" His mom's voice called.

"Yikers!" he turned to the others. "Quick, hide in the living room." He shoved them out through one doorway while his mom walked in through another.

"Puggsy, what are you doing up?" she looked at the clock. "It's 3 in the morning."

"I uh… got hungry." Puggsy walked over to the fridge, opening it and taking out an orange. "Well, goodnight-"

"Hold it," His mom's voice was stern, making him freeze. "What's with the clothes? The last time I recall, you preferred to wear nothing but old flannel jackets, white t-shirts, and plaid shorts… and you cut your hair!"

"So I wanted to change my looks. Is that such a gigantisized deal?" He turned to leave the kitchen.

Barbara looked on the table, noticing a note. She read it over, and her expression saddened. "Pugs," her voice was full of concern now. Puggsy turned and faced her. She held up the note. "What's this?"

"It's… nothing."

"Don't say it isn't nothing! Puggsy, what's going on?" She walked up and gripped his shoulders, then gasped, noticing the cuts and bruises on his face. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

Puggsy turned away, out of her grip. "Just some trouble with the guys. Nothing I can't handle." He walked to the doorway to the living room, nodding toward the hallway, a signal for the others to get out. Biff and Kim understood and snuck into the hallway and out the door. Fangs didn't get the message and stayed behind the couch.

"Nothing you can't- Puggsy! Look at yourself! You've been coming home night-after-night covered in bruises, I've gotten calls about you and those- those creeps you hang out with causing trouble, and now… this! Pugs, tell me what's going on!"

Puggsy avoided eye contact with her. "The guys are out to kill me now. Happy?" and he walked out of the room.

"Puggsy-" Barbara followed him into the living room.

He turned to her, angrily. "Look, mom, just back off, okay? This isn't something you should get involved in!"

She glared at him, trying to keep herself from crying. "Fine. You don't want me involved? Then get out, because I don't want you bringing trouble home."

"Mom-"

"Out!" She turned away, walking back into the kitchen, her face in her hands.

Puggsy sighed, then walked out into the hall. Fangs followed him, looking back at the kitchen once, hearing Barbara cry. He followed Puggsy out the door, and they met up with Biff and Kim in his front yard. "What's the matter?" Kim asked, obviously sensing something was wrong.

"We'll going to have to find a new place to stay," Puggsy sighed. "I'm having issues with my mom right now."

"You can say that again," Fangs muttered. Puggsy shot him a glare, and he cleared his throat, nervously. "Y-You know, guys, it's getting close to morning now. My parents will be home in a few hours, so we can still stay at my place…"

Puggsy glared at him more. "Why didn't you say so, before?"

Fangs rubbed the back of his neck. "I was scared."

Puggsy sighed, irritated. "Fine, let's just go."

They walked down the street back toward Fangs' house in silence. When they arrived, Fangs unlocked the door and they walked in, gathering in his living room. Puggsy sat down in a leather chair, while Biff and Kim both sat on the couch. Kim lied her head on his shoulder and fell asleep quickly, as did he.

Aw… Fangs thought, watching Biff and Kim. He grabbed a blanket off the back of it and covered them both. He then turned to Puggsy, who was staring out the window in deep thought. He knelt down next to him. "Sorry that you have issues…" he said quietly.

"Don't be." Puggsy snapped, not looking at Fangs. "It's nothing."

Fangs stood up, glaring hurtfully at him. "It's always 'nothing' with you, isn't it?" with that, he walked back up to his room.

Puggsy sighed heavily, then adjusted himself, so that his legs hung over one arm of the chair while he rested his head against his elbow on the other, drifting to sleep.

"Lost him? What do you mean you lost him?" Ed snapped at Steve. "How could you lose track of a werewolf, let alone a kid who probably doesn't know his way around the city?" He turned to Tony. "And you! You were supposed to catch that girl! So, where is she?"

"Boss, we tried to catch 'em!" Steve said. "But that kid outran us, and then we kept running into this gang of kids- once literately- and when we saw him as a werewolf, oh geez, boss… in pictures, it's just scary, but in reality- I almost peed my pants! We tried to catch him, but half of the guys froze, and the rest of us got mixed up in some sort of confusion with those gang members, and we didn't see where he ran off to."

Ed turned to Tony. "And what's your excuse?"

Tony sneered. "I caught the girl, but some stupid teenager slammed a trash-can over my head and got away. I caught up to them in the forest, but apparently, they had met that werewolf, and the over-grown hairball roughed me up. They were going to turn me in, but I escaped." he then grinned. "They have a little gang now, boss, and you won't believe who's with them."

"It had better be someone we can use, if you're grinning like that,"

"Oh, it is boss." Tony let out a chuckle. "You remember that dumb kid who didn't throw the fight?" he paused, letting the tension sink in. "It's him. And that's not the best part, either. That werewolf… heh, he's not as tough as he looks. I think he's pretty buddy-buddy with all of them, especially the girl."

Ed grinned a little. "So, a gang, eh?" he chuckled, and Tony and Steve joined him. He then stood up and slammed his fists on the desk, silencing their laughter. "Tony! Tell the boys to scout the city and keep an eye out for those kids and werewolf. Steve, go find me a casual outfit. I think it's time we arranged a little meeting…"

A/N: (fans self with hand) Whew! Is it just me, or is it getting a little dramatic in here? Please R/R, but for the sake of all that's made up, don't flame me!