I just had an idea! (I know...Crazy, right? It is indeed.)

I'm going to add the date when I posted in my little author's note things up here. That way, when people come to read, they know when the chapter was put up compared to when they were last on.

See, I have good ideas sometimes. ;)

Added: 11/2

CHAPTER 37

Max POV

"It's still in one piece," Fang said into the rushing wind.

The School, or the center of Itex, was about half of a mile away, still standing.

"Yep," I replied. "Means our job's not done yet."

Gazzy coasted closer to me and asked, "Max, what if the others were caught?"

"Then we'll have to bust them out," I said, going for calm and reassuring.

He gave a quick nod, and the three of us continued our journey to the School. I decided that entering through the basement would be safer. I figured the others went through the vents on the roof, so taking a completely opposite path was our best bet.

Once we were inside, we snuck around the halls, pressed up against the walls. The way we were sneaking around, we could totally pass for ninjas or something. I'm just saying.

The building wasn't too tall, maybe four or five stories at the most, but it was extremely wide. And the halls wound every-which way. Even growing up here, I struggled to remember which hall led where. Don't get me wrong, I recognized a lot of it, but it had been practically a year since we'd wandered these halls. My memory can only hold so much under pressure.

Slowly, we ventured toward the main computer rooms, when I started noticing the bits of shattered metal and a few feathers on the ground.

"Fang…" I breathed.

"They've been through here," he finished for me. "Means the cameras are off."

With that, he moved from the wall we were previously sliding across and started running down the hall. We followed the trail of broken Flyboy parts all the way to where the main computer systems would be located.

Fang stopped in front of the door, his hand on the doorknob, and glanced back to me.

"Go on, Fang," Gazzy hurried him.

Quietly, Fang said, "It was like following the breadcrumbs from that story Jeb used to read the kids way back when. But…"

"You think it was all a trap?" I asked cautiously, beginning to wonder the same thing.

We stared at each other for a moment, coming to a silent agreement.

Something wasn't right.

Fang POV

After Max and I decided that we'd walked right into a trap, we had to start reconfiguring our plans.

"What now?" the Gasman asked.

"We should—" Max began but stopped abruptly.

Max! Fang! Gazzy!

Angel was shouting in our thoughts. Her fears were stronger than her thoughts, so I was guessing they were close by.

"Angel?" the Gasman replied quietly and worriedly.

Max's eyes were wide and pleading. The others had been caught.

"Angel, calm down. We're here. Where are you?" I asked her in my mind. "Are you with Iggy and Nudge?"

The seconds were passing without a sound. Not one word. Just our pounding hearts.

A minute later, Max whispered, "I'm not getting anything from her! She won't answer me anymore!"

"We'll find her," I stated under my breath. "And the others. C'mon."

I turned to run down the hall, only to be greeted by a good ten or so Flyboys marching down the same hall.

"Go!" Max yelled and turned towards the hall I was facing.

"No, don't!" I replied. "Flyboys this way! Go back!"

"Flyboys this way, too," she replied in an outrage, pointing down the opposite hall.

We did walk into a trap. We were being surrounded and fast. But we were one step ahead of the game. They expected us to be trapped inside that room with no escape.

"Time for another fight," Max growled through clenched teeth.

I examined the enemies again and noticed one little problem.

"Watch it," I breathed, keeping my eyes locked on the Flyboys. "They've got guns."

The Gasman stood by my side, braced for the battle.

Max POV

If we were fighting regular old Flyboys, it would've been a piece of cake. The ones with guns, however, posed a little more of a threat.

Gazzy and Fang faced one hallway while I prepared to take on the other.

"You don't have anymore bombs, do ya, Gaz?" I asked quietly.

"Not this time," he said with regret.

Ok. Flyboys=1, Flock=0

But we're faster and smarter. Let's try that again.

Flyboys=1, Flock=2

Better.

Who said Math was hard!

The battle started quickly. Fists were flying, and the metal was clanging so loud that I thought my eardrums were going to blow.

I picked up part of a metal arm from the pile of scraps from the last battle and started swinging wildly. With a quick glance at the guys, it appeared that they had done the same. It also appeared that we were winning.

The quick distraction cost me. I took a metal fist to the face, causing my nose to bleed almost instantly. That was followed by something knocking my feet out from under me and painfully land on my back. My head cracked on the hard floor, but, thankfully, I didn't black out. My vision was definitely fuzzy, though.

I rolled over, trying to scramble to my feet, but was knocked back down again with another blow to my back, just under my wings.

When did these things get so much better at fighting?

Before the Flyboy could attack again, a dark shadow flew over me and crashed into the Flyboy. My eyes focused enough to see that Fang had come to back me up.

While I tried sitting up, Fang continued his fierce battle with the remaining Flyboys. Gazzy ran to my side, helping me stand up. Then, he dashed into a Flyboy, tackling it to the ground.

Once my vision cleared some more, I joined the fight again. We had about five left, and we could finally go find the others

Naturally, that plan was busted when a gunshot echoed through the hall, followed by a heart-stopping scream.

And I say again:

Dun, dun, DUUUNNN!!!

Who could it be????

Haha. Cliffhangers are frustrating, huh? ^_^