Fang woke up slowly, his eyes trying to adjust. He was aware of a very annoying and painful throbbing at the back of his head. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to the back of his head—and actually, he wouldn't put it past them.

Trying to get up, he realized that he couldn't. Fang was confused; he couldn't exactly process what had happened. He was dizzy, and his eyes wouldn't focus. He wasn't sure if the room was white or if he was seeing lights. They must've hit him very hard.

After lying awake for a while, he began to remember certain things. Max standing in front of the Flock, a tall dark man named Ethan, Erasers…

Fang gasped, feeling the pain in his head stab ruthlessly. His eyes dulled and he willed himself not to pass out again. What was making him so dizzy? He and the others had always been able to heal so much quicker than this, he should've been seeing straight by now.

"It's the chemical. Don't worry, it's not lethal," came his answer.

Fang snarled and tried to move, striking out in the direction of the voice, but whatever was going on in his head was causing him major pain. Plus the straps holding him down didn't help.

"Don't bother," said the voice. He recognized it as the man who'd showed up last night—Ethan.

"Why…what are you…where am I?" Fang tried to speak. It didn't sound right to him but he hoped it would make sense.

"Too many questions, Mutant," Ethan snapped. His voice sounded much closer to Fang's left and again Fang tried to retaliate. The chemical did its work because every time Fang tried to strike out an unbearable pain would make its way through his head.

"If anything happens to the Flock, I'll kill you," Fang said threatening. He was gritting his teeth against the pain which made his voice sound extra menacing. To his surprise, annoyingly, Ethan began to laugh.

"I think that will be hard to do," Ethan said between chuckles.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Fang asked. His eyes refused to focus and all he could see was the bright lights. Ethan was just a tall, blurry black shape to his left. Ethan laughed again.

"Because you're going to help us." He said merrily, and all of a sudden Fang's vision was gone and the pain in his head was so intense that he blacked out again…

&

Fang.

He opened his eyes a little, able to focus a little more.

Faang.

Whose was that voice? It said his name beautifully.

Slowly Fang was pulled into consciousness. He wasn't strapped down, instead he was lying on a cold glass table, his wings out to their full length.

Fang!

Why did he recognize this voice? Why was he here? Where was 'here' exactly? All the questions came pouring into his head and all of a sudden Fang had a very bad headache. Sitting up Fang held onto his head and gritted his teeth against the pain.

"Fang!"

The voice was clearer now—it was Max's voice. He looked up and there she was, standing a few feet in front of him. He was confused at first, then vaguely remembered his conversation with Ethan.

"Max?" Fang asked her, though clearly, she was.

"Yes, my love," said Max—only that's what tipped him off. No was in heck would she ever refer to him as 'my love', yuck!

"You're not Max," Fang said venomously, his eyes squeezed tight as the headache raged again. He wasn't stupid, and if the people here thought he was they would pay for it. He remembered when they'd tried to switch Max's on him before, and he hadn't fallen for it then, either.

"As far as you're concerned, I am," said Fake-Max. She glided towards him and put her hand on his shoulder. Fang shook it off and was rewarded with a headache that literally knocked the wind out of him. He fell over sideways. "You'll not do that again," Fake-Max said. Fang snarled.

"I've had worse." He said. Fang attempted to stand up but immediately doubled over.

"I did warn you fairly," whispered Fake-Max.

"What…do you want…from me?" Fang asked weakly. He would not give in. He would be strong—like Max was.

"You're help," said Fake-Max sweetly with a coy smile.

"Yeah, well you can shove it where the sun don't—."

"Uh, uh, uh," Fake-Max cooed. Fang howled in pain. "We'll not have that kind of language here. You will help us," she said confidently. She tilted his chin up so that he looked into her eyes. "Come with me." He hadn't been planning on going but the Erasers that came in stuck needles into his wings and shackled his wrists and ankles. Whatever they injected his wings with was making him numb all over and he was kind of dragged. They followed Fake-Max to a very small room with one wall that was a humongous screen. There was one chair sitting in the middle of the room. "Here is fine," Fake-Max told the Erasers. They shoved Fang forcefully into the chair and made sure he was strapped in.

"What…are you doing…?" Fang's voice was slurred.

"Put it on him," said Fake-Max. Obediently one of the Erasers strapped something onto his head. The helmet-like thing was extremely heavy. Suddenly two latches came down and took hold his eyelids very gently. It forced this eyes closed, and Fang didn't like that feeling at all. He needed to see what was coming at him—to be prepared for it. With a screech Fang began to struggle, but he couldn't even feel his body now. Suddenly, everything was silent. Fang was so confused—whatever they'd put in him wasn't good.

Beginning to get drowsy, Fang heard a very quiet voice, but he was too out of it to really pay attention. He was so tired; he just wanted to sleep.

You can begin the process now said the voice.

Fang tried to wake himself up but he was going under fast.

Soon he'll be with us. This mutant will be the key to Maximum's undoing…This will be fun.

And then Fang lost contact with the world, and he was swept under a current of nightmares and images he'd never wanted to see again…

Dun dun dunnnn. lol reviews please! Sorry this took so long to get out, I've been busy lol Hope you like it! Thanks for reading!

Falling Rose Petals