Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Well, unless you mean copies of the books. But sadly I do not own the copywrite or privileges given. Nor am I James Patterson. So no, I do not own Maximum Ride. Maximum Ride and all its characters are the property of James Patterson and well…the flock. Because they bash anyone who tries to own them.

Author's Note: So I finally update. At last. I think my writing has improved, sort of. It's been a while since I worked on this story as the files containing it had been on a computer that became corrupted with a virus that was eventually repaired but completely crippled word. Although, it was more just laziness seeing as I suppose I could just copy and paste (and if not at least look to see where it was), but finally I am working on this and all my stories (well, I still got to think of Jamie Flannders whether I want to continue or not) again. I am going to try to update more but we'll see how long that would last but for now, expect more! Do you think I should edit the beginning of this story or leave as is?

Chapter 4: Falling Inside

Struggling to hoist the unconscious Fang onto his back, Iggy did a hop step jump thing as he rang the doorbell, shifting the weight so it was more comfortable. Fang had finally passed out and nearly fell from the sky, it took the whole flock to catch him before he landed splat on the ground. And it had been a close one too. Total had been no help at all, yipping and barking, shouting things like 'catch him' and 'almost got him'. Yes, Total had been so helpful. Urk, why couldn't Angel just shut the dog up when he got like that? It was nothing more than very annoying and very distracting. Angel turned and gave a weak half-hearted glare at Iggy and then remembered and sent the thought to him to not insult Total that way. He snorted but kept silent. Finally the door was opened by Dr. Martinez. She almost smiled when she saw them but stopped when she saw how disheveled, dirty, and hungry they looked, plus they were missing a person and another was unconscious. Looking over them, she stopped and looked over them again. Where was Max? Max never let them go anywhere without her if she could help it.

"Where's Max?" she barked, shutting down into doctor mode to keep down the rising panic. "And bring Fang in here where I can check up on him." Carefully composing a calm blank face, quickly marched them inside and shut the door behind them. Waving a hand, she pointed at the couches behind her.

"Wait here until I check what is wrong with Fang." Taking the unconscious boy from Iggy, she staggered into her home operating room (she found it useful just for things like this although she certainly wished for more equipment like at the Veterinarian's office) and plunked him down on the table. Rolling his head back, she scanned him over and checked for a pulse in his neck. Faintly there but he had one. So he was alive. That was good. When she first saw him, she thought he was dead. Continuing on, she continued her thorough investigation. Okay vitals check. Heartbeat regular enough for the flock so that was good. Eyes were good as well. Although there had been something weird though when she looked. There were faint black specks ringing around the white and those weren't supposed to be there. She would have to look more into that later but first she had to make sure he was okay. Continuing on, she continued her scan. Okay, things seemed to be working just fine. There didn't appear to be any injuries internal or not and he didn't seem to act like he was in pain. So he should be up soon. Leaving a glass of water for him when he gets up, she returned back to the Flock in the living room.

"Fang seems fine. So okay guys, where's Max?" Dr. Martinez demanded and the flock shifted uncomfortably. They didn't know how to tell her this or how she would respond. In fact, the flock was still trying to wrap their minds around the fact that Max had left them. It just seemed wrong somehow.

"Well, Mrs. Martinez…um, I don't know how to say this but….Max is not with us right now." Iggy stammered out, trying not to cry. Mrs. Martinez just looked at him expectantly, not seeming to have heard what he just said.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Mrs. Martinez asked again, hoping she had heard that wrong. She could have just sworn that Iggy had just said that her daughter Max was gone. How could that be? She couldn't be dead. She couldn't imagine Max just dying, there had to be something else.

"Mrs. Martinez…Max has…left us." Iggy struggled out and then finally burst into the tears that he had been holding back this whole time since Max had left. He had wanted to cry earlier but couldn't as someone needed to be strong to hold the flock together and Fang had been no help. Fang had been the worst of all of them and had been absolutely horrible. He still shuddered on the inside at that memory. Fang had acted like someone had…died. No, worse than that. He couldn't think of anything to compare it to but whatever it was, it was something horrible. He and the others had really been worried for Fang, the others had quickly realized something was really wrong with him and pulled themselves together enough to at least try to help. Fang hadn't been so good. He had alternated between bursts of hysterics, yelling loudly at him, and withdrawing into himself, refusing to speak or respond to anything they did. Finally they had made it back to Dr. Martinez in Arizona, although Fang had dropped unconscious near the border and dropped out of the sky, hopefully she could tell what was wrong. At the very least she might let them stay with her for a while until they could figure out what to do now that Max was gone.

Mrs. Martinez stared, frozen inside as she struggled to breathe. Max was…was gone! She had gone off on her own! Why? Max wasn't the type to just pack up and leave! Surely there must be another explanation. Finally forcing her mouth open, she struggled to speak, hoping against hope that the flock was somehow mistaken.

"Ar-Are you sure Max is gone? Max isn't the type to leave. Maybe there was an emergency or she was kidnapped or something. Maybe you're wrong." Mrs. Martinez added hopefully but was crushed when she saw the sad painful look on Iggy and the other's faces.

"No Mrs. Martinez, Max left on her own will. She left a note." Pulling out the greatly wettened and pawed at note, he handed it to her, the words barely legible but she managed to finally read them. When she finally did, Mrs. Martinez just turned white and staggered over to a chair and collapsed in it.

"I…I just can't believe it. I just can't believe my daughter Max would just pack up and leave but she did. I just can't believe it but I must. The fact that she left a note…I just never would have thought…" Mrs. Martinez burst out crying and Iggy cautiously felt his way around until he made it to Dr. Martinez and he cautiously put his arms around her and hugged her. Iggy had never really been a huggy-dovey person but Mrs. Martinez needed one. And truth be told, Iggy needed someone to comfort him as well. He kept on hugging her as they cried together.

Fang was lost. He had no idea where he was. He had been with the flock earlier but now he was lost…somewhere. He had never seen this place before in his life yet it felt strangely familiar. He couldn't remember what happened. Something important but for the life of him he just couldn't remember. He looked around. As far as the eye could see (and he could see far) there was just an empty dying wasteland. Cracks and holes ripped the ground and there was no life except for struggling dying underbrush of what used to be flowering plants. Every so often, a flash of light would flicker and flames would burst out of the ground. Fang wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do so he just decided to walk for a bit and figure it out.

After what felt like an endless eternity of nothing but the same landscape, he somehow stumbled into a long hallway. Shaking his head, he looked around again. That was weird. How did he get here? Wasn't he just in that other place? Oh well, nothing to it but to keep on going. Standing back up, he cautiously moved forward, scanning the room. From what he could tell it was long and white…to be frank, kind of boring. The only thing that broke the monotony was a litany of pictures every interval of 100 or so yards. They were all centered around some kind of destruction theme. In every image there were various pictures of violence, murder, war, bloodshed, and death. They made him shudder every time he passed one. He had a feeling he was being watched and he didn't like it. Finally after passing yet another picture (he lost count after the 16th), he reached yet another door. Rolling his eyes, he sighed and opened that one, stepping into yet another room. He was getting tired of this and fast. He ached all over and he just wanted to lay down but he wasn't allowed to until he reached the end. Something wouldn't let him.

It appeared to be a throne room, but maybe it was because of the throne in the center that kind of gave it away. He gave a small laugh. Heh, he cracked himself up. At least his journey was almost over. Wincing as every step sent sparks of pain shooting through him, he struggled over to the raised dais. Gritting his teeth he forced himself up the steps and onto the chair as wave after wave after wave of pain ratcheted his body. It was no longer his leg, it was all through him. Finally he reached the top and the pain instantly stopped. Suddenly a clapping sound filled the room and Fang weakly turned his head towards the sound. He saw a shadow step from the side materialize into a humanoid shape. Well, except for two large black wings protruding from its body. His breath stopped. The thing looked just like him. The same wings, same body, same hair, same eyes. Was this his clone? The thing that looked like him smirked.

"No Fang, I am not your clone. I am…you." Fang rolled his eyes.

"Uh-huh. And you seriously expect me to believe that? How dumb do you think I am?" His other self gave that creepy smirk again. Fang wondered of he really looked like that. No wonder everyone was always so freaked out when he did that! Go figure that he would be on the receiving end. The other one climbed up the steps and stopped before Fang. Now that he was closer, Fang thought he saw something different. The other Fang's eyes…they blazed with fire. Not literally, Fang would not have been surprised if they were though, but they held an anger and hate so strong that it seemed to pulse out from him. Fang felt it and it felt….familiar somehow. His other-self grinned.

"Recognize me yet? You should. As I said, I am you. I know everything about you. I know your strengths, your weaknesses, your dreams and desires. I know your fears and nightmares. I know you inside and out. There is nothing about you I do not know. After all, I should know everything about you. I've been with you since the beginning. From the moment you were created. You and I are one and the same." The other one stepped even closer. Fang felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen and goosebumps form on his arms. He watched himself lick his lips.

"Fear is good. You like fear don't you? You like to be respected and admired yes? Well, force is the way. You know that right? You've always known. How could you not, growing up in that lab? The one who holds the controller holds the key. All that shit about friendship and love and family, blah blah blah. You know its lies. Why do you put up with the others? They're weak, useless, needy. One is a cripple who needs help in every new place he visits. The others are useless kids that constantly need to be looked after constantly. They don't know real suffering like you do. They whine and complain over every little thing while you know the true meaning, don't you? You remember, back at the lab. The things those people did to you? They weren't pleasant or pretty. Those people deserved what they got as do all. I know you loved the feeling of taking them apart, the exhilaration and high it was. Watching as they pleaded for mercy as you so often did. You gave them none as they had given you. They didn't deserve to live so you ended their miserable lives for them. And you loved it. You loved it, the feeling of power you had to take down the ones who hurt and mocked you. I am sad you no longer do it." The other one shook his head sadly.

"After all, it's only fair is it not?" Fang shuddered as the memories came back. He had forgotten, locked them in the back of his mind. He had thought they were gone forever. Memories of when he was 6, when the nasty scientists did nasty things to him. Him crying out as they poked, burned, shocked, cut him, seeing what he was made of, what his powers were. They were cruel. They talked about how this was going to help the future of humanity but they tortured him in unspeakable ways. He barely held his sanity. After one particularly bad time, he finally cracked. He gave in and summoned forth a darkness so black and endless that it overwhelmed him. He couldn't remember exactly what happened but he apparently beat the scientists to a bloody pulp, toying with them as he repaid them for every ounce of pain they ever gave him. He did remember the joy it gave him. And why not? They did deserve it. But later it made him feel wrong, feel dirty. So he forgot, he locked the memories away so tight, no one knew, not even Angel. Coming out of his reverie, he growled, his eyes flashing a deep black.

"Why did you bring that up? Those memories were gone and now you had to dig them back up again. You'll pay for that!" The other one laughed.

"Excellent Fang, feel the rage, let it consume you. You know you want to. I know you want to. Just give in permanently. Become one with me again and we can do anything. Accept the dark power." Fang growled but held himself back. The other him was right, he did want to be mad. All these confusing feelings and emotions…anger kept them away. At least anger made sense unlike those other things. It was a struggle to keep emotions in check. He thought he had a handle on them but he was slipping, and now he was just ready to explode at the slightest provocation. Something messed with his control and he wanted nothing more than to release everything. Something made him want just give in…

Fang snapped out of it and spit in the other self's face. The other self gave a small growl and then that annoying condescending smile was back.

"Good Fang. You and I will talk again later when more memories come back. For now I bid you adieu and you know how to find me. I am always there." Laughing, the other one formed a portal, gave a slight salute, and stepped through and disappeared. Suddenly there was a ringing sound and the floor beneath Fang dropped open and he fell through…

Waking up in a bed in a place he didn't recognize. For a few moments he wasn't quite sure what was going on when everything came back to him. Max was gone…the sadness washed over him again and he collapsed unconscious, the last thing he saw was a pair of black wings and a laughing face.