I want to apologize now for the extreme OOCness that will occur later in this chapter. I just want to point out that it's intentional.

Fang: You're a terrible author.

Me: *shrugs* Eh, most authors do it. Even JP did it throughout all of FANG and ANGEL.

Fang: True.

Me: You all owe this chapter to Sierra156, who said, and I quote, "update soon, before I murder you!" Let's just say death threats are very effective.

Now, onto the chapter in which I start to make up for Fang's untimely death!

Fang: Still impossible.

Me: Shut up.

I should have known. Of course they would use the old Itex headquarters. How much more unoriginal could they get?

I honestly wondered why we didn't completely abolish the place when we had the chance. I really did not want to go back there. But if that's where the DG was, then that's where we were going. We would get our revenge.

The new Itex offered us a helicopter ride, which I really wanted to refuse. Our last ride went, well, very badly. It ended with Fang dying. Nonetheless, I accepted, having a feeling I would regret it later.

The helicopter was so freaking small. There was barely any breathing room in the thing. I was going crazy. Claustrophobia at its finest.

We finally got to Germany 7 hours later. 7 hours. I was ready to rip someone's head off.

We landed in some field, about 30 miles away from the castle. As in, the helicopter landed, as opposed to it, I don't know, being blown to bits.

We were going to fly everyone – except Star, who could run it – over to the building the old fashioned way, by mutant bird kid.

Let's just say that flying over 30 miles with a 150-pound Ratchet was not my idea of fun. By the time I got there, even flying at my max speed, my arms were aching, and Ratchet looked sick.

I looked at the massive structure ahead of me. They had definitively done some repair work recently.

Star emerged a minute later, sweat just starting to drip down her face. Everyone else was still at least 15 minutes away. Thank you, super speed.

When everyone else finally arrived, we planned on how we would get in. We couldn't exactly just walk and ring the doorbell. We finally decided that we would go under the 10-foot barbed-wire construction fence. We were careful not to touch it, just in case it was electrified. We found a big enough hole, which made me think someone or something had tried this before.

I went in first to make sure it was safe. When I gave the all clear, I was followed by Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Holden, Iggy, Kate, Star, and Ratchet. If he were still around, Fang would have come in last.

Unlike the last time we were here, there was no one outside – no guards patrolling, or experiments being marched before death. The place really seemed abandoned.

There was a person-sized hole in the wall, which bothered me. It seemed like someone had made a pathway in for us, leading us to a trap.

The first room on the first floor held nothing but empty crates upon empty crates. The antiseptic was really strong, and made us all want to get the hell out of there – it brought back such bad memories. But we pushed on anyways.

The place had five floors, so we decided to split up. Ratchet and Star were taking the top floor. Holden and Nudge were taking the fourth. Iggy and Gazzy were going to the third. Kate and Angel would take the second. Maya and I were taking the rest of the first floor and the basement. After we were done, we were meeting back here. Not sure I was exactly happy with the arrangement, but we were the last two. So, like it or not, we were partners.

The first floor was empty. There were more empty cages, and a meeting room with nothing left but a blank white board, tables, and chairs. It was all new. This had definitely been the Doomsday Group headquarters at one time, but not anymore.

The basement was completely dark. It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust, and when I did, I still struggled to see, despite having perfect night vision. It was that dark.

Suddenly, a beam of light shined in front of me. I whirled around, expecting to come face to face with an Eraser or guard of some sort, but instead found Maya nonchalantly shining a flashlight at me I didn't even know she had. I gave her a look, and she just shrugged it off.

She shined the light back and forth, the light landing on walls with shackles, and empty, dusty floor, a steel door in the corner – wait, a door?

We ran over to it, hoping to find something useful to bring back to the Flock. Since Maya had the flashlight, I opened the door. We counted down from 3, and I threw open the steel door. I admit, I was honestly surprised by what was in there.

The room seemed nearly identical to the first one – overcrowded with barely any space to walk around. There were easily as many crates. The main difference here was that most the cages were inhabited. Dead and dying mutants were slumped on the floors of their undersized cages. The smell of death was completely overpowering.

There was a slight shuffling and a small sigh from the back. Maya and I nodded simultaneously. Freaky, but I guess that happens with clones.

We walked to the back slowly, careful not to miss anyone. God, I couldn't it. There were dead ape mutants, spider mutants, snake mutants, shark mutants, octopus mutants, and some I couldn't even identify. As I continued walking along, I heard moaning from my right. I walked over to it and took a knee. I was staring right into Ella's cage. She was alive – for now – but there was no way she would make it much longer. I undid the lock way too easily. Again, as if someone wanted me to. As I pulled her out of her crate and slung her arm around my shoulder, I noticed a reddish feather sticking out her back. Oh Ella, I thought. What have you gotten yourself in to?

I walked through the narrow aisle, and stopped at the last crate in the room, as did Maya. A familiar dark figure sat hunched over in his cage, fists clenched, ready to fight.

"Fang?" Maya and I said at the same exact time.

He looked up instantly. "Max," he said, relief flooding over his face. His eyes flickered to the side and saw Maya. "Max?" he said again. He shook his head. "Oh man, I'm losing it."

Maya looked genuinely hurt. Fang had no idea who she was. Which meant…

"Fang, what are you doing here? How long have you been here?"

"I honestly have no idea," he replied, sounding a little high. "I've been here for weeks. I think. I've been here since Total's wedding." He paused. "But I knew you would come."

I looked up from the lock I was fiddling with. "How?"

"Because we said we would be with each other forever. And besides, Max," he said, a wide, boyish grin breaking across his face. Grinning is not something Fang does.

"I love you, Max."

Fang: I do NOT talk like that.

Me: I know. I warned you of OOCness. And I just want to say I considered ending the chapter:

"I love you, Max. I love you this much."

Oh Jeez.

A parody of STWAOES, but I decided against it. So, how do you like my return of Fang? You may be a little confused. If you are, reread the first few chapters. It will make more sense. The next chapter or 2, I will try to better explain it. Though that may not be until December. Blame NaNoWriMo. -MaximumX and Fang