Sorry, guys. I've been quite busy lately.

I blame school.

Anyway, next chapter! Get ready to meet some of Fang and Kai's, um, interesting family.

Chapter Fourteen

Told by Max

"Okay, Max. have fun beating Fang up."

I smile evilly at Kai's words. With pleasure.

"And try to find it in your heart to forgive him" I flinch as Kai whispers in my ear in an undertone before walking away.

Fang narrows his eyes at me, a question in them.

"She just told me not to kill you. Or to try, at least." I smile.

"Begin." We hear Kai's voice, seemingly from every direction.

We tentatively start circling each other, slowly. Waiting for the other to make a move. I shift my wight, slightly, but it's enough to tip Fang off to my intentions.

He dodges my kick and returns the favor with a punch of his own. I drop to the floor before he can hit me, and knock his feet out from under him. That's what sets it off. From there it's a whirlwind of kicks, punches, dodges. I vaguely register the flock and the gang on the sidelines, watching us, eating popcorn, exchanging bets.

Eventually, I have him pinned, still punching, when suddenly everything goes black. I dizzily attempt to stand. Then totally random things start to fly at me. A doll, a cage. Unidentifiable objects. A unicorn.

What the mess?

The blackness around me swirls, twisting and turning haphazardly. I lose all sense of orientation, unsure of which way is up and which is down.

Suddenly, I see Fang in front of me, amidst the looming darkness. I swing, just for my fist to hit absolute nothingness. The image of Fang flickers and disappears.

Then several more abruptly appear. But... something about them... they all look off. Except for one, in the middle, an almost imperceptible wrinkle between the eye brows giving away his confusion. The next hing I know, his eyes are lasered onto me. I reason that we are seeing similar things.

This delusional state, hallucinations, illusions...

Illusions...

Illusions.

Illusions!

This is an illusion.

~Hey, uh, Kai? I just want you to know... You're dead.~

"Why have you stopped fighting? If you wish to test your skills, you must continue, even through this."

It sound like the voice, only I actually hear it. As in, with my ears.

I grit my teeth and urge the world to stop twisting, then throw another punch. And another. And then a good kick, for good measure.

And this, kids, is how I came to beat up Fang.

What surprises e most is, he takes it. For awhile, at least. Eventually, he grabs y wrists, keeping my from hitting him again.

"Max."

His voice is quiet as he looks into my eyes.

"I... I'm sorry."

"What's this? Mr. Rock apologizing? Okay, world. You can stop spinning now."

His grip on my wrists tightens ever so slightly.

"Max. I'm serious."

"It doesn't matter. I'm never forgiving you."

But, in truth, part of me did want to forgive him. The other part still wanted to continue beating him to a pulp, but you get the gist.

Oh, the joys of being a teenage mutant.

I really hope you guys got the sarcasm of that. If you didn't I don't think the world is even worth saving. Honestly.

Fang lets go of me. "Fine." He says, but I see the devious look n his eyes. They tell me that he's not going to give up. Fang turns and walks out, me watching him as cold fury radiates from me in waves.

Stupid, stubborn, insolent jerk.

*.*.*.Kai.*.*.*

I wake to two people on either side of my bed, leaning forward to loom over me. The long fire red hair of the girl on the left tickles my face. The boy on the right, who looks like the boy version of the girl, grins, bluish hair sweeping into his eyes.

"Kalo! Kala! What are you two doing here? And get away!" I say to my twin cousins, pushing them away so I can sit up. They both laugh.

"We're visiting of course!" Kala exclaims, wavy red hair falling into her face. Frowning, she pushed it back.

"Mother will not be happy..." I mumble. As if to punctuate my words, I hear a scream.

"Oh. So Shallo woke her..." Kalo says, grinning again.

I roll my eyes at the thirteen year olds, standing. I point to the door. They hang their heads and slowly walk out. I quickly get dressed then follow them out of the room. I head upstairs to the tower where my Mothers' room resides. Kalo and Kalo are already there, having transported. My mother glares at Shallo. Shallo smiles not-so-innocently back.

"You know, Shallo, that worked when you were five, but it doesn't work as well now." I tease the fourteen-year-old. She turns to me, moon-like yellow hair that matches her eyes framing her scowling face. "Grandfather here?" I ask.

"Duh. Like he'd ever let us come on our own." Shallo answers.

I turn and head back down the stairs, cousins in tow. I see Grandfather in the Main Hall, studying the room.

"Grandfather!" I greet. He certainly hasn't changed much in the last five years. Still tall and heavily muscled, he has the perfect look for a king. Which is what he is.

"Kai!" His deep, booming voice echoes throughout the room as he wraps me in a hug. "My, how you've grown." He says, his golden eyes filled with pride.

Then young Mariangela steps out from behind him.

"Arian!" I say, hugging the twelve year old, whom I hadn't seen since we visited them on the island a few months ago.

"Hey, sis." The ever-present shyness shows in her tentative voice. I smile at my sister, her strait black hair covering one of her black eyes at she looks up at me.

Grandfather, who's name is actually Maestoso, crosses his arms. "I heard that they finally know." He tells me, serious look in his eyes.

I blink. How did he find out so quickly? "Wow. The first time you see me in five months, and this is what you start with?" I answer artistically, avoiding the question.

How will I explain all of this?