A Guitar and A Voice by rainxface

Okay, so here is the story that most of you guys have been wanting to read for like, ever or so? Right? Sure. Well, I'm sorry to say that out of the ten or so entries, only three could have been picked. And they have. SoraBane01, magicmehome, and EdwardAddict, congratulations for being the winners!!!! But, some of the characters, you won't meet until very late in the story.. sorry. I've been wanting to write this story for some time, and I am very excited to start writing it!

Enjoy!

Rainxface

PS: I don't own the OC's, MR, but I do own the plot. Nor do I own any of the bands that are ever mentioned in this story. Or Pop-Tarts.

Chapter 1:

Fang and I were sitting in my room, discussing who we thought were the best bands for rock music. Neither of us really had a care for anything other than rock-alternative stuff.

Wait – you guys are probably lost. Okay, it's been two years since the Germany episode. Since then, the flock and I have bought a house in the beautiful California mountains. Out house is three stories high; first floor holding the kitchen, den, garage, and movie room; second floor was Angel's, Nudge's, and Gazzy's rooms; Iggy's, Fang's, and my room are on the third. And none of us went to school – too risky after Virginia.

"I say it's My Chemical Romance," Fang argued. "Have you heard the CD 'Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'?"

"No way! It's Paramore. Hayley just has that powerful voice," I opinioned. He just wouldn't listen.

"How about Roses Are Red?" he suggested. He knew we both liked them.

"Maybe. But I still say Paramore. Besides, no other band can have a romance like Hayley and Josh."

"It's about quality, not relationship status," Fang debated. True, he had me there, but I still just wanted another reason for Paramore.

"Oh, come on! Think about it this way: if Hayley and Josh have a baby, they would be more stuff for them to sing about and it could live up to it's parents' band name: Paramore, meaning 'secret love' in French." Okay, now I was completely off topic.

"Okay, but what if it broke up the band? There would no longer be a Paramore." Damn logic.

"Then Panic! at the Disco would take their place as best band ever. Simple," I pointed out. Oh, I so had him with Panic!

"Sounds good to me," he surrendered. "What time is it?" He looked at my clock on my dresser. 2:14 a.m. Where had the time gone? We couldn't have been at that for six hours!

"We should probably go to sleep now," I declared, getting up to go lay in my bed. "Good night." I have him a hug that felt like three years – just the way I like them.

"Night, Max," Fang whispered, walking my door, turning off my light, and closing my door.

I got in bed, laying there thinking about Fang. It was hard to explain us. Sure, two years ago Fang had kissed me in the cave, but ever since we were reunited on that eastern beach, we had grown closer together. He opened up to me a lot; we talked about something random every night. I knew how I felt about him: more than a best friend, way closer to a soul-mate. I knew how her felt about me; Angel didn't need to tell me that for me to figure it out.

I was just being stubborn and waiting for him to make the move.

I stared at the ceiling for a while longer, dwelling on the subject of Fang, before actually going to sleep.

AG&AV

The next morning, I woke up early. Well, normal for me, but it seems early. I crept into the kitchen quietly down the stairs and grabbed a packet of Pop-Tarts. I turned on the TV to listen for any news that would actually be worth listening to.

As every morning, everything was peaceful in our house except the quiet voices of the newscasters. I sat on the counter, eating my Pop-Tarts, half paying attention to the news, half to listen for anyone who might have gotten up early.

Five minutes later, Fang walked down the stairs, moving quietly and swiftly.

"Good morning," I greeted, handing him a packet of Pop-Tarts.

"Good morning," he grumbled while nodding his head in thanks. He opened his packet and leaned next to where I was sitting. "You'd think after being up until 2 a.m., you'd at least get up after 6 a.m." I chuckled.

"It's hard for me to get up after 6. Besides, it became habit for me to get u pearly and keep track of everyone," I explained.

"Max, that was two years ago. You don't have to worry anymore. Nothing will happen. I promise," Fang lectured me. He was almost staring at me with disbelief.

"Hey, old paranoia habits die hard," I said, giving his shoulder a slight nudge. He nudged me back, and that started our early morning nudge fight. I was laughing so hard.

"Okay, stop," I said between gasps of air from laughing. He shrugged and started watching the news. Something must have been wrong with the world – seriously wrong – because Fang was almost in a trance.

"Fang?" I waved my hand in front of his face. He shooed it away. I started listening to what the newscasters were talking about.

"…and early yesterday morning, over half of school's attendance were missing. Why hadn't any of the students showed up is unknown. Some of the parents have also been reported missing. Teachers, too, were announced absent, but…" I turned to look at Fang. He was already looking for answers in his eyes.

I was just about to answer with, "I don't know," when our door bell rang.

That was chapter one. Please tell me how much you like the story so far, because that will help me sooooooo much. And I wonder who is at the door… hmm. :)

Please review, and some of the reviews could be addressed to the OC creators once you meet them.

Love,

rainxface

Basically, I am in love with writing this story. It's amazing and fun. I hope you think so, too. :)

Disclaimer: I own the plot. I don't own the characters. But james patterson owns Max, fang, angel, gazzy, nudge, and iggy. And the company Itex (which is an actual company! Google it!)

Now, enjoy this delicious story!

Previously:

I was just about to answer with, "I don't know," when our doorbell rang.

Chapter 2:

Not many people knew we lived in our house. And of the few that did, none of them had any interest in us. So our doorbell was rarely ever rung.

Fang and I exchanged suspicious glances.

"Who do you think?" I mouthed.

"Who would come here?" he replied. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"That helps. No one!" I nearly whispered, but only mouthed. Fang sighed and took a quick glance at the front door. "Fine, I'll go."

I walked over to our front door and snuck a peek through the peep-hole. There was a girl, no old than Fang or I. She had black hair that went down to her waist where the tips were white. She had a black tee-shirt with a white long-sleeve undershirt. She couldn't have been taller than 5'7". She looked innocent enough. But, then again, so did Angel.

I opened the door cautiously and slowly. When I actually saw her (and not through a peep-hole), I saw she had really green eyes – almost like sea-foam.

"Hello, um, I'm Sora. I've been needing to see you," the girl said, her eyes not really meeting ours.

"What do you mean, 'needing to meet us'?" I asked.

"Well, I just flew from a media mob, where my school used to be. I had heard you guys lived up here. I knew you guys could help," she explained. "And, I have wings, too. When Maximum exploded the Germany branch of Itex, I was set free. I used to 'live' at a School in Australia. That explains my slight accent."

I stood there thinking for a while. She escaped from an Australian School about two years ago. She had probably been adopted and put into normal school. I cringed at the thought.

"Yeah, my adoptive parents aren't the best. They made all my choices for me," Sora said, breaking me from my thoughts. Wait, how'd she know what I was thinking?

"How'd you –" but I was cut off.

"I'm telepathic. Though, I don't like it. Sometimes I hear what I shouldn't, and it really freaks me out," she clarified. "And sometimes I can catch glimpses of the future."

"Okay," I said steadily as I could. Good to know that.

"How do we know that you're not from Itex – working for them, I mean," Fang spoke up. I realized he hadn't said anything until then.

"Because why would anyone really want to work for those sick jerk-faces?" she answered.

"Good enough for me," I whispered. "Do come in." I opened the door all the way and let Sora pass through.

"I trust her," I mouthed to Fang.

"She does seem so," he replied.

Yay! that was chappie 2! And that was Sora, SoraBane01's OC! thank you SoraBane01, Sora is greatly appreciated in my heart.

love,

rainxface

PS: dont forget to review!!! review for love, review for CONSTRUCTIVE critisism, review for the heck of reviewing. :)

Okay, so here's the third chappie!!!!!! I currently have until chapter 8 written, but not all of it is typed… so that's what I'm going to be doing for awhile, but still also writing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and Sora belongs to SoraBane01.

Chapter 3

We sat at the kitchen table for awhile, discussing what was going on with the missing kids and adults. Apparently, Sora had also been part of one of the schools that had missing people.

"I showed up for school, and it seemed like only three people were there besides me," she told Fang and I. We sat there, quiet for a moment, thinking of the possibility of everyone playing hookie on the same day. Ha, like that would happen.

"You mentioned three other people. What are they like?" asked Fang.

"Not people anyone really knew about. I think they were the loners or the outcasts of the school," she recalled. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Fang mumbled, going into a daze of thinking. Suddenly, he snapped out of it. "Did they follow anyone's trends?"

"I don't think so. Are you thinking that this could be a cause of popularity people? And what they like?" Sora exclaimed.

"Possibly."

"It does make sense, though," I piped up. "A lot of people would want to be popular. It wouldn't surprise me if a whole school went missing just so some kids could be popular."

"But that isn't like my school. No one there was popular. We were either normal or an outsider," Sora debated. "And I was never really part of the normal people; more of the loners."

"Okay." I sat on that for awhile. I couldn't think of any logical explanation for all the schools to have no students in one day. I jumped when I heard movement by the stairs.

"Who's this?" Iggy asked, stopping in his path as he heard any extra person breathing.

"Iggy, meet Sora. Sora, this is Iggy," I introduced. "Sora is also an experiment, but from Australia. Apparently her school was missing a bunch of people."

"Really now?" Iggy seemed interested once I said 'school'. "Does she know?"

"Yes, I'm the same as you," she answered, obviously reading his mind, and startling the blind kid. His jaw dropped but he quickly closed it, realizing that she was some-what like Angel.

"Just out of pure curiosity, how old are you?" Iggy asked a little bit of hope set in his voice.

"16," she answered, not at all phased by the fact that a boy just asked her age.

"Okay. Just curious," he tried to cover. Oh, he was so interested. "I'll be in the kitchen, making pancakes. Just tell me if you want any." Translation: I'm making pancakes, and if you want any, I'll give you the best batch.

He so wanted to get to know Sora.

"Okay, thanks," Sora replied. Iggy walked into the kitchen, and we resumed our conversation.

"I really don't see how it could be a popularity think, actually," voiced I. How could all populars want to strike school if they're all just disappeared off the face of the Earth. "Ig they all want to be popular, then why would they all go missing for no one to find?"

"I don't know. Maybe the world is being taken over again?" Sora suggested.

"Oh, yes. Cause that is so what I need right now. 'Just go and save the world again, Max. It'll be fine' ", I said sarcastically as possible.

"Max, just think about it. You just might have to," Fang told me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

"Great," I groaned. Sora seemed to think otherwise.

"Wow, then you could go and fight the things/ people and Fang could help you and then I could see the legends in action. That'd be so cool!" Sora exclaimed. Oh, God. She thought we were legends. That isn't working out somehow.

"Whoa, whoa–we are not legends, by any means," I tried clearing up. I waved my hands in the 'no way' sort of motion.

"Yes, you guys are. You blew up Itex and Fang helped tell kids about Itex and how to prevent anymore harm," she said, her voice rising in excitement with every syllable.

"We did that, yes, but really, anyone could have," Fang said. Sora shook her head in disagreement.

"Only Maximum could save –"

"Okay, two things: call me Max, please, and another: Why are all these people going missing?!" I nearly yelled.

"Sorry," Sora whispered, almost to herself.

"I'm still sticking to my theory of popular kids," Fang told us in a quieter voice.

"Well, I guess we might have to check up on Mom and Ella cause I don't know if Ella was a popular or not," I sighed. "Once al the kids get up, we'll go through introductions and then we'll start packing to go to Mom's tomorrow." Fang nodded in agreement. Sora didn't have a choice, and she knew it.

"Pancakes are ready!" Iggy yelled from the kitchen. Three pairs of feet could be heard running on the floor above us. 15 seconds later, Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy were racing into the kitchen, lining up with plates in their hands. Smiles were plastered on their faces.

Iggy placed four pancakes on each plate then they walked into the den to eat.

Which meant they had to walk past where Fang, Sora, and I were talking.

They stopped in their places, confusion on their faces.

"Who are you?" Nudge asked. "What are you doing in our house?"

"Nudge!" I scolded.

"No, no; its okay," Sora said, obviously not effected by Nudge's rudeness. "I'm Sora. I'm here because I need help. And a lot of families do, too."

Whoot! Chapter 3 is finished! I can't wait to finish up typing the rest of the next chappie! I've finished writing up to chapter 11. but, I still need to TYPE them up. Fun! Lol

Love,

rainxface

OMG. It's chapter 4! Yay! A little bit of fax in this chappie, but not much… Hopefully soon!!

Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Jimmy Pats owns Max and the crew. SoraBane01 owns Sora. Lol And the Sex Pistols own the music that I'm listening to.

Chapter 4

After all the introductions, Sora told us her full story. Iggy was clinging onto every word. Just like Fang to you, the back of my mind thought-whispered. I inwardly sighed.

"Max," Fang snapped me back into reality.

"Oh, yeah. So Fang came up with the idea of the disappearances being responsibility of popularity in schools. In order to test our theory, we must go down to Mom's house. We need to check on Ella," I stated, putting as much leadership-ness as I could in from it's non-usage in the past two years.

Nudge and Angel cheered in the thought of seeing Mom and Ella – hopefully –again.

"We're going to leave in a day. That gives you enough time to gather as much stuff as you need for the trip," I ordered, almost. Everyone nodded. "Okay, meeting over." I got up and looked at Fang for more discussion of the trip. He nodded and stood up. Everyone else cleared, finished with eating their breakfast. Iggy was talking to Sora, most likely talking about giving her a tour of our house.

Fang and I walked up to his room, knowing that our conversation mustn't be heard by the others.

"What the hell is going on? People are seriously randomly disappearing – possibly forever. How do you explain that?" I nearly yelled, outraged from the inconvenience. Fang merely sighed and sat on his bed in a complete daze. After a few minutes, he picked up his guitar. Yes, two years ago he bought himself a guitar, and I'm okay with it. He's really freaking good for no lessons (he taught himself) and two years.

"Fang, this isn't a time to go all emo-musician on me," I half scolded, half teased. He smirked.

"Call me a music freak, but what if this has something to do with music? Or maybe anarchy," he said dead serious.

"Anarchy, maybe. Music –you're a music freak. Sorry." I laughed at the second part.

"But with the technology of today –"

"Why would someone try to eliminate the whole world with music?" I cut him off.

"Maybe not eliminate. Maybe just mind control."

"That's even more ridiculous."

"But when you go into Hollister with Nudge, you say the music is so loud its saying, 'Buy our clothes.' "

"I was joking. Who would actually do that?"

"A big company who wants to rule the whole world," he said dead seriously.

I sighed. "I still don't believe you."

We were silent for a while, thinking. Fang was lightly strumming his guitar with a few chords, helping me think straighter.

Reasons like Fang's were the sorts that I personally didn't want the others to know about. For one, he probably wouldn't say anything, and for another, they would think he was crazy for even thinking about that possibility.

After a jiffy, Fang's music stopped.

"That was good. Where'd you get the lyrics from?" he asked me, breaking the new found silence.

"What lyrics?" I questioned.

"You were singing, Max," he said, saying it like it was obvious.

"I was singing?" I didn't know that I sang.

"Yeah, and it was really good. Not just the lyrics, but also your voice. You have a gift, Max," he told me.

"Okay, let's keep that in mind after we figure this goddamn mystery!" I was loosing it. I really didn't want to have to figure anything like this out.

"Calm down, Max. It's okay. I'll help you. We all will," Fang lectured, wrapping his arms around me after putting down his guitar in its stand. I hugged him back. "It'll all be okay, Max. No need to freak. It's an easy ordeal. We can get this done and over within about a few weeks," he whispered in my ear. He kissed the top of my head.

Move number one.

"Okay," I nodded, "I can do this. I've done it before. And I was younger back then. I can do this." I need to talk myself through it all.

"That's right, Max," Fang continued to comfort me. "You can do this. Especially with all of our help. And possibly Sora, too." I pulled out of our hug and nodded. He was speaking the truth. Just like he always did.

"We should probably start packing," I said, starting to walk out of Fang's room. He merely nodded, already grabbing random clothes from his closet.

So, that wasn't bad, was it??

The next chapter should be done soon.

Oh, this is funny. I'm listening to random music, and I started typing listening to the Sex Pistols, and then like ten songs later, I'm finished typing, listening to a different song by the Sex Pistols. But its a playlist of a million different songs. Lol

and the more you review, the sooner i'll post the next chappie. I want to reach twenty reviews before i post the next chappie, please!

Love,

rainxface

PS: check out this band: Angels and Airwaves. they seriously rock my socks and make writing way more fun!

Okay, so this is a chapter isn't as long as I wish it was. I'm guessing by now, you're done with reading these top thingies. Or you're like me and just skip the bold text above the actual story. Lol

Disclaimer: max and them, not mine. Sora is SoraBane01, and I own everything you DO NOT recognize.

Chapter 5

I finished packing everything and immediately went down stairs to put my pack next to the front door with the other finished packs.

"Hey, Sora," I greeted, noticing she was sitting by the window. "How're you?"

She peeled her eyes off of the outside to look at me. "I just miss my family. Sure, they weren't my biological family, but I had grown attached to them," she explained, her eyes with a bit of emptiness. "And then to come here and see you guys functioning as one happy family – it's just really hard for me."

"I'm sorry. I know how you feel," I sympathized. Wait, when did I start sympathizing with anyone? "When Jeb left us, it was like dark days for all of us. And then I met Ella and her mom a few years later. They were such a sufficient team. I envied them."

"Really?" she questioned.

"Mhmm. Because I wanted a life where I knew my parents form day one and to have the picture perfect life."

"Wow. I didn't think someone like you would ever envy anyone –no offense," she told me.

"Well, believe it or not, I'm actually just like you," I joked. "Only ninety-eight percent human." I chuckled.

"If only you could tell that to my parents. They think I'm more spectacular than any other parent's child." She sighed. "It's ridiculous."

"How do you mean?" I so hoped this wasn't what I thought it was.

"They brag about me to all the other parents –"

"Wait, what?"

"When you bombed Itex, it was in every newspaper, and the television news, about what Itex did. So then I really didn't have to care about hiding my wings."

"Oh, wow. I didn't know that taking down one place would be all over the news."

"Max, it was anarchy. Everyone was against the Director." She said that with a small smile on her face.

"Anarchy in the U.K.," I snorted (that song just turned on. Weird. Lol). Fang once told me about the Sex Pistols and Anarchy in the U.K. Sora stared at me. "You wouldn't understand."

"Okay," she agreed. Her attention went back outside.

"You didn't bring anything." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I didn't want to weight down myself while crossing the ocean, so I've got cash," she explained, her eyes still outside.

"Yeah, cash from Australia. I'll bring some of my clothes for you. You can have your own pack," I told her. "You look to be my size." Of course, she's about five-foot-seven, and now I'm about six foot.

"Thank you. I promise that once this whole thing is over, I'll return to my home," she requested.

"Are you sure? Your parents shouldn't treat you like that. Ask Iggy, he'll tell you parents and make stupid mistakes," I told her. Her eyes seemed to glow at the mention of Iggy. And I really didn't mind bringing her into the flock. She's just like us, so why not?

She nodded and got up from her seat. "I'll go talk to Iggy then," she decided. "His room is third floor, door to the . . .?"

"Second on the left," I recited.

"Thanks," and she walked to Iggy's room. I stared out the window to find what had caught her eye so much. And I found it. Angel and Gazzy were outside, playing an altered version of hide and seek. She must have been feeling really homesick.

I sighed and walked to my room.

Sorry for the shortness! Next chappie is longer!

Check out this band: Hadouken! they're from the UK, but dude.. indie metal garage bands are awesome! lol and if you didn't realize this yet, i'm always gonna tell you about a really fabulous band at the end of each chappie. all of them will be rock related, none of them are hiphop rap stuff cause i really don't like that. or country. lol

i won't post the next chappie until about 26 reviews. lol

And, I don't know what else to say…

Love,

rainxface

Okay, so here's a longer chappie. It's pretty good, I think, personally. Or do I??? lol

Disclaimer: max and them: JP. Sora: SoraBane01. Lyrics and everything else: rainxface/me

Chapter 6

"Two packs? Have enough clothes, Max?" Fang crept up on me, seeing me pack the second backpack. I didn't even feel my neck start to prickle. I jumped and turned around.

"This one is for Sora. She didn't bring anything," I told Fang. He nodded in comprehension.

It was silent for a while, Fang and I just standing, facing each other in my room.

Fang sat down on my bed. I didn't realize he had brought his guitar with him, but he started playing. I closed my eyes and almost got lost in Fang's playing (not to sound like a poet).

This time I caught myself singing. It was a slower song, but not lullaby slow. It was like a love-ballad slow song. I heard some of the words I was subconsciously singing.

Do you know how it feels

To know that it could be real

But only in my dreams

You could be you

And I could be me

It would fit perfectly

Was I seriously singing that? I wouldn't think of myself to be the lover-dovey sort of person.

But then again with Fang…

Could I really be that girly? Even with Fang around? I'd watch myself closer whilst around Fang.

I stopped singing. Fang realized what I was doing and stopped playing.

"Do I always sing that sort of music?" I asked, my voice unsure.

"A lot of the time, yes. Sometimes about fears you have," Fang responded. "And sometimes you sing when you're walking around the house. Its really nice to hear." He smiled. My jaw dropped. I couldn't have been walking around the house while singing. That not a leader-y thing

"I didn't know I sung so much," I whispered, half recovered from shock.

"It's really nice to hear. From a girl that is always stressing, it's nice to hear you like a care-free teenager," he explained. I just sat there, still in half-shock.

Someone knocked on my door then.

"Come in!" I hollered. The door swung open and Sora and Angel ran in.

"Sorry if we're disturbing you guys. We just needed to tell you that Nudge is acting really abnormal," Sora panted, obviously from running straight to my room from Nudge's or wherever.

"How so?" I inquired. Nudge can't be going crazy. Not Nudge.

"She's not responding to us nor is she being quiet about the crap she's listening to," Angel joined in. I was too frightened by Nudge's strange acts to correct Angel's language.

"What is the crap she's listening to?" Fang questioned. Here he goes with his music theory.

"Rap and hip-hop stuff," Sora answered. "The stuff that's stupid." I could already tell she was very opinionated.

"Isn't that what's popular," Fang half stated, half asked.

"Fang, there is no way that music or popularity could play part in this very invisible, hostile world domination slash take away everyone in existence," I practically yelled. And all in one breath. "It's just not possible, nor would anyone think of that except you." I laughed a little at the end.

"Not funny, Max," Fang told me in a deadly tone. "Not funny at all, Maximum." My jaw dropped for the second time in one day.

"What did you just call me?" I asked in almost the same deadly tone, my teeth clenched.

"Your name. Is there something wrong with it?" he mimicked innocence like a tiger about to pounce it's prey.

"Oh, man. I can put up with someone who just met me to call me by my full name, but from someone that I've known since about birth is unacceptable," I spat. He was not going to get away with calling me Maximum.

"Okay, I'll remember that for next time." He smirked, knowing there was more to the subject.

"Guys!" Sora yelled. "Nudge?" Our heads all snapped at her. We had completely forgotten about Nudge in out argument.

"Right," I said whilst running top speed to Nudge's room.

I think that was longer. Right? Sure.

Okay, so I hope you understand what is going on right now, and if not, then it'll go into more detail later. Lol

New (not really, but for you, yes) band to look up: escape the fate. basically the rock band of the century. i love them sooooooooooo much. check out the songs "Situations" or "Not Good Enough". those are my personal faves. lol

i won't post the next chappie until i have about 34 reviews. you gotta give me time to type up the chappies, fyi! lol

Love,

rainxface

Hey, i decided that even though you failed to reach last chappie's review mark, i'll still post the next chappie.

Yay! Chapter seven!!! I'm excited… for no reason really.. lol

Disclaimer: I don't own Max or them. SoraBane01 owns Sora (go figure). Papa Roach owns my working music, currently. I own the plot that YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! Hehe.. lol sorry.

Chapter 7

I was in Nudge's room in three seconds flat.

And, boy did Sora's story understate what was going on with Nudge. Nudge was destroying almost everything in sight. She was glaring nonstop, not even when she saw me. But then I looked into her eyes.

They were the usual chocolate brown, but rather a silvery-blue. Something was seriously wrong with Nudge.

"Nudge, sweetie," I spoke softly, hopefully not scaring her or make her jump at me like a lioness with her first meal in a few days.

She only glared at me more and crouched down. Exactly what I didn't want to happen. Of course, nothing ever worked like it was supposed to.

She jumped at me, but luckily I dodged her just in time. She went flying (not literally, no pun) into the hallway and crashed into the wall. She jumped right back up and ran to an open window, threw herself out and flew into the early evening sky.

"Nudge!?" Iggy cried out.

"She left. I can't explain why," I whispered. "She nearly jumped me and then ran away." Not the best choice of words, but it said what it needed to.

Angel, whom had appeared at the doorway with Sora, started crying. Nudge was like her best friend. She turned around and hugged Sora so she was soaking her shirt. I walked over to them.

"It's okay, Angel," I cooed, rubbing between her wings. I wanted to say that we would have her back soon, but I knew that it probably wasn't true.

Then Fang walked up in the opposite direction. I turned around and gave him a huge hug. He returned it, and I rested my head on his shoulder.

Then I did something I usually wouldn't do. I cried.

Fang started stroking my hair, not stopping me from crying. He just cooed me with sayings like, "Let it out," and, "We'll get her back".

So I listened and stood there, hugging him and crying my eyes out. After about five minutes, I was all cried out and I was just ready to pass out.

Fang was rubbing between my wings, just where I liked, when I told him I needed to lie down. He did not argue with me, though it was only four in the afternoon, but my puffy eyes had already drooped. He picked me up and carried me to my room.

He set me down on my bed, also making sure I was comfortable. I felt him lay down next to me and I smiled. I opened my eyes and saw him staring directly back into my eyes. He moved some hair that had fallen in front of my face.

Move number two.

I closed my eyes again, fore they were becoming heavy. I let the blackness of sleep take over my mind.

Sorry that was so short!! The next chapter is longer! I promise you!!

give me at least 39 reviews!!!!!!!!!!! that's all i'm asking and i know a way to review more than once!!! its easy. just post one review and then log out and post anotehr review under a different name! easy as that. just remember to sign your actual screen name on the bottom so i don't get confused and then i can reply to your review if i feel nessecary. :)

::New Band::

We Smoke Fags. From the UK, its a trio that plays rock-alternative-dance stuff.. Basically really awesome and amazing. so go check them OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Rainxface

PS: do you understand what's going on NOW?

Sorry I left you guys in the dark for a while.. I had finals week and that put me under a lot of stress, plus i've had dance and showchoir and high school basketball games and basically you name it, i had it last week and a bit in my future. But yay! Another rather long chappie!

Disclaimer: I don't own MR, Sora is SoraBane01's, and I own what you don't recognize, like the lyrics in THIS chappie! Yay. I love writing.

Chapter 8

When I woke, I was face to face with Fang. His very presence enlightened me so, in a way, that felt like I was in the dark without him. The way his black hair fell over his eyes. His chocolate brown eyes when they were trying to comfort me when disaster struck. His warm around me when I needed a hug the most. His sweet voice emerging his emotional-human side to me when we had one of our random chats.

Fang was more than a crush to me. I didn't get out a lot, so I really didn't see many other boys besides Fang, Iggy and the Gasman.

A few minutes later, Fang woke up. I was still smiling, but seeing his early morning face made me smile even bigger.

"Good morning," I chuckled.

"Good morning," he yawned. He moved his arm (which was still laying across my waist) to tilt my alarm clock to the side to read the time. He muttered something I couldn't understand that sounded a little like a curse word.

"What?" I asked, slightly alarmed.

"It's nearly ten," he said, shock lightly resting on his face.

"Well, I've never slept in that late before. Wonder if the kids got Iggy up to make breakfast." And then it pinged. My heart pinged, reminding me of Nudge. I gasped and my face went blank. Fang saw this and quickly caught me in a hug.

He pulled us into a sitting position, gently rocking me back and forth. "It's okay. We'll get her. She's okay. She'll be okay," he softly hummed in my ear. I felt hot tears make their way down my cheeks and jaw line. He wiped them off with his thumb.

Move number three.

He started lightly humming a tune. Even with tears in my eyes, I was still singing to his music. My voice was a bit rusty and thick, but I'm sure Fang would still say it was beautiful.

I remember your first smile

I know you were proud

Just tell me the truth

Cause I know you'll change

I knew I was singing about Nudge. She was gone – away, missing, absent (take your pick) – and I couldn't do squat for her. How does she feel about her actions and our reactions? Was she in a pride moment, or what?

I knew when I stopped singing, but Fang continued his hum.

A slight knock on my door completely woke me from my trance.

"Max! We can't find Fang anywhere!" Iggy hollered. Knowing he could hear him, Fang chuckled and only loud enough for Iggy and I to hear him. "Whoa! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you two lovebirds," he almost cried out.

I laughed a little.

"Well, I just to came by to say that breakfast is, in fact, ready," he informed us. Angel must've sent him up if he knew to say that breakfast was ready exactly like I thought.

"Want breakfast?" I asked fang, slightly wiping my eyes.

"Sure. Come on," he agreed. He let me go and got up. I followed almost losing my balance in the process. Fang was by my side in an instant, stopping my fall.

"Thanks," I laughed.

"No problem." He flashed me a bright smile.

We walked down to the kitchen in silence. We could hear everyone having their early morning conversations. But I couldn't hear Sora's voice.

And not hearing Nudge's voice above everyone else's automatically turned me sad again. But this time I held in my tears as Fang grabbed my hand. I looked at him, stopping in my tracks. Just by looking at him I could see what he as about to ask.

"I'm okay, really," I assured him, not truly convincing myself.

He nodded in understanding, though I'm not sure I faked him. We continued walking, but his hand never left mine.

Move number four.

I didn't want to tell Fang, in fear of his hand deserting mine. But once we reached the kitchen table about seven seconds later, his hand abandoned my hand.

Iggy handed us each a plate and we took out seats, no one breaking from their conversations to acknowledge new table members. Fang sat to my left, just as it usually was. In face, everyone was in their 'assigned' seats, except for Sora, who inhabited Nudge's spot. Not until I looked down at my plate did I realized I hadn't had dinner the night previous. I started chowing down, scraping my plate clean within a few – about forty-five – seconds.

Fang looked at my plate in amazement, but looked at me like it wasn't anything out of the norm. I sheepishly smiled.

"I didn't eat last night," said I. I got up and grabbed seconds of our whole meal; pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, and French toast. Three of each. I returned to the table, taking my time with eating my breakfast second time around.

I noticed that Sora was eyeing me suspiciously.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Nothing. Just you're eating a lot of food – even for us," she elaborated.

"Well, I didn't get to eat last night," I explained again.

She nodded in comprehension.

Oh my. That was. . . fun! Lol

Okay, so yeah. Hope you liked it!

Band: the Hush Sound! Their new album comes out reallllllly soon. It's called 'Goodbye Blues'. They're an indie band that has a really good female lead singer, and male lead. check them out. record label: Fueled by Ramen/Decay Dance. :)

Review at least 49 times, please!!!!!!!!!!!! that's all taht i'm asking.. :) and if you need to know how to review more than once, just PM and I'll tell you, but that means taht I raise the bar for reviews higher every time. :)

Love,

rainxface

Okay, chappie nine is here!!! Lol sorry for the long wait!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Sora: SoraBane01, Max & them: Jimmy Pats, Everything else: rainxface

Chapter 9

Almost directly after breakfast, the six of us met in the living room. We were all ready to take off. But someone had to be the little "Oh, I forgot. . ." person and grabbed their freaking laptop. You know, Fang.

"Now is everyone ready?" I asked for the second time.

"Yes," chorused everyone.

We all slung on our backpacks and one by one took a running start into the air. Angel went first, followed by Gazzy, Iggy, Sora, Fang and finally me.

We set into an actual formation once we were all basically level in the air; Fang was on my right side and everyone else were behind us.

I could tell Fang was trying to figure out how to comfort me for my invisible emotion of fear. Years of living with him and being so close to him permitted me to have the ability of reading him like a book.

I didn't want to say anything to him about 'not feeling that way,' or 'being weak,' or 'I can handle it' (when I knew I couldn't). Instead I just stayed quiet.

Unfortunately Fang made the other decision: making converstation.

"Max, I know this is probably really tough on you, but I know you'll make it – we all will," he pepped. Okay, if that didn't sound weird, reread it, please. "We'll go to Dr. M's and we'll figure out everything: Nudge's outrageous behavior, the reason behind the sudden absences, everything. I promise." I looked in his eyes. He was sincere. With about 45 words, too (it was actually 41 words. Lol). I nodded solemnly and looked back at the blue sky ahead of me. It would probably be approximately be seven hours of flight. Non-stop.

AG&AV

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, only a soft murmur of one of the four kids behind me.

"Right there!" Fang hollered, aiming downward. I looked down to where he was diving to, and it was, unmistakably, my mother's house. I followed Fang down to the ground, landing a bit askew. I waited for everyone to land before walking up and ringing the doorbell.

When I did ring the bell, Mom raced to the door. How she knew it was me, I have no clue, but she seriously nearly killed me in a hug of her's.

"Max! Oh, how I've missed you!" she cried, hugging me really hard, still. "Come on in, I'll make cookies!" She let me go and opened her door for everyone to walk into her house.

We all walked in happily, but Sora was a bit hesitant. Once she saw me give her a welcoming smile, she walked in slowly.

Mom was in the kitchen already, hurrying to grab all the ingredients for cookies. The she stopped while bending over to grab a bowl.

"Why does it seem so quiet?" Mom asked in a hushed voice. She then stood up and counted each of us silently.

"Where's Nudge?" Mom was too involved with figuring out where Nudge was that she didn't even pay attention to Sora, who was standing right next to Iggy.

"Have you been watching the news?" I asked, trying to avoid answering Mom's question directly. She nodded slowly. "Have you heard about people mysteriously disappearing?"

Again, her head shook up and down. Her eyes grew wide in realization. Nudge had disappeared.

"Max! I'm so sorry!" she nearly cried. "Do you have any idea of where she might be?"

"We're hoping not Itex," Fang spoke for me. Since no one could see our hands, he grabbed mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I looked up at him and lightly smiled. Although he didn't actually smile, his eyes were shining bright.

"But if it comes down to it, we'll hunt down more of the branches," said Iggy.

"Oh, Mom, it isn't a school day. Where's Ella?" I asked, first noticing that Ella hadn't hugged us all already. If possible, Mom's face fell more.

"She was part of the group of people that went missing," she whispered. What! I thought, outraged. My only biological sister could not be missing. First Nudge, who practically was my sister for most of my life, and then my actual sister whom I tried to be very close to.

I stood there, staring at my mom for a long while, before letting go of Fang's hand to run and hug my mother.

Haha! Chappie nine is finished!!

Remember to review (at least 49 times this time, please!)! I'll love you forever, and so will SoraBane01 if you address even part of your review to your undying love for Sora. Lol

Band: Every Avenue. Its a pop/rock band that i like. check them ouuuuuut:)

Random question:

How do you think Fang feels about Max? does he want to go anywhere relationship wise with her?

Love,

Rainxface

sorry for the wait, but...

Chappie ten is here!!!! And just FYI, for the last chappie question, that was basically what's happening between me and my best friend. According to my other friends, we're the Max and Fang, or Bella and Edward, or Alice and Jasper, or Rosalie and Emmett. And I'll shut up now.

Chapter 10

I started crying while hugging my mom. A few minutes later, I pulled away, wiping away my tears.

"Oh, gosh. Now I really want to stop these bastards," I declared, not caring that Angel and Gazzy heard me say that.

With fresh tears spilling down my face, again, I walked back to Fang. I leaned my head into his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around me. He just hugged me. Hugged me and ran his hands through my hair.

As he had before, he said conforming words to me, at least making me have more faith in some aspect.

Moments later, I stopped crying, and Fang was wiping away my left-over tears. I silently thanked him and turned back to everyone. Angel was crying, almost as hard as I had been, and my mom with her silent cries. It was evident that Iggy and Gazzy were sad, but not crying sad. Fang was dealing with his emotional pain somehow, and yet, still struggling.

Sora was standing next to Iggy like a black crow in a flock of white doves.

"Sora, did the whitecoats down in Australia ever talk about us?" I asked, a small question popping into my mind.

"A little, but we only thought of you guys as a fairy-tale the whitecoats told us to give us something to wander about in our minds when we weren't being tested on," she explained. "And then we were shown you existed."

"Okay. Tell me the story you were told," I almost demanded. "I want to know some of the lies they fed you guys."

She sighed. "Well, basically you six escaped with a whitecoat, not explaining how to us in fear of us getting ideas. And then that you guys were flying around, and Itex tried really hard to try and kill you guys. Then there were all the code red stuff, saying you guys were on the possibility of tearing down Itex," Sora recalled vaguely. "And we got the message of you guys bombing the main branch. Then everyone started believing the stories."

I stood next to Fang for a few moments in a deep pensive.

"Why would they really want to knowledge the experiments with stories of hope if they didn't want them to escape?" I mumbled, mainly to myself while thinking out loud.

"Hm?" Fang asked. For the first time I noticed, his arm was still around my shoulders.

"Oh, just thinking out loud, to myself," I explained. He squeezed my shoulder to show he understood.

"Max, how long do you need to stay here for? Cause you are welcome to stay as long as you need," my mom invited, breaking me from my thoughts.

I should explain: ever since three months after German Itex downfall, mom installed another floor to her house. It now held all six of us, plus Ella, Mom, and (much to my dismay) Jeb, but he is rarely here. Now on the second floor, there are three bedrooms; Iggy and Gazzy share, Angel and Nudge, and then Fang and I. How my mom understood the fact that Fang and I were just friends (for the moment) is beyond me.

"Um, I don't know. Hopefully not more than three days," I decided. "Is there a catch?"

"Catch?" Mom repeated, confused. "Oh, no. No, no, no catch; just a mother wanting her daughter home for more than an hour at a time." She exaggerated a sigh. "But I guess it all depends on your schedule." Boy, moms can really make you feel guilty!

"Fine, we'll stay here until we figure out our next move," I gave in.

Mom squealed and clapped her hands like the true six year old she was. Her big smile spread across from ear to ear on her.

"Yay! My Maxy is staying for a while!" she exclaimed.

"For a while," I stated firmly, with my index finger pointing in an 'actually, this is what I mean' way.

"Fine, but you're still staying." Mom ran over and hugged me, making Fang let go of my shoulder. Man, she was breaking down without Ella here to stabilize her. Maybe I'd be here longer than expected.

Okay. Finished up the tenth chappie.

Cool band to look up: Oingo Boingo. Old(er) yes, but still wonderfully great music by Danny Elfman (Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). And then if you're parental units let you, watch the Forbidden Zone. Best friggin movie ever!

And I won't post the next chappie until I have 55 reviews.

Until next time/chappie-

-rainxface

Thanks for all the reviewsss! I love reviews, in case I haven't told you that before. Lol

Disclaimer: nope. Only the plot. Sora: SoraBane01. Max (and gang): JP.

Chapter 11

Ten Days Later

It has been ten days at Mom's house, and still haven't come up with anything. And people were still disappearing. Nudge and Ella were still a-miss.

No ideas of the disappearing people. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch.

But the four of us, Fang, Iggy, Sora, and I, all received headaches as least once from thinking too hard. And maybe the others didn't describe their headaches vividly as I did or I was having the worst of them. Every once in a while, I would get flashes of from when we went to go rescue Angel and I had those horrible head attacks.

And when I got the Voice, aka Jeb, my father. He so is not coming back. Even if I have to hunt him down and shoot him, he is not welcome back into my mind.

"Hey, Max, you okay?" Fang asked, seeing me sitting on the couch with my head back. He sat next to me.

"Yeah, just a little headache," I answered. I pulled my aching head away from the ceiling to look him in the eye.

"I just thought of your old headaches," he said. I did not expect him to say more. It was almost night and we hadn't had a random conversation in days. "You know, where you'd fall out of the sky for me to catch you?" He sort of chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not the only one that fell out of the sky, Mr. No Limits," I teased him back. He pretended to be offended. I laughed, starting to forget about my headache.

"Yes, but who fell first?"

"Shut up. I couldn't help it. You could've told us you were hurt so you didn't fall."

"Why would you tell you if I'm hurt?" he asked playfully.

"Because that way we could feel special." I spoke the last word with a stupidity accent.

"Oh, you're special, all right," he remarked, making me drop my jaw.

"Hey, you're on the verge of social retardation," I joked. I don't think he took it as a joke, though, because he stopped grinning and got up.

"That is crossing the line," he said in a 'I'm disappointed in you' tone.

"I was joking. You know that, right?" I tried saving myself.

"Yes," he sighed. He turned on his heel and walked off, hollering behind himself, "I'm going for a fly."

I nodded although he couldn't see it. I relaxed my head back on the couch, my eyes closed. I went into my deep-though: why the kids were missing, where they'd go, and who would do that.

My head ache came back.

Short. Yeah, I know. And it's basically a scrap chappie.. I don't know why I wrote it.. probably just for the heck of it.

New band: SAY ANYTHING. Basically you shouldn't listen to unless your parents don't mind the parental advisory label on the front a CD. Cause that whole band should just have a wardrobe of that stuff. But it's all in fun.

Off to the next chappie!

-rainxface

Hey, chapter 12 is here!! So far, from what I have written, you guys will think that this is a brilliant, well-thought out story, not to sound conceited or anything. But you guys will love this story more.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters (Jimmy and SoraBane), or even the origins of the words, just the word orders to make a brilliant story.

Chapter 12

"I'm home!" Mom yelled from the front door. "And guess what I've got!" I heard her close the door from the kitchen. Why was I in the kitchen? Cause I needed food and the kitchen'll have pre-made edibles.

"A passport to No Headaches Land?" I asked sarcastically to myself. She followed my voice to find me in the kitchen.

"No, better: cell phones!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down uncontrollably. She pulled out a bag from behind her back and asked me, "Red, blue, silver, or black?"

"Blue," I responded automatically. Hey, blue's my favorite color! She reached into her bag and pulled out a blue and silver cell phone. It was mainly blue, with a silver rim. Not even half-bad looking.

At this point, Fang, Iggy, Sora, Gazzy, and Angel all made their way to the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Iggy asked, obviously not listening to what my mom had yelled only seconds ago.

"Cell phones," Fang answered bluntly.

"Really? Is there a red on?" Iggy inquired, evidently intrigued about the idea of having something to talk to people with NOT face to face.

"Mhmm." Mom reached back into her bag and pulled out the red phone. It was mainly black with red trim (my phone!!). "Wait, why do you care the color?"

"I may not have the ability to see, but that doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't. I have to have at least some style for being blind," he stated.

"What other colors are there?" Sora asked after laughing a little at Iggy's speech.

"Two more: silver and black," Mom answered.

"I hope you don't mind silver," Fang implied, looking at Sora. She gave a shrug like "Not at all".

"Here you go." Mom handed him his phone. Fang's phone was solid black. "I mead sure it was all black for you." He nodded his head in thanks.

"I get silver," Sora said calmly. She was handed an all-silver phone. "Sweet."

"Okay, Max, your number is 555-3814," Mom read off of a post-it note. "Fang is 555-4372. Iggy: 555-0589. Sora: 555-6678."

"Easy enough," I said, already able to figure out how to put in the three's numbers in my contact's list.

"And if you want to, you can download ringers," Mom informed us. I knew Fang was getting a different ringer from anyone else.

"Hey! Why don't we get phones?" Gazzy asked/yelled, apparently not amused with everyone's phones.

"Because you're too young," she flat out told them. Angel nodded in perceptive. Gazzy looked to have been having an internal battle of if not to start an argument.

He finally just nodded.

HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! Cellyphones. They need them.

BAND::::::: Sonic Youth. Band from the 1970's that is still around, I believe. But their older stuff is really frikkin sweet. I suggest listening to them at top volume. Especially 'Rain King'.

Smiles

rainxface

Nothing to say. Now for this continuing story's chapter.

Chapter 13

By the end of the day, I had downloaded three ringers; "Giving it All Tonight" by Roses Are Red (check out that Songfic by me, btw) for Fang, "Let the Flames Begin" by Paramore (my ringer!) for Iggy, and Panic at the Disco's "Intermission" for Sora. I know, I should've gotten one for Mom, but I decided against logic.

A knock on my door interrupted my calmness of reading and into unwanted alertness. Fang opened the door and said,

"Max, there's a meeting downstairs." I nodded and followed him down to the living room.

Everyone was sitting in a circle around the coffee table. There weren't discussing anything yet, but one look into Iggy's sightless eyes told me that he had found something out. Fang and I sat between Mom and Angel.

Iggy, who was in front of me, started the meeting. "I have good news, bad news, and terrible news. I'll start with the good.

"I found the cause of the sudden anarchy. This will sound crazy, but rap and hiphop music has been planed with some sort of not technically mind control, but in a sense mind manipulating anyone who is willing to enjoy the music.

"The bad news is I don't think we can stop it. It could be permanent, it could be temporary, it expires. Who knows? But how to stop it, if we can, would be useful.

"Lastly, the terrible news. Max, I am very sorry to have to inform you that Itex is, without a doubt, back. I don't know how, or why, but it is. And they sound stronger than ever." Iggy took a breath, letting the information sink in. "Fang? You're up."

Fang bowed his head and stood up. "We need a plan. Regardless of how obscure and bazaar it sounds, we need ideas. Now, I've looked on Itex's website millions of times, but today I finally broke the code and located the largest Itex. Luckily, it is only in El Paso, Texas. So we're going to bomb that place to he–"

"Fang!" I interrupted him, stopping him from swearing with kids around.

"Sorry. We'll bomb the heck out of them. And hopefully that will be the end of them for good." He sat down and everyone just stared at him except me. I was the only one that was used to hearing him say so much.

"Iggy, how exactly did you figure out the music theory?" I asked him. Fang had to have something to do with his assumption.

"Well, Fang sort of brought it up and I tested it. Simple science as you may want to call it," he explained. "You see, I was wondering if my hearing was good enough to listen to many of the songs over and over and find some sort of pattern in them. And they did have a slight under tone message. Like whispers of 'Join us. Come and forget everyone. Follow into the darkness. Join us.' It was weird."

"Okay," I barely murmured. I was mesmerized by the fact someone figured out how to encode commands into music backgrounds.

"Is it only rap, hiphop, and oddly enough, country," Iggy warned us. Gazzy and Angel made discussed faces. None of us were fans of country. And by the looks of it, neither was Sora, whom had eyes the size of plates. Fang merely shrugged and went back to his thoughts.

I politely excused myself and headed to the kitchen. I tuned on the sink and splashed some cold water on my face. I turned the water off and leaned against the counter. My eyes were closed and I was in deep, deep thought.

"You okay?" Fang asked, startling me. I jumped in my spot and nearly yelped in surprise. I hadn't paid any attention to my surroundings, so was frightened by my best friend.

"Geez, Fang," I said in a hushed voice. "Do you always have to do that?"

"Yes," he replied smugly.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Which part are you confused about?" Fang inquired, reading me like a book as always.

"I'm no confused," I lied. I was confused about why people would over look things like patterns.

"Don't lie. I can tell when you're lying, Max," he said smoothly.

"The patterns. No one notices the patterns in rap and hiphop music!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms up and giving in.

He nodded but kept his eyes on me. "How do they tie into country, though?"

"People are strange," I laughed. I hopped onto the count. I let my legs relax, but swing them back and forth.

"Yes, they are," Fang agreed with a slight chuckle. "But some are the best ever." He sighed and looked at my slouching figure. Two small smiles were playing at our lips.

Oooooooh! What's going to happen now!?

Band: REM. Frikkin best band ever, well at least no. 3 on my list. I believe they are since the 80's but I could be wrong. I love their music. New album out on April 1st

Smiles

rainxface

PS: could i get at least four reviews before i continue.. please?

Chapter 14!! You will want to read this one really soon, so here you go!

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, but Jimmy Pats and SoraBane01 do. I own the plot.

Chapter 14

We stayed like that – Fang leaning against the kitchen counter, and I, perched on the counter where I sat slouching – for what seemed like an eternity. Our smiles were threatening to become wider grins.

A discussion regarding the missing people was faintly heard in the next room.

Then Fang, ever so slyly, leaned in so our lips were merely centimeters away. I felt his breath lick my teeth through my open grin. My heart beat kicked up faster than it already should. My head was spinning out of control with excitement and nervousness. My breathing turned too abnormal.

Then, ever so softly, out lips met. It sent me into a whirl of happiness, adrenaline, surprise, and wonder. His lips were a perfect fir for mine, and I didn't want to leave him. But all too soon, we needed air. He pulled back, looking into my eyes. I don't know what he was expecting, but from his reaction I could infer that I was not showing that emotion.

"Fang?" I hardly whispered. His usually hard eyes softened at the sound of my voice.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"You're not mad at me?" he retorted, his voice like the wind.

"Why would I be mad at you? All the nights of our long talks, I would be thinking of what that would be like. I wouldn't be mad at you," I explained. His expression turned to confusion.

"I thought you liked Iggy," he said in a confused tone to match his face. I stared at him, dumbstruck.

"Where'd you get that idea?" I asked, now turning into his confusion. He shrugged.

"When in that cave, two years ago," he admitted, really quietly and shyly.

"Fang! That was two years ago! And I was confused! Confused about you and your darkness! I wasn't sure unlike now," I whisper-yelled. His confused expression changed to relief and something else. I wasn't quite able to figure out what, though.

His eyes fell to the floor. They slowly made their way back up to meet mine. He slightly sighted and smiled. Even slightly chuckled. I gave him a questionable look.

"Just how you look when in disbelief," he answered my expression. I dropped my jaw in a 'how could you?' jokingly way.

He merely laughed more.

"What is so funny?!" I almost said in a girly voice. He shook his head.

"Tell me!"

Another shake.

"Please?" Okay, that one was girly.

"You're just so adorable when you are joking," he mumbled. I blushed – when did I start blushing? – and smiled a bit. I know I was totally acting like one of those girly-girls that have fallen in love for the first time.

Which was true, besides the girly-girl factor.

A few minutes of me just sitting on the counter and Fang standing right in front of me with a semi-awkward silence, Sora walked into the kitchen with a panicked expression.

Okay, so it was a bit shorter, but IT HAD THE FAXNESSSSSSSS!!!!!! WOW. That was funny.

New band (I have to now look back at all the bands that I've told you about to tell you new ones! Lol): The Dead Kennedys!!!!! Really good old rock/punk band (1980's). One really good song that I love to deathhhhh: 'MTV-Get Off The Air!' amazingness!

please review at least five times. that is all i am asking. Please!!! and at least 35 hits!! haha.

Smiles

Rainxface!

Okay. So I'm typing on a day that I should be doing my homework. Ha. Whatever.

Chapter 15

"Guys, we need to go to Texas, like, now!" Sora rushed to say. The moment her foot was in the kitchen, Fang and I nearly sprang to the opposite sides of the room.

"Why right now? Why not in a few hours?" I asked, starting to wonder about who was giving the orders.

"Because if we wait two hours, then we would either a) fight the hypnotized kids or b) get trampled by the hypnotized kids," she spoke fast.

The only thing that was processing in my mind was, "Oh, dang."

"Shit," I heard Fang utter under his breath, even though he was across the room.

"Yeah, so hurry and grab your bags so we can leave, ASAP!" Sora ran out of the kitchen, presumably to go get her pack. As soon as she left, I looked at Fang.

"Best timing ever," I remarked sarcastically. I'm sure Fang was confused about my incomplete though, but he could understand the demanding evacuation schedule.

I ran out the kitchen door and up to my room. I heard Fang enter his room down the hall. I quickly gathered my pack and plus some extra clothes that we had supplied with Mom a few days back. In five minutes my pack barely closed.

When I exited my room, Fang was waiting right outside my room, casually, leaning on the wall with his eyes closed and a pack next to him on the floor. He was obviously thinking really hard, despite his relaxed posture.

"Hey, everyone else downstairs?" I asked his little-moving figure. His head shook up and down.

"Come on, then. We're going downstairs and getting the final layout plan," I told him in a rushed tone. I grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the wall. To have been holding his hand, if only to try and move him, felt a bit awkward. His eyes opened, looking for mine. He grabbed his pack with a smirk plastered on his face.

We ran down to the living room. Fang stood next to me as I did a head count of those who were flying to Texas. Everyone was present, and I started our plan.

"Okay, we're flying to Texas for one day, and then the next day finding Itex of El Paso. We find Nudge and Ella, and bomb them," I summarized neatly. "Sound good and almost flawless?" Everyone nodded. "Well –" I clapped my hands together "– let's get going. And mom – I would suggest checking into a hotel until we're back, okay?" She nodded and gave everyone – Sora and Fang included – a hug.

With one final hug and wave, we were out the door and jumping into the air.

Sorry for the shortness.

New band: X. another band from the 80's/90's. but still really good. They're punk, but they do a really funny album of country. I know, so against this story, but you have to check out the song "Fourth of July". Its my mom's and my fave.

leave me a few reviews? thanks!

Smiles

rainxface

This one is also a bit short. Sorry.

Chapter 16

"How much longer?" Gazzy asked for the millionth time.

"Just a few more miles," I said automatically. That boy wouldn't shut up – and it was only five hours of flight so far!

I looked at Fang, who was right next to me. "So you think Mom's okay?" I asked him, my voice rather quiet.

"I think so," he replied, not really facing me, but looking at the ground. I didn't bother to ask what was interesting him. "She's smart enough to listen to you." I could barely see the smirk on his face. I nodded and went to looking a head.

AG&AV

We landed six hours later (and too-many-to-count "Are we there yet?"-s from Gazzy and Angel) in a small city, Carlsbad. It was about an hour's fly to the supposed Itex lab. We had checked ourselves into a hotel for the night, getting only two rooms: one for the boys and one for the girls. Both room had two beds in them, so someone was sleeping on the floor.

At about nine, an hour after our arrival, we ordered a large dinner. Surprisingly enough, the room service people didn't think anything of it. All of us, Sora too, inhaled the food; it was gone within three minutes.

We sent Angel and Gazzy to sleep after that, hoping for them to be awake enough the next day.

Sora and Iggy were in the guys' room talking about something or other. I was talking with Fang in the girls' room. We were having a random talk of ours: Do giraffes make vocal noises?

"Giraffes can't make a noise – they don't have any vocal chords," I debated.

"But all animals make noise."

"Not all are vocal – crickets use their legs."

"What if its really the crickets screaming in delight and not their legs?" Fang was smiling and laughing when he finished.

"Fang! Don't corrupt Angel's mind!" I lightly hit his arm. "We don't need her name to be oxymoronic!" But I was smiling and laughing.

"Fine. But giraffes do make noises."

And our debate continued like that for a few more hours. When our discussion finally ended, Sora ran was quietly as she could to Fang and I. By the expression on her face, something was really up.

Again, sorry for the shortness.

New band: The Cramps. Though from the 80's they still make new music. They're punk, like most of the other bands I listen to, but they frikkin rock!

Please, i really like reviews, so just tell me what you liked/disliked (besides the shortness, please). I really appreciate it!

Smiles

rainxface

Chapter 1777777! Yeah!

I'm just going to leave you with the chappie for now.

Chapter 17

"Max! Fang!" Sora exclaimed while keeping her voice quiet to not take Angel or Gazzy. "There is another one here, and she doesn't know about us, but she's going to bomb Itex in a few minutes and she's in this hotel!" Sora took a large breath after he statement of which consisted of one breath. Fang and I stared at each other. Another mutant like us in the same hotel. I had to make a quick decision.

"Fang, follow Sora to the girl; stop her and start asking questions. I'll go get Iggy. Meet us in the main lobby," I commanded. They nodded and ran out the open door. I sprinted quickly to Iggy's room with the Gasman. Without bothering to knock, I opened the door and shook Iggy, who was sleeping in the second bed.

"Ig –mutant in main lobby!" I whisper-yelled to his waking figure. His sightless eyes shot open as if waking up to a massive earthquake. He scrambled out of his bed and threw on his jacket and shoes. I grabbed his hand and dragged him down to the lobby.

I spotted Fang and Sora surrounding a girl who looked a little quiet. Fang's body language was sort of on the stricter side, whereas Sora was a bit more on the relaxed side. I approached the group with slight caution. The girl had blonde hair that was about shoulder length, maybe a little bit longer –hard to tell with it up in a pony tail.

"What's her name?" I whispered to Fang. The girl heard me and her ice-blue eyes shot directly towards me.

"Roxanne, right?" he answered in question. Roxanne nodded slowly.

"But most people call me Roxi," she added timidly.

"Okay, Roxi, what were you about to do, and no lying –chances are, our lives are pretty much the same," I inquired/stated. Her eyes went wide, but never moved from mine. "Really, I'm not lying."

"Max…" Fang warned slightly.

"I was going to raid my school," she lied. I have two reasons to accuse her of lying –one, Sora could read her mind, and two, she was questioning herself while talking.

"Sora?" She knew what I was asking.

"'I want to take out Itex' is what she says," Sora looked. "Where's your accent from?"

"Norway," Roxi answered shyly.

"Okay, Roxi, you let us have a little poke at your mind and we'll help you take down Itex," I negotiated.

"How do you know what Itex is?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was Maximum Ride?"

Okay, I think the ending is a bit of bleah.. but whatever. I need to introduce her and was half asleep when I wrote that.

Band: Kimya Dawson. Okay, so not really a band, but really freaking good indie-punk music. I love the song "Loose Lips". Its good music, check her out!

Sorry it took me practically forever to update!! I am now working on the rest of the story so hard. I am actually on one of the last chapters!! But, I'm not gonna say how many chapters there are.

Leave me a few reviews :)

Smiles

rainxface

Chapter 18

Chapter 18!

Its here!!

Disclaimer: I don't own MR or Sora or Roxi. Sora is from SoraBane01, and Roxi is from Cupid's Jinx (magicmehome).

Chapter 18

Sora stopped picking at Roxi's mind at about two am, so we were all tired. We agreed that Roxi would meet us in the dining room/food room/cafeteria at nine, ready to attack. She was more than thrilled to take Them down.

Fang and I slept in until 8:30 the next morning, allotting us enough time to put on clothes and brush our hair. Iggy and Sora took the liberty of telling Angel and Gazzy about the night previous' finds. The six of us were ready to go attack Itex any second and headed off to the cafeteria.

We met Roxi at a table for eight, and we each took a seat – Fang to my left, with Angel on his left, Iggy, Sora, and Gazzy across from us, and Roxi at the head.

"What's the master plan?"

Those were the first words she had spoken to us all morning. When we arrived at the table, she merely nodded at us once.

I told everyone the full details of the plan. Yeah, like I'm going to tell you. What was very nice about Roxi was that she didn't fawn over my flock and I for taking down the German Itex; apparently, the Norwegian Itex was in direct connection of to Germany and fell with each other. Roxi was able to escape before the building literally fell down. That's what we accomplished last night.

And that she was about our age.

We were in about our fourth serving of pancakes and waffles when I finally realized it: this was going to be completely over. No more Itex, no more human hybrids. No more animal experimenting.

No more Them.

I stopped mid-chew and turned to Fang. My eyes were the only things he needed to see to understand me. His dark eyes smiled. I finished my bite and whispered,

"It's going to be over. Nudge and Ella will be back. We can live with no worries." Fang's right hand found mine under the table and he squeezed it reassuringly. He smiled very lightly and said, "I know."

I smiled and my eyes had a few drops of water in them.

AG&AV

We were flying west, Towards Itex. Roxi looked at our wings and snapped out her own pair of platinum-white wings with magnificent grey specs randomly placed. She was a pretty avid flyer – probably learned once Norway Itex fell.

Landing an hour later, we put the plan into action. Fang and I snuck in from the vents (somehow we fit) and found the subject room. Rows and rows of experiments lined the bright, white walls. Fang took the east wall and I took the west. We were feeing the experiments that we thought would survive. Between the two of us, we only gathered about seven.

From there, Fang led them to the vent and hurried them out. I was to find The Director's room and call the others when I did.

I kept taking a wrong turn, or open the wrong door. 20 minutes later, I found The Director's room. I first called Fang. I told him approximately where I was, but not exactly because not even I knew where I was precisely.

I was to search around the office for anything of reason before calling Iggy or Sora. I frantically searched through the desk's file cabinets and drawers and found nothing. I looked through the many file cabinets that covered one of the walls before I found exactly what I wanted on the middle of the table.

That was chappie 18.

Evil cliffy, huh?? Not really. I hate cliffies so I suck at them.

Smiles

Rainxface

PS: new band: Allegiance to the Fire. Not signed, but very amazing. Go check them on myspace!!

Chapter 19!!

Here is chapter 19.. please enjoy the words I have kindly written down for you.

--

Fang, Iggy, Sora, Gazzy, and Angel waited patiently for Max's phone call. She was to tell them where The Director's office was located. Fang watched as Angel and Sora spoke to the few escapees.

Fang's back pocket vibrated and started playing the Ramones' "I Wanna be Your Boyfriend". He quickly opened his phone and pressed TALK.

"Fang, I found the room," Max's voice chimed over the ear speaker.

"Perfect. What is it?" He was going to be sent in with Sora. That was the plan; Fang and Sora would go and help Max inside while Iggy and the others would set up bombs on the outside and keep guard.

Max gave him the directions and hung up. Her next call would be when she found the information.

Until then, he would stay and talk to the other experiments and find out more about them.

AG&AV

"Are you sure, Max?" Iggy asked for the zillionth time.

"Yes!" I answered exasperated. "It spells it out in full detail right here on the front." A long pause.

"Okay, we're sending Fang and Sora in. Angel, Roxi, Gazzy, and I will keep look out," he agreed finally.

"Good." I flipped my phone shut, ending the conversation. I looked over the pages again.

I heard light footsteps at the door and quickly hid one of the file cabinets. I slowed down my breathing and listened.

I heard the door click open and two pair of feet walk in. One pair was heels and the other in regular sneakers.

"As I was saying, 710A83," I listened closely, memorizing the number, "I want them to be moved to C3, not C1. Maybe make it a little harder for our guests to find. And we need more room for them." The heels shuffled around. "Understand?"

"Yes, but what about D2? It has enough space," the tennis shoes (a girl) debated.

"It's too close outside. C3 is inside, less likely to be heard." There was a long pause. "I want them moved before six." The heels sounded down the room and out to the hall. Tennis shoes stayed in her spot. I was practically trapped.

Crap.

Haha, almost evil cliffie. Or is it??

Haha.. new band: the Dollyrots. Punk rock meets bottle blonde. Seriously. And according to my cousin, they're nice people (she met them in a bar after one of their shows.. great story, huh??).

Sorry it was so short... i need to write longer chapters again : \

Leave some review loves?

Love,

Rainxface

Chapter 20!!

Sorry I've been gone for so long.. Just Friday I had about six teeth pulled so I was restricted to watching TV/movies all day (with missing school!) and no computer. I have been meaning to post this chapter, tho. Sorry for the long-butt wait... New chapters should arrive; hopefully this will be finished by the new year. Sorry for the hiatus, though!

Okay… disclaim: roxi: Cupid's Jinx; Sora: SoraBane01; maximum ride: James Patterson; everything else: rainxface

Chapter 20

Tennis shoes started shuffling. She was pacing, talking to herself about something other. I was listening as hard as I could, but I still couldn't make out what exactly she was saying. Especially not with an annoying, yet somehow melodic ring in my ear.

Her mumbling stopped. Her shoes crept over to me softly.

"It's okay. You can show your face," Tennis Shoes claimed in a baby voice, different from the one that was talking to herself. "I won't hurt you."

I slowly removed myself from my spot. Once she looked over me, head to toe, her eyes grew wider than the moon.

"Oh my, gosh. You're Maximum Ride, aren't you?" she asked calmly. Somewhere in her voice, I detected a light accent. Almost as if she was growing used to not using it.

"Yes," I answered slowly.

"You were in the newspaper a couple of years ago – two or three at most. You completely destroyed a building in Germany!" She paused. Her green eyes scanned the room with a questioning expression. "Where are we, exactly? And what day is it?"

"We're in Itex, The Director's office. But, what day it is, I have no clue; sorry, I don't pay attention to those details," I shrugged. An awkward silence fell over us. I was debating on knocking her brains out or finding out more about her to see if we could ever trust her. She was obviously having a hard time trying to remember the date.

"What were you singing, just then?" Tennis Shoes wondered. Great, another random singing moment of mine, I thought bitterly to myself.

"Um, I don't know. Random words mainly," I threw together. Besides, it was true.

"Oh, it was good. Your voice, I mean." She sighed. "Are you sure you don't know the date?"

"Do I look like I carry around a calendar everywhere?" I smiled to let her know it was a joke. She shook her head and smiled. Then I remembered something.

710A83

That was an experiment number.

"Do you feel something on your back?" I asked quickly.

"Nothing more than an itch. Why?" She raised her arm to her back to feel around and let out a small yelp.

AG&AV

Max had called Iggy, who then sent Fang and Sora in from an air vent. Fang and Sora both had a bit of trouble with the small area, but made it through.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Sora asked Fang when they reached a hall way of white.

"Yes," he snapped. "Now, please, shut up!" He felt bad for snapping at her, but he wanted to get to his best friend without getting captured first.

They turned a couple of times before reaching a door with a gold plaque saying

DIRECTOR'S OFFICE

Fang was about to grab the handle when a small shreak came from the room. The shreak ended and he ripped open the door. Max was standing inside with another girl. The other girl had blazing red hair from what Fang could see and was a couple of inches shorter than Max.

"Max!" Fang yelled and ran to embrace her in a hug.

AG&AV

"Max!" Fang's voice yelled form behind Tennis Shoes. The next moment, Fang's arms were around my waist, in a hug and his lips were next to my ear. He was panting slightly. I slowly wrapped my arms around my best friend and buried my face into his neck's crook.

"Who're they?" Tennis Shoes asked, confused. Fang and I broke apart, turning to face her.

"They're my family. And what's your name?" I responded. I completely forgot to ask for her name!

"Aurora," she said happily.

"Oh my, gosh! Really?" Sora exclaimed from behind us. Aurora seemed mildly confused about Sora's outburst. And, to be honest, so were Fang and I.

"She's from Australia, too!" Sora continued. I shrugged and Fang relaxed from his slight tension. Aurora stayed stunned.

"How the hell did you know that? Are you a stalker?" Aurora screamed at her.

"No, it's okay! She can read your mind!" I explained, hopefully calming her down in the process.

Fang's phone went off suddenly. How did I know it was his phone?

It played Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

He answered it quietly; everyone was watching him and him only. He said a few "Mhmm"s and "yeah"s before shutting his phone. He showed only an expression I could read. And it wasn't good.

Yeah… interesting..

Aurora is thanks to EdwardAddict. That's all I can think of…

Band: sugarcult. Love them so much. I prefer the CD "Palm Trees and Powerlines", but that's just me. Check them.. they're from Santa Monica, CA!

Smiles,

rainxface

I have great news before you start reading this: I HAVE FINISHED WRITING ALL OF THIS STORY!! I know the outcome of everything and all. I won't tell you how many chapters are left, though. All I have to do now is post the chapters (which I may post one or two every week).

Hopefully this isn't just a drabble chapter. It's just a lot of planning and debates. Sorry. But, don't worry, it's still faxier than any other chapter (except chapter 14 of course).

Chapter 21

Fang lowered his head to mine. His breath tickled my neck, trying to force me unfocused. "Iggy says they're coming our way, slowly," his low, smooth voice informed me. I was paying more attention to his voice than what he was actually saying, which made me register the report slower.

"Crap," I muttered. "Sora, can you pick up on anyone other than us?"

Her green eyes closed and her brow knitted together. After a half-minute, her eyes opened and she raised a finger to her mouth to shush us already silent people.

Fang, Sora, and I scurried quietly to hide somewhere. We each ended up between file cabinets, but Fang and I had to share a space (not that I was complaining). He and I were squished.

The familiar click of heels against the tile floor put me into major tension. She was right outside the door and would soon be in the same room again. My breathing became sharper and shorter. I felt Fang's hand lace in with mine, relaxing me a little bit. We were already body against body between the two cabinets, but I wrapped my other arm around Fang's torso. I buried my face into his shirt again. His open arm snaked around my waist.

The door licked open and everything went still – my breath caught in my throat and I dared not even move.

"710A83, have you moved them to C3 yet?" the woman in heels boomed. "I need them moved quickly! Now!" I glanced to Aurora without moving out of place. Just slightly could I see her small frame holding back shakes and shivers of fear.

"Yes, ma'am," Aurora's almost completely steady replied. I watched her walk towards the desk, but my vision couldn't go farther unless seen by Heels.

"Good. I'll be back in the C3 wing, waiting for everyone. I expect you to join me once everyone is in there." I then realized Heels was the Director. The Director turned on her heel – literally – and left the room, closing the door with a sharp snap!

Fang and I relaxed before wedging ourselves out.

"What was that about?" Fang asked once he had walked with me to the center of the room.

"I don't know – I swear," Aurora pleaded. True I had to tell her where she was, but I still didn't trust her all the way. She could be lying about not remembering. "Max? You were here when I snapped back. What happened before then?"

I thought for a second. "Moving something to room C3. What exactly, I have no idea," I recalled.

"Well then, screw that plan. We have what we need right?" Fang took over. I nodded, trusting his judgment. "We'll get the hell out of here and bomb them!"

"One problem, Fang," Sora interrupted. "There are people and experiments in here. We can't just let them blow up!"

"She has a point," I sided. "We'll run through here and find the people and experiments."

"But aren't the people in a trance?" Fang retorted.

"Crap. Yeah." I was thrown off course. "Wait! I 'woke' Aurora up by singing. Or at least, I think so." Could have been that or the trance just wore off after a while.

"Well, that's the first thing I remember from being in here," Aurora backed me.

"Okay, Max, you just sing to everyone!" Fang concluded. I looked up at him.

"Yeah, good luck with trying to get me to sing in front of thousands, if not millions of people with me only and no one else," I hinted to him.

"I would join you, but I don't have a guitar with me. Nor do I sing. Sorry." Darn Fang! No guitar, then no singer.

"Well, then we're going to just walk around – and not get caught – and find more experiments. And we'll leave the people in here. And then hopefully we can find a stereo and a CD player, not of rap or anything mind-controlling. Hopefully after that, everyone will listen," I dictated. I sighed in frustration. Fang's arm wrapped around my shoulders and I leaned into him.

"We'll split up in two groups: Sora and Aurora, and I'll go with Max." I'm glad Fang could take over for a few minutes while I regained my energy and sanity. "Sora and Aurora, you two can go left of the door, Max and I will take right. Leave your phone on, but on vibrate. We'll do the same, just in case Iggy or we call you to check up. Okay?" He checked the time on his phone with his free hand. "I'll call about 5:30 or so, got it? Okay, look for the experiments."

The two nodded and left the room cautiously. I stayed leaning against Fang.

"I guess we should go, huh?" I chuckled. He chuckled back and smiled.

"Yes. Come on. Just take my hand you won't fall behind," he said, grabbing my hand. We walked to the door and started the long search to the right.

Hoped you guys liked it!

Gee, that was actually longer than most chapters! May not seem like it, but the words were just piled there!! Haha..

Band: The A.K.A.s!! I love them.. I met them, too. They call their music 'thrash dance hall' and I totally agree with them. I love them.. Their on Warped Tour this year (where, I don't know, sorry). Check them out!

Could I please have a couple more reviews?? Please? Thank you!

Smile,

rainxface

So I have this idea of when I'm going to post the chapters.. I'm just unsure if I want to be evil and not tell you, or be nice and tell you... Hmm, this is tough... I'll just tell you that it'll all be posted by October 20th (if I stick to my schedule).

Chapter 22

Forty-two doors later, we still had no luck. I wasn't tired. Fang still had my hand. No white coat or flyboy or anything came across us. And still no voice in my head, thankfully.

Room forty-three came and went with no luck, either.

Come room forty-four, and we finally found it. Almost 150 experiments. 150 lives were altered and tampered with. 150 families destroyed. How many of them were savable?

None.

150 lives wasted. 150 less Einsteins, Da Vincis, Newtons, Mozarts. 150 less friends.

That is sad and pathetic. White coats really needed a better school social life. They were torturing beyond sanity. Beyond insanity.

I turned to Fang and shook my head. My eyes were sullen and I didn't say anything. He nodded his head and we left the room. Images of the combinations flashed in my mind uncontrollably. One looked like a human-spider hybrid. It wasn't nice looking.

I saw a clock on the wall. It read 5:24 pm with its two hands in the direction of time.

"You should probably call them," I told Fang. We hadn't spoken the whole search trip so my voice was all crackly.

"Do I have to?" he joked. I laughed lightly and nodded. "Fine." He sighed and pulled out his phone. A few buttons pressed and call rings later, he was speaking to Sora and making plans to meet the two somewhere.

Fang snapped his phone shut. "We're meeting at the back door. We're searching for a stereo and a CD. After that, we'll hook it up to the intercom and play it non-stop for a couple of hours," he summarized.

"Awesome. Now which way is the back?" I knew where we were and how to get to certain spots, but I came through a vent so I had no idea where the back was.

"We'll figure it out, somehow." He thought for a while. "You still have the file?"

"Right here in my pack," I said, patting my backpack.

"Grab it out – we can look for something in it," Fang ordered. I obeyed with no hesitation. The file was thick, but luckily nothing had fallen out.

AG&AV

Iggy plugged the last couple of wires together. He had Angel, the Gasman, and Roxi to have lookout while he finished the last of the bombs. For the most part, Roxi had been calm during the whole operation, but come preparing the bombs, she was really excited and hyper.

"Roxi, Gazzy, I need you two for a moment," Iggy said. "Angel, stay lookout, please." Roxi and the Gasman walked from their stations to where Iggy was sitting on the ground with his bombs.

"Gazzy, grab five. Roxi, the rest. I made them smaller but they'll still explode the same," he explained, taking a few small bombs, too. "We're setting them around the building, mainly around the windows." The Gasman and Roxi agreed and set down the bombs in said areas.

Eighteen minutes, thirty seven seconds, and four milliseconds later, the last bomb was placed and ready.

"Now what?" Roxi asked.

"Now we wait for Max's call." Iggy sat against a large tree and closed his sightless eyes. Roxi sat next to him and rested her head on his boney shoulder.

Wow.. Chapter 22 done.

New Band: The Offspring. I love them so much!! Amazing rock music… with a little hint of punk. What's even more awesome: They went to my high school. And they live not too far from where I live (I'm friends with Dexter's niece, Alex).

Smiles,

rainxface

Chapter 23

We figured out which way was which. We were heading to the back. Fang's hand was still laced with mine. We were still getting closer to saving the world.

Again.

Another corner turned and another step closer to my family. My pocket started vibrating. I flipped it open; Iggy was calling. I answer with no delay.

"Hello," I rushed. Fang glanced at me and my phone, but understood. We continued down the hall until we found a door. "Iggy – don't set off. I repeat do not set off. We need a stereo and a couple of good CD's."

His genius response: "Huh?"

…And this guy is in charge of everything mechanical?

"We need a stereo and some CD's – nothing rap or country or that," I repeated slowly. Fang and I burst through the back doors and into yet another deserted area. It was like an oasis.

"Any preference?"

"Um Paramore, Panic at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Ramones," I told him. My voice was unsteady and unsure. "Anything in that genre or the like." I sighed. "Unless you have a spare guitar with you." I watched Fang as he was looking all around for Sora and Aurora. He didn't look to be having such a lucky time.

"Guitar? Not to my knowledge, no." There was a pause on the line. "CD's? Probably. Hang on, Sora and another girl are coming here. Gotta go."

"No, wait –" I tried to say, but my line was cut dead. He hung up. I shut my phone and turned to Fang who was staring at me. "Iggy doesn't know Aurora, and she and Sora met up with Iggy, but Iggy probably assumes Sora to have changed and probably believes them both to be a threat to us now," I practically yelled. And all in one breath. Fang's eyes widened a small fraction of a centimeter.

"Crap. Where are they?" He was obviously in a hurry to find them and prevent Iggy from doing any damage.

"I don't know. He hung up before I could ask."

Great. So we were in the back of Itex and trying to find Iggy so we could get the people out. And the factor of being lost just had to top of the chocolate ice cream cake.

"Which way?" I asked him. If anything we can run in a circle around Itex.

"Left," he guessed.

AG&AV

Five minutes later, Fang and I were back with Iggy and the others, squaring out who Aurora was and which side she was on.

"Hey, what're we going to do about Itex here?" Sora reminded us.

"Crap. Right." I sighed, waiting for my plan to remap in my mind. "Do you have the CD's, Ig?"

"Couldn't find any. And still no luck with that guitar you requested either," Iggy joked.

"Guitar? I know where a guitar is," Aurora informed us.

"Now we find out," I muttered under my breath. "Well, okay. Here's the plan…"

AG&AV

Aurora, Fang, and I ripped down the hallways. Ig anyone got in out way, we'd run them down. Aurora led us to a small closet space, where she rummaged through everything. Fang and I were crammed on the other side of the closet to prevent attention of us in the middle of a hallway.

Which meant Fang and I were basically on top of each other.

Completely awkward.

But luckily Aurora found the guitar in practically no time.

We left the closet and split into two groups; Aurora was to return to the others as Fang and I went to serenade Itex and everything inside of it.

We ran back to the Director's office, waiting silently for any sign of her or anyone inside. As we quickly found it empty and slipped inside, I said,

"You'd think that they would be smart enough to have guards patrol the hallways." I chuckled. "Idiots." I looked over at Fang, who had been silent for longer than need he be. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he answered monotone. He walked over to the old-fashion microphone. He took a seat on the desk and started tuning the guitar. His back turned to me.

"Fang?" I walked around to face him. As he sat with the guitar in his lap, his face was blank and glossed. I waved my hand in front of him.

He did not move at all.

Then he stopped tuning, finished with al six strings. But still, he withheld no expression on his features. I sighed and slumped into the chair behind the desk.

"I'm sorry, Max," I heard him whisper to my left. I instinctively drew curiousity.

"What do you mean?" I asked causiously.

"I'm sorry for what I've done to you."

Chapter vingt-trois is done.

New band (dang I'm running out!): The Birthday Massacre. Goth pop rock stuff. I really like them. Check out their cover of "I Think We're Alone Now." It's SO cute :) I'm addicted to listening to it.

Smiles,

rainxface

Chapter 24

I stared at Fang, my brow furrowing. "I still don't understand…"

"You know what I'm talking about. Think hard, Max. I know you know." His eyes drew to mine. And then I saw it, I saw what he apologized for.

I stood up instantly, wrapping my arms around Fang's muscular figure. He removed the guitar between us before hugging me back. Surprisingly, he kissed my temple.

Move number what? I've lost track.

But we stayed linked for several minutes. His arms around me acted like my safety zone. Everything seemed okay there.

Unfortunately, all good moments have to spoil. Fang extended me out and said,

"I'm sorry, Max. Aurora kept reminding me with that red hair of hers. I really am sorry, Max."

"It's okay, Fang." We stared deeply into each other's eyes. "We need to help those kids…"

"And not get caught quickly," he added. He let me go, and I stood next to a file cabinet. He understood what I wanted to do and joined me. Together, we shoved the cabinet in front of the door.

We returned to the desk, him sitting on it and me leaning next to him. I grabbed the microphone and pressed down the button. I quickly glanced at Fang. He nodded almost eagerly.

"Hello, Itex!" I exclaimed. "It's time for some real music to be played in this joint!" I nodded at Fang. He started the guitar with an almost off-beat strum pattern. I closed my eyes and got lost in the song. If at any point in the song our door was banded at, I paid it no attention. I was crossed into Fang's song and I didn't care about anything else.

Before I knew it, the song was over. Fang started the next one with a more hard rock bass feeling to it. That one, too, ended quickly. Prior to starting the next song, we stopped and listened for voices.

Low, quiet and high-pitched, kids screams were echoing off of hall walls and slipping through the crack under our door. We both grinned.

The next song Fang started playing was familiar to me, but I couldn't place the band or title. But I did know it was by a gut band; the song was in reference of stripper girls. During the whole song, I was cracking up. I didn't know the range of ages of the people stolen, but I hoped they weren't little toddlers running around, now singing dirty songs.

AG&AV

After Fang and I left the room (moving the filing cabinet back), we snuck into the crowd of people running down the hallways, searching for the exit. They were clueless and lost. We knew the way out. The followed us without a moment's hesitation. Within minutes we were outside, Iggy and the others off to the side of the pouring doors.

They were completely calm as if this sort of thing was usual. Fang and I joined them. As the last stragglers made their way out, I remembered.

"Nudge and Ella! Shit," I said blankly. I forgot Angel and the Gasman were around, but I didn't care.

"Crap," Fang and Iggy said in almost unison.

"Well, were do you think they'll be?" Fang quizzed.

"That's the biggest problem: I don't. I don't know where they'd think to go," I confessed.

"How about this: Max and Fang go and take the south wing, Iggy, Roxi, and Gazzy will take the west wing, Aurora, Angel, and I will take north. That sound good?" Sora suggested. "Each group has one cell number that we all know. Call if found them or just one."

"Awesome; let's go!" I stopped in my tracks. "Wait, what wing is this one again? Too many of the people's voices started screwing up my brain."

"The only one I didn't list: east." Sora laughed. I laughed along to hide my embarrassment.

"Right; I knew that."

AG&AV

Fang and I ran, kicking open the doors on either side. We stopped momentarily to search each room. But, as each door and room faded into the next, no one was found. Not even Itex employees.

We neared the end of our search area and I pulled out my phone. I leaned against the wall, waiting for Iggy to pick up. Fang finished the remaining three doors before coming to stand next to me.

"No luck; how about you guys?" Iggy answered the phone.

"No luck here, either," I replied. I glanced over at Fang who was on the phone, too. "Fang's talking to Sora. Hang on." I tapped Fang on the shoulder lightly. He held up his hand, waiting as he retrieved the answer.

"Are you sure?" he asked urgently. A few squabbles through the phone later and Fang was talking again. "We'll meet you there in ten minutes." He hung up the phone and turned to me. "They found them."

The song that Max mentioned singing was "Situations" by Escape the Fate. It is a stripper song. Seriously.

New band: We the Kings. My favorite song by them is probably "Skyway Avenue" but only when it's acoustic. If no acoustic songs, then I'll take "Check Yes Juliet". They have good music. Check them out, please!

Smiles,

rainxface

Sorry for this long-donkey hold up. My computer basically was infected with God knows what so now I don't have: (A) the story, (B) my computer, (C) my life. I am currently updating this thingy on my mom's computer, the way that I'm not supposed to. As soon as my computer is fixed, I'll update AG&AV. Until then you'll have to wait on the edge of your seats. I apologize for this inconvience.

smiles,
rainxface

PS: I have no idea how long it will take to fix. Hopefully by Monday :)

OMG MY COMPUTER IS CURED!! I can officially use my computer again!! I'm so freaking happy right now :D I have my life back again.

Chapter 25

Roxi, Sora, Iggy, Aurora, Gazzy, and Angel were already surrounding the doorway.

"Let me through," I pushed.

Laying in the middle of the room were two bodies, both with bloody scratches and wounds. And both were faced down, unresponsive. I sunk down onto my knees between the two. With Fang following me close behind, we turned the two girls face up.

"Water, now," I ordered the crowd at the door. At once, Iggy threw his half-finished water bottle to me. I splashed half the remains on Nudge's face and the other half on Ella's.

Nudge started groggily waking up. When she mustered her voice, she said, "What the hell?"

"Nudge!" I warned her while scooping her thin body into a hug. "Thank goodness. Oh my gosh."

"Ella isn't waking up," Fang informed everyone. I let go of Nudge and moved on to Ella. I check her pulse frantically.

"You and I could carry her back," I planned, speaking to Fang. I then turned to Iggy. "Do you still have the remote to the bombs?"

"Yeah." He was straining himself from saying duh.

"Okay. We're going to climb out that window; Fang and I will carry Ella. Iggy, if you notice Nudge faltering, grab her and don't let go of her. Set off the bombs when I say." I looked at everyone. "Okay?" They agreed quickly.

Roxi started climbing out the window, then followed by Sora, Iggy, Aurora, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. Fang and I were figuring out the Ella situation.

I climbed onto the window sill and waited for Ella to be partly handed to me.

"How exactly are you supposed to get out?" I realized, grabbing Ella's legs.

"Pull her out so that only her shoulders and head are resting on sill. Luckily, this is a one story building so you can wait for me to pull out before I grab her. Then we have to fly on beat together," he explained, lifting Ella's body onto the sill. As cheesy as it sounds, I did like the sound of Fang saying fly on beat together.

But, I had to stay in focus.

I dropped down from the window sill and onto the ground below. We pulled her out the window far enough and then Fang grabbed the rest of Ella. On the count of three, we pushed into the air. We met up with the flock and started flying back to Mom's house.

AG&AV

As the last of Itex was blown up and miles behind us, I couldn't help but to smile. Fang caught on and on his lips played a small smile. Angel felt our vibes and joined with her smile outgrowing her eight-year-old face. She must have sent something out to everyone else because Iggy, Gazzy, Aurora, Roxi, and Sora were all smiles.

Even Nudge was trying to bring that strength to smile.

And then we were all laughing. It was like my picture perfect moment: Itex was (hopefully) finally gone, Ella and Nudge were back with us, and there's an added three members to out family. What more could I want?

AG&AV

We finally landed down at Mom's house. We were tried to say the least, and Mom was beyond speechless to have Ella back. She didn't even mind that three other bird kids were with us. She welcomed us all with homemade chocolate chip cookies.

I turned on the television with my mountain of cookies on my plate on my lap. I switched to the news in hopes of anything. Fang came and sat down next to me, his hands full of his own cookies.

"Any words yet?" he asked, stuffing cookie into his mouth.

"Not yet." And just on cue, the news casters changed subjects into our topic. Fang and I stopped chewing, quickly glanced at each other, and then focused on the television.

"Reportedly, almost 10,000 people had gone missing, just two weeks ago. Yesterday, a miracle was brought to us. All 10,000 people were returned, and even some individual missing persons from anywhere between three years to three months ago." Images of happy families and friends gathered together flickered routinely across the screen. "Reasons for the reunions are still unknown, but many theorists have their say."

Fang and I exchanged looks of disbelief.

"I saw it with my own eyes, I promise you! I did! It was these little people…all blue…and wings! That's right! They had wings!" claimed an old man. I stared at my best friend as the man continued. "But they didn't fly. No, they used these flying dishes or whatever they're called."

I held back my laughter.

"True or not, the people have returned. More information will be found later, we're sure." For the remainder of the program, I didn't listen. I stared at Fang.

"Flying…dishes? Blue…skin?" This time, I didn't hold back my laughs. "Wow, he was crazy!"

Fang, who was also laughing, nodded. As we calmed down, Fang muttered something that sound like, "Beyond crazy," and stuffed his face full of cookie again.

I smiled huge and shook my head.

New band: Bright Eyes. I can't believe I haven't told you guys about Bright Eyes yet! My sister and I are in love with the lead singer, Conner. He's been making music since he was about 13, and he's like an emo red-neck (if that's even possible). But the music is heavy indie, and I would recommend either "Bowl of Oranges" or "First Day of My Life".

Smiles,

rainxface

So, my computer is basically the stupidest thing ever. Again, I am stuck with my mom's computer. My computer won't let me log in (meaning it goes to the loading page, and stays on that screen), therefore blocking me from the files. and everything else. I apologize a million-trillion times, and I hope that this problem is fixed soon.

smiles,
rainxface

PS: maybe a week... two at top.

Chapter 26

Our night back with Mom was full of food, introductions, and stories. Nudge and Ella – like Aurora – did not remember any of the kidnapping events. Luckily, we filled in their gaps.

And as I've stated before, all good things must end.

The nine of us – Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Sora, Roxi, Aurora, and me – were spread out along any carpeted area of the house. Mainly the dining room and living room were filled up. I grabbed an empty spot in the hallway.

Everyone was put to sleep early, too tired to fight back, or to try and rebel. I was in my pile of blankets, awake for longer than I could mentally stand. I quickly pulled myself out and stepped over bird kids to get outside.

The cool air felt great compared to the humid atmosphere of inside the house. I sat on one of the plastic lawn chairs and stared up at the sky. They moon was full; the many million stars were out twinkling bright; Mars was seen clearly south of the moon. I relaxed with the chirps of crickets and buzzing bugs.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" asked a voice from the shadows. I jumped slightly, and turned to face the hidden boy. Of course, it was Fang.

He chuckled lightly.

"Yeah," I finally replied. "I couldn't get to sleep. You?"

"Same." His eyes were not moving from the sky above. The moon brightly outlined the boy's muscular figure. I caught myself staring.

"Don't you miss it?" Just staring up for endless hours with the stars there. Not really caring about anything? Don't you miss our California home?" His dark eyes fell from the sky to rest in mine. He grabbed another lawn chair and pulled it up next to me as he waited for my answer.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Think we can go back? To the California house?"

"Probably." He nodded. Since he was close enough, I rested my head on his shoulder. His arm fell limply over my shoulders as he leaned his head lightly against mine. I sighed again.

However long of time passed, I don't know. Just long enough for us to watch the moon move from one side of the sky to the other.

"We should probably go in," I said, starting to get up. Fang pulled me back.

"No! Stay," he whined. I stood my ground with his hand on my arm and smiles playing on both of our lips.

"Why?" I asked quietly. Fang slowly stood up, my eyes now level with his shoulder. I stared up at him.

"Because we have the whole night," he whispered. And he closed the space, connecting our lips. My heart sped fast, racing against my chest. My mind short circuited.

Fang's hands placed themselves nicely on my back, right below my wings. My hands were linked behind his neck.

It was purely beauty beyond beauty.

AG&AV

We headed back to our California resort the next day. My mom supplied us with many bags full of cookies and a couple of cookie recipes. Iggy and I were beyond ecstatic.

The long goodbyes were issued, of course. Me with my mom, and Iggy with Ella. Mom went around to say twenty minute goodbyes to everyone (twenty times nine equals one-eighty – three hours of goodbyes). Ella said her goodbyes within five minutes.

Luckily, I kept the tears back. Unfortunately, my voice cracked several times.

And so soon as we took off, it felt like we had made it to our house in three seconds, although I maintained a steady conversation with Fang with whole way.

"Well, we're home," I sighed, plopping myself down on my bed and letting my pack go wherever. Fang sat down next to me, his pack already in his room.

He grabbed my hand and started playing with my fingers. I fell back on my bed, and Fang quickly followed still playing with my hand. I smiled and brushed back some of Fang's hair. He linked our fingers and turned his head to me. He was grinning.

He pulled my close and kissed me lightly – sweetly. I was quick to react, kissing him back.

"Hey, want lunch, you guys?" Iggy called from my doorway. And then realization hit. "Sorry, I'll take that as a no." And he left.

"You have gorgeous eyes, you know," Fang said after a long silent pause. He kissed the back of my hand (that he was still holding) and then kissed my cheek.

I smiled as he gave me another kiss.

New band: Without Tomorrow. Interesting little unsigned band I came across on MySpace. They're good pop-rock stuff.

I am sad to say that this is the FINAL CHAPTER.  I decided to tell you this after you read the chapter that way you would actually be able to cry at the end, and not miss any of the words typed above.  No, I will not be continuing the story as a sequel.  In fact, I have an entirely different plan.  I will be posting that letter a while later.  Hopefully you all enjoyed the story, and if you laughed at my writing, please tell me so that way I can see the points that people didn't like.

Smiles,

rainxface

To my readers:

To my readers:

I write to you with mixed feelings, racing thoughts, and the inability to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. This idea has been caught within my attention for a few weeks, perhaps a month or two now. I have debated whether it would be good for me to comply with my plan or to rebel. For once in my life, I shall not rebel.

I promised myself, about a year and a half ago, that when joining the FFN community I would not communicate with the other attendees. This, as you may have guess, was thrown out the window once I uploaded my first story. It felt nice to have people outside of my small group of friends to be reading my fanfiction and telling me what I need to correct and all that jazz. So I continued.

As the weeks started passing, I wanted to set a goal for myself. Not a hard goal – something I could easily accomplish in less than a year. It was to write a story with multiple chapters with over 50 reviews. That's how A Guitar & A Voice was started. Once I finished the writing of that story, I realized that I had published almost 30 entries. Still, I sadly reside with only 29 entries. I want to add to my goal that I want to publish 30 entries.

This will probably be posted before that 30th entry. After that 30th entry, I am resigning from writing fanfiction. I am not quitting writing as a whole, just the fanfiction. For those that have followed my writings by the days that they were published, you have seen my growth in writing and literary arts. I feel like now fanfiction is just a stage in my life that allowed me the pleasure to start writing more than what I was in regular school (and to give me something to do in my spare time of pre-algebra).

If you would like to continue watching my writing, by all means, click the homepage button on my FFN account, and it will redirect you to my fictionpress account, where I post my original stories.

I don't know when that 30th entry is coming, but I know that it is. For now, I am on fanfiction hiatus.

Smiles forever,

rainxface