Leftover Alphabet Soup

A/N: I have no excuse. BUT I do have good news. Since Tassel630 and Ninja C are doing NaNoWriMo next month and won't be able to write chapters for LAS, we're going to finish THIS MONTH. Which means approximately ONE CHAPTER A DAY.

Isn't that exciting?!

Thank you to imagine. life. sweeter (sorry for the spaces; your name kept disappearing otherwise) for recommending this chapter title. You have no idea how much fun this was to write.

Disclaimer: Max and the gang are my imaginary friends. No, really. Because imaginary friends can be anyone you want them to be. Therefore, I am not violating any copyright laws. In theory.

M is for: Magical Mermaid Max
By Akira43

"Hello, Fang."

I looked around myself, trying to find where the mystical voice was coming from in this world of dark, murky green, but there was nothing, not even a shadow.

"Over here, Fang."

Behind me. I spun around as quickly as I could, but still nothing.

"Where?" I started to ask, but I promptly shut my mouth, finding that I was underwater, and could say nothing without inhaling water.

Something brushed against my shoulder. I shivered.

"Don't be afraid, Fang," the voice said again. But I couldn't help it; something had begun pulling on my leg, trying to drag me down, down, down into the dark depths of the water. Kicking my legs I tried to free myself, struggling towards the lighter water that must be the surface.

"Fang."

This time, I almost screamed. Out of nowhere, Max's face had appeared in front of me. Her pitying expression held my gaze as the rest of her body materialized. Only subconscious survival instincts prevented my jaw from dropping and filling my lungs with water.

"You don't have to be afraid, Fang," the Mermaid-Max cooed. "You see, I'm a magical mermaid, and I can just wave my wand and make all of your fears go away."

She did so, but nothing changed. If anything I was even more freaked out than before, because my one chance at escape had disappeared along with any magical powers the Mermaid-Max may have had.

"Oh dear, I've forgotten how to activate the spell. Let's see here," Mermaid-Max mused. "Maybe it was…no, no that's not it. Was it the warts, or, no, perhaps the mushrooms…"

Warts? Mushrooms? What more horror would I have to go through to get out of this wretched place?

"Oh, yes, now I remember!" Mermaid-Max suddenly exclaimed. "The spell can only be activated with a kiss. But we can't do that here. Hmm, I suppose we'll just have to go somewhere else."

A split second later I was free at last, soaring through the air with my perfect, beautiful, magical mermaid. The sky was blue, the clouds were big, white, and fluffy, and the temperature was perfect for flying. After a few minutes of joyful flight Max looked down at me, grinning. "Are you ready for the kiss that will activate the spell?" she asked.

It was all I could do to nod. Finally, after so long, I would be able to kiss the one person I loved most in this world. We flew gradually towards each other, and I was only a few feet away from her loving embrace when suddenly—

"CANONBALL!"

With a huge splash I was flipped off of the tube I had been floating on in Anne's pond. Sputtering from the face-full of water I had just received, I frantically tried to figure out what just happened. The Gasman's cackling from nearby soon cleared up my confusion.

"Did you see that, Fang? Wasn't it awesome? Do you think it was a ten?" he exclaimed, looking at me expectantly.

"Uh, yeah, definitely a ten," I mumbled, still trying to get my bearings.

"Awesome! Did you see that, Iggy? I bet you can't do one better than mine!"

"Yes, of course I saw it, Gasman. Because water is definitely the only element I can see," I vaguely heard Iggy reply from afar.

"You probably deserved that, you know. Falling asleep when you're supposed to be watching the kids...I don't know what I should do with you."

Max, the real, non-mermaid, non-magical Max was grinning at me from the shore, her delicate wings spread out behind her, glinting in the sunlight. And at that moment, I didn't care that she was making fun at me. I didn't care that I had just been rudely awakened from a perfect dream. All that I cared about was that Max, My Max, the one who rarely allowed herself to relax, had finally found peace from our stressful lives.

With me.

Right here.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Remember to stay tuned as we blast through the remainder of this collection of one-shots. Next up: Tassel630 with Nevertheless.

Much love to our reviewers, and to everyone who takes the time to read our silly little whims of thought. Don't forget that you can still suggest chapter titles--just make sure any suggestions are for O or later (since N has already been set).