Guten tag! I didn't think I was going to be able to get this chapter up today, but after school and a five hour party it was still only three, so I managed. And this one's even a bit longer than the last three! Haha. Funny how a 10:30 release time messes with your schedule ^^; Yay for school almost over!

btw review plz kthnxbi

XXXXXXX

MAX
Naruto
Sunagakure

So this Kazekage guy was also in a hospital bed, sitting up with his hands folded neatly in his lap. He had teal eyes surrounded by either the product of major lack of sleep or tons of guyliner and a brick red mop of hair. He looked in his mid-teens, maybe sixteen or seventeen. He looked pale, sick, and exhausted. He also looked vaguely familiar – oh yeah! He was the guy getting sat on, in that cave. On his forehead, above his left eye, was a weird scribble. I squinted at it and the lines morphed so they read love.

Whaaaaa?

And then I got it. I hadn't been speaking English. The girl, Suki, hadn't been speaking it either. I hadn't noticed. It was like with the Elvish. I could speak it, and understand it, but I don't think I'd ever heard it before. Could I read like that, too? Write, even?

Then I connected some more dots. This guy was Asian, and Suki was too. That wouldn't be weird except so was everyone else we'd passed in the hallways. Now I'm not racist or anything, but I'd don't think I'd ever been in a place with such a high concentration of Asian people.

"Greetings…?" he said.

Greetings? "Max," I said tentatively.

"Greetings, Max. I am Gaara, the Kazekage," he said.

"Hello Gaara the Kazekage. Mighty fine weather we're having today, don'tcha think?" I said with as little sarcasm as possible. Whoops.

"I know you are uncomfortable, so I will cut right to the chase," he said. "You are a jinchuuriki."

"Gesundheit."

"A demon container."

"EEEEHR," I said, making a sound like a buzzer announcing that someone is incorrect about something. "Wrong."

"You were kidnapped by the Akatsuki," Gaara reasoned calmly. "And you have wings that weren't created by a jutsu. I had one of my sensors check that."

"Okay, a) what's an Akatsuki, b) what's a jutsu, and c) who gave you permission to look at my personal extra body parts?"

"You were unconscious."

"So? If you were unconscious would you like it if I poked around your less-than-clothed body? Yeah, didn't think so."

He pursed his lips but didn't reply. I was vaguely aware of Suki slipping away behind me.

"Ah, I see. Strong but silent guy. I know the type," I said, thinking of Fang. It felt like a wrecking ball had slammed into me. Fang. And the rest of the Flock, for that matter. Where were they? "Well, I'll give you a prompt back to the 'what's an Akatsuki' and 'what's a jutsu' questions."

"You really don't know?" he asked, after a long pause. And then, "Where are you from?"

"All over," I said.

"But everyone knows what jutsu are, even civilians," Gaara said.

"I didn't say I was from all over here," I amended. "Whatever, let's just move on, okay? What are jutsu."

"Jutsu are what are created when a ninja uses his or her chakra to form an attack or defense," he explained.

"Woah, woah, woah," I said. "Back up. Ninjas?"

"Yes."

"But… that's like something out of a bad creative writing assignment. Or a joke."

"Ninja are anything but a joke," the kazekage said. "We are warriors, soldiers of war and protectors of peace."

"I'm pretty sure that's an oxymoron," I said.

He blinked at me. "I see. You use sarcasm and wit to escape uncomfortable situations."

"I do not," I said. "By the way, what does the kazekage do?"

"The kazekage is the leader of the village."

"Wait… you're the leader?" my eyebrows shot up. "That is actually wicked awesome."

"Most don't approve," he commented.

"Yeah, well, you're what, sixteen? Anyways, it's my personal opinion that the adults cannot be trusted, so I'm down with this whole kid-in-charge-thing."

Operation: Change the Subject? Success.

"Back to the jinchuuriki…" he said. Dang, spoke too soon. "You don't have to hide it from me. I know what it's like. To not fit in, to not belong, to be completely alienated to the point of harassment…"

"Really? 'Cos I don't. Because I'm not a jinchuuwhatsit," I retorted. "In fact, I didn't realize demons even existed."

"Then where did those come from?" he indicated… well, just my general direction, but it was pretty clear that he meant my wings.

"Oh, you mean my feathery extensions? That aren't created by a jutsu or whatever?" I decided I didn't want to go through the whole 'keep-the-wings-a-secret-and-not-be-able-to-use-them-properly-for-months' thing this time. I got the feeling Itex would find me anyways. They were probably behind all this in the first place, what was the difference? "They were actually created by more natural means – and by natural I mean not supernatural, they're not actually natural at all."

His expression said that makes no sense.

"Let's just say mad scientists did it and leave it at that," I said. "It gets a bit complicated once you go much deeper."

"Mad scientists?" he looked like he didn't believe me at all.

"Hey, it's not like the ninja thing isn't far-fetched at all," I said.

He looked at me for a while, brain apparently whirring. "Unfortunately, since you don't seem to be willing to respond to me, I am going to have to confine you until further notice."

"Confine me?" that got my attention. "What, like jail?"

His expression said yes.

FANG
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy's House

"Dawn?" she shouted. "Anyone home?"

From what looked like the kitchen, a ginger looking around Buffy's age stepped out. She took in Fang with a look of surprise. Then she smiled.

"Hi!" she said. Then she turned to Buffy. "Hi. Who's this?"

"Fang, meet Willow. She's a witch. Will, this is Fang. Apparently he's a genetically engineered mutant," Buffy said.

"Ah," Willow looked only mildly surprised. "Nice to meet you!"

"Where's Tara? Dawn?" Buffy asked.

"Tara's back in the dining room researching a fun new demon. Dawn's asleep – or at least, she's pretending to be," Willow informed them. "And before you ask, I made triple sure she did her homework."

Fang's stomach growled in protest of the meals he'd recently expelled. He looked down at it and frowned.

"Oh! Are you hungry?" Willow scurried back into the kitchen. Buffy indicated that they should follow her. The kitchen was just as average as the rest of the house, just as normal, if you didn't count the stake that Buffy tossed onto the counter or the battle axe that Fang could see peeking out of the cupboard. "We just went shopping. Tara! Come on, we've got a guest!"

Another woman slipped through a side door into the kitchen. She smiled at him nervously, her eyes darting around. It looked like she expected him to bite her or something.

"This is Tara, she's also a witch," Willow said. "Granola bar?"

Fang nodded and Willow tossed him one. Slowly he unwrapped it, broke off a piece, and popped it in his mouth. He was ravenous, but he didn't want to look like a slob.

"So what's the story?" Willow asked.

"Found him in the graveyard while I was patrolling. He handled some vamps pretty well," Buffy explained. "Anyways, he's got these giant black wings – like an angel of death or something. I thought I'd introduce him to Giles."

"But I thought you said he was genetically engineered?" Willow frowned.

"Genetically engineered?" Tara repeated, looking confused. Wordlessly, Fang unfurled his right wing, just a bit, so it poked about a foot out of his shirt. They didn't gasp, freak out, or look scared. Maybe a little fascinated, or wary, but it didn't seem to strike them as a big deal.

"Ooh, Xander's gonna love this," Willow giggled.

"I'd really prefer if you didn't advertise this," Fang said slowly. "I was stupid to let this slip in the first place."

"We're not about to keep any secrets from the rest of the gang," Buffy said shortly. "Whatever you do, Giles, Xander, Dawn, and Anya will learn about you. But I'm a nice person, I won't tell Spike."

Fang shot her a questioning look, the kind said, who the heck is Spike? What kind of name was that, anyways?

"Spike is our resident vampire frienemy," Tara told him.

"He used to be evil, but now he has a chip in his head so he can't hurt humans," Willow continued. "You probably wouldn't like him, he's not a very nice person. Well, actually, he would probably hate you – is anyone else getting an Angel vibe off this guy?"

As Buffy snorted and nodded and Tara shrugged, Fang's mind clicked.

"Angel?" he asked carefully. "Who's she?"

"He," Buffy corrected. "My ex. Very tall dark and silent."

"Ah."

"Anyways, Angel and Spike have a sort of hate-hate relationship," Willow said. "Like, if you put them in a room together there wouldn't be anything left but small chunks of flesh after five minutes."

"Wow, that was very graphic. I'm shocked," Buffy feigned deep surprise and Willow rolled her eyes and laughed.

There was a thud and the sound of an opening door above them. Fang was immediately even more on-edge then he had been before. His fists clenched around the granola bar and he slid his left foot back in a discreet fighting stance.

IGGY AND ANGEL
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Somewhere in the Earth Kingdom

"Well – well – I didn't –"

"Yeah, yeah, no big deal," Iggy grit his teeth.

Someone was walking out from behind some trees. From the yell and the heavy sort of crashing he was probably male.

"Who're you?" he snapped. He didn't seem overly freaked – they seemed to have furled up their wings fast enough to avoid being spotted.

"Sokka!" another voice, female this time, and the sound of someone getting whacked. "Don't be so rude!"

Crunching of leaves and whipping of hair. She was turning towards them? "Ignore my brother. He's an idiot."

"My brother's an idiot, too," Angel said innocently.

"I hope you don't mean me, because if you do, I'm not cooking for you for a month - "

"No! Gazzy! I mean Gazzy! And – and Fang, too. Yeah."

"That's what I thought."

"Hey, man, what's up with your hair?" the boy – Sokka? – lumbered forward and tugged on a lock of Iggy's hair. The blind bird kid slapped his hand away.

"What's up with your hair?" he retorted.

"It's a warrior's wolf tail!" Sokka said defensively, like he'd been accused of having a strange hairstyle before.

"It's a really beautiful color," the girl breathed. "Both of you – it's like gold! And yours is almost… almost red…"

"What color's your hair?" Iggy shot his hand out and grabbed a fistful of the boy's hair (what was that? It was like a weird mix of a Mohawk and a ponytail…). He felt the color. "Ah, brown."

"Yeah, they're both brunette. Is everyone brunette?" Angel queried.

"No – lots of people have black hair, too. And old people have white and gray hair, of course," the girl explained. "Where are you from? You really don't look like anyone I've ever seen before. I don't mean to be rude, but… your eyes are sort of round, like Sokka's and mine… but your skin is so pale… so you're not Water Tribe…"

"What tribe?" Iggy scoffed. "We are tribe-less, thank you very much. Look, we'd just like to know where we are."

"Well, the Earth Kingdom," the girl replied. "We're on our way to Ba Sing Se. How about you?"

"Yeah, so are we!" Angel chirped. Iggy would have shot her a sharp look if he could. He settled for screaming a 'what the h e double pitchfork is Ba Sing Se?' as loud as he could in thoughts.

Big city. Full of refugees, I guess… these guys, them and their friends are looking for another friend… Appa? Yeah, Appa, Angel explained. Look, I have to stop thinking stuff at you – my head kind of hurts.

"Well, that's great!" he could hear the broad grin in her voice. "Maybe we could travel together!"

"Katara…" Sokka warned.

"What?" Katara – the girl – snorted. "Why don't we introduce you to the rest of the group? By the way, I'm Katara, and this is my brother Sokka."

"I'm Jeff, this is Angie," Iggy introduced them, being sure to use nice, fake names. He heard Angel pout next to him. No doubt she wanted to pick her own name, something Nudge-inspired, like… Angelina Glitterpants Barbieface McWonderpets Jolie or whatever.

"Those are weird names, too," Sokka commented. "Where are you from?"

"All over," Iggy said.

"Quit being so rude," Katara told her brother. "Here, the others are this way."

NUDGE AND THE GASMAN
Harry Potter
Somewhere in Scotland

Through some creative conversation-planting and some eavesdropping, Nudge and Gazzy managed to get the gist of the situation. The universe they were in was pretty much exactly like their home world except for one huge difference: magic. There were people here, witches and wizards, who could use wands to do pretty much whatever they wanted. There were magical creatures, too, like the ones Nudge and Gazzy were masquerading as ("Ah, here they are!" Hermione had cried, to Nudge's glee and disbelief, that first night while looking through a dusty old tome. "Angelicas… they're not very humanoid. I suppose you've evolved since this ancient thing was written…"), and whole cultures revolving around this culture hidden from prying 'muggle' (non-magic) eyes.

There was the school, Hogwarts, that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had previously attended. They'd dropped out, though. There was Quidditch – a sport played while flying around up in the air on broomsticks with enchanted balls. There was a wizard's bank, Gringotts, strange methods of travel (floo powder, apparation (they had learned about this one the hard way. Side-along apparation was not a pleasant experience), flying, etc…), almost completely magical towns, a wizard's prison, Azkaban, and plenty other things that Nudge found hard to keep straight in her head.

But everything wasn't good and dandy. There was a villain in this story, too – You-Know-Who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were his popular aliases, but his real name was Voldemort. He was apparently a pretty evil guy. Seventeen years ago he had been somehow defeated by a baby Harry Potter, the black-haired boy, but he had recently come back to life and now spent his free time torturing innocents and planning the apocalypse.

The next part had been trickier to find out, and it had taken a few days for Nudge and Gazzy to string together all the evidence they'd gathered and come up with this picture. It had involved Gazzy hiding in a cupboard and Nudge straining her ears so hard on watch she allowed herself to be crapped on by a passing bird. Apparently killing Voldemort all those years ago had turned Harry into a chosen one, and he was destined to beat him for good this time. The three friends were on a mission to destroy these things called horcruxes which were, for what Nudge could figure out, sort of like the one Ring, only there were seven of them which was extremely inconvenient. They had managed to destroy three already, which left four to go. Apparently, to make Voldemort mortal and killable again, you had to first destroy all seven horcruxes, and that's what the trio were trying to do.

There was also discussion of the three Deathly Hallows. Hermione let slip they had something to do with a certain story, and at her first chance, Nudge had found The Tales of Beedle the Bard and read the story about the Deathly Hallows. They were three objects designed to 'cheat death': an invisibility cloak, an undefeatable wand, and a stone that could bring people back from the dead. There seemed to be an ongoing debate on whether or not these Deathly Hallows were real or not.

Nudge's mental review was interrupted by a muffled boom from outside the tent (it was a magical tent, with a spell on it so that inside it was the size of a small house, in contrast to the outside which was miniscule. This tent, along with all the other belongings, was kept inside a similarly enchanted tiny little beaded bag). She rocketed outside, hackles rising and getting ready for a fight, but the only danger seemed to be coming from Gazzy.

Nudge burst out laughing. Then she remembered that Max wasn't here and that made her in charge. She quickly stopped.

"Gazzy, you idiot!" she snapped.

"Ron helped!" the eight-year-old raised his hands in the air.

"What? I did not!" Ron looked thoroughly disgusted that anyone would even accuse him of doing something so… immature. Shame!

"I just wanted to see – if you combined magic with, you know, regular explosives – well…"

"Well?"

"…well…"

"You should be glad you didn't blow up the tent," Nudge indicated the large scorch mark in the ground. "I mean, really! Also, um, huge indication that someone's been here. Someone with a psychotic pyro tagging along! How obvious is that? If Max were here, she would kill you dead. In fact, she'd kill you so dead - "

"Ronald!" Hermione emerged from the woods and nearly dropped her bundle of firewood.

"Bloody hell, it was the kid! It wasn't me!"

"You can't be so loud, we'll be discovered, and then we'll –we'll –well, die!"

"Don't be so melodramatic, Hermione - "

"I'm not being melodramatic!"

"Hey!" Harry poked his head out from the tent. "Some of us are trying to sleep in here."

"Sorry," said all four of them at once.