SOOO sorry for the gap in updates! I went on literally, like, four surprise vacations, with only one day between each one… and that day was usually used hanging out with friends… I'll try and warn you if there will be a large expanse of time between updates next time, I promise!
Oh yeah, and reviews are the reason I get out of bed in the morning ;)
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MAX
Naruto
Sunagakure
Sakura punched him in the head (wicked hard, I mean supernaturally hard) while I pointed out icily that his name was weird, too.
"Ow, Sakura!" he whined. "Can we please go back to the Kazekage tower? Please?"
"No thanks," I said.
"Why not?" Naruto whimpered.
"Because if I go back there I'll be thrown in jail," I said matter-of-factly.
"Why am I not surprised?" Sakura said through clenched teeth.
"Why will you be thrown in jail?" Naruto gaped, looking thoroughly shocked. This guy was one of the most naïve, stupid, childish people I'd ever met, and he was obviously older than me, too. I mean, really. He didn't seem to be freaked out at all that he was in the presence of a con.
"I refused to clearly answer his questions or something stupid like that," I rolled my eyes. "You know, I thought he was cool, but turns out, nooo! He's just like every single other military leader out there. Stupid BS. But I'm rambling."
Suddenly, without warning, Sakura's hand shot out and she gripped my wrist in her demonic vice-like eagle claws, grinning sadistically.
"Well, I guess that means we'll have to take you in!" she said with glee.
"What? No!" I tried to tear my arm free but was rewarded with my arm being practically ripped out of its socket.
This chick was strong. And I mean really strong. She didn't look strong – she looked just like any other skinny, girly, wimpy little turd, but she apparently was not, because even with full-powered super-strength, her hellish talons wouldn't budge.
And then she started to drag me – me! Maximum Ride! – kicking and screaming – literally! Me! Maximum Ride! – back towards that stupid tower, Naruto following cautiously and telling Sakura to 'be gentle' and 'don't hurt her' and 'she's just been through a traumatic experience! I'm sure she's not that bad!'.
"Shut up!" Sakura and I both screeched at the exact same time. Then we turned on each other. "You shut up!"
"Don't talk to Naruto that way!"
"I'll talk to anyone whatever way I want, Pinky!"
"Don't call me Pinky, bird girl!"
Great! Does everyone know about them? I mean, really – whatever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?
"I will jump you in your sleep and rip your fingernails out!" I burst.
"Oh! In my sleep, will you? You obviously have no honor."
"Honor! Honor is the kind of thing that gets you killed! What is this, feudal Japan?"
"You little bi - "
"We're here!" Naruto announced loudly. "If you two lovely ladies would like to stop ripping each other apart…"
"I said shut up!"
"Okay, okay, just a suggestion…"
Sakura manhandled me into the tower and marched up to the front desk, where her hostile manner quickly melted into a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Hello! I was wondering where we could find the Kazekage. It's rather urgent," she shrugged and giggled as if she were embarrassed. Embarrassed. Ha! I really didn't like this girl.
"He's still in the hospital," said the man at the desk. "Do you have an appointment?"
"No, sorry," Sakura apologized. "This girl here, well, he put her under arrest – ow! – but she kind of escaped – stop! – and so Naruto and I are bringing her in now – will you quit that?"
In case you were wondering, those various interjections were my futile attempts to smash her arm off and ditch.
"Under arrest?" the man leaned forward and examined me through narrowed eyes. I stuck my chin up and glared down at him. "Do you have a warrant?"
I really, I mean really, shouldn't have mentioned that whole going-to-jail-thing. I need to get my ego under control stat or one of these days I'm going to end up dead.
"No warrant, unfortunately."
"Wait here, I'll send a messenger…"
Sakura deposited me on a couch in the waiting room and sat next to me, crossing her legs and folding her arms. Naruto began a little dance that suspiciously brought him close to the door.
"Stop right there," Sakura said. "If either one of you so much as twitches I swear I'll pound you ten miles underground."
I was practically having an identity crisis right then and there. I am not used to being pushed around. I push people around. I am the pusher-arounder. Not anyone else. I'm pretty sure my system couldn't handle it. Any minute I was going to snap. Now, I know what you're thinking: how pathetic. Max can dish it out but she can't take it.
And to that I say, shut up.
FANG
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy's House
That night, Fang fell asleep thinking of the Flock, but mainly one particular member. He had to get his mind off all this crazy occult crap.
The next morning he was woken up by the door slamming open loudly.
"Rise and shine, ladies!" a man shouted. Fang blinked his eyes open and immediately threw the blankets off, dropping into a combat position. The man, who was standing in the door, threw his arms up above his head.
"Who're you?" he snapped.
There was a low moan from upstairs and Dawn appeared, wiping sleep from her eyes. She practically tripped her way down the stairs and rammed a headbutt in the newcomer's stomach.
"Whatareyoudoinghereit'slikefiveinthefreakingmorning," she slurred.
"Who is that?" the man asked again.
Apparently the man expected him to answer because he wanted to know, and Dawn expected him to answer to save her the trouble of stringing together actual words this early in the morning. When after a beat he hadn't said a word, Dawn sighed and stumbled backwards into a wall, bouncing off and stumbling into the kitchen.
"He's Fang," she managed to grumble.
"Hi," Fang decided to say, relaxing a little. Dawn obviously trusted this guy, so he was probably harmless.
"Go away, Xander," Buffy, Willow, and Tara had all apparently been roused by the racket. Buffy was yawning and stretching and Willow was rubbing sleep out of her eyes with and exhausted-looking Tara leaning heavily on her shoulder.
So this is Xander, Fang thought. Fantastic, I get to meet another creature out of a horror movie.
But there was something different about Xander. He looked indescribably… human. While Buffy, Willow, and Tara all held an inexplicable feeling of power about them, Xander was more similar to Dawn, except he seemed even more of an average Joe. He was tall, with brown hair and broad shoulders. He wore jeans, sneakers and a Hawaiian-print shirt.
"What? Is this some girl thing where you all go into comas on Thursdays or something? I thought I was supposed to bring Dawn to school at seven," Xander said, looking annoyed.
"Seven?" Dawn shrieked. "It's pitch black outside! The clock says five o six! What is your problem?"
Xander frowned, his expression clearly saying, what? He glanced at his watch, and realization dawned on his face.
"That's why Anya threw the coffee pot at me!"
"I'm beginning to understand why you didn't get into college," Willow stomped down the stairs, pouting. "Well, now that we're all awake, I guess I'll just… whip up some breakfast."
She slipped into the kitchen and started rifling through the cupboards. "Since we're up so early and we have time… how about pancakes? Or, I know, waffles! Do you like waffles, Fang?"
YEAH WE LIKE WAFFLES! Is what Gazzy would sing. DO YOU LIKE PANCAKES? YEAH WE LIKE PANCAKES! DO YOU LIKE FRENCH TOAST?
But Gazzy wasn't there, so Fang just shrugged and said a quick, "Yeah."
Willow rustled through some cupboards and came up empty handed. "Oh," she said, sounding disappointed. "We're all out of flour. Cereal, anyone?"
There was a general rumble of consent, and Willow procured several boxes of cereal and cartons of milk. Some by hand. Some with Fang could only assume was magic.
Honestly, it didn't even faze him anymore.
IGGY AND ANGEL
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Somewhere in the Earth Kingdom
"Wait, you're blind?" Toph asked in disbelief.
"Have been for kind of a while now."
There was a pause. Then, "cool," she slurred, and slugged him on the shoulder.
"Ow," Iggy said, with some surprise. "That actually kind of hurt…"
Angel rubbed her temples, irritated. Her head had been aching slightly but steadily ever since they'd gotten here.
She rolled over and curled up into a ball, squeezing her eyes shut, blocking out all thought and light.
After their fateful encounter with the four kids, Iggy had made (a delicious) dinner that they'd all enjoyed immensely. During that dinner they exchanged some niceties and the two bird kids had vaguely described how they'd come across their wings, but Angel had delved into their minds and learned all she needed to know. She'd already passed it on to Iggy.
They were in a place divided into four… well, countries. There was the Water Tribe, that was where Katara and Sokka were from, which took up the north and south poles. Then there was the Earth Kingdom. They were currently in the Earth Kingdom, and Toph hailed from an Earth Kingdom town called Gaoling. Thirdly was the Fire Nation. None of these kids were Fire Nation. The Fire Nation were the antagonists in this story. They were hell bent on taking over the world. Which brings us to the final nation. The Air Nomads – that's what Aang was – were completely wiped out by the Fire Nation – except that one little monk, of course. And Momo (a flying lemur with an annoying tendency to steal people's food) and Appa (a giant flying bison who'd been kidnapped and they were now trying to find). Apparently Aang had run away from home on the same night the Fire Nation launched their attack on the Air Nomads. He'd been frozen inside an iceberg for a hundred years before Katara and Sokka found him.
Each of the four nations obviously corresponded to an element. Some people from that nation could bend – or manipulate – said element. Katara was a waterbender, so she could move water. Sokka was not a bender, even though they were siblings. Toph was an earthbender with the power to move earth. Aang was an airbender – the last airbender, to be precise. Angel had gathered that Toph and Katara were sort of Aang's instructors in their respective bending arts.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. Aang was some sort of Avatar. That had confused Angel at first. He wasn't blue, or tall, or from a distant planet. But then she'd figured out what it meant. The Avatar was a sort of deity that could bend all four elements and was meant to keep the peace between all the nations. Obviously this had failed, seeing as there was a giant war going on.
I wonder if this is the same as in the Lord of the Rings, Angel thought. Maybe we have to help put a stop to this war, too.
She hoped not. She was getting kind of tired of wars.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a shuffling in the bushes. Her hackles rose. It didn't sound like Momo, or a human. It's probably just an animal. She didn't reach out with her mind, though. That would just make her head hurt more. Instead, she silently sat up and glared into the underbrush. There was more shuffling, a snort, and then…
"Angel!" something small and black barreled into her stomach. She let out a delighted shriek and hugged Total tightly.
"Total!" she grinned.
Iggy sat up tiredly beside her. "Total?"
"Yo, Ig-man," the talking dog said.
"Hey," Iggy said, before flopping back down and falling asleep again. "And it's Jeff! My name is Jeff."
"What is that?" it was Sokka, and he sounded very freaked out.
"This is Total, he's my dog," Angel explained.
"What's a dog and why is it talking?" Toph snapped.
"The whitecoats made it so he could talk," Angel explained. "And what do you mean, what's a dog?"
"Whoah! You have an animal that talks?" Aang looked like someone had just given him the rights to a small country. He jumped over. "Hey little buddy!"
"Little buddy, my tail," Total growled. "Nice tattoos, baldy."
Aang ran his hand across his bald head, which was tattooed with a blue arrow. "Thanks!"
"Wait – what are you doing here?" Iggy asked.
"Same thing you are," said Total. "As in I have no idea."
"Oh. Okay." Iggy shrugged.
Angel cuddled the small dog up to her stomach.
"I wonder if the others are here, too," she said absently.
" 'The others'?" Sokka asked. "Who?"
"The rest of our family," Angel explained. "We lost them."
"Is that why you're going to Ba Sing Se?" Katara asked. "To find them? I hear it's swarming with refugees."
"Yep," said Iggy. Total gave a confused sort of snort but a flick from Angel was all he needed to shut up.
NUDGE AND THE GASMAN
Harry Potter
Somewhere in the woods
There was a moment of silence and Nudge squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them again when a raspy voice slithered through the darkness.
"Come out of there with your hands up!" it ordered. "We knew you're in there! You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!"
Nudge's raptor vision was already adjusting to the darkness when there was a bang and a flash of white light and Harry crumpled to the ground. She was shocked to see that it was Hermione who had her wand pointed at him.
The entrance to the tent was thrown open and someone stomped in. He grabbed Harry by the collar.
"Get up, vermin."
Hands grabbed Nudge and shoved her outside. She didn't struggle, but the moment the grip slackened she kicked the man in the stomach and wrenched Gazzy out of his captor's hands and throwing him roughly in the air, swallowing her fear.
Don't panic, she screamed at herself. Max wouldn't panic. You have to take care of Gazzy.
As the Gasman's wings caught the breeze she tried to take off, but a sensation like someone had punched her in the back made it impossible.
"Ah!" she cried as she went sprawling to the ground.
"Don't let the kid get away!" someone hissed. "Blast it, stupefy!"
Gazzy froze in midair and dropped to the ground with a thud where he lay, unmoving. Nudge shrieked in anger.
"Don't hurt him!" she screamed. "I'll kill you!"
"Ooh, scary," one of their captor's rolled their eyes.
"Search the tent!" the leader barked. "And see if the kid's dead. He looks delicious."
Nudge felt the color drain from her face. That leader – he reminded her sickeningly of an Eraser. Nudge's captor threw her face down on the ground next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Wake him, up, will you? We'll need his name," said the leader.
"Ennervate," someone growled. Nudge heard the unmistakable sound of Gazzy's whimpering. She felt herself being rolled over.
"Now let's see who we've got," said the leader. He pointed his lit wand down to get a look at their faces. The beam rested on Harry, and he laughed.
"I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?"
When Harry didn't answer immediately, the leader kicked him in the stomach. "I said," he repeated. "What happened to you?"
Harry's face was puffy and swollen. His skin was stretched so tightly you couldn't make out the scar on his forehead, and his eyes were tiny slits in his face.
"Stung," Harry mumbled. "Been stung."
"Yeah, looks like it," another voice snorted.
"What's your name?" the leader snarled.
"Dudley," Harry told him after a beat.
"And your first name?"
"I – Vernon. Vernon Dudley."
"Check the list, Scabior," the leader ordered, and Scabior produced a book and started flipping through the pages. "And what about you, ginger?"
"Stan Shunpike," said Ron quickly.
"Like 'ell you are," called Scabior. "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way."
From the angle she was at, Nudge saw the leader kick Ron in the face. He really was like an Eraser – wolfish, with yellowing eyes and long, grey hair, and apparently a lust for blood.
"I'b Bardy," Ron's voice was thick and muffled with blood. "Bardy Weadley."
"A Weasley?" the leader rasped. "So you're related to blood traitors, even if you're not a Mudblood. How about your pretty little friend?"
That last sentence was said with a relish that made Nudge want to punch him in the face. Their other captors jeered.
"Easy, Greyback," Scabior said. Greyback. He even had an Eraser-ish name.
"Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet. We'll see if she's a bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny. Who are you, girly?"
"Penelope Clearwater," Hermione answered, voice firm but shrill with terror.
"What's your blood status?"
"Half-Blood."
"That's easy enough to check," Greyback moved again so he was standing practically on top of Nudge. "How about you?"
"Nina. Nina Ride," Nudge hoped her voice wasn't shaking. "This is my brother, Gunner."
"Brother?" Greyback didn't look convinced. Nudge cursed herself internally – she and Gazzy didn't look anything alike!
"Adopted," she amended quickly.
"She looks like she could be 'ogwarts age," said Scabior. "In fact, the 'ole lot of 'em do."
"We'b lebt," Ron said. "And she'd doo young."
Nudge knew that was a stretch. She was eleven, but she looked even older. Even Gazzy could pass for eleven if need be.
"Left, 'ave you, ginger?" said Scabior. "And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Dark Lord's name?"
"Nod a laugh," said Ron. "Aggiden."
"Accident?" their captors laughed again.
"You know who used to like using the Dark Lord's name, Weasley?" Greyback grinned sadistically. "The Order of the Phoenix. Mean anything to you?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had mentioned an Order of the Phoenix. Apparently they were on the frontline in the war.
"Doh," Ron lied.
"Well, they don't show the Dark Lord proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed," Greyback explained. "A few Order members have been tracked that way. We'll see. Bind them up with the other two prisoners!"
One of their captors grabbed Nudge by the hair and threw her to the ground a short ways away. Her head cracked against someone else's. She found Gazzy's hand and gripped it, hard. He was being tied up to her left, with Ron on her right.