Prologue.- From the start...

Many people would say that Josh McGrath was a rather uncommon teenage boy.

He was merely 18 years old and he was one of the best athletes of the Extreme Sports Circuit, he was capable of besting people that doubled his experience and training with ease.

He was a 6'0 ft tall young man with blond hair and blue eyes who was never away for long from his friends Roberto "Berto" Martínez, a technical genius who had been Josh's best friend since elementary school, and Katherine "Kat" Ryan, a former member of a street gang until Josh challenged her to a competition.

His parents had died some years ago in an accident, but he had been adopted by their friend, the CEO and founder of a company called N-Tek, Jefferson Smith.

All in all, Josh's life was great and he thought it couldn't be better.

However, he was wrong, as a confrontation with an evil villain put his life at stake, forcing his step-father to use an experimental procedure in order to to save his life.

This is the first of five stories that will tell his adventures and the various dangers he faced.

This is the story of how Josh McGrath became Max Steel.

POW!

The loud noise of a fist impacting someone's face echoed throughout the totaled base as the self-destruct sequence kept its countdown.

After the sound, a brown-haired man who wore a blue jumpsuit and some kind of metallic vest that covered his chest fell to the ground, breathing heavily as blood ran down from his forehead, right eye and the several cuts in his face.

It was official, this was the worst day in Josh McGrath's life, even if he had been born just a few months ago.

The battered hero tried to stand up, only to have someone stomping on his back, making him groan out loud in pain. Josh turned his head a bit and saw an imposing figure that had a foot on his back, then he could've sworn he was laughing evilly.

And if he had made a bet on that, he would've definitely won.

- I must admit that you're quite a headache, McGrath! You somehow managed to stop me, even if I was always 10 paces ahead of you and N-Tek, but you and your pitiful transphasic powers are nothing compared to me! - The hero's opponent yelled maniacally. - Now you will die here, one way or another!

It was true.

Though every word felt like a stab in the heart, he was saying nothing but the truth.

He was going to die, no matter what.

Even if he miraculously managed to defeat his opponent, he was far too injured to escape from the self-destruct of the secret base.

The evil villain kicked the hero, making him crash against a wall, breaking at least two of his ribs.

As his enemy walked up towards him, the hero opened his eyes and saw how his life flashed before his eyes. Everything since his birth was passing before his eyes.

His birthdays, his parents' death, Jefferson adopting him, when he met Berto at school, the bike race he had challenged Kat to, all the competitions he, Kat and Berto had participated into.

While his opponent was walking towards him, Josh McGrath thought about the events that had lead to his rebirth.

The argument with Jefferson about his future, the fight in which he had tried to help agent Xander, his defeat against Psycho...

In that second, his opponent picked him up by the neck, then he started crushing his throat and raised his fist to deal the coup de grace to kill the hero.

- Time to die, Max Steel. - The villain said as he smirked.