General disclaimer: The TV show Max Steel is not mine, though I really wish it was. It belongs to a number of companies such as Netter and Foundation Imaging, and others whose names escape my memory at the moment, but my name wasn't on that list, if I recall. Kelly McGrath/Maxy Steel is my character, and I will set my corgi-beagle on you if you use her name or her character without my permission. Enough of that, on with the story!
BY:
Maxy Steel
Timeline: Kinda acts as an over-write to the real series, starts about the same time as the real series began. Beyond that, there is no real connection. Some stories may be similar to episodes, and those will have special disclaimers warning you.
"Whoo-hoo!" Josh shouted excitedly as his surfboard caught a big wave. Though no one was around to see, he performed some simple, but flashy, tricks out of boredom. As he coasted gracefully towards the shore, Josh spotted a car pull up. He glided closer, and a girl stepped from the vehicle. He may have been far from the shore, but the blond teen could clearly see the girl's red shorts, white tank top, long blond hair, and searching expression. Josh had the strange feeling he had seen her before. He brought in his board until he was in waist deep water.
"Hey, are you lost?" he greeted, exiting the water and dropping his board on the sand. The girl turned to face him, then walked over, a polite smile on her face.
"Kind of. I'm looking for someone," she replied, pushing her ponytail behind her shoulder. It quickly flipped back.
"Well, I know a lot of people. Maybe I can help you," the male teenager offered. The girl stepped closer, and dug into her purse. During this, Josh noticed how tall she was. Her head was two or three inches past his shoulder. He started when she handed him a small picture. Josh studied the two children in the picture. Then he almost gasped. One of the newborns in the picture was him! The blond narrated the picture.
"The baby on the right is me, and the one on the left is my twin brother, who I'm trying to find."
Slowly, Josh turned the photo over. He recognized his mother's neat handwriting on the back, declaring the picture to be of "Josh and Kelly McGrath, two days." Josh's hand shook, and he almost dropped the photo.
"Is something wrong?" the girl asked, peering at his face.
"The boy...he's...me," Josh breathed, feeling strange. Where had she gotten the picture?
"What?!" was the shocked reply, filled with disbelief.
"I remember Jeff telling me that I had a twin sister, but that she died when we were a week old," Josh lamented. The female looked surprised. All the same, large tears welled up in her eyes.
"You're...my...brother?" she murmured, stepping closer to the young man. Suddenly, Kelly, that's who she obviously was, threw her arms around his neck.
"I can't believe it," she choked, burying her face in his shoulder. Josh was too shocked at having his supposedly dead sister appear out of the blue to do anything but stand there. After a few moments of crying, Kelly released Josh's neck and stepped back, rubbing her eyes, trying to settle her surging emotions.
"I'm sorry, it's just..." she whispered, her words further muffled by her hand.
"I know. I wasn't really expecting to see you either," Josh tried weakly to comfort her.
"So, who's Jeff? And where are Mom and Dad?" Kelly questioned, apparently having some sort of weird ability to instantly calm down.
"We shouldn't be talking about this here," Josh cautioned. "Let's head to my house. It's not far," he offered, getting a small grin from Kelly.
"Is the crime really that bad here?" she joked, following him towards their cars.
"I'll explain later," Josh assured. She agreed to follow him to the beach house.
"Berto, could you get Smith on the line?" Josh asked as he steered.
"Sure, hermano. Uh, why?" Berto replied agreeably.
"Uh, I found my sister," Josh explained, the words sounding stupid in his own ears. The younger teen said something, but it was cut off by Josh being transferred to Smith's line.
"Smith here," Josh's father greeted.
"Hi, Dad. Um, I've got a slight problem here..." Josh began.
Josh finished explaining the whole scene to him just as he pulled up to his street.
"Josh, you don't really believe that this girl is your sister, do you?" Smith said as he neared the driveway.
"Actually, I do," Josh retorted, a little angrily, wondering why his step-father wouldn't believe him. Of all the people to accept it first, Jeff had been on the top of the list.
"Josh, I really don't think it's a good idea is all," Smith explained.
"Dad, who else could she be? How many other people could have had that picture?" Josh snapped angrily, wondering where the hesitance was coming from.
"She could be a Dread agent," Smith warned.
"DAD! You think everyone is a Dread agent! Why can't you relax a little?! Dread isn't trying to get me at all hours of the day!" Josh fairly shouted, punching the wheel. Smith let his foster son calm down for a second.
"Josh, how about I come meet her?" Smith suggested, feeling it was the best way to find out wether the girl was authentic or not. After all, he was one of the only people alive who knew the most about the twins, though that wasn't saying much.
"Okay," Josh agreed reluctantly, parking the car, still hurt that Jefferson hadn't believed him from the start.
"And Josh," Smith began as the teen exited his car.
"Yeah?" Josh sighed.
"Don't tell her anything about N-tek until I get there," Smith ordered. He clicked off the transmission before Josh could say anything.
"Are you just going to stand there?"
Josh snapped his head around to see Kelly standing near him.
"Oh, yeah. Come on, let's go," he offered, moving away from the car. She stayed close to him as they entered.
"Do you want something to drink?" Josh, ever the host, asked his newfound sister.
"Sure, uh...how about water?" Kelly replied. The boy nodded and directed her to the living room while he went to get the drinks. His head was spinning with questions as he filled two glasses with ice water from a pitcher in the fridge. He barely registered the chill of the cups against his palms as he entered the living room, where Kelly had seated herself on the couch.
"Thank you," she grinned up at him, taking a cup. Josh dropped into a chair next to the couch and set his glass on the table. For a second, they had a quick staring contest.
"So...where did you grow up?" was the best thing he could think of to start with.
"I think how we were separated would be a less confusing start," Kelly sighed.
"Okay, shoot," Josh smiled back at her. His sister took several deep breaths, and placed her cup on the table.
"First off, the person who I lived with didn't even bother hiding the truth from me. My `mother' was a nurse, Carol Relin, who had helped deliver us. Then, about a week after, one of the nurses accidentally took me to another part of the hospital. According to Carol, it had been right after visiting hours were over, so no one realized the mistake until the next morning. The nurse panicked, made up some bogus story about me dying, then gave me to Carol, then quit. She panicked too, and for a good reason. She couldn't think of what to do. She couldn't take me back to our parents. They could have filed a kidnapping charge or something. Her story wouldn't have made sense without the other nurse to back her up, and that one had left. So, instead, she quit her job and moved to Florida, taking me with her. From the first day, she never let me think I was her real daughter, but she also told me to wait until I had become older before I started looking for you guys. That picture was taken at the hospital. Carol took it before she left, so I would have some proof as to my identity later on. From the first day I actually understood what Carol was saying about you three, I wanted to find you guys so much. But I just couldn't leave Carol. By the time I was 17, she had cancer, and was slowly dying. I refused to start searching for you until she was better, even though she encouraged me to look for you. Then she died. So I just started searching for you, and eventually found Del Oro. And that's pretty much my story," Kelly stated in a fairly steady voice, wiping her eyes. Josh got off the chair and sat down beside her, pulling her into a hug.
"All that matters is that we've found each other," he told her quietly. Kelly brushed her ponytail back, and carefully pushed away from him.
"So, are Mom and Dad going to be back soon?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. Josh dropped his gaze, and sighed.
"We've got a lot of ground to cover. Um, okay, the three of us went out on a boating trip when I was two, and..." Josh tried to sound matter of fact, but couldn't continue. Kelly wrapped her arms around his neck, and murmured softy to him.
"It's okay. Just take a deep breath," she told him gently.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But, this storm came up, we weren't expecting it...Mom...she..." Josh just couldn't finish.
"She's gone, isn't she?" Kelly asked in a soft tone. Josh nodded wordlessly.
"What about Dad?" Kelly didn't want to press him, but she had to know. Even after spending nineteen years away from a family she'd never even really met, the teenager still was loyal, still loved without question.
"I don't know. One minute he's home, then he left and...he never came back," Josh sounded calmer. Talking about his father wasn't as upsetting as his mother. Kelly blinked slowly. She didn't know what was worse, having a parent die, or not knowing if they were even alive.
"So, who took care of you all this time?" she asked finally.
"A family friend, Jefferson Smith," Josh explained. As if one cue, right at that moment, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," he offered, getting up. Please don't be Laura, please don't be Laura, he prayed. Taking on finding a missing sister was hard enough, he didn't need Laura accusing him of cheating on her as well, as he had a feeling she would. To his immense relief, it wasn't Laura, it was his adoptive father.
"Dad!" Josh greeted. Smith nodded to him, and entered. Kelly glanced up as the two men entered.
"Kelly, this is my adopted father, Jefferson Smith. Dad, this is Kelly," Josh ran through the introductions. Kelly stood, and walked up to him.
"If you're Josh's father, then you're mine too," she said logically, throwing her arms around his neck. Smith looked startled, and Josh looked ready to laugh. They split up and seated around the table. The two teens quickly filled Smith in on their conversation, and picked up from there. Smith filled both kids in on what they didn't know. This had not been part of Jefferson's original plan. He'd been planning to try to trick the girl into admitting she was a Dread agent, as he had suspected. However, he hadn't been expecting her to hug him and have all the accurate details.
Several hours later, they had recapped the last 19 years of their vastly different lives, except the incident in June, and Josh's real job at N-tek. At the moment, neither trusted her enough to let her know that, and Jeff and Josh were already coming up with excuses for Josh's frequent absences. Then Josh came up with a perfect plan.
"Hey, Kelly, maybe you could go to college with me. It'll be better than hanging around here all day," the male blond suggested.
"Why? I took a college crash course, so to speak, and graduated with honors," Kelly replied. Josh blinked, she sounded like Berto, it was scary.
"You did? Wow," the brother exclaimed, impressed with his sister.
"Besides, how is the water around here? Florida was really great for surfing, but there weren't that many good climbing mountains around. How's the rock climbing here?" Kelly asked eagerly. Josh and Smith exchanged glances. Now she sounded like her brother.
"You mean, you like extreme sports?" Josh asked.
"Of course. We're twins, so what's so odd about that?" Kelly shrugged. Josh grinned, tossing an arm around her shoulders. "Absolutely nothing."
Over breakfast, Kelly was pleading with her brother to show her all the good sports places.
"I'll show you all the best sports places, but first, I want you to meet a couple of my friends," Josh said. He had called Pete and Laura, explained the situation. They both agreed to meet with her.
"Who are these friends?" Kelly asked. Josh merely told her that they were meeting at the beach. Kelly spotted a pair of kids, both at least 19 or older, sitting on a bench. One was a girl with black hair, and the other was a guy, also with black hair.
"Pete! Laura! Over here!" Josh yelled. The pair turned, and jumped up, heading towards them.
"Kelly, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Laura Chen, and a good friend of mine, Pete Costas. Guys, this is Kelly, my sister," Josh explained.
"Nice to meet you!" Laura exclaimed, giving her a quick hug. Pete seemed to be in a trance, and it took violent nudges from both Laura and Josh to bring him back.
"Oh, hi," he stuttered. Kelly laughed, and shook hands with him. After, the four went out for lunch, and Laura and Josh were forced to keep up the conversation, as Pete was simply staring at Kelly, who sat there, returning the look with calculated friendliness.
"I think they've hit it off," Laura commented wryly to her boyfriend.
"Hey, now we can go on double dates," Josh joked along with her.
"Huh? Oh, give it up, you two," Kelly whined. Josh shot her a raised eyebrow look.
"What? Did you have a guy back in Omaha?" he teased. Kelly dropped her gaze to the floor, and the cheer level in the room dropped considerably.
"Something like that," the blond girl forced out with little enthusiasm. The others wisely chose not to press the issue.
Once Josh had shown Kelly all the best places for surfing, rock climbing, biking, hiking, and everything in between, he didn't even have to worry about making up excuses about his disappearances. He had to go looking for her. After a few times of this, Josh gave her a tracer signal. It was really a two way radio, and he could talk to her when he pressed down a button on a tracer attached to his own wrist. This device was what made telling Kelly about his double life later unnecessary. She found out, by mistake.
Kelly paused as she heard her tracer go off. Give me a minute, she snapped silently, moving to a more stable place on the huge rock formation. What she heard shocked her to the core.
Max usually took off his tracer for missions, but Psycho had left no time for that. He only had time to change. Unknowingly, he pressed down the speak button as he dropped into Hawk's cockpit.
"Berto, where's Psycho now?" Max asked.
"He's still there, and he's still got four hostages," Berto replied.
"Any suggestions?" Max queried.
"Sorry, Max, you're gonna have to improvise. But do that quickly," Berto replied.
"Well, that's an N-tek policy, for both sides of it," Max joked, trying to ease the tension he always felt before a mission. "I really hope that I didn't make any dates with Laura. I mean, having Kelly cover for me is great, but I can't keep that up forever."
"Why don't you just tell her?" Berto suggested the obvious. Max rolled his eyes.
"Hello, bro? You feeling all right? If I tell her, than that just makes one more person Psycho can kidnap to directly threaten me. And she'd be even easier to grab then you or Rachel or Smith," he reminded.
"Yeah, you're right," Berto admitted. Max grinned, then shifted in his seat, the usual adrenaline rush he felt building. The speaker button was pressed again, shutting it off.
Kelly was frozen. Her brother, Josh McGrath, was also an N-tek agent, of this "other side," as he had put it, and he hadn't told her? Who was Psycho, and how the heck did he work into this. Well, since she had found out that, she might as well learn the rest. She would make him spit it out, if nessessary.
"I better go wait for him at home," she mused, beginning to climb back down.
Max wiped the sweat off of his brow, taking a deep breath as Hawk shot home.
"You okay, hermano?" Berto questioned, seeing his distressed look.
"I'm fine. Guess I took one too many shots," the teenager replied, wincing at a sudden pain in his chest. Berto caught the look, and noticed the change on one of the monitors.
"Max, let me pilot. You look ready to drop," he insisted. Max nodded weakly, and switched to remote. He fidgeted sharply, and cried out at a sudden piercing pain in his left side. He could barely breath.
"Max?" Berto's voice questioned, seeing yet another change in the scans. His left lung had been damaged somehow. The teenager on the other end tried to speak, then passed out. Berto urged the jet to go faster, while simultaneously alreting Smith, and Yevshenko. He rapidly explained the situation.
"I'll meet the jet at the landing area," Yevshenko replied, then clicked off.
Smith arrived in the control room minutes later. He glanced worriedly at the monitors, and the blank screen.
"What happened?" he damanded.
"There's no x-ray on this. But it's got to do with his left lung," was all Berto could explain, still focusing on piloting the jet.
Yevshenko got the injured teenager down to the medical area, and ran a quick check up. She listened to his heart and lungs, then wheeled him into x-ray. Smith came in just after she'd gotten the read-out back.
"He broke a rib, and it's poking into his left lung," she explained before the boy's father could ask. He nodded, and left the room. If it was as he thought, Kelly would need to be told, at least that she wasn't going to see her brother for a few days.
The N-tek official had been prepared to have to go looking for his adopted son's sister, but to his surprise, she was waiting at the urban house the twins had. The words that came out of her mouth were even more shocking.
"What does N-tek really do?" she demanded as he entered.
"What do you mean?" Smith asked, genuinely confused by her behavior.
"What do you people really do? Do you run a drug lab as well as a sports tech company? Is Psycho one of your dealers who flipped out? What's going on, and why did you have to bring Josh into it? Who's Berto, and why is he calling Josh Max?!" Kelly spoke so rapidly that Smith could barely understand her.
"Wait, calm down. Where did you learn all this?" Smith was too shocked to say much else. Kelly reluctantly went and sat down on the couch, crossing her arms. Smith repeated his earlier question.
"Josh had his tracer speaker on. I heard everything he and `Berto' said," she snapped in reply. Smith realized that whatever she had heard, she had misinterpreted it greatly.
"Kelly, I can explain. Yes, there are two sides to N-tek, but our other job is stopping terrorists. Psycho is employed by our biggest threat, John Dread. Josh is one of our best agents, and his identity at N-tek is Max Steel. That's what we do," Smith explained quickly. Kelly folded her arms, hurt, anger, and mistrust etched on her face.
"Nice story, but where's Josh? I'll believe it when I see and talk to him," the teen replied firmly, a look of "so, what do you say to that?" in her eyes.
"All right, I'll take you down there. I warn you, Josh is in serious condition. And he still looks like Max," Smith agreed.
"What does that mean?" the young woman asked.
"You'll see when we get there," Smith replied mysteriously.
Yevshenko had surgially replaired the damage and had her patient resting comfortably in the recovery bay, by the time the father and not-so-trusting daughter arrived.
"Dr. Yevshenko, may we see Max?" Smith requested. Yevshenko eyed Kelly with suspicion.
"Josh's sister. Kelly, meet Dr. Yevshenko," Smith explained. The doctor nodded, and let them in. Kelly looked at the limp form on one of the beds.
"I think we're in the wrong room," she stated. The boy in here didn't look anything like her brother. Kelly watched Yevshenko give the strange boy a shot.
"Believe it or not, that is Josh, he's just in `Max Mode,'" Smith told her.
"He doesn't look anything like my brother," Kelly insisted. Smith stepped up and pushed a button on Max's bio-link. There was a crackle of light, and suddenly, the boy was her twin brother. She turned white.
"Josh!" Kelly gasped, rushing to stand beside her only family left. He didn't respond verbally, or with any motions. Yevshenko was speaking to Smith quietly.
"So, he'll be all right?" Smith asked in a low voice, listening partially as Kelly spoke to her brother. Yevshenko nodded her confirmation.
"As soon as the abrasions heal, which shouldn't be more than few days, given his accelerated regeneration system," she affirmed.
After the little scene, Smith was walking Kelly down to the TSO room.
"Now that you know, I may as well introduce you to Max's other team members," Smith offered, knowing that probably would have been next on the girl's mind.
"Does everyone call him Max?" Kelly asked.
"Only when he looks like Max," Smith replied.
"How did that happen?" she continued, gazing with interest around the halls as they headed for the control room.
"It's a long story, which started back in June. You can ask Josh for the long version, but a short version is Josh was trying to stop an intruder, and ended up being drenched in suspension fluid filled with nano-tek max, tiny machines that can reproduce at an alarming rate. To save his life, we hit him with transphasik energy. The result was Josh becoming twice as strong normally, and the ability to become ten times stronger. And he could switch to another identity. It was logical to have him join, once he had learned the do's and do not's," Smith explained.
"That was still pretty long," Kelly grinned as they reached the TSO room. Berto looked up as they entered, and offered a friendly smile.
"You must be Kelly," Berto greeted. Kelly blinked and stepped back, blushing slightly.
"Who is that guy?" she asked quietly of her brother's step-father.
"I'm Roberto Martinez, but you can call me Berto," Max's friend offered.
"Berto monitors Max, makes sure he has enough T-juice to live," Smith explained.
"I know you because I can see and hear everything Max can, using this equipment," Berto offered in explanation, gesturing to the controls. Even with everything that was going on, the young woman couldn't help thinking, wow, he's cute! I wonder if he's got a girlfriend...
"Okay, I get it now," she stated, trying to sound casual, moving closer to the controls. She reached out and tapped a few buttons experimentally.
"Hey, don't touch that!" Berto warned. Kelly ignored him and continued pushing buttons and twisting dials, until he grabbed her arm to affirm his earlier statement.
"You really need to update this system. I my computer is more advanced than this," the teen observed after a minute. "I can give you a hand." she added carefully after a second.
"Uh...okay," Berto wasn't really sure how to respond. Kelly smiled slightly, and grabbed a chair, pulling it up and beginning to type some things. Smith sighed and left. The rest of the introductions could wait.
Rachel walked into the TSO room to talk to Berto about how Max was doing.
"Berto, how is...oh, who's the girl?" Rachel blinked in surprise, seeing a young blond sitting next to Berto, busily typing. As of then, the girl didn't seem to have noticed her.
"Hi, Rachel. Max should be all right, and this is his sister...Kelly, right?" Berto responded, looking to Kelly for confirmation. She leaned back from the keyboard and nodded. She turned and saw Rachel.
"Oh, hi! You're...?" she greeted, jumping up and zipping over to the N-tek agent. Rachel hesitantly smiled at the younger girl. Kelly offered a bigger smile, trying to be firendly.
"Rachel Leeds. You're Max's sister?" she asked.
"Yeah, his long lost twin sister," Kelly smiled, a little brighter, holding out her hand. Rachel shook it.
"I suppose you've just found out about N-tek's real purpose?" Rachel continued.
"Yeah, sounds exciting. Where do I sign up?" Kelly joked nervously, feeling tense from having their scrutiny. Rachel and Berto felt a sudden unease. Maybe Smith was right. She seemed a little...odd. Berto tried to write it off as how they'd met, but Rachel didn't.
Kelly sort of stuck with Rachel and Berto, meeting the other N-tek agents with them. For some reason beyond Kelly's understanding, everyone around N-tek seemed hesitant to be near her. It made her even more nervous, and she longed for Josh to wake up. Besides Smith, he was the only one who didn't act strange around her. But then, even Smith did act a little hesitant. Kelly only took this for two out of the four days it took Max to recover. She spent the rest of the time at the beach, or one of the other places Josh had shown her. She came to visit everyday, but made a point of avoiding as many N-tek operatives as possible. In the eyes of the agents, this only increased their suspicions that she was a Dread guard.
Josh blinked awake, and sat up, yawning confusedly. He wondered how long he'd been out, and where Kelly was, and more to the point, if she was worried.
"Josh?" a voice asked gently, and his right side. The boy turned, fully expecting to see Rachel. To his surprise, Kelly sat next to the bed, peering anxiously at him.
"Huh? I'm not Josh, I'm Max Steel. I think you must..." he fished frantically for an explanation. Kelly stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Josh, don't even bother. I know everything. I met Rachel and Berto. Besides, right now you aren't in `Max Mode,'" Kelly told him with a smile.
"How did you find out?" Josh asked after a moment.
"You sat on your tracer speak button, I guess. I heard your entire conversation with Berto," Kelly grinned at him, wagging her finger in his face. Josh sighed, at least she wasn't mad.
"Man, how long was I out? My head's killing me," he sighed, rubbing his temple.
"About four days. Whatever you got hit by cracked one of your ribs, and hit one of your lungs. I was so worried," Kelly explained, tears edging her voice.
"Hey, I'm fine, see? Quit worrying, it happens all the time," Josh comforted, placing a hand on her shoulder. Kelly hugged him in return.
"I was so worried about you. You're the only one who doesn't act funnytowards me around here," she said, her voice muffled by his T-shirt.
"What do you mean?" Josh asked, lightly disengaging them.
"They always are giving me sideways looks, and I always get the feeling they're nervous around me. Why would they do that?" Kelly whimpered.
"I'll talk to them. I guess it's just that they don't know you very well," Josh offered. Kelly seemed to instantly relax.
"Thanks, bro. Now, how about some lunch? Isn't saline solution or whatever they're dripping into you kind of bland?" she grinned, gesturing to his IV.
"Well, I can't leave until Yevshenko gives me a clean bill. Do you know where she is?" Josh replied.
"I bet I can find her," Kelly promised, getting up. She bounced out the door, feeling much better. Somehow, she knew that whatever the world threw at her, she could handle it now, just so long as her brother was there, and safe.
The twins couldn't escape for another half hour. First Yevshenko had to give Josh a check-up, then they had a talk with Smith.
"You owe me big time for the last few days, bro. I came up with a brilliant excuse for you being gone," Kelly teased as they left.
"Oh, and what would that be?" Josh shot back.
"That you were off visiting your poor, sick grandmother in Idaho," Kelly laughed. Josh instantly became serious.
"You didn't really? Laura knows I..." the male blonde began in a worried voice.
"Brother dear, I was kidding. I told Laura and Pete that Dad volunteered you to go with a troop of boy scouts on a camping trip unexpectedly," Kelly smirked.
"That sounds like something Dad would do. Thanks, sis," Josh said, relived.
"So, where shall we go for lunch?" Kelly wondered aloud.
"Hey, Berto. Hi, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about not stopping in, but could you patch me through to Laura?"
"Josh, what are you doing? That's a watch, not a phone," Kelly scolded, thinking he was playing around.
"Hey, Laura. Yeah, that camp trip was really fun. Listen, I was wondering, you want to meet me at Cafe Cafe? Oh, and ask Pete, Kelly's with me," Josh finished speaking with Laura and turned off the bio-link.
"Very cute," Kelly commented.
"One of the perks of working at N-tek. Call anyone, any time," Josh recited, amusement dancing across his face.
Laura and Pete had already gotten a table by the time the twins arrived.
"Josh! Kelly! Hi!" Laura called, seeing the two teens exiting Josh's car. Laura ran up and hugged Josh, while Pete sauntered up and gave Kelly a bright smile. She returned it without much enthusiasm.
"Hey," Josh greeted, setting Laura down.
"How'd you survive four days with a pack of kids?" Pete questioned with great interest.
"Lots of stamina, and the ability to toss them in the river," Josh replied with a wry grin. Kelly said something in a light scolding manner and lightly whapped him in the head.
"Hey, I know! How about we all go rock climbing this weekend? I found this great spot to have a picnic," Kelly suggested. Pete and Laura agreed, and Josh was all for it. As they headed over to get a table, Josh and Laura joked about how close Pete and Kelly were walking. Or more like, how close Pete was walking to Kelly.
As they walked to the car, Kelly wondered if she should bring up a subject that had been bothering her. It seemed kind of mean to drop it on Josh, but he was a part of it, and so were his partners.
"Josh, I kind of get the feeling that your partners don't really like me," she started on the way home, bringing up their earlier conversation.
"Kelly, I really don't want to tell you, but it's unfair that you don't even know why they're acting so cold to you," Josh began, eyes still on the road.
"So why? I haven't been being rude or anything, have I?" Kelly asked worriedly. That seemed to be her biggest problem, accidentally snubbing people.
"No, it's a little worse than that. You see, you showing up and having a kind of farfetched story makes them a little cautious. Add in that Dread's used a similar tactic a couple times to try to kidnap me, they're really worried. In their eyes, you could just be leading me into a trap," Josh sighed, knowing he would upset Kelly. However, she seemed to be taking it well.
"But why does Dread want you? I mean, he must know that he could never convince you to join him," Kelly wondered, confident in her brother's good heart.
"He doesn't want me as an agent, he wants to dissect me. You see, back in June, well, you remember that story I told you. Dread wants to know how I lived through that," Josh explained, inwardly wincing at the horrified look on Kelly's face.
"Wow. No human is that cruel, are they?" she murmured through her hand clapped across her mouth, looking slightly green.
"Kelly, I'm sorry, it's just..." Josh hastened to apologize.
"I know, you felt I had a right to know. I'm not mad that you told me, Josh. It's just kind of shocking," Kelly assured him.
"I understand. It a pretty bad jolt for me, and not just the transphasik energy blast," Josh intoned quietly.
"Look, now that I know, let's not talk about this, not now. It's just too much," Kelly asked after a second. Josh nodded, his eyes not moving from the road.
In the coming weeks, whenever Max went to a conference with Rachel, Nez, or Berto, it almost always ended in a huge fight. All three agents, and Smith partially, were certain Kelly was a Dread agent in disguise. Max courageously defended his sister, insisting that she'd had more than one opportunity to take him. It stressed the group's tight bond of partnership and friendship. After each fight, Max would storm out, and invariably find Kelly. The two would talk, and Max could finally calm down. One day, Rachel called a meeting of the four N-tek agents, and Kelly, to, as she put it, "clear up any confusion."
"She just is trying to get you to admit you're a Dread agent or something," Josh grumbled as he drove them to N-tek. He transformed as he drove.
"Josh, just calm down. Maybe Rachel does just want to patch things up," Kelly suggested.
"Not likely. We may have talked about the arguments, but you didn't hear them," Max intoned angrily. Kelly laughed suddenly.
"Oh, Josh! You're just so negative! You really need to calm down. Come on, just try to look on the brighter side," his sister pleaded.
The three N-tek agents were waiting for the McGrath twins.
"Max, Kelly, hello," Rachel greeted coolly. Berto and Nez were already seated on one side of the table, along with Rachel. Max purposefully led Kelly to the side closest to the door. He sat down and folded his arms. His sister had to suppress a giggle at his childishness. Rachel let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Look, I wanted you to come down here so we could talk this out as mature adults, not so you could sit there and pout," Rachel snapped. Max whirled out of his seat.
"You're setting a great example of maturity! All of you, have any of you really even tried to get to know Kelly?! Or are you just basing your accusations on the past?" he snapped. Berto looked shocked and hurt. Nez and Kelly stood up, ready to hold Rachel and Max back. Kelly was touched by her brother's protectiveness, even though it seemed to be straining more than a few relationships. She shot Berto an apologetic look. If anything, she knew that he was the peace-maker among Team Steel. The girl wondered how her brother and Berto were able to make it through as many of these fights as she knew they had. She stepped in front of Max.
"Okay, let's not turn this into a big, violent, bloodshed thing. I really hate that stuff," Kelly tried to break up the imminent fight the only way she knew how. Telling jokes, even if the situation didn't call for one.
"Yeah, come on, you two. We're here to talk," Berto interjected. Kelly felt a pang of pity for him. Though he had been cautious, he hadn't been outright cold like Rachel. Besides, she liked him, very much. She got the feeling that Berto was kind of submissive. With a partner like Rachel, she didn't blame him. After several minutes of negotiation, Rachel and Max were persuaded to sit down, while Kelly and Nez managed the conversation.
"Okay, now," Kelly mused, from her place sitting in the middle of the table.
"According to Max, you are acting funny towards me `cause you think I might be a Dread agent in disguise, right?" she asked, looking at the three N-tek agents.
"Well, it's more like we're being...cautious," Berto tried to explain.
"I seem to be hearing that a lot. How can you guys work while being `cautious' all the time? It must put a big strain on your systems," Kelly observed.
"We're not this careful all the time. Only when an enemy may be infiltrating our security," Rachel muttered. That set Max off.
"`Careful?!' You aren't being careful, you're being out and out rude! Kelly is trying to be friendly, and you keep pushing her away!" he growled. In a flash, Kelly slid across the table.
"Josh, you're not helping," she warned in a high "you're in trouble now" tone. In fact, it didn't help. Max and Rachel started trading insults, until Nez clapped one hand over Rachel's mouth, and Kelly put Max's foot in his mouth, literally. Well, her foot across his mouth, anyway. The two peacemakers were busy struggling with their charges, so Berto tried to take charge.
"Okay, why are we acting like two year olds?" he asked, addressing the whole group. No one could come up with a good excuse, or any excuse for that matter.
"Well, then, let's stop acting like that," Berto suggested reasonably. This appeared to agree with everyone. Nez released Rachel, and Kelly took her foot off of Max's mouth.
"Let's try that again," Berto sighed.
"I just want to know one thing..." Max began. He leaned back as Kelly held her foot ready to silence him again.
"Chill, sis. I just want to know if there's any way Kelly can convince you that's she's not a Dread agent," Max asked meekly. Kelly calmly withdrew her foot.
"Well..." Rachel began. Smith suddenly appeared, stopping all the conversation.
"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, but I need you four," he stated, indicating the four N-tek agents, "to come with me for a mission briefing. I'm sorry, Kelly," he finished. Kelly sighed and crossed her arms. One of the worst things was not getting to go with the others on missions. She felt she was perfectly capable of going along. Of course, both Smith and Josh firmly refused to let her go. As the agents filed out, she remained, thinking about how she could tag along. Then it hit her. They always took Max's car. She ran out to the car and checked it for any places to hide. There was a gap just her size in the trunk, even with the missiles. There were several air holes, it seemed like the perfect place. She rushed to wait near the door.
At the end of the mission briefing, Max was silent for a moment.
"So all we have to do is get in there and find the codes?" Max asked, trying to sum up the mission. Smith nodded.
"Easy enough," Max grinned. The others rolled their eyes.
"Come on, superboy, let's go," Nez sighed, standing. Rachel and Berto mimicked him, while Max fairly bounced out of his seat.
"Okay, so the way I see it, we can get in this way..." a male, teen-sounding voice came down the hallway.
Kelly looked up, hearing Max's voice. She turned and rushed to the car, slipping into the small space she had located. In reality, it was a touch more cramped than she expected.
"Okay Max, we'll keep that in mind," Rachel promised. They piled into the car. Kelly grinned to herself, feeling the car start.
In the end, the four agents decided to use Max's idea of getting in through a window. Max parked the N-tek issue car several hundred feet from the base. They scrambled out, and started for the base. Kelly gave them a few minutes, then crawled out of hiding. She followed their footprints in the soft mud to the Dread base. Here, she found a part of the fence ripped open.
"Thank you for not covering your tracks," Kelly muttered to herself, dipping under the fence. She tiptoed across the grass, heading for the still pried open window. She had to twist herself quite a bit to get through, and wondered how Josh, who was much more muscular, could ever have gotten through. To her amusement, the four agents had left their muddy footprints on the floor, leading out the door. Kelly almost laughed as she followed their tracks. She followed the prints to a door, and heard voices, which sounded like her brother and his partners. Without a second thought, she turned and headed into the first room she came to. As expected, there was a grate leading into the vents. She reached up and felt around until she found the screws holding it up. With a few quick twists of the screwdriver hidden in her pocket, Kelly had the grate resting on the table she had been standing on. She gripped the edges of the opening, and was about to pull herself up, when she realized that the room she was in was a weapons storage room.
"Cool," the tagalong teenager grinned, dropping back to the floor and picking up a sort of quiver, stuffing four electro-staffs into it and slinging it on her back.
"Now, that's better," she smiled, hopping back up on the table and slipping into the duct. She navigated the paths until she found the room her brother was in. The four agents were crowded around a computer, and Berto was downloading stuff. After watching for a few minutes, Kelly grew edgy and left them, scurrying off to spend the time figuring out the paths, having the feeling she would need it later.
The computer bleeped softly, if not cheerily as it copied the files, then deleted them from the data base.
"And that's the last of it," Berto said with satisfaction, removing the disk and placing it in a pocket.
"Now, let's get out of here," Max decided, turning to the door. As the four stepped from the room, a cluster of Dread guards appeared at the end of the hallway. One of them shouted something, and they rushed the N-tek agents.
"Run!" Nez shouted, shoving everyone down the hall. They took off, racing down the hallway.
"Huh?" Kelly muttered, hearing the commotion. She scampered to a grate, and looked out in time to see her brother, flanked by the other three agents, dash by followed closely by a pack of Dread guards.
"Finally, something interesting," she grinned, taking off down the vents, somehow having an idea of where they were going. Must have been twin perception.
Max, Rachel, Berto, and Nez ran out onto a bridge made of grating, connecting their side of the building with the other. The guards were still behind them, and as they reached near the center, another group appeared at the other end.
"What do we do now?" Berto panted. Max glanced over the side. Rachel placed her hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the railing.
"Don't even think about," she warned.
"It's too far anyway, and all that's down there are Dread's giant bucket of max-probes," Max replied.
"We'll have to fight them," Nez decided, moving into a fighting stance. Rachel and Max imitated him, and Berto as well, though not as confidently as the others. Max looked around. There were roughly eight guards at either side of them, making the odds 16:4 in Dread's favor. And the guards had those stupid electro-sticks. Oh, well. If they went down, they'd go down fighting.
"Hey, up here!" a female voice called. Everyone turned towards the source of the voice. The speaker was a teenage girl with blond hair, dressed in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, a quiver of some sort peeking from behind her shoulder. She stood upon a duct, holding a rope.
"N-tek agents, heads up!" she yelled, jumping off her perch. Clutching the rope, she bore down upon the group. With a thud, she landed, taking out a couple guards in the process. Max gasped, it was Kelly.
"Here, I think these'll help," she grinned, removing the four electro-sticks from the quiver on her back. As she handed them to the N-tek agents, the rope she'd been holding slipped from her grip, catching on the railing.
"Kelly, how'd you get here?" Max demanded as he slammed a guard to the ground.
"I followed you four," she shrugged, smashing her palm into an attacking agent's chin.
"Kelly, I told you before. This stuff's too dangerous," Max scolded, stabbing at a guard with his fist.
"Why? Jake, Berto, and Rachel aren't super powered," Kelly retorted, ducking a punch and driving her fist into the attacker's stomach.
"Yeah, but they have special training," Max argued, sticking out his foot and watching the guard coming at him flip over it. Rachel kicked a guard and turned to them.
"Will you two stop arguing until after the mission? We've got more pressing concerns right now," she snapped. Max and Kelly turned to face her.
"We are not fighting!" they yelled simultaneously. Nez held back a chuckle as he snap-kicked a guard. One guard who had been smacked around and was on the verge of unconsciousness shakily raised his laser and fired at Kelly. The shot barely missed her temple. With a shriek, she stumbled back, right over the edge. Her arms flailed out, trying to grab anything she could. Her fingers brushed the rope, and she gripped it. It easily slipped from it's catch under her weight, sending Kelly sailing out over the vat of max-probes.
"Yiiiii!" she yelped, wrapping herself around the rope. She was in too much shock to do anything but hang on as the rope swung back and forth, slowly coming to a stop right above one of the vats.
"I wanna get down!" Kelly screamed, hugging the rope. Several laser blasts tore past her, one of them hitting the rope, jolting her.
"Not like that!" the blond teen yelled at them.
"Kelly, hang on!" Max shouted at her.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" she yelled back. More shots ripped at the rope, tearing more threads.
"Josh, I need a little help over here!" Kelly shouted at her brother.
"What am I supposed to do?" Max snapped in a yell at her, kicking a guard.
"Try using that chain!" Kelly and Berto loudly suggested. Max nodded and grabbed the chain, swinging at Kelly.
"Kel, grab on!" he shouted, holding out his hand. Kelly reached, but they passed centimeters apart.
"Good going, bro," Kelly commented dryly, watching as he swung past, inciting a glare from her brother.
"I'm doing the best I can!" he snapped.
"Yiiii!" Kelly squealed as the rope took another shot. Only about a fourth of the rope remained. Kelly glanced around wildly. Max was trying to gain more momentum to try saving her again. Rachel, Berto, and Nez were still busy dealing with guards, some of whom were shooting at her. Kelly winced as more strands died.
"Any time now, Josh," she mumbled under her breath. A laser shot rushed at the rope. It cut cleanly through the last strands.
"Yiiiiii!" Kelly wailed, her stomach sinking along with her body, heading towards the vat below.
"Kelly!" Max screamed, watching as she disappeared into the green liquid. Kelly blinked in the vat, and instantly regretted it. Josh had told her how painful having the probes enter his body had been, and now she knew he wasn't lying. Her eyes felt as if they were on fire. She opened her mouth to scream, and got a mouthful of probes instead. Frantically, she pushed towards the surface. Her hand broke through, and she groped around for something to grab onto. A hand closed around hers, and Kelly felt herself being pulled from the thick liquid. A pair of arms circled her, and seconds later, she was being laid down on something hard. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. She vaguely made out Max hovering above her, and the others nearby.
"Josh?" she gasped, spitting greenish suspension fluid as she spoke.
"Yeah?" he asked gently.
"I'm sorry," she choked, collapsing in a dead faint. Max had a brief moment of panic, then remembered that she wasn't in danger yet. He hugged her tighter in his arms, then turned to the nearest fellow agent, Rachel.
"We've got to get out of here," he stated.
"I know, I'll get Berto and Jake. You head out," Rachel ordered. Max nodded and rushed for the exit.
"Hang on, Kel. You'll be fine," he breathed. He made record speed to the car, setting Kelly in the back seat. Rachel, Nez, and Berto were suddenly behind him.
"Someone else better drive," Max stated quickly, jumping in the back seat. Nez volunteered, and they piled in.
Smith had a strange sense of deja vu, looking down at Kelly, lying sound asleep in a bed at the med lab. He recalled seeing Josh the same way.
"Will she be all right?" he asked Yevshenko.
"I'm not sure. The only chance she has is being injected with max probes, then the transphasik treatment," the doctor replied. Smith nodded, and Kelly was wheeled down to the generator, where Max was just coming out.
"Kelly!" Max exclaimed, zipping over to the stretcher. He squeezed her hand tightly. Rachel gently pulled him away so they could take Kelly in. Max insisted on watching. The four agents who had gone on the mission were crowded into a viewing room, along with Smith and Mairot. Max turned to Rachel.
"Still think she's a Dread operative?" he asked, not even a touch of smuggness in his voice.
"Not any more. And Max?" Rachel replied, turning to match his stare.
"Yeah?" the teenager responded.
"I'm sorry about being so suspicious, and rude, to both you and Kelly," Rachel apologized.
"I should apologize to you too. Even with you shunning Kelly, I still had no right to be saying that stuff to you or Jake or Berto," Max replied. Especially Berto, he thought sadly.
Kelly came out of the generator still asleep. She had a better chance, since she had been put in the same day she was exposed to the probes, unlike Josh, who spent days fighting the tiny machines with his normal immune system. Much to Josh's chagrin, she stayed asleep for several hours.
"Don't be so impatient. You were out for most of the day," Smith lightly scolded him. Josh grinned at him, then turned back to his sister.
"Kelly, come on, wake up," he pleaded quietly.
Several days later, Kelly was back up to full strength, or more like ten times that. Josh spent some time to sort of lay down the rules about how far she could push her power's limits. Kelly was rather amused by how protective he was.
"Josh, I can take care of myself. Just wait and see," she told him one day. Being around N-tek was actually fun now that she had proven herself to be nothing more than Josh's sister, who had saved four N-tek agents. Then there was the idea rolling around in her head ever since the accident.
"Hey, Josh, could you tell me what you said to Dad when you became an N-tek agent?" she asked innocently one day. Josh grinned and told her exactly what he had said and done, and what Smith had said in return.
"Very interesting," Kelly murmured under her breath as he finished.
Kelly opened the door to Smith's office, and stepped in. Josh was standing near the desk, talking to his father. Both looked up when she entered.
"Hi, Kelly," Josh greeted with a wave.
"Hello, Kelly. Is something wrong?" Smith added. Kelly shook her head.
"Look, I've been thinking. Can I join N-tek? The real one?" she asked, coming closer.
"Absolutely not," Smith replied sternly.
"No way, Kelly," Josh chimed in, just as firm. Kelly looked indignant.
"Dad, Josh," she began in a whining tone, placing her hands on her hips.
"No. It's too dangerous, and..." Smith snapped.
"Don't even think about saying I'm too young," Kelly cut him off.
"Kelly, it is dangerous. You've seen how many times I come in half dead. Do you really want to spent your life doing this?" Josh added, still agruing, even though he knew the outcome.
"Yes, actually, I do. Besides, with two of us, it would be less dangerous," Kelly argued.
"Yeah, but it also makes one more person Dread can kidnap," Josh replied.
"And what about Kelly McGrath? You've seen how hard it is for Josh," Smith added, knowing that remark would probably trigger the same as it had with Josh. True enough, Kelly looked down at the ground, as if contemplating his remark. She was really running through what Josh had said, making sure she would get it right. After all, they were twins. Shouldn't they act alike?
"Then Kelly McGrath's out of the picture," she stated, looking up. She passed her hand over her face, transforming as she did so. "The name is Maxy Steel," she finished, giving both males a hard glare. Smith looked surprised, and Josh was trying not to fall over laughing. Kelly now looked very like Max, right down to the bangs, only in female version, her long hair pulled into a ponytail. Josh couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing, one hand holding his side, the other braced against the desk.
"What's so funny?" Maxy demanded, crossing her arms.
"Oh, come on Kel. `Maxy Steel?' Real original, sis," he chuckled.
"Hey, it's the best I could come up with on such short notice," she snapped, a smile creeping across her face.
Smith and Josh finally agreed, and Maxy was taken to be properly prepared. Getting the bio-link, adjusting the TSO room to accommodate two Steels, and informing the other agents. And getting her equipment, of course. Max had Hawk, so Maxy's identical jet was called Crane. The only change was an "X2" after the N-tek thumbs up. With cars, Maxy's version of Max's car Shadow was a white/green vehicle she called Star. Berto looked like he wasn't really looking forward to double duty, and Rachel and Nez mimicked his expression to the next level. Dealing with just Max was hard enough, now his super-charged twin sister as well?
Look for the sequel to this, "Double the Fun," coming soon!
-Maxy Steel