I don't own Cyberchase. Max is mine.


Chapter Seven
To Corsairio

Digit LeBoid was snoozing in a hammock when his sleep was interrupted by Motherboard's tone of alarm. "Digit!"

"WAHH! OOF!" Digit sprang out of the hammock, collided with the rafters, and face-planted on the tiled floor in front of Motherboard's terminal.

"Hacker has Dr. Marbles. Tracking device activated."

"Wuh-oh." Digit said. His propellers whirling as he hovered in front of Motherboard's screen. "Don't tell me Hacker knows about the Magmelux too!"

"Hurry, Didge. Go to Cybersite Corsairio. Picaroon Lagoon. I'll contact the Cybersquad." Motherboard said.

Digit, the ever-loyal Cyboid, saluted his leader and headed off for Corsairio. There, he sat upon the bird's nest with a spyglass, watching and waiting for his friends.

"Where are those Earthlies?" He said after a half-hour of waiting. Just when he was getting ready to call Motherboard, a ball of pink light swirled around him and unceremoniously dumped the kids onto the ship's deck.

"About time you got here!" Digit said, fluttering to the deck.

"Sorry, Didge. There was a glitch in Motherboard's portal." Inez said.

"Yeah." Matt agreed. "We got sent to Macaroon Lagoon by mistake."

"I hate when that happens." Digit said, exasperated.

"Any idea where Hacker took Dr. Marbles?" Jackie asked.

Digit opened his chest hatch and pulled out a ragged old map. "Yeah. He's on Skull Island which is way down here -" He pointed to a small sketch of a skull at the bottom of the map. "- and the Magmelux which Dr. Marbles was researching to cure Motherboard's virus is up here, at Mount Sevarius -" he pointed to a drawing of a volcano at the top of the map diagonally from Skull Island.

"Come on. We'll rescue Dr. Marbles." Inez said.

"We also have to get the Magmelux before Hacker does. It's powerful stuff." Digit said. "I can't believe I'm saying this but let's split up. I'll go to the volcano and collect the Magmelux. You guys go find Dr. Marbles."

"Wait a second. Where's Ivanka?" Jackie asked.

"She's gone too. I've looked everywhere." Digit said.

"We'll find her, Didge. Don't worry." Jackie said, patting his wing.

"I know." Digit said, crestfallen.

"You bet we will. But we'd best find my dad too, while we're at it."

The Cybersquad looked up just in time to see Max coming toward them. They dove out of the way as Max landed on the deck and ran a short distance before coming to a stop.

"Max! What the heck are you doing here?" Digit said.

Max's tongue licked the tip of his beak. "I'm glad to see you too, Didge. You don't have to freak out. I got the same SOS you did. I thought I would come check it out is all."

"Don't you know he's looking for you and you do realize this could be his trap just to catch you?" Digit pointed out.

"Yeah, I heard he's been looking for me but he won't catch me. I've been traveling around as Zip, not as Max. The great thing is, he doesn't know I haven't been using my real name so it's been driving him nuts that nobody's seen me." Max pointed out. "It's pretty hilarious watching him throw a temper tantrum. Especially with those ridiculously tiny legs of his."

The kids chuckled as they imagined Hacker throwing a temper tantrum just as Max described.

"Anyway. Digit, if you're going after Magmelux, you'll need this." With her tail, Max unlooped a sack from her shoulder and wing-ridge and passed it to the Cyboid. "It's a space-time bag. It doesn't matter what you put into it or how much, it still weighs the same. Don't ask me what it's made from because I don't even know. Master Pi's warriors developed it some time ago and we used to carry it around with us everywhere. You can use it if you want."

"Gee, thanks Max." Digit said, stashing the sack in his chest hatch. "It'll help."

She licked him again. "Good. Now, you might want to get going. There's no telling when you -know-who is going to lose interest watching Dad and will head for Mount Sevarius. Get as much Magmelux as you can. Also, that volcano is still active. It only erupts every few eons and this happens to be the eon it's bound to erupt. You might want to wear an environmental suit to protect yourself from the fumes."

"Good idea, Max. I've got one stored away in my chest hatch. I'll put it on when I get there." Digit said. "Here's the map to Skull Island and be careful." Jackie took the map.

They watched him take off. Then, Max lowered herself onto her front legs. "Get on." She told them.

The kids pulled themselves up onto her back and shoulders, just behind the twin wing joints, and noticed that her scars also stretched over the left wing joint and over her rump and saddle; another reminder of the ordeal she went through while in Hacker's hands. Down her back was a ridge of raised bone which provided enough space for the kids to sit.

"So Max, what's the plan?" Matt asked.

"Simple. We find Dad while Digit locates the Magmelux. Then we find Ivanka." Max said.

"Are we going to fly there?" Inez asked, she didn't like heights much and Max had an impressive set of wings which were now folded above her mismatched elbows.

"Nope. We're going to run. I don't fly while I have passengers - too dangerous. I have to do a roll in order to land." She told them. "Now, where's the first landmark."

"Okay, it looks like we have to go south west from Picaroon Lagoon to Skull Island. Which means we may have to go through this stream." Jackie said. She pointed to the stream onto which Ivanka's ship was anchored. "Just go through here. Um, just out of curiosity, do gargoyles swim?"

"Doggy-paddle. That's about it." Max answered. She walked to the edge of the boat and leaped into the water; her wings unfurling to break their fall.

0

"Why don't you just dump him in a black hole, Boss?" Buzz said within full hearing of Dr. Marbles and Ivanka who were now prisoners aboard the bridge of the Grimm Wreaker.

Delete laughed maniacally. "Or slip him in the Forever Gone machine?"

"Not just yet. I've rigged an experiment of my own to see what Magmelux can really do." Hacker said with a sinister grin.

He slipped the chunk of Magmelux he had taken from the Doc into a compartment next to a computer terminal of his own devising. Then, by pulling the lever down, Hacker made the bridge across to Skull Island disappear.

Buzz laughed. "Good one, Boss."

"Yeah. It's going to be bye-bye Motherboard." Delete agreed.

Everyone but Ivanka and Marbles laughed at their own cruel joke.

"You're destined to fail, Hacker. No matter how clever you think you are, your system syntax will never allow you to triumph." Marbles said, crossing his arms over his narrow chest.

Hacker chuckled at Marbles use of computer terminology. "You don't really expect me to believe that do you? When you made me, you created perfection? To prove it, I'm going to keep you around long enough to witness my triumph over Motherboard."

"You will never triumph so long as Max and I are around." Marbles said.

"Don't I know it." Hacker said. "Which is precisely why I've been looking for her this long. But, now that I have you, she will come to me."

"No she will not, Hacker." Marbles said. "Max is too smart for you. When I created her, I downloaded the same amount of brainpower as I gave you. But the biggest difference between you and her is she uses her intelligence for good and not for self-gain. You could learn a great deal from your older sister if you chose too."

At the mention of his relationship with Max, Hacker hefted Marbles up by the front of his shirt again. "Don't you ever refer to her as my older sister again. Do you hear me? She is nothing more than a stinky, winged reptile with the brain of an intelligent killing machine. You would do well to remember that."

"And you would do well to remember that it is she, the stinky, winged reptile, who will be the end of you, Hacker. Your fate had long since been decided since you betrayed Motherboard, kidnapped, tortured, and mutated my daughter, and tried to destroy her. You've made bad decisions since you came online and those bad decisions will be your downfall." Marbles said.

Hacker set Marbles down on a somewhat loose tile. "We'll see about that. Once I get rid of Max, nobody will stand in my way. Nobody! Not even those Earth brats you and Motherboard think so highly of." He wandered back to his station and pressed a button. The tile beneath Marbles opened, dropping the unfortunate inventor borg into a bowl-shaped cutout on Skull Island.

"Tata, Dr. Marbles." Hacker said over a loud speaker. "First I'm going to Mount Sevarius to collect all your precious Magmelux. Then, I'm coming back for you." With that, the Grimm Wreaker rocketed off toward Mount Sevarius.

1

Meanwhile, the kids and Max had already arrived at the spot where the bridge to Skull Island had been only moments before. Max let loose a thunderous growl from the cover of the dense vegetation where she had hidden herself lest Hacker see her.

"That idget doesn't how to respect his elders. The least I would've done was given him a cushion to land on." She grumbled.

The kids ignored this.

"Doctor Marbles! Can you hear me? It's us . . . the Earthlies." Jackie called across the expanse of the bridgeless lake.

"I hear you. But I cannot see you." Marbles called back.

"I'll swim across and get you out." Matt called.

"I wouldn't suggest swimming in that lake." Max said, shrugging out of the fern bed. Her robotic eye trained on something in the water.

"Why not?" Matt asked, already stripping off his sweater. "Do you see something?"

"Yes." Max said, not looking at him.

"I see something too." Jackie said.

Jackie hefted a rock and threw it into the water. Suddenly, the water writhed with life; electrical snapping cut through the air. Matt jumped back.

"Whoa! What are those things?"

For an answer, Max hefted a pole in her mouth and dipped it into the lake. Then, with a flick of her powerful neck, she landed a long eel onto the beach which wiggled and snapped and convulsed.

"Whoa! Electric cyber-eels. Thanks guys. I would've been toast." Matt said.

Max flipped the eel back into the lake with another flick of her neck. "See why I suggested not swimming in this lake? I can't even swim in it. If I get electrocuted anymore, chances are I won't be around anymore to finish the task Master Pi gave me."

"I see what you mean." Inez said. She pulled out her Sqwackpad. "Didge. It's me, Inez. We've found Dr. Marbles." She said to the Sqwack.

"That's good." Digit said.

"But the whole island is surrounded by electric cyber-eels and we can't get to it." Inez put in.

"That's bad." Digit said after a beat. "Why doesn't Max fly over there and get him?"

Max snatched the Sqwack out of Inez's hand to better speak with her Cyboid friend. "Are you kidding me? I can't get a good enough run on this sand to even get across there." She looked around. "I could jump across the stands where the bridge was, but there isn't enough room for me to land on all fours and I can't stand on my hind legs. And if my tail ends up in the water, it'll either be chewed on or used as a conductor and I can't get electrocuted again."

"Okay, well you guys are going to have to figure it out without me. We have to get the Magmelux before Hacker does. You stay close to Max. She's a smart kid and she'll protect you." Digit said.

"One more thing, Hacker's on his way to the volcano." Inez told him.

"I'm almost there." Digit said.

After Inez disconnected from Digit, the four of them stared out across the eel-infested lake. Max curled a lip scornfully at the eels.

"Well, how are we going to do it?" She asked.

"We'll think of something." Inez told her.

"Yeah." Matt put in. "Are you sure you can't fly us across there?"

"Like I said, I can't get a good enough run on this sand to get over there. I need to run a good ten strides in a straight line and on a smooth, stable surface before I can get anywhere. Look around. Do you see anything that could equal the distance of ten strides in a straight line on a smooth, stable surface?" Max asked.

The kids looked around. "No." Inez said.

"Wait. Ten strides for us or ten strides for you?" Jackie asked.

"Ten strides for me. I've got a longer body and legs than you."

Matt faced the forest. "I don't see any straight lines. Unless you can come in at an angle." He suggested.

"Too many trees. I have to be able to open my wings and get them pumping by the sixth stride. See, there's too many factors here playing against me. The beach is too narrow and has sand instead of grass, or good dirt, or gravel and there are too many trees in the way so I can't unfurl my wings or run in a straight line. Also to answer your question, Matt, I shouldn't fly over there with you guys on board. It's just too dangerous. Maybe if I had an apparatus that would hold the four of you on, I would be willing to risk it. But we don't have anything like that so I'm not willing to risk dumping you three into a lake of electric eels." Max said.

The kids cringed at her words - the visualization of being surrounded by electric cyber-eels probably helped too.

"Okay so flying is out of the question. Anyway, Dr. Marbles is trapped on an island. The bridge is gone. Electric cyber-eels in the water. How are we going to rescue Dr. Marbles? Cybersquad, we have a problem."