At the abandoned factory the Motor Mutants had finished another batch of the acid-rain chemical. As before they were gathered outside of the main building while the tank was strapped to Retread's back as he prepared to set off again.
"Remember Retread, go to the Living Jungle, spray the acid chemical into the clouds and then return here" said X-Tinctor.
"Yes boss" he replied.
But as he began to rise into the air there was a sudden hum. A searing laser beam shot through the air and burned a hole right through Retread's head, letting all of the air inside him escape with a loud hiss.
"What?" X-Tinctor yelled as Retread collapsed into a shapeless pile of rubber. All of the Motor Mutants looked over to see Max Action aboard Jungle Max. In his hand was his Lion Laser.
"You won't destroy any more of the Living Jungle with your vile chemicals X-Tinctor" he said firmly.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
Jungle Max gunned his engine and zoomed off with the Motor Mutants in hot pursuit. As they left none of them noticed Tarmac and Tuskor watching from behind a wall.
"That's it, they've all gone" said Tuskor.
"Then let's hurry" said Tarmac. "I hope Max knows what he's doing. We all remember what happened the last time he faced the Motor Mutants alone."
"We have to trust him, he's never let us down yet" Tuskor replied. "Come on, let's get to work."
Jungle Max growled as he sped along the road, fireballs and lightning bolts zipping past him. Explosions from near-misses showed him and Max with clods of dirt.
"I know what you mean" Max said grimly. "This is far too much like that day." Terrible memories of his "death" and of the grievous wounds he had suffered in battle beforehand filled his mind, threatening to paralyse him with fear. With an effort he pushed them away. "Just a little further, the others are close."
Sure enough a laser beam flew past Jungle Max, this time coming from ahead of them rather than from behind. Grease-Monkey yelled as the laser blew out one of Dreadful Dragster's tires, sending him careening into a ditch.
"Tiger! Rhinox!" Max called as the other Road Tamers came roaring into battle. Had the Motor Mutants thought to look closer they might have noticed that Power Horse was hanging back slightly so that they wouldn't realise his Road Tamer was missing.
"You didn't think we'd let you have all the fun did you?" Rhinox laughed.
"Never crossed my mind" he replied.
The Road Tamers proceeded to fight a running battle, taking care to stay just far enough away that the Motor Mutants couldn't overwhelm them but close enough that they'd keep following.
"Max, we can't keep this up" said Tiger Trakker as Turbo Tiger pulled alongside Jungle Max. "We're running low on fuel and power charges."
Max nodded. "We've bought them as much time as we could. Let's hope it was enough." Raising his voice he called "Road Tamers retreat!"
"Ha ha ha, we've driven them off" X-Tinctor laughed as the Road Tamers ceased firing and drove away at full speed.
"You want us to go after them boss?" Torrendus asked.
"No. We need to get back to the factory and patch up Retread. Once he's ready to go we'll send him out to destroy the rest of the Living Jungle."
As the Motor Mutants started driving back to the factory X-Tinctor was completely unaware that the Road Tamers were meeting up a pre-arranged location.
Max grinned as he surveyed Humongous Hauler's contents. "Excellent work."
"The plan worked perfectly Max" Tuskor replied. "While you guys kept them busy we got those chemicals loaded onto Humongous Hauler."
"You're sure you got all of them?"
"Certain. And we also added Heater's neutralising agent to the batch they'd finished. It's completely harmless now."
Rhinox laughed. "Man, I wish I could see the look on X-Tinctor's face when he finds out he can't make any more chemical weapons."
The other Road Tamers laughed too.
A short time later Max and Heater watched as the Road Tamers applied the neutralising agent to the soil of the area afflicted by the acid rain while the now fully recovered ani-minis zipped around them happily. Max looked around at the withered vegetation and sighed.
"What a mess."
"I know what you mean" Heater agreed. "Humankind may have produced acid rain but that was only as a side effect of using fossil fuels. It's hard to imagine how any being would deliberately cause such destruction."
"Still, at least the Living Jungle will be able to recover now" said Max. "And it's all thanks to you Heater."
She smiled. "Thank you Max but it wasn't only me. It was your plan that stopped the Motor Mutants from making any more acid rain. And all of the Road Tamers and the Animax helped pull it off."
"True. That's why the Motor Mutants will never beat us. Because they'll never understand the values of friendship and teamwork."
She nodded and was about to reply when she spotted something. "Oh, Max look over there" she said as she pointed at the sky.
Max looked and also smiled as he saw a brilliantly coloured rainbow that spanned the sky.
"It's beautiful" said Heater happily.
"Yes, beautiful" Max repeated, alternating between glancing at the rainbow and at her.
A short distance away Tiger Trakker chuckled softly as he observed them. I hope that someday soon you tell her how you feel Max he thought to himself.