Hello everyone! I would like to thank you all for reading my story. Means a lot to me. I just wanted to let you know that I won't be posting anything for a while because I am going on a trip. I should return in two weeks, maybe a little early.

DarkseidAlex: Thank you! Yes, if fact this story is based off star wars. Max is Darth Vader and Phoebe is a combination between Padme and Luke. The red eyes come from Dark Mayhem's powers.

To say that Invictus was angry would be a misunderstanding. While he successfully dealt with the insurgency in Central Asia, however during the flight back to base Xiang Li managed to swallow the cyanide pill he had hidden. Only Mei remained, but he doubted she had any real info about the traitor in his ranks. He had decided to keep the details of betrayal from his war council, in order to avoid letting the traitor know he was onto him or her. However, the traitor issue is not what bothers him the most. Phoebe sneaking out of the base and nearly getting killed was enough to make him go berserk. Another issue that is frustrating is that he didn't know how to deal with her. He had promised her that he will kill all her friends should she escape, but he couldn't do that if he wanted her by his side. The fight with Mei was exhausting and the fact that he was forced to leave his armor didn't help at all. At this point, he could barely stand, but he willed himself not to fall. He dragged Phoebe back to her room and he would have killed her two guards for letting her out of their sight if not for her begging. After locking her into her room he teleported in his room and managed to call Colosso before passing him out.

"So are you going to sulk in this dark room, not showering and eating only pizza for the rest of your life?" she asked as she came down the stairs.

"Just leave me," he rasped.

"Come on Max! It's been two weeks since Alison broke up with you. You can't spend the rest of your life in your room," she said as she sat down next to him near his bed. Colosso was sleeping in his cage.

"I can try..."

"Look I know how it feels to be dumped by the person you love and you know what I'm talking about."

He knew. She loved and probably still cares about Link and that jerk dumped her the second he got the chance to play the hero.

"You're right," he said, got up and walked to his workbench. "I've mopped long enough. I've put my goal on hold for too long."

"Your goal?" she asked as she got up too.

"You know, conquering the world," he said with a smirk.

Phoebe frowned. "You know, if you pursue that goal, you'll have to go through me and the rest of the family."

Max turned away from her and frowned. He never fully thought about it. He doesn't want to hurt his family, but what could he do? Be a hero? Not interested

"Why wouldn't you become a hero? You're not a bad person," she said and took a step forward.

He turned to her. "Because I don't want to take orders from anyone, I don't sacrifice the things I love or myself for others and I don't want to have my heart broken again."

"Max, being a hero is not about any of those things. It's about doing the right thing."

"Then you know that's not my strongest suit," he said as he took a challenging step towards her, daring her to disagree with him.

She clenched her fists. He had a point, but..."That may be true, but I know there is good in you. Saving that plant is just one of the many examples of your kindness."

He glared, hard. How dare she bring that up?! He went past her and climbed into the bed. "Go away! I want to sleep," he said with his back to her.

She sighed and left.

Max woke up to bright light, forcing him to let out a groan as he closed his eyes again.

"You're awake. That's good," said Colosso.

"How long was I out?" he asked as he opened his eyes again.

"A couple of hours. You woke up just in time for your treatments. What happened out there? This is the first time in a long time you end up stuck in bed."

With a sigh, Max tells Colosso everything. "What am I going to do Colosso?" he asked tiredly.

"You should try to find who created the drugs and chemical substances that gave that girl her powers."

"Not that. I mean with Phoebe. She tried to escape and I need to punish her in some way."

"Why do you need to punish her? I know she can be a brat, but she isn't a child or one of your subordinates."

"If I don't she'll only continue to undermine me and I can't have others seeing this. They'll perceive it as a weakness."

"Two things; one: she is your weakness whether you acknowledge it or not, two: who says the others have to see that you are soft with her. As for finding a way to keep her from escaping again I'm sure you'll think of something. Now get some rest," he said as he closed the lights and left the room.

Phoebe was escorted towards the dining room, ignoring the guards glares at the back of her skull. She felt regret for them almost being killed by Invictus, but she cannot be blamed for the man's actions. Speaking of Invictus, she didn't he would allow her to leave her room again so soon. Maybe he wanted to punish her. That thought made her blood turn to ice. The door to the dining room opened and before, looking as smug as ever was Dr. Colosso.

"Phoebe, my dear, so glad you could join me," he said in a fake friendly manner. He nodded at the guards who left the room. "Max won't be joining us tonight. The fight with that girl took more out of him than expected," he said and Phoebe looked worried. "You don't need to worry. He is fine. He just needs some rest and proper treatments."

"Treatments?"

"Yes. He had them since Hiddenville was bombarded. If you recall, Max and Captain Man were fighting in Hiddenville when it was bombed. Captain Man got out unscathed thanks to his power, Max, however, was not so lucky. He had to undergo extensive surgery for almost a week, then treatments. He couldn't leave the ICU for a month."

Phoebe was pale. "I had no idea," she whispered.

"Of course you didn't. You were hidden away. But I digress. The reason I called you here is to talk about your influence on Max."

"My influence on Max?"

"Quite. I don't know if you notice, but you have an effect on him. Since you arrived he hadn't killed any staff for failure and he even showed mercy to an enemy," he said and Phoebe thought about what he said and realized he was right. "What you do with this information is up to you and you'll be the one who will face the consequences of your choice."

Suddenly the door opened and a young man with curly brown hair and squared glasses entered. "Dad!" he said happily before noticing Phoebe.

Colosso smiled. "Son, you're back!" he said before hugging the young man. "Son, this is Deewbe. Deewbe, this is my son, Balfour."

Balfour extended his hand and smiled charmingly. "Nice to meet you."

Phoebe took the hand extended to her and shook, but she had a general coldness to her.

"Dweebe, my son and I have some catching up to do. And you have to spend the rest of the night alone, thinking about your actions," he said and signaled the guards to take her away.

Thank you for reading! If you have any feedback don't forget to PM me or leave a review.