AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't been able to finish and post up this chapter for a while.actually, make that a LONG time! Ummm.my excuse? Homework! (I swear that teachers have this thing against students and a thing for piling more homework on you when you feel that you've got too much!) And swimming! (Ah! The training and the competitions, what more can one ask for?) And spring cleaning! (Now I have a PROPER desk for my laptop to go and where I can actually sit down and type my stories/fanfics! AT LAST! ) Well, I know, pretty lame excuses, but they're true. So please read, and think while you're reading, at last she's finally finished writing her 2nd CHAPTER! I wonder how long this fanfic will take if I decided to write 30 chapters. I'll probably finish this fanfic when I turn 99 years old!

~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*

Chapter 2

Max loved walking alone at night through alleyways. She didn't have to worry about being rampaged by any gangs at night and she felt a great weight lift off her chest. She was able to do whatever she liked without worrying about people finding out who she really was.

Max would walk at night and think about things she felt she wasn't allowed to think about during the day and the main advantage about being an engineered soldier was that she didn't have to recuperate for 8 hours to restore lost energy. She would walk about at night doing nothing, and if she were bored, she would help out the law by taking down criminals. Crime was still a major part in Seattle and this kept Max far from busy. It also helped her maintain physical condition and prepare her mind so that, mentally during a fight she would be able to maintain focus and not get out of hand, concentrating on each kick and punch and using strategy.

But this time, Max didn't feel like walking all night. She quickly caught a night-bus and stopped a few blocks down from her apartment. She walked straight inside, and climbed the stairs until she reached her level where she took out her keys and walked straight in. The door slammed shut behind her and she dropped her backpack and slumped down onto her couch letting out a long sigh of relief. Her apartment was a mess. She had already stayed there for a week and already she had managed to turn it all into a pig stye. Max loved her whole arrangement of clothes strewn across the floor covering every inch of the ground. At Manticore, they were very strict about tidiness and they kept on pumping into you that soldiers weren't allowed to be messy. Because in situations of emergency where you had to evacuate, it would have been easier to clear out the whole place if you knew where everything was and you didn't have to comb the whole place looking for stuff.

Max got up and went to the fridge to get some soda. She went to open it and just as she did she heard a knock at the door. The soda was left fizzing on the table as Max went to check who was at the door. She peeped through the eyehole and saw a distorted figure standing impatiently. The figure knocked on the door three more times.

"Max Guevara!"

She opened the door to see a postman standing in front with a package in one hand and a clipboard in another. He shoved the clipboard in her face wanting her to sign it as quickly as possible as it was his last delivery for the day and he desperately wanted to go home and rest. She quickly scribbled down on the crumpled paper what looked like a 'Majc Ceeraru' and took the package slamming the door behind her. It was messily packaged and the rough handling of the postage department only made it even more torn and tattered. Max ripped open the package only to find a necklace with a diamond shaped silver pendant with the numbers '332960073452' engraved on one side.

Those numbers represented Max, meaning that those numbers were the exact numbers on Max's barcode on the back of her neck. Somehow someone had found out who she was and was trying to scare her.

Max reached for her soda on the kitchen bench and gulped the contents all down, she squished the can flat with her elbow and chucked it into the bin. Collapsing onto the couch nearby she played with the necklace all along checking it out for any clues as to who may have sent it. She also checked the ripped up packaging the necklace came in but to her dismay couldn't find any sign of a note that told her who it was from. She dismissed it entirely thinking that there was nothing to worry about, besides she was a genetically engineered soldier and figured if she did find out who sent the necklace to her, she could easily kick their ass. Beside, she had English homework that was due the next day and she had to start working on it before morning came.

~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*

"Hey Boo!" a voice was heard just behind Max's locker door. She looked around to see OC leaning along the lockers waiting for Max to finish gathering her books for class. "How was detention? You really did kick Swazenbord's ass yesterday! Man! Where'd you learn to do those moves? You're like a black belt in karate or something?"

Max slammed her locker door closed and walked away, OC following behind.

"Nup, I just learn them from martial arts movies, that's all." said Max, hesitating a bit as she spoke. She had to get used to lying to people now, it would be too risky to tell people who she really was.

As Max walked toward her classroom along the corridor, she noticed several people waving to her and giving her the thumbs up. All of them she didn't know. Max had gotten very popular in just one day of school, and all because she beat up Nick Swazenbord on her first day of school. She didn't know exactly how to react so she just simply smiled politely, hurrying to class.

Class was the usual, boring yet informative. Everyone pretending that they weren't paying attention, yet in reality, they were clinging to every single word the teacher said, scribbling occasional notes along with doodles to help them remember. Max was no different, though she appeared to be staring around the room looking bored, she had basically memorised the teachers entire speech, though she did have the advantage of being genetically engineered therefore able to memorise long phrases.

While Max was staring around the room, trying to look bored, she noticed something flicker at the corner of her eye. Logan was trying to communicate to her. He wanted her to meet him at the basketball court straight after school. Satisfied that Max had gotten the message, he continued furiously scribbling down notes on his notebook paying his utmost attention to the teacher, occasionally sneaking a look at Max to see what she was trying to do. Max smiled secretly. She didn't know why, but she felt a little shimmer in her stomach, she was nervous.

~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*

"Thanks for coming." said Logan standing in the middle of the basketball court. "I need to ask you a favour. If you will accept?"

"Just depends on what it is." Max said cautiously.

"Oh, its no big deal, just that.oh! I forgot to congratulate you on that fabulous display yesterday with Swazenbord! Everyone's talking about it you know, first time anyone's stood up against him before and considering your," Logan was indicating Max's petite body, afraid to say it out loud to save embarrassment.

Max blushed slightly, "my figure?"

"Yea.anyway, back to what I was saying. We have competitions against other schools in Seattle for each sport that we play at school. You should know that. Anyway, I was wondering whether you would like to join the martial arts club, you seem to be very good at it. And our school needs some good fighters, we're currently ranked last on the ladder."

Max's hopes were crushed, she had wanted Logan to ask her something else, something better than this. She had hoped it was something private, something special. Why else would Logan ask her to meet him after school at a desolate basketball court where no one could hear or see them, if only because Logan didn't want to be seen talking to her in front of the other students. Max smiled, trying hard to hide her unhappiness, "I'll think about it. Thanks for asking me." She walked off leaving Logan standing in the middle of the basketball court.

~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*~#~@~#~*

The busy traffic, the stench of pollution, the sounds of road rage, Max breathed it all in. Smiling, she glanced down from the top of the Space Needle, Seattle spread before her in an array of flashing lights. Gulping down the remains of her coke, she crushed the can with her fist and threw it as hard as she could into the air. What's the harm of littering and creating more pollution, after all Seattle was full of it, it didn't matter. Max's thoughts wondered again to her 'private' talk with Logan. Did Logan really feel uncomfortable seeing her in front of the other students? Was there something wrong with her that he couldn't talk to her in front of the others? She couldn't get over the fact that there was something wrong with her that made people not want to talk to her in public. She kept on wondering if someone at school knew who she really was and had told everybody, that her secret was out. Nah, it couldn't be. Anyway, who would believe? Max reassured herself, making herself believe that she was imagining it all. That Logan afraid to talk to her in public was a one off thing, and that Max had just let her imaginations roam a bit too wild. Reassured for just a while, she made her way down to sturdy ground and zoomed off on her Ninja.

It was frantic on the roads as usual, zipping in and out of lanes, dodging in between cars; Max loved the adrenalin and the agility of her Ninja. She felt she could go anywhere and that she was free. The furious cold wind whipping at her face save for her eyes, which were covered with her orange sunglasses, her long black wavy hair flapping behind her. She felt calm and sturdy no one could beat her. She was unbeatable. She was the best.

"Woohoo! Sucker!" A motorbike whooshed past her, the rider sticking up his rude finger as he passed.

Max crouched even lower, she was going to win this race. She needed the prize money, revving up her engines even more, she sped up, slowly catching up to the motorbike which had just passed her. Dodging cars along the freeway every now and again, she spotted a large gap and used the space to speed up even more, slowly catching up.

"Only a few more miles to go!" Max gritted her teeth against the wind. She looked to her right to see the motorbike equal to her, bead of sweat flying off the rider's forehead. He too was crouched low in his seat, eager to win the cash.

Weaving in between cars at a speed of 150 km per hour, the two riders were nearing the exit to the finish line; a Ninja and a Harley Davidson in the lead.

"three...two..ONE!!!" Max screamed as she turned her ninja sharply making a loud screech with her tyres as she zoomed through the exit on her right. The Harley Davidson had disappeared and Max hoped that the rider had missed the turn. She looked back but to her dismay, the Harley was right on her tail. "He's not giving up!" Max mumbled under her breath. Revving up her engines one last time, seeing the finish line, she sped up even faster.

The sound of cheering was heard at the end of the alleyway where the finish line was. Max had won, she knew even though the race hadn't finished. Leaning back, she pulled her Ninja back so that it went up on the back wheel, passing through the finish line she went down with a bump, skidding to a halt. Her face was blank as she swiftly took off her glasses, swishing her hair back in style. She waited on her Ninja for the other contestants to arrive to the finish line, all wearing grim faces.

"1,000 pure bucks," a tall muscular man said behind her holding a bunch of cash in his hand. "First time a girl's ever won." Handing over the cash to Max he walked off to talk to another contestant.

Max, happy with the cash, put on her glasses and zoomed off into the night.