Disclaimer: I don't own Max Steel alright! Why must you torture me by
making me say it?!
________________________________________________________________
When Psycho arrived back at the Dread base, he immeadiatly reported to John Dread. He entered the office and strode to the desk.
"How did it go?"
Psycho tossed a mini disk on the desk. Dread picked it up and put it into his computer. He watched silently as the images of the ice rink that had been captured by the tiny hidden camera Psycho wore. "Impressive," he commented after a moment, referring to the damage inflicted by the lazer cannon. "And at only one quarter of the power. Had you managed to actually hit Mr. Steel, he would no longer be a problem."
Psycho scowled at his last remark. Steel wasn't exactly cooperative when it came to dying.
"Where is the prototype now?"
"I left it there."
Dread stared at him through his dark glasses for a moment. Then he shrugged. "No matter. We have all the plans for it. Besides, I added a special feature for anyone who tries to examine it." He rewound the video a few seconds. "Who is this?" he asked, pointing to a girl Josh McGrath was pulling away. He watched as he shoved her into the arms of one of his annoying friends, said something and took off. It was as if he was trying to divert attention from her.
"I don't know. But I think she was there with Steel."
Dread watched and listened as the girl warned Steel twice of the danger he was in. Perhaps she could be of some use. "Find out who she is."
"Morning," said Mindy, still rubbing sleep from her eyes. Last night had been more tiring than she'd thought it would be. The second the shock and the adrenaline rush had gone, she'd felt exhausted. She couldn't understand it. It wasn't like she'd been the one dodging a canon while it was being fired at her.
"Morning. You sleep ok?" asked Josh.
Mindy nodded and eyed his breakfast. "Still can't cook, huh?" She gestured to the toaster tart on his plate.
"I can cook," he answered huffily.
She gave him a wry look. "Well, let's see, shall we?" Mindy walked over to the pantry and opened it. "Hmm. Macaroni and cheese, instant mashed potatoes, instant cream of wheat, cereal, cans of chili, cans of soup and Ramen noodles. Now, exhibit B." She opened his freezer. "Frozen dinners, frozen pizza, frozen burger patties, frozen fries." She shut the door and looked at him. "All instant, frozen or non-cook stuff. Once again, still can't cook, huh?"
He glared at her. "Smart assed little..." She wasn't fazed at all. "Okay, you win. So I'm not a master chef. So what? And there is some ground beef and some steaks in there."
"Ooh, hamburger helper and steaks. Things only a master could make," she stated sarcastically.
He glanced at his watch. "We can debate about my cooking abilities later. I have a meeting to get to." He popped the last of his breakfast in his mouth and stood.
"I thought you had the week off."
"I do, but the meeting is too important to miss. I'll see you later today." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing his keys and heading out the door. "Bye," he called.
"Bye." She then proceeded to go through his fridge. Well, it was better than your average bachelor's fridge. There were a few things that qualified as actual food. Mindy shook her head and closed the fridge. She would have to talk to Josh about going to the grocery store. There were also take-out adds and numbers of resteraunts that delivered stacked next to the phone. She just shook her head. Yup, definatly had to talk to him about going to the grocery store.
Josh went into Max mode on the way down in the elevator. Smith had excused Josh from coming back to N'Tek last night. He knew all too well how Mindy could get. However, he'd told him to come by in the morning to discuss the incident last night.
"Hi, guys," he greeted as he walked into the conference room.
"Hello, Max," said his supervising agent, Rachel Leeds. The others aknowledged him with waves or nods. "It's nice of you to show up," she commented.
"Hey, I already explained why I couldn't be here last night."
"Worrying your cousin is the least of our problems, Max."
"In, Max's defense," Berto cut in before an argument could happen, " the girl was going crazy, and he'd only been Max for a few minutes. And she was plenty mad at him for worrying her in the first place." He tried to keep a straight face.
"Forget that stuff. Didn't you see her eyes when she asked me to go find her cousin?"
Berto nodded. "You've got a point there, hermano."
"Alright, people, we need to get down to business," said Smith. They were all attention. "We need to determine why, exactly, Psycho chose to attack the skating rink and why he gave up so easily. And, more importantly, why he called us first."
"He wanted us to show. Specifically, he wanted Max to show for some reason," said Berto. "It's the only explaination."
"Why would he want me there, exactly?"
Berto held up the lazer cannon they had recovered. "I've never seen a weapon quite like this before. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly examine it yet. And when Psycho escaped, I tried to trace his craft. I couldn't. He wasn't flying low enough to avoid radar. Whatever it was he was flying must have a very enhanced stealth system. I've never seen anything like it either."
"A test run?" asked Max.
"It's quite possible. It would explain why he gave up so easily and why he gave us warning."
"Which brings us to another question," said Smith. "If this was just the test, what's the real plan?"
A couple of hours later, Berto was all set to take apart the lazer cannon. He was eager to see how it worked. Wearing a protective suit, just in case, he laid it on a table. Next to it was an array of tools. He picked up a power drill and set to work. Unbeknownst to him, the moment that the first screw came loose, a small machine inside the cannon began a countdown to self destruct.
Max walked down the halls of N'Tek. He'd forgotten to ask Berto something. The whir of a power drill could be heard from one of the rooms. Max entered, not at all surprised to see Berto hard at work taking the cannon apart. A tiny sound caught his ear as Berto removed the last screw. Max amplified his hearing. Sure enough, he heard a tiny beeping sound. It sounded like a timer. His eyes zeroed in on the cannon. He stepped closer. That was where the sound was coming from. Why would there be a timer in it? Was it booby-trapped?
Berto was about to remove the outer casing of the cannon when Max ran forward, picked him up and ran for the door. He was too surprised to react. They only got about 2 yards from the door when an explosion went off. Max steadied himself against the wall, setting his friend down as he did. Almost instantly, other agents came running. The door Max had slammed shut behind him was now laying across the floor. A few flames could be seen inside the room.
"Thanks hermano," was all Berto could say. His voice was shakey.
After the flames had been extinguished and the smoke cleared, Max and Berto went back in. The explosion hadn't been big enough to do any real damage to N'Tek, but it had been powerful enough that it surely would have killed Berto, and anyone else in the room, if Max hadn't gotten him out. The cannon was totally destroyed, as were most of the other things in the room.
"I'm lucky you heard it," stated Berto. When Max didn't answer, he continued. "Well, there goes any chance of finding out how the weapon worked."
"What happened?" demanded Smith as he arrived from the main offices.
"The weapon was rigged," explained Berto. "Taking it apart must have triggered a self destruct mechanism."
"At least nothing irreplacable was in the room," Smith said, resting his hand on Berto's shoulder.
"I would've been if Max hadn't gotten me out."
"Somone must really not want us to know how that thing works," said Max.
"I did manage to test it's power capabilities. One shot would kill even Max. If the power were increased, there's no limit to the damage a weapon like that could do. And it was pretty big to be something every Dread agent could carry around. I think what we saw was just the prototype."
The three just looked at each other. If that was true, they were in deep trouble.
John Dread read through the file his agents had managed to gather.
Name:Mindy McGrath
Age:18
Hair:Brown
Eyes:Hazel Brown
Height: 5'3"
Birthplace:Del Oro Bay
Father:Austin McGrath (Whereabouts unknown, brother of Jim McGrath)
Mother:Jenifer McGrath
Siblings:None
Connection to Josh McGrath:Cousin
A small smile graced his lips. "So, Mr. Steel. Your only living blood relation is in town."
Mindy was bored out of her mind. The house was spotless so she couldn't even clean to pass the time. Josh was the only guy she knew who kept his house clean. She knew she was welcome to borrow his sports equipment and had gone surfing for a while. But, it just wasn't as fun without Josh, wierd as that seemed. She'd gone through the newspaper, particularly the classifieds, more than once.
"How long does a meeting last, anyway?" she grumbled. It was almost 4:00 pm. Josh had left at like 7:30. She sighed and headed out for a walk. For the next half hour, she strolled along the beach and streets of Del Oro, unaware that someone was watching her every move, just waiting for the right opportunity.
________________________________________________________________
When Psycho arrived back at the Dread base, he immeadiatly reported to John Dread. He entered the office and strode to the desk.
"How did it go?"
Psycho tossed a mini disk on the desk. Dread picked it up and put it into his computer. He watched silently as the images of the ice rink that had been captured by the tiny hidden camera Psycho wore. "Impressive," he commented after a moment, referring to the damage inflicted by the lazer cannon. "And at only one quarter of the power. Had you managed to actually hit Mr. Steel, he would no longer be a problem."
Psycho scowled at his last remark. Steel wasn't exactly cooperative when it came to dying.
"Where is the prototype now?"
"I left it there."
Dread stared at him through his dark glasses for a moment. Then he shrugged. "No matter. We have all the plans for it. Besides, I added a special feature for anyone who tries to examine it." He rewound the video a few seconds. "Who is this?" he asked, pointing to a girl Josh McGrath was pulling away. He watched as he shoved her into the arms of one of his annoying friends, said something and took off. It was as if he was trying to divert attention from her.
"I don't know. But I think she was there with Steel."
Dread watched and listened as the girl warned Steel twice of the danger he was in. Perhaps she could be of some use. "Find out who she is."
"Morning," said Mindy, still rubbing sleep from her eyes. Last night had been more tiring than she'd thought it would be. The second the shock and the adrenaline rush had gone, she'd felt exhausted. She couldn't understand it. It wasn't like she'd been the one dodging a canon while it was being fired at her.
"Morning. You sleep ok?" asked Josh.
Mindy nodded and eyed his breakfast. "Still can't cook, huh?" She gestured to the toaster tart on his plate.
"I can cook," he answered huffily.
She gave him a wry look. "Well, let's see, shall we?" Mindy walked over to the pantry and opened it. "Hmm. Macaroni and cheese, instant mashed potatoes, instant cream of wheat, cereal, cans of chili, cans of soup and Ramen noodles. Now, exhibit B." She opened his freezer. "Frozen dinners, frozen pizza, frozen burger patties, frozen fries." She shut the door and looked at him. "All instant, frozen or non-cook stuff. Once again, still can't cook, huh?"
He glared at her. "Smart assed little..." She wasn't fazed at all. "Okay, you win. So I'm not a master chef. So what? And there is some ground beef and some steaks in there."
"Ooh, hamburger helper and steaks. Things only a master could make," she stated sarcastically.
He glanced at his watch. "We can debate about my cooking abilities later. I have a meeting to get to." He popped the last of his breakfast in his mouth and stood.
"I thought you had the week off."
"I do, but the meeting is too important to miss. I'll see you later today." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing his keys and heading out the door. "Bye," he called.
"Bye." She then proceeded to go through his fridge. Well, it was better than your average bachelor's fridge. There were a few things that qualified as actual food. Mindy shook her head and closed the fridge. She would have to talk to Josh about going to the grocery store. There were also take-out adds and numbers of resteraunts that delivered stacked next to the phone. She just shook her head. Yup, definatly had to talk to him about going to the grocery store.
Josh went into Max mode on the way down in the elevator. Smith had excused Josh from coming back to N'Tek last night. He knew all too well how Mindy could get. However, he'd told him to come by in the morning to discuss the incident last night.
"Hi, guys," he greeted as he walked into the conference room.
"Hello, Max," said his supervising agent, Rachel Leeds. The others aknowledged him with waves or nods. "It's nice of you to show up," she commented.
"Hey, I already explained why I couldn't be here last night."
"Worrying your cousin is the least of our problems, Max."
"In, Max's defense," Berto cut in before an argument could happen, " the girl was going crazy, and he'd only been Max for a few minutes. And she was plenty mad at him for worrying her in the first place." He tried to keep a straight face.
"Forget that stuff. Didn't you see her eyes when she asked me to go find her cousin?"
Berto nodded. "You've got a point there, hermano."
"Alright, people, we need to get down to business," said Smith. They were all attention. "We need to determine why, exactly, Psycho chose to attack the skating rink and why he gave up so easily. And, more importantly, why he called us first."
"He wanted us to show. Specifically, he wanted Max to show for some reason," said Berto. "It's the only explaination."
"Why would he want me there, exactly?"
Berto held up the lazer cannon they had recovered. "I've never seen a weapon quite like this before. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly examine it yet. And when Psycho escaped, I tried to trace his craft. I couldn't. He wasn't flying low enough to avoid radar. Whatever it was he was flying must have a very enhanced stealth system. I've never seen anything like it either."
"A test run?" asked Max.
"It's quite possible. It would explain why he gave up so easily and why he gave us warning."
"Which brings us to another question," said Smith. "If this was just the test, what's the real plan?"
A couple of hours later, Berto was all set to take apart the lazer cannon. He was eager to see how it worked. Wearing a protective suit, just in case, he laid it on a table. Next to it was an array of tools. He picked up a power drill and set to work. Unbeknownst to him, the moment that the first screw came loose, a small machine inside the cannon began a countdown to self destruct.
Max walked down the halls of N'Tek. He'd forgotten to ask Berto something. The whir of a power drill could be heard from one of the rooms. Max entered, not at all surprised to see Berto hard at work taking the cannon apart. A tiny sound caught his ear as Berto removed the last screw. Max amplified his hearing. Sure enough, he heard a tiny beeping sound. It sounded like a timer. His eyes zeroed in on the cannon. He stepped closer. That was where the sound was coming from. Why would there be a timer in it? Was it booby-trapped?
Berto was about to remove the outer casing of the cannon when Max ran forward, picked him up and ran for the door. He was too surprised to react. They only got about 2 yards from the door when an explosion went off. Max steadied himself against the wall, setting his friend down as he did. Almost instantly, other agents came running. The door Max had slammed shut behind him was now laying across the floor. A few flames could be seen inside the room.
"Thanks hermano," was all Berto could say. His voice was shakey.
After the flames had been extinguished and the smoke cleared, Max and Berto went back in. The explosion hadn't been big enough to do any real damage to N'Tek, but it had been powerful enough that it surely would have killed Berto, and anyone else in the room, if Max hadn't gotten him out. The cannon was totally destroyed, as were most of the other things in the room.
"I'm lucky you heard it," stated Berto. When Max didn't answer, he continued. "Well, there goes any chance of finding out how the weapon worked."
"What happened?" demanded Smith as he arrived from the main offices.
"The weapon was rigged," explained Berto. "Taking it apart must have triggered a self destruct mechanism."
"At least nothing irreplacable was in the room," Smith said, resting his hand on Berto's shoulder.
"I would've been if Max hadn't gotten me out."
"Somone must really not want us to know how that thing works," said Max.
"I did manage to test it's power capabilities. One shot would kill even Max. If the power were increased, there's no limit to the damage a weapon like that could do. And it was pretty big to be something every Dread agent could carry around. I think what we saw was just the prototype."
The three just looked at each other. If that was true, they were in deep trouble.
John Dread read through the file his agents had managed to gather.
Name:Mindy McGrath
Age:18
Hair:Brown
Eyes:Hazel Brown
Height: 5'3"
Birthplace:Del Oro Bay
Father:Austin McGrath (Whereabouts unknown, brother of Jim McGrath)
Mother:Jenifer McGrath
Siblings:None
Connection to Josh McGrath:Cousin
A small smile graced his lips. "So, Mr. Steel. Your only living blood relation is in town."
Mindy was bored out of her mind. The house was spotless so she couldn't even clean to pass the time. Josh was the only guy she knew who kept his house clean. She knew she was welcome to borrow his sports equipment and had gone surfing for a while. But, it just wasn't as fun without Josh, wierd as that seemed. She'd gone through the newspaper, particularly the classifieds, more than once.
"How long does a meeting last, anyway?" she grumbled. It was almost 4:00 pm. Josh had left at like 7:30. She sighed and headed out for a walk. For the next half hour, she strolled along the beach and streets of Del Oro, unaware that someone was watching her every move, just waiting for the right opportunity.