Disclaimer: (Glares at readers who still don't know.) o\/o
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Max had gone through every book in the office and searched the rest of it for any other place a file or computer disk might be hidden. It seemed that this was the only copy of the plans. "Okay. So now all we got to do is trash every weapon they've already made, get Mindy and go home. Right?"
"Right."
"Any ideas yet on how to go about getting rid of the lasers, bro?"
"Not yet."
"Great. Looks like we're winging it then."
"Looks like. Just be careful. We don't want you to get fried. And we don't know what they'll do to Mindy if they find you there."
"Yeah. I got that, thanks." Max went into stealth mode and slipped out of the office. He crept cautiously down the halls, avoiding Dread soldiers all the way.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kat and the agent with her, Jake Nez, had crept around the room and managed to pilfer all the printed copies of the weapon plans right out from under the workers noses. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed.
"I don't suppose either of you have any ideas on how to get rid of the laser cannons?" asked Max as he came up behind them at the edge of the room.
"I really wish you would give us some warning before you do that Steel," said Kat. "And no. Nothing that won't draw attention."
"Your back up is waiting outside you guys. Just say the word and I'll send them in."
Max sized up the room again. "I need you two to cause a diversion. One that will get everyone away from the table where they have the weapons."
"Why do I sense a, 'We're doing this the Max Steel way,' coming on?" asked Kat.
"Well, since I don't have to say it now, I'll just explain. I'm going to attatch a couple of explosives to the tables and get rid of the weapons. Bro, the second I set off the explosion, send in the back-up."
"Alright. But be careful. If even one-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. If even one weapon is left, we're shit out of luck. I got it bro. I might just borrow one, but I'll make sure they're all destroyed."
Quickly and quietly Max made his way to the finished weapons. He was pretty sure the explosives he had safely packed in his utility belt would be enough. It wasn't as if he could just go up and ask Kat and Jake if he could borrow some of theirs. Manuevering around Dread workers and tables, he slipped under the large table and pulled out the explosives that were usually just for opening doors and stuff like that. He cringed, knowing he was going to have to spread it out to make sure he got the whole table and that that would make the explosion weaker. "Bro?"
"Sorry, hermano. You'll have to do the best you can with what you have."
He thought for a moment. "What would happen if I used one of the lazers on the rest of them?"
"Do you remember what I said about the prototype we found?"
"Yeah. That it would kill me in one shot and if the power were increased..." he trailed off. He smiled. "So, it would do a nasty number on them."
"Exactly. And combined with the explosives, even not very high explosives in a small amount like you have, should do the trick."
"Great. Tell Kat and Jake to use some of their explosives to cause that distraction we're going to need, but not until I'm ready."
"Got it." Berto quickly relayed the message to Kat and Jake.
"Wait here," said Jake. Silently, he slipped out of the room and went down the hall a bit. He made sure that no one was looking and carefully attached his own explosives to the wall. The blast would be loud enough that it should cause the people in the assembly line to come running. When he finished, he went back to Kat and gave her the thumbs up.
"We're ready," she told Berto.
"Just another second," said Max. "Alright, just let me get out from under here. Okay. Now."
"Now," whispered Kat. Jake hit the detonator button on his belt.
The explosion got the attention of everyone all right. As people ran from the room to see what the commotion was about, Max grabbed a couple of the laser cannons and ran across the room. From there, he waited for everyone to get out. The moment the last person tore out of the room, he came out of stealth mode and opened fire on the table.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
In her cell, Mindy jumped as the explosion rocked the building. She heard the gaurds outside going ballistic and their feet pounding the floor as some of them ran away towards the source of the explosion.
What the hell was going on?
A small smile played her lips. There was a distinct possibility in her mind about what caused that explosion. "Max," she whispered.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Realising that the explosion was meant as a diversion, Dread hurried to his office. It had been ransacked. Instantly, he looked to the shelf where the disk was hidden. It wasn't there. He found the hollow book on the floor, empty.
Snarling in frustration, he pounded his fist on the desk. "Damn it!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"What the hell is going on?" demanded Psycho as he stood in the security room.
"There's been an explosion in the assembly room," explained the nervous man who sat in front of the monitors.
"What the fuck caused it?"
"I don't know." He froze as he caught sight of the monitors that showed the perimeter of the base. "Sir, we're under attack!"
Psycho looked at the monitors. "N'Tek," he growled. Psycho's eyes fixed themselves on the screens that showed the assembly room. "Steel," he snarled, seeing Max engaging in hand to hand combat with several Dread soldiers.
He stormed into the hall and grabbed the nearest Dread soldier. "Get the girl," he ground out.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Mindy's hope soared as someone opened the door, but dropped again as she realised it wasn't Max. It was another bad guy in a clown suit.
He grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her out of the cell. He pointed a gun at her and told her to move. Mindy obeyed only because she wasn't stupid enough to try something with a gun literally pointing at her head. Besides, she still didn't have any way out of here. She had little doubt what was going to happen now. Especially if that explosion was caused by Max. Sure enough, she was taken straight to Smiley.
"Max Steel is gonna learn not to poke his nose in other people's business." With that, he grabbed her right wrist and snapped some kind of electronic handcuff on it. He snapped the other cuff onto his left wrist and dragged her down the hall.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Kat!" yelled Max, tossing one of the remaining laser cannons to her. She caught it easily and pointed it at some Dread soldiers who were rushing at her. They stopped cold when they saw the cannon. No way were they going up against that when they new the damage it could do.
"Hey, Steel!"
Max looked up in the direction the voice had come from. There was a set of metal stairs that led up to a platform where the entire room could be observed from. Smiley had come through the door on the platform. He held a gun in his hand.
"If I were you, I'd hand those cannons over to those guards over there." he gestured towards a few Dread soldiers that were being detained by some other N'Tek agents.
"Now, why would I want to do a crazy thing like that?"
In one smooth motion, Smiley reached his arm through the doorway and grabbed Mindy by the hair. He yanked her out for Steel to see, ignoring the yelp of pain that came from her.
"Mindy!" Max couldn't breath.
Mindy's right arm had gone up when Smiley grabbed her hair. Now she gripped her own hair in an attempt to keep him from ripping it out. "Max."
"Hand them over," Smiley said in a very smug voice.
Max's eyes darted from Mindy, to the Dread soldiers, to the other agents, to the cannon and back to Smiley.
"Oh, come on Steel," he taunted. He shoved Mindy in front of him as he moved closer to the edge of the platform. "Doesn't your precious little Mindy mean more to you than your little friends?" Max still hesitated.
"Max, don't!" She didn't know why the weapon Max held was so important, but if Smiley wanted it, it couldn't be a good thing.
"Shut up!" snarled Smiley, giving Mindy's hair a vicious yank. She cried out.
Max pointed the cannon at Smiley. "Let her go."
"Hmm. No, I don't think so."
"Let her go, dammit!"
He gave a dry laugh. "Or what? You'll shoot me with that thing?" He dropped Mindy's hair and held up his arm, dragging hers up as well to reveal the cuffs. "Go ahead and fire. Kill me and you kill her, too. So, go ahead Steel. Shoot."
Max paled horribly. It would have been dangerous enough to fire with her standing within several feet of him. With her both in front of Smiley and chained to him, there was pretty much no way to hit Smiley without hitting her too. If I can get us all out of here alive, I'll believe there's a god, he thought. If not, I'm becoming an atheist. And right now, that seems like the more likely outcome.
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YAY! An update! Whoo-hoo! Finally!
Okay. I know it's a pretty short chapter. Sorry about that. And I am very, *very*, *VERY* sorry I haven't updated in so long. It's like my brain got sick of thinking about Max Steel and shut down that section of my mind for a couple of months and then suddenly let me write almost the entire chapter today. Please don't be mad at me. Please. (Smiles hopefully)
But I'm not apologizing for my evil cliffhanger. I need to keep you interested and the best way to do that is by keeping you in suspense. And there's only going to be two or three more chapters to this story. Then I'm taking a break from Max Steel before I start writing the sequel so that it doesn't suck.
Please leave a review. I miss them because nobody wants to read my other stories.
Rhiannon Faylinn
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Max had gone through every book in the office and searched the rest of it for any other place a file or computer disk might be hidden. It seemed that this was the only copy of the plans. "Okay. So now all we got to do is trash every weapon they've already made, get Mindy and go home. Right?"
"Right."
"Any ideas yet on how to go about getting rid of the lasers, bro?"
"Not yet."
"Great. Looks like we're winging it then."
"Looks like. Just be careful. We don't want you to get fried. And we don't know what they'll do to Mindy if they find you there."
"Yeah. I got that, thanks." Max went into stealth mode and slipped out of the office. He crept cautiously down the halls, avoiding Dread soldiers all the way.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kat and the agent with her, Jake Nez, had crept around the room and managed to pilfer all the printed copies of the weapon plans right out from under the workers noses. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed.
"I don't suppose either of you have any ideas on how to get rid of the laser cannons?" asked Max as he came up behind them at the edge of the room.
"I really wish you would give us some warning before you do that Steel," said Kat. "And no. Nothing that won't draw attention."
"Your back up is waiting outside you guys. Just say the word and I'll send them in."
Max sized up the room again. "I need you two to cause a diversion. One that will get everyone away from the table where they have the weapons."
"Why do I sense a, 'We're doing this the Max Steel way,' coming on?" asked Kat.
"Well, since I don't have to say it now, I'll just explain. I'm going to attatch a couple of explosives to the tables and get rid of the weapons. Bro, the second I set off the explosion, send in the back-up."
"Alright. But be careful. If even one-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. If even one weapon is left, we're shit out of luck. I got it bro. I might just borrow one, but I'll make sure they're all destroyed."
Quickly and quietly Max made his way to the finished weapons. He was pretty sure the explosives he had safely packed in his utility belt would be enough. It wasn't as if he could just go up and ask Kat and Jake if he could borrow some of theirs. Manuevering around Dread workers and tables, he slipped under the large table and pulled out the explosives that were usually just for opening doors and stuff like that. He cringed, knowing he was going to have to spread it out to make sure he got the whole table and that that would make the explosion weaker. "Bro?"
"Sorry, hermano. You'll have to do the best you can with what you have."
He thought for a moment. "What would happen if I used one of the lazers on the rest of them?"
"Do you remember what I said about the prototype we found?"
"Yeah. That it would kill me in one shot and if the power were increased..." he trailed off. He smiled. "So, it would do a nasty number on them."
"Exactly. And combined with the explosives, even not very high explosives in a small amount like you have, should do the trick."
"Great. Tell Kat and Jake to use some of their explosives to cause that distraction we're going to need, but not until I'm ready."
"Got it." Berto quickly relayed the message to Kat and Jake.
"Wait here," said Jake. Silently, he slipped out of the room and went down the hall a bit. He made sure that no one was looking and carefully attached his own explosives to the wall. The blast would be loud enough that it should cause the people in the assembly line to come running. When he finished, he went back to Kat and gave her the thumbs up.
"We're ready," she told Berto.
"Just another second," said Max. "Alright, just let me get out from under here. Okay. Now."
"Now," whispered Kat. Jake hit the detonator button on his belt.
The explosion got the attention of everyone all right. As people ran from the room to see what the commotion was about, Max grabbed a couple of the laser cannons and ran across the room. From there, he waited for everyone to get out. The moment the last person tore out of the room, he came out of stealth mode and opened fire on the table.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
In her cell, Mindy jumped as the explosion rocked the building. She heard the gaurds outside going ballistic and their feet pounding the floor as some of them ran away towards the source of the explosion.
What the hell was going on?
A small smile played her lips. There was a distinct possibility in her mind about what caused that explosion. "Max," she whispered.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Realising that the explosion was meant as a diversion, Dread hurried to his office. It had been ransacked. Instantly, he looked to the shelf where the disk was hidden. It wasn't there. He found the hollow book on the floor, empty.
Snarling in frustration, he pounded his fist on the desk. "Damn it!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"What the hell is going on?" demanded Psycho as he stood in the security room.
"There's been an explosion in the assembly room," explained the nervous man who sat in front of the monitors.
"What the fuck caused it?"
"I don't know." He froze as he caught sight of the monitors that showed the perimeter of the base. "Sir, we're under attack!"
Psycho looked at the monitors. "N'Tek," he growled. Psycho's eyes fixed themselves on the screens that showed the assembly room. "Steel," he snarled, seeing Max engaging in hand to hand combat with several Dread soldiers.
He stormed into the hall and grabbed the nearest Dread soldier. "Get the girl," he ground out.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Mindy's hope soared as someone opened the door, but dropped again as she realised it wasn't Max. It was another bad guy in a clown suit.
He grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her out of the cell. He pointed a gun at her and told her to move. Mindy obeyed only because she wasn't stupid enough to try something with a gun literally pointing at her head. Besides, she still didn't have any way out of here. She had little doubt what was going to happen now. Especially if that explosion was caused by Max. Sure enough, she was taken straight to Smiley.
"Max Steel is gonna learn not to poke his nose in other people's business." With that, he grabbed her right wrist and snapped some kind of electronic handcuff on it. He snapped the other cuff onto his left wrist and dragged her down the hall.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Kat!" yelled Max, tossing one of the remaining laser cannons to her. She caught it easily and pointed it at some Dread soldiers who were rushing at her. They stopped cold when they saw the cannon. No way were they going up against that when they new the damage it could do.
"Hey, Steel!"
Max looked up in the direction the voice had come from. There was a set of metal stairs that led up to a platform where the entire room could be observed from. Smiley had come through the door on the platform. He held a gun in his hand.
"If I were you, I'd hand those cannons over to those guards over there." he gestured towards a few Dread soldiers that were being detained by some other N'Tek agents.
"Now, why would I want to do a crazy thing like that?"
In one smooth motion, Smiley reached his arm through the doorway and grabbed Mindy by the hair. He yanked her out for Steel to see, ignoring the yelp of pain that came from her.
"Mindy!" Max couldn't breath.
Mindy's right arm had gone up when Smiley grabbed her hair. Now she gripped her own hair in an attempt to keep him from ripping it out. "Max."
"Hand them over," Smiley said in a very smug voice.
Max's eyes darted from Mindy, to the Dread soldiers, to the other agents, to the cannon and back to Smiley.
"Oh, come on Steel," he taunted. He shoved Mindy in front of him as he moved closer to the edge of the platform. "Doesn't your precious little Mindy mean more to you than your little friends?" Max still hesitated.
"Max, don't!" She didn't know why the weapon Max held was so important, but if Smiley wanted it, it couldn't be a good thing.
"Shut up!" snarled Smiley, giving Mindy's hair a vicious yank. She cried out.
Max pointed the cannon at Smiley. "Let her go."
"Hmm. No, I don't think so."
"Let her go, dammit!"
He gave a dry laugh. "Or what? You'll shoot me with that thing?" He dropped Mindy's hair and held up his arm, dragging hers up as well to reveal the cuffs. "Go ahead and fire. Kill me and you kill her, too. So, go ahead Steel. Shoot."
Max paled horribly. It would have been dangerous enough to fire with her standing within several feet of him. With her both in front of Smiley and chained to him, there was pretty much no way to hit Smiley without hitting her too. If I can get us all out of here alive, I'll believe there's a god, he thought. If not, I'm becoming an atheist. And right now, that seems like the more likely outcome.
_______________________________________________________________________
YAY! An update! Whoo-hoo! Finally!
Okay. I know it's a pretty short chapter. Sorry about that. And I am very, *very*, *VERY* sorry I haven't updated in so long. It's like my brain got sick of thinking about Max Steel and shut down that section of my mind for a couple of months and then suddenly let me write almost the entire chapter today. Please don't be mad at me. Please. (Smiles hopefully)
But I'm not apologizing for my evil cliffhanger. I need to keep you interested and the best way to do that is by keeping you in suspense. And there's only going to be two or three more chapters to this story. Then I'm taking a break from Max Steel before I start writing the sequel so that it doesn't suck.
Please leave a review. I miss them because nobody wants to read my other stories.
Rhiannon Faylinn