Hello hello hello! I took AN ENTIRE TWO DAYS to write this, but I know for some of you (cough, UKHoneyB, cough cough) it seemed to take a while because I DID say I would have it up yesterday. Sorry, I took some allergy medicine and it knocked me out, and when I woke up, it was 3:30 and my computer had been disconnected for the night. Don't ask. ANYWAY, here it is, with a special friend put into it. Heehee.

Chapter 3

John Dread sat in his leather swivel chair, his back facing the desk. When the door to his office opened and slammed shut with a loud BANG he didn't even flinch. He knew who had come to visit him. Again.

"Grandfather, I'm bored! Can I PLEASE spar with Erickson? Pleeeease?"

"I've told you this already, my dear. His name is Psycho now, and you must refer to him as such. You were the one who chose it, remember? And no, you most certainly cannot spar with him any more at least for another month. We have Scientist 378 still working on reattaching his arm." With this the man spun around slowly in his chair. "It is only sparring, my dear, you must remember not to be so violent. That is what we have the punching bag for, not people."

"Psycho isn't a person," she pouted.

"No, not anymore, but I can't afford to have him out of commission for so long. If N'Tek had managed to locate our new base here in Brazil, then we would've needed him to provide distractions, WHICH he can't be doing without an arm. So you see my problem."

"Yes."

"Oh, don't look so sad, my dear. You and Psycho will both have a new sparring partner soon enough, and I'm pretty sure you won't have to hold back from him."

"Why is it taking so long, though?"

"Oh, I expect his partners and Jefferson Smith have noticed something is wrong by now. Of course, they won't be able to tell how wrong, but they will take notice."

"What if they take blood samples? The Dread Probes will most certainly show up, won't they?"

"Not at all. That's one of the best parts of my plan. They disguise themselves as red blood cells. We only needed a small amount this time, so an extra amount of blood cells won't even be noticed, since, as you know, they can not possibly be counted."

"True. Is my ship ready yet?"

"Almost. It's being painted as we speak."

"What color?" she asked slyly, knowing the answer already.

Her grandfather smiled. "Black, of course."

"OW!!!!"

"Grow up."

"Don't tell me to grow up! You're holding a blowtorch to my shoulder."

Melissa, officially known as Scientist 378, turned off the blowtorch and stepped away from her patient, leaving the cyborg with a half-attached metal arm.

She took off the protective face shield she was wearing. "There. If you're going to complain, I'll just leave it like that. Then, the next time you see Max Steel you can wave your half-attached arm comically in a circle, and hope he is made incapable to fight by the laughter you inspire. At that time, maybe you'll stand a chance in battle."

"Don't say that name," her patient growled. Psycho hadn't allowed anyone to get away with speaking his nemesis's name in his presence since his encounter with the hologram. Then again, he wouldn't get his arm attached anytime soon if he destroyed the only person who could fix him after he had been damaged to such an extent.

"Or what?"

"Or, I'll...oh just shut up and reattach my arm."

"Oh just shut up and reattach my arm what?" she asked, leaning against a table, hands on her hips.

"Oh just shut up and reattach my arm please," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she cupped her hand to her ear. "I couldn't really hear you."

"Oh just shut up and reattach my arm please!"

"Much better." She placed her shield back on her face and went back to work. Not being able to see through the heavy material of the face shield, Psycho could not see the smile that spread across the scientist's face.

I know, I know, it's kinda short. Sorry, but I didn't want to flash back to N'Tek in the same chapter, I wanted to stay in our nice little Brazilian community for now. I will try to have the next chapter up tomorrow. Ciao!