A/N: Yay! A week off from school equals…lots of chapters being written! I'm beginning to think that UKHoneyB is my muse in disguise…hmmmm. Could be. Anyway, thanks to all my oh-so-devoted readers. I promise if I ever win the lottery, I would give all of my reviewers a dollar. I give you my word. Oh, and by the way, I was rereading what I had written so far, and I noticed I made a small mistake. In chapter 8, Rachel was the one with Kat and Jet by the end, but in Chapter 9 I had Eleanor being with Kat and Jet. Whatever. It's supposed to be Eleanor. Does that make ANY sense?

Chapter 10

Kat, Jet, and Eleanor paused in their search via air ducts when they heard someone calling their names.

"Rachel?" Jet asked incredulously. "Is that Rachel running around an enemy base yelling our names at the top of her voice?"

"I think so," Eleanor answered uncertainly.

"She's lost it," Kat said, shaking her head.

All of the sudden, the voice was directly below them. "I've most certainly not lost it, Ms. Ryan, and if you ever want to find Max and Berto in this labyrinth, I suggest you three stop crawling around in the ceiling and help out!"

Eleanor looked confused.

Kat shrugged. "It's definitely Rachel. Let's go. Search now, demand explanation later."

With that, she pried open the nearest grate and worked her way out of the ventilation system, motioning for Jet and Eleanor to follow her.

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Max, Berto, and Abigail had been waiting inside the "gardening shed" for only a few minutes when the lights came back on. Abigail motioned to the awaiting elevator. "Shall we?"

The three got into the elevator, and Abigail pressed a green button very obviously marked "G".

"Imagine if the elevator broke down after all this," Berto muttered.

"Bro, I so do not want to think about that right now," Max groaned.

"Oh, please. I assure you, my grandfather's organization can make a functioning elevator," Abigail said, rolling her eyes.

"They sure can't make a portable generator," Berto quipped.

"Do you want to start with me in an enclosed space!"

"Knock it off," Max said as he stepped in between them. Then he took a look at how angry Abigail was, and decided that being close to her might not be the best idea at the moment.

They felt the elevator stop moving as they reached the ground level. While they waited for the doors to open, Abigail seemed to consider Max for a moment. "Hey, science project, can I ask you something?"

While unsure if he really wanted to know what she was going to ask or not, he said "Um, okay."

"How come you stayed in Max mode the entire time you've been here?"

"I've noticed that too," Berto agreed, now also looking curiously at Max.

Max looked surprised by the question. "I don't know, I guess I'm just used to not being Josh when I'm being seen by N-Tek related people. No big thing."

"All right," Abigail didn't sound completely convinced, but she let the issue drop.

A few seconds later, the doors opened with a low 'ding' and Max and Berto rushed to get off the machine. Abigail stayed in the car and watched them get off. Then she stood there and waved goodbye as the doors closed behind them.

"If I never saw her again, it'd be too soon," commented Max.

"You said it, Hermano."

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Rachel waited, trying her hardest not to laugh as first Kat, then Jet tumbled out of the air shaft and landed on their backs. She was then overcome with a surge of pride as Eleanor neatly jumped down and landed on her feet.

"Show off," Jet mumbled, rubbing her back.

"Good to see you all," Rachel said, smiling.

"Same here," Eleanor replied.

"Yeah, yeah," said Kat, "we're all happy to see each other, now how are we going to find Steel and Martinez?"

"Well aren't we impatient?" Eleanor quipped.

Jet stuck her tongue out at her.

"Please," Rachel held up her hands, calling for a truce. "Now, as far as I know, John Dread is unaware of the cloning situation. I would like to keep I that way for its value as a shock tactic. So, we'll split up and take opposite ends of the base. Kat and I will head this way-" Rachel gestured towards a long hallway, "and Jet and Eleanor can go that way-" she pointed at a flight of stairs leading to another level of the base. "We should all avoid being seen together."

"Got it," Jet said, and the four N-Tek agents ran off to search the base for their lost friends.

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Abigail took the elevator back down to the level from which she had come. Leaning against one of the walls of the coffin-like enclosure, she waited for the machine to make its leisurely way down. She was pleased to see that the lights in the base had not yet come back on. This meant there would be no cameras making her participation in the breakout of Dr. Roberto Martinez and Max Steel known to anyone.

Feeling very self-satisfied, the red-head all but skipped back to her office. She looked forward to sitting back down in her soft leather chair and maybe demolishing some opponents on computer-chess. While very inferior to her grandfather in the game, she was nonetheless a very formidable player.

She continued to walk down the hall, enjoying the sound of her high-heeled boots clicking along the floor tiles. Such a terrifying sound to her enemies. She smiled at that, and thought of ways to bring about the downfall of Max Steel on their next encounter.

Finally getting to her office, she opened the mahogany door, stepped in, closed it behind her, and walked across the office to sit down in her chair. She didn't turn on the lights, partially because she enjoyed the darkness, and also because they wouldn't have come on anyway. The power was still out.

Instead, she reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a glow stick. Grandfather had wanted to equip the base with earthquake lights, but she rather enjoyed glow sticks. So, in spite of occasional comments from DREDD minions on such a powerful evil organization having to rely glow sticks, John Dread had stuck to them. Besides, he liked them as well.

Abigail leaned back in her chair, and put her feet up on her desk. She sat there, enjoying the silent darkness around her. Only all of the sudden, it wasn't silent anymore. Hearing a metallic laughter, she bolted up out of her chair. She recognized that laugh.

"Erickson!" she raged.

The cyborg formerly known as Erickson reached over and switched on the lights, which flickered a bit, but did come on.

Abigail glowered at him. The bastard had been standing there the whole time! Then, she paled a bit as Psycho pointed his metallic claw-equipped arm at her. The laser!

Reflexively, Abigail ducked behind the desk. She fumbled for the key that should've been hanging from a chain around her neck, but it wasn't there. Trying the drawer anyway, she found it was unlocked. Thanking her luck, she reached in and carefully grabbed the button. The one she hadn't actually held in her hands since the day Erickson had become Psycho. It looked like a square remote control with a big red button in the middle. A standard detonator.

She stood up and brandished the button at the cyborg. "You know what this is," she said menacingly. "Now, back off and don't make me press the button."

Instead of backing off, however, Psycho just took careful aim at her head.

"Have it your way," she spat, and pushed the button. Time seemed to stop, and as soon as she pressed the button, she knew something was wrong. Psycho's face seemed…triumphant, not enraged as it should have been. Then she realized that the drawer shouldn't have been unlocked. Luck or no luck. This wasn't the button. It was, however, a button.

While Abigail stood frozen on the spot, she heard the rumbling of an explosion. Psycho picked up Abigail's huge desk and threw it down on top of her. Smiling that mechanical grin, he waved his claw at her and ran out the door, leaving her struggling under the enormous desk.

She struggled for what seemed like hours, but what must've only been a matter of minutes. Then she realized she would not be able to free herself, and watched through the open door of her office as the hallway exploded into flame.

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Kat and Rachel had been searching a room full of lab equipment when they too, heard a rumbling.

Kat looked panicked. "Are you sure we're nowhere near Niagra Falls?" she tried to joke, but felt sick to her stomach.

Rachel shook her head. "We have to get out of here."

Kat's eyes widened. "But what about the others!"

"Everyone can take care of themselves, let's go!"

Kat stood with her arms crossed. "I'm not leaving anyone!" she said adamantly.

"That's not your decision to make! Let's go right now!" Grabbing a hold of Kat's arm, Rachel began running down the hall towards the stairwell.

Kat cursed as she was pulled along behind Rachel, realizing that the blond agent was a lot stronger than she looked. Eventually, she shook off the older woman's arm, but kept running next to her. She knew Rachel was right. They had to focus on getting themselves out first. They were no use to anyone if they were dead.

Finally getting to the stairwell, Kat became extremely thankful that she was not a heavy smoker. Having to run up ten flights of stairs to get to the ground level of the base was not the easiest task to complete under pressure, especially with the ceiling threatening to cave in on your head.

Reaching the top of the last staircase ahead of Kat, Rachel flung open the door to meet a scene of complete chaos. Flames were everywhere, and Dread minions were running for their lives. Ignoring the heavy smoke, she and Kat ran for the door. They were given a clear path, as John Dread's security guards had other things to worry about. Their own lives, for one.

Almost at the door, the two agents felt the floor shake with another explosion. Debris rained down from the ceiling, and Rachel sped up, racing through the door. Out of harm's way, she turned around to see Kat about 10 yards behind her. Rachel looked above the door and saw a large slab of cement coming loose.

"KAT!" she screamed.

Somehow managing to hear her above the cataclysmic sound all around her, Kat sped up and dove through the doorway, rolling out of the building as the cement collapsed where she had been a few seconds before.

Rachel reached over and activated the tracking device embedded in her left boot. She and Kat dragged themselves behind a boulder and watched, stunned, as the base burn and crumble. A few minutes later, Rachel recognized the welcome sight of the Behemoth blocking out the sun, and then blacked out.