"I'm sorry, but even if she were here, I'm not allowed to give out information about anyone, clients or otherwise," said the woman on the other end of the phone.
Max slammed down the receiver, frustrated. He'd called her family, her roommates, and every women's shelter in NYC, but none of them would tell him where Angela was. He contemplated threatening some of them to get answers, but he didn't want to hurt Angela's family, and there was no point in harrassing random shelters. 'I guess I'll have to find a way to narrow it down', he thought. But first, he was going to use his new powers to get something else that he needed; money.
Max had grown up in a poor neighborhood, with a drunken, abusive father, and passive, accepting mother. His father was a religious man, but only because he had been brought up to be so. Along with it came another family tradition; sexism. Max's upbringing, combined with the overt media messages of the time, had given him a rather strange set of values. While he believed that women weren't any less intelligent than men, women were emotional and more easily controlled. Such was the case with Angela.
Max left the phone booth, his heart pounding with what he was about to do. If this worked, he could make a fortune. If it didn't... Max would deal with it if it happened. He darted across the street and ducked into an ally. One lone guard stood at the back entrance of the jewellery store, talking into his cell phone, his back turned.
"Alright, I'll see you there," the guard said, and hung up.
Max's fist sparked with blue lightning in anticipation. When the guard turned, all he could see was a flash of light before he was knocked backward onto the ground, unconscious. Max pushed him out of the way with his foot and turned his attention to the door. This was one of the best jewellery stores in NYC, and it's security system would be almost impossible to get through. Almost.
Max's eyes followed the wire that wound its way around the door frame, connected to an alarm inside through a box at the top of the door, which had a red light on it. Max knew next to nothing about security systems and devises, but he thought that maybe the electricity could disable the alarms somehow. He lifted a finger up to the box, shooting out a small bolt at it. There was a strange electric sound, and then the light on it turned green. The alarm was disabled.
Next, he pointed at the lock, the bolt he released acting like a heated laser, cutting through the lock until the door popped open. Max worked quickly, disabling the vault and jewellery case alarms, taking all of the cash and jewellery he could fit into the backpack he had brought with him.
When he was done, he exited through the back door and left the ally, making sure that the guard was still asleep. It had been easy. Too easy. Why should he stop with just one store? If they were all this simple to steal from... but he had to focus on finding Angela. He needed to find her. And he would, even if it meant hurting or killing anyone who got in his way. Then there was Spider-Woman. Max smiled. Next week, he would find her, too. Or better yet, draw her out. And he knew just how to do it.