A/N: If you thought Max was scary before…

I wanna hurt you,
But I just can't cut you fast enough.
-- Action Action

Chapter Seven - Remember Me

William Maconick had built a beautiful mansion on the outskirts of the city. As he explained to his other mansion-living, BMW-owning friends while on the golf course at the country club, he needed somewhere away from "the scum." William's only crime had been being a stuck up asshole that cared more about his dogs than the city's homeless. When he had died, Thomas had spent no time selling his old man's belongings and moving his own things into the mansion. Thomas was only different from his father in that he was an actual criminal.

Max parked her bike across the street and sat on the house for half an hour. Only one guard was present, he stood by the front door.

She got off the bike and walked down the street, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. She knew she failed miserably at that, but couldn't find it within herself to care. She walked to the front gate and wrapped her gloved hands around the thick, iron bars.

"Hey!" she called out. When she saw she had the guard's attention, she continued, "Can ya give a girl some directions?"

The guard strolled over to Max. He put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, trying to appear impressive.

"You lost, sweetheart?" the slightly overweight man asked.

"Yeah," she answered. She calculated the distance between them. "I'm looking for number 74, you know where that is?"

"Aw, hell, that's clear across the development," he replied. "You'll have to turn around and -"

"I'm sorry, I don't hear so well," Max said sweetly. "Can you maybe move a little closer?"

The guard nodded and took a few steps forward. "You get to the end of the street and go lef -"

Max's hand shot out like a frog's tongue. She captured the guard's throat and squeezed. Her jaw clenched and something within her - her solider instinct - switched on instantly. She tightened her grip on the man's throat until his eyes rolled in the back of his head. She released him and he crumpled to the ground. She didn't know if she had killed him, but really she didn't care. After a quick look around, she jumped the gate and landed on the soft grass.

She moved cautiously along the property's wall until she reached the side of the house. She went to the first window she saw and peeked through. True to the plans included in Logan's files, the room appeared to be Thomas's home office. There was a computer in the corner of the room, along with fax machines, copiers, a paper shredder, and a phone.

Max pushed the window open and slipped through. The room was dark, but she made her way just fine. She sat down in front of the computer and repeated the processes with the disc.

As the program's process for erasing the files reached 80, the lights in the room switched on.

Max gasped and looked up from the screen.

The door to the room opened and Thomas stepped in.

"Amazing," he said, "how you're never grateful for a light switch being on the outside of the room, until a very peculiar event happens."

He held a glass of brandy in one hand and with the other hand held a Glock loosely at his side. He took a sip of the brandy then waved the gun around.

"Now, you don't look like the maid," he said and trained the gun on Max. "So I'm just wondering what you're doing here and what you're having a look at there."

Max glanced at the screen. 90 completed. She held her hands up and slowly walked around the desk.

"I was looking for clues," Max said. "I want to know what happened to David."

Thomas eyed her closely. He sneered. "You think I'd put that in my files, you silly bitch?"

Max shrugged and took a few cautious steps forward. She wanted to kill him right then, but she had to wait.

"I guess you know more about that than I do, huh?" she said. "I suppose you cover up all your murders real nice."

Thomas laughed. "I do, in fact. It's why no one's been able to topple me. I have to say, though, you were close. It's too bad you're going to end up like the rest of them, buried and forgotten."

The computer made a sudden, loud ding! and Max grinned wickedly.

"What was that?" Thomas frowned.

"All your files," Max replied. "I erased them all. I erased the ones at the office too. So, that would leave you with… nothing, correct?"

"God damn it!" Thomas screamed. He threw his half-finished glass of brandy against the wall as hard as he could then cocked the gun and pointed it at Max. "I'll see you in hell."

Before he could pull the trigger, Max ducked and dove at him. She tackled him to the floor and knocked the gun out of his hand. It slid across the polished hardwood floor and came to a stop in the hall.

Max punched Thomas once then got to her feet.

"You will see me in hell," she growled.

She grabbed him by the shirt and threw him at the doorway. The back of his head and his legs hit the sides of the doorway and his upper body landed in the hallway. He pushed himself up and tried to go for the gun, but Max kicked him in the side.

Thomas spilled out into the hall and landed on his back. His world was spinning. All he was sure of was that he needed the gun. Before he could try to grab it again, Max was standing over him. She was all he could see.

Max grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet. She punched him twice in the face. The second blow broke his nose and blood spattered all over his face and the front of his shirt. She let go of him then kicked him square in the chest. He flew back into the wall and a painting came loose and fell on him.

Max kicked the painting off him, thereby kicking him in the face. She again picked him up by the hair. He swung at her, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him to her, with his back facing her. She pulled his right arm behind his back and snapped the bone. He cried out in agony and tried to sink to the floor, but she held him up by his broken arm. She threw him into a table and he fell to the ground, taking the table and a very expensive-looking vase with him.

He tried to crawl into the next room, but she grabbed his legs and pulled him back to her. She bent his leg at the knee then kicked into it, shattering the bone. He screamed in agony again.

She kicked him over and growled in his face, "I don't just want you to die. I want you to suffer."

She punched him in the face again, causing more blood to pour from his already gushing and mangled nose.

She then kneeled down next to him. He could barely lift his head or breathe, but his eyes were full of fear. She lifted his battered body and supported it on one knee.

"Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" she hissed.

Thomas could only whimper.

Max pushed his body down over her knee. His back cracked slightly and he suddenly knew what she was going to do to him. He whimpered and tried to move, but it did no good. She looked him square in the eye and she slowly applied more force.

"Remember me," she said.

Her voice was full of anger, absolute hatred, and every hopeless, demented emotion known to mankind. She didn't sound human. She sounded like what Manticore had wanted her to be all along.

Finally, it came to an end. Thomas's spine snapped under the pressure and his body fell limp in her arms. She pushed his lifeless body away from her and got to her feet. She stared down at the broken form and wondered how to feel. She had completed the mission. She was supposed to feel free, but instead she felt like her stomach was filled with hot lead.

She went to the gun and picked it up. It was so useless. It was meaningless. She examined the metal and seriously thought of swallowing the barrel.

"Bravo, 452."

Max looked up with wide eyes.

Before her stood the one man she hated just as much as Thomas, if not more.

Her eyes narrowed and she hissed, "Lydecker."

Lydecker looked from Thomas's battered body to Max. "You've finally become what I've always wanted you to be."

"I'll never be that!" she barked.

Lydecker took a step toward her and she raised the gun. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a handgun of his own. He tossed it and it slid across the floor. He raised his hands and walked toward Max slowly. Her grip on the gun didn't loosen.

Lydecker grabbed the barrel of the gun and placed it over his heart.

"Go on, do it," he said. "I watched what you did to him. Finish it, 452."

Max pressed the gun into his chest, hard. Her jaw clenched.

"Do it!" Lydecker screamed.

Max threw the gun across the room and kicked Lydecker in the chest. He slid across the floor and was stopped by the wall.

"If I shoot you," Max said, almost calmly, "I become you."

"You are already what I wanted you to be," Lydecker told her.

"I will never be that."

"You justify this killing because Thomas murdered your friend," Lydecker said. "Only trouble is, he didn't kill your friend. You have no justification. You are the killer I've always wanted you to be… Max."

"Where is he?" Max demanded. "Where is he?"

Lydecker jerked his head in the direction of the room that Thomas had tried to crawl into. "But it doesn't matter."

He pulled a cellphone from his jacket and pushed a button.

"The team will be here," Lydecker told her. "They'll kill him and you'll be back where you belong, doing what you were made to do."

Max kicked him and he slumped over, unconscious. She then rushed into the next room and found Logan bound and gagged on the floor. She ripped the gag from his mouth and untied him as quickly as possible.

"Max, I -"

"No time!" she said. "We have to go now."

She picked him up and ran for the front door. She kicked it open and rushed across the lawn and to the gate. She pushed the button to open it, then ran across the street and situated Logan on the bike.

"Hold on!" she screamed before peeling out.