Chapter 11: First Wave

"Well, 'Maximan'" the pirate mocked, "little boy, I think it is time you have a seat." He pointed his gun toward Max and his companions followed suit. Max had hoped that his opening line had made him sound tough and confident in an effort to discourage the pirates. It was clear to him that it hadn't worked.

"Okay, you punks. I'm gonna give you two options. Option A, you let these people go and walk away. Nobody gets hurt," Max said, doing his best to sound like the action stars he'd seen in movies.

"Please tell me, boy, what is option B?" one of the men said with a smile.

"Trust me. You don't want option B," Max said.

The men stared at him for a few moments before finally bursting into laughter. "Oh, you are very funny, little boy," one of the men said, trying to catch his breath. He looked at the other men, "Look, little boy thinks he is The Rock." Then, he turned his attention back toward Max, "But now you shut up and sit down like everyone else before YOU get hurt."

"Okay, but I really didn't want it to go this way. I was really hoping you guys would just let these fine people free and go back to where you came from." Max said.

"You have a big mouth," the man said, no longer laughing or smiling. "It is going to get you killed."

"I've already been there," Max said. The man said something in his native language and the two of the others stepped forward, each of them grabbing one of Max's arms. They started to drag him away, but Max jerked his arms free of their grip and was about to try to flee when one of the men kicked him hard in the chest sending him backward, breathless, into the elevator. Within a split second, all six of the men had their guns trained on him and opened fire. Max closed his eyes and flinched, preparing for death's embrace. It was a feeling he still hadn't shaken from the first time and he had no intention of letting it happen again. Soon, the shooting stopped. Max thought he could hear his siblings screaming his name in the background. He wait a moment before slowly opening his eyes, expecting to see the infinite white space from before. Instead, he saw the inside of the SS Tipton's elevator car. "These guys must be TERRIBLE shots," he thought to himself. He started to pull himself up from the floor and turned to look in the direction the shooters had been standing, wondering where they had gone. What he saw caught him by surprise.

The bullets fired from the automatic weapons were suspended in mid-air between Max and the pirates. Max stared at them, eyes and mouth wide in awe. When he blinked, the mass fell and scattered across the floor reavealing the pirates on the other side. They were in shock. Behind them, hostages were crying and the pirate leader was yelling to the men in their foreign language. None of the six men seemed to register whatever their leader was saying to them. Finally, he approached, pushing them out of the way to get a look for himself. When he saw Max in the elevator, alive, he was furious. He snatched a gun from one of the others, took aim and opened fire. This time, Max was ready. The first few rounds stopped in mid-air, just inches from Max before dropping to the floor. The rest barely made it out of the barrel before transforming. Max had turned the machine gun into a bubble blower. The man threw the gun to the floor in a rage and lunged at Max, pulling a dagger from his waist band. Acting so quick he barely realized what he was doing, Max moved to block the dagger, summoning one of his own instantly. The man lunged again. This time, in series of very quick, fluid motions, Max blocked the incoming blade, knocked it from the pirate capitain's hand, and plugged his own blade into the man's stomach. Instead of crying out, bleeding or dying, the pirate capitain exploded into a cloud of yellow butterflies which quickly disapated as the insects flew away in every direction.

The other six men leaped forward to attack, but Max threw an air punch which sent a powerful shockwave out, sending the men flying backwards. Two of the men never landed. They were transformed into sea gulls mid-flight and flew away. Two of the others landed and the impact caused them to splash across the wooden deck. Max had turned them into Jello. Max didn't have time to concentrate on the last two men before they hit the deck, hard. They groaned in pain as they tried to make it back to their feet. Max approached them slowly, casually. The two men looked at him in terror, no longer as a 'little boy,' but as something else. Something... inhuman. They didn't notice the small object in his right hand at first, but when he clicked the button and it hummed to life, the two pirates wet their pants. Their faces would have been pale white if it hadn't been for the red glow of Max's lightsaber. The men looked at each other, jumped to their feet and ran away, screaming in horror until the reached the rail where Zack, Cody and Bailey were tied. They didn't stop screaming until they hit the water.

Max took a deep breath of relief that, at least for now, the trouble was over. He ran toward his brother and sister and began untying them.

"Max!" they both yelled at the same time.

"We thought you were dead!" Justin continued.

"I was."

"What do you mean? You're here," Alex asked.

"No time to explain right now. You guys start untying the others. I'm going to find the rest of the bad guys." Max said.

"But Max..." Justin started. He couldn't finish because he was starting to cry. Instead, he grabbed his little brother and gave him the tightest hug he'd ever give anyone. Alex joined her brothers in a group hug. "I'm just glad you're okay," Justin managed to say. By then, more pirates who had heard the commotion were starting to gather up on the deck above. The Russo siblings broke their embrace and looked up at the gathering force.

"Untie the others," Max said. "I'll take care of this."

"Let us get our wands and we'll help you," Alex offered. "You can't do this on your own, there's too many of them."

"You're wands won't work and I CAN do this on my own. Trust me," Max said. Before his siblings could get another word in, Max was already half way up the stairs. Alex and Justin set to work freeing the other hostages.

Author's Note: It took me a while to write this. I've been VERY busy with work and stuff, but don't worry, I haven't given up on my stories. I still write a little here and there as I have time and will update as often as I can. Please review. :)