"What are you going on about?" Cooper tried to grasp what was going on. "We never even tried to have a child!"
Maddie just shook her hood. "I cannot believe you right now." she rolled closer to Cooper, which almost made Cooper want to back up. He couldn't.
"You left me with a big responsibility on my own. There is no forgiveness for that." She hissed.
"You're the one who left me! You lied about your own death." Cooper fought back. "How was I supposed to know about all of this when you never told me you were pregnant?" Cooper paid no mind to Max. He was sitting quietly next to Maddie, glaring at him.
"Okay, let me get this straight then, because, I am lost for words." Cooper started. "Just, listen to what I have to say, and try to think logically. Two cars try to have a child, yeah?"
"Correct. You, and me." Maddie stated.
"The mother gets pregnant with a plane. Can you just repeat that back to me? Don't you see how silly that sounds?"
"Genetics is a very strange thing sometimes." Maddie argued. "Heredity can-"
"Don't try and explain heredity and genetics to me in this situation. You have lied to everyone here."
"I have lied to no one, you are just in denial!" Maddie exclaimed.
"You left my mother before I was even born!" Max cried out. "I didn't have a father to look up to because of you."
"Max, aren't you going to do that thing you've been wanting to do for a while?" Maddie urged.
"Yes, mum. I do."
"Then do it."
Max rolled silently up to Cooper and hovered his propeller over Cooper's hood. He started his engine and the small plane pulled his engine to full throttle. The blades whipped the air just inches from Cooper's hood.
"What are you-" Cooper started, flinching a little.
"Hush." Maddie interrupted. "Max has special blades that can tear through metal. Show him dear."
Max slowly began to lower his nose over Cooper. The blades touched just enough to make the worst noise possible. The blades cutting steel. Cooper flinched and tried to lower himself to get away. Max hesitated.
"Do it, Max!"
Cooper looked at him. There was fright and anger mixed in this child's eyes. What had Maddie done to this poor child?
"I know you've wanted this since I found you!"
Max gasped. So did Cooper. However, Cooper kind of already knew the situation. Max's engine slowed. "What did you say?"
"Slight slip of the tongue dear. You know how it can be." Maddie apologized.
"'Found'?" Max shut off his engine and turned around. "'Found'?"
"That's not the word I was looking for, sweetheart. But if you don't finish your task, no dinner tonight. Go!"
Max reluctantly turned back around to face Cooper. He had confusion on his face but did not hesitate to start his engine once more.
"She's lying to you, Max." Cooper said quietly. "I believe you were adopted."
"I am not lying! I love him with all my heart!" Maddie insisted. "He's my baby and your son! I know my baby loves me."
"How do you make such a mistake?" Cooper asked. "'Found' is a very different word than 'give birth' or such."
Max didn't say anything.
"Honey, remember all the things I told you about him? He has lied to me day and night." Maddie looked Max in the eyes. "I love you sweetheart, and I told you that I would never let him hurt you. Didn't I say that?"
"Yeah.."
"And didn't I tell you that agency was bad news? That it was too dangerous? They go up against some of the most evil cars out there. If you were brought to that agency and a bad car got a hold of you, I would never forgive myself."
"Do you think these 'bad cars' come to the agency to wreak havoc?" Cooper asked. "That agency is by far the most safe building in this town. Guarded at all times, locked up tightly every single night. Don't you think he would be safer anywhere else but an abandoned mansion that is unsanitary and run-down?"
Max looked at Maddie, then at Cooper. He had a look in his eye where he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to be apart of all this.
"Max, she's lying to you. I do not know what she has been telling you all these years about me, but everyone knows that a single search online on my agency will tell you that that building is the safest in town. Everyone respects C.H.R.O.M.E for what we do for them. Taking down bad cars, stopping evil before it's begun. Do you really think I would be the type to neglect that responsibility?"
"I've had enough of this!" Maddie cried out and pushed Max down on top of Cooper. The grinding of the metal was numbing to hear and Cooper let out a yell of pain. Max instantly pulled away from Cooper and shut his engine off, shocked by everything.
"You are in trouble now, mister." Maddie growled. Max only looked back at Cooper, who was trying to ease himself and take calming breaths. The ragged metal of his hood was a terrifying sight, but it had just missed his engine.
"So, you're right.." Max said in a hushed voice. "You aren't my father.." It was beginning to all make sense.
"That also.. means, she isn't your mother." Cooper breathed, trying to ignore the pain. Cooper could see that he was a smart enough plane.
"That is it." Maddie snarled. She backed out of the doorway. "If he is not killed by the time I get back, you are in a world of hurt." She glared at Max before shutting and locking the door. There was silence.
"Max, are you-" Cooper tried to say, but got cut off again.
"Don't talk to me." Max hissed and turned away from him.
Cooper could tell what was going on here. "Max, I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry about? That my whole life is a lie?" He blurted.
"I'm sorry you are being abused."
"I'm not being abused. My mother loves me!"
"Do you love her?"
"Of course I do! Why are you asking me this?"
"Because it seems as if she's using you. I know her. I know her character. At least, I used to know her character.." Cooper trailed off that last thought. He didn't want to plague poor Max with his life story, but he did want to get him to realize what was really going on.
"What do you mean? So now you're lying to me?"
"No. We used to be together, but we never tried to have a child. She has played me, as much as she has played you. She lied to the both of us."
Max let that sink in, but then seemed to shake away everything Cooper had just told him. "I have to kill you now, or she will be upset with me."
If Cooper could move, he would have shook his hood. "I know you won't. You don't seem like the plane who wants to hurt anyone. Because the hurt you've gotten shouldn't be passed to the next person. You know its unfair to them."
"You don't know me." Max insisted.
"I do know you don't seem like a bully."
"I am not a bully." He stated, and then eased himself. "I just don't want to hurt." He then perked up, realizing what he said matched what Cooper said. He was getting neglected. He was being used. He was getting lied to.
"Did you come alone?"
"No, I came with three of my best agents. They are searching right now."
"I will help you."
Cooper looked at him. He changed so suddenly.
"I realize now, you are not my father. I can't possibly be mad at you." The small plane moved to the rubble that was atop Cooper and tried to figure a way to get him free. He began to pull wood chunk after chunk off to begin with.
"Holley, Finn, can you hear me? Are you still okay?" Cooper radioed.
"We are fine, Cooper." Holley radioed back. "No sign of anyone however. Where are you?"
"I am in, a sort of predicament, but we do seem to have another on our side. I will explain later. Make your way down to the ground floor and be prepared to fight." He ended the call and was finally able to shift a bit and remove the rest of the debris off of himself. He was surprised how strong his bullet proof armor was against the heavy ceiling, compared to how it handled to Ash's hits.
"Now, to get you out of here and safe." Cooper breathed and and activated his gun. Max stood back, not willing to face what was outside, and not willing to face his so called, 'Mother'.