Less than half an hour later I was on my way to the meeting site, being flown courtesy of air Max Steel. Even though Dredd had ordered me to come alone, I knew I could never travel the distance on foot in less than two hours. So after a heated argument with Forge, I finally agreed to go with Max and Steel who were to drop me off within walking distance so Dredd wouldn't think I had gone back on my deal. As we flew through the sky over Copper Canyon, I kept going through the details of my plan in my head. I still wasn't sure if it would work. Noticing the worried look on my face, Max turned his head slightly to look down at me.
"You've been quiet ever since we left N-Tek. What's up?" He asked and I tried to smile.
"I'm a little nervous. Just for the record, I've never done a hostage negotiation before." I said and he laughed.
"Don't worry. You'll do fine." He said and I nodded. A few minutes later Steel spoke up.
"The drop zone's coming up. Will you be okay to go on ahead?" I nodded as Max landed and dropped me off.
"Good luck." Max said and took off again. Once he was out of eyesight, I started walking. Much too soon I found myself being watched. Standing a few feet from me was a young man wearing a jet black suit and a blood-red tie, who was waiting for someone.
"So you're the one Dredd ordered me to find?" He asked and I nodded. Instead of introducing himself he instead turned around and began walking back the way he came. I quickened my pace and soon caught up with him, only to overhear him muttering to himself.
"Why did I have to 'fetch' her? When did I, Jason Naught, go from CEO of THI to this? Being Dredd's flunky." Soon we reached a cave and I noticed that he had stopped complaining. Standing just inside Jason called out to someone inside. It was then I heard someone tell us to enter. Turning around Jason glared at me and told me to go on ahead. With a shrug I did what he asked and he fell into step behind me. After about five minutes of walking we came to the wide chamber in the cave where I found Miles Dredd waiting for us. Unfortunately the Ultimate Elementor was there as well. He growled at me and I took a step back, almost bumping into Jason who scowled at me. He shoved me hard enough that I almost fell; only just stopping my fall by grabbing evil-looking grin and walked over to Dredd. I noticed that as soon as he was standing near Dredd, the grin vanished from his face. I could see now that Dredd was clearly in charge and in control.
"So you did come alone and on time. I must say I'm impressed. Not many people would face me alone." Miles said as I looked on.
Close up I noticed he was wearing some sort of black armor that covered him from head to toe, his eyes covered by a sort of red visor. Without seeing his face I had no idea what he looked like yet something about him filled me with a sense of fear. Trying not to show it, I stepped forward and demanded to know where Berto was.
"First you will tell me that identity of Max Steel. Then I will hand him over to you, unharmed." Miles answered, stepping closer to me. I could tell from the tone of his voice that it was an order. To his surprise, and mine, I again demanded to know where Berto was.
"You don't know, do you?" Dredd said to me. Before I had time to react he spun around and ordered the Elementor to put me with Berto. I tried to run but it grabbed me around my waist and carried me to a small cavern, even though I tried to struggle out of its grip. Inside Berto was sitting behind some sort of laser wall. He glanced up when he saw me in the Elementor's grip and his eyes went wide. Ignoring Berto, the Elementor placed its claw on the switch and the laser wall momentarily disappeared. It then threw me to the floor of the prison and the lasers reappeared. With a growl for me, it stomped off.
"What are you doing here?" Berto asked, kneeling down and helping me to my feet. I rubbed my chin and looked up at him.
"What no thank you for rescuing me?" I asked and he indicated the wall.
"No offence but this isn't much of a rescue." Berto answered and I smiled at him.
"It's definitely a rescue. I just have to do one thing to call in the cavalry." I replied. I then pressed down on the hidden tracking device I had concealed in my jacket. It began to make a beeping noise and in less than a minute we both heard the sounds of a battle outside.
"They're here." I said and Berto looked at me, confused. "Just trust me, okay? Help's on its way." I added as I looked at the laser wall. It took longer than I expected but Kat and Jefferson finally showed up.
"Good to see you two are okay." Jefferson said as Kat went to work on turning off the wall. In less than a minute she had succeeded and the lasers flickered and shut off.
"Me too. I wasn't really sure that Dredd would fall for our plan actually. I'm glad it worked." I said, happy that we were free.
"I hate to bust your bubble but what plan?" Berto interrupted as I stretched. Before I could speak I heard Forge call out for backup from somewhere outside the cave. Jefferson ran off to help and Kat told us to stay put until the coast was clear. When she left I turned to Berto.
"The plan I came up with was to rescue you. It's a long plan so that's the short answer. When we get back to N-Tek I'll tell you everythning. Promise." I explained and Berto nodded. Even though Kat told us to wait I couldn't help but be curious about the battle going on outside. Eventually I decided to go and check out what was happening. Heading outside I saw the last minutes of a heated fight between Max Steel and Miles Dredd. Looking on I saw Max in his armor raining blows on Miles Dredd, whose armor was now glowing a bright red. As I watched on Miles sent a beam of energy at Max, who had the wind knocked out of him. Knocked off his feet he rubbed his head. Before he could stand Miles took off, running towards a nearby airship of some kind. From what I could tell, from a distance anyway, it didn't look like it was from N-Tek judging by the design and color. I then mentally kicked myself; of course it wasn't N-Tek's ship, he was their enemy. Max's armor suddenly changed into a sleek new design and he rushed forward. Just as he reached the airship a blast of energy was fired in his direction. Moving to avoid it he could only watch as the airship took off. Shaking his head, he rushed over to help Forge, Kat and Jefferson take down the last of a group of robots shooting at them.
"Max is pretty impressive." I said as I watched.
"Yeah but C.Y.T.R.O is pretty impressive too." He said with a hint of pride in his voice and I looked over to him.
"Of course he is. Where is he now anyway?" I asked him and that's when I saw the robot come flying in. That's when I realized there was another robot on the battlefield. "Wait, who's he?" I said, pointing.
"That's Jason Naught." Berto told me and I stared as C.Y.T.R.O slammed into the second robot, sending him into the Canyon's dirt floor. "He can transform into that form when he wants." As I watched C.Y.T.R.O and Jason started to fight. While I watched Berto moved his arm and I noticed that C.Y.T.R.O was mirroring his movements. For a while, maybe a few minutes, C.Y.T.R.O had the upper hand until Jason managed to tear off one of C.Y.T.R.O's arms. I saw Berto try to get his robot to respond but his efforts became useless when Jason took a swing at C.Y.T.R.O and take the robot's head clean off. C.Y.T.R.O stood there for a moment then toppled face first to the ground.
"Oh man." Berto groaned his head in his hands. "Not again." I tried not to laugh but the look on his face was priceless. He looked up at me with a frown on his face. "Muy divertido."
"Okay I'm sorry." I replied and started walking. Berto followed as I headed for Max. As we walked I saw that the robots that had recently been fighting against N-Tek were now scattered around the landscape in pieces. "Well if you need any spare parts for C.Y.T.R.O or scrap metal, you know where to look." I said and Berto laughed at that.
"So I'm guessing N-Tek came out on top." I commented as Forge joined us.
"Yeah unfortunately Miles Dredd and Jason Naught got away again. Plus the Ultimate Elementor just vanished into thin air." He told me and I grinned.
"How does something that big just vanish? It's like losing an elephant, how do you do it?" I commented and Forge rolled his eyes at me.
"He's done this before." He answered and headed back to the Jump jet.
"So what now?" I asked Berto. It was then Kat and Jefferson joined us.
"Well that was a bust. Need some help with C.Y.T.R.O?" Jefferson asked and Berto sighed.
"I guess so. I'll take him back to the lab and fix him there." Berto said and they went to retrieve him. Kat turned to me and asked if I was ready to head back yet and I nodded. However I hadn't taken more than a dozen steps when I began to feel light-headed. By the time I reached the Jump jet I was barely able to walk in a start line. When Berto noticed that I was walking kind of strangely he called out to me. When I didn't respond he hurried down the ramp and headed for me. Just as he reached my side I stopped suddenly. I thought he asked me something but I wasn't sure as I struggled to stay conscious.
"I feel…kind...of sleepy." I mumbled and that's when my knees buckled. Someone said something to me, probably to ask if I was alright or to call for help but I don't know as I passed out.