"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Shock asked me as we headed for the hangar.
"If I don't do something soon I'll go crazy. Besides I'm fine." I answered as I stopped running. "Let's rock, Flight!" I called out, only for Shock to hover in front of me. "Um Shock, what gives?"
"You always say you're fine then something happens. So I'm going to ask you again; are you sure?" He said and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes in frustration.
"I promise that I'm fine. If something changes I'll let you know. Okay?" I replied and he nodded. This time we switched to Flight mode. By this time Max, Steel and Berto had finally caught up with us. With a grin Max called out 'Go Turbo, Flight!' and seconds later he was ready to go.
"Let's go get Toxzon." Max said as he lifted off the ground. I was about to go after him when Berto stopped me.
"What's up?" I asked him as he fiddled with his wrist computer. "Is something wrong?"
"I just wanted to say…be careful out there, okay?" He said and I smiled beneath my helmet. Just for a moment I removed my helmet and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. As my helmet reappeared I couldn't help but laugh as he went bright red in the face.
"I will. See you later. Oh and I'll be bringing back Toxzon so I hope you have space for him here." I answered and flew away before he had time for a comeback.
"Do you have to tease him so much?" Shock asked as we hurried to catch up with Max Steel.
"Yep. Come on, it's fun. Besides I'm sure he doesn't mind." I replied as I finally saw Max Steel a few feet away and I shot forward, instantly catching up with him.
"What keep you? Toxzon's been spotted near the warehouse where Extroyer was." Steel said and I grinned.
"Ready to kick some super villain butt?" Max asked and I nodded. Together we headed for the warehouse district and I couldn't wait until I could face him again. I still owe you for what you did to me and tried to do to THI, I thought to myself as we got closer. Getting there just ahead of Max, I landed and switched to Base Mode. Then I took a look around as I waited for my friends to join me.
"So where is he?" I asked, getting my answer seconds later.
"Right here!" Toxzon yelled sending twin blasts of orange-colored goop at me from his hands. I leapt into the air, instantly dodging the blasts and landed a short distance away.
"Shock let's try our new mode. Let's rock, Shock mode!" I called out and as Toxzon looked on, a little surprised, I was engulfed in a green light. Seconds later I was wearing my new mode.
"Huh it looks exactly like your other mode. What's so different about it?" Toxzon pointed out and I smiled.
"Should we show him what this mode does?" I asked my Ultralink friend.
"Oh yeah. Let's." Shock answered and I began to charge the cartridges on both my wrists with my Turbo energy. Now a little concerned Toxzon started for me. Before he could reach me, my wrists started to glow.
"Take this!" I shouted as I aimed for the villain, firing off both charges. As both blasts hit Toxzon, he lit up with the electrical charge.
"Yeoww!" Toxzon yelled and fell to one knee. "What did you do?" He asked as knelt there.
"How do you like Shock mode?" I asked as I began to charge the cartridges again and that's when I found the flaw in this mode. It took time to recharge and that gave Toxzon enough time to strike back. "Uh oh." I muttered as Toxzon slashed at me with his claws. Trying to dodge I slipped and landed on my back. Laughing at me, Toxzon aimed his hands at me and was getting ready to blast me again when the cartridges finally recharged. With a smile I lifted up my arms.
"Oops." He muttered before he took both blasts to his face, once again lighting up.
"Nice shot Jessie." Max Steel said as he flew down and helped me to my feet.
"What keep you two?" I asked as I walked towards the villain, ready to wipe the floor with him.
"Hey you went ahead without us, remember?" Max pointed out as Toxzon climbed to his feet, swaying a little.
"You're going down." I growled at him, thinking I had him on the ropes. No such luck as he lunged for me and I dodged his claws. Rushing me I was caught off guard and I had to keep dodging until I realized that he'd backed me to the edge of the pier. When I realized that I had only two options; take the next blow or jump. So I jumped just as he swiped at me and fell into the water.
"Jessie!" I heard Max yell as I sank. Knowing Toxzon would prevent Max from helping me, I managed to gasp something to Shock. Instantly the water lit up with a green light and seconds later I burst out of the water, now in Scuba mode. Surprising Toxzon I kicked out with my flippers and sent him flying.
"When did you get that mode?" Max asked after changing modes. Now in Strength mode he slammed Toxzon into the ground.
"Courtesy of Berto. He thought I could use it after last time." I replied before I changed to Knight Mode. "Getting back on track, Toxzon's coming back to N-Tek this time." With that I went after him, hitting him with my sword. Raining blows on Toxzon, I was enjoying myself as Max joined in. After sending Toxzon through a warehouse wall, we went after him. Just as we did he fired a blast of orange goop at us, missing us by inches.
"Hah, your aims getting worse." Max called out and Toxzon laughed suddenly.
"Oh that's not good." Shock muttered as the goop began to take form. "Yep I was right." As we watched on the orange goop transformed into a monster twice our size. With a roar it charged and we split up, confusing it.
"You take on the monster, I'm going after Toxzon." I told Max, changing modes and running after Toxzon now in Speed mode.
"Hey why do you get Toxzon and we get stuck with the goop monster?" Max called out as the creature went after him.
Having caught up to Toxzon in seconds I jumped towards him and blocked his escape.
"You again?" He said. "You are starting to be a nuisance." As he looked for a way out, I swapped to Strength mode this time.
"Only starting? I can fix that." I replied, picking up a wooden box and running towards him. As I threw the box at his head, he brought his arms up and caught it. "Bad move."
This time I had to dodge as he sent the box back at me, only to figure out that it was a distraction when he blasted me with both barrels. Smashing into a pile of boxes, I groaned as Shock detached and stared down at me.
"That was a brilliant move." He commented as I struggled to free myself. Unfortunately due to the size of Strength mode I was jammed in and couldn't move.
"Little help?" I asked and he sighed. As he went to link up with me, Toxzon suddenly blasted him and he slammed into the far wall. "Shock!" I yelled as Toxzon laughed. Again I tried to free myself but I was stuck fast and could only watch as he stood over me.
"Smooth move, J-Shock." He commented as he kicked me in the stomach. With a yelp I couldn't do much more than lay there. "I'm surprised you managed to survive my bomb."
"No thanks to a loony like you." I groaned and he kicked me again. Now really mad I let him have it with a blast of Turbo energy from both my hands. This sent him into the wall behind him and I grinned, despite my pain. Finally Shock made his way back to me and linked again, changing us back to Base mode and freeing me. As I staggered to my feet, I saw Max Steel hurry over to us.
"You guys okay?" He asked as I placed a hand on my stomach. Wincing a little I went after Toxzon, only to find him gone.
"Not again! This is getting ridiculous. How many times can one guy escape?" I grumbled and Max started to laugh. With a growl I searched high and low for the super villain but my efforts were in vain. Toxzon was gone without a trace.
"Maybe Commander Forge could help us." Shock suggested and I nodded. Changing to Flight mode I decided to go back to N-Tek. Leaving Max I took off. Once back at N-Tek I changed into my camouflage mode and went looking for the Commander. Before I found him, however, Berto hurried out of his lab and almost collided with me and Shock.
"Thank goodness you're okay." He said and I stared at him. "After the beating you took." He added and I shook my head.
"I'm fine, Berto." I replied with a grin. "Too bad Toxzon got away from us, again." As I watched Berto, he placed a hand under his chin, thinking. Without warning he poked me in the stomach and I doubled over in pain. "Okay not so fine." I coughed as Shock looked on.
"Medical Bay. Now." Berto ordered. Shocked by his attitude I did as I was told, still hunched over.
"You've got a couple of bruised ribs and a massive bruise on your stomach. You're lucky Toxzon didn't break your ribs." Shock told me a few minutes later and I cringed when Berto frowned at me, his arms crossed against his chest.
"Why don't you ever listen to me?" He asked and since I couldn't think of a reasonable answer I kept quiet. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Would saying 'sorry' help in any way?" I asked and Berto gave me a slight smile.
"Not many guys would put up with a girl as stubborn as you." Shock said and I laughed, only to grimace when my stomach hurt. "You're lucky he stays with you."
"He's right you know." Berto commented as he sat beside me on the couch. "Let Max and Steel catch Toxzon, okay?" I wanted to argue but I knew it was useless when he was right.
"Alright. I guess that leaves me with Dredd and Naught then." I agreed and he patted me on the shoulder. "Do you have to look so relieved?" I added and Berto raised an eyebrow at me, feinting surprise. It didn't work and I giggled.
"Finally something we both agree on." He said and I rolled my eyes at him. "So how's your stomach?" He asked as he gently touched my abdomen with his right hand. For some reason it didn't hurt like before so Berto continued to check that I wasn't badly injured. Not even a minute had passed when I suddenly made a noise in my throat.
"What exactly was that?" He asked me, removing his hand as I blinked at him in confusion. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"No. I'm just as surprised as you. Why did I do that?" I commented. After a slight hesitation he went back to checking my bruised stomach. This time I was unable to stop myself in time and I let out a moan. Removing his hand Berto raised an eyebrow as my eyes went wide in shock. "What's wrong with me now?" I muttered.
"That's interesting." Shock said, bringing up a visual of my heart rate and pulse. "Every time Berto does that, your pulse rises and your heart rate jumps. I wonder why those facts are connected." He said out aloud and I instantly blushed the moment I figured out the cause. Unfortunately Berto came to the same conclusion as I did and that's when I knew I was in trouble.
"I get it now. I didn't know that you liked being touched there. Well this is a side of you I never thought existed." Berto said and I shook my head, my face flushed. "Oh really?" With a sudden smile, and catching me off guard, he reached over and placed his hand over the same spot. Before I had time to move out of range he started to move the fingers on his right hand and whatever I tried to say was cut off abruptly.
"No...stop it...uh" I mumbled as I groaned. Chuckling Berto continued despite my protests and soon I stopped being able to speak coherently. Probably curious about why I was making such a strange noise Shock went looking for someone to ask, leaving me at Berto's mercy. Now completely incapable of speech, or even rational thought for that matter, I couldn't stop him.
"You are one interesting girl." He said as I groaned, my eyes closed and head tilted back slightly. "Never knew you were so sensitive, even wearing that Base suit." Grinning he leaned in and kissed me, cutting off any further attempt at speech. Not that I could talk at the moment anyway. Even with my mind reeling I managed to kiss him back. When we came up for air, Berto laughed as I tried to avoid his eyes.
"Not funny, Berto." I mumbled and he grinned at me. Instead of moving away I stayed put trying to glare at him, embarrassed at being taken off-guard so easily. This proved a huge mistake when he placed his hand on the area between my ribs and navel and began to gently stroke the spot with his fingers. Incapable of fighting back, or not wanting to probably, I stayed put. As he ran his fingers over my side and navel area I began to moan, pretty much obvious to everything but him. Laughing now, Berto began to speed up the movement of his fingers and I couldn't help the moans that escaped from my lips. That's when my hands and eyes began to glow and the computer behind me was engulfed in a sudden blast of Turbo energy. For a moment Berto looked over at the computer and, noticing he wasn't paying attention to me anymore, I mumbled something. Looking at me, he chuckled.
"Sorry about that. The computer blew up. Did you do that?" He asked as the green light faded from my eyes and hands. "Okay then." He said and returned to what he was doing moments ago.