Chapter 16: The Virus Queen
Inside his secret lair, Dread was putting the finishing touches on his newest project. "At long last, my newest creation is ready. Stand by for activation in 3…2…1." He said, activation his project. An artificial intelligence. "Uplink complete. Greetings, Master Dread. I am Vira, your humble artificial intelligent servant." The AI, named Vira, greeted, recognizing Dread as her master. "Welcome, Vira. I would like to take this opportunity to explain your assignment." Dread said. "Very well, Master." Vira said. "You are to lure out the superhero known as Max Steel and shut him down." Dread explained. "As you wish. I have already set up a link with the online news reels. I can trace him and locate him through the network." Vira explained. "Excellent. Now then, you have your assignment. Find Max Steel." Dread ordered. "As you wish." Vira said, uploading herself into the network.
As she trailed the networks, she discovered where Max Steel's normal hangouts. "Target acquired. Max Steel, prepare to meet your doom." She said, cackling as she entered an electric grid, leading her into Copper Canyon High.
(Intro)
Meanwhile, at N-Tek, Max and Berto were staring at a tarp covering their special project, now fully completed. "You think Steel's gonna like it, Max?" Berto asked. "Oh, he definitely will, Berto." Max said. "Then shall we get it ready?" Berto asked. "Yeah, call everyone." Max said with a nod.
A while later, outside the secret entrance in the alley, Steel, the Ferrus Quintuplets, Alex, Rayne, C.Y.T.R.O., Whitney, Forge, Molly, Amelia, Kat, Jefferson, Al and the Fujikawa Twins gathered as Max and Berto brought out their tarp covered project. "Thank you all for coming out for this marvelous occasion. For I am about to unveil to you, my latest project. Drumroll please." Max said. Vandana conjures a mana drum and plays it, giving him his drumroll. "I give you…my greatest work." Max said. He took the tarp in both hands and pulled it off, unveiling his project. A humanoid android with chin length blonde hair, along with sky blue and white highlights, wearing a black t-shirt with dark brown cardigan, grey jeans and a pair of black and cyan sneakers. Just then, Steel squealed when he saw a certain spot on the android's chest shaped like him. "Max, is this the special project that you were talking about some time ago?" He asked, excitedly. "Yep. I wanted to make something very special for you so you can be in the open while hidden from everyone else." Max explained. Steel, overwhelmed by happiness, hugged Max around his head. "Aww!" Molly, Amelia, Vandana, Wandella and Xena said.
"I wanna test this baby out." Steel said as he broke the hug. He links himself into the android and feels his consciousness merge with it. As he woke up, he looks at his new arms. "Whoa." He said in awe. As he looked at an old mirror, he sees his reflection. "Wow!" But as he tried to take his first step, he started to wobble. Max helped him steady. "Easy, partner." He said. "Sorry, Max. First time with having feet and all." Steel said. "You'll get used to them soon enough." Max assured. "Sooner than you think, actually." Shiba said as she and Yuni walked up. "Yes. You can get a feel for your new legs as you join your friends in school." Yuni said. "Wait. School? Does that mean?" Steel asked. "Yes. As the principal and vice principal, we have decided to have you officially enrolled into Copper Canyon High." Shiba said. "We talked a while ago and we've already set up a new identity for you while you're using your android body." Max explained. Steel was surprised to hear this. "Welcome to Copper Canyon High…" Yuni started to say, giving Steel his own student card.
Later, as the team arrived at school, as class started, Steel wrote his human surname on the chalkboard. "Stephan McGrath." He introduced. The class immediately welcomed him as he walked over to Max and sat next to him. Although, Butch and Mr. Thornhill were not very pleased about this.
Meanwhile, as the classes progressed, inside the computer lab, Vira appeared on one of the computer screens and started to put her plan to work. "Finally. Time for Vira to spread her virus." She said as she released a virus into the system.
Later, as class ended, Max's group walked out as Sydney and Kirby talked with Steel. During the classes, Steel managed to befriend and become popular with all of Max's friends. "So, Stephan, how are you related to Max?" Sydney asked. "Yeah. Max never mentioned that he had a brother." Kirby said. "Well, I am his brother. But you see, I was…kinda…adopted." Steel said. "Adopted?" Sydney asked, a bit surprised and the same goes to Kirby. "Yeah. His mom adopted me after her husband passed. Max and I have been close brothers ever since." Steel said. "It'd be impossible to try and separate us." Max said, bringing his 'brother' into a side-hug. Suddenly, there was an explosion. Everyone quickly hit the deck as more explosions went off. "What happened?!" Sydney cried. "Must've been a bomb!" Rayne exclaimed. "It came from the computer lab!" Max exclaimed. "Attention, staff and students, please evacuate the school at once! This is not a drill! Evacuate immediately!" Shiba called over the P.A. system. As Sydney, Kirby, the students and staff evacuated the school, the team slipped through the crowd and ran towards the computer lab.
As the team arrived at the computer lab, they saw that all of the computers have all been blown out. "What could've caused all this damage?" Alex asked. "Let's check it out." Yeager said. The team all looked around the lab, examining the computers. "Something must've caused these computers to short out and explode." Max said. "But what could've caused them to short out?" Xena asked. Unknown to the team, Vira was gathering potential data on them. "Data scan complete. Time to go." She said before leaving into the circuitry. But then, Steel sensed her moving into the circuits. "Guys, I think something was just here." He said. "What do you mean, Steel?" Vandana asked. "I thought I sensed a strange entity moving through the circuits in the lab." Steel said. "What or who was it?" Rayne asked. "I don't know. It moved too fast for me to get a proper scan." Steel said.
Later, Vira returned to Dread's lair. But Dread was not happy. "You dare to return and not bring me Max Steel?!" He exclaimed angrily. "No need for disappointments, Master. It is all part of my plan." Vira assured. "And what plan is that?" Dread asked. "I have gathered all of the necessary data on Max Steel and his little team. So now, I know how to bring each of them down." Vira said. Just then, one of Dread's Dreadnaught stations came online and a female robot emerged from it. "A female Dreadnaught?!" Dread asked in surprise. "Yes. I created it myself as soon as you activated me." Vira said as she transferred herself into the robot's body, bringing it online. "And now that my new body is active, I can complete my plan and destroy Max Steel, his little team and the city." She said, getting a feel for her body. "That was not the plan! Or perhaps you've forgotten that I need Max Steel for his Turbo Energy!" Dread exclaimed. "Oh, I remember, Master. And I. Don't. Care." Vira said. Dread shouted in anger as he charged towards her to attack her. But Vira blasted him with a beam of Negative Turbo Energy, knocking him out. "Apologies, 'Master', but I have a city to destroy." She said before leaving.
Meanwhile, back at N-Tek, the team were still trying to figure out what caused the explosion in the computer lab. "Anyone have a clue about what caused that explosion?" Rayne asked. "Nothing." Alex said. "Maybe it was a glitch in the computer systems." Zad guessed. "I don't think so. Computer glitches don't cause computers to blow up at the same time." Vandana said. "I'm thinking that it could've been a virus." Max guessed. "And that strange entity I detected must've been the source of it." Steel added, having lefy his android body in Berto's lab. Before they could think about it further, an alarm went off. "We got reports of a female robot attacking the city." Rayne said, bringing up the news feed of Vira was attacking the city. "Let's move team!" Max ordered.
Later, as the team arrived at the city, they found Vira waiting for them. "Welcome, Max Steel and friends, to your doom." Vira greeted. "Who is she? And she bares a strange resemblance to Dread's robots. But more slimmer." Vandana said. "We'll see. Let's take her down." Max said. The team gets ready to fight. "Max, I'm detecting the same entity I picked up earlier at school." Steel said. "Then this Dreadnaught must've been the one who attacked the computer lab." Max said. "Indeed I am. But I am no mere Dreadnaught. I am Vira, Queen of Viruses." Vira said. She transferred herself into numerous screens, revealing herself to the team. The team gasped in shock at this as she transferred herself back into her robot body. "She's…an artificial intelligence!" Steel exclaimed. "No matter. She's still gonna end up scrapped!" Rayne exclaimed. She charged towards Vira and prepared an electric punch. But Vira caught her and threw her into a nearby building, defeating her easily. "Tempestra!" Zad cried. "Take her down!" Max exclaimed. The team charged towards Vira. "You can't beat me, whelps." Vira said. As Alex charged towards her with rhino strength, she caught him and slammed him into the street. "When I infiltrated your school's computers…" Zad tried to slash at her with his mana katana, she ducked and swept his legs. "…I did more than just spread that virus to your computers." Vandana and Wandella charged towards her with mana powered punches, she grabbed their arms and threw them into the building. "I gathered intel on each and every one of you." Yeager tried to hit her with his mana hammer, but she knocked him out with a single punch to the face. "Your powers, your moves, your weaknesses." Xena fired her mana blasts at her, but she dodged every blast and blasted her down with a blast of Negative Turbo Energy. Max charged towards her, powering up his left foot with Turbo Energy. "Turbo Kick!" He called as he leapt at her to kick her. But Vira caught his foot in midair. "Even your identities. Especially yours…Maxwell McGrath." Max and Steel gasped at this as Vira charged up her fist with Negative Turbo Energy and punched him, knocking him down.
"Ugh, there's gotta be some way to beat her." Max groaned. "But how? She knows who you are." Steel said. "And odds are she knows who the rest of the team are too." Max added with worry. Just then, they sparked up an idea. "I'll be right back." Steel said as he de-linked from Max and took off. After he took off, before Max could recover, Vira walked up to him and stood over him. "Your Ultralink is wise to flee. But it's a darn shame that he won't make it in time to save you, Max." Vira said. "Then why don't you just take me to Dread? He wants me and you're his newest minion, aren't you?" Max asked. "Not anymore. He wanted me to bring you to him. But I will destroy the one thing that could ever stand in my way. You." Vira said, charging up her right hand with Negative Turbo Energy.
Suddenly, before she could finish off Max, Vira was blasted by a Turbo Blast. The team recovered as they looked and saw Steel in his android body. "Leave him alone!" He demanded. "You. I saw you in the computer lab. But I don't know who you are." Vira said as she recovered. "Really? You don't recognize my own voice?" Steel asked. "You're…the Ultralink!" Vira gasped in surprise. "In human skin. You like?" Steel asked. "You may look human, but you're still just as weak as the rest of your friends." Vira said. Steel and Max looked at each other with big grins as Max nodded to him. "You think so? Then let's see if you think this is weak!" Steel exclaimed as all of a sudden, jet wings sprout out of his back. The team and Vira were surprised to see that. "Get her, Steel." Max said. Steel charged towards Vira, his jet wings allowing him to fly. Boosters activated on his back legs, speeding him up. And with the extra boost, he kicked Vira hard, knocking her down. "How did you do that? I scanned you, but I never found any data on you!" Vira exclaimed as she recovered. "Well, there's the thing, Vira. Data doesn't tell everything. It's what you do with your talents that can tell a person's life." Steel said. "Such emotional nonsense." Vira said before charging towards him. But as she was about to throw a punch, a chainsaw popped out of Steel's right arm, powered with Turbo Energy, and sliced off her arm. The team was shocked by this. But Max chuckled, glad to see that Steel was figuring out the android's perks. Vira charged up her left hand with Negative Turbo Energy and prepared to blast him, but Steel activated another chainsaw from his other arm and sliced it off too. "Careful. I'm sharp." Steel said as he activated his left booster, kicking Vira's torso off her legs. "Ugh! How is this happening?" Vira asked in confusion. "Nothing ever makes sense." Steel said. Just then, Steel deactivated his chainsaws, grabbed his head and pulled it off. The team cringed at the sight of that. Alex even fainted. Steel rolled his head over to Vira. "Boom." He said before his head exploded, destroying Vira.
As the team fully recovered, they walked over to Steel's headless body. "Whoa. Talk about 'Off with his head', right?" Xena asked. "But what about Steel's head?" Vandana asked. Just then, Steel's android body grew a new head. "Oh, I think I got that covered." He said. The team was surprised by this. "Yeah. That head bomb was my idea." Max said. "Max, I got to say. When you design an android body, you really know how to design them." Rayne said, impressed. But then, the team looked at all the damage Vira caused during her rampage. "Yikes. Cleanup's gonna be a good time for N-Tek, but a nightmare for Dad." Wandella said. The others nodded in agreement, knowing how irritated Forge gets with cleanup duty.
Afterwards, the team returned to N-Tek. "We really have to say, Steel, your android body is even more amazing than we first thought." Alex said. "Yeah. The jet wings, the chainsaws, the head bomb. Max gave you quite the arsenal." Yeager said. "Thanks, guys. Makes me wonder what else this baby can do." Steel said as he stared at his android hands. "Tell you what, let's go see Berto and ask him to set up the training area. That way, you can test out your new features." Max suggested. "Good call, Max." Steel said. As the team headed their way to the training area, they started thinking about Vira again. "Do you guys think Vira's gone for good?" Vandana asked. "I doubt it. Vira's no ordinary AI. She'll be back, and with a stronger robot body." Max said.
Meanwhile, a still alive Vira traveled along several electric wirings and objects. "They can't destroy me. I am Vira, Queen of Viruses. I will return." She said sinisterly before disappearing.
Whoa! Talk about surprises. Max finally presents his special project. An android body just for Steel. But as Steel tries out his new android body, Dread unleashed his newest minion, Vira, Queen of Viruses. But Vira betrayed Dread and set out to destroy Max Steel. But thanks to the belts and whistles in Steel's android body, Vira's Dreadnaught body was destroyed. But Vira managed to escape. What other tricks does Steel's android body possess? What plans will Vira cook up when she returns? Leave a review if you want.