Chapter 14: Of Rats and Men

Robbery! The Dark Black were stealing barrels of chemicals from a chemical plant. "Hurry up! Boss wants those barrels delivered ASAP!" One of the goons ordered as they loaded the barrels in their truck. "Howdy, boys." Steel's voice greeted. The Dark Black turned around to see Max Steel's team on their motorcycles with C.Y.T.R.O. in the air. "Let me guess. Spring cleaning at the plant?" Zad asked as a joke. "Oh, snap! Max Steel and his little friends! Cheese it!" The one goon exclaimed. The Dark Black got in their truck and drove off. "After them!" Max ordered. The team rode their motorcycles after them with C.Y.T.R.O. following close behind.

As the Dark Black drove through the streets, the ones in the back readied their weapons as they held onto the barrels. "Figures those heroes would be following us. Let's give them a little present, gang." One of the goons said. The Dark Black took aim at the team and opened fire. "Look out!" Wandella exclaimed as she and Yeager blocked the gunfire with their mana shields. "Alex, can you get onto that truck?" Max asked. "With a little spring in my step, no problem." Alex said. A red gazelle image appeared before it disappeared into his body. He set the motorcycle on autopilot before leaping off of it with great force over the mana shield and landed on the truck. "Sorry, boys, but I'm here to repossess those chemicals." He said. The goons turned their weapons on him, but he leapt up onto the truck's roof, causing the truck to shake. The goons wobbled from the shaking, losing their guns. "Aw, lose your little toys?" Alex asked playfully. "Get him!" One of the goons exclaimed. "Oh, bring it on." Alex said as a red gorilla image appeared and disappeared into his body.

As the Dark Black started fighting with Alex, the rest of the team started closing in. "Alright, team, let's get those chemicals back." Max said. The team activated their motorcycles' autopilot and prepared to leap onto the truck. "Not this time, Max Steel." The driver said. He pushed a button on the radio and the roof opened, revealing a big cannon. "Whoa! That's a big gun!" Rayne exclaimed. "That's not just any big gun. That's a Class-5 Electro-Pulse Sonic Cannon!" Steel exclaimed. "It fires powerful sonic pulses powerful enough to turn a parking lot into a junkyard of rubble!" Max exclaimed with worry. The driver chuckled as the cannon charged up and prepared to fire. "Get clear of the blast!" Max exclaimed. The cannon fired a sonic pulse as the team managed to leap out of the way. But C.Y.T.R.O. and the motorcycles were caught in the blast. "Guys!" Alex cried. The Dark Black took advantage of his distraction and punched him, knocking him off the truck. But as they turned a corner, one of the barrels fell out of the truck. The team regrouped as they recovered. "Well, that was terrible." Zad said. "What do we do now, Max?" Rayne asked. "Let's get C.Y.T.R.O. and our bikes back to N-Tek for repairs. We'll pick up their trail again once we rest up." Max said. The team agreed as they went back for their bikes and C.Y.T.R.O.

Unknown to them, the barrel that the Dark Black lost spilled out its chemical and poured into the sewers. In the sewers, a sewer rat walked by as the chemical spilled onto it. Just then, its eyes started glowing bright green as it began to mutate, letting out a loud monstrous squeak.

(Intro)

Later, Max, Steel and the Ferrus Quintuplets returned to the apartment. "Hey, we're home!" Max called. Just then, Whitney the white tiger ran over and pounced onto them, playfully licking them. "Whitney! Enough!" Max exclaimed as he laughed. "Remind me again why we adopted this playful beast?" Xena asked. "Aside from the free licks, we couldn't just leave her at Winter's compound." Steel said. "Okay, Whitney, stop licking our kids." Molly said as she and Amelia walked over. Whitney purred as she got off Max, Steel and the Ferrus Quintuplets. "I hope Whitney wasn't too much trouble for you." Max said as he petted Whitney's head. "No, she was good as gold." Molly said. "Yeah. A simple teleportation spell to our apartment and she made herself right at home." Amelia said. "But even though she's grown on us, she's hard for us to hide from the landlady." Molly said. "Yeah. It's very troublesome." Amelia said. "Don't worry, Mom and Aunt Molly, we'll find a way as we work on our case." Yeager said. "Yeah. We need to find out why the Dark Black wanted those chemicals." Vandana said.

Meanwhile, the Dark Black brought the chemicals back to their hidden lair and unloaded them from their truck. "Unload those carefully. The boss wants all these chemicals intact." One of them said. "Excuse me, boys, I'm looking for your boss." A voice called. The Dark Black turned to see someone standing in the doorway and readied their weapons. "Show your face. Now!" The leader demanded as he stepped forth. The stranger stepped away from the doorway and revealed himself to be a giant rat mutant, wearing a fancy gangster-style suit and a bowler hat. The Dark Black gasped at his appearance. "Wish granted." The rat said.

"Who are you?" The leader asked. "You can call me Ratsnack." The rat, calling himself Ratsnack, introduced with a tip of his hat. "Exterminate it!" The leader ordered. The Dark Black walked up to Ratsnack and readied their weapons. "Alright then. I could use a workout." Ratsnack said. The Dark Black charged to attack with a shout. But Ratsnack proved to be a powerful fighter, knocking every Dark Black down with enhanced strength and speed. The leader watched with an emotionless gaze as Ratsnack pummeled his men. As Ratsnack slammed down the last of the Dark Black with his tail, he approached the leader. "Perhaps we can discuss better negotiations." He suggested. "That won't be necessary. What do you have in mind?" The leader asked. "There are many possibilities with these chemicals you stole. I'm living proof of that. Not only did they give me enhanced strength and speed, but also an enhanced intelligence. With my help, we can use these chemicals to create an entire army of mutants." Ratsnack explained. "Keep talking." The leader said with interest.

The next day at Copper Canyon High, Max and his team were in science class working on their assignments. Max put the finishing touches on his assignment with no problem. "There. Nothing like working up an energy accelerator to get the brain going." He said. "Maxwell McGrath, Alejandro Villar, Rayne Martinez and Ferrus Quintuplets, please report to the principal's office immediately." Yuni called over the P.A. system. "Huh. Wonder what's up?" Max asked as he and his team stood up.

Later, the team entered the principal's office. "What's up, girls?" Rayne asked. "N-Tek's been picking up strange chemical spikes deep in the city." Shiba explained, showing them the readings. "We recognize those spikes." Steel said. "They're the same ones we picked up from those barrels the Dark Black stole yesterday." Max said. "And we can trace these spikes directly to the source." Steel added.

Later, the team rode in on their repaired motorcycles as they traced the chemical spikes directly to their source. "We're getting close." Max said. "Let's hope so. We're deep within Dark Black territory now." Zad said. "Luckily, we won't have much place to look." Steel said. "The spikes are coming from deep inside that abandoned factory." Max said. They pulled up to an abandoned factory. "Guess that's where the Dark Black took those barrels." Alex said.

Meanwhile, inside the factory, the Dark Black prepared several caged animals as they started mixing the chemicals to create Ratsnack's concoction. "Excellent. Once the chemicals are mixed together, we'll be able to create an unstoppable army of mutant warriors." Ratsnack explained. The animals shook in fear from inside their cages. "Shall we prepare a test subject?" The leader asked. "I don't see why not." Ratsnack said. "Prepare a test subject!" The leader ordered. 2 Dark Black loaded a cage containing a ringtail lemur onto a conveyer belt. But then, the team burst through the window and interrupted the process. "Stop right there!" Max exclaimed. Alex glared at the sight of all the imprisoned animals. "Well, well, well, the infamous Max Steel and his little team. I bid you welcome." Ratsnack said. "Hey! We are not infamous!" Steel exclaimed. "Who are you, freaky vermin?" Xena asked. "Name's Ratsnack." Ratsnack introduced with a tip of his hat. Rayne shuddered at the sight of him, having a distaste for rats. "Alright, team, let's shut this operation down." Max said. "Oh, I'm afraid we can't allow that, kids." Ratsnack said. The leader snapped his fingers and the Dark Black got ready to fight. "Team, take them down!" Max ordered. The team and the Dark Black charged at each other and started to fight.

Alex, powered by his gorilla strength, he pounded every Dark Black goon that tried to take a whack at him. "How! Dare! You! Hurt! ANIMALS!" He exclaimed with each pound. Zad slashed at several Dark Black with his mana katana, clashing with those with lead pipes and wrenches. Just then, with each slash, the pipes and wrenches fell apart in slices. The Dark Black took off in fear from what happened. "Guess the old cut-n-run was too much for even them." Zad joked. Vandana and Xena fought back-to-back against the Dark Black that surrounded them. "A little closer, and…" Vandana said as the Dark Black moved closer towards them. "Now!" Xena exclaimed. The 2 sisters knocked the Dark Black down with their mana blasts. Rayne threw a couple of lightning bolts at the Dark Black charging right at her, shocking them and knocking them out. "Shocking, isn't it?" She asked jokingly. Wandella punched each Dark Black with her mana punches, knocking them down. "Yeah, don't mess with the Violet Fury." She said.

Meanwhile, Max and Steel made their way to the machine that was mixing the chemicals. But then, Ratsnack landed in front of them, getting in their way. "What's your hurry, Max? I've been looking forward to testing my superior skills against yours." He said. "You think you can take us?" Steel said. "Alright. Let's see what you got." Max said, preparing to fight. Ratsnack threw the first punch, but Max ducked and punched him in the stomach. "Oh, was that all you got?" Ratsnack asked mockingly. "Not even close." Max said, punching him in the face next. "That's quite the hook you got. My turn." Ratsnack said, punching Max back. "Okay, Rat, you wanna go? Let's go." Max dared. They both managed to throw a few good punches at each other. But Ratsnack proved to be stronger as he knocked Max down. "Well, well, well, I guess even the great Max Steel can't take on my superior strength." He gloated. "Oh, I wouldn't say that." Steel said. "Yeah. You might be strong…" Max started to say as he recovered. "…but you're still a rat."

He gave a loud whistle as Ratsnack looked at him in confusion. Just then, Whitney leapt through the broken window and joined the fight, letting out a great roar. The Dark Black screamed in terror and ran off for their lives. Even Ratsnack felt his fur stiffen up in fear. "Oh, crud." He muttered. Whitney leapt at him, but he scampered away, making her chase him all over the factory. "Hehe. Doesn't this remind you of our old favorite cartoon we used to watch as kids?" Xena asked, chuckling. "Oh yeah. This is just as funny." Zad said, chuckling as well. "So, you think you got me? Well, think again, beast." Ratsnack muttered. He managed to trick Whitney and trip her with his tail, causing her to crash into the machine creating the chemical. Suddenly, the machine malfunctioned and accidentally released the chemical, spilling it all over Whitney. "Whitney!" The team cried in horror. Ratsnack chuckled evilly. "So much for your big cat. Guess the rat was just too smart." He said.

Suddenly, the chemical glob began moving. Just then, Whitney emerged from the glob, revealing to have mutated into a larger version of herself with 2 large fangs like a saber-tooth tiger, large wings on her back and a spiked mace on the end of her tail. Ratsnack stood there in shock, feeling his fur stiffen up again as Whitney roared even louder in his face. As she finished, Ratsnack screamed and scampered off. "Don't let him get away!" Max exclaimed. The Mana Quints attempted to grab Ratsnack with their mana grips, but being a rat, he managed to squeeze through their grips and slipped into the sewers. "You haven't seen the last of me, Max Steel!" He exclaimed as he disappeared into the sewers. "Oh, thank goodness, he's gone. He was really giving me the creeps." Rayne said, shuddering. "But now what're we gonna do about Whitney?" Yeager asked, looking over the newly mutated Whitney. "Well, I'm sure I can find a cure for Whitney's mutation." Max said as he walked up to Whitney. But suddenly, Whitney shrunk back down and transformed back into a regular white tiger. The team was amazed by this. "Hey, this gives me an idea." Max said.

Later, when the team returned to the apartment after they freed the animals from their cages and were taken by the animal service to take care of them, the landlady came by to inspect the place. Laying on the couch was a little white cat with black tiger stripes. "Okay, everything looks okay in my book. I officially give this inspection an A+. And love the cat by the way. Well, have a good day." The landlady said as she left the apartment. Afterwards, Whitney transformed back into her original self. "Aw, you are just so cute now, Whitney." Molly said as she petted Whitney's head, making her purr. "Yeah. We're glad to have her as our new pet now, Max." Amelia said. "Thanks, Aunt Amelia. And she'll be a big help with us on missions from now on too." Max said.

But meanwhile, Ratsnack wondered through the sewers, cackling as he held up a vial of his chemical. Apparently, he was holding out on the Dark Black and finished his own version of the chemical.

Well, how'd you like that for an original chapter? While Max Steel and his team were chasing the Dark Black, a barrel of chemicals they stole spilled into the sewers and created the newest villain in town, Ratsnack the mutant rat gangster. Together, Ratsnack and the Dark Black planned to recreate the chemical and create an army of mutant warriors. But thanks to Max's new pet, Whitney, the team managed to stop their plans and send Ratsnack crawling back into the sewers. But what new plan will Ratsnack hatch with his own vial of his chemical? What other adventures will the team have with Whitney as a mutant? Leave a review if you'd like.