Chapter 22

(Third Person P.O.V.)

While Max and Yuuko were driving a roofless transport buggy, Max exclaimed, "We have to keep this ship from sailing until Mairot can send backup!" to which Yuuko replied, "I'm open to suggestions." as just then they heard a voice shouting, "Tampering with nature like this! Putting so many lives at risk monetary gain! Tell your Mr. Dread I will never work for his organization!" and saw that it belonged to the missing Volcanologist Dr. Effrem Dwight, who was currently in handcuffs and being led by a Dread henchman who responded, "Nothing personal doc, but if that's your final word, I got orders to terminate your stay." before activating his stun baton which also had a lethal setting, indicated by its red glow, but before he could use it, Max kicked a mining cart full of Platinum right at the henchman, knocking him away and on to the ground as both Max and Yuuko rushed over and removed their helmets, revealing their faces as other Dread henchmen showed up and saw this as the henchman who got knocked down by the mining cart loudly shouted, "GET THEM!" while pointing at them before trying to get back up to his feet.

Max then took out one of the charging henchmen with a back spinning heal kick to the head, sending him flying right into a nearby wall, he then took out the second one by intercepting and blocking his arm that was holing his electric stun baton and punching him in the midsection which not only knocked him away but made him drop his stun baton which Max then grabbed right out of the air and used it to take out the the third henchman, before dropping it and removing Dr. Effrem Dwight's handcuffs as the good doctor asked, "Who the devil are you?!" in complete shock awe and surprise with a matching facial expression as Max immediately replied, "Your new best friends." just before the three of them turned and saw several more Dread henchmen with their electric stun batons at the ready rushing towards them as them then immediately turned and fled and hid behind the corner of one of the tunnel ways while the group of Dread henchmen ran in the opposite direction believing they were still chasing after the three of them.

Yuuko then turned and faced Dr. Effrem Dwight and asked, "You said something about lives being at risk?!" to which he quickly replied, "Yes, yes, these fools are literally playing with fire! Their drilling machine has rerouted fifty-sixty magma channels, causing massive geological stress!" in a panic with a matching facial expression as Roberto chimed in on the communicator saying, "That's why the Volcano is active again!" as Kubo who was sitting next to him nodded in agreement as Max, Yuuko, and Dr. Effrem Dwight all ran to try and find an exit as the good doctor proclaimed, "This Volcano is about to erupt like Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii! I tried to warn the man in charge-" as Max finished his statement for him by exclaiming, "Let me guess, he didn't care?" to which Dr. Effrem Dwight responded, "Not one bit! He thinks he can keep mining even if the population of Tener Reef is buried under a-" but before he could finish his sentence the giant drilling machine burst through the wall in front of them, as they turned around and found themselves completely surrounded by Dread henchmen before turning back around and seeing none other then Psycho come out from the drilling machine, much to both Max and Yuuko's shock and surprise, as Yuuko exclaimed, "Psycho!" as Max continued exclaiming, "But you're supposed to be dead!" as they both were still shocked and surprised to see Psycho still alive and kicking.

As Psycho walked forward and proclaimed, "Well if it isn't Team Steel, we must stop meeting like this." as Max retorted, "I'm impressed Smiley, last I heard you were floating out at space with a melted claw and a half decent shot of burning up in Earth's Atmosphere." to which Psycho immediately replied, "Haven't you heard, only the good die young." to which Max fired back, "Prove it! GOING TURBO!" as he went Turbo mode which blasted off his Dread henchman disguise as the Dread henchmen raised and pointed their guns at him only for Pyscho to stop them, saying, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" to which Max asked, "You going soft on me?!" only for Psycho to respond, "Hardly, in the past Dread held me back because he wanted you alive, this time, he doesn't even know you're here, which means you're all mine." as Psycho transformed his cybernetic arm into pincer claw mode and the two of them began circling each other, before charging and leaping right at each other as Max landed a direct hit in the form of kick to Psycho knocking him into the wall, before running away, to which Dr. Effrem Dwight proclaimed, "He's abandoning us!" to which Yuuko immediately retorted, "Not exactly." at which point a Dread henchwoman came up to Psycho saying, "Sir!" to which Psycho proclaimed, "Leave Steel to me, but if those two move, shoot them!" while pointing at Yuuko and Dr. Effrem Dwight, before running to chase after Max.

The Dread henchmen then switched to their stun batons and were about to take away both Yuuko and Dr. Effrem Dwight only for Yuuko to punch the first Dread henchman nearest to her causing him to flip over, before hitting the second one with a powerful sidekick that sent him flying into the nearby wall before she hit the third one with a back spinning elbow strike to the head and then grabbing and shoulder throwing him into the fourth and final and only Dread henchwoman there, knocking them all out, as Dr. Effrem Dwight said, "So you're friend ran...?" to which Yuuko answered, "To give us a chance to do just that, now come on!" as they both quickly left the area as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile Max was currently engaging Psycho in hand to hand combat, while elsewhere Yuuko had knocked out the guards who were guarding the giant drilling machine, after which she and Dr. Effrem Dwight boarded the machine just before another tremor began as Dr. Effrem Dwight proclaimed, "That's the worst tremor yet the volcano will erupt at any minute now!" to which Yuuko asked both Roberto and Kubo about the evacuation over the communicator, to which Kubo responded, "Not going well!" as Roberto played a news report over the communicator for all of them to listen to and hear that said, "With an eruption imminent there aren't enough boats to all of the remaining locals, officials fear a death tole in the thousands!" to which Roberto asked, "Do you copy?!" to which Yuuko immediately replied, "I copy." to which Dr. Effrem Dwight chimed in, saying, "It's as bad as think isn't it?!" to which Yuuko inquired, "Doctor what is we created an escape valve, a new channel to release the magma pressure?!" to which the good doctor retorted, "It's a terrible long shot." to which Yuuko exclaimed "But it's the only chance that Tener Reef has. Can you show me where to drill?" to which the good doctor, said, "If you can pilot this monster, I can navigate." at which point after strapping herself in Yuuko asked the good doctor to help her find the owner's manual.

Meanwhile Max continued has battle with Psycho, as Psycho knocked Max down and threw a boulder at him, Max destroyed it with a single punch, at which point Psycho landed a flying side kick that knocked Max into a nearby wall where he heard the flow of the magma on the other side, at which point Psycho transformed his cybernetic arm from pincer claw mode to laser gun mode and pointed it at max while saying, "Don't fade on me now Steel, I'm not even warmed up yet!" to which Max retorted back, "It shows!" as Psycho fired his laser gun mode cybernetic arm, but Max dodged, causing the magma to spew out and carry Psycho away as Psycho screamed, "STEEL!" as Max then got away and Roberto spoke over the communicator, saying, "Max you've been in Turbo Mode for too long, you're almost out of T-juice!" to which Max powered down and responded, "Use it or lose it I guess. STEALTH MODE!" as he activated stealth mode and went invisible to avoid being detected by any and all remaining Dread henchmen that might be around as he used his grapple gun to make his way out of a nearby channel leading to the outside, as Max then spoke over the communicator, "At least his claw will survive, right, Roberto and Kubo? ...Roberto? ...Kubo?" as he got no response over the communicator.

Back with Yuuko and Dr. Effrem Dwight who were both piloting the giant drilling machine they just drilled through one of the walls as Dr. Effrem Dwight, pointed out, "You've hit the magma stream! Now adjust course to a downward angle!" as Yuuko did just that, causing the magma to flow into the new channel they just created and right behind them, as Yuuko exclaimed, "The controls are scorching, I can barely hold on, as the temperature gauge showed the temperature was rising and fast, as Dr. Effrem Dwight proclaimed, "We're not going to make it!" as meanwhile back with Max who was standing on top of the volcano heard Roberto over the communicator say, "Heads up hermano!" as Max turned and saw Roberto piloting hawk with a cable and a sky surfing board attached to it, as Max smiled and jumped as soon as hawk was close enough and grabbed the cable and placed his feet in the sky surfing board, as just then the drilling machine had just burst through the back of the volcano followed by all of the magma behind it from the new magma channel they had created as the drilling machine landed in the ocean, as all of the magma safely flowed into the ocean behind the volcano saving the Island and all of the lives of all of the people living on it.

As Kubo called in over the communicator and asked, "Yuuko, are you alright?" to which Yuuko replied, "I'd say we've gained new sympathy for steamed lobsters, but we're fine. What about the volcano, the civilians, and Max?" curiously as Roberto immediately answered her question, saying, "Your escape valve worked, the volcano is going back to sleep, which means you successfully saved the lives of all of the civilians on the island, and as for Max, he's well, Max." Max shouted "YEEHAW!" while riding behind the hawk on the sky surfing board attached to the hawk via cable.

To Be Continued