Chapter 8: C.Y.T.R.O. Attacks

Another day in N-Tek. Max and the Ferrus Quintuplets were training with Berto's robots. Alex was with them as he wanted to train too. Vandana tossed a barrage of mana cards at several robots, slicing their heads and limbs off. Just then, another robot came up behind her. "Head's up!" Yeager called, tossing his mana shield at the robot, slicing off its head. "Thanks, little bro." Vandana said. "Anything for my sis." Yeager said.

Zad charged towards his robots, summoned 2 mana katanas and sliced them up. "Ah, nothing like a little elbow grease." He said. Xena sat in a meditation position and floated in midair. As the robots charged towards her, she raised her hands and summoned 4 magical mana eyes. "Fire!" She exclaimed, motioning her hands. The eyes fired several mana blasts at the robots, knocking them down. "Nothing like a bit of meditation to settle the mind." She said.

Wandella charged towards several more robots. She charged up her fists with mana, leapt up and started spinning, hitting each of the robots and knocking them down. As she stopped, she shook off the dizziness. "Whew! Gonna need to work on that one." She said. Suddenly, one of the robots sprang back up and prepared to attack. But then, Alex leapt out in front of her as a red tiger image appeared from his body, disappeared and slashed the robot to pieces with his claws. "You okay?" He asked. "Yeah. Thanks. Hehe." Wandella said, blushing hard.

Just then, a giant robot emerged in front of the team. "We got this one guys." Max said as he walked up to the giant robot. "What're you thinking, partner?" Steel asked. "Remember that move we've been practicing?" Max asked. "Oh yeah. Time to bust it out?" Steel asked. "No better time than now." Max said. He leapt up and charged his right foot with Turbo Energy. "Turbo Kick!" He exclaimed. He kicked the robot so hard, he nearly blew a hole right through its chest. He landed gracefully as the robot collapsed to the floor.

Later, the team all took a break from all the hard training. "That was quite the workout today, guys." Zad said. "Yeah. I think we're really getting used to our powers now." Xena said. "Speaking of powers, how'd you get yours, Alex?" Max asked. "Oh, I've had them forever. I discovered them when I was 5-years-old. My parents explained everything to me and taught me how to control them. After I was ready, they brought me into N-Tek. They told me that it's called a Z-Gene." Alex explained. "What's a Z-Gene?" Yeager asked. Just then, Berto walked in with someone. "Z-Genes are a special cell that are gifted in special people when they're born. In Alex's case, he can harness the abilities of any animal he wants." He explained. "Wow. That's actually pretty impressive, Berto." Vandana said. "Anyway, I wanted to introduce you guys to the newest member of our growing N-Tek family. Meet my little sister, Rayne." Berto introduced. Rayne was a beautiful tomboy girl around their age with short dark grey hair with a light purple highlight, a white tank-top, a dark grey short-sleeved jacket, light purple pants and white sneakers. "Hi, everyone." She greeted, which the team greeted her back. As soon as Zad saw her, his heart started racing rapidly. Rayne blushed a bit herself at Zad.

Max got up and walked over to Berto. "Actually, I'm glad you're here, Berto. I could use your help on a little project I'm working on." He said. "And I could use yours for something I'm working on." Berto said as they walked out of the training room. "I wonder what you guys are working on?" Steel asked himself.

Meanwhile, in the men's bathroom, a couple globs of goop poured their way through the sink faucet and into the base.

(Intro) (Team Turbo updated with Alex)

The globs squeezed under the men's bathroom door and began sneaking around the base. As a scientist walked through the hallway, the globs stuck themselves on the ceiling and waited until he passed before dropping back down and continuing.

Meanwhile, Max was showing Berto a blueprint of his special project in Berto's lab. "Wow. This is amazing, Max. But you do realize that a design like this could take months to build." Berto said. "That's why I'm sharing it with you. Together, I think we could build this thing in just a couple months." Max said. "Ah, excelente. But what about Steel?" Berto asked. "I don't want to tell him yet. I want this to be a surprise when it's finished." Max said. "Right. Top secret." Berto said. "Hey, hey, guys. What do you say?" Steel greeted as he entered the lab. Berto quickly hid the blueprint. "Nothing much, Steel. Berto and I were just working on a little something." Max said. "What kind of something?" Steel asked. "We're just trying to figure out how to deal with Max's Turbo Energy Overcharge." Berto said. "It's no walk in the park, but I think we're pretty close to a break through." Max said. "Yeah. Turns out Max and I make a pretty good team. Just like you do with him." Berto said. "Really? What'd you 2 come up with?" Steel asked. "Well, the one good thing we have finished." Berto said as he brought out a control pad. "Behold. All new and improved." Max started. "And still incredibly handsome, C.Y.T.R.O.!" Berto introduced as the new C.Y.T.R.O. appeared before them. "Wow! Talk about a major upgrade!" Steel exclaimed in awe.

Meanwhile, as the 2 globs made their way towards a vault, they shifted into humanoid forms and walked towards it. But as they walked towards it, a security camera caught sight of them and activated a security barrier. "Unauthorized personal. Remain where you are or you will be neutralized." The camera warned as it activated its defense system. The first goop creature tried to escape, but the camera locked onto it and blasted it to pieces. The second escaped as the camera turned to it, only injuring its arm. The goop creature looked around and spotted Berto's lab.

"Max and I reinforced his defense matrix, jacked up his weapon systems, installed alpha-900 flight capability and seriously enhanced his remote functionality." Berto explained. "And not only that, we made him perfectly immune to my Turbo Touch." Max said. "That's right. Anything the team needs done, C.Y.T.R.O. can do it." Berto said. Unknown to them, the goop creature was listening from outside the door. Just then, an alarm went off. "Whoa, what's up?" Max asked. "I don't know. But let's check it out." Berto said as he, Max and Steel ran out of the lab, failing to notice the goop creature entering the lab from the ceiling.

They met up with the others in front of the vault. "Ew! What's that smell?! Somebody frying garbage?!" Wandella exclaimed. "An intruder met our security measures." Forge said. "An intruder trying to get into one of the Chemi-Vaults. But why?" Kat asked. "I don't know. But it looks like he wasn't alone." Jefferson said, spotting a trail of goop left from the creature's wound. "What exactly is a Chemi-Vault?" Max asked. "It's a place where we lock up all the bad stuff." Jefferson said. "How bad?" Xena asked. "Extremely dangerous." Kat said. "So, what do we do now?" Alex asked. "Split up in groups of 6. Search every square inch of this place." Forge ordered as he took off with Zad. Jefferson and Kat took off together. Xena went with Yeager. Vandana went with Rayne. Wandella went with Alex. "Well, we better go find the intruder, Steel." Max said. "I'll go boot up C.Y.T.R.O. and join the search." Berto said as he took off for his lab.

As he entered his lab, he walked up to C.Y.T.R.O. "Time to boot up, big boy." He said. But as he reached for his remote, he found a puddle of goop. "Ew! Where's C.Y.T.R.O.'s remote?" He asked. Just then, C.Y.T.R.O. started up and turned towards Berto. "Hey, you don't have an auto-start." Berto said as C.Y.T.R.O. marched right towards him and glared down at him. "C.Y.T.R.O.? This is not cool, man." He said. C.Y.T.R.O. swatted a container aside as he backed Berto into a wall. "Totally, definitely not cool!" Berto exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Max and Steel continued their search as they peeked around a corner. "So, come on, Max. What other cool stuff have you and Berto been working on?" Steel asked. "I…can't get into that right now, Steel." Max said. "Why not?" Steel asked. "It's…top secret." Max said. "Oh. Top secret. Like everything else around this place." Steel said. "Sorry. I meant no offence. But if it makes you feel any better, this project me and Berto are working on, it's a bit of a surprise." Max said. "A surprise? What kind of surprise?" Steel asked. Before Max could say anything else, Berto's scream was heard down the hallway. "Berto!" Max and Steel exclaimed with worry as they rushed back to the lab.

When they got there, the place was trashed and Berto was unconscious. They ran over to help him as he started to recover. "You okay?" Max asked with worry. "What happened?" Steel asked. "It's C.Y.T.R.O. He's gone." Berto said. Just then, there was a loud boom and the alarm went off again. Max, Steel and Berto went to check the monitors and saw C.Y.T.R.O. on the cameras. "Oh no. He's heading for the Chemi-Vaults." Berto said with worry. C.Y.T.R.O. was blasting out the alarm and the barriers. "And it looks like he wants to make a serious withdrawal." Steel said. "I guess we overhauled his weapon systems a little too much." Max said. "Ferrus is going to kill me." Berto said with worry.

Meanwhile, Forge, Kat, Jefferson, the quintuplets, Alex and Rayne converged on C.Y.T.R.O. "Berto, shut this blasted thing down!" Forge ordered over the com-link as they started firing their blasters at C.Y.T.R.O. "I can't! Something's wrong and my controller's missing!" Berto exclaimed. "Of course, it is." Forge groaned. They continued blasting, but C.Y.T.R.O. wasn't phased or even dented. "It's no good. We're not even slowing it down." Kat said. "There's gotta be something we can do to stop it." Yeager said. Forge prepared a grenade and tossed it at C.Y.T.R.O. But as it exploded, C.Y.T.R.O. wasn't even scratched. "Okay. Let's see C.Y.T.R.O. ignore this!" Vandana exclaimed. She created a large mana card and tossed it at C.Y.T.R.O. But as it hit, C.Y.T.R.O. turned around and fired his blaster at Vandana's head. Rayne pushed her out of the way before the blast could hit her. "Thanks." Vandana said. "No problem." Rayne said. "Berto, you are so fired when this is over!" Forge exclaimed, upset when his eldest daughter nearly lost her head.

Berto cringed at that. "What're we gonna do? I can't short C.Y.T.R.O. out with my Turbo Touch. We made him immune to that." Max said. "But we can't just let C.Y.T.R.O. just tear up the base." Steel said. "And we're not gonna let him. Come on." Max said as he, Steel and Berto left the lab. They met up with the others, who weren't having any luck with C.Y.T.R.O. "We can't make a dent in that hunk of metal." Zad said. "That thing's tearing the whole base apart! You can't shut it off, then we shut it down!" Forge exclaimed. "Sorry, Berto. But we may have to scrap C.Y.T.R.O." Max said. Berto understood. "Go Turbo!" Max exclaimed. Steel linked up to him and outfitted him in the Steel Suit. The Ferrus Quintuplets transformed into the Mana Quints. As everyone took off after C.Y.T.R.O., Berto found more of the goop on the ground and inspected it. "I don't know where this gunk came from, but I intend to find out." He said.

C.Y.T.R.O. made his way towards the Chemi-Vault. "Unauthorized personal. Remain where you are or you will be neutralized." The security camera warned as it took aim at C.Y.T.R.O. But C.Y.T.R.O. destroyed the barrier and the camera. Max came up behind him and delivered a powerful Turbo-powered punch, knocking him against the vault door. But it wasn't enough to keep C.Y.T.R.O. down as he got back up. "That was our best Sunday punch." Max said. "We used to so much as look at C.Y.T.R.O. and he just powers down." Steel said. Max quickly dodged C.Y.T.R.O. as he tried to slam his blaster onto him. C.Y.T.R.O. managed to blast him off the ceiling. "I help Berto upgrade him and this is the thanks I get?" Max asked. "Yeah, he was supposed to be on our side." Steel said. Just then, C.Y.T.R.O. ran up to them. "INCOMING!" Steel exclaimed. Max quickly leapt over C.Y.T.R.O. before he could pound him. But then C.Y.T.R.O. swatted him into the vault door. "Man, the bigger they are, the harder they hit." Max groaned from the pain. As C.Y.T.R.O. prepared to blast him, something hit him from behind. He turned around to see the Mana Quints, Alex, Rayne and Jefferson. "Open fire!" Jefferson exclaimed. He, Alex and Rayne fired their blasters while the Mana Quints attacked with their mana blasts. But C.Y.T.R.O. turned towards them and aimed his blaster at them. "Look out!" Wandella exclaimed. Everyone leapt for cover as C.Y.T.R.O. fired at them. "Return fire!" Jefferson exclaimed.

"If we can't short him out, then we're gonna need some muscle to take C.Y.T.R.O. down." Max said. "Then let's get strong." Steel said. "Go Turbo Strength!" Max called, morphing to Strength Mode before leaping out between C.Y.T.R.O. and the others. He pulled out a steel beam as C.Y.T.R.O. charged towards him and struck him with it like a baseball bat. "Swing, batter, batter!" Steel exclaimed as C.Y.T.R.O. crashed into the vault door. But C.Y.T.R.O. quickly recovered and tore off the vault door. Jefferson, Alex, Rayne and the Mana Quints fired at him, but C.Y.T.R.O. used the door as a shield before throwing it at them. But luckily, Max leapt in front of them and caught the door just as Forge and Kat ran up. "He's entered the Chemi-Vault!" Kat exclaimed. "Move!" Forge ordered. Everyone quickly followed C.Y.T.R.O. into the Chemi-Vault.

Meanwhile, Berto brought a sample of the goop to his lab and analyzed it. "Highly toxic, significant radiation footprint, definitely traceable." He said as he finishes the analysis. "Gotcha!"

Meanwhile, as C.Y.T.R.O. entered the vaults, he began looking for something. Just then, as he picked up a canister, the team started blasting him. He tossed the canister at them. But they ducked behind a console. "Wait a minute! C.Y.T.R.O.'s not mindlessly trashing the vault!" Max realized as C.Y.T.R.O. ripped open another vault. "Yes, he's searching for something." Steel said. "But what's he searching for?" Max asked. C.Y.T.R.O. came out with another canister and tossed it at Kat. Luckily, Vandana pushed her out of the way. "Okay. Enough games." Max said. He bashed into C.Y.T.R.O., bursting through the third vault. "Time to take the tin man down." He said as he slammed himself on C.Y.T.R.O.

Meanwhile, Berto tracked the goop's footprint into the men's bathroom. As he entered, he found the intruder's signal hiding in one of the stalls. "There you are. Whatever you are." He said, seeing the goop creature's feet.

Meanwhile, as C.Y.T.R.O. managed to blast Max off of him, Berto contacted everyone through the com-links. "Guys, I think I found the intruder! In the men's bathroom! I need backup!" Berto exclaimed. "Yeager, Zad, you 2 head over there and help Berto." Max ordered. "We're on it, Max." Yeager said as he and Zad took off. "Okay, C.Y.T.R.O., let's try this again." Max said.

Meanwhile, Yeager and Zad reached the men's bathroom in record time. "Guys, in the stall! The intruder!" Berto exclaimed, pointing at the middle stall. Zad sliced the door open with his mana katana and exposed the goop creature with C.Y.T.R.O.'s remote. "Ugh! I don't know if we're supposed to fight that thing or flush it!" Yeager exclaimed in disgust. "Give me that!" Berto exclaimed, taking back his controller. "Who are you? What're you after?" Zad asked as he pointed the blade at the goop creature. Suddenly, the goop creature exploded, leaving a huge mess in the men's bathroom, much to the boys' disgust. Just then, Alex crashed through the rock wall. "Oh, what a headache." He groaned. "Gentlemen, there's an unstoppable robot out there that we could probably use your-" Forge tried to say until he saw the men's bathroom. "And I thought things were bad out there." "It's all good, Commander. I got C.Y.T.R.O.'s remote back." Berto said.

As C.Y.T.R.O. defeated the last of the team, Berto emerged from the hole. "Daddy's back, C.Y.T.R.O.! And you're grounded!" He exclaimed. He pressed a button on the controller, but C.Y.T.R.O. didn't respond as he tried to blast him. "Kids today. They just don't listen." Yeager said as he, Zad, Alex and Forge rejoined the fight. "I don't understand! Why isn't it working?!" Berto asked with worry. As C.Y.T.R.O. tossed a canister at him, Max pulled him to the side. "Was it because it was covered in that creature's goop?" Zad asked. But then Max and Berto realized. "Wait. When we enhanced C.Y.T.R.O.'s functionality, we also extended the range we can control him from." Berto said as C.Y.T.R.O. broke into the final vault. "Then someone must've hacked C.Y.T.R.O.'s control signal! And that goop creature activated it!" Max guessed. "So, someone else has been controlling C.Y.T.R.O. this whole time!" Berto realized. "But what're they after?" Max asked.

They rejoined the team in the vault. "Careful! This vault contains the most horrifying chemical weapons the world has ever known!" Jefferson exclaimed. "Confiscated from kooks and madmen!" Forge exclaimed. "Including the worst one of all. The Tox-Bomb! A biological weapon that combines all the other chemicals into a warhead so toxic, it can wipe out everyone within a 40-kilometer radius of the detonation!" Jefferson exclaimed as C.Y.T.R.O. uncovered said bomb. "Or be the cure to what ails ME!" A familiar voice exclaimed through C.Y.T.R.O. "That voice." Yeager said. "Toxzon!" Everyone exclaimed. "I should've known." Max said.

"Nice to see you again, Max Steel. And your Mana Quint friends too." Toxzon greeted from his lair. "Nice entrance." Fishy said. "You really like it?" Toxzon asked. "I really do. You've been practicing?" Fishy asked. "Does it show?" Toxzon asked. "It totally does." Fishy said. Toxzon cleared his throat before continuing. "Unfortunately for you, I won't be seeing you again." He said as he activated C.Y.T.R.O.'s new rocket launchers through an older remote. "Because you and your friends are about to go BOOM!"

C.Y.T.R.O. fired the rockets. "Look out!" Max exclaimed as he leapt in the way and blocked the rockets. C.Y.T.R.O. blasted a hole in the wall. "Farewell for good!" Toxzon exclaimed as C.Y.T.R.O. took off. "Whoa. Were those duds?" Xena asked as the team inspected the rockets, which didn't explode when they hit Max. "No. We just got to these before we had the chance to arm them." Max said. "Wow. Lucky break." Zad said as everyone followed the hijacked robot.

C.Y.T.R.O. burst into the main hanger. Everyone followed and kept blasting at him as he jumped down onto an energy bridge. "Kill energy bridge 5-7-Baker now!" Forge ordered. The energy bridge deactivated, causing C.Y.T.R.O. to fall. But then, C.Y.T.R.O. activated another new feature Max and Berto added. A rocket pack. C.Y.T.R.O. flew out from the aerial entrance. "We gotta get that warhead back." Forge said. "We can't use Flight Mode. Toxzon will see us following C.Y.T.R.O. from the air." Max said. "Luckily, we have a solution." Berto said.

Later, Max and Berto presented a new high-tech motorcycle to the team. "That? No offense, but how is Max gonna keep up with C.Y.T.R.O. with a motorcycle?" Vandana asked. "Turbo Cycle. See, we figured out a way for Max to use technology without shorting it out or blowing it up." Berto explained as he elevated them to the deployment station. "It wasn't easy at first. But with Steel as an interphase, I'll be able to power the Turbo Cycle, Turbo-fying it." Max said. Steel was amazed by this as he linked up to the Turbo Cycle. Max got on and used his Turbo Energy to power it up. The others were impressed. "We'll explain more on the way." Berto said as he got behind Max. The Mana Quints got on their N-Tek motorcycles. Alex sat behind Wandella and Rayne sat behind Zad. "And wait 'til you guys see what this baby can DOOOOOOOOO!" Berto screamed as Max sped off on the Turbo Cycle. The others followed close behind. They followed C.Y.T.R.O. out of the city, straight towards a chemical plant. They took an alternate route and entered through the sewage system.

Inside, Toxzon brought C.Y.T.R.O. right to him. C.Y.T.R.O. entered the hideout, landed before his hijacker and presented the Tox-Bomb to him. "The Tox-Bomb. At last! So appropriately named. Gimme!" Toxzon exclaimed, taking the Tox-Bomb. Just then, the team entered the hideout. Unfortunately, Berto flew off the Turbo Cycle. "You okay, Berto?" Vandana asked with worry. "Estoy bien." Berto said, showing he's okay. "You! You were supposed to be a smoldering pile of atomized ash!" Toxzon exclaimed in surprise. "And you're nuts!" Berto exclaimed. "Oh, you have no idea." Max said. "Yes, I am! If by nuts, you mean BRILLIANT!" Toxzon exclaimed, activating the Tox-Bomb. "Detonation in T-minus 2 minutes." The timer said. The team was shocked by this. "The poisons contained within this Tox-Bomb will make me even stronger." Toxzon explained as he tossed the bomb around in his hand, making the team nervous. "Easy there, stinky." Berto said. "Even more toxic. But what to do with you 9? Fishy?" Toxzon asked. "Yes? Oh. Oh, oh! Oh yes." "Fishy?" Berto asked in confusion. "Who's Fishy?" Alex asked. "Oh yeah. Toxzon here likes to chat with a plastic fish." Max said. "Does it talk back?" Rayne asked. "Not to us. Thank goodness." Yeager said.

"Oh yes. Yes, that's a grand idea. Let them watch as I become more powerful!" Toxzon exclaimed. Seeing his chance, Berto snuck over to C.Y.T.R.O.'s remote. "Ladies and gentlemen, here's to a more powerful me and a toxically diseased you." Toxzon said. Berto reached the remote, diverted control to his left arm and took back control of C.Y.T.R.O., knocking the Tox-Bomb out of Toxzon's hands and back into his. "I didn't command you to do that!" Toxzon exclaimed. "No. I did." Berto said as he deactivated the Tox-Bomb. "Tox-Bomb deactivated." The timer said. Toxzon brought out his blades and slashed C.Y.T.R.O., causing him to drop the Tox-Bomb. "The bomb! Get the Tox-Bomb, you fool!" Fishy exclaimed. Toxzon ran for the Tox-Bomb, but C.Y.T.R.O. grabbed him and tossed him aside before taking the Tox-Bomb. "So, 10 on 1, is it?" Toxzon asked. "Well, technically 11, but let's not split hairs here." Steel said, driving the Turbo Cycle towards Toxzon. But Toxzon managed to leap over the Turbo Cycle. "Perhaps it's time you met some of my associates!" He exclaimed, firing several globs of goop around the team. Just then, the globs started to morph into the same goop creatures that infiltrated N-Tek. "Say hello to my little friends!" Toxzon exclaimed. "So, you created that goopy humanoid in the men's bathroom." Zad said. "Hey, that's what we should call them. Goopanoids." Rayne said. "Name does fit." Max said.

The Goopanoids attacked the team. Max bashed through each one that came his way. Wandella charged up her punches with mana and punched several Goopanoids. Alex activated his powers as a red elephant image appeared from his body before disappearing. He grabbed 2 Goopanoids and threw them into the wall with immense strength. "Ooh. Impressive." Toxzon said. Zad slashed several Goopanoids at the chests and legs. Yeager bashed through several more with his shield. Vandana and Xena blasted several Goopanoids with their mana cards and mana blasts. Rayne and C.Y.T.R.O. blasted several Goopanoids with their blasters. Suddenly, one of the Goopanoids pounced C.Y.T.R.O., causing him to lose the Tox-Bomb. "Max, the bomb!" Rayne called. Max ran to catch the Tox-Bomb, but the Goopanoids caused him to trip and miss the bomb. Toxzon surfed over to the bomb and grabbed it. "Toxzon's got the bomb!" Yeager exclaimed. "Steel!" Max called. Steel de-linked from the Turbo Cycle and flew over to Max. "Go Turbo Flight!" Max called as Steel linked up with him, morphing into Flight Mode and taking off after Toxzon. He grabbed the Tox-Bomb and deactivated it. "Tox-Bomb deactivated." The timer said.

As the team continued fighting against the Goopanoids, one of them snuck up behind Berto. Toxzon started firing his goop blasts at Max, hitting one of his wings and causing him to fly into a wall. Max nearly dropped the Tox-Bomb, but quickly caught it. "Max, look out!" Steel exclaimed. Toxzon flew up and pasted Max to the wall. The Goopanoids surrounded the team and captured them. "You know, I'm glad the robot didn't finish you off. It's so much nicer to do these things with a personal touch!" Toxzon exclaimed, punching Max. One of the Goopanoids surrounding C.Y.T.R.O. tore off his blaster. "NO!" Berto cried. The goop holding Max presented the Tox-Bomb to Toxzon as he reactivated it. "Countdown initiated." The timer said. "Berto, a little help here?" Max asked. Berto thought hard about what to do. And he had only one idea. His eyes started to glow green as he gave a loud shout. Just then, he unleashed electricity from his body, shocking the Goopanoids and causing them to explode. Max and the Mana Quints were surprised by that. "Was that…" Vandana started to ask. "A Z-Gene power? Yep. I have that too. And so does Rayne." Berto said. Rayne turned towards the last few Goopanoids remaining. "Time for you guys to be taken by storm!" She exclaimed as she motioned her hands. A mini thundercloud appeared over the Goopanoids and electrocuted them with a lightning strike. "Nice work…Little Thunder." Berto teased. "Hey! Don't call me that!" Rayne exclaimed.

Berto tried to control C.Y.T.R.O., but his systems were all gunked up. "C.Y.T.R.O.'s weapon systems are offline! He's all clogged up!" He exclaimed. "Detonation in T-minus 10 seconds." The timer said. "Except one." Berto realized. "Guys, head's up!" He pushed a button on his controller and C.Y.T.R.O. launched an upgraded slug blaster towards Max. "Enjoy your last pathetic breath." Toxzon said as the blaster flew over him. Max pulled his arm free and caught the blaster. Steel linked with the blaster. "What?!" Toxzon exclaimed in shock. "Fire!" Steel exclaimed. Max slung Colress, smacking Toxzon in the head with Metalhead and causing him to lose the Tox-Bomb. "I hope you don't expect me to clean this up." Fishy said as Toxzon landed back on the platform. Berto caught the Tox-Bomb and quickly deactivated it. "Tox-Bomb deactivated. Barely." The timer said. "Whew! Cutting it close, are we?" Alex asked. Just then, more Goopanoids appeared. Max broke free and fired laser blasts from the blaster, striking the Goopanoids and blowing them up. Toxzon recovered and started to run away. "Not this time, Toxzon." Max said as he put the blaster away. "Turbo Kick?" Steel asked. "Turbo Kick." Max said. He flew after Toxzon and charged his right foot with Turbo Energy. Toxzon stopped to turn around as Max deactivated Flight Mode. "Turbo Kick!" He exclaimed, kicking Toxzon really hard and knocking him out. Wandella tossed Max his blaster. "It's over, Toxzon." Max said as he loaded and slung Viola from his blaster, trapping Toxzon with her webs. He turned around as the team, including C.Y.T.R.O., gave him a thumb's up.

Later, N-Tek arrived at the plant and arrested Toxzon. "Good job, everyone. All of you." Forge said, gesturing to C.Y.T.R.O. "Toxzon's in custody, the sight is secure and we should be going." "Uh, before we do, Uncle Ferrus, how is it that Toxzon knew anything about N-Tek?" Max asked. "Yeah. His Goopanoids knew exactly where to find the Tox-Bomb. How was that possible?" Wandella asked. "Before Molly fired him from THI, we fired him from N-Tek. He has a brilliant mind. Too bad it's a crazy one." Forge said as Jefferson and Kat led Toxzon and Fishy out of the plant in an energy barrier.

"I gotta hand it to you, Max, you were right. I mean, the Turbo Cycle, your new Turbo Blaster. You and Berto make quite the team just as we do." Steel said. "Yeah. Especially with C.Y.T.R.O. all upgraded now." Zad said. "And he'll be ready when you guys need him." Berto said. "So, the Turbo Cycle, this is the big surprise you mentioned before, right?" Steel asked. "No. This surprise is more special than the Turbo Cycle." Max said. "But we're still not telling." Berto sang. "Oh man. You guys are such a tease." Steel groaned as he linked with the Turbo Cycle. As Berto got behind Max, he caught the smell of Toxzon's foul gunk. "Ugh! Max, you need a bath!" He groaned. "I need a bath? You need a bath." Max said. "Guys, we all need a bath." Xena said. "Yeah, we all smell worse than Iris." Zad said. Iris chittered angrily, feeling offended. "Oh! Sorry, girl." Zad apologized. Everyone laughed as they rode their motorcycles out of the plant with C.Y.T.R.O. following.

Later, back at N-Tek, after taking a long bath, Max and Berto were upgrading C.Y.T.R.O. with something special as the team watched. "Are we sure that this is going to work?" Berto asked. "Let's find out." Max said. Berto plugged a USB into C.Y.T.R.O.'s head. Just then, C.Y.T.R.O. powered down for a second and then rebooted himself. "I. Am. C.Y.T.R.O." He suddenly said. The team was surprised by this. "Whoa! C.Y.T.R.O. talks now?" Xena asked. "Yep. Berto and I created an artificial mind for C.Y.T.R.O." Max said. "That way, nobody can ever hijack him again." Berto said. "Greetings, Maxwell McGrath and Roberto Martinez. And to all of you, Vandana, Wandella, Xena, Yeager and Zad Ferrus, Alejandro Villar and Rayne Martinez." C.Y.T.R.O. greeted. "Wow. That is awesome." Steel said. "Indeed, it is, N'Baro Aksteel X377." C.Y.T.R.O. said. Just then, Rayne walked up to Zad. "So, after all the craziness that happened, I was wondering…do you wanna go out with me?" She asked. Zad was surprised by this. "Uh, of course! I would love to! Uh, pick you up later tonight?" He asked nervously. "It's a date." Rayne said. Zad fainted from the nerves. Everyone laughed at this.

Well, how was that? Toxzon creates living goop monsters and infiltrates N-Tek to reclaim a warhead he built when he used to work for N-Tek. But as he hacked a new and improved C.Y.T.R.O., Max Steel and the Mana Quints, joined by Berto, Alex, and Berto's sister, Rayne, come to the rescue and apprehend Toxzon. During this, Berto and Rayne reveal that they have secret powers like Alex, called Z-Genes. And afterwards, Max and Berto make C.Y.T.R.O. an artificial mind. But what is this special surprise that Max and Berto are gonna make for Steel? What new adventures will Max's team embark on? Leave a review if you'd like.

Special thanks to FoxyKhai0209 for the Z-Genes and adding Rayne and C.Y.T.R.O.'s artificial mind.