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The first thing Steel saw as they came to was Max’s chest. They could see the rest of Max’s body hovering over them. Max’s clothes had many rips and patches of dark red. Their auditory sensors came online, and Steel made sure to stay still. If Max was protecting them, there must be a reason for that.
“—ve me the machine, and I’ll be on my way,” an unknown voice registered.
“No,” Max growled.
“You say that like you have a choice, kid.”
“Don’t care.”
“Listen here; you’re going to give it to me—”
“No.”
“—Because if you don’t, I’ll kill you on the spot.”
“No, you won’t. We both know I’m too valuable for that.”
Oh, Max was good .
“Don’t test me.”
“Or what?” Max hissed. “You can’t kill me.”
“Maybe not, but there’s nothing that says I can’t hurt you.”
“You won’t do that, either.”
“Oh, yeah? Why not?”
“Because if you hurt me,” Max paused to think, “well, more than you already have, then I’m damaged goods. You know your boss isn’t going to like that, so you’re just going to threaten me, so I’ll comply. You’re not the first to try, by the way, and every single one has failed. You want to know why? Because they each forget just who I am.”
Carefully, Max stood up. Steel noted how Max stayed between them and the villain.
“I’m the one who can connect with Steel. I’m the one who stopped the Makino invasion. You wouldn’t be here threatening me if it weren’t for me saving the world. I’m assuming that’s why your boss wants me.”
“He doesn’t want you ,” the unknown voice spoke. “He wants the machine you’re protecting!”
Blue energy leaked from Max’s hands, and the room grew cold. The teenager walked to the villain, and Steel could hear the unknown person step back.
“That ‘ machine ’ isn’t a machine,” Max grit. “Which you’d know if you did your research.”
Slowly, Max backed the villain into the corner of the room furthest away from Steel.
“And, by the way, their name is Steel.”
What followed Max’s words was nothing short of an explosion. Even with Steel’s refined vision, it was hard to see past the bright blue energy that seemingly lunged for the villain. The glow was so intense that the blue turned white. Once everything cleared up, the unknown person was dead on the floor, Max’s breath heavy.
“Max?”
Quickly, Max spun around to look at Steel.
“Steel?”
“What happened?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Bits and pieces,” Steel admitted. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Do what?” Max asked.
“ That , er, whatever you did just now.”
The teenager winced. “I was really hoping you didn’t see that.”
“Well, I did. How did you do it?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. It just sort of happened , you know?”
Steel hummed.
“I’m sorry,” Max murmured.
“What’re you sorry for?” Steel questioned. “You did what you had to.”
“Maybe, but what if I hadn’t killed him?”
“If you hadn’t, he’d still be coming after us.”
“But his boss—”
“Let it go, Max.”
Max slowly sank onto his knees, and Steel floated over.
“You saved me.”
“Of course I did,” Max said.
Steel threw his fins around Max’s chest. “Thank you.”
Carefully, Max put his hands around Steel’s body. “Always.”