CardboardMoon

So I take a Max. I give him scattered visions of his father’s past in his dreams as his bond with Steel grows stronger. Something about their link, the way it… resonates? Unimportant. Somehow this bond between them is letting him access his father’s memories when he and Steel fall asleep linked. Though it is tanking the actual quality of Max’s sleep. Which does matter. Later.

The other thing that matters is getting Max attached to the fact he gets to see and connect with his father this way. He sees things not just from when his father knew Steel but before. He sees NTek, yes, but also Takion.

Which… raises some questions. A lot of them. But finally learning how to not explode after eight hours is nice.

At some point Max gets tired of nobody believing his visions (read: people in his life are trying to gaslight him into not asking these questions anymore) except Steel, who became convinced when they found out Max can beam his own memories of the dreams at him with Turbo energy. (Or whatever the fuck Jim did to Steel that one time.)

I need this to be in peak Steel Wants Answers times. Maybe even before Extroyer. Because Max being uncertain of his humanity at the same time as Steel learning the Elementors are also Ultralinks has some incredible potential. Shake them both without either being in a position to truly reassure the other about who they are.

Then we can start to trickle in dreams that are… different.

Dreams of pain. Dreams of being hollowed out.

Max would think of these as nightmares about what’s gonna happen to him when Dredd catches him. Except. He knows how this works now. He has these nightmares only on nights when he and Steel agree to see more of his father’s memories.

Did someone do this to his father? How?? When??

It’s difficult to see the room his father’s in because of how weird the lighting situation is. And, you know, the pain is a bit distracting. But eventually there’s a lucky break. They get Steel to recognize the ship or maybe the ominous figure who comes to taunt Ja’em Mk’rah from time to time.

This is Makino’s doing. Makino is a world-eater, a powerhouse that’s hellbent on consuming all that he comes across. He has at last triumphed over the one warrior to defy him more than once, and now he’ll use this power against the planet he holds so dear…

(Max: Does he mean Takion?

Makino: Earth.

Max: What???? No. No!

NO!!)

There is a planet-eater coming to earth and Max is not thinking rationally about what to do about it because he’s getting maybe two good nights of sleep a week. Steel, who has only recently learned he left Makino’s army to save Jim’s life, is absolutely down to enable whatever bullshit plans Max comes up with on how to save the guy. Steel owes his father everything!

Cue some bullshit that makes the hunt for the Turbo Star look so tame.

These two don’t care about collateral or witnesses or permission. They want results. They want one result. And they don’t care what they have to do to get it.

They’ll run away, steal, collaborate with criminals. They don’t care what the public thinks. They don’t care what NTek thinks. This isn’t about them. They had their chance to help!! Now stop getting in the way!!

They probably learn of Jim’s spaceship at some point and move in there to have an easier time avoiding NTek, though they decide to save the Turbo Chamber for when they have to kick Makino’s ass with the Turbo Star. Which is honestly their most solid plan.

They might even risk teaming with Dredd to have him build it. They can always double cross him later before he gets the chance to do it to them first! Because they’re not going to risk letting the man who claimed to have betrayed their father once go anywhere near him after he’s been saved, so he’s gotta go.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah!!! It has to be a spiral. It’s gotta start somewhere sweet and end in a downright rabid desperation. A yearning so deep it’s going to implode into a black hole. They’ve sunk so much of their hope into this. It has to work. It has to.

What was it all for if they fail? They can’t stop. They have to see this through! They will! They will!

The entire premise can really just be boiled down to this:

Max Steel is going to bring James McGrath home alive. Whatever it takes.

Her very first meeting with Max, he's dead in a crater where a warehouse once stood. Or, he should be dead, he's not breathing, but there's enough TURBO energy in the air that she can touch it, so honestly who knows what's medically going on here. By some miracle, her and her team are able to extract Max and more importantly resuscitate him.

(She wishes she could just say he was unconscious, but she knew the moment she grabbed him. His eyes were still open.

...He's breathing now. That's good enough)

Their next meeting, he's conscious, albeit barely. She's to do a couple of final checks before Forge comes and... before Forge comes. She doesn't agree with what he intends to do with Max, but they fought about it for an hour already and couldn't come up with anything better. She tries to be kind as she asks Max how he's feeling, what he remembers. He deserves a little bit of kindness before entering Hell. She can't comfort him, though, can't risk getting attached, not if she wants to help.

(Is it more ethical to subject a child to constant, moderate pain or frequent, intense pain? How could his own uncle weigh those options so quickly?)

Relevant snippet as she's leaving Max to Forge:

“The report will be on your desk in an hour,” she promised. As she passed by the commander to leave, she lowered her voice and told him, “Jim would be furious about this." He paused millimeters away from grabbing her upper arm. He glowered at her and stated with conviction, “Jim would understand.” He pulled back with a jerk, then stepped forward, erasing her from his field of view. She stared daggers into his skull until the door shut.

On her subsequent meetings with Max she's much friendlier. Her biggest issue with the two is getting Max and Steel to actually come to her when Max gets injured or sick. She's their doctor, not their keeper, she can't help what she doesn't know about.

(It doesn't help that N-Tek rarely sends them to medical after a battle)

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But yea! In general I tend to pull her out for "Max"-related medical stuff, while Berto handles things related to Steel/the Steel suit. Ie:

Max is having back pain after the Elementors nearly ripped a wing off? That's an Owens issue

Jim's back but badly malnourished? Owens.

Forge assuming Max is fine since he didn't turn into a Goopanoid like Molly? Owens for the examination, but the med staff in general would want to give him a lecture that he will not internalize

Steel fried his own logic circuits? Berto.

Steel got hit with Ultralink malware? Berto.