a little spaced out

—

“Yes, you do look like your father. Aw, little Max McGrath. Or should I say, Max Steel!”

And then Dredd picks Max up and siphons from him right there on the bus rather than backhanding him out of the window. Powers up on the spot. Evil laughter. All that good stuff.

Max struggles, obviously, and Steel comes out of his backpack to shoot Dredd in the face so he lets go of Max. Because he’s powered up, Dredd’s blinded attempt to strike Steel still sends him and Max out of the window.

Max Steel rises in Turbo Flight mode and the fight resumes mostly as normal. Dredd flexes his upgraded battlesuit, Syd tries to help, boulders get thrown, Kirby hits Dredd with a bus, NTek arrives.

“It’s over, Dredd.”

“It’s not over! Don’t you realize? Now I know who you are, Max McGrath.”

There is no hologram gaslighting attempt. NTek shows up guns blazing and surrounds Dredd on the cliff’s edge, only for Dredd to let go and escape.

Forge calls for a pair of jump-jets to get back in the air and give chase, but there’s not much else they can do. The students on the bus start evacuating, finally, while these two have a conversation right there in the open. Because clearly they’re past secrecy.

——

“I told you two to cut it out with the heroics!” Someone says. “Now look what’s happened. Your identity’s been compromised!”

Sydney helps Butch up from where he’d been curled up cowering under the bus. She looks over to see Max Steel getting lectured by a man in damaged armor.

His little drone friend pulls away from his chest. Their big armored form collapses into just regular old Max McGrath. Knowing it was one thing, but seeing it is so incredible. At least, it would be if he didn’t look so crushed.

“Uncle Ferrus—“ Max, their Max, starts to say.

“Names, Max! Mother of Mars, is this how careless you’ve been all this time?” Ferrus shakes his head. “We should’ve pulled you out of that school the moment you two were linked. Better late than never, I suppose.”

“You can’t say that!” Max puts a hand over his chest. “I know I messed up, but we can do better! Please, just give us another chance.”

“There are no second chances, Max. That cat’s already out of the bag.” Ferrus says firmly. “Even if we pull off a successful cover up here, there’s no guarantee Dredd won’t run his mouth. It’s better to cut our losses and pull you from the public eye before this gets any worse.”

The little drone breaks in between them, furious. “So that’s it, huh? Max Steel’s just gonna turn tail and run?”

Is he the Steel in Max Steel then?

Ferrus meets Steel’s eye with a glare. “Would you rather put countless civilian lives in danger?”

“No, Commander…” Max hangs his head, voice low. “I understand. I’m sorry I didn’t get it sooner.”

“It’ll be alright, Max. We’ll sort this out.” Ferrus pats him on the shoulder. “You can still run missions with us from time to time. This is just the last anyone will see of Maxwell McGrath.”

What?

No.

“No!” Sydney shouts. “No, that’s not fair!”

It really isn’t.

So Max saves their lives over and over again and he gets punished for it? Has to go live in some super secret government bunker or whatever and pull out of school? Doesn’t get to talk to his friends again? Maybe won’t talk to anyone as Max McGrath ever again?

Sydney won’t stand for it. If Max won’t stand up for his right to exist as himself, she will!

“Young lady, this doesn’t concern you.” Ferrus says when Sydney breaks away from the pack to march up to him.

“Oh it totally concerns me. Because it sounds like you’re going to make my best friend disappear!” She starts loud and stays loud.

“What?” Kirby calls from over by the bus. “That’s so not cool, man!”

The other kids seem to agree. Even Butch has pulled himself together enough to look angry.

“You don’t understand. This is for your safety—“

“Oh, really? How are we any safer without Max around?” Sydney gestures dramatically with both hands to the bus. “That bad guy tore up the bus trying to look for Max today! Do you have any idea what he could do to us, to our whole school, if he goes looking for Max there and doesn’t find him?”

Because she’d seen it firsthand today. Max is a hero through and through. Any time that Dredd guy hurt her or tried to get at their classmates, Max Steel got real upset. Like, started throwing rocks at him kind of upset.

There’s no world where people causing trouble at their school doesn’t draw him out. Hell, Max looks torn up by the idea of it right now!

And this guy must notice that, because he grimaces.

“We’ll post up some of our personnel at your school until Dredd gets the message. Once he knows he won’t find what he’s looking for there, he’ll move on.” Ferrus says. But they all know it’s a terrible solution.

“And what about our homes? Are you gonna have a guy with a gun follow each and every one of us everywhere we go? I’m sure that will be great for secrecy.”

“Sydney, what are you doing?” Max asks. But she’s not done.

“No, the best thing to do would be to have Max stay right where he is and bring the back up to him.” Sydney crosses her arms. “But not your guys, they’d stand out too much.”

“You can’t be serious.” Steel says flatly.

She is so serious.

“You should train us in secret to back Max Steel up.” Sydney makes eye contact with Ferrus. “It’d make it so we’re not easy hostages. And we’re not all in the same class, so we can cover more ground. We might have things handled before Max Steel even arrives on the scene if we get good enough.”

“That’s ludicrous!” Ferrus dismisses. He turns to Max, who’s been looking at her with something like awe on his face. “Tell your friend how dangerous this is. You can’t really want her to get involved in this, can you?”

“If I’m being honest, Commander?” Max smiles wide. “We’re not gonna be able to stop her if she’s made her mind up. You might as well just give her a gun.”

“You kids have no sense.” Ferrus shakes his head. “I’m not just going to agree to this on the spot. If you’re serious about joining the fight, you’re going to have to be willing to put in the work.”

“I’m ready!” Sydney declares. Her resolve is clear, but the group lingering by the bus has more mixed opinions.

“Me too!” “I don’t know if-” “Are you kidding?” “I mean…” “If I’m gonna be in danger anyway then…”

Kirby, at least, jogs up with enthusiasm. He gives them all an almost-passable salute. “Count me in, coach!”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Fine!” He turns to one of the agents who has a cool gauntlet thing on. “Go around and get me names. I wanna know who we’re sending home with an NDA and who we’re putting through the meat grinder.”

“Right away, Chief!” And off he goes.

“Syd, Kirb, I’m grateful for what you’re trying to do and all, but are you sure about this?” Max asks them after his uncle walks off to go handle the people who want out. Sydney thinks she can see Butch among them. Typical. “I know you saw us get tossed around back there. This stuff gets seriously dangerous.”

“We’re not trying to be the next you, Max.” Sydney punches him playfully in the shoulder, a little less surprised by how little give there is now that she knows he’s a superhero. “You two can handle the big stuff. I just want to help out however I can. It feels right.”

“Oh, do you think they’ll give us swords? Or nunchucks?” Kirby bounces on his heels a little. “Max, you gotta tell us what the training’s like! Don’t keep us in suspense, dude.”

Some of their classmates that presumably signed on for this too draw closer. A sophomore steps forward. “It’d be nice to know what we just signed ourselves up for.”

Max brings a hand to the back of his neck and laughs a little. “Well, the stuff they put us through isn’t exactly standard.”

“Oh, does this mean I get to introduce myself? Can I? I’m gonna do it!” Steel spins in the air excitedly before zipping into the center of their little group. Some of her classmates startle back at the sudden approach. “Hello there! My name is N’Baro Aksteel X377, but you can call me Steel. I’m the brains and the brawn of our operation.”

Max rolls his eyes, amused. “What am I, the pretty face?”

Steel floats up and slams himself into Max’s chest. There’s a bright light they have to shield their eyes from before a helmeted Max Steel stands before them. “Nope! The good looks are all me.”

“Ouch.” The helmet goes away and Max gestures to his chest. “You see what I have to put up with?”

Then he flicks himself in the ear.

Max turns slightly off to the side and starts bickering with thin air, though the Steel-shaped symbol on his chest lights up like it’s arguing back. A familiar sight that now has an explanation.

Sydney feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns to see one of her classmates trying to get her attention. “Hey! It looks like they’re going to be at it for a while. Do you wanna join us for a round of introductions?”

She looks at the group that’s remained. Besides her and Kirby people in a loose circle. She’s pleasantly surprised so many of her classmates are willing to help fight the good fight.

Sydney smiles. “I’d love to.”

This school year’s going to be a lot more interesting.

————

Surprise!!! Max and Steel protection squad!!! Classmate edition.

For the record, Forge is absolutely gonna put these kids through hell. He only agreed to begin with because he thinks they’ll drop out on their own the moment the going really gets tough. He’s in for a surprise.

As Syd said, they’re not gonna be helping Max Steel with his usual supervillains or stopping regular crimes with him unless they genuinely just happen to be there. Their main job is to help fend off any attacks that happen when Max and Steel have got their guard down or to play alibi to help keep his identity as under wraps as possible.

So, for example, that museum field trip where the Ultralinks possessed those Halloween decorations would be exactly up their alley.

“Hasn’t Dredd shared Max’s identity with other villains by now?” Fuck no! He’s keeping that close to his chest and using it in his own plans, but the Ultralinks can figure it out themselves. He wants Max’s Turbo energy all to himself, after all. Him not being a real team player is ironically carrying.

The core of this AU is just me giving these six kids names and guns. Bonus points if they get less generic-seeming design-wise as we go on.

Behold!! The Group Project AU.

Comms Specialist.

Someone who keeps in the know and updates everyone on what’s happening.

Probably has a special “phone” that’s tricked out. Keeps an earbud in (except when teachers are hardasses) and tabs through police scanners, the channel NTek set up for them so they don’t get any higher clearance alerts, and a direct line they have to Steel. Is in charge of keeping their finger on the pulse whether there’s action or not.

If something’s gotta be known? They’re who you tell.

Extractions/Evacuations Specialist.

We all know Max is a dogshit liar. This person’s main priority is getting Max out of the room in the least amount of time possible, whether that’s physically causing a distraction or texting an excuse for Comms to pass on to him if they’re not there.

If Max is already gone or actively leaving, their next priority is to corral civilians away from the line of fire. The last thing they want is people getting hurt or a potential hostage situation.

This person needs to know the area they’re in inside and out so they can get people the fuck out. Whatever it takes.

Armorer/Gear Specialist.

Look, all of these kids are trying their best, but not everyone is going to be able to keep concealed-carry NTek stuff on them all the time. What Berto and Cytro do for Max Steel is what this person does for the Group Project on the whole.

Their locker and the trunk of their car are packed with gear. You need it? They’ve got it. Don’t even worry about it.

Your blaster’s been jamming during practice lately? Let’s take it apart and put it back together before making a big deal about it. Your not confident in your aim? Here are some melee options you can practice with next time we go to training. Your comm keeps falling out? Here’s some tape that’s safe to use on skin. Or just keep this spare. NTek already doesn’t think we’re cut out for this, we can’t go crying to them every time we scuff our boots.

Marksman/Firearms Specialist.

The one who can aim. Reliably. Everyone is getting trained on how to handle a firearm in case they’re the only person around to shoot one. This is who you want to be holding one when shit hits the fan.

Doesn’t matter if it’s someone with a knack for it that gets honed or if this person decided this was the role they wanted and they just worked their ass off for it.

Somebody’s gotta have long range on lock. If it’s not Max Steel yet, this person will have to do.

Pyro/Detonations Specialist.

Nobody wants to give these kids bombs. Not one NTek affiliated person decided it would be a good idea to give teenagers explosives. For good reason.

But one (1) kid asked to learn some bomb defusal stuff “just in case” and it snowballed from there. This kid didn’t just learn about defusing bombs, this kid started making bombs. Not just regular explosives, but smoke bombs, flash bangs, and some other truly unpleasant things they collaborated with the Gear person to make.

We got a long road to Turbo Cannon and its convenient, controlled impacts. Gotta pave the way somehow!

The “Normal” One.

Listen. They can’t all go all in on this secret agent stuff or they’re all going to get held back. Or grounded to high hell by their parents.

Someone’s gotta wrangle their classmates into actual study groups so they don’t flunk into the next life. Someone has to come up with alibis and work to get nine people’s stories lined up. Someone has to be the “responsible one” so that adults won’t think they need more supervision. Teachers, parents, NTek, or otherwise.

It’s not fun work, it’s not even cool work, but it’s necessary. And it’s gonna get done.

And then there’s Sydney and Kirby who we’re familiar with already. Our all-around badass and our niche catch-all skill man. Enough said.

in this au, dredd puts those pieces together relatively soon after "secret identity crisis". for a while, he's not sure how to use that information--if he attacks max mcgrath in broad daylight, then n-tek will get involved and put max steel on a shorter leash. but then the events of "extroyer unleashed" happen and... interesting... max and steel are sneaking around behind forge's back...

there's the in.

dredd doffs his armor, puts on a suit, and approaches maxwell mcgrath as max's godfather, miles dredd. (okay technically dredd uses sydney as a go-between to arrange their first meeting but shhh). he's finally heard that max and molly moved back to copper canyon and he'd love to reconnect. and max is like 'i don't have a godfather' except. when he asks molly about it she's weirdly dodgy. almost like he won't like the answer.

so max reasons that yea okay dredd is definitely not lying about the 'godfather' thing. was he not sufficiently fooled by seeing max steel and max mcgrath side by side? does he suspect that max is max steel? or is this just a ploy to get at his mom or uncle? obviously, max just has to meet with him, pretend to be normal and not max steel, and figure out the scheme! this can only go well!

the meeting goes extremely awkwardly but otherwise normally. miles gives no indication that he knows max's secret, but he also doesn't give max any clues as to why he's reaching out. at the end of it though, dredd successfully coerces a regular meeting schedule out of max (more accurately, he convinces max to meet with him again, and repeats that pattern until the schedule's regular).

so now in the background of the show you have dredd and max meeting up and doing like. normal uncle-nephew shit while pretending that they don't both know the other person's secret identity.

until steel convinces max that they're in way over their heads and they need to break off whatever this weird arrangement is before it bites them.

it doesn't go well. the moment they try, dredd hits 'em with "i know your secret, maxwell." and follows that up by threatening that they can either keep the current arrangement and dredd can keep treating max steel and maxwell mcgrath as separate individuals, or they can break the arrangement and dredd will find plenty of creative ways to apply what he's learned.

...aka more shenanigans! 🎉 and sources of anxiety! 🎉

...and emotional whiplash because miles... is actually there. and listening when max talks about his interests. and noticing when max hasn't eaten all day.

They did get comfortable.

oh yea, at least a year of practice has gotten everyone (max, steel, and dredd) in this dynamic nice and complacent. this isn't like the early days of this arrangement where they're all waiting for the other shoe to drop, there's precedent that this, as weird as it is, is safe.

To say nothing of what people would think of the McGraths as a whole. Is THI really turning over a new leaf if its CEO’s son is associating with that sort of people still?

you wanna know who else will have questions if max steel starts beefing with an "uncle miles"? forge fucking ferrus. and that is not a conversation that will go well for anybody.

I mean, he singled out Butch first too and nothing’s ever come of that either.

naught's fuckup truly carries max's secret identity ❤️

You know who would care of Dredd ever singles out a civilian too hard? Other baddies.

speaking of naught. i mentioned in the tags somewhere that naught has no idea abt the whole "uncle miles" situation. but i do have a toy of an idea where he gets curious where the heck dredd keeps going off to, finds out that he's meeting with this random teenager for some reason, and kidnaps max mcgrath to figure out seriously what the fuck is going on here.

Jim is right about one thing. Miles Dredd can’t go on without deciding what sort of man he is. What good is power in the hands of a man that falters in his conviction?

i love your last three paragraphs, esp this one. but i'm singling this one out cuz it makes me spin.

on one side, you have dredd trying to decide which "face" is his real one. and i think he's really going to struggle with that because he wants to have his cake and eat it too. he might not admit it, but he likes being "uncle miles"--if he didn't he could've cut the whole thing off seasons ago. just leave max with an ominous threat of blackmail and move on with his life. the only ones who would suffer any consequences would be max and steel themselves.

but he also has his pride to consider. he's a big hotshot villain, and he worked hard for his infamy, dammit! he's not going to just give that up! even if he did, the hole he dug himself is deep and he's certain nobody would let him forget it. least of all the ferruses. (that's to say nothing of the practical concerns such as where he'd get his supply of turbo energy from. it's not like he could just ask jim for a hit whenever he got peckish.)

—

“Yes, you do look like your father. Aw, little Max McGrath. Or should I say, Max Steel!”

And then Dredd picks Max up and siphons from him right there on the bus rather than backhanding him out of the window. Powers up on the spot. Evil laughter. All that good stuff.

Max struggles, obviously, and Steel comes out of his backpack to shoot Dredd in the face so he lets go of Max. Because he’s powered up, Dredd’s blinded attempt to strike Steel still sends him and Max out of the window.

Max Steel rises in Turbo Flight mode and the fight resumes mostly as normal. Dredd flexes his upgraded battlesuit, Syd tries to help, boulders get thrown, Kirby hits Dredd with a bus, NTek arrives.

“It’s over, Dredd.”

“It’s not over! Don’t you realize? Now I know who you are, Max McGrath.”

There is no hologram gaslighting attempt. NTek shows up guns blazing and surrounds Dredd on the cliff’s edge, only for Dredd to let go and escape.

Forge calls for a pair of jump-jets to get back in the air and give chase, but there’s not much else they can do. The students on the bus start evacuating, finally, while these two have a conversation right there in the open. Because clearly they’re past secrecy.

——

“I told you two to cut it out with the heroics!” Someone says. “Now look what’s happened. Your identity’s been compromised!”

Sydney helps Butch up from where he’d been curled up cowering under the bus. She looks over to see Max Steel getting lectured by a man in damaged armor.

His little drone friend pulls away from his chest. Their big armored form collapses into just regular old Max McGrath. Knowing it was one thing, but seeing it is so incredible. At least, it would be if he didn’t look so crushed.

“Uncle Ferrus—“ Max, their Max, starts to say.

“Names, Max! Mother of Mars, is this how careless you’ve been all this time?” Ferrus shakes his head. “We should’ve pulled you out of that school the moment you two were linked. Better late than never, I suppose.”

“You can’t say that!” Max puts a hand over his chest. “I know I messed up, but we can do better! Please, just give us another chance.”

“There are no second chances, Max. That cat’s already out of the bag.” Ferrus says firmly. “Even if we pull off a successful cover up here, there’s no guarantee Dredd won’t run his mouth. It’s better to cut our losses and pull you from the public eye before this gets any worse.”

The little drone breaks in between them, furious. “So that’s it, huh? Max Steel’s just gonna turn tail and run?”

Is he the Steel in Max Steel then?

Ferrus meets Steel’s eye with a glare. “Would you rather put countless civilian lives in danger?”

“No, Commander…” Max hangs his head, voice low. “I understand. I’m sorry I didn’t get it sooner.”

“It’ll be alright, Max. We’ll sort this out.” Ferrus pats him on the shoulder. “You can still run missions with us from time to time. This is just the last anyone will see of Maxwell McGrath.”

What?

No.

“No!” Sydney shouts. “No, that’s not fair!”

It really isn’t.

So Max saves their lives over and over again and he gets punished for it? Has to go live in some super secret government bunker or whatever and pull out of school? Doesn’t get to talk to his friends again? Maybe won’t talk to anyone as Max McGrath ever again?

Sydney won’t stand for it. If Max won’t stand up for his right to exist as himself, she will!

“Young lady, this doesn’t concern you.” Ferrus says when Sydney breaks away from the pack to march up to him.

“Oh it totally concerns me. Because it sounds like you’re going to make my best friend disappear!” She starts loud and stays loud.

“What?” Kirby calls from over by the bus. “That’s so not cool, man!”

The other kids seem to agree. Even Butch has pulled himself together enough to look angry.

“You don’t understand. This is for your safety—“

“Oh, really? How are we any safer without Max around?” Sydney gestures dramatically with both hands to the bus. “That bad guy tore up the bus trying to look for Max today! Do you have any idea what he could do to us, to our whole school, if he goes looking for Max there and doesn’t find him?”

Because she’d seen it firsthand today. Max is a hero through and through. Any time that Dredd guy hurt her or tried to get at their classmates, Max Steel got real upset. Like, started throwing rocks at him kind of upset.

There’s no world where people causing trouble at their school doesn’t draw him out. Hell, Max looks torn up by the idea of it right now!

And this guy must notice that, because he grimaces.

“We’ll post up some of our personnel at your school until Dredd gets the message. Once he knows he won’t find what he’s looking for there, he’ll move on.” Ferrus says. But they all know it’s a terrible solution.

“And what about our homes? Are you gonna have a guy with a gun follow each and every one of us everywhere we go? I’m sure that will be great for secrecy.”

“Sydney, what are you doing?” Max asks. But she’s not done.

“No, the best thing to do would be to have Max stay right where he is and bring the back up to him.” Sydney crosses her arms. “But not your guys, they’d stand out too much.”

“You can’t be serious.” Steel says flatly.

She is so serious.

“You should train us in secret to back Max Steel up.” Sydney makes eye contact with Ferrus. “It’d make it so we’re not easy hostages. And we’re not all in the same class, so we can cover more ground. We might have things handled before Max Steel even arrives on the scene if we get good enough.”

“That’s ludicrous!” Ferrus dismisses. He turns to Max, who’s been looking at her with something like awe on his face. “Tell your friend how dangerous this is. You can’t really want her to get involved in this, can you?”

“If I’m being honest, Commander?” Max smiles wide. “We’re not gonna be able to stop her if she’s made her mind up. You might as well just give her a gun.”

“You kids have no sense.” Ferrus shakes his head. “I’m not just going to agree to this on the spot. If you’re serious about joining the fight, you’re going to have to be willing to put in the work.”

“I’m ready!” Sydney declares. Her resolve is clear, but the group lingering by the bus has more mixed opinions.

“Me too!” “I don’t know if-” “Are you kidding?” “I mean…” “If I’m gonna be in danger anyway then…”

Kirby, at least, jogs up with enthusiasm. He gives them all an almost-passable salute. “Count me in, coach!”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Fine!” He turns to one of the agents who has a cool gauntlet thing on. “Go around and get me names. I wanna know who we’re sending home with an NDA and who we’re putting through the meat grinder.”

“Right away, Chief!” And off he goes.

“Syd, Kirb, I’m grateful for what you’re trying to do and all, but are you sure about this?” Max asks them after his uncle walks off to go handle the people who want out. Sydney thinks she can see Butch among them. Typical. “I know you saw us get tossed around back there. This stuff gets seriously dangerous.”

“We’re not trying to be the next you, Max.” Sydney punches him playfully in the shoulder, a little less surprised by how little give there is now that she knows he’s a superhero. “You two can handle the big stuff. I just want to help out however I can. It feels right.”

“Oh, do you think they’ll give us swords? Or nunchucks?” Kirby bounces on his heels a little. “Max, you gotta tell us what the training’s like! Don’t keep us in suspense, dude.”

Some of their classmates that presumably signed on for this too draw closer. A sophomore steps forward. “It’d be nice to know what we just signed ourselves up for.”

Max brings a hand to the back of his neck and laughs a little. “Well, the stuff they put us through isn’t exactly standard.”

“Oh, does this mean I get to introduce myself? Can I? I’m gonna do it!” Steel spins in the air excitedly before zipping into the center of their little group. Some of her classmates startle back at the sudden approach. “Hello there! My name is N’Baro Aksteel X377, but you can call me Steel. I’m the brains and the brawn of our operation.”

Max rolls his eyes, amused. “What am I, the pretty face?”

Steel floats up and slams himself into Max’s chest. There’s a bright light they have to shield their eyes from before a helmeted Max Steel stands before them. “Nope! The good looks are all me.”

“Ouch.” The helmet goes away and Max gestures to his chest. “You see what I have to put up with?”

Then he flicks himself in the ear.

Max turns slightly off to the side and starts bickering with thin air, though the Steel-shaped symbol on his chest lights up like it’s arguing back. A familiar sight that now has an explanation.

Sydney feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns to see one of her classmates trying to get her attention. “Hey! It looks like they’re going to be at it for a while. Do you wanna join us for a round of introductions?”

She looks at the group that’s remained. Besides her and Kirby people in a loose circle. She’s pleasantly surprised so many of her classmates are willing to help fight the good fight.

Sydney smiles. “I’d love to.”

This school year’s going to be a lot more interesting.

————

Surprise!!! Max and Steel protection squad!!! Classmate edition.

For the record, Forge is absolutely gonna put these kids through hell. He only agreed to begin with because he thinks they’ll drop out on their own the moment the going really gets tough. He’s in for a surprise.

As Syd said, they’re not gonna be helping Max Steel with his usual supervillains or stopping regular crimes with him unless they genuinely just happen to be there. Their main job is to help fend off any attacks that happen when Max and Steel have got their guard down or to play alibi to help keep his identity as under wraps as possible.

So, for example, that museum field trip where the Ultralinks possessed those Halloween decorations would be exactly up their alley.

“Hasn’t Dredd shared Max’s identity with other villains by now?” Fuck no! He’s keeping that close to his chest and using it in his own plans, but the Ultralinks can figure it out themselves. He wants Max’s Turbo energy all to himself, after all. Him not being a real team player is ironically carrying.

The core of this AU is just me giving these six kids names and guns. Bonus points if they get less generic-seeming design-wise as we go on.

Behold!! The Group Project AU.

It’s everywhere he looks. The street lamps, the fissures in the ground, the buildings, the people.

There are so many people here. Some in armor so familiar it has him checking faces to pick out his father, yes, but most are dressed casually in an assortment of bright colors.

Warm clothes woven from alien plant fibers and soft alien wool that gets spun as thin as spider silk. Max remembers, distantly, seeing his great grandmother handle something like a Turbo-charged drop spindle in his youth- sorry, in his father’s youth.

Because Max isn’t really here. It’s just… easy to forget, like this. When the smell of some fried root vegetable he doesn’t recognize carries on the breeze and a group of children runs by so close to him that Max takes a step back reflexively to keep from getting bowled over.

They’re chasing each other. A little girl with glowing hands slaps another kid in the shoulder. They both light up like fireworks, pinwheeling their arms and giggling as they try not to fall over from the force they’re repelling each other with. Static crackles up their arms in the aftermath.

The boy who got tagged recovers quickly and lunges for a kid with an orange shawl on the sidelines who’s not fast enough to move out of the way. The pulse they let off sends them both tumbling away from each other after they hit the ground. Neither of them get up, they’re laughing too hard to manage it. The rest of their playmates take the chance to scatter into the festival’s crowd.

Festival? Right. Something about the binary stars at the center of Takion’s solar system and the deities ascribed to them. His Dad was never one for faith, unfortunately, so all Max has to go off of there are the stories his great grandmother told that Ja’em actually sat still for and anything he can overhear in passing every now and then. It’s not much, but it’s enough to get the general gist of things.

This festival is a celebration of their twin deities’ continued Grace. It’s exceedingly rare for any planet to survive being anywhere near a pair of binary stars, let alone for one to orbit them both. The way their gravities interact is just too volatile and inconsistent to do anything but tear up celestial bodies that get in their way, like dirt trampled beneath their Astral Dance. Beneath their notice, less than the dust they kick up as they go around and around for eternity.

Except for Takion. Takion is special.

The core of the planet isn’t molten or solid, it’s plasma. It’s energy. Impossible, but real.

It does unbelievable things to Takion’s mass and its orbit, letting it slide right between the twin dancers like a third partner stepping in seamlessly. Keeping in time despite all the laws of physics that it’s spitting in the face of.

It doesn’t have enough pull of its own to set the pace, but the planet’s more than capable of forcing itself out of the danger zones that come with being too close to the stars or too far. There’s a word for that rhythm, Takion’s Grace, but Max has never caught it.

A planet with a star at its core. A people that shines bright enough to form constellations on its surface. One massive cosmic dance.

And countless smaller dances taking place tonight as partners and friends and family pair off to follow suit.

Max can’t make out too much detail on any one person, not with how his father is sitting on a roof across the square focused more on scanning the roads leading into the city for trouble, but he tries anyway. Brushes as close as he can to people without ruining the illusion for himself and heads deeper into the thick of the celebrations.

He makes a game of it. Tries to step between pairs of dancers when they break away from each other to twirl or sway with mirrored steps. Watches the way people move, when they pause, and shifts to the next pair before he can truly get in the way.

Max wonders what his relatives would have to say about this.

Would his great grandmother chide him for being disruptive or would she’d find his take on their worship amusing? Would his grandparents have him sit with them spinning lace-lanterns to put all this energy to better use? Would his cousins see him as the odd one out and pull him away to pair up with them? Would his neighbors call out to him, laughing as they ask what he thinks he’s doing? Would his friends cheer him on or pretend not to know him out of secondhand embarrassment?

What would his dad think of Max’s Grace if he could really see it? If they could know each other here and now?

Max stops still in the middle of the plaza and looks up at where his father sits on the edge of a rooftop. His armor doesn’t stand out much, but Max could find him with his eyes shut.

He opens his mouth, about to ask—

—

He wakes to silence. To stillness. To blue.

He blinks away tears to see Steel looking down at him with worry. “You with me, Max?”

“Again.”

“Pardon?”

Max blinks. It takes him a second to realize he even spoke. “I- Can we go again?”

Steel stares down at him. Seconds pass that feel more like hours than any of the time Max spent at the- in his dad’s memories. Dancing with ghosts.

Max breathes deeply. His head’s pounding and his hands are trembling a little. His body feels heavy but he feels wired.

“I think you’re done for tonight, Max.” Steel says simply.

A month ago Max might’ve gotten into a fight with him about it. Would’ve felt a stab of anger, longing, and grief stab him clean through the chest. He’d have argued, bartered, pleaded.

Tonight, Max just sighs. “Yeah, okay.”

He lays awake for half an hour before finally drifting off to a dreamless, lonely sleep.

in this au, dredd puts those pieces together relatively soon after "secret identity crisis". for a while, he's not sure how to use that information--if he attacks max mcgrath in broad daylight, then n-tek will get involved and put max steel on a shorter leash. but then the events of "extroyer unleashed" happen and... interesting... max and steel are sneaking around behind forge's back...

there's the in.

dredd doffs his armor, puts on a suit, and approaches maxwell mcgrath as max's godfather, miles dredd. (okay technically dredd uses sydney as a go-between to arrange their first meeting but shhh). he's finally heard that max and molly moved back to copper canyon and he'd love to reconnect. and max is like 'i don't have a godfather' except. when he asks molly about it she's weirdly dodgy. almost like he won't like the answer.

so max reasons that yea okay dredd is definitely not lying about the 'godfather' thing. was he not sufficiently fooled by seeing max steel and max mcgrath side by side? does he suspect that max is max steel? or is this just a ploy to get at his mom or uncle? obviously, max just has to meet with him, pretend to be normal and not max steel, and figure out the scheme! this can only go well!

the meeting goes extremely awkwardly but otherwise normally. miles gives no indication that he knows max's secret, but he also doesn't give max any clues as to why he's reaching out. at the end of it though, dredd successfully coerces a regular meeting schedule out of max (more accurately, he convinces max to meet with him again, and repeats that pattern until the schedule's regular).

so now in the background of the show you have dredd and max meeting up and doing like. normal uncle-nephew shit while pretending that they don't both know the other person's secret identity.

until steel convinces max that they're in way over their heads and they need to break off whatever this weird arrangement is before it bites them.

it doesn't go well. the moment they try, dredd hits 'em with "i know your secret, maxwell." and follows that up by threatening that they can either keep the current arrangement and dredd can keep treating max steel and maxwell mcgrath as separate individuals, or they can break the arrangement and dredd will find plenty of creative ways to apply what he's learned.

...aka more shenanigans! 🎉 and sources of anxiety! 🎉

...and emotional whiplash because miles... is actually there. and listening when max talks about his interests. and noticing when max hasn't eaten all day.