These two were way out of his league.
Two of the most powerful foes he had ever faced were standing right in front of him, about to square up for a battle the likes of which he had never seen.
To his left was King Kobra, the leader of the Kobra Klan, an elusive gang that had been trying to take down an even more powerful Dragon Clan. The combined might of him, Ivy, and the new Danger Squad did nothing but put a dent in his robotic armor. Clearly, this guy could give Mr. E a run for his money.
On the other hand, there was Max, "the Red Shadow" as he liked to call himself. Whether it was a way of mocking Jake, who went by the "Blue Shadow," he would never know.
All he knew was Max was insanely powerful.
Jake had faced Max twice. The first was when he got his temporary shadow abilities from the Baron. At the time, Max was some kind of pseudo Mr. E—his abilities but not nearly as powerful.
Then the second time was after Max had been mutated by Mr. E at the Animal Farm. This time, Jake used the blue energy from his muman ability to turn him back to normal—well, with the ability to control some kind of red energy, which made him much stronger than Jake.
Then when Jake was taken by Milten, he was surprised to find Max had teamed up with him. Reluctant to work with Max, Jake still took the offer thanks to Ivy thoroughly convincing him. He got to see Max even take down a member of the Dragon Clan on his first mission.
Jake could barely understand his blue energy, let alone Max's red energy, so he was an enigma. A powerful enigma...
But an enigma nonetheless.
Was this their time to see him go all out?
Jake didn't know, but he didn't care. These two were at the back of his mind. At the forefront was Ivy. He watched her from across the warehouse and saw she was visibly shaking and spasming.
His eyes were fixed on her intently as the two powerhouses had their standoff.
The only thing breaking his gaze was the sudden voice of one of them speaking.
"Oh? So a new player has entered the game? 'Red Shadow' was it?" Kobra asked with a robotic laugh.
Max looked at him for a moment and began walking toward him. Kobra stood perfectly still, anticipating what Max was about to do next.
Jake was too. He had no idea what Max had up his sleeve. He took a brief second to look around. He saw everyone was unconscious except for Ivy and Paulina.
Paulina was observing the scene just like he was, but she was playing dead. Sadly, she wasn't very convincing.
Ivy was shivering violently, though, like she was under extreme cold. Jake wanted to run to her, see what was wrong, comfort her. Sadly, these two wouldn't let them pass.
All he could do for now was observe.
Once Max got within a hair's breadth of Kobra, he stared into the soulless eyes of his snake-like mask for about 7 seconds.
7 seconds that felt like an eternity...
Then he let out a large scoff and turned to face Jake.
"So this is the guy who was giving you trouble? You never change, Jake. Always finding new ways to disappoint me."
Jake was speechless.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kobra asked him.
"It means he couldn't be having trouble with the likes of you. Simple as that," Max said to him frankly.
"Are you implying he has the power to stand toe to toe with me?"
"No, I'm saying he should be well above you, seeing as you're a weakling and all."
"Weak? Do you know who I am? I'm..."
"King Kobra," Max cut him off. "Leader of the Kobra Klan. The better question is, why should I care?"
In an instant, Kobra let out a powerful left hook to Max's jaw, sending shockwaves across the entire warehouse.
And it did absolutely nothing.
Kobra, even through the mask, looked dumbfounded. He took a few steps back, not even trying to hide his shock.
Max chuckled.
"Please," he said, and returned the favor with an uppercut to Kobra's head with his glowing red fist, sending shockwaves throughout the whole city block and sending Kobra flying out of the building.
With Kobra gone, Max turned to Jake and walked over to him.
Jake could barely move thanks to Kobra's attack. Meanwhile, Max had no visible damage on his black and red armor.
"You okay?" Max said, squatting down to Jake's level.
"Y..yeah.." Jake reluctantly replied.
"Good," Max said before grabbing Jake by one of his blue horns and tossing him across the warehouse to face the skylight.
Jake felt something growing on his forehead—an eye, a glowing red eye.
Jake could not only feel it but see through it like it was a part of him.
"Then watch and learn."
Max then sprouted red glowing bat wings and took off through the skylight. Jake saw his every move as he flew away, getting closer to where King Kobra landed with every flap of his red pulsating wings.
Kobra got back up and looked around. He landed on the roof of an apartment complex across the city.
"Insane."
"That guy... whoever he is... he intrigues me," Kobra said, readjusting his broken joints.
Max landed right behind him soon after.
"So, that's what you're made of. It seems I underestimated you," Kobra mused.
"No, you just overestimated yourself," Max calmly retorted.
Kobra was silent for a bit and let out a hollow scoff, like someone blew air into an empty pipe.
"Listen," Max continued. "My friend back there has a lot of hidden potential with his power. Power I possess as well. Maybe this is a great moment to show him."
"So you want to use me as a training dummy?"
"Yeah. He's watching thanks to my third eye." Max then pointed at the glowing red eye on his forehead. "I'm gonna beat you with his powers, so let's put on a good show. Don't disappoint me now."
Kobra scoffed again and looked down. Max couldn't tell if he was laughing or choking on something with all the weird noises he was making.
"Well?..."
Kobra instantly appeared right in front of him, charging a small red ball of pure plasma in his left hand—a hand he aimed right at Max's face.
"Oh, I won't," Kobra mused.
The ball exploded shortly after, covering the roof in a sheet of red smoke and ash.
However, there was no damage.
Kobra looked down to see the apartment was fine. How? The explosion should've leveled the whole block.
Then the smoke cleared, little by little. He turned to see Max panting. He looked down and saw Max was also missing an arm, thanks to the red ball.
"Well! Who overestimated who, huh?" Kobra shouted with a loud laugh.
Max was still panting.
"No one fucks with me! No one! Not you! Not your blue monster friend! Not his sorry excuse for a team! Not the Super Society or the Vigilante League! No one!"
Max was still panting.
"It's been a while since I let loose like this. Not since I had my little scuffle with that vigilante, Archer. Now HE was fun. I heard he once went head to head with one of the Elites. And I took him down. What chance do you think you have?"
Max was still panting.
"Hey! Are you some kind of dog? Or does losing your little arm hurt that much? Answer me, you fucking piece of red trash!"
Max smiled under his mask.
"You done yet?" he snorted.
Kobra screamed and lunged at him with a red ball in each hand.
He swiped at Max's left side with one of the balls only for his attack to be blocked with Max's remaining hand. Max's thumb and middle finger glowed a bright red as he flicked away the red ball in Kobra's hand, sending it flying so far into the clouds that the coming explosion could only be described as fireworks.
Kobra laughed again and swiped with his right.
"With no arm to block, there's no stopping this!" Kobra shouted right at Max's face with a laugh as the red ball got closer each passing millisecond.
"Yeah. I figured."
Suddenly, the stubborn spot where Max's arm used to be glowed an even brighter red, and just as quickly as the light appeared, Max's hand appeared and blocked Kobra's red ball.
Max followed up by punching Kobra across the jaw with his left, leaving a crack in his armor and using that same hand to flick away the red ball, launching it even further than the first.
Max then kicked a flabbergasted Kobra away like a football, sending him flying across the roof and reeling from his shock.
Kobra got back on his feet as quickly as he landed, though.
"Well, that was... something," Max said to him as he flexed his regenerated arm.
"Something?" Kobra said, rage creeping into his voice.
"Not as good as I was expecting, but you can change that," Max said, changing his stance into something more serious. His right hand was pulled back and bent while his left was extended forward to point at him. He crouched slightly and faced backwards as well. It was an unconventional stance, but it was clear he had something behind his sleeve.
"Oh? Well, then let's go again," Kobra said, pulling his left hand back and making another red ball.
"You seeing this, Jake?" Max asked. He stood still in silence for a while until he dropped his stance and stood more naturally.
"Fuck... fuck you, Jake!"
"What?" Kobra asked, confused by the sudden break in tension.
"He's not even watching!" Max shouted in disgust.
Jake had ignored the whole scene unfolding through the third eye. It wasn't even the last thing on his mind. That was Zack. Luckily, Paulina managed to wake up and was checking on him. He had gotten enough strength to run over and check on Ivy. He looked incredibly distressed.
Rightfully so, as she was spasming profusely with green liquid leaving her mouth.
Max turned off the third eye. He could feel it shrivel offJake's head and fall. Now he had no idea what Jake was doing.
"Always a fucking disappointment," Max muttered to himself.
Kobra looked at Max for a moment. He was clearly thinking, pondering what to do. Kobra wasn't the type to attack a man while he was distracted.
Plus he hated when the attention was on anyone else but him.
So he let out a laugh, a laugh that was as loud and distracting as possible.
Max turned to look at him.
"What now?" he said, clearly agitated.
"I have to say, you're quite the character. Rarely do my opponents ever push me to such heights, to use my death orbs with such ferocity. I can see your... uh... protégé disappointed you. How about you let out your frustrations right here and now? On me? In this battle?" Kobra said to him, assuming a fighting stance.
Max smiled under his mask.
"Well, you do have a point. I do need to let off some steam... but..." Max replied but paused midway.
"But?"
Max paused for a moment, relaxing his posture like he was leaning on something.
"You remember when you asked me if I considered you a training dummy?"
"Yes..." Kobra said, getting another death orb ready.
"Well, at the time, no, since I was relying on my secondary abilities."
"Secondary abilities?" Kobra asked.
"Yes. Well, this energy that me and my... protégé use, I've studied it. His blue energy allows him to amplify his stats—his strength, speed, durability, healing factor. If he builds it up, he can be immensely powerful for a short time. That's what I've been using to fight you, thus making me a lot weaker than I am."
"So what are your true abilities?" Kobra asked again.
"Have you ever heard of Mr. E?"
"Mr. E? Of course, I have! He's one of the biggest names in the crime world. Well, until he disappeared. What does he have to do with anything?"
"I'm sort of a pseudo version of him."
"What?!"
"While Blue Shadow's energy allows him to amplify his abilities, my red energy allows me to gain new ones—any ability I want as long as I have the energy for it."
"Bullshit!" Kobra shouted in disbelief. His mind instantly started racing. He could hardly imagine the sheer number of abilities this being had. The thought alone made his armor shake.
Was this fear?
"Want a demonstration?"
"Fuck off, you..."
Before he could continue, he felt a hard feeling on his chin. At that moment, he remembered, so many years ago.
He was a petty crook. His old boss sold him some powerful tech that made him near invincible. That's the same tech he used now, well, a highly advanced version. At the time, though, he thought he was invincible.
Until he met Canman.
He was robbing a bank, getting funds to start a new crime organization. He needed to gain the trust of another gang.
Then as the job was almost done, he saw him.
A looming shadow, hanging in the air, like an unseen predator watching his prey. He couldn't even feel afraid. All he felt was something hit his jaw.
That's the same feeling as now.
Then he felt himself fly high up into the air.
He sensed something fly past him.
He saw that same thing stop above him midair.
Then saw that same figure's arm grow and contort to form some kind of large weapon five times his size.
Then he heard a combination of words. Two of which caught his fleeting attention.
"Red Saber."
Then he knew what was coming.
And in an instant, he felt nothing at all.
He saw nothing.
He sensed nothing.
But he knew he was defeated, right then and there.
But that wasn't the end.
Like an instinct coming to life, his body glowed a bright green.
As the figure flew closer to him, as he lay on the ground, barely aware of his surroundings...
Kobra vanished into thin air.
Max landed gently onto the roof. He looked around and tried to smell if he was nearby.
Nothing.
Maybe he teleported away?
Then he remembered, he slipped a piece of himself into Kobra when he hit him with his "Red Saber."
He turned on his tracking senses and located him in a few seconds.
It shouldn't have taken that long.
It would take a while to track his exact location, but he knew he wasn't in Empire City anymore.
Then his communicator rang.
He tapped the small device below his ear, a communicator Milten gave him to attach to his suit whenever he manifested it.
"Max?" Milten called.
"What?" Max responded with a hint of hostility in his voice.
"Woah there, guy. What's with the tone? Or are you still mad at me for rejecting you? For inadvertently leading you to falling to Mr. E? 'Cause I did say I was sorry for that..."
"Did you really call me to have this conversation?"
"No. I need to check up on Jake and Ivy. It's time for their routine training session, but I can't find them anywhere. I asked Luthor but he had no idea."
"They went on a patrol and ran into trouble."
"Trouble?"
"The Kobra Klan's boss attacked them."
"What?!"
"It was a good thing I sensed Jake's adrenaline spiking from a mile away. Otherwise, he would've been killed. Him and Ivy, along with some others I don't know."
"Others? Was one wearing green? And was another an Atlantean?"
"Green? Well, I think I saw... wait... I did catch a woman with grey skin at the corner of my eye."
"Well, shit..." Milten said with a chuckle.
"I was planning on going after the Kobra Klan for the team's big break, but it seems Jake beat me to it, along with Canman's little group!"
"Oh, those were the guys you mentioned? That fucking trio of flies?"
"Yes. But I had plans to integrate them into our fold eventually. Luckily, the chance has presented itself."
"What about Canman?"
"What about him? I have the president on my side. If I poach his little team, he can't do jack shit about it. I'm building an organization here. With how few pure mumans are to find that aren't hiding out from the Cage or in the Cage nowadays, I need all the help I can get."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Bring them in. All of them. We'll talk something out. In a few days, the Danger Squad will become household names."
"I thought our name was the New Guardians."
"Yeah... but I only got it to piss off Canman. It's not like it was permanent. I'll be damned if my very own team's name was just some legacy ripoff of another inferior group. No, this name is yet to be taken, officially at least. Plus it's gonna piss Canman off even more."
Milten then broke into a wild laugh.
Max, disgusted, cut the call.
"Relax, Max. It's all for the plan. Don't let him get to you. Not like last time," Max muttered to himself.
He then heard the footsteps of some civilians making their way to the roof.
That was his cue to leave.
In a second, he morphed his back to form his red wings and took off just as quickly, disappearing into the cold moonlight.
To be continued...