Max walked out into the kitchen before the rest of his family, setting a laptop down and booting it up to work on a project that he was working on in his freetime.
What he was doing was he was coding an algorithm that could take past locations for people that it was fed, along with pictures, documents, anything, along with aliases someone would need to narrow down where they would be next.
The main issue with this was that it took a lot, and he meant a *lot* of coding and hundreds of hours of freetime that he did not have considering everything else that he had going on. Mostly practicing with his powers, as he got his skills back.
"'This looks complicated.'" Maxie said, looking at the coding.
"'No, it doesn't, you're just waking up.'" Max replied.
"'True, true. Lot of code though.'" He noted.
"'I am fully aware, and there will be a lot more. This is going to take months, and all just to track down Schwoz.'" Max told him.
"'Yeah, yeah, what even *is* a Schwoz?'"
"'Not a what, a who. They're one of the best scientific minds on the planet and they would be a useful ally. Trying to become penpals. Issue is that they are good at hiding and moving around. Which is why I'm trying to build this algorithm to find them.'"
Maxie seems to hum inside of his head. "'That sounds reasonable enough. Sounds like it requires a lot of focus. Would you want me to play passive observer for a bit?''
Max is genuinely taken aback at the question. Maxie normally never took a hint and he had to shut him up himself. What in the f**k was this?
Finally he answered, '"Yeah, that would be great if you're serious.'"
"'Yeah, I'm serious. I'll pipe in if you need something or I notice something.'"
Max nodded as he went to work. An hour later, Barb stepped into the room, looking at her second oldest. "You're awake." She notes.
His fingers don't stop moving, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Astute observation, mom. Could you make me a cup of coffee, please? Black."
Barb just nods slowly. "Yeah, honey, I could do that." She replies, then moves to make some as he keeps working.
Eventually, she sets the cup down on the table, and he lifts it with his left hand, his right hand still typing as he takes a sip of the coffee, eyes not breaking from the glow of the laptop.
"Thanks." He tells her.
The woman tilts her head as she looks at the screen. "No problem. Hey, what are you doing here? It looks like nothing I've ever seen before."
Max pulls the cup away after a sip, replying, "Not surprised, you aren't a hero who relies on tech. I'm coding a program for something."
Barb gives him a look. "What are you coding?"
Max finally pauses, and turns to look at his mother. "Not anything to be concerned about."
By the look on her face, he know she doesn't believe it, but she lets it drop. "Okay, well, good luck, honey." She leans down and gives him a kiss on the cheek before she shifts to keep making breakfast for everyone.
She starts prepping breakfast smoothies, which Max notices. "Mom, I wouldn't." He tells her.
Barb pauses her movements. "Why not?"
Max turns fully to her, the coffee being placed on the table. "Ever wonder what happened to the last juicer?"
His mother took a minute to think. "It was broken."
"No, it was hit with a hammer seven times. Now, why would someone do that?"
She took a moment to think before she answered, "Because they didn't like it."
"Exactly. Do you really want to waste an investment by forcing breakfast smoothies to them, and them becoming spiteful of the appliance and destroying it, or let them explore the options with it on their own and making it worth it?"
"...let them explore." She replies.
Max nods. "Yes. Now, instead of making breakfast smoothies, what should you do?"
"Make a normal breakfast...?"
Max turns back to the coding, giving a nod as he brings the cup up. "Yep. Normal breakfast." He takes a sip of the coffee, going back to typing with a single hand as Barb sits there stunned at her son teaching her something about parenting.
"Thank you, Max." She finally gets out.
"Nothing to thank me for." He replies, setting the cup down to keep coding.
~~~~~~~~~~
An hour and a half later, the rest of the family were downstairs... mostly. Phoebe was running late because of work the day prior, and she didn't get home until midnight. To say she was running on fumes was an understatement.
Billy and Nora were sitting at the table, Hank at the bar. None of the three understood what he was doing, and he was grateful for that. All he had to say to get them to stop questioning was, "You ever wonder what the guys at those Hero League computers do?" And they stopped asking.
He was glad he was a psychologist in his past life. It was easy to get people to leave him alone. They were all eating pancakes, bacon, and eggs. He had just opted for a plate of bacon, as it was the one he could eat without looking and wouldn't stick the keyboard.
Phoebe eventually trotted downstairs, looked at the scene and paused. Barb had just noticed Max's empty coffee cup and went to grab another one. His twin questioned, "Max, are you coding at..." she checked her watch. "eight-thirty in the morning?"
"I've been coding since six." He replies, grabbing the coffee cup Barb gave him, taking a sip. "Thanks, mom."
Phoebe walked over and leaned down to look at it, blinking her tired eyes, she questioned, "Am I seeing this right?"
"Depends on what you're seeing."
"Are you coding a tracking software?" She questions, which raises a slight alarm with their parents.
"Close but no." He replies, taking a sip of coffee.
Hank immediately asks, "So what *are* you coding? Be specific."
Max just sighs, taking one more sip before putting the cup down. "I'm coding a tracking and prediction software."
Barb gives him a look. "What exactly does that mean?"
The teenager rubs his eyes before turning to face everyone. "Try to keep up. I am trying to get it to be able to take previously known locations, along with pictures, documents, aliases, anything like that to predict where they will pop up next, and from there, serve as a tracking software to keep constant tabs on them. Right now, all it can do is track someone after being given a picture and searching through security cameras, and even then it's limited. Only public cameras or security systems with little encryption or firewalls."
Nora and Billy immediately get up and shift over to the laptop. Billy says, "Track someone!"
Max looks at his parents, and they give him a nod. So, he says, "Give me a name."
Phoebe throws out, "Channing Tatum."
Max rolls his eyes. "Shouldn't have expected any different." He switches to the input information tab, goes to this universes version of Google and searches up pictures of Channing Tatum, then he grabs it before bringing it back, inputting it into the software, and hits search.
Immediately he gets a hit via a public access camera in Los Angeles, along with a map that shows the exact location, and looking at the security camera, he points, which shows him filming his next movie, the man moving around.
"There you go." Max says, pointing, and the entire family shifts closer to his laptop to look, and indeed, there he is.
"Holy..." Hank lets out, the rest of the family nodding.
"That's... actually impressive. And it's going to get even better?" Phoebe asks.
Max just nods, folding his arms behind his head. "Yep. With enough data, I'll be able to know where he's going next before a camera even picks him up based on prior movements. All about data and psychology."
"You think-"
"No, Phoebe, I'm not going to let you borrow it to fuel your obsession." He replies, then adds, "Plus, I think our parents are considering telling me to scrub the program entirely, because I'm a supervillain and they don't want to know what I could do with it."
Hank and Barb both nod, Barb saying, "This could be very dangerous if it gets out of your hands."
Max shrugs. "Shame, I was considering handing a copy over to the Hero League once it was finished."
Everyone turns to him. "You were?" Nora questions.
Max nods. "Mostly as a bargaining chip to let our parents allow me to keep working on it. Of course, I'll keep the original, and after they get the one-point-oh copy, any updates I make they won't get, and I am going to use it for my own personal purposes, but I know this tracking software is better than any they have right now. It would be a steal for them to pass it up."
Barb and Hank look at each other. They seem to come to a conclusion right then. Barb starts, "As long as you promise to hand a copy over to the Hero League-"
Hank finishes, "then you can keep working on it. It's impressive enough already, hopefully it can help the Hero League a lot."
Max nods. "Like I said, once the original is made, they get a copy of that, and any updates I make I'm not obligated to share. You can even tell them they can have a demonstration beforehand."
Barb nods. "That's a fair compromise. We can agree to that."
Max nods, then adds, "Has anyone checked the neighborhood blog today?"
They shake their heads, and Hank moves to check. He had only asked to get them focused off of his laptop, and because he knew what happened if he changed the events of the episode too much. He had to get this over with.
Hank checked it and said, "The neighborhood vandal struck again. Chickens were stolen from a backyard chicken coop."
Nora looks out the backdoor. "Why is there a chicken outside?"
"To get to the other side!" Billy shouted, then looked at Max for a high-five, which Max gave him, the boy smiling wider.
The family then shifts outside to look at all of the chickens... all except one. Max just downs the rest of his coffee, then gets up before tossing it in the sink and grabbing the laptop before shifting it downstairs to his room, intent on getting more work done.
~~~~~~~~~~
Max doesn't bother entertaining Hanks idea for the Crime Punchers thing at all, opting out to continue doing what he wanted. Which, right now, was trying to figure out how to be blamed for being the vandal.
Why would he do it? One, he was bored, Tara was out of town, Sarah was grounded for sneaking out past curfew (to stalk him, might he add), and Cherry was... doing whatever the h**l Cherry did away from them.
Two, universe constraints. It was annoying and tedious as f**k, but since he circumvented the entire last episode he had to make sure that nothing went off the rails.
What does he mean by that? He did some digging with some cosmic waves using a device that Max had just laying in his, 'Not evil enough', which did confuse him enough to warrant a conversation that didn't get nowhere.
Anyways, upon looking at the dates of when he changed events, the cosmic waves fluctuated in a negative way. Yes, the first time it managed to fix itself because ultimately season one is small in scale. But the longer he goes on, the bigger the change, if he keeps changing entire episodes, the universe could collapse in on itself.
He didn't know why, and he had a few theories on it, but he would have to ask Ethereal Ash about that. He had no idea, as while he and by extension, Maxie, were one of the smartest people on the planet, nobody understood the cosmic side of the universe that well.
Well, Schwoz maybe did, as he ended up being able to reverse two separate worlds interacting like it was a casual Tuesday, but he wants to have the answer sooner rather than later.
He blew a breath out, before he eventually came up with a plan. It was staring him right in the face. Just go out, and while he was practicing with his powers and martial arts, use his telekinesis to absolutely cover him with dirt. And when he comes back, confess. He would time it right for the next meeting.
He didn't want to do this. In fact, he hated having to stick to the script, which was why he was trying to find a way to circumvent it, but for now, he was stalling. He would get right back to work on whatever he wanted to do.
With that plan in motion, he grabbed his work backpack, and headed out the window.
~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later, he was walking back, feeling good about training. It was fun, getting used to his tricks and all again.
He paused at the backdoor, looking at the argument inside, then looked down at himself.
"Here we go..." He muttered to himself, then took a step back, using his telekinesis to lift up a large amount of dirt before closing his eyes and pulling it towards himself.
He felt the course substance hit his body, covering him in it. Once he felt the rest drop or get stuck to him, the marks apparent, he opened his eyes before shaking his head then walking into the backdoor.
"There he is!" Mrs. Wong shouted, which this time instead of being blind hatred for his family, it was a genuine accusation based on the evidence. Remember, this is the first time Mrs. Wong has ever met Max.
Barb asked, "Max can we see you for a second?"
Max nodded before stepping down, casually putting his hands in his pockets as he stood next to everyone. Upon looking at the dirt in the floor and someone holding a mailbox, he just goes, "So you know, huh?"
Mrs. Wong glares at him. "Know what?"
"That I'm the neighborhood vandal." Max drops casually, and Darcy gives him a suspicious look, which he gives her a pointed one in return. Her face twists into shock as she realizes that he knows, then she shifts to stand behind Mrs. Wong.
Mrs. Wong shouts. "Ah-ha!" She shifts to Hank then remarks, "Are you punching crime or is crime punching you!?" Then she rips the badge off, turning to look at the photographer before a picture is taken.
Max just stands there calmly with a straight face, giving a polite smile to the camera as it flashes.
~~~~~~~~~~
He was walking to school the next day, all alone and beyond early when a hand grabbed him and tried to pull him to the side. He could have resisted and pulled away, but he let it happen because he had a feeling about what was happening.
Max turned and looked down at Darcy. "Let me guess, you have questions."
She asks, "Do you know who the neighborhood vandal is?"
He raises his eyebrows before giving her a look. "Yeah, it's you. You're welcome."
The girl glares. "Why take the fall?"
"I have my reasons."
"And what are they?"
"None of your concern. Sooner or later, my family, specifically my twin, will figure out it's not me because they will keep happening while I'm in my house. They will figure it out, and I will help take you down. This is a temporary thing."
Darcy glares. "Then what's the point in doing it?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that it was to keep the universe from collapsing in on itself?"
Darcy just snorts. "No. That's delusional."
"Then I don't know what to tell you. Enjoy your aunts happiness while it lasts. Once she figures out it's you, she'll be crushed." Then he turns and continues his walk to school.
~~~~~~~~~~
Max was coding down in his bedroom again, occasionally jotting things down in a notebook as he comes up with ideas for other things.
Phoebe walked downstairs in her Wong's Pizza Palace uniform, asking, "Why did you do it?"
Max turns around in his chair. "You mean admit to being the neighborhood vandal? Because I am."
Phoebe shakes her head. "You're not. The you in Metroburg, I would believe that. But since we moved to Hiddenville, you've been different. Less impulsive. Less of a problem and actually more of a help. I don't believe you are the vandal. Am I wrong?"
Max stares at her for a very long and tense moment, then he replies, "No. You're not."
"Then why say you are? Dad is in the dumps since that paper was printed, Mom feels betrayed, Nora and Billy feel like you haven't changed a bit, and I'm just confused."
"Plus dad isn't wearing pants?" Max adds.
Phoebe replies, "That too. So, why?"
Max tried the line again, "Would you believe me if I said it was to keep the universe from ripping itself apart?"
Phoebe gave him an odd look. "Um, no, if something as small as that could rip the universe apart, the Hero League would notify us."
"'Why did you ask that twice?'" Maxie questioned.
"'To see if anyone would take my word on it. Clearly not.'" Max replied internally, then he replied ot Phoebe out loud, "I was bored. Wanted some chaos. I'm still a supervillain, Phoebe. I'll fix it."
Phoebe gives him a look. "How?"
Max just turns around to his computer, not his laptop, and types something. He pulled up articles. "Look at these articles." Phoebe leaned over to look. "Everytime one went up, the next day, the vandal struck. They strike after something gets posted. Look at todays."
Phoebe reads, ""Neighborhood Park Reopens."" Then she looks at Max. "They're going to strike the park tonight."
Max nods. "They are. And when they do, we catch them."
Phoebe hums in agreement. "Should we get mom and dad in on this?"
Max gives her a blank look. "We have been trained in all forms of combat and strategy our whole lives by one of the best superheroes on the planet. Do you really think us so incapable that we can't handle one person on our own?"
She shakes her head. "No, we got this. Tonight. And we film it for proof."
Her twin hums. "Yes, we do. Get to work. We have time."
Phoebe nods before turning around and walking out.
~~~~~~~~~~
That night, Max and Phoebe were in the park, Max having strapped a camera to his and Phoebes chest (trying to attach hers without accidentally grabbing a breast was difficult, and she was blushing the entire time for some reason) to film everything that happened.
They settle in some bushes, and Max stops Phoebe from doing anything that would give them away. "Seriously-"
"If you can't whisper, you can't talk." Max tells her with a whisper.
Phoebe gives him a look before whispering, "Seriously, Max, why do we have to be wearing these outfits?"
Max gives them both a look. Black jeans, black shoes, and a black shirt. Max's shirt had sleeves that went from the end of the shirt before cutting off a little past his elbow, while Phoebes was just a long sleeve. Max was also wearing leather fingerless gloves.
"Aesthetic and to make it hard to spot in the dark. Plus, it hides the camera easier so they are more liable to admit it." He whispers back, then looks adds, "Remember, don't go immediately. Let them start vandalizing first to get evidence that they are doing it and not walking in the park."
Phoebe nods before whispering back, "Proof first, catch later, got it."
Max nods, and then settles in for a longer wait. Another two hours goes by before they show up, and Max has to hold a hand out. He whispers, "Camera on." Then moves his hand to turn his on, Phoebe doing the same with hers.
They watch as they start spray painting, then throws something over its shoulder, and pulls something else out of their bag. Max motions to go, and they immediately start moving, circling around to cover the two exits they could get to first, as Max had laid out in his plan.
Max says, "Stop." And she looks at him, and he gives a slight smirk before she turns and tries to take off running, but spots Phoebe. She tries to shift to run another direction quickly, but slips slightly on the grass, stumbling as she tries to run where Max and Phoebe approached from.
Max and Phoebe both shift, Max using better before and getting to Darcy first. He grabs the wrist closest to him, then she tries to swing with her other, but he blocks it with his other forearm.
Once he feels the contact, he turns and pulls her arm, the fact that she was maybe eleven or twelve meaning she was light, so she easily flipped over his shoulder and landed on the ground. Max twisted her arm to send shocks of pain up her arm, a bit too much, as she gave a small squeal of pain. It immobilized her, however, which was the goal.
Max takes his other hand and pulls the helmet off, then reaches for the mask, pulling it down to show her face. Phoebe looks in shock. "Darcy Wong?" She asks, shocked, obviously.
Darcy glares. "I'm not going to apologize. I love destroying other people's property."
Max nods. "I know. Told you that you'd get caught, didn't I?" He asks, smirking slightly.
"Screw you."
"Too young for me." Then he pulls her up by her arm, turns her to face Phoebe. He points right at her chest, then says, "Smile for the camera, Darcy. Everyone is about to know."
Darcy just glares.
~~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, after everything went down and he sent it to the blog, Max was laying down on his back, when he felt the semi-familiar tingle of something not of this world.
Max's eyes shot open, and he moved up immediately spotting Ash. "Good timing, I needed to talk to you."
She nods. "I know. Your urge to talk to me echoed in your head so much it sent an alert to me. What did you need?"
Max stands up fully, relaying, "I want to know what actually happens when I make too many changes. Does it just make things harder for heroes, does it limit what I can do, will it rip the universe apart?"
Ash replies, "It will destabilize the universe and allow others who haven't earned this chance slip through and wreak havoc. Once that happens, given enough time, the universe will send out an anti-matter wave that will incinerate everything until the universe is no more so it can reset, and something else will take its place."
Max listens, feeling the weight of it crash onto his shoulders. "Is there anyway to circumvent that? A piece of technology? Magic?"
Ash thinks for awhile, before she finally replies, "I do not know. I will have to consult old texts of my people to see."
Max nods. "The second you have an answer, would you come tell me? I don't want to take time away from your other duties, but it's very important to me."
Ash merely nods. "I will relay the information to you once I have it. For now, I must go."
He merely lets out a deep sigh, his head now aching a lot. "Alright, have a safe trip."
"Before I go..." She starts, and he barely has time to look up before lips are placed on his, then he feels them vanish after a few seconds, and when he opens his eyes, she's gone. Along with his headache.
"Well... d**n."
{End Note: Big things coming. And some action for those, and a hint towards what Max's new fighting style will be like. I hope you enjoyed all of this. Anyways, you all enjoy :)}
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