Authors note: Sorry I'm posting a bit late in the day. there was a blackout around my house.

Max laughed a downright evil laugh as he walked up to the security guard station. They recently put a citation on blockbuster for selling candy without a permit, so he was gonna get a bit of revenge. Thanks to some bullshit about owning an apartment in the mall, they can't ban him from the rest of the mall. They were either going to make an exception, or they were going to regret fucking with his dad....er, his store.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Nikki said excitedly. It's been a long time since they caused chaos purely for the sake of chaos. She really missed all the fires and the screaming. Ever since Max became David's son, his heart just wasn't in it anymore, at least not at camp Campbell. His new brand of chaos always had too many goals and not enough destruction.

"I read online how to hotwire a segway, and I got pretty good at it too," Neil said. "I just really hope they don't call my parents....."

"Don't worry Neil," Max said with a devious smile. "You just have to work your parents against each other so that whatever punishment you do get is practically nonexistent. Davids not gonna do shit to me, the worst he's gonna do is give me a hug."

"Your lucky, my parents ground me and take away my computer," Neil complained. "I don't really care that much anymore since I went camping, but it's still annoying to be without my machine."

"I'm lucky?" Max asked skeptically, giving Neil an annoyed look. It took David's reaction to his scars for him to actually understand just how fucked up his life was. He didn't know why, but it never really hit him how bad it really was until he saw how other people reacted to it. It's like his whole life was just one fucked up nightmare, and he just thought it was....normal. He cursed himself for being so fucking blind, and not doing anything about it sooner.

"Oh right....sorry Max, I forgot," Neil said as he remembered the scars on Max's back. They still haven't gone away, no matter how much skin care crap David keeps putting on them. David wants him to pretend it's one big bad dream he can just forget about, but it's getting really hard to do that when people keep mentioning it and acting like it's a big fucking deal.

He's not some piece of glass that can break at any second, and he's sick of people acting like they can just walk all over him. Max plan for today, is to remind them that he's made of steel. They're going to regret making him out to be some broken child in need of fixing. He'll show them that he's just another kid, with a penchant for causing some chaos.

"Come on, I got the key to the segway depot if we do this right we can race them all the way back to the blockbuster," Max said with a devious smile. He waited until the security guard walked away from the depot to go one his patrol, and raced forward toward the door. Nikki suddenly hopped on his shoulders and quickly unlocked the door letting the three of them slip inside.

They walked in the room but stopped when they saw Nerf already sitting in behind a fenced wall. It was basically mall jail, so it's not like he was in any real trouble. His foster family is considered residents of the mall, so at best he was just being held in there temporarily. Nerf is only in foster care until his mother gets out of jail. She is in actual jail, so it's not like the government would just leave him in the streets or throw him in with her. It's out of practicality, and it's not sad, so no one feel bad for Nerf.

At least he has a home, and his mother always visits when she breaks out. In fact, her sentence got extended specifically because she stabbed his last foster parents for not feeding him enough. His current ones are too scared to try and send him away or abuse him, so he's actually kind of happy thanks to his mother's psychotic tendencies.

"Hey, Nerf," Max said.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Nerf asked.

"We're gonna steal the segways and have a race around the mall," Max said.

"Nice!" Nerf said.

"Why are you in here?" Max asked.

"I bullied those losers in the magic shop," Nerf said annoyed. "Turns out security doesn't like that. How am I supposed to bully Nerris when she never leaves that stupid store? It's really cutting into my bullying time."

"Okay," Max said as he walked over to where a bunch of segways were stored. He smiled deviously as he pictured their exit.

***

The wall next to the churro stand suddenly exploded sending a flaming Nerf straight into the nearby fountain. He growled when he hit the surface as Max, Neil and Nikki suddenly raced out of the hole in the wall and went racing down the mall.

"They will pay!" Nerf threatened as he made a fist.

"Churro?" the woman at the stand offered.

"Sure," Nerf replied as he grabbed on and stuffed it in his mouth. "They're still gonna pay!" He said through a mouthful of churro, also making another fist.

"Faster!" Max said as he hung onto the handlebars of the surprisingly tall segway. He cursed his small stature as he nearly hit a potted plant, and phone case display. This mall was surprisingly large, so much so that the map seemed to change depending on where in the mall you were. It was weird, almost like whoever wrote this doesn't want to define the size of the mall or what's in it for the sake of coming up with new ideas.

"I'm trying!" Neil said as he leaned forward some more. These segways went forward by simply leaning forward, unfortunately, with Max hanging on the front handlebars and forcing the whole thing forward it was accelerating excessively just to keep them from tipping forward and crashing to the ground.

"Stop!" A security guard on a segway said as he rounded a corner. Max's segway zipped straight past him going way faster then the manual said it should. The guard turned and looked after them realizing they were probably going to hit a tree. "Well, I tried." The guard said as he continued on his way.

"How do we stop this thing?" Neil asked.

"This is awesome, faster, faster!" Nikki yelled excitedly. "You'll never catch me, coppers!" She laughed as the wind blew in her hair.

"Well at least we're gonna die quickly," Max said as he realized they don't know how to brake, or turn or pretty much do anything except go faster. They suddenly crashed into a clothing store called anchor blue sending them all sprawling among old fashioned clothes from the nineties.

"Hey, we didn't die!" Nikki said. "That's nice."

"Not enough fires though," Max said as he shrugged.

"Well, the segways kind of on fire." Neil pointed out. A whole rack of clothes suddenly burst into flames as the segway sent sparks everywhere.

***

David suddenly rushed over to Max with a concerned expression on his face. He was halfway between screaming, crying, and having a whole new mental breakdown as he realized Max was hurt! He couldn't believe he failed so epically as a parent! The guilt was absolutely ripping him apart, as he observed the horrific wound Max had endured because of his complete and total failure. David cried and hugged Max with nothing but total guilt and misery and his heart.

"It's a scratch, David!" Max said annoyed. He had a tiny scratch on his cheek from the crash. He didn't even notice it until Nikki pointed it out a few minutes ago. It probably came from a coat hanger or something. They were all made of metal for some reason.

They were all in the middle of the guard station with a massive gaping hole in the wall. They put a bunch of crime scene tape over the whole, but realistically they could take off any time they wanted now that the mall jail was annihilated. Seriously, Neil and Nikki already did like five minutes ago. They already called David, so Max figured he'd save him the trouble.

"Oh my gosh, what if it gets infected!" David said in complete worry. He wasn't normally this protective at camp, it must be because of how David feels for Max. Max can't decide if it's a wonderful sign that he truly cares or a never-ending pain in the ass.

"It's not gonna get infected, David." Max snapped. "If anything gets infected it probably would have happened at that shithole camp."

"Where the medkit?!" David suddenly yelled.

"Ugh....it's only for serious injuries on...." the guard tried to say.

"This is serious!" David shouted at them. "Infection was the leading cause of death in the seventeen hundreds!" Max rolled his eyes at Davids overreaction. David as a father was a lot different than David as a counselor.

"I crashed a three hundred mile an hour segway into a clothing store and accidentally set everything on fire," Max said. "And you think a tiny cut is gonna kill me?"

"Well...." David thought about it for a moment. "I guess so, but you should still put on a bandaid."

"Fine." Max scowled as David lovingly put a bandaid over his tiny cut, so small it didn't even draw blood. Max almost felt happy that he cared so much, but quickly stamped it out as he realized it was just because of his last fucking parents. He suddenly smacked Davids hand away as an evil smile crossed his face.

"See you later, Jon," Max said as he walked out of the hole in the wall. Jon was the head of mall security, and he was not happy about having his office destroyed. He glared at Max as he walked away, before grabbing one of his subordinates.

"Keep an eye on him," Jon said.

"I'll do my best!" David said Jon frowned as he realized David thought he was talking to him.

***

Gwen read a slutty magazine as she sipped a soda she bought in the food court. It was her shift at the blockbuster, and since no one actually goes to blockbuster, she rarely had anything to do. Max walked into the store with an evil smile on his face.

"What's got you so riled up?" Gwen asked as she flipped through the magazine.

"None of your business." Max snapped with a sudden frown.

"Whatever," Gwen said as she continued to read from her magazine. Max looked at her approvingly as he walked past her and up the stairs to his apartment. He grabbed a set of fireworks from under his bed he's been saving for a special occasion.

***

Jon looked around the corner at the blockbuster with a creepy gaze. His partner Paul was standing on a segway just behind him.

"Why are we doing this?" Paul asked. "There contract is ironclad there's no way to get rid of them without buying it out from them."

"We're getting ahead of the curve, obviously," Jon said as he stalked Max as he walked out of the blockbuster.

"Why are we stalking a small child again?" Paul asked.

"I told you, he's a monster," Jon said. "The little bastard is practically the devil!" Jon moved forward and stopped at a pillar and hid behind it as Max entered the military surplus store. Paul moved forward on his segway and came to a stop behind him.

"This is still really creepy," Paul said.

"Shouldn't you have a teenage girl you're supposed to be hunting down." Jon snapped at him.

"She's too crafty, and she's really mean....." Paul said as he thought back to the time Erid made him crash into the phone case stand. He was only going like five miles an hour, but the attendant wouldn't stop yelling at him.

"I have to know what he's up to," Jon said. "Also, why don't you just get off the segway?"

"I.....don't know....." Paul said as he looked down at his segway.

"Targets in motion!" Jon said suddenly. Max walked out of the military surplus store with a large box of flares tucked under his arm. The security at this mall sucks. "He's coming this way, act natural!"

Max walked past them and spared them a glance as he saw a segway guy with a bush for a head, and another guy whistling very loudly as he pretended not to look at him. Max stopped and stared as the whistling guy began to sweat profusely.

"Fucking morons," Max said as he kept walking past them. He scowled as he realized they were following him. He quickly ducked into a stairwell and ran down the stairs before blocking the door at the bottom with a broom handle. "Follow that, asshole," Max said as he walked toward his target.

***

Max sat next to the fountain near the food court. He double checked his watch as Neil and Nikki sat next to him.

"So what's the next plan?" Nikki asked excitedly.

"To get our parents super pissed at security." Max smiled evilly. "You left your phones in the blockbuster safe right?"

"Yeah, why did you make us do that?" Neil asked. Max checked his watch again.

"Remember when I had you study the plumbing system?" Max asked.

"Oh yeah, that was actually really interest......ing," Neil said as he looked at the fountain suddenly. "Max, please tell me you....." Neil stopped when the top of the fountain suddenly erupted sending water showering all over the food court, and completely drenching the trio in water. It was from the water tower so it was clean water, thankfully.

Neil discovered several flaws in the water system under the mall. It was mostly jerry rigged due to how many times the mall has been renovated and expanded. This has created several flaws in the pressure system, including the fact that if you destroy the emergency pressure valve behind the JCPenny, all the pressure from the water tower goes straight into the food court fountain.

"Of course you did," Neil said as his hair began to droop with all the water raining down on them. Nikki laughed as everyone in the food court began to freak out about being instantly soaked in water.

The water was still raining down from the overtaxed fountain, so people were scrambling to get away from the torrents knocking over chairs and tables as they went, spreading food and other stuff all over the floor. Shoppers were forced to abandon different bags filled with new clothes and other stuff as they ran for cover.

The best part was when someone yelled that the sewer must have backed up, and now people are freaking out about being drenched in what they think is raw sewage. It was true chaos as people kept running around as what was simply a little leak somehow created a total riot of people running around and freaking out.

"Now just keep up the act in front of security," Max said. "When you see your parents, say you feel cold and wet, and that the security guards didn't give you a towel or anything. Go total victim role and lay it on thick about how mean they are, and that you're totally innocent." Max smiled evilly as two security guards immediately zeroed in on them through all the chaos.

"Did you do this?" one of the guards asked.

"So what if we did?" Max asked mockingly.

"You're coming with us!"

"Duh, let's go," Max said as he hopped off the bench.

***

Max sat in the makeshift holding cell, now mostly repaired thanks to some chicken wire bolted around the big hole leading out into the rest of the mall. The security guards gave them towels to keep them warm as they called their parents, but Max cleverly hid them under a bit of rubble.

"Now comes the best part," Max said, still dripping wet along with his friends. He quickly walked over to the air conditioner and turned it down. "It's gonna get pretty cold in here."

"Why do we have to be so cold for this?" Neil asked.

"I don't know If I feel so good," Nikki said. The water washed off all the dirt from her face, and now the ac was making her feel a little queasy.

"Here's a bag of dirt," Max said as he yanked it out of his front pocket. Nikki grabbed it and quickly inhaled it to make herself feel better. "It has to be cold in here so your parents freak out as soon as they see us," Max explained to Neil. He shivered slightly as the air conditioning was actually really good here.

"Well, it's not any worse then camp was at night," Neil said as he shivered. "But we had a fire when it got really cold."

"Just hang in there Neil," Max said. "Those bastards have to be punished!" Max said with a vengeful edge to his voice. His anger was enough to keep him warm even in the dead of winter.

***

"Can't you see his freezing!" Carl said as he saw his shivering son. He'd never actually been this mad before, but those security guards were really getting on his nerves. They dragged him down here, put his shivering son in a freezing jail with nothing but an air conditioner, and they can't even prove that Neil had anything to do with the fountain.

The security camera footage just showed them sitting next to the fountain when it suddenly erupted. It took them a while to figure out that one of the pressure breaks behind JCPenny was responsible, but due to lack of cameras and witnesses, they had no idea who actually broke it. So at this point, they were trying to tell Carl his son was responsible based on a snide remark from his friend.

"I was in yoga!" Candy snapped. "Do you have any idea how much a session with Alejandro costs?" She said as she stomped her foot. She was pretty much used to Nikki's antics at this point, so whether or not she actually did it wasn't really the issue.

"I uh..." Jon tried to say as he looked around for a way out. He scowled when he saw Max smirking at him through the chicken wire.

"Well, I don't think you're being fair to Jon here," David said as he tried to take the middle ground. "There only trying to keep the mall safe, and there only human so there bound to make mistakes."

"Yeah, like throwing my baby girl in jail for no reason!" Candy snapped at David, making him shrink back a little. David gulped as he turned to face Jon the head of security.

"While I do respect you for doing your job, I do have to express my disappointment for how you've treated our children!" David said declaratively. "It's freezing in here, and they don't even have so much as a towel!"

"We gave them towels, but they disappeared!" Jon defended.

"Okay," David said in sudden defeat. He was not good at conflict, at all.

"Can I go home now, I'm cold," Neil said as he shivered. He was turning a little blue as Jon kept arguing with the outraged parents much longer then Max thought he would.

David was also there, but he wasn't one for conflict. So when the other parents started yelling he just slunk away slightly afraid to talk out on anyone's behalf. He took off his vest and put it over Max's shoulders to try and keep him warm while they argued over everything.

"Are you hurt?" David whispered to Max.

"I'm fine David." Max snapped. "I'm just cold." David snuggled him closer in hopes off giving him a little heat making Max glare off into the distance, secretly enjoying the warmth he offered.

***

David smiled as Max came out of the shower in fresh warm clothes. Neil was a little sick from the cold, so Carl kept him home for the rest of the day. Nikki was also a little sick, but it's Nikki so she was probably digging in a planter somewhere.