The Max Effect.2

Good intentions

The young men, all ages between 19 and 23, got out of the defeated Toyota; smoke was still coming from the engine.

How did you do that? Asked one of the young men,

"I'm sorry, don't hurt us, miss..." said the other one, a little more apologetic than his friend.

"What the heck is going on? I won't hurt anyone, but you need to start talking...fast."  Said an annoyed Max.

The oldest boys explained that they were all brothers, apart from Adam, who was okay but had been knocked out by Max's powerful punch. Not every day you floor a fake 6-foot-7 Sasquatch with a single punch. Jules continued to explain. The three brothers were all sons of Peter Zwenski, the original Sasquatch hunter from a few decades ago, who made Ranger Station Alpha famous for a few months. Only it wasn't a hoax. Peter had been hunting and was convinced he saw the sasquatch. He then devoted far too much time to trying to hunt and capture the sasquatch on film without success. When a local paper heard about this, they ran the story, which got out of hand. Peter was convinced that he saw the real deal, but over time and without any further proof, the interest soon dwindled. The media circus left town, and it was just Peter. Spending almost every moment of his time here. It ended up costing him his marriage, his savings, and ultimately his health. Jules explained that Peter was very ill and unlikely to be around much longer. They wanted to give him peace and provide him with the proof he so longed to see. Imagine the joy it would give him to see the Sasquatch that evaded his return and subsequent hunts captured on film. Chris, the younger brother, was a film student, so the brothers decided they'd try to recreate a scene. He had connections with costume makers, which is why the outfit was so realistic.

The guy stuck in the ranger station just got caught up in it all, explained Jules

"We tried to explain that we were filming, but he ran away from us...well, he ran away from Adam, who was wearing the costume." Said Jules

"We got caught up in it, thinking that if we got this guy on film with Adam, it would make everything more realistic. We got caught up in the hype." Explained Chris.

"But Eric was scared and trying to get help for his family and also had a gun. You could have been shot," explained Max.

Max went into full cop mode, and rightly so. Although they had nothing to do with the cable car breaking down, they delayed the rescue of the family and nearly scared Eric to death. The boys explained that they did so because they wanted raw, realistic footage. They were full of apologies and begged Max and Eric not to involve the police or even the park authorities. She had a dilemma. Max went and spoke to Eric; after all, he was the one scared half to death, and his family were stranded, with their rescue being delayed due to his hiding. A groaning from the downed Sasquatch, aka Adam, broke the tension, and it appeared that Adam was gaining consciousness. Suddenly, there was a loud monster-type noise.

"Knock it off, Adam," said Chris.

Jules tapped Chris on the shoulder, and Chris turned to see Jules pointing, pointing towards Adam, who had only just gotten onto his knees. The noise had come from something else. The bushes were rustling furiously—something was on the move. They heard the noise again; it was getting nearer. And there it was. All this time, Peter had been right.

"Grab your camera quickly," said Jules to Chris.

Chris ran over to the now-dead Toyota and started to rummage around, finding a battery pack for his camera. The noise continued; it was like a growl and a roar, but together. And there it was, right in front of them all,  in all its mysterious charm and folklore, the Sasquatch breaking cover. It was nearly 7 feet tall. Max quickly went to the front of the ranger cabin. Two thick wooden supports or props held up the front porch. Max grabbed the support with both hands and pulled. There was a sound of cracking and splintering wood as Max ripped the support from its fixings, and part of the porch dropped. Max shouted at the rest of them to get behind her. Her idea was to scare it off, and she was also scared. The sasquatch headed over to the car and towards Chris, who was still rummaging around various equipment bags in the car. Max yelled a warning at Chris.

The sasquatch was getting nearer. Adam, the fake Sasquatch, got up; being tall and a football player, something crazy must have run through his thoughts. He bravely but stupidly ran over towards the sasquatch. What was he intending to do—tackle the beast? Adam got nearer to the sasquatch, and the beast turned and sidestepped. Adam missed his target, and he fell flat to the floor, landing in a heap again. The dark beast grabbed him, lifting his body like it weighed nothing. Max ran over and swung back the wooden support like an oversized baseball bat. She struck the beast hard, and it dropped Adam, who landed in a heap for the third time. Max shocked the beast that towered over her. It grabbed the other end of the support post. It was like the world's strongest man competition, where they tried to push each other out of the circle while holding the log.

The sasquatch was used to dominating, but this time, it was against someone stronger. The beast tried to manoeuvre Max aside, but in reality, her muscular, powerful frame was dictating where the beast went. She directed it away from Chris, at one point lifting the beast off the ground slightly as she pivoted around. The group observing this couldn't believe Max's strength. She was powerful.

The wooden pole started to crack from the stress it was under; not surprisingly, it was at Max's end of the pole. Max started to push the beast away from Chris. He found his equipment and started to film. It appeared that the beast was desperately trying to get its footing, but Max's power and strength kept pushing the beast backwards. The black-haired beast made more noise and swung its long, heavy arm onto the pole, snapping it in half. Max lost her footing slightly but was quick to regain composure. She struck the beast on its thigh, and it roared from the pain. Max dropped the broken pole and ran to the car. She went up to the buckled door, which she kicked earlier on. Max put her hand in the hole where the door handle used to be. She pulled hard; one of her legs was being used as leverage. Max pulled, and the metal skin started to bend outward, creaking and groaning as Max's strength changed its form. The door catch was under tremendous strain and tension as her feminine muscles destroyed the securing latch. It snapped. 

Max forced open a locked door with her bare hand. She opened the door as wide as it would go and then moved to the side of it. She lifted from the bottom of the door; the weight of the truck was supposed to offer a counterforce, but she was starting to lift the tyres off the ground. It had been threatening to happen throughout this adventure; her powerful biceps were pumped to their maximum, and ripped the shirt that had held them in as she ripped the car door off its first hinge. Then, the second came soon after. After giving in to a roar of Max's power, she not only forced open a locked car door but ripped it off its hinges. She held the door before her like a shield and ran towards the sasquatch. She caught the beast off guard and rammed it away from the group. The impact nearly knocked the beast over; it roared its strange call and seemed annoyed that it couldn't overpower her. The sasquatch steadied and grabbed the makeshift shield on both sides. It began to push Max backwards, her feet unable to grip.
The group offered support, unlike a sports crowd, but they knew Max was their only hope of survival and getting out of there, especially as she destroyed their Toyota. Chris was still filming parts of the epic Woman vs. Sasquatch battle when he zoomed in on Max. He'd never liked muscles on people; he thought that muscle people were like airheads. Max was excellent—a kind, good-natured, intelligent woman. The strongest human he had ever met. Her muscles were like a sculpture—a work of art and dedication. If it hadn't been for her physical strength and strong personality, he had no idea what would happen, but at least they had a chance. He noticed her leg muscles tense and her feet going up onto her toes; she was braking. The pushing from the Sasquatch slowed, Max's toes dug in, her feet pushed down, and her muscular legs again anchored her position. She began to push the enormous beast backwards towards the forest. Now that her strength was pushing the sasquatch, the beast was confused, changing its position to try to stop the force moving it. Max stopped.  She drew the car door shield back to her chest and then pushed with a thrust of her powerful, muscular arms. The beast was knocked off its feet and into the air for at least a meter before landing on the ground. Max stood there like a muscular knight, shield at the ready. But the beast was shocked and scared. It turned quickly and disappeared back into the dense forest. Defeated.

For a moment, there was silence.