Max, Kirby and Sydney go to a flee market and encounter a goon harassing an elderly merchant selling Asian weaponry. As Kirby plays with a Bo staff distracting the goon, the merchant places a sword into Kirby's backpack. The goon then closes the booth and trashes the merchant's materials looking for the sword, which he is under orders to find by Mr. Naught. Naught seeks the cursed sword of Murukami, to become a force to be reckoned with. After Kirby realizes he has the sword, he tries to be rid of it only to see it won't leave his grip whatsoever, and he is possessed by the Ronin spirit in the sword. Muru-Kirby's rampage attracts Max Steel, and Max not willing to fight a friend, chases him through the city as Muru-Kirby destroys whatever gets in his way. The two then duke it out, the sword trashes the armored Steel suit, Max loses the fight, and N-TEK arrives on scene for a report. The merchant from before is found by Berto and he explains the history of the sword: in ancient Japan, a forger created a sword more powerful than anything on Earth, but cursed it to trap the wielder in the blade, Murukami the Ninja. Naught follows Muru-Kirby, captures him, but Muru-Kirby breaks out. Naught and Muru-Kirby battle on the roof of the ship, but they have damaged the craft to cause it to crash, so they move to the roof of the N-TEK aircraft. The N-TEK crew abandon ship while Max pursues Naught and Muru-Kirby, only for Muru-Kirby to put up a massive fight, until CYTRO arrives to back up Max. Berto developed a TURBO Sword for Max to defeat Murukami, so Steel can fuse with the sword as Steel isn't from the Earth, so once the sword is broken Kirby will be free. The plan works and Kirby is freed, and the merchant gives him a foam staff for the whole event. Later, Dredd learns of Naught's plan and "reminds" both him and the goon why they should only be loyal to Dredd.
16 year old Maxwell "Max" McGrath is thrown into a new life after moving with his mother to the small city of Copper Canyon. There he meets new friends, bullies, and super-villains hunting him for his TURBO energy.
Max must now join N-TECH, a secret organization his late father Jim McGrath started, to defeat Trans-Human Industries from taking over the galaxy with their sinister leader Miles Dredd. Max's powers are hidden and regulated with the aid of his Ultra-Link friend Steel, who is a project of his father, to prevent Max from going critical and Steel transforms into Max's multiple armors for whatever terrain battle is present.
Along the way, with the aid of N-TEK led by Max's uncle Ferrus, both will uncover the mystery behind many of Steel's lost memories and what really happened to Max's dad.