After a damaged Ultra-link bonds with master criminal Troy Winter who becomes Extroyer, he turned into a being that's able to absorb animal powers just by touching them. So he goes after Miles Dredd for making him like that and comes into contact with Max Steel. After Dredd intercepts Extroyer, he makes him a deal in exchange for delivering Max Steel to Dredd's hands. Max Steel fights Extroyer only to fight out that their battleground was designed by Dredd to siphon as much TURBO energy from Max to create a missile aimed at Copper Canyon. The heroes go to prevent its impact, only to be countered by Extroyer, but they successfully be rid of him and detonate the missile in the Thermosphere. At N-TEK, Steel presses Forge for answers about how many Ultra-Links are really out there, and Forge only answers "millions" which makes both Max and Steel arise more questions than answers. At the bottom of the ocean, Extroyer scans a shark and exclaims that he lives.
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.