Hey guys Crimson here, before we start I must admit you guys love this story to bits, have never gotten this much feedback on my other stories as much as this one and I'm glad for it. But first let me answer some questions, first off this takes place after the Morpho's movies, also yes they can only be apart for 8 hours as was stated in the episode Making the Grade. And finally as I stated, yes, I will be adding his Duo-strike modes, titian, nova and rocket mode in this story. And with that out the way let's begin.

Chapter 3

Kill the Concern

It was close to the evening with all the members of Night Raid as well as Max and Steel running through the forest surrounding the hideout.

"So…why are we out here again" Max asked wondering what the emergency was

"Someone tripped my barrier which means we've got intruders and it's our job to take them out" Lubbock explained

"I thought this was supposed to be a "secret" base" Steel asked in his usually smug tone

"The Boss said they were probably tribesman that stumbled across our location but never the less they must be eliminated" Akame replied

"Okay, catch the intruders and keep them from leaving got it" Max replied while Steel attached himself to Max's chest plate and activating his helmet.

"Alright everyone, lets split up and take these intruders down" Leone said

Everyone nodded as they separated and went in different directions, Akame went by herself towards the stream, Mine and Sheele went towards the cliff, Lubbock went by himself to a cave entrance, Bulat and Tatsumi went deeper into the forest leaving Max and Leone to go down the path.

"So, you decided to stick around with me huh?" Leone asked with a cheeky smile

"You seemed like the person who would run into trouble more, so we thought we back you up" Max replied

"Heh, Okay whatever you say" Leone replied

After a while Leone then stopped causing Max to stop as well, confused by her actions.

"Before we move one, there's something I want to show you two" She said just Steel popped off Max's chest

"LIONEL, TRANSFORM!"

Then the belt around Leone's waist lit up as what looked like fire erupted around her hair causing it to grow longer as well as cat ears to appear on her head, she then grow a lion's tail and her hands turned into lion claws.

"This is the power of my Imperial Arms, Lionel!" Leone shouted showing off her new look

"I don't what that is, but that was cool" Max said amazed by her transformation

"Psst, not as cool our Turbo Modes" Steel added only to receive a sharp glare from Max, "What, I'm joking" Steel quickly said and reattached himself to Max's chest.

"Well since that's over, why don't we go and smash some faces in" Leone said smashing her fist into her open palm

"Leone, your speaking my language" Max said as they both set out.

Down by the stream Akame was faced with three of the intruding tribesman, each of them wearing the same white clothes and hoods as well. Each of them was looking at Akame with a sadistic smile thinking they can kill the little girl in front of them.

"It's the girl from the wanted posters, which means Night Raid is near by" one of them said

"She's such a pretty little thing" the second one said admiring Akame's figure

"Let's try not to bang her up to bad; I would like to have some fun with her" the third one said

Although before anyone could react, Akame had dashed forward and created an arc of blood with her sword, Murasume. At first the tribesmen didn't react but they started to shake and let out some grunts of pain.

"Careful you've entered enemy territory" she said

After that, two out of three of the tribesmen's necks started to gush blood as they feel to the ground dead, but the third was able to survive, or so he thought.

"You little brat, I'll kill…urk" The Tribesman said as black Japanese markings then appeared all over his body, all crawling out from his wound.

"What's going on…it's poison" He said through gargled breaths as he too fell to the ground dead.

"It only takes one strike" she simply said as she sheathed her sword

"Crud, they spotted us, but now I know Night Raid's hideout is somewhere around here, that kind of information is worth a fortune, I have to get back to the base" the lone tribesmen said running across the trail, unfortunately he had no idea he was being watched by Mine from a far using a special eye glass to track him.

"Wow, he's made it pretty far" Mine said until sanding up and aiming his gun at the tribesmen, "Bummer, I really hate reveling my location" she said rather loudly.

Then out the bushes came another intruder wielding a sword ready to cleave Mine in half. Unfortunately this is what Mine wanted as evident by the huge grin on her face.

"You're mine!" he shouted only for him to be cut in half by a giant pair of scissors, wielded by Sheele.

"I'm Sorry" she quietly said

"Thank you Sheele, great timing that was just enough danger to power up" Mine replied just as her weapon powered up

Then with a pull of the trigger her gun let lose a beam of energy right at the intruder, and in no time at all the beam engulfed him in light and disintegrated him into nothing, leaving a scream of pain as he died.

"Bullseye, the more danger I'm in, the more powerful my beautiful Pumpkin becomes" Mine boasted while Sheele just smiled at this.

Down in the forest below, Leone's ear twitched slightly as she heard the blast from Pumpkin.

"That sounded like Pumpkin just now, I'm surprised she puts up with that finicky thing, when I go into Beast mode I can just beat the living daylights out of my enemies, much more fun!" Leone exclaimed with glee, as evident by blood on her paws and the corpse she's sitting on.

"Yeah…we noticed" Max said uncomfortable,

He then grabbed Steel from his chest piece and charged him with Turbo Energy and shot a beam of energy at the tribesmen he was fighting, knocking him out cold.

"Seriously, you get too much of a kick out of kill people?" Steel said while Leone walked over to the tribesmen they just knocked out.

"Maybe, but that's just me, and I wouldn't have it any other way" She said quickly snapping the man's neck quickly, Leone's ear then twitched again as she looked to the south as heard some intruders escaping.

"Three to the south, there trying to get away!" Leone shouted

"Not if we got anything to say about, let's put the petal to metal Steel!" Max said

"You've got Max!" Steel said as he got into position and Max struck the pose.

"GO TURBO, SPEED"

Again in a flash of light Max's suit changed a, this time looking a lot slimmer than his normal suit, with tints of green around the suit and more white then usually as well as an elongated helmet sticking out the back of his head.

"Catch up as soon as you can" Max said and soon as he said that he was gone, leaving behind a blast of air whipping Leone's hair in a frenzy

"Speed mode. Appropriately named, I think he's faster than Akame" Leone commented looking where Max sped off.

Meanwhile deeper in the forest Max easily caught up to the fleeing intruders and got in their way. To say they were surprised by the man's speed would be an understatement because they looked down right flabbergasted by this.

"Sorry, but I can't let you guys leave without getting your premium butt kicking!" Max punned which snapped the three intruders out of there surprised trance.

"He's just one guy, just kill him and we can get out of here!" one of them said

But before they could do anything Max then delivered a flurry of rapid punches and just in a matter of seconds the three of them were out cold with tons of bruises all over their bodies.

"So how long was that Steel?" Max Asked

"10 seconds, two seconds shy of your last record" Steel replied

Then out the forest, Leone came running ready to fight although to her surprise she found all the intruders defeated.

"You know, you could have saved me some" Leone said faking she was hurt

"You know I kind of did in a way" Max said sounding like he was conflicted and Leone knew why

"Max, I know you don't like the way we do things, but you have to understand it's for the greater good" Leone said as Max folded his arms

"Don't get me wrong I know you guys are fighting for a good cause, just wish I didn't involve so much bloodshed" Max sadly said looking away knowing what she was about to do.

And as he thought Leone got to work silencing each intruder forever but during all this she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the Turbo duo.

'Max and Steel, you're too pure for this world' Leone thought just as she finished the last of the intruders

Down in a nearby cave system Lubbock had just caught his intruder in his wires which turned out to be women.

"Oh, it was lady tugging at my strings this whole time" He said and couldn't help but admire the women body even with his strings digging into her flesh.

"Please spare me, I'll do anything you say" she pleaded hoping for mercy, but Lubbock was not having it

"No way, I've seen way too many guys die after a woman says that" he replied

Then with simply tug of his strings he simply ended her life as she went limp in his string. He then dropped her on the ground as he retracted his strings and started to walk away. But before he did, he then looked back and couldn't help but admire her beauty, only to let a sigh.

"Man what a waste, why does this job have to be so disappointing."

"AHHH!" shouted Tatsumi, as he slashed at his opponent, ending their life in the process.

Meanwhile in a clearing not too far, Bulat was wearing his Incursio Armor and was wielding the armors main weapon. He was surrounded on all sides as all the intruders jumped him, ready to end his life. But in no time at all Bulat finished them all off, with a few swings of his spear he turned them into so many pieces they feel sown to the ground as bloody rain. Seeing this Tatsumi couldn't help but feel in awe and fear at seeing Bulat's skills.

'Wow, so this is the power of Night Raid' Tatsumi thought

"You still alive Tatsumi?" Bulat asked, snapping out of his stupor

"Uh, yeah" he quickly replied

"Then everything's fine, I can see you've got some potential" Bulat said giving him a thumbs up, which gained a smile from Tatsumi

"Yep" he said

"By the way, where's our little power duo?" Bulat asked Leone until a flash of white came zooming in front of him.

"Make way for Max Steel! The fastest hero in the west!" Max joked

"What the?! I didn't even see or sense you coming?!" Mine shouted surprised along with everyone else

"We don't call this mode, Turbo Speed Mode for nothing" Steel said from Max's chest plate

"I have to agree, I'd say there faster than Akame in this form" Leone said surprising everyone, even more so for Akame

"Ah it's nothing" Max said as changed back to base mode

"Well since that's over lets head back, it's starting to get dark" Leone suggested gaining a nod from everyone

But while everyone was making their way back, one certain member couldn't help but look at Max with a hint of suspicion, they may have joined Night Raid but there were things about them that they did not know, and no matter what she was going to figure it out.

It was the middle of the night and Max couldn't get any sleep and was simply staring at the ceiling, thinking about all the things that have happened to him since he's gotten to this world.

"Max, you need your sleep" Steel stated seeing that the young man had not fallen asleep

"I know Steel, but I can't help but think about what has happened to us" Max replied

"Yeah I know what you mean, who would have thought that we would join a team of assassins" Steel said

"Yeah, but it's not just that, I mean I feel so …out of place here" Max said confusing Steel

"How so?" He asked

"Well, I guess it's because we haven't seen what they have" Max replied

"Which is?" Steel asked again

"Death, Steel, we've never seen or experienced it before" Max said gaining a puzzled look from Steel

"Hmm, your right, for the longest time we've never experienced anything like that, huh guess our superhero job is a little bit more tamer then there's" Steel replied

"Of course that's not the only thing" Max added

"What else?" Steel asked

"It's everyone back home, I can't help but wonder what there thinking" Max replied

"Knowing your Uncle he's probably working around the clock trying to find you, but your mom and dad…" Steel said until trailing off but Max didn't need him to finish

"Yeah, there probably worried sick about me" Max said, sadness evident in his voice

"Max, I know your probably worried about your family, I am too, but that doesn't change the fact we've got a job now" Steel said which kind of comforted Max a little

"Yeah, your right Steel, no point worrying about it know, better just to focus on the now" Max said

"Right, and that means getting some rest, so off to sleep" Steel said sternly making Max chuckle

"Alright "mom"" Max said and quickly feel asleep

Of course it didn't last, because when he fell asleep, he instantly was greeted by Leone in his dream who and gave a wink at him causing him to wake up with a shock, which also caused Steel to wake up.

"Max?! What is it?!" Steel asked

"I…have no idea" Max said holding his forehead

'Why did I dream of … her?' Was Max's last thought before going back to sleep

It was now morning time with the sun high in the sky, and not too far down the hall was Sheele, who had just woken up, evident by her messed up hair. Although as she put on her glasses she saw Max, Tatsumi and Steel both down the hall, with Tatsumi leaning against the wall with a stern look on his face, Max and Steel were playing a game of Rock, paper, scissors with Steel changing his eye to show the symbols.

"Is something the matter?" Sheele asked

"Oh hey Sheele, I'm fine we're supposed to me training with Mine today but she still hasn't gotten out of her room, spoiled little brat" Tatsumi said still sulking

"Tell me about it, if she doesn't come down here soon, I'm going to blast her again" Steel said

"I agree, for someone who's meant to be an assassin, she sure is late" Max added folding his arms

"Sorry, it's just Mine has a habit of sleeping in" Sheele said opening the door to the meeting room.

"You're kidding, this is her job!" Tatsumi said

"I mean I can relate, sometimes I sleep in" Max said

"More like all the time" Steel said in an exasperated tone making Max groan

"Geez, why do but up with him?" Tatsumi asked

"Because without him I blow up" Max said

"Oh right" Tatsumi said

"Anyway, I'll go wake up Mine for you" Sheele said ready to get her

"No let them do it" another voice said

Looking over they saw it was Najenda.

"What why?!" Tatsumi asked

"Yeah why?" Max and Steel asked

"You're going to be her subordinates for today, so it's your job to wake up your supervisor" She said gaining a groan from the three.

"Fine, we'll do it" Tatsumi replied walking off to Mine's room

"Hey gives me good reason to shoot her again" Steel said laughing mischievously

"Oh boy" Max sighed as they followed Tatsumi

"I was not aware we had that rule" Sheele said confused, while Najenda just chuckled

"Let's just call this another test" she said

Meanwhile Tatsumi, Max and Steel had made their way to Mine's room ready to wake her up.

"So what should we do? Knock?" Max asked, while Steel just shrugged

But Tatsumi took action immediately and grabbed the door handle and swung it open and entered Mine's room ready to wake up the sleeping Mine.

"Hey Mine are you going to sleep all…!" Tatsumi shouted until looking in he found that Mine was actually was awake and … was standing in her undergarments.

Everything was then silent for a long while either side not moving or making a noise and just stared, until.

"AHHHHH!"

KABOOM

A huge blast of energy came shooting out of the hideout and rocked the whole foundation. While in Mine's room, Tatsumi was shivering in fright while he was standing to the side of the massive hole in the wall now. While Max and Steel had protected themselves by creating a Turbo powered energy shield in front of them, blocking the blast just as it disappeared.

"Wow! Talk about a rude awaking!" Steel said

"No kidding" Max replied while Tatsumi recovered from his shock

"You could've killed us!" He shouted

"Well more you then us" Steel added which got a groan from Max

"Steel, not helping" Max said

"Well you're lucky I missed! You filthy perverts how dare, you dodge when you know you deserve to die! Mine shouted at them still holding her still smoking gun.

"Well to be fair, he was the one who barged in" Max said pointing at Tatsumi

"Besides if you hadn't slept in, we wouldn't be ordered to come and get yoooouuuu" Tatsumi said only to die out as Mine started charge up her blaster.

"You're a ladies man, really" Steel said in a sarcastic tone

"Maybe so, but have ever heard of a thing called knocking!" Mine shouted her gun ready to fire

"On boy! Max!" Steel called in a frantic tone

"On it!" Max shouted raising Steel in front of him

"GO TURBO, PULSE"

Then just like before Steel then let out blue energy shield blocking Mine's blast. While downstairs Najenda and Sheele were both relaxing, listening to the sounds of Mine's energy blasts.

"Hey, is there a festival going on?" Leone said as she entered the room with glee

"She's really going all out" Sheele remarked, listening to the sounds of Mine's rampage

"Those three are going to have a long day" Najenda said taking a whiff of her cigarette

After the whole "Mine incident", the three of them including Mine made their way to the Capital so that they can begin there next mission. Right now Max and Tatsumi were roaming the streets of the Capital, and luckily Steel was able to scan some clothing from their Ogre mission to make a new set of clothing for Max in camo mode. Instead of his usually hoody he was now wearing a more medieval blue shirt with his usually logo on the front, along with a white vest over it and a pair of black pants with black cargo boots.

"You know, this is my first time in the Capital" Max said looking around

"Yeah? Well don't get used to it, this place is full of scum and misery" Tatsumi said

Looking around Max could see what he was talking about, since most of the people looked horrible like all the life was drained from them. Of course Max snapped from his thoughts when heard Mine call out to them.

"Hey perverts over here! Chop, Chop! Let's get a move on" Mine shouted causing Max and Tatsumi to groan.

"Uh, can we douse her cement please?" Steel asked with Max rolling his eyes

"Aren't you two supposed to be my faithful servants for the day?" Mine said and was really starting to get under Max and Tatsumi skins.

"What servants? Where did you get that from?" Tatsumi shouted at Mine with Max thinking the same thing.

"That's what the boss said" Mine replied

"Hold up, I think you have that backwards because according to her were supposed to be training under you" Max said with Tatsumi nodding in agreement

"Yeah and the operative word is under, now come on we don't have a lot of time" Mine said walking away while Max and Tatsumi reluctantly followed

"This is one team-up that's going to end very badly" Steel said

While walking through town they couldn't help but notice all the beggars and people being harassed by officers.

"Hey Mine?" Tatsumi asked

"What?" Mine replied annoyed

"Don't these people look unhappy to you?" he asked

"Well that's the understatement of the day" Steel commented

"I'll say" Max said catching Mine's and Tatsumi's attention

"You'll say what?" she asked

"Oh I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Steel" Max replied which Mine just shrugged

"Anyway to answer your question, most of the people here are in fear of the government and the economy sucks, most people are at rock bottom or on their way there." Mine explained

"Well duh" Steel said

As they walked down the street, they then heard a noise coming from a dark alley. Looking down they saw two big men that seemed to be harassing a little girl.

'Okay, now that is just wrong' Max thought with a stern look on his face

"Hehe, go ahead and cry, no one is listening" one man said while holding the small girl against the wall

Walking down to them Max let a little Turbo energy pump into his fist, ready to use it on one of the guys.

"Hey! Just what do you think you're…?" Tatsumi started to say until Mine steeped in front of him.

"Shouldn't you guys be taking on someone your own size?" Mine asked threateningly causing the two men to let go of the girl, making her fall to the ground.

"You goanna do something about it?" One man said crossing his arms

"It fine, this girl is a refuge from outside the country, she could a be a traitor at any second" the other man said which made Max's Turbo energy to flare up a little

"So could I" Mine said in a threating tone making the two back up with fright, "Tatsumi, Max" Mine simply said but they got the message

"Got it" Tatsumi said along with Max

Using his sword he quickly delivered some strikes to one guy making his pants fall down causing him to run away, while Max punched the other in the face with his Turbo infused fist causing him to be sent flying down the alley. Seeing that they were taken care of Mine simply turned around, ready to leave until the little girl spoke up.

"Um, thank you for saving me" she said but Mine didn't turn around as she replied,

"Don't thank me, just grow up strong so you can protect yourself okay" she said as she walked away as the two guys looked at her with curiosity.

"Something tells me there's more to that saying" Steel said

After saving the little girl the three of them continued there walk through the city to who knows where until Tatsumi spoke up.

"I hate to ask, but is it okay for us to wander around in broad daylight like this?" Tatsumi asked

"Yeah, aren't you worried about being spotted?" Max added

"Huh, why not they've only identified four us so far" she pointing to nearby wall with four wanted posters, each of them having a different member, Akame, Najenda, Bulat and Sheele.

"Guess that makes since" Tatsumi said looking over the posters as well as Max

"Um, wait who's this?" Max asked pointing to the only guy among the posters, who had shaggy hair and a stern look.

"That's Bulat" Mine responded

"Oh, Bulat" Tatsumi said looking at the picture until it hit him, "Wait that's bro?!" he shouted in shock

'Bro?' Max and Steel thought in confusion

"That looks nothing like him!" Tatsumi said

"That was his old look from his army days" Mine explained

"Wow talk about a drastic change" Max said surprised by the change in Bulat's look

"Oh great just what I need, another image to haunt me in my dreams" Tatsumi groaned in despair

'What?' Max thought confused

"Wonder what happened to him?" Steel said

"Anyway the Boss gave us this mission because we can walk around freely, understand?" Mine said

"Oh okay" Tatsumi said

"Good, now it's time for our retail investigation!" Mine said throwing her fist in the air

"I don't what that means, but Wahoo!" Tatsumi replied with excitment

'Oh Tatsumi, if only you knew' Max thought knowing full well what she meant.

And so for the rest of the day, the group of three spent the day…shopping. First they went to a stand in town that sold Crepes which Mine loved while Tatsumi and Max just grumbled. Next they went to a women's undergarments store, where no guy should go, causing Tatsumi to be a nervous wreck, while Max stayed outside and Mine was looking at a red bra that was way too big for her with envy. Next they stopped by a clothing store which sold dresses, going inside Mine tried on many kinds even a maid outfit and at the end of the day they all were sitting at a Café with Mine enjoying a cup of tea, Tatsumi just looked tired and worn out, while Max just reclined in his chair.

"Haaaa, what a day, nothing makes me happier than a new pink dress" Mine said with glee

"Yeah whatever" Tatsumi groaned

"Isn't it wonderful to have a whole day of goofy off" Mine asked

"Yeah whatever" Tatsumi said again

"Well, I can't say I haven't done it myself" Max said, while Mine took a sip of her tea

"Well, the mission is complete" Mine said with a smile but all that did was tick off Tatsumi

"What the hey! We didn't do anything but shop all day!" Tatsumi shouted, until Mine suddenly punched him out his chair.

"Get over it" she said

"Ouch, that's got to hurt" Max said while Mine stood over him with a glare

"Have you forgotten that I'm above you, good servants don't question there masters" Mine said she started stomping her foot into his back, "You should be grateful I deemed you worth to carry my bags!" She shouted

"Oh yeah, he's feeling it alright" Steel said while Max just chuckled which caught Mine's attention

"What?! You think this is funny?!" Mine shouted and threw a punch at Max only to block with his hand and an audibly clang as her hand made contact.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Mine said holding her aching red hand

"Yeah did you forget, I may look like I'm wearing normal clothes but I'm still the Steel suit" Max said while Mine gave him her best death glare.

"Besides you're not going to be my boss forever you know, and besides nothing we did today counts as training!" Tatsumi shouted

"What? You think you can just waltz right in here and be on my level" She said putting her hands on her hips until turning around to face the river, "You do seem pretty confident in your skills as a swordsman but you still haven't seen as much combat as me" she said

"We would have to say otherwise" Steel said making Max smile

"I get it" Tatsumi said in a solemn voice catching the other twos attention, "I'm new so there are some things about this job that I won't get yet, but I'm still going to keep on fighting for Sayo and Iesou" He said boldly which made Max smile at this while Mine just looked away.

"Akame and Bulat have high hopes for you but have my doubts" she said while Tatsumi kept he's stoke face.

Suddenly all the people were then started to gather in the center of town as well has many of them murmuring as well.

"Hey what's going on?" Max asked wondering what was going

"It's an execution, there pretty common around here" Mine said nonchalantly but only shocked Max

"What?!" He shouted as he raced off into the crowd, hoping what she said was wrong but to his horror, she was not.

There in the middle of the square were five crosses with five people crucified on them, of course he was not alone, Tatsumi and Mine also arrived and Tatsumi had the same horrified face as Max, while Mine had a look of rage.

"How…how could they do this to people?" Tatsumi stammered out

"It's the minister who supports these actions, he's responsibly for putting the child emperor on the throne so that he can be in power" Mine explained

"So the minister put a kid on the throne so he can manipulate him, that's just wrong!" Steel said

"As for me, I'll never let this happen to me, I will survive this Hell" Mine said with a look of determination

Although Max on the other hand was not listening, he was too busy looking at a certain women on a cross, while the others were dead or on their way to dying, one women was still alive but barley, seeing this he know he had to save her, but not right now, not in front of these people.

"I know what're thinking Max" Steel said

"And you know I'm doing it no matter what you say" Max replied

"I know which is why I'm going to help you" Steel replied which made Max smile, "But first we need to loose these two and wait until night" Steel said which Max nodded

"Um Mine" Max said getting her attention, "You excuse me I need to do something important" Max said which only got an eye roll from Mine.

"Whatever, anything to keep that flying pest away, just come back to the hideout on time" Mine said as Max nodded and jogged away.

Once he was far enough he then ducked into an empty alley, and quickly check around to make sure no one was around. Once he was sure, he then got into his stance and quietly shouted.

"GO TURBO, STEALTH"

In a quick flash of light, Max had changed into is Turbo Mode which looked like base mode but instead of white it was all black with blue marking around his body. Then as quick as he changed he then turned invisible and dashed out of the alley.

"So what's the plan Max?" Steel asked

"Simply, since Stealth Mode doesn't take much energy to use we'll simply wait nearby and once it gets dark we'll get that woman out of here" Max said

"Alright then, stakeout time" Steel replied

Max then found a good spot near a flower shop that was in view of the crosses and sat down on a bench and waited.

It was now night and everyone was asleep expected for two certain people the young women clinging onto life and the hero ready to save her, seeing that no one was around Max then stepped out from his hiding place and de-cloaked himself.

"Alright then, everyone is asleep and there are no guards, let's do this Steel" Max said to his chest plate

"Right behind you" Steel said

Max then quickly dashed over to the five crosses and made his way to the woman who was still grunting with pain. He then climbed up the cross and saw that they nailed her to the cross, so he quickly pried the nails out and quickly grabbed her before she could fall. He then made his way down to ground and gently placed the woman down as Steel detached from Max.

"What's the damage Steel?" Max asked as Steel scanned her over

"Most of her injuries are already healed but she does have some broken bones, but nothing fatal" Steel said just as woman was waking up, seeing this Steel quickly reattached himself to Max

"What?…what's going…on?" The woman said groggily until her eyes locked on to Max

"Who…are you?" She asked

"My name is Max Steel and I'm here to get you out of here" he said

"You…saved me?" she asked with tears pouring down her face which he nodded, "thank you" she said as smile crept on her face.

"It just what I do mama, do you have any place to stay?" He asked

"yes… out in the east… my uncle has a farm out there" she said

"Okay, we'll get you there in no time" Max said

"But…how…it's so far away?" she asked

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing" he said struck his pose

"GO TURBO, FLIGHT"

Once again his flash light appeared as his suit transformed into Flight Mode. He then walked over to the women and gently picked her up while she looked at him with wonder.

"Hold on tight, and you'll be home free" Max said as she nodded and took a hold of Max's armor.

Then with giant leap he then rocketed into the air and flew over the city making his way east, but deep down he couldn't help but feel happy.

'Saving one person wouldn't change too much, but it's a start' Max thought as he soared through the sky.

Meanwhile in the Imperial Palace the child emperor of the capital was sitting atop his throne along with the minister standing beside him, who had just finished sentencing a man to death.

"Well Minister, that certainly was a successful evening don't you agree" The Emperor asked, he was no smaller than a ten year old, wearing some very fine robes and a large crown on his head, while holding a large specter in his hand.

"Yes very good in deed your majesty" the minister said, this was Minister Honest himself, the man who caused the corruption of the capital, he was an extremely fat man, wearing a gray wool coat over a green shit and had a white beard and hair, while he's fingers were adorned with jewelry and silver crown on his head.

"I believe that was the last of my duties for tonight, shall we head to bed?" The Emperor asked

"Yes, of course" Honest replied

But before they could head out, the door opened out came one the Imperial guards, as he quickly bowed before the Emperor.

"Your Majesty I come bearing news, of this evening's execution"

"Ah yes, so how did go?" The minister asked with a sadistic grin on his face

"Well when we went to go get the bodies we found four of the criminals have perished"

"Ah, yes another success… wait four? Weren't there supposed to me five?" Honest asked

"Well that's the thing, when we went to get the bodies we saw one of them gone, my guess somehow the fifth one was still alive and someone was able to get her out of city" the guard said which made Honest fume, while the Emperor gained a stern look.

"How dare they interfere with my duties, these actions of rebellion will not stand" the Emperor shouted

"Indeed, did you happen to see who did this crime?" Honest asked the guard, but her merely shock his head.

"Oh well, we'll just have to wait, won't we your Majesty?" Honest asked

"Yes, of course minister" the Emperor said as he dismissed the guard and made his way to bed.

Later that night, Max had flown back to Night Raid's hideout after dropping off the woman he saved off. He then quickly entered his bed room through the window, and changed back to base mode.

"Well that was easy, and no one is the wiser" Max said just as Steel came off his chest

"I'd say that was job well done" Steel said with a hint of pride

"Where were you two?" a voice said out of nowhere scaring Max and Steel until a candle was lit reveling Akame sitting on their bed looking at them with a stern look.

"Oh Akame, hey…um how long have you been there?" Max asked nervously while looking at the red eyed assassin.

"Long enough, again where were you two" Akame asked in her usually monotone voice

"Oh you know just flying around" Max asked rubbing his neck only to be meet with her sword pointed at his neck.

"Do not lie to me, your I will end you" Akame said in a very threating voice while Max raised his hands in surrender

"Okay, Okay we'll tell you, just put the sword down" Max asked

Akame then lowered her sword allowing Max to relax and explain himself.

"Alright Mine probably told about the execution in the square right?" Max asked receiving a nod from Akame, "Well turns out one of them was still alive after being hung, so I got her down and out of the capital" Max said which seemed to soften Akame a little

"I see" she said

"Wait, that's it, you have no questions?" Max asked

"Knowing your nature that seemed like the most likely thing you did" Akame replied

"Oh okay …so were good" Max asked which got a stern look from Akame

"Not fully though, your too powerful to leave to chance, you can be traitors for all we know" She said which shocked Max and Steel

"I beg your pardon!" Steel said sounding offended

"Yeah, I mean we joined you're team, isn't that enough?" Max asked

"Just because you joined, doesn't mean I trust you, there are things about you that I do not know and you have not told us and until you prove otherwise, I will not trust you" she said as she headed for the door

"Geez, talk about trust issue's" Max said

"By the way we have another mission, we leave in an hour be ready" Akame said closing the door behind them

"Well…that just happened" Steel said as Max nodded in agreement

It was now late at night and most of Night raid was sent out to assassinate a distant relative of the Minster, a man named Iwokaru. According to their information he has been using his families name to capture innocent girls and torture them to death; of course the man had five highly trained bodyguards as well making them targets as well. While five of Night Raid went to take on the bodyguards Mine, Tatsumi and Max were stationed on a cliff facing Iwokaru mansion, Max and Tatsumi's job were to protect Mine while she dealt with the target. While Max and Tatsumi kept an eye on the Mansion Mine was busy prepping her blaster, ready to take out there target. Or course while she was doing this Max couldn't help but feel his nerves coming on I mean after all he was basically partaking in someone's death and that of course didn't sit well with him, but somehow deep down he knew this man deserved it after all he's done.

"So Mine, that thing you have, is it one of those Imperial Arms things?" Tatsumi said catching Max's attention

"Yup, it called Pumpkin" Mine answered

"Really? Pumpkin?" Steel asked from Max's chest

"What I didn't name it" Mine seethed while still prepping Pumpkin.

"Say, since Leone's Imperial Arms can transform her, what does this one do?" Max curious what the strange gun can do

"That's easy, you see the more danger I'm in, the more powerful it becomes" Mine explained pointing the gun at the entrance at of the mansion

"huh, interesting, so how does it know when you're in danger?" Steel asked confusing Mine

"What?" she asked

"Well you see there's many way to determine danger; either by visual sight or by chemical impulses to the brain, so that begs the question how does Pumpkin knows when you're in danger?" Steel asked making Mine think about

"Hmm, now that you say it, I really have no idea, it kind of just knows" Mine replied with a shrug of her shoulders

"How did you make that thing?" Tatsumi asked

"What? Nobody makes Imperial Arms stupid, there ancient mystical weapons, geez I'm surprised by the things you don't know" Mine said which only made Tatsumi ticked off as Mine pointed her iron sights at the entrance to the mansion, "I won't have much of risk factor from this faraway, as soon has he steps outside I'll shoot him" Mine said

"Right then, then we'll help escort you to meeting point" Max said

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that" Mine said with a smirk as she turned her attention to the mansion.

She then took a long deep breath as she focused and took a stance as she started down the sights of Pumpkin. Max and Tatsumi couldn't help but be impressed by the amount of focus she was giving off.

'Wow, I can even feel her focus that's insane' Max thought

"Here he comes" she said in a low voice

"Where" Max and Tatsumi said looking at the entrance, Tatsumi used binoculars while Max used his helmets zoom feature.

"I see, twelve clock, but there's a group of women surrounding him" Max said

"That's fine" Mine said calmly catching Max and Tatsumi off guard

"How is that fine you'll never make the shot from here" Tatsumi stated

"Yeah, also there bystanders all around him" Max added

"They are irrelevant" Mine said

"Irrelevant?" Max said confused until it dawned on him, "No! Stop! , You can't kill innocent…" Max shouted Mine but before he could finish Mine already pulled the trigger and a beam light shot from the gun with a huge bang, only to their shock the beam didn't even hit anyone expect their target as he fell down to the ground with a hole in his forehead.

"What?! There's no way! You at least had a 1.72 percent chance of hitting that!" Steel shouted

"Oh yeah, I should've let you know I'm kind of a genius sniper" Mine said smugly

"With that kind of skill, I'll believe you!" Max said still amazed at Mine's perfect shot.

Meanwhile deep in the forest four of the bodyguards that were assigned to Iwokaru were running through the forest trying to find the killer.

"We must find master Iwokaru killer, or the minister will have our heads" one of the said

"Yes, they shouldn't be too far" another said as they entered the clearing only to meet with the five members of Night Raid.

"Well, what do we have here, thanks for stopping by, saves us the time of chasing you down" Leone said with a smile as the rest of Night Raid were behind her.

On the other side of the forest the trio were moving through the forest, heading toward the meeting spot with Mine grumbling along the way.

"The escape route is not ideal" She said moving a branch out the way.

"You think the others have finished off the guards yet?" Tatsumi asked

"Those guards trained at the Imperial Temple, so it may take some time" Mine answered

"That's one of the best martial arts schools in the capital" Tatsumi said

"Guess he paid no expense for his protection" Max commented just as he saw Mine using Tatsumi as a footstool

"Yeah, he was using his family's name to get ahead and I hate that more than anything" Mine said climbing up the ledge with Max and Tatsumi following behind.

"Guess there's story behind that" Steel said until Mine stopped

"I'm feeling nice right now, so I'll tell you the story behind that" Mine said which made Tatsumi and Max to sweat drop at this.

'We didn't even need to ask' they thought

"You see I was born into one the tribes on western border, so half my blood is foreign because of that I was treated terribly by the villagers and no one showed me an ounce of respect, my childhood was a nightmare, but the Revolutionary Army forged an alliance with the western tribe and if we do have a new nation no other children will have to go through what I did, so until that day I will not allow anyone to suffer such intolerance " Mine said, while she was saying this Max couldn't help but sympathize with her a little.

Then she turned around and had a smug look on her face, "Not to mention all I've done in the name revolution, I'll get tons of reward money and grow old and live a life luxury, ohohoho" Mine said laughing, while this made Tatsumi a little bit ticked Max on the other hand just smiled at her.

"You know you and I are kind of the same" Max said catching Mine off guard

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mine asked confused as well as Tatsumi

"Well, you see I'm actually not fully human, I'm actually half human, half alien" Max said shocking Mine and Tatsumi

"You looked human to me" Mine said giving him a quizzically look

"Where do think my Turbo energy comes from?" Max asked flashing some of it in his hand, shocking Mine further

"Geez, that's … woah" she said holding her forehead

"Yeah, that's what I felt when I first found out" Max said and placed his hand her shoulder, "the point is, I know what it feels like to be different, now come on lets go" Max said walking ahead while Tatsumi ran up to him and started blasting him with questions.

All the while Mine couldn't but let a small smile grace her face; now feeling comforted that there was someone like her.

Night Raid had just finished off the last of the guards with Leone smashing the last guys face in with a happy smile on her face.

"Oh man that felt awesome" she said feeling giddy

"That was pleasant challenge wasn't it?" Sheele said sheath her giant scissors

"Something not right, the Boss said we needed to kill five of them" Akame said looking over the number of guards

"Ah great I didn't get to kill anyone, guess that means theres one left" Lubbock said sulking

"Yeah right, I'm docking your pay Lub" Leone said horrifying Lubbock

"What you can't do that?!" he shouted at her

"Wanna bet" Leone replied with a grin

Akame on the other hand had her hand on her chin trying to figure out where the fifth guard could be until it hit her as she looked up at the sky.

"Tatsumi"

After a while the group of three had made to the meeting point, which was a single cherry blossom tree.

"There's the meeting spot" Max said

"Then I guess the mission is complete" Mine said

"Not until we report back" Tatsumi added

"Hah, you sound like Akame" she said with a smile

The out of shadows the fifth guard sprung up and got ready to attack them, only for Tatsumi to see him out the corner of his eye.

"Mine look out!" he shouted pushing her out of the way while getting hit in the process causing him skid across the ground

"Tatsumi!" she shouted at her teammate, until looking at her assailant, "Who are you!" she demanded

The man had blond hair that was tied in a ponytail with a white robe around his body and two metal shoulder plates.

"I must say, I've out done myself" he said taking a stance

"You're a fighter from the Imperial Temple" Mine said grabbing Pumpkin from her back

"I am, assistant instructor to be exact, but that was ten years ago" he said with a bit of pride in his voice

"And here you are now, guarding an nobody, oh how the mighty have fallen" she said

She then pulled the trigger and let lose a barrage of energy blasts at the fighter but he expertly dodged them making his way toward Mine, until jumping into the air ready to attack.

"You're going straight to the minister, little girl" he shouted while Mine just glared and backed up

"That's not goanna happen!" Mine shouted back

"And I agree as well!" Max shouted catching there attention as he charged at the fighter

Max then quickly crossed his arms and shouted.

"GO TURBO, SPEED"

In a quick flash of light Max turned into his speed mode and speeded up toward the attacker and delivered a quick punch to the attackers face sending him flying into a tree.

"You okay?" Max asked

"I'm fine, just focus on the fighter" Mine said pointing Pumpkin at the guard

"You got it" Max said

Max then speed ahead and started to deliver a barrage of punches as he zipped past him only to come back again and delivered another punch. Mine also assisted by firing blasts from Pumpkin, the guard then dodged them only to be meet with a fist from Max as he zoomed past, this kept the guards attention on her instead of on Max. This went on for a good few seconds until he caught on to their attack strategy, before Max could hit him again, the guard then leaned backward a little dodging the strike and seeing his opening he then dashed ahead escaping from Max's barrage.

"A good strategy, but in the end something as feeble as that can never defeat me!" he shouted that was until Tatsumi then jumped up behind him, bringing his sword down on him. The fighter saw this and caught the sword with his hands only to his surprise Tatsumi then let go of the sword and grabbed a hold of him.

"Now Mine, shoot him now!" Tatsumi said stopping Max in his tracks and Mine to stare at him in shock

"Are your nuts?! You're going to get shoot too" Max shouted at him

"Tatsumi, I can't believe you would sacrifice yourself like that" Mine said and pulled a handkerchief from out of nowhere and faked sobbing

"I'm still alive you know! You said that you're a genius sniper right? You can do this" Tatsumi said with a smile

"Woah dude that's putting a lot on faith" Max said worried for Tatsumi while Mine just looked at him with surprise.

While this was happening the guard was pounding at Tatsumi's back trying desperately to get him off, but Tatsumi held on firmly. Then Mine gained a smile on her face as she got a determined look in her eye.

"Since when do you think you can give me orders, might as well give him my best shot though" She said charging Pumpkin up while the guard looked with fright.

"Ah crud" he said as raised his fists to hit Tatsumi only to stopped by Max holding his arms in place over his head.

"Sorry about this, I don't kill people, but it doesn't mean I'm letting a criminal get away" Max said making the guard panic.

Once Pumpkin was fully charged Mine then squeezed the trigger and let out a bolt of light, Max then quickly moved out of the way just as the bolt pierced the guards chest leaving him with a hole in his chest.

"You…you three are … going to pay … for assassinating a member… of the minister's family" he choked out until blood spewed from his mouth and fell down dead.

Looking at the corpse Max couldn't help but feel guilt clenching at his heart, feeling like he just murdered someone until Mine came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Max, don't feel too bad about it, he was scumbag working for a horrible person, he deserved what came to him, besides you didn't pull trigger, I did" Mine said trying to make Max feel better.

"I know but it still doesn't fit well with me" he said while Mine gave him a sympathetic look she then turned her attention to Tatsumi who was breathing heavily on the ground.

"Hey you've got some guts after all, I suppose I'll have to commended you on your brave…AHH" Mine said until she felt a sting on her forehead as Tatsumi flicked her.

"You didn't need to cut it that close. Look what that Pumpkin thing did my freaking hair!" Tatsumi shouted pointing to a burnt patch of hair on his head.

"Be glad it isn't your head" Steel said as he detached from Max

"Grrr, what! A genius was about complement you!" She shouted at him

"Oh please, you're not a genius you're just too smart for your own good!" Tatsumi shouted back

While Max and Steel just watched the two argue, the rest of Night Raid showed up and watched the scene unfold.

"Huh guess we didn't need to rush over here after all" Leone said with a smile, until she looked over at Max and Steel and couldn't help but think what was going through their heads right now, after seeing the corpse not too far from them causing her to frown.

'Max, I'm sorry'

Meanwhile down in a village a happy family of four was sitting down at their table enjoying dinner together.

"Hey dad can me and sis go play outside, were done" the boy said showing his plate

"Sure go ahead, just stay in the backyard okay" he said just as the boy and the little girl left the house while there mother and father just smiled

"I must admit Hun, moving away from the Capital was the best thing we've ever done" the mother said putting the dishes in the sink

"Yes indeed honey, in there we would be starving right now, but here we are as free as birds and nothing can hurt us out here" He said hugging his wife, until their kids came running back in the house, scared out of their minds.

Seeing this, the two parents then knelt down to comfort their children as they sobbed.

"Kids what wrong?" he asked

"Daddy the village, it's …burning" the child said through sobs

The family then heard a scream from outside; making their way outside the family saw the whole village ablaze. Houses were burning, people were screaming and livestock were dying from the flames. Seeing this, the father then started to usher the three others back too house.

"Come one everyone, let's get to the carriage" he said only when he turned around he saw their own house on fire as well.

But that was not the worst of it because in front of them among the flames, was a huge creature with piercing red eyes looking at them. The family then backed away from the creature trying to get away until the creature stepped toward them, easily towering over them and let out a roar.