Chapter 6

Kill the Earth

It was now morning, and most of Night Raid was awake and training, with Max having a sparring match with Tatsumi with them both using practice wooden swords. During this match Tatsumi was quite impressed by Max's skills with a sword, making them on even footing. Max then rushed at Tatsumi with his sword raised and swung down at him. Tatsumi then blocked in return and pushed against Max, getting him off him as Max retook a defensive stance as well as Tatsumi.

"I must admit Max, your pretty good with a sword" Tatsumi remarked

"Well, I've had my experiences" Max replied

He then charged at Tatsumi again and swung at him, only for Tatsumi to block it as they started matching each other blow for blow. Max then quickly duked under another attack and kicked Tatsumi's legs from under him, making him fall on the ground on his back while Max pointed his sword at Tatsumi meaning he won. Seeing this Tatsumi then smiled as well as Max as he offered his hand to Tatsumi which he accepted and pulled him up on his feet.

"Good match Max, you really now your stuff" Tatsumi complimented

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself Tatsumi" Max replied

"Although I think were still better" Steel said making Max sigh

"Really Steel?" Max asked ticked

"What, I'm joking" Steel said gaining an eye roll from Max

Then out of nowhere, Max felt something pushing into his back, something soft and big. Slowly turning around he saw it was Leone with sly grin on her face, then looking down lower and saw to his embarrassment that she pressing her breasts against his back. Seeing this Max then jumped away from her as Leone laughed at his reaction.

"Ahh! Leone, boundaries please?!" Max shouted at her

"Sorry Max, I couldn't help myself" Leone said between laughs as Max groaned

Just then he felt someone tap his shoulder, looking over he saw Akame.

"Oh hey Akame, what's up?" Max asked put Akame was giving him an unreadable look until replying

"May I talk to you in private?" Akame asked confusing Max but agreed anyway

Max and Akame then walked away from the others and made their way to the empty meeting room.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Max asked as Akmae turned to him

"It's about Leone" Akame said further confusing Max

"What about her?" Max asked more confused

"Ever since the Elementor Mission, Leone has been a little…close to you" Akame said

"Huh, know that you think about it, her and I have been spending a lot of time together, but that's just what friends do" Max replied but Akame just narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, I know Leone and this is not normal for her, in fact you would say she was being affectionate to you" Akame said surprising Max.

"What? Now way, Leone doesn't seem like the type person to be affectionate with someone, besides name one time she ever did something like that?" Max asked thinking he was right, oh how wrong he was.

"Well to start things off, during lunch three days ago she tried to feed you herself" Akame said

(Flashback)

It was close to the noon and all of Night Raid, including Max and Steel, were having lunch together which consisted of a very hearty beef stew. Of course during this time, Max had just gotten his bowl and was about to dig in, until when he tried to reach for his spoon only to find it gone. Looking over he saw Leone sitting next to him, holding his spoon and gave a light chuckle, to this Max just smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Haha, very funny Leone now can I have my spoon back?" Max asked but Leone just shook her head with a smirk on her face.

"Na ah, if you want to eat, you have to let me feed you" Leone said with a cheeky smile confusing Max

"Uh, what?" Max said confused until Akame then came up to him and handed him another spoon

"Here you go Max" Akame said

"Thanks" Max replied and dug into his meal, with Leone making a pouty face.

(End Flashback)

"Okay I have to admit, that was a bit weird, but I'm sure she was just messing with me" Max said

"Also there was the day after that, when you got your armor dirty she offered to clean it" Akame continued

(Flashback)

It was in the afternoon and Max, Bulat and Leone were carrying supplies they got from the revolutionary army, once done Max noticed the amount of dust that collected in his armor as the white of the suit had turned brown.

"Ah man, better clean this up" Max said to himself

As he walked back to the hideout, he found Leone standing by the door to the hideout holding a sponge and a bucket filled with water.

"Uh, hey Leone what's with the bucket and sponge?" Max asked just as Steel detached from him

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Steel asked as well just as Leone gave a smile

"I noticed that your armor was dirty, so I thought I would help you wash it" Leone said as Max raised an eyebrow at this

"Um, okay I guess" Max said

Leone then brought out a stool for Max to sit in, which he did. Once he was seated Leone then got busy scrubbing Max's suit, as well as Steel, and got the dirt off of them. But as Leone was scrubbing Max she could help but notice Max's fine toned body since the steel suit was quite from fitting, thus when seeing this she could help but blush a little at this.

(End Flashback)

"Okay, that was nice of her yes, and a little weird, but still I'm pretty sure…" Max started again until Akame cut him off

"And yesterday, she tried to take a bath with you" Akame said

(Flashback)

It was now late into the night and Max and Steel were making their way down the path to the springs for a nice long bath.

"I have to admit Steel you really know how to mess with Mine" Max said giving a chuckle

"Yeah who knew pink hair was flammable" Steel said as the two of them laughed

But as the two of them made it to the springs, Steel then suddenly stopped laughing which caught Max's attention.

"Hey Steel, what's up?" Max asked

Steel then slowly lifted his flipper and pointed down to the spring, Max looked where Steel was pointing and what he saw made his face turn red. There right next to the edge of the springs was Leone, wearing nothing but a towel around her body with a good view of the top of her cleavage. Leone then turned around and saw Max and Steel standing there, staring.

"Oh hey Max, what brings you here" Leone asked with a smile, seemingly not caring about the fact that Max and Steel could see her have nothing on but a towel.

"Um…we…were…going to…take a…bath" Max stammered out trying not to look at Leone, while still red.

"Yeah, and clearly your busy, so will come back when you're done" Steel said but Leone just giggled at this

"Oh you don't need to do that, we can just take a bath together" Leone said surprising Max and Steel, well more Max then the latter.

"Wait?!What?!" Max shouted his face now full on red

Leone then started unwrap the towel around her but before it could come off, Max and Steel then bolted from the scene.

(End Flashback)

Hearing this Max's face went red, as he had an embarrassed look on his face.

"Okay, maybe your right" Max said

"Exactly, I've never seen Leone act this way before, she has been known to be flirty before but nothing like this" Akame said

"So what should I do?" Max asked but before Leone said anything the doors of the meeting room opened up as all of Night Raid and Steel walked/floated into the room.

Najenda then stepped out of the crowd and took her seat to address them.

"Woah, what's going on here?" Max asked wondering what was happening

"We have a new mission, and this one takes top priority" Najenda said catching everyone by surprise

"What's so important about this mission?" Leone asked

"Because…this mission was given to us by the Revolutionary Army themselves" Najenda said making them more surprised than before.

"Woah, so what's go on that they need your help" Tatsumi asked as every listened intently

"It seems for the last couple of weeks, many of our supply runs have been cut off or killed, many believed it the Empire but the few survivors they found put that idea to rest, saying that a strange rock danger beast attacked them" Najenda explained

Hearing this Max and Steel looked wide eyed and couldn't help but think of whom it maybe, this of course did not go unnoticed by the others.

"Max, do you know what this is?" Najenda asked, hoping for some answers

"I think so" Max replied

"Yeah, and let's hope were wrong" Steel said gaining a grim look from Najenda

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Tatsumi asked

"Well, the Revolutionary army has two more supply runs to make, and since our target tends to attack these runs we decided to station two teams of four to each carriage so that when your mystery danger beast appears, we can take it out" Najenda explained while everyone nodded in confirmation.

Leone then came up and wrapped her arm around Max's neck and pulled him close to her chest making him blush, while Akame frowned at this.

"Well if that's the plan, then I guess Max and I will…" Leone said until Najenda cut off

"No, I already picked the team" Najenda said making Leone to frown at this and release Max much to his relief, "Now then the teams will be like this, Leone, Akame, Tatsumi and Bulat you four will cover the carriage to the west which leads to Max, Mine, Sheele and Lubbock will cover the carriage to the east" Najenda said making Leone frown harder

"How come I can't have Max on our team?" Leone asked with her arms crossed

"Because, we need him to be more familiar with the other members of Night Raid, and know how to work with the others" Najenda explained making Leone sigh in defeat

"Now then, you have your mission now let's get this thing, dismissed" Najenda said as everyone funneled out of the meeting room

But before Max could leave, Akame then pulled him aside to talk to him.

"Max, be careful out there and while you're gone I'll try to figure out what's up with Leone" Akame said getting a nod from Max

"Thanks, I owe you one" Max as they made their way out of the meeting room.

After leaving the hideout, both teams of four both went there separate ways, which leads us to Max's team of Mine, Sheele and Lubbock riding in there carriage with two soldiers driving it up front. While in the carriage Max saw the members of Night Raid busy prepping themselves for the possible fight ahead, with Lubbock checking how much thread he has, Sheele sharping her scissors and Mine checking Pumpkin over. The trip went on for hours and they were now hours from the base, and Steel was groaning the whole way there which was sort of getting annoying, until Mine let out a cry of anguish and stared daggers at Steel.

"What is your damage!?" Mine shouted at him as Steel groaned again

"Uh, going by horseback is so slow" Steel drawled out gaining an eye roll from Max

"Yeah? Well were not as high tech as you are" Lubbock said making Steel flop on the ground

"Exactly I can't take any more of this low tech world!" Steel shouted in the air dramatically

"Gezz, no need to be overdramatic about it" Mine said as she let of scoff

Hearing this Steel could help but groan in irritation, until raising his flipper and shot a stun blast at Mine's butt making her yelp in pain.

"Why you little…!" Mine shouted until Sheele put a hand on her shoulder which seemed to calm her down

"Please, let's not fight, why don't we talk about something else" Sheele suggested which got Lubbock's attention.

"Yeah I would actually like to know more about these "Elementors"?" Lubbock asked getting Max's attention

"Well if that's the case, I guess I can tell you guys a little about these guys" Max said which intrigued them as they sat back down and listened, "Well, to start things off there are five Elementors in total and there all Ultralinks like Steel here" Max said until Sheele raised her hand.

"Um, pardon me but I thought there were only four elements" Sheele said confused

"Yeah, so who's the fifth one?" Mine asked

"Well he's special case and goes by…" Max said until the carriage came to a sudden stop.

"What the? We shouldn't be there by now, we still have a few hours to go" Lubbock said

The team then made their way out of carriage to see what was wrong, and what they found was giant pile of rocks blocking the path.

"Where did that come from?" Steel asked looking at the pile

"How should we know that?" Mine replied irked

"Either way, let's get these rocks out of the way" Max said as he walked over to the pile

Max then started grabbing one boulder after another and threw them out the way, but while he was doing this Mine couldn't help but wonder.

'Were not near any cliffs or mountains, so a rock slide would be impossible, unless…' Mine thought until clicked

"Max! Get away from there!" Mine shouted grabbing Pumpkin from her back

Max then stopped his work to look at her, wondering what she was talking about.

"Why?" Max asked

Until all of a sudden the rocks then started to shake and tremble violently, causing Max to back up and Steel to attach himself to Max. The others members then drew there weapons and stared intently at the shaking rock pile. But then rocks then stopped shacking causing the others to look in confusion and shrug at this.

"Huh, false alarm" Mine said

Then the rock pile then exploded outward causing rocks to go everywhere causing a huge dust cloud. The others then got back in a defensive stance and looked at where the pile once was, and when the cloud cleared what they saw was unlike anything Night Raid as ever seen, but Max knew exactly who it was. There standing in the path was a large brown creature that seemed to be hunched over and was made out of jagged brown rocks, with three finger claws and feet and two holes in the side of its face representing eyes and a glowing red orb in his forehead. This was Earth Elementor, as he let out roar.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Earth Elementor, how's it going rocky?" Max said in mocking tone catching his attention

"Max Steel! I was looking for you, so I can pound you!" Earth shouted smashing his fist against his open palm

"So this is an Elementor huh, he doesn't look that tough" Mine said smugly pointing Pumpkin at him

Until Earth then raised his hands causing all the boulders to rise from the ground and into the air, seeing this, the others couldn't help but be surprised.

"Now, get crushed!" Earth shouted swung his arms at them causing the boulders to come hurdling at them.

"Scatter!" Lubbock shouted as they all dived out of the way of the volley of rocks

Lubbock then charged at Earth with his threads trailing behind him. Earth then went to smash him, only for Lubbock to dodge underneath his swing then, using his Imperial Arms, he then coiled his threads around Earth's arm and pulled them taut, restraining Earth's right arm. Earth Elementor then tried to break Lubbock's threads put was unable to.

"Hey, what is this stuff?!" Earth shouted trying to pull Lubbock's threads off

"Just my Imperial Arms, and you can struggle all you want but those strings can't ever be broken" Lubbock pulling on the strings.

"If I can't break them. I'll break you!" Earth roared out

Earth then pulled on Lubbock's thread, causing the green haired assassin to be yanked toward Earth, only to be meet with a clothesline, causing Lubbock to flip in the air and crash into a tree, just as his threads came loose.

"Lubbock!" Max shouted as rushed toward him

Earth raised his fist to smash Lubbock until to his left; Mine then pelted him with a flurry of shots from Pumpkin causing Earth to raise his arm to shield himself. While he was distracted Max then quickly picked up Lubbock and pulled him out of the way to make sure he was okay.

"Hey man, you okay you took quite a hit?" Max asked while Lubbock groaned

"Yeah I think so" Lubbock replied, he then raised his shirt to reveal his entire chest was covered in his threads, "Luckily I was able to protect myself before he got me, but darn that still hurt, it felt like…" Lubbock said until Max finished for him.

"Getting hit by a mountain" Max said as Lubbock nodded

"Yep" Lubbock said as he groaned

Meanwhile Mine was busy barraging Earth Elementor with shots from Pumpkin, but it didn't do much to affect him.

"Knock it off, you little fly!" Earth shouted and smashed the ground causing a spike of rocks to jut out of the ground, making Mine roll out of the way before she got skewered. She then quickly aimed her Pumpkin at him as it began to charge it while a grin was on her face.

"Thanks for that that was more than enough danger to get Pumpkin to …" Mine said until she was cut off when Earth raised his hands again, then the rocks then started to collect in mind air and turned into a giant boulder.

Earth then threw the giant boulder at Mine, causing her to raise her gun to it and fired at it causing it explode as Mine looked irked.

'Darn it, I had to waste that shot' Mine thought

Earth started to rush her, while she unleashed a barrage of blasts but they weren't slowing him down at all. Earth then raised his fist, ready to smash Mine as she closed her eyes ready to feel the pain, until.

SHINCK

What sounded like a pair of scissors rang out through the clearing and Mine didn't feel the pain. Opening her eyes again she saw Sheele standing in front of her with her weapon, Extase, in her hand. Looking up she saw that Sheele was able to cut Earth's arm off which was evident by the detached arm on the ground. Earth then looked down at where his arm was and let out a roar of rage at them.

"I'm sorry" Sheele said calmly while Mine just grinned

"Ha, not so tough now are you?" Mine mocked him

But Earth then just chuckled as few rocks flew from the ground and attached themselves to Earth's stump, only for a new arm to be reformed. Sheele and Mine then looked surprised at this, seeing something recover so easily from a wound like that.

"He can regrow his limbs, not fair!" Mine shouted

Earth then raised his hands casing a huge slab of rock to come out of the ground and throw it at them causing them to roll out of the way.

"Weak humans, just go squish already" Earth said and throw a punch at Sheele causing her block it with Extase, making her skid across the ground until hitting a tree.

"Okay, enough is enough" Max said and charged at Earth, "Hey, rocks for brains" Max shouted at him getting his attention as Max crossed his arms and shouted.

"GO TURBO, STRENGTH"

Then in a quick flash of light, Max then changed into his Strength Mode, causing Earth to charge at him. Earth then throw a haymaker at Max, only for Max to dodge it and give a right hook to his face, causing him to stumble back in pain. Max then kept it up with a jab to his chest causing him skid across the ground. Earth then planted his feet to stop, he then raised his hand causing a brown vine to erupt from the ground and wrap around Max's leg and flung him across the clearing into a tree, causing it to break and fall.

"Uh, I almost forgot how hard this guy can hit" Max said rubbing his head

"Time to bury you Max Steel!" Earth roared and jumped at Max causing Max to cross his arms and shout.

"GO TURBO, SPEED"

Max then quickly changed modes and dodged Earth's attack and started to circle him, until spring boarding off of one of the trees and launched himself at Earth and quickly changed back to Strength Mode and delivered a left hook to Earth's jaw causing him to be sent across the clearing but Earth quickly recovered and let out a roar.

The others then regrouped and stood side by side from each other as they stared down Earth Elementor.

"Geez what does it take to beat this thing!" Mine shouted

Earth slammed the ground causing a wave of spikes to come toward them causing them jump out of the way. They then took cover behind the trees.

"Well he's your enemy Max, anything that can help us?" Lubbock asked

"Luckily there is, that glowing red orb in head is his weak spot, hit it and he's down for the count" Max said gaining a nod from the three other members

"Well if that's the case, with my skills I can get that orb easily" Mine said, until Earth then launched a boulder at her location but missed her, barely, "Okay, I think I may need some help" Mine said

"What do need pinkie" Steel said making Mine groan in annoyance but shrugged it off

"I need you guys to hold him down so I can get a clean shot" Mine explained

"Alright then, let's do thing" Max said

Then Max, Lubbock and Sheele then ran out of there cover, while Mine took aim at Earth. Earth sent a barrage of rocks at them causing them roll out the way. Lubbock made the first move by jumping over Earth while wrapping his arms in his threads, he then quickly circled a nearby tree those keeping Earth's arm out and unable to move. Sheele then went next, Earth then stomped the ground causing more spikes to jut out of ground but Sheele easily cut right through them. She then widen her scissors and stamped Earth's feet to the ground causing him to roar in pain. Final Max then rushed at Earth quickly wrapped his arms around Earth's torso to keep him from thrashing around. Earth Elementor was now trapped trying his best to get free, but unfortunately Mine had just finished charging her gun and with one pull of the trigger.

BAM

Pumpkin let out a small beam of light and hit Earth straight in his core causing him roar out in pain until going limp. The others then let go of Earth causing the rock monster fall flat on his face just as Max changed back to base mode.

"Okay, that was intense" Lubbock said retracting his threads

"Yes indeed, that was quite the challenge" Sheele added pulling her scissors from the ground

"You should have seen the other guy" Steel said detaching from Max as Max chuckled

"So what do we do with rock head here?" Mine asked gesturing to Earth Elementor

But undenounced to them, Earth then woke up and quickly created a dust cloud blinding all four of them, one it cleared all that was left was a giant hole where Earth Elementor once was.

"Darn it, he got away" Mine said looking down the hole

"Yeah, he tends to do that" Max added

"You think he'll be back?" Lubbock asked

"I don't think so, he'll probable lay low for a while and gather his strength" Steel answered

"Well I guess that means our mission is complete" Sheele said with a smile

The three Night Raider's then made their way back to the carriage, which miraculously survived the battle, to get it to its destination. But Max and Steel stayed behind as they looked down the hole, and could help but wonder one thing.

'If Earth and Fire are here, are others here too?"

Once they got there carriage to the drop off point, they then made their way back to the base, where Max's team debriefed Najenda about their mission. Once they finished Najenda then took a whiff of her cigarette and gave them a strict look.

"First Fire and now Earth, these creatures are appearing more often by the day" Najenda said to herself until turning Max, "Any idea how these Elementors are appearing?" she asked

"Unfortunately, we don't know" Max replied while Najenda just sighed

"Very well, even though we were unable to eliminate our target, we were able to deter it, so I guess you can say this mission is complete" Najneda said making everyone smile, "Dismissed" Najenda said as she as well as the other members of Night Raid left the room.

But before Max and Steel could leave, Akame then grabbed Max's arm getting his attention.

"Max, we need to talk" Akame said as Max nodded

"Hey Steel, you mind" Max asked

"No problem" Steel said flying out the door

Max then turned his attention to Akame where she had a stoic face on.

"So what's up?" Max asked

"When I was on my carriage, I decided to confront Leone about her feelings toward you" Akame said making Max's eyes go wide.

"And what did you find out?" Max asked as Akame told him what she found out.

(Flashback)

It was a few minutes before the Elementor attack and Akame, Leone, Tatsumi and Bulat were all riding in there carriage to their drop off point and keeping their eyes out for their mystery danger beast. Of course during this trip Akame couldn't help but notice that Leone seemed to be saddened in way. Wonder what was going on, Akame then made her way to Leone as she sat next to her, getting her attention.

"Oh hey Akame, what's up?" Leone said quickly wiping the sadden look off her face

"Why are you sad Leone?" Akame asked making Leone frown

"Oh, so you noticed" Leone said as Akame nodded, "I'm just disappointed that Max didn't get to come with us" Leone replied making Akame raise an eyebrow

"You seem to be hanging around Max a lot, why is that?" Akame asked as smile spread on Leone's face

"I don't know fully, me and him are just so alike, he likes the thrill of battle as much as me, me and him are laidback and knows how to have fun in battle and we use hand to hand combat. I think it's because were so alike that I love to hang around him, and to see him being so selfless makes him more amazing" Leone said as he face turned dreamy, she then turned to Akame with a smile on her face, "Akame, I think I'm in love with Max"

(End Flashback)

Once he heard all this Max was quite surprised to hear all this, after all it's not every day you have a beautiful girl like Leone say that they have fallen for you. Of course hearing this he couldn't help but have mixed feeling about this, after all Leone and him come from different worlds and one day he will have to go back and couldn't help but think one thing.

'What do I do now?'