Chapter 11
Kill the Battle Fanatic
It was early in the morning, and on the other side of the Night Raid hideout, Mine was busy soaking in a local hot springs. She then looked down at her arm and started to flex her hand, testing to see if her arm was fully recovered. She then nodded with satisfaction seeing her arm was fully healed.
'Perfect' Mine thought
She then quickly got dressed and ran through the hideout, tying her hair into her standard twin tails. She then burst into the training area not bothering to look what was going on and shouted.
"Okay, who wants to train with me?!"
Once she looked out into the training ground, she already saw the members training already, all three of the men were doing some push-ups, with Tatsumi and Lubbock both shirtless and Max in his base mode. On top of them three of the girls of Night Raid were sitting on the men's backs seemly making the exercise harder, with Sheele on Lubbock, Akame on Tatsumi and Leone on Max.
"What's up Pinky" Steel said floating on the sidelines irking Mine a little
"Hey Mine, what's up" Tatsumi said struggling to keep his posture
"I'm glad your arm is feeling better" Akame added smiling
"What are you guys doing?" Mine asked confused by the display in front of her.
"These pansies weren't getting anywhere with their training, so we decided to help out" Leone said with a playful smile
"Hey!" Max shouted, sounding quite offended
"Well expect for Max here" Leone added with a cheeky grin
"Yeah, I never realized until I put on Incursio for the second time against Water, how much of strain it put on my stamina, so if I want to wear it for long battles like bro did I need to bulk up" Tatsumi said with a strained voice.
But when Mine saw Tatsumi without his shirt, she couldn't help but blush at the sight until she shock it off.
"I'm surprised to see you getting all sweaty Lub" Mine said directing her attention to him
"Well since we lost Bulat, and getting abducted by Water Elementor, I figured I need to start getting more serious" Lubbock said
"And what about you Max? Why are training? You're already powerful enough" Mine said looking at him
"Well with the Elementors running around, I decided I better train hard so I'm better equipped to fight them, if they show there ugly faces again" Max said
"I'm so glad everyone is training hard, it assures me that we will be ready for what comes next" Sheele said with a bright smile
"No doubt, and with our main power house here, there's no way we can lose!" Leone said ruffling Max's hair, making him blush from the attention
"Although I'm surprised you made it this far in his training, considering the weight difference between me and Leone" Akame said
Everyone then gasped in shock, Leone then swiftly smacked Akame in the head causing her to hold her head in pain by the sudden hit from Leone.
"That's one way to hammer the point across" Steel said
"Good everyone is here" a voice said getting everyone's attention
Looking over they saw it was Najenda, with a backpack slung over her back.
"Hey boss, where are heading?" Max said getting up from the ground
"I'm off to the Revolutionary's Base, I think they can benefit from the weapons we got from the Three Beasts" Najenda said
"By yourself? And your taking that huge battle ax with you, isn't it kind of heavy?" Tatsumi asked
"No kidding, that thing is a pretty good sized weapon" Steel added
"Naw I can handle it" Najenda replied
She then lifted the battle ax over her head with surprising ease shocking Steel and Tatsumi.
"See, I may not be able to use it but at least I can lug it around" she said
"Wow, she's stronger than I thought" Max whispered to Steel
"Yeah, you know we should try and see if we can get Commander Forge and her in an arm wrestling competition" Steel whispered back making Max chuckle at the thought of it
"Akame, I'm leaving you in charge, I want everyone to buckle down and train hard" Najenda said
"Okay, whatever" She said in a monotone voice
"Can you take this a little bit more seriously" Tatsumi said, irked by Akame's tone
"Yeah, like seriously try to sound a little bit more excited" Steel said looking irked as well
"Ah, don't worry about it, Akame always gets the job done" Lubbock added calming them a little
Najenda then lit one of her signature cigarettes, as she gained her serious face.
"I'm also going there to try and recruit some new members for the team, though we are down only one member with the increase in Elementor attacks I decided we need a little more help in our crusade" Najenda said, she then turned to Max and Steel, "On that note, any new information on the their plan yet?" She asked, gaining a shack of the head from the both of them.
"We tried to find anything on the Makino Ship, but unfortunately everything was wiped clean, they covered their tracks well" Steel said as Najenda sighed
"Pity, but on the plus side with the Three Beasts gone, the Empire as lost a good chunk of their offensive forces and members of Esdeath's army, good job Tatsumi" Najenda said but Tatsumi didn't look happy
"Thanks, but I mostly just got in the way, I really I'm trying to get stronger" He said
Max then nudged Leone a little, as if trying to tell her something, which she got the message.
"Tatsumi, there was something that Bulat told me a while back, I didn't tell you then because I didn't want it to go to our head" Leone said
She then told Tatsumi that Bulat thought that he will surpass him someday. Hearing this Tatsumi then started to tear up.
"Thanks man" he said to himself encouraged by his friend's words
Najenda then hoisted the bag on her shoulder and started to walk away.
"Take pride in yourself, and survive and became the person Bulat wanted you to be Tatsumi" Najenda said with smile as Tatsumi tried to hold back he's tears.
"Oh and Max" Najenda said getting the Turbo duos attention, "Look after them, for me please" she said as she walked away leaving a smile on Max's face.
In the Imperial Capital, Esdeath was at a cemetery, placing flowers at three graves.
"Liver, Nyau, Daidara, all three of you were killed, I suppose that means you were just too weak and have fallen prey to the laws of natural selection" she said without a hint of remorse in her voice
She then rested her hand on the gravestone, as if trying to comfort her fallen comrade but it was anything but that.
"Such incompetence, I can't change the past, but I will avenge your deaths" she said as she walked away
'The replacements should be coming in today, they say they are fine group of eccentrics, might as well have some fun' she thought as she walked off down the path.
At the entrance of the Capital, there stood a young looking man, around Tatsumi's age, with dark blue matted hair, wearing a blue jacket with fur lining the hood; along with this he had a red scarf with an anchor on it. He also wore grey pants and carried what looked like a sword on the back of his belt.
This was Wave, a member of the Imperial Navy and he was promoted to a special police force.
'My first day in the capital, I'm a little nervous but with these new cloths I got, I should be able to fit in with the locals' he thought as he walked in hauling a huge bag of fish with him along the way.
As he walked through he couldn't help but notice the amount of people staring at him, and whispering as well. Of course this did not deter him think that after battling pirates and aquatic Danger Beasts then a simple meet and greet should be nothing.
After a while he found himself in the front of the door to the meeting room.
'Okay first impressions are everything, here goes' Wave thought as he threw the door open
"Greetings, I'm Waves, from the Imperial Na…" Wave shouted until dying out
When he looked into the room, he saw it was quite empty expect for single large muscular man wearing a white mask over his face and white pants a well, but he had no shirt revealing a large scar across his chest for the world to see.
"I'm Sorry!" Wave shouted as he shut the door behind him.
He then slid down the door with a hand over his heart trying to calm himself down after seeing the intimating man.
"Geez, I think that was the interrogation room, oh man, that is embarrassing" Wave said to himself
He then took out a piece of paper with directions on it, looking it over he then looked up to make sure he was at the right room and to his shock and horror it was.
'Are you kidding me?! I'm working with that guy?!' Wave shouted in his head
Deciding just to get this over with, he then calmed down and went back into the room, although with less bravado then last time.
"Uh hello again" Wave said quietly as he rushed to his seat
'I better try not to make this guy mad' he thought as sat down
As he sat, he could feel that strange man's gaze on him still and it was starting to freak him out.
'Oh crud, what did I do?' Wave thought nervously wondering why the guy was staring at him
Suddenly the door opened again, and stepping in was a young girl, with short hair, wearing what looked like a black school uniform and red tie, along with that she had red arm and leg guards with a sword sheathed on one side of her belt and the other was a bag labeled "Kurame's Snacks".
'Ahh, a normal person' he thought relieved
The girl then sat down on the opposite end of end of table, in front of Wave and started to snack on some cookies from her bag. Seeing her look normal he decided to try and introduce himself.
"Hi there, my name Waaahaayy!" He started to say until the girl then wrapped her arms around her bag and stared intently at Wave, startling the man.
"Stay away from my cookies" she simply said
'Never mind, not normal' Wave thought sitting back down
"Sorry I bothered you" Wave said, feeling let down at a another failed attempt at introducing himself.
Suddenly the door to the meeting room burst open, revealing an auburn haired girl, with what looked like metal arms and sported an imperial officer uniform.
"Hello fellow comrades!" She shouted causing Wave to flinch by how loud she was, "I'm Seryu Ubiquitous, member of the Imperial Guard and my friends name is Koro!" She shouted as she saluted as well as a strange looking dog thing.
'Well, she can't be that crazy' Wave thought
Suddenly Seryu threw some rose petals into the air causing them fall to the ground and litter the entry way.
"Come and grace us with your presence, Dr. Stylish" She said as a feminine looking man came walking into the room.
"I love a dramatic entrance, the definition of stylish! It's captured my masculine grace" Dr. Stylish said
'Ah great this guy too?!' Wave thought looking in shock by the man before him
"My your just a little country boy, you are just adorable" Dr. Stylish said gushing over Wave, "Don't worry I'll polish you right up cowboy, so don't be shy" he said as he winked at Wave
'I think he likes me' Wave thought with dread at the man's advances
Then out of the door came a blonde haired man, with a feather in his hair and wore a white clock over him.
"Good afternoon, oh I appear to be the last one to arrive" the man said
"Oh hi there, my name is Wave" Wave said with a tired tone, thinking this guy is another weirdo like the rest.
"Hello, the pleasure is all mine, you can call me Run" Run said calmly shocking Wave
He then went over and held Run's hands with a big smile on his face confusing the blond man.
'Yes! There is a person that doesn't freak me out!' he shouted in his head
Then the big man that Wave first meet then stood up from his seat and grabbed a tray with cups of tea on it.
"Uh excuse me, but the tea is ready if anyone would like some" the man said placing the cups at each person's seat, "I would have said hello before, but I'm kind of shy, you know bashful, heh I'm sorry" he said while everyone looked at him
"huh, looks like I'm the oldest one here, I hope was all become good friends, call me Bols from the Incendiary Squad, please" the now named Bols said
As everyone settled down, the door opened was more, and out came a tall blue haired lady wearing a mask over her face.
"And who might you be" Wave said to himself looking at the women
Suddenly the women then walked to the front of the table and shouted out.
"What are you all doing in here!" she shouted confusing most if not all the people in the room
"What are talking about, we were all invi…" Wave started to say until the women then kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying through the air until crashing against the wall.
"You never know who is an assassin, don't ever let your guard down" the blue haired lady said
She then went and attacked Run, who countered with some swift blocks.
'This one as good reaction speed' she thought analyzing him
Seryu then jumped forward along with Koro with a sadistic grin on her face, and tried to land a strike, only to be grabbed and flipped onto the floor of the room as Koro was held back by a block of ice.
"You can't attack from behind when your blade lust is easily sensed" the lady said holding Seryu down
Kurame then shot forward, and brought out her sword and delivered a few quick strikes of her own all while a cookie was still in her mouth.
"I'm not gonna hold back, even if this is just a game" she said as the lady's mask cracked and fell off showing a smile underneath it.
"Must be the Imperial Arms Yatsufusa, just as sharp as expected" she said as her mask fully fell off causing Bols to gasp.
"General Esdeath!" Bold exclaimed seeing the infamous General before them
Wave then got back up from his spot on the floor, as looked over and saw the blue haired women without her mask.
'So even the Superior Officer is a nutcase' Wave thought wondering what he got himself into.
Outside the palace the team was now dressed in formal attire consisting of black suits and ties.
"I hope you found that enjoyable, I didn't want to bore anyone with the typical meet and greet" Esdeath said
"Nah, it's okay, I'm used to a little rough housing" Wave said trying to play off his nervousness
"Your advice was very helpful thanks a lot" Seryu said with smile
"Good, after we visit the Emperor, we'll have a little party" Esdeath said shocking Wave but the others
"What?! We're going to meet the Emperor?!" Wave exclaimed
"With all due respect, aren't we taking things a bit too quickly?" Run asked
"I prefer to get the tedious things over with first" Esdeath replied
"By the way, general, have you come up with a super fierce name for the squad yet?" Dr. Stylish asked
"Yes" Esdeath said with smile on her, "We are an independent mobile team charged with hunting down an elusive gang of vicious murderers. Therefore, I would like for us to be called, The Jaegers".
Later that day, the Jaegers were now getting ready for dinner that was being prepared for them by Wave and Bols. While the others were sitting around a long elegant table, waiting, Esdeath couldn't help notice something stitched to Seryu's jacket, right on her right chest. It looked the letter M but it was stylized somewhat and blue as well and with a big red x over it.
"Seryu? What is that on your uniform?" Esdeath asked curious
Looking down, Seryu took a quick glance at her jacket only to look away, and started to sport her usually sadistic smile.
"Oh, it's not much, just a reminder of someone I really need to kill" Seryu said chuckling slightly
"Really?" Esdeath said, "And who might this person be?" she asked
"A criminal that helps Night Raid scum, the man that embarrassed me and Koro and defied justice, the man known as Max Steel" Seryu said with a sneer
"Max Steel? Interesting, is he really as dangerous as you say?" Esdeath asked, her curiosity growing more and more
"Most definitely" Seryu said making Esdeath gain her sadistic grin
Seryu then lost her sadistic look and started to change the subject, not wanting to talk about Max Steel anymore.
"So general, what do you do in your free time?" Seryu asked curious snapping Esdeath from her thoughts
"Torturing prisoners, inventing new ways of torture" Esdeath replied setting a wine glass she had down, "Though recently, I have gained an interest in love" she said shocking Seryu and Kurame.
It was now morning, and within the Capital both Max and Tatsumi, with Max in his camo mode, were both walking through the Capital, to a nearby shop in the district. Right outside the shop was Lubbock and was waiting for them.
"Hey you two, glad you can make it" Lubbock said
"Glad to be here" Tatsumi said
"We would have gotten here sooner, but the crowds were crazy today" Max said
The three of them then walked into bookstore, causing Steel to detach from Max so he could stretch his joints.
Lubbock then pushed one of the books on the shelves, causing the book shelves to move to the side revealing a staircase going down.
"Ah, hidden passage behind a bookshelf, classic I like it, I like it" Steel commented looking around the place
"Yep, it's my pride and joy" Lubbock said getting an eye roll from Max and Tatsumi
"Ah come on, like you built this place" Tatsumi said as he and Max walked down the stairs
When they made it to the bottom, they found a little room with couches and banners of Night Raid around the area and sitting on one of the couches was Leone to greet them.
"Hello! Welcome to our Imperial Secret Base!" Leone said with a smile
"You're not exactly being secretive, with all that your shouting you're doing" Max said making Leone cutely pout at him.
"Ah come on, don't be rude Maxy" Leone said in a fake hurt voice
'Maxy?!' Max and Steel thought with Max gaining a tint of red on his checks until disappearing as fast
Then Lubbock then brought a wanted poster with a picture of Mine on it sticking her tongue out. Steel silently snickered at this, seeing Mine look silly.
"They posted a few more wanted posters of us, but luckily some us can still be seen out in public" Lubbock said
"Yeah, there's also some rumors running around the place about some new police squad called the Jaegers" Tatsumi said
"That's because General Esdeath is in charge of it, she is pretty big deal around here, and you don't want to mess with her" Lubbock said with a darkened look on his face
"The way you talk about her makes her sound like boogeyman or something, is she really that bad?" Max asked
"You have no idea, okay maybe I should tell you guys a story" Lubbock said
Lubbock then started to tell them about the Southern tribe who started an uprising against the Capital. The empire then sent their army to defeat the tribesmen, but due to the soldiers' cushy city life and the tribesmen sneak attacks at night, the Imperial forces were easily defeated. The Empire then sent General Esdeath and General Najenda to dispatch them. It turned out when Esdeath attacked the tribesmen she let some of them go, but not before leaving some unkind words to the tribesmen, those angering them to no end.
"And that's the story" Lubbock said finishing
"Man that's kind of twisted how she drilled hate into those people before letting them go" Tatsumi said
"What a second, from the Empire's point of view it sounds like Esdeath wanted another uprising" Steel said
"Yep, that's what she was trying to do, that way she can get her kicks on the battle field forever" Lubbock said leaning back in his seat.
"She sure sounds like a lunatic" Tatsumi grumbled
"That's the understatement of the day" Steel said
"Got that right, I made the right the choice not to pick a fight with her alone" Leone said laying on the couch, remembering her small encounter with Esdeath, "I mean you would have to murder a million people to get reputation like that" she said.
"The way you guys talk about her, she must be a monster" Tatsumi added
"Well duh" Steel said with a deadpan expression, causing Tatsumi to glare at him
"You can check her out for yourself if you want" Lubbock confusing everyone, "She's hosting a martial arts tournament today, with a cash price for the winner, so you can earn some money for your village as well" Lubbock said showing them a flyer to them.
"Well, in that case, sign…" Steel started to say until Max stood up
"We'll pass" Max said in a low voice
"Wait, what?" Steel said
"We'll just head back to the base, I need to … clear my head" Max said walking up the stairs as Steel followed after.
Later that day, with the sun lowering over the horizon, Max was flying back to the base but it was surprisingly a quit trip.
"Uh, Max?" Steel said getting the teens attention, "You've been quiet since we left the city, what's wrong?" he asked
"It's…Esdeath I can't wrap my head around her" Max answered
"What do mean?" Steel asked curious
"Well, think about Steel. Every bad guy we've faced has been so predictable and easy to understand, makes the fights easier when you know what your foe is like. Dread just wanted our Turbo Energy, the Elementors wanted to invade the planet, Toxon wanted to wipe out mankind and Extroyer just wanted revenge." Max explained
"Yeah, they are dead set aren't they" Steel commented
"Exactly, but Esdeath she just wants to see the world burn or freeze or whatever, she's nothing like what we faced and to be honest Steel…I'm a little scared" Max admitted
"Yeah, it's true most of our villains are like something you would find in a comic book, but just because one bad guy is different, isn't any reason to get scared, we just have to stand tall" Steel said making Max smile a little
"Thanks pal, but just to be on the safe side, let try to avoid a confrontation with her" Max suggested
"That we can agree on" Steel agreed
Up ahead they saw the Night Raid base, and decided to land in the training grounds. Once they landed and changed back to base mode, they saw Mine doing some sit-ups with Sheele spotting her.
"Hey guys, what's up" Max called out getting their attention
"Oh Max, your back early" Sheele said as she and Mine got up
"Yeah, just had to work through some stuff" Max said
"What kind of stuff?" Mine asked
"Nothing important" He replied getting shrug from Mine
"Oh by the way, this came for you" Sheele said pulling out an envelope of sorts
Taking the envelope, he opened up and saw they were reports from … the Makino Ship.
"What's all this?" Steel asked detaching from Max
"You see the Rebels were able to get the ship out of the ocean for study, hoping to find some clues, but unfortunately they came up empty" Mine said
"Should have expected that much, when me and Max looked we saw the place picked clean, nothing was left" Steel said with a sigh
"Never the less, you should give that to Akame so she can look at it" Sheele suggested getting a nod from Max
"No problem" Max said as walked into the base.
It was now night and Akame, Max and Steel were looking over the reports about the ship, but unfortunately there was still nothing.
"You were right, the Elementors picked the ship clean" Akame said with a sigh
"Told you" Steel said gathering up the papers
"Well, it was good try though" Max said
"Mabye, but were still no closer too…" Akame started to say until all sudden the door to the meeting room burst open.
Coming through, was Mine, Sheele, Leone and Lubbock all looking quite distressed about something?
"Guys, your back, but where's Tatsumi?" Steel asked looking for the brown haired teen
"That's the problem, Esdeath took Tatsumi away!" Leone shouted
Hearing this Akame, Max and Steel were shocked into horror by this.
"Esdeath took Tatsumi, did she figure out he's part of Night Raid?!" Akame questioned
"Don't know, it could be a fifty, fifty chance" Lubbock said
"Last we saw, she was trying to pull him into the palace" Leone said recalling what they saw
Akame then balled up her fist in frustration, already worried for Tatsumi.
"I hope your not going to say something stupid like rescuing him" Mine said
"No, not yet at least, we first should move our base further from town" Akame said getting a nod from everyone
"Good idea, were too easy to spot here" Leone said
"But what about Tatsumi?" Sheele asked worried edged on her face
"I don't know, but we will get him back, we just a plan, Steel, Max? Any suggestions?" Akame asked only to get silence.
Turning to where the two were standing they saw that their spot was empty and seeing this everyone's eyes widen in shock.
"Oh no" Akame muttered
Akame, along with everyone else then ran out into the hallway and looked out the window and to their horror; they saw Max, flying away from the base.
"Where is he going?!" Mine shouted looking at Max's ever shrinking form
"He's going after Tatsumi!" Akame said making everyone gasp
"He's what?! He's going to get himself killed!" Lubbock shouted
"What should we do Akame?" Sheele asked
"He's too far already, I can't risk losing anyone else, we just have to hope that…" Akame started to say
Until, to everyone's shock, Leone then jumped out the window and started to sprint after Max, she was even in beast mode to increase her speed.
"Oh no not her too!" Mine shouted seeing the blonde go
"First Max, Now Leone, what now?!" Lubbock shouted
Akame then gripped the side of the window, and quietly prayed.
"Please Leone, Max, come back safe" she quietly said as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
And there we have, Chapter 11. Honestly I can't to get started on Chapter 12. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave a review and favorite and I hope to hear soon.
