Cliff and Yuki stared at the creature that Sharly had manifested from her back.

"This is my main ability, Dr. Jakle," Sharly explained. "It's how I made the ghouls and modified the others."

Yuki poked at Dr. Jakle with his sword. "That's seriously creepy."

"Don't do that!" Sharly snapped at him.

"Just seeing if it pops if I pock it, you know, like a balloon."

"What do you think it is?!" Sharly let out a sigh. "Honestly, you're even dumber than Thatch."

Cliff stroked his chin as Sharly discarded Dr. Jakle. "Kinda explains why you called that thing 'Mr. Hyde.'" He said.

"How come?" Yuki asked him.

"Um... it's an old story about a doctor who drinks a potion and turns into a monster."

"Sounds pretty dumb, why'd he do that?"

"I don't know. It's an old story."

Cliff and Yuki hadn't moved since from where they were and were still in the process of interrogating Sharly, which proved a lot simpler than Cliff had thought thanks to Yuki pulling on Sharly's bunny ears when she didn't cooperate.

She told them about what she knew about Luvia Roswell, the Alchemist, as well as how she created the ghouls and modified the other Homunculi. She also told them about how their souls are actually people who have died, which greatly disturbed Cliff.

"I still find it hard to believe," Cliff gave out a sigh as he waddled off. "I mean, it seems a bit far fetched if you ask me. If what you say is true, kinda sounds like we're dealing with a necromancer rather than an Alchemist."

"Necawhat?" Yuki scratched his head.

"A wizard who can bring the dead back to life," Cliff replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"In all fairness," Sharly interjected. "Our bodies are artificial, so even if we are souls brought back to life we're still classified as Homunculi." She took a look at Yuki. "But that doesn't really matter to you, does it?" she then looked at Cliff. "You're gonna eliminate use either way, right? Just for not being human?"

Cliff remained silent, as though he was tiring to avoid answering.

"To be honest, I don't really give a crap," Yuki said. "Only reason I came was to finish things with sword arm."

Sharly looked at Yuki. "Hate to tell ya, but that isn't really a good idea, especially for someone in your condition." She was referring to the bandages around Yuki's chest. "You wouldn't stand a chance against him even on a good day. His strength alone easily trumps a human-like you ten-times over. Not only that, but he has a killer instinct that puts jack the ripper to shame." Sharly looked down to the ground. "You've lost once against him, and you're asking for more? Why?"

"Cause I'm still alive." Yuki gripped his sword. "That's exactly why I need to fight him again."

"What?" Sharly didn't understand Yuki's answer.

"Basically, he's nuts," Cliff interjected.

"It's a matter of pride!" Yuki snapped at Cliff. "A duel between swordsmen is always to the death. The fact that I survived means our duel isn't over yet."

"So basically, you're not gonna be satisfied until you kill sword arm or you get yourself killed." Cliff exhaled a deep sigh and turned. "Don't think we're ever gonna understand you."

Yuki snorted. "Asshole." He said under his breath.

Sharly looked back and forth at the two men, wondering about their relationship. During their fight, the two were able to coordinate well. Outside of that, they were like two squabbling children.

"Anyway," Cliff continued. "we should find the others as fast as possible."

"Others?" Sharly said.

"Yeah, four others," Yuki said. "One kid, one blond hair girl, one red hair girl and one pyromaniac."

Sharly didn't feel like he answered her question. Weedree did say six intruders. Sharly tightened her palms, which clung to her apron. "Mother... she's not evil." She muttered.

Yuki and Cliff both looked at Sharly.

"She's responsible for over fifty deaths," Cliff said bluntly. "So sorry if I have a hard time believing that."

Sharly gulped slightly. "She... she's not a bad person. She knows what she's doing is wrong, but she has a reason to do it. It's not anything evil,"

"So what's she after?" Yuki asked.

"Well..." Sharly began debating in her head if she should tell them what she knew.

Just then, the room started to shake violently.

"Wh-what the..." Yuki gripped his sword.

"An earthquake?!" Cliff parted his legs to steady himself, as the tremors got more violent. "Here?!"

"I assume this isn't normal for where we are?" Yuki asked him.

"Wouldn't say it's completely out of the books, but this isn't something that usually occurs on the east coast."

Sharly gripped the operating table, as the tremors got more violent. "Wha-What is this?"

"Hey, Stay close!" Yuki said to her.

Cliff then felt a warm air blowing at them from the cracks that were forming on the ground. "I got a very bad feeling about this."

****

(3 minutes earlier)

Tristan breathed heavily as he laid still on his back as a strange sensation came over him. Melvin loomed over him, healing the damage Thatch had inflicted on him. He could feel the cuts on his face close. Buses were also disappearing at an unusual speed.

"There," Melvin then stopped and sat back down, grunting with discomfort.

"Um... T-Thanks?" Tristan said as she sat up, a little frightened that he now felt nothing, given the amount of pain he was in just a moment ago.

"No problem." He then went over to Bill, who was crouched beside him. "Anything hurt?"

"Th-th-thanks but I'm f-f-fine," Bill said.

"Ok." He then struggled over to the wall and sat down and began healing himself. He just partially healed his wounds so he could treat Bill and Tristan.

"S-so.." Tristan muttered, staring at the green glow from Melvin's hands. "Is that... Magic?"

"Yep," Melvin said casually. "Not something you're used to in this world, huh?"

"M-M-Magic?!" Bill stuttered in surprise. "A-A-are you a-a-a Wizard?"

Tristan shook his head. "Oh come on, th-that's just nuts."

"Yeah, I am a wizard."

Tristan and Bill looked with surprise.

"S-seriously!" Tristan blurted out. "But you're just a kid."

Melvin smiled slightly. "I may be young, but I'm still pretty powerful." He boasted.

Just then, a gust of wind came from the hole they were beside. Outside was the corridor, and next to that was the room where Max and Thatch were battling.

"Is that guy a wizard too?" Tristan asked, looking through the hole.

"No he's..." Melvin debated if he should tell them about Max. "It's kinda complicated." He said in the end.

Another blast came from the next room.

"Wh-wh-will he be alright."

"Yeah, he'll be fine." He looked towards the hole. "When he's like this, there's nothing that can stop him."

****

Max burst through the wall into the next room by Thatch's attack, coming to a stop when he hit an altar in the room. It was a large, rather gloomy-looking room with some kind of circle on the floor, slightly scared from Max skidding across it. In the center were two altars placed close to each other, one of which Max had crashed into.

"Of all the rooms, it had to be this one," Thatch stalked into the room, hands wide open, and a large grin on his face. "Oh well, I'm sure I'll be forgiven when I crush you."

Max glanced around the room as he got back to his feet. His clothes were torn and ragged from Thatch's explosions. "So what's this room?" He asked.

"Oh this..." Thatch giggled. "This is where I was born, or rather, where I was brought back to life. But enough about me," He then raised both his arms. "Time we finish this for good!"

He then created exploding orbs and fired them at Max. Max braced himself as he took the explosions. As he looked on through the smoke it created, Thatch had closed the distance and kicked Max in the left flank, knocking him to his right. I'm gonna kill him!

Max regained his balance and skidded to a stop.

I'm stronger than him!

Thatch placed his hand down and launched himself at Max and kicked while in the air. Max blocked the blow with his arm and threw a fireball with his free hand at Thatch, which sends him back. Max followed up by punching Thatch in the air and sending him tumbling across the ground.

I have to win!

Thatch stopped himself from tumbling and skidded to a stop. Max then took a deep breath in and let out a fire roar.

"Oh no you don't!!" Thatch leaped out of the way and launched several exploding orbs at Max. "You're a real persistent bastard, I'll give you that!"

Max dodged the incoming projectiles while launching a fireball at Thatch.

"Ha, same again?" Thatch ran left and taped the ground. "What's wrong, out of ideas?!" He then launched some more orbs at Max while running around him, tapping the ground again.

"Fine then." Max then launched himself at Thatch, kicking down on him with his right leg. Thatch side steps just in time as Max's leg smashed the ground beneath.

"Too slow!" He then tapped Max on his flank and exploded his palm, sending Max hurling back into the altars, smashing through one of them as he continued. Thatch then leaped over him and threw some exploding orbs at him before landing on the ground, taping it as he did.

"Looks like you're the one running out of ideas." Max retorted. Despite all the hits he took, he didn't have much damage on him. "I told you, fire attacks won't work on me.

"Maybe so," Thatch grinned. "You and I are a lot alike when it comes to fire resistance. It's how don't blow myself up." he raised his right hand, his fingers poised to click, "but even we have some kind of limit." He then clicked.

Four pillars of orange arranged at a 90, 180, 270, and 360-degree circumference, light then shot up from the ground around Max. "What the..."

"Can't believe I actually had to use this..." Thatch grinned through his teeth, tiring not to cackle. "That bitch and bastard are gonna chew me out for using this here. But honestly, don't really care!"

The area inside the circumference, Max included, was engulfed in a bright light, which formed a pillar of bright orange light that lit up the entire room.

"NOW DIE!!"

In less than a second, the area was caught in a catastrophic explosion that tore through the roof of the chamber, climbing up into the upper levels. Violent tremors shook the very foundations of the labyrinth. Thatch cackled as the light began to decimate, rising smoke from the scorched base. In the very center, Max was visible; his shirt completely burnt off and had black scorch marks across his body. He stumbled towards Thatch before collapsing face first to the ground.

"HAHAHAHA!! Looks like that took the fight out of you!" Thatch then stalked over to Max. "Honestly, I thought you'd be a stain on the floor after that. But it looks like that took a lot out of you, huh?"

As he reached Max, he stomped on his head.

"Guess you won't be moving much?" He mocked as he grounded his foot on Max's head. "Once I'm done with you, your little friends are next. Then I'm gonna find the last sacrifice and kill her and all your other friends..." he then tightened his fist. "And I'll kill those bastards Rubrik and Edasa, and hell, even Gamba, and force that bitch to bring Frosh back by holding her precious corpse hostage,"

His tone began to become more somber as his rage started to dissipate. "Then I'm getting out of here with the rest. Sharly, Weedree, Diane," he then gulped, "and Frosh, I'm getting them all out of here. We're not gonna be pawns to that bitch anymore." He then retracted his foot and crouched beside Max and reached for his head.

All of a sudden, Max's fist flared up, and before Thatch realized what happened, Max shot up and punched his fist into Thatch's gut.

"Wha-" Flames passed through Thatch as he was sent flying back. He regained his balance and skidded to a stop with his hand, then coughed up blood. What the hell?! It just felt like my insides were burning up! The point of impact was smoldering slightly and had a pink outline where the flames passed through. "You..." he snarled as Max got back to his feet.

"That was pretty good." He said, a strain present in his voice. "I'm not gonna lie, that really banged me up." That wasn't an exaggeration; he was struggling just to stay on his feet.

Thatch raised his hand and tried to create an Exploding Orb. "Why you..." as the orb formed, it quickly popped. What? Thatch tried again but failed. "Wha-what's going on?" He touched the ground and tried to explode his palm. A tiny amount of smoke came from his palm, but no explosion. "I-I can't blow stuff up?"

"Looks like you used up a lot of mana left." Max evaluated. "You can't make explosions anymore."

Thatch clenched his fist and launched at Max, punching him as hard as he could in the face. "JUST DIE ALREADY!!!"

Max skidded back and punched Thatch in the face, sending him skidding back. "You care about your friends, that's not a bad thing,"

Thatch wailed in rage as he pummeled Max screaming, "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!"

Max grabbed one of Thatch's fists and used his free hand to punch Thatch to the ground. "But It's the same for me too,"

Thatch roared as he shot up punching Max back, hard enough to cause him to stumble. "SHUT UP!!!" His head then overflowed with voice, both recent and of his past life, each delivering a hate-filled line, increasing his rage. "STOP LOOKING DOWN ON ME YOU SELF RIGHTEOUS ASSHOLE!!!!!"

Max regained his footing and as Thatch launched at him again, he ducked and uppercut Thatch. "And that's why," As Thatch reeled from the uppercut, Max followed it up by punching him in his already tender gut. "I can't lose here!"

Thatch rolled back from the force of the punch. As he struggled back to his feet, Max took in a deep breath, mustering all the strength he had remaining and let out a fire roar on Thatch. As Thatch saw it coming, he instinctively put up his hands as though he was trying to push it back, and was blown back by the flames into the wall behind him, smashing through and berried in the derby that fell.

Max let out a breath of triumph. "And I win!" His legs then gave out and he collapsed to the ground. "Uhhhhh, That was tough," he moaned.

"Max!!"

Max tilted his head and saw Melvin, Bill and Tristan running to him.

"Oh hey..." he gave a weary smile. "You guys ok."

"Are we ok?! What about you?" Melvin said as he approached him.

"Aw, this is nothing." He then forced himself upright.

"But you look beat up!" Melvin held out his hand and began healing. "And you went overboard, again."

Tristan looked up at the hole in the ceiling as well as the surrounding area. "What kind of fight was this?" he said to himself. He then turned to Max. I really shouldn't piss this guy off. Just what is he?

Max tried to stand.

"Whoa, hold on!" Melvin said to him.

"Don't worry," Max said to him, wobbling slightly as he stood. "It's not too bad."

"Are you sure? That was some explosion you were caught in."

"Yeah, no worries. Anyway, are you ok?"

Melvin got back to his feet. "I'll be alright. I've healed most of the damage so I can still move."

"Good." He then turned to Bill. "You guys ok."

"Oh, um..." Bill stuttered nervously. "I-I-I'm fine."

"Glad to hear it." He then turned to Tristan.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Tristan nervously stroked the back of his head, trying to hide his bashfulness. "Th-thanks for saving us."

Max grinned at him. "No problem." He then stumbled and fell to his knees.

"See, you're banged up from that explosion," Melvin said to him.

"Don't worry, I recover quickly."

Melvin squinted at Max. "Your clothes are finally done for." He said. All Max was wearing was his shorts, which were ragged from the battle.

"That was exploding guy!" Max said defensively.

"I'm still amazed you don't burn them off yourself."

Just then, an explosion came from the rubble where Thatch was buried.

"What?!" Melvin pointed his wand at the smoke that had generated from the bang.

"You gotta be kidding," Max moaned.

From the rubble emerged a blacked Thatch.

"Can't believe he's still kicking after that."

"Hold on," Melvin said with an alert tone. "He seems different."

The smoke started to clear, revealing more of Thatch. His eyes were rolled all the way back to the back of his head. He was also generating a strange yellow mist that seeped through his skin and drifted upwards.

"Miasma?!" Melvin's voice was alert, mixed with terror.

"Miaswhat?" Max clenched his fists and stood ready.

"It's mana given a physical form," Melvin explained as he looked in horror. "With that much being emitted... This might be trouble."

"Hey!" Max yelled. "Back for more Exploding Guy?!"

"Don't provoke him!" Melvin snapped.

Tristan and Bill ran to behind Max and Melvin, looking just as terrified as Melvin.

"What the hell..." Tristan muttered. "How can he still be moving?"

Thatch then opened his mouth and spoke, with two voices combined. The first his own, the second sounding like a little girl. "Stop it....." He snarled. "Just.... Stop...."

"What the?" Max put his left arm out in front of Melvin. "You better get back," he said with a sense of urgency. "I'm getting a bad vibe from him."

"I know what you mean," Melvin said as he took a step back.

"Stop it... stop it...." Thatch continued to mutter. He then parted his arms and faced upwards and yelled at the top of his two voices. "STOP LOOKING DOWN ON MEEEEE!!!!!!"

****

Useless.

Pathetic.

Loser.

Weak.

The boy heard this very often. He was a bright boy, well educated, particularly smart. But no one recognized this. Everyone simply looked down on him. At school, all the kids picked on him since he was odd. He never understood this. He was better; he was smarter, he was important. So why? Why was it always like this?

Others picked on him daily, boys and girls. They looked down on him, simply because he was weaker.

And so, the boy found rage. Anger. The will to kill everyone who picked on him.

One day, he gave in to his rage and assaulted one of the bullies, punched him as hard as he could before picking up a chair and smashed his head in. He had had enough of this boy. He flaunted his strength about simply because he had it. So he was taking a stand. However, everyone saw him in the wrong. He was expelled from the school, and his family had to pay for the damages he infected to the boy he hated.

Why? He was in the wrong? But he started it. It's all his fault.

The boy's anger grew. Rage took him. The school turned against him, simply because he stood his ground.

I'll show them. I'll show them all.

Enraged, the boy took as many aerosol cans he could, made them into a bomb, hid it in his clothes, walked up to his school, up the boy he beat up who was with his friends. He smiled as he took out his detonator, seeing the other kids coming round him, wanting revenge for what he did. Before they assaulted him, the boy pushed the button and incinerated everything around him.

****

Thatch's hands then burst into a blinding Yellow. Everyone in the room shielded their eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter. Hot air rushed from him, blowing though everyone in the room, making it hard to look directly head-on.

"All of you, looking down on me!" Fissures started to form on Thatch's body, with yellow steam pouring out of each one. "I'll kill you! Every last one of you!"

"That doesn't look good," Tristan commented.

"What's he doing?" Max asked.

"He's..." Melvin could see the cracks forming on his skin. "He's, overloading his mana!" Horror gripped Melvin's face. "This, this isn't good! He's gonna blow himself up and take us along with it!"

"What!!" Max stared at Thatch, as the yellow light got brighter. "I gotta stop him!"

"No good! He'll still take this place out at this stage!"

"We gotta run!!" Tristan yelled.

"We'll still be in the blast radiuses!"

Thatch raised his head up, his eyes glowing the same yellow as his hands. "I'll burn it all! I'll take it all down!"

"Damn it!!" Melvin then ran out in front of Max and held his wand high, emanating a bright light.

"What are you doing?!" Max yelled at him.

"It's the only way we're getting out of this alive!" He replied. "Everyone stay close!!"

Thatch slowly raised his hands around his sides. The fissures on his body opened wider and wider with more steam pouring out of it, making it look like he was a volcano ready to blow at any moment. "I'll kill you! All of you!" The light then eliminated from his whole body, engulfing the entire room in his light.

"I'LL BLOW YOU ALL AWAAAAAY!!!!!!"

****

Two men walked through the forest. They were looking for one of a kid who went missing four days ago, Frank Gandra. One of the men was his father, a businessman who owned the mall. He never really got on well with his son, and he wasn't the best-behaved boy in the world, even part of a gang and went by the name Franco.

One night, he snuck out to the abandoned steel mill. The next morning, the man read in the paper that a massacre took place in the mill, a total of 19 people killed. Fearing that his son was among the dead he went directly to the cops. However, they told him that his son wasn't amongst the dead, meaning he was still alive. However, four days had passed, and he heard nothing from Frank. He was about to put up files to find his son, just got them ready that night, when one of his friends who lived to the east of the woods, saw 6 people wandering into the forest.

Normally, that wouldn't mean much, but given the murders and disappearances, along with the strange explosions at the baseball pitch earlier that day, there could be a chance they were related. As the two progressed through the dark of night, carrying torches and hunting rifles, they reached a clearing in the woods. Just then both men felt a tremor, violent enough to knock both men down.

At the center of the clearing, a small crack formed in the earth with a small amount of smoke rising from the fissure. As the men got back to their feet, they saw the fissure as well as a trap door, which was open. The men readied their guns and slowly approached the door. As they finally reached it, a second tremor felt more violent than the last. A second later, the ground erupted where the crack had formed. The blast sends both men hurling back into the woods, only stopped by being slammed against the trees. A vast shock wave spread through the forest, blowing the leaves of trees and scattered all wildlife in its path. It continued to the edge of the forest, where it finally stopped, knocking over a small shack and two cars in its wake. At ground zero, a mushroom cloud rose from the ground as the entire clearing was literally turned into a crater, with the trees nearest blown down by the sheer power of the blast. Both men that had been caught in the explosion were knocked unconscious by the impacts from the forest, suffering several injuries in the process.

****

The girl took shelter as the wave of heat scorched through the forest, her coat was almost blown away by the blast. She had followed Allisa's group to the Alchemist lair but decided that she should remain outside when they finally emerged. That was about half an hour ago. She then saw two men from the town emerging from the forest, both armed. She drew out a crystal from her pockets underneath her coat, ready to strike the two of them down if necessary.

Suddenly, and without warning, two tremors came, followed by a catastrophic explosion that she was only just able to take shelter from. The girl cursed as the blast died down before emerging, witnessing the mushroom cloud rising from the crater.

"Damn..." She then took out her phone, which was collared, pink and had a strap of a troll on it. she flipped the screen up and speed dialed at once. "There's been a problem." She said.

A man's voice came from the receiving end. "I know. I can see the explosion from where I am."

The girl looked to the sides, slightly surprised at the man's response. "It seems unlikely that anyone survived that." She continued.

"I don't know about that." The voice kept calm. "There was another explosion before this one, which seemed to have scattered the combatants somewhat, which acted to shield them from the second explosion. I also sensed Dran's apprentice raise a barrier around three others so they would survive the blast dispute being very close to the source."

The girl found it disturbing how much the man knew about the situation, despite being nowhere near by. The girl knew that the man's sensing powers were nothing short of incredible, but it proved a little scary at times.

"Still, this story isn't over yet." The man chuckled. "That explosion took place on the 3rd level of the labyrinth. The final stage will take place on the 4th level, which should still be relatively intact. Granted not for long. Makes me wish I could watch.... You know what, I might just do that."

"Are you sure you should be revealing yourself?"

"Don't worry, I'll just watch from a distance. And who knows, I might take a little souvenir."

"What about me, Lord Cob?"

"Oh right... um.... Stay where you are until I return. But take caution. The local law enforcement would converge on this location in no time. If you're seen... Well, I'll leave it to you. Just make sure you don't blow your cover."

"As you wish."

"And I must say," The man continued. "I am enjoying this device Aqua insisted on. Remind me to give her my compliments."

"Is that all?" The girl was starting to run short on patients.

"Don't be like that." The man said cheerfully. "Ok, that will be all." He then hung up.

The girls put her phone away and looked up at the cloud. She didn't know much about the labyrinth herself. Only that her master picked it out for the Alchemist. When she arrived in Terra two months ago. In fact, she was instructed to meet the Alchemist when she arrived and escort her to the labyrinth.

As she thought back on it and seeing the events that had transpired, it seemed like all this had been planned right from the start. Her master was a cunning man, able to think very far ahead. She knew very little about him and often found him scary. Even so, he was a man who she gave her life to serving. And if the time came when she must drop her act, she would do so without question. And if she was to kill Allisa Reed, even in the middle of school in front of people who knew her, so be it.

"You better survive this Allisa."