It has been 2 hours since their encounter with the mysterious mage that instantly turned Manny's house into a pile of burnt rubble.

Jericho was silently mourning the loss of the only person left that he could call Family. Lying on the long sofa while covering his eyes with his arms to prevent his tears from being exposed as Ryan explained everything that had happened to Wendy and the rest, disregarding the part about Manny as Jericho's fake name, all were left appalled after his explanation.

"That's a lot to take in..." Wendy commented.

"I know... and I think the book that he was carrying might be the second book that we're after"

"First it was Illumina, then Grole, and now a magic-user who could wipe us out with just a snap of his fingers?! It's like our battles are leveling up and this time, we're at the boss level..." Joseph shared his thoughts using video game levels as his analogy while the others agreed silently.

"And you said that this... Atlas... killed the Werefox who knew Manny...?" Wendy asked while she looked as if she was getting lost in her thoughts as she visualized what happened to Cain. Ryan answered her by nodding his head slowly.

"I'm glad you two managed to escape, it was smart of you to run rather than fight a battle you can't win..." Wendy added.

"His name is Cain, not Werefox..." Jericho spoke, showing both hints of annoyance and sorrow in his tone.

"I'm sorry, I forgot..."

"Of course you would forget because all you ever care about is Ryan this and Ryan that" Said Jericho in a cold tone.

Wendy instantly snapped and let out a shout of rage directly at Jericho.

"Are you stupid?! I was worried about you as well! I'm not heartless, you moron! Do you think I take pleasure in seeing you get hurt?!"

"Enough! Fighting amongst each other won't solve anything!" Ryan shouted as well, making Wendy turn to silence while also clearing the room of anger before awkwardness took its place.

Josie, on the other hand, was quiet even before Ryan started his brief explanation of the earlier events, she had her eyes planted on Jericho, showing the most concerned pair of eyes among the rest while the depressed man still lied silently on the long sofa next to her.

"Manny, who was Cain to you?" The pink-haired female asked, capturing everyone's eyes as they waited patiently for Jericho's answer.

"Everything... he took care of me since I was a child before leaving me unconscious on the doorstep of a couple where they took me in and raised me in this town..."

"We're so sorry about your loss..." Josie showed her sympathy but Jericho didn't acknowledge her response.

"No need to feel sorry, because I will murder that asshole. I will tear his skin apart, and rip out every organ in his body. I will make sure to give him a slow and painful death as I take pleasure in hearing his shrill before taking out his heart and crushing it with my bare hands. Then I will watch his body become cold, pale, and lifeless... before burning it to ash"

Manny's dark, and twisted explanation in exacting his revenge has once again appalled the other teens. And the fact that he said all of those words with a calm voice seemed to have struck a slight taste of fear upon the rest. All except for Ryan who seemed to be feeling waves of empathy towards Manny, seeing that he too had lost his loved ones in a supernatural event.

"Manny..."

Josie muttered the name that she knew him by with a tone of sorrow towards her friend while gently running her hand around his hair to help relieve Jericho from the anger and hatred that he was bottling up inside.

"Alright, let's all calm down and think for a moment. We can't just face this man and battle him head-on, we need a plan of attack" Wendy stated.

"We have a plan, attack!" Jericho replied before jolting up from the sofa to sit properly.

"Hold your arc reactor core, Iron Man," Said Joseph in a sarcastic voice before proceeding to share his opinion.
"We're talking about a Mage. A Mage who can do actual magic like explosions, lightning, and other stuff. We don't even know where he is or what he is truly capable of, maybe he can even erase us all from existence for all we know. And that's terrifying so we can't just rush towards him and trust in luck like we always do. So Wendy's right, we need a plan"

Joseph's opinions planted a huge impact upon the others. All of them were placed in troubled thoughts and became quiet. Joseph's opinion was not incorrect so this gave them an even bigger problem to worry about besides locating Atlas. Then their troubled silence came to an end when Hitomi spoke after being quiet for so long.

"Ryan, you mentioned Atlas having blue lighting and conjured a blue ball of light that resulted in the huge explosion... correct?"

"Yes. I also noticed a mixture of a black and blue colored smoke surrounding him as he levitated a few feet off the ground... Why do you ask?"

"Because I think I know what kind of magic Atlas was using"

Her arriving conclusion placed everyone in shock and curiosity. Even Jericho was caught by her words, but he seemed to look as if he planned to use Hitomi's coming conclusion as his advantage.

"I think I remember it being called as; Arcane Magic"

"Arcane Magic? Like Rubick's Arcane energy to copy other heroes' skill or Skywrath Mage's Arcane Bolt to slow enemy heroes' movement speed in DOTA?" Joseph shared his thoughts using a game as his analogy once again, but this time, his analogy had confused everyone in the room seeing that none of them knew what he was talking about.

"Oh come on guys, seriously?! None of you know DOTA?"

"Anyways... Hitomi can you tell us more about this Arcane Magic?" Ryan responded, looking eager to know more.

"Oh umm. If I remember it correctly, Arcane Magic is a type of indescribable magic that uses another form of magical power but is beyond any terms of definition or comparison. It's an enigmatic power that can be freely created or used by a skilled Magician in ancient times... For example... I have summoning Magic. Summoning Magic is a mixture of Light Magic and Will Power and Flambo has Fire Magic because he's born with it... While Arcane Magic is All of the magic combined into one Unkown element...
Arcane Magic can be used to create any effect that the caster desires, this involves having full control of elements, matter, and everything else... It can even bend the fabric of reality..."

"Wait, you said Ancient times. What does that mean?" Asked Ryan.

"It was said that a secret group was formed after the first discovery of magic and science many, many years ago. Each member of this group was rumored to have used Arcane Magic in times of desperate need. They swore themselves to protect the balance in this world and watches everyone in secret"

"Magical FBI..." Joseph mumbled.

"No... They are called The Watchers. But all of them disappeared a long time ago, without a trace..."

"Hitomi, how do you know all of this?" Ryan asked in curiosity.

"Melina taught me"

"Who's Melina?" Wendy asked as well.

"She's another character from my book. She teaches me the required information that I should learn"

"Wait, you can literally summon powerful characters from your book. Why don't you summon someone who can locate Atlas and defeat him?" Joseph recommended his opinion, feeling high hopes after realizing that they have Hitomi as their secret weapon. But the unsettling look on Hitomi's face gave them hints that Joseph's opinion may not come true.

"I can't..."

"You can't? You mean you don't have anyone who can locate him? That's alright, Stella can also help. She can just teleport us everywhere until we find him"
Joseph fired another opinion towards Hitomi, making her unsettling feeling grow stronger.

"No, I mean... There is a character from my book who can locate Atlas but..."

"But what? Hitomi? Is something bothering you?" Wendy asked, showing concern in her voice after noticing how troubled Hitomi looked.

"It's just... I can't risk it..."

"Risk what?" A cold response was heard coming from Manny, as his previous curious eyes became sharp and steady towards Hitomi.

"I can't risk them getting hurt or worse... Atlas is a powerful Arcane Mage. Even Flambo is afraid of facing an opponent who uses Arcane Magic. Because no Magic is capable of defeating Arcane... So I can't risk the lives of the characters in my book..." Hitomi hugged her book tightly around her stomach, not wanting to let go as she gazed down upon herself after her selfish reasoning.

"I'm really sorry..."

"No, there has to be someone even more powerful than that asshole. Are you sure no one in that book of yours is qualified to battle him head-on?!" Manny suddenly spoke with a rising tone of voice, he wanted to believe that Hitomi was being selfish to hide something from them.

Seeing Hitomi shaking her head side to side, Jericho grew impatient and used the earlier events with Camille in their battle with Grole as his proof that she was hiding something deeper from the others.

"Then who's Minerva? I remember Camille shouting the name, Minerva, directly at your book while you were unconscious back to where Flambo was fighting Grole"

Soon the others remembered the same events, except for Ryan seeing that he was lost in fear at that time.

"Oh yeah. I remember that part... She was asking for her help and seemed determined that this, Minerva, was capable of helping us. But no one came out. Who is Minerva, Hitomi?" Josie assisted Manny in his interrogation. Ryan didn't stop them from asking Hitomi a barrage of questions as he too was eager to know. Having been overwhelmed with mixed emotions, Hitomi confessed everything.

"... Minerva is another character from my book"

"Yeah, no shit" Manny scoffed before Josie slapped his knee after his rude response.

"But she's different from the rest... She's... A Goddess..." Her stunning revelation pierced their curiosity, leaving them in sudden shock.

"And she can also use... Arcane Magic..."

"A Goddess of what?"

"The Goddess of War and Freedom..."

"Then why don't you summon Minerva to help us?" Wendy asked.

"I can't... Minerva cannot be summoned... Because she can freely leave the book anytime she wants. Even if I ask her myself to help us in our situation... she won't come out because... I think she doesn't like me..."

"But aren't you the new owner of the book? Doesn't that instantly give you the role of Master?" Joseph asked.

"Not everyone in this book likes me... I have to earn their trust before they let me summon them. There are many more characters that I haven't earned trust with. The hardest for was eating Arachne's trust but when she realized I befriended Flambo... She immediately became friends with me. So I'm really sorry to say that... I can't help... not this time. I'm so sorry, I really tr-"

"Then what use are you?!" Manny suddenly shouted his words, cutting off Hitomi's sentence.

"You're afraid that a fictional character from your book will die? I just lost the only family I had left!!!" Jericho's anger overwhelmed him, he could no longer control his grief and this resulted in a possible end to their friendship.

The rest were alarmed and Hitomi was suddenly being shrouded by anxiety. She had never thought that someone would be this angry at her due to her selfish reasoning.

"Manny, calm down!" Both Wendy and Josie said the same words at the same time towards Jericho but he ignored them as his anger was solely directed at Hitomi, who was clinging to her book like a koala hanging on a tree.

"Don't tell me to calm down! What good is she in having bullshit magic if she can't even help us?!"

"I-I'm sorry... I r-really a-am" Hitomi was trembling due to anxiety. She thought that she had conquered her fear of speaking freely to a crowd, but seeing how Manny shouted at her in rage made her trauma much worse.

"Your apology is meaningless if you're too selfish to even use your so-called Magic!!"

"What's wrong with you?! Leave her alone!" Wendy shoved Jericho away from Hitomi since he was getting closer to her.

Soon tears were falling from Hitomi's eyes like a faucet before she started to cry. Lowering her head and using the top part of the book cover to muffle her sobbing. Joseph and Ryan stood up from their seats to de-escalate the situation, both feeling slight anger and disappointment at how Jericho instantly lost his grip from his mind.

"Manny, it's okay. We can come up with another way. Just calm down, please" Joseph begged but Manny didn't falter.

"Why are you all ganging up on me?! You should all be angry at Hitomi! She is capable of helping us but she's too selfish to do so!"

"Manny enough already! You're scaring her!" Josie shouted in a mixture of anger and sadness as she comforted Hitomi by hugging her gently.

"What do I care! And here I thought she could help us but she can't. She's just a weirdo who cares more about fictional characters than her actual friends! I guess they were right in calling you Book Freak"

Then, as Manny said that simple name of insult towards the sobbing Hitomi, Ryan snapped as well. He rushed towards Jericho and shoved him away with full force. Manny stumbled and fell on the floor before glancing back at the man who shoved him. Ryan showed signs of anger in his split-colored eyes as the others were shocked and speechless after witnessing his sudden action, including Manny as the room turned to a few seconds of silence.

Only hearing the loud crashing of rain hitting the roof tiles.

Ryan slowly turned around, witnessing how sadness and anxiety took control of Hitomi as Josie still tried to comfort her by utilizing hugging. He knew about her trauma seeing that Hitomi was the one who shared it with him. Normally, he wouldn't go through all lengths to push Manny away with such force and escalate the situation, but something inside him drove Ryan to this point by the mention of the word "Freak".

Feeling his anger starting to grow stronger and stronger, he slowly turned his gaze towards Manny who already got up in front of the floor and stood face to face with him.

"Apologize to her..." Ryan spoke with a deep voice that meant no joke, only reflecting on how serious he was.

But Manny still didn't falter, he scoffed before mumbling a word.

"Tch! Idiots..." He glared one last time at Ryan before slowly making his way towards the door to the exit.

"I'm outta here!"

The others silently watched as Manny walked towards the door, but the moment his hand reached the doorknob and slightly opened the door, Ryan's voice reached him from behind.

"I said apologize to her, Jericho!"

Manny suddenly stopped before he could exit the house, seeing a glimpse of rain clouds darkening their town. The others paused as well as they watched with a question growing in their head; Who is Jericho?

Manny puffed out a huge portion of his breath before slowly turning around and staring directly at Ryan's eyes with a death glare that proved that mentioning his real name triggered him as well.

"Don't call me that!" He replied, showing signs that he was trying to hold in his anger as he spoke. They stared eye to eye in silence. Clashing yet again in dominance. Manny's Amulet around his neck glowed in silver color while Ryan's left eye slowly glowed as well but seeing that he was a few feet away from him, Jericho didn't notice.

"What's wrong with using your real name?" Ryan said to him as he walked towards Jericho slowly, with his right hand balled into a fist

"You don't get to call me by that name, no one is!"

The aura between them grew more hostile by the second seeing that the two of them were in close combat range. But none of them seemed to want to make the first move. Then the rain started pouring down, hearing the sound of billions of water droplets colliding on the road.

"Then apologize to her and we can talk about this. No one needs to get hurt" Despite how Ryan managed to say those words calmly while also trying to de-escalate their current situation, Manny only let out an obviously fake laugh to show respect is no longer on the table.

"Why? You know it's true, she's a useless,.selfish freak! What kind of person would care more about people written in a book than actual people?!"

Ryan's anger level is almost surpassing his capacity but he still tried not to get overwhelmed as Jericho showed no signs of changing his mind.

"I'm warning you... Don't make me do something I'll regret..." Ryan said as a warning.

"Oh! So just because you have the Medallion of the Talking Bulls, you get to threaten me?! Well, news flash! Remove that Medallion and what are you?! Nothing!"

The rain then grew heavier outside as everything was quiet for a moment.

"Manny, you do not want to do this... not in front of them" Ryan was giving Manny his final warning but nothing seemed to be convincing him to stop.

Jericho then scoffed and showed him that the medallion that Lesthovayne proudly gave to him, was now in Jericho's hands in a blink of an eye.

"Try me. I was raised to be a thief so this was easy to steal. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

Then without any warning, In a blink of an eye, just as lightning struck from the outside, Ryan had heel kicked Manny successfully on his diaphragm with a huge force. Manny had not expect for him to have a terrifying combination of speed and strength and resulted in him failing to block nor ready himself for the impact and was blown a few meters away from Ryan, bursting through the door as he rolled backward on the wet and muddy lawn while a few debris from the destroyed wooden door were falling next to him.

Feeling extreme pain in his abdomen as he was unable to breathe for a brief moment.

The others were shocked to the edge of their seat after they witnessed what Ryan just did. They tried to stop Ryan by using their words but it seems that even Ryan was no longer listening to them and only felt extreme anger towards Manny.

He exited the house through the destroyed door and approached Jericho who was struggling to get up on his feet as a loud roar of thunder occurred before the rain became violent as if a typhoon suddenly occurred.

Wendy and the rest watched them from the entrance, still trying to convince the two of them not to result in violence but it was already too late.

"...Asshole...!" Jericho mumbled under his struggling breath before managing to stand on his feet.

Soon another thunder occurred, both of them fought in the cold, hard rain. Splashes of water were exploding each time they landed powerful strikes onto each other. But no matter how hard he hit or how fast his reflexes were, it seemed that he was still no match for Ryan. Each strike he received from the split-colored male was stronger than the last. Never before had he fought someone with skills and endurance as terrifying as this.

"Guys stop fighting! You're only making it worse for Hitomi!" Wendy shouted but even with anger as her fuel to shout those words, she still felt powerless knowing that all they could do is watch and shout. None of them had enough courage to step in between their battle seeing that the possibility of getting hit by one of them was high.

"Why are you fighting amongst each other?! This won't help our situation so stop already!!!" Josie yelled while holding Hitomi next to her as they couldn't do anything but watch as their friendship slowly started to corrode.

Despite how loud their shouts were, Ryan paid no attention to them. Both were soaked in the rain but they still kept fighting. It even seemed that their battle wouldn't stop until one of them admitted defeat but it looked like their battle was already coming to an end.

Manny was already breathless due to his excessive failed attacks and because of the hard rain while Ryan was the exact opposite. The only difference between their fighting styles was that Manny has no breath control while Ryan looked like he had already mastered that part a long time ago. And with one successful critical strike to the center of Jericho's chest with Ryan's left elbow has faltered his posture and balance. Kneeling down on the wet lawn as he desperately gasped in a huge portion of air while enduring the excruciating pain on his chest.

"Apologize to her, and give me back my Medallion..."

"... Or what...? You'll kill me? Don't make me laugh" Manny managed to reply while still gasping in the air to ease the pain on his chest and to recollect his balance.

"Or I won't give this back to you as well" Ryan showed Jericho's amulet on his right hand, dangling on the rope that tied to it.

"Give that back, you freak! Do you have any idea how it feels to see the only person you love die?! Do you know how it feels to be abandoned by your parents in the woods?! Cain was the one who raised me, he was the one who watched over me before leaving me in the hands of the Ramirez family... I never even got the chance to say how much I loved him... as a father..."

Ryan's anger was dropping rapidly as Jericho said those words of sorrow with tears falling down from his eyes. He could feel the pain that Jericho was feeling as he too had lost many loved ones. Now all Ryan could feel was regret. Regretting the way he used violence upon Manny without thinking of the consequences, he could have just tried to persuade him using verbal agreement but he didn't. He was overwhelmed with anger.

"Now give that back!!!"

Manny let out his final shout as he endured the excruciating pain on his chest just to throw one final swing towards Ryan with all his remaining strength. But even despite his final attempt, Ryan could still easily block his attack in many ways than one. But what all of them didn't expect was for Joseph to step in between them and take the punch to the side of his face instead.

The sound of the fist colliding with the cheek echoed the area like a loud clap. Joseph was slightly dazed after taking a powerful punch as he spits out a few pieces of blood from his mouth. All of them were appalled after witnessing what just happened, including Ryan and Manny who's jaws suddenly dropped. After realizing what he just did for the sake of putting an end to their senseless fighting, Manny's anger completely disappeared as he finally grew aware of his surroundings.

"Joseph...? I... I didn't mean to hit y-"

Their chubby friend didn't want to hear any of his excuses as he too was angry. Before he could finish his sentence, Joseph held Manny's head with both hands before slamming their forehead together. The force and pain from the headbutt inflicted them both as Manny fell on his back on the ground while Joseph squirmed in pain for a moment.

"Stop and pay attention to your surroundings for a second you idiot!" Yelled Joseph in anger.
"Oww... The hurts... Lesson learned... No one wins in a headbutt..." Joseph silently commented before proceeding with his statement.

"You made Hitomi cry, you fought with Ryan in the cold hard rain like a scene in a drama movie, and you hit me in the face! Well, it was technically my fault but that doesn't matter. Do you have any idea what you are doing?! You are destroying our friendship!" Despite how Joseph said those words in anger, he still looked and sounded that he was giving out a few touches of humour throughout his sentence as his way of de-escalating the situation.

"And not only that, your violent action scared Josie! Our best friends since the three of us were 9 years old!"

Having to hear the mention of Josie's name made Jericho snap out of his confusion. He slowly shifted his gaze towards Josie, seeing her mixed expression struck him like lightning as he grew conscious of his earlier mistake, along with Ryan who helped in escalating the situation further.

"We're a team. And tearing this team apart because of one tragic event will only make things worse. We promised to protect one another no matter what! No matter how strong our enemies are, or how dangerous the path we took, we will work together in the end. We are the Mystery Club. We fight to unlock the Mysteries and uncover the truth behind all of these supernatural events, not to fight each other!"

Joseph yelled with an angered look but tears were seen falling down from his eyes. It may be because he was punched on the side of the face, or because seeing his club tear itself apart was the one thing he feared would happen. Whatever the reason was, his words still pierced Jericho.

Feeling tremendous guilt and regret, the silver-haired male lowered his head and stared blankly on the ground. He was fighting himself within his thoughts, all the anger he felt towards both Ryan and Hitomi was now directed to himself. Wallowing on the ground in his shame, Jericho felt that his whole world was covered in darkness until a small light illuminated the darkness. When he gazed to see where the light was coming from, he could see Josie approaching him and kneeled to his level before speaking with a calm and sweet voice.

"Manny, I know how it feels to lose someone you love, especially in a tragic event... I have been there as well... My mother died in a car accident, remember?"

"My father died from cancer..." Joseph mumbled under his breath. Followed by Wendy right after.

"For me, it was my sister..."

"Hitomi and I met the same fate... Our parents were both killed..."

Hearing the other's tragic past made Jericho calm down but still stood guilty for becoming easily overwhelmed with his emotions. There he realized that he was not the only unlucky soul to have lost someone he had held dear, it turned out that everyone around him had also lost the people they loved and must have felt the exact same overwhelming emotions as he did. Soon he felt something warm wrapping his left hand. It was Josie. She gently held his left hand with both hands, slowly raising them to their chest level.

"See? We've all felt what you are feeling right now. All of us experienced a sudden loss of the people we loved. You're not alone, you have us by your side. And I'm sure that this club will grow in numbers in the future and it'll be fun. It's not okay to dwell in the past, but we have to move on after our losses and keep moving forward. Like Joseph said; We are the Mystery Club. So what do you say, Manny- I mean... Jericho?"

He stood paralyzed for a brief moment before light laughing from something that triggered his weird sense of humor.

"...You know what...? I think I'll stay with Manny. I'm much more comfortable with it" Having to reveal a smile across his face brought relief for the others as the rain had already stopped completely. Josie showed joy and relief across her face before she helped Manny in getting up from the ground. After he got up, Joseph forwarded his fist to Manny, waiting for a fist bump. The silver-haired male took pride in Joseph's cheerful and forgiving nature and happily collided their fist before turning towards Ryan.

An awkward Aura surrounded them both until Manny apologized first.

"Ryan, listen... I'm sorry for stealing your Medallion, here. You can have it back" Manny offered him his medallion as the lad smiled in admiration.

"I'm sorry as well, I shouldn't have used force... Here's your amulet back" Ryan replied before they swapped items.

"There's also someone else you haven't to apologize to"

Ryan referred to Hitomi who was now feeling a bit at ease after Ryan and Manny accepted each other's apology. He approached Hitomi slowly, stopping a few feet away as he showed the most guilt towards the female standing in front of him.

"Hitomi... I... I'm sorry for everything I said to you. And I'm terribly sorry for scaring you... I was just... Wasn't my self earlier... I didn't mean any of those words... And you're not a freak, none of you are... Well except for Joseph since he's a game freak. No offense"

"None taken, I love video games anyway" Joseph commented from behind as the other chuckled, emitting warm and positive energy around them.

"W-well... I think... all of us are freaks..." Her response surprised and confused everyone. All of them misunderstood what Hitomi was referring to.

"Umm all of us are freaks...?" Josie asked in confusion, wanting for Hitomi to clarify her sentence.

"Look what you did to her, You broke our Hitomi!" Joseph shouted in horror before Wendy slapped the back of his head in annoyance.

"I think what Hitomi is trying to say is that being a freak is not an insult. Being a freak means we are different from the rest, this is what makes us unique in our own ways. Some might not accept us, but that's okay. Because we all have each other. Did I get that right?" Ryan asked Hitomi as she nodded her head in agreement with his calm and reasonable explanation. The rest smiled in response after hearing Ryan explain Hitomi's vague sentence.

"Wow... That's our Kawaii Motivator right there!" Shouted Joseph as he cheered for Hitomi.

"What does Kawaii mean?" Wendy asked.

"Kawaii means Cute. Come on Wendy, can you at least watch a few anime?" Joseph annoyingly replied while Hitomi lightly blushed from his compliment.

"I'm not... Cute" She mumbled but with Josie hugging her tightly and pinching her cheeks in awe said otherwise.

Manny let out his final chuckle before announcing something to them.

"Again, I want to apologize for what I did. I became impatient and wanted to find Atlas myself. But I admit, I'm powerless against him even Flambo can't do anything to help us. So I need all of your help to finish off that Stage Magician"

"Don't worry, we'll help you take revenge on Cain's death. And I also need to make sure if that book he was holding is indeed the second piece of the Mystery. And if it is..."

"Then we'll take it away from him" Manny continued Ryan's sentence, feeling a wave of respect towards him.

"...Whatever it takes" Ryan responded as both of them shook each other's hands to show their respect to one another.

"Now... Let's find that Asshole... as a team"