"As for me... I have some unfinished business to attend to." The blondie finished as he was walking up to the man wearing a suit.


    That man formed a crater in the fall, which he was lying in. As the blondie got closer, the man grabbed the sides and mustered enough strength to stand up. He then grabbed a spray from his pocket, a perfume. Sprayed it in the air and huffed it.


    He took a deep breath and exhaled.


    His head and hands burst into flames brighter than any campfire the two had ever seen. He then conjured balls of flame in his palms. As the blondie was standing in front of him. He looked over his shoulder, staring at the two of them through the holes of his mask.


    "If you two survive... and make it. Look for the Prometheus Foundation. We could use members like the two of you, said Baron", sounding proud of the two of them.


    "What? Oh no, we didn''t kill—" Ax tried to explain.


    "NO TIME! RUN ALREADY, GOD DAMMIT!" the blonde man screamed shortly before the other threw a ball of flame at him.


    Baron hit the ball as hard as he could, like a baseball being pitched. The blistering velocity of the bat hitting the ball caused a small explosion to form. As the ball got deflected back to the sender. It exploded like a firework upon impact.


    As embers rained down from the air, Baron could only mutter. "Homerun."


    Ace and Ax, seeing the conflict, looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah, we run, right?" Ace asked him.


    Ax, who was already preparing to sprint. "Way ahead of you.".


    Both of them bolted towards the only door in the room. "Hey, that looks—" Ace muttered.


    "DOESN''T MATTER, BASH THROUGH IT!" Ax interrupted him as the both of them tackled through the door, it shutting by itself behind them.


    Baron looked back at the door they left. His eyes widened the moment he saw the purple door. "They weren''t seekers yet?! What the fuck!? If I knew, I would''ve gone with them"—Baron''s concern and bafflement got interrupted by a ball of flame crashing into the side of his face.


    "Worry about yourself! We aren''t done yet, you insignificant—" Baron threw a rock at the man, interrupting him. Baron''s hard plastic mask was now charred and smelled of a health hazard. The top left is broken and burnt off. His skin was charred and bruised.


    "Shit—.". Baron cursed at his injuries. He grabbed an apple slice from his pocket and slipped it under his mask. His injuries were healing almost immediately, and his body was energized. The other man was no longer disoriented. They both stared at each other, breathing heavily.


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    Baron through his broken mask. Him through the flames that encompassed. Baron raised his bat and reared to hit. The man raised his palm, making a fist. Both were ready to clash, and that they did.


    They charged at each other with the intent to kill, the flames and the bat clashing in unison.


    ***


    Ax and Ace were breathing heavily. Adrenaline coursing through their veins. "Dude, that guy... he was—he was dead, right? Maybe there are others who come back to life... like me," Ax meekly suggested. Maybe he wasn''t so alone after all?


    "Maybe I''m immortal too, who knows?" Ace murmured sarcastically.


    "No shot," Ax argued.


    As the two of them bickered, they stopped halfway. Their gaze wandered at the new terrain in front of them. It was morning here, the sun barely peeping over the horizon, but still shining as bright as any morning sun would. They were on top of a grassy hill, marble pillars scattered everywhere and marble ruins peppered throughout the hilltop.


    Wild olive trees sprouted from the ground at a distance away, the fruits ripe for picking. Fig trees blooming near the olives. The air was sweet and warm, cozy, and comfortable.


    The both of them walked along the ruins, with grass and flora sprouting out of the ground, their hands grasping at the shrubs, which were a tad bit overgrown. Broken pillars and shattered floors everywhere. Upon closer inspection, they weren''t marble but rather an ancient Greek concrete.


    "Since... we have a chance to catch our breath. Let''s talk for a bit as we walk through this place," Ax suggested, wanting to have a proper, heartfelt conversation with Ace.


    "Yeah, shoot," Ace agreed, enjoying his company.


    "It''s about why I continue to risk my life over and over again, to clear every room in this place," Ax said as he walked towards one of the broken pillars on the ground.


    "It continues to push on, because... well, the doors are why I''m still alive, Ace." Ax mustered all his emotional strength to utter these words without choking.


    "Yeah, I guess so. That goblin did kill you, right?" Ace asked him, nonchalantly. Confused as to why he looked so confused.


    "Remember the picture I sent the group? Of the gun I stole from one of the police members during a protest?" Ax reminded Ace.


    "Yeah, you made a video of emptying the shells; we used the gunpowder to try and distress some denim jackets we had; it was horrible. Hamz almost burned himself, and Nas had to—" Ace was reminiscing.


    "I threw all but one," Ax interrupted him. His voice was wavering.


    "Hmm? What do you—" Ace stopped halfway; he realized where this conversation was headed even before he finished his sentence.


    "The gun has one cold lead bullet, locked and loaded in the third drawer," Ax finished. Expecting Ace to connect the dots. He did.


    "Did you pull the trigger?" Ace asked him sternly.


    "No, I turned the safety on," Ax answered him, expecting him to be angry and disappointed.


    Ace raised his arm, causing Ax to flinch. He wrapped one of his arms around Ax and ruffled his hair with the other, messing it up.


    "Attaboy, I knew you had it in you!" Ace proudly exclaimed.


    "Huh? You''re not disappointed?" Ax asked him, not expecting this reaction.


    "I''ve known you for long enough; you wouldn''t go down this easy. I knew you had trouble looming over you; I always kept an open mind. Remember the last thing Nasrin said when she ran into you in Multimart over a month ago?" Ace asked him, still just as happy, proud, and relieved.


    "I won''t push you... but I won''t push you away either..." they both uttered together.


    "Oh." That was all Ax could say; this was very anticlimactic to what he was expecting.


    "You''re stronger than you let on, stronger than you think even. You''re worth more than the emotions you feel about yourself; don''t let them win," Ace said as his arm was still wrapped around his best friend.


    "We can talk about this when we get back; it''s okay," Ace said as he noticed Ax''s eyes get wider, as if he was about to cry.


    Ace went silent for a few seconds, the corners of his cheeks curved. As he smiled, he said, "I guess I should tell you why I want to keep fighting with you and go through these doors," Ace said, somewhat changing the topic but still trying to keep the same tone.


    Ax looked up. "Hmm?". Ace stepped back a bit.


    "When I saw you fight the army of skeletons, Ax, your expression. The focus and determination you showed while fighting, it was the spitting image of—" Ace''s speech got interrupted by a loud huff. Which was coming from behind one of the broken pillars...?


    Ax and Ace froze in silence as they saw a hulking, 8-foot mass of pure muscle, covered in fur, show itself. It''s two hulking horns peering into their vision before the rest of its head. As it revealed itself, its head peeked first, its face wearing a golden ring pierced through its septum. Its eyes staring swords into them. The sun is reflecting off of the gold. A bronze belt tied around its waist, tied around a fustanella or a kilt.


    It was a Minotaur.