Negima Remix!

Chapter 11: The Other Brothers Crevantes; Red Water Syndrome pt.2
Mugear's Mansion

After the gang had fled the scene, Russell was busy healing Fletcher's wounds using the stone. As he placed the stone he made near Fletcher's wound on his hand, it glowed and the wound resided and healed. The two remained silent for a moment until Russell spoke up, "you promised you would never experiment with Alchemy, Fletcher." Fletcher seemed unfazed as his face was just watching his brother heal him, "I know, but Botanical Alchemy's our specialty, remember?" Russell sighed at that, remembering that they were pretty good with altering plant life in Alchemic use. But he also stated, "True, but you know that Dad didn't like you doing it."

Just then, the door busted open and two guards with automatic rifles came running in, looking around for any clues of the intruders. Just then, Mugear, looking a little frantic, came into the room, "My lab! What have they done to my lab?" Russell sighed at seeing his employer care more about his work than the people working on it. "Mr. Mugear.", he called out, catching the old man's attention, "oh, I'm glad to see you're both alright." His attention turned elsewhere for the moment, "The Stone; has it been damaged?"

Russell sighed as he held it out with a calm smile, "No need to worry, sir. It's intact." As his brother gave the stone to Mugear, Fletcher looked at the man warily. Mugear smiled as he saw this boy's accomplishment, "It's a decent size; I commend you for getting this far." Then he looked at the two seriously, "But I'm afraid our benefactors have pushed up our time tables.", he then smiled snidely, "I need you to move on directly with our contingency plan." Russell looked shocked as he heard this; that was the last thing he wanted to resort to. So he plead with Mugear, "But sir, we've made good progress. We don't need to resort to that."

Mugear gave him a look, saying he wasn't taking no for an answer, "Are you questioning the only one who's given you a chance?" Russell looked down, feeling defeated about this, but knew he couldn't back down, "No, sir." Mugear saw that look on the boy's face and that dread up stupid memories. He spoke out loud as he pulled something out, "You know, there was once a wizard who could do for us what other Alchemists could do. He refused to help, saying it would endanger the lives of everyone in town, so he left this village as a disgrace to Xenotime.", he pulled out a strange fishbowl that was held on to by a gun handle and strange diodes sticking on top, an in it was half a bowl of Red Water. "There was also once another Alchemist like you, who couldn't do as I asked him. He left here as well with his tail between his legs and was never heard from again."

He then plopped the rock in the bowl and then the device activated. Russell asked, not liking this, "What is that?" Mugear then pointed the device towards the ground and answered, "With this machine, even a non-Alchemist like myself has options." Then suddenly a red energy shot at the floor, manipulating the wood to shoot up like ribbons and then ensnared both Russell and Fletcher. They struggled to get free but to no avail, but Russell growled, "Why are you doing this?"

Mugear smiled evilly at them, "Because I can." He chuckled at this, "You honestly think I'm a fool, don't you? That I don't know that the real Crevantes Brothers have dark tan skin, and that the older brother has an Automail hand. Or that you're the sons of Nash Tringham."

Belsio's Farm

The teens had stealthy got back inside, and were tiptoeing back to their rooms. "A lot of excitement up at the mansion, eh kids?" The five of them froze in place as Belsio had shown himself sitting down near the fireplace. The teens just chuckled nervously as Belsio spoke up, "the second night in a row. There's not much hope for you kids." Just then they heard coughing from within the guest room and Asuna was the one to recognize it, "Is that Elisa? She's still here?" He nodded, "Her father's going to be furious, but she wanted to stay here. With her coughing like that, I didn't have much of a choice." He then looked at the teens and asked, "So what happened up there?"

Sitting by the fire, everyone had a cup of cocoa as the kids explained to their only friend in town. Belsio raised an eyebrow and looked surprised by this news as he confirmed their information, "Red Water?" Reina nodded as she sipped her cup, "They want to crystallize it and turn it into a Red Stone." Seiji just huffed, "Compared to the Philosopher Stone, it's just a cheap imitation." Belsio was silent at the moment until he spoke up again, "so I guess Nagi was right about them using it." Negi immediately lit up at this as he nearly jumped up from his seat, asking, "Did you say Nagi? As in Nagi Springfield?"

Belsio nodded at that and Asuna asked from his reaction, "Who is he, Negi? A relative of yours?" Laz answered, "Nagi is the first name of the Thousand Master; Negi's father." Asuna nearly went wide eye with that as she asked Belsio, "So then it's Negi's father the townspeople hate?" Belsio nodded, "Pretty much. It's because he refused to help Mugear create the Red Stone."

The kids were a little surprised by this as Belsio told them about how around twelve years ago, Nagi came into town. It had been worse for wear as the mines were nearly drying up from their gold supply. Mugear, being the most needful of it, tried to convince Nagi to making a Red Stone from the Red Water that was discovered in the mountains. Belsio had told them that Nagi refused to do such a thing, saying that using the Red Water would come with a terrible price. Thanks to Mugear, the townspeople acted liked they didn't care about that, and just wanted the stone.

"In the end, Nagi still refused to help and left town.", Belsio replied, "And because of that, the town resented him for abandoning them like the way they were." Laz spoke up, "Still, that's no reason to hold a grudge. Maybe the plague's the price that Mr. Springfield was talking about." Negi took a sip as he stated, "I guess so, but those boys…they both said that their father had put his whole life in researching the Red Water." Asuna huffed, "Probably another lie." Belsio then thought of something and spoke out his hunch, "Unless…maybe they're the sons of Nash Tringham."

Everyone else turned to that as Seiji asked, "Nash Tringham? You mean the theorist on the Red Water? The man who came up with using it?" Belsio nodded as he told them everything about it. He told them that Tringham was from Xenotime originally, but went to the State Military and to Central HQ in order to study it. He was gone for years, until one rainy night he just showed up, out of the blue and worse for wear. When he asked on how the research had gone, he had just said he abandoned it, as well as his family, saying he was a failure as a husband and father. But he wouldn't tell him anything on what happened in Central.

He saw his friend as a wet wounded animal ready to be pounced on, and considering Mugear being the towns biggest land baron, he had found the one prey to make a meal ticket out of. He drew Nash back into the research on the Red Water to produce a Red Stone. As a result the city began to prosper once more; the town was once more lit by gold. Furnaces were aflame; vendors filled the streets with their wares. Life once again returned to the people in Xenotime, but not without a price.

As soon as the gold came, a mysterious plague began to spread all over Xenotime like wildfire. The people were starting to develop coughs, but that wasn't the worst of it. The infants born around the time had become sick as well; some developing coughing fits, others going blind, and other symptoms becoming more life threatening. Many babies eventually succumbed to the plague, dying at birth and more so. Belsio looked at his mug and frowned, "It's ironic; we had all the money we wanted, but we couldn't by a cure."

It was then that Seiji asked, "Elisa was born back then wasn't she?" Belsio nodded, "when she was a baby, an alchemic doctor named Tim Marcoh passed through town." He told them that he had heard about the sickness and said that he'd do whatever he could to help them. He was able to save not only Elisa, but many others with a strange tool that glowed bright red when it was used.

This caught Seiji's attention as he asked, "It glowed?" Then Laz asked, "The doctor's tool…do you think it was the real thing?" Belsio shrugged, "Whatever it was, we have that to thank for Elisa's survival." He then looked back at the kids as he went on, "I hounded Nash all about the Red Water, but all he said was 'It's my fault…I brought it out, again'." He told them that he was going to stop Mugear from using the Red Water in a phase 3 usage. "That was the last I or anyone else ever saw of him. As soon as he disappeared the mines went dry and the town went on the decline again."

Belsio had finished telling them everything he knew and simply said, "If those boys are indeed Nash's son's…they must have come looking for him, or his research."

Outside

Seiji and Laz were sitting outside, thinking on what had happened and what they had been told. One simple Red Stone had brought the town of Xenotime a chance to shine again, but at the same time brought a suffering like no other. It was then that Laz asked his brother, "Brother?", Seiji turned from where he sat, looking up at the moon, and looked to Laz, "What is it, Laz?" Laz looked at his brother for guidance as he asked, "Is it wrong? Those two just wanted something to bring them closer to their father."

Seiji just looked back at the moon, and simply stated, "Please! Those two are just using their father's name to justify their own selfish causes." "Maybe, but is it any different than what we're doing?", Laz shot back. Seiji gave him a look, telling him to drop it, but Laz went on, "All I'm saying is, Seiji, is that I think I know how they feel." Seiji had to sigh in defeat to that as he knew that Laz didn't have a real father, or that he himself didn't know his real father at all. He shouldn't have said something like that to burn Laz like he did. Then Laz pointed out, "And I'm pretty sure…that you know it too." Seiji didn't react to that openly but on the inside, he knew it too. In some cases, it was true he hated his father for abandoning him and his mother, but there were times he wished he knew him and had been close to him, like a father and son was.

Inside, Negi was looking out through the window as he thought about what Belsio said about his father. 'That would explain why everyone in town hates the name Springfield.' he thought to himself. It was then that Asuna popped up, in her pj's. She looked at him and asked, "Okay, what's with the frown, Negi?" Negi shook it off as he gave her a fake smile, "It's nothing, Asuna. Really." She walked up to him and merely said, "Negi, I know that look and it usually says, 'I've got a lot on my mind and I'm keeping it bottled up'."

Negi sighed in defeat, knowing full well that Asuna wasn't going to let it go. He sighed and spoke up, "I guess I was just thinking that now that I know my father didn't do anything wrong…well, I guess I'm just thinking that…Well, Xenotime had nothing before the Red Stone, but it's suffering from it as well." Asuna sat down as he went on, "And if we stop the production of the Red Stone, things will just get worse for them."

Asuna saw what was eating at Negi and gave him a little confidence builder, by popping one on his head. He rubbed his skull, as he groaned, "What was that for?" She huffed, "for being a bonehead." She looked at him now and gave him a look of understanding, "You heard that this Red Water stuff's causing problems for this town. Then they'd be better off without it and finding something else to make this town shine."

Negi looked at Asuna with a look of surprise by this, but gave her his real smile, "You're right! Starting tomorrow, we have to stop Mugear and destroy the Red Water." She smiled, seeing the old Negi come back, but then gave him a death glare, "By the way, just because I'm being nice to you doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook from that girlfriend comment!" Negi sighed, seeing the old Asuna come back again as he left the room to go to bed.

Mugear's Mansion

Holding Block

Russell and Fletcher were both cuffed in a holding room as they were imprisoned. Mugear sneered at them through a barred window, "You're useless; you just had to put the contingency Phase 2 into effect!" Russell turned his head away to avoid Mugear's gaze, but it was then that Fletcher asked, "Brother? What's Phase 2?" Mugear chuckled at that, deciding to give the boys the ugly truth about how to truly crystallize the Red Water, "Simple, really. You introduce the Red Water into the drinking supply of pregnant women. It permeates their placenta, a factory of biological condensing."

Fletcher looked at this information with horror as he gasped, "No." Russell was seething with anger, not wanting to hear this anymore, "YOU SHUT UP!" However, Mugear went on with his delight, "When the process is done, you extract it from the corpse and transmute it into a stone." He chuckled as he saw the boys' shocked expression, "It's foolproof! Lets Mother Nature do the work for us." But then he just huffed as he stated, "It's a real shame. You boys have obviously inherited your father's cowardice."

He then proceeded to walk away, but Russell stopped him, "Mugear, wait! Did our…did our father ever do that method on someone?" And Fletcher also asked, "We also heard that you tried to have Negi's father try to do the same thing with the Red Water." Mugear merely turned and spoke up, "No. In the end, both of them had a crisis of morality and either left town or backed out. For Springfield, he refused to help, stating that the Red Water would cause problems instead of solving them." He then smirked at the boys as he finished, "Though it's a shame for your father; if he had just gone through with it, he would have saved his wretched life."

After hearing that, Russell went wide eyed and growled, "Liar! You said that he left here alive." Mugear merely shrugged as he asked, "Did I?" And just walked away while hearing Russell shout out for him to come back. As he walked down, he remembered the younger brother stating the name Negi, 'That was the name of the Thousand Master's son.' He smiled at this opportunity; the father was too smart to dupe in, but the son would be an easy target. He then pulled something out of his pocket; a Red Stone that was the shape and size of a tennis ball. He had found it in the lab and realized this was made by one of the intruders. He chuckled at these findings and decided to tell his partners of this.

He had found them to where they usually met, near the Red Water vats and told what happened. He then reassured them, "I've taken care of everything; all we have to do now is convince the Real Crevantes Brothers and Springfield to help us now." The girl merely turned to her silver haired companion and stated to Mugear, "You make it sound so easy, but those boys are more complex than you think." The silver haired boy nodded, "I agree on that. It's easier said than done." Mugear was not about to back down now, "I can handle a couple of children! Please, just put a little trust in me." After a moment of silence, the girl just shrugged, "It's your gamble, do as you want." Mugear chuckled as he left the two alone, preparing for tomorrow.

The silver haired boy then advised, "Are you sure about this? You know of his phase 3 will just get in our way, Lust." Lust just merely walked to her companion and silkily wrapped her arms around his neck as she placed her head on his shoulder and cooed, "It doesn't matter, Vicious. The Master said this place has outlived its usefulness, whatever Mugear does with the Red Water it's not our concern." The one now called Vicious smirked at this as he placed a hand on her cheek and rubbed his cheek to hers playfully. She then cooed out, "One way or another, things'll work out."

The Next Day

Mugear's Mansion

Laz, Negi, and Reina were present in the lab to which they had broken into last night. It seemed that in the morning, Mugear's men had brought them up to merely talk to the man. They told them their boss wanted to see them to make a tender offer they couldn't refuse. The three knew about what he was trying to make them do, but they had other plans. As soon as they were in the room, they were greeted by an apology by Mugear.

"I'm terribly sorry for what's happened to you, Mr. Full-Metal, as well as you, Mr. Springfield. I apologize for the people's rudeness towards you." He then turned to Laz, who he thought was Seiji, "And you, I had no idea that those two were imposters; I was completely fooled by them. We all were I'm afraid to say." All three of them weren't buying it, seeing as how they knew what this guy was capable of. The only reason they had come was to help the two Tringham Brothers and to stop this Phase 2 or 3 from what they heard.

Mugear then went on, "I know you all must have work to do, but there's a matter I could use your help in." Negi asked, a little suspicious, "Something to do with the substance, Red Water?" Mugear lit up, surprised, "Oh, so you have heard of it? That'll save me from explaining it to you." He then walked up to them and looked to Reina, "The truth is I've also done my research. And I happen to hear from certain others that you, Miss Makati, are an expert at Crystal Alchemy." He then pulled out the Red Stone that the Tringham Brothers had made. Reina's face took on a look of seriousness as she looked at the stone and as Mugear asked, "What do you think, Reina? It's the product of Red Water crystallization. A prototype for your masterpiece."

She looked to Mugear and asked, "And what exactly would I do with it?" Mugear simply smiled, seeing the bait being taken, "First of all, together we can save Xenotime with it. Once the gold mines have been restored the town can get back on its feet again." Negi didn't openly say it, but he didn't like this at all, but they needed to stall for some time, "That sounds like a good cause. But I need to ask you something; where are the fake Brothers?" Mugear merely shrugged as he stated, "Taken care of. They're in the cellar."

With that said, Reina clapped her hands together, and merely touched the stone in Mugear's hands with just her right index finger. Within a second, the stone broke down back into liquid. Mugear was shocked and asked in a tone of frustration, "What'd you do that for?" Reina then put on a sinister grin, "We'll talk about the work later, right now there's something we want in on." Mugear looked a little confused but Laz answered, "We'd like to help in on this Phase 3 that you have on."

Mugear lit up, forgetting about the stone that was destroyed, "Oh, then you're all accepting my request for assistance then?" They all nodded and he just simply said to follow him, and they did. Though if he had been more observant, he would have noticed a radio receiver on Laz.

Cellar Dungeon

Russell and Fletcher were awaiting their fate to whatever would happen to them. It was then that Fletcher noticed a figure near the door as he nudged his brother, "Russell." He looked up and then suddenly, the door was transmuted into steel pipes, revealing Seiji and Asuna at the door. Fletcher, being a little surprised by this, asked, "Seiji? What are you doing here?" Seiji gave them a serious but puzzled look on his face and asked, "I know that you guys are Nash Tringham's sons." The two were a little surprised by this but listened to what he asked, "But what I don't know is why you kept his research going?"

A moment of silence was swept across the room until Russell answered, "Because…it was his dream. And it was my duty as his son to finish it." Asuna then huffed as she stated, "And you think your father would be proud now? Do you realize the suffering that Red Water's causing everyone?" The two boys lowered their heads in shame, especially Russell, but Asuna then said, "Well, your father knew it and that's why he stopped it. Negi's dad also knew and that's why he told the town to stop as well."

Then Seiji walked to the boys, and clapped his hands, and placed them on the wooden shackles on the boys' hands. He then transmuted the shackles into little bits of wood. He then got up as he said, "Live your own lives, and stop pretending to be someone your obviously not." He then walked towards the door and left, but not before Asuna smirked at them, "Who knows, you might even like being you for a change."

As the two left, Russell came rushing behind them, getting their attention, "Wait!" The two turned around and listened to Russell, "If Mugear's planning on getting your friends to help him with going to the Phase 3; we can show you where he keeps his top secret projects at." The two looked a little uncertain at this, but Fletcher spoke up, "It's the least we could do to help."

Seiji just looked at them, turned around and huffed, "Do what you want." Asuna just smirked at Seiji as Russell and Fletcher led the way to the Red Water Spring mines.

Spring Mines

Deep down to the factory levels of the mansion, lay a huge section of machines constantly pumping Red Water. But in the mid section was a lab space and in the center a strange device shaped like a steam ball, but in the center had Reina's accidental Red Stone in the center. Standing five feet away from it were Laz, Reina, and Negi as Mugear was standing right next to it like a proud parent.

He was explaining to them that the intent of Phase Three was to gain access into Military Applications with the stone and this device was the key to it. He went on explaining that while the Red Stone was a powerful amplifier, it was discovered that while in use but when split like an atom, it released tremendous amounts of Alchemic energy that stretched as far as three hundred square miles. The kids did not like this one bit as Mugear finished with his little lecture by smiling at them smugly, "I've chosen to call this little number the Philosopher Bomb."

He then unhooked the device from the pressure valve and smugly bowed to them, "As both members of the State Military and the Magic Association, please help me bring the attention of this bomb to both the Fuehrer and the Grand Elders." Reina was the first one to ask something, "Before we help there's something I've been meaning to ask you. We know that Negi's father left town, but whatever happened to Nash Tringham? Just so we might need his help." Mugear pondered on that and simply said, "Oh, his research wasn't going anywhere so I had to let him go."

Reina folded her arms together before she replied, "Strange. You don't seem like the type of person to let someone go once they know all you secrets." Mugear didn't like where this was going as he frowned, "I'm afraid I'm missing the implication." She gave him a glare as she answered, "I'm saying I don't answer to murderers, Mugear." His face went wide with shock but then Laz spoke up, "And as for introducing the bomb: No." Mugear growled small but he was seething mad as Laz went on, "You claim this device has potential, but all you've made is another weapon for War." Negi nodded, "That's the last thing the world needs. Sorry, but neither the State Military nor the Magic Association is in the business for war anymore."

Mugear lightly stepped back to a few controls as he stated to them, "Really…?" He then pressed a switch and then the concrete floor shingles came up, each trapping them in a tight box chain. And then out of the walls, two dangerous looking drills on extension arms were held in front of Laz as Mugear yelled, "In that case, none of you are getting out of here alive! There are plenty of other Alchemists or Wizards I can use!" Laz was on the verge of peeing himself, if he was capable of such a thing, as the drills got closer to him. Mugear snickered evilly, "Now let's see if the State Alchemist of the People bleeds or not!"

Reina and Negi both shouted, "LAZ! NO!" The drills shot forward and pierced his chest and back. The drills then pulled out and the shackles released the limp body that fell to the floor. Mugear had a smug look on his face at this while Reina looked worried and on the verge of crying, while Negi inspected him and sighed in relief. Mugear walked up to the body as he shouted, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Are you so fragile? A hack in a cheap suit of body armor?" But it was then that he noticed something odd; no blood, guts, or even muscle tears were seeping out of the wounds, just a strange purple mist like substance.

Mugear was stuttering as he went over to the body and tried to make sense at what was going on here. "I-Impossible! How is there no blood or anything else? It's unexplainable! But everything can be explained.", he told himself out loud as he inspected the body. Suddenly, a giant block of rock shot down below and transmuted into a stair way. Then suddenly, the Alchemic energy from the blocks shot at Negi and Reina's prison as the block cages changed into statues, releasing them.

Then down walked Seiji, Asuna, and the Tringham Brothers as Negi and Reina ran towards them. As Seiji stepped down he glared at Mugear and spoke up, "Mugear! You made two big mistakes!" Mugear shouted, "What? Who are you?" Then suddenly, Laz shot up, nearly scaring Mugear, and ran over to the others, "Brother! What took you so long? He put holes in my body!" Seiji merely apologized while Mugear, Russell, and even Fletcher stared in awe at this turn of events.

Seiji merely shrugged, "Sorry, Laz, me and the others got a little sidetracked." It was then that Mugear snapped out of it, shouting, "WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?" The kids stopped their little reunion with one another, as Negi stated, "Mistake #1: you only thought we came up here to see your research. We only came here to stop you from continuing to spill out your poison!" Mugear merely growled at this turn of events, and brought up his bowl fish device, and activated it with a few crystallized water pieces. He transmuted the front into a shotgun barrel and fired at Seiji; luckily the young alchemist brought up his left arm at the last minute and was pushed back from the shot.

Seiji then growled, "And Mistake#2…the State Alchemist of the People…", he said as everyone saw not only his mechanical hand, but also a metallic forearm, "…is me." Asuna thought only one thing in her head, 'A gauntlet that goes up to the elbow? Compensate much?' Mugear gasped as he whispered, "A mechanical forearm and hand?", he grinned as he spoke up, "So that's why they call you the Full-Metal Alchemist." Seiji smirked, "That's right, and I'm gonna make you remember that, Mugear."

He growled as he pulled something out of his jacket, a small smoke bomb that he activated and threw near them. It went off, blinding them with Asuna shouting, "Smokescreen? That's dirty fighting!" it was Laz who saw Mugear making his way towards a hallway. "Brother!", he said to Seiji, who saw to where Mugear was going. He then shouted, "Come on everyone, it's time for a good old chase!"

With that said, everyone was in pursuit of Mugear and the Philosopher Bomb that he held. Negi asked Russell, "Where exactly is Mugear heading?" Russell answered, "He's headed for the Red Water spring mines. It's where the water's dug up from the mountain." They ran and they ran, until finally they reached a huge cylinder shaped room with a huge pit like bottom, and a circular railing going around the room. But they didn't see any sign of Mugear as Seiji cursed, "Damn! Where'd he go?"

Just then, they heard a huge clanging sound as from when they looked at the mid center, they nearly peed their pants. Mugear was sitting at the controls of a giant digging machine that was connected to the ceiling and floor of the room, with three giant and dangerous arms with drills at the end of them. Mugear grinned evilly as he shouted, "It's the end of the line for you brats!" He then pulled on a lever that activated one of the arms; the drills spun at incredible speed, and launched itself towards them, hoping to puree them all. Unfortunately, the teens dodged it, going in different directions, with Seiji, Negi, and Russell being the targets for the arms.

Mugear turned his attention to the three boys as he tried to drill them to mince meat. Meanwhile, Laz ran over to one of the walls and slammed his fists together to activate his Alchemic powers. He slammed them into the wall in front of him, and formed a crude ladder up to the support mechanism for the device that Mugear was using. He looked down to Fletcher and said, "Hop on my back." Fletcher did as he asked, and with Fletcher on his back, they proceeded to climb to the top.

Reina saw this too and used her alchemy to create a crystal ladder that led down to the bottom mechanism. "Reina, what are you doing?", Asuna asked as she saw her new friend go down. Reina replied, "I've got to stop it at the bottom. That's what." She then slid down as Asuna cursed silently, "Damn, why do I have to have crazy friends?" She then flew her arms out, and joined Reina as she climbed down after her.

Meanwhile, Negi used his magic to physically enhance himself long enough to dodge the drill as it lanced into the wall. Russell ran but jump-dodged and rolled on the ground as his drill nearly got him. Mugear growled as he shouted, "Why can't you kids just die?" He dragged the drill as it was still in the wall, trying to get to Russell. It was then that Mugear shouted as he tried to kill the boys, "I'll never surrender the Red Water! As long as I have it, nothing can stop me! NOTHING!"

This time he had the three boys in his sights and ready for the kill. But before he could strike them with the drilling mechanisms, the rotator coil that held the machine in place, was somehow jammed up. As Mugear was trying to figure out what had happened, Russell and Seiji jumped on their collective drill and Negi was charging up his magic for one final attack. Mugear looked up to see what it was that had stopped him, and saw the two younger brothers, use their alchemy to create two hands out of the concrete ceiling and grasp the rotator mechanism, as well as create roots that gummed up the gears to it. He then looked down and saw the two girls; the female Alchemist had created crystal spikes that shot out at the lower rotator and skewered it through and making a crystal collar to hold it. Mugear growled in anger but looked up as he heard someone shout out, "RASTEL MASKEL MAGISTER! ELEVEN WIND ARROWS! SPRING FORTH FROM MY HAND AND THROTTLE MY ENEMY!" Negi had caste his spell and eleven arrows of wind energy shot at the drill that was chasing him, and destroyed it as it fell down the pit to where Reina and Asuna were standing over. Asuna shouted, "Hey, watch it!"

Russell then drew a Transmutation on his drill and transmuted vines and roots to entangle and gum up the drill. Seiji merely clapped his hands together and transmuted the drill he stood on and made it into a big bulb head with a goofy mad face on it. Mugear just sat there and calmly groaned as he sneered at the teens, "Damn you. You and your Magic and Alchemy." The boys just stood and glared at the old man as he went on, "If it weren't for you zealots, scientists would have been guiding this world into a new and enlightened age."

Seiji was the one to speak up as he pointed at the hole made by Russell's drill, "Enlightened like that?" as Asuna and Reina got back up, they saw to what Seiji was pointing at; a hidden room filled with bodies, having been exposed to the toxic Red Water. Mugear scowled as he put up a front, "Red Water is dangerous, kids. It's the cost of progress." Just then, Laz, while letting Fletcher hold on to him by his shoulder, spoke up, "Science that doesn't help people is no science at all."

Before Mugear could even retaliate, the whole shaft began to shake tremendously as Mugear questioned, "What's going on?" It was then that Russell spoke up, "the drills must have caused the mines to become unstable." Then suddenly, a few walls down below to bust open, shooting out Red Water. The kids knew that they had to bail out of there, but as they did, only Negi and Seiji noticed that Mugear was remaining as he shouted, "I'll never….surrender…. the spring!" It was then that the ceiling collapsed on Mugear, taking him, the drill machine, and his precious Philosopher Bomb.

As Seiji was about to use his Alchemy to close a door, he noticed two figures looking back at him, in the flooding room. Then they suddenly disappeared as he closed up a door and ran for it. as he ran for it, he asked in his thoughts, 'Just who were those two?'

Outside

The teens had run outside and out of the mansion as most of the guards ran out, screaming about the Red Water about to flood the town. The kids saw the mountain leaking the Red Water as it came out, and then gushers of it shot out like a water fountain. Seiji looked to Laz and replied, "If we're gonna do something, now's a good time to get to work!" Laz nodded as he looked to Reina, "Reina." She nodded, "You can count on me." After that said, the three ran, Seiji and Reina ran towards the forest, while Laz ran for the streaming Red Water.

Laz was just inches away from the water, until he punched his fists together to activate his Alchemy. And then slammed them onto the ground, creating gutter fissures that went in different directions around the mountain, in which the Red Water was directed in to. Next came Seiji's and Reina's turn as they clapped their hands and placed them on the ground in unison. Then there was a huge up roaring sound as Negi and the others saw a giant barrier made of stone and crystals come all around between the town and the mountain. The Red Water waved its way towards the barrier and slammed on it, almost trying to break itself free.

Seiji, Reina, and Laz who showed up, surveyed their handiwork as Negi, Asuna, and the Tringham Brothers showed up. Seiji looked around and replied, "Alright, that'll hold. Now if we can just find a drain, or something to absorb the water." Fletcher looked at the mountain and back at the barrier; and wanting to help out, he ran to one of the bigger trees near them, and drew his Plant Transmutation Circle on the trunk of it. He then placed his head on the circle, the circle glowing bright green as Fletcher's Alchemic attempt was starting.

Then suddenly, all the trees in the mountain started to glow bright green altogether as suddenly, the Red Water was being absorbed into them. As the trees absorbed the water, the trees became as red as Ruby, as Asuna just awed at this, "What's going on?" Negi was the one to answer that, "The trees…they're absorbing all the Red Water." Then Laz pointed out, "I think I saw something like this in the lab in Mugear's Mansion." Seiji pointed out, "Yeah, that's right. They were detoxifying the Red Water with plants."

Fletcher was still using his Alchemic power when he felt a hand touch his. He opened his eyes to see who it was, and it was none other than Russell, smiling at him. Fletcher smiled, "See? I told you it works." Russell nodded and said, "Yeah, now let's finish this." Now that both of them were there, both their Alchemic powers combined and became more powerful, finishing absorbing the Red Water until the spring was run dry. As the trees did so, they became bigger and bigger, until they were around the size of Red Wood trees. Asuna just stared in awe at all of this, never seeing anything like this. Negi smiled, "They pulled through, well done." The brothers then had one final alchemic move left as Fletcher apologized to the trees, "Thank you, Trees. Sorry for this." Then suddenly, the trees became ice blue and were near to crumbling down. Russell turned for a moment and looked to Negi, "Negi! We need you to use your wind magic on this."

Negi nodded at this and got into a stance, chanting, while the winds all around them became strong. "WIND FLOWER: WIND AND DIRT, DANCE WILDLY!", Negi finished as a huge but gentle whirlwind blew in all around them. Then the trees, being hit by the wind, shattered into tiny blue crystals that flew into the wind over the town of Xenotime. The townspeople who were all outside looked up and saw the beautiful scenery; they were all in complete awe at this and some saying it was the work of a skillful mage. Elisa's dad was outside and he got a glimpse at this, saying awe, "Did…did that Springfield boy do all of this?"

On Belsio's farm, Belsio and Elisa saw the sky, as Belsio smirked, "I guess those kids did pretty good."

Train Station

After the kids had all gotten down, the townspeople had asked them of what they did. After Seiji and Russell had explained to them, thanks to the proof of a certain tape that Seiji and Laz had made of Mugear confessing all his deeds and schemes on. The townspeople had apologized to the boys and thanked them, including the Tringham Brothers for their diligence in saving them.

Now the kids were at the train, with the Tringham Brothers, Elisa, and Belsio to say their goodbyes. Elisa handed to Asuna a gift of thanks for them, a basket of Belsio's fine lemons, thanks to Russell and Fletcher's help. Asuna took them with a smile, "Oh, thank you." Then Fletcher stated, "You should come back to Xenotime. This town will be even better when you come back." Seiji, Negi, Russell, and Belsio were having their own discussion as Seiji asked, "So you're staying in Xenotime for a little while?"

Russell nodded, "Pretty much. Belsio says that our agricultural alchemy could be pretty helpful with the town's new method of shining." Negi asked, "Really, what's that?" Belsio answered, "We're planning to turn what's left of Mugear's mansion into the biggest farm in Xenotime." It was then that Russell asked Seiji, "So after this, you'll still be going after the Philosopher Stone?" Seiji nodded at this, catching Asuna and Reina's attention.

Russell then stated, "IF you want to, I can tell you exactly how we crystallized the Red Stone." Seiji looked surprised by this as he asked, "But why?" Russell merely shrugged, "It's not much for atonement, but I think you deserve to know." After a pause, Seiji shook his head, stating with a small smile, "Thanks, Russell, but me and my brother will find the real one on our own." Russell just had to smile at that, but nudged, "By the way, you took the State Alchemist exam and passed it as a teenager, right?" Seiji nodded, "Yeah, so?"

Russell merely asked as he shrugged, "So what are the odds that I'll pass and become one like you?" That earned a blank stare from Seiji as everyone laughed at this until they boarded the train, waving goodbye to their friends.

On the Train Home

Negi was looking at a particular wrist bracelet; it was a thin chain of silver with a small pendulum on it with the Yin/Yang sign and a few Latin inscriptions on it. Asuna caught a look at it and asked, "Where'd you get the bracelet, Negi?" He simply replied, "Belsio gave it to me." Asuna lit up, "He did?" Negi nodded, "He said it was something my dad entrusted to him, and asked if he could give it to me in case he would meet me." Asuna looked confused and asked, "So…what kind of bracelet is it? is it magic?" Negi nodded, "Actually, it's a magic activation item. It acts like a wand of some sorts."

Seiji then shot out, "Well, that's a good thing to have, in case you lose or break your staff." Negi glared at him for that, but everyone's attention shot as Reina shouted, "WHAT?" They all turned and saw that she was holding a letter that she found in the basket of lemons. Laz asked, "What is it?" She turned away, not wanting them to read it. She gave them a worried look, "Drop it! It's nothing, okay!" Laz, Seiji, and Asuna gave her a mischievous grin and said in unison, "Oooh?" The three then launched at her fighting over the letter, jumping all around them trying to get to the letter.

When Asuna finally caught the letter, she saw it was from Russell and read it out loud.

Dear Seiji,

Thank you for all the help and words of wisdom that you and your brother and friends had given me.

I'm sorry I was such a smart ass to you and your friends at first.

But I am going to try and be a better brother to Fletcher, and I'll try hard to follow in your example, Seiji. Both as an Alchemist and a Brother.

I guess you being a year older than me make a big difference. I might even decide to become a State Alchemist like you do if we ever get the chance to go to Mahora and see you guys.

Well, have a good trip back.

Russell

Reina whined, "It's no fair. He's fourteen like me yet he's at your height, Seiji." Everyone just laughed it up, seeing Reina's frustrated look on her face. Then Laz asked his brother, "you think those two are going to be alright?" Seiji nodded, "Yeah, they'll be fine.", he then looked out the window, seeing the country side pass them by as they were going home, "Maybe we will, too."

Next Chapter: A Rainy Day