Leo was walking down the street towards his house, deep in thought about what Dr. Cartel hypothesized. He was having a feeling of extreme change, like he was no longer sure who he was anymore. Imagine being an extraordinary person and having powers beyond the human scope. He never even thought about it, or expected it. He kept on pondering on Dr. Cartel’s hypothesis. “You were struck by lightning and burned by the fire from the explosion. According to my research, If you were to have powers, it should be lightning related, since lightning struck you first when the GE-176 exploded on your body. Also given that the compound was already charged up, you should have lightning affinity. It's like the compound already found its catalyst before fusing with your body.” Leo recalled Dr. Cartel's hypothesis. He was still bewildered and worried about the troubles his powers would cause him. ‘I really have super powers!?’ He thought to himself, trying to wrap his head around it all. Leo recalled f

“Hey Leo,” James greeted cheerfully. Tracy called him into her room to see Leo, “I can see you’re looking good. Wow, smooth face and handsome as always…” James commended Leo. Leo closed his eyes and shook his head with resignation. Tracy just face palmed and was frustrated with how foolish James could be. It hadn’t dawned on James that Leo shouldn’t be that ‘handsome’ yet. Tracy and Leo gave him irritating looks. Seeing this, James at this point became confused. “What?!” He asked while searching his brain for what he said wrong, “I’m only complimenting Leo on how handsome he… wait you shouldn’t be handsome yet, you should still be barbecue. You should still be wrapped up…” He blurted as he realized what was happening. Leo rolled his eyes. ‘Why must you always say barbecue!?’ He thought to himself. “Did you get a surgery?” James asked. Tracy decided to leave the talking to Leo because if she replies to James, she’ll either insult him or hit him for asking a stupid question. Leo si

Sitting on his bed meditating, with legs crossed, hands on his legs and closed eyes, Leo recited a mantra that came to his mind as he thought of mantras to use. His breathing was slow and even. He had been sitting like that for almost an hour. Instead of trying to control his emotions and keeping his calm, he wanted to re-establish the connection he had with his flame powers. “I am fire. The fire is within me. I am one with the flames, born from the ashes of war and strife, to rise as a true born god. The god of fire. The Crimson phoenix. I am…” he kept on repeating those words. At some point, it felt like he wasn’t the only one saying those words. He could hear a female voice reciting those words with him, but anytime he tried to focus on the voice, he didn't seem to hear it anymore. His body felt warmer and it was refreshing and felt nice. He felt energized and high. He also had a feeling that he was finally establishing a connection to something bigger than him. He couldn’t pin

Gdoink! Leo dunked the ball hard into the hoop. The whole court was silent and everyone stared at both Leo and the shocked to the core Quincy. They all suddenly started to murmur. “Isn’t that the guy who had an accident and was burned alive? How did he become so strong?” “I don’t know. I heard that he just relocated to this city about a few months ago.” “Really? But even if he is good at basketball, he shouldn’t be that agile for now.” Different opinions kept flowing around the court. Leo stretched and walked towards Quincy, whose whole view of the world had just been shattered by him. He patted Quincy on the shoulder. “Don’t think too much about it. You gave me a hard time playing too. You’ll become as good as me sooner or later.” Leo consoled him, but he was saying something else inside. ‘You’re already better than me. But you won’t be able to catch up to me unless you’ve got super speed. Hahaha,’ he thought devilishly. Quincy who looked gloomy at first sudden

Leo and Logan were chatting while walking down the street. It was peaceful and they both planned to study together on that day. “Since you’ve already had your surgery… or should I say, ‘Makeup’, why are you still wearing a nose mask?” Logan asked curiously. Leo smiled at him and shook his head. “I’m already used to it, and it turns out I like it.” He replied. Logan scoffed and shook his head in resignation. “Speak of Kakashi.” He said in a low tone. Leo already seemed mysterious to those at his school who didn’t see much of his face before the accident. Everyone seemed to be curious about him and given the fact that he plays basketball all too well, he was becoming more mysterious to the students. “So what did Dr. Cartel say about the basketball?” Logan asked. “Not much. It seemed like he liked the way you called him to watch me.” Leo answered with almost no expression. “Well you know scientists, he’s probably thinking that me calling him to watch you was so that you could