The Crimson Phoenix

Battle of Test subjects (Part 2)

Leo brandished his swords and kept slashing at the monster but its hide was too tough so all Leo could do was leave a few marks on its body which would heal almost instantly. Leo's defenses were even worse.

He received a punch and tried to block it with his arms but he was sent flying and both his arms broke, together with a few of his ribs.

Leo groaned as he was sent flying, hitting a few vehicles before finally stopping after colliding with a building with his back. He was lunged sixty-six meters forward with a tremendous force that would've killed a normal person. Leo felt excruciating pain all over his body but the pain in his arm was even worse. He spat out a mouthful of blood and struggled to get on his feet.

"Nrrgh! That hurts." He groaned but what happened next surprised him. His arms and ribs which were crushed and badly disfigured began to heal at a remarkable speed.

"Huh? I don't heal this fast, even with my powers." He said to himself but he was interrupted when he saw the monster running towards him. He quickly dismissed his thoughts and focused on the battle at hand.

Sheathing his swords, he decided to shoot instead. He ran towards the giant chimpanzee and just as it was about to pounce on him, Leo slid under its belly and shot its stomach twice.

BANG! BANG!

He was very fast and the shot did quite some damage, it was not enough to adequately injure the monster though. It could only leave a few scars which were already healing. Leo got behind the monster and backed away before carefully planning his next move.

'Looks like shots from a pump-action shotgun can barely do any damage. So I'll have to keep shooting it in the same place and I'll have to do it fast so it doesn't heal completely. Good thing is…' Leo quickly reloaded his gun. '…speed is my specialty.' He thought as he burst forward at an incredible speed. The monster held its belly and groaned as the pain it felt was maddening, but its attention got diverted by Leo's movement which infuriated it and it removed its hand from its stomach as the wound began to heal. Both Leo and the beast had super healing abilities but their wounds hurt like hell.

It also lunged itself at Leo, wanting to punch him but Leo dodged it and the punch went straight to the ground, creating a deep wide crater with countless cracks around it. Leo went behind the beast and shot it thrice in the same position. The monster roared as it felt excruciating pain and this made it even angrier. Leo couldn't care less as he kept dodging the monster's punches and shooting it at its back before the wound healed.

The female reporter on the helicopter which was hovering above the battlefield, and the cameraman himself were shocked by the scene before them.

"Oh my God! It seems that the mysterious man happens to be battling the monster and he's displaying incredible abilities. How is this possible?!" She was perplexed. Not just her, but those viewing the news too were also shocked by this. Logan had already prepared the wood and all he needed to do was just to set it on fire. He checked the news and he saw Leo fighting the monster.

Seeing how strong he was, Logan couldn't help but be amazed. "No wonder he said holding back was difficult." He said to himself. The few people on the street were still shocked as to why he was making a bonfire on the road but he wouldn't say. All he said was, "The hero needs the flames." This made many people confused but they had a monster that was slowly coming their way so none of them could stay.

"That's it Leo, kick his ass." He whispered to himself as he watched the live broadcast on the restaurant television nearby. The people viewing this also seemed to be cheering in their hearts but they were still surprised as to why a man would be able to display unbelievable speed and strength.

In the fighting scene, the monster already had a deep wound on its back and its healing abilities were trying to keep up but it couldn't

CLICK! CLICK!

Leo tried to fire another shot but he was out of ammunition. This surprised him a bit and he was stunned for a split second. He got carried away when shooting the beast's back and wasn't counting the number of shots he had left. The monster made use of this split second's hesitation and flung its arm at Leo.

With eyes wide open, Leo blocked with his arms crossed again but he was blown back with a tremendous force that was greater than the first punch he was given initially. After tumbling a few times, he tried to stop and he dug his hands and feet into the ground, to slow himself down. His feet dug a pair of ten meters trench into the ground.

To his surprise though, his arms weren't broken and they seemed to be strengthened. He checked them and seeing that he wasn't damaged in any way, he came to a conclusion, 'the same level of damage dealt will no longer affect me when fully healed the first time.' He hypothesized in his mind.

ROOOAAAAAR!

Seeing that its enemy wasn't dead and was on par with it, the beast got angry and decided to rush toward Leo and finish him off. Its speed wasn't slow either and it was unbelievably fast for a body as big as that. However, Leo was still faster than it, giving him the advantage.

Leo smiled, "In that case…" he said and he lunged himself forward with a speed even faster than before, "Let's brawl!!" He yelled as he jumped and threw a punch at the monster's face. This punch carried tremendous force and the giant chimpanzee's face got distorted immediately. It landed on the ground with a loud bang and it groaned.

Everyone watching were all shocked. "Di–did—did he just punch that thing on the face and made it fall?! No human should be capable of doing that!" One of the viewers yelled. The expressions on other people's faces weren't good either. 'How's that possible?!' They all thought. Some kids were more enthusiastic.

"It's Superman mummy, he's alive." A young boy staring at the television in his house called out. The mother was too shocked to even bother about the boy and she was wondering who it could be that was fighting the beast and is almost on par with its strength.

GRRRRR!

The monster growled and glared at Leo with its bright red eyes. Leo's expression wasn't completely hidden by the nose mask he was wearing and the fierce glare he was giving the monster was obvious. The beast hit the ground and tried punching Leo but he dodged it and jumped again, wanting to give the monster another punch but the beast dodged it this time. This surprised Leo and still being in the air, he was off balance.

The monster then grabbed him by the legs and flung him to the ground repeatedly.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Leo was in agony as his bones and organs were being pummeled and repaired at the same time. After seven more smashes, the monster threw Leo away, causing him to collide with several vehicles before finally crashing through a building wall and causing some concrete to fall on him.

CRASH!

The whole place was filled with debris as a result of Leo's crash. After about ten seconds of waiting, the monster thought that it had finished with Leo and it was just about to leave.

BOOOM!

A loud explosion was suddenly heard from the building which Leo crashed into. The place was filled with dust and visibility was extremely low. Slowly, a silhouette was seen and two amber-like red eyes opened immediately.

Leo took his time to heal himself, afterwards, he punched his way out of the building. He was burning with anger and rage. His body was stained with blood and he still had a few wounds on his body, which were slowly healing. He gritted his teeth and got serious. 'Now you made me mad!' He thought in anger.

The giant monster was angered as if annoyed about Leo always coming back after every fight. It roared at Leo but the latter burst forward with speed and was already in front of the monster in an instant. He punched its belly and this sent it flying backward.

This just intensified the shock of the viewers. Leo had just displayed tremendous speed which was big enough of a shock for viewers, but strength beyond the human scope was something most of them couldn't comprehend and some people even passed out, due to shock.

"Oh my God! The man just punched that monster and sent it flying!" The reporter shouted from the helicopter as she ran a commentary on the fight. Many people began to talk about this man and monster appearing in one place and fighting. Some were cheering for Leo while others were still shocked.

"How can a man do that to a beast? We understand that the beast is strong, since we don't even know what it is, but the human?! And why are both their glowing?" A man said.

"Whatever the case, that monster has to die. It has killed so much of people and that mysterious man has to kill it."

"Go get him, Mysterio, beat that beast up." A young boy cheered. A lady by his side was surprised and confused by the name the boy referred Leo to.

"Mysterio? What are you saying?"

"Since he's mysterious, let's call him 'Mysterio'."

Lots of discussions were going on and the people began to blame the military for not being able to curb the monster on the loose.

***********

At the THRL building, Dr. Cartel was working on his computer when he suddenly received a call from an unknown caller.

"Who's calling my personal number now?" He was confused and he picked it up, "Cartel Johnson on the phone" He blurted.

"Turn on the news." The voice on the phone ordered. Dr. Cartel was surprised as to why an anonymous person would tell him to turn on the news but he felt that it wasn't without reason so he turned on the television in his office and what he saw, made him drop his phone.

"Holy sh*t! That monster is on the loose?! But how? And is that Leo?" He was shocked to the core and he began to shiver. When he saw the chaos being caused by the battle between the two, he couldn't help but feel fear and guilt. It was Leo he felt pity for the most. 'that kid has always had to clean up my mess.' He whispered to himself with gritted teeth. "I've got to do something about this." He quickly picked up his phone and wanted to call the anonymous person back but he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"Who's that person that called me now? Is it the General?" He wondered. He called the number and was about to probe the person but the person spoke first.

"If you wish to help him, meet me at the front of Higgins Café. Bring the things you believe can help Leo with his fight with you." The voice said before hanging up. Dr. Cartel was surprised and he knew that the person who called must be close to Leo in some way. He looked at Leo on the news and he felt guilty again for dragging him into his mess.

"I'm sorry kid." He apologized and he quickly gathered the files he had on the monster but it wasn't much, since they couldn't contain it properly. After making preparations, he grabbed his coat and told his secretary to clear his schedule for the day as he headed to the location given by the anonymous caller.

In front of a restaurant, Logan put his phone inside his pocket and stared hopefully at the television. "Don't worry Leo, help is on the way." He whispered to himself.

**********

BOOM! BOOBOOOM! BOOOOM!

A chaotic fight between man and beast was occurring and the terrain was being disfigured. Buildings were destroyed, vehicles smashed and thrown, and so were the public properties. The whole of Calvary Street was in a mess, as it was the battlefield of 'test subjects'.

Leo's eyes were burning with flames and his punches were carrying tremendous strength and he kept launching a barrage of punches at the monster while dodging the monster's punches. Leo kept running around the place and giving the beast strong punches from all areas. The monster got infuriated and it joined its arm together and smashed the ground with tremendous force.

BOOOM!

A large crater appeared on the ground and so were countless cracks. The shockwave sent Leo back a few meters but it was no longer effective against him anymore so he could still repel most of the force. The communication device in his ear began to ring. It was Logan who was calling, as he had already prepared the bonfires.

"How is it?" Leo asked with a bit of a hoarse voice. He was panting slightly as he was about to run out of stamina.

"It's ready Leo." Logan replied. Leo was a bit delighted and he nodded.

"Good, now get as far away from there as possible." He ordered and he hung up before Logan could reply to him.

Logan, whose sentence was cut short shook his head and tutted, "So cocky." He said as he lit the wood on the ground on fire.

It was then that Dr. cartel arrived in a taxi. He was about to call the anonymous number that called him but Logan suddenly dragged him into a building.

"I'm the one who called you. I'm Logan, and Leo's my best friend. Your secrets are safe with me but right now, he needs our help." Logan briefly introduced himself. Dr. Cartel was shocked and a bit angry. He specifically told Leo not to tell anyone about the GE-176 but he went ahead to tell his best friend… or so he thought.

Logan didn't waste any time and quickly cut to the chase.

"Leo has a plan already but he needs field advantage. He needs me to make bonfires but when they run out, he'll still need a good source of fire. You know more about him and how his powers work so only you can help him. All I can do is to provide assistance." Logan explained. Dr. Cartel was still annoyed with the fact of Leo exposing a top secret but he shelved all those thoughts for now.

"Alright then, let's get to work." Dr. Cartel said and suddenly paused. This confused Logan but Dr. Cartel suddenly took out his phone and made a call. A few minutes later, Military Vans and Jeeps came to the scene where Logan and Dr. Cartel were and they began to evacuate the civilians and set up traps in the buildings.