The Crimson Phoenix

Monster Breakout.

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 suddenly smiled. He had always felt that he was good at basketball since he had always won most of his competitions. Now seeing someone who was better than him and could beat him at his own game, he couldn’t help but feel happiness and joy in his heart. His blood was boiling and he wished to go for another round but his body told him otherwise.

He was already exhausted and all the running and bouncing had taken a toll on him. He wasn’t like Leo who could play almost endlessly.

“I’ll play another game with you next time,” Quincy said while panting, “But right now, I need to rest.” Leo nodded and went straight for the coach, Mrs. Hale.

“Are you convinced now?” He asked her. Mrs. Hale was surprised and also satisfied with the way he played… even though it was beyond human imagination. But, she still shook her head.

“You still can’t be allowed to play.” She refused. Leo grunted and facepalmed.

“Why not?” Leo asked. He was annoyed at the fact that he could play well but he was still refused.

“You can’t go into the field with your body all banged up like that. It won’t be allowed.” She explained. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Leo to play. Because Leo just beat the best player in Elian Comprehensive high, that was more than enough evidence to show that he was ready for a real game. But he wouldn’t be allowed to play on the field looking like an Egyptian mummy.

Leo smiled when he heard this. “I already have a plan. I just want to sign up that’s all.” He demanded. Mrs. Hale raised her brows and shot Leo a glance.

“You have a plan?” She probed. Leo just nodded and he took one of the papers on her table and filled in the forms.

“Just call me up for practice when the time comes.” He said and he turned to leave. Mrs. Hale kept staring at his back and lots of thoughts flashed through her mind. She smiled after a few seconds.

“You really are ballsy.” She said to herself. Leo went towards the bench, took his clothes, and went to the school’s bathroom to have a shower. When he was done, he wore his clothes and walked outside, where Logan was waiting for him.

“So what’s your plan?” Logan asked.

“Well, I’ll get my Plastic surgery today,” Leo answered. Logan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hold on, if your aunt takes you to the doctor for plastic surgery, you’ll risk exposing yourself.” He implied. He knew that if his aunt knew, that was one thing. A third-party doctor being aware of what’s going on with Leo will not be good and will hold a lot of consequences.

“Don’t worry, Dr. Cartel will handle that part.” Leo calmed him down. It was at this moment that Logan remembered something.

“Speaking of which, I called him here to check your performance,” Logan uttered reluctantly. Leo had his eyes wide open and so was his mouth.

“Wait you what?!” He yelled. Of all people, he knew Dr. Cartel wouldn’t be ok with him showing off his powers and he would convince him to stay away from things that would risk his exposure. Not only that, Leo wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about his powers but he had already informed his friends at Sunshine city and also Logan so Dr. Cartel would definitely be mad at him. “Dude, why the hell would you do that?! He wasn’t meant to know. Did you meet him? When did he arrive? Who saw him?” Leo kept asking questions as he grabbed Logan by the collar.

“Woah relax dude. He thinks you’re the one who called him and nobody knew when he came in to watch your game except me.” Logan explained himself. Leo was slightly relieved but he was still a little bit infuriated. He growled slightly after letting Logan go and he walked to class.

At the same time, a man dressed black jacket and black jeans walked out of the basketball court. He walked outside the school towards a Range Rover SUV and got in. He sighed and took off his sunglasses.

“Where to Dr. Cartel?” The driver asked. The man dressed in black was Dr. Cartel, whom Logan called. After seeing Leo’s performance, he made a few speculations and had a few more ideas.

“To the office.” He ordered and the vehicle zoomed off.

************

Later that day, Leo had already bid Logan goodbye and he quickly went straight for THRL. He went to Dr. Cartel’s office. The man was sitting on his chair, cross-legged and enjoying a drink filled with three ice cubes.

“You know, you should try calling me to inform me of your arrival next time.” He complained. Leo shook his head.

“I’m sorry sir, but I didn’t have enough time. My aunt is taking me to a doctor to have my plastic surgery.” Leo explained. Dr. Cartel frowned. When he was in court back when Leo was still in a coma, he was sentenced by the judge to take care of Leo’s hospital bills, should he live. This was already expected sooner or later but he hadn’t actually thought of a way to deal with it. Leo already had an idea and that was what he came to Dr. Cartel for.

“I already have a plan,” as if reading Dr. Cartel’s mind, Leo said. The doctor leaned forward and listened to Leo, “I need you to do the plastic surgery for me. That way, she wouldn’t suspect a thing and a third-party doctor wouldn’t be involved.” Leo suggested. Dr. Cartel pondered for a while.

“That does make a lot of sense.” He commented as he rose from his seat, “Does your aunt know you’re here?” He asked Leo.

“No. I told her that I’ll be getting the plastic surgery myself and that I’ll be at the hospital.” Leo replied. Dr. Cartel frowned slightly.

“Hold on, what if she comes looking for you at the hospital and doesn’t find you?” He inquired. Leo inhaled deeply and took his time to explain. Leo planned that since his aunt expects him to be at the hospital undergoing the surgery, Dr. Cartel and his team will be the ones to conduct the surgery at the hospital that Leo is expected to be at. That way, Leo’s aunt wouldn’t suspect a thing and Leo would then get to play basketball.

“Wow, you are a master planner.” Dr. Cartel commended Leo for his foresight. Leo smiled as he felt very flattered.

“But we currently have one situation,” Leo added.

“Which is…” Dr. Cartel asked curiously.

“We have no time to waste. We need to get going.” Leo implied. Dr. Cartel nodded and he quickly took Leo to the underground Lab.

“Anyways, nice basketball skills.” Dr. Cartel commented. Leo froze for a second before giving a grin. ‘Close call’ he thought to himself. Leo was surprised as to why he would undergo the ‘fake’ plastic surgery there.

“We can’t just go to a hospital and say we wish to conduct plastic surgery for you. Your skin is already perfect and what we need is something to make it look like you really went through the surgery whereas you didn’t. So what we need to do, is just plaster a few things to your body and make it look like you went through the surgery. It’ll look like what they do in the movies for casts. What’s it called again? Huh…” Dr. Cartel tried to remember the word while Leo just raised his brows.

“You mean like the costume making which makeup artists do for special casts?” Leo reminded him.

“Exactly. That’s the one.” Dr. exclaimed upon sudden realization. The plan was that when that was done, Leo would be ‘snuck’ into the hospital and they’ll put on a show to make it look like he had the surgery in the hospital.

Five twenty-five in the afternoon, Leo’s aunt went to the county hospital where Leo was ‘supposedly’ undergoing his skin grafting. She sat on a bench in the hallway, waiting for Leo. Leo came out of the operating theatre room. A lady dressed in operating attire came out with Leo. This Lady was planned by Dr. Cartel and Leo to act as the doctor who gave Leo the surgery. She was actually a biologist that worked in the underground laboratory at the THRL building, Dr. Renee Bronte.

Molly stood up, walked towards Leo, and held his hand. “How was it?” She asked anxiously. Dr. Renee smiled warmly.

“He’ll be alright. He doesn’t need the bandages anymore.” She assured.

“I think I’ll keep my mask on.” Leo snorted. Molly felt gratified and she thanked the doctor.

“Thank you so much, ma’am.” Leo thanked the doctor before giving her a wink. Dr. Renee smiled and she turned away but she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, the bill for the surgery has been taken care of.” She reminded. Leo’s aunt was confused and she wondered which ‘Good Samaritan’ had decided to pay the surgery bill for her nephew.

“Really? Please who is this person? I’d like to thank him.” Molly inquired but Dr. Renee waved her hand.

“The person wishes not to say. He just wants to do it out of goodwill.” She replied. The truth was that no money was actually paid since Leo never actually had any skin grafting. Even if Leo was really going to have surgery, assuming he didn’t have any superpowers, it’ll have been Dr. Cartel who would’ve paid for it. Molly felt gratified in her heart and the image of the anonymous man in her heart had a halo on his head and looked like an angel.

Leo was still putting on his hoodie and mask but all the bandages had been removed. The truth was that no surgery was performed. All the bandages were just removed and his skin was painted to make it look a little bit distorted. Leo basically looked the same but his skin was a bit disfigured. The problem was that Leo would have to be very careful when washing his body or else, he would wash all the ‘makeup’ away.

Molly and Leo went back home and Leo took off his mask to greet both his uncle and his little cousin. Molly and Williams also examined the skin and tried touching it but Leo didn’t allow that, lest he gets exposed.

************

Ten minutes past one o’clock in the morning, Twenty-six miles away from Sky city, a long convoy consisting of three military trucks leading the way, one long trailer, and four more military trucks following the large trailer truck. Inside the trailer, was the giant, muscular chimpanzee who was fast asleep and snoring badly. The soldiers were given an order to transport the monster from a temporary containment center to a highly secured facility that was recently constructed for the monster somewhere far from Sky City.

Inside the truck following the trailer, two soldiers were chatting idly and listening to music on the vehicle stereo.

“Hmmm, I remember this song used to be the one my mama used to play for me when I was young. Helps to calm my nerves.” The driver said to his partner beside him. He was in his late thirties and had been in the military for five years. He was re-assigned to work for the BSO as a field operative. He swayed with the rhythm of the song and enjoyed the vibe.

His partner rolled his eyes and laughed, “You old school men, ugh. I prefer the recent songs.” He argued. He and the first soldier have been friends since when they were in the US army and they were both re-assigned to the BSO. This agency was also under the jurisdiction of the president but they specialized in special field operations. They were trying to cover up the accident of THRL and not make the public aware of their operations. Not even their existence was known to the public. Guys like these two were more or less like the small fries of the organization and the special operatives were those who receive special training and are only assigned on special assassination missions or annihilation missions.

“Come on man, these songs are the best.” The man driving increased the volume of the song. The other guy couldn’t help but also shake his head and move his body with the vibe.

Meanwhile, inside the trailer, the sleeping chimpanzee suddenly opened its bright red eyes. It tried to get up but realized that it was chained down. Anger filled its mind again and it tried to break the chains binding its legs and hands. There were huge cuffs that were attached to thick chains, binding them with the hooks of the trailer’s interior.

It growled and kept trying to break free. Its muscles gradually bulged and it kept using force to move the trailer. This huge movement alarmed the trailer truck driver and he called the other soldiers' attention to it through his walkie-talkie.

“Um… guys, the package is awake and angry. I repeat, the package is awake and angry…” He yelled. At the same time, the chimpanzee suddenly pulled its right arm with a force which caused the trailer and truck to be taken off balance.

Boom!

The moving trailer truck was shaken off balance and fell to the ground, creating sparks as its side was dragged on the road as a result of its initial momentum. The two men who were gracefully enjoying their music, were unaware of this until the guy in the passenger seat called his driving friend’s attention.

“Woah watch out man!” He shouted. Seeing the trailer truck fall to the ground, the driver quickly pressed on the brakes and tried to steer away from it.

SCREECH!

The truck drifted ninety degrees to the left before finally hitting the trailer. The giant Chimpanzee which had just broken the chains felt something hit the trailer it was in, making it lose balance. It roared with anger and punched the wall of the trailer, causing the one-inch thick metallic wall to have a dent, forming its fist.

The truck driver and his friend felt a bit of a headache from hitting their head while the soldiers behind the trucks came out with all their firearms. All the trucks both at the front and at the back stopped on them and all the soldiers got down from them with their firearms and pointed them at the trailer. The driver of the trailer truck was already dead and the trailer truck was already in flames.

Master sergeant Reyes got down from his truck and walked toward the truck. “What the hell is going on here?” He inquired.

“The package is awake sir.” One of the soldiers answered him. The sergeant was shocked.

“Awake!? How the hell can it be awake godammit?!” He inquired. The moss tee was already sedated with a dose that was enough to put three elephants to sleep for a whole day. This explained his shock. ‘Godamn scientists.’ He cursed under his breath. He knew what the beast was capable of and he had lost more than eight of his men to the monster.

ROOAAAAAAAAR!

A deafening roar was heard from inside the trailer. Every soldier on sight had their guns pointed at the trailer’s door and their hands were on the trigger, ready to pull the trigger at any time. Even sergeant Reyes had his Colt. 45 9mm pistol gun pointed at the truck.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The chimpanzee kept punching the trailer door and large fist-sized dents kept appearing and enlarging. All the soldiers present had their hearts in their throats. They all had their guard up and were scared.

BANG!

The containment door was punched open and blasted away. A giant chimpanzee walked out on all fours and seeing everyone present pointing guns at it, it felt enraged. The giant chimpanzee was bigger than last time when it was in the lab and it was two feet taller and more muscular.

GRRRR! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! ROAAAAAAAAAR!

The chimpanzee stood on two legs and ponded its chest and roared at all the soldiers present.

“Fire at will!” Sergeant Reyes ordered and a huge gunfight broke out.

Dudududududududududu!

Bullets were flying around, hitting the body of the chimpanzee but bouncing off. The Chimpanzee roared and it jumped around, slaughtering the men on sight. It was a horrible scene and everywhere was filled with blood.