Max and his mother slowly helped Phoenix to their couch. Max laid him down while his mother prepared cold water and a towel for his high temperature. Phoenix couldn't stop coughing and shaking slightly. His temperature was also another issue that worried Max but luckily,his mother placed the cold, wet towel on Phoenix's forehead. The second the towel made contact with Phoenix's skin, steam started to rise up and Phoenix's eyes begun to glow.
" Max, how exactly did you meet this man?" Miss Lin asked.
"It's a long story mom. Can you please give us a moment. Please, maybe I can help him." Miss Lin stared at Max then at Phoenix then at Max again. She nodded to Max and returned to her room, leaving the two males alone.
" Wow...your mom is, stunning." Phoenix weakly said.
" Now's not the time for your jokes man. You need to rest."
" No Max." Phoenix interrupted. " I told you, my body can't handle this power. I...was wondering if you could help m...me."
" Let me check." Max opened his system and looked for anything that could help his friend. He watched the videos, re-read every message and notification but alas, he didn't find anything. " Phoenix, there is one thing I can try but, I don't know if it'll work."
" I trust you...fireman. Do your thing." With that said, Max proceeded with his plan. *Ding.*
[ Process started. Transformation has begun.]
Just like CJ and Rin, a small yellow glowing ball left Max's chest and slowly floated to Phoenix. However, Phoenix's body didn't absorb the yellow ball. Instead, it slowly spread over his chest and slowly sunk into it.
[Wounded fire mutant detected. Healing process begun. Progress 1%]
Phoenix started feeling better and his body temperature was cooling. He gathered enough energy and sat upright on the chair, looking at Max with his red eyes. " What's with you dude?"
" Thank you Max. I'm in your debt...until I save your life in return."
" Can I ask. When did this start?"
" After some howl, I heard earlier. The second I heard it ,my body acted out on its own. It felt like something was..."
" Trying to come out to defend itself." Max said. " That's the same thing that happened to me but, I was in my FRS form. Something's not right about that howl. It sounded like....a warning."
[ Progress 5%]
" Well, this healing process is gonna take a while. Get some sleep Phoenix. We'll figure that out in the morning."
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[Progress 35%]
Early in the morning, Miss Lin left to start her morning shifts. Phoenix and Max woke up an our later and Max got ready for school. Phoenix removed two huge stacks of cash with a thank you note and left it under Miss Lin's pillow. After that, he drove Max to his school and then proceeded to his mansion. When he got there, he found the teens cleaning up the mess that was made during the tryouts. One mutant with a handy ability was a young boy named Chad. His mutant skill was telekinesis which allowed him to lift up all the recyclable materials at one go.
Phoenix's car pulled up in the yard and all the teenage mutants lined up like army combatants. They all saluted at him while Chad opened his car door.
"Welcome back, SIR." All the teens shouted. Phoenix stood their puzzled, feeling mad awkward. All of a sudden, the teens burst out in laughter as they pointed at him. Rin stood at the balcony and Phoenix frowned, knowing that she was the one who masterminded the whole thing.
" Finally decided to stay here huh!"
" I moved in a long time ago. C'mon, I need a ride to school."
" What about us, Mr. Phoenix. Aren't you and the fireman going to provide us with education?" A young girl asked.
" Don't worry, I've already got that sorted out. ALL OF YOU, TAKE THE WEEK OFF TO RELAX AND GET STRONGER. NEXT WEEK, YOU'LL HAVE SCHOOL AND OTHER DUTIES TO FULFILL, I PROMISE THAT."
Phoenix quickly dropped of Rin and rushed back to the mansion. One would think that he'd go to his room and freshen up because he was in his pajamas but he instead rushed to a particular room with a certain mutant. Phoenix barged into the room that housed the advanced fire mutant girl. The poor girl was busy getting herself set with her room when Phoenix came.
" Mr. Phoenix! Wha...what a surprise. H-how can I help you?" She asked.
" Cut me some slack little girl. I'm here on important business and I'm only gonna ask one question. How many of you are there?"
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Back at Raid High, Max and his friends were at their favorite spot talking about the mysterious howl they heard last night. Sue and Rin, who were the only ones with phones, were reading some alarming comments online.
" Check this out," Rin began to read. " Some guy posted: I was out at a mutant fight club when this howl happened. Now as I and many other spectators were enjoying the match, a howl passed by our ears. The effects afterward were quite disturbing. It felt like something in each one of us wanted to come out for a quick second. When I got back to my senses, I realized the same thing happened to the other mutants in the room. Something about that howl felt like it came out from a horror movie."
" Guys, do you believe this. That's the exact freaking same thing that happened to me." Rin said.
" Same here." CJ responded. The two mutants then turned their attention to Max, who kept silent during the whole conversation. " How 'bout you Max?"
" When I hear it, my body acted out on its own. I instantly went into my fire rage state but it happened really fast. My system said it was a warning from the...ancients." There was a long silence after Max spoke. Each one of them wondered what the system's notification meant by "ancients" and "warning." Unfortunately, the school bell rung, so Max and his friends headed to their classroom and begun their school day.