"I come to you tonight not as a leader, but as a neighbor. As a mother. As someone who understands fear."
The mayor of Amita, Sophia Johnson, stood at a podium, her voice quivering beneath the weight of the silence pressing in from the city.
"Felgardis is gone. But I promise you, Amita is safe. The Chaos Agency is already—"
CRACK.
The TV died mid-sentence.
A beer bottle shattered against a wooden table stained with old grease and cigarette burns. A mound of trash bags rustled behind the couch where a fat, shirtless man sat half-submerged in filth, his stomach heaving with every breath.
"Damn news covering irrelevant information. CONNER, come bring me more beer." The man yelled out as a young boy that looked barely 14 came out of a room to the side.
He had cuts and burns all over his body. His scruffy brown hair was matted and hung past his shoulders. He wore a dirty brown jacket paired with baggy pants. "Y-yes, dad" he responded with fear in his voice.
'Useless bastard if I could kill you I would.'
He turned a corner and pulled opened the fridge, reaching for a beer bottle.
Then the world tilted.
A voice whispered behind him, and when he turned, the kitchen was gone. No trash. No roaches. No dad. Just… silence. And sand. He looked down—his bare feet sank into the untouched beach.
"Where am I…? Why is it so… "
"Beautiful, right?" a voice from above echoed, smooth and commanding.
"I made it for you."
Hovering high above was a griffin—two golden wings spread wide, its eagle head watching him with regal disdain.
"You want this paradise? A world with no sorrow… a world without your father."
Conner would nod, his eyes turning red as if he was in a trance. "Well then I need you to let go, and accept your pride. Accept yourself in your truest form, and feel disgusted by anything else."
"Accept your supreme ruler and let your wings break free," A searing agony exploded from his back. Bone cracked. Skin tore. Flesh twisted.
With a sickening squelch, two massive brown wings erupted from him.
His ears elongated, his nails blackened into claws.
The Griffin's voice came again but this time it sounded arrogant, almost mocking. It's eyes looked down at him and it began to speak. "Now that you are complete, bring the child of gluttony to his knees. For you are a Aurelius, the most prideful of all!"
Conner couldn't help but fall to his knees and grab his head, banging it against the ground with a grin on his face. "I am complete! I am perfect! All because of The Golden Sovereign!"
AN HOUR LATER
"So what happened?" A middle aged man wearing a standard blue police uniform with green spiked up hair stood in front of a teenager that had bulging eyes.
"There was a huge fucking bird thing that flew through that window carrying a man's head!" He yelled out immediately after. The cop simply nodded and escorted the teen back to his parents who stood a few feet away with concerned eyes.
After doing that the cop would sigh heavily as he leaned against a hovering car. "Hey Mike, what did the witness say." A much younger woman wearing a trench coat came out of nowhere, startling the Mike.
"You know Stacy, with all that blond hair I thought you wouldn't be able to sneak up on me." Mike said, as Stacy chuckled in response.
With a sigh Mike would speak up. "Anyways, it could just be another case of teens lying about monster sightings especially after what happened to Felgardis but something about this feels real."
"How so?" Stacy replies, Mike beckons her to get closer. "I have a couple of friends that are in the higher sections of the Chaos agency, and they told me about a newly sighted monster that matches the kids exact description."
Stacy simply nodded in response as she placed a hand on her chin. "So this means that we got a potential code yellow on our hands...you know what that means." A devilish grin spread across her face.
"We can get that promotion we've been waiting years for!" Mike just shook his head in response, an annoyed expression on his face. "You just keep dreaming about that, I'm gonna make some calls.
Meanwhile, in the outskirts of Amita...
Fire sliced through thick black smoke, forcing Kian to duck and roll as the heat singed his shirt. 'I'll need to get rid of this smoke if I don't want to get blown up sky high.'
As of right now the Phoenix was playing with him. Not detonating the smoke to increase tension. 'Maybe I should have asked the captain to give me enough time to figure out my abilities.'
Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts of doubt , Kian would grin defiantly. "Hey listen up you damn bird, I learned enough from my old job to know that beings as strong as you have some kind of sentience!"
"So I know that you're just as bored as I am with the way this fight is going. So I say why not kick it up a notch!"
At first there was no response but as if in response, the black smoke detonated with the Phoenix watching from the sky expectantly.
From the smoke, a cracked dome of stone remained. It shuddered, groaned—and then shattered, crumbling away to reveal Kian standing tall inside, burns marring his skin.
The wounds sizzled and stitched themselves closed in seconds.
Above him, the Phoenix hovered, its molten wings outstretched, embers raining from its feathers like falling stars.
Kian flexed his fingers, feeling raw power surge through him. He spotted the Phoenix and smirked, reckless and defiant.
"I might not know much about magic yet," Kian said, his voice steady, "but I've watched enough monsters fall because they let pride blind them."
Scarlet energy erupted from his hands, crackling and twisting around his arms like it was alive as he pointed at the phoenix. "I won't go easy on you!"
'Gotta end this fast', Kian thought, eyes darting across the battlefield. The battlefield was bare, no grass, just scorched, flat earth. Perfect.
He placed his hand on the ground and grinned, "This'll do". Dirt fell through small cracks that formed in the stone underneath.
The dark Phoenix simply screeched in return, as flaming feathers erupted from it's wings, descending upon the ground. Kian bobbed and weaved through the feathers. But the feathers came too fast, he took several hits, each one scorching through him.
He skidded to a halt, staggering dramatically, clutching his side. Blood dripped from his burned arm.
He let the Phoenix see it.
"That all you got?" he rasped, voice loud and mocking. "No wonder you're stuck babysitting smoke shows instead of ruling the sky."
The Phoenix shrieked, a sound filled with pure, seething outrage.
It folded its molten wings close and dived. A living meteor.
Kian grinned through the pain. "Hook, line, and sinker."
At the last second, he dove to the side, rolling over burning grass, and slammed his palm into the ground.
The ground buckled. Hidden cracks he'd secretly weakened earlier shattered wide open.
The Phoenix, too committed to pull up, plowed straight into the ground. Right into a nest of jagged spikes Kian had buried under the dirt.
A boom shook the air. Dust and shards flew like shrapnel.
When the smoke cleared, the Phoenix lay crumpled, pinned through one wing and chest, golden blood sizzling against the stone. It screeched, trying to rise, its pride refusing to accept defeat.
Kian staggered to his feet, battered but grinning wide.
"You lost the second you thought you were better than me," he said, his voice low and burning.
"And that's a mistake you'll only make once."
His injuries began to heal as he buckled to his knees. "Guh, I n-need food." A shadow appeared over him and picked him up from his knees.
Julius stood before Kian, before simply giving him a small nod. Kian nodded back with a smirk on his face, "Heh, I told you that I'd win...but uhh aren't Phoenix's supposed to be immortal?"
Julius shook his head as he handed Kian a pre written white board. "How'd you know I'd ask tha- you know what nevermind."
The white board just read, "There are many differences between a Dark Phoenix and a regular Phoenix. One of them being that a Dark Phoenix doesn't have immortality."
Kian just nodded in response as he dusted off his clothes. "I'm gonna need new clothes...wait I forgot all of my money and belongings in Felgardis!" Kian grabbed his head as he started panicking.
Julius would quickly write on his white board, "Don't worry, once you join the Hellcell division, the agency will provide for all of your needs. At least until you graduate in 4 years then you'll make money by working in the agency itself."
Kian would wipe sweat from his eyebrow, "Thanks for that Jules... Anyways now about this thing." Kian would walk past Julius, who if you could see his expression would look absolutely appalled by his nickname.
Approaching the dead Phoenix, Kian would hover his hand above it's flaming feathers. But as he tried to absorb it... Kian almost threw up. He'd stagger back and hunch over himself, his right hand covering his mouth.
Julius would rush over to him and support him up, with Kian smiling at him. "Its almost embarrassing how many times you've had to hold me up... Thanks."
Kian would limp over to the body again as he hovered his hand over it. "I just have to power through it." Kian said as his body twitches rapidly, Julius standing on guard just in case.
After a few seconds the Phoenix's flames would die out as it's body crumpled in on itself and flesh and bone warping into a thick, golden liquid. The swirling mass coiled like a vortex, dragging itself into his hand.
"Guh, I'll never get used to that." Kian said as he held his head. "Not only was it golden this time but it's making me feel sick." he muttered, not meaning to speak aloud, before gulping and turning towards Julius.
"Hey Jules, can you carry me back to the car? I feel... sick." Kian muttered as he fell flat on his face. Julius just shook his head at the nickname and would carry Kian over his shoulder.
AT THE CHAOS AGENCY TOWER
"Fuuuuucccckkk, how many drinks did I have." Kian woke up groggily, his head was pounding with a horrible headache.
"Hey, hey calm down, you're still recovering from the absorbtion." A familiar voice rang out from over him. Opening his eyes slowly, Kian would sigh, "Oh, it's you, Joseph."
Joseph would raise an eyebrow in response, as an annoyed expression spread across his face. "What do you mean by 'Oh, it's you' you idiot. Don't you know how to treat people with respect?"
"Well I'm sorry that I don't really respect people who spy on me."Kian responded, a deadpan look on his face. Joseph scratched the back of his head nervously as sweat ran down his face, "Oh you know about that."
"Well uhh.... How about I congratulate you for passing the test." Joseph simply shrugged with a nervous smile on his face. Instantly Kian's demeanor changed as a smirk grew on his face. "I had absolutely zero doubts that I wouldn't pass it so I don't need your compliment."
It was Josephs turn to have a blank expression as he sighed, "I think I gave you too much credit...but actually though. Good job."
Kian simply nodded as Josephs phone rang from the desk nearby. Going over to it, his face would become serious for a split second before reverting back, "Mhmm, I see." Joseph would hang up after speaking for a few seconds.
"The captain wants to speak to you." He'd simply state as Kian tried to stand up before tripping over his own feet. "You stay and rest for now at least. Captain has given you one day to rest before you come speak to him."
"A lot has happened after all." He added as he walked out of the room.
Kian just sat there as a he was currently in deep thought. "I guess hes right, a lot of things have happened in such a short amount of time."
"I guess that doesn't matter right now though... Man, i'm really tired.