Phoenix in DC

It had been a month since that chaotic night when I stumbled upon the human traffickers.

The memory still lingered—those broken, terrified people looking at me like I was some kind of savior.

I didn't stick around for their gratitude. That's not my thing.

I led them out of the jungle, healed their wounds with my flames—something that shocked even me—and left before they could ask too many questions.

Now, life had settled again, back to the rhythm of training, surviving, and figuring out what the hell I'm even doing out here.

I stood there, fire flickering over my hands as I focused.

"Focus," I muttered to myself. "You've got this."

The air around me grew warm as the blue flames of my Phoenix transformation began to manifest. First, my wings extended fully, glowing with an intense light.

My claws replaced my hands, talons sharp enough to tear through stone.

The transformation continued, my body enveloped in the heat of rebirth, until I felt the change complete.

"Full transformation," I whispered, staring at my reflection in the still water near the tree. My form was majestic, massive, but it still didn't feel right.

It was as if I were wearing clothes too big for me, unable to move as fluidly as I wanted.

The flames receded, my wings folded back into my body, and I collapsed onto the ground, panting.

Over the next few days, I shifted my focus to partial transformations. If I couldn't master the full Phoenix form, I could at least learn to control parts of it. Bigger Wings for faster flight, Talons and Claws for combat.

"Alright, just one arm this time," I said to myself. My voice echoed faintly in the stillness of the jungle.

The flames spread easily over my body, engulfing me in my full phoenix form. That part was easy now, second nature even. But I wasn't after that. I wanted control. Precision.

I gritted my teeth, willing the fire to stay on my right arm only. For a moment, it listened—my arm burned bright with blue fire—but then the flames spread like they had a mind of their own.

"Seriously?!" I hissed, punching the ground.

For hours, it was the same. Full phoenix transformation? Sure. Partial control? A total disaster. My wings kept flaring up when I didn't want them to, and the flames refused to stay put.

"Focus, damn it!" I growled, crouching low. This time, I tried my legs. I jumped, forcing the flames to ignite just below my knees. It worked—for a second. My feet burned bright as I launched into the air, but before I even landed, the fire surged across my entire body.

When I hit the ground, I groaned and flopped onto my back. "This is so stupid."

The sky above me was turning darker, stars beginning to peek out. The night always came so fast out here.

Later that night, I was perched on a thick branch of the mango tree, my wings tucked close to my back. The jungle was alive with sounds—crickets chirping, leaves rustling, something howling in the distance. It was the kind of noise that could lull you to sleep if you weren't careful.

I leaned back, staring up at the sky, my mind wandering. That's when I noticed it—the moon.

It was full, bright, and beautiful. For a moment, I just stared at it, my thoughts drifting.

Then, out of nowhere, my chest tightened. My heart pounded, and this strange, electric energy shot through my body.

"What the—?" I barely had time to react before it hit me like a freight train.

The flames erupted around me, but this wasn't the usual controlled blaze. They were brighter, hotter, and completely out of control. My body jerked forward, my muscles locking up as if they had a mind of their own.

And then I realized what was happening.

"The full moon," I whispered, the words barely audible over the roar of the flames.

I forgot about this—about the Mink Tribe's Sulong form. The transformation triggered by the moonlight. I never thought it would happen to me.

I couldn't stop it. My body was changing, whether I wanted it to or not. My Feathery hair grew longer, wild and untamed, spilling down my back in a white mane. My claws extended, sharper and deadlier than before, and my wings flared out, massive and crackling with raw energy.

But the worst part was my mind. I could feel it slipping, overtaken by this primal, uncontrollable urge.

I roared—loud, guttural, and nothing like the sound of a human voice. The jungle fell silent, the animals scattering in terror.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I tried to fight it. "No... I can't lose control... I can't!"

But the Sulong form didn't care what I wanted. The flames around me shifted, mixing blue and white, and they started scorching the tree I called home.

But something was different this time. The flames crackled with an unfamiliar energy, bright white sparks dancing along their edges.

The Electro—a power innate to all Mink tribes—coursed through me, merging with my flames. The Phoenix flames surged, no longer their usual calm Yellow-Blue but tinged with crackling arcs of electricity. The energy was wild, untamed, and it overwhelmed me.

My wings lashed out, sending waves of destructive fire and lightning in all directions. The clearing lit up like a battlefield, trees splitting and collapsing under the force. My vegetable garden, painstakingly cultivated over months, was obliterated in an instant. The lower branches of the mango tree were scorched, their leaves curling into ash.

I couldn't stay there. If I did, I'd burn everything to the ground. So, I launched into the air, my wings flapping harder than ever before.

The moonlight followed me, its pull fueling the transformation even more. My body was a blur of Fire and Lightning, roaring through the night sky.

The jungle below blurred as I flew higher and higher, desperately trying to burn off the energy. My flames scorched the air around me, the heat so intense that I could see the glow reflected off the clouds.

"Focus!" I screamed, the rational part of me clawing for control.

But it wasn't working. My instincts were in charge now, driving me to move, to fight, to destroy.

It took what felt like hours of flying, roaring, and exhausting myself before I finally started to come down. The flames dimmed, the feral edge of the transformation fading. I hovered in the air, my breathing ragged, my body heavy with exhaustion.

When the first rays of sunlight broke over the horizon, I was sitting at the base of the mango tree, my head in my hands. My hair was back to normal, my wings folded neatly behind me, but I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.

"That was insane," I muttered, flexing my hands.

The power of the Sulong form was undeniable, but it scared the hell out of me. I couldn't let that happen again—not without control.

Looking up at the sky, I let out a long breath. "Guess I've got more work to do."

Training just got a whole lot harder.

The next morning, I woke to the aftermath. My base was a mess. The once-lush clearing was charred and barren, and the vegetable garden was nothing more than a patch of blackened soil. Even the mighty mango tree, the heart of my home, bore the scars of my outburst.

I sat in the middle of the destruction, staring at my hands. The memory of the Sulong form was hazy, but I could still feel the power—wild and unrelenting.

The system pinged softly, drawing my attention.

[System Notification: Ability Progression]

[Phoenix Flame of Regeneration – Level 7]

[Phoenix Flames of Destruction – Level 8]

[Blue Flame Control – Level 6]

[Electro – Level 1]

[Armament Haki – Level 4]

[Observation Haki – Level 5]

[Conqueror's Haki – Level 4]

[Rokushiki Techniques – Level 6]

[Voice of All Things – Level 5]

I had gained something new, something powerful. The Electro hadn't just infused my flames—now it had become a part of me.

The days that followed were spent cleaning up the mess and testing the limits of my new abilities. The Electro, I realized, wasn't just a random power surge. It was a part of my Mink heritage, something I had unknowingly unlocked through the Sulong transformation.

I started small, trying to generate sparks with my hands. It was harder than I expected, the energy unpredictable and slippery, but I kept at it. Over time, I learned to channel it through my flames, creating arcs of lightning that danced along the edges of the fire.

The Electro-enhanced flames were devastating, far more destructive than anything I had wielded before. But they were also harder to control. One wrong move, and I risked another rampage.

The training was grueling, but progress was steady. By the end of the week, I could channel the Electro without relying on the full Phoenix transformation. The sparks obeyed my commands, weaving through my flames like threads of light.

The system pinged again.

[Electro – Level 3]

[Blue Flame Control – Level 7]

A small smile tugged at my lips. I was getting stronger, but there was still more to learn.

After days of training, I turned my attention to the mango tree. Its lower branches were scorched and lifeless, the bark cracked and blackened. It hurt to see it like that, knowing I was the cause.

Placing my hands against the trunk, I summoned the Phoenix Flames of Regeneration. The blue fire flickered weakly at first, then grew stronger, spreading across the tree's surface. I focused on the Electro as well, letting it infuse the flames with an added spark of energy.

To my amazement, the tree began to heal. The charred bark smoothed out, the branches regrew their leaves, and the once-barren sections of the tree came back to life. The system pinged softly in the background, but I barely noticed.

It wasn't until the flames faded that I realized something strange was happening. A ripple of energy washed over me, and the Voice of All Things activated without warning.

"What are you?"

The question echoed in my mind, clear and deliberate. I stumbled back, staring up at the tree. The Voice of All Things had allowed me to understand animals before, but this was different. This was a tree.

Before I could process what had just happened, the sensation faded, leaving me alone under the moonlight.

The system pinged one last time.

[Voice of All Things – Experience Gained: 10%]