​Chapter 13: Unmeasurable Power

By the time Phoenix and Toby made it back to their dilapidated outer-sector shithole, the sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky in violent shades of crimson and violet.

Phoenix slammed the heavy oak door shut, locked the deadbolt, and immediately ripped off her scorched academy blazer, tossing it onto the floor. "Fuck's sake," she spat, fanning her collar. "I am fucking boiling alive. Toby, tell me the water heater didn't die again, or I'm going to take a damn bath in the headmaster's koi pond."

Toby, who was busy unstrapping his massive backpack of stolen vault gear, looked up, caught one glance of Phoenix standing in her thin, sweat-drenched tank top, and instantly turned bright red. He scrambled to adjust his glasses, his eyes darting frantically toward the peeling wallpaper.

"N-no! Water's fine! Plumbed and pressurized!" Toby squeaked, his voice cracking violently. "I—uh—I'll just stay out here and sort the star-iron daggers! Take all the time you need!"

"Good boy," Phoenix chuckled, kicking off her boots. "Don't touch the void ring unless you want your fucking fingers vaporized."

She sauntered into the makeshift bathroom, turned the shower handle all the way to cold, and stepped directly under the spray.

PSSSSSSHHH.

The second the ice-cold water hit her skin, it didn't just drip—it instantly evaporated into a thick, billowing cloud of steam, filling the bathroom like a sauna. Phoenix closed her eyes, letting out a long, shuddering sigh of pure relief as the serum settled deep into her bone marrow. Her muscles compacted, her skin took on a faint, iridescent sheen, and her physical strength locked into a tier that would make a veteran S-rank Sentinel sweat blood.

F-rank Guide my ass, she thought, flexing her fingers through the mist. I’m a walking bio-weapon.

Suddenly, three heavy, frantic knocks rattled the front door down the hall.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

"Phoenix Wraith!" a booming voice bellowed from the porch. "By order of the Disciplinary Board and the Sentinel Council, open this fucking door immediately!"

Phoenix turned off the shower, wiped the steam off the cracked mirror, and threw on an oversized, faded black t-shirt that hung loosely off one shoulder, pairing it with short athletic shorts. She pulled her wet black hair back into a messy knot and stepped back into the living room.

Toby was frozen in place near the front door, holding a stolen star-iron dagger like a stick, trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.

"Boss," Toby whispered in horror. "That's Vice-Headmaster Sterling and the Elite Enforcers! They brought heavy mana-suppression cuffs!"

"Oh, fucking fantastic," Phoenix drawled, stepping past him and casually unlocking the door. "I love uninvited assholes. They always bring the best entertainment."

She yanked the door open.

Standing on the rotting porch was Vice-Headmaster Sterling—a tall, pompous bastard with a slicked-back ponytail—flanked by four heavily armored, S-class Enforcers holding glowing blue energy batons. Behind them stood Travis, looking smugger than a cat that had just swallowed three canaries.

"Phoenix Wraith," Sterling sneered, looking down his long nose at her messy shirt and bare legs. "You are under arrest for unauthorized vault sabotage, theft of classified S-rank serums, and the reckless endangerment of academy property."

"Sabotage?" Phoenix laughed, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe and crossing her arms. "Sterling, sweetie, I used a valid keycard awarded to me by Headmaster Paul himself. If your security system is so fucking flimsy that a 'defective Guide' can clear out the top shelf in under two minutes, that sounds like an administrative failure, not a crime."

Travis stepped forward, pointing a gloved finger at her face. "You drank an S-rank serum meant for high-tier Sentinels! Your body can't handle that kind of mana density! You're a biological hazard, you crazy bitch!"

Phoenix looked Travis up and down, her dark brown eyes gleaming with pure, unadulterated contempt.

"Travis, darling," Phoenix purred, her voice dropping into a low, husky register that made the four Enforcers involuntarily stiffen. "The only hazard here is your fragile fucking ego. I drank the serum ten minutes ago, my core assimilated it without a single hiccup, and right now, I have enough raw power surging through me to snap your neck like a dry twig."

She took a slow step onto the porch, her bare feet making no sound against the wood. The raw thermal energy radiating off her body was so intense that the Enforcers' mana-scanners began wildly chiming in warning.

[WARNING: HIGH-DENSITY THERMAL ENERGY DETECTED.] [TARGET RANK: UNMEASURABLE.]

Sterling backed up a step, his smug expression wavering. "Cuff her! Use the Level 5 suppression locks!"

Two Enforcers lunged forward, snapping heavy titanium cuffs toward her wrists.

Phoenix didn't even bother dodging. She grabbed the first Enforcer's wrist, twisted his arm until his armor joints popped with a sickening CRACK, and slammed him face-first into the porch railing. "Get the fuck off me," she growled. Before the second Enforcer could swing his baton, she drove a lightning-fast palm strike straight into his chest plate.

BOOM!

The kinetic shockwave exploded through his armor, blasting the two-hundred-pound guard off the porch and sending him flying twenty feet into the overgrown weeds.

Silence fell over the yard, broken only by the groans of the two broken guards.

Phoenix stood on the edge of the porch, looking down at Sterling and Travis. She slowly raised her right hand, her skin glowing with a faint, terrifying crimson aura, and held up her thumb and forefinger, leaving a tiny half-inch gap.

"Sterling," Phoenix said, her eyes burning with lethal promise. "You have three fucking seconds to take your little fan club and get the hell off my lawn. If you’re still here on four, I’m going to take those shiny suppression cuffs, bend them into a pretzel, and shove them so far up your ex-fiancé's ass he'll be coughing up titanium for a week."

Travis gasped, instinctively clutching his back end and dropping two steps down the porch stairs. "You're fucking insane!"

Vice-Headmaster Sterling’s face turned an unsightly shade of grey. He looked at his two remaining Enforcers, who were currently staring at the ground, actively pretending they hadn't heard a damn word.

"This isn't over, Wraith!" Sterling barked, trying desperately to save face as he backed away toward his hover-car. "The board will hear about this bullshit!"

"Tell them to send better fucking guards next time!" Phoenix yelled after them, giving a cheerful wave as the hover-car sped off into the night. "These ones were defective!"

She turned back into the house, slamming the door shut and locking it once more.

Toby was staring at her with wide, reverent eyes, his jaw practically glued to the floorboards. "Boss... you just threatened to pretzel-cuff a Vice-Headmaster's golden boy."

"And the little bastard believed me," Phoenix grinned, tossing her hair over her shoulder and walking back toward the kitchen. "Now, where's that star-iron? We've got weapons to upgrade before tomorrow's class."