Project Renegade: Tournament of Champions (Book 3)

Snow Embers

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Phoenix High...6:00 p.m.

" WAIT. WAIT. WAIT!" Alex smacked himself in the face, " YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS?!?! "

" Yes. " Rachel watched orange embers float past her eyes.  

" WHAT?! HOW?! WHEN?! WHERE!? " Alex pulled the hairs on his head.  

" I don't remember...I was sleeping, and I woke up from a prick in my neck. The next thing I know, I'm puking, twitching, and having an intense burning sensation in my throat. Now I'm super strong, I wake up FLOATING, and I feel like I'm going insane!! " Rachel stomped on the floor, making all the desks fly into the walls and break! 

" Rachel, calm down. We're going to figure this out together. " Alex reassured her as he slowly stepped closer to her.

" STAY BACK!! " Rachel cried as a fireball shot out of her throat and zoomed past Alex's face.

" OKAY! OKAY! I'll stay over here then... " Alex whimpered, hiding behind a desk, " So..um, you think you have fire powers- No shit, Alex, she just shot a frickin fireball."

" I don't know! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! " Rachel cried as wings of fire protruded from her spine.

A fiery beak covered her mouth, and talons of amber flames burst through her shoes. She floated in the air, her eyes covered in an intense fire. Then, with a roar, a beam of fire burst out of her mouth, and the heat instantly swept the room. Alex watched in awe; he felt the skin on his cheeks stretch, making way for the ginormous grin.

" You have the POWER OF PHOENIX! " Alex cheered. 

" What the hell is that supposed to be? " Rachel asked with a legion of voices.

" Basically, it's like you can manipulate cosmic entities and stuff like you might be linked to the Phoenix Force! "

" Uh...the what? "

" Right..you don't read comics. " Alex chuckled, " Uh Rachel, can you just get back to ground level for a sec? We should take this outside. "

" I...I don't know...how. " 

" This is gonna be a long origin story. " 

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Jennifer's House...6:20 p.m.

" What a day, what a day. " Max grumbled, sitting on the kitchen counter, "..so what's gonna happen next, Jen? "

" Well... we've been up and at it for a while, so it's time we take a break. " Jennifer went into her fridge and started eating some yogurt.

" Right...right... " Max watched her take a seat in one of the high wooden chairs.

" So, have you talked to Ashley about the whole Ryan thing? " 

" She told me that she has no memory of kissing him. Strange huh? Well...to be honest, I don't even know what to believe. " Max replied, " I can literally control the earth with my palms; someone being under mind control seems entirely plausible. " 

" Do you think she wouldn't do it on her own? " 

" No! Not, Ashley, I know her; it's...the image in my brain of them kissing. It stings so much. " Max mumbled, " What do you think of Khan? "

" She proved herself by fighting the Scorb-Queen. I would give her a call if...we still had a team, you know? " Jennifer sighed, " Can't believe...it's really over.  "