Chapter 2: The Dying Man

The sun began to set, leaving the sky a beautiful mix of orange, yellow, red and purple. Sho and Ken were hanging out in the toy factory where they usually hang out. The toy factory was old and abandoned, it was shut down 10 years ago, Sho and Ken came across it when they were young. The place was filled with dusty and broken desks along with a large machine that doesn't work and thousands of piles of crates filled with toys.

Ken was rummaging through crates, tossing toys in random directions while he did it. Meanwhile Sho was sitting in the office; it was a small room with a dusty wooden desk in front of a large window overlooking the interior of the factory. The old wooden chair that Sho was sitting on, behind him were 3 empty filing cabinets, a small window overlooking the outside and there were paper balls littering the floor.

Sho had his legs crossed on the desk and he was leaning back on the chair, he began to hear footsteps on the stairs leading up to the office. Ken appeared and he approached the doorway.

"Yo Nakamura, I'm heading home see ya tomorrow." Said Ken, Sho turned his head to him.

"Yeah, see ya." Replied Sho, Ken turned around and walked down the stairs. Sho turned his head forward and he lost himself in his thoughts.

The sun soon set and the sky turned dark, the moonlight gleamed through the window. Sho decided to go home, he uncrossed his legs and set them down on the ground, he then stood up from his chair and walked out of the office and down the stairs.

He walked out of the factory and made his way home; Sho was walking through the streets alone. Thunder roared as storm clouds rode across the sky, Lightning flashed and rain poured down from the sky drenching his clothes and leaving his hair wet and disordered.

The only sources of light were the streetlights and random flashed of lightning, Sho continued walking through the street, the sound of a painful groan caught his ear. Sho turned his head to his right and saw a man in a pitch black alleyway; his entire figure was silhouetted by the darkness.

Sho narrowed his eyes; he slowly walked across the street and stepped into the dark alleyway. He saw the man lying motionless on the cold, wet ground. Sho ran over to the man and knelt down next to him; he rolled him on his back and put his index and middle finger to the man's neck to feel if he still had a pulse.

The man still had a pulse but it was weak, the man opened his eyes and looked at Sho.

"Are you alright?" asked Sho, the man couldn't find the strength to reply.

"Hang on, I'll call an ambulance." Said Sho, he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialled in 911 and put the phone to his left ear and waited for some to pick. After a few seconds someone finally answered.

"Hello?" asked a feminine voice on the other end

"I need an ambulance, there's a guy here and he's hurt, we're in the alleyway on Toshiba Street, get here ASAP!" said Sho, he hung up and then he lifted the man's head and applied pressure to his wound to stop the bleeding. The dying man mumbled something weakly but Sho couldn't make out what it was.

"What?" asked Sho, the man put his hand on Sho's chest. Fire cloaked his hand then he gripped Sho's chest tight.

Sho winced and hissed in pain, it felt like his insides were on fire. But unbeknownst to him the fire was literally going inside him without doing any damage; it didn't even burn his shirt. Sho's eyes flew open revealing that there was fire in his irises.

The pain eventually stopped, the fire around the man's hand died and Sho's eye went back to normal. Sho panted a few times and the man's grip loosened.

"You…. are…. The Phoenix Sage….. now." He said weakly, his eyes then slowly closed and his arm fell flat on the ground. Sho put his ear to the man's chest, he couldn't hear a heartbeat.

Sho raised his head and looked at the dead man; he stared at him for several minutes before the sound of a siren started ringing in his ear. The ambulance pulled up by the alley, the medics came out of the vehicle and they both ran into the alley and saw Sho with the dead man.

One of the medics ran over to them and knelt down; he grabbed the man's wrist and put his index and middle finger to it. He turned to his partner and said "He gone."

The other medic turned around and walked back over to the vehicle and went behind it. He came back seconds later with a large body bag; the other medic turned his gaze to Sho.

"You should get home." He said

"R-right." Replied Sho

Sho then rose to his feet, turned around and walked out of the alley. He was in complete shock; it was difficult for him to process what just happened.

Meanwhile a 5 ft 9 tall man with a muscular build stood atop the roof of a building overlooking the alleyway; the moon was behind him causing the light to silhouette his appearance.

"It appears there is a new Phoenix Sage." Said the man, just then a 2 ft tall creature climbed onto his right shoulder, its appearance was also silhouetted by the moonlight.

"What're we gonna do now?" asked the creature

"Leave him for now; he's had a rough night. Tomorrow we'll speak with him." replied the man, they watched as Sho disappeared down the long, dark street.