“You’re here…” Dr. Cartel said as he lit a cigarette and sat on his office chair with his legs on the table. Leo walked towards the chair on the other side of his desk and took his seat. He sighed and massaged his temples as he was a bit frustrated with everything that was happening.

“You okay?” The doctor asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Leo waved his hand and looked in another direction. The doctor could tell that he wasn’t okay so he shoved the packet of cigarettes on the desk to him.

“Smoke?” He asked. Leo raised a brow.

“You do know that I’m still a minor, right?” He questioned.

“Sure, I do. But I also know that you’re a man capable of handling an inferno inside your stomach so a smoke should be nothing to you.” The doctor replied. Leo hesitated at first and was about to reject it, as he was still seventeen. However, when he thought more about it, he felt that the doctor was right.

He took the cigarette packet and removed a cigarette before lighting it up. He inhaled the smoke with his mouth and blew it out. He didn’t cough or anything. For someone who has experienced a fire inside his stomach, this was nothing to him.


The cigarette didn’t exactly calm him down, but it allowed him to keep himself busy while he thought about his next move. It was like reading a novel while eating at the same time.

Leo looked around and noticed that Ms. Angel wasn’t in the office.

“Where’s Ms. Angel?” He asked.

“Home.” The doctor replied nonchalantly.

“What did you tell her?” Leo inquired.

“I asked her to explain what she saw and she did. Seems like you’ve improved again.” The doctor said with a smirk before taking another puff at his cigarette. Leo supported his cheek with his right hand as he stared at the side.

“Not even I, remember what happened at the time.” He said. The doctor sighed.

“What are we dealing with here?” He inquired.

“We don’t know yet. But it’s not the other usual guy.” Leo replied.

“Not the usual guy? Huh. I would’ve been surprised if it was him.” The doctor scoffed. Leo frowned slightly and turned his eyes to the doctor who was sitting right in front of him.

“Why do you say that?” He said. The doctor took a long puff from his cigarette before stubbing it out by pressing the burnt end on the ashtray.

“When we consider the moves that the other guy has made so far, we can conclude that he’s violent and arrogant. For now, I suspect his main objective is taking over your body completely. There’s no way that same entity will help you heal your friend when it was also the same entity that almost made you kill him.” He hypothesized. Leo closed his eyes and nodded with understanding and allowed the doctor to carry on.

“However,” Dr. Cartel continued as he leaned forward to explain, “This other being that appeared came out when you pushed your healing flames to the limits. And you said something about not being conscious during that whole time and you can barely even remember it. That’s another symptom of having an altered personality. Angela also told me that voice of this personality sounded so surreal and godlike and there was a feminine feeling to it.”

“Does that mean that this other personality may be some kind of… female?” Leo questioned.

“I don’t know. I’m just putting two and two together.” The doctor leaned back and sighed. Leo too was wondering what had really happened to him. When it was only the dragon guy, things were a bit harsh. Now it’s another entity that might look good on the outside but they still don’t understand its motives.

“To sum it all up…” the doctor said as he arose from his chair and walked towards the glass panes, “…we’re facing two uncertainties now. Ones that might be dangerous.” Leo sighed and thought more about things. He was thinking of withdrawing from the basketball team and focusing on himself for now. However, when he thought about monsters like Oscar, he couldn’t sit still.

Oscar was able to catch up to him when he used a speed that was the peak of humanity’s speed and could stop his fakes and dribbles. If Leo left his school’s team to play against Brighton Academy, they would be destroyed in the tournament and would most likely get the third position, if they were lucky enough. They’re still unaware of the monsters in the other teams that are participating.


The doctor looked at Leo and noticed the troubled look on his face.

“You seem a little too troubled about all this. Ain’t the cigarette helping you?” He asked. Leo glanced at the cigarette in his hand and took an extremely long puff that burnt the whole cigarette to the end in his mouth before dropping it on the ashtray.

He exhaled the whole thing, almost filling the office with smoke, before getting up and picking up his jacket which had been left there. He walked towards the door and waved at Dr. Cartel.

“Let’s call it a day. I’ve got practice tomorrow.” Leo implied. The doctor smiled.

“You sure your coach will still let you in?” He asked. Leo sighed and put on his jacket.

“Only one way to find out.” He spouted without even looking back to face the doctor and was just about to leave the office but he suddenly remembered something else.

“By the way…” he held the door frame and turned back to look at Dr. Cartel, “Did you happen to give anyone else the gene enhancer?” He questioned. The doctor frowned a bit and his bones tensed up slightly.

“No. Why do you ask?” He replied. Leo stared fiercely into his eyes.

“You sure?” He asked to confirm. His face was firm but his voice was still soft and smooth, giving absolutely no sense of anger. However, his eyes were enough to intimidate those who look into it.

Dr. Cartel sat back on his chair. He leaned forward and his elbows rested on his desk, while his hands were joined and positioned right in front of his mouth. He looked deep into Leo’s eyes and told him what he knew.

“Is there a problem, Leo?” He questioned. There was a tense atmosphere in the room and things weren’t getting better as both men looked each other in the eye. After a few seconds, Leo scoffed and left the office. The doctor sighed as if he had been trying to look tough in front of Leo.

“What is he doing? Trying to accuse me of something I’m not even aware of? Tch.” He tutted and leaned back on his chair. He gave it some more thought.

“Something’s odd. Leo wouldn’t accuse me out of the blue.” He muttered to himself as he stared at the full moon which was shining brightly and blessing Sky City with its white light. The doctor sighed and speculated.

“It seems like we might have another monster in our midst.”