Wild Guardian: Issue 1 Chapter 31

By: jungleboy69


Chapter 31: Learning to be a Protector: Part 1

A school day at Tuesday was normal as usual. Max was in his Science class, practicing his metals and mixtures with Bean and Mikey. “Growing your own copper sulfate crystals is a tedious art.” Mr Cooper, the science teacher explained. “You have to be careful with chemicals in the lab.”

Max poured sulfuric acid into a beaker and tied two small strips of copper metal to a string. He soaked the metal into the beaker. As he waited, some strange blue salts started to form and the acid turned blue.

“The size of your copper crystals depends on the setup.” Mr Cooper continued. “The temperature, the acidity, the rate of stirring, everything counts.” “Now, once your’re done, bring your crystals up for display.” He added.

“Well, Max,” Bean spoke up. “Your crystals are looking great.” Max’s crystals were growing, but a little slowly. “Say, you guys haven’t heard the rumors, did you?” he asked. Max and Mikey looked at Bean in confusion. “What rumors?” Mikey asked.

“Haven’t you heard?” Bean asked again. “All the animals in the Bronx Zoo escaped and rampaged throughout the entire zoo.” “Uh…really?” Mikey asked, chuckling nervously. “Where did you heard that?”

“Well, the whole school has been talking about it lately.” Bean replied. “They say that a boy helped to round up the animals and save the visitors from harm.” Max and Mikey grew a little pale and looked nervously at each other.

“Uh..guys?” Bean asked. “You two okay?” The two snapped out of their worries. “Yeah, we’re good!” Mikey explained. “We were just lost in thought.” “Well, don’t let it distract you, cuz.” Bean said. “Yeah, yeah, cuz.” Mikey replied.

Max sighed internally. He did his best to keep his secret but now, it seems that it would be bound to get harder in the future.


(4 hours later…)


School ended and everyone was leaving. Max and his friends were walking together as usual. However, they were discussing an important matter at hand: the rumors of the Bronx Zoo incident.

“I don’t think we can keep this between ourselves much longer.” David asked. “Bruce and Harold have been talking about the mysterious hero that saved the day.” “Tell me about it.” Jenny groaned. “Some of the girls have been gossiping about him all day.”

“Well, at least no one knows that it was Max.” Mikey assured. “We can rest easy, for now.” Jake asked. “Well, what about Hannibal?” “Won’t he cook up some other big scheme or sent more of those robots to kill us?”

“Not you.” Max spoke up. “Me!” Everyone turned in surprise at him. “Guys, don’t you see?” he asked. “I’m the one Hannibal wants, I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”

“Max, don’t say that!” David exclaimed. “We’re your friends, we stick together no matter what!” “David’s right, Max” Jenny added, determinedly “We understand your concern for us but we’re not going to let you face this alone.”

“Yeah, Max!” Mikey chimed in. “We’re staying by your side, no matter what!” Max looked at his friends in amazement. "Guys, thanks." he replied, moved by their dedication.

"Besides," Jake added. "We've helped you beat those robots so that already makes us targets too." Everyone chuckled at that. "Yeah, I guess so." Max replied.

"Come on, we'll accompany you to your house, Max." Jenny said. "It's better if we stick together." "Sure thing, Jen." Mikey replied.

"Besides, if anything happens, we have our jungle man to protect us." David added, making Max blush in embarrassment. "Come"


(That night...)


Max lay on his bed. A lot has happened over the past days, discovering a hidden power inside of you, saving people from a mass animal escape at the zoo and taking out a group of killer robots.

Who knows what other adventures would happen to him. Well, whatever they are, Max knew he had to be ready for whatever challenges Mc.Hannibal would throw at him. As he drifted off to sleep, his fox totem glowed softly as if it understood his thoughts.