Debut
Phoenix has been at Beacon for about two years.
He has been keeping himself hidden from Beacon students to avoid drawing attention to himself despite Ozpin assuring him that doing so isn't necessary.
He is taught by some of the teachers at Beacon during school breaks, and he trains at night to avoid being caught by students.
He doesn't want to reveal himself to the students until he is one.
He wants to practice against opponents other than training robots, Grimm, and teachers going easy on him, but can't find a way to practice against other people without revealing himself.
He asks Ozpin about becoming a student at Beacon, but Ozpin tells him he is still too young.
He is working on a prototype of his mask when he hears that there is a bank robbery in progress and the robbers, a team that was expelled from Beacon, have the police outgunned.
He decides that if he can prove his skills by stopping something like this, then Ozpin may let him join Beacon despite his age.
He sneaks onto a ship heading for Vale.
Jenkins, the ship's pilot, gives him his fear of flying in a cameo.
Phoenix is able to sneak into the bank, separate the robbers, defeat them, and escape.
All of the hostages are unconscious, so none of them see Phoenix.
The police cover up Phoenix's involvement, claiming that they were able to infiltrate the building and take the robbers by surprise.
Phoenix spends all night stopping other crimes in the city.
He is surprised by how bad things are.
Ozpin calls him the next day.
He is simultaneously angry and impressed by what Phoenix was able to do, and he offers to officially make Phoenix a student.
Phoenix refuses the offer, stating that he would be able to do more good and get more experience by fighting crime.
Ozpin reluctantly agrees but warns him that he might not be able to help if Phoenix is caught.
Phoenix decides to call himself the Flaming Shadow.
Jenkins is another OC that appears in "Flaming Shadow". There is a summary of him as well as Detective Grant, an OC who'll play a large role in this series, at the bottom of chapter 18 (labeled as chapter 19 on the website). There's also a summary of Phoenix himself in the first chapter of "Flaming Rose".
Thanks for reading!