The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 111

Chapter 111: Turned Tables
Lisa and the rest of team 7 watched as the forcefield slowly covered the arena where Reid and the creature that had just taken over Darren’s body stood.

They moved as fast as they could but the forcefield covered the arena before they could get to it.

They, alongside Commander Ajax tried everything to shut down the forcefield. Lisa used both his plasma and lightning forged beasts, but every attack made the forcefield stronger.

“This is not working” Clara said, at this point, she had given up raining bullets on the forcefield.

“It’s absorbing everything we throw at it to strengthen itself” Ethan said.

“Can you hack into it?” Lisa asked, turning to Ethan.

“I don’t think so” he rubbed his chin, the forcefield had no port for him to get into the system.

“It’s fine anyway right?” Dean, who was also one of the spectators arrived with Damien close to the others “I mean, Reid seems to be having no problem dealing with that thing, whatever it is.”

“We should keep trying anyway” Damien was the one who spoke up, his face held a serious look as he kept his eyes on the creature restrained by the abilities of Reid’s forged beasts.

For the first time since they met, he didn’t bother with Clara’s presence considering the situation.

Lisa turned her gaze back toward the arena, her fists clenched tightly. Dean was right—Reid had the situation under control, for now. But something about that thing made her uneasy.

“Ethan, are you sure you can’t hack into it?” She asked again. Her guys were telling her something was about to go wrong and she was worried.

“Not directly” Ethan answered “except..”

He paused and looked at his newest forged beast. It was the perfect beast for this situation.

“Do you have any ideas officer Graves?” Commander Ajax asked as he approached the team. He had given up on trying to break through the forcefield with just his fists.

But unlike other humans, he couldn’t use forged beasts and had to rely on his unnatural strength.

“Yes sir” Ethan replied “I’d like to try and see if my new forged beast can get through the forcefield and directly hack into the disc.”

Before Ajax or anyone could say anything else,

Boom

A sudden shockwave erupted from the arena causing everyone to turn their heads toward the battlefield.

——————–

Inside the arena, Reid and his forged beasts jumped back to avoid whatever the energy emanating from the creature was.

He stood a few meters away, observing as Darren’s body twisted in awkward angles and his bones loudly snapping.

‘what’s happening, Evo?’ Reid asked. The beast memoir didn’t have anything about this so he was hoping Evo had an idea.

[I think it’s currently adjusting the it’s vessel to adapt to your attacks] she answered.

“Damn it” Reid cursed.

He couldn’t go all out, else he might kill Darren who might still be trapped in his own body but if he didn’t go all out, then the creature might adapt to all his abilities which would be really bad.

“You better f*cking be in there” he really was getting frustrated with the situation. Firstly, the cult knew or had suspicion that he possessed the evolution Codex.

And now, with their very own Codex, they were able to create a forged beast that took over someone’s body and also adapts to other forged beast’s abilities.

If these were released in the world, then it’d be a whole other apocalypse maybe even worse than the primals.

Reid was pulled out of his thoughts when the creature suddenly stood up from the crater it previously was in.

The cracks on its ashy skin had increased, and the tendrils coming out of them had also increased. Even the whites of his eyes had been completely replaced by black.

The grin on its face had widened even more, stretching past what should have been humanly possible. The corners of its mouth split unnaturally, revealing rows of jagged teeth that hadn’t been there before.

“Damn it, the b*st*rd doesn’t seem to just be adapting to my attacks” Reid cursed with clenched “it’s transforming Damien’s entire body slowly.”

“Evo, is it possible for it to fully take over Darren’s body and if so, how long do I have before it does?” Reid asked, watching as the creature’s tendrils continued moving.

[Yes, and judging by its appearance, maybe in the next adaptation or the next] She answered.

Reid exhaled slowly. He couldn’t afford to hold back anymore.

“If I hit it too hard, Darren might not survive. But if I don’t stop it now, there won’t be a Darren left to save.”

He didn’t have any reason to save Darren, except for the fact that he was their only lead to finding out the identity cult’s spy in the military.

Of course he could make Beel eat his memory, but he wasn’t sure if that would work when that creature was in control of his body.

“Then I’ll just have to—” he suddenly had to cross his arms to block one of the tendrils that smashed into him.

The impact sent him flying backwards and into the forcefield. His forged beasts couldn’t react in time to save him from that tendril because they were also attacked by the other tendrils.

“You know,” it started “getting lost in your thoughts while the enemy is in front of you is pretty careless of you.”

Its voice had a mocking tone in it as he spoke.

Reid gritted his teeth as he pushed himself off the arena floor where he landed. He could feel whatever energy that was imbuded on its tendrils passing through his arms.

“Reid, Are you okay?” Lisa’s worried voice came from behind him. He had crashed into the part where they stood.

He turned to her with a small smile and said, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

He then turned back to the creature, it looked pretty proud of its attack connected since this was the first attack it had been able to land since the fight started.

Reid proceeded to roll his shoulders and like a releasing the tension from an overworked muscle, he felt the energy leaving his arms.

He picked up his bat from where it had fallen during the attack, giving it a quick spin before pointing it at the creature. “Come at me, then.”

“Gladly” it said. Bending its knees a bit, it blasted forward with speeds faster than even before.

Reid barely had time to react before the creature was upon him, its tendrils aiming to pass through his chest. Luckily, he had copied [Void] from Nyx which allowed him to teleport away from the attack.

But as if it could predict his moves, Reid was attacked by another tendril as soon as he reappeared.

Since he didn’t have enough time to teleport again, he swung his bat at the approaching tendril. The impact sent shockwaves outwards but a row of teeth suddenly appeared on the tendril as it bit into the bat, forcing Reid to let go.

Atlas on the other hand tried [Gravity Shift] on it but the creature didn’t even look bothered as the skill had no attack. It was the same for Rusty’s [Pause] and Nyx’s [Spatial Collapse]. The creature simply shrugged the abilities.

Changing tactics, Rusty chose to close the distance between them while avoiding the attacking tendrils. As soon as it was close enough, Rusty swiped its claws while simultaneously activating [echo].

The creature successfully blocked the first claw strike but was caught off guard when an afterimage of Rusty’s attack landed directly on its chest.

A deep gash opened up, a thick black liquid oozing from the wound. However, instead of flinching in pain, the creature let out an amused chuckle.

“That’s interesting” it said

Some of the tendrils on its body started crawling through the wound on its chest, completely sealing it.

The attacks from the three forged beasts seem useless, except for one—

Beel.

Unlike the others who had to dodge attacks from the creature’s tendrils, they were actively avoiding Beel which didn’t sit well with the forged beast.

It was raring for a bite of those tendrils again but he couldn’t since they were avoiding it. It couldn’t go for the main body either since Reid didn’t want the original owner of the body to be snacked on.

But since it’s focus was on the tendril before it, it didn’t notice the other that appeared in its blind spot.

The tendril struck Beel from behind, its had jagged edges that sunk into the gluttonous fly’s body. Beel screeched in rage, its entire body convulsing as the foreign energy tried to invade it.

Reid’s eyes widened as he felt the sudden rush of the energy through their bond. That thing was it was trying to corrupt Beel.

“Beel! Get out of there!” he commanded.

But Beel didn’t move. Instead, its entire body vibrated violently, as it tried to reject the energy invading its body.

The tendril wrapped around it, trying to crush and merge it like it had with Darren’s body.

“You think I wouldn’t learn by now?” The creature mocked “avoiding you was just a distraction tac—”

Before it could complete whatever it wanted to say,

Crunch!

Beel’s mandibles snapped shut, severing the tendril holding in an instant.

The creature let out a pained shriek as the severed piece of its own flesh was devoured. And Beel swallowed it whole.

In retaliation, the creature slammed another tendril into Beel that was still reeling from the energy that just invaded it’s body.

The attack sent it crashing into the arena floor.

Before Reid could react, four tendrils shot forward, one targeting him, the other two aimed at his Forged-Beasts.

Nyx, Rusty and Atlas were able to move out of the attack’s path but Reid who was also still reeling from the energy that just mixed with his soul power wasn’t as lucky.

The tendrils smashed into his chest, sending him off his feet and into the barrier again.

“I’m done playing with you all” the creature growled. It’s face twisted in anger, a lot more anger than when Beel feasted on it earlier.

“Time to end you all” it said slowly, approaching Reid who lay on the arena floor with his three forged beasts protecting him.