The Scrap Tamer

Reid left old man Scrappy's home after filling his stomach and accepting his offer. He didn't take much time thinking about it before finally deciding to accept.

There were several reasons for his decision. Resources, after being cast out from his family, he didn't have access to top tier resources and although he usually scavage in the Scrap yard, the amount of useful gadgets were extremely limited, making the military a great option.

Secondly money and connections, if he wanted to outgrow his former family he needed both and the military gave him the opportunity to acquire them.

Considering all that, Reid quickly accepted the old man's recommendation letter and pocketed it. He was supposed to leave two days from now.

Currently he was on his way back to his bunker, to check his rewards. He was so excited that he couldn't wait to get back, so he decided to use the alleys which were a lot shorter.

After taking a couple of turns, he arrived at the final alley leading to his bunker when he heard someone speaking.

"I am chosen by my master pass his judgments, and if he wills you sinners to be judged, it is my responsibility to carry it out" he heard the person say.

"You found out, so what?" The speaker continued "I'll make sure my secret's buried with you".

His works gave Reid a bad feeling, so he quickly summoned Rusty from his inventory and slowly approached.

He spotted the speaker's back, with a raised dagger aiming to stab the person who was in front of him.

Reid quickly ordered Rusty to use [pause] on the person with the dagger, which it quickly did freezing him.

---

Stupid was the only thing Mark felt at this moment. He already had a video evidence but instead of showing it to Old man Scrappy, he decided to face John himself and this has led to his imminent demise.

His owl couldn't help because for some reason, it was also paralyzed on his shoulders.

He braced himself waiting for the pain but it never came. He opened his eyes and saw that John had stopped in a stabbing motion.

For a moment, Mark thought John had changed his mind but that's when he heard a familiar voice from behind John.

"What the hell is going on here?" Reid said and walked forward.

"Mark?" He asked and then turned to the person with the dagger "John?, what the hell is happening? Why would John want to stab you?".

Mark couldn't answer his questions since he was paralyzed but an immense relief washed over him, seeing the kid here.

After the beast siege, they had all come to accept that Reid was strong, incredibly so. Maybe even stronger than Scrappy so they decided to treat him with respect.

"Mark.." Reid called out again but no answer came, so he asked to scan Mark.

[Scan successful]

[He is currently inflicted with a potent paralysis poison, which would only wear off in two hours] Evo explained.

"I see, Rusty can you use rewind to deal with it?" Reid asked Rusty who was standing by his side.

It barked in affirmation and used [rewind] on Mark, rewinding the poison till it was never introduced to his system.

"Thank you" Mark thanked him when he was finally able to speak again and wearily looked at John who was still under the effects of [pause].

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" Reid asked pointing to the frozen John "why the hell is Mia's dad trying to kill you?".

"He's the cause of the beast siege" Mark explained and picked the video player up, handing it to Reid.

"How is he controlling the beasts?" Reid asked after looking at the video "and how did they not tear him apart but instead ignored his presence entirely".

"That's what I was trying to find out when he attacked me" Mark explained.

"Does the old man know about this?" Reid asked again.

"No-no, I didn't tell anyone yet" Mark said clearly embarrassment about his decision.

'I thought he was supposed to be the smart one' Reid thought to himself.

"Let's restrain him before, Rusty cancels the skill" he suggested, to Mark who took out some cuffs from his pocket and handed them to Reid.

"Well you came prepared" Reid said taking the cuffs.

"Yeah, I came hoping to arrest him" Mark explained with a blush of embarrassment.

"I didn't know you were into police roleplay " Reid chuckled while cuffing John "how did that work out".

"Not very well" Mark mumbled.

"Alright Rusty, cancel [pause]" Reid said after he was sure that John was well restrained.

"Die— what the heck?!" John shouted as soon as he was unpaused.

In his perspective, he was about to finish Mark off when the cuffs appeared out of nowhere.

He looked up from the cuffs and saw two more than he expected. Reid and Rusty who were not here before, were suddenly standing beside mark and his owl who were supposed to be paralyzed.

"Oh, it's Reid" John said with a large grin on his face " Mia always mentions you".

"Cut the crap old man, don't you have explaining to do?" Reid frowned at John's nonchalant attitude.

"Now,now, that's not how you should speak to your elders" John said, still keeping his grin "besides, you sinners will never understand".

"I have been personally chosen by the master administer divine punishment on you sinners but you keep getting in the way" John took a small pause and continued.

"What the f*ck?" Reid couldn't help but frown "your f*cking family lives here, why would you endanger their lives by causing a beast siege?"

You don't understand Alex! This isn't just an order I'm carrying out! it's a divine calling!" John answered, his expression much more broken " but you don't know what it means to dedicate every breath, every heartbeat to something greater? I do. I live it!"

"The beasts are divine punishment for all our sins and it is our duty to ensure every human faces it" John started chanting before removing a white pill from underneath his tongue, ready to swallow it.

Reid moved to stop him but realizing that he would be too late, Rusty used pause on him again stopping him mid bite.

"That was f*cking close, let's get him to Old man Scrappy" Reid said with a sigh of relief and Mark nodded in agreement.

Since Rusty was now big enough to carry them, including the paused John, Reid and Mark climbed on, carrying John along.

"Alright Rusty, take us to the old man" he ordered and Rusty immediately disappeared using [skip].