Beast Soul

"I don't know if my abilities just extend to my limbs, but for now, yes." Gerald nodded his head after letting out a long and heavy sigh, and as soon as he finished speaking, he loosened his hands, and his arms began to shrink, turning back into their original sizes within seconds. "This is my superpower, apparently."

"Elongating your limbs, huh...That's... kind of lame... No offense." Alphonso said softly as he touched his chin, and Harold snorted in response. "For all we know, you could get one that's actually even worse." "I was just stating the facts, alright?" Alphonso shrugged his shoulders and spoke with an annoyed tone. "You don't have to be snarky." "Well now, isn't this a funny coincidence?" Harold said in a sarcastic manner. "I was also simply stating the facts."

"As much as I enjoy seeing you two guys bickering for absolutely no reason, I'm sorry to say that I might need your guys' help to get me down..." Gerald decided to interject into the conversation, and the others walked towards him. "Let's make this quick!" Harold said as he pointed at the direction they came from. "We have to help Noah. I think he might have a tough time with this monster!"

"Noah's in trouble? Are you sure?" Gerald spoke softly as he was slowly lowered down by the other two boys. 

"I'm not certain, but he did seem a bit anxious and nervous about fighting this creature.." Harold shrugged his shoulders as he finished speaking.

"How on earth can we help him out if even he has trouble fighting against such an enemy?" Max asked with an uncertain expression on his face. "Don't get me wrong. I may have superpowers, and I may have helped in the previous fight against those bat-like creatures, but that doesn't mean that my techniques may work again. Nor does it make me invincible. It drains a lot of my energy, and I'm pretty sure that I'll end up being a liability if we fought against someone who can actually think properly."

"I really have no clue how we can help him out.." Harold said while clenching his fist tightly. Gerald glanced at his tightly clenched hands for a brief second before turning his gaze back to Harold's face, who continued, "..But we can figure that out once we get a good look at the fight and the situation Noah is in."

The other three boys looked at each other in response to Harold's words. They could see that they were all uncertain about what they could contribute to a fight where they could end up being liabilities. But at the same time, the boys also felt like they owed Noah, who had saved their lives and taught them about the superpowers that they ended up receiving. 

"Alright then.. we'll go and see what the situation is like first!" Gerald nodded his head and shifted his gaze towards Harold as he started speaking. "And then, we'll figure out what we can do to help Noah. If he requires our help, that is." 

Harold nodded in agreement, and with that, the four boys headed back in the direction that they came from. 

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Noah's hand reached forward and grabbed hold of Mr. Carrick's own hand, gripping it tightly. His hand movements were so quick that even Mr. Carrick was surprised. This was the fastest Noah has ever been in this entire fight!

"You son of a b*tch! Did you underestimate my power?!" Mr. Carrick screamed loudly as he tried to pull Noah's hair once again, but found that he could not move his hands. 'What the- how the hell? Why is he so powerful?' Mr. Carrick thought to himself as he felt the pressure on his wrist increasing bit by bit, and pain began to envelope his mind. 

He tried pulling his hand back using all his strength, but he couldn't even move a single inch. Anxious and afraid, the monster's gaze then shifted to Noah, who tilted his head up to make eye contact with Mr. Carrick. His eyes were completely black, and a powerful aura had enveloped him, giving him a terrifying presence. 

'Sh*t! Something is wrong here!' Mr. Carrick could feel that the opponent in front of him wasn't exactly someone who's normal, and in a panic-stricken state, the monster raised his other arm into the air, which erupted into flames with a loud explosion!

"Screw you! You can't defeat me!" Mr. Carrick screamed with anger and frustration in his voice as he swung his clawed hand right onto Noah's head, and the giant ball of flames collided onto its intended target, resulting in the flames immediately filling the air as the surroundings turned into a fiery hell.

Mr. Carrick sneered. Although the ball of flames wasn't exactly a simple technique to utilize and required a tremendous amount of energy to power it, it certainly wasn't something that a normal human body would be able to handle, especially at close range.

Of course, if he was in his normal form which consisted of him in a human body, he wouldn't be able to survive the flames either. However, now that he was in a transformed state, he was much more powerful, and his scales that covered his body would protect him from it. 

Although Noah was also in his transformed state, he was still, nevertheless, a mere human, which meant that his transformations had a limit that could not be broken. This meant that Mr. Carrick could survive for a longer period of time while being covered in flames than Noah.

'Of course, I won't let you go so peacefully...' Mr. Carrick thought to himself with a beaming smile on his face as he watched Noah's body being burned right in front of him. He was planning on interfering right before Noah loses his life, as he wanted to learn about the young man more. And of course, he also wanted to suffer.

However, just as Mr. Carrick pondered how he would not allow Noah to have a quick, painless death, he suddenly noticed that Noah wasn't making a single movement, even though he was being burnt alive. 

'What? Is he already dead?' Mr. Carrick couldn't help but feel disappointed as beads of sweat began to drip down from his forehead and onto his cheeks. The heat was getting to him, which meant that his body would soon be reaching its limitation of handling the flames.

'I should probably try to get away right now..' Mr. Carrick thought to himself, and he glanced at the burning Noah before clicking his tongue and pulling his hand back.

"Wh- what the hell?" However, for some reason, Mr. Carrick still couldn't release himself from the tight grip of Noah, which shocked and surprised him. 

"Why- why isn't he letting go? Isn't he dead?" Mr. Carrick thought to himself as he once again tried to pull his hand away, but right then!

WHAM!

Noah's other hand moved suddenly, grabbing onto Mr. Carrick's other hand before he could even respond properly, and his eyes opened wide, staring right at the shocked face of his enemy.

"Y-You!" Mr. Carrick was dumbfounded as he stared at Noah's face with his mouth agape. "How the hell are you still alive?"

Noah moved normally, as though there was nothing wrong with him. However, one good look at his body, and even an idiot would come to realize that his skin had been completely burned, making him unrecognizable. 

Tak!

Noah tightened his grip before pulling his head back and slamming his forehead right onto the head of Mr. Carrick, and he crashed down onto the ground with a loud noise.

BAM!

"Gah!" Mr. Carrick groaned with pain as he rubbed his forehead, trying to get onto his feet as the fire around them continued to burn brightly. 

Grab!

Noah stretched out both his hands and grabbed onto Mr. Carrick's head from both sides, pulling him up into the air with almost no effort. 

"Le- Let me go!" Mr. Carrick screamed loudly as he felt his body heating up rapidly. His body was reaching his limit. "We'll both die if we stay inside the flames! Do you hear me!"

Noah didn't respond. Mr. Carrick clicked his tongue, and began punching Noah's abdomen repeatedly, but he showed no response. 

Crack!

"AHH!" Noah increased the pressure he was exerting on Mr. Carrick's head, who felt the pain that was passing through his skull. "Let me go!" Mr. Carrick screamed loudly once again, his fist swinging around, sometimes landing on Noah's body.

Crack! Crack!

Noah continued to increase the strength on his fingers as he pressed hard on Mr. Carrick's head, and the monster could feel his skull slowly breaking. He felt his eyesight becoming weaker and weaker.

"No- no…" Mr. Carrick opened his mouth and from his throat shot out a long tentacle that was aiming for Noah's head, but right before it could make contact with its target, Noah instantly tilted his head sideways, and the tentacle shot right past him, only grazing his chin in the end.

WHAM!

The tentacle crashed into the wall behind them, piercing into it.. Mr. Carrick widened his eyes, and the tentacle retreated back with the same speed, and attached to the tip of it was a piece of the dirt wall, which slammed right onto the back of Noah's head!