Chapter 85 - Meeting Jason, A.K.A The Sphinataur

Merlin wasn't terrified. Instead, he felt the challenge. "It's a good thing that this is hard. I miss the feeling of being in battle. Maybe I am getting old", he laughed. He then closed his eyes and created copies of Excalibur. 

The amount of Excalibur's surpassed the number of Falcons that were flying. "Let's see who shall win now", he said with confidence. Sweat was trickling down her face, as she felt the sheer amount of pressure from him. 

"This old man, I thought he might have gone senile", she thought. Merlin had his hand outstretched in front of him, and he was waiting for them to make a decision. She then charged through with all of her flacons, and Merlin just killed all the copies with the Excaliburs.

The original one was down on the ground, and she was panting hard. "You win", she said as she looked at him. Merlin gave her a hand. "You could have just done that from the start", he said. "What is your name?", he asked. "Cassandra. And the person in your friend's body is known as Michael", she said.

(In the Lab, The Watch Guardian's Tower)

The same process began to happen, and Ben was watching it this time. He saw Merlin scream and the Anesthesia process. "Is this what happened to me too?", he pondered as he looked at him. After his transformation, he looked just like the male version of Cassandra. And he saw Ben, and he was chuckling.

"Just what have we become?", he said as he was amused. Ben smiled as he heard the retort, and that was how he was sure that Merlin had not been taken over. They both walked up to Leon, and they both had their hands over their heads. "It can't be", they said at the same time.

Bradley cleared his throat and he began to elaborate on why they were shocked. "There were two Beastmen, and their tribes were one of the powerful tribes on the planet. To say that they were just strong was an understatement. The chiefs of these Beastmen had the power to turn a whole city upside down with just a fraction of their power", he said.

Ben and Merlin nodded their heads. But inside, their expressions were different. "We merged with Beastmen and not Beasts?", was the thoughts of Ben. While Merlin just smiled, as he learned the same thing from Cassandra before merging. 

"These tribes, they lived in seclusion, away from the world. The reason was that they didn't want the humans to be afraid of them. rather, they wanted to protect them from the shadows. And for generations they did. They never let any major threats reach the city borders, and they always kept it under wraps", he continued.

"Then, one day, we heard the news that these tribes had been wiped out. They had been massacred for their power, by some unknown person. Everyone was killed, and they didn't leave the infants alive either. They killed and took the chiefs away. The tribes both went missing overnight, and the cities that were under the protection of these tribes, slowly began to face dangers they had never faced before", paused Bradley.

"This happened around twenty years ago. And if I match that timing, and the timing of your experimentation, it seems that you are the people that have merged with Beastmen. This is groundbreaking, and yet threatening at the same time", said Leon as he adjusted his glasses.

"It seems like both DNA's have merged, and they have created a new Beastmen DNA. You are now faster and stronger than the previous ones, and it seems like there is no drawback, as they had given up their power willingly. But, if word of this gets out, The Omega will flip out every single Beastman alive on the planet", concluded Leon.

Ben and Merlin knew what they were about to do. "Very well. I shall lay down my life here. Just make sure to tell Martha that I love her, and please guide Sam to be a better King than I", said Ben as he stood up. Leon jumped up from his seat. "That was not what I meant, you dumbass", he said, anger evident in his voice. 

Ben then sat back down, and he was scolded by Leon. "You always go ahead and assume things. Are you waiting for your death or something, you idiot? Do you know how many things you have left to do? There is still the matter of getting your children married. And growing old. You have time to live, you are a dumbass. Just listen, and don't assume", he said in a stern tone.

Leon began to think, and he then told his plan. "Right now, don't use this power unless need be. Like always, keep it under wraps. Though your body structure has changed, and thus you will have superhuman speed and strength. this applies to both of you. Not much is the change, the general body structure is same", he said as he pulled out a skeletal hologram of them.

They both looked at it, but they didn't see any changes in their naked eye. Their eyes widened when Leon zoomed in into the marrow, and that was when they saw it. "The bone density has increased by almost around a hundred and fifty percent. And the marrow, in which the blood cell count is, has also increased by the same amount", he explained.

He proceeded to explain the reason for the increase in strength, and Ben and Merlin got the idea of it. Their normal bodies, which were above the average human, have evolved something above hums. They were now at the pinnacle of not only the Human race but the Beastmen Race.

"Just thinking about it is giving me a headache", thought Ben. He wanted this to be over, and he was taking a stroll around the tower. Just as he was walking by, he saw a handsome man practicing a form of martial arts in the training hall. 

He had long hair which reached his mid-back, and it was in the color of a lion's mane. It was golden and had streaks of orange among them. His fists were transformed into a lion's paw, and he was punching a wooden doll. His body was like a sculpture, and his eyes were a shining blue. 

He was building up some momentum, and he suddenly let out a roar. His canine teeth extended, and they were growing. He began to growl, and he was about to jump towards Ben when he smelled something. "You're a Beastman too?", he said as he walked up to Ben.

Ben looked at the handsome man. "Who is he? I don't recall any new additions to the Beast squad", he thought as he looked at the young man. He tried to remember, but he couldn't. "Jason, do you want to fight with the King?", came a woman's voice from the side. "Ah, Sally", said Ben.

His voice carried a hint of fatherly love. "Yes, My King", she said as she kneeled in front of him. Ben kicked her across her leg and made her lay on the ground. "What have I told you when greeting me? How dare you kneel in front of me?", he said in a playful and yet, stern tone.

Sally smiled as she stood up. She then looked at Jason, and back at Ben. "He is the one that we had retrieved from the forest. It seems that he doesn't remember anything about the facility, but he remembers his life before that. So he tends to have, episodes", she said. Ben nodded his head in understanding.

"So you're The Sphinataur?", asked Ben in awe. He still didn't understand how three Beast's DNA could be mushed together into a single human. The man nodded his head. "That was what I used to call myself. Now, I have a different name. My name is Jason", he said with a charming smile across his face.

Ben and Merlin sat across him, and they began to chat. After a while, Jason began to seeth again, and his anger was surging. "My head, it's splitting", he said. He then pushed Ben and everyone away. "Get out of the room, NOW!", he roared. His teeth began to grow again, and his hands began to develop the fur of a lion.

Sally dragged Ben and Merlin out of the room and activated the security door. "Recently, the episodes have become more frequent. It's like he wants to know about his past. He has tried to leave this place multiple times, and we have always stopped it", said Sally in a whisper.

"But why?", asked Ben. He knew that Jason deserved to know about his past. Why hide it from him? Sally began to narrate as she was walking them both down. 

"His town, the place he had grown up, has vanished from existence.. It was like it was never there in the first place", she said as she stopped in front of a room.