Chapter 23: War plan pt.2
"Is it me or am I going nuts?" Sameer whispered to Steve who was just as shocked as he was but having faced such circumstances before he wasn't that frozen as Sameer.
"Wait so you know how to kill all of us?"
"I don't think that's the important question here." Sameer said cutting of Artemis who just raised a question, "I knew you said something was weird but I didn't expect it to be this bat shit crazy."
Everyone ignored Sameer's crazy rant as Artemis kept glaring at Howard.
"Geez, stop with the stare will ya." Howard said, "Of course, I know how to kill all of you here, after all, more than half of you will be done by just this anesthetic bullet in my gun. But as I said, you can figure out my weaknesses as well, I wouldn't mind it."
"That's doesn't sound too reassuring," Diana said not sure about what to feel right now. Of course, everything Howard said sounded reasonable but who in their right mind would go through such depths of research against their own allies.
"You two are Immortals as well and I am sure you've lived a longer life than even me, so at least I expect you two to be mature here." Howard said as he walked towards Diana grabbing her lasso, "And I've been honest from the very beginning and I haven't lied to any of you."
"Why not?"
"Lying is beneath me." Howard said those arrogant words in a casual manner, "Obviously I am not a good person but I don't mean harm to anyone here either and I want the same thing as you, stopping Ares and this war."
Artemis and Diana stayed quiet as Howard let go of the lasso and looked back at Arthur, "I will give you my word that I won't harm you either if you want to leave, but I will still have someone follow you regardless because that ability of yours will come back and bite me in the ass in the future sooner than expected. After all, you and I, we're the same breed."
"Future?"
"Yeah, you look like you're in your mid-twenties now and you'll live good for a couple more decades but that for me is chump change because even a hundred years from now, I'll still be the same." Howard said, "So are you willing to come and work for me and be worthy of a million dollars a year, or are you going to leave and keep hiding like a rabid dog that's afraid to be put down at any given second."
"This mission." Arthur said, "I heard from K, that you are fighting in the war against a supernatural force. So for this mission, I'll come with you and then decide whether I want to stay or not."
"Good enough," Howard said as he paid his attention to Sameer, "Look you're a spy and you've probably been trained to deal with weird stuff."
"Weird doesn't even begin to describe this situation."
"I understand it's overwhelming but the mission doesn't change. It still remains the same as how Steve described it to be." Howard said, "I'll handle your payment and if you're good enough I have many jobs for you in the future."
"I am guessing you wouldn't just let me walk out knowing all these things freely." Sameer said giving Steve a bitter look, "So this will do for now."
"Smart." Howard chuckled as he looked towards K and handed him a file.
"A new mission?"
"It's a game of 'Find the spies hideouts and eliminate them'." Howard said, "I'll leave it to you to take care of this."
"Understood," K said without any questions nodding to him and walking out of the villa showing full trust and loyalty towards Howard.
"I really need to hire someone to explain things for me. It feels like I am just giving out the same explanations a hundred times in a row now." Howard said grabbing himself a drink as he looked towards Artemis, "Now that I think about it since you'll be around me, I will be handing that job to you now."
Artemis rolled her eyes, "Now will you begin explaining this plan of yours?"
"Sure, gather around now."
Howard followed by Diana, Artemis, James, Arthur, Steve, Sameer, and an unconscious Victor gathered around him as he explained the whole plan to them in detail. And by the end of it, everyone seemed impressed by the precision and thought put into each detail and move.
Laying out his plans to everyone, Howard left for his room leaving the group alone. With everything that had happened today, he knew he had to give them some time alone without him breathing down their necks. And more than that it was a common tactic used to form a bond among strangers by giving them a common thing, which was their annoyance towards Howard and his method of dealing with things.
"Doesn't it anger you? Your own brother thinking of ways to kill you?" Artemis asked as James shrugged glancing at Victor who was still passed out.
"It's been this way for as long as I can remember so I am used to it." James said with a bitter smile, "But this is the same attitude that bought us this far, so we can't really complain. We let this happen as we were too indulged in luxury and before we figured out it was time to stop it was already too late."
"I know I am new to this but I've worked before under military commands and I've never seen such perfect work before," Sameer said, "Plans are there to just give us direction in the battle, after all, no one knows what's going to happen in the field but Mr. Smith seems to have even taken every little possibility into consideration. It's just brilliant."
"Well, that's his charm." James said, "I have never seen him fail, not even once. So we trust him blindly."
"Are you sure he'll be okay?" Arthur asked still wary of Victor, remembering just a couple of hours ago he tried to jump at him when he was rejecting K's proposal.
"Don't worry about him." James said, "We don't hold grudges, but just don't try to mingle with him for a few days."
"If he hadn't held the lasso or the fact that my aunt seems to trust him, I'd be sure Howard was Ares." Diana said, "He fits the persona of the God of war well."
"That's because of his stupid ability." Victor woke up scratching his head.
"When did you get up?"
"Since the whole 'charm' part." Victor said as he snorted at Arthur leaving him be, "Our brother's cockiness just depends on his immortality which even bests both of us. Strip him of his immortality and I am sure he wouldn't be this cocky again."
"You all don't seem to get along too well," Steve asked as Victor snorted,
"We get along just fine but as Howard always says, it's a way of trust." Victor said with a frown, "But it's annoying because it's always going to be one-sided with his powers. And I'll give every one of you here a suggestion, don't get on his bad side. Because the only thing scarier than his powers is his intelligence."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone