Chapter 251: Man of steel.
The billionaires stood stock-still, one would think that they had been turned to stone. And when they seemed to be getting their senses back, a volley of frantic looks shared between them.
One thing was clear in their eyes. This would not be happening on their watch. The value of a superhuman was too high.
Kris spoke first. "And what do you think you are doing Greg?" He thundered. "I brought you into my base to work for me. You have a contract, and you accepted payment from me. If it was not for me, you would be nothing but left over skin under some meteorite somewhere. Let us go home now!" His voice was a Clarion call, demanding for obedience.
Sunshine leaned against Hades, and he put a candy in her mouth. They were very interested in seeing how this was all going to play out.
Kris grabbed Greg’s arm. Greg shrugged Kris’s hand away and stepped away from him. He looked at his employer like the man was a tyrant boss who should have been decapitated at the gallows a long time ago.
"I will not be going back to that base with you, and you cannot make me. If the Quinns will not have me, I will go straight into the wilderness and look for a camp that will value me. I am a superhuman now, so I believe that I have options." Greg answered, his resolve unyielding.
Sunshine opened her mouth for another candy. A part of her wanted to burst into loud laughter. Did Greg think being a superhuman was being invincible?
Perhaps it was time to share the reality of being a superhuman with humans before they lost their minds. All superhumans were superior, that much was true.
But in due time, they would begin to see that they were not equal. Some were more superior than others.
"You can’t do that." Cory roared. "You belong to us Greg! You are ours!" He claimed him like he was a horse that he won at an auction.
Sunshine was stunned to hear him talk like that, but Hades was not.
Kris scoffed loudly. "There is no pleading with him, I will not allow you to stay here."
"And with what authority will you do that?" Sunshine asked taking a step forward. She really couldn’t help herself. "You heard the man, he will go out there if we do not take him. Also, can you all talk like normal people, do not say things like you belong to us. Kinda sounds like you bought him off the black market or something."
Hades chuckled.
"News flash, people are free to come and go as they wish from any base. Ours at least anyway. We allow those who want to go to leave, and the rule is once you are out, you cannot come back in." She added. "By the way, betrayal is a very common theme in the apocalypse. You should all start getting acquainted with it."
The billionaires’ faces twisted with fury, their ambition and anger spilling into the cold morning air.
Jin pointed at finger at Sunshine. "You only want him because you want to increase the number of superhumans on your base. But you have three huge walls and a gate that looks like it devours souls. You have weapons and cars. Must you take from us?"
"You should learn to distribute some resources fairly. What good will it do you if your neighbors are weak?" Cory said firmly. "If we fall, you fall too."
"Exactly!" Kris stated, agreeing with his friends.
Sunshine rolled her eyes to the sky. Did they want to lay the blame at her feet instead of Greg who wanted to defect? If he wanted to leave, he could just walk out of the gate, and nobody would stop him.
"It’s better for all the bases on the mountain if he stays." She said strongly. "We need superhumans to fight off mutant and mutated monsters. Where Greg lays his head at the end of the night should not matter."
Jon nodded. Whatever Sunshine or Hades said was the right thing. "I agree, it doesn’t matter where Greg stays as long as he is on the mountain."
"Oh come on Jon! Stop kissing ass!" Kris shouted.
Jon narrowed his gaze at him. "Excuse me?" He paused. "I dare you to say that again."
"I didn’t mean it like that man...." Kris’s words trailed off. He hung his head to escape Jon’s scathing glare.
Elio moved forward and dragged Greg to the information center. He was a man of action who wasted no time. If Sunshine said he was to stay because he was useful, he was staying.
The billionaires followed, Kris shouting that they should stop.
"You cannot come in." A guard told the billionaires, stopping them before they could go inside.
"Mr. Quinn has told me to inform you that you should all leave his property now. You can only visit Mr. Sheldon for a maximum of one hour a day."
Jon let out a short sigh. "Even me? What did I do?" He asked, fixing Kris with an accusatory stare as the latter walked away cursing.
"Even you." Elio shouted from the doorway.
On seeing the soldiers walking towards them, they turned to leave. Their departure was accompanied by murmurs of dissatisfaction regarding the handling of the situation.
Inside the information center, the air was thick with curiosity and disbelief from the soldiers and workers. Becoming a superhuman was nothing new but people always gawked anyway.
No one spoke at first. They only offered Greg welcoming smiles, even the usual chatter from Warren had faded into a hushed anticipation.
Sunshine leaned forward, folding her hands on the metallic desk. Her voice was calm yet curious. Greg, you have not told us what abilities you awakened."
Greg hesitated, rubbing go the back of his neck. "It is hard to explain....so maybe I will show you."
He stood and shook his arms, taking a deep breath as if he was preparing to do something strenuous or scary. Then before anyone could ask what he was doing, his skin began to change. First the color turned silver, then it solidified into metal.
Gasps filled the room.
Warren stood up halfway, his eyes wide. "Holy hell...."
Father Nicodemus shook his head in disagreement. "Holy and hell cannot be in the same sentence son."
"Forgive me father." Warren sat back down.
Hades leaned forward, his jaw slack. "He turned into metal."
Sunshine blinked, momentarily losing her composure. "Iron manipulation?" This was one of most rare abilities. In her past she had only met one person with that ability.
They all stared at Greg; he kept twisting and turning like he was at a fashion show. His body was gleaming in the pale light, eyes shining like molten silver.
"Doesn’t it hurt?" Lisha asked softly, her tone filled with childlike awe.
Grey shook his head, his voice echoing slightly in metallic form. "Not at all....but it does feel heavy."
"You will get used to it with time." Sunshine told him.
Hadrian winced, his fingers stretched to touch the metallic arm. "What about strength? I mean the only way I can appreciate such an ability is if you are super strong." He whacked the man on the ass with a baton.
"I cannot feel that even if it does not hurt." Greg told him. He looked around, then without warning drove his fist into the metallic desk. The loud clang echoed like thunder, hushing the room. A fist shaped dent carved into the tables surface.
"You could kill someone with just a slap." Warren mentioned.
While others marveled over it, Hades was thinking of something else. He had finally met someone that could possibly face off against his robot leg.
Also, maybe it was time to have two robot legs instead of one.