War plan pt.1

"Who are we waiting for again?" Steve asked followed by the one person he gathered named Sameer, a fellow spy. And according to him, he had someone who went by the name, 'Chief' ready and waiting for his orders.

"His brothers and something called a 'mutant'," Diana replied putting a history book down, self-written by no one other than Howard. Rather than a history book, it was more of a diary of him complaining and ranting about the places and people since he had nothing better to do in a world where even the light bulb was yet to be invented.

But all those rants could be summarised into a perfect history book if you look past the sarcastic and rage comments, after all, it was a first-hand book written by a person who literally lived through it all, "Who is this Edison person and why do you hate him so much? You even made sure to point the fact that Tesla is better than him anyway."

"Kind of a big dick." Howard shook his head as he avoided Steve's and Sameer's curious eyes, "As I said, don't pay attention to my personal rants."

"But it says here you worked with him."

"For some time, until he kinda pissed me off." Howard said, "Just know that he's a giant asshole and don't focus on what the newspapers say about him."

"They are here," Artemis said taking away everyone's curious thoughts as they watched, three men walk in with James dragging an unconscious Victor. Which Howard wasn't worried about but rather he was curious about the blonde guy beside them walking cautiously.

"I apologize." K said handing him back the gun, "You know, his short-temper."

"I get it." Howard said sighing, "Lay him down on the sofa, he should be up in a couple of hours. And I see you've done your job well."

"His name is Arthur Colson, and you know of his ability." K introduced him to the new mutant, "He is a tough bargain, but I've bought him here through any means necessary."

"And what's the deal?"

"A million-dollar every year," Arthur answered for himself, "That's the deal if you want me to work for you."

"And are you sure you're worthy of that?"

"You can test it." Arthur shrugged pointing towards the gun.

Unlike what other people thought Howard didn't hesitate even a second as he shot the gun towards Arthur. The gunshot rang in everyone's ears but no one was harmed not even Arthur who was the target of the shot.

"Did you miss?" Artemis asked.

"I never miss, not at this distance." Howard smiled seeing not even a scratch on neither Arthur nor even his clothes and the bullet he shot was stuck inside a painting on the wall right behind Arthur. "What else can you do?"

Arthur casually shrugged passing through K as if he was a ghost, then made himself invisible appearing right next to Howard. "So do you think I am good enough Mr.Smith?"

"Sure." Howard chuckled, "But we have to see about your weakness as well."

"I have no weak-" Arthur was about to brag some more when K cut him off.

"He has several weaknesses, let's first talk about his character. Regardless of his ability, he has shown cowardice on multiple occasions, running away from fights he could easily win and attacking from behind when no one's around. He's greedy for wealth and has been involved in petty thefts and then some unneeded arrogance which could prove harmful if not kept under control. Also, he relies on his power more than he should, making him completely useless if we put aside his abilities."

"I wasn't running away from fights, it's called being smart. And about the stealing bit, I only stole from people who deserve it."

K ignored Arthur as he continued, "As for his powers, it's limited to what he just showed you. Passing through anything and anyone and can make himself invisible at any given rate. But it's not a passive ability like your immortality but rather it's like a switch he can turn off and on. And that brings me to his weakness, Gold. I once saw him involved in a fight where his wrist got stuck inside one of the men's gold necklace which nearly got him killed."

"So you were the one who fired that shot that day," Arthur said remembering the unexpected bullet that killed the people surrounding him.

"Boss wanted you alive so it was my duty to keep you breathing at least." K said, "Anyway, that's all I know about him. I am not sure how gold neutralizes his power and to what extent but I am very certain that it will stop him, and I am sure if an unexpected shot hits him before he has a chance to use his power he is good as dead and as for his other weakness more research is required."

"I don't think this is going to work," Arthur said trying to walk away, afraid as he didn't know they had so much information on him. James and Artemis tried to stop him but he just passed through them like nothing but Howard's word made him stop.

"If you leave what makes you think we won't hunt you down with a golden bullet. Seeing how you're reacting, even you don't know what it will do to you so are you sure you want to run and find out."

"Then I'll just kill all of you here and leave," Arthur said with a shaky voice.

"You think you can?" James said as he brought out his claws.

"Stop it." Howard said as James snorted and walked away, "Arthur, I want to know what made you agree to come here."

"You." Arthur said sighing, "I read about you in the papers and I knew that you could help me with my money problems. And with Mr. K, here explaining to me that you were the same kind as me I thought you could be the answer I was looking for. So I came here even ignoring the fact that your brother tried to kill me twice till now but I guess I was wrong."

"Do I look like a bald guy in a wheelchair running a school to you?"

"A what?"

"I'll give you a reality check, Arthur." Howard said, "I can understand why you're so upset with me trying to track you down and find all your weakness but we aren't living in a world of fairytale and unicorns. Everything requires trust to work and for me, trust is me knowing your weakness so I can stop you if you ever try to go against me. I haven't even left my brothers out of it as you can see, so what makes you think I would spare you of that treatment,"

Arthur looked towards the unconscious Victor as he gulped, "So what about my trust? What makes you think I'll trust you?"

"Well you can try killing me but nothing has worked as of late. Even the strongest anesthetic couldn't keep me down for more than a couple of seconds so unless you can find a way to kill me by yourself, I can't give you anything regarding my weakness." Howard said, "But I can give you everything you came for. Wealth, knowledge about what your powers are, and what makes you different from the rest. And a place where you don't have to be afraid of people hunting you down for your powers. And for that, you have to earn it, show me you're worthy of putting my resources into, and show me that you're worthy of my trust."