Dark Eclipse Apocalypse: Reborn As The God Of Light

5

"I need you, Mark," Gideon said straight to the point. "Drop your tools, pack your welding gear, load your truck. I will come for you right now."

Mark paused on the line. "What? Right now? Gideon, I'm in the middle of a contract job for an auto shop—"

"Cancel the job," Gideon said, his tone absolute. "I just leased the top three floors of the central tower. I need the best welder in Metro City to turn it into an impenetrable steel vault. I'm paying you five hundred thousand dollars cash, and you start today."

Silence hung over the line for three seconds.

"Five hundred thousand?" Mark gasped. "Gideon, are you crazy? What are you building up there?"

"I'm building a sanctuary," Gideon said, staring at his reflection in the mirror walls of the elevator. "The world is changing in six days, Mark. Trust me."

Mark let out a heavy breath through the speaker. "You're my brother. If you say it's important, I'm waiting for you."

Gideon hung up and a cold, dark spark glow in his eyes as he reached his SUV.

He drove his car out of the underground parking garage and headed straight toward the industrial district on the east side of Metro City.

The streets in the industrial zone were worn down and filled with dark smog from neighboring auto repair shops and iron foundries.

In his past life, Mark had been forced to sell his welding shop for a cheap price after his business partners forged his signature on a debt contract.

Mark had ended up sleeping on a cot inside a cold garage... working eighteen-hour days just to pay off debts he didn't owe.

And when the Dark Eclipse struck, those same corrupt partners had locked Mark inside an unheated storage locker to freeze to death while they stole his tools.

Gideon’s jaw tightened as his eyes flashed with a cold, golden glint.

'Not this time,' Gideon thought, stepping on the gas. 'My brother won't bleed for snakes again.'

He turned into a narrow alley and pulled up outside a rusted corrugated metal warehouse labeled 'Vance Precision Welding .

Inside, electric sparks showered the dirt floor as a tall, muscular young man in a leather apron welded a steel frame.

Gideon stepped into the shop while stepping over scattered iron pipes and copper cables.

"Mark," Gideon called out over the loud buzz of the welding machine.

The sparks stopped instantly.

Mark pulled off his black welding visor and wipe sweat from his forehead with his forearm.

His face was covered in dark soot, but his eyes were bright as he looked at Gideon in surprise.

"Gideon?" Mark set his blowtorch down on a metal table. "You actually came down here? I thought you were joking on the phone."

Gideon didn't waste time on small talk. 

He walked straight up to Mark and grabbed his shoulder, feeling his brother's body.

"I don't joke about family, Mark," Gideon said, his voice firm and steady. "Are those your partners over there?"

Gideon tilted his head toward a small glass office at the back of the warehouse.

Two men in greasy polo shirts sat inside, drinking beer and laughing while looking at a ledger.

Mark’s expression darkened as he looked away. "Yeah. Frank and Miller. They told me this morning that my share of the shop's profit is zero because of 'equipment maintenance fees'. They're bleeding me dry, Gideon."

"Have you packed your thing?" Gideon said flatly.

Mark blinked. "On it."

The door to the glass office flew open.

Frank, a balding man with a beer gut walked out holding a wrench, sneering at Gideon.

"Hey! Who the hell are you to tell my worker to leave?" Frank yelled, stepping forward aggressively. "Mark signed a five-year service contract with us! He owes us two hundred thousand dollars in debt!"

Miller stepped out behind him, holding a heavy iron pipe in his hand. "Get out of our shop before we break your legs, slick."

Gideon turned around slowly looking at the two men with absolute coldness.

In his past life, he would have tried to reason with them or call a lawyer.

But now, he had twenty points of System Strength coursing through his veins.

Gideon walked up to Frank... stopping inches away from his face. "He doesn't owe you a dime. You forged his signature on the debt papers three months ago."

Frank's face turned pale for a second before his eyes filled with rage. "You little bastard—"

Frank raised the wrench to swing at Gideon's head but Gideon moved like a flash of golden light.

Gideon reached out to him, grabbed Frank’s wrist with his right hand and squeezed it.

[CRACK!]

The sound of bones fracturing rang out through the silent shop.

Frank let out a blood-curdling scream as the wrench dropped by itself while he fell to his knees clutching his crushed wrist.

Miller gasped in horror as he raised his iron pipe to strike him.

But Gideon didn't even turn his head.... he kicked his leg back which hit Miller straight in the chest like a battering ram.

[BANG!]

Miller flew backward through the air, crashing through the glass door of his own office and collapsing onto the floor in a pile of broken glass and groans.

Mark stood behind them, his jaw hanging open in shock. "Gideon... what the hell? Since when can you fight like that?!"

Gideon stepped over Frank who was sobbing on the dirt floor, and walked over to Mark's tool rack.

"Start loading your truck, Mark. We have six days before this city turns into hell, and I need every piece of steel equipment you have." Gideon said calmly.

Mark stared at his brother for three seconds. 

He saw the cold, unshakable confidence in Gideon's eyes and knew something massive was coming.

Without asking another question, Mark grabbed a fifty-pound plasma torch and headed for his flatbed truck. "Give me ten minutes Gideon. I'm taking everything."

Ten minutes later, Mark's flatbed truck was loaded with four industrial welding machines, boxes of titanium alloy rods and heavy cutting tools.

Gideon pulled out a black leather briefcase from his car and tossed it into Mark's truck cab.

Mark opened the briefcase and froze.