"Artemis, stop struggling!" Gaius tried to hold his daughter, but Artemis suddenly manifested her premature power and turned into hundreds of light butterflies.
"ARTEMIS!"
Gaius tried to catch the butterflies, but whenever he touched one, it just passed his hands.
The hundred light butterflies flew towards Reed Ville and then circled on his head. Then the butterflies gathered into one and turned into a solid human. Artemis landed right on Reed’s shoulder, sitting there comfortably.
"Uncle! Arte wants toys!"
"Sure thing, Princess," Reed patted Artemis’ head. Now that Hermes and Artemis were already in his hands, Reed smirked at Gaius, who was staring at them with such a shock. "Why? Are you shocked that the kids prefer to have me as their Dad?’
Gaius’ was in shock after he realized that he was alone now. He gritted his teeth and commanded the giant rose to raise its thorny vine arm, "Return my children now, or I’ll strike you, Reed!"
Reed looked up at the thorny giant vine and chuckled, "It’s surprising that you still think I have no power at all, Naturally Hoe."
Reed put Artemis gently and then told the kids to get back.
"P—Please don’t hurt Mom, Uncle!" Hermes yelled.
"Oh, of course, Uncle won’t hurt your Mom. Didn’t I tell you that I like him before?" Reed chuckled, and he suddenly dashed so fast, it looked like he was teleporting.
"What?!" Gaius was utterly petrified when Reed suddenly stood in front of him and hugged his waist.
"You’re strong, my dear. But I’m not here for a child’s play," Reed touched the giant rose monster, and it shrieked out of pain before disintegrating.
Gaius’ eyes widened as he saw the rose monster he created just vanished into nothingness.
"You see, I’ve been playing nicely with you all along. I just don’t want to hurt you. But I’m not a patient man, so accept your fate before I blow your head out," Reed said in a low voice, but with a malicious smirk on his face.
Reed showed his true aura in front of Gaius. Even if he had already suppressed it so Gaius wouldn’t die out of a heart attack, it was terrifying enough for anyone.
Gaius’ legs trembled, and he lost his strength standing up, so Reed grabbed swooped Gaius’ leg and carried him in bridal style.
Hermes and Artemis ran towards their Uncle and Mom and hugged Uncle Reed’s long leg, "Woah, Uncle is so cool! That monster just poof, and you save Mommy!" Artemis said innocently.
"Hehe, of course, princess. Now that I’ve saved your Mommy, it’s time for us to live together, okay?"
"Yes! Arte wants toys—and cake!"
"Okay, let’s return to Uncle’s real mansion. Can you help us here, Champ?"
"Yes, Uncle!"
Hermes teleported them all to the main mansion that his Uncle Reed had, and they landed right in the spacious living room.
It was so huge that Artemis couldn’t help but awe, "UWAAAA! Uncle’s house is so bigggg!"
"Hehe, of course! Now, your Mommy needs to rest first because he is tired. Your room is on the left, and Hermes, your room is on the right. I’ll take care of your Mommy first, and then we can play together, okay?"
"Yes, Uncle!" Artemis and Hermes nodded simultaneously and went to their respective rooms with many things they liked as Reed’s gift for their obedience.
Besides, unlike Clarke, Reed remembered everything that Artemis and Hermes liked, just like how a good father should be.
"See? Even your kids prefer me more than Clarke, brother-in-law," Reed said as he continued smirking when he looked down at Gaius, who was still trembling in his arms.
Reed hummed happily as he walked to the master bedroom that had a beautiful ocean view. Reed put Gaius gently on the bed. He checked that Gaius was still trembling, and he chuckled, "Why are you so scared?"
"All I did is show you a small aura that I have. Do you really think that I’m powerless despite being Clarke’s blood brother? Well, I’ll show you what I can do," Reed chuckled and pointed at a potted plant, and then...
BOOM!
The potted plant suddenly exploded out of nowhere. Reed then touched a small drawer beside the bed. It disintegrated into nothingness, just like what he did with Gaius’ rose monster.
"I can explode things with my mind, and I can disintegrate anything into nothingness as long as I can touch it. Pretty convenient, huh?"
[Convienent? That’s straight-up overpowered!]
[He is terrifying! I feel like I’ve met with that demon Lee Yongsun from the tenth world, just a lot worse! I almost pissed myself!]
[Pupa: You already pissed yourself.]
[W—Well, just a little, hehe.]
"W—Why are you doing this, Reed?" Gaius asked, still shaking out of fear. "Why are you ruining my life? Do you like me—"
Before Gaius could finish his sentence, Reed suddenly grabbed his jaw with enough pressure to terrify Gaius even more.
Reed’s eyes were dark as if he had just heard something so ridiculous, "Don’t you dare think that I like you. I hate you as much as I hate Clarke. You know what, maybe I hate you even more than Clarke, you idiot old man!"
[Pupa: Ding! Reed Ville’s Fatemeter increases to 70%.]
[Hehe, step one: Denial.]
[Pupa: What’s step two?]
[Uh... have sex?]
Gaius bit his lip. He was scared that Reed started threatening him. But he couldn’t do much except to dodge Reed’s darkened gaze.
"Look at me, you idiot bitch. I keep you here because I want to take you hostage. I want to see what would Clarke do out of desperation."
"You—You don’t need to take me hostage, if you just want to see Clarke suffer... I don’t plan to return back to him either way," Gaius said.
"Oh, come on, I know that you’re an idiot who’s in love with that idiotic Superbman. You’ll return back to him in some way," Reed rolled his eyes. "Besides, my plan is to make Clarke absolutely suffers until he meets his demise, HAHAHAHAH!"
...
"Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you hate... your blood brother so much?" Gaius asked.