Forging Hephaestus (Villains' Code, #1)

by Drew Hayes

“You can’t do this. You’re just a corporation; you don’t get to kill whoever you want.” “A better grasp of America’s history in third-world nations and its handling of union debacles would tell you just how wrong that statement is in general.

In the back of her mind, Tori knew that Beverly’s limbs should be insufficient to support her new weight, that the enlarged woman should have been immobile. Yet science seemed to have taken the day off as the twice-transformed woman raced across the sand.

They should be safe up here, hopefully. Probably not forever, but at least until the capes arrived. That was when it finally hit him—they were the capes. This mess, this monster, they were the ones who had to deal with it.

If anyone knew how to divert people’s attention, it was the villain known as Johnny Three Dicks.

His face, already pale, lost a few more shades. “Oh crap, I’m going to have to ask her out if I want to see her again, aren’t I?” Ren put a reassuring arm over his friend’s back and patted him on the shoulder. “On the plus side, now fighting criminals doesn’t seem so scary, does it?”

“You don’t get it, Ivan. That was just my life. This, this is fucking money.”

At long last, he found something sturdy enough to stop his descent: the ground.

“This is why I love rookies! A rocket dragon. A fucking rocket dragon! Have we ever had that before?”

“That... was unexpectedly sweet.” Tori turned her head, amazed that the early morning allergies she’d apparently just acquired were able to make her eyes water even through closed car doors.

“And that’s why they call me Johnny Three Dicks, doll. No matter which way you try to come, you’re still fucked.”