Villain Complex [NOW A PUBLISHED BOOK] [2022 WATTYS WINNER]

Chapter Two

It would be nice to be able to fly. Storm Warning could. But Julian had to work with the gifts he'd been given.

A pillar of stone broke through the concrete beneath him and lifted him into the air. By the time he was stepping onto the roof of a building at the center of his target block, civilians had taken notice. Some ran for cover. Others began recording on their phones. As stupid as it sounded, it wasn't necessarily a bad idea. The quicker a villain's appearance took over social media, the quicker the heroes learned what was going on. Plus, good videos made money.

Julian strolled to the middle of the roof and planted his feet. He could sense the earth moving far below him, and all the energy around him ready to be shaped into stone. The ground trembled. He found his perimeter.

Sidewalks crumbled and broke open to make way for the rising walls of stone.

It wasn't an easy thing to practice without being noticed. After training for months to build up his endurance, Julian had taken a short trip to a remote part of New York's mountains and practiced constructing walls like these. Days of building them up and pushing them around and tearing them back down made him confident he could pull off the plan. It also left him drained for weeks. Whether or not this worked, he wouldn't be pulling any more big stunts for a while.

The stone walls continued to rise, cutting off the block from the rest of the city. Once Julian was satisfied with their height, he hopped onto one and crossed to the opposite edge.

People gathered below. The closest news station already had reporters on the scene. Perfect.

"I'll keep it simple," Julian shouted. "One million dollars to stop the walls from closing in and destroying these buildings. I estimate you have half an hour. Max."

Short but sweet. His announcement finished, Julian turned away from the people and strolled to the other side of the stone wall. There, he waited, cape billowing with the occasional gust of wind.

It wasn't long before company showed up.

The sky, already darkening with the sunset, went black as heavy clouds formed directly above the city block. A flash of lightning illuminated the silhouette of an approaching figure. Thunder followed, and Julian grinned.

Storm Warning landed on the wall with a resounding thud, sinking to one knee. In the next flash of lightning, he rose to his feet and surveyed Julian's work. One of his eyebrows lifted. "This is new."

The rising wind whipped the hero's half-length white cape around. The cape was fastened at his right shoulder with a small gold lightning bolt. It matched his short white boots, while his dark blue supersuit matched the mask that covered the upper half of his face. Above the mask was a head of short, fluffy blonde hair, and behind it were blue eyes with unfathomable depths.

"I've been working on it for a long time," Julian told him, his gaze still flitting over Storm Warning's tall stature and thick muscles. He'd seen the man up close before more than a handful of times, but that didn't make him any less intimidating.

"Looks exhausting," Storm Warning replied.

"I'm managing." Julian pushed against the wall beneath them with his power, upping the speed at which it crawled toward the nearest building. "I don't suppose you have my money?"

Storm Warning strolled toward him. "Doesn't really seem your style, Citadel," he said coolly. "And I'm not convinced these walls are going to hold up as long as you say."

"You want to find out?" Julian was walking forward now, too. "I do enjoy a good demonstration."

"As do I. But I think you need better lighting."