by Drew Hayes
Bones of the Past
Villains’ Code: Book 2
Drew Hayes
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Epilogue
Other Novels by Drew Hayes
About the Author
Bones of the Past
Villains’ Code: Book #2
Copyright © 2020 by Andrew Hayes
All Rights Reserved.
Edited by Erin Cooley ([email protected]) and Kisa Whipkey (http://kisawhipkey.com)
Cover by A.M. Ruggs
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
Acknowledgments
This novel is dedicated to my Star Puncher
Special thanks to my incredible beta readers for their irreplaceable help, especially on a book as long as this one. Shout-out to Bill Hammond, TheSFReader, E Ramos E, Amanda, and Priscilla Yuen.
Prologue
“Would you hurry up already? I’m not missing this because you couldn’t be bothered to leave the lab. Chloe and I will go up to the roof without you.”
Tori let out a long, exasperated breath and cursed her past self’s naiveté. When she’d been setting up her new lab, tucked away in what was supposed to be three underground personal parking garages (which had undergone serious reconstruction and retrofitting) beneath her apartment building, the idea of an intercom had seemed like a stroke of brilliance. This way, Chloe and Beverly could easily reach her if something important came up without having to run down and potentially alert Tori’s security system. Only after everything was put in place did it occur to her that perhaps she should have put in a function to mute them when the need arose.
Dropping her tools onto her workbench, Tori walked over to the intercom and held down the formerly white button, stained now with grease and oil from the weeks she’d spent toiling away down in her lair. “I’m almost done. Chill the hell out. It’s not even supposed to start until nine.”
“That’s an estimate, and you know it. Nobody can be sure exactly when they’ll arrive.”
Personally, Tori had her doubts about such a statement. While it was true that the local news had been reporting on the impending phenomenon for the last two weeks—ever since someone at the Alliance of Heroic Champions first noticed the anomaly—many people had actually known about it several days prior to the announcement. Doctor Mechaniacal had sent out an email to all the scattered guild members, which self-deleted immediately after being read, cautioning them to the impending threat. Well, perhaps less cautioning, and more telling them to make sure to stay out of whatever it was that went down. There were more than a few Guild of Villainous Reformation members who couldn’t resist a good slugfest, and this sure as hell had the potential to be one. Still, no one—at least no one still with the guild after Balaam’s uprising—was going to disobey a direct order from Doctor Mechaniacal. He’d given the alert, and the arrival time, well before the capes had even admitted to knowing anything was going on. If he said they’d get here at nine, Tori was inclined to believe him.
“Give me five more minutes. I’m working on something special.” Tori released the button and turned her attention back to her current project. For once, it wasn’t the pieces of a red and black meta-suit splayed out on the giant workstation she’d set up in her first few days here. That was an ongoing project, one that would never truly be completed, though she had managed to finish an overhaul and upgrade along with all the repairs it had needed after the city-wide brawl. No, for now, her attention was on three sets of what had once been welder’s goggles, though they were barely recognizable as such under all the gadgetry and tech Tori had added to them.
Much as Beverly might complain, she’d see it was a worthwhile use of time when Tori brought the ocular bad boys back to the apartment. These sorts of shows didn’t come along very often, and she wanted to see every last detail. Besides, this project had made for a nice diversion, som
ething to take her mind off what was coming.
Exciting as the night’s festivities would be, they had nothing on what was coming over the weekend. Now that was something to be on time for.
Much as Ivan would have preferred to be with his children, Janet and her husband Juan had taken them out of the city, a decision that Ivan wholeheartedly endorsed. He had ample confidence in the AHC, especially now that Lodestar was once more at her post, but that didn’t mean things still couldn’t go sideways without warning. Better his children be far from the danger, somewhere away from all the chaos and madness of things to come. It had been hard enough to accept his youngest, Beth, acquiring meta-human abilities; the last thing he needed was her brother Rick ending up in the same boat.
Instead of watching the show at his townhouse—a poor replacement for the suburban home that was still being rebuilt—Ivan had taken advantage of his decades-old friendship with a billionaire and decided to watch from Wade Wyatt’s downtown penthouse. This was partially because Wade always kept high-end food a mere phone call away, but also due to a lingering sense of worry. If something bad did happen, he’d prefer to have his old friend, Doctor Mechaniacal, at his side. Between the two of them, they could easily make the difference in a fight, should the need arise. While it was hardly an ideal situation, especially for a pair of semi-retired supervillains, the fact remained that they lived on this planet just as much as everyone else. A threat to Earth was a threat to their home, and they were not men who took such dangers kindly.
“Ivan, please calm down. I can see you gripping the armrest of that chair. Any moment now you’ll snap it clean off, and it was made custom for this apartment.” Wade dropped down next to Ivan, staring out one of the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrapped around his entire penthouse. They, like Wade himself, were deceptive in appearance. Each was fitted with a wide array of technological marvels, allowing them to zoom like a lens, go dark, serve as television screens, withstand a rocket launcher, and probably do all manner of other tricks Ivan had yet to witness.
As for Wade, he seemed as unworried as usual, relaxing in khakis and a polo, his thinning copper hair unstyled. The gentle smile Wade wore almost hid the brilliance of the mind behind it, that of the genius inventor who had won infamy as Doctor Mechaniacal, the man in the meta-suit that was powerful enough to challenge all but the strongest of capes. That was a long time ago, however. Nowadays, he was merely a billionaire tech mogul who led a secret guild of villains who worked smarter than the common criminal.
Perhaps things hadn’t changed as much as Ivan thought.
“Sorry.” Ivan released his grip on the armrest; there were finger indents still visible in the leather. “The timing just has me worried. We’ve kept our heads down for months, and now, suddenly, days before we’re about to put things back in order, this happens. The timing just seems... suspicious.”
“Come on, Ivan. You’ve been around long enough to know how these things go,” Wade replied. “Where meta-humans are concerned, events and forces tend to pile together. Confluences are the best example, but they’re far from the only one. Hell, it happens to regular people, too. Where do you think the saying ‘when it rains, it pours’ comes from?”
“I still don’t like it.” Ivan reached over to the table and helped himself to a handful of grilled shrimp. Wade had called up quite a spread for just the two of them. Then again, given how much Ivan had stress-eaten already, he might have gotten the exact right amount of food. That was Wade—brilliant and calculating, down to the last detail. Oddly, that thought made Ivan feel better. If the smartest person he knew wasn’t worried about tonight, then maybe it was okay to relax.
“What you don’t like is being on the sidelines,” Wade told him. “Tori pulled you back in, and now you’re hankering to throw some punches and make your strength known. Even if you know you aren’t needed, you’d still prefer to be active than to watch from a luxury suite.”
Much as Ivan wanted to deny that possibility, he couldn’t. Wade was right. He’d gone back into battle, had remembered what it was like to be his full self for the first time in years, and now he was having to shake the craving all over again, like a relapsing addict.
“There’s nothing to worry about. The AHC is doing a full-court press, a real show of force. After Apollo’s attempted revolt and the ensuing fight with us, they’re all over this sort of PR opportunity.” Wade reached out and helped himself to a crab cake from the pile on a nearby table. “And even if that weren’t true, Lodestar is going to be there. Do I really need to remind you that she’s more than enough to handle nearly any threat? Add in Professor Quantum being back and Quorum getting off the sidelines, and the fight almost seems unfair.”
Those three, the Champions’ Congress, overseers of the AHC, were indeed a team that was not to be tested. Ivan knew it well; he’d experienced it firsthand. All the same, he’d feel much better when this evening was said and done.
Until then, he tried to force himself to relax and focus on the food.
“—and that about wraps things up!”
Though he groaned inwardly, Cyber Geek merely smiled for the cameras as Hat Trick posed next to the would-be muggers, bound now in the multicolored scarves she’d summoned from her sleeves. Hat Trick—Lucy, when she was out of costume—was kind, dedicated, brave, and trustworthy. Cyber Geek—Donald, when he didn’t have to dress up like the superhero he still sometimes felt he wasn’t—valued her as a teammate and liked her as a friend. However, she was an adamant fan of putting puns in her banter, and no amount of gentle coaching or careful suggestion would deter her from making those quips.
At least there weren’t many reporters out tonight. They, like most of Ridge City, were busy covering the much-bigger news: eyes to the sky, waiting with bated breath to see how things played out. For his part, Donald would have loved to be watching things unfold with the rest of the citizens. But he wasn’t a citizen. He was Cyber Geek, superhero of the Alliance of Heroic Champions, and that meant there was work to be done.
With all the big names and powerful capes occupied by the impending event, it had fallen to the newer recruits to make sure the streets stayed safe tonight. More than a few crooks had gotten the idea to take advantage of the distraction and pull off some capers. Already Cyber Geek and Hat Trick had foiled three muggings, two robberies, and a drunken man trying to make love to a post box. Medley and Cold Shoulder, the other two members of their team also known as Ren and Irene when out of costume, were a few blocks over, busting up a bar brawl. That wouldn’t take long; one look at Medley and everyone sober enough to process fear would stop short. A living chimera composed of over a half dozen animals, including a tiger-like head, scales, fur, claws, and a sharp tail, Medley was a walking reminder that natural human defenses weren’t at the top of the food chain. Cold Shoulder, with her ice powers, was equally dangerous, though she didn’t look it. Cyber Geek pitied the poor bastard who tried to take a swing at her; Cold Shoulder was a big fan of shock and awe.
Originally, they’d planned to work the night as a team, but the need for capes had forced them to split off and spread themselves thin. Cyber Geek was shocked at how much crime there was; he’d lived in Ridge City all his life and had thought of it as one of the safest towns in existence. Maybe it was the excitement—or the fear—about what was coming. Maybe the whispers he’d heard in the AHC halls were true, and that guild they’d fought had kept the low-level crooks too scared to cause much trouble. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter; not tonight. What counted was keeping people safe, just like the stronger capes would be doing in the sky.
Still, it was a pity. If he’d been given the choice, been allowed to exist as Donald rather than Cyber Geek for the evening, he might have tried to watch things unfold with Tori. They hadn’t gotten to talk much over the last few weeks, with Donald getting more responsibility from the AHC and Tori being promoted out of her intern-level work. Keeping connections with normal people was more difficult than he’d ex
pected, but he wanted to keep trying all the same. Important as Cyber Geek was, he couldn’t let Donald fade away completely.
Static buzzed in his ear communicators as new orders came in. Someone was trying to break into an antiques store ten blocks away. Hat Trick nodded—she’d heard the same thing he had—and, with a quick throw of her arm, sent another multicolored scarf shooting out from her sleeve. The fabric wrapped itself around a nearby building’s ledge and just like that, she was off, swinging through the air. There were plenty of people who’d have thought finding an enchanted starter magician’s kit made for a lame power, but Hat Trick had managed to prove she could be just as useful as someone like Medley, even if she lacked the brute force.
