Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel Read Online Free Page A

do is worry about some ex-villain breaking out of the Tower and seeking vengeance for stealing his gig. I mean, yeah, the Tower’s supposed to be inescapable (with its miles and miles of smiles), but I didn’t want to take my chances; most of those old villains are really scary people.
    I spent a lot of time with my thesaurus app looking for something that sounded tough and menacing. The first word that called to me was Apex, because it means being the top of something. Research told me that there had been six superheroes who’d gone by the name of Apex, so unless I wanted to call myself Apex (the Supervillain), I knew I’d had to expand on it.
    Don’t ask me how, but that led to Apex Strike.
    I could just see it on the news: “Apex Strike Strikes Again!”
    Wait, no, that was awful.
    “The Wrath of Apex Strike!”
    Better, but still pretty cheesy.
    “All Shall Kneel Before Apex Strike!”
    …
    All right, I’d have to trust the news guys to come up with the headlines. That was their job anyway.
    So I had a codename, and I had a costume. Now to break them in.

    It took nearly a month of planning, but I was finally ready to introduce the world to Apex Strike.
    There were some pretty big butterflies in my stomach on that “Administrative Leave Day” from school as I biked two towns over to my first target, my backpack bulging full of costume, my helmet barely balanced on the handlebars.
    I parked in an alley two blocks away from the target, allowing myself some privacy to change. Actually walking around in the full outfit proved more difficult than posing in front of a mirror; the pants rode up my crotch more than I liked and were very squeaky, while the jacket sleeves almost completely covered my gloved hands.
    At least the cape covered up the fact that the puffy paint on my jacket was starting to flake from being crammed in my backpack for so long.
    I reminded myself that I didn’t have to be functional; I just had to look cool.
    Everything else would come out of that.
    I stood outside the door, my heart pounding as I prepared to pull it open.
    All right Aidan— Apex Strike , time to be a legend. Time to be a badass.
    Seeing the sign above the handle that said PUSH , I swung the door open and stepped inside the Sunnyside Liquor Store.
    The store was empty, save for the clerk, who was an aging hippie chick with thick, tied-back gray hair that seemed to stretch to the floor, and a fat guy mopping near one of the beer displays. Neither of them paid me much mind, even when the bell jingled above the door.
    Showtime.
    “I AM… APEX STRIKE!” I announced, proudly.
    The fat guy kept on mopping, his attention held by the music in his earbuds. The clerk behind the register looked up at me, idly, a slow smile crossing her face as if she recognized me.
    “Don’t tell me the Malkinsons are having another cape party. Which one are you supposed to be, Electronaut?” she asked.
    This wasn’t quite what I planned.
    Again, I announced, “I AM… APEX STRIKE!”
    The clerk shook her head. “Speak up, darlin’, can’t hear nothin’ through that helmet.”
    Fine, time to try something else.
    With slight focus, I waved a hand at the beer cases, exploding them outward in a shower of glass. The mop guy yelped, diving into a rack of Twinkies and sending them all over the floor.
    Raising the visor from my helmet with my free hand, I yelled again, “I AM… APEX STRIKE!”
    For emphasis, I whipped my cape over my shoulder, dropping the visor back down to cover my face.
    The clerk was startled, but looked more angry than scared.
    “You asshole,” she said, defiantly.
    Fine. If that was how she was going to play this, I’d take the lead. I pointed and focused on the cash register. I meant to make the drawer pop open dramatically, but instead dented it so hard and deep that it looked like it’d been hit by a sledgehammer. The drawer did pop open with a ding, so I got that much right.
    I made it nearly three steps to the