(1 DAY AFTER I DONE RECRUITING MY VILLAIN MEMBERS)
I stood at the center of it all.
A broken warehouse on the edge of Chicago. Cracked windows. Rusted steel beams. The stench of oil, blood, and forgotten dreams. A perfect nest.
My nest.
The rain tapped the roof like a ticking clock. And I stood under the single hanging lightbulb like a spider at the heart of his web.
And they came to me. One by one.
Criminals. Outcasts. Monsters the world had tried to bury.
I didn't make them evil.
I just gave them permission.
…
Vernon Slade was the first.