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Stan Lee’s Work Force Book 3, Chapter 8: The Last Temptation of Count Nemesis

The elevator in the reception area of the Delightful Greeting Card company opens to reveal Count Nemesis leaning against the back wall with his arms folded, unconcerned. A skeptical look spreads across his face as he sees Bossman waiting for him with open arms.

“Count! Welcome back! Or is it just Nemesis?” Bossman asks.

“Stick to the full Count Nemesis,” he tersely replies.

“Your call. How was the ride up?” Bossman asks.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Count relays his displeasure.

Bossman leads Count Nemesis through the offices of his card company. It has a strikingly similar layout to the POW! Entertainment office. Bossman first takes The Count through the main cubicle work area. The Count notices Decimator sticking out of the hole in the floor.

“We’re working on that,” Bossman offers up.

“I should hope so,” Count Nemesis responds.

Bossman picks up a greeting card from Ice Queen’s desk. “First of all, let me tell you your work load would be much lighter at Delightful Greeting Cards. If you decide to make the jump, you would be editing single cards, as opposed to full twenty-four-page comic books.”

“Maybe I like a challenge,” Count Nemesis counters.

“Fair enough,” Bossman concedes as he leads Count Nemesis into the kitchen. They enter a large, rounded atrium-style kitchen. “If you were to join our team, this five-star kitchen would be at your disposal,” Bossman boasts. Count Nemesis barely even looks over his surroundings.

“Meh. I have my own culinary station in my desk drawer lair,” Count Nemesis asserts.

“Oh yes. I heard about that. We were all very impressed,” Bossman confirms.

Through the kitchen, Bossman leads Count Nemesis into a gym filled with trendy exercise machines. Whisper sits on a bench struggling to lift the tiniest of weights. “Our state-of-the-art gym will…” Bossman begins, but notices that Count Nemesis is yawning. “All right, I can see you’re not going to make this easy, so I’ll cut to the chase,” Bossman resigns. “Follow me.”

Count Nemesis follows Bossman back out into the main office. They make their way over to the men’s bathroom. Count Nemesis’ eyebrow raises. Now he’s curious. Bossman brings him to a stall with a red and black “Out of Order” sign hanging on the front door. Bossman pushes the stall open to reveal not a toilet, but a long hallway. Bossman now has The Count’s attention.

The two villains walk down the hall. When they reach the end, the space opens up into a massive and expansive villain lair, the likes of which Count Nemesis has only dreamed of. The Count stops short of entering and marvels at the epic sight. There are walls made entirely of super computers, weapons of diabolical design, and portal machines leading to who knows where. Working diligently on all said items is a small army of robot skeletons, controlled by Kill-Switch’s electrical powers. Count Nemesis is flabbergasted. Bossman smiles. He knows he’s hooked The Count.

“How… how do you have the time and resources to do all this?” Count manages to ask.

“We make most of our money on Valentine’s Day cards. The rest of the year is spent in my villain think tank, developing our evil plans to take over the world,” Bossman explains. “You could be a part of this if you so choose, Count Nemesis.”

The Count stares in awe at the impressive facility laid out before him, conflict in his eyes.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of STAN LEE’S WORK FORCE this Thursday!

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