“How’d you like a broken nose?”

###

“I’ll call YOU … Red. What do ya got?”

Ragnar the Red, the Viking villain, laid his cards on the table, face up. “You wanted to know, Rustler … so now you know.”

“Yep,” The Rustler sighed. “I wanted to know, alright.”

“And unless your luck,” the Viking said, “changed all of a sudden, the spoils of this war now belong to me.” He reached out over the table, poised to rake in the pile of cash at its center.

“Now you wait just a minute, Ragnar. How do you know my luck didn’t change?”

“Rustler, we all know you’re a fighter—not a card shark.”

“Yeah,” said the third man at the table, clearly amused. “Most of the time, you can’t even card swim, Rustler. Definitely not a card shark. A boat anchor is more like it.”

The black-hearted cowboy slammed his fist down on the table. “WHAT did you say, Keg? Why don’t you say it AGAIN.”

“What did I say?” asked Powder Keg in his imitable Brooklyn accent. “All I said, was―”

“I wouldn’t say it,” cautioned Ragnar the Red. “The Rustler can be very … ornery … when he’s about to lose.”

“ABOUT TO LOSE?” The Rustler was indignant. “I’ll show you fools ABOUT TO LOSE.”

He stood up and threw the table over in one swift motion.

Ragnar and Powder Keg jumped to their feet, the Viking striking the table with his war hammer while it was still in the air, shattering the flying furniture upon impact.

The Rustler’s hands were thrust under his long black duster coat, while playing cards and smashed glasses littered the floor wet with whatever the villains had been imbibing.

Powder Keg’s fists were up in a fighting posture. “Hey—you got a problem, cowboy?”

“Maybe I do.”

“How’d you like to settle it, then?”

“Maybe I would.”

“How’d you like a broken nose?”

“HA HA HA!” The Rustler rolled into a great belly laugh.

“Wha—what’s so freakin’ funny?”

“You idiot,” Ragnar said. “The Rustler’s not going to fight you. The Rustler’s going to shoot you.”

Powder Keg looked into the The Rustler’s evil eyes, those dark portals and his wicked grin confirming that Ragnar the Red was right.

The greaser scanned the room for something he could explode.

###

Superhero Story 2 is 100% fun, and appropriate for all ages!

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