Dog carcass in alley this morning. Tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen it's true face.The putrid stench of death which comes as bile hits the open air. The Question stands over a body lying spread-eagle in an alleyway, black tread from the loss of traction over the body's torso. But the face is familiar.
It's his without the mask.
Ted Kord steps in next to his colleague, the Bug hovering far off overhead.
"Well, there's something you don't see everyday..."
"Ee-- Nightshade! Careful, his power is almost boundless!" Captain Atom called out.
Eve Eden melted into the shadows, and transported herself to sights unseen.
"Imp! Who the devil are you?!""I am Qwsp! And as you bedevilled my friend, so shall I be a devil upon you! Hee! Hee!"Civic City had been turned upside down by this monstrous diminutive entity. In some places quite literally. This Qwsp seemed to have more power than he knew how to use it.
"I give you fair warning. Friend or no friend, if you don't stop this behaviour instantly I'll break you down on a molecular level and scatter you through the Quantum field!"The imp cackled with uproarious laughter at this threat.
"What?! Have you not been paying attention? Interdimensional teleportation? Reconstituting ourselves from a molecular level? We learn how to do that in Elementary school... as well as which elements to transmute ourselves from when available... bu why am I discussing grade school with you people?""We'll stop you all the same!" Boomed Allen Adam, pushing ahead with the 'Fake it til you make it' form of superheroics.
"How? The only way to force me to stop is if I were somehow made to say my name backwards. I'm not some melodrama villain, how could you possibly even do that?"Nightshade re-emerged from a wall, brow furrowed, seemingly perplexed by how to use this new information.
"Qwsp... What's that? Pissweak?""Noooo!" Hollered the 5th dimensional imp, in an overly dramatic way which lets us all see exactly what's coming.
"Not Pissweak! Pswq!"Before his eyes doubled in size as 5th dimensional imps are so often wont to do in the situation.
"No! No! Blargh! With my parting words... I curse that treacherous Thunderbolt! Damn youuuu Yyzzzzzzzzzz--! {-Pop-} "Nightshade and Captain Atom looked at each other in shared thought through the richening silence, before sharing the only question possible under the circumstances.
"Thunderbolt?"
It was ridiculous that Johnny found himself here. At this door. He wasn't some scummy no good 2-bit P.I. But he'd been asked kindly in good faith by a young woman begging for his help. The gods tended to frown on these types of things.
The gods who gave him his powers, were petty as Hell, and could take them away in an instant for... well, refusing exactly this kind of charge.
And besides. The woman said the guy was a creep. And she she know, she married him.
And that's why Johnny was now knocking on the door three times.
He barely heard footsteps approach the door, then it gave way, revealing a man so heavyset it left questions how he approached the door without being heard.
"Ye--?"The man was grotesque. But that wasn't what had captured Johnny's attention. His legs. Something was wrong with his legs. If anyone could tell that it was Johnny.
"I was sent here by your wife. She's asked me to get you to cease and desist--""Yeah, I'm not going to do that.""Excuse me?" Johnny asked, more out of surprise than meant as any kind of threat.
"My wife. Aphrodite. She clearly sent you here as some kind of cruel joke, I mean, look at your leg. And I'm neither going to let myself be hurt by her sending one of you people...""YOU PEOPLE?!?""Oh relax, I meant mortals, not handica-- I mean, look at my legs. C'mon now. Give me some credit here...""Vulcan! Help me Now!" His clothes seemed to fold out into the divine uniform of a centurion.
"Oh... so this is happening... I hate burning favours, but..." The man whistled.
"What's that supposed to do?""Oh, when you see her you'll know. Someone owes me a favour. After all, I made most of her outfit. I'm something of a weapons manufacturer myself."Aphrodite. The legs. Weapons manufacture...
"She didn't even bother to tell you her husband's name, huh?"The Son of Vulcan sighed out the name.
"Hephaestus.""Yep, because I'm betting no matter how she tried to spin it, I bet she'd have a hard time getting you to go ahead and do this if she said her husband's name was 'Hephaestus', huh. Anyway. You can talk it out with her."Johnny turned to see who he was referring to, but he already knew exactly who he was going to see.
"Diana. We seem to have a disagreement here. Please straighten this gentleman out."
The Question led the way through the sewer system holding out an old miner's lantern he'd bought cheap from Army surplus, the light cutting through the darkness as he made his way. This time with company.
"So, you're saying you had no idea that you had an alternate version of yourself who was also living in Hub City?"Kord's question was met with only some kind of grunt. The Question was thinking. Still trying to divine meaning from what he'd witnessed this night.
The Question pushed on through the darkness, his lantern swinging gently from it's handle. He got to a large ceramic tile and slid it over, revealing a small chamber about the size of a small one room apartment. A mattress, a blanket, a small generator, a small hotplate.
"Good God! You're LIVING down here?! Why didn't you tell me? I could have--""Temporary. I'll have a new place in two weeks."
"Still... I could put you up in a hotel until then...""Refried beans?"
"Hell no. I don't even want to think of the kinds of microbes and bacterial-- oh you're just going to dig right in there, huh?" The Question had peeled back the mask and was already firing down the opened can of beans with a spoon.
"Short night. I'd heated this an hour ago."
"Sure. Here's one you prepared earlier...""Asking the wrong question."
"What? About what microbe or bacteria you're sifting through in there, because my money's on e-coli--""No. *Gulp* About other me living in Hub City."
"How's that?""Did whoever kill him mean to get him or me..? *Burps*"
Ted stared on in shock.
"...That's the Question."
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