Episode 12: One Little Scare
It was a quiet afternoon in Kelna. There hadn't been any reports of any crime or of the Ark's fugitives so Querl had decided they could all take the day off to do whatever they wanted. Kopi was helping Abel with an experiment when they walked in on Querl in the lounge.
"Hi, Querl." Kopi smiled.
"Oh hi, guys." He smiled. "What're you do-*hic*!"
"Are you okay?" Abel asked.
"Yes." He blushed. "I just wanted to see what're your do-*hic*-ing."
"Wow." The younger boy said.
"Yeah, that's a bad case of the hiccups you got there." Kopi added.
"I know." He growled. "They've been driving me crazy all day."
"Don't worry, Querl." Abel smiled. "We'll help you cure your hiccups."...
Tam was ready to punch something, or someone. Sorun had just beaten him again for the thirteenth time in a row and was now bragging about it to the green giant. It wasn't his fault the buttons on the controllers were so small. He needed to ask Querl or Abel about making some controls that were actually built for his hands.
As they walked back to their rooms, they saw Kiara sat on her bed, looking something up on her laptop.
"What're ya doing in?" Tam asked as he and her brother stepped into her room.
"What happened to 'never trespass another person's space'?" She growled as Sorun snatched the laptop away from her.
"Why are you looking up Querl?" He asked.
"Because you have nothing on him, no background, no history." She frowned.
"So?" He shrugged.
"You're all part of this mismatched group who have to live and work together, you should know everything about each other." She sighed. "I tried to read his mind to answer some of my questions but when I tried to keep up with all his trains of thought it made me feel nauseous."
"And ya give us lectures on personal space." Tam scoffed.
"I'm just concerned that there's something he's not tell us."
"Alright, this is what we know." Sorun glared. "He's 17 and his own mom felt nothing for him when he was born and abandoned him and he hasn't a clue who his real dad is, he grew up with cold, unfeeling robot caretakers until he ran away when he was 9 and joined the Legion of Superheroes and stayed there until he was 14 when he made a mistake and he left the Legion and moved here; he opened up the garage almost as soon as he moved here and the rest is history." Sorun explained.
"That's just what he's told you, yet he could be lying." Kiara pushed. "I always believed that knowledge was power and you know nothing about him."
"He's a good person who's given all of us a chance to grow and be something more." Tam glared as he stood up straight and tall. "Abel's an orphan who's been shunted around from pillar to post, Kopi was 11 when her father died and her mother became overwhelmed with grief, everyone saw Sorun as nothing but trouble and I'm and ex-con who was fresh out of prison with no hope until Querl gave us a place to sleep and a job; he knew that we needed help, so don't try and imply that he's some kind a evil monster."
"He's right sis, you have to have a little faith sometimes." Sorun added.
"Blind faith just invites disaster." She replied.
"Then what do you suggest?" Sorun sighed.
"Well, how about we do a little digging?" She suggested. "Just so you boys have a chance to prove me wrong on this?"...
Querl was blushing hot red in embarrassment as he desperately attempted to hold in the loud hiccups as he, Kopi and Abel walked through the city. They had told him that they may have a plan to get rid of him dreaded hiccups.
"Alright, what do we know about hiccups?" Kopi smiled.
"Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm*hic*, the muscle that separates your chest*hic* from your abdomen and plays an important role in breath*hic*ing. Each contraction is followed*hic* by a sudden closure of your vocal cords, which produces the *hic* sound." Querl explained.
"Right, so what have tried so far?" Abel asked.
"The techniques I've*hic* used that stimulate the nasopharynx and the*hic* vagus nerve are: drink*hic* a glass of water quickly, pull hard on my*hic* tongue, bite on a lemon, gargle with water*hic* and I've used smell*hic*ing salts." He growled.
"My old caretaker use to say that the best way to cure the hiccups is to scare them away." Abel smiled. "So what scares you?"
"Umm." Querl thought for a moment, he really didn't know what scared him.
"Well, there's this haunted house at the state fair." Kopi said. "It's the scariest haunted house ever! Zombies, werewolves, and ghosts, and vampires, and witches!"
"Oh." Querl sighed, realising what they were saying.
They then turned the next left corner and were faced with the state fair. There were dozens of children and their families running around, having the time of their lives. He internally groaned as Kopi paid for their tickets and they dragged him to the haunted house at the far end of the busy fair. Querl didn't think this was going to work but he was out of options.
What did he have to lose?
Suddenly something grabbed him by the shoulders and he screamed in horror. He quickly whipped around and punched the person in the face. He gasped when he realised that it was one of the haunted house's performers dressed in a vampire costume. Kopi quickly checked him over and sighed in relief to find that he was alright.
"*hic*, it didn't work, guys." He frowned. "What else you*hic* got?"
"Oh, we've got plenty, if you're up for it." Abel smiled.
"I*hic* guess so." He sighed. Kopi opened the giant doors to the haunted house and the walked into the dark. They stood in the darkness for a few seconds before the lights suddenly turned on and they were surrounded by freaky statues. They walked down a nearby hall as the pictures lit up, people jumped out at them.
Kopi and Abel looked over at their friend but he didn't look scared, he looked bored.
It definitely took the wind out of their sales. It took them an hour to go through every room and hall in the house, but by the end of it Abel and Kopi were scared senseless.
"So, Querl, did it work?" Abel smiled with pride, only for it to drop when he let out another hiccup. "I was afraid he would say that." The young boy sighed to Kopi...
"You have no idea how frustrating it is." Kiara growled in frustration as she, Tam and Sorun searched through the archives at the Kelna library. The only document of Querl Dox they had found was his acceptance from the mayor into the city.
"I told you he liked to keep his secrets." Tam glared. "Never had a proper childhood, had to leave the only family he's ever had."
"Yes, but why?" She growled. "There must of been a good reason, you don't just leave the Legion like that."
"Well, he said that because of him there was an accident that cost him the respect of his teammates and trust in himself, so he decided to leave so he could 'find himself again', or something like that." Sorun surgged.
"Maybe that's where we look next." She grinned.
"Where?" Tam asked.
"The Legion, there's got to be some record of him working there." She replied and jumped onto a nearby computer. After about two minutes of searching she frowned in confusion.
"What's wrong?" The green haired man asked.
"There's no mention of a Querl Dox in any of the Legion's records, I can't even find a picture of him, the only thing I can find that even remotely resembles him is this." She said and pulled up a picture from a news article, a picture of Brainiac 5.
"Who's that?" Tam asked.
"This is Brainiac 5, he was a core member of the Legion of Super Heroes." She said.
"Wait, isn't that the robot that went crazy and tried to destroy the universe?" Sorun frowned.
"Yes, according to this, after his final battle with the Legion he vanished, there's no mention of him anywhere after that."
"I heard he was destroyed by the Legion during the fight." Her brother said.
"No, he was imprisoned in the most secret, most secure cell on some isolated asteroid." Tam argued.
"Or maybe he escaped before the Legion could arrest him, perhaps he escaped to a place where no one knows him." She said.
"No way sis! You're going to far!" Sorun shouted, only to be shushed by the librarians.
"Why don't we just go and ask him ourselves." She sighed. "I can use my powers to detect whether he's lying."...
Querl sighed in frustration. He and his two friends had just returned home from the state fair and he still hadn't gotten rid of his hiccups, if anything, they had gotten worse. Kopi and Abel were disappointed that they weren't able to help their friend, but they didn't want to show it. Just as they entered the living room, Sorun, Tam and Kiara came in.
"Um, hey Querl, can we ask you something?" Sorun asked nervously.
"Of*hic* course." He replied, blushing at the looks they gave him. "Don't say a word." He warned.
"We were just wondering why there's no mention of you in any record of the Legion?" Kiara asked and Querl felt his stomach dropped.
"W-What do you*hic* mean?" He asked.
"We wanted to know a little more about you, and you said that you were in the Legion so we looked there but we couldn't find any mention of you, the only thing that even looks like you is this guy." Tam said and Kiara revealed the picture of Querl back when he was an android.
"According to the articles, Brainiac 5 was corrupted by some kind of program that made him evil and he tried to wipe out the universe but was defeated by the Legion, after that he vanished into thin air." Kiara frowned at the green teen. Querl sighed and walked over to his computer.
"I was part of the Legion, but because I*hic* joined at a young age they thought I couldn't*hic* defend myself so I was mostly behind the scenes, making most of*hic* the plans and equipment, by the time I was older enough to*hic* go on missions I was far more comfortable being based in a lab." He explained.
"But why isn't there any mention of you in any article about the Legion?" Kiara asked.
"You didn't go*hic* back far enough." He sighed and pulled up an old article from when he first joined the Legion, it was the only one that ever used his real name, but thankfully it didn't have a picture of him.
"The Legion is happy to welcome their newest member, Querl Dox; the child genius worked for the Time Institute. There, he baffled the other much older scientists and a few months later, a crime occurred outside the Time Institute. While Dox confronted the villains, the Legion of Superheroes came and helped out. After seeing the heroes in action, Dox left the Time Institute and auditioned for the Legion. He was accepted with flying colors, and took on the job of being the head scientist and engineer." Kiara read out loud before turning to Querl. "But why haven't you been mentioned in any other article?"
"Because the press are more interested in the action instead of the planning." He sighed. "I'm not evil." He told them firmly. After an intense stare down, Kiara sighed in defeat.
"Your telling the truth." She said. "I'm sorry Querl, I was just concerned for my brother."
"I understand, but I'm telling you, I would never harm my friends." He smiled. She nodded before she, Tam and Sorun left to do their own thing.
"That was close." Kopi sighed in relief.
"Yes, that was very terrifying." He replied, only for his eyes to widened. "Hey! My hiccups are gone!" He smiled.
"That's great!" Abel grinned, but it faded. "So, when are you going to tell them the truth?"
"I did tell them the truth, I was part of the Legion and I'm not evil." He replied.
"You know what he means." Kopi glared and he sighed in defeat.
"Not yet, you saw how they reacted when they thought I was that 'evil robot'."
"So you're just going to hope and pray that when they do find out about your past that they'll understand and not care that you've been keeping the truth from them, I know Kiara will never forgive you." The blue haired girl scowled.
"Sometimes you need a little faith." He mumbled before walking away from the two friends.
"Blind faith just invites disaster." Kopi sighed before leaving a poor confused Abel only in the living room...
ROLL CREDITS!