"You have a name besides Kid Flash?" Grifter asked after a while of wadding through sewer water in silence, making me glance over at him with a quirked eyebrow.
"I do... But it's kind of a secret I.D."
This made him scoff for some reason, but he explained before I had to ask him to, "Secret identities don't matter much in this world. It's all gone to hell, after all. And what once mattered doesn't seem as important when faced against death."
"You have an extremely morbid outlook on life." I pursed my lips slightly as I said this, actually kind of surprised and disgusted by his attitude.
"It's not morbid..." He sighed and paused for a moment, then turned to me, "It's realistic. I have seen enough death and pain in the last few months to last the Joker a lifetime." Then he looked away from me, "Let's not talk about the life I lived before all that."
For a moment, I stood just staring at the man. Clearly, whatever was going on around him weighed heavily on his shoulders. He didn't seem like any mercenary I had faced in my life. He had an air of cockiness around him, yes, but to me that seemed like a type of defense mechanism to keep himself safe from the rest of the world around him. Like a security blanket even.
"Wally. You can call me Wally, if you'd like." I said after a heartbeat, deciding that if he had saved me from doing out there then he could easily be trusted. And if he couldn't, I could always just run away.
"Wally, huh? That must be one of the dopiest names I've ever heard." He told me with a smirk I didn't see but could hear, then motioned for me to continue walking. "Guess you can call me Cole if we're gonna be all nice about this thing."
I smirked at him for a moment and crossed my arms over my chest, then asked, "Just where are we going? I know barely nothing about this place and-"
"Yeah, I get it, kid. Don't understand how you know nothing about what's going on- most probably amnesia-" He shrugged as he said this, but continued before I could interrupt him and explain my predicament, "But right now we're going to a top secret meeting with my team, The Resistance. We only have a few hours to stop King Arthur from setting off one of the deadliest weapons in history and for that... Well, honestly, I don't even know how we're going to stop him."
"Seriously? Suicide mission?" I asked him in a sarcastic tone, even though deep inside I could feel my stomach start churning.
Just what kind of messed up reality had we stumbled into? And, better question yet, where were my three other dimensional travelers? From my first glance at the world that surrounded me up on the surface, I had found no body that looked even remotely close to that of a superhero. The closest to a hero I had seen was women in Amazonian armor, but I had a feeling that they were not heroes in this world. But that meant that my friends had not died close to where I was. And there may still have been a chance that they were still alive.
Grifter shrugged once more, "Hey, any plan to rid the world of this hell is good. Even if it means having to lay my life down."
"But what if you die and the world stays the same?" I asked him, honestly curious as to how he would answer.
He was quiet for a moment before he answered. Then when he answered, his tone of voice was tight and almost angered, "If that happens, then... I hope hell is a thousand times better than what I've seen up here. Because there's no doubt in my mind as to where I'm going."
The almost laid back atmosphere we had maintained over the first part of our trip was now completely replaced with tension I could not understand, but I decided to stop asking him so many clearly personal questions and instead asked a completely stupid one, "What's your favorite color?" in hopes that he would come back to a less serious mood.
The man in front of me stopped walking abruptly and I worried that he might use one of his guns to get rid of the problem that I was, but soon enough he turned to me with a chuckle, "You're alright, kid. Now stop stalling us so we can hurry up and help the resistance!"
With a smile on my part, I began to follow him without any other words shared between us. Then, when we reached a caved in tunnel that had barely any light shining inside, I heard him curse.
"They moved the spot. Dammit." I heard him mutter to himself, then he turned to me, "Guess we're walking a few miles more." He told me, then he leaned down onto the rubble, picked up a rock, grabbed a piece of paper, and nodded to himself, "The Amazons are going to grab at Lois Lane. We're going to have to hurry if we want to get there before she dies."
"Lead the way."
And he did just that. I followed without any other words because I knew about Lois Lane. Even though she wasn't going to be the same person, I didn't want to see her get hurt. So I would help in any way I could.
"Want to bet again?" Iron Man asked Green Arrow as he prepared the calibrations for the next jump.
The green clad man quirked an eyebrow at the other, then smirked and nodded, "Sure thing. I bet there's going to be heroes in the next one too."
"Please, Robin Hood, the pattern is two with heroes and one without. You're going to lose this bet." Iron Man told the blonde man with a smirk and arms crossed.
"We'll just see when we get there, won't we?" The blonde retorted, smiling broadly over at him.
Tony rolled his eyes behind the face plate, but still nodded and looked down at the machinery in his hands. Superman stood off to the side of the large group with Flash and Martian Manhunter, whom were speaking to Batman.
"So we're kind of going to need for those two to return Creeper to us. He might be insane, but he's still a part of the League." Flash finished his explanation at that moment, then the Martian spoke up. "Would you be needing help from us to bring him back?"
Batman only shook his head, "We have more than enough people helping us reach Kid Flash and Deadpool." He told them, then sighed with a shake of his head when he heard Thor's booming voice accompanied by Greg's whooping laugh. "Believe me when I say we do not need anyone else on the search."
The Martian and the speedster exchanged a glance at those words, but Batman turned away and made his way back towards the group.
"You will have Creeper back." He promised with a nod before turning to Tony. "Let's go."
The man smiled behind the face-plate, nodded, then pressed the button. And they were off again in a flash, leaving the rest of the Justice League around them both confused and intrigued at the second batch of inter-dimensional travelers they had seen that day.
"Just a little more..." I heard Grifter mutter to himself as we continued making our way through the admittedly intricate sewer system that had once been used by the populace in London.
We had been wallowing about knee deep in these waters for what seemed like hours now and I was beginning to feel hungry again. My energy level had dropped considerably and I knew he had noticed because I had stopped asking stupid questions about thirty minutes ago. I'm not sure if he had muttered that just for himself or to keep my spirits raised, but I didn't mind. He seemed like the type of person that would fight to the finish so I knew I could trust him, if even for a little.
"Are we nearing your rendezvous point?" I asked him after a moment and I could see his head bob up and down.
"Right... Up... Here." He dragged out for a moment as we continued walking, then he stopped right below a manhole cover. "No way to go other than up, kid."
I nodded and smiled softly, but winced as a sudden pang of hunger hit me. He noticed the twist in my face and asked, "You okay, kid?"
"Yeah... I just need some food." I explained, "My metabolism's extremely fast. If I don't eat every few hours, I'll pass out."
"Got it. But can you last about... Say... A fight without eating? Because that's what we're going to meet up there." Grifter told me as he pointed upwards and I nodded slowly.
"I'll be running of fumes, but I'll survive. Let's get going."
With a nod he began to climb up, then when he reached the cover, he raised it slightly and looked around. Upon him opening it just a little bit, I was able to hear the sound of gunshots and shouts.
For a moment, I closed my eyes and breathed in, trying to prepare myself for what I would find up there. Then I opened my eyes and found him looking down at me, waiting for something. "Let's go." I told him, then he jumped out onto the street, guns blazing. I climbed up the stairs as fast as I could, then rushed out to a scene much more bloody than what I ever thought I would encounter.
"So now Batman's on board."
Creeper glanced up from his spot resting lazily on the floor to hear what sounded like metallic footsteps resounding across the house he and Citizen Cold used as a safe-house.
"Once we've stopped Aquaman and Wonder Woman from destroying the world, Spider Man, I'll be able to concentrate on helping you find your friends and getting you all back to your world."
The yellow man's ears perked up at the mention of the teenager's name, then he jumped up and ran on all fours over to the stair banister, poking his head between the pieces of wood to look down at the floor below him. Down there he found the robotic oddball called Cyborg walking across the floor, an extremely familiar figure following behind him.
Immediately the green haired man's face split into a large smile and without any hesitation, Creeper jumped onto the stairway and lunged himself at the teen.
"Spider Man! You're alive!" He cried with a cheer, eyes shining with happiness.
Spider Man was slightly taken aback by the sudden hug, but still hugged Creeper and nodded. "Creeper! Are Deadpool or Kid Flash here?"
The yellow man's good mood diminished at the mention of his favorite ginger and psychopath, the horns on his hair seeming to fall as much as his mood. "I haven't seen them yet... But Shazam promised me he'd help me find you guys!"
And the two began to talk about their experiences in this new world, ignoring Citizen Cold when he stepped into the room and Cyborg. But both men looked at their interactions with quirked eyebrows, confusion, and wonder.
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