In the end, Dilos decided to return the car himself. Only...
Looking at the Luthor Mansion before him, with its retro castle-style architecture, enormous gardens and courtyard, parking garage, and superalloy gate at the entrance, Dilos couldn't help thinking that it was good to be rich.
"But why has nobody answered the doorbell? I've been ringing it for half an hour." Dilos was a little frustrated. What was this, were they not home, or was this some rich-people joke?
After waiting a little longer, Dilos had no choice but to give up for now. He drove the incredibly flashy gold Lamborghini home, planning to return it another day when he got the chance.
After getting home, Dilos was just about to head into town to buy some groceries when he saw a crowd gathered around an ambulance. A man who had passed out was being loaded into it by several paramedics.
Everyone was curious by nature, and Dilos was no exception. He happened to spot his cousin Chloe and her friend Pete Ross discussing something among the crowd, so he walked over and asked,
"Chloe, what happened here?"
"I'm not sure. I only know that man was electrocuted." Chloe answered as she took pictures with a camera. Beside her, Pete Ross hurriedly said,
"Three days in a row, three people have been electrocuted. And all three used to play football at Smallville High School. There has to be a connection."
At that, Dilos also sensed something was off. He knew how chaotic this world was. Especially when it came to superheroes like Superman: if something strange happened near their home, it was almost always someone with superpowers behind it.
"Do you have any leads?" Dilos asked without thinking. If they ran into someone like this, they should just let Clark, the Superman, handle it. Anyone else would only be asking for trouble. Better to learn a few details about the culprit, then stay as far away as possible.
"Come with us. Let's head back to the Torch Studio at school first." Chloe and Pete exchanged a look, then pulled Dilos back to school. And then...
"Chloe, this is a sickness. You need treatment." Dilos's mouth twitched as he stared at the piles of documents Chloe had arranged in a little room at the studio. Newspaper clippings about every strange event in Smallville over the past twelve years were pinned to a foam board wall. There were more clippings about meteorite incidents than anything else—an absurd number of them.
"I call it the Wall of Weird~" Chloe said proudly, searching for information online as she explained to Dilos. "Ever since the meteor shower hit this town, everything changed. All kinds of weird things started happening. It all began here. The investigators just haven't been able to find anything."
At that, Dilos frowned slightly. He was suspicious of the claim that the investigators hadn't found anything.
If he wasn't mistaken, then in this world where superheroes from both the DC and Marvel Universes existed, organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra should exist too.
After all, Captain America was around. There was no reason S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra wouldn't be. Besides, as far as he knew, ever since Mutants had appeared, S.H.I.E.L.D., as a government organization, should have been secretly searching everywhere for people with superpowers, whether to recruit them or use them as experimental subjects...
Even if they hadn't found anything, they shouldn't have found absolutely nothing.
"Chloe, Dilos, I found that guy's records!" Pete called excitedly from where he was searching through the paper files. He held up a yearbook from twelve years ago and pointed to a young man in one of the photos. "Look, this is the guy who was standing beside the ambulance. His name is Jeremy Quick. I've always wondered about him. I know pretty much everyone in this town, but he's completely unfamiliar to me."
Looking at the man in the yearbook photo and the picture Chloe had taken at the scene, Dilos asked the question on his mind.
"Could he be a twin or a close relative or something?"
Pete shrugged and pointed to Chloe, who was rapidly typing away at the computer. "I thought the same thing, but Chloe will have to verify it."
Two hours later, Chloe printed out two pages and handed one to each of them. They contained Jeremy's records.
"A friend of mine at the hospital got these for me. That man really is Jeremy Quick, and he's an only child." Chloe was brimming with excitement. "During the meteor shower twelve years ago, he was found unconscious and naked, twenty yards from the meteorite zone. Because of an electrolyte imbalance, he's been in a coma in the hospital for the past twelve years."
"Why was he lying there? And why wasn't he wearing any clothes?" Dilos couldn't help wondering whether Jeremy had some kind of unusual fetish.
Pete explained, "Because he was tied up there like a scarecrow. It's a tradition at Smallville High. The Smallville Team's players pick a freshman and play a prank on him: they strip off his clothes, tie him up in a cornfield like a scarecrow, and spray-paint an 'S' on his chest.
"Only the teachers and the Smallville Team players are exempt from the prank. Even reserve players are off-limits; they don't target their own. I became a reserve player because I was worried they'd pull this on me."
"That poor kid." Dilos pursed his lips. He'd figured out what had happened. "Twelve years in a hospital bed, and he still hasn't gone crazy and killed anyone. That guy must have a pretty good temper."
"I think it's terrifying." After hearing Dilos, Pete glanced nervously at Jeremy's photo. "He hasn't aged in twelve years, and he's electrocuted three people. They didn't find a single trace at the scene. He could be a Mutant with the ability to control electricity."
The Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto, had committed far too many crimes in the United States. On top of that, the media had deliberately fueled public opinion, so most people were intensely afraid of Mutants.
"Or maybe the meteorite radiation gave him his powers," Chloe said. She didn't seem too bothered by the whole thing. What interested her more was the possibility that the meteorite disaster had given people superpowers.
"Does the Smallville Team still have that tradition?" Dilos suddenly asked Pete.
Pete nodded. "Yeah."
Dilos went on, "Then do you know who they're planning to prank this time?"
"I'm not sure." Pete shook his head. "But I know they're planning to find a new 'scarecrow' today."
"Stop investigating this." Dilos put down the papers and looked at them both gravely. "Go to the police now. You don't need to mention that Jeremy attacked anyone, but tell them everything about his disappearance and his reappearance. And notify Jeremy's parents while you're at it."
"One last thing..." Dilos looked at them both. "Don't go to the homecoming dance tonight. Stay home. If this is true, then that poor guy who was bullied back in school must be full of rage, just waiting to let it out. And those dumb players who are still carrying on the 'scarecrow' tradition will be his punching bags!"
Seeing how shocked they were, Dilos couldn't help sneering.
"Did you forget? All those players will be at tonight's homecoming dance! So you two should stay away to avoid getting caught in the crossfire."
Before you continue