In the New York City of Terra, Mutt Muckrake and Sherri Subpoena received surprising visitors. Readers may recollect that the former corrupt bureaucrat Hamhanda Blubber had lost weight AND lost most of her cynicism, then had married Tarik Almohad, an important army officer serving the progressive Muslim administration of Morocco. It was Tarik and Hamhanda who now visited the law office without warning. Only Mutt and Sherri were in the office; Mutt's partner, and two new interns, were in court.
"I haven't lost all of my intel connections," Hamhanda told them. "I know that you, Miss Subpoena, know by now that Mister Muckrake is Dreadfuldevil. This will hurry things along for us. Tarik knows that I was formerly guilty of causing trouble concerning a long-hidden Starhatch."
Sherri smiled coldly. "Which resulted in you getting such a scare that you finally gave up evilness."
Tarik smiled warmly. "And I ultimately benefited from that change."
"As I'm benefiting from finally knowing who Dreadfuldevil is."
"When's your wedding date?" asked Tarik, knowing that a subtle difference in sound perception would reveal to the blind superhero that he, not Sherri, was now the one being addressed.
"Three weeks after the narrative leaves our Earth-variant and picks up the new Halo-based arc."
"Halo what?" asked Sherri.
Mutt kissed her with perfect aim. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart. My super-senses include some awareness of other worlds which figure in the Never-Stopping Story. What I mentioned won't affect us, it has no crossover with Terra."
"Speaking of crossing over," said Hamhanda, "the real reason for our visit is that my plotline-advancing intel sources have discovered a SECOND Starhatch on our planet."
Tarik added, "We hope to get at it BEFORE that evil immortal gains control of it. As a matter of fact, Hipstera being so active in South America may be partly intended as misdirection, since the Starhatch is located under a glacier in Siberia, about as far as you can get away from South America."
"Of course I'm up for any chance to help good guys defeat evil," Mutt assured the Moroccan. "But I'm far from being the mightiest hero on Terra. Why come to me?"
"Our own misdirection. You are known to have helped us and the Spanish against The Sly Evolutionary. If we're known to be visiting you now-- and we're permitting evil spies to 'discover' this fact-- Hipstera may be slower to realize that we want to get Captain Sha-Na-Na on board." (The reader is reminded that many strong Terran superheroes have gathered in South America; but if I haven't said that Sha-Na-Na is now in Detroit, assume that he returned there SINCE any post that showed him in South America.)
Mutt shrugged. "If I'm only a decoy, that still is a way to help. Just let me know how much decoy-stuff you want me to do."
"You being seen once visiting the Moroccan Embassy AS Dreadfuldevil will serve nicely."
"And," Sherri pointed out, "your not being needed actually to go to Siberia yourself will avoid any interruption of your aiding poor people who desperately need legal representation."
"More than one way to be a noble hero," said Hamhanda Almohad.
