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The man and the duck stared at each other for a long moment in a cold room under hot lights.
“You got a light?” The duck asked, holding a cigar with no actual means of being able to igniting it.
Silence followed.
“You alright there, copper?”
“I…”
“Uh-huh?”
“You’re a duck, sir.”
“Oh, my god! I never knew that! Thank you for revealing to me this piece of brand new, top secret information!” The duck rolled his eyes. “Now, do you have a light?”
“Uh…no.”
“Great! Wonderful!” The duck huffed.
“It’s illegal to smoke in government buildings in New York City.”
“What? Since when?”
“1970.” The man said. “Technically, 1963, but the laws weren’t fully passed until-”
“Okay! Okay, fine, but what’s that got to do with anything?” The duck asked.
“A police station is a government building.” The man said.
“...ah. Right you are.” The duck said, slipping the cigar back into his waistcoat. “Then I will save that for later.”
“Sorry, Mister… Duckson.” The man said.
“Just…call me Howard.” The duck replied. “Trust me, it’ll be easier on everyone.”
“Alright, fine, Howard,” The cop said, “I’m Lieutenant Patrick Mulligan. I want to talk to you about the incident that occurred over at a shop in Greenwich Village.”
“Yeah, sure. What about it?” Howard asked.
“Well, it exploded in a massive cloud of ash and sulfur,” Mulligan said, “that’s…more than a little worrying where I come from.”
“Oh, buddy, you got no idea.” Howard said. “Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”
“Unfortunately, it’s my job to know.” Mulligan said, remembering that Watanabe had had the biggest manic grin on her face as she’d handed him the file for this particular case. “So, unless you’d like to start looking at what we charge for terroristic acts in New York, then I’d suggest-”
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute!” Howard put his feathery hands up. “I’m a private dick, not that kind of dick, man! I don’t go around blowing up buildings!”
“And yet, that curio shop is a smoking ruin,” Mulligan pointed out, “and you seem to be the only person of interest we can link to the scene.”
“Yeah, look, I saved the freakin’ world, alright? You’re welcome!” Howard snapped, huffing as he crossed his wings over his chest. “Seriously, I get no respect…”
“What does that mean exactly?” Mulligan asked. “I want to help you, Howard, but I need to understand.”
“Yeah, yeah, alright. Fine.” Howard said, pulling the cigar out of his waistcoat and popping it into his bill before reaching for the lighter that he no longer had and sighing. “Right, there’s none of that.” He mumbled as he put the cigar away again, facing Mulligan once more. “So, like any story worth telling, it’s all about a dame and her jewels. And let me tell you, brother, she had a Hell of a jewel…”
******
“Now when I tell you she had a Hell of a jewel on her, well…”
Lola Deville sat on the lap of Howard, stroking the feathers under his chin.
“It would be such a great help to me if you would help me find my family’s precious heirloom,” Lola’s voice dripped sheer sensuality as she leaned back in her backless red dress displaying a generous cleavage that the eye was doomed to be drawn toward, “I would glad pay you generously for your fantastic work.”
“Are you a piano player? Because you’re just ticklin’ all my ivories, doll-face…” Howard couldn’t help but smirk, being quite flattered by the attention, not to mention the lovely view of her-
******
“Stop it,” Mulligan cut off Howard’s story.
“What?” Howard asked.
“You’re embellishing.” Mulligan said flatly. “A lot.”
“Only a little bit,” Howard conceded, after a few moments of silence under Mulligan’s stone-faced and unamused stare, he huffed, “Waaaugh! Fine! Damn spoilsport!”
******
Lola Deville was seated across from Howard, in a rather conservative dress, looking at him with a surprised expression. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she was finally able to speak.
“I’m sorry, I just saw the sign said Duckson, I didn’t actually think you’d be a-” Lola began.
“Private detective, yep. That’s me.” Howard cut her off, a lit cigar in hand as he puffed out a ring and regarded the woman who had just wandered into his office. “And you are?”
“Lola Deville,” She said, and her voice did indeed drip that kind of sheer, raw sensuality that would make a man do the dumbest of things and all for the wrong reasons.
“I’m not even kidding you, Mack. She was that kind of dame that could whisper to ya and make you forget all your troubles. All that cab-driving debt? Gonzo!”
“Wait, you drove a cab?!”
“It’s not relevant to the story. Anyway…”
“Alright, Miss Deville,” Howard said, “tell me a little about the case.”
“Well, last night, someone broke into my apartment in Central Park West and stole a very precious item from my safe: a flawless crystal that came from the mines of Golconda.”
“Is that a type of sandwich?” Howard asked.
“No,” Lola’s face scrunched up in confusion, “it’s a fort in India.”
“Got it,” Howard nodded, gesturing for her to continue.
“It rivals the Kohr-i-nor in its sheer beauty, and it’s been a part of the Deville family for eleven generations now,” Lola said, “or at least it was until last night.”
“I’m not gonna lie to you, Miss Deville, this seems a bit beyond my scope.” Howard said. “I usually do cheating spouses, divorce cases caused by cheating spouses, missing dentures that sometimes weirdly enough have to do with cheating spouses. Jewel theft, though? This seems more like a job for the cops.”
“Oh, but Mr. Duckson-!” Lola began to protest.
“Howard, please. Call me Howard.” Howard said. “Mr. Duckson is my father’s name, and he doesn’t take clients.”
“Your…father?” Lola asked, still stunned at the anthropomorphized duck she was speaking to.
Howard sighed.
******
“That went on for a bit. Had to explain how I got shunted here from another dimension, how I got stuck here. Saw one parallel reality where they made just the worst movie about me…”
“Okay, now I know you’re screwing with me…”
“No no, really! The movie was really bad. No lie!”
“Please…please just…continue, Howard…”
******
“Alright, look.” Howard said, holding up his wings. “Even if I were to look into this, where would I even start? Who not only knew you had the diamond, but moreover knew how to get it and had a reason and the opportunity to get it from you?”
“Dr. Harold Hummels,” Lola said, “he used to work as a curator for the Metropolitan before he got fired over some sort of artifact scandal. He’s saved enough money to basically be a do-nothing artifact collector.”
“Sounds like a few nutjobs I know,” Howard quipped.
“He had approached me, not a few times in the past year, about purchasing the diamond,” Lola said, “but I always turned him down no matter how much he offered.”
“Must be a pretty important hunk of a rock,” Howard said.
“It is a family heirloom.” Lola nodded.
“Right, yeah, you mentioned that.” Howard said. “Alright, I tell you what, Miss Deville. I’ll look into this for ya. If this Hummels guy doesn’t check out, we’ll see what’s what.”
“Please, I’m at my wit’s end!” Lola said. “And I am willing to pay you quite a bit of money to retrieve it.”
“How much are we talking?” Howard asked. A second later, a cheque was pressed into his hand. It was unsigned, but Howard’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull when he saw the amount written on it. “Holy shi-!”
******
“I mean, what was I gonna do?” Howard shrugged. “I’m only a duck, after all.”
“Still… trying to wrap my head around that.” Mulligan said.
“I’m a duck, just accept it.” Howard shrugged again. “I’m not looking at you like you grew a second head just because you look like an overgrown pink weasel, am I?”
Mulligan opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. “Continue,” He croaked after a few awkward moments of silence.
“Well, so I took the case and I went to go stake out Hummels,” Howard said, “and that’s when things started to get weird.”
******
“I followed this guy, I swear he hit every single curio shop in Greenwich Village.”
Howard was getting annoyed. Hummels was a portly man with a bad combover and a penchant for going around Greenwich Village in ways that made the duck even more conspicuous as he attempted to tail him.
******
“How exactly do you tail people as a duck?” Mulligan interrupted, barely restraining a smirk.
“Don’t. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“You know what you did!”
******
“C’mon, dude. Can you please do something vaguely interesting?” Howard muttered to himself as he saw Hummels head into yet another shop. Waddling over to the door, Howard managed to slip in before it closed again, sneaking around behind a display of what looked and smelled like potpourri in a variety of dishes.
******
“I was wishing for a worse sense of smell, let me tell you-”
“If we could stay on topic please, Howard?”
******
Hummels walked up to and spoke to the man at the counter, Howard managing to catch only a bit of their conversation.
“-the real one?” The man at the counter asked.
“One hundred percent! I’d be happy to demonstrate!” Hummels said enthusiastically.
“Let’s see it.” The shopowner said, and Hummels pulled from his pocket a diamond that matched the description that Lola had given to Howard - completely flawless, across all its facets.
“Hoc nihil significat! Noli te vertere, lector!” Hummels chanted, and Howard’s eyes widened as he watched the crystal start to glow a deep, dark red. They widened further as fire erupted from the diamond, and out of that fire emerged a lean, muscled form of a man with a spiked tail, a face that resembled a pig and the fangs of a lion, and arms that resembled more razor blades than actual arms. “Behold! A denizen of the Outer Planes! Here to fulfill my every command!”
******
“Okay, come on now… demons?!”
“You’re talking to a duck and you’re splitting hairs over demons, Detective?!”
“...carry on, then.”
******
“Dance for me, creature!” Hummels commanded. The demon, looking utterly disgusted with his new patron, began to hop from one foot to another in a little jig that was as lifeless as could be. Hummels chuckled. “You see?” He asked, turning back to the shopowner. “Just as advertised.”
“I see,” The owner said, nodding, “well, the Hand will be quite happy to acquire such a lovely piece.”
“Indeed,” Hummels said, “now, let’s talk price.”
“Price?” The owner asked. “Oh, I believe you have a misconception.”
“What?!” Hummels replied, indignantly. Or, at the very least, he was indignant until the ninjas jumped out of-
******
“NINJAS?!” Mulligan almost shouted in incredulity.
“As I was-” Howard tried to continue the story.
“No, no. Stop.” Mulligan raised a hand, cutting the duck detective off. “Ninjas?”
“Uh huh,” Howard sighed.
“You expect me to believe that ninjas jumped out of nowhere to attack Hummels for having the crystal?” Mulligan looked at him with both brows raised. “You’re screwing with me. You’re making this up.”
“I guarantee you, I’m not.” Howard said. “I warned you that this was gonna get weird.”
“I…you…I…it…” Mulligan stammered several times before pinching his nose and heaving a deep sigh, gesturing with his other hand. “Continue, please.”
******
Hummels gave an incredibly high-pitched scream and ducked as the first ninja sliced a katana through the air where the man’s head had once been. He scrambled for cover, screaming out to the conjured demon.
“Defend me from these lunatics!” In complete opposition to its previous disgust, a manic grin appeared on the demon’s face as it charged at the second ninja, grabbing him by the shoulders. A pair of bat-like wings erupted from its back as it carried him up into the air. Howard, however, was keeping his eyes on Hummels as the man ran for the door only to find it suddenly gone.
“What the-?!” Howard breathed, keeping firmly in his hiding place.
“Sorry, Mr. Hummels!” The owner said, giving a wry chuckle. “You’re not the only one with a little magical prowess! Execute him and get that diamond!”
“Oh, this is way outta my depth…” Howard mumbled.
“I’ll get to you next, intruder.” The owner said suddenly, catching Howard off-guard. “Get the duck!” More ninjas seemed to appear from nowhere, and Hummels continued to attempt to flee about the room, lifting the diamond and conjuring demon after demon after demon from it.
The room erupted into sheer chaos, Howard ducking-
******
“Don’t snicker.”
“What? I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were! I heard you!”
******
-Howard ducking under a table only to be grabbed by his webbed feet and pulled out by a ninja, who was rather messily bisected by a demon who then grabbed Howard’s feet and hoisted him up into the air.
“Hey! This suit was expensive!” Howard shouted at the demon, as he dangled in the thing’s talons, lamenting the new red stains all over the front of his suit, his hat having been tossed to the four winds and was likely being gnawed on by a demon or getting cut into sushi by one of the ninjas twirling their blades about.
One of said blades slammed right into the heart of the demon carrying Howard, sending both careening toward the floor.
“Waaaaaaaugh!”
Howard fell into what for about two seconds looked like some very lovely china before it and the table that it lay upon were shattered into pieces by the impact of his fall.
“Oww! Oww! Oww! Uh… my tail feathers!” Howard groaned as he rolled over onto his side. When he did, he felt his wing touch something smooth and rocky. Cracking open an eye, he saw the very diamond he’d been hired to get right there in his feathers. “Oh, well ain’t I a lucky ducky?” He reached out for it, only for it to be snatched away by a passing ninja.
“Master! I have gotten the diamond!” He declared.
“HEY!” Howard shouted at him. “That was mine!” He was, unsurprisingly, ignored.
“Stop the demons!” The shopowner yelled, having hidden behind the counter at the start of the fight.
“Vere, noli hoc interpretari! Nihil significat et orator mox intercludetur-HRRRK!” The ninja began an incantation, just before a demon’s claws slammed into his back and lifted him up, the diamond dropping to the floor once again.
Howard dove for it. Unfortunately, so did Hummels, Howard unintentionally faceplanting into the man’s backside as he did.
“Oh, yuck!” Howard spat as he backed off. “Smells like beef chow mein that went bad!” Hummels picked up the diamond again, still glowing that blood red.
“Kill them all!” He shouted to the demons. “Kill everyone in this room except for me!” The demons seemed to take to that with no small amount of zeal, and Howard decided it was best to make a quick retreat out of here.
‘Crap! There’s no door!’ Howard quickly moved along the outsides of the carnage (as much as he could, anyway) and tried to get back over to Hummels.
The portly man was hiding behind his horde of demons. The room filled more and more with red flesh that smelled like sulfur, to the point where Howard was basically blinded by it. Stumbling around, the duck finally managed to follow the beef chow mein smell (“Yuck!”) and soon found Hummels hunched behind a bookcase that was partially aflame. Howard hopped onto the step beside him, facing him.
“Dr. Harold Hummels!” He shouted to him.
“Y-You… you’re a duck?!” Hummels exclaimed.
“And you need to lay off the Chinese takeout!” Howard snapped at him. “I’m here on behalf of Miss Lola Deville. I’m gonna need you to hand over that diamond, pronto!”
“A-A-Are you crazy?!” Hummels sputtered.
“Nope,” Howard said, “I’m a private detective.” Part of the bookshelf behind him exploded, Howard didn’t look back though he tensed on the spot. “Right, the literal hell you’ve unleashed. Probably should fix that first.”
“Uh, I, uh…yeah…” Hummels said, raising the diamond. “Come back from whence you came! Serio, cur hoc vertis! Cur tempus perdis! HOC EST INSANIA!!!” All the demons began to glow the same blood red as the diamond.
“Uh…that’s…that’s not supposed to happen, is it?” Howard asked.
“No, they’re… they’re supposed to go back to their dimension!” Hummels exclaimed.
“THEY ARE!” The owner shouted from somewhere within the sea of crimson. “AND THEY’RE TAKING US WITH THEM, YOU IDIOTS!”
“Oh, crap…” Howard muttered, just before the crimson light burst from each and every demon in the room.
******
Howard paused, pouring himself a cup of water, then taking a long sip as the silence dragged on. Finally, he looked up.
“...what? No objection there?” Howard asked.
“I mean, I’m aware that the curio shop blew up. I've seen it,” Mulligan said. “the reason behind said explosion can be just as crazy as you want. It’s a pile of ash now.”
“I meant the-” Howard stared at the man blankly, then shook his head. “Fine, whatever.”
******
It was a long moment before Howard felt comfortable pulling his wings out from in front of his eyes. When he did, well…
…well, he saw Hell.
“This is not gonna do great things for my complexion.” Howard muttered as he looked around. Not too far away, sticking up in ground that seemed to be made of ash and dust compacted together, was a human hand.
The human hand of Dr. Harold Hummels, the man buried up past his head with only half of his forearm showing, and in his hand was the diamond.
“Well, getting this was a handful.” Howard snickered as he reached to snatch the diamond up, then stopped himself. “Uh…hang on a minute.” He pulled a handkerchief from his waistcoat, using it to pick up and carefully wrap up the diamond. “Alright, so got the diamond. Lola can explain everything to me when I get home.” He looked around his new, ashen surroundings. “If I ever get home.”
“And you are a far, far way from home, aren’t you, waterfowl?” A feminine voice spoke out from the sea of ashes, immediately making Howard’s feathers stand on end.
Howard froze on the spot, looking around for the source of the voice. “Depends on who’s asking…”
“A devil,” The voice spoke up again, a pair of black eyes seeming to fade in from nowhere, soon an entire woman emerging behind them, “in a black suit.” The woman was lithe, tall, with legs that literally seemed to have no end in the black pants she wore. Her chest, quite a generously endowed one, was clothed in a tight tube top that showed off the curves of her-
******
“You’re embellishing again…”
“Oh, that’s not embellishing, buddy. This is embellishing.”
******
“Oh, Howard!” The woman’s voice was almost s moan as she, topless, nuzzled the feathers on Howard’s neck as he laid back against a throne made entirely out of naked succubi who looked at him with deep adoration and lust. “You have returned the Crystal of Koi to the realm, and have won the right to be our king until the end of time!”
“Mmm!” Howard said, snatching a perfectly-prepared martini off of a tray carried by a passing succubus. “Hail to the King, baby!”
******
“See that? That is embellishing.”
“No, that is just outright lying. Please tell me what actually happened.” Mulligan gave a resigned sigh.
“Why? You know why the shop blew up. Demons.” Howard shrugged. “Does the rest really matter?”
“Well, I mean, you’re already in it. I might as well get the entire story.” Mulligan shrugged. “Plus, you did mention it was Hell, so I imagine succubi have to be involved at some point.”
Howard raised a brow.
“What? I’ve read the Bible. Occasionally.” Mulligan said.
“You mean the Billble, right?” Howard asked.
“Don’t you know any good puns?” Mulligan’s expression somehow soured even more.
“See, that’s the funny part, you don’t know if that’s an actual thing where I come from or if I’m screwing with ya.” Howard smirked, sipping his water.
******
The woman had short, black hair that looked as though it had been styled again and again until ridiculously spiky. She stood there, regarding the avian as she adjusted the leather bracers on her arms.
“What manner of creature are you?” The woman asked. “Who walks like a man, but quacks like a duck?”
“Baby, I’m one of a kind.” Howard said with a grin on his face. “And who are you with the whole ‘Goth Jane Fonda Workout Tapes’ thing going on?”
“I am Satana Hellstrom, daughter of Satan.” She said.
Howard blinked and then clapped his wings. “Well, alrighty then! Well, Miss Satan, I’m Howard and if you could just point me to the exit, I’ll be happy to get out of your incredibly gelled hair.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t an option, Howard.” Satana said. “You have something that belongs in the realm of my father, and I’ve come to get it back.”
“See, that’s gonna be a dealbreaker for me, toots.” Howard said. “I had a client who wanted this diamond and if I don’t get it back to her, I don’t get paid.”
Satanna snapped her fingers and her visage and clothing changed suddenly to the gorgeous one belonging to Lola Deville. Another snap and her demonic appearance returned, eyes burning a hearty brimstone black.
“Well, when you put it like that, it was rather obvious…” Howard muttered.
“You have no idea what you are meddling in, fowl.” Satana’s eyes narrowed, her arms crossed over her chest as she approached him. “Being tarred and feathered will be the least of your punishments as a thief of the Crystal of Koi.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, I am not a thief!” Howard objected. “I’m a guy who has seen some pretty insane stuff, and that’s coming from me, and I’m apparently standing in Hell now. So, not a statement I'm makin' lightly…”
“Are you saying you aren’t impressed?” Satana asked, a smirk on her lips.
“I’m saying that I’ve gone through the New York subways at midnight and I’m not looking to go reminiscing.” Howard said. “I just want to get back to the Big Apple.”
“You can,” Satana said, holding out her hand, “give me the diamond and you can leave.”
“No tricks?” Howard asked, warily.
“No tricks,” Satana said, her hand held out expectantly, “I know that you have it. You cannot lie to me.”
“Open a portal first,” Howard said, skeptical of her claims, “you open the door, I give you the gem. Simple.”
“Simple,” Satana echoed, “right.” She snapped the fingers of her other hand and a shower of red sparks seemed to fly from a central point in mid-air, the sparks turning into a wheel of red that seemed to cut through the fabric of reality itself, showing what looked to be the now-smoldering remains of the curio shop he’d recently patronized. “There you are, Earth, as promised.”
“Alrighty, then.” Howard said, reaching into his waistcoat and pulling free a handkerchief-wrapped bundle, tossing it to her. “Here you go. Don’t spend it all in one place. Ta ta!” Without another word, Howard leaped into and through the portal.
******
“But you didn’t give her the diamond?!”
“Not… exactly…” Howard said with a smirk.
******
Satana allowed the portal to close, opening up the handkerchief. Her expression soured as she found not a gemstone, but a silver cigarette lighter in her grip.
“Oh, that motherfu-!”
******
“Wait, so you tricked the daughter of Satan?” Mulligan asked.
“Basically, yeah.” Howard said.
“And you expect me to believe that?” Mulligan asked.
“I don’t expect you to believe jack squat, Detective, but that’s what happened,” Howard shrugged, “the whole truth from top to tailfeathers.”
Mulligan leaned back in his chair. “And what happened then?”
“Well, I mean, the rest you know.” Howard said. “Duck in a blood-covered suit found covered in ash, hauled him in, sat down in an interrogation room. Easy peasy however you please-y.”
“Right,” Mulligan sighed.
“So I know you guys have it in evidence,” Howard said, “The diamond, I mean. Probably should drop that thing in the Marianas Trench. Or the sun.”
“Well, we have a pile of ash where a curio shop used to be, at least six dead bodies with potentially others that haven’t been identified,” Mulligan said, “by all rights, I should be booking you right now.”
“For being caught in some crazy magic ninja demon crap?” Howard asked incredulously.
“We don’t have anything solid, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Mr. Duckson.” Mulligan said. “And no, you are not getting the diamond back.”
“Fine by me! That check isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on!” Howard grumbled. “Now I just need to figure out where this month’s rent is comin’ from…”
“Not my problem, featherface.” Mulligan said. “Now get outta here.”
******
“Rotten luck o’ mine,” Howard grumbled, hands in his pockets, as he made his way down the street from the police station. It wasn’t as if the cases were pouring in left, right, and center for him of late.
He needed a payday, and he needed a drink.
One of those, he knew where to find.
Pressing the button at the crosswalk to get the signal to change, Howard started across between the white lines, stopping mid-street as his eye caught orange sparks around him, seeming to cut right through the asphalt below him.
“Oh, c’mon! Not agai-WAAAAAUGH!” Howard exclaimed as the floor suddenly came out from under him. Soon, he was not on the street and indeed wasn’t even outside. Instead, he found himself in what looked to be a large room with a wide staircase leading up to a second floor, overhead behind him was a large, circular window with an intricate symbol apparently molded in the frame with the glass at the center.
The place looked old…
Very old…
And Howard could feel his feathers standing on end.
“Mr. Duckson,” A voice spoke to him from the second level, a shape moving down from the darkness above, illuminated only by the light from the window above and a few lit candles scattered about the room, “we need to have a conversation.”
“Look, if you’re asking for money, then get in line,” Howard said, huffing as he got to his feet, brushing himself off for what felt like the fiftieth time today, “you seem to be well-to-do enough that you don’t need my chump change.”
The shape was a human, a man with black hair streaked with silver at the temples, his lower face covered by a well-kempt goatee. He wore a blue shirt, black pants, and a flowing red cape as he apparently floated on thin air down toward him.
“And if you’re looking for that damned diamond, you can ask the fine boys in blue at the NYPD. They have it.” Howard added, seeing the clearly mystical look of the man.
“Well, that would be quite a feat for them to have it.” The man in the red cloak said as he raised his yellow-gloved hand and revealed a familiar diamond within. “Because I have it now.”
“You’re not really selling me on the needing me part of this conversation, Mack.” Howard said. “And who the heck are you, anyway?”
“My name is Doctor Stephen Strange,” The man said, “and you are not native to this plane of reality.”
“Yeah, so what else is new?” Howard asked, pulling out his cigar and then remembering that his cigarette lighter was back in Hell. “Ah, cripes…”
“Quite a bit is new,” Strange said, lifting a finger and pointing it at Howard’s cigar. The tip suddenly lit up as though a flame had been put to it. Howard looked stunned, then popped it into his bill, “but I wanted to have a conversation with you concerning a mutual acquaintance of ours, a woman named Satana.”
“Well, geez, Doc,” Howard said, puffing his cigar and enjoying the sensation as he inhaled and then blew out the smoke into a ring, “you keep pulling party tricks like that, I’ll tell you anything you like.”
“Excellent,” Strange said, gesturing to a room off to the side, “please, if you’ll follow me.”
******
THE END
******
Howard the Duck, Doctor Strange, and Satana Hellstrom Will Return