10002/There are Four Lights

There are Four Lights
Date of Scene:	05 February 2022
Location:	New York Harbor Docks
Synopsis:	Arthur captures a critter and makes a mess of it, Hope and Kate save his bacon.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Curry, Hope Summers, Kate Cha

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Arthur Curry has posed:
    Sound carries over the water very well.
    The buoy that marks the first turn off for the shipping lanes toward the grand city of New York can be heard all along the riverfront despite it being so far off. It's a sound that New Yorkers always associate with the East River and its clang is often there in the background of so many movies and shows. And at this time of night its presence is all the more prominent.
    Though it does compete with the occasional cry of a gull or the wash of waves rolling over the pier's supports. Tonight with the tides low and the hint of a storm in the distance the tumult is a little more prominent. Usually there is little of remark on such a night. But tonight, when there's a sound of a heavy splash, that's the first sign that tonight is not quite as at ease as others.
    At first it appears with a /splat/, heavy and bulky. A creature from the depths the size of five men and sprawled on the end of the pier to the Harbormaster's office. It looks like a tadpole, its forward body full and round and eyeless, with four grand tentacles jutting out of its sides, two small legs in the back, and a fish-like tail that likely propels it. Hard to tell what it is, beyond one thing.
    It is, right now, most assuredly dead.
    Then on the ladder behind it rises the man known as Arthur Curry. Aquaman to the media. Armored in orange and green mail that glistens with something other than the sea, patches of slime seem to mark his form with disquieting glistening that even he disagrees with.
    For the first thing he does when he reaches the pier is start to try and wipe the stuff off with a look of disgust. And fails.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Sooooooo. Sushi tonight, then?"

Hope leans up against the side of one of the buildings fronting the docks, watching the man with the slain beast with an unusual amount of calm. She wears her own form of armor, a fabric made in a time that hasn't happened yet, in a place that's not this place. A ragged half-cape covers her shoulders and flutters around down to about her elbows. And she has a very big gun that's currently nose down towards the ground. "Hi. I'm Hope." She pauses for a moment, then adds, "And you are something different. There's a lot of that going around, though. This is a weird place. So!" She motions to the monstrous tadpole, "That thing edible?"

Kate Cha has posed:
The last time she'd come out to this area on a case, Kate had been able to return the lost penguin back to the zoo. Not because she had found it. It had actually found Aquaman. But for some reason, the hero let her take the cute little bundle of penguin awesomeness back to the zoo (where it wanted to be!) and thus she was given credit. Thereby boosting her status as a hero. From Never heard of to one or two people heard of.

Not that it mattered. She wasn't in it for the fame. She just wanted to use her powers to do good. Thus here she was again, approaching the docks. Dressed in her costume although admittedly it was under about three layers of other clothes cause it was damn cold! Thermals with sweatpants over them. A heavy jacket. Boots. She didn't look much like a hero as she wandered along the piers, gloved hands shoved in her pockets and a ski style mask on her head, not pulled down covering her face.

She breathed out a puff of air, watching the white cloud float away on the breeze from the water. Then heard the splash and turns quickly, following the sound to find Aquaman and a stranger. She took her hands out of her pockets, to not look threatening cause Big Big gun.

A nod to Aquaman then she looked curiously at the beast he'd hefted to the dock. And then back over at the redheaded stranger. "Everything okay? Need any help?" she asked.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Standing there at the end of the pier, water dripping off of him, hair scraggly and beard ragged... Arthur looks up at the voice and does not seem amused.
    Though with a good amount of perception one might realize that the ire is not exactly aimed toward the little redheaded person. His response? "Anything is edible if you try hard enough." He starts to walk along the pier, around the fallen body, boots clinking subtly as the miraculously small chainmail links settle and shift. A grimace as he wipes at some more glistening slime jelly trying to get it off his armor before he adds, "But I wouldn't recommend it."
    Of course that's the moment that Dupli-Kate arrives strolling on up to the scene of what might be a crime? Might have been a crime? Some crime-fighting more likely. The big beast takes that moment to make a soft 'pffffff-sssssssssst' sound as it deflates and lets go with a very briny scent, some of its puffy skin settling on what seems to be a skeletal structure. Still, possibly edible.
    "Duplicate." Arthur says in Kate's direction, he points at Hope and declares. "That's a Hope. I'm an Arthur." Those last three words said to Hope. He finds another patch of slime this time on his calf as he lifts that leg and starts slapping at the slime, some of it hissing and making a sizzle of sound as it falls away.
    "This, is a Holoboteth. Holobototh? One or the other."

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope offers a chin up towards Kate and smiles, ticking a two finger salute off one temple. "Naaaaaaaaah. I don't think there's anything going on? Our fr-... Arthur here just went fishing. Got himself a nice haul." The thing choosing that moment to deflate, leaving her to wrinkle her nose. "Ugh, that smells worse than the palakka we had in... huh. I can't remember when that was. 2230? 2160? It ended with a zero." Shaking her head, she shrugs, "In any case, I think I'll forgo the taste testing on this one."

Looking back to Kate, she cants her head, "Duplicate? You had weird parents. or maybe normal for this timeline? I don't know, I've seen some strange names..." She looks back to Arthur, "Are there more of them? Invasion? -Should- we be preparing?"

Her body language shifts subtly, the relaxed posture remains, but there's an alertness that wasn't there before.

Kate Cha has posed:
"Never heard of it. Or seen it. So I can't help on which it might be," Dupli-Kate said as she started to approach. Then thought better of it when a hint of the smell from it was carried by the ocean breeze her direction. Best not to get too close to the holo-bolo-hobo-whatever the hell it was.

"Duplicate is my codename," she offered, pronouncing the name as the verb would be instead of the noun. "Instead of my real name." Which really wasn't that far off from the codename. And it wasn't like she wore a mask but honestly, most people didn't really give her a second glance in a fight situation so she had been able to remain anonymous. Course, she wasn't Justice League or Avengers level. Not even Titans. She was just her.

She picked up on the years Hope mentioned, giving her a curious look. "You're from the future?" A glance to Arthur to see if he had a clue about that one.

In time to see him dealing with sizzling slime. "If it's an acid, a base would be helpful."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "What?" Arthur says in Hope's direction only after she asks of him if they should be preparing. He eyes her sidelong, only then perhaps registering the patter of words that she had let fall even as he considered the nasty critter with its rather unpleasant stench. Not horrible, but not pleasant.
    He answers, "No, just found the one. I mean..." His eyebrows rise as he murmurs, "Could be more." Then he tilts his head and looks toward Kate, "Only found the one."
    The skin continues to slither nastily upon the skeletal frame, causing the large beast to seem less so as much of its internal... juices, flow down the sides of the pier and into the water, much of its mass having been liquid much as many animals are. Though the skin seems to drape over a portion of its innards that are horribly bumpy and nodular toward the back.
    Arthur, in that moment however, is answering Kate with a shrug mainly from the eyebrows to signal he doesn't know what Hope's deal is. And perhaps he never will.
    "Yeah, doesn't hurt, just... gross." Is Arthur's response to the slime commentary. He again slaps at it.
    Which is the moment when the skin sloughs off the creature's skeleton entirely, leaving the twisted curiously spongy looking bones there on the pier as well as suddenly a thick black collection of large spheres that look like caviar made large. One of them cracks open.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Ooooooooo, if you're not up on your quantum physics and temporal mechanics, that question can get REALLY complicated. Better to answer with coffee, and diagrams. Or beer and diagrams. Neither of which I have on me," Hope offers the answer cheerfully enough, even as she hefts up the large gun and points it towards the hoboloteth (or -toth) when it starts to 'twitch'. She flicks a switch on the side of the gun and it hums to life as she sidesteps. "Arthur, can you do me a favor and take two steps forward and one to your left? Juuuuuuuuuust in case."

She keeps sighting down the barrel of the gun, watching the creature very carefully as it continues to decompose in front of them. Glancing back towards Kate, she offers, "If you have abilities as your name suggests, might I suggest you pop up a few friends?" Eyes back to the creature, in time to see its entire skin slither off the skeleton and plop back into the water.

"Awwwwww, it was a mommy monster. Welp, time to work!" She starts pacing forward even as the first sphere starts to crack.

Kate Cha has posed:
"It's a what?"

That comes out a little higher pitched than Dupli-Kate had meant. She cleared her throat and tried again, happy it came out in a more normal tone of voice. "It's a what?"

She had seen Hope hefting a gun--that honestly looked like it weighed as much as the redhead, if not more--and that had her a bit concerned. Thankfully it wasn't aimed at her.

She did take a step closer on the pier, only to get a better look. "Are those what I think those are? Are the little ones dangerous?" she asked, glancing to the expert on all things Holo-bolo-Hobo. Because maybe they were like penguins or something and not needing to be wiped out even as they were hatching. Or maybe they were, which had her flashing back to Alien and facehuggers which had her not stepping any closer.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Arms folding over his broad chest, Arthur turns and scowls then says simply, "Where the..." Then he lifts a hand to his brow and seems exasperated. Not with the situation. Nor the people around him. Likely more with himself. For he should have known. On some level.
    A glance is given over toward Hope as that gun hums to life. He tilts his head and murmurs, "I'd prefer one alive... or unvaporized at least." Since apparently he doesn't seem new to people toting around large advanced weapons.
    The eggs continue to crack and he murmurs, "Careful, these things can muddle your thinking if they touch you." So he steps to the side a little in front of Kate, frowning and for a moment his eyes /glow/ golden with a flash of power whose effect isn't immediately obvious save it makes his features look slightly more alien.

Hope Summers has posed:
"You're in luck. This is the stun gun. I shot Batman with it, on the low setting. He's fine. The high setting was leaving burns. These little buggers... well, I don't really know their physiology, but at least one should still have a pulse or... whatever they have." Hope is still sounding cheerful and calm as she steps onto the pier itself. "Are they susceptible to anything in particular?" This last part aimed towards Arthur, obviously.

"Damn, I really wish... actually... maybe... I was by their rooms earlier, the imprint might still be there... better for a last resort, though." WHat she's talking about? Unknown.

Kate Cha has posed:
She's feeling rather under-equiped. Her claim to fame was making duplicates of herself which had the same fighting skills as her.

She didn't think martial arts was going to help in this situation.

Then Arthur stepped in front of her. Only partially so it was more position than protective in nature. Which was good cause she'd be all whiny about that and likely do something stupid. As it was, she found part of her view blocked by a shoulder. The man was almost a foot taller than her and his shoulders seemed to be twice her width. She was feeling very short all of a sudden, and she wasn't even short!

As for the eggs? She let the other two deal with it. For now.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "I've only tangled with the adult ones, they seem susceptible to pressure changes..." The tall Atlantean says as he looks sidelong toward the other two who are on site to witness the mess that has spread over the docks. Several of the eggs crackle open, little clawed tentacles thrusting out of cracks in the brackish black shells. One tumbles over on its side as they start to gain purchase. Others are still emerging.
    He frowns for a moment about something likely unspoken, then shakes his head as he simply accepts that this is what needs to be done here and now.
    Finally one fully gets clear and immediately skitters toward Hope, lifting its tentacles and looking as if ready to spring...
    Yet it 'sees' the large barrel of the gun, and almost instantly, as if it recognized what a firearm was... turns and skitters toward the edge of the dock to flee. Several of the others crack open their shells and likewise make to flee, though slower than the 'eldest' of the clutch.
    Arms reaching out to the sides, Arthur's body language does speak of protection as he says, "Alright, don't let them touch you."

Hope Summers has posed:
"Aw, they're almost cute! They remind me of something I saw before.. very loving little critters, but carnivorous." Hope pulls the trigger on the stun gun, bracing for the impact of the firing. She's shooting in three zap bursts at the moment, sending a trio towards the one that's skittering for the docks before laying down suppressing fire on the ones still wriggling from their egs. "I think I can keep these ones occupied if someone wants to go after the one running for the water? It probably wouldn't be good to let it get away. Arthur? Duplicate?"

She doesn't stop firing, doesn't look away from the eggs and their contents, trusting that the people with her will know what to do, since she has no gauge on what they can do.

Kate Cha has posed:
Things had been going so well. From the stinky dead tadpole Holo-cholo-bolo-hobo thing. To the woman from the future--that still hadn't been cleared up--with a giant gun who had apparently shot Batman and they were just glazing over that for now. Cause wasn't Batman a good guy? To the Atlantean deciding she needed protecting. Something triggered and Kate frowned. A moment later, another Kate was standing beside her and moving foward toward the one that was trying to get off the dock. "Not sure how else I'm supposed to stop it since I don't shoot lasers out my fingertips." She almost said a different word that was far shorter.

Dupli-Kate 1 moved toward it as she took off her jacket, throwing the jacket to try to cover the thing in the hopes she could pick it up without actually touching it. All while Kate Zero, the original, remained behind the safety of Arthur's stance, though peeking around his ribs to see what was happening.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Raising a hand, Arthur says sidelong, "It's handled." As he looks to Kate and Hope even as some of those other critters are making it to the side of the pier and /leap/ off over the side. A few dive die into the water, others can be seen swimming off and away toward that distant buoy. A veritable exodus of tiny tentacled things.
    Though some bubbles can be seen in the water, and eventually a fin breaks the surface as it slashes across the water and toward the small creatures rushing away. At the last moment a shark of considerable size rises and makes the final rush, leap, dive as it devours several of the escaping holobotoths, then slashes its tail to twist around and make another pass at several more.
    But on the pier Hope is doing a good job, blasting the creature and rendering them inert though some might seem a touch premature as the blast will pulp them simply from the force, their internal structure not likely having had time to fully solidify.
    The Atlantean turns and calls out toward Kate, "Hey kid, grab that..." He gestures with a nod and points toward the metal delivery box that sits next to the empty harbormaster's office. "If you can, gonna put some of them in there."
    Though her duplicate has managed to throw her jacket over one of the skittering things and for her efforts the damned little creature /stab stab stabs/ it over and over, tearing it with its little pointy tentacles all while part of its tail /sting sting stings/ and... yes they don't seem to be nice animals really.

Hope Summers has posed:
Well, he DID say he only needed one alive! Since Duplicate seems to have that under control, Hope doesn't hold back on making sure none of the others escape from the remains of their mother. Or father! No judging! She shoots until there's nothing left to shoot, then shifts and aims the gun towards the one stabbing at Duplicate's coat. Just in case! "Nicely done. Go ahead and grab the box, I've got this one covered."

She flicks a glance out where a shark seems to be making a meal of some of them that made it to the water. "Huh. Guess they are edible. Good to know." THen she's looking back to the one under the jacket.

Kate Cha has posed:
Kate Zero moves to grab the metal box in question while Kate 1 is doing her best not to get stabbed or stung by the ferocious beast. "They certainly are as--jerks." Which didn't really help because it sounded like ass-jerks. Great.

Kate Zero got the box over and the two Kates managed to lift up the coat without getting the worst end of the holobotoths bits. It was dropped in the box and the box slammed shut. Then the extra Kate seemed to take a step into the original and just disappear, leaving the original in a not ruined coat--and the coat that had been destroyed by the beastie just disappeared from the spot laying on the dock.

As the shark continued to enjoy its meal, she gave a little shudder. "Self note. I did not like the movie Jaws and now I like it even less."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    That one under the jacket is clearly not pleased as it keeps on shredding and stabbing until the box is brought forth by Kate. Her duplicates lean in and grab it, holding it up and then reaching down to grab the edges of that jacket, tightening it over the struggling critter until it's hefted up partially...
    Then they get it into the metal box with a _clang_ and quickly shut the lid. "Alright," Arthur says as he looks at the others, "I was going to run this over to Star Labs. I've got some friends out there making sure the others didn't escape." A look to Hope and Kate is given, "Thanks for the zappening and the help."
    He looks between the two of them, "Did you say you shot Batman with that?" A nod is given toward the gun as he sort of half-smirks a little then shakes his head before hearing her answer. "Don't shoot Batman."
    As if that was just something someone shouldn't do.
    Then it's toward Kate he looks, "You alright?" As he takes the box from her lest she protests.

Hope Summers has posed:
With the threat passed, Hope lowers the gun, flicking the switch to power it down. She turns towards Duplicate with a nod, "Nice! Very handy." She's gotten better at treating teammates (even temporary ones) like people and not just soldiers. Thank the Outsiders.

Turning to Arthur, she lifts both brows, "Does your friend's name start with a B? I'm betting it starts with a B. Can I come? I'd like to say hi."

Looking down to the gun, she grins, "Yeah." THen back to Arthur, "I didn't -know- it was Batman at the time. He broke in and all my friends were in the room and I'd JUST finished making this so... I shot him. He was very nice about the whole thing, even gave me a tip on the ampage for it. Now its refined and working WAY better. I could probably knock him on his ass now." Probably. Maybe. It's Batman, okay?

Kate Cha has posed:
That explained how someone who had shot Batman was walking around. She had helped in this situation. So apparently she was one of the good guys. Despite the shooting. Kate admittedly was glad she wasn't there for that episode. She feared it would've been far more stressful.

"Thanks," Dupli-Kate murmured to Hope at the compliment. She was glad to pass over the box to Arthur. The further she was from that beast, the better.

She did look up--and up--at him. "I'm fine. Just wish I had more abilities to help with sometimes. At least it worked out," she added. Then she smiled a little bit. "I like penguins better."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "His name starts with a D. For Doctor." Is how Arthur answers Hope's request to come along. But he shakes his head, "But nah, just gonna drop this off and get it analyzed. I'm looking for..." He holds the box and shakes it a little, causing the critter inside to complain with a raspy hiss.
    "Something else, hoping this might lead me to it."
    That having been said he looks toward Kate and Hope, "Appreciate the help guys, if it was just me out here I probably woulda lost all of the critters and been back to square one."
    "And yeah, the Penguin Caper was a lot less stressful." Considering it was just an actual penguin. He gives a nod, "Stay in touch, drop by the Hall. I'll show you guys around." That having been said he starts to walk down the pier with the box in hand, setting it under his arm and tucking it in as he strolls.

Hope Summers has posed:
Looking to Kate, Hope flashes a grin, "Don't need powers to be useful. Mine were completely and utterly useless tonight. Just training and tech tonight." It's as close a pep talk as Hope has to offer, but she tries to be encouraging with it. Arthur gets a nod and wave, "Sure sounds good. You guys don't exist where I come from, so it'll be interesting!"

Kate Cha has posed:
An invitation to the Hall. That was enough to make Kate want to do a little dance and pump a fist in victory. She managed to just smile like a goof and give a nod. "I'll be sure to do that."

Kate glanced over at Hope. "Maybe I'll have to look into getting some tech. Eventually. For now, back to patrol. It was nice meeting you."