9342/On the Trail of the Jello Fish

On the Trail of the Jello Fish
Date of Scene:	29 December 2021
Location:	New York Harbor Docks
Synopsis:	Arthur Aspen, and Dmitri are On the Trail of the Jello Fish, visiting a fishermans warf to search for clues. Also Dmitri practices his singing.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Curry, Dmitri Pushkin, Aspen Matthews

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Arthur Curry has posed:
    Arthur was grumpy.
    Which is not news. It rarely is. He's a man who often wears his temper on his sleeve as it were, and people likely usually know why when he's grumpy. For he is also not a man that shrinks from expressing himself. Usually he does so loudly with a fair amount of profanity. But this time...
    For some reason it was a mystery.
    On the comms at the Hall of Justice his voice came over the lines. He simply announced. << Yeah. I'm going back to New York. The Docks. Anyone want to come along feel free. Might need backup. Wear your swim trunks. >>
    And that was it, abrupt, quick. And when he was met he gave little to no insight into what they were doing nor why. It was simply off and traveling, which for Arthur meant underwater, hurling as fast as he could through the ocean while simultaneously using his control of the water to prevent a wake to signal his passing.
    A short time to reach New York, and at so late an hour it was fairly quiet on the river. Until they made it to that fish market where the first wave of fishing vessels were returning at such an hour.

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     And who should answer the call but ever faithful Dmitri Pushkin hero of the Soviet Union and proud member of the Justice League. He was always the sort to come along for adventure no mater how small and usually bring his bright and cheery attitude along for the ride. It was a specialty of his really.

     Dmitri soars through the water of all things with the greatest of ease, having taken great care in the modifications he made to his suit prior to departing. It's a wonder of alien technology mixed with the latest bleeding edge in Russian technology that makes up his suit after all.

     He leaves a large wake behind him as he travels, the cavitation of his roaters leaving small underwater explosions behind him as he travels as fast as the waters will allow him beneath the waves. "You know Comrade Aquaman, when I am feeling angry it always helps me to sing a little song." He says over coms before starting to sing in a strangely beautiful voice for such a gruff looking russian: "Rastsvietali yabloni i grushi, Paplyli tumany nad riekoy; Vyhodila na bierieg Katyusha, Na viesokiy bierieg, na krutoy." He spins through the water turning round and round as he sings a mournful and beautiful tune even if Arthur has already turned off his coms. "Vyhodila, piesnyu zavadila Pra stiepnoga sizaga arla, Pra tago katorovo liubila, Pra tago chy pisma bieriegla." He dives out of the watter and up into the air for a moment throwing his arms to either side before crashing back beneath the waves.

     "Oy, ty piesnya, piesenka dievichia, Ty leti za yasnim salntsiem vslied , I baytsu na dalniem pagranichie" He dives back down low beneath the water swimming through a beautiful shipwreck deep beneath the waves. "Ot Katyushi pieriedai priviet. Pust on spomnit dievushku prastuyiu, Pust uslyshit, kakj ana payot, Pust on ziemliu bierieshiot radnuyiu, A lyubov Katyusha sbierieshiot.Ratsvietali yabloni i grushi, Paplyli tumany nad riekoy; Vyhodila na bierieg Katusha, Na viesokiy bierieg, na krutoy." As he launches himself back up above the waters and onto the ground before the fishing docks with a light embelishment of the words.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
With Namor making his proclamation about mutants and Atlantis, Aspen made some excuses up (there was an almost-but-not-quite-peripherally-related symposium on water pollution being held in NYC) and got to New York as quickly as she could. For a change she took to the air, fighting off the dehydration from the air conditioning by drinking so much tea that even in that short hop the stewards knew to just offer her more water on each pass by her seat.

She then started nosing around, trying to find out where and how to get closer to Namor without showing up on news cameras. By the time the day ended, she'd given up and instead hit the fish market to get a few ingredients for dinner.

They wouldn't mind her cooking in her hotel, right? I mean it has a kitchenette...

And then ... a drunken man in an armour suit crashing through the waves and singing loudly.

"God this is such a weird city," she moans, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    It was an arrival that drew eyes, that halted work as the first few ships had moored and the men were working on moving the suitable fish from their holds and onto the docks. There were containers open filled with ice, some that had handcarts ready for boxes, others that had pallets set out where just piles of fish were placed on there awaiting the late night merchants who walked the docks with one job. Buy the best fish for their restaurants as soon as possible.
    So things were jumping in that part of the city. But Dmitri's arrival. It caused that to slow and rather stop. If only because people in New York know weirdness. They also know weirdness can be a storm crow herald of bad times. Some were waiting with bated breath for the Russian armored man to demand everyone get down, or that this was a robbery...
    When such wasn't forthcoming, then as if someone flipped a switch everyone went back to work. Some merchants started calling out, asking prices back and forth, haggling being yelled. New York accents were thick and rampant amongst the people doing the buying and selling, and to be fair they weren't being very polite either.
    Which is why Arthur's arrival, a bit more subdued than Dmitri's, might not be noticed as abruptly. There's the splash of his emergence from the water, but he takes the ladder up along the pier and onto the wooden slats of the mooring nearest one of those ships. Soaked and dripping, he grimaces and shakes out his sweatshirt, the water flowing out of it in a hurry and washing down into the bay. Until the man known as Aquaman was standing there on the end of the pier next to Dmitri, shaking out his now dry grey hoodie that he zips up against the weather.
    "A'right, this shouldn't take too long." He says to his comrade. "Gonna walk the docks, ask a few questions. Doubt anything will go down, but if it does then... be restrained-ish."
    That said he starts to walk down the pier.

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     Dmitri stands proud on the spot with a bright smile on his face beneath his helmet. He looks from one side to the other and when he notices people stopping their work to look at him he simply offers a bright and smiling wave their direction. "No need to worry Comrades, return to your work." He gesticulates lightly with his hands motioning for them to return to work, an audible smile still on his face.

     "Comrade Aquaman, I was thinking you to be knowing me better than this." He starts to walk down the pier as his whole suit drips water from his oceanic trip. "I am being the master of reservation, and subtly." Subtle as a brick through a window maybe.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Oh, Aquaman!" She'd recognize that figure anywhere, even in the hoodie. I mean the poster in her office. The poster in her shack by the beach. The background on her notebook and phone. The screensaver on her notebook and phone. The full-back tattoo.

OK, maybe that last one isn't the case. Yet. But the rest are totally the case.

"Remember me?" she asks as she hurries away from the vendor she was talking to mid-sentence, leaving the man baffled ... until he sees the heroes himself. He then proceeds to pack away his product before making an exit. Can't be too safe. "Surf girl in the boat? Sky colour?"

She doesn't know Dmitri and doesn't want to spill the beans to someone who may not understand.

"Your #1 fan. In Metropolis University. Well, in the Oceanographic Institute. Well, in the conservation wing. Well, in office 440. Desk by the window. Biggest fan of that crowd!"

Dmitri gets a curious look. "Friend of yours? Seems a bit ... technological?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Yup," Is all Arthur says in response to Dmitri, at least for now. He again brushes a palm over the hem of his shirt and then presses on forward. Hands sliding into the pockets of his hoodie, he hunkers down a little and would look fairly normal for a man on the docks all told... were it not for the power armored man at his side.
    Yet that's not his worry. It's everyone else's worry, at least such is Aquaman's thinking as he starts in walking down the wooden dock and toward the row upon row of fish sellers. Only for his attention to be seized by the voicing of his 'Made Up Newspaper Name'. Such is his mood that when he turns his head he /glowers/ at poor Aspen, those severe features twisting into a scowl...
    Only for recognition to come after a moment. Perhaps two. "Oh." He says at first. But then the memory wanders back and he gives a nod. "Doc Matthews?"
    She gestures in the direction of Dmitri and the Russian gets a thump in the shoulder in way of introduction. "This is Rocket Red, coworker. Running down a rumor." Then his brow furrows, "What're you doin' here?"

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     Dmitri follows along with a confident gait. His propellers on the back of his suits pack seal themselves over with a simple dome like design which closes them back shut and allows them not to be left out in the open for too long.

     He sticks out like a sore thumb in his armor configured for rapid water transport, his boots have turned to flippers, and flop against the floor of the docks one after another. He looks more like some sort of bizarre soviet frogman than anything else.

     He turns to face the woman the red line on his mirrored black visor sweeping back and fourth as he scans her for potential threats. It looks like something that would be more fitting on a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica or the dashboard of Kit from Night Rider than on a helmet of anyone good.

     "Oh wait we are?" Dmitri asks for the first time realizing that is why he's here. He turns his attention to Aquaman for a brief moment before turning it back to the oceanographer. "Hello, he is correct, I am Rocket Red, hero of the people and defender of Justice."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
The harshness of the initial response takes Aspen aback a moment, until the face softens a bit in recognition.

~Don't take it personally, A. He's here on business probably and didn't want interruption.~

The quick inner pep talk over with, and the cringing straightening out as Aquaman is more civil to her. ~HE REMEMBERS ME!~ Her irrepressible good cheer returns.

"Why am I in a fish market?" she asks slowly, as if trying to be very clear. "I'm ... buying fish?"

She's trying HARD not to talk like she would to a slower student. VERY hard. But some of it is leaking through.

"Oh, you mean in New York! I was attending a symposium on water pollution management." Little white lie never hurt, right? "Just getting the fixings for dinner." The more truth you slather over the lie the less obvious it becomes.

Dmitri's odd scan returns "human female". An ellipsis. Then a question mark. There are some oddities in the readings which may need deeper follow-up scanning. Oddities like platelet counts and blood oxygen levels and the like.

"Any way I can help?" Aspen asks. "I mean, if you're tracking down rumours, three pairs of ears works better than two, right?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Indeed, we are." Arthur responds to Dmitri. "There's a thing we're gonna track down. If we get a whiff of it." And there, Dmitri has his first mission briefing Arthur style. Short, sweeet, and to the point. Perhaps he operates from a Need to Know basis.
    But then he focuses back on Aspen, she echoes his question back to him. He nods. Then she answers with that hesitant answer and the corner of his mouth curls up a little. "Well. That would make sense wouldn't it?"
    But his mood and manner definitely seems more at ease as he gives a nod to her. "Ah that's good, sorta heard about that I think." Not that he goes to too many symposiums. Though main thing he heard about tonight was Namor's party.
    She offers to help and the other side of his lip curves up. "Sure, you can follow along, try to look intimidating. If someone gives us some back sass we may ask you to break their legs? Got it?" He's not being serious is he? Most likely no. But then he's turning and walking down the pier while around them fishees are being bought and sold and some are even being /hurled/ across the distance while men keep shouting.

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     Dmitri looks over the data running through his visor for a long moment he reads over the Cyrillic lettering several times to make sure he's getting the data right in his head before he passes it off for the time being. If Aquaman isn't worried about her why should he be? Well his intense training for one but who is counting?

     Dmitri pulls up an episode of Rockey and Bullwinkle on his heads up display sizing it down into position in the corner. On another corner he has a live satellite feed of the area, in another corner his own vitals are spread out giving every little detail of his personal information to him. His heads up display is crowded with all manner of running information which would be difficult for the average man to process but thankfully Dmitri was no average man.

     "Oh I am being good at breaking legs, I will teach you best method, it's very easy once you know how." Dmitri sounds a bit too happy about the leg breaking thing. He motions with his hands going through a visual run down of just the right way to twist the leg before stepping down his webbed foot onto the ground. "Just like that no more leg." He motions to one side with his hand an audible smile across his face.

     He taps his helmet before walking along with a light flip, flop, flip, flop of his flippers hitting the ground, they were not made for traveling on land but then again all he knew was that they would need their swimsuits and he brought his with confidence.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
"Is drowning good enough?" Aspen mutters to 'herself' (unaware of how sophisticated Dmitri's sensors are) as they walk off, her trailing, in response to Arthur's leg breaking thing. Dmitri's demonstration just gives her a nauseated look.

"OK, so ... what kind of sass are we talking about? And what kind of rumours are we looking for?"

One of the flying (hurled, not species) fish wizzes just barely past her face, causing her to start and let out a little squawk of surprise. "Hey, watch it!" she says to the thrower sharply. "I'm walkin' here!"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Arthur's amusement is a wry thing that remains on his features as both Dmitri and Aspen serve to make his mood less the tangled annoyed thing it was. So he's just strolling forward, hands in the pockets of that hoodie, his beard and hair a bit wild as he glances over his shoulder toward them both.
    "Honestly, don't worry about breaking legs, I'll handle that if needs be. You guys just..." He quirks an eyebrow and then gives a nod, "Try to look tough?" Which is likely not too much of a challenge to be fair.
    Of course his advice is cut short when he saunters up to a stall that has some appreciable hunks of tuna on display as well as a fair number of much smaller fish. A good haul for first appearances and a large New Yorker is standing there.
    "Arty, what's up buddy?"
    "Mario, you lose some weight?" Which if the rather large Mario had lost some weight then it's difficult to imagine how he'd look any bigger.
    "Fuck you, buddy."
    "Hah," Is Arthur's reply at first, then he gestures, "This is Rocket Red, and my friend, Aspen..." He looks at her with raised eyebrows as if trying to make sure he got the name right.
    "I got a weird question, man."
    "Shoot, Art. What's the haps?"
    "Weird fish thing."
    "Like you do anything else?"
    "Hah, fuck you."
    To which the large man chortles rather roundly.
    "But for serious. You catch any fish. Healthy, totally healthy except..." Arthur tilts his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. "There are chunks of them that are... transparent?"

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     Dmitri lets her expression roll off of him like water off the back of a fish. He's still in too good a mood to really care that much as he walks along though without his words he is one hell of an intimidating figure. From the all red and white armor to that constantly oscillating red light on the front of his black mirrored visor. He looks like something out of McCarthy's nightmares.

     He looms tall and imposing giving only a single nod of his head towards Mario as he scans the man over. Transparent fish catches his attention somewhat as he looks the man over catching sight of his underlying health issues and his weight problem from the advanced scanning systems of his suit.

     Dmitri folds his arms one over the other stopping firm on the spot as he looks down towards Mario still reading through his overly detailed readout on the figure before him. His attention drifts towards the fish which he begins to scan as well making sure that they are in deed just normal fish.

Aspen Matthews has posed:
~Transparent?...~

Aspen hears that and reflexively looks at her arm before looking back up. ~Focus, Aspen. Not you. Fish.~

Following Arthur's instructions, she stand alongside him, slightly back, arms crossed, scowl on her face. 'Tough.' Like a kitten trying to look fierce. And failing. At that. But succeeding at looking adorable in the process.

"Yes, Aspen," she says, completely blowing apart any hint of looking tough, what with the girly voice and the fangurl mannerisms when talking to Arthur. "And ... transparent? What?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Transparent!" Mario's answer is quick and loud he /thumps/ Arthur on the shoulder, "Fuck you gypsy fortuneteller motherfucker, yeah." The heavy man looks impressed as he jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "Not me, but those Clancy brothers on the Frugal Mary?" He nods a few times with wide eyes.
    "They were talkin' about that shit. They had a load of it, that Atlantic Cod they were goin' for some weeks back. Tellin' me it was like jello fish or some shit." Mario shakes his head, "I thought they were fulla it, or just tryin' ta tell me keep folks from out thattaway."
    Arthur listens, then pipes up, "That might be a good idea. Avoid that area for a bit. They due back this morning?"
    "Yeah, few hours."
    "You got their number?"
    "Nah, but the harbormaster does. Go ask the dude."
    "Alright man, catch you later."
    Mario gives a wave then goes back to yelling at his team to get the fish unloaded. Which leaves Arthur stepping to the side with the others. "So alright, this is gonna take some time to run down. You want to go do your own thing I'd understand." He looks between Aspen and Dmitri.

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     Dmitri stands firm before looking towards Arthur. All of that intimidation goes out the window the moment he speaks, in that chipper as ever voice of his. "Comrade you would seriously be thinking I would be missing out opportunity to help my Comrade in arms?" He chuckles to himself before adding. "You will have to be trying much harder than that to get rid of me Comrade Aquaman."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
OK, so Arthur wasn't having an aneurysm. There really were fish coming back transparent. Fish not intended to.

That's such a relief.

Not the fish. The no-aneurysm part.

"Well, if you know where the boat is, I can intercept it in no time," she blurts out thoughtlessly before her face registers panic and her eyes flick to Dmitri. "Uh... 'cause you know how the Institute has a few boats on call, right?" she adds lamely, and about as convincingly as Dmitri claiming to be a native New Yorker.

She chuckles. Equally unconvincing in its nature.

"You have my number. Call me when you go. I can... ah... have a boat ready in no time."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Yeah," Arthur says, "We may have to take this delicately." Which likely means no rushing through the water so quickly, or managing the information. Though it is something that makes Arthur's gaze distance with reflection. After a few moments he shakes his head.
    "We generate a lot of energy moving in a particular direction quickly then that might cause more ripples than we like. Even if we manage the wake." It's clear some thoughts are flitting through his head as he tilts his head one way, then the other. Until finally he settles on a grimace that makes him look like much as he did when he first arrived.
    "Any case, gonna talk to the harbormaster, you two stay here. Get to know each other. Dmitri, ask Aspen about her surfing." That said he turns and starts to walk off, stuffing his hands back in his pockets.

Dmitri Pushkin has posed:
     "So you can surf? Obviously this means your name is not being Charley, because Charley don't surf" Dmitri offers attempting to endear himself with a reference to a popular American film. He smiles a dopey grin beneath that helmet of his. He looks back out to the water for a long moment. "I can surf too, but I need to alter my suit to make it work right."

Aspen Matthews has posed:
Aspen rubs her hand through her hair as she watches Arthur leave. The old line about hating his leaving but enjoying watching him leave runs through her head before getting hastily squelched.

"Uh... what was that? Yes. Surfing. Yes."

She gathers her thoughts with a lot of "uh" and "ah" noises.

"Right. I've been surfing almost as long as I've been walking, so I'm accounted pretty good at it," she says. "I snowboard too. Good at it as well."

Her eyes stray to Arthur's departing form before flicking back guiltily to Dmitri.

"What do you do aside from sing and walk around in inappropriate footwear?"