2014-01-31 - Malibu Arthur

Hank McCoy was on a weekend get away to Malibu. That meant warm water, and plenty of sun. He had walked down from Tony's mansion on the cliff wasn't far away. Hank had came down for the beach for a walk along the surf. He was collecting sea shells. There was a beach chair and ice chest not far away. So Hank had came down for the day. Private beaches had their uses yo!

There was a visible vapor cone in the sky, with a glowing figure streaking through the air, leaving a purple-blue contrail of light behind it. Simon was heading down to meet Hank, and, well, just trying to find him! Ceasing such high speeds to get to a more manageable velocity, Wonder Man descended down to the beach, landing on his feet upon the sand. Hmm.

Up on the service road a lone orange Ferrari pulls off the road and into the driveway of a beach house. Aquaman steps out of the driver's side. "Come on, Mertus! Bring the lunch. We're late already. It's only my second day driving and we encountered so many cars on that highway! What are the odds?" He gets no reply as Mertus has thrown himself over a bush and is being indisposed. Aquaman shrugs and heads around back of the house towards the beach. He looks at the neighboring house thoughtfully. "The realtor said the owner was Tony Stark. I hope he's not too noisy. Ah this is an upscale neighborhood. How noisy could he be?" Arthur does wonder why he bought this house relatively cheaply though.

Hank looks up at Simon, "Simon, what are you doing here?" He turns his head with a confused look on his face. He then looks at the orange Ferrari raises a finger and the scratches his chin, "This is Serendipity I take it. Is that Aquaman driving a car?"

"Looking for you," Simon says as he walks easily over the sand. "Picking up shells, huh, Hank? Gonna make a collection? Who?" he asked, looking over at the orange Ferrari. "Whoa. And all I want is a Firebird."

Aquaman comes walking down to the beach smiling. He's in a black business suit with a golden 'A' stitched on his breast pocket. Mertus has fallen into step behind his boss bearing a large basket. The assistant mops at his brow and slips some sunglasses on for relief from the bright sun. "Errr hello have we met?" he says to Hank.

 Aquaman says, "That's me not Mertus."

[Public] Starfire says, "Weird Al is in MLP."

[Public] Morph says, "as a Brony?"

Beast shrugs, " What's up?" He grins, "I'd left the rest sleeping in the mansion. I guess so." He looks at the shell in his hand, "It caught my eye. Flamebird, She's pretty but I don't know if she'd like being compared to a sports Car" Then Aquaman and Meris make there way up, "I don't believe we have. I am Dr. Hank McCoy."

[Public] Starfire says, "He's guest appearing."

"I meant a Pontiac Firebird," Simon said, lifting a hand to rub at the back of his head. "You dunno cars, Hank?" he asked. Then he looked over at the black-suited monarch, and nodded. "Hello. No, don't think we've met. Awesome car." He realized, furrowing his brow. "Trans Am. 1978 Pontiac Trans Am. That's my dream car."

Aquaman sticks his hand out to Hank. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Didn't you have a hand in researching quantum entanglement between squid nervous systems? I'm Arthur and this is Mertus my personal assistant." He turns to Simon and says, "You must be Dr. Williams. I'm glad you decided to meet me. Just call me Arthur. King Arthur sounds like a musicale."

Mertus begins setting out the contents of the basket with a sigh. He keeps looking at his watch.

Beast grins back to Simion, "Maybe not as well as you. But I also know a chance at a pun. Why don't you buy one?" He says with a grin. He moves to shake Arthur's hand, "That would be Dr. Henri McCoy. I have read that paper and it is quite ground breaking. I would wish my next published paper is so well accepted. Please call me Hank. I am a biochemist specializing in the mutant genome."

It isn't often that Simon is called Dr. Williams except in a professional standpoint, and he accepts the offered hand happily, giving a firm, easy shake. "Please call me Simon," the red-eyed man said, smiling. "A pleasure to meet you, Arthur." Grinning over at Hank, Simon shrugged. "Guess I missed the pun, buddy. Sorry."

Mertus mutters something about it being a small target. He sets out a vegetarian sampler, everything on ice. A couple of beers chill in a bucket.

Arthur looks around at some beachgoers in the distance and pulls his tie and jacket off. "Excuse me a second. This tie is driving me crazy. Yes well I heard through the grapevine Simon you were looking to do more scientific work. I had an idea for something that could pay your bills for such activities. I am looking for a vehicle to present my people in a good light. I would like to executive produce a show with you as host. You'd address concerns about the super community, provide background information and such. You have entertainment background as well as the academic background and face it, lining up interviews would be easy enough. What do you think?"

Beast listens and he thinks long and hard. "It shouldn't be just a fluff piece if you want people to take it seriously. It should be objective. Call things like you see them show things how they truly are." He nods, "It's something I've been dealing with for years. Sorry to interrupt."

"I think it's an excellent idea," Simon says, wondering why he hadn't thought of it before. "Though it ought to be for more than just your people. You're aware of the recent stigma against all heroic-types, yes? Interviewing Atlanteans as well as other heroes, taking questions, having guests... I guess a talk show of sorts?" Simon said. "Have to pitch it to a network and generate ad revenue, as well as promote the hell out of the show to make sure people even watch." He smiled. "Looking to... well... humanize us, would be great. Also, Arthur? You're part of the Justice League, aren't you? I have a few questions about some people. Er, when you have the time."

Aquaman shakes his head. "My last venture to tell about some of the problems I deal with and educate young people about the oceans turned into ... The Super Pal's Toon Hour. Did you ever watch it? They misrepresented everyone especially my wife who is definitely not a damsel in distress or comic relief. No I want something with substance. I would expect one show a season dealing with something about Atlantis for my aid in starting you up. But you report things as you see them. I won't filter you Simon. If you come to Atlantis you'll report on us as you see us. I just want to dispel some of the ridiculous rumours about our community which my kingdom is part of. "

Mertus grabs the jacket and tie from Arthur before they get sandy with one hand and distributes the beer with the other as well as Topo could manage. Arthur starts unbuttoning his shirt.

Beast grins, "It sounds like you two have this well in hand. I'll be in Starks house." He waves, "And you two have business to discuss. If I can help please let me know. Simon knows how to get ahold of me."

"Well, I'd want to do it in a respectful manner," Simon said. "But first we'd have to get the show set up. Y'know, to begin with. I'm not really a journalist, so being a correspondent in Atlantis is out of my element, even if I don't have to breathe." Simon smiled. "Still, it sounds like an excellent idea, and something we should work towards."

Aquaman takes a sip of beer before putting his down and shrugs out of his shirt and pants. He's wearing green scaled trunks underneath. "This is true. But we can hire journalists to help with it. I'm going to look into this guy named Vic Sage for starters, Vicki Vale, there are a few. I'd love to get Lois Lane but lots of luck there. Okay then let's have something to eat and a swim and we can go over ideas in the house."

"Sounds good. Actually, I had a few questions about some specific people when it comes to their involvement in opposition to the Justice League. I had some questions about Lex Luthor and, oh, what was his name? Savage. Vandal Savage. I'm an Avenger, y'know, and we're looking into trying to fight this negative publicity by finding out info on them, while trying to improve the image and reputations of as many heroes as we can."

Aquaman frowns. "Those are two names I'm familiar with and I'll try to be objective. Maybe I can get Lois Lane for some info. Yes I'd be interested in hearing about any difficulties they are causing for your team. Oh and tell me something about my neighbor, Stark. He seems like a quiet respectable businessman and inventor. Something of a science geek like me I expect ..."

"He's not quiet. He's actually pretty loud. Kind of a party boy, even at his age. And objectivity is good, but an honest dissertation on what Savage and Luthor have done, at least in your universe, would be helpful. They're slandering the hell out of all of us heroes." Simon shook his head, but kept a smile on. "And Tony's often in New York, but here? Who knows what he'll do?"

Mertus sees the look that passes over Arthur's face and hands him back his beer. . o 0 (Queen Mera concerns you sire?) Arthur telepaths back. o 0 (Why no Mertus. I'm concerned with the other temperamental, jealous redhead I married.) He drains the bottle.

Simon Williams, unable to perceive telepathy, merely stood there and smiled.