"Hey, mom."
"Hi, Danny boy! How have you been?"
"Well. The doctors are still unable to come up with a reasonable scientific explanation for my throat."
"Did you know all those words or did you learn them from the doctors?"
"I heard it from them." Danny faked a laugh. Inside, he was feeling really guilty for having to lie to his own adoptive single mother. But he had to if he wanted her to not panic and be very worried about him.
"It's been, what, three days? Did they tell you how much longer you will be there?" her mother was worried, but after the first call three days ago, the night at the Dayton Resort with Arella and her slicing her own arm just to prove a point, she felt more at ease with her son away from her.
"We don't know," was the answer Danny settled for, trying to remain as secretive as possible. "They set a two-day time limit, but they are totally gravitated towards it, saying it may be a huge step for medical technology blah blah blah and extended the time. Honestly mom, it reminded me of our neighbors, when the mother shouts at her son to stop playing video games, and he says 'Five more minutes!', but he actually goes on."
His mother laughed. "That's happened last night."
"Some things just don't change. How's life without me, mom?"
"You're always with me, Danny boy."
Danny sighed. "Besides that…"
She laughed again, fattening Danny's already heavy guilt.
"Fine."
A bellowing cry could then be heard coming from the mother's side, and Danny knew it was his sweet brother Ted. "Ted calls! Gotta go!"
"Bye, ma, love you."
They hung up their phones and Danny made his way a mere few steps to the double-person bed. Arella was already lying down on the side sticking to the wall.
"How did it go?" she asked. Danny didn't respond. Just because he believed Arella, didn't mean all the bitterness had subsided. It was because of her he had to lie to his mother. Arella felt the bitterness out of Danny's ignorance, and decided to try again.
"I am terribly sorry that you have to be away from your mother, Danny. I know your mom is feeling hurt and lonely despite knowing you are safe here."
"And what makes you so sure?" Danny's curt reply was pointed.
Arella's hand wandered on the bed until it found Danny's. She held the smooth hand tightly.
"I have a daughter."
Danny wouldn't have guessed because Arella never mentioned anything about having a daughter or implied it in the slightest since they met. Arella continued.
"You may be surprised, considering that I haven't been the motherly figure to you, but it's true. It's just that, we seldom meet, because she's in her own world busy doing her own thing, and I was useless to insignificant in her personal development."
"Do you know where she is?"
"Yes…" Arella answered. "… and no."
"What?" Before Danny's confusion could be cleared up, Arella had flicked the lamp switch and darkness filled the room as a sign that it was time to sleep. Arella never replied and Danny took it that she didn't want to answer and had fallen asleep, so he followed suit after briefly glancing at their digital clock.
9:45 p.m.
It was the time for the sailors and fishermen to sail back to dry land with their nightly loot of catches. The Captain, Moss Poisson, was overseeing his crew manhandling the netted fishes. His expression of displeasure was the only reason his subordinates were too afraid to look up at his grungy face.
"We have, yet again, a turnover deficit." Moss's disappointment was clear, and it stung the sailors, because they knew he was directing the blame to all of them. "This is not looking good, mates. Over the past two weeks, we have only turned up two surpluses and one neutral result. The rest was deficits, and we have been doing this routine every - single - day - except - Friday. The problem is either the fish or you all, and as extemporaneous as I sound I think it is you all."
"But we have tried out all the measures we have come up with," one of the sailors spoke out. "None of them were consistently successful."
"And that is an issue I want every one of you lads to deal with!" the captain shouted. "Now, if you're done being incapable wussies, load up them scaly critters and get the heck out of my fishing boat!"
Everyone wanted to express some degree of frustration, but not a single grumble could be heard when the boatmen did as obliged. They didn't bother to say more for it would just end with Captain Moss Poisson challenging to have the last, resounding word. It would be a losing battle.
"Fish Tramp!" Moss called out from his usual standpoint. One person reacted, rushing to reach the captain within seconds. It was a skinny boy in his late teens in ragged clothing and sporting a damp bucket hat. He straightened himself up and saluted his captain soldier style. Moss gave his order, "Deckhand Ervin von Tramp, you will mop the boat's every board once all the sailors leave."
Ervin nodded firmly and went back to work. When all the fish had been loaded into the storage freezer and the sailors went home, three passengers remained on Captain Poisson's boat; Moss himself, Ervin and the guy with the long, slick black hair and tantalizingly navy blue eyes. He was the man who insisted that the sailors rescue the two strangers drifted at sea nights before.
"Fisher Garth Aquos, why are you still on my boat?"
"I want to talk to you about setting up a second net with the first net," Garth suggested. "I think it will work and we will be able to catch more than twice the amount of fish!"
"No, we will not purchase a second net!" Moss's reply came just a few milliseconds after Garth finished his sentence. "The first one was costly enough, and we are already under a tight budget. I do not - repeat not - accept this plan!"
"But I believe the returns will outweigh the cost! Think about it, Captain Poisson; with one net, the amount of fish we are catching is not enough to overcome the expenditure of all our jobs. But with the combined product of two nets placed strategically so that the likelihood that a fish escapes the nets will be greatly reduced, we can garner more profits that maybe can compensate for our ongoing loss."
"Nonsense!" Moss spat out. "I don't see where this is going, Aquos. You are on my boat, working for me, so any plans and adjustments will go through me and I will decide whether to enforce them or ignore them, because you are under my rules."
"But only one person's way is not always the best way, even if you have credentials," Garth argued. They had begun the challenge of snatching that last word, and Ervin had the biggest desire to finish his job and leave, so he did. "When will you use one of our ideas? One of them might work!"
"I'm the best at fishing in this city! I've been in this industry longer than any of you. I know what is best!"
Garth wanted to retort so much, but he knew from experience that Moss would always have something to say, and many times it was something repetitive. The process was repeating itself again, and Garth knew that their feud was going nowhere. Without another word, he got off the boat. Moss let out an arrogant grunt.
The following morning, at the Dayton Resort Room 208…
"Room service!"
Arella opened the door, allowing Dick Grayson carrying a tray of breakfast to enter. Arella smiled at the familiar face. She woke up Danny so that they could begin another day.
"Thank you, Dick," she said. She expected the door to close and Dick to leave, but she didn't hear anything shut doors, and looked up to see Dick standing there.
"I just want to thank you," he said. "I've been working on this Kory case for the past three days ever since you gave me the heads up about her being in jail. She was not rightfully punished. I know she didn't steal the mustard."
"That's good to hear! I couldn't see Ms. Anderson being the thieving type. How is your work?"
"I have a prime suspect, and I am finding as much evidence as I can. From the looks of the security cameras, that suspect is still possible to being the real thief. Then, I went on an investigation to find the stolen bottles. I found four empty bottles at the Dayton Resort Bar. The bottles looked like they had been forcefully emptied."
"Oh dear, so could it be one of the Dayton Resort staff?"
Dick nodded. "Anyone who's been there is a suspect on my list, including the prime suspect. Then, just yesterday, I found three more in a trash can on a street between the Anderson household and the Dayton Resort. Considering the people who had been at those two places roughly around or soon after the time Kory last exited the Schmitt Shop, I am down to three people; Victor Stone, Laura de Mille, and the prime suspect; Komal Anderson."
"That Komal girl did seem like she wasn't trying hard enough to save her sister. What about the last three bottles?" Arella asked before biting on her croissant.
"If my intuition is correct, then they should be at the docks, because only Komal out of the three have been there around the time frame. I'm going there after my breakfast." Dick was about to leave, but then looked back at Arella after a thought struck him. "Would you and Danny like to come with me?"
"On an investigation?!" Arella and Dick turned their heads to a just-awoken Danny. He would love to go on a detective mission. "Count me in!"
"Count us out," Arella corrected, shaking her head at Dick.
"But the sailors will be there," Dick added.
"And why would we be interested in the sailors?" Arella asked.
"They saved your life," Dick replied. He was right. Arella and Danny fell into the sea and would not have made it if they hadn't been saved by someone, and sailors made the most sense. "I just thought you'd want to at least thank them. Especially Garth, he's the one who urged the captain to rescue you both. He's a good guy and an awesome friend of mine. What do you say?"
"Yes!" Danny exclaimed as he crawled his way to breakfast. Arella felt she had to show her gratitude, so she reluctantly agreed.
Dick waited for Arella and Danny to finish their breakfast before setting off to the docks. At the docks, some sailors were counting last night's haul. Dick went straight to Garth, and they exchanged a high-five.
"Arella and Danny, this is Garth Aquos. Garth, these are the people you saved; Arella Roth and Danny Tuxon."
Handshakes were exchanged before Arella gracefully thanked the fisherman.
"It's the honorary code to every true sailor!" Garth responded, his voice like a dream. "What brings you here, Dick?"
"I'm just solving a case," Dick casually replied. "Meaning I'll have to start. I'll see you soon, Garth!"
Dick waved at Garth, Danny and Arella as he jogged to his first destination. Danny examined what was in front of him; crates and crates of fresh raw uncut seafood.
"You have a lot of fish, Garth."
Garth gave Danny a look of uncertainty. He replied, "We are actually expecting far more."
"Oh. Say, this is not where you saved us." Danny could tell. There was nothing but the sea past the pier, and he was sure he and Arella were somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge.
Garth nodded. "You are bright. You were found on the other side of the city!"
"Wow, there are two seas on two sides of Jump City?"
Garth shook his head. "No, Jump City is surrounded by the sea! We're on a little natural island turned urban! Cool, huh? We can only get out of here by water travel. Well, I actually don't know if we can. No matter how far we go, we can't seem to find land that isn't ours! You can't find any source of life when observing from the shores of the city!"
"How peculiar…" Danny couldn't help but imagine a whole city sinking. Atlantis came to mind.
"What happened to your neck?" Arella asked, indicating scab-like streaks on the sides of Garth's neck. There were three on each side and they almost paralleled one another.
Garth lightly waved a hand to show that it wasn't a big deal.
"Scars. Had them for as long as I can remember. The work can leave you with scratches now and then, but it's nothing serious "
Danny knew that Arella was implying something to him. She wanted Danny to pay attention to Garth's scarred neck. He imagined hard, and eventually envisioned Garth with gills. It would make sense that Garth Aquos had a career with the sea if his 'superpowers' were that he could swim like a human dolphin and could breathe underwater for a long, long time.
Danny nodded at Arella to tell her that he understood.
I cannot believe I am imagining these people with superpowers, he thought exasperatedly.
"Aquos, assist von Tramp with the preparations!" a gruff voice sounded from the boat.
"Well, that's an order from my egotistical captain, no other than ol' Moss Poisson himself! I gotta go but it was nice meeting the people I saved! You guys make sure you don't drown again, alright?"
Garth waved goodbye and resumed working.
"Let's go and find Dick!" Danny urged, failing to pull Arella. "I wanna see if he proves Kory innocent and her sister guilty."
Arella wasn't so sure about letting a child be involved in a crime case. She convinced him that it wasn't their business to mind and they decided to head back to the Dayton Resort.
Though I am interested to see what Dick finds and what happens in the end, Arella thought as they began walking.
Dick found himsef at the beach. He had received eye-witness reports that Komal Anderson had been at the beach sunbathing the day after Kory's arrest. He didn't get any reports about her working on releasing her younger sister.
Dick had to wonder where he would hide three bottles of mustard if he were Komal. He had scoured the sands and in trash cans to no avail. After an hour, he stopped searching, but he still had one more guess.
"It's a long shot," he told himself before stripping down to no more than his skivvies. Without the littlest bit of reluctance, he dived into the pristine water and swam on, hoping to find bottles of mustard somewhere in the sea.
So far, all his findings seemed to lead to Komal. He was so sure it was her, but everyone else needed legitimate, solid proof, and that was what he was striving to find. It was just the right thing to do. Kory had treated Komal like a sister and thought Komal was reciprocating the mutual understanding, but if Dick's intuition was right yet again, that meant Komal had been playing Kory all along for a particular reason.
Dick never met his parents. It was like they never existed. He couldn't even recall any memories of them, that he felt like he suddenly appeared into the world. But they had left him with their apartment, and from the looks of the uniforms and medals, he could tell his father had at least been a person of justice, which was why Dick had been influenced on doing everything the right way rather than the easy, unjust way.
He waded through the water, looking at the surface and under, not missing any space.
Got it, he thought, pulling three bottles of mustard trapped in a small net that had been weighed down by a rock. He bit through the net and released the mustard, taking them back on shore.
"Komal is definitely the thief," he confirmed to himself, grabbing his phone and calling the police station. "Hello, Officer Guy, I have proof that Kory is innocent and Komal's the thief back at the Schmitt Store situation. Meet me here at the beach."
Dick explained his findings to the police and they took all the evidences and brought them to the police station, along with Komal.
"What is going on?" Kory asked as she saw Dick and Komal enter the station. "Sister? Richard?"
"I don't know why I am being sent here!" Komal bellowed, glaring at Dick.
"How are you and Galor doing in helping me out?"
Komal shrugged. "No luck, honey."
"That's because you are the thief," Dick said confidently and sternly, receiving a glare from Komal and a confused look from Kory. "Kory, your sister has been trying to find a way to get you out of her life. She doesn't respect you! She hates you!"
"Those are really harsh accusations, Richard," Kory retorted, not completely believing him.
"Take a look at the Schmitt Shop's security cameras! Komal was on her way to the condiments shelf soon after you! I found all ten missing bottles of mustard! Gilbert did miscount, he should have had twenty bottles left, with your ten that you rightfully bought and the ten Komal stole in order to set you up here!"
Kory looked at Komal, but all her sister did was sneer. She then looked at Guy the police officer, and his expression told her that Dick was - to her dismal - not lying.
"Dick's findings all really point to Komal," Guy declared. "I and some of the other officers have looked into this, and it appears that we have made a mistake."
Kory gasped. She would never have suspected her sister to sabotage her. She would rather she be mistakenly declared guilty with the real culprit not being Komal than be proven innocent with the real culprit being Komal.
"Did you really do it, sister Komal?"
Kory watched Komal carefully. She was biting her lip, holding back words.
Then, Komal looked up at her younger sister with grimace.
"Yes," she admitted, and Kory felt her heart sink. "I did! I have been hiding this hatred for you ever since I laid my eyes on you! You have always been the one with the positive attention, like you're the princess of Jump City or some other kind of trash. You are a nurse and you're still in college, while I'm a bartender at some stinking bar without any degrees! It irks me to no end!"
"Sorry, Miss Komal Anderson," Guy said, handcuffing Komal. "You have been arrested. Kory, you're free to go."
Kory was released from her cell and Komal took her place.
"I can't believe you, sis," Kory said. "But justice has been served."
Komal rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
Kory and Dick were sent out of the police station.
"Thanks, Richard," Kory said as they slowly walked towards the city center. Even though it was a pity that her own elder sister could do such a terrible thing to her, and that it was as hard as a boulder to sink in, she knew that when Komal admitted her bad deed that justice had been served, and in the end that mattered more in her opinion. She had to be thankful for Richard Grayson for extracting the truth, especially since she didn't know so much about him other than his uncanny instinctive intuition and that he was in college with her.
Dick smiled. "Call me Dick."
"But I'm curious," she stopped them from walking. "Why did you help me? Why do you always want to help me?"
Dick shrugged. "It's the right thing to do. I'm a man who serves for justice."
Kory shook her head. "No, Dick. There's more to that than merely fulfilling Honor's Code. You helped me find the journal I needed for my report at the College Library last, last week. You taught me what mouth-to-mouth resuscitation meant and that it's not a way to show admiration nor learning the French language. I still joke to myself about how I thought French kissing meant kissing to know more French. I mean, language transfer through lip contact? I guess I tend to overestimate other cultures to prevent the culture shock. Still, embarrassing. Now tell me, please, I really want to know. I have had my sister lie to me shamelessly, I would like the truth for a change."
Dick's mind was scrambling to find a convincing reason.
"I want to be your friend," he answered. "I want to get to know you. You are a bundle of emotions, but I am interested in knowing if there is something going on beneath your expressions."
There was a moment of silence as Kory thought of Dick's answer. Dick himself wasn't sure if he had convinced her enough.
"Okay," she ended up saying with a smile. "We're friends!"
She patted Dick's back hard, and they headed their separate ways. Kory headed home to update Galor and Ryan (assuming her younger brother was there), while Dick returned to the Dayton Resort to begin his evening shift.
News of the Komal-Kory feud spread fast, reaching Room 208 by moonrise. Danny for one felt ghastly by how sibling rivalry could escalate that much.
"I'll have to keep myself in check to make sure that doesn't happen to me and Ted," he remarked. "Arella, do you know if Dick and Kory are best friends? It's sweet how much he fights for her."
Arella laughed to herself. Danny knew she knew something that he didn't, and Arella knew he wanted her to spill the beans, so she did."
"I think I know who they are in their original world," she said. "Red flowing hair and black spiky hair. My daughter is friends with them. She's told me how they have this affection towards each other that was completely obvious to everyone but them whenever she came to meet me at our home dimension."
Danny understood somehow. "So DicKory may be experiencing the same thing all over again! It's like a romcom!" Arella nodded at his deduction.
Danny had been really curious about Arella's daughter ever since she mentioned that she had one, but he never really brought up the topic the whole day.
"Is your daughter here?" he asked, and he knew he touched on something sensitive.
Arella, with a sigh, replied, "I think so, but I don't know. Purple bob for a hair, a diamond-shaped Ajna Chakra on her forehead like Komal, and pale gray skin. But maybe she gets a makeover during the transition from our world to this. Plus, she's not exactly the out-there type."
"Don't worry," Danny reassured her. "Who knows? Maybe she will suddenly pop up!"
"But I don't know her alias here. Everyone's name is different."
"But her face remains... mostly."
Arella took a deep breath. The little boy is right, she thought. She really wanted to see her daughter again. It had been two years.
"Alright, smartypants, it's nine o'clock. Time for bed."
And as the giant clock of the clock tower signaled the time - nine in the evening - most of Jump City closed down for the night. One of the shops closing down was the Bay Cafe, a tiny coffee shop at the Jump City Shopping Center.
"I'm leaving you with the counter cleanup, Rach. I have to leave."
"Why so soon, boss? Are you going to the charity?"
"Uh... Of course."
Rachel could hear a gulp as she was organizing the files and her boss was retrieving his coat from the coat-hanger. Hugh Corazon was not going to the Jump City Charity for the Disadvantaged to give them Bay Cafe's weekly donations of foods that had not been bought. He didn't believe it was fair that they could get the pastries and delicacies for free because it made him feel like his shop was being used. So, instead of donating them, he threw them all away. He didn't care one bit.
"You have such a huge heart," Rachel commented cheerily, brushing off the sweat from her black bob as she moved boxes of office supplies from one cabinet to another. Hugh agreed with Rachel, but knew his heart was anything but generous.
"See you tomorrow, Rachel," Hugh said, exiting the 'Staff Only' office. Rachel spent two more minutes in the office before she finished all her duties.
"When I decided to take up a place as a barrister, I didn't expect to file things," she complained to herself. She packed her stuff, and headed for the door.
She pushed the door, and felt weight from the other side.
Okay, if some brats are trying to block me in, it's not funny and it's not working, she thought maddeningly, exerting more force on the door.
"Dang, this is heavy!" she shouted. She took a step back then ambushed through the door, finally getting out of the office.
As soon as she saw the counter and knew she had passed through the door, she spun around to see what had blocked her way. On the floor by the door was a lifeless body; male and large. Her boss.
"HUGH CORAZON?!" she gasped. The sight was extremely difficult for her to process. "Oh no, I hurt Mr. Corazon."
She knelt beside Hugh, softly slapping his cheeks to try to wake him up, but she could tell he was unconscious.
"He's not breathing," her fear intensified, transforming into a frenzied panic. "No no no, Hugh! Come on, wake up! Wake up! Oh no. What do I do?"
Rachel was shaking. All that her frantic mind was telling her was that she had probably just killed Hugh. Compulsively, she took her stuff, removed all security cameras, and ran away from the cafe unnoticed, escaping into the night.