Scoop of the Day

Bloody government stooges...

The TV was shut off by a remote thrown into it. The little apartment was a mess, somewhat. Crumpled paper and writing supplies all over, clothes, a couple of photos,a lot of video material, and a computer at the table, with a screen that looked like it needed a wash for quite a while. In front of a mirror, in the only part of the room that was not a complete mess, a robot was making itself look presentable. Fitting into her best suit, putting on a tie, fixing the metal pieces that made up her hair. A less than pleased expression on her face.

This is supposed to be my day off too...

But there were no such things as days off for the reporters of Calamity News. The big event happened just yesterday. A mexican stand-off that happened between the police and the paramilitary organization known as DOMA left Jump city up in arms. Who were they? What was going on? What was going to happen? What should any one's individual standing be? And to make things worse, Master's Report has drawn first blood, by coining an interview with a DOMA official. Jennifer Wakeman was watching that, before storming off to get dressed.

They're not even trying to pretend to not be on the government payroll. Professionalism? Never heard of it. Maybe I should try and get hired there. If only they hired robots...

But alas, she was an achor for their direct competition - Calamity News. And she was going to cover the part of the story Masters' Report gracefully leaved out. Opening the window, Jenny stepped over and out, flying downwards like a brick. Before turning on the jets and being propelled into the sky. Her destination? The T tower. Which, hopefully, would still not be vacated.

3 minutes time, cruise control. The well-suited robot would land right at the door at the base of it. A doorbell? How convenient. Guess even superheroes need to order pizza... A camera would pop up from her back, taking an angle to film both herself and what she was doing. Jenny pulled out a microphone from another compartment and start her recording:

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a special report by Calamity News. In the wake of civil tensions regarding the law enforcement crisis and the state of vigilantism in Jump City, as well as the recent government response in the likes of DOMA, many are still on the fence about the argument. Does vigilantism present a threat, or is it an answer for the inability of the government to provide safety and security for the populace? Should citizens have the right to defend themselves and others instead of waiting for police? Can DOMA do a better job? In today's report, we shall present another side of the argument by trying to get an interview with some of the most famous faces in Jump City, responsible for defending it against the recent onslaught of undead."

With that, she'd press on the button and talk into the speaker:

"Good day! This is Calamity News Reporter, Jennifer Wakeman. Would you be in a position to dedicate a moment of your time to answer some questions for the citizens of Jump City?"

Meanwhile in the legion of doo- I mean in the tower. Robin would be in the final stages of trying to uncover whatever DOMA had been up to till now. Since it had only been about a few days since DOMA's arrival and the interview, he was trying to exhaust this option before he tried a more hands on approach in the form of disguising himself. So far he wasn't able to get any specifics and felt like trying the more direct route of hacking would hurt their chances of solving this problem more than help it. The others were "around" so to speak- probably weren't happy that they couldn't do more about this. It wasn't completely that he felt like it all fell onto him, there were short term means of getting around being spotted by DOMA. And then he noticed someone... flying toward the tower. Robin rose from the console and tried to peer out of the window, barely able to see... a... robot? It wasn't Fixit, Robin knew based on what Cyborg had told him that it was highly unlikely for him to leave the junkyard. And they did the unthinkable- they rang the door bell, a first!

Calamity News? A reporter? A robot reporter? Only in Jump City. Regardless of the novelty of that, Robin was wary for good reasons. Master's interview with Zero was probably to blame for this, and it wouldn't be unheard of for other news stations or free lance reporters to try and make a name for themselves off the coat tails of that interview. Or he was just being overly paranoid and this could be the opposite- somone wanting to try and get THEIR side of the story instead. It was also just... one robot- err, person. "Um, sure... one moment and I'll be done," Robin said into an intercom. He was hoping it'd be the latter. What good it'll do if it is he didn't know right now but he also needed a break from what he was doing. The others had been kind of hinting around that he should earlier.

A short time later Robin would be at the frontdoor to meet this robot girl reporter. That sentence just really stook out in his mind for some reason, and if he didn't have to deal with DOMA would be really cool normally.

The door slid open, and the robot's gaze, and the lens of the camera, went down, to focus on the short-ish superhero that appeared, wearing the colorful costume and a mask. When was this designed, 1940s? - Jenny wondered inside of her mind. Fortunately, being a robot offered a perfect pokerface. With a polite, cordial smile, she'd summon another microphone, which would appear out of her chest, pointing to Robin, as she would continue her report:

"With us we have Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, an esteemed group of state-sanctioned vigilantes of Jump City, California. Thank you for answering this unexpected request, Mr. Robin. Yesterday the city was shocked by the sudden presence of large numbers of police and military personnel around your tower. Could you tell us what happened, from your perspective?"

The camera focused on the boy's face, and the microphone was a foot away or so from his mouth.

The eyes and ears of Jump city were now upon him. Waiting.

Right, time to choose his words carefully. Regardless of how he personally felt about what happened, he didn't want a civil war- and he definately didn't want people rising up in arms on his behalf. "We were just at the tower- I was putting together my findings on a case that the police asked for help on involving the series of break-ins," Robin said after taking a quick breath to try and shake off what discomfort he had about this, it was only for a brief moment. "Then they rolled up to our door with a cease and desist, demanding that we stop crimefighting for two weeks while they 'take over' for us. The police were actually there to arrest someone that took a shot at Raven while we were responding to a break in at the museum earlier that week," Robin continued simply. "At the time we didn't know who DOMA were exactly, and who worked for them- but the shooter may have been a mercenary. I haven't been able to follow up on it as you can imagine," Robin added in anticipation of a statement or question about that.

Jenny cocked her eyebrow a little. Just a little.

Which was a lot, for a robot. Because the words coming from the mouth of the Teen Titan were more than disturbing to her. Being a reporter, she knew that this was going to make a major hit... and that it would also going to make waves in all directions. Still, none of this was her concern. She was a reporter, her job was to deliver news now, not worry about what others would do. She continued:

"That is a very interesting account of the situation! According to my sources, your activity in Jump is mandated by the California State Authorities. Is this a case of federal law versus a state legislation? Are you going to comply with their ultimatum and stand down until the 2-week period has passed? Would that not be a green light for all those convicts escaping during the country-wide break-out? Who, in your opinion, was the mystery shooter associated with?"

The questions came in succession, with pauses being given for Robin to answer them. This is going to blow up the screens... - Jennifer thought to herself. They better pay me well for this material, too... Promises to be way more groundbreaking than that feeble Master's Report...

"That seems to be the case. If the state really had a problem with what we did, we wouldn't be living out here in the open," Robin answered what may or may not have been a rhetorical question. He was quickly realizing why Batman never talked with the press. The next question had been something on his mind that he didn't have an exact answer for. "I can't tell you one way or another if we're going to stand down. I would rather avoid starting anything with the federal government, and I'm open to seeing if they can actually do our job. But right now it's too soon to say if we plan on standing down for the full tweo weeks. And I can think of atleast three criminals that wouldn't shy away from fighting DOMA, if their boss told them to," Robin continued in a vague reference to The Terrible Trio of Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload.

"Hopefully the threat of guns will disssuade them from taking advantage of the situation," Robin said with a tone that just said he wasn't going to hold his breath. "As for the shooter- as I said I haven't been able to follow up on it in detail. As you could imagine we've made enemies in our line of work, and this mercenary could have been hired by any number of people with the means before DOMA hired them," Robin said with a tone that a clever person could tell- he was suspecting DOMA. But he wasn't in a position to make that accusation without any evidence on hand.

Jennifer nodded, hearing the boy's answers.

He's pretty bright. - the robot thought to herself. Probably brighter than she was, in his 'age'. Maybe if she were, things would have been different. XJ9 herself did not know where she stood in the debate about to unfold in the general public. Pretending to be a neutral observer and worry about self-interest was ... easier. But Jenny was not foolish enough to think this was not going to affect her, in some way or measure.

"What is your personal opinion about the DOMA initiative? Also, what is your stand on vigilantism and the upcoming metahuman registration attempt? Would you be comfortable with working as part of a kind of metahuman task force fighting crime rather than a personal initiative? Do you think heroes should be held accountable not only for their successes, but also failures?"

Jenny was getting to the root of the problem. Heroes often valued their freedom to commit chaotic acts of heroism. But frequently did her reports feature collateral damage left by the latest hero-villain showdowns. It's probably only a matter of time before someone makes a mistake...

Like she did. But that was a long time ago.

Robin breathed in as the loaded questions started up. Now he'd have to really be careful here. Probably nothing he said would really matter to anyone who already disliked the metahuman vigilantes- even if he wasn't a metahuman, he was still part of the crimefighting. But it wouldn't hurt anything if he chose his words carefully. "It's a very complicated matter overall. I get it that people don't feel safe having us around- and I just recently found out about DOMA," Robin began getting his thoughts together, which was not as easy as you think when you're put on the spot. He hadn't considered having this come up anyway. "But regardless of the intent behind their inception, they've made a bad first impression. Not just for their employment of trigger-happy agents. Some of them have a certain... attitude that rubs me the wrong way- like how they treated the cops there," Robin continued simply. Robin's tone and facial expression alluded to something that happened but he had no intention of stating what it was- but if she wanted to follow up on it, she knew where to look.

"I can't speak for the others but that depends on DOMA's time here. As I said I am open to seeing what they can do first. There are pros and cons for both sides, my concern being whether or not we can still work with some kind of autonomy. It'd be a giant waste of time if we do go along with whatever they're asking, and we get put on stand-by forever right? And there's also things outside of just stopping criminals like Cinderblock, Mumbo or even Johnny Rancid. Sometimes there are... bigger problems that fall under the radar but need to be stopped before the have a chance to do anyone harm," Robin said subtly referring to The Brotherhood of Evil- but Trigon was also on his mind when he said it but he wasn't going to say on either; didn't need to worry people.

"On the matter of vigilantism, we do not directly encourage people to try and take matters into their own hands. If you've ever seen some of the criminals being taken to prison, or get put on trial you'd know how dangerous that is. Me and my friends are special cases simply because of our equally special circumstances. Beastboy can change into whatever animal he wants, Cyborg has his cybernetics and technical know-how- I was mentored by Batman. We do this because it would be wrong for us to have these abilities and skills and do nothing to help the community, and just watch as criminals like the ones I mentioned harm innocent people. And what is a good man who does nothing? Is he still a good man? That being said- I strongly advise anyone else from trying to do what we do. There are plenty of other ways to make a difference; become a cop, a fireman, a doctor," Robin said waxing alittle philosophy. "And yes, I think heroes should be held accountable just as much as anyone in congress- though I can't speak on the behalf of congress," Robin continued with a little cheeky jab at the people that started up DOMA. "I might wear a mask- but I live right here in the open should the city or anyone else have a problem with what I've done. And I'll actually address any concerns personally, no waiting list required," Robin finished with a less subtle jab at DOMA. Given the context of what he said a moment ago it'd be easier to connect the two.