Late to the Party (Open)

It was around sunset. Rookie hero Noa Ricci, a.k.a. Porpoise, had emerged from her lab after immersing herself in some research work. It would be her first night in Jump as well as her city debut in the hero business. She walked out into the balcony, taking a breath of fresh air. The scene that greeted her was of course water. It was a seaside base of operations for a hero of the sea, and her fastest route to travel to any emergency. It was the perfect spot to set up home. Not to mention she was practically neighbors with the most famous heroes in the city, the Titans. Less than a mile away was their island base with the ever-recognizable T-shaped tower acting like a beacon of justice. She was thinking of visiting the team some time. Dropping by to say hello was the neighborly thing to do. Maybe cook something up for them while she was at it.

The thought would not last however as the peaceful scenery was replaced by something she would not be forgetting anytime soon. The were flashes of light around the tower and the unmistakable sound of explosions. She found herself taken aback by the sight. Was the tower under attack? Who would do such a thing? Were the Titans alright? As a newcomer to the city, she had yet to personally experience seeing the Titans in action and so the feelings of trust and security in their presence was not quite instilled just yet. She was worried. But even so, she was rooted to the spot, unsure of what she ought to do.

She didn't know how many minutes had passed since the commotion began, but something finally snapped her back into reality when she saw it. The lights of the tower flickered before finally going out and the giant T lurched to one side. It couldn't be... could it? But the truth was harsh. Moments later the proud symbol of peace that watched over Jump City came crashing down to the island where it stood while some bits and pieces of it fell in the water. If that wasn't a big enough cue that help was severely needed at the site, the she didn't know what was. The girl in blue leaped straight into the sea and swam her hardest to the battered island, hoping for the best.

The next time the heroine Porpoise would resurface would be roughly twenty meters off the coast of the Titan's island, her head popping out of the water to survey the surroundings. It was a total wreck and it was disheartening. There was fallen debris everywhere and flames scattered all around. At first glance there were no signs of life. She couldn't use her thermal scanner as the fire would throw off the readings. It seemed she would have to rely on her powers for this one. Concentrating, she activated her radar sense to conduct a full scan of the island and its perimeter.  Her radar search yielded nothing in terms of signs of life. That was not good at all. What the scan did find though were remains of robots. She wondered if the machines were the ones responsible for the attack.

Cautiously, she made her way to shore to get a better look at what was left of the Titans base. It didn't take long to confirm her suspicions of a robot attack. The damage on the remnants of the structures matched the weapons that the machines were equipped with. It was hard to say if whoever was responsible even set foot on the island. Her expertise would tell her that these were the kind of drones that could be controlled from afar. That discovery made her feel even more regretful that she was late in arriving.

"P1, P2 extract some samples. We may have been late to the party, but we'll catch those responsible."

As she spoke, two tiny penguin bots popped up from behind her and began rummaging through the robot wreckage.  Meanwhile, the young heroine pondered her next course of action. She was most concerned that the Titans were no where in sight, visually or in her scans. And she made sure to aim under the rubble too. Either they really weren't around... or they were dead. She shuddered at the thought. But if they weren't dead, then they might have been captured. That too would be an incredibly difficult challenge to overcome. She rushed to the island to help but the longer she spent thinking, the more it became evident that she needed help too. No doubt a big shot villain was pulling the strings behind this tragedy. This was not a problem she could solve on her own. She found herself standing back at the coast, looking out at the sea and sky for signs of... anything.

Proactive was a bit of an understatement. From Noa gathered so far, the girl had a very clear idea of the things she wanted to accomplish here and the rookie hero was rather ashamed she wasn't able to be as decisive. It was like a culture shock. Having a sense of justice and inclination to do the right thing was not going to be helpful here. Insight on how the mind of the perpetrator worked was more useful. And true enough, there was plenty at stake should they decide to return and gather up the spoils. On the other hand, this was far from a realistic job to be undertaken by just two people. If only one of the Titans returned to help sort things out.

Speaking of which, were they even aware the tower was now in ruins? Surely those left behind tried calling for backup. If still no one made it back, then either the enemy was blocking communications somehow and the other Titans are still unaware of the situation, or the message got through but the battle downtown was keeping them tied real good.

"You could say I'm already on it."

As if right on cue, her two penguin bots were making their way towards her with samples extracted from the attacking robots.

"Nothing's worse than fighting an unknown enemy. I felt it was more prudent to grab things that might help paint a picture of what we're up against. Not that I disagree with protecting Titan data too."

"The Titans have a technopath on their side. So any tech that they lose here is not entirely lost for good. What seems to be their main computer is under the rubble over there, but the extensive damage to it makes me doubt if it is even operable. If you're looking for data, that's probably a good place to start. Though if the enemy was after it, they would have gotten it already."

She pointed in the direction of the computer that she was able to detect in her scan earlier, in case the girl was interested.

"It's hard to imagine that they would return to the scene when in all likelihood the rest of the Titans will soon be back here to face them. Unless... the Titans aren't coming."

That was a possibility too wasn't it? That the villains responsible were expecting the Titans to suffer total defeat today. There was more than a good chance that the attack on the tower and the commotion in the city were all part of the same scheme perpetrated by the same masterminds. The villains who left here in a hurry may have gone to the city to beat the rest of the Titans there.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that this isn't the place where we're needed."

She continued to keep watch for anyone approaching.

It didn't even cross her mind that the villains might intend to build a base of operations here of all places. There was a lot to take in and think about though at the same time she didn't want to overthink things too much. They had zero leads to the villains' intentions beyond defeating the Titans so this was really all speculation. Perhaps it was because there were far more than just the Titans who would have something to say if bad guys really did set up a base on this island. At the very least the entire city would need to be in their control to pull it off. People weren't pushovers that they would allow villains to just "rule" over them. It made her wonder where exactly the girl was from that she witnessed things like that.

When asked where they should go, she thought about trying to find the rest of the Titans, but before she could suggest so, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a third party. This man had appeared out of nowhere. There was no sign of any travelling, at least none that her sensors picked up. This suggested some sort of teleporting ability. This sudden entrance put her on guard. She knew the Titans' faces and she was pretty positive he wasn't one.

The man's first words pretty much threw off the serious mood. At the very least it didn't seem like he was here to help and that was concerning.

"Sir, I don't really think this is a good time for jokes. If you're here to provide aid and assistance with finding survivors or casualties, we'd appreciate it if you took it seriously."

"If you aren't, then I'm going to have to ask what you're planning on doing here, knowing what just happened."

She paid attention to the items he had on his person and he looked equipped to dig up things and rummage through he ruins. This was what the other girl was saying about villains coming to scavenge Titans tech. Not that she had any idea yet if the man before them was a crook. Maybe he was just insensitive. Not a very good first impression.

One thing led to another and now they were having some sort of game. And this Porpoise didn't know what to make of it. Not that she had the luxury of thinking about it. Though in all honesty, if the man before them was going to do anything villainous right in their faces, she felt it would make more sense to just apprehend him than go along with this little contest. And so she wondered why the other girl even suggested it. Was she wrong in thinking she was a hero too? They've never really done any formal introductions.

If there really was a dead body down there, then they were in trouble. Noa's talents were far from what you would consider effective in looking for buried objects. The only reason she identified the computer from earlier was because it wasn't buried too deep in the rubble. If they were looking for something deep underground though, then she wasn't much help.

She glanced at the ghoul as he went to work on digging. The other girl decided on this contest on her own and Noa had no intention of going along with it if it meant letting the man have a body possibly belonging to one of the Titans. If he did find one, she was going to go after it regardless. In the meantime, she would try looking for other worthwhile things herself while monitoring his movements.

Her main target for now was enemy tech. That wasn't going to change. She mentally sent her Penguin Bots out again to scavenge parts from the various robot wreckage. A few of them still had working transmitters that she could analyze and trace back to the source.