2017.03.23 - Hot Guys Are Looking For You - Pt 3
Gotham in the Spring! That means the snow melts to reveal bodies, trash, and all the ugly things that the snows of winter hid away. The Bowery is no exception, and clean-up crews are working the streets even as two heroes make themselves known atop a low warehouse near the waterfront.
Robin the Teen Wonder steels him as the pair walk through a hole in space created by Vorpal. "This area is where Pyro first showed up. He's a young mutant who's fallen in with a bad crowd, but Xavier's wants him back - they think he's reachable and I can't leave someone who might be redeemable in a bad situation." He points to a burned-out swath of land on the next street over; the entire block has been leveled.
"As you might guess from his name, his super power is control of fire. We think he's behind a series of arson fires in this area of Gotham, but w can't be sure, and we can't find him right now. Iceman seems to think Pyro might be losing control of his abilities, so he'll be scared." The masked teen seems to harbor a great deal of sympathy, here.
Vorpal crosses his arms after the portal closes behind them. He's not cold, he's too fuzzy to be affected by the cold. He's not cold, just cool. "I d'no, Boy Wonder, looking for one particular arson in Gotham is like looking for one particular hipster in Greenwich Village. Don't people, like, have regular arsons here with s'mores and whatnot?"
Clearly Vorpal's concept of Gotham is very... cynical. "There's the Firefly, that chick who vomits fire, and the guy who blows up...." he starts counting villains with his fingers, "... and then there's the Joker anytime he wants to do some urban planning."
Robin gives a slight hesitation at the mention of the Joker's name; it's not common knowledge that he's at large once more. The caped boy moves past it, though. "That's why it's hard," he says, flashing a smile at the Titan's newest member. "I don't have a firm grasp on just what your abilities are capable of; can you look back at the scene that happened that night? This is the only large-scale destruction he's done - the other have been rooms or parts of facilities. So far, he's done this at homeless shelters - he might try moving to a youth hostel, thougn."
He pauses. "And it's 'Teen Wonder', these days," the eighteen-year-old says with a casual smile.
"I can open a hole to there to peek... but unfortunately we may not find much without raveling through time, not just space... If you want to get me a flux capacitor and a DeLorean, we can definitely try." the cat's grin widens, and he focuses, trying to focus on the location and open a pathway...
"Heh... good luck in trying to get that moniker to stick, boy." The cat grins and winks, focusing on the portal...
Robin quirks a smile at Vorpal, then watches the portal. "Well, even a large-scale viewing of the scene like it is now would be helpful; I've picked through some of the wreckage and looked at the evidence the police gathered - there's certainly an odd pattern to the fire's spread that has the arson experts baffled."
The twin portals complement each other. One is the 'eye on the ground', looking at the 'eye in the sky', the other portal looking over the area. It's like piloting his own drone, if by drown he meant an abomination-tear in the fabric of space and time. "Well, direct me where you want it to go, you're the one trained in arson analysis and whatnot... and whatever it is the Bat teaches you when he's hanging upside down in his belfry."
He grins and nudges Robin, to tease him. "I still need to find a mentor, you know."
"Sorry, Catman is in jail.." Robin teases back. "Hey I hear the Mad Hatter is hiring..." he says as he shifts to look through the tears. "Move over to the north and east; that's where the living quarters were, and most likely where the fire started.."
The portal obeys Vorpal's thoughts immediately, the ground shown by the portal shifts.
"Yyyyeah how about no criminals? I don't mind not being 'in theme', if you will." The cat smirks, looking at the area to make sure that he's staying within the scope.
"So... what's it like, being the Bat's sidekick?"
"Dude, you totally have to be in theme and there are no non-insane Wonderland-themed people - except maybe yourself," the masked youth says as he shifts around to look, gesturing to bring the view closer or to this or that side. At the second question, he's quiet for a bit, then: "Intense. That's pretty much the watchword. Not too much wiggle room, if that makes sense."
"Which is why you're hanging out with kids in a tower rather than the Belfry?" The Cheshire cat raises an eyebrow. "Don't assume I am not insane, Robbie, I'm just the -right- kind of crazy. I'm surprised you decided to let me in, to be honest."
Robin snorts. "We let in Impulse. Let that one soak in for awhile," he says as he shifts and looks closer. "OK, interesting. I didn't see this when I was down there. This is weird, but can you show me just the ultraviolet spectrum?"
"... I'm not Superman, I don't have fancy visions. I can see in the dark, and that's about it." The cat shrugs, "If you have one of those fancy glasses, you can put 'em on me and I can project an overlay illusion."
"Impulse seems like a good kid. So does Gar, actually... he's pretty." Pause. "Funny. He's pretty funny."
Robin chuckles. "They are all good guys," the Teen Wonder says. "And Gar is pretty, yes," he adds. "Totally single."
He taps his mask and the lenses go from white to yellow. "OK," he mutters as he shifts and walks from side to side, examining the scene. "OK, that's good for now, man; thank you," he says, tapping his mask again.
"That's all we need? Anything else? Chinese take-out? Beers?" the cat jokes, keeping the portal open still just in case.
"Single? Interesting. That might be useful knowledge, if I ever catch him."
He puts his hands on his hips, "Were next?"
"As much as I'd like to do both of the latter, I need to look at this arson data and run some projections. I have a weird suspicion that Pyro is not alone," the young crimefighter says. "Titan's Tower? It's certainly quicker than my cycle."
"You're no fun. I //like// riding on cycles." He likes driving them, too, but he's not allowed to drive. He is hell on wheels. "Two for the Watchtower- Bird and Cat...."
The portal shifts, and shows the commons of the tower.
"After you, tweety!"
Robin hops in.. and is gone, back to the distant teen hero hangout.