15102/What Is This

What Is This
Date of Scene:	18 May 2023
Location:	Lobby, Titans Tower
Synopsis:	It's Titans Recruitment day! ...Whether or not it was a joke to start with, Crush and Nadia show up, provide their profiles. And thankfully Tim showed up so Gar doesn't have to try and do the serious work of reading them.
Cast of Characters:	Beast Boy, Crush, Wasp (Pym), Red Robin

---

Beast Boy has posed:
It's another uneventful day at Titans Tower, surprisingly uneventful, given the recently posted flood of social media posts inviting the more young and/or enthusiastic heroic and crime fighting sorts not currently part of any official and organized heroic organization to drop by and apply.

Admittedly, the uptake on this offer might have been more enthusiastic if it didn't seem entirely haphazard and slapdash.

Which is totally Cyborg's fault, because he should have known joking about how Gar had to work the intake desk for recruitment day would lead to Gar taking it upon himself to post to social media about the clearly accidentally left off the schedule day.

He frowns thoughtfully as he taps his chin, eying the small folding table set out with cupcakes, fruit punch, and some random tassels he's certainly not going to consider the providence of. He found them in a cardboard box, and as such clearly they were fair game.

"Awwwyeah. I didn't need Kori's help, or anything! This is great!"

Followed immediately by a thin, almost serious press of his lips. "Probably should have printed a banner." He sighs, well, too late now! The fruit punch is out, and he can't go whip one up on the computer, he's got to work the front lobby! Clearly everyone else just forgot they're supposed to be joining him. It'll be fine.

Crush has posed:
The roar of a chopper (the motorcycle kind, not the helicopter - for now) fills the air as Crush roars in, pulling up to the Tower with a squeal of rubber and letting out a thick cloud of smoke from the exhausts.

The white-skinned girl unstraddles the bike, thick-treaded boots clomping and stomping as her chain wraps itself around her wrist, showing it to be somewhat alive in some sort of strange and unsettling way. The big hook at the end isn't exactly comforting either.

"Geeks, losers and general trashbags can go ahead and depart. You ain't got no chance now that I'm here. So, khow do we do this? Who do I gotta fight? Is it you? You?" she says, pointing her hook around as she moves up to approach Gar's table.

"Sign me up, spinach."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
With so many things to do Nadia Pym has to multi-task to even come close to finding the time to get everything she wants done in a day. Trying to petition a super-team to hire her is number thirty seven on todays list. Right next to twenty five which was drop off GIRL documents for Kara and Willow.

Thankfully being able to fly makes getting over to the island a simple matter. And some chatting on her suits communications gear managed to stop anyone from shooting her down on the way. (Always phone ahead when visiting super bases!)

Her black and red hero suit doesn't exactly distract from her petite build as she comes fluttering in on insectile wings.

"What's wrong with geeks?" she wonders innocently. "It's counter-productive to beat up smart people. You'll only create more supervillains who have actually dangerous schemes. Generally speaking the villains who are just physically strong never really amount to a significant threat as they are only motivated by simple things like money, personal power or revenge."

Her head tilts to one side. "Oh I am Nadia by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you both! Is there perhaps anywhere I can leave mail for people who have rooms within the Tower?"

Beast Boy has posed:
Gar perks up at the roar of approaching motorcycle engine... though he perks from 'excited like a dog expecting someone coming home' to 'cat looking down a dark hallway' methods of tension as it were, when the tires squeal. ...Do the Titans fight motorcycle gangs? He doesn't remember ever fighting a motorcycle gang. Okay, that one time in that Direct to DVD Air Bud knockoff, but that wasn't /real/.

The pale white girl striding into the Tower? Real. Really really real. ...And for a moment Gar's a little concerned that his vast shapeshifting powers don't include such minor adjustments as 'A few inches more height' because... Oh god! Did he put that it was a trial by combat in the ad?! "N..no! No fighting! No combat! It's... just a form! It's... like..." He picks up a tablet lamely, "You just... enter the information here, you know? Like applying for... I dunno, a rewards card at a store? Chill, chill, we're totally casual!"

He points to the folding table, "We have cupcakes. Casual. So casual. Uhhh... I just need your name..."

Because he's already entering the more detailed information. Sure he's guesstimating the height and weight based off her being like 4 inches taller than him... and factoring in those thick soled boots. He's _not_ asking about weight. 'Powers' so far is just 'Probably stabs people with her hook. Like a horror movie. It's not Friday _or_ the 13th. This sucks. If I die, blame Cy.'

Luckily, Nadia arrives just in time to... well, add more confusion to Gar. But it's not 'This person is going to kill me with their murder hook' confusion, so it's practically a gift from heaven. "Oh! We have total geeks! Cyborg's all about like... nerd stu- science! He does science. Well, technology. I dunno, every time I say science and technology are the same Kara just stares at me like she's trying to give me X-Ray poisoning..." He frowns... are Kori's energy powers /also/ radiation? Was he green before he joined up with this team? Is he just radioactive now? No! No, Gar! Focus!

He offers up a tablet to Nadia, "Here! It's uhh... okay, I'm just using like, ipads? Apparently I am 'not to be trusted' with the actual high tech stuff... I swear, you install DOOM on /one/ autopilot and..."

He heaves out a sigh. His life is misery and woe.

Crush has posed:
Crush snorts and rolls her eyes, "Fine, fine, no fighting. Jeez, you're supposed to be Titans. Titans ate their god damn children until one of those children got big enough to smack 'em in the mouth," she says, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of her vest pocket and lighting one, black lipstick marking the filter.

Nadia approaches and gives her spiel. Crush stares at her long and hard, finally exhaling plumes of smoke from her nostrils, "I have no idea what the living frag you just said, sister. Smart, dumb, young, old, cute, ugly, I don't give a big fat stinkin' dong, I like to fight. I dunno how we're supposed to prove we're good enough to fight bad guys if we ain't ever fought in front o' nobody. Well, that ain't true, exactly."

"Hey, Barry Broccoli. C'mere, I got some youtube links to show you. How do you feel about underground pit fighting?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"If only they'd considered the benefits of a non-child based diet and basic birth control," Nadia proclaims solemnly, before turning to Gar. "Oh see the documents I'm dropping off are in paper." She does.. Something and just pulls a stack of documents out of seemingly thin air. Pym particle paperwork. "I'm actually recruiting two Titans for my own research group and was hoping to leave them some files to review!" She beams another smile. "But I would like to join the Titans too."

Her eyes flick back to Crush. "If I were to phrase it in more... fight-y terms? The person swinging at your face is generally less dangerous than the one stabbing you in the back."

She taps at something on the back of her glove and her suits communications systems chirp into life. Sending a perfectly normal text document over a perfectly normal tablet style connection. No encryption and easy to verify as safe by the Titan's Tower AI. But that's also because it really is safe. It'd be rude to try impress everyone by trying to hack the AI. Also AI have rights and feelings too! Better not to upset a potential new friend for 'points'.

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake has been watching the monitors, to see how Gar does on the reception job. Tim maybe the Third Robin, but watching the others, and offering advice it sorta comes with the job. Seeing the other is getting a bit overwhelmed, he decided to join him, so after just a few more moments, the elevators ding and as they open Red Robin walks out looking about and over towards Gar's table.

Beast Boy has posed:
Gar works his mouth silently for a long moment. "...We're not the _Titan_ Titans. We do have an amazon around sometimes! But like... no eating kids, please?" He blinks slowly and sighs... someone's going to blame the environmental system for having to scrub smoke out of the air, aren't they?

"Oh! We definitely fight. Alien invasions, robots, uhhh... like weird ninja guys sometimes? We can totally provide fights!" He tilts his head, "Also we have some kinda big fancy training complex, so that's... almost like fighting?" He hesitantly steps towards Crush, "I mean, uhhh... like, this is more the... meet and greet? Sort of check out who wants to volunteer more than actually uhh... fight?"

He nods solemnly to Nadia and snorts out softly. "Yeah, those mythical beings... never really big on like, following science, right?" He sighs out like it's just downright inconsiderate of them." His eyes narrow ever so slightly as Nadia does her whole tech thing with smooth, competent skill. That's going in his mental file for sure.

And then Tim's showing up, excellent! "Tim! Come meet... uhh..." He gestures to Crush and chimes out, "This gal! She wants to demonstrate her fighting prowess. You can handle that, right?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Well I suppose if you accept the more mystical accounts of 'history' to be true then it's probably fortunate for us," Nadia muses, tapping her helmet and causing the visor to retract. Revealing a young looking freckled face. "As we wouldn't exist if they hadn't been short sighted."

She shrugs. History is interesting but it's not her primary field of study.

Anyone checking the records she submitted would find quite the tale. Evil Russian spies, super science and daring escapes. Plus some scattered heroic exploits in America over the last few years. There's even a link to a video of a giant Nadia fighting a Racoon with a Gotham heroine called Bluebird. She's also submitted several essays on a theoretical method to generate a time machine by manipulating quantum states.

Thankfully this is /very/ theoretical. Although there is some very elegant math to support it. For those who appreciate a good equation over the possibility of yet more time line mayhem.

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake looks over and nods to the group, and says "Ah yes, well we can possibly test fighting abilities soon, it is best to see who all we have wanting to join up, and then see if we have more than we can use. See who gets to be full time and reserve." He offers seeming he plans on all having some form of membership. "I'm Red Robin, he says introducing himself to the ladies, and looks to Crush "Upload those to RedRobinNobinDer@gmail.com for me, or at least the link for them."

Crush has posed:
Crush sticks her long tongue out at Nadia, "Front, back, don't matter to me. I'll whup your ass no matter what angle you hit me. Stabbin' me in the back just makes it clear I don't have to play nice. Not that I ever do," she says.

"Meet and greet, huh? You couldn't go full pun and have a bunch of burgers and steaks and stuff? You ever had an ostrich steak? i got one of those once at this underground place in Mexico, those guys were nuts, but that steak was murder."

She shakes her head at Nadia, "An' I thought I was the alien around here." she says. She chucks her chin at Tim, "Consider it sent, little dude. Love the cape."

Beast Boy has posed:
Gar just glances back and forth between Nadia and Crush slowly, "Uhhhhh... no... backstabbing... between... teammates? Prospects? I mean, we're not a biker gang, or anything... yet." He clicks his tongue in mock thoughtfulness.

Of course that thoughtfulness is washed away when Crush is asking if he's ever eaten Ostrich, "I... ah... no! No!! I turn into animals! Eating animals seems like..." He frowns thoughtfully, "I mean, okay, a lot of the animals I turn into /do/ eat animals, but like... if I eat an animal, just because they do, and they eat /people/..." He shakes his head slowly. "Slippery slope. Best avoided."

He looks over to Nadia and shrugs in genuine helplessness, "We've got like, an actual half-demon sorceress on the team, and I'm never sure if she's messing with me or if half the mystic stuff she babbles is serious, so... I just... try to stick to recorded history nowadays. People probably didn't lie about like... sailing for months across the Atlantic eating hardtack with weevils."

He leans over vaguely in Tim's direction to stage whisper, "Dude! More people means a longer schedule rotation on monitor duty! We can't possibly have too many people!!"

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake chuckles a bit at Gar's words, and says "Or we could have two people on it, so there is at least someone to talk to while your doing it." He offers back to him. He puts his hands behind his back nodding to Crush at the comment about the cape and will ask "Have either of you had trouble with the law or other superhero groups?" He may know the answer, but seeing if they are trying to hide it is important.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"How do you define trouble with the law?" Nadia asks, head tilting to one side. "I have had a lot of issues with immigration paperwork. But that is detailed in the documentation I have already provided you." Her wings give a little flutter in a way that suggests they're not at all mechanical. "I have only engaged in fights to protect myself or others. And I do not steal things... Is that what you are trying to ask?"

She glances between Gar and Crush.

"Besides isn't it more important to do the morally right thing rather than the legally correct thing? Laws can be wrong after all."

She laughs when Gar mentions half-demons. "I am not saying that modern history is wrong. Simply that there is too much evidence of magic to entirely rule such events out. Perhaps they took place in higher dimensions which are not perceivable to us. I don't rule out that they are in some way allegorical too. Really the only way to know for sure would be to go back and check myself."

Crush has posed:
Crush finishes her cigarette, grinding it under her boot and stretching, yawning.

She flops back onto her bike, danglign her arms over the extra-long grips, griving a wolfish grin. "Morals are for priests and politicians. Good and bad are usually pretty easy to tell. Cops are pigs, but they're usually on teh right side. Usually."

Beast Boy has posed:
Gar sighs out and rolls his eyes, "Man, we don't need /two person/ monitor duty, I feel guilty enough napping solo... I mean... uhh... I stay... very alert and awake the _entire time_." He snorts and rolls his eyes, "I mean, hey, trouble with the police isn't always bad... Rambo, uhhh... Renegade with Lorenzo Lamas, there's a lotta small town sheriffs who are corrupt jerks!"

He nods to Nadia and sighs solemnly, "Yeah, that definitely makes the whole... suddenly turning up on the scene of a big fight thing tricky, especially if whoever has powers is a new face, you're all 'Are they a super villain, or did some corrupt cops try to abuse their powers or something?' and then it's just... uggggh. But yeah, usually if they're corrupt cops they start shooting at the superheroes who show up, and then..." He shrugs helplessly, "Sometimes you gotta be a big wolf or dragon or whatever til they calm down."

Red Robin has posed:
Tim Drake looks over and says "I did not say if it was good or bad, but it is important for the team to know. If you are Titans there will be times when you are in the lime light and if someone has a grudge against you, a warrant, a paternity suit or what ever it is best if we have an idea they might come sniffing about.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Oh if you are asking if we have any enemies," Nadia says with a grin. "Then all you needed to do was say that! I'm currently being hunted by evil Russian spies who want me to go back to live in a Siberian bunker and make them super weapons." She shrugs in a very 'what can you do' sort of way. "But as I said I detailed everything within the file."

Her cheeks dimple. "It's really better to read the documents in a more shielded location. I'm sure your security systems are excellent but if anywhere is going to be vulnerable it's in the lobby."

Her smile does fade a little when Crush praises the police. "Having a badge does not make someone better or more likely to be right than anyone else. You should look into the Stanford prison experiment for an example of what happens when people are given authority over others."

Beast Boy has posed:
Gar snickers and nods solemnly, "Yeah, we don't want like, rogue process servers showing up to sue you for..." He shrugs lightly and sighs, "Yeah, pretty much what Robin said. I mean, or anything else of course. Being sued suuuuuucks. And I've never even /been/ sued, but like, I imagine it's a lot like movie contracts. So many words. So many footnotes. It is /the worst/." He clicks his tongue and rustles his phone out of his pocket, "Speaking of the jetsetting, contract-reading life of a movie star... I've got a meeting in like ten minutes. So uhhh... you're it for the rest of meet and greet day, Robin! Fruit punch powder's in the kitchen!" He sketches a wave towards Nadia, "And welcome to the group! I mean, like, provisionally or whatever! I feel like /two/ new recruits isn't going to be hard to make room for..."