Irene was having a nice day on the beach. Sunbathing, taking in the nice environment, soaking up the laughter of the other beach-goers...it was all absolutely sickening. People had such joy, such naivety, completely oblivious to such a powerful Super Criminal sitting with them. She had fun by occasionally making it seem like a crab had crawled near someone, or a shark was out in the water. Those were some good laughs, then some monster had to come along and ruin it!
Her instinct to grab her swords was cut off by not having any where to hide them, and thus not having them. She instead took the small horn that hung from her necklace and blew into it, sending out a nigh unhearable sound. She retreated back closer to the city and waited; a cloaked figure soon showed up bearing a package of her armor and swords. She slipped away into the crowd of frightened people until finding a place to gear up without being noticed.
Being not-a-hero meant that she didn't feel obligated to fight the threat. She instead stood far off from the beast and waited for a hero response. The weapons were for self-defense in case of monster and/or hero. A smarter or more adept villain could use this distraction to fulfill some nefarious deed, but Irene wanted to enjoy the show-of-a-fight she would get from here.
A message just came in, some criminal associates wanted her help for a job. They talked about big money, this being the perfect distraction, and Irene's help would go much farther than standard criminals. "Thanks but no. I am here to watch a fight. Some other time? Maybe, but this is going to be good." The response was sent and she deactivated incoming communications.