VIII: Vanity
"If I had your cooperation and you could turn your attention to me, please," the man in the suit said as though people actually cared about what he said, "we could begin."
He said it as though people wanted to begin. They didn't, not really. They didn't care about the vigilantes of the past. They just wanted to hear about seven vigilantes: Superman, Batman, and the Teen Titans.
Tourists could get talk off the street about the Teen Titans. They had only to look to the harbor to see Titan Tower rising up above them.
But the Titans spoke only rarely of themselves, and didn't appear in public very often. Civilian access to Titan Island didn't exist. Everyday civilian access to the Teen Titans themselves didn't exist, either.
On the fringes of the tourist group stood four people: a young woman with long red hair who held a small black kitten, a different young woman with short purple hair, and two young men, one of whom had black hair, one of whom had no hair.
Looking at them, nobody would have noticed that the bald young man was running a hologram. Nobody would have guessed that Beast Boy was sitting in Starfire's arms, disguised as a kitten. Nobody would have guessed that the black haired man in the Gotham Knights baseball cap was really Robin without his mask, wearing green contacts.
Nobody would have imagined that Cyborg could disguise his appearance so perfectly.
The group followed the tour guide, who droned on and on about the first vigilantes, and the growth of the justice system, and how the two had clashed.
Eventually, the tour reached the Batman exhibit. In one case hung the few blurry pictures of Gotham City's Batman— the only pictures of Batman that existed. Though most news agencies insisted that Batman was nothing more than urban legend, the Museum of Vigilantism went by the Daily Planet's account, saying that Batman existed.
"Though there is little evidence that Batman exists, what little evidence we have is quite heavy. Batman appears to be a recluse— he does not give press conferences, does not appear except at night, and is an expert at avoiding photos."
Another case contained a Bat-a-Rang, a copy of the only extant affidavit with testimony pertaining to Batman, and a conjecture of what Batman really looked like. On a wall hung a poster displaying the FBI's mental profile of Batman, and on another wall hung a poster of theories about Batman's true identity.
"There are as many theories about Batman's true identity as there are citizens in Gotham. Most agree that Batman dislikes the law enforcement and is probably not involved in government. In fact, many feel that Batman expends a great deal of effort in his civilian life to ensure that he goes unnoticed."
But the five-person group at the fringes of the tour didn't start really paying attention until the tour reached the museum's largest and most popular exhibit: the Teen Titans exhibit.
The museum contained five large cases, each with a few photographs of one of the team's members, as well as whatever artifacts people had uncovered, mental profiles, snippets of their backgrounds.
"The Teen Titans consists of five members: Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven. Rumors of a sixth Titan, name unknown, exist, but they have dubious accuracy, to say the least."
The dark haired boy smirked as he read the museum's tiny biography about Robin. He could hear the purple haired girl's grumbling at the mention of the Church of Raven. And the bald man seemed to swell with pride when he read aloud, "Cyborg has been the number one role model for children and teens with robotic prosthetics."
"The Titans have offered little information about themselves as individuals. Most of them remain silent unless directly addressed. It appears that the Titans elected Robin as the team's spokesperson and possibly leader."
In the center of the room, the tour guide droned on. "The Teen Titans are the friendliest of the known superheroes. They frequently visit Mr. Pizza's Pizzeria. On their rare non-crime-related public appearances, most of the Titans seem happy to speak with the general public."