Chương 34: Chapter 33

Tiff was stressed. It wasn't just the fear of discovery or the presence of a full-time Hero. Neither of those was helping, of course, nor was the fact that the very nature of field trips meant Tiff needed to engage in more socialization than was usual on any given day. No, it was the constant System pop-ups that kept pinging her every few minutes that were making Tiff boil over. She was so amped, she wouldn't be surprised if she drank a cup of coffee right now and it gave the caffeine jitters.

And the worst part about it? Tiff didn't actually know what half the notifications were for. Not in a I don't understand what this means sort of way either, which was something of the norm for Tiff these days. But a few of the notifications simply didn't give her enough information. Stuff like: [Alert: 5 new messages flagged as Important. See TAS for details.] No matter how hard she focused on them, the System wouldn't give her any more prompts. The only way to dig deeper was by waiting until she got home.

Interestingly, the System didn't give her any Quests to recruit her classmates to the dark side. Was the System finally giving her a break? Probably not. The more Tiff thought about it, the more convinced she was that the System knew she didn't know the other kids well enough to trust them with her deepest secrets. But that also begged the question: why Candice?

Okay, so Tiff could reason her way through how Candice got an invitation, but what about the rest of Tiff's family? Her sister? Her parents? Tiff understood why Amy wouldn't get an invite. She wasn't 16 yet, plain and simple. No matter how far down the rabbit hole she went, her System wouldn't come online for an entire year from today. Maybe a little longer, if she ended up being like Tiff and needed extra time to Awaken. So how about her parents?

Were they simply too heavily invested in "good" for the System to try to tempt with Villainy? Looking at her mom as she gently took some of the kids aside and showed them how the testing devices worked in a safe and controlled manner spoke volumes. Touchdown wasn't doing anything like that. He set himself up in the perfect position to be admired and that's as far as his current heroics went. After the students who chose to be Assessed were given their exams, the group moved on.

The next stop on the tour was the counterpart to the Hall of Heroes: the Rogue's Gallery. Unlike the portrayals of historical heroics, there were no limitations for who (or what) could be included in the ranks of the world's most infamous individuals. The Gallery also wasn't a hall, but had its own dedicated room. The group got back in the elevators, went up several floors, and disgorged into what felt like a museum.

An entire floor's worth of exhibits, monuments, and plaques gave the impression that the DMA might actually be venerating these people… but that wasn't the case. It was almost like some sort of Heroic, Villain-themed trophy room. From pilfered relics and confiscated technology, the pieces behind reinforced glass spoke more about the Heroes that overcame such obstacles rather than the genius that created them.

Oh, there were many plaques giving brief, blurb-worthy descriptions of whatever was being displayed did (or had done), but those all felt overshadowed by paragraph-long descriptions of what lengths the Heroes had to go through to emerge victorious. Tiff understood. She really did. Especially in the case of Majordomo Arigato. Nobody knew the machine's original creator, since it disposed of them before setting out on a self-appointed mission to become the chief steward and estate manager… of the entire world.

The robot took over an entire country in Southeast Asia before the collective Heroes of NATO took it down. Weapons were displayed (neutralized or decommissioned) that had been used to kill thousands, maybe millions of people. Some were "simple" things like guns, lasers, or disintegration rays. Others were technological marvels that, in another life, could have pioneered human advancement… but instead brought ruin. Like freeze-rays, anti-gravity guns, or a… device that was intended to be a deep mining tool.

It could be pointed at solid objects and hollow them from the inside out, and Tiff needed no help from her imagination to guess what would happen if it was pointed at organic bodies. Tiff was glad she hadn't eaten lunch. She barely took a brief look around the weapon section before scurrying away.

"Grim, isn't it?" Melissa asked. She elected to watch the exit so no students snuck away rather than mingle inside the Gallery.

"I didn't know there were so many ways to kill people," Tiff grimaced, holding her stomach. She'd even seen those…lighthearted "safety" videos warning people to stay away from subway rails and reminding people of how many dumb ways to die there were.

"People have been trying to kill each other since the dawn of time," Melissa sighed.

"Sadly, it might just be the one thing humanity is best at.

"No kidding," Tiff frowned. She looked across the open area at her classmates admiring all the displays, the far wall in particular. It featured profiles and portraits of modern-day criminals who were still at large, something of a "most wanted" board. Tiff scowled.

"I get why they hide current Hero details from the public," Tiff muttered.

"Why don't they hide Villain information?" Truthfully, she had several theories, and personally, it made sense. If she was in the DMA's position, she'd waste no time in posting everything she could about her nemesis as possible. These people were some of the worst humanity had ever seen. Murders, megalomaniacs, and psychopaths. But as a Supervillain herself, she didn't have to like it. She'd done nothing to earn a place amongst these monsters. Would that even matter?

If somebody from up top found out she had a very dark label, would they throw her picture up on the wall? Call her dangerous? Want people to not approach? Then again, maybe they should. Tiff's mind was instantly drawn back to the 24-Heaven… and what she'd had Victoria do. Yes, a real villain had attacked them, so it was self-defense, wasn't it? Or would that even matter? Through the plaques, pamphlets, and other not-so-veiled hints, Tiff was slowly building a framework for how the world at large viewed Villainy.

A person, as an individual, was rational. They could think, reason, and come to independent conclusions based on evidence and contemplation. A person could see through the label of Villain and look at the subject underneath. But people, as a whole, could not. Or at the very least, it was harder for large groups to jump the gap from public perception to deeper meaning. A Villain was a Villain, not because of who they were, but because of what they did.

And in 99% of those cases, those acts were measures taken against fellow man. Murder. Theft. Abuse. Mind control. Countless other atrocities. With a few exceptions, these acts could be viewed from two perspectives. Was the murder self-defense? Could it somehow be justified? What if the person in question was about to become the victim before the tables were turned? Would it be excused? Or were they supposed to roll over and die? The System made no distinction. Killing was killing and it darkened the Greyscale.

Several exhibits in the Gallery hinted as such, going so far as to graph some of the more notorious figures of history and chart them on a scale of Villainy. To the masses, a Villain was a Villain because they deserved to be one. Melissa noticed Tiff's growing funk and silently placed her arm around Tiff's shoulder, drawing her close. She said nothing, but the comfort of her strong arms was like armor to Tiff.

The class was given slightly less than an hour to wander around the Rogue's Gallery before they moved on to the next part of the tour. For most, it was the highlight of the trip and the marquee presentation: lunch. With Young Justice. The group of Sidekicks were heroes-in-training in more ways than one. If ever there was a fast-track on the path to the light side of the Greyscale, these kids were on it. And they were kids; nobody in Young Justice was over 21.

Membership was exclusive to youth who'd already Awakened but hadn't become a full adult. To make things more complicated, Young Justice didn't take Citizens. These kids were the rare few (like herself, Tiff supposed) that immediately received a Class by the System. As such, they were young, brash, reckless, and, more often than not, full of themselves. But compared to other kids their age? They were powerful. They might as well be Demi-gods, and at the very least, they were nationally recognized celebrities.

Some of them were even based in different parts of the country and had to be flown in just for this meeting. Tiff was sure the egos were going to be so inflated, some of them could have flown themselves. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Tiff's class was taken to a large conference room set up with multiple rows of tables pushed together to create banquet seating. They'd remained grouped together, so Tiff wasn't forced to socialize with strangers, but she placed herself between Candice and her mom anyway.

Looking around, most kids were sitting in their normal Homeroom cliques, and Candice easily struck up conversations with the people next to and across from her. Nobody tried to bug Tiff, and she was fine with that. Even the seat across from her was left empty, and she didn't think anything of it. Melissa, however, seemed conflicted.

"Tiff," she leaned over and whispered, "You know it's okay to mingle with your classmates, right? You don't need to hold back on my account."

"Hm?" Tiff glanced up at her mom.

"Oh, I'm not. This is normal." Melissa looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't. Tiff turned her attention to the nearby conversations and listened in.

"Hey, who do you think those seats at the front are saved for?" One kid asked. Tiff glanced to the front where a few tables had been placed perpendicularly to the banquet tables. A dozen seats had been placed on one side, making it feel sort of like a press conference. That's where Young Justice would eventually sit, Tiff was sure of it.

"Dude, that's where Young Justice will be," one of her classmates scoffed, confirming her suspicions.

"No duh," the first boy rolled his eyes.

"But, like, who do you think will show up today?" Tiff didn't have long to wonder. As soon as all the students were seated, several servers set about distributing box lunches. A nondescript white cardboard carton was placed before her and Tiff opened it cautiously. Her expectations were not high and they still seemed let down.

She got a small cold-cut sandwich from one of those generic sub shops, a mini bottle of water, a bag that probably contained exactly 8 chips (if it was feeling generous), and a stale chocolate chip cookie. Tiff curled up her lip as she gingerly lifted up one corner of bread. Lettuce, tomato, and onions. Fortunately, it was dry, so she didn't have to scrape the mayonnaise off, but she still had to peel off the veggies.

She didn't mind tomatoes, not really, but they made the sandwich soggy and gross, so they went to the side with the huge ring of onion that was already overpowering her senses and the slightly brown leaf of iceberg lettuce. As for the meat… it looked like standard deli slices of turkey, which was probably the best she could have hoped for. Across from her, her fellow students were swapping sandwiches enthusiastically, some hoping for ham, others looking for the rare packet of spicy mustard.

Next to her, Tiff's mom was not amused.

"What is this…?" She muttered under her breath, and Tiff had to look away to not laugh. She caught Candice's eye and both girls grinned. Melissa reached out a long arm and snagged a poor server as he tried scooting past, to no avail.

"Hey, can I get another box?" Melissa asked shamelessly.

"Are you not satisfied with your selection?" The man asked dubiously, not bothering to hide his gaze as he pointedly watched others trade sandwiches.

"I can see if there's extras, but there's no guarantee we have anything different. What type do you have?" He held his hand out as if he was going to take Melissa's lunch, and the huge woman drew it closer to herself protectively.

"No," she explained calmly, "I'm asking for more. Look at me. Do you think one half-sized sandwich is going to be enough?" The man might have had several thoughts about that, considering how he glanced warily at Melissa's bulk, but he gave her a flat, tired stare.

"I'm sorry. It's one lunch per guest-" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Melissa's fist tightened around the man's shirt, lifting him off the ground as she stood up. The man panicked slightly, but she put him down and lowered her voice while several chuckles rang out around the table.

"Listen, buddy," Melissa reasoned.

"I know the DMA likes to pretend it's hard up for cash. But I also know their purse strings aren't that tight…so bring me like 6 more of these or we're gonna have problems." The man nodded enthusiastically and practically sprinted away. Candice wore a huge grin and Tiff finally started to dig in.

"What are the chances he comes back with more than 6?" Candice asked. Tiff smirked and shook her head.

"Does it really matter? She'll eat them all regardless." As Tiff worked her way through her single sandwich, Melissa ended up with enough lunch boxes to build a small fort. Okay, so it was only 8 boxes, but that still roughly equaled a 4-foot-long, and Melissa packed it away in blissful ignorance as Tiff's classmates stared in disbelief. At some point, the stars of the show entered and the room grew noisy.

Excited whispers from Tiff's peers at her table made her groan internally, and against her better judgment, she turned to face the main table. 6 people were making their way to their seats, and Tiff recognized every one of them. First was Sentinel. He was a tall, brawny 20-year-old with blue eyes and short brown hair, who would soon be "graduating" from Young Justice. He'd been on the team since he was 16 and he was now the leader… and a bona fide hero, too.

The System had recently promoted him from a Sidekick, and he was starting to make a name for himself in the LA area. Maybe once he struck out on his own, he might move on to another area that wasn't quite as oversaturated with big personalities, or maybe he'd have to reinvent himself. For someone who was supposed to lead the next generation of do-gooders, he had a reputation for liking to live in the spotlight and not wanting to share it with anyone else.

But, as somebody with fairly high Might Stats, he didn't really need to care about what other people thought. Next was Killer Croc. His name was an odd choice for sure… and one Tiff wouldn't have personally taken. For one, being a Sidekick with the word "killer" in the name brought with it a certain amount of stigma. But the boy was about as far from a killer as one could get, and he didn't have anything to do with crocodiles, either.

His name was actually pretty stupid, if anybody asked Tiff, and it probably came to the 17-year-old on a whim. He was the quintessential surfer bro and he refused to wear any other types of shoes other than Crocs. He was famous for integrating over-the-top beach bum lingo, such as bummer, gnarly, and killer, into everyday speech. He, too, was tall, but unlike Sentinel, he was willowy and thin, and he kept his scraggly, bleach-blonde hair tied in a low ponytail at the base of his neck.

At least his powerset complemented his love of all things surfer, with impressive Hydrokinesis. Third was Jitterbug. She was a petite, mousy girl and the team's Techie… but despite that, she was still a touch taller than Tiff. She generally wore an oversized toolbelt that had far more pockets than were strictly necessary, and Tiff had a hunch there might have actually been more pockets than there were pockets… somehow.

Tiff also didn't know how the girl's powers actually worked, other than that she had a hand in producing most of the team's gadgets and tools. Fourth was a 19-year-old named Monument. Now, if Sentinel was tall (at about 6 feet), Monument was enormous. He was a dark-skinned man of "islander descent" (which islands, Tiff did not know), had a very shiny bald head, and rarely spoke. He seemed to take his namesake seriously, as he usually stood around in the background, looming ominously.

In fact, he took most things seriously, and was generally a serious person. Well, every team needed the strong, silent type, Tiff supposed, so he fit in well. And, he almost came up to her mom's chin, so he was pretty big. He shared a similar role to Sentinel in the team (as a tank, if Tiff thought of it in gaming terms), but where Sentinel was an all-rounder, Monument was a damage sponge. Something to do with arresting kinetic energy, but Tiff couldn't be certain. Fifth was Jonny Turbo. … yes, that was his name.

His actual name, as recorded on his birth certificate and everything. He wanted to be called The Rizzler, but for some reason, nobody would take him seriously. Even just thinking about it, Tiff wanted to yell out a few ridiculous memes just for the fun of it, but she was better than that. Most people called him Turbo, which was fitting, seeing as he was a Speedster. He and Sentinel often clashed, since Jonny was a glory-seeking attention hound.

Any time a camera or some press appeared, Jonny would move, fast as lightning, to schmooze them up. Pretty much everybody thought he'd take over as team leader when Sentinel left, so it was only a matter of time before he got his wish. And finally… that left Wavelength. The only other 20-year-old on the team and the second girl present today, she was a very striking individual. For one, she had blue hair. Tiff didn't know if it was natural or dyed, and the girl was bizarre enough that nobody really wanted to ask.

She tended to float through life (quite literally, about 6 inches off the ground) with an air of… ditziness, if Tiff was being blunt. She always spoke what was on her mind, no matter what consequences might come, and her voice was breathy (like she'd just gotten out of the shower or something) and vacant (like she didn't have anything going on upstairs). Tiff knew that wasn't the case, as some of the team's more public adventures had been resolved by Wavelength's observations.

She was the one who worried Tiff the most out of all the Young Justice representatives meeting with them today, as she had no clue what the girl's powers actually were. Despite floating off the ground, they weren't flight-based. So how did Tiff know all this? Because Young Justice appeared in just about every teen-focused piece of media, from magazines to blogs to viral drama-factory clickbait stories. They might be on the fast track to stardom… and that came with all the ups and downs.

No matter how much Tiff did or did not care about their lives, some news of them always made their way back to her, no matter how secluded she was. Tiff was certain Young Justice had some level of privacy, but their lives were practically open books. Once they were all seated, Sentinel leaned to the side and said some words to Jitterbug. She rolled her eyes, dug something out of her belt, and placed what looked like a wireless microphone down on the table. Sentinel smiled, cleared his throat, and tapped the mic.

"Ahem, is this thing on?" He said cheekily as the deep thumping of his finger tapping on it reverberated through the hall. Tiff watched Jitterbug grit her teeth and shake her head.

"It's always on, you idiot," Tiff barely heard. The mic was pretty powerful and she didn't know if anybody else caught that little dig, since they were too busy staring at the DMA's golden boy.

"Great!" Sentinel continued, ignoring his teammate. He spread his arms around the hall at all of the students gathered as he rose to his feet.

"It's fantastic to see so many young people gathered together in one spot. All of you have recently Awakened. Most of you are probably Citizens… and may I say, what an upstanding bunch of Citizens you are! Not everybody is gifted great power- and great responsibility -by the System. Not everyone will stand up here on this stage. But make no mistake! You are the future! And everybody has a place at the DMA!" A loud, whooping cheer followed by tumultuous applause filled the conference hall…

but Tiff couldn't help but roll her eyes. What kind of sleazy politician speech was that? Did Sentinel not realize he was only a few years older than them? What the heck was he on… you are the future …. Tiff wanted to gag. She met Candice's eyes and they were sort of glazed over, as if she wasn't sure she should actually be clapping or not.

"Candice," Tiff hissed.

"Candice!"

"Eh?" The girl snapped out of it. Candice looked at Tiff, noticed she had her arms crossed, and frowned.

"Why aren't you clapping?" Candice asked.

"Why are you?" Tiff scoffed.

"Did you actually listen to what he said?"

"Did I…," Candice nearly snarked back, but then she stopped to think.

"Uh, actually, I don't think I…but that's not important!" She shot back hotly.

"I mean, just look at him!" Tiff's mouth slowly fell open in disbelief.

"Candice," Tiff groaned, "Please tell me you aren't the type to clap for a guy just because of his looks."

"Can you blame me?" Candice balked.

"I mean, he's gorgeous!"

"Candice," Tiff said coolly.

"You were also attracted to Ryan." Candice mellowed considerably and frowned, likely questioning all of her life choices. While Tiff was heckling her friend, Sentinel continued his speech. Now that lunch was mostly over, he (and the rest of Young Justice) would spend some time going around the tables meeting everyone. The students were free to ask any questions they'd like, and Young Justice would explain what it was like to live as Heroes-in-training.

They'd also happily answer any questions about the DMA (and thereby fulfill their civic obligations to the agency) and point any potential recruits to resources that would help them choose the right department for them. Tiff didn't want to join the bureaucracy, just as she didn't want to talk to a politician, heroic or otherwise. Her own Class seemed loaded with the former, and she'd be content to spend the rest of her life avoiding the latter.

And yet, before Sentinel even sat down, one member of the team was already getting up from the table to go mingle. And, wouldn't Tiff know it, Wavelength was heading straight at her. The strange floating woman made her way to Tiff's table, to the empty chair directly across from her, and sat down. She ignored all the gasps, sighs, and squeals aimed her way, as her large, slightly vacant eyes settled on Tiff and Tiff alone.

Wavelength tilted her head, as if she was confused at what Tiff was doing, and her blue hair fluttered as if blown by a strong gust.

"Oh," she said, her eyes widening comically.

"You're evil." Tiff could have sworn she heard the world shatter. She stared at the woman across from her, dumbfounded.

"Ex-cuse you?" A disbelieving voice to her right demanded. Tiff glanced over, only to find Candice looking outraged.

"Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to come over here, sit down like you own the place, and call somebody evil? Bitch, you don't know us."

"Oh," Wavelength muttered, turning to Candice like she just realized somebody else was sitting at the table. The Sidekick turned from Tiff to Candice and back again several times, her frown deepening the longer she looked.

"But that's strange," Wavelength pouted. She didn't seem bothered at all that she upset Candice, nor that Candace had called her a bitch.

"I can feel Mind magic leaking from around this spot. It's what drew me over here." Candice's eyes grew wide momentarily before she hardened them with a calculating look.

"Well, yeah," she said hotly.

"I've got a B in Mind."

"Oh!" Wavelength brightened and turned to Candice.

"So you're evil?"

"What is wrong with you?" Candice seethed.

"Are you mental?"

"Actually, yes," Sentinel said, walking up and standing behind his teammate. He was smiling in that condescending way one does when they want to appear sympathetic but don't really mean it.

"You'll have to forgive her. Wavelength is a [Spectrometer]. She can sense power levels and gauge them."

"So that gives her the right to call somebody evil?!" Candice practically shouted. Some of the kids nearby looked startled, wondering how she dared to speak up against Sentinel like that.

"I admit, evil is a very strong word," Sentinel held up his hands placatingly.

"And she…has been wrong before…," he added reluctantly. But he smiled his winning smile and Tiff wondered if he was subtly trying to use a Skill of his own. Several of her classmates who'd just looked nervous or scared seemed calm now.

"You'll just have to forgive Wavelength for her oddities," he said, earning a few head nods from around the table. He looked intently at Candice, and Tiff grew tense. If he was using some kind of Skill on them…did she need to do something?

"But…for the sake of caution, do you mind sharing what exactly your Mind trait does?"

"Of course I mind!" Candice replied crossly.

"Especially since your teammate just called us evil!" Tiff let out a sigh of relief, but she watched Sentinel frown, as if he wasn't used to not getting his way, and open his mouth to try again. Candice saw it coming and shook her head in frustration.

"Look, I don't need to tell either of you anything. But because you're both being jackasses about this, I will. I'm an [Accountant], okay?!" Candice lied smoothly. Tiff's eyes widened slightly. If she didn't know Candice's real class already, she'd be completely fooled.

"I've got Skills that help me remember math and names. I'm a living calculator, alright?! You need the square root of 177? 13. 30143. I could go on, but unlike you, I'm not an ass. Happy?" Candice crossed her arms in a huff and looked away. Tiff was blown away; that was a stellar performance! Was Candice a naturally gifted actor? Was that part of her cheerleading skills? Or was that also provided by becoming her [Vizier]?

Sentinel's smile slid slowly off his face and for the first time since Tiff met him, he appeared unsure of himself. Wavelength, however, was completely unbothered.

"Oooh!" She clapped her hands excitedly.

"Math! You are evil!" Both Tiff and Candice stared at her, dumbfounded. Secretly, though, Tiff was breathing a sigh of relief. If she thought math of all things was evil, maybe she was just a bit funny in the head? But then again, if Tiff really thought about it, math was kind of evil, wasn't it? Especially when she had a test she forgot to prepare for….

"Oh," Wavelength turned back to Tiff, once again looking at her seriously.

"But that doesn't explain your aura." Tiff closed her eyes, took a deep, steadying breath, and tried her best to stow away any dark thoughts or feelings of the Dark Queen. That wasn't her right now, and she didn't want to accidentally ooze all over a couple of Heroes.

"What do you mean by aura?" Tiff asked calmly. She knew what she thought about when she heard the word aura, but what did other people think? Wavelength smiled at her like a preschool teacher indulges a toddler.

"Have you ever looked at someone and thought, 'Yup. Someday, that person is going postal.'?" Wavelength asked happily.

"That's aura. The same thing happens when you look at a Superhero and think 'Everything is going to be okay,' even when the world is burning all around you. And from you… I'm not getting the Superhero vibe." Tiff took it all back. The innocent act was fake and this woman knew exactly what she was doing. She was dangerous. She needed to get out of this, now! A heavy sigh and a slight crunching noise disrupted Tiff's thoughts.

She looked to the left, just in time to see her mom crunching up all the remnants of her lunchboxes into a tiny little ball… the size of a marble. There was no way all that cardboard, plastic, and other stiff material was getting crushed down that small unless she was pissed. As always, Melissa knew how to control herself, so she forced a smile onto her face and rolled the tiny ball of trash across the table.

"I think it's time you socialized with the rest of the group," she said tactfully.

"We can't hog all your time." Sentinel stared at the small wad of trash that had just been 8 decent sized boxes and reached a hand out tentatively. Wavelength's eyes traveled to Melissa and Tiff could see the moment the act went up.

"Oh," Wavelength said sweetly.

"You're old." Yes, Tiff could see it clearly now. Use the innocent routine to get away with insulting people to their face. Melissa simply smiled and nodded.

"You're right," she agreed.

"I am. But with age comes wisdom, they say, and I know when to pick my fights. Sentinel," she said conversationally, though Tiff could feel her exerting a little bit of pressure, "Be a dear and throw that away for me, will you? My old bones are tired and need a rest." He quickly picked up the trash, grabbed his hovering teammate, and fled. Tiff's classmates quickly went back to what they were doing, and most of them even got up to go admire the members of Young Justice.

Tiff remained where she was, as did Candice and her mom.

"You okay there, munchkin?" Melissa asked.

"I'm fine," Tiff said seriously after several seconds of thought. She turned to Candice, who was smiling again.

"How about you?"

"Please," the cheerleader scoffed.

"It'd take more than that ho to bring me down." Candice smirked…and paused. Her eyes drifted up nervously to Melissa.

"Er, that is, I mean…."

"Hey," Melissa laughed.

"Call her what you want. I'm not your mom."