NOVEL NEXT President and Vigilante. Again.
'There are other people... other than me who can use the laws... and I need to fight Genesis in 3 days? And If I don't... I would lose my life?'
Shido thought after reading his entire conversation with Genesis which happened last night. While he was contemplating, he received a call from Knuckleduster.
"Hello."
Knuckleduster -:: Ramsbottom called me and he said that President Valdis wants to meet you::
"Meet me?"
Knuckleduster -:: Are you not the hobo who wears a black suit and straps katanas to his back all day long? Yeah, that's you. He wants to meet you.::
"For what?"
Knuckleduster -:: I don't know that. But he said he will be waiting at the AVL Base waiting for you there. Be there before 11 AM. He is going to address a rally before the lunch so he needs you to be there before he leaves for the rally::
"Pardon? 11 AM? It is 10:35 AM now and The President of the United States of America wants to meet me and you are telling me this 25 minutes before the meeting time?" Shido asked in a tone full of disbelief.
Knuckleduster -:: Yes.::
"And since when you were aware of this... this meeting or lunch whatever?"
Knuckleduster -:: Last Night. Ramsbottom called and told me about the thing. You were asleep by then and I didn't want to disturb you so I thought I would tell you in the morning but it got off my mind but I did remember it in time and called you. And don't act so pissed off like you missed your date or something, Instead of rambling here on with me, why don't you put on your creepy ass suit and fuck off::
"Yeah, I will do that and you go to a doctor to check up on your memory, Old Man. I think you even forgot about your super-gay boyfriend. He might be looking for you." Shido snarked at the phone before hanging up the call.
'Fuck! Now, what do I do? AVL Base is like 2 hours away, I can't reach on time... unless.'
Shido ran and jumped off the window of his room,
» » {ROCKETMAN} - Spawn Jetpack.
» » [Cheat Activated]
The Jetpack appeared and then Shido flew up. After ascending to an altitude he was satisfied with, He took the Jetpack back to the Inventory. He then started free falling.
» » {JUMPJET} - Spawn Hydra.
» » [Cheat Activated]
______________________
[AVL Submarine Base]
President Valdis was sitting on a chair with his hands on the table, supporting his head. It looked like he was waiting for someone and it is indeed that he is waiting for someone. The one who he is waiting for is the Vigilante Night Slash whom he met yesterday. Vice President Caster Rogers was also there sitting next to him.
He doesn't know what has happened but the President just couldn't stop talking about the Vigilante after his first meeting with him. He read all related articles about Night Slash and downloaded an app called 'Night Raid Wiki' to learn more about Night Slash and his small team of Vigilantes. He even asked the AVL to send Night Slash's details to him.
Last night, he was screaming, "He is compatible!" in excitement in his office with his secretary.
And this has concerned Caster Rogers a lot. The President is giving a lot of his attention to a national threat that is not even related to the US by a cent, while there is a bill that needs to be promoted among the public as they need to show that they are working on things that they promised during the campaign. But he calmed himself by thinking that this interest shown by the President was only for a short period of time.
Valdis needs to put in a lot of work in this 'honeymoon period' to maintain his image as the billionaire philanthropist who works on the ideals he believes in. Or if he doesn't do it, then his approval ratings are going to go down which is not a good thing to happen in the first year of his term as the President.
While Vice President Rogers was thinking, The sound of sirens reverberated through the entire base and the red signs of warning started showing on the multiple displays in the base.
:: An Unidentified Flying Craft has entered the restricted airspace and is heading directly towards the base. From Satellite Imaging, we have identified the aircraft as an F-16 Fighter Falcon and the estimated speed is Mach 3. The Pilot is not responding to our attempts of communication and has not asked for landing permission. Waiting for Orders::
"Shoot it Down immediate--" Ramsbottom said to the mic but his mic was snatched by President Valdis.
"Don't. Be on Standby. It's him." He said.
The above-mentioned Aircraft was moving carefree towards the base. After it was close to the base, it vanished. Vanished in thin air.
The People inside the base were stunned and stupefied when they saw what just happened. An entire aircraft just vanished. It was not even a mass hallucination, the Aircraft was locked down as the target by many of the state-of-the-art Anti-Aircraft Defenses. If it was an illusion, then it could fool people's senses but it cannot deceive machines. Then it meant only one thing that the aircraft really did vanish.
"Hey! Look... Someone is falling down." One of the agents inside the control room shouted.
Everyone's attention went to the display where they saw the live image of a man dropping straight down from the skies.
_____________________
"Nice to meet you again, Mr. Night Slash," Valdis stretched his hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you as well, Mr. President," Shido said and accepted Valdis' handshake.
"I have to say, I am a bit disappointed that you didn't do the Superhero Landing when you jumped from the aircraft," Valdis said with disappointment clear on his face.
And what he said was correct, after Shido jumped off the Hydra (Fighter Jet), he used his Jetpack to land.
He could've landed the Hydra directly but he wanted to make his entrance a bit more impactful. He is going to meet the President of the United States, he needs to present himself as someone of a comparable level otherwise the other party would take him for granted and the conversation may feel like a superior person talking to an inferior person.
"I wouldn't be able to stand if I did something like that," Shido said in a joking tone. He didn't know why but after shaking hands with the President he felt a lot better. He didn't feel this thing when he first met him for the first time but in his second meeting with him, Shido is feeling a lot comfortable. And this sense of comfort was not conscious to Shido as it came from within, it was natural. It was not induced from any external force.
"Well, let's put that aside, and let's go; A Helicopter is waiting for us," Valdis smiled and showed the way to Shido towards the Helicopter.
Shido felt that the President was acting a bit informal with him as he didn't act like the stereotypical person in a higher position.
He actually read a few things about the President on the Internet.
----------
Jakob Valdis, Billionaire Philanthropist, Rich CEO of a big corporation, Spent a lot of his money on social causes, like helping the oppressed classes of society mainly the Quirkless and the Mutants.
He helped these classes in many ways but in the end, he realized that the oppression is embedded into the system of the government, usually referred to as 'Systemic Oppression.' This belief of a government structure that is oppressive towards certain demographics of the society was believed by many.
This idea actually came from the time when quirks were not even a thing and racial differences were the source of discrimination. But at that time, it was not proven that if it was real or not but when the quirks entered the scene, this belief further increased and now it became a movement to end this oppressive structure of government and rebuild an entirely new structure which actually favored the minorities. (Radicals)
The talks of destroying the current structure and bringing a new structure actually infuriated the other part of the populace - who were a bit dissatisfied with the current structure - but they believed that reforms could solve this problem. (Liberals)
And then there was another part that was completely satisfied with the ongoing structure of the government and don't want any change or some long-term changes. (Conservatives)
Jakob Valdis - who was already popular for his humanitarian actions - stepped into the game of politics and instantly became the face of the movement. The Radicals fully supported him as he was fully sympathetic with the oppressed, which was rarely seen in any of the Politicians who were in power back then.
Douglas Paul, Former President of the United States and the predecessor of Jakob Valdis, was also a businessman and actually was more inclined to grow the wealth and defense of the country which made him sometimes neglect the social injustices happening in his term as the President.
He was majorly backed by the Conservatives and Liberals when he ran for the Presidency but the support of Liberals started to dwindle down when they noticed the social injustices happening around them and they felt that these injustices has only increased in his term as the President as President Paul was a bit not so careful with his words. His way of talking was straight-forwarded which garnered him praises and loathings but loathing was more prominent.
So when he ran in the Presidential race to get a second term as the President, The Liberals backed down and supported his then opponent Jakob Valdis. Even if he was running for the first time, people believed he would be a better President than Douglas Paul as the man was humble and knew what his ideals were and how to achieve them.
With the unanimous support of Radicals and Liberals, Jakob Valdis - despite the disadvantage of being new in politics and his young age - won the Presidential race with a huge landslide by getting 320 Electoral Votes.
At the age of 37, he was inaugurated as the President of the United States and got the title of 'The Youngest President of the US.'
----------
In the skies, a helicopter was flying towards the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Inside the helicopter, President Valdis sat in front of the Vigilante Night Slash. On either side of the President sat, two people from the Secret Service, in charge of the President's security.
"So... We will be going to Los Angeles Sports Arena for the rally... then we will be going to the Century Plaza Hotel for the Lunch?" Valdis asked the Agent on his left.
"Yes, Mr. President," The Agent nodded and replied affirmatively.
"Ok then... Mr. Night Slash. So this is the second time we are meeting, and our first meeting was also very brief and we mostly talked about the serum, Genesis, and his plans. Let's talk about something else today."
Shido was confused when he heard what Valdis said. He thought the President wanted to talk more about Genesis and his plans as the President needs to formulate a plan to counter Genesis' plans.
"Did you not call me for talking more about that?" Shido asked. Confusion can be sensed from his tone.
"Yeah, I called you for a lunch and some casual talking," Valdis candidly replied as it was the most natural thing for him but this answer raised some doubts within Shido.
'How come the President wants to have lunch and spend time with a Vigilante? Don't he have better things to do?' Shido inwardly thought.
"...Okay..." Shido said reluctantly as he is already in the helicopter with the President and leaving now would be disrespectful, which might not, turn good considering he is still on the target of AVL.
"After meeting you, I went through every article that mentioned you, went through the documents provided by the AVL. There is one question in my mind... Why did you become a Vigilante? If you are Vigilante with the threat-level of Demon that means you must have some abilities, and you used those abilities to defeat the bad side. That means you are not evil. Then why not become a hero? Why go for the unlawful and rogue route?" Valdis asked with genuine curiosity visible on his face.
Looking at Valdis, Shido flinched for a second as he never thought that his impression will be so good on the President that the President tried to learn everything about him. But his shock turned into suspicion. Why the President is so interested in him? And what caused the birth of this interest in the President?
Suppressing these questions inside, Shido replied to the President.
"Because I don't want to be bound by the shackles of responsibility of others whom I don't even know or care about. Being a Hero is not all flowers as it is shown by the media. It also has it bad sides. When you become a Hero, People expect you to act a certain way, your actions reflect a certain image.
That Image is currently portrayed by All Might, the No.1 Pro-Hero of Japan. Always Selfless and Always Present to Help. He is selfless and tries his best to help everyone he can but he also fails sometimes to achieve that. But that's who he is... we cannot do anything about that but when everyone is expecting the same thing... that same behavior... that same feeling of selflessness from everyone, then it becomes a problem. And another problem is that the majority of the heroes even try to put that facade, just so they could fit the image of hero the people perceive.
When you become a hero, people tend to forget that you are a human. You cannot save everyone, You cannot be everywhere. Like everybody else in this world. If somebody really wants to save everyone in this world, then you need to be a god to do that---" Shido started ranting about how the world perceives a hero instead of giving an actual answer, then he was interrupted.
"... Trust me, The Gods cannot do that and even if he could, they won't... The Gods only know how to make you suffer, you have to come out of that suffering yourself..." Valdis interrupted Shido. His voice was sad and heavy when he said those words. Sadness was visible on Valdis' face.
Shido thought he might have said something which might have triggered the sad expression, so instead of rambling on and on, he gave his answer directly,
"My initial plan was to become a hero but then I ditched that idea because the Heroes are bound by many responsibilities and expectations. I chose the path of Vigilantism because I was free to do what I wanted. I killed the villains which were beyond redemption but were still out on the streets because the law didn't find them guilty enough to throw this garbage out of this world or hold them in the prisons."
The real reason is that he likes doing such stuff outside his normal life but he cannot tell that to the President so told the formal answer that he used to convince himself when he was doubtful whether to continue walking on the path of Vigilantism or not.
"So... You didn't like the restrictions imposed on the actions of heroes and you think that the punishment given to the villains by the Judicial System of Japan is not sufficient. Is it right?" Valdis asked.
"Yes.. in short, it is something like this."
One of the Secret Service Agents scoffed. Both the agents had a smirk on their faces as they looked at Shido. They saw him as a fool who believes that his actions are more appropriate than the entire Judicial System of a country.
Shido ignored the scoff and smirks of the agents and focused on the President. These two are low-level mob characters. They were so lowly that the author didn't even give them a name and just called them Secret Service Agents. Heck, the author even gave a name to the previous President who is practically inconsequential to the story.
Thinking about this, Shido smirked inside his helmet.
"Then what would you do, if you get the autonomy of a Vigilante but the rights of a Hero?"
"I-I never thought about this that much... you know."
"Just give an answer, What would you do? Just a preliminary answer, It's not like you are going to be a hero if you said yes." Valdis tried to convince Shido to give an answer.
When he first got transmigrated into the world of MHA, his first thought was to become a Hero after he found out about his quirk but after talking to Fuyumi and his first brawl with Muscular, his thoughts of becoming a Hero changed.
But now he is asked again the same question, Would he want to become a hero? He may disagree but in a corner of his mind, a tiny part of him that wanted to be a hero back then was still wanting that. He was in a world of Hero and Villains and he chose the Vigilante route which was taken by a very few.
By being a Pro Hero, he could become famous, rich, and influential but he didn't need that at that time as he was content with having a peaceful life with Fuyumi but now he is a father of two daughters. He wants to give them the best life he could ever imagine. A life that other kids will be envious of. He wants to do that.
"Yeah... If things are like that then I would become a Hero I guess..." Shido agreed but reluctance was clear in his voice and his words.
A wide smile appeared on Valdis' face when he heard Shido's answer. The smile was so wide that it looked he was holding himself from laughing out loud.
'Everything is falling in the right place...'
He then folded his hands and asked Shido with a casual expression on his face.
"Hmm... Nice... So Let's talk about another thing... What do you think about Equality of Outcome and what do you think about Equality of Opportunity? And what would you prefer out of these two?"
Shido again flinched from the weird questions that the President is asking. First, it was about a hypothetical situation and now he is asking about social concepts. He was wondering if there is a relation between these two questions as he was not able to find any.
Shido thought for a while and looked for words in his mind. He didn't want to look like an idiot who rambled any crap in front of the President.
"Equality of Opportunity..."
Valdis' eyebrows furrowed when he heard Shido's answer to his question, "Equality of Opportunity? Whenever I ask this question, people would choose Equality of Outcome... People getting the same just like the others. The Poor wont be poor anymore, there wont be any more starving children.
I mean don't you think it is a bit rude to think that one should not get the equal things that you are getting? We live in a society where hierarchies exist. You are on the top of the hierarchy, You are set for your life; You are at the bottom, forget about having a life, every day is a survival challenge for them.
Imagine if your kid gets a bit less than every other kid out there in the world, even if they are putting in the same amount of work that the others are putting, then what would you do? What would you do when your kid is an adult out there in the world and he is always getting less than others? But he was given the opportunity to do the same thing, that means the Equality of Opportunity holds true," Valdis spoke in a calm tone but it was a bit condescending. He went a bit condescending in his tone to see how Shido faces this situation.
Shido didn't get flustered or nervous when he realized Valdis' change of tone, instead, he pushed forward, "If one of the options is rude or was not to your liking, then why give the option? Just simply ask my views on Equity or Equality of Outcome. There is no sense in putting the other option if you are going to act offended by it.
And My kids won't be in that situation in the first place. I would raise them and make them prepared enough for the world that they will themself climb on the hierarchy that you are speaking of. And to answer your question, I would help my kids if they are in a situation like this. I would do my best to support them even if they are adults out there and are being treated unfairly."
Valdis smiled again as he thought he won trapping Shido and made him change his answer,
"Then Equality of Outcome is your choice..."
"No, I still go for Equality of Opportunity" Shido quickly interjected Valdis.
This confused Valdis, "How come? You just said you would help your kids if they are in a situation like that... then..." He asked Shido.
"I said I would help them as they are my children. The Whole World is not my children, so I am not going to help every other person with a problem out there. Equality of Outcome offers the same distribution of rewards disregarding the work they have put in. And as someone who teaches his kids to take up their own responsibilities and act upon them, I wouldn't advocate for such an idea.
And even if you are asking from a Politician's point of view, where you have to take care of a lot of people, I would still choose Equality of Opportunity.
If the people get the same things that the others are getting then why would someone work hard and strive for better things when they know that they will be getting the same as the others who are not working at all. After one point in time, society will crumble down as there will be no more ambitious or hardworking people who strive for the better.
The Equality of Opportunity is not perfect, I know. Some people are advantaged than others even if they are participating in the same task, but we know for sure that it works. The American Dream, which means No matter what your past is, If you work hard enough, you are destined to have a better life in this Land of Free. It is the literal embodiment of Equality of Opportunity.
I know it boils down to whether to choose Merit or Fairness, and I chose Merit while squishing down the Fairness which may have helped a person out there. But I don't care about that person. I only care for those who I know." Shido concluded his answer.
"But you kill villains for the betterment of society... I mean you do somewhat care about that person out there, don't you?... Doesn't that prove you are a hypocrite?"
"I don't care... Even if I am a hypocrite... so be it," Shido replied in a nonchalant tone and shrugged his shoulders.
Listening to his answer, Valdis started clapping. Shido thought he challenged Valdis' opinion, then there might be some disagreeableness between the two but his actions contradicted it. He thought today was confusion day, Valdis' questions and his actions are constantly confusing him over and over again.
"Well Done, Mr. Night Slash... You really are something..."
"I don't get it... Why are you applauding?"
"You see Mr. Night Slash. Whenever I ask this question, People would answer me instantaneously that they like Equity or the Equality of Outcome. I didn't get it initially but when I put some thought into it, I got the answer. Because saying that you want equality of outcome makes you look good or it is the 'right' thing to say. Equality of Outcome is really a good thing and everybody thinks it should be implemented but it is not practical.
I just wanted to know what type of person you are and I now know... You are a person who follows the normal while it is in line with your views but you go rogue or take the road not taken by many if things are not going as you want them to go. You don't hesitate to say things that may contradict things that you previously said and may prove you are a hypocrite but you don't care about it. That proves you are a genuine person.
As you said you don't care about the person who is not inside your circle but you do kill villains for the betterment of society. Well, I appreciate that. At the very least you are not spewing lies to prove you are not a hypocrite.
Humans are hypocrites, Our actions, Our words, Our needs sometimes contradict each other, but we try to hide them instead of accepting them.
Mr. Night Slash, It was truly a pleasure to meet you and I would like to extend my hand for a friendship. Would you accept it?" Valdis then stretched his hands forward to Shido.
Shido looked at Valdis' stretched hand and asked, "Really? I mean... I am a Criminal in Japan and a Nation-wide Manhunt is on me... Do you really want to do this? You are the President of the United States... Just being near me in the public will be a massive hit to your political career and what are you currently doing is like writing the final letter before your political suicide."
Shido warned Valdis, but Valdis' smile on his face and his hand didn't back down.
"You don't have to worry about it. My mother used to say genuine people don't come around too often. if you find somebody real enough to stay true. Keep them Close. And you are not entirely a criminal in my view. So... Friends?"
Shido looked at the stretched arm for some time and then he shook it hard.
"Friends."