novelzi Chapter 298: Public Image
Chapter 298: Public Image
The entire crowd waited for Megaman to speak.Same for the viewers at home.
The top hero took a deep breath and lowered his cold blue eyes to the written speech before him. This was the script Chairman Lymtos prepared for him to deliver to the public.
It’s filled with apologies... a lot of them.
Megaman had never been the kind of person to say sorry for anything in his life. Whether right or wrong... apologizing just wasn’t in his DNA.
He looked back at the sea of angry protesters and then again at the speech.
"Tch."
Maybe there’s no choice.
He’ll just have to read the apology letter like that.
"My name is Megaman. And yes, it is true that I was indeed married to Martha Dimitrova..."
Wait. The next words were too dumb to read out loud.
The Chairman actually expected him to openly admit to beating his wife? He wanted him to stand here and beg for her forgiveness, and the forgiveness of the public?
To a superior being like him, a request like that made absolutely no sense! Just thinking about it made a surge of pure irritation spike through his veins.
Megaman squeezed the paper into a ball and tossed it carelessly over his shoulder.
"Screw this..."
This cracked the perpetually calm smile on the wrinkled old face of the H.A. Chairman. Clenching his fist around his fancy gold cane, the old man took a step forward as his white brows tightened.
『What is that idiot doing?』
The Chairman wasn’t the only one stressing.
Scottie gnashed her teeth worriedly.
"Oh boy..."
Anyone with even half a brain stem could tell that this situation was about to go about as horribly as it possibly could.
Megaman rested his forearms on the podium and looked down at the crowd.
"Oh, come on. You people don’t really want me to stand up here and apologize for this crap, do you?"
Before the crowd could boo him, a tall, beautiful woman in her early 30s rushed onto the podium to join him. She wore a sharp, dark purple suit.
There was panic on her pretty face.
And obviously, she had every right to be terrified.
After all, this lady was Amanda Plaza.
Megaman’s personal PR agent! She was easily one of the best in the business, if not the best, and right now, her client’s next words could completely make or break her entire career.
Amanda let out a loud awkward laugh.
"Haha! What Megaman meant to say is that he is deeply, deeply sorry!"
Amanda was sweating under the stage lights.
"And to prove his commitment to change, he is going to be donating fifteen million dollars of his own money to a children’s charity, several modern civil rights movements, and even to SheCares... which we all know is a very popular feminist organization! So, can we please give him a round of appl—"
"No one fucking believes that, Amanda."
Megaman gently but firmly pushed her aside.
"These people aren’t dumb. There’s no need to try and paint me as some kind of saint to them."
Amanda gasped like she’d faint.
"Have you completely gone insane?!"
"Relax. I’ll handle this."
"..."
Amanda was stunned by his confidence.
For some inexplicable reason, a small, thoughtful smile crept onto her lips, and she willingly backed away from the podium and let him have the floor.
And speak he did.
Megaman rested both of his large hands on the edges of the podium to lean in.
"I don’t like a lot of things. I don’t like kids. I don’t like foreigners. I don’t like aliens from another planet coming down to Earth to play hero all for the sake of ’interplanetary diplomacy.’ I don’t like queer people. I don’t like religion. And I don’t like empowered women."
The crowd gasped loudly.
If only Megaman cared.
"So all that talk about donating money to SheCares or whatever is just bullshit that I’d never do. Why the hell would I give my hard-earned money to a bunch of orphans anyway? I was an orphan too, you know. No one gave me shit, and I still turned out as the world’s top hero. In fact, by not giving them anything, I’m teaching them a valuable life lesson."
He raised a finger to emphasize his point.
"The point is, I’m allowed to dislike things. If I didn’t have dislikes, then I wouldn’t be a human being. And at that point, shouldn’t the Hero Agency just hire a bunch of lifeless robots to save the world, exactly like what Sage is doing right now?"
Down in the crowd, the shouting began to die down.
A few people actually agreed with him.
They were even nodding their heads and discussing the logic with their neighbors.
But Martha remained completely unshaken.
If those cold eyes of hers were drills, Megaman would be riddled with holes.
Up on the stage, Scottie pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a miserable groan.
"I can’t believe he just said all of that out loud..."
Amanda, however, smiled thoughtfully as she watched the crowd’s reaction shift.
"He might just save this whole thing."
Scottie shot her a look of utter disbelief.
"And I can’t believe you of all people just said that."
Amanda gave Scottie a comforting shoulder pat.
"Have a little faith in your dad, sweetie."
Scottie simply blew a frustrated breath upward that sent her black bangs flying.
Megaman wasn’t done yet.
He held the microphone closer.
"Let’s be real here. A lot of you people out here protesting me are into some seriously sick and twisted shit behind closed doors. Scat play, incest, you name it... and I still save your asses regardless! Just last week, I saved some farmers in Estonia who were actively fucking their own pigs. The week before that, I stopped a massive fire in Denver and saved a bunch of emo kids who were deeply into some weird satanic cult shit."
He chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"How is it okay for me to do all of that and not judge a single one of you, but the moment I’m an alleged woman beater, you all suddenly decide to hate me? That’s completely hypocritical, and honestly, pretty damn stupid. Because in the end, no matter how messed up you people in danger are, I’m still going to fly down and save you!"
The plaza was silent for a brief second.
This is usually a sign of agreement.
Then, a lone protester slowly started to clap.
Clap... Clap...
Then another joined in.
And another.
Soon the entire crowd was clapping and cheering.
Judy Cho frantically turned toward the camera.
"It... it seems the people are now completely back on Megaman’s side?! I am just as confused as the viewers watching at home!"
Megaman slowly floated up into the air to soak in some of this praise he’s missed.
Scottie, on the other hand, was lost.
"I can’t believe that actually worked..."
Chairman Lymtos walked back to his spot.
"He’s not the number one hero for nothing."
Amanda nodded proudly beside him.
"Exactly."
Unsurprisingly, the whole display got Martha so mad that her entire body shook. She’d been a victim of Megaman for the longest time. She still carried the deep physical and mental scars from their long, torturous marriage that she’d been forced to endure. The one real chance she had to finally bring down the monster who had tormented her felt so close... and now it was down the drain.
"I refuse!"
She desperately snatched the mic right out of Judy’s hands and shout into it.
"This is stupid!! How can you all praise a man who is a known woman beater?! A man who won’t even acknowledge he has a son, and a racist, homophobic bastard?!"
Megaman cleared his throat through his own mic as he hovered lazily in the air.
"First of all, alleged son. As far as I know, I don’t have a son. And if I didn’t add it to my list of dislikes earlier, I also hate child support because it completely exploits a man’s hard work. But that’s not why we’re here..."
Megaman chuckled as he pointed at Martha.
"Do you people really want to listen to a psycho woman who’s been locked up in a mental asylum for how many years now? If you think I’m lying, why don’t you ask her exactly where she’s been living for the past five years?"
The crowd was also curious as well.
"Do you think Megaman’s saying the truth?"
"Why would he lie? He already said he’s racist and that’s about as honest as you can get."
"Hmm, fair point..."
"So this woman really is crazy?"
Hearing them talk about her mental state made Martha’s breathing turn furious.
Megaman saw the crack in her armor and quickly decided to double down.
"It’s clearly obvious to everyone here that she’s just so jealous of how amazing my life turned out! She came straight out of the asylum just to try and make my life a living hell. For all we know, she could’ve escaped! Metro City authorities just let a psycho woman parade through the streets and lead a massive protest? How utterly incom—"
"I’M FINE NOW!!"
Martha screamed like a banshee.
Tears of pure rage and humiliation finally welled up in her blue eyes.
"THE DOCTOR SAID I’M ALRIGHT!!"
Desperate, Martha turned her tear-stained face toward the high podium to look at her daughter.
"Scottie!!"
No response.
"Tell them how horrible he really is! Tell them how he’s the one who ruined this family!!"
Still no response.
It was like she was shouting at a stranger.
"Scottie, please!!"
Martha shouted out again.
Scottie closed her eyes, biting her lower lip, and slowly looked away in silence.
Now, the crowd felt Martha truly might be crazy.
Megaman simply floated there in the air with a victorious smile on his face.
Martha began to sob openly.
"You’ll get what’s coming to you... I swear you will!"
Megaman slowly floated back down as he landed neatly behind the podium.
"I believe that’ll be all for today."
The broadcast cut away from the drama.
Amanda hurried over to Megaman, looking like she wanted to throw her arms around him in a massive hug, though she managed to stop herself at the very last second.
"You were absolutely perfect!"
"I learned from the best."
Megaman smiled softly at her.
The two of them stood there and smiled warmly at each other as the cameras stopped rolling.
Judy Cho turned back to the main studio camera.
"It seems Sage and its lineup of heroes will have to be a bit less ambitious for the time being, as the Hero Agency firmly refuses to relinquish their title as the number one hero organization. Up next on our broadcast..."
A graphic flashed onto the screen.
"...a developing story on the recent, shocking arrest of A-tier hero, Pulsar."
Before she could explain further, the TV cut directly to a loud commercial break.
...
The VIP hospital room was now silent.
Miss Mercury and Nadia both sat there with wide eyes, not quite sure of what to even say after watching that absolute trainwreck of a broadcast. Neither Dark Elf, who was still lazily chewing her chips, nor Morgan, who stood properly by the door, seemed to care in the slightest.
Bella let out a dainty yawn and stretched her arms.
"Ugh, so dramatic." (ᴗ_ ᴗ.)
Gwen didn’t even look up from her phone.
『Scott hates this kind of family drama. I should probably get ready to cheer him up.』
But just as the thought crossed her mind, Scott quietly slid out from beneath the blankets. He moved so silently it was as if his girlfriends weren’t currently sleeping heavily on his lap or playing with his hair.
He slipped his feet into slippers and walked straight toward the door with a dull face.
Nadia blinked at how he just up and left.
"Wait... what’s wrong with him?"
Brigid panicked and shouted.
"It’s... it’s probably a stomachache!"
The girls all nodded befuddlingly at her explanation.
Miss Mercury turned her attention back to the TV.
"Wait, did they say they arrested Pulsar?"
Gwen instantly lifted her eyes over the top of her smartphone.
"NO WAY!"
After all, Gwen was a massive fan of Pulsar.
But she wasn’t a fan of Maya in the slightest.
Fortunately for her peace of mind, she had no idea they were the same person.
Brigid used that distraction to slip out of the VIP room and hurried to find Scott.
"My lord?"
She looked left and right.
"Lord Scott?"
No response of any kind.
The hallway was quite empty.
She let out a tired sigh and crossed her arms.
"Where in the world is he?"
Closing her eyes, Brigid took a deep breath and tapped into her mental prowess. In an instant, her perception of the physical world dissolved, morphing her vision of the entire hospital floor into a 3D map inside her head.
She sensed Scott inside a nearby restroom.
Stepping softly on her dainty sneakers, Brigid hurried over to the door and pushed it open.
Inside, Scott was leaning over the sink, vigorously splashing cold water onto his face.
『Was he... crying?』
She shook her head.
『No, that was impossible. Lord Scott would never cry about anything at all.』
Scott paused while the water dripped from his chin as he caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.
He turned around, grabbing a paper towel.
"What the hell are you doing standing over there? This is a men’s bathroom, you know."
Brigid jerked a bit and her cheeks flushed slightly as she nervously tapped her index fingers together.
"I... I was worried about my lord and savior. I decided to come see if you were alright..."
Scott crumbled the paper towel and tossed it into the bin as he turned away.
"I’m not upset. And stop calling me that."
Brigid’s pretty face went completely calm.
She took one step forward.
"I know the kind of immense pain Lord Scott goes through because of his family. I don’t know the full story behind it, and as much as I’d honestly love to know... I understand that you have deeply personal feelings that you’d prefer to keep personal. But...you can’t keep letting all that heavy trauma pull you down like this."
Scott let out a bitter scoff.
"Maybe you’re not exactly the best person to be talking to me about trauma. You’re completely carefree. You don’t have a single worry in the world. You’re a born hero talent who is literally destined to be gre—"
"DON’T SAY THAT!" Brigid suddenly shouted.
Scott froze up in shock.
He looked back at her and felt a jolt in his chest.
There were actual tears welling up in her bright eyes.
It wasn’t because of what he had just said to her.
It was simply because it broke Brigid inside to see her ultimate idol looking so entirely defeated and vulnerable right in front of her.
Brigid sniffled loudly as a tear finally escaped and rolled down her cheek.
"Everyone... everyone always tells me that I’m some kind of ultimate hero prodigy. They say I’m the one who will shift the scales and do so many great things. And because of that, they never, ever treat me like a normal person... not like the way you and the others do."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"You’re the number one person in the entire world I would’ve sworn would never look at me like that... and then you go and say stuff like that to me? It’s... it’s hurtful and mean..."
Scott felt a heavy pit form in his stomach.
He opened his mouth to apologize, but he found himself totally lost for words.
He didn’t know what to say.
This side of Brigid can be quite rare sometimes.
Brigid tightened her small fists at her sides.
"When I was little... I used to live in a peaceful, small druid community over in Ireland. Until one day... we got completely slaughtered by a terrifying man in black. I was the only person spared in the entire village. Later on, I was saved by Silver Sentinel, who took me away to Skyfort Academy and eventually entrusted his entire legacy to me."
She let out a shaky, self-deprecating laugh.
"It made me so happy at the time... but at the exact same time, I am so terrified. What if the only reason I didn’t join my entire family in death is because of this stupid, cursed talent of mine? What if my powers are the exact reason they were all targeted and killed in the first place?"
She gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly over her chest where her heart was.
"Even at the academy, I was immediately made the class representative and the top student solely because of my abilities. And that just made all the other students avoid me... sometimes... sometimes I absolutely hate myself. And I hate my powers too."
Brigid looked up at him with more water in her eyes.
"So... maybe acting so incredibly stupid all the time and trying my hardest to seem incompetent around others helps me fit in better. After all... I just want to be accepted by people. That’s all I ever wanted..."
She sniffled loudly.
Realizing how much she’d said, Brigid’s eyes widened a bit and she chuckled.
It was an awkward chuckle accompanied by a lot of tears cleaning and whimpering.
"Ah... I... I somehow made this entire thing all about myself, didn’t I? How silly of me..."
But before she could even finish, Scott stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her until he could feel all of her body against his own. He reached up, gently stroking her soft hair like she was a delicate, precious pet that needed protecting.
Brigid froze entirely.
"Lord Sco—"
"Be quiet. Just go with it."
He kissed the top of her head.
"Alright..."
A red-cheeked Brigid smiled.