The Villainous Cruz Family - Chapter 17

“Are you sure we can do this?” A man in a suit asked nervously.

He raised his head to look up at the man beside him. A man wearing a flashy black and white costume, adorned by multiple pins and a glorious red cape replied to him with a joyous voice filled with confidence, “Of course we can! I would even say it was long overdue.”

“Sir Xero, it is time for you to go up.” Someone announced from the distance.

Xero grinned and grabbed a mask from the table. It was a beautiful thing, gold and silver intertwining, simplistic yet elegant. He wore the mask and turned sharply, his cape flapping theatrically. “It’s show time.”

Xero walked onto the stage in front of the podium, flashes of camera concentrated on his handsome figure as reporters yelled their questions at him.

“Mr Xero, what is your purpose for calling us all out here today?”

“Will you finally take off your mask and reveal your identity?”

“What are your thoughts on the current rise of villainy in this country?”

“How do you feel about the vigilante heroes imitating you?”

Xero merely raised his hand with a smile. Almost immediately, the reporters fell silent.

“Thank you all for gathering here today. I’m Xero, what many would called a hero. Having been a hero for well over a decade, although I cannot be called a veteran, I believe I qualify as being experienced in this unique field of society.” Xero paused and continued.

“Admittedly, as a child, I grew up admiring heroes for their bravery and strong sense of justice. Despite society’s criticism of their acts of vigilantism and disregard of the ‘judicial system’, I aspired to be a hero, to be the man that children looked up to. Then, fifteen years ago, I put on the mask and donned the cape and rescued a young child from child traffickers.”

A few reporters in the crowd who were admittedly fans of Xero cheered out in support.

“…The boy had broken his arm and injured his head whilst I was rescuing him. Although he was given swift medical attention and had no lasting injuries, the media was quick to condemn my actions. ‘Who does he think he is?’ ‘He should have called the police.’ ‘Let the professionals handle it.’ ‘The boy’s injuries are his fault.’” Xero took in a sharp breath.

“I don’t know about you all, but that last statement, the claim that I was to blame for the child’s injuries…it just crushed me. I spent forever dealing with the guilt of the avoidable pain and trauma I caused to the child. I fell into depression and gave up my mask and cape. However, when I saw friends and family being tormented and terrorised by villains, I couldn’t step back and do nothing. And now that I’ve been a hero for so long, I can proudly state that what I have done on that day was the right thing to do. I’m glad I saved him that day and if I was given the chance to go back to that time, I would do it again.

Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’m telling you all this. Well, simply put, it concerns the rise of heroes and villains in our current society. With the wider acceptance of well known heroes such as myself, more and more like-minded individuals have taken it upon themselves to make the world a safer place.

However, there is no denying that these newbie heroes are like what I once was, inexperienced. In all honesty, their acts of vigilante justice is causing more harm than good. Many damages caused by fights between newbie heroes and villains could have been avoided by trained police officers or other more experienced heroes. But they are just like the naive me from fifteen years ago, acting from the goodness in their hearts. With just a bit more experience, they could be an undeniable asset to this world.

And with that in mind, I proposed a solution. Instead of worrying about vigilante justice and crying about how civilians with no training are encroaching on the police’s jobs, how about we look at what heroism is and why it is so crucial to our society.

Heroes deal with villains that cause disruptions to society and threatened the daily lives of normal civilians. You can argue that that’s the police’s job but I believe that police officers focus primarily on locking away the criminals while heroes put an end to their villainy. You could even say that heroes are the police but a division of it, just like there are many different divisions in the police department that specialise in different types of crimes.

So, how about we think of them as one group instead of two? We can create a sub-division in the police force called the hero division. Here, heroes can have official jobs as heroes. Their bravery, hardships and hard work can finally be acknowledged and rewarded. Not only that, but older heroes would be able to provide guidance to younger ones and raise a generation of strong heroes. The hero division would be able to support our heroes and enable them to pour their energy into defeating villains. Doesn’t that sound great?

You’re all staring at me as if I said something crazy. But let me tell you this. This is all official now. It is not some dream I have but a real thing that the government has approved of. The hero division is officially open and hiring heroes to join us in defeat villains.”

A blanket of silence befell the room. Even the flashes of the cameras came to a slowing halt as the reporters digested what they had just heard.

A division for heroes? The government was finally going to acknowledge their existence?

After a long silence, a voice spoke up. “Xero, I understand the desire to give back to heroes and make heroism an official job but would this not provoke the villains?”

Xero smirked. “Then that only means that we’ve done the job of a hero, to continually fight back against villains and annoy them to the day heroes and villains cease to be. Thank you for your time.”

Saying so, Xero turned and left the stage, the reporters still aiming their cameras at his retreating back.