Allen had to admit that when the government wants to screw you over, they move fast. They hadn't even been in office for a day, and there was already a reporter with her cameraman ready to make him look bad in front of the public.
===
Jack - Hahaha, screw you!
"No, screw you!"
Rick - Come to someone with the solution to their problems, and they shoot you in the face, classic bureaucrats *Burp*
Gilgamesh - Mixed-blood, answer, what is this, and what do you intend to show this King?"
"Huh?!" Allen didn't know what he meant, but he was surprised to see someone with the exact name of Gilgamesh, no numbers or anything else.
The platform was used by so many people; names are like an identification, and having the same one is not allowed. That's why people with such famous names outright are either very old or people with great influence to whom the name was granted.
Of course, there is a third way, and that's if the system assigns it; this was the case with all the Olympian goddesses who were given their real names.
– Ugh, we have someone with the eighth-grade syndrome -_-
– I wonder what kind of person can write that without shame 0:
– Just waiting for him to start talking about his right hand sealing evil or something like that O_o
– Don't pay attention to these assholes, Gilgamesh? Well, a lot has happened; there are summaries on my YT channel, MJ proceeded to post the link to all of Allen's networks in the Chat.
Gilgamesh - Are you mocking me?
Allen shook his head as many in the Chat teased the newcomers; this wasn't the first time, and if things escalated, the girls would stop them.
Allen noticed there were many peculiar new names in the chat; I mean, there are millions of new viewers, but almost no one can use names like Gilgamesh... and others. However, Allen didn't have time for that.
===
"Nonsense, just because I'm a supervillain, they think I can't be the director of a prison? They underestimate me!" Allen declared arrogantly and crossed his arms; he didn't care if they underestimated him.
"Yeah, yeah, you're very cool, now don't move," Gwen said as she straightened his tie. She observed Allen dressed in a suit from head to toe, stopped at Allen's face, and blushed. "You should dress like this more often, maybe people will respect you more..."
"Hahaha, that won't happen." It's not that Allen dislikes dressing like this, but in the end, he's just a man of simple tastes. Gwen sighed because she already knew how Allen would respond. Despite the mask, Allen noticed Gwen's gaze and hugged her. "However, I wouldn't mind dressing like this for you occasionally~"
===
– We'll never respect you, you bastard >:(
"Shut up!"
– How can he be so lucky with women?! D:
Tony - As an experienced playboy, I can assure you that it's not due to a single factor and has nothing to do with luck. In the end, only fishermen catch fish, and if, besides trying, you have a luxury rod and use caviar as bait, well...
===
Ivy was already receiving the reporter right now.
Allen decided to ignore his viewers and turned annoyed towards the exit, he didn't expect this to happen so soon.
'According to what I understand, the one who came is Victoria Vale... Vicki, huh? I can't believe she exists in this universe.'
Vicki's story in the comics Allen knows is quite tragic, and not talking about her narrative, she was created in the Golden Age of DC, no need to think about her origin; she is a beautiful reporter with orange hair in Gotham who was also created as a romantic interest for Batman. It's pretty obvious that she's a version of Lois Lane for Batman.
At the time, Vicki became as important a heroine as Catwoman, but little by little, she was relegated to the point of disappearing from the comics. A forgotten character, however, she was brought back in more recent stories.
"We'll see what the Lois Lane of Gotham needs from me, and more importantly, what kind of a Vicky Vale is this?"
Of course, in the end, the Canon of the comics is relative; the Vicki appearing in front of Allen is a real person, not a character. She might even be different from the original reporter.
...
Victoria Vale stepped out of her suburban van, adjusted her clothes, checked her makeup and her reddish-orange hair, and mentally prepared herself to enter Arkham.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked her driver, who happened to be her cameraman as well.
Victoria took a deep breath and let it out. "Of course, who wouldn't want to interview the supervillain who managed to gain the president's support after causing a stir across the country and taking over the most terrifying prison in the world?" She said with obvious sarcasm.
Vicki Vale was nervous, she might be reckless and brave, but she was not suicidal. The only reason she can stand to be here is that she remembered how Allen protected her while she was in the helicopter, at least it was true that he didn't harm civilians, but in the end, this was a gamble.
Vicki was dressed in formal attire with a light green blouse, a beige jacket with a skirt, and heels. She pulled out her microphone and looked at the massive entrance; the walls were so thick that not even a truck crashing into them could break them, there were surveillance towers that could be seen from afar, and Vicki could see several heavily armed prison guards.
"It's incredible how this place has such a high rate of escapes."
Previously, Arkham Asylum was just a psychiatric hospital for criminals, but with constant escapes, it gradually turned into a fortress, and yet there are still many escapes.
Vicki squinted, she had received a tip-off that the prison had another escape attempt, her boss recommended postponing the interview, but Vicki refused.
'When dealing with someone like him, you don't know when he'll change his mind,' she thought.
Vicki and her cameraman walked towards the entrance; a small door opened, and Pamela greeted them with a smile, "Good morning, Miss Victoria Vale," said Pamela professionally. It's unreal to think that a few days ago, she wanted to kill every living human being.
"Good morning," Victoria replied. She knew the information of all the Arkham staff and was surprised to see a new secretary, but thinking that the director had changed, this was natural.
Pamela was accompanied by two guards, a woman, and a man, who would be in charge of checking and ensuring that no dangerous items or anything of the sort were introduced.
The female guard approached Vicki; she frowned. "Is this necessary?" said Vicki with an obvious tone of dissatisfaction; she didn't want to go through all this.
"I'm sorry; it's protocol," the female guard responded apologetically.
Victoria wasn't a demon, and she knew it wasn't the woman's fault, so she didn't say more; her cameraman was checked by the male guard.
...
After that, Ivy took them through the different security checkpoints.
Victoria silently looked at Ivy's back and couldn't help it. "Poison Ivy?"
Pamela stopped and turned to Victoria. "Excuse me?"
"I'm not wrong, you're Poison Ivy, right?"
Ivy smiled, and her skin turned emerald green.
She looked at Victoria for a moment before speaking. "That article about a mass murderer was very interesting, although false..." Ivy said with hidden annoyance.
"You killed thirty people!"
"No, I set free the plants they were experimenting with... Due to that, the spores they artificially produced as a result of genetic manipulation poisoned them to death."
Victoria knew it was useless to argue with a villain, but she didn't want to let this pass. Poison Ivy at this moment was untouchable, and that couldn't be tolerated by the people.
Victoria's audience was also upset; villains in important positions were a reality that no one wanted to accept. However, Ivy mocked; this had been going on for years, but people usually didn't notice.
Just as she was about to start a discussion between the two women, the inner door opened, and Allen appeared.
"It's a pleasure to have you here!"
"...!" Both Ivy and Victoria were surprised to see Allen dressed in a suit and very well-groomed. He was already handsome, and now more than one woman held her breath as he approached.
Allen greeted Victoria Vale with a smile; the woman remained silent until her cameraman coughed.
"Mr. Walker, it's a pleasure!" Victoria hurriedly said, coming out of her daze; however, her red cheeks betrayed her. Ivy sighed a little jealous, but she was surprised by this, shook her head, and stopped thinking while avoiding looking too much at her boss.
Victoria extended her hand to shake Allen's, and he, wanting to give the best possible impression, decided to act with more manners than usual. He took Vicki's delicate hand and bowed to kiss it, taking everyone by surprise.
In today's era, this could be seen as exaggerated, and unnecessary, and depending on the context, people might even mock you. But Allen not only had a dignified appearance and demeanor but strangely, this didn't feel out of place coming from him.
Victoria's face turned red, despite having been kissed on the hand before at formal parties she had attended, this was the first time she felt embarrassed by it.
"What's wrong?" Allen narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled without letting go of Victoria's hand.
"It's nothing, Mr. Walker!" Victoria spoke louder to hide her embarrassment.
"I see, well, let me show you my humble abode. 'Of course, I don't live here, but you get it,'" Allen joked.
Vicki felt embarrassed, but she took a deep breath and composed herself. She looked back at Allen. 'This man is dangerous... I should keep everything professional and not forget that he's a supervillain,' Victoria thought.
"Mr. Walker, I'll get straight to the point, what are your plans after invading Arkham?"
Allen waved his hand. "No, 'invading' sounds too bad, I was appointed director legally."
"Yes, of course, and it happened today, Mr. Walker," Victoria said mercilessly; her tone was assertive, and she didn't hesitate to question Allen. Many people from both worlds nodded at Victoria's fearless attitude.
"Does that make it wrong?" Allen smiled slightly. "Miss Vale, people might think I'm a horrible monster, well, I am, but what I mean is, I have my limits and principles."
"How sure can we be of that?" Victoria asked, looking Allen in the eyes.
"You know it, don't you?" Allen replied mysteriously.
"..." Victoria remembered how Allen prevented the helicopters from crashing. Vicki was embarrassed; Allen made sure not to harm her or other civilians, while at the same time, he put an end to those monsters before they killed a single innocent person. Of course, there were victims, but they were all criminals.
Victoria lowered her hostility and looked at Allen with concern. "Mr. Walker... understand that the devil's mercy won't make you an angel in the eyes of the people..."
Allen chuckled under his breath. "It's true hehe... by the way, you can call me Allen, that's my name." Allen leaned closer, and Victoria blushed. "In return, I'll call you Vicki, if you don't mind, of course."
Vicki looked away. "It doesn't bother me."
Many people, especially women, were upset with her and regretted praising her a second ago.
There were many important figures around the world watching this interview through Arkham; everyone thought it was a damn mistake to send a woman to interview him, but at the same time, it was less likely that Allen would get aggressive with a female reporter, even if she asked uncomfortable questions.
...
On the other hand, Allen's viewers mostly felt a great deal of contempt for him; it was very obvious to them that Allen was pretending that nothing was happening in Arkham to give a good impression on camera.
"I decided to reinforce the walls and doors of Arkham so they won't be infiltrated by explosives again."
Allen enthusiastically guided Victoria accompanied by Ivy. She noticed that inside the prison was a different atmosphere; there was no sign of prison guards anywhere.
Allen had already anticipated this question and spoke confidently. "After thinking about it, I decided to limit contact between the prison guards and the inmates because many of them were seduced by money."
"Are you saying there are corrupt guards?!" she said alarmed, however, this was an act; she already knew about corruption in Gotham.
"Haha, there always have been; everyone knows it, they just didn't know who."
"Did you interrogate them?" Victoria questioned; she believed Allen was capable of torture.
Allen shrugged. "No was necessary; they confessed on their own, but we weren't here to talk about this, right?" Allen said, trying to change the subject.
Victoria noticed but decided not to provoke Allen too much. "What kind of Arkham do you want to build?"
"Well, good question!" Allen put his hand on his heart; his gaze turned to total compassion as if he were a sad saint. "I want a place where these poor souls can find peace."
For a moment, everyone fell silent at the words full of pity for the prisoners; everyone thought that perhaps Allen wasn't so bad.
"GYAAAAAHHHH!!!!!"
A scream full of desperation echoed from the depths of the prison, sending chills down everyone's spines.
"Mr. Walker, what was that?" Victoria asked, her voice trembling, and she was scared.
"The wind..." Allen replied without changing his expression; at this moment, it was easier to move the moon than to make him speak.
"But..." Victoria wasn't convinced; of course, if she were, she should go see a psychologist.
"AAAAHHHHHH HELP!! DEFINITELY, I'M NOT THE WIND AAHHHHGG DON'T COME NEAR ME, DEGENERATE! THERE'S A SICK PERVERT WHO WANTS TO DO HORRIBLE THINGS GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Haha, the wind in Arkham is very strong; it even makes jokes and tells lies, but don't worry," Allen clasped his hands as if he had an idea. "How about I show you the cafeteria?"
Victoria couldn't believe Allen's shamelessness; he was literally determined to bury that voice with the wind. Not even his viewers could believe the level of audacity Allen had.
Allen guided Victoria away from there; she was nervous, as was the cameraman, but they couldn't do anything. They were already on the ride, and they couldn't get off.
===
A/N: Patreon.com/Mr_aizen