Chapter 19: Vision

"Professor Johnson!" Vicki Vale stuck her microphone out. "Can you tell us what your plans are for your first term?"
"Plenty will be discussed this week Vicki." Johnson said. "With our new majority leaders in the House and Senate, we can immediately get the ball rolling."
Professor Johnson stood in the middle of the large conference room at City Hall where a victory party was being held for his impending presidency. The press and supporters surrounded the future President as people cheered his name.
"Jack Ryder of the Jack Ryder show!" A man in glasses spoke up. "What do you plan to do on your first day of the Presidency?"
"Move in." He smiled, setting off a wave of laughter throughout the large room.
James Davis walked into the room with a blue suit and tie on holding his Ari1. He looked and saw his sister Hanna was already there. He had procured a pin and modified the names.

"Will Warren of the Gotham Gazette." He thought.
"Flashy."
He walked up to his sister and tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she frowned.
"Figured it out?" Hanna whispered.
"Unfortunately."
"No use thinking about it now." She said. "Let's meet our new President."
They excused themselves through the crowd and got up close to Professor Johnson. They could see he was wearing a gray suit with a black dress shirt and grey tie.
"Professor Johnson!" Hanna called out first. "Jessica Adams of the Daily Planet! Can you tell us the key to your tremendous victory?"
"Certainly." He smiled at her. "When I declared my candidacy, I was given little to no chance by the media and pundits alike. I was running on an independent ticket, and most people were already assuming I would be out of the race by the end of the month. Unfortunately for them, I dug in and fought like all Americans have done when they faced great odds. I kept going, and people began to hear my message—"

"Yeah, and drowned us all in money ads…" James thought.

"I traveled the country and listened to the people up close." Johnson continued. "We were a small party organization in the beginning. However as the months rolled on we began to expand, we raised more and more money, and grew our independent party until it was roughly the size of the two main parties."
He paused for a moment, and then kept talking:
"There is no doubt what helped us was that the two parties were having very messy primaries." Johnson nodded. "But being President means being strong and having a strong message for the people. I have a plan for the American people, and I know we can get this country moving forward."
"Finally when the debates came, I had the one thing the other two candidates didn't: Honesty. I was adamant in my views and I did not practice by a teleprompter. I had had these ideas with me since I was a little boy. There would be no tricks or saying nothing. I firmly believed in everything I said, and the American people saw that. That is why I won."
The room erupted into thunderous applause, with some people in tears.

James sighed. "He knows how to work a crowd. Which means he's a lot smarter than we thought."
"I just don't understand how all he could be here with his supporters while Scarecrow is out there due to release his toxin at any moment." Alcor added. "Unless…"
"This building is protected from the toxin?" James wondered. "Yes I'm thinking that too. City hall is also very tall. We're on the 32nd floor, which means even if the toxin DID get
out, none of them would be hurt.
"Professor Johnson!" James suddenly called out.
The President-elect turned to face him.
"Yes young man?" He asked.
"Will Warren from the Gotham Gazette." James answered. "Can you tell us your plan for stopping Scarecrow in Gotham City? And will we be safe here in City Hall?"

He chuckled. "First off, I've been on the phone with the Secret Service and Commissioner Gordon already. They are doing everything they can to contain him. And second, yes we will be safe here in City hall. These walls are fitted with retrograde super-steel. The so-called toxin he plans to release cannot penetrate these walls."
A few sighs of relief went through the crowd.
"This is actually why I will be delaying my acceptance speech until this Scarecrow business blows over." He added. "I want to make sure we are all safe before we make any further actions."
"Why do I get the feeling he's lying about their safety?" Alcor asked.
"If he's now the President, he absolutely CANNOT get that wrong." James answered. "If he escaped and left all these people to die, that would be a horrible start to his Presidency. Plus, he is right about the building. I'm guessing you've already studied it?"
"Yes." Alcor said. "He is correct about the materials, but that wouldn't stop the toxin. However since we're pretty high up, the toxin wouldn't reach up here anyway."
"Good to know."

"Now then!" Professor Johnson clapped his hands together. "Due to that villain's actions I took the liberty a few hours ago to have some extra food brought in. So in case we are trapped here for the moment, we will not starve to death."
"One last question Professor Johnson!" Hanna spoke up. "What are your thoughts on the Batman?"
Everybody froze and looked at the future President.
He folded his arms. "I can understand his purpose of why he commits vigilantism. It's clear that he's just trying to protect the weak and innocent. However despite the seemingly chivalrous endeavor, I cannot accept a man dressing up as a bat and beating up criminals. That is the police's job to me. And if the police fail to do their job, then I would get new police. However that is not my job as President, that is left up to the city on whether they would want someone like the Batman to roam their alleyways."

"Interestingly diplomatic response." James thought. "He seemingly doesn't hate Batman, but he doesn't support him either. He's good at playing the PR man."
"Even more news. Look at his spine." Alcor pointed out.
Stepping back into the crowd and focusing his Solarium, he peeked through his suit and saw it.
"The tattoo! There it is!" James spotted. "It's very small, and planted right on where his spinal cord would be…"
"One hell of a place to have the NOS tattoo." Alcor suggested.
"What sucks is that we can't just jump in there blatantly and capture him on the spot, we don't know how high he ranks in NOS or whether he's high ranking at all."
"We'll need more evidence." Alcor agreed. "For now, we wait."

One hour later

Nightshroud stood on top of Wayne International Plaza and pondered.
"How are we supposed to find out more about the most sought after man in the world?" He thought. "Any luck on his history?"
"Very little information about him exists." Alcor said despondently. "Howard Johnson: Professor of Political History at Gotham University, earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University, and was debate champion in 2004."
"Argh." He growled in frustration. "I wonder if—"
Suddenly a missile flew past his face. Flying back he looked down. A medium sized red and white military vehicle had pointed its missile launcher at him. Gritting his teeth, he dove down at high speed and crashed through it, blowing it up.
Quickly flying high out of range of other vehicles, he cursed under his breath.

"Where did Scarecrow find these guys!?"
"Good question, another mystery to solve." Alcor said.
"James!" Leslie radioed in. "Those are long range militia tank Drones! Scarecrow has hundreds of them!"
"Fuck." He swore. "There's way too many to fight right now, I'm flying higher!"
"There's no need." She answered. "You just need to stay 1550 feet above the ground and they won't reach you."
"Got it. Any news from Batman?" He asked as he flew higher into the air while dodging missiles.
"No, but some from Robin." Abigail said. "Militia forces are dividing the city up by island. Be careful James, there are anti-aircraft guns and missile launchers throughout the city."
"Keep me posted."
"Wait James!" Abigail cried out fearfully. "Joe and I just found out something!"
"What!?"
"This is insane!" She answered. "Joe and I think that all of the candidates that won in the election are all part of NOS!"

James quickly landed on the roof of their base and quickly descended to the 50th floor.
"You can't be serious!" He yelled out as he entered. "You're telling me that hundreds of NOS members have infiltrated the government!?"
"It seems so." Joe turned to him soberly. "2016 was a realigning election. Normally only 33 Senate seats are up for grabs every two years. But this year there was a mass of special elections that took place last night. Some lawmakers dying in office, retiring, scandals, you name it. By the time election night came, 80 Senate seats were up for election! Plus, with all 435 seats in the House always up for grabs, it was too easy for them!"
"This is bad." He groaned. "67 NOS members in the Senate, 333 NOS members in the House, and a President who is also an NOS member, this country is now under their control!"
"You're telling me." Abigail nodded. "With the U.S. under their control, they could influence activities all around the world whether it's the Middle East, Europe, or China relations. God knows what their plans are."

Suddenly, one of the 50th floor windows exploded open, and Max climbed through coughing.
"MAX!" James quickly ran over to him and caught him before he fell. The child stopped coughing and looked into his eyes.
"Are you alright?" He petted Max's hair.
Suddenly, the child grabbed both of James's arms and yanked him forward.
"What the-?"
Max opened his mouth, and brown smoke billowed out into his face.
"SHIT! It's the toxin!" Alcor yelled.

James coughed heavily and fell to one knee as Max fell down unconscious.
"JAMES!" Both Joe and Abigail ran over to him.
"GGGGRRAAAAHHHHH!" He grabbed his head and screamed.
"NOOOO! PLEASE NOT THAT!"
"Your world will crumble."
"STOP!"
"You should not have existed."
"MY HEAD!"
"You should never have been born."
"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

James as Nightshroud pushed Abigail and Joe off of him as he flew out the broken window and into the night.
"JAMES! JAMES!" Abigail screamed out for him.
"It's no use Abby." Joe said unhappily. "He's been infected by the toxin. It's a wonder he didn't kill us both."
"Shut up!" Abigail turned to him angrily. "We have to help him!"
Joe folded his arms. "And how are we supposed to do that?"
"W-Well w-we…." She stopped. She had no idea how they could.
"If we can get him back here then yeah we can help him." Joe said. "I can activate the base's deadlock system and we can trap him on the 50th floor, but until then—"
Suddenly Max woke up and stuck his hands out at them. Tendrils of electricity came flowing out of his fingers as they were electrocuted.

"GAHHHHH!" Joe yelled.
"AHHHHHH!" Abigail screamed.

After nearly a minute of electrocution, they fell to the ground unconscious. The little child shook his head, then walked over to the window and climbed out.