บท 140: Cause and Effect
__________ POV Narration__________
Mado was confused at first, but he wasn't one to ask questions of a person that he considered the strongest in the world.
Don, Beru's clone, was the backer that gave Mado the confidence to face off against the real Beru and Goda Yori.
Their plans were rather simple, the first plan was made to check, to make sure that Beru they were facing was in fact the original one.
It involved using Ereasure on him, as the quiet villain did in the beginning before Don even showed up.
The second was to fight Beru on an even field, to test his strength. A form of reassurance for Don, he wanted to know if Beru was really as strong as he remembered.
And the results were rather grim for Don and his subordinates. All of his trusted men were downed in less than a second, and he was left to face Beru using portals and careful attacks.
That method proved to be useless since his attacks seemed to have little to no effect on Beru most of the time.
Now, they were onto the last plan.
Mado looked at his computer with quite a bit of spite. He feared Don, but he still didn't like the way this plan worked... Mainly because it was also going to cause problems for him.
It was going to reveal to the world, some of the inner workings of the Japanese government.
At the press of a button, from an undisclosed location, on every large screen in Japan, and the most famous TV channels, there appeared a pre-recorded video.
A simple title appeared on the screen, 'The Crimes of our Leaders'.
Beru looked a bit confused, looking to the side, he could see a big screen in the distance displaying that title.
'And what is this then?' He thought while still being vigilant to his surroundings. Don could attack at any time after all.
But no other attack was going to come. For now, Don wanted Beru, as well as the rest of the world, to see just how bleak reality truly was.
The video itself was an expose of sorts, it recounted the countless crimes of many people in power.
From child trafficking to slave rings, all of the illegal things one could imagine either ran by people with power or backed by them. All the names were given, all the locations given, crimes photographed.
After all, with the number of quirks both Beru had, he could make for the perfect spy too. It was simple for him to enter and find more out.
Murder and rape were simply the tip of the iceberg that was the countless crimes committed by those that thought themselves to be the leaders.
They were so drunk on their power that they never stopped to consider the well-being of others. A group of hyenas prowled and laughed as they tortured others.
It was all caught on tape too, thanks to the front row seats Don managed to get to all of their gatherings.
Not all of the people in power were demented criminals, but enough of them were to make this video possible, and that was more than bad enough.
Beru watched without many reactions.
It wasn't like he thought things were any different out there. But seeing something and knowing about it were two different things.
When one sees something, he's more inclined to want to do something to help with it. That knee-jerk reaction was what Don hoped to get out of Beru.
A revolution started by a small step. Beru had the capabilities to change the world, he had the possibility to make things better... Or so the clone thought.
But there was definitely a reaction, even if not from Beru. The people, every citizen that saw that footage was instantly disgusted with the people involved in it.
It was madness in the streets, with riots starting almost instantly after the video ended. Riots calling for the impeachment of those that were seen in that video, calling for justice.
Don was maybe trying to get Beru to topple down the government, but he also caused a riot whit the potential to do so...
But Don was smarter than to believe that the riot made by the disgusted and enraged citizens was going to have much effect. Scapegoats would be found, loopholes would be used, money would pass hands and things would stay the same.
That was how it always went. That was why he needed someone capable of changing all of it, someone with the strength and connections to make an impact.
Some might wonder why Don didn't do such a thing himself, build connections and gain more allies...
Well, that was rather simple. The very knowledge that he was nothing more than a replica prevented him from ever befriending anyone.
If he was to make waves, he would only be able to do so through violence and blackmail, whatever peace he would create would only be temporary.
Beru could do it though, befriend the right people, change everything from the inside. He had always been a good actor... This would just be a way for him to test his acting skills.
"Was this what you were aiming for, Don~?" Beru asked while looking at the streets filled with disarray and panic.
"Not quite... But I wasn't the one to do these things, I merely uncovered the truth, Beru." Don spoke out of his misty portals.
"Don't worry~ I think I understand what you want me to do~... But do you really think it would work?~" Beru's question made Don confused for a moment.
Then it clicked to the clone. They had the same mind after all.
"Oh, I don't want you to just forcefully reform everything. That wouldn't solve jackshit. Corruption is something that will exist regardless of your efforts in that case." Don spoke with a tired voice.
In truth, to accomplish all that he had, the clone hadn't rested at all since it was made. He was beyond exhausted, it was in no true shape to actually win against Beru, even if Beru couldn't kill him with a mere glance.
"Hmm~ I guess... But what of Nemuri?~What of Toga?~Yori, Inko, Nezu, Toshi, Nao?~What of all of my friends, my family?~ Do I just abandon everything to try and fix a world I'm not even originally from?~"
Beru spoke in a sombre tone, it was clear that the footage still caused him to have some sort of reaction, even if not as strong as Don had hoped.
"... We may not belong here. But we can strive to make it a better world for those that we cherish, they also live in it, after all." Don also came out to face Beru at this point. It was clear that they weren't really going to fight anymore, at least not right now.
"Toga, Nemuri, Nao, all of them, they are from this place, they might not be personally affected by whatever it is that was shown, but that doesn't mean that it won't affect them one day. And if it does... You will regret not having done something earlier." Don didn't smile, he didn't see winning Beru over as a huge success, he saw it as a necessity.
Taking Beru away from the normal life he managed to forge after so many hardships, only to face him with more adversity and new battles to fight.
As for Beru, only one thought resided in his mind.
'What would they think if I just refused? If I just turned my back on everything, turned a blind eye to it all and ignored it till the end. If I, to preserve my 'normal life' sacrificed the wellbeing of so many people...
Not doing anything isn't good, and not doing anything while having the power to do so is just as bad as committing the crime yourself... Or at least I'm sure that's what Toshi would tell me...
Still, I think the next steps are obvious now... I have a lot of work ahead of me... Between making sure that humanity doesn't go extinct, and fixing this mess... I wonder if I'll get a chance to rest in my lifetime...
Well, there's always a next one, isn't there?'
"... You know~ I'd really hate you if you weren't me~ It's pretty clear that you rehearsed this~ You also know me well, so I never had much of a choice from the start, did I?~" Don looked down, a bit ashamed after hearing Beru's words.
"I- I know that it doesn't look gre-" Don was swiftly interrupted as Beru started speaking again.
"How long?~" It was a small question. But it managed to light a fire in Don's eyes.
"W-what do you mean exactly?" He still needed Beru to clarify his intentions, just to make sure.
"How long will it take?~ How much do you reckon?~ I'll still visit my loved ones, just so you know~ Even if I won't be able to do it frequently~" Beru spoke without any emotions, cold and wary. But it wasn't hard for him to make the choice to help...
"It would take a while... I'm unsure about how long... I guess that would depend on your way of approaching this..." Don said while rubbing his chin and looking at the riots in the streets.
"Heh~ Just so you know~ You're still scum for killing all these people~ You're not any better than the people you are trying to tear down~ But I guess I'm in no position to judge~ Considering I never did anything to help either~," Beru said while stretching his libs.
Don looked ashamed once more, in truth, he had no way to refute Beru's words.
"So~ Where do we start?~," Beru asked while landing on a nearby building, Don followed him shortly after.
"... I was kinda hoping for you to have some type of plan. I mean, I kinda spent the last few months thinking about how to get you motivated enough to help me..." Don scratched his head, and Beru facepalmed.
'Is this how Yori feels when dealing with me?' The tall insectoid thought to himself while rubbing his antennas together.
"Welp~ First step~ Making sure all of the people you exposed today are arrested~ Put your big boy pants on~ This isn't going to be a nice ride~" Beru was the one to have to come up with a plan for now.
It was an obvious one, making sure that the people that were scum were brought down, and the good ones remained.
The real tricky part was going to be making sure no more scum rises to power, or none of the good people turned to scum after tasting a wee bit too much power...
Balance was the name of the game... And oh boy was it going to be a long one...
_______________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter!
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on:
Discord:
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง