Author's Note: A note from me at the top, WHAT HERESY IS THIS?! Just some context for this little one-shot here, folks. This story is written as a spur of the moment thing in response to Gamewizard2008's most recent story and his frequent references to the IDA in his latest works. So, now I'm going all out with this one. If yer reading this, Wizard-Man, game on!
Multiverse Mischief
"Upper Council Crisis"
Alarms blared throughout the Upper Council Building, a red siren wailing a desperate cry to draw the attention of anyone willing and able to heed its panicked call. Luckily, there were fifteen to properly answer. They stormed down the hallways, moving past the frantically operating Officials and Agents milling about trying to bring some semblance of order to everything. All their paths led to the same room, a darkly lit circular room, occupied by a circular magitech table spanning fifteen feet in diameter, fourteen rotating chairs and one elegant seat partially obscured by a grand podium emblazoned with the gold and ebony medallion of the IDA. One by one, the Law Councilors took their seats, as the final three important leaders of the IDA finally arrived. First was Watcher, the hooded duplicator opting to stand as opposed to taking his seat. Second was Sam Zeal, the Agent of Dimensions, the normally cheery and easy-going regenerative Anomaly sporting an unusually serious and sullen mood. Lastly was the big man himself, Zedekiah Strong, who held an extremely neutral look on his face, partially to conceal his sleep-deprived eye from everyone else. Once they took their seats, Zedekiah banged a gavel on the podium and called everything to order.
"Emergency Upper Council Meeting shall now commence with the representatives speaking their identities for the record." Zedekiah said, his tone dark and serious. "We go Union of Good, to Assembly of Evil, to Chaos Community, and lastly Order Organization. Go!" A large man dressed in golden armor rose in his seat, resting an elegant and royal spear to his side.
"King Jarvan IV of Demacia, proud to represent." The Demacian King proclaimed. "With me are Princess Celestia of Equestria," He gestured to the large white-coated, multi-colored maned alicorn, who simply nodded her head in silence. "And General Sun Jian, the Tiger of the Wu Dynasty." He gestured to a white-haired man dressed in oriental armor, a fantastic sword slung to his belt. Sun Jian rose from his seat and bowed his head. As Jarvan IV sat, the man in the seat opposite him, a sinister looking man in green and yellow robes that was accompanied by a six-eyed black raven rose to his feet with the aid of his cane.
"Master Tactician Jericho Swain of Noxus, heeding the call." Swain responded. "With me are fellow councilors, the Major," A blonde, portly man dressed in a white military uniform and round glasses smiled, leaning on the table and folding his fingers across each other. "And Sima Yi, the Great Educator of the Jin Dynasty." An even more sinister-looking man dressed in white, blue and purple oriental clothes simply sat in silence, glaring at the Order representative with a mute face. Once Swain sat down, the Order Representatives rose, led by a blue-garbed man with pointed hair and an incredibly intimidating look.
"General Cao Cao of the Wei Dynasty," Cao Cao announced, his voice deep and ominous. "Accompanied by Avatar Korra of the Water Tribe," A young, tan-skinned woman dressed in blue artic clothes stood up and bowed in respect. "And Solaire of Astora, leader of the Law Bringers and Sunlight Warriors." A knight wearing a bucket helmet and tunic sporting an emblem of the sun rose from his seat, both arms extended above his head, for a brief moment before resting again. "Ready to do what must be done." The Organization representatives sat done, and surprisingly, none of the Chaos Community representatives acted out of turn as they stood up and introduced themselves, the first being a familiar purple suited man.
"Emperor Saint, the Boss, here to get shit done." The Boss calmly stated. "With me again is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo of the Lawless Realm," The muscular, blonde afro-haired man said nothing, and instead a glint of light flashed across his sunglasses. "And Eighth Guardian General Asura." A large, muscular man, with stone like volcanic rock, hair and eyes white as ash, and arms made of steel, simply remained seated and grunted. With all the introductions taken care of, Zedekiah rose from his seat and banged his gavel again.
"Alright, let's get down to business…" Zedekiah cleared his throat. "You might be aware of the latest catastrophe to grace the Universal Nexus and Multiverse as of this date…" He glanced to Bobobo, Zedekiah briefly running a hand through his beard. "One that was brought attention to me by Councilor Bobobo in a prior meeting…" Another glance to Korra, this time showing more emotion of regret. "And what I initially dismissed as minor problem…." Zedekiah tapped a few keys onto the podium, a holographic projection of a Universal Mass emerging from the center of the table. "The Gameverse Apocalypse… A massive Dimensional Fusion practically exploding itself and unleashing a massive wave of Chaos and Evil… And it's all because of them…." Few more keys tapping, and a new pair of images appeared replacing the universe, one of a massive green monstrosity with billiard balls for eyes, and the other of a human child with yellow eyes and yellow clothing, both radiating nothing but pure Chaos from their projections alone. "Alternates of Lord English and Bill Cipher, one a manifestation of Evil and the other the Embodiment of Chaos, and those they command, the Thirteen Darknesses." Several still images appeared around the holograms, pictures taken by Watchers on sight of the Darknesses causing mass destruction and subjugation all across the Multiverse. Many of the faces were familiar, especially to the Assembly Councilors, as one of them serves a seat alongside them, and they were rampant.
"Recent surveillance has revealed that these lunatics," Sam Zeal said, rising from his seat. "Have been breaching more than just Alternates and Parallels and causing destruction en masse…" Sam sighed, adjusting his sunglasses slightly. "They're dangerously close to breaching the Original Worlds." Several startled gasps echoed across the room from the various Councilors.
"Breaching the Original Worlds?!" Solaire exclaimed, slamming his hand onto the table. "They must truly be mad! Do they not know that they play with a fire unlike any known to existence?"
"They probably don't care," The Boss scoffed. "Just so long as they enjoy playing the villain and feeling powerful."
"A disgrace, they are." Swain spat. "Being aligned with the Law of Evil isn't about becoming the most powerful or controlling everything," The crow on his shoulder cawed in agreement. "It's about being the appropriate opposite force in the world! These Darknesses… They act like children with free reign over the playground."
"Swain speaks honestly." Sima Yi added. "Look for yourselves," He gestured towards a select few menaces that seem to be doing the most damage. "Davy Jones disrupts the natural balance of life and death by raising the dead and condemning the innocents to an early demise! Dimentio is literally ripping the fabric of reality apart and creating more unstable Rifts that are slowly leaking the Void into the worlds! Xehanort has ruined timelines by bringing people who were supposed to remain dead back to life just for the sake of subjugating them! Thanos is destroying EVERYTHING he so much as comes across!" Zedekiah winced as he saw the distraught look on Celestia's face at the last notion, due to an Alternate Equestria having been one of the first to have been decimated by the Thirteen Darknesses.
"Forgive me, Celestia," Zedekiah said. "But this truly shows the gravity of the situation."
"I understand, Zedekiah." Celestia said, prying her eyes away from the carnage in the photos. "These… Darknesses… must be stopped before more lives can be lost to their carelessness and destruction."
"And to make matters worse," Watcher piped up. "Apparently Bill and English's ultimate goal is to figure out how to eliminate the Universal Boundaries, which CANNOT HAPPEN, and we know why!" Everyone gravely nodded their heads.
"If the boundaries fall," Zedekiah continued. "We risk another Void Invasion, we risk another Eldrich War, we risk the death of the Multiverse and Universal Nexus as we know it. My friends," Zedekiah placed a hand upon the podium. "We must stop them. All of us." The leading representatives rose up in their seats, determined looks in their eyes.
"We'll mobilize every Good Agent within Base Prime," Jarvan IV called. "And recall every field Agent not engaging the Shard, Cult of the Void, or Mister Mayhem."
"We shall do the same with our own forces." Swain said, drumming his fingers against his cane. "Any Agents not engaged directly with the Angelic Legion will fight for the sake of the Nexus."
"Order will be restored and these fiends brought to justice." Cao Cao stated, his icy glare filled with determination.
"Just say the word, Zed," The Boss proclaimed, a smirk on his face. "And we'll drop the hammer on those bastards so quick, they won't know what hit 'em." As the other representative councilors joined in a chorus of cheers and proclamations of success against this new catastrophe, Zedekiah allowed himself a brief smile, glad to see the determination and loyalty all of the Agents presented themselves with, burning with a fiery passion to march forth into hell and back, all for the sake of what must be done. Once the ruckus was done, Zedekiah banged his gavel on the podium and silenced everyone.
"Very good, everyone, thank you." Zedekiah said, allowing the hush to fall. "Now, I'm glad that you're all committed to this, but I hate to admit that our numbers are nearly not enough." A few hushed murmurs echoed across the room, while Zedekiah solemnly sighed to himself. "So, as much as I… hate to admit it… We need help." Everyone, even Sam and Watcher turned towards Zedekiah in confusion. The IDA, one of the largest and most powerful Universal Powers in the entire Multiverse, needs help taking on fourteen plus Evil aligned menaces? How can this be?
"Zed, what are you talking about?" Sam whispered. "You didn't bring this up with Watcher and I in the pre-briefing."
"Sir, it's not like you to withhold information from us." Watcher added. "Why did you do this, sir?"
"I didn't tell anyone this because I knew you'd react poorly." Zedekiah announced to the room. "Due to the gravity of this situation, my hand has been forced to reach out to… outside sources." A blue blip appeared on the Zedekiah's podium, accompanied by a ringing sound. "And that might be him ringing in… Perfect…" As Zedekiah fiddled with his console, everyone glanced worriedly to each other.
"When he mentioned outside sources," Sun Jian whispered. "He couldn't possibly have meant…"
"Please don't be who I'm thinking of…" Korra quietly repeated to herself. "Please don't be who I'm thinking of. Please don't be who I'm thinking of…"
"It's got to be him, no doubt." Swain groaned into the palm of his hand, the crow on his shoulder simply squawking in confusion.
"And just when I forgot to bring a gun to blow my brains out!" The Boss exclaimed, reaching around his suit. Finally, the holographic images of the Thirteen and Lord English vanished and were immediately replaced by a single blue light shooting up into the ceiling. Slowly, the light molded into a holographic image of a certain man that many across the Multiverse recognized, mainly his face… Or rather, his mask. Adorned in an opened cotton jacket, a white mask bearing a mirthful yet sinister smile gradually watched everyone within the room, and his head was topped by a simple baseball cap lacking any logos, the man was reclining in an office chair that seemed several sizes too large for him. Everyone in the room knew who they were staring at, none other than Mask, leader and master of the Army of Abominations, one of the most dangerous and powerful Universal Powers in existence.
"Hi ev'rybody!" Mask loudly proclaimed, the eyes and mouth of his façade fully moving and showing pure expression. All Mask was met with were several groans and moans. "Ah, so I did time my entrance perfectly."
"You called in the middle of this emergency meeting, Mask." Zedekiah scolded. Mask whirled his chair around and faced Zedekiah with a wide smile.
"Zed, buddy!" Mask greeted, chipper as a blue bird. "Good to see you again! Y'know," He started rocking back in his chair like a board school-child. "While quite a few of my Elite and Court are a bit pissy on the whole ordeal, but the Mischiefs and I are ecstatic that we're doing this whole alliance thing!" Several outbursts came from the representatives, including a few choice and colorful swears from both Sam and the Boss, while Mask simply looked amused. "Oh, did I just drop an Oopsie Bomb?"
"Actually, I was about to tell them that I'm enacting one of the clauses in the Treaty of Three." Zedekiah explained through gritted teeth. "In which we band together to engage in a serious threat that affects everyone. I've already reached you, and I'll be contacting Sir Reginald to see if he's willing to listen to reason and have the Order of Purity join the fray." This time, Mask joined in the groans and complaints, swinging his chair about in a full 360 degree turn.
"Those stuff-shirt goodie-goodie hypocritical blowhards?" Mask whined. "Do we really need them? They're all so… holier than thou!" He rolled over the arm of his chair and pointed at Zedekiah, his face displaying a surprised look. "They're corroborating with the Angelic Legion, ya know?" Mask slipped off the chair arm and fell out of his seat, flailing about and earning a few laughs from the less serious representatives present.
"That's a simple rumor and you know it." Zedekiah chided, hiding his own amusement as Mask crawled back on his seat, grumbling all the way. "And we need the Order's firepower and numbers on our side, even if they don't like either of our Powers at all, they're obligated by the Treaty."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya." Mask grumbled, finally seating himself properly. "So we doing the official in-person meeting at the usual spot, you bring your elites, I bring my daughter's squad and Sir Reginald the Pompous brings his Inner Circle?" Zedekiah simply nodded, Mask clapping his gloved hands together as his smile returned. "Splendid! I'll bring the deck this time, buddy. Well, I think Dio's going to attempt to assassinate me again, so I gotta bail." He whirled about in his chair again, smirking at each of the councilors present. "See you shmucks later," He stopped when facing Asura, the demigod having been fuming in silence for most of the meeting. "Oh, and mister grumpy-pants Asura?" Mask leaned forward in his seat, the smile turning jagged and sinister. "Deus and Chakravatin say 'hi'. Sayonara!" The transmission was immediately cut, while both Bobobo and the Boss did their damned hardest to hold the man that was literally wrath incarnate down.
"Zed, why is he bringing a 'deck' to a meeting?" Sam asked, suspicious of why Mask would say something like that so casually.
"Nothing important, Sam. Leader stuff." Zedekiah hastily said, banging his gavel again. "Alright, so you all are cleared up on the information, recent developments, and our newest priority. Orders are clear: The Thirteen Darknesses must be stopped."
"Yes sir." Everyone in the room responded, rising in their seats. Zedekiah nodded and banged the gavel a final time, ending the meeting and allowing everyone to disburse for the day. Once everyone had vacated the room, Zedekiah found himself staring blankly at the holographic projector, the images of the destruction burned into his head, all the lives lost and worlds destroyed because of a careless and violent few.
"Once again, I have grown careless." Zedekiah softly muttered. "Another crisis has emerged, something that could have been stopped easily, yet I let the weed grow into a black oak instead of nipping the bud as it sprouted. Well, Lord English, Bill Cipher, you've let me see your hand, but I'm still holding my cards close to my chest. Let's see who has the Royal Flush in the end." As Zedekiah's statement finished, his single eye widened as he realized a grave mistake he made. "Wait, Mask is bringing the deck?! He marks his cards! DAMN IT!"
Second Author's Note: Another Author's Note?! Masque, you're either going mental or the Genestealers are at it again! But in all seriousness, the next update from me will be a legitimate story update, either for PPP or Project FREAK (haven't decided which yet). Look out for that future update, NO IDEA if it'll be out before the end of the year. If not, well, this is a good end o' the year posting from yours truly. Until next time, folks, this is Mal Masque.
P.S. For you Steam Users out there, I highly recommend the puzzle game Antichamber. It's TRIPPY~