Oneless Chapter 4: IV: 11:11, a super smash brothers fanfic

A/N: This chapter shows what happens before the events in The Subspace Emissary adventure mode. I apologize if there were any readers looking forward to my take on it, but think of this as a back-story that leads up to the game. I hope to finish Oneless before the year ends.

IV.

11:11

Tabuu was faced with a terrible dilemma.

He was alarmed when reports from Master Hand showed there was a substantial loss in the Shadow Bug population. Due to the sacrifices made to pump life into the moon and sun the number dropped to a dangerously low five thousand. What made the outlook more bleak was the lack of Primids, as they were the front-line soldiers and cannon fodder of the Army.

Their fight in the name of Conquest was dragging the effort to its knees.

It was preposterous! Unthinkable!

Master Hand had also mentioned the white hole. It was starting to close in on itself. For days the size of the anomaly was growing smaller and smaller. The Shadow Bugs spawned were few and sporadic. He tried hard to tell his Lord and Father, but advances made toward resourceful planets left him no chance to speak alone with the Emissary.

But how? How could this be happening?

And just when they were going to wage war on Terra . . . !

Tabuu hadn't realized the datapad in His hands were shaking, didn't know that all He saw in his vision was red. Red as suns. Red as planets. Red as fire and blood and wrath and death--

The Final Destination munitions platform was left with a sizable dent, the contents of the communicator laying shattered at His feet. He demanded Master Hand to dispatch and lead an aerial troop to every unknown, uncharted region in the Spiral and scour every white hole they came across for dark matter, matter that was similar to that of the Shadow Bugs. He bound the Son to the strictest, harshest vow that they could not return until they revitalized their numbers. For if they should fail He would deliver the slowest, most painful punishment their cores and nerves would ever feel, and it would be instantaneous.

Though fear suffocated his being with a merciless coil, the Master Hand complied with what little dignity he could spare and left with nary sound or word.

The Space King's wings twitched indignantly, balled fists clenched so tight. Nails pierced immortal flesh, violet fluids of plasma and stardust dripping an acrylic masterpiece on the floor. Teeth set in a nefarious snarl.

He would not stop. He would not falter. The Conquest would continue and transcend beyond mortal comprehension! These layers of cosmological metaphysical reality and finite abundance would not dare Challenge Him!

Damn the First Gods! Damn the One True God! Damn Fate and Change and Limitations! He would break the Inevitable and shape Chaos to His Very Machinations, bend the First and the Last to His Indomitable Might and Whim!

For lo! He was God, the Lord of the Multiverse, He Who Cannot Be Named, He Who Sits Upon His Throne Of Eternity, the Subspace Emissary!

Fear Him, ye mighty and fallen! Fear Him, and Despair!

Master Hand, however, did come back with a fresh supply of troops, but there were two people -- or rather one person and something that piqued His Lord's interest.

The first person was a tall, muscular man of coal-brushed skin and braided hair fashioned in the likes of a hellish sun. He was of noble stature clad in regal armor and lustrous necklaces and bracelets. His wine-red cloak enveloped the back of his being, presenting the alien masses with the divine emblem of the Triforce; those fragments he so desired to gain that were Courage, Wisdom, and Strength. A beautiful broadsword of burnished gold was buckled to his hip, a massive hand dwarfing the chitin hilt, ready to be drawn at any instance. The man introduced himself to Tabuu as Ganondorf the Herald of Strength, a Master of Puppets, and bowed low to the entity with a flourish of the cloak.

The second thing was a universal enigma. Subspace's Creator studied warily the person (for He could not grasp another word to describe it) standing next to Ganondorf, emitting soft and curious beeps and clicks as it took in its surroundings. This person . . . this . . . creature . . . was two-dimensional, a being with no discernible feature to prove it was breathing, that it was sentient, that it was alive. It was literally a piece of Chaos made corporeal.

-- And What, or Who, is This? -- asked Tabuu to Ganondorf.

The Deceiver smiled. -- That I do not know myself, My Lord, but is it not wise to understand that which cannot be answered rather than it be questioned? I, for one, believe so, but let us return to Your question. -- Here the man gestured to the person. -- This thing you see here, Your Excellency, is but a remnant of an Era unknown and nonexistent save those First Gods and the One True God; an Era utterly silent, utterly remote that has been there since the Beginning of Everything. Before Time. Before Life. Before Sentience. Before Concepts and Art and Math and Logic and Good and Evil. Before the Spiral from Infinity's Womb and lay itself unto Chaos. This is the first reproductive cell in the entirety of the Multiverse. Alpha and Omega. This is . . . Chaos Embodied.

-- Chaos Embodied . . . . -- whispered He in awe.

-- That is correct, O' Lord of the Stars -- said Ganondorf. -- Our little Avatar is the solution to your predicament. It is with this that will rejuvenate Your meager troop. It will give You any and all vices You wish to manifest. Magicks, dark magicks, technologicks; it is a venerable well of Infinity and Eternity. Therefore it cannot die -- except for the complete, utter annihilation of each and every cell divided via mitosis. --

The weapons were mass-produced. The Army grew exponentially by the day. Construction on the S.S.A. Nemesis was completed at the end of the year. New allies were made and loyalties were forged unto the name of the Absolute Laws and the Subspace Emissary. Tabuu's four subordinates were Ganondorf the Deceiver, Bowser King of Koopas, King Dedede, and Wario. They were assigned positions that were best suited for their abilities.

Although he had been in the Melee season, Ganondorf was introduced to the Ancient Minister as his apprentice; and it was through him he learned the high-end technology in and around the Castle, from the Army's front-line troops and His Lord's Honor Guard the R.O.B.s to the S.S.A. Nemesis. It had been decided that the ship would be the last line of defense to Subspace's Jump Gate -- the dimensional tear that metaphysically separated this arm of the Multiverse and the Core of the Spiral. Its location was already determined to open above Terra's Cardinal Ocean when the Conquest began (and, as a possible worse-case scenario, would be the rendezvous point in the case reinforcements were needed). When the year drew to the close, and Conquest ever closer, Tabuu knighted Ganondorf as Commander of the Skies of the Air Fleet and Captain of the Nemesis.

King Bowser was named Weapons Maestro and Commander of the Earth of the Ground Fleet. He had made, customized, synthesized, and experimented on various types of weaponry and equipment, whether it be to enhance one's strength and speed or the power behind energy based attacks. If a weapon failed to meet his expectations it would be back to the drawing board to eliminate its flaws and administer it to perfection. Two weapons, however, impressed the Angel of Death upon observation. One was an anti-matter gun dubbed the Dark Cannon, which upon firing a single golden arrow would strike and petrify a a corporeal being. The second was a particle bomb incorporated with the Principles of Interdimensional Transfer; it would draw in a certain amount of Space and Time upon detonation and expand Subspace, thus creating a Big Rip -- a scar between dimensions that leave only photons and nothing but. According to Bowser, two R.O.B.s would have to be linked to the bomb and sacrificed in order for its full capacity to be released.

The Ancient Minister loudly objected this course of action, but Tabuu threatened to have him put to rest when He plunged His hand into an unfortunate robot and tore out its core. He warned to punish more for his insubordination, but the Ancient Minister no longer protested after the incident.

It was hopeless, and it grieved him so.

Lastly, Dedede and Wario were named Maintenance Officer and Troop Relief Manager respectively. As Commanders of the Wind they would journey Terra to Army garrisons set up along the land and lend them their aid. Dedede would repair the broken, injured, and malfunctioned; and Wario would supply them with ammunition commissioned by Bowser. Those who opposed and resisted the Conquest were to be shot on sight via Dark Cannon and handed over to the Commanders to be delivered unscathed to Lord Tabuu immediately.

What He planned to do with the petrified victims was unknown, but one could guess that once the Conquest was Obtained He would rob them of their mortal coil, passing Judgment in a way befitting the nature of their world. Set them on fire, impale them with their own swords, devour their souls, break their minds and leave them a twitching, stuttering mess on the floor . . . .

There would be no room for sinners and the damned in His Universe.

And finally, when the Moment Had Come, Tabuu watched from the Castle's tallest spire as the Army slipped through the Jump Gate in a slow, foreboding march. His Jyx Core pulsed amidst the deafening buzz of engines and gentle hum of the portal being pierced.

Various emotions welled within Him. Of pride. Of glory. Of anger. Of wonder. Of patience, awe, and anticipation. It was the first time He had truly gone out of His way to rebel the One True God, to wage War on His Body and Change the Fate of the Multiverse through violent means. It had literally felt as if it had been an eternity . . . since That Day. When He Challenged God's Word. When He Dared to Break the Ties of His Destiny.

When He Fell from the Heavens and Escaped the Jaws of Chaos.

Chaos, the Beginning.

Chaos, the End.

Chaos, Master of Space and Time Beyond the Void and In Between.

Did He regret defying His Lord and Father? No.

Did He wish to inscribe His Life in His Own Words? Yes.

Did He revel at the Power He held within His Grasp? Yes.

Did He yearn to fight the Beast that was Chaos once more? Yes, indeed.

For in this Moment of Time, the Time That Waited to Be Born Anew, the effort of countless millennia spent and lost souls vanquished would rest upon the Final Outcome. Life and Death; Good and Evil.

Terra did not matter to Him. The R.O.B.s did not matter to Him. Nor the Ancient Minister, Master Hand, or the Commanders.

He wanted it All. All Of It! To Become What Chaos Stole From Him! The First God who Defied God and Put Him to Rest!

Here and Now.

Now or Never.

For lo, His Greed shall tear apart the Multiverse, and the Clock of Doom will near the Hour of End.