That night,
Iamthey had not even attempted a revival. He knew how weak he was,
not having used his powers in so long. Right now he knew that
leadership was a must if HA was to survive. He had made his decision.
The public must know what has happened to their leader. Then
he was going to take temporary control of the city; a move that would
anger Hotshotesquire quite a bit. However, considering what Iamthey
had learned that night, Hotshotesquire would not be in the position
to lead. Now riding to the public square, he quickly thought up a
speech in his head; there would be no time to prepare once he got
there, as he had already notified the media of his speech.
The
square was lit up by the many stage lights, as well as the
photographers, and their cameras. The square was approximately 50
yards in length and width. At one end was a stage, at the other was a
large scaffolding where news teams could get good angles of the
stage. Iamthey walked briskly up the stairs to the stage he had
requested to be put in. That night, he was confident - when he spoke,
he spoke with such momentum that he could make you believe anything.
Going over the final words in his head, he cleared his throat and
began.
"Hello, good people of the High Alliance. What I am about to tell you will come as a shock. Our great city has not had to endure much pain, but has not had to suffer. We have had a great leader, and strong Council. However, now…now everything has changed. Our great Emperor, the keystone of this empire, an immortal has been assassinated. It appears that Dogbert gave up his immortality before his death. We are now certain that the culprit acted alone, and that evil person, the one that took our great leader away was FlameStarter."
Iamthey knew that what he was saying was a lie. The culprit was most certainly not FlameStarter, and he was definatley not working alone. However, he did know that the full scale of the problem - a traitor in the leadership of HA, an entire conspiracy, and a war kept secret from the public; this was way too much for the society to handle. Iamthey continued.
"As a result, we are now leaderless, but I ask that no one panic. And thus in order to secure peace in the city, to keep you protected citizens, I, acting Head of Council, am taking charge of this city, and taking on the role as Emperor Dogbert. Thank you, and good night."
Before any of the reporters could
assault him with a fury of questions, Iamthey stepped off the stage
and climbed back into his limousine. "Take me back to the Council
Chamber."
"Taking charge of the city yourself, are we." It
was Count Confusion.
"Hotshot knows nothing of you or the war;
he would not be an effective leader." Iamthey replied.
"Excellent,
I thought you were going to ask me how I got in here."
"Why
would I, no one here knows you exist."
"Exactly." Confusion
answered.
"Confusion, what do you want from me, I know that was
not you who killed Dogbert. What are you asking of me."
"Iamthey,
I need to ask you something. Are you aware that Dogbert is my
personal advisor?"
"What!" Iamthey said, letting out a
laugh.
"That right, he is, well, was my advisor - actually, my
superior in a way. I have come here to ask you for your endorsement;
your support of my cause. It will not be a public one, just
finance."
"Dogbert financed you?" Iamthey asked
confused.
"Oh, much more than that. He sold me part of HA's
army."
"Why should I help you; why should I assist you in
killing Elites, and Elite groups?"
"Oh please, you can not
possibly be telling me that they have not done anything against HA.
Iamthey, you do realize that a squad of Elites killed your mentor.
They were obviously members of an Elite group." Confusion
explained.
"Who is responsible?" Iamthey demanded.
"Finally
we are getting somewhere… that, my friend, is going to cost a
little bit. I ask for your finance, and endorsement, for that you
have my intelligence sources, and the Separatist army at your
service."
"How do I know you are not lying? How do I know you
are not trying to trick me into supporting you?"
"Look in the
shelf by your door; there is a folder." Confusion said, pointing
with his hand. Iamthey opened found the folder. Inside were countless
bank records, letters, e-mails, phone transcripts, and photographs of
meetings between Dogbert and Count Confusion. "You want evidence,
you have it."
"What terms come with your deal?"
"You
can leave anytime you want. But once you learn the truth, the fact
that those Elites are truly evil and were the murderers of Dogbert, I
doubt you will want to back out."
"I suppose you will
blackmail me with evidence like this." Iamthey snapped.
"Oh
no, you don't realize, I did not make those; Dogbert did. He
threatened me to break up my alliance. He told me that my other
investors would not like it if they found out he was contracting with
an Elite supporter."
"You will need to give me a day; I must
do a bit of investigation myself before I can lock into a deal such
as this."
"Very well, I will see you soon. Goodbye, Iamthey,
and congratulations on your promotion." Confusion said as he
climbed out of the limo.
"Take me to the Council Chamber."
Iamthey again asked. No response, for once again his driver had been
killed. Upon this discovery, Iamthey used what little power he had
left and dissolved to dust.
It had been about half a day since
the meeting with Confusion. Upon checking Dogbert's computer, using
his newfound authority, he had discovered that the Count was telling
the truth. In addition to this shock, he had also been verbally
attacked by Hotshotesquire who was still furious that Iamthey had
seized authority. He had realized that Confusion was right - that the
Elites were the enemy. However, he knew that getting HA involved in
this war was not wise. This way, he could use Confusion to do his
dirty work; it would be a win-win situation.. Finally, Iamthey had
made his decision. He called Confusion into his office. "Very well,
you have my support."
"Excellent, by the way are you taping
this?"
"Why, of course," Iamthey responded with a smirk on
his face.
After Confusion left, another familiar voice rang
from the corner.
"Well, it appears that new alliances have been
built, and the Head of Council is now the all-powerful Emperor."
Matthew-Kaine voiced.
"Well, that did not take long. Do you
think I made the right decision?"
