The seats of the theatre were filled, everyone wondering why they had been called here. Chatter echoed throughout as friends either theorised or caught up. Various personalities made up the crowd with people standing out left and right. Some had huge earrings, hair that went to the floor, covered in muscles or had prominent tattoos, just to name a few. It was strange seeing all the different paths other versions of me had taken.

What was I doing, you ask? Sitting at the back, trying not to draw attention. There were other me's who had taken the same approach and rightfully so. Angering another only lead to a war, of which could last centuries with us all being equally as powerful. I did not want to be dragged into something so meaningless, especially since the last one killed most of my Generals. I've only got three left.

I would've liked to skip out on this, as I did with all the others, but this one was mandatory.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed throughout the theatre. The room went deathly silent, everyone focusing on the source -someone fired a gun. Following the trajectory, a bullet floated inches away from someone's head, spinning in place.

"Did you really expect that to work!?" The target shouted, glaring at the perpetrator.

"No, but it would've been nice," he replied, slumping back in his chair.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself!? You should consider yourself lucky I don't ram this bullet through your skull!" He screamed, standing up in anger.

"You're welcome to try," he smiled mockingly, "pussy."

"Why you little-"

"Enough!" A version of me roared, standing on the stage way above everyone else. This version wore a white robe with an orange sun stitched onto the right side. He seemed to glow with a yellow light, drawing everyone's attention. He had short black hair and had an aura of authority daring anyone to challenge him. The original.

"We have no time for such trivial matters; save the fighting for after the meeting," pausing for breath, he turned his attention to the rest of the group, "As you all know, we recently held a multiversal vote for the confidentiality and restriction of access to other universes. Seventy percent of us are in favour, meaning today is the first time in two-hundred and fifteen years the rules will have been changed."

With a wave of his hand, a bible sized book appeared in front of everyone. A large number of people started making gestures, or simply glancing towards the book. Some were enveloped in yellow light, others floated in the air as the pages turned by themselves, and sometimes nothing happened - it depended on their preferences. All that mattered was the rules were memorised by most people, me included.

Some decided not to memorise it with their power; probably because they wanted to analyse it while reading through it.

"To reiterate, breaking these rules will result in the temporary, or even permanent, removal of your powers. The last ten years has had the fewest offenders ever since The Awakening, but that doesn't mean The Council and I will slack off. The rules are very clear - follow them," the original warned.

Suddenly, his body became ethereal. Moving quickly, it passed through the wall of the theatre. Shortly after, three other etherial originals passed through the theatre, with different coloured robes and symbols.

"Can I see that?" A feminine voice asked from my pocket.

"Sure," I answered, pointing my hand at the book and teleporting it to Maya.

I wasn't the only one who had someone else look at it. Most had subordinates they created, but some teleported those born in their universe to look at it. How could I tell? Since affecting people from other universes is a Class C offence, I made it instinctual for me to know such a thing, just in case.

One by one people started to leave, some in groups of two or three. Deciding I should go aswell before another fight starts and the place gets blown up, I teleported back to my universe. Usually, I'd create a portal as it's less disorientating, but that would allow someone, or something, to follow behind me. I'd rather avoid unnecessary complications.

Once I regained my awareness, I found myself in the hallway of a large mansion - my mansion. I was slightly off with my trajectory; I'm not good at aiming without portals, especially when universe hopping.

"That was quick," a voice came from behind. Turning to it, I found a tall guy in black spy uniform towering over me. He had short black hair and a sniper rifle on his back. The smell of gunpowder emanated from him, and two holsters held daggers on either side of his waist, clashing with his welcoming smile. His name was Dalibor.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"It was just an update to the rule book. I don't know why they made it mandatory; a message would be enough." I explained with a sigh, "Nevermind that, how did your mission go?"

His face went dark, "Terrorists had nothing to do with it. It seems whoever attacked our refugee camp was sending a message."

"Great; it's never simple, is it?" I sighed, "Did you get any leads on who it might be?"

"There are rumours of a woman with a shinigami mask recruiting terrorists, but I have found no solid proof of her existence," he replied, voice filled with annoyance.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm heading to Maya now; she'll look into it. For now, I need a General stationed here. At least until Maya has sifted through the new rule book and countermeasures for loopholes are in place," I replied with my hand on his shoulder, "Have you sent drones for cleanup?"

"Yeah; thirteen new terrorists are now in lockup."

"Perfect."

Walking into Maya's office, Dalibor and I went our separate ways. Maya was sat in an expensive gaming chair, with monitors surrounding her. Some screens had pages of the rule book on; others had views of cameras around the building, and some had statistics of high energy readings in Angus, Scotland, among other things. Maya herself had shoulder-length brown hair, big blue eyes and a concentrated look on her face.

"Hey, Master," Maya said as I entered the room, "You know I'm always connected to your phone, you can talk to me from anywhere."

"I know, but it's nice to talk in person sometimes," I explained as I shut the door behind me.

"Whatever floats your boat," she replied with a dismissive tone, "In other news, the new rules practically allow for universe scammers."

"What?" I asked as I walked over to her.

"It says here that you can send signals to other universes asking for permission to enter, but it allows for them to decide what the sign will be. We'll have to be careful we don't fall for any expansionist tricks," she explained, continuing to scroll through the rule book. It seems she digitalised it.

"Yeah, but the sign has to be clear," I countered.

"That's subjective. We already know The One True God only gave the original his powers for entertainment; this could be an intentional loophole He put in," she explained, spinning her chair around to face me.

"But the original along with the members of The Council decided on the rules; why would they purposefully leave loopholes?" I asked.

"To please Him," she finished, spinning her chair back around to the computer, "Just be careful."

"I will. Found anything that might lead to us discovering what those energy readings are?" I asked, leaning on the back of the chair and looking over her shoulder at the monitors.

"No. Any drones I send near the signal get jammed and crash. We need to send someone down there," She suggested.

"I know, but we've got no one left to send. Anya's is leading the evacuation efforts in Russia, Genisis is improving relationships with America and helping with cleanup after the war, and I need Dalibor stationed here until the loophole countermeasures are done. Sending the army would look like I'm trying to take over Scotland and The Hummingbird will have the same problem as the drones. We're spread too thin thanks to that damn expansionist who started a war against me, thinking I was an easy target, and destroying half of Texas. Thank God his powers were removed when it was discovered he tortured people for fun in his universe. Seven souls down the drain," I ranted. I took a deep breath to calm myself, "Sorry for going off on one."

"No need to apologise, I am here to serve. There is something you're wrong about, though. There is one person we can send," she explained before pointing at me, "We have you."

"Wait, I need a break. The war only ended a few days ago," I rejected, waving my hands in front of me.

"Okay, you're the Master. However, dealing with this now might save lives," she pointed out.

Ugh, she's right. As much as I wanted to relax, lives take precedent.

"Fine, tell the maids to bring my suit to my room," I said, turning around to leave, "Oh, Dalibor mentioned rumours about a woman wearing a shinigami mask in Turkey, look into it, will you?"

"Certainly, is this a lead on who attacked the refugee camp?" She asked.

"Yeah, it is," I answered.

"So it wasn't terrorists," she thought aloud.

As I got to the door, a doorbell echoed throughout the mansion. I pressed a button on my earpiece, and a holographic screen appeared before me. Standing in front of the front door was a little girl with long blonde hair, staring hopefully into the camera.

"Will you let me in?" She asked, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

"Wait, let me answer," Maya shouted before I could even say anything, "Sure."

She didn't respond. Ah, that's what's going on.

"No," I stated.

The girl popped into a swarm of tiny yellow lights which faded away in a matter of seconds.

"Great, it's been ten minutes and I'm already getting spam people," I complained, heading out the room and towards my own. The speed other versions of me work is unbelievable.

I arrived in my room, a modest-sized accommodation with luxurious furniture. There were a desk and chair in front of a window that had a fantastic view - it overlooked the entire Island. A television was positioned opposite from bed, hooked up to multiple consoles and hung up on the wall. Stationed next to my bed was a large wooden cabinet filled to the brim with the finest clothes.

Walking to a space on the wall, I pushed in panels flush with the wall and entered a code. Steam burst out as the wall moved into the floor and out of the way. There was no real reason for it; it just made me feel more like a superhero.

Behind the wall was a costume that I was proud of creating. It was made up of a black cloak, black pants and a brown undershirt. Positioned on the left side was a white mask with blue streaks that curved outwards as it traversed down. Compartments on the right held a multitude of gadgets, most of which I didn't use very often.

I put the suit on and grabbed two gadgets: a metal compass with a section at the bottom used for displaying numbers and a metal stick with a red button on top.

Checking everything was in order, I alerted Maya that I was ready. It was time to see what the energy reading was all about.