The Game

*"The Game's afoot!"*

THE GAME,  as it is politely known, is the system of checks, balances, and societal constraints on the activities of Villains and Heroes (who villains refer to as Protagonists) as they attempt to thwart each other across time and space. The Great Realities and Dimensions of the Multiverse know they can’t stop these intelligent and gifted individuals from conflict with each other but they can attempt to contain their effect to a minable level and avoid another Multiverse War.  Monitoring The Game while negating it’s damage and any naturally occurring tridimensional crisis is the duty of E.N.I.G.M.A.

#### History

For centuries since the Enlightenment of the first Realities to the existence of the Multiverse there have been individuals of exceptional abilities who traverse time and space. It was inevitable that such individuals would develop personality conflicts which would lead to rivalries and grudges. The worst of these become a person's arch nemesis, a dedicated opponent of great power who made thwarting the goals of their rivals a matter of importance. Such rivalries amongst normal persons can be dangerous, when held between interdimensional travelers with access to mad science it could be catastrophic. Fortunately the Enlightenment of the Multiverse was executed by civilized people of the Victorian era and so the societal norms of a structure society regulated Multiverse life including the rivalry between the heroes and villains of the Multiverse. A "Gentleman's Agreement" was adopted of informal rule about the conducting of arch nemesis affairs. This informal way of approaching this unique form of contention actually held for years as the proper way to conduct a rivalry between power Multiverse interests.

#### The Multiverse War

The Great Multiverse War changed the Game forever. When the Dark Order declared open hunting and termination of Renegade pirate fleets the Renegade captains claimed they were targeting their arch nemesis in the Order not aggravating war. Diplomats found these excuses thin and demanded that Realities giving the Renegades safe harbor turn them out to face Dark Order justice. When multiple Realities refused the dark Order invaded them and the Multiverse War had begun. The war raged across multiple dimensions and many Realities were snuffed out in part or whole before the Accords were signed at the Armistice Conference.

#### Current Iteration

The current version of The Game is overseen by E.N.I.G.M.A. and regulated by a set of rules outlined in the Accords in Section 15, sub section 1 as follows:

1. The Game, being that unique style of conflict between protagonists and antagonists in opposed rivalry across the Enlighted dimensions of the Multiverse is recognized to have valued bearing on the state of the Multiverse in a relief of the conflict in a manner localized to tow opponents and avoiding Interdimensional War. The Game goes on.
2. The principle adjudicator, mediator, appellate body, and enforcement officials is and forever shall be the Everyworld Nullification and Investigative Group for Malignant Anomalies also known as E.N.I.G.M.A.. The decisions of this official body are final and bear the full force of Multiverse Interdimensional law.
3. Conflict between declared and recorded rivals shall be contained to no more than one Reality at a time and within as small a confine as possible within that dimensional space. Collateral damage and disruption is to be kept to a minimum.
4. Participants in the Game may not violate these Accords or Interdimensional Law and Custom in pursuit of their rivalry. The rival is to be the only target of The Game's effects.
5. Failure to conduct The Game as per these rules or direct instruction from an ENIGMA official will result in the forfeiture of rights to The Game making multilevel cross time line prosecution and liability possible. Violators may be detained , fined, or conscripted by E.N.I.G.M.A.

For the most part this new version of The game has worked with heroes and villains (Protagonists and Antagonists) keeping their plans and counter plans localized to their home dimensions and on a manageable scale. E.N.I.G.M.A. involvement almost always ends in large confiscations of property, heavy fines and loss of arching rights as the agency has no tolerance for violations.