Chapter 188: The “Big Boss” II
As the alliance meeting had unknowingly developed through the many alliance cliches, they finally reached the considerably final phase... which was dealing with the final 'big boss' and solidifying their entire cause after its defeat.
The problem is: would their 'big boss' be that easy to deal with.
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Although Alexander Creed had always been their target in one way or another, they haven't truly explored who he is in a much deeper manner.
They knew he was talented in comic storytelling and the center of all things that are happening in Creed Comics.
DC had once tried bringing him down with the Alan Moore style battle but that just led to the DC heroes being tarnished for its perfect hypocrisy. Watchmen #2 had just released recently, along with the troublesome Ace Attorneys, and readers are mocking how silly DC heroes with Watchmen deepness as a guide.
With the Aleksei Kreid trick, Alexander Creed had influenced the public once again with a manipulative story that rendered their entire alliance's efforts or even entirely reversed it.
It can be seen that this man is quite formidable to deal with and this "united-er" Anti-Creed Alliance could very well have been formed so that he could be countered.
It had to be said that most of the alliance member's methods were just 'Creed Comics this and Creed Comics' that during their lawsuit publicity.
However, they now realized that if they stripped things down, they were just essentially dealing with a single Alexander Creed.
Most of them represented big companies and they were quite a handful when combined. When put into perspective, they were quite the bullies for ganging up and teaming up to beat one man.
The public's ire for their united front and the public's sympathy for Aleksei Kreid could be justified through and through.
However, this realization didn't lead the alliance members to be appalled at themselves. Rather... they sucked in a cold breath at how terrifying this Alexander Creed could be.
It was one man against many of them yet they are still on the losing end. This Creed creator was practically the comic book industry's Rambo the One-Man Army at this point.
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The Anti-Creed Alliance reeled and ruminated as they started to consider many other things now but also narrowed their scope as having a tangible and much "easier" target was good enough.
Taking down an established company like Creed Comics takes many stages to process. Considering that it is said to only just be a subsidiary of an integrated inter-field company called Creed Entertainment, the Anti-Creed Alliance would have its work cut out for them.
However, with their point of attack would become directed at a single integral man, then they might have just found the enemy's Achilles heel.
Although Alexander Creed is a formidable foe like Shooter had analyzed him to be, he also became the greatest opportunity for them.
The Creed creator seemed miraculous at first with accomplishments that made them reel in shock. However, that was just that. If anything, it seemed like the miraculous man became a good avenue for them to start out their concentrated attack.
Alliance members became inspired by this and brought out their corresponding methods.
"Why don't our next issue of Archie make an Alexander Creed character that would irk anyone who sees him on the page?" The Archie Comics representative explained. "We won't be copying the legal-ness of Ace Attorney but we could still emulate the Aleksei Kreid icon."
An IPC Media representative connected the dots. "If Alexander Creed can make himself be sympathized by the public, then we should still theoretically make him the antagonist again."
"That is just a stupid decision." A Creed-experienced DC executive admonished. "The public's momentum is still on Alexander Creed's side. Any tactic we employ to make him hateful would only backfire on us. The Alan Moore fiasco and our recent lawsuit fiasco should have taught you that already."
The Archie representatives tsk-ed at his inspired idea being shot down. "What can we do then?"
"Can't we go for much more extreme means?" Someone in the room asked "innocently" but everyone in the room knew what he meant.
Since they knew that they were out to target a single person, shouldn't an unfortunate disaster or mishaps take care of all their problems?
That was the most extreme of extremes though and something that none of the members dared to explore any further.
Although they were in a much "united-er" alliance, it was still a haphazard one. If one lead the decision for the "extremer" option, then there was a high chance that they'll be reported as the mastermind of the crime.
It was quite an awkward topic to take on so they just disregarded that question and went on with whatever "acceptable" method they could pitch to take down Alexander Creed.
The alliance brainstormed as they can and almost to the point that they made a game out of it. The phrases 'What if we...', 'Why don't we...', and 'How about...' were uttered and the next group just had to fill in the gaps.
It can be noted from their bored expressions and mostly paraphrased repeats of a previous suggestion that they hadn't gotten that far. So much for being the representatives that best suited this collaborative alliance.
Eventually, their stagnant suggestions had irked someone to point that he had to voice out a complaint. "That Alexander Creed is just insidiously tricky and shameless for portraying himself as a kid. Why don't we just blame the man for some misappropriation and misrepresentation bullshit?! There should be some infringement for representing oneself as a kid even though you're not!"
Jim Shooter, who had been quiet since his Alexander Creed analysis, sighed as he heard another 'kid' complaint and couldn't take it anymore. "It would seem that none of you truly knows Alexander Creed. Have all of your resources truly tilted to studying Creed Comics and not the Creed creator at the center of it?"
"Of course, we haven't." Alan Hassenfeld explained their stance. "Hasbro's approach is much more on a corporate level when it comes to business competition. This industry of yours seems to just run differently than ours."
Shooter nodded in understanding and turned to their comic book rival. "What about you guys? DC even? Shouldn't you have much more research on Alexander Creed since you were pioneers of the Alexander targeting? Surely you must have some basic data on him?"
"That Alexander targeting was headed by an editor we sacked, so we haven't gleaned much of him." A DC Executive delegated fault to underlings as usual. "Besides, isn't Alexander Creed supposed to be a mysterious fellow that comes and goes? Now that we've discussed more about him, I'm even starting to think that we might have taken things the wrong way. This Alexander Creed is way too buggy to be a real person, so this Alexander guy might just be the entire Creed Comics all along."
Jim Shooter didn't want to backtrack with those possible reasonings, so he just went on with the other comic publishers and lawsuit filers. "How about you guys? Have your efforts found anything about Alexander Creed at all?"
Of course, the answer he got from small players was nothing at all. If even big players like Hasbro, DC, and even his Marvel workplace had no clue, how could these sponsored pawns know anything else?
Jim Shooter could only shake his head at everyone's incompetence and also how enforced Alexander Creed's mystery is. Was the man so mysterious and elusive to the point that these Creed haters haven't even tried finding out more about him?
Was this just an unfortunate coincidence or was there something strategic at play?
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Of course, like a few alliances, there was always a situation that broke cliches and stood out.
After all, there are some final 'big bosses' that are way too overpowered that an entire elite coalition couldn't take them down easily.
It would seem that the Anti-Creed Alliance has themselves against that 'big boss' cliche or maybe... an unexpected and tricky 'big boss' archetype that hasn't been explored much yet.