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Verse and Dimensions: Stories
The Kalyubi Incursion: Part 1
The Kalyubi Incursion was a large-scale invasion and conquest of The Barrel, which was carried out by the chaotic cosmic entity known as Oblivious, who had escaped the Kalyubi Dimension.
The Rebirth of Oblivious
A long metatime following The Alom Wars, the remains of Oblivious remained suspended within The Kalyubi Dimension, floating aimlessly through the void-like expanse of numbverses. Many creatures and entities, whether prisoners or native inhabitants of the Kalyubi Dimension, congregated towards the remains of Oblivious, feeding upon and absorbing the Alom contained within it to increase their own power. Certain creatures of the Kalyubi Dimension were not strong enough to handle the Alom, and instead found themselves fused to Oblivious’ remains as their bodies, minds and powers were absorbed into it. It was as if a certain degree of life still remained within Oblivious. Despite this, they did not (yet) have enough sentience or willpower to reanimate their form. Oblivious’ defeat by Destroyer and Hyperman took a great toll, having effectively rendered them comatose. Oblivious’ remains continued to be inanimate and stagnant as if they were dead, however this made for a well-placed trap. Those that came to feed on the Alom were unsuspecting of potential danger, believing that Oblivious was completely dead. This allowed them to be caught off guard more easily as Oblivious passively absorbed them. Over metatime, Oblivious’ consciousness and strength was slowly replenished by the assimilation of more beings and the absorption of more power.
Eventually, there was an encounter with a rogue alternate version of The Mevalkagna’s Collective Consciousness, which had been banished to the Kalyubi Dimension for reasons unknown. The Collective Consciousness sought to siphon the Alom from Oblivious’ remains to gain enough power to create a larger army of Mevalkagna, with which to wage war against others in the Kalyubi Dimension. The Collective Consciousness attempted to drain Oblivious of their Alom, but in this effort, it felt an opposing resistance push back. It was followed by an incredible pull, as the Collective Consciousness was drawn towards Oblivious and forcibly merged with them, leaving behind only the empty husk of the vacant megastructure that had once housed the Collective Consciousness. Meanwhile, Oblivious’ form remained unmoving.
Later, there would be an encounter with a Primary Mind of The External Hazard. The Primary Mind’s connection to the rest of the Hazard was missing, presumably as the result of interference caused by the Kalyubi Dimension. Without any overarching directive, it was thus left to its own devices. The Primary Mind traveled through the Kalyubi Dimension until discovered Oblivious, and perceived them as a perfect entity to bond with and transform. It attempted to infect and convert Oblivious’ form, and their being was rewritten on an essential level. However, it could not affect Oblivious any deeper, nor gain control over them. As this happened, the Primary Mind’s will was overridden by Oblivious’ own. Oblivious latched on to the Primary Mind and absorbed it, forcing it into their subconscious. They were granted the abilities of a Primary mind, whilst also retaining control and free will.
Escaping the Kalyubi Dimension
With all the content absorbed by them, Oblivious’ mind reformed itself into a state of minimal functionality. Having resided in confinement for so long, Oblivious spent this metatime in self-reflection. They pondered their purpose in existence, wondering what they could have accomplished besides simply reigning chaos. Eventually, they reached the conclusion that they really had no purpose, as they were not meant to have existed in the first place. However, that did not mean Oblivious could not create their own purpose. Oblivious began to have thoughts and ideas that they would not have normally devised on their own, fed to them by the Primary Mind they absorbed. It primarily came in the form of subconscious suggestions, not forceful but rather coercive. Oblivious bore witness to a vision of what they could truly accomplish, giving them the inspiration they needed. Thus, a long-term goal had finally materialized: Oblivious wished to exact revenge upon The Barrel and all its inhabitants. Not by simply destroying it, but rather conquering it. The addition of The Collective Consciousness in Oblivious' mind served to give them a more calculative thought process, even if they remained maniacal in nature.
Even as Oblivious’ strength and lifeforce was building up, there was one prisoner of the Kalyubi Dimension in particular that they were ever-vigilant of, which had recently surfaced: Kotoblade. Oblivious knew that if they really wanted to, they could have quite easily smashed Kotoblade into metatoms and been done with it. However, Oblivious was not as impulsive as they had been prior to being banished, and there were several factors holding them back from attempting to destroy Kotoblade. Firstly, they wanted to maintain the ruse of being a lifeless corpse, and if they were to suddenly come alive, their method of consuming and absorbing other entities would be lost. Secondly, although Oblivious was confident in defeating Kotoblade if the two were to have ever fought, they knew that the conflict would deplete them of the strength they were invested in gathering. And lastly, Oblivious saw use for Kotoblade remaining alive. The primary reason for this was that Kotoblade was one of the few beings within the Kalyubi Dimension who realistically seemed to be able to escape it. Oblivious reasoned that Kotoblade’s escape would save them the effort and strength of attempting it themself, providing an opportunity for them to escape as well. Furthermore, it would also create a distraction for the Supergod Council, which would help them evade detection in the process. And so, Oblivious patiently waited, as they continued discreetly absorbing and consuming lesser inhabitants of the Kalyubi Dimension.
When the metatime finally came, Kotoblade used nothing but his own raw power to forcefully tear a rift in the Kalyubi Dimension, escaping through it. With him gone, Oblivious finally found their own chance for escape. They reanimated their form, coming back to life. Oblivious, having absorbed a large amount of the Koto in the environment over metatime as well as assimilating the knowledge and powers of many who practiced it, had themself gained mastery over the art. They employed the use of Koto to bind many kalyubi demons and djinni under their servitude, forming a personal army of genocidal cosmic criminals. Then, exploiting the weakened veil created by Kotoblade’s initial escape, Oblivious reopened the “wound”, from which bled a flood of chaos that spilled into Beyond. Thus began the Kalyubi Incursion.
Dark Oblivious, following their escape from the Kalyubi Dimension
Recon
As Oblivious emerged into Beyond, they noticed slight differences in the environment compared to the previous metatime they had been in it. This, however, was not important to them, as their priorities were focused elsewhere. As planned, Oblivious successfully evaded detection due to The Supergod Council’s preoccupation in battling Kotoblade. Upon their escape, Oblivious instantly set their trajectory towards The Barrel. However, they knew that it would be impossible to gain entry without the notice of Creator, Destroyer and Hyperman. While Oblivious had easily been able to defeat Creator and was almost able to defeat Destroyer and Hyperman on the previous occasion, and Oblivious had since become even more powerful, they still had no intention of outright forcefully entering The Barrel and wrecking it. So as to be more careful and delicate in their plan, Oblivious chose to employ subtler methods at first. Utilizing the knowledge and power of the absorbed Collective Consciousness, they created a small group of mevalkagna of varying levels, to infiltrate the ranks of The Barrel’s native Mevalkagna and perform reconnaissance. The mevalkagna scouts, with which Oblivious shared a mental link and could thus perceive everything from their perspective, discovered many changes that had occurred throughout The Omniverse. They learned of new groups and races which had risen to power, as well as the current statuses of those who had still existed. With the aid of this knowledge, the finer details of Oblivious' plan began forming. Using their own Collective Consciousness, they defected a number of Mevalkagna within The Barrel under their own influence instead, employing them as sleeper agents while Oblivious sent a mevalkagnus that they created themself into The Omniverse, to act as their representative rather than entering The Barrel in their true form.
Recruitment
Oblivious' mevalkagnus first made contact with The Idea Breakers, having witnessed the destructive capabilities of this race and believing it could be put to good use. As the result of a natural rivalry, the Idea Breakers were immediate in their attempt to consume the Mevalkagnus, but Oblivious defeated them rather easily. The Idea Breakers, after being enslaved by Koto magic casted by Oblivious, did not have much say in the matter, and joined their ranks. With that, Oblivious finally had their ally from The Barrel in their conquest.
Oblivious would then approach Terminus. Terminus, with a base program designed to exterminate The Mevalkagna, intended to delete it. However, Oblivious then revealed their true power, and the fact that this mevalkagnus was merely a puppet being manipulated by their true self. Terminus, even/especially as an AI, recognized the superiority of this being, determining that attempting to engage in combat would prove difficult. Oblivious offered an opportunity for conquest and free reign over The Omniverse's cyberspace if Terminus agreed to join their cause. While Terminus initially still intended to attempt to delete Oblivious after processing the offer, it ran an algorithm of calculations and determined that a significant advantage could be provided from this alliance. Thus, Terminus accepted the offer.
The Great Cosmic Republic were the last group to have been approached by Oblivious. At this point, The Omniverse’s native Mevalkagna were preparing to finally decimate the Republic. Oblivious, learning of this, used their own Mevalkagna to interfere and stall them from within, mentally dissuading large portions of the hivemind. Upon approaching the Great Cosmic Republic, Oblivious' mevalkagnus was at first attacked by the soldiers, who knew that they were already a target of the Mevalkagna and expected this one to have been sent to kill them. However, Oblivious' mevalkgnus revealed that they were, in fact, a "friend", and wished to help the Great Cosmic Republic instead. However, even after having been offered both protection and immunity from The Mevalkagna, as well as free reign to continue expansion, the Great Cosmic Republic still declined to join Oblivious. They felt patronized by Oblivious, and did not wish to be "rescued". Upon being told this, Oblivious willingly departed, realizing that the Great Cosmic Republic was in fact weak and not worth joining them, as they allowed the Mevalkagna to begin hunting down the Republic.
The First Wave
At this point, many of the lower-level cosmic entities detected anomalous activity occurring throughout The Omniverse. Groups such as The Hexagon Lords found concentrations of activity amongst the groups under Oblivious' command, and even intermingling amongst each-other. Such an occurrence was statistically considered uncommon, improbable and certainly unprecedented. The Hexagon Lords could only wonder what had united such vastly diverse and conflicting groups together. Furthermore, they also pondered whatever common goal they possibly could have been motivated to work towards. The Hexagon Lords and others were determined to find out, and so they began investigating.
Meanwhile, The Guardians of Aleph and Apeirocoalition were still engaging in their Negative First Causal War, just as they always had been, are and will be. Suddenly, however, cosmic disruptions seemed to have been occurring on a scale so devastating, the events of the war itself seemingly being rewritten and overridden. Essentially, the war was beginning to reach a chronologically linearized state. This was due to the mevalkagna, Idea Breakers and Terminus annihilating all parties involved in the -1st causal war throughout all timelines and -verses, so as to stabilize The Omniverse and make it easier to conquer on a larger scale.
The Guardians of Aleph and Apeirocoalition were horrified by the possibility of any force being able to perform an act powerful enough to linearize their war, and so they mutually decreased their degree of involvement in the -1st Causal War, devoting more attention and resources to combat this greater threat instead.
The Second Wave
Many inhabitants of The Omniverse now had truly become fearful, as the members of Oblivious' army were swarming all throughout it like a plague. Oblivious anticipated that by this point, many beings would flock to The Hospice in an attempt to find a safe haven. In response, Oblivious sent an army of their forces to launch an assault on the entire Folded Cascade.
A portion of the first line of defense, The Wall, was physically deconstructed by the mevlkagna and technologically disarmed by Terminus, an uneasy but effective alliance. As they breached The Wall, The Odhinites and Apeirocoalition fought against the armies. For all of their advanced magical capabilities, the technological prowess of Terminus was equally matched to them and they were quickly overwhelmed. A major shift in the battle occurred when the mevalkagna located The Refugee, an entity used as a living power source by The Aperiocoalition. They deconstructed the portion of The Wall containing The Refugee, before proceeding to entrap them within a multiverse constructed to unchangeably contradict the laws of their native multiverse. As a result, The Refugee quickly began to ontologically suffocate, soon ceasing to exist. Upon this happening, the Apeirocoalition lost a significant power source and many of The Wall’s defenses were lowered, allowing the entire army of mevalkagna and Terminus to breach it.
Vyotekha detected the approaching presence of this army, and informed The Hexagon Lords of the threat. One, almost immediately, knew what Vyotekha planned to do, and he and most of the other Hexagon Lords pleaded with her not to. Vyotekha refused however, reminding them of her duty to protect the Folded Cascade and that she was determined to uphold it, as she confronted Terminus. The digital avatars of Vyotekha and Terminus fiercely battled in a metaversal counterpart of The Folded Cascade. Meanwhile, in the physical, the scattered forces of the Apeirocoalition and Odhinites tried their best to defend The Folded Cascade from the mevalkagna.
The two AIs were very closely matched. Even for Terminus’ impressive stature, its flaw was in the chaotic nature of their algorithmic programming. Vyotekha, despite operating on a lower scale, was far more tactful, and she used this to her advantage. She digitally outmaneuvered many of Terminus’ attacks very well, returning with some of her own attacks which successfully effected it. However, the tide of the battle rapidly shifted as Terminus began to brazenly assault Vyotekha point-blank with its malicious code. If an AI was capable of exhibiting blind rage, then Terminus was currently doing so. Eventually, Vyotekha was weakened by Terminus to enough of an extent that the Folded Cascade's security system was briefly lowered, allowing portions of the mevalkagna and a newly arrived team of Idea Breakers to enter. She raised the defenses back up as soon as she was able to, struggling with her entire programming to maintain the defenses. Terminus kept attacking her without relent however, and eventually she was unable to fend it off any longer. Her last thought-code was a bitter sentiment of how she had let down and failed The Folded Cascade, as Terminus defeated and assimilated her, hijacking The Folded Cascade's entire technological interface.
Now with complete control over the Folded Cascade's cyberspace, Terminus entirely brought down the security system, as the mevalkagna and Idea Breakers immediately flooded it in full force.
The Hexagon Lords immediately discovered this, and were shocked to learn of Vyotekha's fate. One was arguably the most devastated, having been closest to her. However, they knew that they could not afford to waver in the face of their grief, especially not now. The members of The Apeirocoalition based within The Wall had been overwhelmed and decimated, while the Odhinites were greatly reduced. The structure of The Wall itself had been weakened and damaged, leaving it practically defenseless. Oblivious' forces swarmed throughout it, invading it as they killed and captured many beings. Before long, they finally stormed The Hospice, ravaging it and bringing horror to all those who believed they would be safe here.
The Hexagon Lords jumped into action to defend their home and the causes they stood for, fighting back against the mevalkagna and Idea Breakers with everything they had. At first, it seemed as though the Hexagon Lords would succeed in banishing the invaders. However, it became increasingly apparent that they were outnumbered, even with assistance from the Apeirocoalition, The Odhinites and some of The Hospice’s inhabitants. But then, they would be confronted by Vyotekha herself, who was not dead but in fact heavily assimilated by The Terminus, and thus essentially under their control. The Hexagon Lords clearly noticed an internal struggle within Vyotekha as she tried resisting the will of Terminus. They had great difficulty in mustering the will to delete a being who was not only faithful and loyal, but also more than a simple automated defense program; Vyotekha was a friend to The Hexagon Lords, which made it a very difficult choice to simply kill her. One, Two and Three attempted to get Vyotekha to resist Terminus’ control and override it. Four, Five and Six, meanwhile, kept their guards raised, feeling as though something was wrong despite being unable to detect any overt malice. Vyotekha seemed to have successfully resisted Terminus, and used some of Terminus’ ability to drive back portions of the forces they fought against. Half of The Hexagon Lords, confident in Vyotekha being an ally, lowered their guards. However, as it turned out, Terminus had become aware of this "weakness" and was actively exploiting it, by masking Vyotekha's code to make it seem as though she was in control while Terminus was still in control all along. As their guards were lowered, “Vytotekha” was successful in cruelly luring One, Two and Three into a trap and terminating them, before Terminus completely assimilated Vyotekha's code and virtually destroyed her. Four, Five and Six immediately fled upon this occurring, escaping from The Folded Cascade and retreating into hiding. Whatever portion of The Odhinites and Apeirocoalition could escape also followed behind.
In the aftermath of this invasion, all remaining inhabitants of the Folded Cascade were either taken prisoner or killed, as it was occupied by Oblivious' forces and established as a base.
The Third Wave
News of the horrific events that transpired in The Folded Cascade's invasion, including half of The Hexagon Lords' deaths, spread all throughout The Omniverse. It was apparent that The Omniverse was in the midst of a crisis, and most of its inhabitants became solely focused on surviving and repelling this new threat, as they began mobilizing.
Eventually, the Oblivious Entities learnt of all that had occurred thus far, although the information had been slow to reach them due to their relative isolation in The Omniverse’s furthest frontiers. Immediately, the Oblivious Entities realized that the being behind these attacks was their progenitor, Oblivious. Having been a part of Oblivious, they knew the being better than most other entities, and therefore had an advantage that many lacked. Upon this realization, the Oblivious Entities banded together as they prepared for the coming conflicts.
At this point, the native Mevalkagna within The Barrel hastily mobilized in an attempt to contain the chaos being spread by Oblivious. However, they gradually became corrupted and converted into Oblivious' ranks. Hyperman's attention was now finally drawn to The Barrel, as he realized what was happening to his Mevalkagna, feeling them slip beyond his influence. He did not yet worry, however, believing that the Collective Consciousness would have been successful in correcting this. It eventually reached a point where the entire Mevalkagna rebelled against the Collective Consciousness. The Collective Consciousness tried to quell this rebellion, but it soon became overwhelmed. Although The Collective Consciousness had anticipated every scenario within The Barrel and had a contingency in place, this threat was an external variable originating from beyond The Barrel, and thus The Consciousness could never have fathomed, expected nor prepared for it. And so, it did the only possible thing left for it to do.
The Collective Consciousness emitted a distress signal to Hyperman, which was only to be used as a last resort in the event that all other options were exhausted. Almost immediately, Hyperman answered the distress signal. He battled against the rogue mevalkagna, wiping out any under the influence of Oblivious. By the end, all of the corrupted mevalkagna were destroyed, but at a cost: the native Mevalkagna's size was now greatly depleted, and it would take time for The Collective Consciousness to rebuild its army to their former numbers. However, Hyperman installed a psychic defense within The Collective Consciousness, to prevent any further attempts by Oblivious to corrupt The Mevalkagna.
The Fourth Wave
Hyperman was horrified to learn of all that had happened within The Omniverse in his absence, and disheartened to learn that half of The Hexagon Lords, his greatest mortal friends and teachers, were now dead. He decided to finally return to The Omniverse, and mobilize a resistance to defeat this new threat. Hyperman requested Prismus to temporarily take his place in monitoring The Omniverse while he was gone, and he returned to The Omniverse for the first metatime since the Alom Wars. However, Hyperman was not yet aware that Oblivious was behind all of these attacks, as Oblivious themself did not yet enter The Barrel in full form. As far as he was concerned, Hyperman faced an unknown threat.
Hyperman gathered together the remnants of The Odhinites, The Apeirocoalition, The Guardians of Aleph, and others as he organized them together into an army. Even unlikely beings joined the cause, such as The Overseer. The Overseer was frustrated that the conquest he had devoted a large part of his existence to had been “stolen” from him, and his motives for helping were more a matter of "eliminating competition". Additionally, Four, Five and Six came out of hiding to join. Although they all despised The Overseer, they were willing to set this grudge aside for the sake of saving The Omniverse. With this, Hyperman's army mobilized through The Omniverse, combatting their enemies. Some operations were successful, but more ended in death and failure. The situation was beginning to become increasingly dire
At that point, the Oblivious Entities joined in as well, primarily out of a perceived personal responsibility to do so. They revealed to Hyperman the true identity of the enemy they were facing: Oblivious. Hyperman was surprised to learn this, not expecting to face Oblivious again. No matter who he was up against, however, Hyperman believed that he was ready. With the help of the Oblivious entities, the tide of the war began to turn as Hyperman's army started pushing back against Oblivious and reclaiming territory.
The Final Wave
Hyperman knew that a direct conflict with Oblivious would inevitably arrive. Even despite his confidence in defeating Oblivious, given how easily he defeated them previously, Hyperman felt as if everything was different this metatime. Thus, he knew that he needed even more help.
Hyperman contacted the Creator, who already was well-aware of the threat. From the beginning, Creator observed Oblivious’ forces attack The Omniverse, however he had not yet intervened due to all the activities occurring on a scale below that which warranted it. Hyperman perceived Creator’s demeanor as selfish and incompetent, believing it would only allow the problem to continue growing, and he scolded him for this. Creator rebutted with the statement that his intervention would likely cause far more instability and further worsen circumstances, and it was not something to be done lightly. Hyperman warned Creator that Oblivious would soon attempt to personally enter The Barrel – a threat which certainly warranted Creator’s intervention, and this captured his attention. Although he did not display it, The Creator was in fact greatly concerned by the threat that Oblivious posed. Considering how easily they defeated him before, he knew that a rematch would be even more difficult, if the size of Oblivious’ forces was any indication. Creator told Hyperman that although he could not intervene in “mortal” struggles, he promised to remain vigilant of Oblivious’ attempts to breach The Barrel.
Next, Hyperman made contact with Destroyer, who almost immediately displayed hostility towards him. Despite all of Hyperman’s warnings about the approaching threat and the pleas for his assistance, Destroyer completely disregarded it, stating that he had no reason to want to stop a conflict that was forming The Omniverse more into his own ideal vision. With that, he banished Hyperman from his Godverse. Admittedly, however, Destroyer felt a faint sense of apprehension towards Oblivious and the threats Hyperman warned of.
Having done all he could to prepare, the rest of the matter was largely beyond Hyperman’s control. However, he then realized that although he could not prevent Oblivious from confronting them, he could at least influence how it occurred. Hyperman knew from many of his previous battles that environmental advantages were a key factor in the outcome. The battle would be unfair for him and his army to fight Oblivious within the metaspace of Beyond; in fact, all things considered, many would likely be outright erased from existence on account of their presence in such a state. The more ideal scenario would be for Oblivious to bring the war to them within The Barrel, giving Hyperman and his forces the territorial advantage. And so, Hyperman and his forces combatted Oblivious’ forces in a manner so as to directly antagonize them.
The war eventually reached a point at which despite the likelihood of Oblivious’ victory, Oblivious started feeling personally threatened by Hyperman and his army. They recognized that the one true obstacle in their way besides Creator and Destroyer, was Hyperman. Oblivious became impatient, and briefly their former chaotic nature superseded their calculative stratagem, as they impulsively decided to finally confront their enemies. Oblivious assumed their full true form, and directly entered The Barrel.
Initially, Hyperman was congratulating himself for successfully accomplishing his plan, but then the realization set in that now he and his army had to actually fight Oblivious. At this point, all-out war ensued amongst the two clashing sides as they fought to determine the fate of The Omniverse which hung in the balance.
The Creator finally intervened at this point, horrified by the damage that had been done to The Omniverse. Creator couldn't believe that he let the war progress to the level it did, and so he intended to set things right. Hyperman smugly reminded Creator that he told him so, but Creator became livid upon discovering that Hyperman directly baited Oblivious into entering The Barrel. Creator scolded that this was exactly something that Hyperman’s “father” would have done. He would have punished him, but currently the priority was defeating Oblivious. Creator helped lead the charge against Oblivious and their forces.
There were immense casualties on both sides in the battle, but Hyperman's army was losing more than Oblivious. Hyperman watched in horror as the Apeirocoalition, Guardians of Aleph, Odhinites and many more were quickly laid waste to by Oblivious' forces, dwindling quickly until only one third of the original ranks remained. The organization of the war soon quickly fell apart however, as remnants of The Great Cosmic Republic that survived The Mevalkagna arrived, and attempted to get everything under control. However, this further complicated matters, as what was formerly two sides in this war now became three. The Great Cosmic Republic attacked both Oblivious' forces and Hyperman's forces (specifically the Mevalkagna). Old wounds were then reopened between the Guardians of Aleph, Apeirocoalition and Oblivious Entities, as the -1st Causal War was brought into this battle as well and some Guardians of Aleph and Apeirocoalition members turned against each-other. As they did this, they even turned on the oblivious entities as well, also releasing their grudges from The Alom Wars and their hatred of Oblivious onto them.
Those who still cared, however – the beings who actually wanted to live through this, did not lose sight of the true enemy: Oblivious. It was then that Four, Five and Six reluctantly allied with The Overseer to confront Oblivious. The Overseer used what he thought was his greatest advantage – peering into Oblivious' mind, to discern a possible weakness. However, this would instead prove to be his greatest downfall. Inside the mind of Oblivious, The Overseer bore witness to infinite, incomprehensible madness and horror roiling about. This was so overwhelming that The Overseer instantly died of insanity and fear, before he even knew what had happened. Six brazenly jumped into action to directly battle Oblivious, but the power of Oblivious’ attacks were so far beyond Six’s influences to nullify that they were near-instantly killed. Five attempted to pacify Oblivious, but in doing so she became distracted by her focus on doing this and was destroyed by Oblivious. Four looked through all possible outcomes to his conflict, and saw only one conclusion: his own death. Before he could even process this, he too was destroyed.