Мастер Исандер "Verse and Dimensions: Stories"

When the Hexagon Lords concluded their explanation, Hyperman was absolutely dumbfounded. He had difficulty believing their account, but at the same time all the details appeared to line up even more than The Seventh’s version of events. After being given time to process the revelation, The Hexagon Lords began trying to formulate a plan to deal with The Seventh. There was a vast disagreement among them as to how to approach the situation. Six had somewhat of an "I-told-you-so" attitude towards it, once again suggesting to just resort to killing The Seventh outright. Three, however, wanted to try again to simply try to talk sense into The Seventh. Arguments erupted among then all, as they were conflicted. Hyperman then spoke up, breaking up the arguments. He told the Hexagon Lords that he would first confront his father himself, to assess how he would react (as well as to secretly see if the Hexagon Lords were indeed right, as he did not yet fully believe them). All the Hexagon Lords decided that this would be the best course of action. Before Hyperman departed however, One chose to gift him some of the Hexagon Lords’ older-generation gear. It was the suit which had adorned The Seventh himself during his time in the Hexagon Lords. One claimed that the suit would enhance Hyperman’s abilities, which he would need in case anything were to go awry. Hyperman thanked the Hexagon Lords, before departing with Prismus to confront his father.

The Confrontation

Before Hyperman actually went to meet The Seventh again, he wanted to be completely sure of what he was doing. And so he requested that Prismus would expel the planet they had met on from its systems. Prismus obliged, and upon it doing so, Hyperman travelled to the planet. He returned to the complex in which he had found the research records, and it was there that a wall had seemingly come alive and opened itself right before him. Hyperman realized that it was a door, which somehow read him as an “authorized” entrant and unlocked itself. He would soon find out why, as he navigated the darkened passageways of the abandoned lab. He saw before him rows of incubation tanks. Each one of them were labelled with a strange sequence of symbols, almost as if someone had smashed random characters on a keyboard. This sequence of symbols was largely the same on each of the tanks, except each tank had a unique designation serial code at the end of the sequence such as “1a” or “2c”. At the very end of the hall, there resided a larger and more sophisticated tank which was marked “45b”, but it was vacant. Hyperman peered into one of the tanks, but then jumped back in shock after seeing what was in it. In the tanks were beings that were very Similar to himself. The similarity was not on a physical or superficial level – these creatures couldn’t be more different in terms of appearance. Rather, they resonated with Hyperman on a more conceptual level. They were almost “him” in a sense, but not quite. They were almost like…siblings.

Hyperman began to have a sick feeling in his stomach, and was about to run when he turned to see The Seventh standing right before him. Although his face gave no physical expression of emotion as a human’s would, Hyperman could understand that The Seventh felt very irate and frustrated. He demanded to know why Hyperman had returned without destroying the Hexagon Lords, and more importantly why he was wearing his old gear. Hyperman, put off by The Seventh’s sudden shift in demeanor, became confrontational and told him that he was his father – not his boss. He then told The Seventh what the Hexagon Lords had told him, and demanded The Seventh to tell him whether it was actually true. The Seventh unapologetically nodded, before vaguely grumbling to himself about how “the transition could have been easier” if the Hexagon Lords were already dead, but that he “would have to make do this way”. The Seventh then disappeared from sight as all the tanks activated and opened themselves. Several of The Seventh’s hybrid-clone servants, under his psychic influence, spilled forth towards Hyperman and Prismus liked a horde of zombies. As Hyperman befell his "brothers", he felt no sense of guilt towards it. As far as he was concerned, they were not his family, even if related by blood. The Seventh only cackled, claiming that they were never strong-enough beings to contain his power in the first place anyways.

This was when The Seventh revealed his true plan to Hyperman. He told of how he had transmuted a part of his essence into a human woman who lived in one of his universes, birthing a hybrid offspring. And this offspring – was Hyperman himself. The Seventh planned to transport the rest of his essence into Hyperman's body, essentially using him as a vessel with which to reincarnate himself, and return to his full power. At that moment, The Seventh's "physical" form appeared, and he proceeded to fight against Hyperman and Prismus himself. Hyperman was surprised by the amount of power and force that The Seventh was using, and then realized that he had been exaggerating his weakened state this entire time. As Hyperman fought his father, The Seventh went on to monologue about how he had been with Hyperman since the very beginning, guiding his path throughout life from behind the scenes without him ever knowing. He then went on to say that they were more alike than Hyperman wanted to think. Both of them desired power, and were willing to go to immense lengths to achieve their goals. This comment caused Hyperman to briefly hesitate, questioning if he really was in fact alike with The Seventh. The Seventh took advantage of this, pointing a singled finger at Hyperman. Hyperman was suddenly overcome with a crippling pain as he fell to his knees and retched on the ground. Red cracks of corruption appeared on Hyperman’s chest, as The Seventh claimed that either way, his influence was already taking root within Hyperman. He explained that the portion of his power he imbued in Hyperman earlier was also a way to exert his influence over him, incubating within him like a virus or parasite. Hyperman tried resisting against the invisible force, but he screamed in pain as he was pushed down even harder. The Seventh was amused by this sight, remarking that Hyperman may have been powerful but that power meant nothing to him, Hyperman’s creator. Hyperman tapped into his rage, and ignoring The Seventh’s taunts, he was able to muster all of his strength and willpower to deal a fatal blow to The Seventh, killing him.

As Hyperman looked on at The Seventh's dead body, he realized that the fight ended up being easier than it should've been. And it was then that The Seventh's remains liquified into pure essence, slithering towards Hyperman and crawling up his body. Hyperman realized with horror that The Seventh actually wanted him to kill him, as it was the key to The Seventh's essence being transferred into Hyperman's body.

Hyperman tried to stop The Seventh's essence from spreading onto him, but it was far too aggressive and invasive to be driven back. Hyperman began suffocating as the black essence spread over his face, and he felt his mind and soul slip away as it was replaced by that of another.

The Final Battle

The Seventh, now possessing Hyperman, was more powerful than he had ever been before. The Seventh's next course of action was to arrive to the Folded Cascade, where he planned to return to his position of power and reform the Heptagon Lords as their leader. This, of course, was not met without resistance. The Hexagon Lords enacted all of the Folded Cascade's security protocols, but to The Seventh such a thing was inconsequential. And in his display, The Seventh physically broke through the security systems, many of which he himself oversaw the installation of, and was able to gain entry into The Folded Cascade, showing that now he was finally at his peak power.

Here, The Hexagon Lords attempted to ambush The Seventh with a trap they had set for him, not unlike the trap they set for Hyperman, but this only angered The Seventh more as he broke from the trap. If he had still planned on showing any form of mercy to the Hexagon Lords before, those chances were completely diminished now. The Seventh fought hard against his former teammates, those he once helped in their time of need. The Hexagon Lords viewed The Seventh as their friend who lost himself in power, while The Seventh viewed the Hexagon Lords as being too soft to rule "properly" like him.

The battle eventually began causing collateral damage to the Folded Cascade, damaging its structures. But The Seventh was too caught up in his bloodlust to notice or care. Then, one of the Cascade's prisons were destroyed, releasing all the dangerous entities contained within.

The escaped monstrosities began causing chaos and carnage all throughout the Folded Cascade, and the Hexagon Lords looked on in horror. Even The Seventh stopped his fighting to stare in shock at the sheer destruction. Not even the combined effort of the Hexagon Lords were enough to stop the invaders. As The Seventh watched in disgust and mortification, he realized that this sight was all too familiar. He suddenly remembered why he wanted this power in the first place: he wanted to protect the Folded Cascade. The Seventh looked down at his hands, hands which weren't actually even his. He found himself sobered all of a sudden. He realized just how much of his existence he wasted on his cause, and how truly horrible acts he committed. However, there was at least one thing that could redeem himself. Clenching his fists, The Seventh took a deep breath, savoring these few fleeting moments which he knew would be his last. Then, he turned back to the Hexagon Lords, and quietly asked them to take care of Hyperman for him. Suddenly, he charged forth at the monsters and detonated his essence into a nova blast, which lashed out into a series of bolts that systematically struck and destroyed every threat within the Folded Cascade, killing them all and himself at the same time. Hyperman's body was left behind, and was intact but still heavily banged up and damaged from what it had been put through.

Hyperman remained in a short temporary coma, and was soon nursed back to full health by the Hexagon Lords. Upon coming back to, and hearing of the events which the lords relayed to him, Hyperman felt an emotion which he had not expected to: he grieved for The Seventh. He grieved for his father, or perhaps he grieved for the lack thereof. He didn't exactly know, but at this point it was moot. The Seventh was gone as far as everyone knew, and was no longer a threat.

A new chapter

Hyperman then realized that now, he finally had free will for the first time in his life. No longer was there an invisible guiding hand manipulating every circumstance of his life. At this point, he was free to choose how to live and what to do. Hyperman immediately realized what it was that he wanted to do. In a way, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, but he wanted to do it in a more noble way than him. He wanted to be a protector of all of existence, or at least as much as he could access. He wanted to be a beacon of hope to all those he could reach, and mediate between the forces of good and evil. For he was one of the very few to walk the fine line between these two opposing powers.

Prismus asked to stay with Hyperman in his journeys, wanting to have more adventures and discover more things with him. With a chuckle, Hyperman agreed. But the story was not yet over. After he recovered, Hyperman would face a brand new threat. And like the last one, it was a family matter…

Ultraman is a grudgeful defective clone of The Seventh, who harbored a bitter resentment against both his "father" and his perceived "favorite son", Hyperman. He attempted to kill Hyperman and take his place, using Demon Thread to achieve this, but his plan was foiled when Creator banished all Demon Thread – and him by proxy – into the Outside. As a result, he became a Devil and was rescued by Destroyer, who increased Ultraman's power and made him his champion. Still, in the end, Ultraman was ultimately defeated by Hyperman, and sent into a state of eternal recession.

Ultraman

The being that would become Ultraman began his life as a creature named ?-45b, or just “45b” for short. 45b was just one member of an entire race created by Seven, all made from Seven's own essence and thus, in a sense, offspring of him. 45b was a more experimental clone, who was created by one of Seven’s attempts to create a failsafe for transferring his essence, should his original manifestation have ever been too severely damaged. 45b had all the attributes of a standard member of Seven’s created race, except all of his genetic traits were enhanced to the highest possible degree. As part of the failsafe, 45b was suspended in stasis within an incubation machine, remaining unconscious until the failsafe hypothetically being activated in response to heavy damage sustained by Seven.

When the time finally came, and Seven was gravely wounded in his fight against the other Heptagon Lords, the failsafe was activated. Seven had prior stored a part of his essence within the machine, which upon the activation of the failsafe infused itself into 45b. The problem, however, was that the massive environmental destruction caused by the battle affected the machine, thus also damaging 45b’s body as well as making it so that the machine did not fully activate and release 45b from stasis. To add to this, The Seventh’s original manifestation was still active and not completely destroyed, and thus his consciousness was not transferred into the form of 45b. With 45b no longer being an avenue to gain a new vessel, The Seventh forgot him, especially after abandoning his pocket dimension and going into hiding elsewhere. Eventually, a disruption in the pocket dimension had inadvertently activated the incubator, finally releasing 45b. Given the damage to the machine from the Seventh’s battle, as well as prolonged environmental exposure, 45b exited his stasis as an oozing mass of sludge and gunk. He struggled to keep his form intact, and he was barely able to mobilize himself on his heavily deformed limbs. As the pocket dimension was completely desolate and abandoned, with Hyperman and Prismus having already departed, 45b was completely lost and aimless. He was left with no prior context as to who he was, why he was here and what his purpose in life truly was. However, he still held faint memories that didn’t belong to him, those of The Seventh. Because of that, 45b at first believed himself to have truly been The Seventh, or what memories of The Seventh could be remembered. However, after searching the pocket dimension, 45b uncovered The Seventh’s laboratory. Examination of the left-behind research and equipment revealed to 45b who he was. He was not in fact The Seventh, but rather a failed experiment intended to replicate him if The Seventh's original form needed a replacement. 45b’s life was turned upside down already, and he had only been born mere hours ago. He could not remember any of his own memories before waking up, so he was clearly not The Seventh. Therefore, 45b technically was a mistake, who wasn't even supposed to exist . And judging by the pocket dimension’s derelict state, his "father" obviously didn't know of or care for him.

45b's next goal was to find a way to reconstitute his body into a more stable form. He discovered a spool of thread attached to a contraption, vaguely resembling a sewing machine, left behind by The Seventh. 45b discovered through rereading the research records that this thread was yet another attempt by The Seventh to extend his lifespan. He had captured a multarach and extracted its silk, experimenting on it and modifying the substance. Through the experiments, the Seventh had optimized and repurposed the multarach silk into a new material, dubbed “Demon Thread”. However, it seemed that the demon thread was not effective enough for The Seventh’s methods, and thus he abandoned it as a potential method of extending his lifespan. To 45b, however, it was priceless. He spun and wove the demon thread into his very being, shaping his body into a more stable structure. Over time, as his physical body became increasingly deformed, he became more dependent on the demon thread. Eventually, the demon thread comprised a large part of 45b’s very being, so deeply interwoven into his essence in hypercomplex knots that it was impossible to remove them without destabilizing, even killing him. Compensatively, he went on to achieve a skillful manipulation of demon thread to deadly and devastating capabilities, turning what was originally a necessity for living into a tool that made him feared. 45b largely lived a nomadic and quiet lifestyle in this time, until he heard of a certain being called "Hyperman" by many. 45b believed himself to have discovered The Seventh’s "golden boy", the one who came out "right". 45b begrudgingly watched from a distance as Hyperman seemed to perfectly achieve everything The Seventh intended for his plans. 45b wondered why that couldn’t be him. He felt that he was just as entitled to everything that Hyperman had. Because of this, he grew to deeply resent The Seventh, and to an even greater extent Hyperman. It was to 45b's pleasure when The Seventh finally died, which gave him the satisfaction of knowing his father never achieved his plans. With the Seventh dead, an open spot presented itself for 45b to reside within his life, finally giving him a true sense of self-identity. Still, however, there remained one loose end: Hyperman. 45b had an even greater bone to pick with Hyperman than he did The Seventh. If there was anyone more likely to replace The Seventh than 45b, even indirectly, it was Hyperman. He was the one threat to his goals, and 45b would not let it stand. He found that this would be the perfect opportunity to prove himself, and come into his own. He named himself Ultraman, and forevermore dedicated his existence to overthrowing Hyperman, and taking his place as the supposed heir of The Seventh.

The Hunt For Hyperman

Ultraman eventually tracked down Hyperman. However, he did not immediately strike. Instead, he stalked his target, learning everything he could about Hyperman and his weaknesses. When he felt that the time was right, Ultraman finally revealed himself to Hyperman. He did so by destroying a monster that Hyperman had been assigned to kill by the Hexagon Lords, as part of his training. Ultraman politely introduced himself to Hyperman, and then attempted to kill him. A brief duel ensued, and Ultraman had almost managed to kill Hyperman by tearing him apart from multiple directions with demon thread. However, before he was able to, The Hexagon Lords appeared. They teleported Hyperman away from harm, back into The Folded Cascade. Ultraman was angered by this setback, however he realized that it was only just that – a setback. He then also realized that the Hexagon Lords, who had so rudely interrupted him, were responsible for this setback. Ultraman then knew what he had to do next. Later, upon returning to The Folded Cascade from another mission, Hyperman found himself ambushed by the Hexagon Lords, who violently and aggressively attacked him out of nowhere. Hyperman was incredibly confused and bewildered as he fended off the rogue Hexagon Lords, and his confusion only deepened when many of the Lords were shouting to Hyperman that what they were doing wasn't voluntary, that they weren't in control of their forms. After Hyperman blasted an energy beam, it highlighted the outline of an odd cord-like object near one of the Hexagon Lords in its trajectory. Intrigued, Hyperman sent out a wave of non-harmful energy around him, which revealed many of these cords attached to the forms of all the Hexagon Lords. Hyperman traced the cords, following them until he saw the source behind it: Ultraman. Ultraman's hands maneuvered themselves in complicated and impossible positions, as he pulled on the strings to control the Hexagon Lords as if they were puppets, laughing maniacally all the while. Hyperman was infuriated to see his friends being helplessly exploited by Ultraman, and so he lashed out at him, severing all the strings in one swift motion with his folded stringshard blade. The Hexagon Lords, with their will once again returned, wanted to join in the fray and fight against Ultraman too, but they found themselves too weakened from the possession to do so. What nobody failed to anticipate nor notice in the midst of their fight, was that the demon thread which had been severed from the Hexagon Lords and lost from Ultraman was now loosely drifting throughout archversal space. It found its way into the ownership of many beings in many -verses, many of which utilizing it to deviant ends. It rapidly spread like a plague, and an omniscient being would have been able to observe countless archverses rapidly becoming entangled in a vast interconnected array of the demon thread. Hyperman and Ultraman's fight progressed throughout the Omniverse. They climbed up the Archverse chain together, riding on the power and momentum from destroyed -verses which they channeled into devastating attacks against each-other. With each level they rose through the infinite chain, the more devastating each being's attacks were. They lost focus of all other things in the environment around them, only immersed within their battle with no regard for collateral damage. Finally, at the climax of the fight, a large divine light ruptured above the two. Ultraman and Hyperman looked at the light, and immediately knew that they were in the presence of a god. Not a god in the way The Seventh had been, but a True God. The light, who called “himself” Creator, stated that the battle between the two brothers had caused far more trouble in The Omniverse than it should have, and that the massive instability caused by the spread of Demon Thread warranted his intervention. It was Creator's decision, therefore, to resolve the dilemma by removing all instances of Demon Thread from the Omniverse. And so, Creator willed all Demon Thread within the Omniverse to be gone.

Ultraman's rebirth

Creator had banished all the Demon Thread into The Outside, a neutral space separate from any -verses in The Barrel. However, this act came with unintended side effects. Due to Demon Thread being so greatly intertwined with Ultraman to an inseparable degree, he too had been banished into the Outside along with all the Demon Thread. As this occured, Ultraman’s perception of reality folded inwards upon itself in multiple directions. Ultraman tried to scream out as he felt intense agony ripping his physical form apart, but no sound could be made in the complete vacuum of The Outside. He lost every sense with which he could perceive reality, and the overwhelming forces pressing upon Ultraman led to him losing consciousness.

When Ultraman later regained consciousness, he was in a chaotic realm, where destruction infinitely persisted and thrived. The next thing he knew, an enormous ethereal black-red "hand" descended upon Ultraman, scooping up what remained of his tattered form. A voice from which spoke the hand assured Ultraman that he was safe, that this hand was a friend who was here to help. As strands of Demon Thread intelligently wrapped and intertwined themselves around Ultraman's form, the voice stated that his exposure to the Outside had transformed him into a completely new being, known as a Devil. This was not a bad thing, however. In fact, the voice explained, it was a good thing for Ultraman. His powers and capability for destruction were exponentially increased by his transformation, and his form was not anymore weak or endangered. Many strings of the demon thread covered Ultraman, weaving a form for himself that was most imposing. He had several limbs of Demon Thread augmented onto his body, the finely-woven formation of the thread appearing like muscle tendons. Ultraman's mouth had been transformed into a set of mandibles, with which he could spin new demon thread by expelling it from his mouth.

Ultraman's Devil form

When the transformation was complete, the being which the hand belonged to manifested their true form to Ultraman. The large god that loomed above introduced "himself" as Destroyer, and said that Ultraman could provide great use to him as a champion. Destroyer explained that as he observed the fight between Hyperman and Ultraman, there was something that he felt within Hyperman. He didn't know exactly what it was, but whatever it may have been, he did not like it. He believed that Hyperman was a potential threat to his rule if he became powerful enough, and he also was sick of his valuable “work” being undone by Creator. Destroyer felt that it was his metatime to shine, and he perceived Ultraman as the perfect tool to carry out his plan. Ultraman, feeling an ever-burning hatred for Hyperman and a wish for his demise, eagerly pledged himself to his new master.

Defeat

Hyperman, meanwhile, was still in the Omniverse with Creator. Creator was fascinated with Hyperman, intrigued by his nature. Creator may not have personally known many of The Omniverse's inhabitants, but he could sense within Hyperman a certain level of ambition, one that distinguished him from many others. Before this could be dwelled on any further, however, Hyperman’s body was constructed as some strangling force had latched itself to him. Creator knew from the conceptual attributes of the strangling force that it was demon thread, somehow within The Omniverse once again. Hyperman thrashed about, and Creator attempted to sever the thread, but found himself unable to do so. It was now beyond his influence and immune to his will. Creator traced the origin of this instance of demon thread, and discovered that Ultraman was remotely manipulating it. He knew that Ultraman could not have recovered so easily, and been able to regain control over the material so soon. Only one being could have been behind the sudden return of the Demon Thread: Destroyer. Creator knew that Destroyer had been scheming against him for some metatime, and now he was finally emboldened enough to strike. Creator wished to retaliate, but he also was aware of the devastation that could be caused to the Omniverse if he were to directly confront Destroyer himself. However, he then realized that Hyperman could do his work for him instead. Creator enlisted Hyperman’s help in combating Ultraman, who was now Destroyer's champion – using Hyperman as Creator's own champion. Hyperman, desperate to escape from this thread however he could, quickly accepted as he preferred any other circumstance besides death. Creator used what power he could to teleport Hyperman and Prismus into Destroyer's Godverse, freeing him from the demon thread's snare. Immediately upon entering Destroyer's Godverse, Hyperman knew that he was not welcome here. Destroyer himself was nowhere to be found; remotely observing the event about to unfold for his own entertainment. A large intricate configuration of demon thread rested at the center of the Godverse. Residing in the center of the formation was Ultraman – sitting as though he awaited prey. Hyperman was about to traverse the demon thread configuration, but suddenly stopped when he noticed something. At the opposite end of the formation, a universe intersected with a single strand of demon thread. Upon this happening, Ultraman instantly sensed the signal emitted from the thread and lunged towards the universe, completely wrapping demon thread around it before vampirically draining all the life and energy from it. As this happened, some of his more gaunt features filled themselves and he took on a more robust figure, the universe seeming to have replenished his vitality. Ultraman had become predatory, instinctual, and enhanced in his senses. Hyperman thus knew that casually traversing the demon thread was a certain death sentence, and he needed to take a careful approach instead. So, Hyperman created a distraction by striking one of the threads with an energy blast, causing Ultraman to instinctually investigate it and try to find caught prey. With him occupied, Hyperman lunged at him from behind, attacking him wildly . Ultraman spun around and bucked Hyperman away, pushing him down against the thread. Hyperman instantly became stuck to the demon thread, unable to move his body. He was at Ultraman's mercy now.

Ultraman lowered himself as he began to recite his monologue, which he had rehearsed on many occasions in preparation for this. He told Hyperman that he could never have been as great as The Seventh, that only Ultraman could was worthy of that role. He improvised numerous allusions, such as this being the "web" that Hyperman had "weaved" for himself. Then, with his large spindly appendages, Ultraman hoisted up the form of Hyperman, and viciously sunk his fangs into him. Hyperman gasped for a moment, and then went limp, dead. Ultraman began attempting to drain the essence from him, but found difficulty doing so. The body of "Hyperman" became distorted, before blinking out of existence. Before Ultraman could process what was happening, explosions ruptured all around him, dismantling his configuration of demon thread as it fell into the void. Ultraman too fell, but he was able to halt his descent by attaching demon thread to a large archverse. After scaling the Archverse’s exterior, Ultraman saw Hyperman – the real Hyperman. The one he had killed was a decoy, a projection created by Prismus as a diversion to allow Hyperman to destroy the demon thread formation and balance the environmental advantages between them. Ultraman was enraged as he pounced at Hyperman, scampering along the various archverses with the appendages on his back. He lunged the appendages forward, attempting to stab Hyperman with their sharp ends. Hyperman, however, blocked and parried all of these blows with folded stringshard blades that he formed in his hands, before dealing some of his own to Ultraman. Hyperman managed to sever an arm, but Ultraman just as quickly rejoined it to his form by consuming a nearby archverse and stitching the limb to himself with Demon Thread, allowing it to heal and regenerate rather quickly.

After observing this, Hyperman finally realized how to weaken Ultraman enough to be killed. He had to get them in a spot where he would be unable to replenish himself with an archverse, which would weaken him with starvation and slow the rate of his regeneration. Hyperman led Ultraman along in a chase, luring him into the most remote region of Destroyer's Godverse which he could access. When he finally had him in the right spot, he ordered Prismus to terminate all the lower-level archverses and repel whatever archverses were beyond Prismus' capability to destroy. As this happened, Hyperman aggressively fought against Ultraman to keep him occupied. The two clashed, “brother” against “brother”, each with their own storied past and weight of destiny upon their shoulders. Hyperman fighting Ultraman was not at all similar to when he fought the other clones of The Seventh in his pocket dimension. Ultraman was different from them. He had aspirations, goals, and a plight that garnered more sympathy from him than the mindless drones that swarmed towards Hyperman at The Seventh's beck and call. For this reason, Hyperman found it more difficult to have the will to kill Ultraman, who he felt could have – and still possibly could – lead a life that was not destructive or harmful to himself or others. Hyperman thus wavered, and attempted to convince Ultraman that he could still be his own person, that didn't need the title or identity of another being to be fulfilled. Ultraman too seemed to waver, as his appendages lowered themselves. Slowly, he approached Hyperman, and quietly whispered that it wasn't about taking Hyperman's title or identity – it was about taking his life. The appendages suddenly sprang to life and shot forward, and although Hyperman attempted to dodge it, he was still impaled through the waist by one of them. Hyperman felt an intense rage and embarrassment course through him, more-so from Ultraman's betrayal than the actual impalation. He dislodged himself from the appendage, gripping his wounded waist with one hand as he hacked at Ultraman in a blind fury with his folded stringshard sword using the other hand. One by one, all of Ultraman's Demon Thread connections were severed, before Hyperman painfully used the hand gripping his side to instead slash at Ultraman with another folded stringshard sword, dual-wielding them. Hyperman fought against the pain he felt as he then sliced away all of Ultraman's extra appendages, before wildly hacking and slashing at the entire front of his body in a melee flurry.

Ultraman finally lashed out and retaliated by shooting a strand of Demon Thread from his mouth which struck Hyperman in the chest, and then tugged on the thread to make Hyperman fall on his back. Ultraman then retracted the thread and pulled it back into him, pulling Hyperman closer to him in the process. Hyperman was dragged along by the thread helplessly, as the jaws of Ultraman neared ever closer to him. Hyperman was within an inch of his life as Ultraman was about to bite into him, and so thinking quickly, he grabbed his stringshard blade and stabbed it vertically upward through Ultraman's head. Ultraman choked out as his body suddenly went limp, and Hyperman followed up by running Ultraman through the chest with his other Stringshard blade. Ultraman's body fell backwards, plunging into the infinite abyss. Ultraman internally called out to Destroyer for help within his mind, seeking salvation. However, Destroyer scorned him, stating that he was the least worthy of saving, especially after failing to kill Hyperman. Ultraman was left in shock as everything within his perception infinitely shrunk down, and his form disappeared from existence. His consciousness still persisted however, but it was rendered useless due to infinitely warping and distorting itself, and lacking a physical body.

Architecture

The Architecture is a Multiverse birthed from an Oblivious Entity known as The Architect. It is comprised of infinite unique universes.

History

Before the Architecture, there was only The Architect, who inhabited an empty void absent of any life or existence.

From The Architect, the Architecture was born in an explosion of universes, dimensions, and realities. Five fractions of The Architect's essence scattered throughout The Architecture, each taking on a unique form and manifesting into five respective races of sub-Oblivious entities.

Each of the five races held a specific purpose. The First's was to create, observe and maintain lifeforms, planets, and universes within The Architecture. The Second's was to destroy or imprison those deemed too destructive or unstable. The Third's was to represent and uphold certain aspects of civilization, philosophy, and nature. The Fourth's was to develop and maintain an overall moral code for The Architecture and its inhabitants. And the Fifth was tasked with the purpose of learning and compiling all scholarly and academic knowledge in The Architecture.

Many Aeons later, The Architecture had been heavily damaged by The Second's invasion, which destroyed the barriers between universes. However, this damage was eventually reversed and The Architecture's barriers were restored to normal…at least somewhat.

Later, following the defeat of Queen Kreel, the leader of the Second race, The Architect regained consciousness, His essence having been fully reconcentrated. However, seeing all the strife and violence occurring throughout The Architecture, The Architect decided that He wanted to destroy it, intending to start over and create an entirely new, more "perfect" Multiverse. However, this was stopped by the combined efforts of The Architecture's greatest warriors, who defeated The Architect with The Blade of Destiny and placed Him in a coma by destroying His cosmic egg.

This act repaired all prior damaged caused by the Second Race's war, with the aid of the Alom contained in the cosmic egg.

The Architect is an Oblivious Entity who is the creator, personification and embodiment of The Architecture, residing as the single most powerful being within His Multiverse. Currently, the Architect lies comatose, as the beings He created turned against Him and defeated Him.

The Architect

History

The Architect was born of an Infinite Primordial Chaos known as Oblivion. He was but a single fragment of the semi-sentient collective consciousness that comprised Oblivion, known as "Oblivious Entities".

There came a metatime when all Oblivious Entities became aware of each-other's existence, leading Oblivion to turn on itself. What followed was a war among the Oblivious Entities, as they all collectively tried to annihilate each-other. The result of this was Oblivion's eventual self-destruction as it collapsed on itself and imploded, giving way to the Void. Finding Himself expelled into an empty abysmal void with no other form of life or existence present, The Architect believed Himself to have been the only survivor of Oblivion's demise. Furthermore, He believed Himself to have been the strongest Oblivious Entity, since to Him that clearly could have been the only reason for being the "sole survivor". He would remain blissfully unaware of the other surviving Oblivious Entities.

In the eons that followed, there was only The Architect and the Void which surrounded Him. For a time, The Architect was satisfied, in fact proud of being the sole inhabitant of this Void, with there being no opposition to Him. In fact, He thought so highly of Himself, that He manipulated the laws of His own personal reality to always capitalize His pronouns. However, The Architect eventually had an abrupt "epiphany". He felt a crushing sense of loneliness and isolation, being all on His own with no other entities to share in His pride or any supplicants to bask in His glory. But worst of all, nobody to refer to Him in His always-capitalized pronouns.

In order to rectify this, The Architect sought to fill the void. This He accomplished by hatching his Cosmic Egg, and act which scattered His essence all throughout the void. This triggered a chain reaction resulting in a multiversal Big Bang, creating The Architecture. The creation of The Architecture split The Architect's essence into Five major fragments, which were spread across the newborn Multiverse. These fragments soon adopted on their own individual identities, and from them a group of five races (aptly named "The Five") were self-created.

However, The Architect's creation of The Architecture had come at a cost. Since He had used His own essence to accomplish it, The Architect's conscious mind was scrambled and scattered across existence and rendered Him comatose as The Architecture continued to proceeded without Him, unaware that He had even existed in the first place.

Over the course of The Architecture's existence, The Architect's essence gradually reformed and collected itself together.

Reformation and Defeat