A Missing Link...

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh swept out of the portal to the Ashen Steppes, all three of its eyes fixated on the swirling cloud of data projected from its ebon palm. It was quite gratifying to watch these primes slowly tearing eachother apart. The god-mind was aware that the contestants' full power was being subdued, but it still gave Nealaphh something of a measure for their abilities. It noted that, despite being in mortal danger, the Hero of Time was not wielding anything that resembles a hammer. Perhaps they had all been stripped of their equipment before being deposited in the island.

Nealaphh was tempted to try and track down where all of this might be stored, but this would be a bad idea for several reasons, the foremost being that the Dante Verse had been sealed off now that the competition had started. Nealaphh might have agonized over the missed opportunity if it had a lesser mind, but Nealaphh simply evaluated a new plan of action.

There was no guarantee that the Hero of Time would emerge in the Nexus once he was done in the competition, but it was still the Shadow's greatest odds of a chance encounter to remain within the white wastes. It peered off in to the difference at the Fountain of Infinity, still blasting radioactive brilliance into the endless sky. It was possible to see all gates from the center of the Nexus, so it made the most sense to remain there to observe traffic through the area. Of course, there was a very real risk that it would have an encounter while watching from this vantage point, but after the ordeals within the Ashen Steppes, the shadow felt much more equipped to handle such interactions.

Without further hesitation, Nealaphh started the long trek back to the fountain infinity, alternating between watching activity withib Dante's Abyss and watching for any potential danger on the bleak horizon...

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh had finally reached its destination of the Fountain of Infinity, and thus far had not encountered any sort of danger or source of contention. As such, using a bit of omnillium, Nealaphh conjured a large, concave lens to serve as a source of magnification as it scanned the blank horizon for signs of activity. The Nexus seemed oddly quiet, compared to when Nealaphh had last been here; not even the white or metal clad soldiers were patrolling the perimeter of the fountain. Could it be that everyone was so enthralled with this contest of blood and death? Nealaphh would have to consider joining at the next opportunity to increase its renown throughout the Omniverse. Winning was only a secondary benefit; making itself known was far more important if it was going to attract a following.

Nealaphh had been thinking about how exactly it was going to achieve the status of an incarnate deity once this dragon, Volvagia had been dealt with. It had come to the conclusion that there had to be more primes than itself within the Omniverse who had a great disdain for The Smiling One. Perhaps if it was able to establish a cult around this precept, it could attract like-minded followers to its long-term goal of usurping The Smiling One's control over these verses. This was all a long time off, however, and it was prudent for the god-mind to keep its attention on the present. Sweeping its three-eyed gaze over the white wasteland, Nealaphh suddenly spotted three figures emerging from out of nowhere, a place where there was no portal. The shadow squinted into its makeshift telescope to try and make out who the figures were. Distinct features were difficult to discern, but the colors and shape of their clothing was unmistakable; these were some of the contestants who had already been killed within Dante's Abyss. Was this where they could opt to emerge after dying within that verse of violence? If so, that had to be Nealaphh's best chance of catching the Hero of Time once his run in the competition had completed. Nealaphh reabsorbed the smooth glass lens back into its body and set off in the direction of those figures. The god-mind did not intend to interact with these ex-contestants in any way, but if they decided to make themselves threats, Nealaphh was more than prepared to meet them in battle.

During its travels back to the Nexus and Fountain of infinity, Nealaphh had been practicing the use of its ability to warp space. Already it was proficient in its ability to curve space away from itself to deflect incoming danger, but its use of telekinetic force within that geode cavern to knock loose a stalactite had given Nealaphh an idea. Perhaps it could pull a portion of space inward on itself, and then release the tension, causing a spatial shockwave of sorts. The equations necessary to do this were a relatively simple adjustment from those used to create its spatial barrier. In practice, the technique proved to be a tad cumbersome, but Nealaphh was sure that, if used correctly, the spatial detonations could be used to potent effect, just as its assault on the amethyst stalactite had shown. Granted, there wasn't much to work with out in the emptiness of The Nexus, but the air bursts from the warp bubbles alone should prove sufficient to dissuade any potential attackers. In addition, it had also been working on honing its ability to assault other sentient minds by flooding them with overwhelming thoughts. It was a rather simple, direct method of attack, but it was rather useful to overcoming long odds, since the maneuver attacked the mind and not the body.

...and there was very little that could stand against the power of the god-mind.

As Nealaphh shuffled slowly along the perfectly smooth ground, its thoughts wandered back to the time it had spent in its old Multiverse. What had become of those necromancer pirates? Of the Consulate? How had VARIAtech fared without Nealaphh to act as a gentle hand of guidance? Had its Master taken it upon himself to seize control of the operations therein? Nealaphh squinted its eyes. The Master had said...he had said that if all else failed, that Nealaphh was to carry out its original purpose. Entropy. To bring all things to an end. Without Nealaphh's presence in the Multiverse, what would become of that dying reality? Would it slowly grind to a halt as the Zeitgeist gradually became more and more unstable? Nealaphh shook its head. These were questions that simply did not have an answer at this moment in time. Still, the thoughts plagued the back of the god-mind's consciousness. So much had been built that was now lost...The Smiling One had done more than doom Nealaphh to a mortal body...The Smiling One had doomed an entire alternate reality to slow, agonizing stagnation. Unforgivable.

There always existed the chance that some other deity would step in to take Nealaphh's place as the harbinger of the end times...Maleficus, perhaps? No...Lucien never had the gumption to permanently destroy the Multiverse. The purple god of malevolence had destroyed Mjotvir on many occasion, simply as a show of brute power. Such carelessness...if Maleficus was to be the one to take Nealaphh's place in the workings of all things, that would truly be a horror. The simple minded Dragon had no sense of what it truly meant to be a god. Even after his concubine, Pandora, had fallen to Nealaphh's blade, Maleficus had still insisted that he was above reproach; that Entropy could not touch him. Foolishness. Entropy spared nothing...not even Nealaphh, apparently.

The shadow paused in its tracks. Was that what Omni was? The true manifestation of entropy? No...that didn't make sense. The Smiling One was simply a capricious interloper, an infantile god who delighted in the sundering of sovereign identities. The sheer gall of this deity...it deserved to be punished.

With renewed vigor, Nealaphh resumed its approach towards the space within the Nexus that the dead contestants of Dante's Abyss were emerging. Nothing would stop the god-mind from reclaiming its rightful power...

[Tearen Wover]

The shadow was now within a fair distance of the exit point for the Abyss; and Nealaphh could better make out the figures that were milling around. The green one, with the wires, and the boy with the red hair...but where were the others? The Masked Lurker and the Crimson Bolt? Nealaphh had been focused primarily on the progress of The Hero of Time and his Gerudo companion, but the escapades of these other primes had not escaped the god-mind's notice. This could mean two things; either there were more exists from Dante's Abyss than what Nealaphh could see, or, those contestants weren't actually dead. This conflicted with the official listings on the Dante's Abyss Dataverse site, as Nealaphh now checked, but the god-mind could not dismiss the possibility outright. So very little was certain within this Omniverse.

Regardless, Nealaphh was aware that it's tall, black silhouette would be quite stark against the solid white backdrop of the Nexus. While Nealaphh did not have any specific reason to fear another prime at this point in time, it may be fortuitous to create some form of shelter from which the god-mind could observe the traffic nearby. As such, Nealaphh spent the following several minutes weaving a dome of black, volcanic obsidian into existence within The Nexus, to act as a temporary housing that Nealaphh could occupy. The god-mind had formed the cyst of stone such that it had no entrances or exits, thus preventing any potential sneak attacks from behind, at least, assuming that explosive force was not used to get access to the shadow. Obviously, Nealaphh had made its position much more obvious, but subtlety had a time and a place, and there was no reason to maintain a low profile right now. After all, Nealaphh could not assume either way that The Hero of Time would try to evade pursuit once he was done within the Abyss. Mathematics of probability stated that the highest chances of two objects meeting in space were for one object to remain stationary while the other was mobile. Granted, one could not directly apply such theories of probability to the multi-dimensional nature of The Omniverse, but it was the best strategy Nealaphh could work out at the moment.

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh had been watching the stream from Dante's Abyss for some time now, and it was growing rather excited. One might think that an emotion such as excitement was beneath a god-mind such as itself, but everything that existed was capable of experiencing heightened energy states. Not only did it seem as though the Hero of Time was due for an imminent demise, the opportunity to observe the personalities and capabilities of so many other primes was a learning experience that could not be ignored. The shadow would have to make a note to continue watching the blood sport even after it had completed its current objective.

Nealaphh had long stopped staring at the exit from the Abyss, finding it more prudent to keep close tabs on what was happening within. Besides, within its protective cocoon of hardened volcanic glass, there was very little Nealaphh had to fear aside from a sudden release of concussive force. The god-mind could not help but wonder how it might have fared if pitted against these other primes in a survival situation such as this. Likely it would not have gone well, as Nealaphh was not even fully aware of what its own capabilities were. No, best not to dwell on useless musings.

Aside from the Hero of Time, there were a few others that Nealaphh had taken an interest in. This Carn_Val being...something about him resonated with the god-mind. Something that felt familiar. Nealaphh had perused the anomaly's Abyss profile, but there was little that could be discerned for sure based on that information. The heavily armored humanoids had captures Nealaphh's attention as well. Aside from the fact that they were all already mostly dead, their thought processes and moral outlooks were very similar to how a primordial such as Nealaphh viewed the cosmos...albeit, their emotional investment was clearly a liability.

Finally, there was the matter of the prime known as Guu. Out of all other primes Nealaphh had become aware of thus far, Guu was by far the most deific out of all of them. If Nealaphh was going to endeavor to ascend to godhood within the Omniverse, this princess would be a large source of contention.

Ultimately, there was still much to learn about the Omniverse, but hopefully the task of creating an enhanced megaton hammer would intrinsically reveal certain crucial details that Nealaphh would need to know in order to properly exploit the system that The Smiling One had in place. Of course, the largest trick to this power game was that The Smiling One was doubtlessly fully aware of Nealaphh's intentions and methods, not to mention the god-mind's true nature. Knowing this fact saved Nealaphh the trouble of having to worry about subtlety, however. The shadow's actions would have to be as a thunderstorm; highly visible and impossible to divert.

For now, all Nealaphh could do was reflect and observe, which suited the god-mind just fine, really. A significant portion of its activity within its old Multiverse consisted of watching the gears of reality turn, coming to understand how the metaphysicsl clockwork of the realm functioned, so that when the time came, Nealaphh would know exactly where to throw its wrench...

[Tearen Wover]

Having caught up on the day's activity within Dante's Abyss so far, Nealaphh contented itself to perusing the Dataverse for any additional information that may help in its quest for ascendancy. What was most striking to Nealaphh was how many people revered The Smiling One as some sort of benevolent deity, who had their best interests at heart.

The foolishness. Doubtless these idiotic individuals had been summoned by over eager primes and not The Smiling One himself. They had no idea what it was like to be made something less than what they had been, for they had hardly been anything to begin with. Still, it was a sign that people within the Omniverse could be persuaded into worshipping even malevolent deities, so Nealaphh was sure that, by applying just the right amount of succor, it could become equally as revered.

At just that moment, a light flared from in front of the god-mind. Startled, Nealaphh pulled the swirling mass of data back into its palm and squinted at what was taking place in front of it...

Near where then slain contestants had been appearing, there now appeared a portal which had the words 'Dante's Abyss' written in bold letters affixed to the portal arch. Perplexed, Nealaphh reopened its Dataverse uplink and navigated to the Dante's Abyas home page. Much to the shadow's delight, it appeared as though the lobby area of Dante's Abyss had been made open to the public for on-site viewing. More importantly, it would ensure that Nealaphh would be able to intercept The Hero of Time before he exites the Abyss. The choice was clear.

After a few minutes of disassembling its black, crystalline refuge, Nealaphh ambled towards the new portal, now completely disregarding the ex-contestants who idled around the aperture. Without so much as a glance in their direction, Nealaphh slipped through the rift and into the gilded halls of Dante's Abyss...