Both the Marvel and DC multiverses are in constant expansion, not static as mortals might assume.
This expansion is conceptual, not merely the whims of gods or demons dictating outcomes.
Take the Marvel multiverse: its grandest conceptual leap came with the Primal Transcendence.
Without the Primal Transcendence, the Marvel multiverse would be far smaller. Its emergence triggered a massive ascension, elevating the multiverse from a super-large concept to an omnipotent one.
Adam had reason to believe that entities already at the pinnacle of super-large concepts, bolstered by the Primal Transcendence's integration of the Transcendence domain and the world's expansion, grew stronger alongside it, remaining at the top.
In the First Multiverse era, a void of endless nothingness, only the First Firmament, a primal lifeform, existed as a multiverse unto itself.
When the First Firmament was betrayed and slain by the Celestial Pantheon, the Second Multiverse arose, spawning more universes, lifeforms, and mighty gods.
The First Firmament, the initial Celestial Pantheons, and the Black Celestials were, at their peak, multiversal-tier.
But through successive cataclysms and reboots, the integration of countless concepts allowed the strongest beings to climb beyond multiversal-tier.
Adam's thoughts shifted to the DC multiverse, where a similar upheaval, the Flashpoint event, sparked by the Flash, merged the Vertigo Universe with the DC Universe.
The Vertigo Universe, ruled by the Endless, was epitomized by Death, its second-in-command.
Post-merger, Vertigo's Death became DC's Death, earning the ultimate accolade: if all must vanish, Death would be the last to fade. This marked her ascension from Vertigo's Death to the grander, more unfathomable Death of the DC multiverse, a conceptual elevation.
Before Flashpoint, the DC multiverse lacked the Endless, the Vertigo Universe, or a concept god like Death embodying mortality itself.
"So, Mephisto likely sees me as a breakthrough… but that's fine. Why shouldn't I see him as mine?" Adam mused.
He'd theorized about his and the Xenomorphs' place.
The best outcome: he and his race remained unabsorbed by the multiverse, existing as a minor concept in a specific universe.
Like the Zombie Universe, confined to its own realm.
Adam pondered leveraging this to ascend to Cosmic Level.
Becoming a concept god, climbing that path to its end.
Concept gods weren't always the strongest or most combative, but they were the trickiest, dreaded even by creation gods.
Eternity embodies the world itself. The original Eternity was the First Firmament; the current one, born from its corpse, the multiverse itself, symbolizes its continuity.
Death encompasses all multiversal demise. Oblivion and Infinity represent other multiversal facets.
Galactus, too, though best left unmentioned.
"If I can envision ascending as a concept god, Mephisto likely can too. As a true Marvel multiverse native, he knows more secrets." Adam thought.
His mind wove countless clues into a dense, spiderweb-like network.
Each possibility branched into endless new ones, which he sifted and vetted.
Then, Mr. Blue entered.
"I sense you're using my brain to compute." Mr. Blue said, his expression conflicted. He preferred avoiding close contact with Adam, but necessity drove him here.
"Something up?" Adam asked, back turned, not glancing over.
"Of course. This is your first time fully tapping your cognitive capacity, isn't it? No, not the first, but before, you had fewer Xenomorphs, limiting your processing power." Mr. Blue said, his face growing more troubled.
"You're more dangerous than I imagined. You not only draw on the Xenomorphs' mental safeguarding but use their consciousness to offload computational strain, like countless subprocessors."
More processors don't make the primary operator "smarter." but they enable faster exploration of possibilities and outcomes.
Mr. Blue had assessed Adam's intellect, once deeming him a talented human but no match for geniuses like Tony Stark or himself, operating on a different plane.
Now, he discarded that notion. His proud intellect, once thought to dwarf Adam's, was shaken.
His heart, too, reeled.
Mr. Blue felt his consciousness involuntarily pulled into Adam's control, shouldering a heavy computational load.
Yet he only vaguely sensed his brainpower being siphoned, unable to glimpse what Adam calculated, a near-breaking point. His mind, his greatest asset, was everything.
To learn it was merely a tool for Adam to tap at will?
"Don't be disheartened, Samuel. Your intellect should've foreseen this. I never reveal all my cards at once. Current circumstances just prompted me to deploy viable contingencies. There's no shame in your position." Adam said, still facing away.
No shame? Mr. Blue's own mind wasn't his own!
In the past, Mr. Blue believed Adam could only track his thoughts through the Xenomorph embedded in his chest. Yet, he remained confident that by mastering his mind, unleashing a burst of calculations only when necessary and concealing critical information within a flood of data, he could outwit Adam's surveillance.
Now, however, the truth was clear: his brilliant mind had been co-opted as one of Adam's computing nodes from the start. Outrageous! Mr. Blue trembled with fury, his limbs icy with shock.
How could he possibly rebel under these conditions?
"This is incredible, exactly the sensation I craved!"
A jubilant shout rang out as the Druid burst in, brimming with excitement. "I feel united with everyone, no barriers, no defenses. We can connect openly in a sea of consciousness, yet surround ourselves with towering cliffs to repel invaders, forging an impregnable sanctuary."
This sense of security and exhilaration thrilled the Druid, a master of the mind acutely attuned to shifts in consciousness.
Adam rose, his mind already sifting through several promising ideas.
"Even with vast computational power, you lack the creative spark and mental framework of a true genius." Mr. Blue shot back.
"I don't need to innovate." Adam replied coolly. "That's your role. Mine is to command people like you."
Mr. Blue stood frozen, his mind overheating like a strained processor.
...
Stephen Strange and Christina returned home, the latter hesitating to speak several times during their journey.
"No need to worry." Strange reassured her, though comforting wasn't his forte. "We only lost a sports car, and it's fully insured. The damage isn't as bad as you think. As for the rest, let it rot in silence, nothing happened."
"But that man showed up." Christina murmured. "Whenever he acts personally, it's never trivial…"
"That's Adam's problem, not ours." Strange snapped. "What can we do? Nothing. Even if that old tempter was Mephisto himself, Adam will handle it. Thor's walking around this world; a demon doesn't seem so out of place."
Strange cut her off, irritation rising. Further debate would drive him mad. He prided himself on his cool-headedness, but in the presence of Mephisto and Adam, clear thinking felt like a luxury.
As they entered the villa and flicked on the lights, they found Victor Strange dangling upside down from the ceiling, waiting.
"Victor…" Strange began.
"No need to hide it." Victor interrupted. "My hearing surpasses your wildest guesses, don't treat me like an ordinary vampire. I heard about the demon and Adam, so something big's happened again, hasn't it? Adam might be a guardian to most, but he's more terrifying than any demon."
Blood Baron Victor instantly knew his time was running out.
It was simple logic.
His brother and his brother's girlfriend, entangled in a conflict between Mephisto and Adam, must have something extraordinary about them. Adam could easily investigate their entire history and discover Victor, a vampire, in Strange's household.
No normal person would secretly procure blood through various means, even if Strange was a doctor. In a world of superpowers, such actions would inevitably be uncovered.
"I was so close to finding a way to cure my vampire bloodline." Victor muttered, his already pale face growing grim. "But of course, it had to be now…"
This was Adam, the most powerful and influential man on the planet, who had single-handedly eradicated the vampire empire.
Victor ignored his brother, turning to enter his room.
Christina watched Victor's retreating figure with an eerie gaze before softening as she looked at Strange.
Victor opened his computer, immediately contacting Bruce Banner.
"So, normally speaking, you're as good as dead, right?" Banner said, adjusting his glasses with a frown. "No vampire has ever survived Adam by surrendering."
Diluting and breaking down vampire blood with Hulk's blood was a proven method. Hulk's blood could even affect Dracula's lineage, but developing a super-serum to permanently end the vampire bloodline would take more time.
"Can't the Avengers do something?" Victor pressed, unwilling to give up. "You've fought alongside Adam multiple times, lost people like Captain America. Besides Iron Man, you're the one with the most influence in the Avengers."
"I get it." Banner replied. "You've worked so hard, never harmed an ordinary person, and now face a hopeless end. It's unfair, but that's reality… like Stick, who sought the Ancient One's protection but was still killed by Elektra and Daredevil when the chance arose."
Banner refused the request. "Besides, the Avengers aren't in great shape. S.H.I.E.L.D., our backer, gets worse news every day. Soon, that organization will vanish from the world, and the Avengers will distance themselves to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fate."
Banner started to say there was still a chance if they sped up research, but Victor's brow furrowed. Shock crossed his face as he turned to see Christina barge in. The locked bolt on the door crumbled like paper under her touch.
"I can help you shed your vampire identity." Christina said, her eyes glowing blood-red as she made an elegant gesture. "Vampires are merely a species accidentally created through the power of an ancient god. The only noteworthy trait is their integration and replication across the multiverse."
"Mephisto?" Victor's sharp mind pieced it together, his face paling. "What have you done to my brother?"
"He's asleep." She replied. "Ordinary humans can't handle that kind of shock."
"I won't make deals with demons!"
"You misunderstand me, sir." Christina said, her voice Mephisto's. "I aid humans and claim souls as payment, through various means, but never with lies. If I say I can free you from your vampire nature, I can."
"And then you take my soul?" Victor retorted, though his resolve wavered.
The thought of his future, living as a vampire feeding on human blood or being captured by Adam as a Xenomorph incubator, made suicide seem tempting.
In the normal timeline, Victor would indeed attempt suicide to end his wretched vampire existence.
"You'd better decide quickly." Mephisto urged through Christina. "This human body also hosts a Xenomorph. Even if I've magically cloaked its thoughts for now, Adam will notice."
Everyone knew Mephisto's intentions were malicious, yet some always fell into his traps. He understood humans too well.
His voice dripped with temptation. If Victor agreed, Mephisto could gain leverage over Adam.
Mephisto sensed the Xenomorphs outside growing restless, several powerful specimens rapidly approaching his location.
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