Marvel: Upgrading Death 38 - Heroless, Useless Confinement, Superflow Massacre, The Cosmos

[A/N: Sorry for the delay. I struggled a lot writing this chapter. It's a big tonal shift, as this story started as a crackfic, but now we're entering kinda the main, serious phase, which is the ending.

The next post for this fic will be the very last. The final ending. It'll be a long one, along with the epilog. After that, I'll be focusing on the other 3 ongoing fics for a while. And I think I'm gonna take a break from Marvel fanfics for a bit. President Stark and Upgrading Death back to back kinda makes it hard to think of new fun ideas.

Thank you for reading.]

Doc - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rvEcvcDXdaBI9hNM3W5ooD1zfLMbXsNFh8z9ZO5NkJY/edit?usp=sharing

"I am… Iron Man."

Tony Stark revealed it to the world at a press conference. However, nobody clicked pictures; no flashes flickered. Heck, the faces of reporters contorted into frowns and boredom. 

Tony failed to understand why they were like this. "Not excited to know?"

"And?" blurted one of the reporters. 

"What do you mean 'and'? I'm Iron Man, the guy flying around in a metal suit. You guys have been running news cycles on me."

"Well…" another reporter scratched his head awkwardly. "We were hoping it would be an alien. But if it's you, it's… alright. We already know Stark Industries has advanced tech. And a flying suit… really it's not that big of a deal." 

"..."

Tony Stark scratched his beard, a little embarrassed and very awkward. He could feel that if he were a few years early, this would have been a global headline. But ever since the First Man pretty much brute-forced the entire world to advance and get together, much had changed. As flying spaceships became a common sight, his Iron Man suit didn't seem to hold that much value. 

Annoyed, he sat down on the floor of the stage, cross-legged. Since it had come to this, he decided to use the reporters for some brainstorming. 

"Then what would make the suit worthy of your awe?" 

"Space jump capability!" someone shouted. Then voices erupted one after another, all suggestions. 

"Nukes on the back!"

"Orbital lasers on arms!"

"Cloaking ability!" 

"Cat ears!" 

Cat ears? Who said that? 

He stared and saw a Dinosian, not a journalist but a nerd. 

Uh, they're all weird in Dinosia.

"Able to lift a mothership!" 

"Shrinking size!"

"That's Hank's thing." Tony barked. 

"Then it's more exciting than your suit." 

Tony felt that one sting. He did want to use that shrinking tech, but Hank Pym, that fucker wouldn't share Pym particles with him no matter what. 

"Time travel!" 

At that, Tony just got up. "Alright, that's just science fiction. I need a cheeseburger. Shoo—fly away. Go catch photos of birds and spiders, I guess." 

####

Queens, New York

Peter Parker sat by his study table and read the latest science journal from planet Hala. He liked reading about biophysics and biochemistry, with a keen interest in material science as well. Ever since he'd been able to shoot webs from his wrist, much had changed. 

No longer a scrawny, low-stamina nerd, he was not strong. His senses were sharp. And he didn't need glasses anymore. However, he'd been unable to find a place to use these abilities. Sure, he'd sling around from time to time, but there was barely any crime to stop. The last time he helped someone, it was a poor cat stuck on a tree, and that was a week ago. 

The streets were patrolled by drones now that ran on AI. It was so easy for the police to track criminals that crime automatically reduced as it became extremely risky to commit one. 

As for him, he'd been accused by the Daily Bugle of trashing the city by leaving his spider webs. But they were highly biodegradable and would dissolve in the air in a few hours. Yet, these days any large natural spiderweb found in the city was blamed on him. 

I don't think the city needs a Spider-Man. 

He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. 

What should I do next? 

Knock! Knock!

Suddenly, a knock came, and the door opened. MJ, his girlfriend, walked in, all smiles.

"Peter, I've been selected by MGM; they want me in Dinosia for acting school. What do you think? Wanna join me? You can get a scholarship at DNU easily." 

"Dinosia?" 

Peter hummed and thought a little. Dinosia was still the same as before, exclusive to only talented people, as it was considered private property of the First Man. 

"Let's do that." 

New York didn't need Spider-Man, after all. 

####

Some people had begun calling the planet Earth Prime, instead of just Earth. 

The reasoning was mostly driven by sci-fi, but the reasoning fit well. With Earth evolving and space travel becoming possible, many believed humanity would soon establish colonies. Hence, the home world needed to be called something special. 

Dinosia had revealed a plan to terraform Mars and turn it into a harvest planet strictly for growing food. It was a long-term project that would feed the growing human population. Already, it was projected to hit 10 billion by 2020. With free childcare, education, and healthcare, it seemed everyone was busy doing it raw. 

Not Dinosia, however. It always suffered a population issue and relied on importing talent. In Dinosia, if a nerd was asked to chop his dick or breed a supermodel for their project funding, they would chop their dick simply so it may cause fewer distractions. They were insane. But not all; some were like Tony Stark. 

For much of the human population, life had significantly improved across the board. Living conditions, food, health, safety, and education. With those needs fulfilled, plenty turned to art, music, and other industries. Office jobs still occupied the biggest chunk, but many others chose space. Dino Corp alone had so many ships that even using Earth as a repair stop meant jobs for over a billion people directly or indirectly through supply lines. 

The First Man had literally dragged humanity to evolution. 

But now, the First Man had disappeared. The ones running the world were his children, the face of kindness, Kael. And the face of wrath, Helvar. 

But it was better than the First Man, who was simply unpredictable. 

####

Space, Unknown Location

Since Marshall didn't have any means of reaching the Void, where the First Firmament and other beings like Null lived, he had to brute force his way. And the only way to do that was to cross the fabric of space by moving faster than the expansion of the Universe itself. 

In theory, it was an impossible thing to do. 

But for Marshall, it was just another challenge he needed to overcome. All he needed to do was fly so fast that he'd shoot out of the Universe. With the body of an Aspirant already, the fire of the Phoenix, Tesseract, and much else, he could do it. There was no cosmic, naturally occurring force that could truly kill him: no black hole, no pulsar, no nothing. 

Once he started flying, he just kept picking up speed. Eventually, everything around him started to change. Blinding light covered his front, and total darkness was behind and to the sides. And then there was the cosmic sonic boom he left behind. 

Space for light-years around him, and further behind him, formed a blue, cone-shaped disturbance. As he got closer to the edge of the universe, the cone became narrow, sharpening at the head. 

He expected to shoot through the Deep Space and enter the Superflow, the space between universes. 

Woosh!

However, out of nowhere, he noticed a strange, glowing, amber tile appear in front of him. It was small, like a door. It made no sense; he was traveling faster than photons, and yet he could see the door. But he was too fast and smashed into it. 

Instead of breaking it, he just passed through it. 

But it didn't take long for him to realise he didn't pass it; he entered it instead. It was a portal, and in this new place he was, there was nothing. He was no longer flying fast, and all around him it was pitch-black darkness. No stars, not even a speck of light could be seen across the dark space. 

"I crossed over, or what?" Marshall looked around in confusion. As far as he was told, he was supposed to find Aspirants in Superflow. It was a place where dreams, ideas, and visions operate. It was where abstract entities could be hurt, hence the best battlefield against the likes of Aspirants and Celestials. 

"Feel no Assprints fuckers here." Marshall frowned. 

"Because there are none, Mr. Grant." 

Marshall turned, finding a dark-skinned man in purple robes standing, hands behind, walking like nothing. "What type of clown are you? I don't smell those fuckers on you… You ain't human either." 

"I am a human, just not from this time or your universe." 

"Let me guess, you got some beef to settle with me? I fucked your ma or something? Bet you didn't come out of my cockjuice, I know that much."

"..."

The other side was silent for a while. 

"You have a way with words. No, we are not related. I am known as He Who Remains; name's Victor Timely. You have met my people, Mobius? I founded the Time Variance Authority to preserve the Sacred Timeline, and you, Mr. Grant, are a danger to it." 

Marshall crossed his arms. "The fuck your clown ass wants? If you want to throw hands, let's do it. If you wanna suck it, then I ain't interested."

"There is no need to go that far. Your crusade ends now, for the stability of the universe. This is now your prison, an endless dimension of a void."

Annoyed, Marshall raised his right hand and tried to pull the bastard in. But then the same slate-like portal appeared and consumed the man, leaving him all alone in that void. 

"A dimension?"

Quickly, he tried to use his Tesseract power to leave. But no matter how hard he tried, it didn't happen. It was as if the laws of nature were different and didn't respond to his will anymore. 

When nothing worked, he stopped and thought about it. He thought about it for a long time, and since he could feel time moving, he had plenty of time. He thought about his powers, all of them. 

Amongst them, the most powerful were Phoenix Force, Galactus' mind and energy powers, and finally Aspirant's physique and energy powers. However, there was one other power he'd never fully explored. 

A long time ago, when he'd touched that weird book made of meat, he'd met a gigantic tentacle monster. It alone had killed him thousands of times before he was able to take it on. Since then, he'd been able to turn parts of him into tentacles. 

However, he'd never turned himself fully into that creature yet. He knew he could. And he knew he'd be colossal on a cosmic scale. 

"Might as well blow this damn place." 

One way to get out of a cage was through the door. But when you can't find the door, just blast it open. 

####

Dinosia, 

"So… you are?" Helvar interrogated the tall, rather curvy woman who'd appeared out of nowhere, holding a baby in her arms. She had somehow walked past all magical measures around the temple. 

"Grwaaaaa!" Marty roared from the side suddenly. 

"You know her?" Kael asked, able to understand him. 

"Wraaah!" 

"She gave you the powers?" Kael exclaimed and looked at the tall woman. "Who really are you?" 

"I am known by many names. Mother Earth, Mother Nature, but to many I am Gaea. A million years ago, I met your father, the First Man. He was meant for a great purpose, and the time has come for that destiny to be realized." 

Right then, Hela arrived, arms crossed, her battle armor on her. "He has left to fulfil that destiny." 

"But it will remain incomplete without the seed he left with me." Gaea declared and raised the baby in her arms. "When the time comes, this child must succeed the First Man, or the universe may never find rest. Destroying the First Firmament alone would disrupt the order of all things. Chaos would reign."

"And this child is the key?" Hela asked. "I feel… Marshall on him."

"Because he is the firstborn of the First Man. A seed he entrusted to me after I watched him for millions of years. He stands as the one being with neither past nor future. His life exists beyond the reach of natural law. And only his seed can hold it together."

"What do you mean by that?" Kael asked with a raised voice. "Are you saying Dad won't survive?"

"No, he will. You will have him back once it all ends. But he must place this seed where it's needed."

####

Marshall didn't know how big he had grown. 

"I'm one fat fucking ass," He murmured, expanding his completely deformed tentacle monster body. There seemed to be no limit to how big he could grow, and it wasn't as if he lacked energy. 

The idea was to overload the void with energy and mass. His mass was doing its job, expanding, but the energy part was yet to begin. He first started with covering himself in Phoenix fire, and then covered himself with the powers of Galactus, and then finally the Aspirant. It made a sort of armor around him with it, and then kept pushing outwards in all directions. 

Finally, he used Black Bolt's scream to its extreme, fullest power. 

####

Victor Timely was in his office, observing the Sacred Timeline. There was no change as far as he could see. But again, there was no change even with the First Man. Still, he had chosen to imprison him because leaving him free created a lot of uncertainty. 

He could not risk that. 

Grrr!

"Hm?" 

He noticed his table shaking all of a sudden. Like an earthquake was coming. But it was impossible in this realm. 

"No!" He jumped to his feet at the realisation. "How is that—"

Crack!

Right behind him, the space itself cracked apart like glass. More, and more, and eventually a hole started to form in space itself. It was impossible in his realm. This was the TVA. 

"How did you?" Victor exclaimed. "This makes no sense."

"Damn fucking right, it doesn't. And ain't ever gonna, because I'm killing you."

From that hole in space, Viktor saw a human hand come out, and then the First Man appeared fully. Though this time, there was a very clear frown on the face, eyes burning with fury. Viktor didn't run, he knew he wouldn't be able to. If the First Man could break through that void, then TVA was nothing either. 

"L-Listen to me! Mr. Grant, you must. I cannot permit you to go. There are infinite variants of me. Empires stretching across time and space. If you kill me, they'll all be set loose. Free to unleash chaos on every timeline. We cannot allow that."

Viktor stepped back as the First Man walked towards him. 

"Mr. Grant, you cannot fight them alone!" 

"Shut the fuck up! Should've babbled that before you fucked with me."

"No!" Victor jumped away, tried to dodge. 

"Try dodging this!" 

And just like that, the entire room got engulfed in phoenix flames. Victor felt great pain as the flames touched him. His body was still fragile; he couldn't withstand it. 

"Mr. Grant… The multiverse… is doomed!" 

Those were his last words. 

####

Marshall didn't bother waiting. He didn't care; what he did know was that whatever threat the guy was talking about could be solved once he'd taken down the First Firmament. And in doing so, he was certain he would die a few times and grow stronger. 

"I'll erase all your clown asses from space and time." 

Once again, Marshall flew towards the edge, and this time there was nobody to stop him. Before he knew it, he shattered through something, like a ceiling. It felt like jelly, thick and viscous. But once he was on the other side, all of dark cosmo turned into deep shades of red. 

I smell you! 

In no time, he was able to sense the Aspirants. However, what truly helped was the tracker that Stark had made for him. He used it and moved across the Superflow. It wasn't like deep space, no, this was weird. It was based on information. 

To move, he didn't have to fly, but think. And with the tracker in his hand, it was fast.

"Found you!" 

He declared his arrival loudly. With a thought, he appeared right behind what seemed to be an Aspirant. It looked similar to Celestials, so he couldn't tell. But it didn't matter either. 

The difference in their sizes was immense. Marshall was like a speck of dust in front of it, and he struck that way. He slammed his body into the Aspirant's back, all the while covering himself in Phoenix flames and the Aspirant's energy he possessed. 

Poof!

The first Aspirant was slow to react. There were three of them in total. He didn't know the difference in strength, nor did he care. Marshall was able to tear straight through the chest of that Aspirant, scorching everything on the way. 

There was no blood, nor was there any agony. The Aspirant died right away. But by then the other two got alerted and attacked back. 

"He is here! Go! Inform the First Firmament!" 

One of the Aspirants quickly disappeared. The other one kept attacking Marshall. But he fought like a rabid animal, without the fear of death. 

Marshall sliced through the massive, moon-sized arm of the Aspirant. "You ain't even my target!" 

At the end of the day, Marshall was killing them because he wanted to kill the Celestials later. 

"Ah! Fuck!" 

But then, out of nowhere, the Aspirant shot a beam from its eyes. Before Marshall knew it, he was dead. Not even his body remained. This was the Aspirant's only option since they couldn't contain him anymore while he possessed the same power as them. 

"What the fuck was that?" 

Marshall reappeared soon, feeling like he could shoot that same beam from his eyes. It wasn't fire, or energy. It was like a disintegration beam, which did just that. Erased matter. 

"But thanks for the gift."

Marshall once again began moving around the giant Aspirant, and then he shot that beam of light. His size was that of an ant, but the width of the beam was large enough to engulf the Aspirant. 

Just as it did to him, the Aspirant got disintegrated. 

"Next!" 

He had no idea how many there were, but they all had to die. 

####

Dinosia, 

"So, you've been watching him since his first days?" Kael asked the woman, as they now sat inside in the lounge. "What was Dad like before he met Uncle Marty?"

"I would not say since his first day. I was unaware of him in those ages. When he appeared, this world was far different. The creatures that roamed it shared nothing with humans. Yet I found him, fighting a sea creature, dying again and again, only to return to life. At last, he was victorious." 

"How was he like?" Helvar asked. "Bet he was just as crazy."

"No, he was not." Gaea seemed irked by that as her brows moved. “The First Man, when I first saw him, struggled greatly with the world. He had no companion, so he spoke to himself. In time, he stopped. For a million years, he did not speak a single word because there was no need. His mind withered, and then something broke within him. He began to howl and sing like a beast, and from there, it only worsened.” 

"His mind was that of a human," Hela commented. 

"It was, child, and only more sorrow followed," Gaea said softly, lowering her gaze to her hands. "I watched him. When hunger stirred, he hunted. When boredom took him, he slept. In grief, he wept for millennia; in wrath, he set mountains aflame. In time, I believe, his mind declined further, and he began speaking to himself as though others stood beside him." 

"Voices in his mind," Hela said. "He used to hear them until recently."

"But he changed after meeting Uncle Marty, didn't he?" Helvar asked. 

"He did. And it was perhaps the most sorrowful time of his long life."

"Why?" Kael asked. 

Gaea exhaled deeply. "Because that was the time he lost all he loved and cherished. The only creatures with whom he shared the land. The dinosaurs were more than beasts to him. He hunted them, yes, but he also played beside them and raised them as his own. Marty was born of chance. The egg that carried him was meant to be eaten, yet First Man forgot it, and so Marty lived.

"For reasons even I cannot fully explain, he kept the little one and raised him. In time, a true bond grew between them. I could not bear to see First Man lose the only friend he had, so I granted Marty endless life. The others, however, I could not save. 

"When the sky fell, I remember First Man's fear. I remember him racing through the jungles, trying to save as many as he could. He gathered them, guided them, pleaded against fate itself. Yet most were taken by hunger in the years that followed. Only a few survived, enough to sustain Marty. I believe his indifference toward life began then. Losing those creatures was like losing a family. Had Marty not remained, I fear what might have become of him." 

There was silence for a while. They tried to imagine themselves in First Man's shoes. But it was hard to do it, too used to seeing the current world. 

"But… what about dad's origin?" Kael asked. "Where did he come from? If he was just a human at the beginning, how did he end up there? Could he be a stranded time traveler?"

"No, he is not of this world, or time, or this multiverse. He is an anomaly that shouldn't exist. Yet here we are." Gaea replied, and pointed at the little baby in the cradle. "In the grand scheme, even I am a mere messenger." 

"So… dad needs to put this baby somewhere?" Helvar asked, poking at the baby's cheeks. "Maybe I can take him to dad."

Gaea quickly warned.

"No, you must not meddle with destiny. This time, it is all his to carve."

####

Superflow,

"Fucking die! All of you!" 

It was a massacre of Aspirants. There weren't many of them left, and whatever was left couldn't fight Marshall. He had died a dozen times whenever some strange new Aspirant appeared with a strange ability. 

But then he would return and hit them with that same ability. As diamond cuts diamond, Marshall became more of an Aspirant than they as he kept collecting powers one after another. However, Superflow wasn't his end destination to begin with. 

As he hunted the Aspirants, they also tried to escape. In that chase, he soon crossed into the Neutral Zone, the furthest point in the Multiverse where matter and antimatter coexisted. It was outside the universes, but within the multiverse. 

"You ain't escaping me!" 

Marshall chased after them. There was a doubt that this was a trap, but he didn't care. He crossed the Neutral Zone, reaching its edge, and then finally left the Multiverse. It was also called the Far Shore, or the Void. It was the realm of nonexistence where space or time didn't exist. 

It was darkness all around, and there was simply nothing. Marshall had to take a break to orient himself because nothing made sense to him. As a creature of three dimensions, the Void was too strange for his senses. 

Quickly, he took out the Aspirant tracker. However, it no longer worked. He tried to use his senses, his body practically made of the same matter as the Aspirants. 

Eh, where the hell did they go? 

He felt nothing, no matter how much he tried. 

But then, in that dark void, a light flickered to life. It shone brightly and took the shape of a feminine body, but it had no skin; it was just a humanoid figure with curves, and the body looked as if it contained galaxies. 

"You are on the right path." It spoke in a female voice. 

"But you must die here," another voice said, appearing from another light, the same type of body but a man. Covered in stars and galaxies. 

Then a third voice came, another male creature. "To be prepared." 

"For the end," the fourth arrived then. 

Marshall frowned, alert. He couldn't feel the four creatures easily. He had to put a lot of his focus on them, because in essence, they felt like normal chunks of deep dark space.  

"Who the fuck are you four? I love dying, but I ain't dying for no reason." 

"It is for a reason," the female declared. "You are weak yet against the First Firmament. I am the Third Cosmos, First Man. We have been waiting for you here for many cycles of the multiverse."

"And I am Sixth, the one before your multiverse."

"I am fifth," said the creature who was the same as the others but had a weird, cosmic cloak on him. 

"And I am the Second. The first Multiverse. I was born of the shattered pieces of the First Firmament, the original universe," said the bald one. "I have been waiting for you for long, First Man. When I had prayed to the Mystery to send a solution, I had not expected the one above would listen."

Marshall frowned hard, staring at each of them with absolute confusion. "Huh? What are you all rambling about? Send me? Who sent me? You know my origin?"

"We do not, for it matters not," said the Second Cosmos. "To defeat First Firmament, you must grow. We shall kill you with all the power we possess, and you shall inherit them. But even then, you will not be strong enough. 

A billion thoughts were running through Marshall's mind. 

"Why? I can just go for the First Firmament and get killed by it." Marshall said. 

"First Firmament would not do that. It wields enough might to imprison you for eternity. You must be strong enough to force it to battle you." Third Cosmos, the female answered.

"Alright, what then?" he asked. 

"You must enter the realm of the King in Black, and devour his might, and wield his Necrosword." Second Cosmos said. 

"And who is this cunt in black?"

"Knull, he is called."