A/N I changed the title of the last chapter. I didn't think it would take that long.
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(Odin POV)
Well, that was interesting. I stop and feel myself for a moment. I close my eyes and feel that I gained something substantial. The power of punching, fists ... a new divinity. The god of fists. How ironic. I know about this from my meta-knowledge but to actually gain a new divinity from it, when I have not even been at this for three full days ... that's impressive. I can't help but marvel at my growing abilities.
I have surpassed Galaxy level by far but for what is to come ... it won't be enough. I see it clear as day. I take every chance I get to train and grow more powerful. Not to conquer or dominate, but to protect ... alright maybe dominate a bit. I do enjoy the feeling of coming out on top after a hard fight.
I know what will come in a few million years. The first host will arrive. The Celestials will make their appearance. If that was all, I wouldn't be that worried. I grow stronger daily but not enough to warrant fighting against one among the Celestials. Tiamut the Communicator. And no matter what my current strength is, I stand no chance against Tiamut. Tiamut is different from the other Celestials, he is more powerful than Galactus and it needed four Celestials together with Arishem to imprison him.
I am not on that level and I question whether I will reach that level in time to fight all of the other Celestials as well. I don't mind them that much. I just don't want them to walk over us like we're nothing. They may do their things, as long as we are both equal parties of this process. Why is that important?
Simple, should the Eternals ever not do their jobs, I will either directly or indirectly take care of the Deviants. And I am not interested in getting threatened and taking any orders from the Celestials as the council of gods did in these stories.
So I need to stand on equal grounds. I see that I won't defeat them as I am right now. I need to think of something else. And thankfully there are a lot of different things that I could do.
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The first thing I am thinking of is something simple and also insanely powerful. I am talking about the Starbrand. To understand what the Starbrand is, we must first understand the Universe better and look back at what I can see has happened in the past.
The space where planets, stars and other objects are located is called 'Deep Space'. As the name suggests it is simply what we call space. If you pass through the fabric that is called 'deep space' you reach something called the 'Superflow'.
The Superflow is the informational space between universes. It is where dreams, ideas, and visions come from, and where telepathy operates. High-level cosmic beings like Abstracts, Galactus, Aspirants, Celestials, etc. can also enter the Superflow at will.
The Superflow can be described as the level of aspects, the realm of the abstract entities, and a conceptual space where signifier and signified become one, metaphors and reality meet, and concepts make war. Combat in the Superflow is a metaphor and abstract entities can be directly damaged there.
So the Superflow is the space between universes that connects and separates universes, and it allows multiversal travel. However, each universe has its own designated Superflow, presumably the Superflow local to those universes. This is important to know and will be important later. The Dreaming Celestial, as Tiamut will come to be known, communicates in the Superflow.
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So we have 'deep space' then 'Superflow' and after the Superflow comes the 'Neutral Zone'. The Neutral Zone also called the Exo-Space is the space found between realities, beyond the Superflow, where negative and positive matter coexist. It is home to eldritch forms, predatory concepts, and powerful matter called Neutronium. The Neutral Zone is a "buffer zone" that leads to the Outside, beyond the Multiverse.
The Neutral Zone was discovered by one Adam Brashear also known as the Blue Marvel. But that is not important for now.
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Now that we have the basics out of the way, let us go back to the Starbrand.
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The Starbrand was designed by an ancient race called the Builders. In the Superflow, the dream space that connects universes, the Builders created stations that would scan worlds on the verge of ascending on a universal scale and/or would enter the Builders' "new universal structure."
Upon finding one, a station would fire a 'White Event' to give a select individual, who meets special criteria to prevent misuse, the power of the Starbrand to defend the planet, as well as others like a Nightmask, a Justice, a Cipher. Those are just the names of others who also gain powers through the 'White Event'.
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Each affected planet has its own set of Starbrands, Nightmasks, Justices, Ciphers, etc. If two different Starbrands meet, they become attracted to each other to avoid destroying one another. This is important and we will come back to this. A planet can be hit by White Events multiple times in its history. The Starbrand can also be passed down from one bearer to the next without the need for another White Event.
And now guess which planet has been hit by a White Event? That's right, planet Earth has already been hit by one such White Event and as strange as it seems, the current Starbrand is ... a dinosaur.
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A T-Rex is the first Starbrand on Earth. Now why would the dinosaur gain the Starbrand and why would the Earth be in need of protection? The reason for this is the pesky individuals called the Kree and the Skrulls. They have just emerged. I have seen the Celestials doing their thing on their respective planets. It won't be long until they come and visit our planet.
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No coming back to the power of the Starbrand. It is nigh limitless. That's right. The Starbrand was used by the Builders to shape the Universe.
The Star Brand gives its bearer god-like powers, limited only by the wielder's imagination! Imagine what I, with my imagination, could do with it.
The most easily attainable powers of the Star Brand are flight, incredible strength, invulnerability and the ability to unleash blasts of destructive energy, up to the equivalent of a nuclear explosion in force. Nothing too remarkable. In addition, the brand makes the bearer immortal, preserving him from ageing and reviving and regenerating his body upon its violent death.
All these "basic" abilities are the result of the infinite power of the Star Brand responding to the subconscious desires of the bearer. So if I were to wield it ...
Enough said.
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It goes without saying that should I attain the power of the Starbrand, I would shoot up the power ladder of the Universe and reach a high spot. That doesn't mean that much though. The power difference at the top is very strange and hard to say, even for me with the power of runes.
It isn't clear how powerful I would become, even for me. The future is not set in stone after all. But what is concerning though is the Living Tribunal. According to my meta-knowledge, there was a time when the Stranger, a cosmic being in his own right, got hold of the Starbrand and the Living Tribunal intervened.
The story is a bit more complicated but that is the important part. So I may run into the problem that the three-faced giant would intervene. Again I can't tell if this would come to pass, even at my level.
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Now apart from the Starbrand which takes its energy from the Superflow, another idea is gaining the power of the Neutral Zone and therefore over both matter and anti-matter through that. This could be hard to attain but it is a possibility. I would have to do more research on how I would gain the power to manipulate those energies though.
Another idea is to make full use of my Essence of the Blank. 'Your potential becomes limitless. You can learn any discipline or skillset, even if you shouldn't be capable of it, without forgetting it and practice them into mastery.'
Now if I go by my meta-knowledge, there is another set of stories that take place in a 'sister' Multiverse, called the DC Multiverse. And there, exist a different set of fundamental forces than we have here. One of those is the 'Speed Force'.
The Speed Force is a cosmic energy field and force based on velocity and movement and is one of the Seven Forces of the Universe. It is the representation of reality in motion, being the very cosmic force that pushes space and time forward. It has been stated that at its core, the Speed Force is equivalent to time itself, describing it as existence moving through reality, kinetic energy, and temporal energy.
And now guess who has the 'formula' to gain access to the
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What would it mean if I introduced a new fundamental force to this Multiverse?
I don't know.
That is the reality of the situation. I don't know what would happen if I introduced a force such as the Speed force to this multiverse. But what would happen generally, is that it would cause an explosion and spread throughout space-time and reach to all dimensions and the entire Multiverse. The Speed Force is omnipresent after all.
I would become a conduit of the Speed Force and gain access to infinite energy. This is not equivalent to stamina but pure energy which can be used offensively. If I prepare accordingly, using my runes and the Odin Force, I could even link the Odin Force and the Speed Force, connecting them or maybe ... even fusing them.
Food for thought.
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I open my eyes and look towards Gaea. I smile and with a thought I sit in the air above her position. I watch as she observes the situation with the Titans and Ouranos. I already knew what she was planning and asked her whether she would like my help or some 'information'. She declined, fully dedicated to her task and seeing the conflict with Ouranos through on her own.
Gaea, even though she doesn't see the Titans as her children, she cares for them still. That is also the reason why she wishes for the Hecantochires and the Cyclops to be released. If Gaea truly saw them as her children, she would either directly intervene or simply ask me to get them out. But she doesn't. She wants the Titans to deal with Ouranos and free their siblings.
I can only shake my head. She has no experience in these things. She only knows about her siblings Set and Chthon and the other greedy Elder Gods, who were out for power. But she can't read between the lines and see the more hidden agendas of others. Cronus is unhappy with his father's plan to destroy me, because he wants to be the one calling the shots, not because he likes me.
He wants power as much as Ouranos does and for that, he is willing to kill his father. I find it hilarious that both Cronus and his son will do the same thing. Their thirst for power and control, as well as some other things like intercourse and drinking, are their biggest concern.
I will let Gaea gain her own experience and then simply crush whatever is left. Ouranos and his offspring need another wake-up call. Maybe I'll destroy Ouranos for good. And the Titans, while I'm at it. They're not important at all. And neither are the Olympians in the future.
But we'll see how things progress. I now have to reach a conclusion about which way I want to go. Starbrand, Neutral Zone or the Speed Force...