Time flowed steadily across the Multiverse.
After a strong start, the New TVA had entered a rapid period of growth. The initial staff, fewer than a thousand, were efficient, but still a small fraction of what the entire Multiverse required.
Whenever a new Earth was absorbed into the God-Kingdom Universe and successfully stabilized, the TVA selected one or two capable Superheroes from that world to join their ranks. Little Fatty Ned's early observation had been correct: as more worlds were saved, TVA recruitment increased, and the speed of world-saving accelerated.
Now, the TVA bustled with activity. Employees, almost all seasoned Superheroes like Hawkeye, Wanda, and Banner, executed their missions with precision, rarely exercising personal initiative. Malrick had insisted on this discipline.
In the process of saving worlds, individuals like Iron Man or Doctor Strange, whose independent thinking could spark unpredictable consequences, were deemed unsuitable. Their occasional flashes of inspiration, however small, could inadvertently trigger a Multiverse-level crisis.
Thus, despite millions of Tonys applying to the TVA daily, under Malrick's instructions, Jarvis ruthlessly discarded all applications.
An interesting phenomenon had emerged: in the entire TVA, there was only one Tony Stark and one Doctor Strange. Though other Superheroes had multiple counterparts, only these two were the originals from the S Universe. Black Strange understood and accepted this restriction. Tony did too—mostly because he was confident his intellect surpassed that of every other Iron Man. Whether other Tonys joined was irrelevant to him.
Tony traveled through Universes daily, energized by the joy of saving worlds—but today was different.
"Malrick! You little brat! You claimed to be my older brother in other Universes! Do you do this every time you visit a world?" Tony's sleeves rolled up, his energy flaring. It had been a long time since he discovered this "truth," and now he finally cornered Malrick in the TVA, determined to teach him a lesson.
"Damn it, Jarvis, heat me a cola." Tony hissed. "I'll make this brat taste the pain of an elder!" He tried forcing the steaming cup toward Malrick, but Malrick and Jarvis, deep in discussion in front of the command room's display, ignored him.
"Young Master, we have now absorbed 186,070,000 Earths, with 30 million Universes fully merged," Jarvis reported. On the large screen, the God-Kingdom Universe was now a dense cluster of Universes. Hundreds of millions of interwoven Universe bubbles surrounded the God-Kingdom Universe from every direction.
If Malrick's m-bodies had not controlled them, this massive cluster would have long since become a cataclysmic collision site. The destructive potential of hundreds of millions of Universes colliding was almost unimaginable.
The efficiency of the TVA employees and Malrick himself was staggering. The God-Kingdom Universe could not swallow worlds as fast as they collected them. For this reason, the TVA recently declared a short holiday, letting long-serving employees rest in their assigned Earths for a few days. In TVA time, only two weeks had passed, though the first wave of operatives, like the Little Spiders, had already spent years on missions.
"Judging by current progress, all remaining Universes will merge in about two days," Malrick observed, scanning the display.
Jarvis nodded. "I will inform everyone that the holiday ends in two days."
Tony watched them, jaw twitching. "Are you ignoring me? Seriously ignoring me?" He grabbed Malrick's shoulder. Malrick calmly asked Jarvis, "By the way, that matter I asked you to monitor earlier—is it resolved?"
"Of course, Young Master," Jarvis replied. "The Fantastic Four you mentioned? The first time they appeared, I immediately sent all four to Doctor Doom's Battleworld."
Tony and Doctor Strange were troublesome. Mister Fantastic was worse. Malrick refused to allow the Fantastic Four into the God-Kingdom Universe, instructing Jarvis to intercept them and send them to Battleworld whenever detected.
"That's good. Consider it my sponsorship for Doom," Malrick said, smiling. "Mister Fantastic is an exceptional talent. Sending many of him to Battleworld will strengthen Doom's plan."
Jarvis nodded respectfully. "Young Master is always thinking of the Multiverse."
Tony stared at his AI, confused by its unwavering loyalty to Malrick. "Is this still my Jarvis? Or… someone else?"
"You two are ignoring me on purpose, right? Silent treatment?" Tony growled. "Fine. I'll suit up and use my nanomaterial boots to kick your butts!"
He activated his armor and struck a heroic pose. Jarvis remained focused on Malrick.
"Young Master, another matter. During the holiday, employees returning to their Earths submitted feedback."
"Oh? What did they say? Want more vacation?" Malrick asked.
"No, not at all. They requested to connect their Earths, establishing communication and joint discussions about the Multiverse's future."
Malrick raised an eyebrow. "Ha, looks like those Tony Starks and Stephen Stranges are behind this plan."
Tony, leg blocked by Jarvis mid-kick, sputtered, "Wait, hold on… You're saying I instigated this? Malrick, you brat! You're slandering me again!"