He's the one

James wasn't sure what to think as he read through the file on Matthew's DNA. He had always known Matthew had the highest chance of being the one he was searching for.

After all, there were few Matthew Malloys in New York, and some of them were well past the age of puberty.

Matthew was about 20 or 21 when he reawakened his powers, but discovering that his best friend was the Matthew he had been looking for hit him differently.

It was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. His friend was the most powerful mutant Cerebro had ever detected since its creation.

Cerebro had sensed the birth of Mad James Jaspers, witnessed the emergence of Franklin Richards, Legion, Jean Grey—both with and without the Phoenix Force—and possibly even the Marquis of Death.

Matthew was known as the most powerful reality warper in Marvel history, but Marvel had killed him off easily, perhaps because they couldn't figure out how to give him feats surpassing the Marquis of Death.

Still, Beast, Charles, and practically every fan agreed that he was at least on par with, if not above, Franklin Richards.

As an adult, Franklin could only be killed when three Celestials worked together, and even then, it was only when he was much older.

He created multiverses and multiversal entities, as no Marvel multiverse or universe could exist without them.

Another significant aspect of Matthew was that death couldn't hold him back. Even when he lacked control, he could resurrect himself and others with just a thought. And now, James had discovered that his friend was that very character.

"Oh God, he'll kill all his close relatives and friends," James shouted, recalling Charles's story.

When Charles and Matthew first met, Matthew had accidentally killed his entire family because he didn't understand his abilities.

Charles had helped the boy by erasing his memories of the event.

In that story, Matthew appeared to be around 15 or 16, as Charles had to use a body of similar age to place his seals. This meant James had about a year—or even less—to strip Matthew of his powers.

"Damn, Matthew suffered," James thought as he reviewed all the information he had on Matthew.

Not much was known about him, as Marvel had killed him off before he could truly spread his wings.

"Paris, send a drone to Matthew's house and monitor him. Inform me if he displays any abilities," James said.

He had befriended Matthew because he suspected he was the Matthew Malloy, and he had been right. But he didn't want his friend to lose his family or spend his life in an orphanage. Matthew deserved to live fully as a normal kid.

[Affirmative,] Paris replied.

"Okay… okay, now back to the real task. I believe you've finished programming the Dreamstone, right?"

[Yeah, I'm done, and administration will be handled as you instructed.]

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow. I think Mom should be on her way home by now," James said, standing up from his chair and leaving.

As for the symbiote that had been created, Paris placed it inside a container, where it curled into a ball and remained.

James had no intention of relying on external power like symbiotes to become powerful.

If he did, he would already be using the Tenth Metal ring—an upgraded version of the cosmic ring—or he would have asked Paris to create a cosmic cube, allowing him to warp reality on a planetary scale or beyond.

Besides, the lab was filled with powerful suits, some capable of tapping into the quantum realm or the Microverse, others powered by artificial power cosmic.

All of these could effectively make James a god, but they were still external sources of power and could fail him one day, like the Freedom Ring—though his death was more due to a lack of imagination.

James wanted power that came from within, not from external beings or technology. He ignored all these as he left the briefcase, leaving the entire solar system behind as he returned to his room.

As James lay on the bed, a smile was clearly visible on his face. Yes, his friend was the Matthew Malloy who had suffered so much because he couldn't control his powers. But in this reality, it didn't matter.

James would take away those powers and let the boy live a normal life. For now, though, James was excited by the prospect of soon becoming all-powerful.

Of course, if this were the DC universe, he would have already achieved that. He could have absorbed the metal, made it part of himself, defeated Barbatos, taken control of the Dark Multiverse, and either let it continue as it was or reshaped the entire multiverse into something stable.