BIOGRAPHY - Page 3
But then, everything lived. The Seventh Cosmos rebooted to become the Eighth Cosmos, continuing the previous continuity of the multiverse instead of starting from scratch. However, there were subtle consequences which immediately piqued the attention of Adam Brashear. Adam had spent decades trying to stabilize neutronium as an energy source, but constantly failed due to the isometric lattices of the substance that aligned in unstable patterns of seven. However, after the Incursion crisis, which most people struggled to remember completely, neutronium suddenly formed into eight-atom cubes, a highly stable formation that produced crystal structures designated “Isometry-8.” The Blue Marvel reasoned that the very nature of the rebooted universe made Iso-8 possible now and may have led to other changes in everything that we knew. [Ultimates (2nd series) #1]
As his experiments continued, the Blue Marvel received an unexpected invitation. As commanding officer of the Alpha Flight space station, Carol Danvers wanted to put together a proactive thinktank to consider problems of cosmic significance like the Incursions, to ensure humanity was ready for the future. Captain Marvel first approached the Black Panther and Wakanda as contributing partners, and T’Challa recommended Adam for their initiative. Seemingly unmoved at the time of their last encounter, apparently the great king took to heart Dr. Brashear’s dressing-
down of the Illuminati. Adam was touched by the referral and intrigued by the possibilities. He agreed on the condition that this wouldn’t be another Illuminati, and their work would be publicly known and open to scrutiny. Carol readily agreed, and soon the Blue Marvel joined Carol, T’Challa, Monica and Ms. America Chavez as the new paramedics of the multiverse, the Ultimates. [Avengers #0, Ultimates (2nd series) #8]
The Ultimates’ first mission was a daunting one: they chose to solve for Galactus. They were well-informed on how the scientist Galan of Taa was the last survivor of the Sixth Cosmos, emerging into the Seventh to become Galactus, Destroyer of Worlds. The transition was not instantaneous, however, as Galan entered a birthing crèche which eventually caused his evolution into Galactus. 
The Ultimates recovered the crèche and made plans to combine it with the power of Iso-8 to change Galactus into something more. After entering the Taa II worldship and forcing Galactus back into the birthing chamber, the Ultimates succeeded in evolving Galactus into his next stage, as a Lifebringer. The former Planet-Eater was no longer a threat to Earth, and indeed began revitalizing the dead shells of worlds he consumed in the past, a proactive force for life. [Ultimates (2nd series) #1-2]
The Ultimates hardly rested on their laurels. They next decided to confront the broken nature of time itself, a strain caused by constant time travel, paradoxes and other anomalies. In order to diagnose the damage to the space-time continuum properly, they would need to observe it remotely, from the outside. From Beyond. The Blue Marvel and Black Panther engineered a craft 
buttressed by hyper-density Pym Particles in its hull so that Ms. America Chavez could use her star-portals to carry them where they wished to go. Their trip would take them beyond the Superflow (the space between universes) and the Neutral Zone (the exo-space border surroundings all universes). The trek was always going to be scientifically harrowing, but Adam didn’t realize it would be personally harrowing too until they crossed paths with Conner Sims, adrift in the furthest reaches of the Neutral Zone. [Ultimates (2nd series) #3]
Conner’s death had given Adam the leisure of forgiving him but seeing the man responsible for his wife’s murder in the flesh made the Blue Marvel realize he still blamed Anti-Man for everything that went wrong. Conner was in one of his more helpless and confused periods, making Adam look like the aggressor as he ordered the Ultimates to bring Anti-Man down. Before Adam lost 
control, however, Kevin manifested in the Neutral Zone to be his conscience. Adam reluctantly accepted that Conner wasn’t in control of himself and brought him aboard their vessel for care. The Ultimates’ journey to the outer void was a hazardous one and their ship eventually fell apart. They survived only thanks to the intervention of Galactus Lifebringer, who gave them some knowledge about the structure of space-time before returning the wayward wanderers back to Alpha Flight station over Earth. [Ultimates (2nd series) #4-6]
Back at the Triskelion, the Blue Marvel constructed an energy opaque field to contain the Anti-Man’s cell. Adam kept Conner isolated in case his instability made him dangerous again, even though Conner Sims’ had been acting much like the best friend he remembered ever since they returned from the Neutral Zone. Still, he was being evaluated for competence to stand trial for his anti-matter storms, with the U.S. and E.U. jockeying for jurisdiction. This was difficult for Adam but 
expected. What shook him was his teammate King T’Challa of Wakanda idly wondering whether he needed to exercise his royal privilege and kill the Anti-Man before trial. The Blue Marvel was appalled at the very idea, given his devotion to the rule of law, but the Black Panther was royalty and felt compelled to address any threat to his people swiftly. Still, for now, Wakanda would abide by the international consensus. T’Challa simply wanted Adam to know that, if he decided otherwise, there was nothing the Blue Marvel could do to stop him. [Ultimates (2nd series) #7]
The White Fox of South Korean intelligence contacted the Ultimates when the Korean hero Gun-R went missing. They discovered the Elders of the Universe held a new “Contest of Champions” on the remnants of Battleworld, with a sizeable chunk of “Iso-8” known as the Isosphere as the prize. The Grandmaster confirmed for the Blue Marvel that “Iso-8” was linked to the Power Primordial, which the Elders’ harnessed, and that his own summoner the Maestro betrayed him to claim the 
sphere. The Ultimates transported to Battleworld in an attempt to free the remaining contestants. The Blue Marvel briefly got the Isosphere away from the Maestro, but Banner knew Brashear’s weakness. Adam’s devotion to democracy and a system of controls for power made him fearful of actually using his power unchecked. When given a chance to bend reality to his will with the Isosphere, Adam blinked and the Maestro reclaimed the Isosphere to send the Ultimates home with their memories clouded of the encounter. [Contest of Champions #6-8]
When a new Inhuman named Ulysses emerged with the precognitive power to “profile” the future for upcoming threats, Carol Danvers was eagerly prepared to add his abilities to the Ultimates’ proactive “find & fix” protocols. Adam was initially supportive of the decision, especially since Ulysses’ visions allowed them to evacuate the personnel of Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S. before a Thanos attack, including one Dr. Adrienne Brashear. There were casualties before Thanos was captured, however, with the death of War Machine and severe injuries for She-Hulk. Spectrum blamed herself in part as the team strategist and who coordinated the response to Thanos. Adam consoled Monica afterwards, reminded her that mistakes sometimes happened. Whether they were made of living light or walking anti-matter, they were all still fallible people at their core.
Tony Stark was the loudest voice of dissent against the Ulysses Initiative, fearing the outcome of using possible futures to prosecute the present. Adam began to voice his doubts after Hawkeye preemptively killed Bruce Banner to avoid the prediction of a devastating Hulk rampage. Carol Danvers coldly dismissed Adam’s concerns, however, and it became clear she considered herself the leader and authority of the Ultimates’ cooperative, another sticking point. Adam was incredibly disturbed when Ulysses proved to be outright wrong on an accusation. He predicted an otherwise 
unassuming woman named Alison Green was secretly a terrorist who would unleash a black hole generator to destroy Wall Street. Adam was already uncomfortable when S.H.I.E.L.D. agents started manhandling Green as a suspected terrorist, despite the absolute lack of evidence other than Ulysses’ say-so. When her briefcase turned out to be just a briefcase, that was his breaking point.
Captain Marvel was bullheaded in her refusal to question Ulysses, even after this incident. She not only wanted to continue with the Ulysses Initiative without reflection, she even wanted to continue detaining Alison Green and violating her civil rights until SOMETHING turned up to prove she was guilty. Adam and T’Challa were already arguing against Carol when America Chavez expressed her concerns by beating Carol with a chair. As the Ultimates fought amongst themselves, downstairs in the Triskelion’s brig, Thanos manipulated Anti-Man into releasing enough power to free them both. Conner disappeared and the Ultimates rallied together long enough to get Thanos back in his cage. Faith in the Ulysses Initiative had still been broken, however, and the quintet of science adventurers had lost the trust between them.
After the Hulk and Alison Green incidents, Iron Man gathered half the active heroes of New York to oppose Carol and her Inhuman and Ultimate allies. The Blue Marvel remained on Captain Marvel’s side for the moment, and the battle of heroes proved devastating to the Triskelion. The fighting ended when Ulysses projected another of his visions to everyone present, showing Captain America seemingly dead at the hands of the younger Spider-Man. When Captain Marvel moved to arrest the horrified teen hero, even Captain America stood against her. The Black 
Panther also openly denounced Carol and the Ultimates, a surgically targeted PR strike which forced the United States to disband the Ultimates in order to stay on good terms with Wakanda. Iron Man was beaten nearly to death by Captain Marvel over Ulysses, who ended up ascending to a higher plane and removing himself from consideration anyway. The Ultimates and the Ulysses Initiative were done for. [Civil War II crossover]
As a group, the Ultimates were considered too powerful to operate without oversight, so the U.S. government actually issued an executive order forbidding them from reforming. However, the threats to the Eighth Cosmos were greater than the politics of one world, and Galactus Lifebringer wished to reform the Ultimates as his Heralds. He even found Conner Sims and used the Power Cosmic to stabilize Anti-Man as his first harbinger. Adam, Monica, T’Challa, Carol and America were no longer comfortable working together, but they accepted that cosmic forces were at work that needed their attention. Unfortunately, the NSA had tasked Philip Vogt and his team of Troubleshooters to secretly oversee and enforce the executive order on the Ultimates.
Aboard Galactus’ ship Taa II, the Blue Marvel intercepted the ghost of the Shaper of Worlds, who brought a warning about the First Firmament. The malevolent original Cosmos returned from hiding in the space Beyond when the Seventh Cosmos rebooted into the Eighth and seized the opportunity to chain Eternity as his prisoner. Now it and its agents were undermining the fundamentals of this reality. A fight broke out between the Ultimates and the Troubleshooters 
when the latter tracked them to the worldship. Adam Brashear ended up fighting their member, Simon Rodstvow, who initiated the conflict. Appearances aside, Rodstvow was not human but instead a creation of the First Firmament’s original loyalists, the Aspirants. These “Death Celestials” and their pets like Rodstvow worked at all levels of reality to weaken Eternity so the First Firmament to claim it all.
Rodstvow and the First Firmament’s other agents seriously wounded Anti-Man and corrupted Galactus, provoking him back into his role as Devourer of Worlds. Rodstvow’s revelation united the other Troubleshooters with the Ultimates, and Adam saw the chance to go further. Because the photon is its own anti-particle, Adam and Monica had always been able to share energy between one another. Building on this initial bridge, the Blue Marvel and Spectrum physically merged into an exponentially more powerful form. They joined with the Troubleshooters’ own gestalt, the Psi-Hawk, and kept Rodstvow at bay. Meanwhile, on the verge of death, Conner Sims chose to die with meaning by giving the Lifebringer energy that transformed him back to Galactus, returning the Devourer to his more benevolent form. Galactus Lifebringer then consumed Rodstvow and learned his secrets. With approval from the Troubleshooters, the Ultimates officially reformed and began operating out of Alpha Flight station as they prepared for their part in the war with the First Firmament. [Ultimates 2 (2nd series) #1-6]
[Note: When Adam and Monica temporarily merged, an Omega symbol materialized on their hands. According to related stories, this is the marker of the Omega Council, the Ivory Kings, the Beyonders, who were created by the Celestials at the dawn of the Second Cosmos. Why this merger of energy and anti-matter marked them as an Omega Being is unknown.]