Immortality

**Immortality** is eternal life, it is the ability to live forever. A life with no end, however, brings no end to sorrow, loss and hurting. Immortal life is a lonely and depressing subject, which fortunately not many are cursed with, but across the universe, there are beings that have no ability to die, these true immortals will live forever even if the universe dies around them. It confuses many people when I talk of 'true immortality' opposed to the different types because they are no used to the different degrees. There are three different degrees of immortality and only one of them is the way that most in the universe believe it to be, these three degrees are known simply as the universal degrees of immortality. the concept of immortality only applies to beings, as entities abide to a different concept known as worthiness.

Beings of the universe were not meant to possess such powers of eternal life, this has meant that there are physical side-effects that some immortals suffer. At times the mind of an immortal may temporarily begin to shut down as if death was occurring yet their regeneration abilities reboot and repair the mind after a certain period of time, other side-effects may occur when a true or cellular immortal is poisoned, vomiting and extreme temperatures, along with other side-effects specific to the poison induced, may last for weeks for these beings. The length of time that these side effects are present depends on the level of severity of the damage

## Practical Immortality

The first degree of immortality is known as practically immortal, as immortality is defined as eternal life some argue that these individuals are not immortal as they are able to die. Someone who is practically immortal cannot die of natural causes such as old age, illness or disease meaning they must be further action taken to end their life by accident, murder, suicide or otherwise.

In order for someone to become practically immortal, it is relatively easy, a serum was developed in the galaxies of Dimipac and Marvellum to ensure their mightiest heroes would not die from ageing. One could take this serum and would then seize to age, become ill and therefore would not die from the petty failings of lesser men and women. Practical immortality can also be achieved through other means such as genetic mutation or modification and magic.

## Cellular Immortality

The second degree of immortality is more power and thus rarer than practical immortality, these beings cannot die from any natural death but also cannot suffer a wound substantial enough to take their life forever. Their immortality comes for their cells ability to regenerate or morph into different cells that are required for life, for example, if someone's heart was damaged, blood cells around it could repair the heart after a short while. Even if the damage would kill the person, they will only suffer a temporary death, the length of which would be determined by the extent of the injury. However, these individuals can still be killed even though it may prove difficult. Any being that is separated from its soul will die, also if every one of their cells is separated from each other the individual will be unable to survive. Repeated killing may also be effective but as soon as the damage stopped being inflicted the repair would soon be complete.

Cellular Immortality can be a mutation such as in Wolverine giving him this ability with relatively no hassle, but someone wishing to obtain it, it is slightly more complicated and difficult. For someone that is mutated to have cellular mutation then the process is long, painful and dangerous as it can only be achieved in one way. The genes of the individual must be altered so that the cells in the body will slow down the production of cells, thus making the individual un-ageing. After this process, the individual's cells must have a gene implanted in them that allows that to read and understand signalling molecules, even when they have been specialised meaning blood cells could understand that they need to turn into skin cells if the skin is damaged. After the cells can understand the signal molecules they need to be given the ability to differentiate into the different required cells. *Additional penultimate step*. The final stage is to limit oxygen to the individual until the cells are forced to differentiate and heal, it will either work or kill them but either way, it is extremely painful.

## True Immortality

These are the only beings in the universe who cannot be killed in any way, their cells heal any injury almost instantly and their soul cannot be taken from their body. It is impossible to kill someone who is truly immortal however these individuals are extremely rare. Beings that are truly immortal do not temporarily die like cellular immortals as their level of regeneration is much faster yet regardless of popular belief these beings still feel pain, it also possible for them to recover from decapitation or a loss of a limb. If the limb is held to the area it was taken from for about a hour then the cells will reattach, but if the limb is not reattached within 24 hours, then the smaller section(s) will die and the largest portion will grow them back, which is very painful.

To become truly immortal, an individual who is cellular immortal must be blessed or cursed so that their soul cannot leave their body, such as Deadpool was cursed by Thanos so that he could never be with ~~Mistress Death~~, and as the only way to kill a cellular immortal is to decapitate or remove their soul, then true immortals cannot be ever die.

### The Lazarus Pit

A **Lazarus Pit** is a natural phenomenon that possesses restorative properties that instantly heal injuries and even grant immortality. In every galaxy, there is one and only one Lazarus pit, the substance that fills each pit is a chemical blend of unknown composition, that grants one who enters true immortality regardless of their previous mortality level. The chemicals can also rejuvenate the sick and the dying, but will typically kill a healthy user. In addition, it appears to act as a youth restorative sometimes, decreasing the age of a user depending on how long they were in the pit, and in many cases, resurrect the dead. For maximum efficiency, however, someone must be placed in the Lazarus Pit within a relatively short period of time following their death. Although older bodies may be resurrected, there is no guarantee that they will return in perfect condition. Once leaving the pit the individual, if they survive, will have been granted true immortality but cursed with an unstable mind as it often takes their sanity.