"Awesome!"
"How did you do that?"
"Is that your power?"
"What do you even call something like that?"
Spider-Man was the first to recover from shock. Without his mask on, Peter Parker hurried toward Richard, eyes bright with barely restrained excitement. He looked older than the cinematic version—more mature, likely post-college—but the rapid-fire curiosity remained unchanged. Across universes, Spider-Man was consistently incapable of staying quiet.
Richard turned toward him calmly. "It's nothing complicated. I changed the material properties of the zombies. Flesh and bone into cherry blossoms."
Peter froze for a split second.
He was a scientist. Even without a lab coat, his mind processed what that meant immediately. Completely altering material properties at a planetary scale wasn't just advanced—it was beyond conventional physics. Compared to this, the Arc Reactor was child's play. At least Stark's tech obeyed theoretical frameworks. This defied them.
Peter did not press further.
"My name's Peter Parker," he said more formally, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
They shook hands.
Following Peter's lead, the others introduced themselves. Even in a world reduced to ruin, formality mattered. Afterward, they escorted Richard down into the underground S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Inside a meeting room, they sat across from him.
Black Panther, still wearing vibranium armor, spoke first. "Where were you before this? We've never heard of you."
The question lingered in the air. S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated powerful individuals aggressively. Someone capable of transforming eight million zombies into petals should not have gone unnoticed.
Richard considered briefly, then chose simplicity.
"I'm not from this universe. I'm from another one."
Silence.
"Parallel universe?" Peter asked.
"Similar to this one. No zombies. You exist there too."
Their expressions hardened. The concept wasn't absurd—multiverse theory had long been discussed—but hearing it spoken so casually unsettled them.
"I came here for one reason," Richard continued. "To eliminate the zombie heroes and villains on Earth. While doing so, I don't mind removing infected civilians. Once that's done, I'll leave."
He did not elaborate further.
In reality, he had three objectives.
First, complete the world challenge and awaken the Virgil template.
Second, claim what he desired from this world—specifically Invisible Woman, Black Widow, and Sharon Carter.
Third, obtain the Space, Time, and Mind Stones.
From their memories, he already understood this universe's history.
The zombie outbreak began differently here. After Thanos invaded Earth with the Black Order to seize the Cosmic Cube and Time Stone, the Avengers and Fantastic Four stopped him—but at heavy cost. Doctor Strange and Hulk died. Stark and Rogers were severely injured. Thor did not exist in this timeline's Avengers, and knowledge of Asgard was absent.
Post-battle cleanup exposed Thanos's corpse to Hydra scientists hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D., operating under Alexander Pierce. While studying his body, they discovered an unknown virus. Before they could analyze it fully, Thanos reanimated.
Zombie Thanos.
He slaughtered the Hydra facility and began the infection.
Attempts to stop him failed. Captain America, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and the Human Torch were bitten. The virus spread globally within months.
"Did you defeat Thanos in your universe?" Invisible Woman asked.
"No."
"Then how can you defeat ours? Zombie Thanos is stronger than before."
"I haven't fought mine," Richard replied calmly. "Not because I can't win. If you locate him, I'll kill him. Captain America, Iron Man, Human Torch—mark their positions too. I'll remove them together."
"They were our friends," Sue said quietly.
"They're already dead," he answered.
Her silence confirmed the truth she already knew.
…
Three days passed.
Richard did not leave New York to hunt Thanos immediately. Instead, he accomplished his second objective within the underground base.
Trust came easily after what he demonstrated in the sky. Transforming millions of zombies into blossoms reshaped how they viewed him. In a world suffocating under despair for three years, decisive power inspired something close to faith.
Sharon Carter approached first.
The first night, she came to his room voluntarily. The world had been ending for years; emotional restraint had eroded. Fear, isolation, and proximity blurred boundaries quickly. What followed was not complicated.
Black Widow required slightly more initiative.
If Banner had lived, perhaps she would have hesitated. But he was gone. Subtle conversation, shared burdens, the quiet gravity Richard projected—those were enough.
He discovered quickly that Natasha Romanoff in this universe was closer to her cinematic counterpart than the promiscuous interpretation some comic readers criticized. Her emotional history was limited. She had cared for Banner. That was the extent of it.
She was disciplined, intelligent, and far more than a seductress. Beauty was a tool, not her primary weapon.
Richard carried no illusions about permanence. He wasn't seeking marriage or redemption arcs. He approached intimacy pragmatically. Pleasure was separate from obligation.
On the third night, Invisible Woman joined him.
Unlike the others, Sue carried visible hesitation. Reed Richards had been her partner. Reed was now a monster. Grief and denial lingered in her eyes even as she made her choice.
She came not from recklessness, but from exhaustion.
In a world where the sky once filled with undead bodies, certainty was rare. Richard represented certainty—power absolute enough to end the nightmare.
He did not speak grand promises.
He did not need to.
…
On the morning of the fourth day, he stood alone on the rooftop.
Telepathy expanded outward, searching.
This time, he wasn't scanning for civilians.
He was searching for something far darker—anomalies in thought patterns, fractured but still present. The kind of residual cognition powerful beings retained even in undeath.
He found one.
Far outside New York.
Deep beneath ruins that once housed Stark facilities.
A mind twisted but intact. Burning with hunger, calculation, and rage.
Thanos.
Richard's eyes narrowed slightly.
Finally.
.....
Want to read ahead by more than 60 chapters. Then join my p@treon Right Now.
Link: p*atreon.com/BookReaderBoy (Remove the *)
Also Free members get 2 advanced chapters for Free as well.