Though Natasha had known Richard for only a short time—barely three days—she was a top-tier SHIELD agent with exceptional intuition. After several in-depth conversations with him, she'd easily detected his animosity toward Captain America. If she couldn't perceive Richard's hatred for Rogers by now, she'd be embarrassingly obtuse.
"I don't have a problem with him," Richard replied with unnerving calm. "I just really don't like him." He paused briefly. "By the way, I was the one who killed Rogers in my world."
Natasha's brow furrowed immediately at his confession.
While she couldn't speak to Captain America's character in Richard's universe, she held Rogers from this reality in high regard. In her assessment, Steve certainly had his shortcomings—his old-fashioned mindset, his occasional stubborn inflexibility—but he was an invaluable teammate. If nothing else, working alongside Rogers meant never worrying about betrayal or abandonment when the situation deteriorated.
"Can you tell me why you killed Rogers from your universe?" she pressed.
"There's nothing much to say," Richard responded with deliberate slowness. "It's just a matter of stance and personal dislike."
He saw no need to justify his antipathy toward Captain America. Everyone possessed their own perspectives, values, and methods for handling conflicts. Even if he provided Natasha with a detailed explanation for his hatred of Rogers, she might not comprehend his reasoning.
"Okay," Natasha replied, noting Richard's reluctance to elaborate. With professional courtesy, she allowed the topic to lapse into silence.
Less than thirty minutes later, Richard and his two companions returned to New York. After parking the Quinjets on the street before their headquarters building, they descended to the underground base.
Time passed quickly. Before Richard realized it, another week had elapsed.
During this period, in addition to engaging in philosophical discussions about the origin of life with Natasha and Sharon within the underground base, Richard made several expeditions outside.
Spider-Man and Ant-Man had yet to develop a device capable of neutralizing "super zombies." While they lacked a method to specifically target infected superheroes and supervillains, Richard refused to place all his hopes on Parker and Lang's technical expertise.
While the two scientists continued developing their containment device, Richard traveled alone to Kamar-Taj. There, he acquired the Eye of Agamotto containing the Time Stone and systematically collected every tome from the Kamar-Taj library into his system space.
Beyond his visit to the mystical sanctuary, he also traversed half the United States searching for this universe's Cosmic Cube. Perhaps due to some cosmic law of conservation of luck, his quest proved fruitless. Despite crossing vast distances, the artifact remained elusive.
Though his primary objective went unfulfilled, the journey wasn't without accomplishments. Along his path, Richard methodically eliminated every "super zombie" he encountered—Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, Human Torch, Abomination, and numerous others who had succumbed to infection.
He also made a dedicated expedition to Sokovia to confirm whether Wanda and Quicksilver existed as zombies in this universe. After extensively exploring the country and several neighboring nations, he found no trace of either infected Maximoff twin.
New York's underground base had become the nucleus of renewed civilization. After more than ten days of reconstruction, the streets and communities surrounding the facility had regained a semblance of vitality.
Not only had survivors from New York City congregated here, but refugees from other cities had settled nearby as well. While restoring the metropolis to its former glory would prove impossible in the short term, conditions had dramatically improved compared to the situation just weeks earlier.
If nothing else, an orderly human society had re-established itself with the underground facility as its center. Maintaining its current momentum, New York would gradually reclaim its status as a vibrant urban hub—though reaching its pre-outbreak state might require decades rather than years.
Richard paid minimal attention to New York's reconstruction efforts. His focus remained fixed on three priorities.
First, locating zombie Thanos. Second, finding this universe's Cosmic Cube. Third, winning over Invisible Woman.
While all three objectives held importance, his immediate attention centered on the third. Compared to defeating zombie Thanos or obtaining the Cosmic Cube, conquering Susan Storm's defenses presented a more achievable goal.
After spending considerable time together, Richard and Susan had developed a much closer relationship—especially after he'd eliminated zombie Reed Richards and Johnny Storm, then allowed her to conduct modest funeral services for both. Though their connection had strengthened significantly, some distance remained before he could completely win her over.
Richard felt no particular urgency. He wasn't planning to leave this universe anytime soon, affording him ample time to pursue Susan Storm. Moreover, following the funerals for Reed and Johnny, he'd detected a subtle "widow" aura emanating from her that hadn't existed previously.
Within a conference room in the underground base, Sam Wilson, T'Challa, James Rhodes, Peter Parker, Scott Lang, Natasha Romanoff, Sharon Carter, Susan Storm and others participated in their second discussion regarding post-disaster reconstruction initiatives.
Though Richard remained on-site, he abstained from the meeting. Instead, he occupied a laboratory within the facility, studying both the Mind Gem scepter and the Eye of Agamotto with intense concentration.
He hadn't extracted the Mind Stone or Time Stone from their respective housings, preferring to leave them within the scepter and Eye. Without the Infinity Gauntlet, he saw no reason to remove the Space Stone, Mind Stone, or Time Stone from their containers.
After extensive experimentation in the laboratory and confirming his ability to absorb energy from both the Mind Stone and Time Stone without complication, Richard returned the artifacts to his system space and prepared to depart the lab.
Shortly after exiting the laboratory, he encountered Spider-Man and Ant-Man approaching the facility. Peter had just begun to greet him when the ground beneath them suddenly trembled violently.
BOOM!
The sudden tremor shook not only the entire underground base but sent violent vibrations through the buildings above ground. Though uncertain of its cause, Richard didn't hesitate—he teleported instantly.
Within moments, he materialized thousands of meters in the air, rapidly scanning the area below. Soon, he spotted a powerful figure advancing through a distant street.
Zombie Thanos!
The moment Richard laid eyes on zombie Thanos, he understood the source of the previous tremors. The Mad Titan wore the Infinity Gauntlet with the Space Stone prominently embedded within it.
As Richard observed zombie Thanos from above, the infected Titan lifted his gaze toward the figure floating in the sky. Despite his zombified state, Thanos's domineering aura remained undiminished. Beyond the Infinity Gauntlet, the zombie Titan wore his full battle armor and clutched his massive double-edged sword in his right hand.
Like zombie Captain America, zombie Thanos displayed a "rationality" that ordinary infected lacked—giving the impression he retained his faculties. Of course, one had to overlook his decaying, zombified appearance.
After confronting zombie Captain America, Iron Man, and other infected heroes, Richard had confirmed that "super zombies" transformed from metahumans differed significantly from ordinary infected. They not only retained combat experience and skills from their previous lives but exhibited greater "rationality" and "intelligence" than standard zombies. Additionally, the virus seemed to enhance their existing abilities.
According to Spider-Man and Ant-Man, this resulted from the zombie virus's evolution. Though the outbreak had begun just three years ago, after infecting most of Earth's population, the pathogen had undergone significant mutation.
Beyond the super zombies transformed from heroes and villains, even ordinary infected had changed dramatically compared to those from the initial outbreak. If the earliest zombies were mindless beasts attacking indiscriminately, current zombies had learned rudimentary pack tactics and no longer operated as scattered individuals.
Richard's gaze shifted from zombie Thanos to the figures behind him. Arrayed behind the Mad Titan stood ranks of zombified Chitauri soldiers and vanguards. In the distant sky, several infected Leviathans drifted ominously.
The sight of these zombified Chitauri forces caused Richard to frown immediately. Though the virus had originated accidentally when Hydra scientists studied Thanos's corpse, all the Chitauri soldiers and vanguards who'd accompanied Thanos's invasion had been killed in battle before the zombie virus emerged.
Yet here they stood, transformed into the walking dead.
Has the virus evolved to the point where even the deceased can be infected?
This thought flashed through Richard's mind as he observed the zombified alien forces. An ordinary pathogen couldn't possibly infect Chitauri soldiers who had perished long ago—but the zombie virus in this universe was far from ordinary.
Any virus born from Thanos's corpse defied conventional understanding. After learning the origin of this universe's zombie plague, Richard couldn't help but think of Death—one of the five cosmic entities of the Marvel multiverse.
Death, the concrete manifestation of life's inevitable end, existed as the embodiment of mortality itself. This cosmic entity possessed infinite power over life and death, able to extinguish or resurrect almost any being at will. Death could create or destroy the souls of virtually all life across the multiverse.
In the cinematic universe, Thanos had collected the Infinity Stones to eradicate half of all life, allegedly to solve overpopulation and resource scarcity. But in the comics, his motivations were far simpler: to please Death itself.
Throughout comic continuity, Thanos and Death formed a dysfunctional couple—repeatedly separating and reconciling without ever completely severing their connection. Though lacking concrete evidence, Richard strongly suspected that the zombie virus's emergence from Thanos's corpse bore Death's signature influence.
After examining the zombified Chitauri army and infected vanguards behind Thanos, Richard immediately employed telepathy to contact Black Widow, Invisible Woman, and the others.
"Zombie Thanos is here with his zombie army. Looks like we'll have to fight another battle for New York."
Upon hearing Richard's voice, Black Widow, Susan Storm, and their companions all registered shock. While they knew Thanos had been infected, they hadn't realized the long-dead Chitauri forces had also risen as zombies.
Though bewildered by this development, they immediately evacuated the underground base and assembled on the building's roof. Their expressions darkened at the sight of zombified Chitauri and vanguard units surrounding the nearby blocks.
"Can you eliminate these zombies in one sweep, like when you cleared the city before?" Natasha asked Richard.
"Yes, I could," Richard replied promptly. "But if I handle the army, you'll need to deal with zombie Thanos."
"We'll manage the zombie forces," Susan Storm interjected. "You take responsibility for zombie Thanos."
"No problem," Richard nodded.
Even without the Invisible Woman's suggestion, he had no interest in the zombie army. Under the watchful eyes of Susan and the others, he retrieved Masamune from his system space.
Then, channeling the mana flowing through his body, Richard transformed his casual attire into Sephiroth's iconic black coat. As his clothes shifted to include silver shoulder armor and the long black windbreaker, his entire demeanor changed dramatically.
As the saying goes: clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha!
After donning Sephiroth's signature outfit, Richard no longer projected the impression of a cynical yet powerful metahuman. Instead, he radiated the presence of a silver-haired angel emanating divine authority.
So cool! Spider-Man thought immediately upon witnessing the transformation.
Just as the typically talkative Peter began to speak, Richard teleported from their sight, materializing before zombie Thanos with Masamune's tip pointed directly at the infected Titan.
"I don't know if you can understand me," Richard addressed zombie Thanos, "but I've always looked forward to fighting you."
The zombie Titan responded immediately.
BOOM!
Zombie Thanos raised his left hand and clenched his gauntleted fist. A laser-like blue energy beam erupted toward Richard with devastating speed—unmistakably the power of the Space Stone.
Though energy projection didn't align perfectly with the Space Stone's conceptual domain, all Infinity Stones could manifest destructive energy attacks. Indeed, such offensive energy projections represented the simplest application of the Infinity Stones' vast potential.
Facing the fierce energy assault, Richard raised Masamune.
Octoslash!
Eight immaculate slashes manifested in a single instant, intercepting the incoming energy beam.
Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice!
Masamune's edge carved through the energy beams repeatedly, neutralizing the attack. Some disrupted energy simply dissipated like air, while other fragments changed trajectory and struck surrounding buildings.
Though zombie Thanos could have continued his energy barrage, he ceased fire after witnessing Richard defeat his attack with Octoslash at Super Speed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After abandoning his ranged assault, zombie Thanos charged toward Richard like an enraged rhinoceros, massive double-edged sword raised high. Within seconds, the infected Titan closed the distance, bringing his weapon down with staggering force.
Rather than evade, Richard met the attack head-on, swinging Masamune to intercept.
CLANG!
The double-edged sword and Masamune collided violently, generating a thunderous metallic impact. Beyond the deafening crash, a visible shockwave erupted from the point of contact, radiating outward to buffet both zombie Thanos and Richard indiscriminately.
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Marvel x Star Wars: Avengers in the Clone Wars
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