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Jiro stood on the balcony of the Long Island villa, the night breeze brushing against his black suit.
Wanda was already asleep in the bedroom. The magic necklace on her collarbone glowed faintly, helping her finally escape her nightmares.
"Turing," he said quietly.
The AI butler's voice responded warmly. "Yes, sir. How can I help?"
"Monitor Wanda. If she wakes up, let her know I've stepped out for a bit."
"Understood, sir."
Jiro raised his hand. A golden arc of magic flared from his fingertips, forming a perfect circle in the air.
Blazing golden sparks spun and expanded into a portal—one that opened to the surface of the sun.
On the other side: the roiling solar corona, golden plasma churning like a boiling ocean, radiating pure energy and light.
His bio-field automatically blocked the harmful elements, leaving only warmth behind.
He was about to step through when—
DING! Multiverse anomaly detected!
The system's alert rang out in his mind.
Emergency mission: Prevent zombie virus from spreading to other universes. Target world locked. Immediate action required.
Jiro frowned slightly. "Zombie virus?"
The system didn't explain further. Instead, it projected a broken video feed into his vision.
A rotting Captain America tearing into innocent civilians. Zombie Iron Man roaring madly inside his armor. The whole world drowning in bloody chaos.
"…"
Jiro went quiet. He turned back to glance at the villa.
Wanda was still fast asleep. Her training had only just started, but there was no time to waste.
"Turing, if Wanda asks, tell her I had something urgent to take care of. She should stick to the training plan."
"Noted. Best of luck, sir."
Without hesitation, Jiro opened a new portal.
This time, the other side wasn't glowing and warm—it was gray and bleak.
New York.
But not his New York.
Smoke filled the air. Buildings had collapsed. Blood stained the streets.
He stepped through. As the portal closed behind him, a wave of rot and blood hit his nose.
"RAAARGH!!"
Down on the street, a pack of zombies were ripping apart a mutilated corpse.
And swinging between the ruined buildings—was Spider-Man.
But his suit was shredded, half his face was rotted, and beneath the cracked white lenses were two blood-red eyes.
"…Interesting," Jiro murmured, a spark of curiosity in his eyes.
"Zombie universe."
He hovered high in the sky, his super vision instantly scanning the entire city.
Stark Tower still stood in the distance, but the arc reactor at the top had gone dark, and the glass facade was shattered and wrecked.
Inside the building, a faint energy signal caught his attention.
"JARVIS?"
Without hesitation, Jiro accelerated, turning into a black streak as he shot toward Stark Tower.
The mission had officially begun.
Jiro floated outside the top-floor lab of Stark Tower, peering through the shattered window.
The lab was a total mess—equipment scattered everywhere, and dried bloodstains on the walls.
In the center of the lab, a modified Mark 43 suit was locked in place by dozens of mechanical arms. From inside the armor came a low, animalistic growl.
"Unknown lifeform detected."
JARVIS's voice suddenly came through the lab speakers. "Energy signature is abnormal. No match found in the database."
Jiro slowly landed inside, the sharp crunch of his black boots on broken glass echoing in the quiet room.
"I'm Jiro. I'm from another universe."
The zombified Tony inside the armor snapped his head up at the sound, the faceplate sliding open to reveal a half-rotten face.
He thrashed wildly, the mechanical arms groaning under the strain.
"Another… universe?" JARVIS's voice clearly carried hesitation.
"That... explains many of the abnormal readings."
Jiro walked to the control console and lightly touched the holographic display. Streams of data immediately unfolded before him.
"Tell me what happened," Jiro said in a low voice.
JARVIS pulled up a holographic video. "Three months ago, Mister Fantastic was conducting a quantum portal experiment when something went wrong. A mysterious virus was released. Mr. Reed was the first infected, followed by his family."
On screen, the members of the Fantastic Four mutated one by one, attacking the Avengers who had come to help.
Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow fell in turn—only to rise again in a horrifying new form.
"After Stark was bitten, he immediately activated isolation protocols," JARVIS continued.
"He modified his armor and had me permanently lock him in here. For the past 87 days, he's been fighting the virus."
Jiro looked at Tony inside the suit. That rotting face still held a flicker of the man he once knew.
Suddenly, zombie Tony let out a rasping groan: "Kill… me…"
JARVIS immediately reinforced the restraints. "Sir, please don't!"
Jiro was quiet for a moment before asking, "Any other survivors?"
"Based on the last scans, there may be a few humans hiding in underground shelters," JARVIS replied.
"But most of the superheroes have already turned. The most dangerous is Zombie Hulk. He's destroyed three cities."
Just then, alarms blared: "Warning! High-energy signal approaching! Thor is—"
Before the sentence finished, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky and blasted the lab wall apart!
From the dust and rubble emerged a towering figure—Thor.
But his golden hair was mostly gone, his skin had turned a sickly gray-blue, and Mjolnir was caked with dried blood.
"ROOOAAARRR!!"
Zombie Thor let out a deafening howl, his one eye burning with wild hunger.
Jiro's eyes flashed gold. "Asgardian… it's time to rest."
He broke the sound barrier in an instant and punched Thor square in the chest!
Zombie Thor didn't even have time to react. A massive hole blasted through his chest, flinging rotten organs everywhere.
Jiro didn't stop—his heat vision precisely sliced through Thor's spine. When the head hit the floor, the mouth was still twitching uselessly.
The whole thing took less than 0.3 seconds.
"Threat… neutralized?" JARVIS sounded stunned. "You eliminated Thor."
Jiro shook bits of flesh off his hand. "That wasn't Thor anymore."
He turned back to look at Tony in the armor. Before resorting to his hyper-intellect, he wanted to see if JARVIS had another way.
"Can you develop a cure?"
JARVIS answered quickly, but there was regret in his voice. "I'm sorry, sir. I've run countless simulations. There's no viable substitute for the components needed—and no way to eliminate the virus."
"I understand. Tell me where the Fantastic Four's lab is."
"Baxter Building. But it's been… transformed by Reed."
"I know the risks," Jiro interrupted. "Tony's files mentioned a possible vaccine."
Zombie Tony suddenly began thrashing violently, the arms groaning under the strain.
JARVIS switched to backup power immediately. "Restraint system is about to fail!"
Jiro stepped up to the armor and locked eyes with Tony's decaying ones. "Hang in there, Tony. I'll end this."
From deep in Tony's rotting throat came a garbled sound, then—shockingly—a full sentence: "Reed… still has… his mind… careful…"
The moment those words fell, the restraints snapped! Zombie Tony lunged—but froze half a meter away, stopped cold by an invisible bio-field.
"Goodnight, Tony," Jiro whispered, casting a spell with a wave of his hand.
The spell created an illusion in Tony's mind—he would think he was dead.
His body froze for a second, then slowly collapsed to the ground, finally finding a sliver of peace.
The lab fell silent. Only the occasional sparks from broken circuits lit the room.
"Sir… is he gone?" JARVIS asked softly.
Jiro nodded. "Not dead—but he'll sleep for a while."
"You really intend to go to the Baxter Building? That's where the infection began."
Jiro was already walking toward the shattered window, the gold markings on his black armor glinting in the light. "Someone has to clean up the mess."
He raised a hand and tore open a golden portal. Turning back for one last look at the devastated lab, he asked, "Coming with me, JARVIS?"
"Mr. Jiro, from my analysis, your watch contains code developed by another universe's Tony… including my core program. I'll follow you through that."
JARVIS's voice came from the wrecked armor. "Maybe this time… we can save something."
Jiro smiled faintly and stepped into the portal.
Golden sparks flickered out behind him, leaving only silence.
"....."