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Jiro hovered above the ruins, his silhouette stretched long by the setting sun.
He didn't use any superpowers to scan the area—he just watched.
New York was now nothing more than a silent graveyard, with only a few stray zombies still shambling in the distance.
[Sir, detecting an unusual energy spike,] Jarvis's voice came from the watch on his wrist.[Coordinates trace to the Statue of Liberty.]
Jiro gave a slight nod. His super-vision cut through kilometers of distance and locked onto the statue's base, where an eerie purple light was flickering.
A robed figure was kneeling there, surrounded by a complex array of magical symbols.
"There's someone still alive?"
In the blink of an eye, Jiro rocketed down and landed at the statue's base.
It was a skinny middle-aged man, hair messy, one lens of his glasses shattered.
He was frantically carving runes into the stone slab, muttering under his breath.
"Doctor Strange?" Jiro recognized the guardian sorcerer of Earth.
Strange jerked his head up, eyes bloodshot. "Who are you… cough cough…"
He staggered to his feet, bony fingers trembling as he pointed at Jiro. "Help me… I need to fix all of this!"
Jiro noticed that Strange's left hand was already rotting, held together with magic. "The virus—"
"Doesn't matter!"
Strange shouted hysterically, pointing at the magic circle on the ground. "I found a way to reboot the timeline—but I need a massive amount of energy! And you… you've got plenty of it!"
Jiro narrowed his eyes. Something felt off.
Strange suddenly fell to his knees, blood-tears streaming down his decaying face. "Please… let me bring them back… let me save Christine…"
Jiro was silent for a moment. Then he stepped forward and placed his hand on the center of the magic circle. "What do I need to do?"
Hope lit up in Strange's eyes. He immediately started instructing Jiro on how to modify the spell array.
With the final rune in place, the entire circle lit up with a blinding golden glow.
"Now! Channel your energy!"
Jiro unleashed a stream of brilliant white light into the array, flooding it with pure power.
The circle began spinning, crackling with intense energy.
"It worked!" Strange shouted, ecstatic. "The timeline is about to re—"
He never finished the sentence.
The circle suddenly turned blood-red, and Strange's body started decaying right before their eyes.
"No… no, this isn't right…"
He stared in horror at his own hands, now nothing but bone. "This isn't time magic… this is…"
"Devourment magic," Jiro said coldly.
"You're infected, Strange. This array was meant to drain my energy."
Strange's expression twisted from shock to madness. "Smart boy… but too late!"
His body exploded, releasing countless black tendrils that shot toward Jiro!
But Jiro was ready. His eyes lit up with golden brilliance—magical heat vision, full blast!
BOOM!
Pure solar energy collided with dark magic. The explosion vaporized the Statue of Liberty in the shockwave.
When the light finally faded, all that was left was a massive, scorched crater.
[Sir, energy levels have dropped to zero,] Jarvis reported.
[New York… is lost.]
Jiro fell silent. For a moment, he didn't understand why the system had sent him to this universe at all.
He gave one last glance at the zombies howling below—then activated his super-hearing.
All the sounds across the globe flooded into his ears.
Suddenly—
He found it.
Jiro's eyes snapped open.
"Wakanda."
A golden portal opened, and Jiro flew straight through it.
He hovered above Wakanda, golden sunlight gleaming off his black battle armor.
Below, Wakanda's energy shield shimmered with a dim blue glow, holding back a sea of raging zombies.
His super-vision pierced through the shield into the royal palace.
There was fighting inside too. So Wakanda wasn't safe either.
Outside the shield, the undead horde snarled and slammed against the barrier in waves.
In the air, Scarlet Witch floated ominously, her chaos magic twisting space itself.
Nearby, Black Widow moved in a grotesque, unnatural posture—her face barely human anymore.
Further out, Captain Marvel blazed with raw energy, ready to unleash a devastating blast.
Jiro didn't waste time. He opened another portal with a wave of his hand—
—and stepped straight into the palace hall.
The air inside stank of blood and rot. Spent bullet casings and broken vibranium spears littered the ground.
The once-impenetrable Wakandan throne room was now a ruin.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out from a side hall. Jiro teleported instantly.
T'Challa was half-kneeling, the Black Panther mask shattered, black blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. A savage bite mark marred his arm, skin turning grayish-blue.
Beside him, Okoye had a spear through her abdomen—but she still stood guard, refusing to back down.
Their attacker?
The zombified, virus-enhanced Winter Soldier—Bucky Barnes.
His metal arm was drenched in blood. Eyes glowing red, he growled like a wild animal.
"T'Challa… hang in there…"
Okoye gritted her teeth, voice trembling. Her wound was getting worse by the second.
Bang!
Another shot—Bucky's knee exploded—but he only stumbled, then charged forward with a roar!
Jiro appeared in a flash, grabbed Bucky by the throat, and slammed him into the ground.
Crack!
A sickening snap—his spine shattered. Bucky twitched a few times… and finally went still.
T'Challa looked up, pupils dilated. But he clung to consciousness, his voice hoarse:
"Who… are you?"
"Jiro," he answered simply, scanning the others in the room.
Gwen Stacy was curled up in a corner, her web-shooters broken, a deep gash on her arm turning black fast.
Agent Coulson was slumped against a wall, face pale. A wound through his chest was leaking dark red blood.
Vision hovered above them, Mind Stone flickering faintly. His color was dim, but he looked untouched by the virus—though his synthetic body was covered in battle damage.
Clearly, he'd fought something terrifying.
"You're all infected," Jiro said quietly.
"We know…" T'Challa gave a bitter smile, the energy in his suit fading fast. "We… won't last much longer…"
"There's no cure," Vision added grimly. "The virus has completely rewritten their cellular structure. It's irreversible."
"We know that," Okoye growled, gripping her spear tighter. "We've known that for a while."
"Then let us die like warriors," T'Challa struggled to his feet. The energy core in his suit flickered weakly.
Jiro looked at them in silence.
He knew—they were beyond saving.
"The zombies outside are breaching the shield," Vision said, glancing toward the palace gates. "Wanda… Natasha… Captain Marvel… they'll be in here any second."
At that, Vision paused, eyes fixed on Wanda, but said nothing.
"Then we can't let them in," Coulson coughed up black blood, trembling as he raised his pistol. "At least… don't let them destroy this place."
Gwen took a deep breath and forced herself upright, though her skin was already turning pale green.
"We… we can't become like them."
Jiro took a deep breath, eyes calm as he looked at each one of them.
"What do you want me to do?"
T'Challa raised his head, the light in his eyes not fully gone.
"Give us a quick death."
"And then… end this nightmare."
The air went still for a second.
Jiro slowly nodded.
"Alright."
The next instant—
Zzzap!
His eyes flared with scorching golden light, and twin beams of heat vision pierced through T'Challa and Okoye's hearts.
Their bodies twitched slightly—then went still. No pain. No struggle.
Coulson closed his eyes, a faint, relieved smile on his face.
"…Thank you."
Bang!
A thin beam of energy shot from Jiro's fingertip, piercing Coulson right between the eyes.
Gwen took a deep breath as she stared at her fallen teammate, then turned to look at Jiro.
"Don't let me turn into a monster."
Jiro raised his hand and gently placed it on her forehead.
"Sleep now."
A soft golden light flashed. Gwen's body slumped to the ground, her life extinguished in an instant.
Vision silently watched everything unfold. After a moment, he spoke in a low voice:
"They wouldn't want to become a threat after death."
Jiro nodded. With a wave of his hand, golden flames engulfed the corpses, reducing them all to ashes.
"....."