"Trying to attack me with that?"
Richard watched zombie Captain America without the slightest tension in his posture. Even though the Mind Stone was one of the most powerful artifacts in existence, he knew Rogers couldn't possibly draw out its full potential in this state.
The gem was extraordinary.
The wielder was not.
At best, the infected super soldier could channel it into crude energy projections. That was already more than most zombies were capable of.
Rogers raised the scepter and roared, the sound distorted and animalistic. The yellow Mind Stone at the tip began to glow brighter.
Then he fired.
A concentrated sphere of golden energy shot forward like artillery, tearing through the air toward Richard and Natasha at high speed.
Fast.
But not fast enough.
Richard lifted the authentic Yama Sword casually.
With a simple motion, he swung.
Zanshin.
A crescent-shaped slash—purple at the edges, white at the core—cut forward through the chamber.
Boom.
The two energies collided midair, detonating in a violent explosion that shook the underground level. The blast echoed through corridors and ventilation shafts, instantly drawing the attention of every zombie in the Triskelion.
Footsteps began thundering in the distance.
Rogers roared again.
He fired another blast.
And another.
Golden projectiles streaked forward in rapid succession.
Richard did not bother repeating Zanshin. Instead, he shifted stance and executed Eight Swords Flash.
Eight overlapping slashes carved through the air in fluid succession. Each incoming energy sphere was intercepted and split apart cleanly before detonation. Unlike Zanshin, the Eight Swords Flash dismantled the attack rather than triggering explosions.
The corridor filled with shredded light.
Richard lowered the blade slightly.
Enough.
Iai Slash.
In less than a heartbeat, he vanished from his position and reappeared behind Rogers. The movement was so fast that even Natasha barely registered it.
The Yama Sword traced a line of silver lightning across the zombie captain's neck.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.
Then the body stiffened.
Two seconds later, the head separated cleanly and fell, rolling across the concrete floor like a discarded ball.
The torso collapsed.
Silence.
Vulnerable.
Not even interesting.
Even with Mind Stone support, the gap had been overwhelming.
Richard exhaled faintly and extended his hand.
Material manipulation activated.
The Mind Stone Scepter lifted from the corpse and floated toward him.
He did not touch it immediately.
Instead, he summoned a rotating sphere of water over a meter in diameter. The scepter entered the vortex and spun rapidly as water currents scrubbed every surface.
When the cleaning cycle finished, he ignited Big Flame.
High-temperature fire enveloped the scepter, evaporating residual moisture and sterilizing it thoroughly.
Only then did he store it in system space.
He would not risk contamination. The zombie virus transmitted through blood and bodily fluids. Caution cost nothing.
After sheathing the Yama Sword, Richard teleported back to Natasha and Sharon on the rooftop.
"Anything else you want from here?" he asked. "If not, we'll return."
"I want to check the underground hangar," Natasha said immediately. "If we can bring back a Quinjet, that would help."
Sharon nodded. "I'll take one too."
"Fine. Bring two."
Minutes later, explosions tore open the hangar doors. Zombies swarmed toward the noise, but two Quinjets lifted off before they could converge.
They accelerated toward New York.
Inside the cockpit of one jet, Natasha piloted while Richard sat beside her.
After several minutes of silence, she spoke.
"In your world… your relationship with Rogers wasn't good, was it?"
Richard turned slightly. "Why do you think that?"
"You seemed uninterested in anything except killing him," she said calmly. "Even though he was different. He returned here from New Orleans. He wielded the Mind Stone. That alone makes him valuable for research."
She glanced at him briefly.
"You didn't hesitate."
Richard leaned back in the seat.
"He was infected."
"That's not what I meant."
Natasha's tone remained steady.
"You didn't even consider the possibility of restoring him. Or studying the anomaly."
Richard looked out at the cloud layer below.
"In my universe," he said slowly, "Rogers and I stood on opposite sides of a battlefield. That's enough explanation."
It wasn't a lie.
He had killed Captain America before.
There was no sentiment attached to the name anymore.
"He's already dead," Richard continued. "Whatever fragment of structure remained was the Mind Stone forcing coherence into damaged tissue. Remove the Stone, and what's left?"
Natasha did not answer.
She knew.
Instinct.
Hunger.
Decay.
"You're not wrong," she admitted after a moment. "But I'm not sure I like how easily you say it."
Richard allowed a faint smile.
"I didn't come here to save heroes."
He shifted his gaze back to her.
"I came to finish a task."
The Quinjet roared forward through the sky, heading back toward a city that no longer had zombies—but still had unanswered questions waiting.
.....
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