American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

"I warned you about this."

Tony Stark, surprisingly, refrained from his usual sarcastic tone as he addressed Nick Fury. Turning slowly, he let out a weary sigh.

"I understand your desire to save lives. After all, I'm a hero too. I have family and friends, and nobody can accept a situation like this. But acting on emotion won't help us save more people—instead, it clouds our judgment."

"You're right," Fury admitted, his expression grim. "The situation out there is worsening. Those turned into zombies are nearly impossible to kill. Even decapitating them doesn't work—they somehow keep going."

As he spoke, Fury's eyes fell on a bottle of whiskey near Stark's table. Without hesitation, he picked it up and took a deep swig.

"To see the great Nick Fury turning to alcohol for solace—this must be worse than I imagined," Tony said, raising an eyebrow as he asked softly, "How many people have we lost?"

"A lot… far too many," Fury exhaled heavily, his voice heavy with resignation.

"Unlike those difficult-to-kill zombies, anyone bitten or scratched by them is instantly infected, turning into our enemy. The more people we try to save, the greater the losses we suffer."

Although Fury's tone was calm, Stark could hear the slight tremor in his voice, revealing the despair gnawing at his resolve.

"First, we lost the X-Men team. I thought their combat prowess would at least let them save some lives, even if they couldn't wipe out the zombies.

But we underestimated the sheer terror of Wasp and Ant-Man's abilities, capable of infiltrating anywhere...

Then we lost the Thunderbolts.

I sent U.S. Agent to lead them in securing the Verilia Tower. The labs there held essential equipment and resources we needed, but they encountered infected supervillains turned into zombies."

At this point, Fury slumped completely, the legendary S.H.I.E.L.D. director who once struck fear into criminals now looked like a man pushed to the brink.

"I just issued orders to recall the remaining heroes. At this rate, the helicarrier will fall without us even having any fighting force left."

"I anticipated this outcome," Stark replied. "Before things escalated this far—remember?" He reached for another bottle of whiskey from the cabinet.

Hearing this, a glimmer of hope returned to Fury's eyes. He looked up sharply at Stark.

"How's your device coming along?"

"It's done. I work faster than you bureaucrats," Stark said smugly. "And that's despite the lack of materials. If you'd given me more resources, I could've finished it sooner—and made it better."

Tony stepped aside, revealing a large, metallic device behind him.

To Fury, it resembled a horizontal gear. Not being a technical expert, he couldn't immediately grasp the logic behind it.

Noticing Fury's confusion, Stark explained.

"This is just the prototype. I know it looks a bit crude, but under the circumstances, it's already an achievement to build this.

Before you walked in, I had already activated it. Breaking through the barriers of the multiverse isn't easy. I have to meticulously screen potential worlds to avoid bringing in another mess like ours."

"How long will it take?" Fury asked.

"I can't say for sure. At best, it'll take a day. The helicarrier's systems struggle to handle such intensive calculations. If we were in my lab, it would've been faster."

Tony shrugged, looking every bit like a craftsman hindered by inadequate tools.

As Nick Fury and Tony Stark continued their conversation...

On the other side of the core area of the Helicarrier:

Invisible Woman Susan Storm, her brother Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and the Thing, Ben Grimm, had just returned to the laboratory.

They had followed Nick Fury's orders to rescue civilians surrounded by zombies and attempted to retrieve advanced technology from the Baxter Building.

However, the Fantastic Three's mission had not gone smoothly. Despite giving it their all, they were forced to retreat against the overwhelming number of zombie superhumans.

Fortunately, none of them were ordinary individuals. Susan's force fields allowed her to evade the zombies' senses, and she could obliterate even the strongest enemies by detonating their heads with focused energy.

Meanwhile, Johnny's fiery abilities incinerated anything that came close to him, and Ben's rocky, impervious body ensured he could not be infected by the zombie virus.

Their formidable abilities allowed them to narrowly escape and return safely to the Helicarrier, even if they couldn't prevail against the horde.

Back on board, under Reed Richards' guidance, they had some food to replenish their energy, followed by a long, cleansing bath to wash away the exhaustion.

Now, they no longer needed to venture outside to rescue others. Nick Fury had issued strict orders for them to assist Reed Richards in developing a cure or serum using the resources available.

Inside the laboratory, Reed had been staring intently at the head of the zombie specimen in front of him.

This captured zombie had already been thoroughly dissected, leaving only its head intact on the table.

Although the zombie's eyes were shut, Reed knew it was still alive—or, at least, that it retained some form of thought and awareness.

A phenomenon so bizarre defied any known scientific explanation.

Reed had no idea how long he had been staring at the eerily smooth head when the Fantastic Three entered the lab, now clean and donned in their uniforms. Yet, his eyes never left the grotesque specimen.

"Reed, have you made any progress?"

Ben Grimm, the Thing, approached Reed from behind, his curiosity evident.

The original plan was for all four of them to collaborate on finding a cure. However, Nick Fury's prior orders, combined with the need to retrieve items from the Baxter Building, had left Reed working alone on the zombie virus.

Now, the group hoped one of the world's smartest minds had made some breakthroughs.

"So… beautiful," Reed muttered, seemingly entranced, his words completely unrelated to the question.

Ben froze, certain he'd misheard. Turning to Susan and Johnny, he saw their equally puzzled expressions and shrugging shoulders.

With a skeptical frown, Ben pressed further.

"What did you just say?"

"Hmm?"

Reed seemed to snap out of his trance, his body shuddering slightly.

Looking around, his gaze landed on the Fantastic Three standing before him.

For a moment, Reed appeared confused and even despairing at their presence, but the emotions were quickly replaced by excitement and delight.

"Oh, my dear friends! Perfect timing! I was wondering where you'd disappeared to…"

Reed forced a smile, spreading his arms wide as if to hug Ben.

But Ben, ever cautious, took two steps back, avoiding the embrace. His brows furrowed as he scrutinized Reed.

For some reason, staring at his once-familiar friend, Ben felt a sudden and profound sense of estrangement.

.....

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394. The Fantastic Four Corpses!!

395. Tearing the Timeline!

396. Limited Echo Tony Stark!

397. The Time Bard!!

398. Zombie Sentry!