Richard's relationship with Black Widow and Sharon Carter was not hidden from the others in the underground base. In truth, no one tried very hard to conceal it. They were adults in a ruined world, and in a world like this, intimacy was neither scandal nor crime.
Still, not everyone approved.
Falcon and Black Panther, in particular, were visibly dissatisfied. In their view, Richard should have been traveling to other cities, rescuing survivors, and hunting zombie threats instead of spending nights behind closed doors. To them, urgency demanded sacrifice.
But dissatisfaction was not the same as confrontation.
They understood a simple fact. If Richard truly lost patience, none of them combined could stop him. The cherry blossom rain had already proven that. So they held their opinions and focused on what they could control.
Falcon, Black Panther, War Machine, the Thing, Hawkeye, Winter Soldier, and Happy spent those three days reinforcing New York's central defenses. They couldn't wall off the entire city, but they cleared major streets and erected barricades to prevent wandering hordes from re-entering the reclaimed zones.
Inside the base, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Invisible Woman worked tirelessly on another objective: locating zombie Thanos and zombie Captain America.
Peter Parker and Scott Lang were unquestionably brilliant, but they were not Tony Stark or Reed Richards. After three days of effort, they failed to create a tracker capable of identifying "super zombies."
However, they achieved something else.
They built a detector for Infinity Stones.
Using Banner's gamma-ray tracking algorithm and applying a cluster recognition model, they created a handheld device capable of locking onto specific gamma radiation frequencies associated with the Cosmic Cube.
Inside the lab, Peter gestured to a device resembling a high-tech metal detector.
"Scott and I adapted Dr. Banner's gamma tracking system. This can detect matching gamma signatures within a two-hundred-kilometer diameter."
Richard frowned slightly. "Only two hundred?"
"That's the limit," Peter admitted. "No satellite access. Limited hardware."
Richard picked up the device and examined it thoughtfully.
It wasn't perfect. But under current conditions, it was impressive.
"Have you tested it?"
"We don't exactly have an Infinity Stone lying around for calibration," Scott replied dryly.
Richard smiled faintly.
"You don't. I do."
He summoned the Cosmic Cube from system space. It materialized in his palm, glowing softly.
Scott's eyes widened. "You have one?"
"From my universe."
He tossed it casually into the air. It arced once before hovering five meters away.
Richard watched the detector screen.
A clear signal appeared immediately. Precise coordinates. Accurate distance.
He nodded in approval.
After recalling the Cube, he stored both it and the detector.
"You continue working on tracking super zombies," he said calmly. "I'm going to the Triskelion."
"Alone?" Peter asked.
"No. I'm bringing Natasha and Agent Carter. If security systems are still active, their clearance could be useful."
Peter accepted that answer.
Moments later, Richard informed Black Widow and Sharon Carter of the plan.
They prepared quickly.
Natasha suited up in her black tactical armor, Widow's Sting bracelets secured. Sharon donned S.H.I.E.L.D. combat gear and armed herself with rifles, sidearms, grenades, and blades.
Richard, by contrast, remained in casual attire.
He regarded them openly, appreciating the disciplined strength in their posture and the sharp confidence in their eyes. There was something uniquely compelling about capable women in uniform—less fantasy, more lethal elegance.
"Be serious," Natasha muttered, catching his gaze.
"Am I not?" he replied lightly.
Without warning, he stepped between them, arms sliding around both waists.
Teleportation.
The world shifted instantly.
They stood atop the Triskelion headquarters roof.
Natasha blinked once. "Another power?"
"I told you," he said. "I have many."
He retrieved the Infinity Stone detector and activated it.
After Thanos's invasion years earlier, both the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Stone Scepter had been returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. for study rather than hidden away. The U.S. government had demanded research to develop weapons capable of countering extraterrestrial threats. Hydra's infiltration had complicated that decision disastrously.
The detector screen flickered.
A gamma signature appeared.
Richard's lips curved slightly.
The signal originated more than fifty meters underground.
"Is that where the Cube was studied?" he asked Natasha.
"No," she replied after a glance. "The Infinity research labs were inside the tower. Underground facilities handled weapons prototypes."
Before Richard could speculate further, the signal shifted.
It was moving.
Natasha and Sharon stiffened immediately.
Zombies didn't carry artifacts for curiosity.
"Let's find out," Richard said.
He returned the detector to system space and pulled them close again.
Mind transmission.
The rooftop vanished.
They reappeared inside a dim underground chamber reinforced with steel and blast doors. Emergency lighting flickered faintly, casting long shadows across concrete walls.
And there he stood.
Captain America.
Or what remained of him.
Zombie Rogers gripped the vibranium shield in his left hand and the Mind Stone Scepter in his right. His uniform was torn and stained. His eyes burned with feral awareness rather than emptiness.
Unlike mindless infected, this one retained purpose.
The Mind Stone glowed faintly at the scepter's tip.
Natasha's jaw tightened.
Sharon's grip on her rifle steadied.
Richard studied the undead super soldier calmly.
"So," he said evenly, "you kept something useful."
Zombie Rogers tilted his head slightly, lips parting in a low, distorted growl.
Then he moved.
.....
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