Marvel: Death Knight

"Let's find another place to talk," Garus said as he released his hold on Erik Lehnsherr, known as Magneto. As the only seemingly sane living person left on Earth, Erik had to know something about the situation.

"Who are you? A mutant? An Inhuman? Or some other kind of anomaly?"

"You don't need to know that much about me. I'm here because of these zombies."

Garus cast a teleportation spell, summoning several frost wyrms from the realm of the dead and gesturing for the others to climb aboard.

Seeing the frost wyrms—skeletal dragons with ghostly blue soul flames burning within—only Wade Wilson, better known as Deadpool, climbed up without hesitation. Erik and Howard the Duck, however, hesitated.

Wade knocked on the hollow bones of the wyrm, inspecting its structure. "So… this thing can fly, right?"

Erik declined to board, instead levitating himself atop a metal platform under his control.

"Howard, if you want to stay and get eaten by zombies, be my guest."

"Call me Mr. Howard," the duck grumbled. After a moment of hesitation, he warily climbed onto one of the wyrms, clearly unsettled by the undead creatures.

As they departed from the Baxter Building, a horde of mutant zombies arrived—former members of both the Brotherhood of Mutants and the X-Men.

Caliban, his heightened mutant senses still intact despite his zombified state, sniffed the air. His ability to detect mutants had not been lost to the virus; if anything, it had evolved to let him sense living beings more acutely.

"Three living beings were here recently," he muttered. He could also sense Hulk, Tony Stark, and the others, but chose to ignore them.

"Are you sure?" Cyclops asked, his eyes glowing with eager anticipation. The task of locating a cosmic shuttle was momentarily forgotten.

"Absolutely. They went in that direction."

"What are we waiting for? Let's feast first—then we'll find another shuttle."

With that, Psylocke, Blink, Cyclops, Mystique, and Azazel—along with a dozen other mutant zombies—boarded a rusted Blackbird jet and took off.

After flying for a while, Garus and his companions left behind the towering ruins of New York City. The frost wyrms descended upon an abandoned farmstead, where the air was thick with decay. The ground was stained with dark, coagulated blood, yet not a single bone or even a fly remained.

As soon as they landed, Erik slumped onto the ground, panting. "Got any food?"

Most of the world's food supply had been contaminated. The zombies had learned to hoard whatever edible resources remained, using them as bait to lure the starving survivors. Anyone desperate enough to scavenge was quickly devoured.

Garus himself had no need for sustenance, but his personal storage was filled with fresh fruits and meat. As he pulled the food from the void, Erik's eyes flickered with realization. The sudden materialization of supplies, combined with the presence of two Deadpools, made it clear—this Garus and Wade had come from another universe.

Ignoring decorum, Erik ravenously devoured the food. Garus, watching him, finally asked, "Tell me about this plague. How did it happen? Wasn't there anyone who could stop it?"

Erik hesitated for a moment before responding. "This… this is my doing. I had a virus engineered—one designed to wipe out normal humans, to create a world for mutants alone. But things spiraled out of control. The virus affects mutants, Inhumans… even gods. We never developed a cure. Then the infected stole a cosmic shuttle and spread the virus across multiple universes."

Garus was momentarily speechless. This was self-destruction on a cosmic scale. Finding a ready-made cure was no longer an option—his only hope was that Dr. Curtis Connors, the Lizard, could develop one.

Erik studied him carefully. "You're from another world, aren't you?"

"Yes. I came here to stop the plague before it reaches my universe. And to find a cure."

After a moment of silence, Erik spoke again. "Other than the cosmic shuttle we destroyed at the Baxter Building, the Watchers also possess such technology."

The Watchers' technology far surpassed that of any other civilization. If anyone had interdimensional travel devices, it was them.

Wade, still poking at the frost wyrms, turned to them. "So, what? We're looking for the Watchers now?"

That was easier said than done. Even the Watchers had been caught off guard by this virus. They never imagined that humanity—technologically inferior by cosmic standards—would develop a plague so catastrophic. When one of their own was infected, the rest had fled in panic.

Garus was still unfamiliar with this universe's specifics. This world had its own Kree Empire, its own Xandar, and even manifestations of the Celestial Five. But here, Galactus had already been devoured by the zombie Avengers, his cosmic power partially absorbed by Ant-Man, making him terrifyingly strong.

Thankfully, many of the most powerful infected—like Thor and Ant-Man—were elsewhere. If they had been here, Garus doubted he would have survived this long. The sheer number of zombies was overwhelming.

"Staying here isn't smart," Deadpool muttered. The one missing his limbs had no choice but to come along, lacking any means of escape.

Suddenly, Erik tensed, setting down his food and rising to his feet. "Something's coming."

Garus, too, sensed an approaching presence—fast-moving entities that neither emitted the aura of the living nor the dead. These were zombies.

The distant roar of jet engines shattered the eerie silence.

Zombies were flying planes now?

From the decrepit Blackbird, a group of rotting, yet terrifyingly familiar figures emerged—Cyclops, Mystique, and other mutant zombies.

Regret filled Erik's heart. Had he destroyed everything? Was he the last of the mutants? Could anything still be salvaged?

His gaze turned toward Garus, the warrior from another universe. He looked strong—strong enough to stop the virus from spreading further.

"Cyclops… Mystique…" Erik murmured as the undead mutants advanced.

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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— PATREON.COM / PRIMALDEMON