A lot had happened recently—the Annihilation Swarm, Thanos' invasion, and now a mysterious zombie virus had appeared, originating from another universe. It was enough to give Garus a headache.
According to Zombie Spider-Man, if multiple universes had already fallen to this virus and it continued spreading, then something had to be done. He couldn't allow that virus to enter this world.
Wait—he had already installed a planetary defense system on Earth. Zombie Spider-Man shouldn't have been able to appear on that island in the first place.
Forget it. That was a problem for later. He'd just have to remind Dr. Wim about it when the time came.
"Garus, where's my brother? Did you find him?"
As soon as he stepped out of the teleportation array, Wanda confronted him. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, she hadn't slept all night.
"Uh…" Garus hesitated but knew he couldn't falter. Half-truth, half-lie. "Pietro was poisoned. He's unconscious right now, but don't worry—Dr. Connors is working on a solution. Right now, our priority is figuring out the breach in the planetary defense system. How did an entity from another universe manage to get through?"
"…Alright, I'll investigate."
Watching Wanda walk away, he exhaled in relief. His focus now shifted to the most pressing issue—finding a way into the universe overrun by the zombie virus.
He retrieved the time-travel wrist device, still carrying a strange odor. It had only a few buttons. He pressed them at random, but nothing happened—it was completely out of power.
Back in Hell's Kitchen, Garus found Deadpool and Howard the Duck killing time with a game of poker. When they noticed him, Howard asked, "So, what the hell is going on?"
"A disaster across the multiverse," Garus said grimly. "A zombie virus has turned countless superpowered beings into the undead—including gods. Most life in those universes has already been wiped out. I need to locate one of these worlds and destroy their dimensional transporter before any infected superheroes cross over." Turning to Wade, he asked, "How does this time-travel wrist device work? How do you navigate between universes?"
The device originally belonged to Cable, who used it for time travel. After Wade stole it, he'd planned to save his deceased girlfriend—but an accident flung him into a parallel universe instead.
"That was a fluke," Deadpool admitted. "But I can guarantee we'll find the world you're looking for. Might take a few tries, though. If you're hopping universes, I'm coming with you."
Garus sighed. He had no way of overpowering Deadpool, and now the wrist device was in Wade's hands. His only option was to bring him along.
"So you're saying your universe-hopping is completely random? No way to target a specific reality?"
"Exactly."
Fantastic. Another headache. He'd have to find another solution.
After a moment of silence, Wade suddenly grinned. "Hey, buddy, how about joining my X-Force?"
Garus smirked. "Sure—but what's my compensation? Just so you know, I don't need money."
Wade leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "How about I tell you the ultimate secret of the multiverse? I bet you'd be interested."
Garus recalled Wade mentioning a big secret before. "I'll pass on joining X-Force, but if we travel the multiverse, I'll bring you along."
He knew both Deadpool and Howard were looking for a way back to their original worlds.
"Alright, then I'll tell you," Wade said. He'd revealed this secret to plenty of people before, but none had believed him—except Professor X, who, after reading Wade's mind, went mad and took his own life.
"The truth is, none of the universes are real. We're all just characters in someone's story. That's right—we exist inside a comic book."
Deadpool finished speaking and watched Garus intently. Instead of mocking him, Garus simply stared in shock.
Howard the Duck, on the other hand, burst into laughter. "Quack-quack! That's the funniest joke I've ever heard!" He flapped his wings, rolling on the floor in hysterics. "Garus, you're not actually buying this, are you? He's saying we're all fictional! Quack-quack!"
But Garus was lost in thought. Having been away from his original world for so long, his memories were hazy. Yet, something surfaced—a comic book title from his past: Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe.
In that story, Deadpool had broken the fourth wall, crossed into the 'real world,' and slaughtered Marvel's entire editorial team. Of course, that was probably just an in-universe joke by the writers. Deadpool hadn't actually entered the real world… had he?
Could such a thing really happen? Was he himself a character in a comic or novel? Was even his original world just a fabrication—including Azeroth?
The more he thought about it, the deeper the spiral became. Everything he had experienced felt preordained. If there really was an author, he needed to have a serious talk with them.
Damn. His head hurt. If this were true, then even his current thoughts were just the writer's imagination playing out. This entire world was nothing more than a fantasy.
"Dude, when I first found out this secret, I reacted just like you," Wade said, shaking his head. "I even considered wiping out all life in the universe. But then I decided I'd rather track down the entrance to the 'real world' and kill that damn comic book writer. Seriously, they made my face look like this and killed off my girlfriend!"
Howard the Duck was still confused. "I have no idea what you two are talking about. But if you're universe-hopping, count me in."
"Then it's settled. But we need a specialist—someone who knows where the dimensional transporter is. And I need him to help pinpoint that universe."
Garus was referring to another Deadpool—one that was now just a severed head.
At that moment, "Headpool" was in the lab, being relentlessly experimented on by Dr. Connors. The process was driving him insane. Then again, he couldn't die, so Connors had zero reservations about pushing the limits.
Chainsaws, drills, fire, electricity—no matter what was done, Headpool always regenerated.
The next day, Garus entered the underground isolation chamber.
"Connors, any progress?"
Seeing it was Garus, Connors sighed and explained, "His genetic structure is similar to Logan's, allowing him to heal faster than the zombie virus can destroy his cells. So far, we haven't found a way to replicate it."
"Hey, buddy!" Headpool called out. "Get me the hell outta here! This guy's a lunatic!"
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— PATREON.COM / PRIMALDEMON