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...
The news Roger brought was undoubtedly a complete disaster. Thanos was waiting for them in Wakanda, and without the support of Wakanda and the other Avengers, going there would be nothing short of walking into a trap.
Everyone, who had been excited just moments ago, calmed down. After a while, possibly feeling the atmosphere had become too heavy, Scott Lang, who was being held by Hope, suddenly spoke up:
"Guys, since this Is Thanos... our friend here mentioned hasn't shown up yet, doesn't that mean we still have time to discuss? Maybe things aren't as bad as we think. So... how about we grab a coffee or something and talk it over..."
As he said this, Scott's mood dampened a bit.
"Oh, I wish I could have a cup of coffee too..."
Perhaps finding some truth in Scott's words, Vision silently went to make coffee.
Okoye helped the limping Black Panther, T'Challa, to a seat, while Spider-Man, Peter Parker, noticing the expressions of everyone around, looked at Roger and asked:
"You seem to know so much, does that mean you've fought alongside the Avengers before? Can you tell us, if the zombie outbreak hadn't happened, would Thanos have won in the end?"
Roger met Peter's innocent eyes and responded, "Actually, I haven't fought alongside you. I... I only learned about all this afterward. But I can answer your question: Thanos did succeed in his plan."
Banner then asked, "You mean we failed?"
"We did fail at first. When Thanos was in Wakanda, he killed Vision and took the Mind Stone. Then... he snapped his fingers."
Roger mimicked the snap of Thanos' fingers and continued:
"And with that, half of all life in the universe simply vanished, including half of the Avengers, Peter... including you."
Scott interjected with a question, "So Thanos collected the Infinity Stones just to wipe out half the universe's life? Why would he do that?"
"Because Thanos believed that the universe had too much life, but limited resources. By eliminating half of all life, the regeneration of resources would surpass their consumption rate."
"Huh, sounds like Thanos is some sort of environmentalist," Scott quipped.
Peter, however, was more concerned with the aftermath. He asked, "So... in that parallel world you mentioned, has half the world's population already disappeared?"
Roger's account of Thanos made everyone assume he had experienced these events firsthand, leading Peter to ask such a question.
Roger realized they had misunderstood and explained:
"It's not my world. What I'm talking about isn't a story from our world... This is complicated to explain, but you can think of me as... a traveler in that world. I saw what you went through, but I wasn't really a part of it."
"So what happened after that?" Bucky Barnes asked.
Roger continued the narrative:
"Captain Marvel returned to Earth. She's one of the original Avengers and is about as powerful as Thor. She and the Avengers went to confront Thanos, only to find out that the Infinity Stones had already been destroyed...
"But five years later, Scott suddenly reappeared..."
"Me? I didn't vanish with the others?" Scott asked, surprised.
Roger replied:
"Of course not. In that world, the original Wasp, Janet, didn't contract the virus, and you successfully rescued her. You then planned to explore the Quantum Realm together.
"But just as you entered the Quantum Realm, Thanos snapped his fingers, and everyone, including the Pym family, vanished. You were trapped in the Quantum Realm and only emerged five years later.
"But it was precisely because you were in the Quantum Realm that the Avengers discovered the possibility of traveling through parallel worlds via a quantum tunnel. They executed a time heist to retrieve the Infinity Stones from other parallel worlds and snapped their fingers again to bring everyone back... That's what was supposed to happen."
"So in the end, the Avengers managed to stop Thanos' plan," Peter said with relief. "It sounds like a happy ending."
"Yeah..." Roger responded half-heartedly.
Though it was considered a happy ending, Iron Man died, Thor left Earth, and Captain America, now old, passed his shield to the Falcon. As someone who had grown up watching Marvel, Roger felt a sense of melancholy about this conclusion.
It felt as though his childhood had ended along with it.
But there was no need to explain these feelings to Spider-Man. After all, in this world, Iron Man had died by Roger's hand.
After Roger finished telling his story, the group had mixed emotions.
Bucky fiddled with his gun, thinking of his old friend, and said to Roger:
"In that world, the Avengers succeeded."
"Yes."
"Then why can't we stop Thanos in this world?"
"...?"
A question mark appeared over Roger's head.
Hadn't he just explained that Thanos was an opponent they simply couldn't defeat right now?
Even when the Avengers and Wakanda were at full strength, they couldn't defeat Thanos. Now, with only a few remnants of their forces, going up against Thanos was a suicide mission.
Roger couldn't understand where Bucky got the confidence to believe they could do better than the original Avengers.
Sighing, Roger was about to try convincing Bucky, but Vision suddenly spoke up:
"You said that after Thanos collected all six Infinity Stones, he wiped out half of all life in the universe. And when the Avengers collected all six Infinity Stones, they brought those lives back... Is that the only power the Infinity Stones have when they're gathered together?"
"Of course not. Theoretically, once the Infinity Stones are gathered, you can use the snap to alter the very rules of the universe... Wait a minute."
As Roger realized something, he turned to Vision and asked, "Are you thinking..."
Vision replied, "If the Infinity Stones can change the rules of the universe, then they should be able to restore everyone to their original state, including Wanda!"
Banner stood up and joined Vision, adding:
"We wouldn't need any high-powered frequency amplifiers or advanced technology. If we can get the Stones, we can save the world!"
"No..." Roger said, watching as hope lit up in the others' eyes again, his own eye twitching. "I thought I made it clear: the full-strength Avengers, along with the Wakandan forces, couldn't defeat Thanos! Now we're just a handful of survivors, and Wakanda is completely overrun. Facing Thanos now would be suicide!"
"But waiting around is just as good as dying! You said it yourself, Thanos already has five Stones. If he wants to, he can find us anytime!" Vision retorted, raising his voice.
"This situation isn't like that at all..." Roger trailed off, unsure how to explain. Thanos was now a zombie. He might not even be seeking the remaining Stones, but Roger couldn't explain how he knew Thanos had turned into a zombie.
The fate of the Avengers he could explain as knowledge from a parallel world, but how could Roger, who was supposed to be experiencing this zombie apocalypse for the first time, possibly know about Thanos' condition?
If only he had claimed from the beginning to be a traveler who had visited countless parallel worlds.
As Roger and Vision argued, the other Avengers hesitated over which side to support.
As the situation started spiraling out of control, a sudden beam of light shot down from the sky, piercing through the fence surrounding the Caspian camp.
Seeing the light, both Banner and Roger's eyes widened.
They instantly recognized it as the Asgardians' means of transportation!
Sure enough, as the light faded, Thor, wielding his axe and sporting short hair, appeared before them, accompanied by a raccoon and a small tree creature.
Thor, upon arrival, scanned the stunned faces around him and asked:
"Where is Thanos?"
...
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