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Adrian rolled his eyes and said vaguely, "The future isn't set in stone. I can only see some fragmented information, so I can't tell you accurately."
"Hey, you..."
"Alright, how long will it take to repair this portal?"
Tony's face grew serious, and his playful look disappeared completely. "If the three of them build it as planned from the beginning, it'll take about five hours to complete. But you know the situation with Banner and Reed. If we want it to meet the minimum standard for teleportation, even if Banner wakes up and helps me, it'll still take four days to fix it. If I have to do it alone, it'll take a week."
Hearing this, Adrian frowned slightly but quickly relaxed. He couldn't afford to wait, whether it was four days or a week. Based on what he had heard earlier in SHIELD's command center, they didn't have much time before the heroes sent would be defeated and forced back.
Let alone four days—he doubted they even had one day. Adrian, having already caused quite a butterfly effect, saw this as the best plan.
Looking at Tony, he understood why progress was so slow. The gold-and-red armor Tony wore, if modified to align with the MCU, would roughly be at the level of Mark 7 or Mark 8. Tony's visor still looked more like a welder's mask, a sign of how early this universe's timeline was. At this stage, the Avengers' enemies were mostly street-level thugs, so they didn't need high-end tech.
Still, understanding didn't mean accepting such slow progress. At this rate, if less than half of the zombie heroes were neutralized, they'd break loose and start wreaking havoc. It was worth remembering that there were smart "people" among the zombies, like Hank Pym, who had made preparations to store food for himself for when he inevitably turned.
Luckily, SHIELD wasn't the only organization in the world capable of building teleporters.
"This is too slow. I have another idea."
Adrian was about to explain when Tony raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Hold on, Fury called us for a meeting."
The two entered the conference room, a long table capable of seating over a dozen people at the center. This was probably where the Avengers would meet aboard their air carrier. Fury sat at one end, nodding as they entered and gesturing for them to take a seat.
On the other side of the table was a tall, blond man. His hammer, crackling with lightning, was casually placed on the table, and he didn't seem to care about maintaining the image of a god. He was sipping a bottle of beer, a pile of empties by his feet.
Thor hiccuped, squinted at Adrian, and smiled. "Is this the so-called clairvoyant wizard?"
Adrian sighed. Was this the first person to say that to him today?
"Yes, yes, that's me," he answered flatly, taking a seat in one of the high-backed, comfortable leather chairs.
With everyone present, Fury didn't waste time with greetings. Instead, he spoke directly, his expression serious. "The SHIELD team we sent out suffered major losses. We lost nearly half of our team members. But the good news is, they got the job done."
"We managed to bring back as many fighters as possible who can still fight, including Wolverine, U.S. Agent, Tiger, Ghost Rider, and nearly a hundred other heroes. But it's not enough."
A holographic image rose, showing most of the U.S. map turned a deathly black, with the rest infected in red and continuing to spread.
"That's why I called you all here, to get your input."
"Ahem."
Thor cleared his throat, put down his beer, and stood up. His red robes billowed, finally making him look like the Norse god he was. "Why don't you warriors unite and fight together to defeat this horde of zombies? Only then can I strengthen my righteousness and blunt their superiority."
Thor always preferred to use old English, not because he couldn't speak modern languages, but because he believed it suited his image as a god. His brother, Loki, however, had a very different approach—more cunning, with a talent for speaking of both people and spirits.
Adrian smirked and replied with a bit of sarcasm. "Marching shoulder to shoulder? These zombies have sharp teeth and even sharper claws. It would only take a moment for them to overwhelm us. Even if you sacrificed yourself, you wouldn't make it to Valhalla because it wouldn't be honorable—it would just make you foolish and reckless."
Thor's expression changed, and he looked ready to snap, but his alcohol-fogged brain held him back just long enough to realize Adrian had a point.
The world was too large for the remaining heroes to save alone. The air carrier wasn't a Noah's Ark that could constantly rescue people. Faced with a crisis of this magnitude, they needed a different plan, though the way forward remained unclear.
Thor sat down in frustration, opened another beer, and downed it. Let the strategists worry about the planning; he just needed to swing his hammer.
Tony gave Adrian an approving look and then said, "Maybe we should consider escaping to space or even a parallel universe."
Fury nodded, but his face remained grim. "Space isn't an option. We wouldn't make it out of the solar system before they got to us. And how long would it take to build your time travel machine to access a parallel universe?"
"A week, if Banner could help me."
"Dr. Banner can't help. The end of the world has pushed him to his limit, and he's barely able to control the Hulk. I don't want a green monster tearing through my spaceship."
"And a week... is still too slow," Fury added.
Frustration grew as they realized none of their options were viable. Thor flattened his empty beer can on the table and said, "What if we went back in time? SHIELD might have the resources, and I could ask my father for the wisdom to grant me this wish—to find a treasure powerful enough to turn back time."
Fury's eyes lit up at this idea. For the first time, he looked hopeful. Perhaps their future was bleak, but they still had a past.
Going back to before it all began might be the only way to prevent this crisis from happening.
"This is a great idea, Thor," Fury said.
But Adrian shook his head, pouring cold water on the plan.
"Sorry, I can't."
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