Hey everyone! This is THE chapter!

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Chapter 4

Wanda the zombie floated straight towards Bruce Banner who had just opened the hangar doors. She bit Bruce's arm, which turned green and with Hulk's strength, managed to push the Scarlet Zombie away.

Bruce looked at his arm that had returned to normal and unharmed, satisfied. With the Hulk, he didn't risk being infected like the others.

"Oh, nice save, big guy!"

Inside the Quinjet, Supergirl and Peter came to help T'Challa get into the cockpit. The King of Wakanda began to turn on the flying device.

"You think you can fly this?" Supergirl asked, taking a seat next to him.

"Uh, if it ever boots up." T'Challa replied.

Then Scott's head appeared beside them, floating thanks to the Cloak of Levitation.

"Uh, guys, impending doom on our six." He warned them in panic indicating the outside of the hangar overrun with infected.

"Uh, that's our twelve." Peter corrected. "But yes, what the head said. Doom, total doom."

Bruce joined them with a determined look.

"I can buy you guys some time."

In horror, Supergirl realized what the scientist intended to do. He was going to sacrifice himself in turn, like Hope and Bucky. And she was tired of watching allies die while she was Supergirl.

"Bruce… please… There are so few Avengers left… We need you…"

"Kara, I have to," Banner said emphatically. "You know what awaits us later. You must protect this world. It's all up to you now."

"Doctor Banner, no!" Peter added distraught. " We are not leaving you. I just… I… I really… I don't think I can lose another friend today."

Banner unveiled the Mind Stone and gave it to the young man.

"So... avenge us! (Turning to the Kryptonian.) Take care of the Stone. It's our only hope, protect it!"

Supergirl nodded sadly.

"Bruce…"

"Goodbye, Supergirl. I was honored to have met you."

Soon after, Bruce stepped out of the hangar and walked past the tide of zombies in front of him. And he started running towards them, trying to call the Hulk inside him.

"Okay, big guy. Kinda counting on you here. Things are pretty bad. It'd be nice for you to be the hero. I mean, wouldn't it be kinda cool for you to be the nice one for a change?"

While Banner was caught by a swarm of zombies, T'Challa managed to activate the Quinjet.

"Oh yes!"

Then the engines powering down.

"Oh no, no, no!"

A whole mass of zombies had gathered on Banner. Suddenly, all the zombies were launched into the air, with a fierce growl that was familiar.

The Hulk had taken Banner's place and slammed his fists on the ground, fending off undead. And roared to frighten the creatures.

Wanda the zombie came into his field of vision, spouting red orbs. The Hulk roared in front of her, and rushed straight at her. The Scarlet Zombie hovered over the Green Goliath at full speed and the two clashed in fierce combat.

Finally, Black Panther succeeds in making the Quinjet take off, squashing zombies in the process. While the Hulk hit Wanda who protected herself with her powers.

The Quinjet rushed through the air and left Camp Lehigh.

"We did it! We really did it!" Scott exclaimed, delighted.

"No, don't jinx it!" Peter panicked. "Doesn't anybody here watch horror movies?"

Through the porthole, a gigantic figure emerged straight in front of them. It was the Wasp, still giant and who had become a zombie.

With horror, Scott recognized it as his former partner.

"Hope? Hope? Hope?"

The giant zombie wasp grabbed the Quinjet with its hand, blocking its flight.

"I'll take care of her," Supergirl said, leaving the cockpit.

She went to fly outside. She went to put herself in the Wasp's field of vision.

"Hope!"

The giant zombie let go of the Quinjet and tried to grab Supergirl, who flew around her in super speed. The Wasp tried to catch Supergirl who was faster than her. And finally, the Kryptonian hit the zombie's legs, knocking her off balance and the giant toppled to the ground, crushing undead under her weight.

Supergirl returned inside the Quinjet, joining Scott and Peter who had watched in horror the once Hope Van Dyne turned giant zombie.

"I'm sorry," Peter said to Ant-Man who was upset. "She gave her life so we could get the cure."

"That's twice she saved me." Scott whispered sadly. "That's... very Hope."

Supergirl gently put her hand on Scott's jar with sadness.

"I'm really sorry."

Hours passed. The Quinjet was flying over the sea. Peter had finally fallen asleep. Supergirl eyed him fondly. She thought about the losses they had just suffered. Happy, Sharon, Hope, Kurt, Okoye, Bucky and Bruce Banner (whom they didn't know what happened to him). Supergirl had fought terrible threats before since donning her cloak and crest, but nothing quite like what this world was going through. She never had to fight zombies before. She was happy that she had been able to find a way to stop the epidemic with the Mind Stone, but she knew the worst was yet to come.

Young Peter finally woke up, and T'Challa who was piloting the Quinjet announced:

"ETA, 20 minutes."

Then, proudly, Scott's head floated with Doctor Strange's Cloak with a triumphant smile:

"Well, put another "W" on the board for the Avengers."

But none of the three in front him were happy with the current situation. Seeing their non-reactions, he insisted:

"Go ahead, high-five. It's okay, I won't feel left out."

T'Challa noticed that Peter and Supergirl seemed lost in thought.

"You both all right?"

The young Spider-Man sighed before retorting:

"Last year, Mr. Stark asked me to join the Avengers. I turned him down, and now they're all gone. And I'm still here."

"I came to this Earth, because I was happy to meet your Avengers," added Supergirl sadly. "Before it was just my cousin and I, then I met other heroes on another Earth, and when I learned about the Avengers, I wanted to know them so badly. And now, I would never have the chance again. On the Earth where I come from, I save lives. I can fly. I have indestructible skin. A super-force… But here my powers can't do anything to fix this world. Many good people are gone. And I'm still here too."

"You're where you're supposed to be. In my culture, death is not the end," T'Challa replied wisely. "They are still with us, as long as we do not forget them."

"Plus, they're not all gone." Scott added, still smiling. "Me. You still have me!"

Peter then remembered in shock as he looked at Ant-Man's face.

"Oh. I'm so sor... I-I forgot. You are an Avenger."

"Totally," Scott replied. "Big time. Well, maybe not officially. But, you know, at heart."

"Good," Black Panther agreed. "The world could use a little heart right now."

"And once we get this to Wakanda," Spider-Man added, looking at the Mind Stone in his hand. "We're gonna save the world."

Supergirl smiles again.

"Avengers or not, the three of you are heroes. And it's a pleasure to know you. Even though I couldn't meet the other Avengers, I am proud to be able to be around you."

"It's a pleasure for us, too, Supergirl," T'Challa replied gently.

"And the world needs people like you," Peter told him. "I need you, Supergirl. Because you give me hope and courage. It's up to us to save the world."

"And we will together," the Girl of Krypton assured him. "This S that I wear is a symbol of my planet Krypton which represents hope and also a reference to a Kryptonian proverb from our family motto: El Mayarah. In your language, that means stronger together."

"El Mayarah," Peter agreed ecstatically.

"El Mayarah," Black Panther added.

"El Mayarah," Scott repeated.

Supergirl looked at her new friends, confident and hopeful. Then looking at the Mind Stone in Peter's hand, she remembered the Mad Titan Thanos who would soon come to Earth to take the other Infinity Stones and thus wipe out the universe. The Avengers were gone. This Earth had lost its great protectors. Thor was gone. Supergirl doesn't know if the Hulk outlived Zombie Wanda Maximoff… who was left to save this world? Even if the zombie outbreak wore off, that wouldn't stop Thanos from coming to Earth to destroy them. What was she going to be able to do? She hadn't called her sister Alex, or any of her friends, not even Barry Allen or Oliver Queen so as not to risk them all becoming zombies in their turn. But if Thanos landed in an apocalyptic zombie world with no superheroes to defend it, Supergirl would have no choice but to bring in her allies to defeat the Mad Titan and his army.

Lost in thought, she looked outside of the Quinjet as it flew towards Wakanda, wondering about the uncertain future that lay ahead.

The Watcher Uatu continued to observe our heroes in the Quinjet, commenting:

Even in the darkest of times, humans will give all to save their planet.

Even if it might bring an end to the universe.

And it's done for the moment. I don't intend to leave this story on hiatus, but I want to wait until I see the sequel to What If before I continue with this tale. Because when I saw the promos for the next episodes, I noticed a continuity with the previous episodes, so I'm waiting to see before I decide to write an original sequel. Anyway, thank you for your reviews and if you have any ideas for follow-up to this story, let me know.

See you soon.