Infinity Crisis

I don't own Avengers or Arrowverse or DC or Marvel. I know, so many tales but this popped into my head after seeing Infinity War and just would not rest. All comments welcomed.

One Snap.

That was all it took. A snap of a glove that could control all of time and space. A snap made by a madman convinced he was right. One snap and half the universe was wiped away.

But a snap on a scale greater than anyone could conceive. Even the holder of the gauntlet. A snap that made an effect that crossed across barriers.

A snap that ended so many hopes.

But also ignited at least one.

Earth-1. Star City

Felicity looked up from the computer as she saw Oliver and Diggle enter, still in uniform. "No luck?" It was quiet in the Arrow Lair, the buzz of the computers the only sound amid the sleek and high tech base.

Oliver shook his head. "No. Diaz is keeping it to the low ground now." His dark green uniform showed little wear of a fight as he put his bow on a waiting rack.

"Since you helped bust his operations, he's more nervous," Diggle said as he pulled off his helmet. "We'll get him."

Oliver nodded as he pulled back his hood. "Good to have you back."

"Good to be back." Diggle said with a light smile. "I know, it's been rough but…I'm glad we've gotten back on track.

"Did hear from Dinah," Felicity spoke up. "Sounds like Renee might be up soon and-"

That was when it hit. A chill cutting through the entire room. A sinking feeling in all their guts. A sign that something very bad was about to happen. Oliver Queen had felt that quite a few times in his life but never like this.

Felicity was the first. She was looking down at her hands when she saw them start to darken. She brought them up toward her face, staring at them in disbelief as they seemed to slowly flake away. She looked up, her mouth opening as the darkness washed over her face. "Oliver?" she got out just before it all came apart, her body transforming into dust and blown away.

Oliver just stared, unable to comprehend what he had just seen. He turned to Diggle only to see the same darkness growing over his body. His best friend was looking up, his face literally ashen before he too came apart. Oliver stood amid the ashes of his wife and his closest ally, his mind completely unable to accept what he'd seen. He might have stayed that way for hours if not for the shrill alarm of a cell phone.

Pulling it out of his pocket, Oliver robotically raised it up. "Hello?"

"Ollie?" Thea's voice came over the line, filled with anguish. "Oh, God, Ollie... …Roy…he just…I was here and he just…before me…and so many people in the cafe….Dust, Ollie, they're all dust!"

"Oh, God, you too."

"Wha? Who?"

"Dig…And Felicity…"

"Oh, God, Ollie…what is happening?"

Oliver Queen had no idea how to respond to that.

Earth-1. Central City

It was how slow it seemed to his eyes that would forever haunt Barry Allen.

He'd seen death before. He'd seen destruction. He'd seen a tidal wave about to engulf the city and Vandal Savage nearly ruining another. But this…this was so much worse.

It took a moment for him to realize what was happening but to him, a moment could be hours. Thus he could see every instant as the darkness washed over Iris's body. He could see her eyes looking down at herself, at first in confusion, then in alarm. Every inch of her decaying head moving up stretched out agonizingly slow as he saw her eyes gazing at him. There was horror, regret, pain…and love. That love that never died out even as the eyes themselves turned black and then into a cloud of ash.

All Barry could do was stare, not registering the scream from Caitlin as she saw Harry succumb to the same fate. He could only look at the slow-motion of his wife dying in front of him and helpless to stop it.

Once again, the Fastest Man Alive realized there were things even he couldn't outrun.

Earth-38. National City

There were times super-hearing was a total curse. This was one of them.

Kara could only gasp and grab at her ears. Usually, she was able to block out the constant drone of the city and moderate her senses. But this wasn't one of those times. She could hear crashes of cars, helicopters and more. She could hear fires explode. And the screams. Dear Rao, she could hear all the screams…

"Kara."

She stared at the pile of ash that had been Winn standing nearby a console when it happened. How he'd been talking one second and then nothing but dust the next.

"Kara!"

She turned her head to see J'onn before her. His own face was tight but clear. "I know you're worried but right now…"

"The people," she blurted. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Swallowing, she bounded past the stunned agents, reflexively trying to avoid getting her boots in any of the ash piles on the floor before taking off through the window.

J'onn looked to Alex, whose own face was marked with shock but trying to fight it. "Listen up!" His voice cut through the air and the agents who had been freaking out over comrades vanishing were instantly alert. "I want full scans of this planet! I want to know how far reaching this is and if there's any source!" He glanced at the ash piles and took a deep breath. "Get the labs here, get the….remains contained and studied. Move!"

As the agents bustled, J'onn turned to Alex, who was staring at the screens. His gaze followed hers to see news feeds of cities around the world engulfed in chaos. "What is happening?" Alex asked but the Martian could only watch in silence.

The Waverider. Outside normal time and space.

Sara burst onto the bridge at the loud alarm. "What are we looking at, Gideon?" Not surprisingly, Wally was there already along with Constantine who was once more ignoring the "no smoking" rule Sara kept trying to push.

There was a silence. "The current event is…unprecedented."

Sara paused. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear the AI sounded…scared. The rest of the Legends were gathering as a holographic screen activated showing Earth and a variety of charts with different colors rising and lowering. "I cannot accurately chart the level of this aberration," Gideon stated. "It is simply…incredible."

"How so?" Ray asked.

"To be blunt…In early May of 2018, exactly fifty percent of Earth's population transformed into dust."

A very long silence echoed at that. Mick actually put down his beer to show how serious this was. "What?" Sara asked in a blank voice.

"Nothing in any historical records indicated this was going to occur," Gideon stated. "Between those initial vanishings and the casualties of following accidents, the death toll is close to four billion. I cannot understand any cause or source. Suffice to say, the ramifications to the timeline are massive."

Sara blinked but nodded. "Okay, set a course for there. Gang, gear up, we've got a serious case to handle and-"

A familiar sound like a door sliding open came and they turned to see Ava Sharp come out of the portal. Behind her, they saw what looked like a scene of utter chaos at the Time Bureau with people running around and looking panicked.

"Ava," Sara smiled at the sight of her girlfriend.

"Sara," Ava let out a sigh of relief. "This….holy shit."

"How bad?"

"I've seen half of my staff turn into dust," Ava stated. "It's like that across the rest of the planet. It's turning into a cascade effect across the timelines, numerous futures are just winking out." She shook her head. "This is insane."

"We're setting course there, we'll be-"

"No," Ava snapped. "You can't use the Waverider."

Sara frowned. "Why not?"

"Sara. Think. Fifty percent of Earth just vanished and millions more dead in the aftermath. What do you think are the odds that some of those people were supposed to have descendants that built the Waverider in the first place?"

"Oh, damn," Ray muttered. "We're safe right now in limbo but we land in a more stable time zone…"

"And the Waverider can just snap right out of existence," Ava finished.

"I can confirm her hypothesis," Gideon inserted. "And if I may be so bold as to show my own sense of self-survival, I have no wish to risk this."

Sara slowly nodded as she took it in. "Okay….Zari, you're staying on the ship, keep an eye out."

"Why me?" the woman asked, a bit put out.

"Because it's possible one your ancestors just winked out too," Sara pointed out. "We can't have you vanishing with the Waverider."

Zari blanched as she nodded in acceptance. "The rest of you gear up," Sara intoned. She was moving to her room and trying to suppress the feeling of fear welling in her gut.

Earth-1. Star Labs. Nine Hours Later

As soon as Thea Queen entered the lab, she made a beeline for her brother. They embraced tightly as Thea couldn't help but let some tears come out of her eyes. Behind her, Nyssa was also solemn as she nodded to a waiting Cisco, Caitlin and Barry, the latter in his Flash costume but clearly shaken.

Thea backed up and looked around to take them all in. "This…I mean…the rest of the team?"

"Gone," Oliver said in a flat voice.

"William?"

"He stayed, thank God. He's with Lyla."

Thea looked over to Barry. "Barry…I'm so sorry."

He nodded. "So am I for you two."

"Joe?"

Barry shook his head. "Him, Harry and half of Central."

"Including DeVoe," Cisco remarked. "So looks like at least one good thing came of all this…"

Oliver wasn't in the mood for his black humor. "Not just us. It's all over the world. Just no telling how or why."

"It must be an attack of some sort," Nyssa stated. "But this…this is beyond anything even Ra's could dream up."

A whooshing sound got their attention and they turned to see what looked like a doorway forming out of thin air. It opened into a portal, allowing the Legends to exit, all in uniform. "Sara," Oliver moved to give her a hug.

"Hey, Ollie," Sara stated. She backed up before seeing the look in his eyes. "What?"

Oliver swallowed. "Your dad…He…"

Sara blinked. "No…"

"He was." Everyone turned as a figure in a black outfit slowly stepped into the room. "Right in front of me."

Sara stared in shock. "Laurel?"

"Not yours," Black Siren stated, her arms crossed.

"Black Siren," Barry intoned. "Laurel from Earth-2."

"One where you died with Oliver on the yacht," Laurel said, her voice laced with a bitter edge. "Where Dad died on my 13th birthday. I'm sure they can give you the rundown on what I've been up to."

"Speaking of, why is she not in jail?" Cisco asked.

Oliver sighed. "Trust me, I'm not happy either. But right now…we need all the help we can get."

Wally was looking to Barry. "Dad?" he asked. Barry's face was all the answer needed as Wally looked down at his feet.

Sara was still rocked by the dual news of her father dying and her late sister's doppelganger standing before her. She looked over to see Nyssa standing nearby. "Hi," she weakly said, wondering exactly how things could get worse.

A sudden wind picked up and what looked like a huge dark hole appeared in the air before the room. Emerging from it was Kara in her Supergirl uniform and a jumpsuit-clad Alex. "Kara?" Barry blurted out in confusion.

Supergirl nodded at them. "Barry. Hi, sorry to drop in but…something has happened on my Earth. I need help, serious help."

"It's…not really the best time."

"Barry, please. Billions across the planet, they've just…turned into dust. Winn, Jimmy, Lena, Mon-El too and his wife just…winked out of existence."

That got alarmed looks and for the first time, Kara noted how there were several people in the usual group missing. "Wait…don't tell me."

"Yeah," Barry said. "It happened here too."

"Iris, Diggle…Felicity," Oliver intoned. "Half the planet just…vanished."

"Oh my God," Alex whispered.

"It's not just us." Everyone turned to Cisco. "I got a call from Gypsy. She couldn't make it here but it's the same on her Earth. And Jessie said the same from hers."

"I need a beer," Mick intoned.

"For once, he speaks for all of us," Nate had to say.

Sara rubbed her temples. "This isn't just one world, it's across a few. God, the effects on history, the way it can shake things…"

"Beloved," Nyssa stated. "It will be all right."

Both Alex and Ava whipped their heads about. "Beloved?" Ava asked.

Nyssa looked to them. "I'm sorry, you are?"

"Ava Sharpe. Director of the Time Bureau. Sara's girlfriend."

Nyssa looked to Alex. "Ah, Alex Danvers, I'm with the DEO and…" Her glance at Sara summed the entire story up for Nyssa, whose lips pursed together.

Despite the situation, Kara couldn't help but smile a tiny bit at the realization that her sister was meeting both the ex and the current of her former one-night stand.

"Normally, this would be a fascinating subject to delve into," Constantine stated. "But we need to focus. This looks magical in some way but it's beyond anything I can figure out."

"It is, John Constantine. Beyond any realm any could conceive."

Everyone spun around at the sound of the cool voice. Standing in the doorway of the lab was a tall man clad in what looked like a blue suit, the coat flapping behind him like a cape. Around his neck was a chained golden medallion. A long hat covered his head. As he stepped forward, it became obvious that no matter how the light hit him, the upper half of his face was always cloaked in shadow.

"Oh, bloody Hell," Constantine moaned. "The Phantom Stranger."

"Who?" Oliver asked.

"No one knows for sure," the magician remarked. "One story is, he's an angel who refused to take sides during Lucifer's rebellion so both Heaven and Hell cast him out. There's an argument he's either the Wandering Jew or the Roman centurion who stabbed Christ on the cross so he's condemned to walk the Earth until the Second Coming." He took a drag on his cigarette. "Hell, some folks think he's Judas Iscariot paying penance. Or just some souped up magician. Point is, he shows up? The shit has nicely hit the fan."

The Stranger studied them all carefully. "The source is not from any of your worlds but another. One outside the 52 realities you know of." He waved a hand and in mid-air, a map of the cosmos was created, featuring stars and galaxies. One by one, a series of glowing gems was illuminated, each a different color. "At its creation, this universe forged a set of gems that contained the power of one aspect of the cosmic life." As he spoke, each gem flashed with color. "Time. Space. The Mind. The Soul. Power. And Reality." He waved a hand and the gems flew about the map. "They became the Infinity Stones, each with the power to make a being unto a god."

"Let me guess," Alex sardonically began. "Someone decided it was a great idea to get them all."

The Stranger nodded as the image shifted again. It showed a huge figure, his purple face marked with a pocketed chin and a bald head, clad in a huge blue armor with golden helmet. "Thanos. The last survivor of the world of Titan. His world fell into chaos when the population grew beyond its resources. Convinced such was the fate of the universe, Thanos began his quest to bring balance the best way he knew how: By killing half the population of the entire universe."

That got several shocked looks. "He is known as the Mad Titan," the Stranger said in answer to the obvious unspoken question. "At first, he merely invaded a world and ravaged half of it. But when he heard of the Infinity Stones, he saw a new way to achieve his goal. Through murder, invasion and trickery, he gained control of them, placing them upon a special gauntlet. In that moment, he became master of all there is and could be. And with that…"

"He…killed…half the universe," Cisco stated in a blank voice.

"Not just his." The Stranger studied them as the image faded. "The power of the Gauntlet was greater than he could ever imagine. It carried his command across the planes of the realities and into each of your worlds and many more. Trillions upon trillions across the multiverse wiped away." He looked over to them. "Thanos believed this would bring balance. In truth, he has instigated the end of all that is."

"Normally, I'd say that's melodramatic," Constantine noted. "Sadly, I know from you, that's not just hyperbole."

"The power Thanos unleashed was one that upset the laws of what should be," the Stranger answered. "The souls of those who have died…have not passed on."

That got a lot of attention. "Wait…" Ray began. "You're saying they're….not dead?"

"As I stated, their souls have not been allowed to pass. By this point, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory should be overwhelmed with new arrivals. None are. At least, not by those destroyed in his initial wave. Those whom died in various accidents and such have passed on. Yet the souls of the trillions taken in Thanos' snap of the Gauntlet are now…lost."

"Lost?" Oliver demanded. "Where?"

"Such is beyond even my sight," the Stranger stated. "However, because of this, the balance of both life and death has been undone. The barriers are beyond ravaged. Trillions who should be born in the future now shall never exist. Thanos has unknowingly set forth events that can destroy his universe. And as one goes, so shall another and another."

Barry's mind was racing. "If those people haven't…passed on…Then maybe…"

"They could be brought back?" Caitlin piped up, her face hopeful.

"Bringing back the dead can't be that easy," Sara said. "I know that."

"But possible," Constantine stated.

"That world is your best path to answers." The Stranger studied them all carefully. "There are many forces in play now. But your journey to this world may be most needed. They have their own champions there. Together, your forces may be enough to stem the tide of destruction to come." He slowly backed away. "Good luck to you all. The universe rests upon you." With that, he seemed to fade into the shadows and vanish.

"Fate of the universe," Nate noted. "So same old, same old."

Somehow, the rest of the group wasn't that thrilled with his assessment.

Earth-A. Avengers Compound

Steve Rogers looked at his face in the mirror, brushing at his now clean chin. Shaving the beard seemed an odd move but somehow it helped him clear his mind. He'd let it grow out of some doubts in his mission during the last year. To no longer be welcomed in his own nation, hunted for saving others, it had hurt Steve deeply. He supposed the beard covered up some of that pain. Now, he was getting rid of it just as he was feeling overwhelmed.

He'd been through battles. He'd seen slews of horrors most should never live through. But this was…something else. The image of Bucky turning into dust was going to haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. The realization it wasn't just him but half the planet was worse. They'd thrown everything they had at Thanos, all they could give…and they'd lost.

He wiped his face off as exited the washroom. He pulled on a dark shirt over his bare torso before heading out into the main chamber of the base. A few personnel were still around, leftover helpers and SHIELD agents and all wearing the same numb expressions Steve had. He had no idea who was in charge of anything. It seemed the President had survived but half the Pentagon and Congress were gone. That included Ross which meant the team no longer had some oversight. Once, Steve would have enjoyed that but now would have welcomed some sort of aid.

He saw Natasha nearby talking to a very familiar figure. A small bit of hope pushed up in Steve as he picked up his pace. "Clint."

Clint Barton looked to him. "Cap," he said in a simple voice. He held out a hand only for Steve to embrace him. Clint returned it awkwardly before backing up. "Your family?" Steve asked.

"My sons are still around." Clint clearly couldn't say the rest and Cap gave him a slow assuring pat on the shoulder. "Glad to have you here."

"Put an arrow into this Thanos guy? Not passing it up."

The whine of some engines got their attention. "That will be Tony," Natasha said. "He radioed he was coming in." The trio were soon exiting the hanger and into the field. Thor was there, alongside a fatigues clad Rhodey, Banner and that odd alien who kept insisting he wasn't a raccoon. He was rising up as he saw the alien spacecraft flow downward and make a rather awkward landing. "Geez, tell me they didn't let Drax fly again."

There was a pause before the ramp at the rear of the craft opened. Coming out, a hand to his side was a tired-looking Tony Stark. Behind him was a blue-skinned woman who appeared to be made mostly out of cybernetic body parts. With them was a gorgeous black-skinned woman in what looked like a take on a classic suit of armor. Following behind them was another beautiful woman, her lush black hair framing her face and wearing her own armor.

Thor's face broke out into a grin. "Sif!" he called out.

The woman smiled back as she moved to embrace him. "My Lord."

"Asgard is gone, Sif. No need to honor me with that title." Thor looked to the other woman. "Valkyrie."

"Thor," she noted.

"Yeah, ran into a distress call from another ship on the way over," Tony explained in a dull voice. "Found the armor lady with the survivors of that ship Thor was on. Seemed they managed to run into Sif here who helped and as soon as I mentioned Point Break here, they were in."

He looked to Steve. "Where's Pepper?"

"New York," Steve answered. "It's still a mess so she couldn't get out here."

"Good." Tony let out a sigh, clearly a piece of his very large weight lifted off him. "That's…good."

Rocket was looking over their shoulder. "Hey, where's the…" He stopped and looked at Nebula. "Aw no. Don't tell me…"

"All gone," she flatly stated. "By him."

"Gamora?"

"Gone."

The raccoon looked down at the ground as his eyes misted.

"So's the kid." Steve's head jerked up at Tony. "Him and Strange. They just…" He waved a hand.

"I know," Steve stated. "What you see here…all that we can get so far."

"Fury?"

"No word. I figure by now…"

Tony winced as he rubbed at his side. "I need to get this stitched up. Then we start hunting."

"Hunting?" Steve frowned as he followed Tony into the main building.

"He's out there," Tony stated as he marched toward the nearest lab. "He's out there just enjoying what he did. And there's no way I'm letting him do that."

"Tony," Steve snapped. "The world is in chaos right now. They need us to try and help, to keep order, we can't just go half-cocked out there…"

Tony whirled on him. "The kid trusted me, Cap. Peter trusted me and he just…in my arms, he…" Tony wiped his face. "That son of a bitch smiled, Steve. He smiled as he wiped out half the universe with a snap of his fingers. He doesn't just do that."

"Tony."

"We're called the Avengers, right, Steve? Well maybe it's time we finally lived up to that. We find him and we avenge God only knows how many billions of people."

"For once, I'm with Stark," Clint announced.

A coughing got their attention and they all turned as a pair of people entered the facility. One was a lovely woman with dark hair in a tight black jumpsuit. The other was a familiar, if rather non-descript, face in his own dark suit. "I'm sorry to interrupt. The…door was open."

"Son of Coul!" Thor called out.

Phil Coulson nodded to him and the others. "This is Daisy." He nodded to the woman next to him. "Sadly, we're pretty much all that's left. But we figure if you need us…"

"Good to have you back," Steve noted.

Coulson looked at the group. "I admit…I was expecting a more serious reaction."

"We knew," Natasha stated. "When we released all the SHIELD files, we went through them. Didn't take long to find mention of how you were brought back and running your own team."

"Ah."

"We just figured we'd wait for you to come to us," Tony stated in a cold voice. "Guess the wait's over."

"You sound mad."

"I spoke at your funeral."

"Thank you for that."

"I made a speech. A heartfelt one."

"I know, I saw."

"It was very moving."

"I cried."

"Have you heard from Fury?" Steve pressed.

Coulson shook his head. "If he's not contacting us by now…" He didn't have to finish.

Tony winced again. "Okay, I get this stitched, I work on armor, we figure out how to get Bruce to green out and then we find that bastard and rip his head off."

"Tony," Steve snapped. "We don't have time for just revenge."

"We let him get away?"

"No, we save what we have left first."

"We can handle that later."

"There are people dying now, Tony. We don't have a later!"

"Oh, does this seem familiar," Natasha muttered as she saw the two men facing off.

Before anyone could react, there was a crackling sound. Everyone turned to see what looked like a cloud of some sort forming out of thin air. It resembled the same force Thanos had used for his teleporting, just a bit more charged.

The group was gathered, weapons raised. Widow had her batons, Thor held Stormbreaker, Steve his shields, Tony allowed his gauntlets to form over his hands, Sif and Valkyrie pulled out their swords, Clint his bow, Skye raising her hands and Rocket had his gun up and ready. There was a pause before a set of figures exited the portal, over a dozen in all. They took in the group before them before their leader, a man in a green suit and hood, held up his hands.

"We're here to help."

So the idea to this hit me suddenly right after "Infinity War." Originally had thought Barry dying too but will play a big role to come in things. Also thought Nyssa going but come on, the idea of her, Alex and Ava clashing a bit was too perfect. I know it can be tricky given we don't know what's to come in the sequel and such but hope you enjoy it and all comments welcomed for what's coming.