Chapter XXXV: Infinity Crisis Act I: The Rings Part 4

Space Sector 666. Ryut.

Darkanos and Scot-Free exited the portal conceived by the Space Ring. Millenia ago, the planet Ryut was once the most cornerstone of intergalactic society. But a cataclysmic event involving the first Guardian Primes of Zandoa wiped out all sentient life, scorched the soil, and left Ryut nothing more than a lifeless husk. Scot pointed to a mountain in the distance, indicating that it was the location of the Anti-Life Equation. The duo trekked up the mountain until they reached the peak. Waiting for them, in front of a large cavern, was a hooded figure resting in a floating throne.

"Greetings, Darkanos - son of Telon. Greetings, Scot-Free - son of Darkanos." The figure's raspy voice welcomed his guests.

"Who are you?" Darkanos asked.

"I am Metranos. The last of the first generation of Eternals." The throne hovered closer to the new gods, giving them a better view of the elder's glowing eyes. "Long ago, I rebelled against the monarchy of the gods - I, too, sought the power of the Anti-Life Equation for myself. Only to fail. As punishment, I have been cursed with immortality. Forced to live on a dead world; observing the entirety of the universe while guarding a treasure I cannot possess."

"So the Anti-Life Equation is here." Darkanos grinned. "I order you to take me to it."

"Be warned, dark Eternal; the Equation demands a high price."

"I am prepared to pay it."

"They all think they are… they are all wrong." Metranos warned as he led his guests into the cavern. Soon enough, the trio came upon a transparent wall containing a pulsing black energy.

Darkanos snapped his fingers, creating a portal from the Space Ring so that he could grab the energy and add it to the Gauntlet. But the portal suddenly dissipated before the Eternal could reach through. Directing the full force of the Power Ring, Darkanos tried to break the barrier. But once the cloud of green smoke dissipated, he was disappointed to see that the wall between him and the Equation was still standing. Using the Reality Ring now, Darkanos attempted to wipe the barrier from existence entirely, but still, nothing happened. At last, in a moment of frustration, Darkanos directed all the power of his four Infinity Rings into shattering the barrier. But try as he might, the wall remained unscathed.

Scot watched with amusement as his father turned to the Equation's protector. "What is the meaning of this?!" Darkanos growled. "How can any barrier withstand the force of four Infinity Rings?!"

"It is not the barrier, Darkanos…" Metranos explained. "It is the Equation, itself. In order for any being to control its power, the Equation demands a sacrifice to prove that you truly understand its purpose. If you wish to wield its power, you must give up the one you love most… a life for the Anti-Life."

Scot felt a wave of relief wash over his soul. He had been so afraid that by saving Rom-Ulus, he had doomed the rest of the universe. But now, he could only chuckle at his father's ultimate failure. "All my life, I prayed that you would get what you deserve. And I was always disappointed." He spat, bitterly. "And now… you kill, and enslave, and you call it mercy. You demanded the universe for a prize, and it told you 'no.' Because you love nothing. No one!"

Darkanos unclenched his fists and turned around to face his child. Scot was unimpressed by the saddened expression on his father's face. "Really?" He scoffed. "Tears?"

"They're not for him." Metranos replied, gravely.

Scot's smile slowly faded as he stepped back from Darkanos. "No…" He whispered, fearfully. "No, this - this isn't love."

"I gave up on my destiny for someone I love once before." Darkanos sighed. "I must complete my quest."

"No!" Scot quickly broke a stalagmite from the cave floor and stabbed it into his heart. But a flash of blue cosmic energy transformed the sharp stone into dust before it could break his skin. He tried to run, but once again found himself chained to the Infinity Gauntlet.

"I'm sorry, little one." With a heavy heart, Darkanos ignored his son's cries for mercy and threw him into the Anti-Life Equation.

The master escape artist could feel his own free will slipping away as the Anti-Life Equation coursed through his veins and eventually into the Infinity Gauntlet. At last, Scot-Free rose to his feet. Pupils dilated, veins pitch-black, the Eternal turned to the one who wielded the Equation. Darkanos was his master. Darkanos was the Anti-Life. Darkanos simply was. "Darkanos is… Darkanos is… Darkanos is…" He muttered, quietly.

The tyrannical god brushed his hand over his child's hair. "Come, my son…" He sighed, half-heartedly. "Let us go usher in a new future for the universe."


Space Sector -1. The Forbidden Realm.

As Emerald Man's team approached the surface of Apokolips, the Armored Avenger became increasingly aware of the approaching planet. "Friday! Where are we standing on the brakes?"

["Still working on it, boss!"] The A.I. sounded distressed.

"Alright, I'm taking over." Reactivating his armor, Emerald Man shot a beam of energy from his ring in an attempt to take over the controls. "Karen! While I'm doing this, try to help slow us down!"

While the young Radonian and the Green Nova flew outside to push against the ship's hull, Zatanna cast a spell to cushion their fall. Once the ship crashed onto the surface, Kyle Alexander used his ring to ensure that his allies were alive before checking the planet's atmosphere.

["Atmospheric composition: 32% Oxygen, 66% Nitrogen, 2% Methane."] The Nova's ring informed.

Black Beetle helped Emerald Man and Zatanna onto their feet before receiving a proximity alert from his scarab. "Uh, hey, I just wanna say if aliens end up laying eggs in my chest, and I accidentally kill one of you guys, I'm sorry."

"Oh, my god." Tony grunted. "I do not wanna hear another pop culture reference from you for the rest of this trip."

"W-what I'm trying to say is; something's coming."

Suddenly, an explosion tore a giant hole in the side of the ship, and Emerald Man found himself facing a seven foot tall woman in armor and a man emitting lightning from his body.

"Oh, shit-" He muttered before a bolt of lightning shorted out his right arm's armor, leaving him open to a blow from the woman's blunt weapon.

"No, Thundra! Wait-" Kyle was cut off as Emerald Man crashed into him.

Black Beetle recovered from the blast and looked up to see an alien girl with antennae staring down at him. "AH! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Please don't lay your eggs in me!" He pleaded as the scarab activated his wings to give him some distance.

Captain Hyper engaged Thundra in an intense fist-fight, while G'Root and Krystina attacked Demon Rider. But the possessed stuntman soon proved to be too much for the adolescent aliens as his chains easily subdued them. Tyamorra and Ranzz tried to free them, but all they could do was protect themselves from Zatanna's hexes. At last, the two opposing forces found themselves at a stalemate as Thundra held her mega-rod against Captain Hyper's head.

"I'm only gonna ask this one time." She growled. "Where is Scot?"

"Yeah?! I'll do you one better; who is Scot?!" Jimmy snapped back as he tightened his grip on the chains.

"I'll do you one better; why is Scott?!" Mya replied, trying to sound intimidating.

"No, wait! Thundra, Ranzz, stop!" Kyle shouted once he finally pushed the recovering Emerald Man off of him. "It's alright, they're not with Darkanos. They're here to help."

"Them?" Lightning Lord scoffed. "How're they gonna help? I mean, who even are these guys?"

"We're the Justice Legion of Avengers, dude." Jaime explained, having finally come down from the air.

Mya gasped. "You are the ones Thunder Woman and Firehawk told us of!"

Emerald Man's helmet retracted as he looked their attackers in the eye. "You know Thunder Woman and Firehawk?"

"Yes, they're the reason we know about this threat." Thundra replied, releasing Captain Hyper from her grasp. "Scot sent Firehawk back to Earth with Kyle and Moon Dreamer. I take it he succeeded."

Kyle nodded. "Yes, but what happened to Thunder Woman? Where is she?"

"She took two of our guys and headed off to get some kinda superweapon, apparently." Lightning Lord rolled his eyes.

"Be nice." Tyamorra elbowed her friend in the ribs before addressing the other heroes. "So then, it would appear we all share a common desire."

"Oh, sweet!" Jaime pumped his fist. "We're teaming up with aliens! I've never worked with an alien before!"

"Uh…" Karen coughed into her hand, much to Jaime's embarrassment.

"Oh! Lo siento! Lo siento!" He stammered. "I-I didn't mean-!"

"It's okay." Karen smiled. "I take it as a compliment."

With everything sorted out, and a few introductions later, Captain Hyper volunteered to do reconnaissance while Emerald Man, Thundra, Lightning Lord, and Tyamorra gathered together to discuss their plan of attack. Tyamorra and Big Thundra - having formerly been residents of the Forbidden Realm - knew the terrain better than anyone else. The warrior women pointed out all of the atmospheric and geological hazards the planet possessed and how best to avoid them. Thundra was particularly happy that they hadn't landed near the magma sea.

At last, Captain Hyper returned. "It almost looks as if this entire planet's been abandoned." She reported. "Are they underground?"

"Not likely." Thundra replied. "Now that Darkanos only needs two more Infinity Rings, it's likely that every last one of his minions are all scouring the whole universe for them."

"Alright, but as you've seen; we have one of the Rings, ourselves." Emerald Man pointed out. "So when he needs it, he'll come to us. And when that happens, we'll be ready for him. So, what we need to do is-" Tony was cut off by an obnoxious yawn from the tree-like alien behind Thundra. "Are you - is he yawning?! While I'm laying this out?"

"I am G'Root." G'Root replied.

"He says we stopped listening after 'we'll be ready for him.'" Krystina translated. "And while I don't approve of his tone, he knows that we've got this. We'll just deal with him when he gets here."

"That's your plan?!" Tony spluttered. "You think we're gonna wing it?!"

"Yeah, see; not winging it, isn't really what they do." Thundra explained, realizing Scot's influence wasn't always a good thing for the kids under their care.

"What do they do?" Jaime asked, curiously.

"Kick names! Take ass!" Mya replied, proudly.

Tony just rolled his eyes. "Okay, they're in their own little world over there. Please tell me you're paying attention?" He snarked towards Lightning Lord.

"Dude, you need to lighten up." Ranzz smirked. "Here's the thing;I like your plan, except it sucks. So let me do the plan, and maybe it might not suck as much."

"Oh, great. The tree and the gem are being obnoxious, and now Luke Skywalker here's got his head up his ass-"

"Okay, wow." Ranzz crossed his arms, bitterly. "First of all; 'Luke Skywalker?' That's a compliment. And second; I'm only half human. So that fifty percent of me that's stupid? That's a hundred percent you."

"Your math is blowing my mind." Tony shook his head in annoyance.

"Excuse me, Mr. Emerald Man?" Mya called, earning everyone's attention. "Does your wizard friend often do that?"

The group looked to see where Mya was pointing. Much to their disturbance, Zatanna was levitating in the air, coated in an aura of orange energy. The mystic had kept both of her eyes closed as a third eye had appeared on her forehead, flashing and gazing at her surroundings as if searching for a nearby threat.

"Strange?" Tony called out to the doctor, but received no reply. He turned to the stuntman. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Blaze shrugged. "I've never seen her do this before."

"Strange? Doctor Zatanna Strange, are you okay?" Tony shook Zatanna's arm which finally seemed to entice a reaction. Zatanna's third eye disappeared as the orange energy returned to the Time Ring, and with a frightened scream, the former surgeon fell to the ground, panting and gasping from exhaustion.

"Hey! Whoa! Z, you're okay." Blaze assured her as he helped her up. "You're alright."

"Hey, what the heck was that?" Jaime asked.

After catching her breath, Zatanna sat down on a nearby rock as she explained. "I channeled my magic through the Time Ring to look forward into the future… studying all possible outcomes of the coming conflict with Darkanos."

"How many did you see?" Lightning Lord asked.

"Fourteen million, six hundred, and five."

The entire group shared an uneasy look before Emerald Man asked the question on everyone's mind. "How many do we win?"

"... one."

Meanwhile, in the underground prison on Apokolips' moon, Rom-Ulu's guards were doing their best to mend his wounds and reset his bones. But without Darkanos using the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to keep him in check, the Daxamite made short work of the lesser beings. After stealing their access keys and an astro harness, the new god escaped from the prison and headed towards Apokolips. "Hang on, Scot. I'm coming." He thought to himself.


Space Sector 2799. Nidavellir.

Eitri led Thunder Woman and her allies towards the castle's main forge where the dwarfs kept their entire stockpile of mystic Uru metal. It was here that he and his fellow dwarfs crafted Mjolnir and Stormbreaker; and it would be here that they made the weapon to kill Darkanos. With all his strength, the Dwarf King pushed his shoulder against a lever to activate the dormant mechanism. Rusted gears groaned as they struggled to lift the heavy melting pot upwards while Donna loaded the Uru into it. Krinn offered to help with his magnetism; luckily this Uru hadn't been given a special enchantment to prevent him from lifting it. At last, when he was satisfied with the quantity of the mystic metal, Eitri directed Donna towards his collection of molds and instructed her on which one to place under the melting pot.

"This is the weapon?" She asked, observing it.

"Yes." Eitri explained. "Long before Mjolnir was conceived in my mind, Lord Odin and Lady Hippolyta feared the day Darkanos may attack. As such, they saw to it that precautions were taken."

"Yeah, how'd that work out for 'em?" Violet snorted, motioning around the demolished forge.

Regardless, Donna placed the mold under the pot. "What kind of weapon will it be?"

"A sword. A double-edged blade unlike anything I have ever crafted. Although without Odin, it cannot be granted the same enchantment that allows only Thunder Woman to lift it. Still, it will be much more powerful than Mjolnir and Stormbreaker combined; in addition to prompting the truth from it's captives, it can bend the will of any trapped in its lightning lasso to obey its wielder. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost."

"Does it have a name?"

"Yes… Persuader."

"That's a bit much." Violet rolled her eyes and further inspected the forge. "So how's this work?"

"To heat the metal, we need to reignite the sun." Eitri pointed his amputated limb past the giant magnifying iris. "And to do that, we must restart the gyroscopic rings that power the sun's core."

"Oh, fuck me!" Violet groaned. "How're we supposed to do that?!"

Donna looked at the massive rings that powered the Nidavellir's sun, thinking of a way to reactivate them. "I have an idea." She smirked.

A few minutes later, Eitri stood ready at the forge while Donna looped a cable around one of the wings of the Legends' ship and tied the end to Mjolnir's strap. Once it was secure, the Corbinite ordered Violet into the ship and to prepare to fire the engines. "Are you ready, Kitten?" She asked as she swung her hammer.

"Ready for what?" Violet asked. "All you've got is a rope, a hammer, and a-" Violet was cut off as Donna threw her hammer into the sky and held tightly onto the other end of the cable. Digging her feet into the ring, she ordered Violet to activate the ship's engines. At the same time, Krinn stood on the opposite end of the forge and focused on pulling the ring into alignment. With the combined force of Mjolnir, the engines, and Krinn, the ring was pulled into its proper place and the sun was reignited.

"Well done, girl." Eitri whispered, feeling hope for the first time in so long. But as he saw the poorly maintained forge react to the sudden surge of heat, his hope disappeared. "Damn it."

"What is it?" Krinn asked as he returned from his vantage point. "What's wrong?"

"The mechanism is crippled." Eitri cursed. "With the iris closed, I can't heat the metal."

"No!" Donna turned to face the iris just as Mjolnir returned to her. Another idea came to mind as she remembered her race's ability to withstand extreme heat. "Eitri, how long will it take to heat the metal?"

"Um, a few minutes. Maybe more. Why?"

"Because I'm going to hold the iris open, myself." She declared.

"That's suicide!"

"So is facing Darkanos without that sword." Donna swung Mjolnir and flew towards the mechanism. Strapping the mighty hammer to her belt, she took a deep breath before placing her hands on the iris. "Diana, give me strength." She prayed. As she strained to open the iris, she began to feel the intense heat of the star. Sure enough, the Uru metal began to melt, but the magic of Mjolnir and her Corbinite physiology could only keep her alive for so long. Luckily, as she heard the dwarf tipping the melting pot to pour the molten Uru into the mold, she allowed the iris to close. The force of the blast pushed her back towards the forge just as Eitri shattered the mold to release the two edges of the sword.

Krinn and Violet rushed to Donna's side, immediately. "Donna? Donna, you okay?!" Violet shook the Corbinite's arm, trying to wake her. "I-I think she's dying!"

"She needs the sword!" Eitri frantically looked around for the final component to connect the edges. "Where's the handle?! Braalite! Help me find the handle!"

Krinn watched, anxiously, as Eitri and Violet ran off to find the missing handle. But as he heard Donna's breaths weaken into struggling gasps, he knew she would not survive long enough for them to return. As such, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Grabbing the knife he lent the Corbinite from her boot, Krinn marched towards the smoldering pieces of metal. Using his power over magnetism, he levitated the knife in the air before focusing on the two components of the sword. It took all of his strength due to the powerful magic energy surrounding them, but the heated pieces finally came together around the smaller blade.

Once the completed weapon cooled off, Krinn dropped it to the ground. Instinctively, Donna's hand lifted from the cold floor; sparks of lightning traveled from her fingertips to the Uru. Persuader slowly levitated into the air, inching closer to her hand.


Space Sector 2814. Wakanda, Brazil. Earth.

The Flag, Bronze Panther, and Aqua-Mariner made their way to the edge of Wakanda's border while Shuri and Tula went to work on removing the Mind Ring from Mirage's finger. The force field that hid the country from the rest of the world also managed to prevent one of Darkanos' ships from landing directly on the city. But that didn't stop two more warships from landing just outside the country's border.

When they arrived at the edge of the border, the trio found an eight foot tall man in glistening silver armor with red accents. He was accompanied by Kalibak Obsidian, Midnight Lasher, and Corvus Steppenwolfe; all of whom tried to breach the forcefield with their own weapons with little success. "Greetings, humans. I am Savakarri. Brother of the great Darkanos, god of speed." The Eternal introduced himself. "We have come to take the Mind Ring. Cooperate, and I promise you each a quick death."

"This is Wakanda." Bronze Panther said, proudly. "Your master will have nothing but blood and dust."

"If you insist." Savakarri turned to his niece and nephews. "Release the parademons!"

With that, the trio returned to their army. "How'd it go?" Tim asked.

"About as well as you'd think." Wally grunted, adjusting the strap on his shield. "How long until Gargoyle and Black Cat get back with our secret weapon?"

"By my estimate… not soon enough."

"We'll just have to give them more time, then." Marella decided as she readied her trident. "Are you certain you can fight, Firehawk?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ronnie flexed his arms as his fists shone with radiation. "Lucky Wakanda's got pure nuclear power."

Shawn Allen glanced over at Bart with a worried expression. He had insisted that Melani stay inside the lab, not wanting her to get hurt. Technically, she was still getting used to having prosthetic legs, and wasn't as effective in combat as she was while brainwashed. Nevertheless, she made certain to threaten her husband if he didn't take certain precautions to keep their son safe during the fight. "Here, son. You may need this." He smiled as he undid the straps of one of his shield gauntlets and handed it to the younger speedster. "Never hurts to have a little more protection."

"Whoa… really?" Bart was speechless as his father strapped the gauntlet to his arm and activated the energy shield. Ever since the day he met him, Bart hoped that he could live up to the legacy of his mentor, the Flag. When he learned that he was a direct descendant of the man he idolized, it only worsened his self-consciousness. But as he held up the glowing red and white shield, he knew that he wouldn't disgrace Steve's good name.

At last, the parademons were released from the confines of the warship and flew towards the city. The swarm managed to block out the sunlight as they crashed into the forcefield with no regards to the extreme pain they felt. The handful that managed to break through were quickly blasted out of the sky by Green Machine, Steel Falcon, Firehawk, and Captain Thunder but the Flag quickly noticed that the swarm was spreading out around the forcefield.

"This isn't good." He said. "If they surround us, they'll have the advantage."

"Then we keep them in front of us." Bronze Panther activated his comm-link to his security chief. "Chief Sousa, on my mark, I need you to open the barrier from points B-20 to B-30."

["Say again, my king?"] Sousa replied. ["Did you say open the barrier?"]

"On my mark…" Benjamin repeated as he extended the claws in his gloves. "Now!"

Once the barrier opened up, the parademons flooded into the battlefield. "WAKANDA FOREVER!" Bronze Panther shouted as he led his warriors into battle. Aqua-Mariner lifted her trident over her head and led her own soldiers against the invading forces alongside their Wakandan allies. And of course, the Flag led the Justice Legion and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Speedster-Man instinctively ran ahead of the group, only for the Flag to quickly rush past him in an eyeblink. As if his ego wasn't bruised enough, Shawn and Shannon quickly caught up him. "Slowpoke." His father teased.

"Oh, it is on!" Bart smirked underneath his mask and pushed himself forward.

The Flag family targeted Savakarri, having sensed residual Speed Force energy emitting from the armored Eternal. Desperate to keep him from stealing the Ring, the speedster's moved so fast that they seemed to disappear.

Meanwhile, Green Machine, Steel Falcon, Firehawk, and Captain Thunder continued to attack from the skies, preventing the flying parademons from reaching the city. Knightwing, Moon Dreamer, and Darkstar joined S.H.I.E.L.D. on the ground alongside Aqua-Mariner and Bronze Panther. Lastly, Sharpshot and the Suicide Squadron guarded the immediate entrance to the city in the safety of a trench. The archer Avenger had brought along two extra quivers, but not even that would be enough. "You sure you don't want one of these?" Eradicator offered a pistol to the older hero.

"Not my style." Sharpshot retorted as he fired a magnetic arrow at one of the parademons. The arrow activated and drew the monsters together in a crushing hold. Unfortunately, the other parademons clawed over their fallen brethren and proceeded to storm the city.

"Oliver, they're not slowing down!" Dinah pointed out as she reloaded her rifle. "What do we do?!"

Sharpshot fired one more explosive arrow before addressing his partner. "Dinah, we can't afford to hold back. We need all the power we can spare. You've got your own power, and now is the time to use it."

Dinah nodded in agreement before leaping out of the trench. "What the hell is she doing?!" Eradicator asked.

"I'd cover my ears if I were you!" Sharpshot instructed as he ducked beneath the trench, cupping his hands over his own ears.

The Blonde Canary sprinted towards the enemy just as they reached the building. It was a power she inherited from her mother. Due to the persecutions against muta-humans, Louise Morse kept her power hidden from the rest of the world - even when she was offered a chance to join Dr. Niles Xaiver's school. And for a time, Dinah kept her own power hidden out of that same fear. But now, with the fate of the world at risk, she was ready to let it go. The parademons were blown away by the Blonde Canary's sonic scream, until there was nothing left of them but blood and scraps of metal.

"... huh." Was all Jason could say.

But it wasn't enough. Savakarri finally got the upper hand over his attackers; pinning the Flag beneath his foot as he held the twins in both hands. Kalibak and Lashina managed to knock the flying heroes out of the air while Steppenwolffe used his axe against Captain Thunder. Startled by the impact, Firehawk worried that his nuclear form would detonate, but didn't have much time to react before being surrounded by the parademons. Moon Dreamer and Knightwing were back-to-back while Darkstar tried to hold off the swarm with a mystic shield.

Speedster-Man tried to help his mentor, but Savakarri effortlessly kicked the young speedster into a hoard of parademons. "There's too many of them!" Bart screamed; reaching out for his father as the parademons piled onto him.

Suddenly, a brilliant beam of light crashed down from the heavens. The Bifrost blew away multiple parademons, but Savakarri managed to hold his ground. Krinn and Violet were the first to exit, followed by a blade of lightning spiraled out from the Bifrost, slicing Savakarri's head in half and mowing down only the parademons that were swarming the heroes. At last, Persuader returned to its wielder just as the Bifrost dissipated. The Justice Legion of Avengers looked on in awe as Delta-Ray Donna stood in the center of the battlefield, holding a sword nearly twice as tall as she was.

"AH-HA-HA!" Bart laughed at the invading force's expense. "You guys are so screwed, now!"

Donna's glare fell upon Kalibak and Lasher, her blood boiling for a fight. "BRING ME DARKANOS!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she led the charge against the remaining enemy forces. With a mighty leap, Thunder Woman soared through the air and brought down the full force of Persuader onto the parademons, officially turning the tide of the war.

But there was still worse to come.

To Be Continued!

Metranos(Uranos/Metron)

Savakarri(Makkari/Savitar)