Chapter XXXV: Infinity Crisis ACT I: The Rings Part 5

Space Sector 2814. Earth. Wakanda, Brazil.

Thunder Woman swung Persuader at the enemies, continuing to blast them to pieces with surges of electricity. Firehawk flew down to greet his friend, vaporizing a horde of parademons on the way down. "Hey. You're late." He teased.

"Yes. You all seemed helpless without me." Donna smiled back. Another horde prepared for an attack when their metallic armor began to contort and crumple in mid-air. Krinn used his powers to hold them in place while Violet shot them down with her blaster. "Oh, by the way, these are my new friends."

"Greetings, human!" Krinn laughed, heartily. "I am Krinn, the Cosmic Crusher of Braal!"

"Uh… I am Ronnie Powell. The Firehawk of Philadelphia."

One parademon - who had managed to break free from Krinn's hold - rushed forward to attack Violet. Luckily, a spinning shield severed its head just before the Flag caught up to it and used it to protect Violet while she gunned down the remaining parademons. "How much for the shield?!" She asked, eagerly.

"Not for sale." Wally replied, bluntly.

"Okay, how much for the leg?" Violet eyed the advanced prosthetic, much to Wally's confusion. Without a word, the Flag sped away to check back on his own teammates. "Oh, I'll get that leg." Violet snickered to herself.

But in all the confusion, everyone had failed to notice that Steppenwolffe had snuck past the Suicide Squadron and entered the building they had been guarding. The axe-wielding Eternal snuck up behind Shuri and Tula with the intention of cutting them down before taking the Ring. However, as he lifted the axe over his head, someone fire at his face.

Meloni - armed with an AK-47 - had volunteered to guard the scientist women while they removed the Mind Ring. But as Steppenwolffe march towards her, she tripped over her prosthetic legs. The Eternal chuckled as he threw the gun away. "Did you really think you could defeat one of us, alone?"

"Actually, yeah." Meloni smirked. "But on the off-chance I might have been wrong."

Suddenly, Hornet appeared out of thin air and blasted Steppenwolffe away while Jihnorama snuck up from behind. Meloni pushed the scientists out of the room, trying to get them to safety while her mother-in-law stalled the enemy. But Mirage, not wanting to abandon a fellow Avenger, stayed behind to help. But out of the shadows, Midnight Lashina wrapped the android up in her razor-sharp ribbons and threw them out the window. Lashina reached for the Ring, but a flash of red, white, and blue lightning caught Mirage and hit the Eternal to the ground.

"Get out of here!" He ordered Mirage. "Now!"

Back in the lab, Steppenwolfe growled in fury as he tried to strike the shrunken Hornet with his axe's energy blasts. At last, Hornet reversed her size-changing device, and kicked her foe out the window. Before they even hit the ground, Steppenwolffe felt his body shatter under the weight of a giant fist. "What do you know? My old suit still fits." Sharon chuckled before stomping off to join the fray, carrying Jihnorama on her shoulder..

Meanwhile, Lashina and the Flag had each lost their weapons and were now fighting hand-to-hand. Lashina managed to trip her opponent and pin him to the ground. Her nails digging into his neck, the Flag desperately tried to push her off. Thankfully, Mirage had picked up the Eternal's razor-ribbons and wrapped them around her neck. With Lashina dead, Mirage offered a hand to help the Flag to his feet.

"I thought I told you to run." Wally said, taking their hand.

["We don't trade lives, Flag."] Mirage replied. The Mind Ring was still attached to their finger, but they could sense that it was no longer required to keep them operational.


Space Sector -1. The Forbidden Realm.

Darkanos arrived back at his fortress, having sensed another Infinity Ring arriving on his home planet. What he hadn't expected was to see the Ring still attached to a human woman's finger. "Oh, yeah." Zatanna nodded to herself. "You're much more of a Darkanos."

"I take it Bedlam is dead." Darkanos sighed. Although he often treated his children more like soldiers, the dark god still held them in high regard. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, it seems he accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that." Zatanna warned. "He brought you face to face with a mistress of the mystic arts."

"Where do you think he brought you?" The dark Eternal asked, unaware of the other humans surrounding him in the shadows.

"Uh, let me guess… your home?" Zatanna asked.

"It was. And it was beautiful." Using the Reality Ring to show his guest Apokolips at its prime, Darkanos narrated his life-long quest. "After being abandoned by the other Eternal races, Apokolips quickly became like most other worlds. Too much conflict. Too many disagreements. Constant wars and death. And when our species faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"The destruction of free will?"

"Yes. But they called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass."

"Congratulations, you're a prophet." Zatanna sneered as the Reality Ring's image faded away. "Who wants to rob the universe of themselves."

"With all six Infinty Rings, I can make the Anti-Life Equation a reality with just a snap of my fingers." Darkanos replied. "And all free will would instantly be eradicated. As if it never existed in the first place. And no one in the universe would ever know fear, or pain, or suffering ever again."

"At the cost of hope, love, and choice." Zatanna summoned her wand and aimed it at the Eternal. "Certain freedoms - you'll find - we are more than willing to protect!"

"'We?'" Darkanos looked up just in time to see Emerald Man and Kyle using their power to drop a giant slab of rock onto him.

"Piece of cake, guys." Emerald Man declared.

"Yeah, if you were just trying to piss him off!" Ranzz pointed out as the Power Ring lifted the slab off of Darkanos.

Enraged, Darkanos crushed and shaped the rock into millions of sharp projectiles, hurling them at Emerald Man and the last Green Nova. Luckily, Demon Rider whipped his chains and vaporised the rock with his hellfire. Next, Ranzz tried to distract Darkanos with a barrage of lightning while Zatanna flew over to her mystic ally. "Don't let him close his fist!" She whispered.

Jimmy nodded and commanded his chains to wrap around Darkanos' hand, threading through the gauntlet's fingers to keep his hand open. But even without the power of the gauntlet, Darkanos was still immensely powerful. His omega beams shot forth from his eyes, tearing apart anything they touched. Big Thundra jumped in front of Mya, Krystina, and G'Root to protect them, but at the cost of leaving herself vulnerable. The beams hadn't killed her, but she was momentarily down.

Captain Hyper fired her plasma bolts at Darkanos' head, trying to draw his attention away from the others. She was rewarded for her efforts by a pair of omega beam clashing with her plasma blasts. She did her best to hold her ground, but the beams eventually knocked her away. Zatanna caught the injured Radonian in her arms and transformed the omega beams into a swarm of harmless butterflies under her control. With a wave of her wand, Zatanna ordered the butterflies to attack Darkanos before transforming them back into omega beams. At last, Darkanos used his own strength to rip the demonic chains to pieces.

Now with the Infinity Gauntlet at his command again, Darkanos unleashed the forces of Power, Reality, Space, and Soul onto his victims. But Zatanna meant what she said when she told him they were willing to fight for their freedoms, as Rom-Ulus soon demonstrated as he entered the planet's atmosphere and crashed his astro-harness into his father. "You should've killed me when you had the chance!" He growled.

"It would've been a waste of resources!" Darkanos snapped back. But before he could retaliate further, Rom-Ulus punched him in the face.

"Where is Scott?!" The Daxamite demanded.

In response, Darkanos simply flicked his finger and blasted his son with the Power Ring. However, that distraction was more than enough for Demon Rider to reform the chains around Darkanos' left arm. In contrast, Zatanna created multiple portals around the dark Eternal so that Black Beetle could attack him from all points. With Darkanos distracted even further, Captain Hyper managed to grab hold of his right arm while Tony and Kyle grabbed the gauntlet. Krystina and G'Root trapped his feet with vines and sharp crystals. Jaime jumped away from Darkanos as Lightning Lord used his powers to shock Darkanos' heart. Tyamorra stabbed her adoptive father in the back, allowing Mya to climb on top of his head and use her empathic powers to put him in a trance.

At last, Darkanos was docile. "Be quick!" Mya shouted to Tony and Kyle. "He is very strong!"

"Kid! Jaime! Get over here and help us!" Tony demanded.

Sure enough, Black Beetle hurried over to help his mentor and the Green Nova in pulling off the gauntlet. By then, Thudra had recovered and glared at her former master. "Where is Scott?!" She bellowed.

"Be… behind you." Darkanos smirked as his possessed son struck the female fury.

"Scot?" Rom-Ulus gasped.

"Darkanos is… Darkanos is…" Scot chanted as he continued to fight off his father's attackers.

"No!" Tony screamed. The gauntlet was almost off, but the sudden sneak attack had given Darkanos a chance to recover. No longer holding back, he unleashed all the power of his four Rings at the heroes. Emerald Man was the only one left standing and conjured a broadsword to fight off the cosmic villain.

Impressed by the human's resilience, Darkanos caught the sword and forced it back at Emerald Man. After piercing his skin, Tony made the blade dissipate as Darkanos brushed a hand over his head to tear off his helmet. "In all my years of conquest, I have never met a being as courageous as you, human." He smiled. "And for that, you have my respect. When I'm done, a small sliver of consciousness will remain within the souls and minds of those whose free will I shall destroy. I hope they remember you."

"Wait!" Zatanna cried. The sorceress stood up, groggily, holding up her left hand to offer the orange Infinity Ring. "Spare his life… and I'll give you the Time Ring…"

Reluctantly, Darkanos released his captive and extended his hand to accept her offering. With a steady breath, Zatanna blew on the Ring and sent it to slip onto the dark Eternal's finger. With the fifth Infinity Ring now in his possession, Darkanos sensed where the last Ring was located and opened another portal to take him to Earth.

"NO!" Ranzz shouted, blasting lightning from his fingertips at the portal. But it was too late; Darkanos was gone. "... did we just lose?" He asked, fearfully.

"Why would you do that?" Emerald Man asked, turning to the sorceress.

"We're in the endgame, now…" Zatanna replied, gravely.


Space Sector 2814. Earth. Wakanda, Brazil.

Back on Earth, after the majority of the parademons had been slaughtered by Thunder Woman, Green Nova, and Green Machine, the Justice Legion felt a collective knot form in their stomachs as the wind suddenly shifted towards the area where Mirage and Darkstar were last spotted. Suddenly, a spiraling vortex opened up and a tall, gray-skinned man wielding a golden gauntlet stepped through.

"Guys…" Ronnie breathed, shakily. "That's him."

"Eyes up." Wally ordered, strapping his shield back onto his arm. "Stay sharp!"

It all happened so fast. Flashes of red, blue, green, yellow, and orange energy made short work of the heroes. The speedsters from both present and future sank into the solid ground as if it were quicksand. Firehawk's nuclear punch was deflected back at him, taking the wind out of his lungs. Sharpshot, Blonde Canary, and the Thunderbolts found themselves restrained by living vines. The Atlantean and Wakandan warriors followed their respective leaders against the invader, only to fall without taking a single hit. Even the combined forces of the X-Patrol, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Captain Thunder were not enough to stop him. At last, the only thing standing between Darkanos and the Mind Ring was Darkstar. The shadow wielding muta-human threw everything he had at the Eternal, but the power of the Infinity Rings was too much for him. After pushing Tod aside, Darkanos grabbed Mirage by the arm, gingerly slipped the Mind Ring off of their finger, and tossed the android away.

Darkstar was relieved to see that the scientists had apparently managed to sever Mirage's attachment to the Mind Ring, as the living android soon forced themselves back onto their feet. But they were too weak to do anything else as Darkanos added the final Ring to the Infinity Gauntlet. The muta-human rushed to grab the Gauntlet, but Darkanos effortlessly swatted him away into Mirage. With a spine-chilling cackle, Darkanos raised his hand into the air, ready to eradicate all free will in the universe.

But before he could snap his fingers, a blinding flash of lightning severely burned his arm. Knocked to the ground, Darkanos looked up to see the source of the sudden attack; Donna's eyes, glowing with lightning - and righteous fury - locked onto the Eternal as she aimed the tip of her sword at his chest. With his arm too injured to properly use the gauntlet, Darkanos fired his omega beams at the Corbinite demi-goddess. But the uru metal deflected the blasts. Soon enough, Persuader pierced Darkanos' chest, all the way through his spine.

Green blood stained the ground beneath the malevolent Eternal as the large sword had dug into the soil. Thunder Woman's glare hadn't broken as her grip on the handle hadn't loosened. "I told you…" She growled, leaning closer to his face. "I'd kill you for that."

Darkanos screamed in agony as Donna used Mjolnir to pound Persuader further into his chest. But just as the blade reached his neck, he smiled, ominously. "You… you should've… gone for the head."

Donna's eyes widened in horror. Darkanos had somehow managed to use the Time Ring to reverse the damage done to his arm, and lifted his hand in the air. "NO!" She cried.

SNAP…

The skies turned dark red. The wind came to an abrupt halt. The air turned frigid. All across the universe, sentient races found themselves succumbing to the Anti-Life Equation.

"What did you do?" Donna stammered. "What did you do?!"

Darkanos didn't answer. He simply snapped his fingers again and teleported away, leaving Persuader behind. Donna dropped Mjolnir to free the sword from the ground, preparing for a surprise attack from any remaining acolytes of the dark Eternal. Instead, her heart shattered at the sight of what was happening to her allies.

Wally watched in horror as the Atlantean and Wakandan warriors rose from the ground - seemingly unaware of the serious injuries they had sustained - and began chanting in unison. "Darkanos is… Darkanos is… Darkanos is…" To make matters worse, the same affliction soon overtook the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, as well as Steel Falcon, Captain Thunder, and the X-Patrol. Green Machine, Krinn, and Violet followed suit; their pupils dialated and veins inky black.

Darkstar gathered up all the remaining heroes and tried to use his cloak to shield their minds. But instead of a black shroud, the group found themselves encased in a blinding, pure, white light. Firehawk, Shawn, Knightwing, Jihnorama, and Harley Sin were the first to be pulled into the vortex, startling those who had yet to be infected.

"What the hell?!" Tod stammered. "What's happening?!"

Soon enough, he and Mirage were also absorbed by the white light. Following them was the young muta-human trio; Stereo, Sureshock, and Sandstorm. Donna soon felt herself being pulled into the blank void, but with only Persuader in her hand. Looking back, she saw that her sister's beloved hammer was being left behind. "No!" She cried, finally disappearing along with the others.

"W-what's… going on?!" Speedster-Man covered his eyes, fearfully, and dropped to his knees.

"It's too late! We failed!" Sharon cried, wrapping her arms around her grandson as the white light soon encompassed them, as well.

"Bart! Sharon!" Wally reached out to his closest comrades as even he succumbed to the white light. "It's been an honor!"


Space Sector -1. The Forbidden Realm.

"Something is wrong…" Mya whimpered. Her empathic powers could sense the turmoil spreading throughout the universe just before her mind went blank. She, Krystina, G'Root, and Thundra joined Scot-Free in the hypnotic trance, much to Emerald Man's horror.

"Oh, no…" Captain Hyper cupped her hands over her mouth in fear.

"He did it…" Rom-Ulus sighed, dejectedly.

"Tony… there was no other way..." Zatanna stated before she, Demon Rider, Lightning Lord, and Tyamorra were possessed by the Equation's influence.

In vain, Kyle tried to use the remaining charge in his ring to shield his remaining allies from the Equation. But to their surprise, a blinding white light began to encompass them; pulling them away from this plane of existence.

"M-mister Jordan…? I-I don't feel so good..." Tony turned to see his protege crying as he collapsed to his knees in pain. The Scarab embedded in Jaime's neck was attempting to fight the influence of the Anti-Life, but this only worsened the pain the poor boy felt.

Emerald Man tried to reach out and comfort the boy, but soon found himself being absorbed into a bright white vortex. "No! Jaime! JAIME!"

"I-I don't - I don't know what's happening, Mr. Jordan!" At last, the blackness of his veins spread to Jaime's eyes. "... Darkanos is… Darkanos is… Darkanos is…"

Tony's heart sank as he and Rom-Ulus vanished into the white light.

Once the two heroes had disappeared, another portal opened up and Darkanos stumbled through. The sinister Eternal's wounds from Thunder Woman's attack were quickly healing, thanks to the Time Ring. With the possessed heroes who had opposed him in tow, Darkanos made his way back to his castle. Taking a seat as his throne, he beckoned his favorite son to take a place beside him. And with a triumphant smile, his now-omnipotent eyes looked out over a peaceful universe.

To Be Continued!

END ACT I