Caribbean

1751

"What be our heading, Captain?" Jack Sparrow looked over to his best friend and first mate of the Black Pearl, Joshamee Gibbs, who was looking intently at a map.

"We shall follow the stars, Master Gibbs." Jack declared, looking out over the sea.

"Aye, Aye Captain!" Gibbs agreed, tossing the map behind him while Sparrow began studying his compass. The compass, though enchanted to not point North, was leading its owner straight ahead. With a sly smile, Jack shut his compass, and grabbed hold of the ship's wheel.

"I have a rendezvous beyond my beloved horizon." Jack smirked, and as his late rival's pet monkey, nicknamed Jack, climbed onto Sparrow's shoulder, the crew went to work on manning the ship. Crewmembers dashed about in raising the sails, cleaning the cannons, and securing the rigging, all the while Jack steered the ship, towards the sun that was just setting down over the sea.

Wakanda

2018

"You should have gone for the head." Thanos, the Mad Titan, wheezed, as he raised his left arm, the middle finger and thumb of the Infinity Gauntlet clenched together.

"No!" Thor yelled, but it was too late, and Thanos snapped the gauntlet fingers together, creating a bright light that blinded the god of thunder for a few moments. Once the light faded from his eyes, Thor looked at the gauntlet in horror, as it now appeared beaten and smoking, with the Infinity Stones' energy dulled.

"What did you do?" Thor demanded, barely registering that Thanos' entire left arm appeared burned. "What did you do?" The Mad Titan didn't answer, and with a final clench of his fist, the space stone opened a portal that sucked the alien in, leaving Thor's ax Stormbreaker on the ground. Thor simply stared at his weapon, now caked with purple blood, while Captain America approached him, struggling to keep walking after the beatdown Thanos gave him earlier.

"Where'd he go?" Steve asked, looking around frantically. "Thor. Where'd he go?"

"Steve?" Rogers turned around, finding the one who called him was his lifelong friend, Bucky Barnes, who began disintegrating before his very eyes. Within seconds, Bucky became nothing but a pile of ash, with only his rifle remaining. Shocked, Steve and Thor approached the ashes, with Steve kneeling down and inspecting the remains of his friend. All across Wakanda, M'Baku's army began fading into dust, as he could do nothing but watch. T'Challa attempted to help his general, Okoye, up from the ground, but died shortly after, followed by Rocket's companion Groot, Sam Wilson, as James Rhodes hopelessly called out his name, and Wanda Maximoff, who was crying next to the body of the slain android Vision.

Steve made his way over to the graying body of Vision, turning him over to reveal a crater in his forehead where the mind stone once was. He didn't turn around, but he knew that Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and Rhodes had gathered around him, surveying the chaos. Even Rocket joined them, albeit sitting on a tree branch and morning his fallen friend.

"What is this?" Rhodey asked, alarmed as Rogers collapsed on the ground. "What the Hell is happening?" Steve honestly didn't know, and began pondering what had occurred. They had lost. Thanos was victorious, and their allies had faded into ashes. Well, not all of them. It appeared that only half of them were gone…

"Oh, God."

Slabside Prison

2018

Oliver Queen slowly and painfully walked out of Slabside Maximum Security, getting no resistance from the officers guarding the open gate. After what had just happened, with Ricardo Diaz breaking in causing a riot just to kill Queen, he had more than earned his freedom. The moment he passed the inner gate, Oliver lifted his head towards the heavens, soaking in the sunlight on his bloody and beaten face. After what felt like an eternity, Oliver lowered his head and opened his eyes, seeing his best friend, John Diggle, and wife, Felicity Smoak, on the other side of the outer gate.

The guards opened the gate, and Oliver and Felicity briskly walked towards each other, quickly embracing each other after months of being apart. As Felicity began weeping in joy, she and Oliver kissed passionately, not caring that Diggle or the guards could see.

It had been six long months, but he was no longer inmate 4587. He was Oliver Queen once more.

Los Angeles

2018

"Lucifer."

Chloe Decker walked down the staircase of Marcus Pierce's safehouse, finding her partner hunched over, and crouched over the body of the LAPD's former lieutenant. Just moments ago, she was on top of the building, not knowing how she had managed to get there. Or perhaps she did know. Perhaps she has always known from the start. And now, she was going to see the truth.

"Lucifer." Chloe repeated, and Morningstar stood up, turning around to face Decker. Chloe's blood ran cold, and her eyes went wide with fear. Standing in front of her was a man with raw and blistering red skin, with fiery red eyes to match.

"It's all true." Chloe barely gasped, and she began to back away, inch by inch. The man- the thing- in front of her wasn't her partner, her friend. It was the face of a monster.

"Detective?" the monster asked in Lucifer's voice, sounding confused.

"It's all true." Chloe repeated, this time quieter, as she continued backing away.

Waverider

2018

"...And the worst part-" John Constantine got up from the armchair as he recounted his tale to Sara Lance, telling her what he did that severely damaged the timeline. He had only wanted to save his lover, Desmond, but in the process, his friends and allies on the Waverider died in his place. Eventually, he was forced to come to terms with what he had done, and John reluctantly set the timeline back to the way it was. "-It didn't even make a bloody difference. I was a fool, thinking I could outrun this fight, flying around with you lot."

"Yeah, we tend to fly directly into fights." Sara reminded the demonologist with a smirk. "But, we do it together. And we have your back."

"Well, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into." Constantine warned, staring at the ship's captain. "Because a demon like Neron, he doesn't just want to win. He wants to win in the cruelest possible way."

New York City

2016

Frank Castle sat in a circle with other war veterans, in the basement of Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. After he had finally killed everyone responsible for his family's deaths, as well as permanently scarring his former best friend, Billy Russo, for life, Frank had nowhere else to turn but to join Curtis Hoyle's sessions for veterans.

"Y'know, as long as I was at war… I never thought about what would happen next." Frank opened up in front of the other vets, while Curtis watched his friend. "What I was gonna do when it was over. But I guess that's it, you know. I think that might be the hardest part, the silence." Frank stopped for a moment, taking time to look at Hoyle for a moment, before he went on.

"The silence when the gunfire ends." Castle continued. "How do- how do you live in that? I guess… I guess that's what you're trying to figure out, huh? It's what you guys are doing. You're working on it. I respect that. I just…" Frank paused again, fumbling for the rights words.

"Um… if you're gonna look at yourself, really look in the mirror, you gotta-" Frank stopped, catching a breath. "Yeah, you gotta admit who you are. But not just to yourself, you gotta admit it to everyone else. First time, as long as I can remember, I don't have a war to fight. And I guess, if I'm going to be honest, I just…" Castle halted himself, looking towards Curtis for support, before finishing his piece.

"I'm scared."

Harrogate Institute

2017

"You sent me?" Chucky looked up at Andy Barclay, surprised at how quickly the tables turned. One minute, the killer doll had his lifelong nemesis right where he wanted him; locked up in a cell at a mental facility. The next, Barclay had ripped a gun out of the doll's stomach and unloaded the clip into his body, which had rapidly become human.

"Thanks for coming after me." Andy said coldly. "You saved me the trouble."

"Fuck you!" Those were the last words Chucky said, as Andy's foot came crashing down onto his head, crushing the skull and smearing the floor with blood and brains.

Andy sighed in relief, believing his tormentor was dead, but suddenly turned around, aiming his gun at Nica Pierce, who was somehow standing up. Andy was taken aback for a bit, knowing full well that Nica had been confined to a wheelchair since birth.

"You kill me, you kill her." Nica warned, and that's when the realization dawned on him. Standing before him wasn't Nica after all, but Charles Lee Ray, taking possession of the young woman.

"Think about it…" Chucky egged on, and in a split second, Andy squeezed the trigger. Unfortunately, Barclay forgot that he wasted all his ammunition on the doll, and he was momentarily stunned.

"Yeah, thinkin' is for losers." Chucky taunted, while Andy began reloading his gun. Just then, a woman's voice could be heard of the PA system.

"Lockdown. The facility is now on lockdown." Chucky looked down the hall, hearing the sound of a guard quickly approaching.

"Tag, you're it, pal!" Chucky gleefully mocked, and reached for the cell's door. Realizing what was about to happen, Andy surged forward, but it was too late, and he was locked in the padded cell, while Chucky cackled with delight.

"No!" Andy screamed, pounding his fists against the door, while Chucky fled Harrogate. As the PA system continued to issue orders, Andy gave up in getting out, and he looked down, already feeling the weight of his defeat.

In the realm between space and time, an old man with white hair and round glasses watched as the separate universe's stories continued to unfold in the pages of a gigantic, black covered book, which had a clasp in the shape of a raven dangling off to the side.. Suddenly, without warning, he turned around, snapping the book shut, the raven clasp automatically locking, and addressed a seemingly invisible audience.

"You see, true believers, every universe must have a balance." the man, known to some as the One Above All, others as the presence, but for now, simply Stan, spoke with clear intention. "Darkness cannot exist with light. Light cannot exist without dark. But no matter how dark things seem, there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel. So have faith, that the creators of those worlds will make everything right in the end.

"Excelsior!"

RIP Stan Lee

December 28th, 1922 - November 12th, 2018