Dichotomy: "And so he snapped his fingers and then there was dust. The world then did separate and half of us are lost." Post-Avengers Infinity. Major spoilers. One-shot.

Disclaimer: If only, if only, the plot bunny sings.

Rating: Teen.

…

And so he snapped his fingers.

And then there was dust.

The world then did separate,

And half of us are lost.

…

A snap of the fingers … and that was that. The Universe had a choice made for it. And it did what it had to for the Mad Titan. It did what it must do even though it could not truly destroy energy or a soul. Such things were eternal.

It tried to be as fair as the Master of the gauntlet requested.

The universe though, in all its ultimate wisdom, had no true definition of what was fair. The universe merely was and is. It had no definition of what fair was.

It did its best.

It took half of the souls in place, half of the pawns, knights, kings and queens on the board. It took half of all energy that kept those souls tethered to the living planes and their flesh, turning those physical elements to ash. The Master of the gauntlet was appeased. His tool cracked and splintered by his ultimate will. It had called upon the Universe and the Universe had done it. Now it had trillions of lives, all this energy and materials.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

It merely moved all this energy, all it had acquired from this universe, just slightly to the left. None of the other dimensions were using it after all.

…

This space was empty of life as defined by the Soul Stone. It was a place free of all souls and so the Universe dropped its collected souls, ashes, and memories there. It did not break the Master of the gauntlet's will to spare only half. And so, it left half of those taken lives in this mirrored place and continued on with its business.

Slowly, on the mirrored planet Titan, the ash gathered like swirling clouds of insects, driven forward by memories and energy. Slowly, the energy placed itself together in a dark limb and then a torso, then legs. Shortly after, Quill gasped for air, head bowed to the ground. The first sound he made a sob. Drax, in turn, merely laid there on his back, eyes to the sky while Mantis just kept softly asking what was happening as she slowly watched the last of her hands reform from black ash. Dr. Strange, the ash gathering, formed in a sitting position, his eyes opening slowly.

Quill, spitting out the taste of ash in his mouth, finally gathered a breath to ask, "What happened, Strange? What happened?!"

Strange, still looking ahead, sober and almost complacent with what had happened, exhaled noisily and then said, "You know what happened. We lost."

Spitting once more as he struggled to his feet. Quill growled, his feet barely keeping him up, "You said we had a chance. You said -"

"I said we had one chance," said Strange darkly, almost calmly, as he placed his hands on his knees. "One in millions … and we almost had it. We were this close to getting the glove from him and you couldn't hold it together, Quill. You couldn't hold it together for two minutes."

"He killed the love of my life! He took her-"

"And now we are all basically dead," countered Strange, causing Quill to snap his jaw shut, the man suddenly looking sick.

It wasn't him that answered, though. It was a young voice, a scared voice that even got Drax to finally react.

"W-what? We're dead?" said Peter Parker, the last to reform, sat there on his knees in the dirt. His thin limbs seemed to be reaching out for someone or something before he slowly wrapped his arms around himself as if to comfort himself. "B-but I told Mr. Stark that I … didn't want to … didn't want to go."

His voice seemed so small like that of a lost child more so than the warrior that they had been fighting side by side with. Any hate or rage between the older members seemed to deflate, lost to sorrow, especially when the tears started to fall down Peter's cheeks. His voice was seconds from sobbing when he finally managed to drag in a deep enough breath to speak. "But Aunt May and … w-where is Mr. Stark? I … I can't be. I can't be dead. I can't …"

The teenager couldn't say another word after that. He was now sobbing and hiccupping like he was about to drown above ground. All of them were painfully reminded that he was just a child … but no one went to him. No one comforted him. Mantis, uncertain, kept looking between Drax and Quill for answers. She didn't know what to do. What to say. Finally, fingers knotting together, she looked pleadingly to Dr. Strange for answers.

The doctor continued to sit there for a minute more before he relented to the sobbing child. He had never had the kindest bedside manner, but he did what he did to help others. So, rising to his feet far more gracefully than Quill had managed, he made his way to the inconsolable boy. He then got to his knees before the now sobbing teenager and though his hands were reluctant to hug someone that was a complete strange a day ago, he carefully wrapped his arms around the boy awkwardly.

His cape, as if given the okay, was far readier to offer comforted and finished wrapping around the boy and pulling them together.

"Oh, oh, okay then," said Dr. Strange to the Cloak of Levitation as the mystical item wrapped around the two of them. "At least one of us is good at this."

Patting the boy on the back, Dr. Strange fully gave into the hug and allowed Peter to bury his head into his neck and sob. He continued to rub the mourning boy's back even as he felt a wet spot form on his shoulder.

"I t-though we had a cccchance," choked Peter into Dr. Strange's shoulder. "H-how can www-we be dead? We're here."

Sighing, his words soft, he said delicately, "Listen kid … a soul is not easily destroyed nor is energy. We are basically dead … to those left behind. We can never go back. We can never return nor communicate with those left behind. Our universe has … expunged us. So, we are here, dust given bodies … and everyone else is still there."

Peter, whimpering softly, nodded his head in understanding and gripped the doctor's shirt tightly. And there they remained for a long time … the rest of them as quiet as the dead.

XXX

Paw07: Yep, went and seen Avengers Infinity Wars yesterday. The theatre was dead quiet at the end like everyone was in shock. One girl was full on sobbing. Honestly, when Thanos sat down to watch the sun set I was like, "No way, is Marvel going for a ballsy end where the anti-hero wins?" Yep, they went there … and I loved it. Mind you, an ending the sideswipes me always has my respect and I am a great fan of a well-made villain. Thanos' backstory was heartbreaking and I found I liked his presentation in the film. So much so that I couldn't be upset by that ending … Besides, we all know part two is going to fix everything anyway.

Regardless, here's a oneshot to make you all feel a little better.

Also, I am team lives according to the 'Does Thanos kill me' quiz online. Pffff, I say. I was a-okay being on the 50% dead side. .