𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 | ʜᴇʟᴍᴜᴛ ᴢᴇᴍᴏ

𝟓 ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ

2023

The world had changed, devastated by the impact of what the media was calling the Snap. Societies fell, economies crashed, and governments became non existent. With half of the population suddenly gone, the entire structure that the Earth had relied upon disintegrated along with those lost in the tragic event. The Vanished were memorialized and prayed for when the remaining were certain they would be missed forever, and society tried to persevere and move forward.

Children became orphans, wives became widowers, governments found themselves without leadership, and businesses without executive officers. Much of the aftermath of the Snap left the world in agonizing chaos, but it wasn't just the Earth who felt the wave of the event. The entire universe had begun to collapse in front of the humans, who not only faced the sudden loss of their families, but were now dealing with a new understanding of intergalactic threats and allies. Things of speculation became reality and superstitions were confirmed in the wake of the tragedy.

As a resilient species, the Earth found balance in a new normal, establishing a one world government and relying on organizations to care for the mentally damaged, the lost, and the fallen. While not perfect, it was a way of life, as members of society acknowledged that they had to move forward and carry on in life.

People had begun to find comfort in a world without borders. Societies that had once been countries with strict policies now opened their arms to outsiders freely with homes, jobs, and stability. The pain of the Vanished never left the hearts of those who remained, but a new world order allowed them to adjust and pave a way in a life they had never lived before. Businesses began to thrive again, politics were handled at a global reach, and those previously lost now found purpose and drive in life. The Snap was a universal tragedy, but as the human race, the remaining population remained resilient while looking forward hopefully to a better tomorrow.

Then as soon as the dust had settled and people had returned to a level of comfort, the Vanished returned instantaneously in the blink of an eye and without warning.

Their return forced those that had lived in the five year disappearance out of their jobs, out of their homes, and out of their lives. Billions of people that were lost to the Snap were suddenly thrust into the world in their physical form of five years prior, while the remaining living had aged and moved on. People became citizens of a non existent nation and found their worlds turned upside down. For the population that had lived on in the five year gap, they found their entire existence had crumbled before them in the wake of the returned.

Governments were quick to attempt reestablishment and were hasty to remove the unwanted from their stability, preferring to cater to the Vanished, who had suffered so much. While the Avengers had contributed wholly to the return of the Vanished, society was unprepared to receive the missing population and quickly turned to chaos again. Inevitably, it was those that remained to live their existence after the Snap that suffered a fate worse than death: complete erasure from the society they had contributed so much to as they stood idly by watching others laugh in their faces.