Xander eyed the toy gun for a moment. He had the fatigues at home, it wouldn't be the best costume but it should keep Snyder off his back. A little kid came along then and grabbed a toy gun, like that which Xander was eying, and walked away happily with a friend talking about how cool it'd be to dress up like G.I. Joe.
Shaking his head Xander looked through a couple of more bins as, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Buffy and Willow exit. Sighing at that, his eyes rested on a gold gauntlet. It looked like it was supposed to fit on a suit of armor but there were no gold suits around. The sight of the gauntlet gave Xander an idea and he quickly snatched it up and walked to the counter.
"I'm sorry young man," Ethan said as he saw the gold gauntlet. "I don't have the suit that goes with that, I have no idea what could have happened to it. I was certain it was packed with the other items."
"That's okay, really. How much to rent just this?" Xander asked eagerly with a large smile.
"I doubt I could find anyone else interested in just a glove," Ethan said. His mind trying to figure out what this item would turn out to be tonight. "You can have it to keep for one dollar."
"Thanks," Xander said, pulling out a dollar bill and handing it over quickly. "Do you happen to have any costume jewelry, or loose stones?"
"Oh yes, there's a table over there," Ethan answered pointing to where the women's period costumes and such were.
"Thanks."
It had cost Xander only two dollars more to get what he needed, and as soon as he'd gotten home he'd searched out the superglue to get to work. He smiled at the glove now. It would definitely be the easiest costume to fit into, he'd already made sure it fit well.
Xander had led his charges out into the night, gathering candy and living a bit vicariously through the kids and wishing he was getting a bag full of candy. He was in the middle of the street when he knew something was going wrong.
*heartbeat*
Xander's golden gauntlet changed form.
*heartbeat*
The stones on the gauntlet flashed, one by one. First red, then purple, then pink, then green, then blue and finally orange.
*hearbeat*
Xander screamed in complete understanding.
*heartbeat*
The Earth, Universe, Dimension and those connected to it were destroyed.
*silence*
The Dimension was gone. For the space of fifteen heartbeats, there was nothing. And then…
*heartbeat*
An entirely new dimension was formed.
A caped man with unusually large bald head stood stoically as he watched the Earth spin nearby. His eyes, lacking irises, did not blink as he watched. He gave the impression he could stand there forever, and he was well off to do so except that another like him appeared beside him, causing him to turn and look at him.
"Ingu, what brings you here to Earth 616?" The original man asked.
"Something most disturbing has happened Uatu. Dimension 11422 has been destroyed and recreated as something far different than before. Without Eternity's knowledge. It has all been changed but is much the same," Ingu said.
"How did this happen?" Uatu asked.
"A human came into possession of the Infinity Gauntlet and gems.
All was destroyed. Moments later a new dimension was formed. Similar to 11422, but with many differences."
"How so?"
"The human who wore the gauntlet, when his mind recreated the dimension, there were many details he did not know. His memories filled everything in. Memories of his own reality, and of the fiction he knew. Now there is this," Ingu said as he created an image of what the dimension now was.
The Earth spun as it had, but now there were new things. In Sunnydale there still dwelled a "Scooby Gang". In orbit was now a Watchtower. In New York there were men in red suits battling crime. In Gotham a name was whispered in fear at night. In Metropolis a red and blue blur saved lives. Westchester, New York now housed mutant heroes. In Colorado, the government funded extra planetary exploration. A demigod lived among men in Hollywood. In another part of the universe a ragtag fleet searched for Earth.
Then images of the future appeared, where the ragtag fleet and earthlings, and other races, battled Gods and Shadows.
"This is most interesting, many of these worlds are watched. What of the human who wears the gauntlet?"
"He is now outside of time and space, view." An image of Xander now appeared wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. He was floating in seeming nothingness, next to two giant beings. Xander and the giants lay with their heads pointed to an unseen center. "His mind is combining all that he knew, and more. He now exists in all the time periods of this new world. He has no concept of what he is or had done now."
"This is most unusual, none who had held the gauntlet before ever made a change of this magnitude."
"I am aware. I… must admit I do not know what to do now."
"Simple. You Watch."