Teleportation departure for Doctor Fate and Wonder Woman.
The Marvel audience was far away.
Helpless.
They could only watch as the two disappeared into the distance.
"What a pity. Let them run," sighed Namor.
If only they could get rid of Doctor Destiny and Wonder Woman, the DC Universe wouldn't even need to keep fighting.
"All right, be satisfied. If we've gotten rid of Superman, we're already—"
"Sorry, I just remembered I can't pop champagne at halftime," Tony Stark interrupted himself.
The plan was half successful.
Now it was time for Captain America and the others to reclaim the Power Gem from the DC Universe.
"I don't know about Steve either…"
"Oops!"
Tony's voice didn't even try to lower.
Mordo let out a quiet gasp.
At that moment, Jarvis projected a live feed directly into Tony's eyes.
It was the Avengers' headquarters on Earth.
The portal guarded by the Wasp suddenly lit up!
And almost instantly, Captain America, War Machine, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Sersi, and Black Widow, all six, were returned by Quicksilver!
"Sir, Colonel Rhodes is dying! Medical team en route!"
"What!?"
Tony was stunned, his whole body freezing.
He quickly opened his communicator and said softly:
"Steve! Can you hear me? What happened out there? Why are you—"
He never finished the sentence.
Through the channel came Captain America's faint voice:
"I… we… it was an ambush… a trap… Tony…"
Boom——!
Tony felt like lightning struck his mind.
Yeah. If you can calculate everyone else, why assume no one would calculate you?
Tony lifted his head.
At that moment…
His gaze seemed to pierce the cosmic barrier.
Directly, he looked toward Batman's main headquarters in the DC Universe.
"You didn't see that coming, Tony."
… …
Meanwhile.
Doctor Fate and Wonder Woman had teleported back to the DC Universe.
They immediately informed the members of the Justice League that Superman had disappeared and that they had fallen into a trap.
"Damn it!"
Batman slammed his fist on the table.
When he looked up, he was in a trance. The people around him were gone. The conference room was completely dark.
And then, on the other side of the table, sat a man in an iron suit with a cynical smile on his face.
"Bad move, Bruce Wayne."
… …
"This scene was cut from the movie! I won't accept anything less than five billion at the box office!"
High above Earth in the DC Universe, Aron brought Wanda to witness the final act of this spectacle.
In less than half a day, alliances, reunions, false saviors, schemes, traps, everything unfolded like an epic drama.
Two universes trying to outsmart one another.
Aron was thrilled.
During those few hours, he had taken Wanda back and forth between the two universes, fully enjoying the show without interfering at all.
"Wanda, tell me honestly, if I post this online, how many likes would I get?"
Aron looked at his phone, a gallery full of spectacular battle shots. He clicked one at random.
It was the moment when Black Adam brutally crushed War Machine.
"Aron… you're overdoing it."
Wanda looked away.
She was beginning to feel that Aron was turning into a true villain.
And not just any villain, but a shadowy, ultimate one!
"Hahaha…"
"Look at this shot! Rhodes will end up in a wheelchair again!"
"It seems no matter which universe War Machine comes from, his fate is always the same, paralysis from the waist down."
Watching War Machine get brutally beaten, Aron laughed without an ounce of sympathy.
If it had been anyone else, he might have helped.
He might even have saved a life.
But War Machine…
Sorry.
I really don't care.
Aron vaguely remembered that, while cooking in the Avengers' cafeteria, he had mentioned wanting to swipe his meal card.
But Rhodes didn't agree.
"So what now?"
"What do you say we return the Power Gem and end this?"
Wanda no longer wanted anyone to get hurt and suggested a compromise.
"Not impossible," Alaric nodded.
Even though he hadn't gotten the grand duels he hoped for Batman versus Iron Man, Quicksilver versus Flash, the battle had already reached its peak.
If it continued, both sides would likely try to destroy each other's worlds.
And that would go completely against his original intent, to enjoy the chaos as a spectacle.
"Come on, let's go down and greet Gail…"
Aron only wanted to appear before Wonder Woman and end this ridiculous conflict.
Boom——!!!
A massive energy pillar pierced the sky, descending directly from space onto Earth in the DC Universe.
Amid the shock and quaking ground, a small island nation in the Asian region completely sank.
The sea surged.
The entire land was swallowed beneath the waves.
"Oops. Humans are old and slow to react. Otherwise, they might've survived."
"…"
"You didn't even move."
Wanda's words hit home.
Aron hadn't moved an inch.
His indifference was terrifying.
A massive fleet was descending to Earth.
The energy pillar that had struck moments earlier was their landing signal.
The army had arrived!
Countless demons poured from the ships.
Leading the invasion was Steppenwolf, one of Apokolips' top warlords.
He had followed Darkseid's orders ever since his disappearance, awaiting the day when the two universes would collide.
That day had now come.
"The greatest cosmic rift is right on this planet," murmured Steppenwolf.
The scientist DeSaad, from Oscil Corporation, had been sent to study all the spatial cracks caused by the collision of universes.
Their conclusion: only the rifts on Earth were stable and wide enough to allow an entire fleet to pass through.
"Move out! The great Darkseid awaits us on the other side!"
Steppenwolf raised his hand and descended to the surface.
The moment his feet touched the ground, a vision appeared in his mind.
Three cubes.
The Mother Boxes.
"Mother Box!"
He was ecstatic.
Their original plan had simply been to pass through this world and reach the Marvel Universe.
But now, an unexpected prize.
On this planet lay the Mother Box!
"It's best we conquer this planet first," he said.
"And then, with the Box in hand, march on the Marvel Universe!"
"With the Mother Box…"
"Conquering Marvel will be child's play!"
In his eyes burned absolute confidence.
Clever.
Calculated.
"That's right."
"That's it."
"Darkseid will surely be proud of me."