Above Manhattan.
Several small space-ships hauled huge, transparent energy cages slowly skyward.
Inside the cages, the members of the Ultimates looked like wild beasts flung into a zoo.
Steve, face bloodied, gripped the energy bars. He glared fixedly at the shrinking white figure far below. In his eyes blazed a fire called vengeance, laced with helplessness.
Antonio was slumped in a corner of the cage, his blue armor completely wrecked. He still clutched a half-empty bottle of whiskey—his only comfort.
"See clearly, everyone."
Frieza's voice carried through speakers mounted in the cages, reaching every ear. It also streamed live to every surviving heart on Earth.
"This is the fate of those who resist."
"I gave you chances, gave you dignity. You chose the ugliest path yourselves."
Frieza hovered in mid-air, crimson eyes coldly surveying the ruins beneath him.
"Now, the game is over. It's time for a thorough cleaning of this messy planet."
He tilted his head toward the purple giant waiting behind him like a loyal hound.
"Thanos."
"I am present!"
Thanos stepped forward, dropped to one knee, voice ringing like a bell.
"What is your command, Lord Frieza?"
"The property management on this planet is abysmal."
Frieza wrinkled his nose in disgust and pointed a finger toward distant Washington, D.C.
"That place called the White House, and that trident building called S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. They're stuffed with loud-mouthed wastes."
"Such organizations, dquandering food and daring to threaten me with their pathetic nukes..."
Frieza's gaze turned icy.
"...have no reason to exist."
"Go. Wipe them out."
"Remember, erase them on the physical level."
"Leave not even the foundations."
"As you command, Lord Frieza."
A cruel thrill flashed in Thanos's eyes.
Demolition?
That was his specialty.
"Apocalypse! Erik! With me!"
Thanos rose, and swung his blade.
"Let the natives of this Universe learn what real efficiency looks like!"
Boom!
Three figures shot skyward, radiating destruction, heading straight for Washington.
Minutes later, every screen on Earth cut to a live feed of Washington.
This place was once hailed as the most powerful spot on the Planet.
Now, it's sky was darkened by a colossal metallic meteor, which Erik had forged from every car and steel beam in the city.
With Apocalypse's terrifying telekinesis adding force, like the hammer of God, it smashed straight into the White House.
Rumble!!!
No screams.
In that instant, every life was crushed to pulp.
Immediately after, Thanos descended from the sky. Though his blade lacked Infinity Stones, the Ki Frieza had infused into it still cleaved mountains.
Shing!
Triskelion, along with the secret Base beneath it, was split in two by a purple slash.
Then, a burst of violet energy leveled the ruins to flat land.
"This is the price of defying Lord Frieza!"
Thanos bared a savage grin at the camera.
That scene shattered the last psychological defenses of billions across the globe.
[Ding! Ultimate Universe governmental core destroyed! Fear Points +100 billion!]
[Ding! Fear Points +200 billion!]
…
Listening to the endless notifications in his mind, Frieza nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it. Only by clearing away the old trash can we build new towers."
He drew a pristine handkerchief and lightly wiped his hands.
At that moment.
Earth's survivors, whether in European castles or African savannahs, realized one thing.
The self-styled emperor of the universe was not joking. He treated Earth as his private property. Anything disobedient, dirty, ugly, would be wiped away.
"Gods… save us…"
Countless people knelt and prayed.
But their gods hung caged in the sky, displayed to everyone.
"Ground cleaning's about done."
Frieza stretched, eyes turning to the bright moon above.
"Next…"
"I'll go inspect my new villa."
In this Universe, the moon is more than a satellite.
In the shadows of its far side hides a city named Attilan, the capital of the Inhumans.
"I hear their king doesn't talk much?" Frieza's lips curled in mockery.
"Black Bolt?"
"A loud voice, right?"
"Exactly the kind of noise I hate."
Bzzt!
A flash of blue from the Space Stone and a portal opened on the far side of the Moon—Attilan.
Hidden beneath a blue shield, the city was in chaos. They had watched Earth's fate on their monitors.
"Your Majesty, we must evacuate!" Medusa stared anxiously at the man on the throne.
Black Bolt, the man whose whisper could shatter cities.
Sweat formed on his brow, eyes once regal now filled with dread.
He wanted to flee.
But where?
With the Space Stone, that demon could hunt anywhere in the Universe.
"Evacuate? To where?"
An elegant voice echoed suddenly through Attilan's hall.
Every royal Inhuman spun around.
There, in a white suit, the blond devil, hovered beneath the dome, hands in pockets, smiling.
Frieza gestured at the buildings. "You squatters built this shanty town on my Moon without permission."
"No rent, fine but now the landlord's here and you won't even say hello before running? How rude."
"Who are you?!" Gorgon roared, stomping to send seismic waves at Frieza.
"Too loud."
Without a glance, Frieza flicked a finger.
Shuk!
A violet beam drilled through Gorgon's skull.
He dropped.
Silence.
"You—"
Black Bolt sprang up.
He opened his mouth to unleash the Planet-shattering scream, his strongest weapon, the Inhumans' last card.
"Hypersonic—"
But before a sound emerged, before his vocal cords could even vibrate—
"Shh..."
Frieza raised a finger to his lips.
"I said I hate noise."
Bzzt—
Red light from the Reality Stone flashed.
Black Bolt's eyes bulged in horror.
His mouth…
Gone!
Where it had been, smooth skin sealed the space. However hard he strained, no sound came. The titanic sonic energy, with no outlet, raged inside his chest.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
His eyes were bloodshot, and he swelled like a balloon about to burst.
"Poor thing, about to pop?" Frieza grinned cruelly.
"Then pop."
BOOM!
Black Bolt's body exploded from his own sonic power, bursting into a mist of blood.
The Inhuman king had suffocated himself.
"Blackagar!" Medusa screamed.
In the next instant, Frieza waved casually and an invisible shockwave swept the hall. Every royal Inhuman was reduced to powder.
"Cleanup complete."
Clapping his hands, Frieza surveyed the empty city.
"Decor's tacky, but renovations will fix that. Serviceable staff quarters."
Frieza didn't hurry back to Earth. Standing on the lunar surface, he gazed into the star-filled void, his crimson eyes seeming to pierce dimensions toward a distant divine realm.
"Earth taken, moon taken."
"So…"
"Shouldn't the neighbors drop by to pay respects?"
He drew the communicator seized from the Ultimates and tuned to a private channel—a direct line to Asgard of this Universe.
"Hey? Old man Odin?"
Frieza's voice rang through Asgard's royal hall via quantum link.
"This is Frieza. Your dumb son Thor is hanging in my sky like cured meat."
"I don't do small talk. I give you three days. Bring your crown, your army, and that World-Tree seed. Kneel before me on Earth."
"Otherwise…"
He glanced at the lunar wreckage beneath his feet.
"I'll personally visit Asgard and give you a Ragnarok you'll never forget."
"Got it?"
"Oh-ho-ho-ho…"