Even now, the gladiatorial games on Sakaar haven't been completely stopped.
It's a custom etched deep into the planet's culture. But ever since Bant took control, the fights are no longer as savage and brutal as they once were. Losing doesn't mean death anymore.
Anyone can sign up. Winners get rewards, and losers receive the best medical care. Those who perform well can even join the Celestial Union.
To the Sakaarians, that is the highest honor.
In the conference room, Bant listened to Kayla and Brunhilde report on the war situation.
Here on Sakaar, since Thanos hadn't focused his main attention on them, they hadn't suffered much damage—aside from being caught off guard at the very start. The most Thanos's forces could do was guard the Sacred Gate to prevent Sakaarian reinforcements from reaching Earth.
But no matter what, being attacked by Thanos couldn't just be brushed aside.
"We strike back!"
"Teach that bastard a lesson!"
Brunhilde slammed her fist on the table. Taking a beating without hitting back was not a virtue the Asgardians admired.
Ever since defeating the Red King alongside Bant and watching Sakaar slowly revive, Brunhilde's mindset had shifted. She was beginning to step out of the shadow of the Hela incident, growing more and more into a true Valkyrie.
Kayla, however, was a little hesitant.
War didn't align with the Celestial Union's principles. Sakaar was only just recovering, still in a phase of development. It wasn't the right time to start a large-scale interstellar war. Especially against a cosmic overlord.
Unable to decide, she turned her gaze to Bant to see what the Sakaarian King thought.
Bant's thoughts matched Brunhilde's.
"This really can't just be let go." Leaning back in his chair, he said, "Thanos attacked Earth and Sakaar without cause, then sent Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight after Luma. After all that, he damn well better pay the price!"
Bant leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. "Does he think war is something he can start whenever he feels like and end whenever he pleases?"
"The universe might tolerate his arrogance."
"I won't."
Honestly, Bant had always known Thanos was a threat, and that he was powerful.
But so what?
He wasn't scared.
As for the Celestial Union's principles—
Bant gave a faint smile. "In this universe, among all the interstellar civilizations, there are very few who haven't heard of Thanos and his army—the Black Order."
Hearing this, Kayla looked at Bant, waiting for him to continue.
To be honest, for the insular Sakaar, intelligence from the wider universe came in fragments. They'd get scattered bits and pieces from outsiders who accidentally ended up here, but could never piece them into a full picture.
Take the Red King. He knew of the Asgardians, but he had no idea how terrifying they really were. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared provoke Loki even if you gave him ten times the nerve.
So while Kayla had long heard of Thanos, she didn't truly understand what he represented.
Bant skipped over Thanos's early life—in truth, he wasn't clear on those details himself. What he knew well was only the Thanos from the movies.
"That guy plans to indiscriminately wipe out half of all life in the universe." Bant spread his hands, delivering a statement that stunned Kayla for a long moment.
It took several seconds for her to fully register what he'd just said.
Before she could even find words, Bant went on. "By now, he's already slaughtered the populations of dozens—maybe even over a hundred—planets."
"That… that's even more horrifying than Anmo Yashan."
Kayla was utterly shaken. She'd thought the Red King was the cruelest of tyrants. She never imagined someone could be worse.
But in Bant's eyes, what made Thanos even more terrifying was that, unlike Anmo Yashan who ruled through brute force alone, Thanos didn't believe what he was doing was wrong. Instead, he thought everything he did was destiny, beneficial to the universe itself.
He truly believed he was doing the right thing. That everyone who survived should be grateful to him.
Compared to a pitiful wretch like Anmo Yashan, Thanos had conviction.
Of course, aside from warmongers, nobody actually supported him.
Even his own children were walking the path of rebellion against him.
In short, everyone knew exactly what kind of scum Thanos was. Launching an attack on him didn't violate the Celestial Union's principles at all. It was righteous.
After hearing all this, Kayla naturally had no more objections.
"I'll make preparations right away," she said solemnly.
To the Sakaarians, the Sakaarian King's command was like divine decree. If Bant ordered every Sakaarian to end their own life right now, at least eighty percent would probably do it without a second thought.
Bant nodded. "The Korbenites have found a home now. They no longer need that enormous warship of theirs. We can refit it and make it the Celestial Union's vessel."
Kayla nodded.
Just as she was about to move, Bant stopped her and produced two Infinity Stones.
The Space Stone was still in its Tesseract form.
"Isn't that the Tesseract?" Brunhilde recognized the treasure immediately. When she left Asgard, the Tesseract hadn't even been on Earth yet.
"I'm planning to keep the Tesseract here on Sakaar."
Leaving the Tesseract on Sakaar was a decision Bant had thought through carefully.
For one, Earth's planetary shield was already complete. It only lacked a massive energy source, and the Mind Stone could serve that purpose just as well.
His second consideration was the tangled network of spatial tunnels in Sakaar's sky.
The native Sakaarians called them the Sacred Gates. They were a double-edged sword—on one hand, they connected Sakaar to different corners of the universe. On the other, whatever fell through those gates was a gamble. More often than not, it wasn't anything good. Sakaar's original, twisted technological development was clearly the result of finding gold in a cesspool.
But these gates weren't so useful to Sakaar anymore.
Besides—
After Sakaar's coordinates were exposed, those portals leading directly into the planet's interior also meant danger.
Like Thanos's sudden attack this time.
Considering all this, Bant needed the Tesseract to stay on Sakaar, to solve the problem of the planet being far too easy to invade.
Once these matters were arranged, Bant went to check on Luma, who was soaking in a healing tank.
The woman, predictably, invited him to join her.
This time, Bant didn't refuse.
As they soaked together, Bant told her about the counterattack against Thanos. Luma immediately got fired up.
"Of course we have to strike back!" she said, clenching her fist. "That purple yam-head had the nerve to send people after me. On Kross, that's a declaration of war against the Crimson Wind Empire. You can't just say 'stop' and expect it to be over!"
Thanos attacks when he pleases and pulls back the moment things go south? No way it's that easy.
After reaching an agreement with Luma, Bant didn't plan to stay on Sakaar much longer. A battle had just ended; Uncle Ben and Aunt May were surely worried sick. He still needed to get back to Earth.
As for the counterattack, there was no rush. It would take time to prepare.
When Bant left Luma's room and was about to use the Tesseract to open a portal back to Earth, Bill strode over.
"Sheriff, Kayla has already filled me in. Leave the refit of the great warship to me."
As the warship's guardian, Bill knew it better than anyone.
Bant nodded. "Then I'll leave it in your hands."
Then Bill pulled something out and handed it to Bant. Bant looked down and saw a handful of soil.
"What's this?" He blinked.
"Soil from the Null Void," Bill said. "Back when I learned my people might be there, Loki told me the Null Void originated from an ancient Celestial. He asked me to bring back some soil from it."
"A Celestial?"
Bant immediately thought of Celestial genes. He took the soil and spread it over the small broken watch, but the watch gave no reaction.
"Looks like this soil doesn't contain any Celestial power."
"I'll head to the Null Void myself sometime," Bant said, shaking his head.
Bill's expression fell into apology.
"It's fine. This isn't your fault."
Truthfully, Bant didn't care much about this so-called Celestial gene. His consciousness was linked with the watch-less Bant's, so he actually knew about the proposals his duplicate was discussing with Enara and Oyana in the mind space.
A god Enara had dismissed as trash even if resurrected—even knowing that "trash" was relative to X Superman—still left Bant somewhat unimpressed.
If anything, what surprised him more was that Loki and Bill had even thought of this. Sometimes, the thought mattered more than the gift itself.
"Bill, hundreds of thousands of Korbenites have come to Sakaar. Overnight, they've become the largest race after the Red and Blue Sakaarians. Differences in customs could easily lead to conflict. I hope you'll do your best to guide the Korbenites and help them integrate."
No matter how many Korbenites there were, they were still newcomers. They should respect the Sakaarians who shared their land.
"Rest assured," Bill said, nodding gravely. "This is my duty. Every Korbenite will forever remember the generosity and grace of the Sakaarian people and the Sakaarian King."
On Earth, agents of the Skyhammer Bureau had already begun cleaning up the aftermath.
The Manhattan area had been almost completely destroyed. Stark and T'Challa both said they'd foot the bill, but reconstruction alone was a massive headache. Fortunately, Queens was largely untouched. Sometimes being a little out of the way was a blessing.
Of course, none of this had much to do with the superheroes anymore. Having just finished a battle, they were mentally and physically drained. They just wanted somewhere to rest.
Tony originally suggested a Turkish barbecue spot a few blocks away, but that place had been trashed too. So Harry offered an idea.
A few minutes later, a large group gathered in a slushie shop. Staring at the slushies in their hands, they collectively fell silent.
Harry burst out laughing.
Having tasted this shop's slushies long before, he hadn't ordered a single thing from the start.
/-\
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