After several days of space jumps, the spaceship finally arrived at Knowhere.
Grandmaster had not broken his promise.
The "spectacle" he spoke of was far greater than anyone had imagined.
The Cosmic Arena, a colossal marvel materialized through the laws of the Primordial Gladiatorial Coin.
It floated amid dazzling nebulae, its size comparable to that of a small moon.
Around the arena, tens of thousands of interstellar warships, pleasure cruisers, and Ravager vessels were densely parked.
Every civilization of note in the universe had sent delegations to watch, from established interstellar powers like the Kree Empire and Shi'ar Empire to over a thousand civilizations of all sizes.
After all, a showdown like this was a once-in-ten-thousand-years event.
Moreover, many of the civilizations attending had suffered at Thanos's hands and hoped to see the cosmic butcher brought to Righteous Execution.
Inside the arena, the stands rose in circular tiers and could accommodate a million alien spectators.
At that moment, every seat was occupied by bizarre alien creatures of every kind.
At the very center of the arena stood an enormous ring enveloped by a shield of law energy.
Two separate preparation platforms floated on either side of the ring.
A flash of light appeared, and Homelander led Earth's team onto the preparation platform on the left.
As the ruthless man who had soloed Ego's Planet, Homelander's reputation had long since spread throughout the universe.
Homelander walked to the edge of the platform and smiled as he waved to the alien audience in the stands.
"This is way livelier than the Super Bowl." Tony looked around. "You should put Vought ads all over this place."
"Focus, Tony. They're here." Steve Rogers gripped his shield tightly, his eyes fixed ahead.
A flash of purple light appeared on the preparation platform to the right.