The air was like a powder keg ready to blow. Thanos and Darkseid were on the verge of coming to blows.
But just then, Darkseid frowned slightly and turned toward the distant reaches of the universe.
Far away, at some unknown distance, Superman was leading the Justice League to conquer one galaxy after another.
Thanos noticed Darkseid's distraction and laughed coldly to himself.
After having Wanda unleash her full power, he had contacted Highfather and asked him to go all out as well.
He had told Highfather that he would keep Darkseid occupied.
Highfather clearly had not believed him, though, and had sent only Superman to test the waters.
Fortunately, Thanos had never counted on Highfather in the first place.
Superman alone was enough.
Darkseid quickly understood what had happened. He turned back and glared at Thanos. "You're asking to die!"
With that, he prepared to unleash his full power and fight Thanos to the death.
But Thanos took a step back. "No need to rush. We can negotiate."
"Negotiate?" Darkseid sneered. "Only if you withdraw from every universe you've seized!"
Thanos shook his head. "You're being attacked from both sides, and you've lost more than thirty universes in the past thousand years. Give me ten, and I'll withdraw from this war."
Darkseid glared at him, struggling to contain his fury. "You're asking to die!"
Thanos met Darkseid's seemingly furious gaze with a confident smile.
"Stop pretending you're ready to fight to the bitter end. If you really were, you wouldn't still be talking to me.
"I've named my terms. Accept or refuse—give me an answer before I change my mind."
Darkseid's face darkened when Thanos saw through him.
He did want to negotiate with Thanos.
Fighting both Thanos and Highfather at once had put him under tremendous pressure.
Neither