The King's Arrival! Reality Bends to His Will!

The Jokester's arrival was like a ladle of cold water poured into boiling oil. The entire battlefield froze.

The routed Marauders, the desperate Guardians of the Galaxy, even the haughty Corvus Glaive—all were stunned by the enormous ship that had appeared out of nowhere.

It was vast, a moving mountain of steel that made Corvus Glaive's Q-Ship look like an insignificant escort. Its bizarre paint job radiated an arrogance that seemed to hold the laws of the universe in contempt.

As everyone watched in wary confusion, a beam shot from the Jokester's underside, and a figure slowly descended through it.

He wore no spacesuit or life-support gear. He was exposed directly to the cold vacuum.

Dressed in a fitted black trench coat, he walked with steady steps, as though he were crossing the red carpet of his own palace rather than empty space.

On his left hand was an ornate, menacing gauntlet of dark gold metal. A Stone set over its index-finger joint pulsed with an eerie red light, like a beating heart.

It was Link.

Another monster who could cross the cosmos unprotected.

Corvus Glaive's pupils contracted. He sensed extreme danger from the man—not just power, but something of a higher order, something above the Laws themselves.

Inside the Milano, Proxima Midnight stopped as well. Her fighting instincts sounded their strongest warning yet: the man before her was more terrifying than all the enemies she had faced so far combined.

She made her decision at once. Abandoning the Orb within reach, she flashed toward the breach in the ship, intending to retreat and join Corvus Glaive.

She had to tell her husband about this unforeseen threat immediately.

Link hovered in midair. His gaze swept over the wreckage of the battlefield before settling on Proxima Midnight as she tried to