Darkseid Descends!

As Victor Stone left to carry out his orders, throwing himself into the final overhaul of the flagship Jokester with newfound zeal, Link stood before the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at Metropolis, restored to order and prosperity.

Everything was going according to his script.

The heroes had been beaten to a pulp, then "mercifully" healed. Now they were his most formidable enforcers, tasked with clearing out Apokolips's foot soldiers.

Themyscira and Atlantis, Earth's two oldest hidden kingdoms, had sworn allegiance to him.

And Victor Stone, one of Earth's greatest technological minds, was completely on his side, helping build the foundations of his dominion over the stars.

"Done and dusted. Should I crack open an '82 cola to celebrate?"

Link felt utterly at ease.

He had all but cleared Earth, the starter zone. Once the Jokester's upgrade was complete, it would be time to head into the vast universe and have a proper chat with that purple sweet potato called Thanos about who owned the Infinity Stones.

But just then—

An indescribable tremor came from the very foundations of reality without warning.

It was not an earthquake or a surge of energy. It was something more fundamental... a shudder.

Space itself was trembling.

Link had only just gained complete mastery of the laws of space. He knew that sensation all too well.

"Hm?"

He snapped his head up, his gaze seeming to pierce the atmosphere and reach into the depths of the universe.

The next second—

The sky over the entire Earth changed color.

The once-blue sky looked as though a bucket of blood had been poured across it, swiftly turning an eerie, heart-stopping crimson.

Across the globe, countless people stopped what they were doing and stared up in terror.

In New York's Times Square, the news anchor on a