Sakar Star, the Arena.
Anyone familiar with Sakar knows that the arena is the most popular place on the entire planet—bar none.
In this rough-and-tumble world, where the folk culture thrives on strength and showmanship, everyone loves to watch a good fight.
The Grandmaster even keeps a group of gladiators in captivity, promising them freedom from slavery if they rise to the top and become champions.
Just like in Thor: Ragnarok, when Hulk—after accidentally ending up on Sakar—punched a kid (more or less) in the arena and breezed his way to champion status.
While other gladiators slept on public dorm floors, Hulk got himself the arena's presidential suite and a host of other perks.
If you're a strong enough gladiator, your status on Sakar Star is basically equal to that of a noble.
"Let's go. To the duel."
With the decision made, the group joined a horde of scavengers heading toward the arena.
Finding it wasn't hard—it was the tallest building in all of Saka's capital city.
Four enormous steel masks were mounted outside the arena's entrance, each one representing a former champion.
It's how Sakar Star remembers its gladiators who've earned glory.
These four masks honored Horse-Face Thor, Ares, the humanoid Ted Sallis, and the mysterious two-headed man.
Anton's Superman avatar glanced up at the masks. The message was loud and clear: this planet lives for combat.
They lined up with the rest of the crowd, waiting to enter.
"Identification card!"
A guard stepped forward, holding out his hand for ID.
The group froze—none of them had one.
"Hmm?"
The guard frowned. "No ID? Stowaways?"
Saka's a tough place to get in or out of. Aside from the exiles dumped here by other planets, no one just visits Saka.
So if you can't show ID, you're instantly marked as a stowaway.
Under the Grandmaster's rule, there's only one place for people like that to go—
the arena.
"Catch them!"
The guard snapped his fingers, and the arena's enforcers swarmed in.
The rest of the locals didn't even blink. Instead, they backed off casually, watching with curiosity.
"Fight!"
"Fight back!"
"Take out those guards!"
"They're already fighting? I didn't even get popcorn!"
Shouts echoed through the streets. Some were excited. Others impatient.
Eyes turned toward the scene—some fierce, some amused, all focused.
Superman stayed calm.
Carol and the others glanced around at the enforcers closing in.
"Looks like there's no peaceful way in," Carol muttered, shrugging.
"Only one path left."
"This might draw out the Black Order," Gamora added.
"Or at the very least, the Grandmaster himself."
"Hey," Nick Fury cut in. "Did you all forget I'm not like you? I don't have superpowers!"
Before he could say more—
Whoosh!
An enforcer lunged at him.
Boom boom boom!
The next second, that same enforcer went flying, face swollen, and crashed to the ground.
He wasn't the only one.
Stunned silence followed as several guards hit the pavement—clearly outmatched.
Carol, Gamora, and the others turned to look at Superman.
They hadn't even moved yet.
"My time's valuable," he said flatly. "No reason to waste it on them."
The crowd around them quieted.
They realized these newcomers weren't just random troublemakers.
This wasn't going to be some back-alley scrap.
No, this was shaping up to be a fight even more exciting than what the arena usually offered.
"Fight!"
Someone in the crowd yelled again—and this time, the whole street erupted in cheers.
"Hurry up!"
"Come on, haven't you eaten yet?"
The shouts from the surrounding Sakar citizens only fueled the arena guards' frustration.
"Damn it!"
The lead guard clenched his teeth.
"Grab them, now! Master Grandmaster has already been notified. If we don't handle this before the next fight ends, we're all screwed!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a tall figure appeared before him. A hand reached out casually, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him off the ground.
"I already said my time is precious, so I'll only ask once."
Superman's cold gaze bore into him. The weight of his presence, the sheer pressure emanating from his body, made the guard's heart pound as if it would leap out of his chest.
"Is the Grandmaster in the arena?"
Gulp.
The guard swallowed hard. He could feel the terrifying heat radiating from Superman's palm and sensed the killing intent.
It was like facing a force of nature—something not just powerful, but cosmically dangerous.
"Y-Yes! He's inside!"
"Good. One more question."
Superman's tone remained calm, but it carried immense weight.
"The Black Order—do you know them? Are they here?"
"I—I don't know," the guard stammered, practically tripping over his words. "I've never met any of the Obsidian generals, but… Master Grandmaster is entertaining some distinguished guests. They might be the ones you're looking for."
"Very good. Thanks for the information. I'm satisfied."
With that, Superman casually flung the guard aside.
Boom!
He crashed into the wall of a nearby building and dropped to the ground like a rag doll.
He was battered but not seriously hurt—just shaken to the core.
He didn't dare move. Lying flat, he panted heavily, hoping to avoid drawing the terrifying man's attention again.
Too terrifying.
Superman hadn't even done much, but the overwhelming presence, the quiet threat behind every movement—it made it very clear.
A villain had arrived.
And not just any villain—an unprecedented one.
The other guards looked at each other, fear creeping into their eyes.
"Let's go!"
Carol cracked her knuckles and grinned at the remaining thugs.
"Guess it's my turn!"
Boom!
A wave of powerful energy erupted from her palm, blasting the thugs away instantly. The massive blast even tore through the arena's entrance, leaving a gaping hole wide enough for several people to pass through.
The sound of it reached inside.
"Wooooaaah!"
The crowd inside the arena erupted into thunderous cheers. The deafening roar echoed out onto the street, wrapping around Carol like heat.
"You all heard that," she said to Gamora and Nick Fury beside her. "The Black Order's here. You two stay out of the fight. Find a ship and evacuate—these people won't hold back, and we can't afford friendly fire. Superman and I will handle the rest."
"Got it."
Gamora nodded before Nick Fury could say a word.
As Thanos' adopted daughter, Gamora had some history with the Obsidian generals—not friendship, exactly, but familiarity.
She knew how strong they were.
And more importantly, she knew she couldn't beat them.
So she'd leave the heavy lifting to those who could and focus on logistics.
Fury understood too.
"Be careful," he said before he and Gamora slipped away from the arena.
"Where do we find a ship?"
Nick Fury glanced at Gamora.
He wasn't well-versed in space travel. Right now, he was counting on her.
"The Grandmaster's residence," Gamora replied, tapping her smart bracelet.
With a few swift movements, she hacked into Saka's network and pulled up a map.
"Foreign ships rarely land on Saka, but the Grandmaster's place will have one. Guaranteed."
She added confidently, "Once Superman and Carol cause a scene, his guards will be pulled away. That'll be our chance to sneak in and steal a ship."
"Sounds like a solid plan," Fury said, nodding—then frowned as he looked at the map.
"But... that place is a long way off. How do we even get there?"
Gamora paused.
"..."
She had not thought that far ahead.
Inside the Arena
In the VIP suite with the best view of the action, the Grandmaster was engaged in a cordial conversation with Thanos's four lieutenants—the Black Order.
"Our champion, the Two-Headed Man, is about to enter the arena,"
the Grandmaster said with a smile.
"At present, he's the strongest fighter we have. If you choose to take him back with you and add him to Thanos's army, I would be honored. Of course, the price is negotiable—as we discussed earlier."
"Two-Headed Man..."
Black Dwarf, one of the Obsidian generals, watched the arena impassively.
The enormous warrior entering the arena was over three meters tall, with a thick, muscular build and two heads growing side by side—an unsettling sight.
"He looks promising. I want him," Black Dwarf said flatly.
"Once the fight is over, I'll take him."
"Easily arranged, easily arranged!"
The Grandmaster chuckled, narrowing his eyes.
"It would be an honor for him to be selected by you."
Ebony Maw, the tall, thin mage of the group, then spoke.
"Aside from the Two-Headed Man, what about your other champions? Our visit to Sakaar is to find powerful warriors. One isn't enough to meet our goal."
"Naturally, everything has been arranged. You'll see more of our champions shortly,"
the Grandmaster assured them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome your champion—The Two-Headed Man!"
The announcer's voice boomed as the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers.
The Two-Headed Man entered the arena to overwhelming applause, his reputation already well established among Sakaar's bloodthirsty audience.
The crowd was too caught up in the spectacle to notice the disturbance outside. Unbeknownst to them, someone had already breached the arena gates and forced their way inside.
"Now, let us welcome his opponent, another crowd favorite..."
Just as the announcer began introducing the challenger,
Boom!
An explosion thundered from the entrance, so loud it drowned out the cheers.
The announcer abruptly fell silent, sensing something was wrong.
Thick black smoke began billowing from the entrance of the challenger's tunnel, drawing the attention of everyone present—including the Grandmaster and the Black Order in the VIP suite.
"Huh?"
The Grandmaster's expression darkened.
With the Black Order present, any disruption to the arena's entertainment was a personal embarrassment.
And that was something the Grandmaster could not tolerate.
"What's going on?"
he snapped into his communicator.
"Report!"
"My lord, stowaways have broken into the arena!"
the guard answered quickly.
"We've engaged them, but we need reinforcements—"
Boom!
A second explosion, even louder than the first, cut him off.
Now, the entire crowd was fully alert. Every eye turned toward the smoke-filled entrance—
the same one from which the Two-Headed Man's opponent was supposed to emerge.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The arena fell into complete silence as the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed out of the tunnel.
The tension grew thick. Everyone sensed something was wrong.
Two explosions, unrelenting black smoke...
this wasn't part of the show.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The footsteps grew louder until finally, a figure emerged.
A towering man, nearly two meters tall, stepped out from the shadows.
It was not the expected challenger.
He was a stranger.
"Who is that?"
"Wasn't it supposed to be the rock guy?"
"That guy doesn't look like a fighter at all!"
The crowd erupted in confusion, but it didn't faze the man in the arena.
Meanwhile, in the VIP suite, the Grandmaster and the Obsidian generals leaned forward, intrigued.
This sudden turn of events?
Far from irritating them—it had made things much more interesting.
That was all Grandmaster saw—just another troublesome stowaway.
But the members of the Black Order knew better.
Superman.
They recognized him instantly.
A Kryptonian by origin, born on Earth, current whereabouts unknown—suspected to be roaming the universe.
Not long ago, he had single-handedly repelled a Kree star fleet and stolen the target Thanos's army had been pursuing: the Orb of Power, also known as the Power Stone, from the Ravagers.
Now, Superman was a top-level fugitive in the eyes of Thanos's forces.
A big problem.
Of course, what the Black Order didn't yet realize was that Superman had come here for them.
Superman, meanwhile, looked slightly annoyed.
He had taken the wrong path by mistake.
This place was way too complicated.
Why would anyone build an arena with such a messy layout?
He made a mental note to complain about Grandmaster's architectural choices.
His gaze shifted to the opponent now standing in front of him—the infamous Two-Headed Man.
In the past, he'd seen people with two heads growing from separate necks.
This was his first time seeing someone with two heads on a single face.
He stared for a moment, then gave his verdict:
"You're way too ugly."
The Two-Headed Man's expression twisted into pure rage.
All four of his eyes burned with fury.
"Bastard!" he roared.
"I'll tear you apart!"
Clenching his fists, he charged straight at Superman with murderous intent.