The first meeting of the Illuminati was soon over.
As one of the initiators and the one who provided all the intelligence, Aron fully displayed the traits of someone who knows how to entertain and intrigue everyone present, there was not a trace of boredom.
Throughout the entire meeting, he managed to implant a single thought into everyone's mind.
The DC universe on the other side was not an ally, but a threat.
Aron presented the collision and fusion of the two universes as an invasion war between two forces, Marvel and DC.
Of course, the true purpose of all this was to see the Avengers fight against the Justice League.
Still, Aron was not without a plan.
He had already begun collecting the Infinity Stones, ready to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
"Look at me," he said to himself with a smile, "what kind of hero am I when it comes to planning ahead!"
"When the Avengers and the Justice League are about to clash..."
"Wouldn't it be enough for me to just snap my fingers and erase the DC universe from our world?"
Aron's lips curled into a confident smile.
He had already discussed his plan with the Ancient One, and the conclusion was simple, the plan was feasible.
By using the Infinity Stones, he could restore the damaged dimensional barrier in one move.
Once the barrier became stable again, the threat of collision between the Marvel and DC universes would cease to exist.
The plan was perfectly rational.
And since, after that "snap," he would likely lose the chance to ever see the people from the DC universe again, Aron decided he had to make the most of this opportunity, at any cost.
If necessary, he'd even let Iron Man and Batman fight each other, just to witness that spectacle.
...
"The only problem now is the Power Stone."
After leaving Attilan, Aron teleported to Titan, Thanos's home planet.
His intention was clear: find Thanos and bring him back.
"I summon Thanos from universe 19999!" he said decisively.
The system didn't show the message "no such person," which meant Thanos still existed somewhere in the DC universe.
But even after waiting for a long time, Aron didn't see him return.
"What's this? You refused my call?"
Aron lowered his gaze and clenched his jaw.
"Isn't your current location Apokolips?"
He raised his hand again and uttered the command: "I summon Darkseid from the universe where Thanos is currently located!"
His words had barely faded when the space before him was illuminated by a white light.
Out of it stepped an enormous, terrifying figure, Darkseid.
Almost three meters tall, with his hands clasped behind his back, he observed his surroundings with a gaze full of pride and disdain.
"Is this the world of Thanos?" he asked coldly, paying no attention to Aron.
Aron walked up and tapped him on the leg.
"Hey! Are you so blind you can't see me?"
"What did you say!?"
Darkseid suddenly lowered his gaze, and the red light in his eyes flickered, his omega beams were ready.
"I said, are you blind!"
Aron showed no fear.
He didn't care who the man was or where he came from.
If you come as an evil tyrant, he has a hundred ways to stop you.
A hundred ways.
Darkseid fell silent for a moment.
At that moment, he felt an immense, threatening energy radiating from the man standing before him.
He realized that if they fought, the outcome could be disastrous, for him.
(Note: this refers to the DC-EU film universe, not the comic version.)
At this point, Darkseid had not yet found the Anti-Life Equation he dreamed of.
And now, facing Aron, the man who had reached the power level of Single Universe in the Marvel world, the dark lord of the DC universe had to suppress his rage and lower his head.
"Why did you summon me?"
Darkseid's voice echoed deeply and menacingly, his eyes glowing with red light.
He looked around, analyzing every detail of the space he had arrived in.
Soon he realized something terrifying, now he truly felt what Thanos had once felt.
That same suffocation, that same hopelessness.
He understood the essence: now that he was here, there was no return.
Darkseid tried to rely on his Omega Effect to set return coordinates through several DC universes, but the result was clear, it was all in vain.
The dimensional barriers between the Marvel and DC universes were separated, disconnected, like two seas divided by an endless void.
There was no collision.
And without collision, there was no way back.
"Fine…" he finally said, his voice carrying a trace of submission for the first time.
"Tell me what you want to know. I'll answer everything I can."
Darkseid now knew that his return to the DC universe depended entirely on the will of the man before him.
Aron.
And Aron did not look pleased.
"I'm asking you," he said coldly, "what happened to Thanos?"
Darkseid trembled, but he didn't try to lie.
"I imprisoned him," he admitted.
"I locked his body with the steel of Apokolips… and sealed his mind and consciousness with the help of the Legion of Mind Manipulators."
When he mentioned Thanos, Darkseid's face once again hardened into a proud mask.
"No matter that he possesses an immortal body and great power, in that prison he will never be able to escape."
Aron stared at him intently.
No emotion crossed his face.
Until his tone dropped to the temperature of ice.
"So that's why I couldn't summon him… because you locked him up."
At that moment, even the fearsome lord of Apokolips couldn't hide his unease.
The aura radiating from Aron was something Darkseid rarely felt, true threat.
And it wasn't just about strength.
There was something... more in his gaze.
Aron smiled faintly, almost amused, as if an idea had just formed in his mind.
"Judging by your strength, I can easily tell…" he said quietly, "your DC universe belongs to the cinematic one. So, you're the version from the DCEU."
He paused.
A glimmer of mischievous satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
"So… maybe I'll get a chance to see Gal Gadot."
Darkseid looked at him in confusion, not understanding what he was talking about.
Aron just waved his hand dismissively, returning to the subject.
"I'll ask you again," he said.
"When you captured Thanos, did you find the purple gem?"
"The purple gem?" Darkseid repeated thoughtfully.
"Ah… you mean the one Thanos carried when he arrived in our universe."
Then he told everything he knew.
How Thanos, Corvus, and Proxima Midnight traveled in a barely functioning spacecraft until they reached Apokolips.
Aron listened carefully, then summed it up in his mind: "So, Thanos first went to Earth in your universe… and lost there."
"Then you found him and took him to Apokolips."
The information came together in his mind like pieces of a puzzle.
If Thanos's first destination in the DC world was Earth, that meant the Power Stone almost certainly ended up in the hands of the Justice League.
"I see," he finally said. "I know everything I need. Thank you."
He paused, then added with a faint smile, "Actually… no, not thank you."
Darkseid looked at him, uncertain.
"Can you… send me back?" he asked, for the first time without a trace of pride in his voice.
"Send you back?" Aron shrugged. "No problem."
He pulled out a card-like talisman, glowing with golden symbols.
"Darkseid," he said with a smile, "I order your deportation to the Supreme Dimension."
"What—!?"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence.
A flash of white light swallowed Darkseid, and he disappeared in an instant.
In the next moment, in the Supreme Dimension of the Vishanti, the trinity of ancient gods, Oshtur, Hoggoth, and Agamotto, looked up.
Oshtur sighed.
"Here we go again…"
Hoggoth, half-man and half-beast, muttered: "Alas… another one Aron's playing with."
Agamotto shook his head.
"Unfortunately… another one who thinks he can stand against him."
As they spoke, their gazes fell upon Darkseid, who had appeared in their realm, confused and furious.
"Doesn't this guy look like someone from another universe?" Oshtur asked.
"Why…?"
"This is no longer even properly connected to our world," whispered the God of the Trinity.
At that moment, Darkseid's rage finally exploded.
"HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE ME!!!" he roared, his eyes igniting with omega energy.
But the gods merely exchanged glances.
"What's he yelling about?"
"Probably Aron tricked him again," said Agamotto with a sigh.
"Poor creature," added Hoggoth, "but what can you do? That's just his nature."
"What else can be said," concluded Oshtur, "let him deal with the consequences himself."
Hoggoth rose, and his form transformed into a massive, terrifying tiger's head that filled the entire dimension.
His eyes, the size of planets, opened and fixed on Darkseid.
Darkseid fell silent.
He just stood there, aware that this time he had crossed the line.
In his mind, he only thought:
"I'm sorry, Thanos… now I understand your torment."