//------------------------------//
// No God Can Save You 
// Story: The War of Champions 
// by Onomonopia 
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Hulk screamed with fury when a smoke pellet caught him in the eyes, blinding the enraged giant as he charged forward at where the person had been standing a second before. Ryan had the good sense to roll to the side to avoid the green freight train that would have crushed him instantly, and he watched from beneath the smoke as Hulk charged into a giant boulder, going through it as if it were paper.

"MARE! If you can here me, and I hope to God that you can, teleport me the hell out of here!" he roared into his backpack, but just like he had suspected, he couldn't feel the mare's presence within his bag...meaning that he was truly alone again. He turned his attention back to the Hulk as the green monstrosity cleared the smoke from his eyes--eyes that looked at Ryan with absolute loathing and wrath within them.

"Come on Hulk, here I am taking the time to fight you, and I don't even get an iconic 'Hulk smash' or you're 'the strongest there is'?" Ryan asked with as little fear as he could muster, hoping that if he could get the Hulk talking it would buy him time to think of a plan. But the Hulk remained silent while he slowly lumbered towards the human, as if he knew this fight was already over and was deciding whether or not to crush Ryan then and there.

"Geez, I thought you had a limited vocabulary when Banner was in your head, but without him I see that I could get a better conversation from rocks," Ryan taunted once again, hoping for some kind of reaction while Hulk was still at a distance. Hulk once again chose silence in response to Ryan's words, but he also lifted his arms slowly over his head, tightening his hands into fists. "Oh, fuck." Ryan hurled himself to the side as Hulk roared with fury and slammed his fists into the ground, generating a shockwave that could be felt all across the nation of the dragons. 

Ryan was hurled yards back by the shockwave alone, thinking to himself how grateful he should be that the shockwave had been the only thing that caught him. 'Because if I had stayed on the ground, I am fairly certain that I would have been impaled, crushed or both,' he thought when he landed on his back, looking to the side to see pillars of sharp stone sticking out of the ground from the Hulk's impact. He spotted the jade giant lumbering towards him once again, and he scrambled to his feet while he reached inside of his bag.

'Getting close with the baton is suicide. I need to use whatever range items I have and hopefully find a way to take his attention off of me. Grr, those guys better be damned grateful for what I'm doing for them!' Ryan pulled out two spheres from his bag, holding one in each of his hands. He activated them while keeping an eye on the Hulk, who was still lumbering towards him at a slow pace. 'Either he's a calm angry or he's planning something. I hope it's the first one!'

Ryan chucked both spheres with all of his might, watching fearfully as they sailed through the air and smacked Hulk right in the face. Twin massive explosions went off and Ryan, for a moment, wanted to smile. But his limited knowledge of the Hulk reminded him that the giant had taken far worse than that, so when Hulk burst through the smoke caused by the explosions with a roar, Ryan already had his next traps in play. Hulk ran right past Ryan when he dived to the side once again, yet he still took a blow to the side by the sheer force of the Hulk passing him, where the Hulk stepped on one of two pads that had been placed on the ground.

"GGGRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!" Hulk roared as electricity burst forth from the pad, sending the lightning coursing right through the Hulk's leg and into his body. Yet again though, Ryan was forced to watch as another one of his weapons that could drop an alicorn failed, when Hulk turned to face him and crushed the pad with a quick stomp.

"Dammit Hulk, you're making me look bad out here," Ryan grumbled as he reached into his bag to pull out another trick, but Hulk decided that he had had enough of the annoying human. Hulk roared while he slammed his hands together once again, generating a thunderclap so loud and powerful that Ryan was hurled nearly a football field's length from the shockwave alone. He shook weakly as he pushed himself to all fours, making a snarky remark that he never heard. His eyes widened and he said something again, but all he could hear was ringing in his ears. 'Fuck, I can't hear. Wait, then how will I know when the Hulk--?"

Hulk finished that thought for him when Ryan felt four green fingers and a thumb wrap around his chest, hoisting him into the air with ease and turning him around so that he was face-to-face with his worst fear. Ryan said nothing while he looked into the red eyes of the Hulk, although he wasn't sure if he was screaming or not. What he did do was reach back and pull out his baton, which he flicked on before driving it into the Hulk's closest eye. He never heard the Hulk roar in pain as the godly magic within the baton burned the Hulk's face, yet when the Hulk moved him away from his face Ryan could already see the damage healing up.

Hulk slowly turned his face back to look at the human, absolute wrath in his eyes as the eye that was struck by the baton healed perfectly, and he let out a roar that Ryan never heard. Then he brought his arm back and chucked the human with his great might. Everything broke as Ryan skipped off the ground and bounced off of a stray rock, but he was out long before he felt the pain. He 'ragdolled' to the ground where a sickening crack could be heard, with none of his limbs facing the right direction. Hulk roared with rage as he began to march towards the body of the human, no idea whether he was alive or dead. But all Hulk cared about was destroying it. So as Hulk came to a stop in front of the human's motionless body, he lifted both his arms over his head, a snarl on his face.

"NO!" 

Hulk roared as lightning from on high struck him in the back, forcing the giant to all fours while he roared with rage and pain. The moment the lightning bolt ceased, Hulk spun with rage and turned to face his adversary floating in the air, roaring at the red and gold god floating above him. Captain Marvel wasted no time in flying down and driving his fist into the Hulk's maw, lifting the Hulk's feet from the ground and tossing him away from the human. "No-no-no!" Marvel growled as he knelt down and looked over Ryan's mangled body, horror in his eyes when he placed a hand on his chest while trying to find a pulse. His blood went cold when didn't feel a heartbeat before his eyes took on a determined look.

"No! I won't lose anyone! I will save you!" Marvel roared as he placed his hands on Ryan's chest, surging electricity into him quickly. The wisdom of Solomon helped him to determine how much power to use and for how long, but it took nearly a minute before the Captain could feel Ryan's heart start back up once again. Marvel let out a sigh of relief before he heard the Hulk roar again, forcing Marvel's attention away from Ryan. "Sorry Ryan, but I've got to stop Banner!"

Marvel shot off into the air and slammed into the Hulk, whom Marvel had caught leaping into the air with his god-like eyes. Marvel slipped around behind the Hulk and suplexed him straight down into the desolate landscape below, burying the monster in a giant crater. "Banner! Why did you attack Ryan?! I know that we joked about it but come on man, that's taking things way too far!" 

Hulk's response was to erupt from the ground and drive itself into Marvel, forcing him down to the ground while Marvel tried to fly up. Hulk grabbed the mightiest mortal by the leg and dragged him back down to deliver a sledgehammer of a right fist into Captain Marvel's face, hurling him across the ground.

'Ugh, what is up with the Hulk's strength?' Billy thought to himself while he stared up at the sky, feeling his jaw to make sure it was still there. 'I haven't been hit that hard since I fought...Doomsday,' Marvel recalled as he groaned and sat up, hearing a roar and watching as a green speck leapt into the air in an arc that was heading straight for him. Marvel rose back to his feet and placed his hands together at his side, summoning a lightning storm within them as he glared at the Hulk hurtling towards him. 'If Hulk is as powerful as Doomsday, then I can't afford to hold back!'

"Torok Nabu Shazam!" he roared while he thrust his hands forward, unleashing a lightning strike that pierced through the Hulk. The lightning strike punched a hole through the chest of the Hulk and knocked him off his course, causing him to crash into the ground a number of yards away from Marvel. Captain Marvel looked at where the Hulk landed with horror in his eyes, believing for a moment that he had killed him, before he watched as the hole he had just made began to repair itself while Hulk let out a snarl.

'Billy! What is going on?' Marvel turned his head to see that the silver mare was standing besides him, looking around at the destruction with confusion. 'I heard Ryan ask me for help, but Black Adam was on my tail and...why are you fighting the Hulk?'

"Banner or the Hulk has gone crazy and nearly killed Ryan back over there," Marvel quickly said as he pointed to where Ryan lay, certain that for a moment he saw fear in the mare's eyes when she looked upon where the human lay. "I don't know what's wrong with Hulk, and to make things worse he's far stronger than he usually is. I don't know if I can beat him without killing him."

The silver mare looked over at Ryan one last time before she turned her magical powers to the Hulk, trying to determine what had happened to Banner to force him into such a monstrous state. But again, to her horror she found neither the mind of the doctor nor the Hulk with the jade giant. All she found was the desire to destroy anything in its path. 'Banner is not in there. Neither of them are.'

"What do you mean?" Marvel asked while the Hulk's wound fully healed and he rose back to his feet, glaring at both the mare and the Marvel with wrath flashing like lightning in his red eyes.

'I mean, neither Banner's conscious nor the Hulk's are in there,' the mare said as she turned her magic to the land beyond, gasping at what she felt. 'I can feel Banner though. He is far from here...and he has Trixie with him as well. Neither of them are in good shape.' Marvel narrowed his eyes when he turned back to the face the Hulk, who was slowly lumbering towards them.

"Can you heal Ryan?" Marvel asked the mare, who nodded in response. "Then do so. I kept his heart going but he'll probably die again if his body isn't fixed. Once you've done that, see if you and Banner can figure out a way to stop the Hulk. I'll keep him busy until then!" Marvel hurled himself at the Hulk when he said this and drove his shoulder into the Hulk's abdomen, taking the both of them into the sky and far away from where his allies were. Marvel waited until he was over green before he slammed the both of them into the ground, driving his hands into the ground to stop while the Hulk kept on skidding.

"Got to be honest, Hulk, I did want to fight you at one hundred percent sometimes, just to see if I were stronger," Captain Marvel said as the Hulk picked himself out of the empty, grassy field in which Marvel had dumped him. Hulk gave Marvel a look with such intense hatred that Captain Marvel flinched a little. "But if I had known that I would have been fighting you like this, then I might have just decided on an arm wrestling match."

In response to Marvel's idea of an arm wrestling match, Hulk bellowed with fury before he hurled himself towards the mightiest mortal. Marvel never expected to see the Hulk move with such speed, and he took a fist to the face before he had time to react, the force of the blow carving a trench as the Captain was punched across the field. Marvel recovered quickly and took to the skies, where he howled with power while he unleashed lightning down upon the Hulk. But despite lightning that matched the power of Zeus himself, Hulk ran through the bolts that struck him while hardly slowing down. Hulk leapt into the storming skies and tackled Marvel out of them, grabbing his chest with one hand before driving the other into the lightning bolt. Marvel impacted the ground hard and looked up to see the Hulk bombarding towards him, fists outstretched as he bellowed furiously.

"No choice then! SHAZAM!" The heavens split open to allow the divine magical bolt to descend toward its chosen champion, yet during its descent it struck a mortal that was not worthy...a mortal whose rage was far greater than any mortal it had struck before. But as powerful as the Hulk was, the divine power of the word had not chosen him. So when the bolt struck him, its magical lightning burned him to his very core, its power tearing through him with the might of the gods. The smoldering body of the Hulk collapsed to the ground without another sound, giving Marvel a chance to collect his thoughts while he slowly floated over to where the Hulk lay motionless.

"That...was way too easy," Captain Marvel muttered to himself as he looked down at the Hulk from beneath his hood, slowly lowering it from his head while he debated whether he should shock the Hulk again for good measure or if the fight was done. His eyes narrowed as he pointed a lightning-filled fist at the Hulk, preparing to fire. "If Superman can take multiple hits of the word, then I would wager that you can as--"

Twin fists shot out from the ground and struck Marvel under the chin, catapulting him into low orbit with one strike alone. The shockwave created by the impact blasted apart the landscape, tearing up trees, grass and anything else unfortunate enough to be caught near the power that was the Hulk. Marvel managed to slow his ascension to a stop before he left the planet's atmosphere, but it took him a moment to think straight after the uppercut he had received.

'DARN IT! Just how strong is this guy?' Billy asked as he rubbed his jaw with his hand, checking for any signs of blood. 'It's like the more I hit him, the stronger he gets!...Got to end it now. He's shown that he's tough enough to take all my other blows, so I've got to go with the finisher!' Marvel rocketed down to the planet as fast as he could without causing damage to the atmosphere, going parallel with the ground when he was only a few feet off of it. Hulk spotted the red blur heading for him at max speed, unable to react in time as Marvel slammed both fists into the jade giant's gut to double him over.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Time to call down the thunder!" Marvel yelled as he pulled both of Hulk's arms behind his back, before hurling him into the sky with a thunderous roar. "SHAZAM!" Captain Marvel yelled while he rocketed up after the Hulk. The divine thunderbolt descended upon the tumbling Hulk, striking him dead center in the chest and driving him back down towards the ground. Marvel caught him on his shoulder once he had caught up to Hulk and wrapped his arms around Hulk's thick legs, setting him up for the powerbomb. He then drove the both of them straight down towards the field as he yelled out,

"Thundering Tigerbomb!"

He planted the Hulk back first into the field of grass, changing it from a field into a crater in a matter of seconds. The clouds overhead were blown away by the sheer power of the Hulk being slammed into the ground, but as Marvel released his foe and stood up, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Count it, ref. One, two, three! And the winner is the Captain of Thunder himself, Captain...bleh," Marvel said as he fell onto his back and stared at the now cloudless sky with his arms lying on either side of him, sighing in relief before speaking to whom he hoped was the mare. "Yo, silver mare, it's done. The Hulk is down. Find Banner and let's see if we can get them back to--" Marvel shot up as he felt the ground move beneath him, looking at the smoking crater where he had left the Hulk with a shake of his head.

"There's no way. That was the finisher. There's no way he could get up after..." The Hulk proved Marvel wrong as a giant green hand pulled a giant green body out of the hole that Captain Marvel had created with Hulk's body. A pair of red, angry eyes locked onto Marvel and teeth gritted with rage opened to let loose a cry that had Marvel on his feet faster than the eye could process. "Okay, best two out of three, huh? Hope you like thunderstorms, because you're about to be caught in another one!"

Marvel threw a fist at the Hulk, but with speed that could match his own the Hulk caught his blow with one of his massive paws, slowly lifting his head to glare at the Captain with rage burning in his eyes. Marvel's eyes widened as he realized that the very earth was shaking beneath the Hulk and a green aura was radiating off of the monster.

"Don't tell me. You got stron-" A fist to the nose shut the kid up then and there, as well as hurled him into the sky again. Marvel shook his head while he flew to try and clear the cobwebs, but when he could see through his blurred eyes, a green gamma bomb tackled him in mid-air and meteored the both of them into a lake. Torrents of water poured onto the shores, causing ponies to run for their lives in both fear and confusion. Whatever water remained in the lake was removed as the two titans continued to slug it out in the center of a very dry lake bed.

"Knee of justice!" Marvel announced as he drove his knee into the nose of the Hulk, a burst of electricity erupting from it to blast the Hulk back. "How about some fish fry, Hulk?" Captain Marvel asked as he flew into the air, thrusting both hands down and unleashing lightning into the little amount of water that the Hulk was standing in. The Hulk roared as the water conducted the magical lightning, burning the Hulk's body while Marvel's power flooded into it. But to the horror of the big red cheese, the Hulk remained standing and when he looked up at Billy; he seemed only angrier.

"You gotta be kidding me. Go down already!" Marvel roared as he cast down more lightning than ever before, unleashing all of it upon a single target. Yet the Hulk hurled himself through the lightning and wrapped his arms around Marvel, driving him back-first into the ground with Hulk using his weight to hold Marvel down. Hulk then began to deliver earth-shattering blows to Captain Marvel's face, each more ferocious than the last.

'Billy, it's the mare. I need to warn you that the angrier the Hulk gets the stronger he gets! So try your best to avoid making him angry or his strength might surpass yours!' the voice of the mare said within Billy's mind, which he heard in between the gunshot-like sounds of fists meeting his face.

'Now you tell me, when he's using my face for a sandbag! Ryan's right, you truly are use-' Another knuckle sandwich to the face interrupted Billy's thoughts and snapped him back into the fight. With eyes that could watch atoms split, Marvel read Hulk's next attack and caught his fist with his hand, gritting his teeth as the strength of Hercules strained against the unstoppable power that the Hulk possessed. Hulk went to strike Billy down with his other fist, but Marvel blocked that one with his forearm. 

For a brief moment the two were evenly matched. Then, Hulk let loose another bellow and the green radiation surrounding him increased, causing the ground to shake with even more ferocity. Then slowly, very slowly, Marvel watched as his arms began to get pushed back, despite Captain Marvel straining with all of his might to push the Hulk back. But the Hulk's wrath was absolute and with increasing speed he pushed back against the might of the gods, outmatching them with raw power alone.

'No...dammit no! I won't lose here!' Billy roared within his mind as he began to run electricity through his body, but the Hulk was too far enraged for the lightning to bother him any more. 'I have...to stop Adam...to save this world!...to get back to Bloom.' The Hulk slammed both of Marvel's arms down before placing his feet upon both of them, keeping the Champion of Magic pinned down while he lifted both arms, preparing to smash Marvel out of existence. Marvel opened his mouth as he prepared to call down the word a third time, but neither got the chance to act as a black bolt of lightning struck the Hulk in the chest and hurled him off of Marvel.

"This is truly an unforeseen turn of events. Explain to me what is going on." Marvel turned around with a sickening feeling gripping his heart when he recognized the voice. Floating at the top of the lake was the fallen champion in his black and gold, with a look of confusion and amusement on his face.

"Black Adam," Captain Marvel whispered.

"Correct, child. Now tell me why you are unleashing your full power on Doctor Banner," Black Adam began as he tightened his fist and let lightning crackle through it. "Before I turn my power on you."