//------------------------------//
// One Last Act 
// Story: The War of Champions 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

Adam was far too stunned by what had happened to him to try and muster an answer, but when he heard a shrieking wail followed by a blast of darkness that slammed into his back, his senses came back to him. Yet he did not turn around to face his foe right away and instead closed his eyes while clenching his hands together, a small smile crossing his face.

'Another chance. They are giving me another chance, despite me not deserving one,' Adam silently thought to himself before he turned with divine thunder rumbling through him like a lightning storm as he turned to look up at the monster of destruction. 'I have failed so many times, done so much wrong that I wish I could undo. But I have been given one last chance to save all I care about. So this time, just this once...let me be truly worthy of the title of 'hero'!'

Adam hurled himself towards the monster, letting bolts of lightning fly from his hand as he did so. A smile crossed his face as he watched the bolts tear into the darkness and cause the monstrosity to roar in rage and agony. Yet the momentary victory that Adam held was lost, when the monster unleashed another blast of darkness that Adam failed to avoid, causing him to roar in pain as he was consumed.

'What is this? I thought that this infernal Element would protect me from the darkness?' Adam roared within his mind, yet when he heard another chuckle, he knew that he was no longer alone in his own mind.

'You are still alive, are you not? This is the power for which you have fought,' the voice rang throughout his mind. 'But do not think yourself immune to harm, or else you are in for one hell of an alarm. The Element protects you from dying in one hit, but too much darkness will cause you to submit. Now enough talking and get back in the fight. There is one more whose fire I must ignite!'

The voice vanished as soon as it finished speaking, but for a brief moment Adam saw what he thought to be a zebra flicker past his field of view. He shook his head and turned his attention back into the fight, looking up to see that Trixie and Marvel had combined their powers to force the darkness to avoid striking him down. 

"How nice of you to join us again," Trixie growled at Adam when he moved out of the way, allowing the champions to drop the shield and let the wave of darkness shoot by them. 

"Black Adam...you're one of the champions?" Marvel whispered with shock as Adam looked down at his hand, clenching it with strength flashing in his eyes.

"Apparently. But I am no longer...Black Adam," Adam said with a small shake of his head. "Black Adam was a murderer, a monster and a selfish fool who thought himself a god. If I am to truly start over, then I must cast off that name. 'Teth' will do for now, Batson. Now come, let us put an end to this darkness."

As he said this, Batmare, Bubbles and Hulk rocketed over to the group, all taking in the fact that Adam had been chosen. But upon getting close to one another, they all felt a newfound power course through their veins and caused their light to burn brighter than would have been possible on their own.

"So, we've got the final piece, huh?" Batmare asked with a smile as she and the other five champions turned their heads to look up at the monster blocking out the sun.  Yet, it seemed to be hesitant to get closer to the six divine lights. "Then I think it's finally time to put an end to this, once and for all.  Adam, think you can work with Marvel for once?" Teth looked over at Captain Marvel and both of them nodded, answering Batmare's question.

"Alright then, team, here's the plan. I have a hunch that if we combine the Elements much like how Rainbow Dash and the others did, we'll be able to access the power needed to defeat this thing. However," Batmare muttered as she turned her head to look at where the strange machine rested upon the castle turret, where a beam of darkness was still erupting from the tip and into the monster, "if this thing keeps getting stronger and stronger, we'll need to cut off its power supply before we-"

She never got to finish, because the monster quickly swan dived down to where the machine rested, landing upon the castle of Canterlot and enveloping it and the city within darkness, roaring up at the six champions before thousands of red eyes appeared on its body. Within seconds, millions of little versions of the monster began to burst from the darkness and surge towards the six, who all braced themselves for the fight to come.

"New plan!" Batmare called out as she kicked one of the little monsters in the face, blasting it apart. "Find a way into the darkness and try to destroy the power source! If this thing keeps getting stronger, then there might be no way to keep it down!" 

Adam and Marvel sliced through the advancing forces without so much as slowing down, both of them unleashing torrents of lightning into both the swarm of darkness and into the massive monstrosity that covered the entire city of Canterlot. Yet, to both of their annoyance, despite the blast of Elemental magic actually damaging the creature, in the next moment the wounds were quickly healed.

'The Champion of Integrity is correct. It seems that whatever magic Star-Swirl is perverting, it is fueling the End,' the voice of the alicorn said within Marvel's mind. 'With that much destruction magic fueling it, even the combined power of the Elements will struggle to overcome the darkness.'
'You must all find a way to either cut off the End from its power supply or destroy it completely before it gets too strong,' the voice of the changeling said from within Hulk's mind. 'For each moment it gets stronger, the world is the one that is the most affected.' Her words rang true, for in the next moment cracks filled with darkness began to erupt along the land around Canterlot, quickly reaching out across the land like fingers as they consumed and destroyed all that they touched.

'He is beginning to consume the whole world. If you have a plan, now would be the time to use it,' the Diamond Dog advised Batmare.

"HULK! ADAM! Hit that thing and hit it hard!" Batmare bellowed as Trixie blasted any of the End spawn away from her so that Batmare could rocket to where Mr. Bubbles was fighting off hundreds of the spawn. "Trixie! You and Marvel see if you can use your magic to keep that thing's darkness from killing anypony or taking any more cities! Bubbles! You're with me! Let's see if your drill can punch a hole through that darkness and plunge us into that dark hell!"

Hulk and Adam roared in unison as they hurled themselves down towards the head of the End, Adam grabbing hold of the Hulk and spinning him until they built up enough force to create a cyclone. With one last turn, Adam then released Hulk and threw the gamma bomb right into the head of the End, where he exploded with divine light upon impact. The End roared with hellacious fury and pain, but it refused to move as it slammed its head into the Hulk and knocked him back into the sky.

"Damn, that was one of my strongest punches," Hulk growled once Adam had caught him.

"It seems that it shall take more than superior magic or strength to fell this foe," Adam reasoned with a growl of his own before he roared and hurled Hulk towards the End one more time.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

"Der ragan duran SHAZAM!" Marvel roared down below, as he and Trixie combined their magics into one of the cracks that was tearing apart the planet, watching with smiles on their faces as the darkness in the crack dissipated and it quickly sealed itself shut. "Alright, we got one of them! This shouldn't be too hard!" But as he said this, three more cracks erupted around them and began to lance towards Ponyville.

"Just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Trixie shot at Marvel before the both of them rocketed to where the cracks were heading. They managed to seal two more before one of the chasms tore apart the center of the town, where only the speed of Mercury managed to prevent any lives from being lost to the darkness of destruction.  
"Darn it Billy, this isn't working! For every one that we seal, two more take its place!"

"Keep trying! We're the only ones who can save the world!" Marvel roared back while saving another group of ponies in a flash of lightning.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

Eight crimson eyes illuminated the darkness as Mr. Bubbles punched through it with his drill, driving both himself and Batmare deeper and deeper into the End. They were the only source of light within all of its body, meaning that they could barely see where they were going. Yet, they occasionally caught a glance at a building in Canterlot that they passed by or through on their way to the castle. 

"Keep going, Mr. B., we've got to be getting close," Batmare ordered to the Big Daddy from atop its head as she looked around for the castle. Mr. Bubbles let out a moan in response while he kept plowing forward, but with a roar of surprise he found that he hit something that his drill could not punch through. Batmare looked down at the sudden stop before a blast of darkness erupted from whatever they had hit and sent them hurtling back the way they had came.

Bubbles roared with fury as his arm reached out and managed to grab hold of the edge of the darkness, but another blast separated his hand from the End's body and sent the two flying back up into the sky. Adam rocketed over and caught them, all three of them watching as the hole they had made sealed itself shut once again.

"It's no use. Every time we get close, somehow the machine manages to either expel us or point us in the wrong direction," Batmare snarled as columns of darkness erupted from the End and tore apart the sky as it tried to kill the four. They were forced to split apart to make it harder for the monster to kill them, yet they would have been caught for certain had Trixie and Marvel not arrived at that point to provide support, using their combined magic to push back the black darkness.

"So, how do we cut off its power source then?" Adam asked Batmare, who racked her brain as she struggled to think of a solution.

"Just keep attacking! Maybe we can break through again," she ordered before diving down to attack once again, the other five following suit in a battle that grew more difficult with each passing moment.

\\   //
//; ;\\

'Ryan.'

The voice barely made itself known in the tidal wave of agony that washed across the human's conscious, making it nearly impossible for him to focus on the voice for more than a second before a massive wave of pain crushed him once again. He hadn't moved since Star-Swirl had smashed his brain into the steel floor, laying in his own blood with his eyes half open while he bled out.

'Ryan.'

He didn't know why, but when the voice spoke to him again he felt his lip twitch a bit, almost as if he was trying to snarl every time he heard the voice. For a brief moment, he felt anger surge through his body, but it was quickly extinguished by another flash of pain. Yet despite the pain, he was just conscious enough to register a hoof place itself next to his head while the faint sounds of laughter could be heard through the pain.

'My, my, to think that you had made it this far despite not being one of the chosen ones. I cannot begin to say how proud of you I am,' a voice spoke in his mind, getting Ryan to full-on snarl despite barely registering what was going on. 'Yet, the day still needs to be saved and even if the sixth champion has been found, you still have your part to play, my student.'

"Damned...zebra..." he barely blurted out, getting him another laugh.

'I remember how helpless you were when I first aided you.  Yet, as your knowledge grew so did your stubbornness. That very same stubbornness is why you are still alive now, suffering from wounds that would have killed most other foes,' the voice of a zebra he knew all too well echoed in his mind. 'But what you have done since I have last seen you...makes me truly proud to call you, my student. Fighting off the Hulk, tackling forces that would have killed you in a heartbeat and never abandoning the good fight...you have grown strong, my student, far stronger than I believed somepony like you could ever become.'

'But there is still one last task that only you can do. Only you can stop Star-Swirl, here and now,' the voice of "Zecora" said to him, barely getting him to stir. 'And if anypony else were trying to get you back up, they would tell you to be the hero, to pick yourself up and use the last of your courage and strength to defeat this foe, no matter how hopeless it looks.' The zebra then burst into a storm of laughter when Ryan barely budged at her words, before a smile cracked across her divine face.

'But I know you far better than that. I know that no amount of talk about hope or duty will get you up. That's not how that twisted mind of yours works. So what are you waiting for, you weak piece of trash?' the zebra asked with scorn in her voice, despite a smile illuminating her face. 'Billions of lives are in danger because this machine still fuels the End, millions of lives that might die because you're too busy lying on your ass. So what are you going to do, oh, 'Great Survivor'? Are you going to lie there and let this world die just as yours did? Or are you actually going to do something for once in your life, and get up?! Come on, pick your ass up one more time!'

For a brief moment the zebra saw rage flicker in Ryan's eyes, getting her to chuckle as she backed up.

'That's what I thought.'

Star-Swirl had been watching the battle from within the machine, watching as the champions failed to keep the End down on one screen, while watching the darkness rip apart the planet on many others. He knew that it didn't matter how hard the champions fought, for as long as he continued to fuel the very destruction of the planet into the End, it would have unlimited power that could crush any foe. He had won.

"Hey...jackass..." With a chilling in his heart that he had no idea was still beating, the ancient unicorn turned to see a hooded human with a backpack coat shakily getting up to his feet, with half of his black coat painted red with his own blood. But as Star looked into his eyes, he saw that the fire within them had not been extinguished, but instead it burned with the same silver light as the six champions that fought the darkness.

"No...I killed you! You have lost far too much blood to be able to move, let alone stand!" Star-Swirl roared at Ryan, only to get a weak chuckle out of the human as he began to drag his bloody carcass towards the unicorn.

"Please...I've been...getting my ass kicked...for so long...that it's easier for me...to get back up...than it is to breath," Ryan panted out as he reached back and drew his divine baton, letting its power illuminate the dark machine one last time as he swung it and pointed it at the pony's chest. "And if Discord, the mare...and that damn zebra couldn't kill me, what in the infernal hell makes you think that a racist jackass would be able to!" 

Ryan lunged at Star-Swirl the moment he finished speaking, catching the unicorn off guard since he never expected the bleeding-out human to move so quickly. Ryan slammed into the side of Star-Swirl and tackled him to the floor, where the unicorn retaliated with a blast of magic to the chest that burned clean through the human's coat, but to Star-Swirl's horror the human held on, a wicked smile still upon his face before he drove the baton into Star's chest.

Both combatants roared in pain as electricity flooded through their nerves, but despite the lightning tearing apart his body, Ryan reached out with his free hand towards the red button upon the machine, his fingertips just touching it before Star-Swirl kicked him off.

"What...do you think you're doing?" Star-Swirl panted with a smirk while Ryan shakily pushed himself back to a standing position, eyeing the red button while also keeping his baton in front of him. Star followed his gaze with a smirk before the unicorn walked over to the button and pushed it himself, to Ryan's confusion. But after a moment when nothing happened, Ryan looked at Star-Swirl with realization. 

"There's no off switch, is there?" Ryan asked, getting a smirk in response. "You're...truly a sick bastard to the end. You...want everything to be destroyed, don't you?"

"Until there is nothing left," Star-Swirl laughed before grabbing hold of Ryan's throat with his magic, yanking the human over to his face before swatting the baton out of Ryan's hands with one of his hooves, leaving Ryan helpless as Star-Swirl started to choke the life out of him. "I built this machine knowing full well that the six Elements would be gathered. That's how it works, isn't it? No matter how hard we "villains" try, the heroes always manage to unlock the power needed to beat us. But not this time. This time, I made sure there was no chance of my plan failing! Everything shall be destroyed! Pony, human and anything else in-between!" Star gloated as Ryan began to feel his conscious leave him once again. 

"But things like you are the worse. No magic, no wings and hardly any skill whatsoever. You're only purpose in life is to be a burden to all who actually have talent," Star-Swirl said with a smirk. "You are not anything special. You are not even a champion. You are an annoyance that I have allowed to bother me for far too long. Now then, pest, any last words before I crush you to death?"

"Two, actually. The first is that Banner was wrong. It seems at the end of the day, I just couldn't accept the fact that I couldn't save my world. It will always be that one bit of me that will never heal. I just can't be a champion like them," Ryan admitted weakly as his arms hung limp to the side. Then, in a flash of movement, he whipped something out of his backpack and cranked its dial up to "Oh, fuck no" before he stuffed it into Star-Swirl's mouth, kicking the unicorn in the head to release the grip on his throat. The moment Ryan touched the floor he clapped his hands around Star-Swirl's mouth, a wicked smirk filled with evil spreading on his face as he glared into Star-Swirl's eyes. "And I guess that's because I'm not afraid to damn my soul so that others can live! The second is that you should really keep your yap shut or else a psycho like me might shove an explosive down it! Tell me something Star-Swirl. You believe in hell? Because that's where we'll be vacationing together!"

Star-Swirl's eyes widened in shock the moment Ryan spoke as the human kicked him back, yet in that instance when his horn began to glow, a devastating explosion went off within the unicorn's skull. The combination of the explosion and the magic Star-Swirl had been summoning created an even larger explosion that tore through both the machine and the human. Ryan was hurled across the machine as blood and pieces of machinery scattered across the room, the human barely catching a glimpse of the explosion tearing apart the machine that was fueling the End before everything began to collapse.

"Ha...suck on...that...you damned racist," Ryan chuckled with victory before he realized that the whole machine was exploding around him, getting him to curse as a chunk of ceiling just barely missed his head. He then looked over to see a headless Star-Swirl collapse to the floor, getting a smirk out of Ryan before the human began to stir. "Alright, time to get out of here! Wait a moment, why aren't my legs...?" Ryan answered his own question when he looked down to see that two bloody stumps had replaced his legs, getting the human to groan as he let his head fall back.

"Well...shit...I can't even kick myself for being such a dumbass, now can I?" he said with one last smirk before he closed his eyes, not bothering to try to escape. But he opened his eyes once again as he felt the faintest traces of a magic he knew well lay across his chest, finding the silver mare lying on top of him, or at least, what was left of her. "The fuck are you doing mare?"

'I...will not let you die here!' she barely managed to cough out. 'I will...shield you as best I can.'

"Mare...Sunny...don't bother. It's pointless," Ryan muttered.

'No, it is not! You have done so much for me--helped me so much that I will not abandon you here!' she roared with conviction, but all it did was get a sigh out of Ryan.

"No, dammit...it's pointless because...you're transparent. The fuck is shielding me with your body going to do when these pieces of machinery will go right through you?" The mare went silent at his words as the machine continued to collapse upon itself.

'I am so sorry. I wish...that I could do more.'

"Don't sweat it. At the very least, I know that I'm going someplace warm when I die. I hate the cold."

'That's a lie.'

"Damn right it is."

Anything else the two said to each other was lost in an explosion that tore apart the whole castle, causing a brilliant flash of light to shine in the pit of the End's stomach. For a brief moment, the End tore its attention away from the battle to see that nothing had been left of the machine that had fueled it, be it the Sphere of Destruction, the Sphere of Creation, or a certain asshole whose luck had finally run out.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

"What in the name of the gods was that?" Adam asked as all six champions witnessed a massive explosion of light erupt from within the heart of the End, getting the creature to turn, in an attempt to see what had happened.

"That explosion looked like...it went off where the machine was!" Batmare called out to the others, her mind instantly realizing what that meant...but also what they might have lost. But that knowledge was quickly cast aside because she decided that it was time to act. "ALRIGHT, final push! Adam! Marvel! Hit him with everything you've got! Hulk! Time to live up to your name! Get him off the ground! Trixie, with me! And Bubbles...prepare for the finale!"

None of the five questioned her orders as they each began to carry them out, each of the six flying off to their positions. Adam and Marvel both called down the power of the word at once, sending the Elementally fueled lightning bolts down into the End and watching with smiles on their faces as the lightning bolts tore open two huge holes in the monster that did not heal.

The End roared with fury at the two heroes, but in the next moment its attention was taken away from the pair as it felt itself being lifted by a force as powerful as it was. A quick turn of its head brought the Hulk within its field of view.  Hulk was now lifting up the creature with everything he had. Then, with a bellow that shook the cosmos, Hulk threw the End with all of his might, hurling the monster off of Canterlot and into the sky above the land.

"NOW! Group up!" Batmare ordered. In a moment, all six champions were next to one another, each of them nodding to each other with understanding as they all knew what came next. Linking hooves, hands or a drill, they each began to channel each other's magic into the Elements, causing divine rainbow lights to channel among the group, illuminating the six with a brilliance the likes of which had never been seen before. For alone the Elements were powerful, but only together did they truly shine.

The End shielded its face as the divine light beamed down upon it before the monster roared in defiance, but for the first time since they started fighting the beast, did they finally hear fear in the monster's roar.

"Only now, at the end, does it truly realize what it was up against," Adam said with a smile while the power of the six combined, creating a hexagon of pure, ultimate magic that dispersed the darkness across the land, forcing the End to see the light once again.

"Time to put an end to this," Marvel said as he and the others pointed their arms at the monster. The power of six joined into one and a divine cannon filled with rainbow light erased all of the darkness that entered its path, forcing the End to unleash all of its dark power to try and stop the advancing attack. But even the ultimate being of destruction could not push back the power of the greatest of champions, and the darkness was shattered in one mighty strike before the beam of magic consumed the End itself. The beast roared as its very darkness was blasted away from its body, turning the monster into an ashen grey as it shrunk down to the size of an Ursa.

"NOW! While it's weakened!" Batmare roared while she hurled herself forward, pulling out twin divine batarangs as she pierced through one of the End's wings. Trixie followed suit with a roar of fury while she created a spear of true magical might from the tip of her horn that tore through the End's other wing. Hulk bellowed as he slammed his two feet into the End's chest, the force of his impact knocking the damaged wings right off of the creature's body. Adam and Marvel shot around to the top of the creature, where they each charged their fists with divine lightning before hurling themselves down towards the End, striking it dead on the top of its skull and back down towards the ground below where Bubbles waited.

As Bubbles lifted his eight eyes towards the monster falling towards him, he thought of all who had lost their lives, all the little pony sisters and brothers that he had loved and cared for during his life. And how this monster, this creature, had wanted to kill all of them for no purpose. And that made Daddy very angry. So with a roar that put the Hulk to shame, Mr. Bubbles lifted his drill into the air, channeling all of his power into the drill, enhancing it to unbelievable levels as the drill grew ten times bigger and shone with a golden color. 

Bubbles then hurled himself skyward towards the End, his drill spinning with such speed and power that it looked like a cosmos was spinning on the end of it. With one last roar, he drove the drill into the chest of the End, the divine magic in his drill allowing him to tear right through the darkness and destruction. And then, with one last push, he pierced through both the End and the heavens with his drill, breaking the End into thousands of little pieces.

"And now...to END IT! NABU MEDRA SHAZAM!" Adam bellowed, unleashing a fury of lightning the likes of which the world had never and would never see again as black clouds swarmed the skies, causing thousands of bolts of lightning to strike down all of the pieces that had been created, blasting them into nothingness.

"Did we...win?" Trixie asked as the thundering lightning came to an end, allowing the sun to shine down through a bright blue sky onto the land bellow. The six watched as the cracks caused by the End slowly began to heal themselves, but Adam shot forward and caught a small, black sphere before it had fallen too far. The six floated over to Adam, who looked at the sphere with a look of uncertainty.

"So, what do we do with this? Because I vote to smash it," Hulk chimed as he tightened his fists, but Adam shook his head.

"No. There must always be destruction and death. That is a natural part of things," Adam said before floating the sphere in front of the group as he motioned them to join together again. "But that does not mean that the power cannot be sealed away. And with the silver sphere no longer...it is best that we seal it away once again." With another flash of rainbow magic, the six trapped the black sphere within a prism of rainbow light where the darkness could not be seen. Adam took the sphere as Batmare gave him a look.

"You said something about the silver sphere no longer being with us," she continued for him. "So does that mean...Ryan." In a moment, all six of the champions were at a spot where a giant pile of metal rested upon the ground, each of them looking in desperation for their ally, despite their powers telling them that there was no one there. But it was only when Hulk found Ryan's remains, a bloody hand with only one finger on it, that they truly accepted what had happened.

"I cannot sense the mare's magic nor the weapon that Ryan wielded," Adam informed the group with bitter sorrow. "It seems...they are gone."

"So...the survivor and the mare died together, huh?" Hulk asked before he shrunk back down into Banner, who looked around at the destroyed machinery with a sad smile. "But since he destroyed this place, and I know it was him, he helped us gain the upper hand against the End. Guess you finally found that little bit of hero within you, huh Ryan?"

All six of the champions then sighed in relief as the magic of the Elements left them, returning them to their normal forms. They felt pangs of sorrow for the loss of their comrade, but as they looked around at the blue sky and the restored landscape, and with Adam and Marvel being able to hear celebrating ponies off in the distance, they felt a sense of peace finally wash over them.

"Come. We must tell Celestia and Luna what has happened...and decide the fate of Equestria," Adam said as he ascended, getting a nod from the other five as they followed him, all except for Banner, who turned his head to look back to where the hand lay.

'Thank you, Ryan...for showing me that humanity will always fight for good in the end, even if that person is the last one on Earth.' Banner then closed his eyes for a brief moment before changing back into the Hulk and following his team back to where the others were.