"Discord, do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into," Fluttershy said in near panic after hearing what Discord's plan was.
"You're asking to fight me, while I'm using the Immortal Phoenix? The very same power that hurt Rainbow Dash?"
"That's correct." No one could make sense as to why Discord wanted to fight Indominus's transformed state so badly. Even his monster friends were confused.
"You don't know what kind of power you're dealing with Discord," said Armored Lizard.
"The last time we saw that power, it tore the Ultimate Obedient Fiend to shreds," Red Eyes added.
"Even if you are the Lord of Chaos, that kind of power would overwhelm anything you could do," said King of Yamimakai.
"Listen guys. I know all of you think that I'm doing something crazy here, but my reason for wanting this is perfectly valid."
"Oh it better be a good reason Discord. I don't want to hurt one of my closest friends."
"That's just it Indominus. I'm not doing this for any selfish reason, I'm doing it for your sake."
"Um, I'm afraid I don't quite understand, Discord."
"You see Fluttershy, I'm doing this because I want to see if I can help Indominus if the Immortal Phoenix gets out of hand again. Now that I know what he's gone through, and having seen the form for myself, I want to know if I can change him back to normal. If it turns out that my power can, then Indominus won't have to worry about hurting Rainbow Dash again. It'll be my way of helping him get through this and stopping that Devil."
Everyone was thoroughly impressed with Discord's reason for wanting to fight the Immortal Phoenix. He was genuinely concerned for Indominus, and wanted to see if his chaotic power could in fact cancel out the godly rage. Indominus had to admit that Discord was right for the most part, but he wasn't sure if the Lord of Chaos could cancel out the Devil. Therefore, the only way to know if Discord could pull it off, was to agree with his plan.
"Alright Discord, you've convinced me. I accept your little plan and you will get to face off against the Immortal Phoenix."
"Indominus, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"Yes Fluttershy, if Discord thinks he can stop my rage, then I want to see if he can. If this works out then I will have a way to stop the Devil within me before my rampages get out of hand."
Discord could see the frightened look in Fluttershy's eyes, so he tried to give her some reassurance.
"Don't worry Fluttershy, if either of us get hurt, I can heal both of us in an instant. Remember, I'm only doing this so that Indominus won't have to worry about hurting anypony else. I want to be there for my friends when they need help."
"Wow Discord, that was beautiful."
"I know. You've been a great influence on me," Discord said as he gave Fluttershy a quick hug before turning to his monster pals. "Boys, no matter what happens, make sure that nothing and I mean NOTHING, happens to Fluttershy.
"We won't let you down Discord," all the monsters said in unison.
"Good. Now Indominus, let's make our way over to the battlefield."
Indominus was about to question Discord when the draconequess snapped his fingers and a massive orb of earth appeared in the distance. It was roughly twice the size of the moon so it would have plenty of ground for the fighters to spar. With another snap of his fingers, Discord transported himself and Indominus onto the mud ball and Indominus realized how much further they actually were. Fluttershy and the monsters seemed like tiny dots in the distance, and thus Indominus wouldn't be able to hurt them without covering that much ground.
"Alright Indominus, is this good enough for testing your might against my chaos?"
"This'll work just fine Discord, but I hope you're ready for this."
"Please, I can do anything my hybrid friend, which means I am ready for anything. Now let's get this brawl underway."
Indominus could hear the Devil inside him taunting and tempting him to give into his power like before. As he squared off against Discord, the hybrid struggled to keep his anger in check.
"Come on, give into your power and attack him with all you've got. He wants to fight your true power, so give it to him."
"No, I'm not going to kill Discord. You're not going to have control of me again. I will fight with my power, and without your influence!"
"Have you forgotten what I can do beast? I'm part of you and I can take over whenever I want."
The Devil sunk his claws into the dinosaur's back and Indominus felt his influence taking over.
"Now we'll see what your friend thinks of you after this demonstration."
"Forgive me, Discord," Indominus said as he felt the monster work his way inside his mind.
Indominus roared into the skies of the chaos realm as he transformed and became the Immortal Phoenix. Discord felt a trickle of sweat drip down his face as he squared off against the flame covered dinosaur.
"This is gonna be exciting. Alright Indominus, FIGHT!!"
The transformed dinosaur exploded off the ground towards Discord and the brawl was underway.
As soon as Indominus got close enough to strike, Discord teleported away before the dinosaur's claws even touched him. He reappeared in the air above Indominus, and stared down at his fiery opponent.
"Time for some experimenting. Let's see if this will put out his flame."
Discord conjured up a massive tidal wave of water and sent it flying towards Indominus, but he was in for a surprise. The moment the water made contact with Indominus's body, it evaporated into a giant cloud of steam. Indominus flew up through the cloud and got close to biting Discord, but the draconequess split his head down the middle as the dinosaur's jaws went right between them. Discord seized the moment and nailed a powerful punch across Indominus's face, only to pull it back after the flames burned him. The hybrid on the other hand, was barely fazed by the blow and retaliated with a smack that turned Discord's world on its head.
Discord pulled his head back together as he tried to make sense of what just happened while recovering from the blow he had received.
"Something is strange about this power he has. It's not ordinary fire, and it burns anything that makes contact with it." Discord stood upright as Indominus advanced towards him. "I've never met a creature with Indominus's level of strength, I must see what's causing all this."
Discord began conjuring a massive storm cloud and brought forth hundreds of lightning bolts. But the instant each bolt touched Indominus, they were sent flying away in all directions. The hybrid then bellowed a roar that rattled Discord to his very core and dispersed the storm cloud he had conjured. The Lord of Chaos felt immense pain course through him as Indominus nailed him right in the chest. As Indominus got ready to strike again, he felt a strong force keeping his body frozen in place.
Discord was using his magic to keep Indominus in place, and yet the hybrid was trying to break the hold on him. The fiery red glow in the hybrid's eyes was enough to put a little anxiety into Discord's heart. Yet he swallowed his anxiety and glared at his opponent.
"You should know better than to attack someone that you don't know anything about." There was a slight yellow glow in Discord's eyes as he opened his mouth and bellowed. "Now, here's a taste of my power!"
He unleashed a blast at Indominus from point blank range. The resulting explosion packed enough power to send Indominus smashing into the ground. The hybrid had barely any time to react before massive chains erupted from the ground and bound themselves all around him. The transformed dinosaur was held in place, and despite the power he held, the golden flames couldn't melt or destroy the chains. Discord appeared in front of him with a content grin.
"See, I can make material that not even you can destroy. Now Indominus, I'm going to see the source of this rage." Discord coated his eagle hand in chaos magic as he touched Indominus's head and entered the dinosaur's mind.
Discord found himself on a destroyed wasteland with eruptions of fire in the distance.
"W-what is this place? Is this what the inside of his mind is like?"
"Well now, it seems that I have an intruder to deal with."
Discord could feel cold sweat running down his neck as he turned around and found himself face to face with the demonic black dragon that plagued Indominus's mind and heart. The Devil was keeping something hidden behind his back with one arm, and it concerned Discord with what this beast had planned.
"So, you're the Devil huh?"
"That pitiful mongrel told you about me eh? Well that doesn't mean you can stop me."
"Where is Indominus in all this destruction?"
"Oh, you mean THIS weak excuse of a dinosaur?" Discord's eyes went wide in horror as he saw Indominus being held by the neck within the Devil's grip. "It's rather tough to take over his mind, but when he uses the Immortal Phoenix, I can control his body and mind with ease."
"PUT HIM DOWN!!" Discord increased his size and threw a punch at the Devil, but he felt an evil force holding him back.
"You should know better than to attack someone whom you know nothing about. Weren't those your exact words, Lord of Chaos?" The Devil casually walked towards Discord while keeping his grip on Indominus. Discord tried surrounding his body with his magic to free himself, but his chaotic power was cut off when the Devil seized him by the throat.
"Your chaos is nothing compared to the savage power of rage. Nothing in this world can ever overcome the kind of rage this behemoth has endured. Not you, not Rainbow Crash, and certainly not the word of a divine god. You will fall just like all the others Discord, and when Indominus kills you, he will suffer from so much guilt that he will never be able to fight me again!" The Devil fired a blast of dark energy that was powerful enough to send Discord out of Indominus's mind and away from the chained hybrid.
For the first time in his life, Discord was feeling true fear after his encounter with the Devil. He had never seen rage take such a destructive form before, or have the power to paralyze him. He felt even more fear as he watched Indominus grab the chains and tear them all apart with nothing but his hands and pure anger. This was a more serious problem than Discord had thought, and realized that there was only way to stop this rampage: hold back no more and tap into his chaotic power to the fullest.
"I'm sorry Indominus, I've no choice but to bring out my absolute best. I've never had to do this before, so even I don't know what will happen. I only hope that it will be enough to put that monster in your head out of action."
Back by Discord's house, Fluttershy and the monsters could see a red glow starting to form around him. They even noticed that his realm was beginning to warp in certain places. Dark red lightning bolts were shooting all over the battlefield and it scared Fluttershy deeply. In all the time she had known Discord, she had never seen him use such dark power before.
"Can any of you guys tell me what Discord is doing?"
"Oh we've heard him talk about this once," said Zoa.
"He told us that he's never had to use the full extent of his power before," Armored Lizard added.
"Because he didn't know what would happen, for he said it would be too dangerous," said Red-Eyes.
Fluttershy watched the red glow becoming brighter and became even more worried for Discord and Indominus. The group then heard Discord's voice echo across the entire realm as he bellowed out to Indominus.
"You might be able to break bodies Indominus, but I....BREAK REALITY!!!"
Discord's eyes began glowing a bright shade of red and chaos magic was surging around him like Indominus's golden flames. He had finally tapped into the full extent of his power with no restraints.
"Now beast....TASTE THE TRUE POWER OF CHAOS!!"
Dark red lightning bolts came out of the realm and streaked toward Indominus, but unlike before, these bolts didn't deflect off his body. These lightning bolts struck the transformed hybrid with deadly force and caused him to stagger. Undeterred by Discord's power, the hybrid charged forward in the flurry of lightning bolts. But he was stopped by a new threat that burst from the ground and started slashing at him: lava tentacles. The hybrid found himself being slashed so many times that he couldn't advance towards Discord, and his rage was getting worse with every blow.
Discord summoned more dark lightning bolts, rained meteors from the heavens and spikes made of solid metal to keep up his assault. Everything brought forth by his unrestrained chaos was actually getting through the Immortal Phoenix's invulnerability and damaging Indominus.
"Whatcha gonna do now punk? You can't beat me if you can't get past my powers." But Discord was going to wish he hadn't taunted Indominus, because if there was one thing that could make the hybrid more powerful, it was making him more angry.
Suddenly Indominus bellowed a tremendous roar that created a shockwave made out of the golden flames. It spread over the battlefield and disintegrated every projectile and attack that Discord had been throwing at him. With nothing getting in the way now and his mind filled with more rage than ever, Indominus charged toward Discord and the two hybrids caused a massive shockwave of energy when their fists collided. This shockwave was so massive that it could be seen clear from where Fluttershy and the monsters were. When the energy dissipated, Discord and Indominus were locked in a slug fest with their attacks.
Each of them were trading blow for blow and their punches caused sparks of lighting to burst forth from each collision. Discord's chaos infused punches were dealing as much damage as Indominus's flame covered claws. He didn't have enough time to heal from each blow because he had to move as fast as Indominus in order to keep pace with the hybrid. It was the most intense battle Discord had ever experienced, and he had to find some way to end it. After their blows connected with each other's faces and separated them, Discord knew he had to end the battle with one final attack.
He could see that Indominus was getting worn out from the conflict and knew that his previous attacks had done a number on him. This next attack was going to decide the outcome of the fight.
"COME ON DISCORD, LET'S FINISH THIS," Indominus roared as he charged back towards Discord again.
"Yes, this fight will be finished Indominus, and then this rampage will be over."
Discord started gathering power within his mouth as he charged towards Indominus. Both beasts were gathering more power as the gap between them got closer. As they got mere inches from each other, both of them released their blasts upon each other at point blank range. The resulting collision of raw power between both hybrids caused a massive column of the mixed energies to erupt and engulf them.
"DISCORD!!! INDOMINUS!!!!" Fluttershy was scared out of her mind upon seeing the hybrids being engulfed by the energy.
The monsters all shielded her as the explosion caused lightning strikes and shockwaves to be sent and felt clear to where they were. King of Yamimakai and Zoa were throwing blasts all over the sky, destroying any stray lightning bolts that got too close to Fluttershy. For five agonizing minutes, the monsters did everything they could to protect Fluttershy from the after-effects brought on by the collision. When the lightning finally stopped and the energy column began to decrease, Red-Eyes flew Fluttershy over to the battlefield to see who had come out on top. The environment had been devastated and torn apart from the impact which showed that they had used a tremendous deal of power to cause such damage.
As they got closer, both dragon and pegasus could see the outlines of two bodies within the energy that was still there. When the energy completely vanished, Fluttershy couldn't believe it. Both Discord and Indominus were bent over and completely exhausted from the toll that the fight had taken on them. Each of them had their fair share of wounds and for once, Indominus's marks were not a result of the Immortal Phoenix. Discord had never had to summon so much chaos magic before and it had drained him of most of his magic and stamina.
"Discord are you alright," Fluttershy said as she flew over and hugged him.
"I'll be fine Fluttershy, just gonna need some time to recover from that fight. I'm more concerned about Indominus."
Red-Eyes had put Indominus's arm over his shoulder to help keep the hybrid from falling over. They were all concerned with how beat Indominus looked, to Fluttershy he seemed even more exhausted than his fight with the Wonderbolts. But what surprised them was that Indominus wasn't the Immortal Phoenix anymore. Somehow the collision had forced him out of the Immortal Phoenix state and drained him of his anger.
"Are you going to be alright Indominus," Red-Eyes said in a concerned tone.
"Don't worry Red-Eyes, I've got the endurance to take something like that. What I'd like to know is, how did I change back to normal? I can't even hear the Devil inside my head, what did you do Discord?"
Discord and Fluttershy flew over and helped carry Indominus back to his home, since the Lord of Chaos was too drained to teleport them.
"I guess my chaos magic must've been strong enough to overwhelm the Immortal Phoenix. It must've done quite a number on the Devil as well for him to be silent. Serves him right for thinking my chaos couldn't match up to rage."
When they touched down on the island again, Discord had the other monsters help Indominus inside so he could recover. Once they were inside, Discord pulled Fluttershy aside to tell her what he had experienced.
"Discord what happened out there?"
"I was wrong Fluttershy, that power is more destructive than I thought. I even got to see inside his mind and I encountered the Devil for myself. His influence over Indominus is more deadly than I thought. It took me using the full extent of my power to beat the Phoenix down, and I couldn't do it any other way. If Rainbow Dash had been involved in this conflict, then I'm sure his rage would've been even more destructive than I could handle."
"Are you saying that you can't change him back if he gets out of hand again?"
"Let me put it this way Fluttershy. If Indominus got enraged enough, I don't think any force in all of Equestria would be able to stop him. The only way anypony is going to win a fight against Indominus, is to not fight him in the first place."
This left Fluttershy with deeply troubled thoughts, if it took his full power for Discord to stop Indominus, then what chance did anypony else have of stopping him? She had a lot to tell her friends, and Rainbow needed to know this above all else. For now, she and Discord had to see how Indominus was recovering from the fight. They headed inside to check on their friend and see how he was doing.