//------------------------------// // Absolute Power // Story: Way Past Equestria // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// The Master King pulled itself out of the mountain and appeared before the fighters again, the villains smirking down at the Final Gambit. It snapped it's fingers to erase the tank from existence, but to the surprise of the villains a barrier of chaos deflected their spell. "So Discord is using whatever strength he has left to shield that toy, is he?" Robotnik asked. "Well his efforts will be for naught. So he can shield it from our magic. Can he shield it from our might?" The Master King hurled one hell of a haymaker into the barrier around the Final Gambit, getting Shadow to cling to the handle for dear life as the shockwave shook the planet. Cracks formed along the barrier protecting the Final Gambit as the tank struggled to push back against the king. "While I would love nothing more than to crush them myself, I could use a little help here!" Shadow yelled at his friends. They got the hint. Sonic and Rainbow Dash blitzed around the King, bombarding its joints in hopes of knocking something loose. AJ and Bunnie lassoed the legs of the king and tried to pull them together while Rotor and Twilight unleashed every spell and weapon in their arsenal. After all, you couldn't bring it with you when you went. Tails hoped onto the back of the Master King, desperately looking for a control panel, a loose screw, some flaw that he could take advantage of. The Master King reached up to grab him, only for chains to erupt from the ground, ensnare the arms of the king and force it to its knees. "What?! Why can't we break free?" Robotnik snarled. Sombra narrowed his eyes as he looked down, not at all surprised to see who was below them. "Discord," Sombra snarled as the draconis emerged from below. "I was wondering when you would show. It only took the end of the worlds and the death of everypony you've ever loved to make you come out to play, huh?" Discord replied by twisting his hands, tightening his chains and forcing the king even further down. "What, no witty retort? No spore of madness or some joke that makes you look far more in control than you actually are? Have you finally run out of stupid things to say? Or could it be that you're using everything you have just to pin us down?" Sombra asked with a smile. "Well lets test that theory." Discord gritted his teeth as the king slowly pushed itself back up to its feet, the chains cracking as it did so. With one last pull, the chains around the king shattered. Discord threw up a shield around himself as the Master King fired pure magic into Discord. He flew across the planet before the king snapped its fingers, blasting back the heroes with ease. The King then fired a blast of power clean through the Final Gambit, blowing it apart. Shadow landed in a heap next to Rarity, who started to tend to his wounds. "Was this your grand plan? Have Shadow shoot us and Discord chain us? Please, even if he had his full power, Discord is no match for us. None of you are," Robotnik laughed. The king raised both hands filled with power. One was filled with the neverending might of chaos, the other with the unbreakable spirit of harmony. "We control harmony and Chaos! We control reality itself! The only way you fools could ever hope to win is if we would let you. And sadly...those days are long passed." "Come on, how about one more time for old times sake?" Sonic asked. "Please. Stalling won't get you anywhere," Sombra said. Then he narrowed his eyes. "But where are the other princesses? Why are they not here? I know that Cadence would never pass on a chance to tear off my head. So if they aren't here, then they must be..." The king snapped its fingers and everyone was teleported before the Chaos Source. The king turned around to see Cadence, Celestia, Luna and a second Discord all floating before the Source, with Discord using what power he had to interact with it. "Here you all are. Now what could you be doing with the Chaos Source. Trying to fix it?...or are you trying to draw power from it?" Robotnik asked. Celestia and Luna went on the attack, blasting magic at the king. It swatted them away like they were flies. Cadence glared down at the king for a moment...before she teleported away, leaving the others behind. "Now where's she off too?" Robotnik asked. "Probably to get her foal," Sombra shrugged. "Let her have her foal. Makes no difference to me. And that just leaves you, Discord." "Sombra, Eggman, listen to me. The Chaos Source is completely unstable. If we don't do something to fix it now, things are about to get a lot worse," Discord warned. "And you know that things are bad when I have to be the voice of reason." "A valid point. Here's our counterarguement. We will use our infinite power to take the power of the Chaos Source and use it to become the lords of the entire multiverse," Robotnik replied. "With the powers of harmony, chaos and the Phantom Ruby, there is nothing we cannot do. So stand aside and let us fix everything, Discord. Who knows? Maybe we'll keep you around as a pet." "You know I can't do that," Discord growled as power crackled around his hands. "Then I hope your friends are watching," Sombra said. "Because I wonder what they'll think when even a god falls." Discord hurled his hands forward and unleashed all of his chaotic power towards the king, but it stuck out its left hand and use the raw power of harmony to cancel out Discord's attack. Discord conjured up another spell, only for exhaustion to course through his body and drop him to the ground. A foot smashed into his face and hurled him backwards, where he completely collapsed. "Oh Discord, I'm so disappointed. If there was anypony here that I was hoping would give us a good fight, it was you," Sombra mocked. The king grabbed Discord by the throat and lifted him into the air, bringing him eye level with the Master King. "But in the end, you were just as useless in death as you were in life. All that power, only to be bested so easily. You might just be the worst excuse of a god that I've ever seen." "And how...many gods have you met?" Discord spat. "Well, if I'm counting myself..." Sombra chuckled. "You...will never be...a god," Discord spat. "Ah, so you saw the movie too. Then you know how this ends," Robotnik laughed. "NON!" The Master King dropped Discord and whipped an arm around just in time to intercept Antoine's blade with its harmony infused fist. An explosion went off that sent Antoine tumbling back across the ether, fragments of his family's blade raining down around him. The Master King pulled back a smoking fist, now fully focused on Antoine. "You. You are the one that I've been waiting to kill for so long," Sombra snarled. "I have been amused by you. I have even been impressed. But now I am just annoyed. And like all things that annoy me, I will erase them from my sight." The king fired a blast of harmony towards Antoine, but Bunnie intercepted just in time with a shield. While the shield barely stopped the attack, it did save both her an Antoine's lives. Sombra snarled as he prepared another shot, only to be bombarded by chaos and magic, as Shadow, Discord, Twilight and Rarity unleashed all of their might upon the king. "Do none of you get it?!" Sombra bellowed. The king hurled its arms to the side with enough force to shake the cosmos and more than enough force to hurl back the heroes. "We are all powerful! We control the very essence of existence! And if we wanted to, we could erase you all with barely anything more than a thought! So cease your useless-" "Don't let them get to you, Sombra," Robotnik cut in. "The always flail around before they lose. Just let it happen. Like you said, it's over." "Yes, I lost my cool there for a moment. Sorry, it's just been a while since I've been this annoyed," Sombra sighed. "It's fine. That's what we're here for." "Are you two okay?" Rainbow asked as she, Tails, Rarity and AJ as they raced over to Antoine and Bunnie. "Ah'm fine," Bunnie grunted. "Antoine?" "Sugar...ya okay?" Bunnie asked Antoine. Antoine slowly sat up, staring down at the hilt of what had been his family's sword. "Oh sugar, ah'm so-" "I get it." "Huh?" Antoine gazed over at the Master King, who was now being bombarded by Shadow and Discord, both fueling the other to power up their chaos power even further while Celestia, Luna and Twilight held the King back. "Chaos and Harmony cannot coexist so close. We learned this when we lost ze emeralds and ze Elements. Yet Eggman and Sombra are using ze tree of harmony and ze master emerald to fuel their Master King. Yet zere power has not cancelled out. And now I understand why." "W-what do you mean?" "I mean, mon cheri, I have a plan. Tails, how fast can you how fast can you program my sword?" "So this is finally it, eh Sonic?" Robotnik laughed. Sonic weaved around pillars of magic that exploded around him, having to a take a few deep breaths. He couldn't remember the last time he had a hard time breathing. Twilight and most of the ponies were down for the count, while the Freedom Fighters weren't fairing much better. Some of them had never even gotten the chance to attack. The Master King was just too strong. So it was just down to him. Him alone against, bar none, the most powerful foe he had ever faced. And as good as he was, for the first time he feared that he wasn't good enough. Not that he'd ever let Eggman know. "Surely you can feel it? The final seconds ticking away at your clock? The last page being turned? All things end Sonic, even you," Robotnik mocked. The king slammed it's hands together and Sonic was robbed of all energy, stopping him dead. The king then lifted Sonic face to visor, Robotnik having pressed his face up against the glass so that Sonic could see him. "If you're going to finish me egghead, make it quick. Because every second you leave me alive is a second I can defeat you," Sonic warned. "Normally I would laugh and dismiss your words, but you are right, Sonic. But before I do, may I ask what your plan was?" Robotnik asked. Sonic thought about it for a second before realizing that he was already answering despite his will. "Have Discord use his connecting to the Chaos Force to create a reset, fixing both timelines and making it so nothing ever happened," Sonic admitted. "We were just there to stall you. We hoped that your hatred for us would override your common sense." "And it almost worked, had I not figured out what the play would be," Sombra smugly said. "Yes yes, you've saved the day. But now, I think it time to put the final period on our story, Sonic," Robotnik cackled. He aimed a harmony filled hand at Sonic, who didn't even flinch. "And just because I love doing this so much..." "Eight."