Citizens screamed as the two god-like beings slammed into each other, kicking up a massive shockwave that sent both parties flying in opposite directions. Black Adam was the first to recover and he hurled himself through the air at speeds that the Flash would envy, slamming into the gray and boney monster with enough force to level the buildings around them. But despite his power and speed, Doomsday did not move.
"End you now!" Doomsday roared as he lifted both hands above his head and drove them into Adam's back, slamming the defender of Kahndaq into the streets. Adam leapt back up with an uppercut that would have taken a lesser creature's jaw off, before unleashing hell--in lightning form--into Doomsday's face, getting the unstoppable to roar in pain as its face was turned to cinders.
"No! You are the only one that will die today!" Adam roared as he drove his knee into Doomsday's gut, sending the creature into the air over his head, where he snarled before yelling, "SHAZAM!" The golden bolt tore through the monster and sent its smoldering body into the ground, but Doomsday began to laugh as it pulled itself up, the hole in its chest healing almost instantly.
"I cannot die. You can." Doomsday tried to slam his fists into the street, but with godly speed Adam hurled himself at the creature and placed himself under his arms, catching them before they could hit the ground.
"You will not cause my people any more pain!" Adam roared as he pushed back against the seemingly endless strength of the monster, finding it at his level of strength. Doomsday struck him a mighty blow with his knee and Adam collapsed to the ground a good hundred yards away, wiping the blood from his mouth as he picked himself up, only to find that he was looking at a soldier with the word "C.A.D.M.U.S." on his uniform.
"You will not save them, Adam," the soldier said. Adam wondered what he meant when he realized what was next to him...A nuclear device. "The world sees you and your nation as dangerous and they've been looking for an excuse to be rid of you. And what's better than the unstoppable monster that they released." Adam reached for the bomb but Doomsday tackled him from behind and pinned him to the ground, forcing him to watch as the man turned the key on the bomb. "Give them war, Teth. Annihilate them all."
The flash of light could be seen from the Watch Tower, telling the heroes of Earth what had just happened. But by the time they reached the flash they found the once great capital of Kahndaq a sprawl of bodies and ruin. And at the center of it all lay a man resting on his knees, sorrow in his eyes as he looked at how he had failed. Then he turned his eyes upon Doomsday, who pulled himself out of the rubble under which he had been buried, and their battled resumed.
S=H=A=Z=A=M
Three weeks passed quickly, though for Celestia and Radiance they felt like a lifetime. Sunny was constantly in the hospital, constantly having to be under the care of doctors and nurses who just barely kept her alive. Luna had been placed in charge of the nation while Celestia never left her daughter's side. It was the same with Radiance. The hospital where Sunny was staying was their home now, a place where Celestia heard little of what was going on in the outside world.
"Isn't there anything else we can do?!" Celestia half-screamed at one of the doctors, who looked at Celestia with sympathy in his eyes as he sadly shook his head.
"I am...so sorry, Princess, but this is not a disease that we can combat with our magic or medicines," the doctor said in a well-practiced voice, having told many before the princess the same words. "This disease, while rare, is pretty much fatal to any who contract it. Sunny was lucky to live as long as she did. All we can do for her now is to...make her as comfortable as possible." Radiance hid her tears as best she could while the doctor escorted the pair into Sunny's room, where she turned her eyes towards them, the weakness showing in them.
"Hi Mom, hey Radiance. Not looking too well, am I?" she asked with a weak smile, but still managed to smile nonetheless. Radiance said nothing, choosing to hug her little sister instead while Celestia fought back tears. "Things aren't going well for me. I think...this is it."
"Don't you dare talk that way!" Radiance yelled at Sunny as she pulled her closer, starting to sob despite how hard she was trying to hold the tears back. Sunny gently patted her sister on the back while Celestia went off to talk to more of the doctors. "You have too much of a life to live. You still need to celebrate your thirteenth birthday coming up. I can use my magic! I know a couple of healing spells that I can use to--!"
"Sis...the doctors have tried everything," Sunny said, shaking slightly as she tightened her grip on her sister. Celestia walked back into the room with sorrow written all over her face, and she pulled her two daughters into a hug.
"There has to be something I can do. There has to be--" Celestia released both of them as she shot straight up, racing to the window and looking out of it with horror in her eyes. The sky was pink and the clouds rained chocolate milk, while buildings floated all over the place. Celestia barely had a moment to take it all in before the doors to the room were blasted off and Luna and Teth raced inside.
"Celestia, Discord--he's back," Luna said, her sister blinking as she tried to process this information. "We have to gather the Elements and fight him, before he takes over the world once again!" Celestia knew what this meant and immediately started to follow them before turning back to Sunny, who was coughing once again with sickness written all over her face. For a moment, Celestia was torn between where to go before she looked at Radiance with tears in her eyes.
"Stay with your sister and keep her safe," she said with tears to Radiance before turning and racing off to gather the Elements. "Discord is a god of chaos and one of the most dangerous creatures in our land," she explained for Teth as the three ran to Canterlot tower. "He is insanely chaotic and loves to play with his foes before getting rid of them. And he isn't very nice."
"I had already gathered the mane six and tried to equip them with their Elements, but Discord beat us to them and hid them in a maze. I sent them inside while coming to get you," Luna informed Celestia as they raced into the tower, opening the doors to see that Discord was already floating there, smiling at the three as they entered. "Discord! Why are you still here?! And what have you done with Twilight and the others?!"
"They're on their own now, you foolish princess," Discord said with scorn in his voice as he snapped his fingers, opening a portal to Ponyville, showing the six Elements of Harmony grayed out and missing their Elements as they argued with themselves. "As you can see, your Elements are having a hard time facing the true facts about themselves and are quite outmatched. Your greatest weapons have failed you and the ponies that wield them are left in shambles. And I barely had to try. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to Ponyville and claim it as my own. 'Bye." He vanished with a snap of his fingers, leaving the three to wonder what to do.
"The Elements are lost and need our help," Celestia said as she began to pace around he room. "But if they're like this then they can't use their Elements. Wait a moment, the letters! The letters Twilight sent me can remind them of who they are! I-I need to send Twilight the letter she sent me, but Sunnysmiles was the one who...oh Faust, Sunny! I need to go see--" Luna grabbed her sister with her magic and dragged her back, glaring into her sister's eyes as she did so.
"This cannot wait! If we do not stop this madpony here, then there will be nowhere to keep your daughter safe!" Luna yelled at Celestia, who was struggling to figure out what to do. "Forget the letters, we must head to Ponyville and battle Discord ourselves. Hopefully the Elements will aid us! I will find the Elements and aid them, but you must hold off Discord!" With no other plan Celestia allowed Teth to climb onto her back and she took off towards Ponyville.
'The Elements are scattered and Celestia is far too distracted to be of any use in this fight,' Teth thought silently as the pair flew down to Ponyville, seeing how it had been manipulated into a horror land in the short time Discord had been freed. Celestia landed in front of Discord, who sat on a floating throne in the center of town and sneered at her as she let Teth off.
"Oh Celestia, you are so predictable. I knew that you would come here to fight me head on," Discord sneered before moving to the side as Celestia fired a bolt of magic at him. "And I see that you have grown weaker in the thousand years since I last saw you. This will be easy then." He laughed as both of his hands were consumed in fire and he began to chuck fireballs at the princess, who erected a barrier to protect herself. Teth drew his blade and charged towards the creature, but Discord snapped his fingers and vines shot out of the ground to imprison Teth. "Stay out of this human, you'll live longer."
'No! I will not be pushed to the sides so easily,' Teth growled, but he was unable to break free. All he could do was watch as the pair battled for about an hour, Discord was far too strong for Celestia to handle alone. She tried to use her magic against him, but he would move out of the way. Every time she threw something at him he would simply avoid it. He was too strong.
"You will not have this land!" Celestia yelled as she shot into the sky and switched her magic from bolts to lasers, firing pure beams of magic towards Discord. Discord pulled a chunk of the earth out with his magic and shielded himself from her attack, before snapping his fingers to create a mirror that reflected her own spell back towards the princess. She was struck right in the chest and she collapsed to the ground, slamming into the dirt with a grunt.
"I already have this land, Celestia. You and the other ponies just don't know it yet." The moment he said this, Luna landed beside her sister, and running up behind her were the Elements of Harmony, now back in their regular colors. "What's this? I thought that I had dealt with the six of you."
"You might have broken us apart once, Discord, but Luna brought me all the letters that I had sent to Celestia during the time I was in Ponyville, and they reminded me to never give up on my friends," Twilight said with triumph as she and the others stood as one, each of them glaring at Discord. "Friendship is always worth fighting for. Now, are you ready to go back to stone?"
"Ugh, this talk about friendship is making me sick. But while you might have the Elements, I have something even better," Discord said with a smile before snapping his fingers, causing Teth to teleport from the vines into Discord's grasp, where he struggled to break free of the magic that held him in place. "A hostage. So, unless you want this little friend of yours here to be turned into flora, drop the Elements." The ponies glared up at Discord before sharing a look with each other.
"Curse you, Discord," Celestia weakly growled as Twilight and the others placed their Elements on the ground. "You will pay for this."
"Oh, I don't believe I will. Chaos has won, as it always will, and you and your precious Elements can't do anything," Discord said with a smirk before turning to Teth. "How about you? Any speeches of bravado to give me despite knowing that you can't win?" Discord raised an eyebrow when Teth didn't answer, and he narrowed his eyes when he looked at Adam's throat. "That's a very interesting magic that you have there. It's keeping you from talking, huh? Well there's no fun if I can't make you beg, so let's see if I can do something about it."
Teth silently cried out as Discord began to mess with the magic on his throat, pain coursing though his body. He vaguely heard Celestia yell at Discord to stop, but then the sound of a thunderclap could be heard and Discord released Teth, causing him to fall from the throne to the ground, where he panted in pain.
"Well, that was far harder than it should have been. Props to whoever cast that spell," Discord said with a smirk as he held the crackling magic in one hand while sneering down at Teth, who held a hand to his throat and realized that the magic was gone. "Fortunately, I know a thing or two about breaking imprisonment spells, so I could manage in the end. Now then, Teth, any last words before I trap you in stone in front of your friends?"
Only Luna was in the right position to see Teth's face when Discord asked him that question, and the moment she saw the human's face, she felt her soul go cold. On his face was a smile, a smile of pure, absolute evil. Teth then threw his head back to the sky and opened his mouth with that same smile on his face. And all ponies who were there that day would remember the first time they heard him utter the word,
"SHAZAM!"
A thunderous bolt of lightning descended from on high and struck the very spot where Teth lay, arms outstretched as if he were embracing the lightning. Celestia cried out for him while the other ponies--and even Discord--looked at the spot where the lightning had struck with disbelief, none of them knowing what to say. Then, through the dust kicked up by the bolt, a figure could be seen emerging. He wore a completely black suit, but on his arms were golden guards and his legs were covered with golden grieves. The once white cape was now a pitch black and was charged with power. But on the center of his chest is where all eyes rested, on the single, golden lightning bolt.
"Ooo, I didn't know humans could do that," Discord taunted as he went to snap his fingers. "But I suppose it--" Discord never saw the fist that hit him in the face and sent him sailing through the buildings of the town, but as he sat on the outskirts of Ponyville looking up at the sky he wondered what had hit him. For the ponies though, it had looked as if Discord was gone and Teth was now standing in his place. Teth flexed his hand as he looked down at it, another smile crossing his face while lightning crackled along it.
"Oh, it is good to be back," he said with power in every word.
"Teth?" Celestia asked weakly as she looked upon his new form with confusion. "W-what happened to you?"
"This is who I truly am, Celestia," Teth answered with ease before looking over to see that Discord was back and he looked angry. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must deal with this problem."
"Oh, look at you, acting so big and tough because you changed your outfit," Discord snarled as he lifted two rocks and aimed them at Teth. "But you're still just a human, Teth. You're mortal. Now allow me to drive that point home!" He slammed the boulders together against Teth, but to everypony's shock, Teth held out both hands and the boulders shattered against them. Discord backed away from the human who looked up at him with loathing.
"I am no longer the weakling named Teth," he said in a thunderous voice that caused the ground to shake. "I am Black Adam!" Discord wasn't aware that he had been grabbed until he felt his body get slammed into the ground, barely registering the pain before a golden boot kicked him across the town. Black Adam caught his skipping body and hurled it into the air, where he snapped his fingers and watched with a smile as a bolt of lightning drove Discord into the earth.
"And while you are a god, a pathetic, worthless god at most, I wield the power of six gods," Adam said as he floated over to where Discord was struggling to breathe, looking up at Adam with fear in his eyes. Adam lifted his leg and slammed it into Discord's chest, causing the draconis to cry out in pain as he looked up at the dark one. "And I will make sure that you never forget it, for the brief few seconds that you are alive."
"P-please, I'm a god. You can't kill me," Discord said with desperation, but all that did was get a laugh out of Adam.
"That is something all gods say...until they are slain." Adam then cast his hand into the sky and summoned a bolt of deadly lightning to strike his hand. And while the lightning had no effect on Adam, it coursed through his body and into Discord, who screamed as the lightning began to tear him apart. "How does it feel, "god," to be on top of the world one moment only to be beaten in every way by your superior?"
"Please...don't kill me," Discord begged, getting Adam to think about it for a moment. Then he looked to the ponies, the innocent, being harmed by Discord, and the answer was clear.
"No. Shazam." Adam leapt back as the divine lightning hurtled itself towards it caster, but with Adam out of the way it struck the God of Chaos, who made no sound as he was consumed by the all-powerful lightning. Adam watched with crossed arms as Discord's smoking body lay in front of him, before it slowly turned to ash and was blown away by the wind. With his foe taken care of, Adam turned towards the ponies and flew towards them.
"What happened?" Luna asked in awe as Black Adam landed in front of them, all of the ponies able to feel his magical might. "All we saw was lightning and then..."
"It is done. He is dead," Black Adam said, getting looks of absolute shock from the ponies.
"B-but he's Discord!" Twilight argued. "You can't just kill..." Her words died in her throat as the land around them started to return to normal, the houses floating back down to the ground and the sky turning blue once again. Then the ashes blew by the group and they all turned towards Adam with fear in their eyes. "But only the Elements have the magic to..."
"The Elements mean nothing to me now," he said with power and confidence in his voice as he lifted an arm into the air, blasting a bolt of lightning for all to see. "Black Adam has returned." Then he walked past all of the ponies, all of them moving out of the way, before coming to a stop in front of Celestia, who had no idea what he would do next. "Come," he said to her as he held out a hand. "We must check up on Sunny."
Celestia's eyes widened as she remembered what had happened, and Adam quickly grabbed her and shot off, leaving the other ponies to gawk in awe. Adam burst through the wall to Sunnysmiles' room, but his sight confirmed what his hearing had registered in the brief second it had taken him to reach the room. Radiance's head rested on her sister's body, and her sobs could be heard echoing throughout the room. A doctor sat next to her and had been comforting her up until the point Adam had burst through the wall.
"We're sorry, Princess, she died just a few minutes ago," the doctor said as Celestia pushed past him.
"No..." Celestia whispered in a barely audible tone, walking over to the bed and looking down at her daughter. Sunny remained completely motionless, but on her peaceful face was her eternal smile. Something in Celestia broke at that moment, and she joined Radiance in crying over Sunnysmiles. And all the while Adam watched with a bowed head, having to live with the fact that he was once again a few seconds too late.
S=H=A=Z=A=M
"It cannot be," a pony in a black cloak said as he fell back into his chair, the other ponies with similar garb looking at the messenger as if he were crazy. "How? How could Discord have been killed so easily, after we spent so long to free him?"
"I would not believe it myself unless I had been there to witness it," a young unicorn in a cloak said as he knelt before the other, his voice as shaky as his knees while he told them what had happened in Ponyville. "The human used some kind of magic to make himself...into a god, the likes of which I have never seen. His speed, his power...he dispatched Discord so easily, as if he were nothing to him."
"If this is true, then we will have to seriously rethink our plans," a deep-voiced unicorn said from the side of the room, the others agreeing with him. "Discord agreed that he would help us in our cause if we freed him, but with him gone we have no way to defeat the princesses. And with the human now called Black Adam, it seems that the odds have grown only against us."
"What do we do?"
"Continue to observe them and do not let them onto you," the eldest one said with a hint of fear in his voice. "And beware of Black Adam. With Celestia now in the state she is in, there is nopony on this planet who would be able to stop him."