//------------------------------// // If They Can Get Along // Story: The War of Champions // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// The five champions and Ryan all stared at the Princess of the Night across the giant table that separated them, watching as she gathered her notes and talked with some of her advisors about the plan. She then cleared her throat as the advisors ran off, turning back to the group with a grim nod. "Sorry that took so long, we had a close call with Black Adam last night," Luna explained, Billy narrowing his eyes at the mention of his mightiest foe's name. "However, we are not here to talk about Black Adam, we are here to talk to you about this." While she said this, beams of light emerged from the table and showed the city of Canterlot, except that it was completely surrounded in different colored magics that created a sphere around the city. "Behold, the capital of Equestria." "So, I was right, and that was the city of Canterlot that I saw on the ground instead of on the side of the mountain," Billy muttered to himself. "Was Black Adam responsible for this to?" "Yes. The city's supports were destroyed when Black Adam engaged in battle with a being know as Ares, who matched him in every way...well, almost," Luna explained as the images flickered and showed the group a large tower that seemed to be made of alien material. "But back to the matter at hoof, these are the source of the shielding that covers the city of Canterlot. These are the Spires, created by Black Adam and his Judges to keep Celestia and all of the ponies within the city safe from outside attack." "And you want us to destroy these?" Batmare asked while she hopped up onto the table and peered closely at the tower. She took in every detail and studied it to find any opening that it might have. "That material looks incredibly strong. None of my explosives would even dent it, and it seems to be resistant to magic." "Well, we do have a giant, green wrecking ball and a boy who matches Black Adam," Ryan reminded the group as he motioned to Billy and Bruce. "Can't we just air drop the two of them onto the tower and watch the fireworks from a distance?" Ryan noticed that Luna cast Billy a quick glance before shaking her head. "We have to do this strategically. If we use the two of our biggest guns right off the bat, Adam will prepare for the two of them when we try to bring down the next tower," Luna said with a sigh while she brought up a map with six more Spire locations across the land and beyond it. "Also, if Black Adam himself were to protect one of the Spires, I do not know if we would be able to beat him. Four of you do not seem to be anywhere near his power." "And what about the Hulk?" Banner asked. Luna took a moment before answering. "I honestly cannot say. He does indeed seem powerful, but...I have seen Adam's power up close and I know what he can do," she said in a cold whisper as she shuddered slightly. "And as for you Billy...I do not know how I feel about sending a child to battle Black Adam. I have seen enough children die." "I can beat him. I did it before," Billy said with confidence, but Luna shook her head once again. "We will save that as a last resort. But as I was saying, the six Spires are what keep the shield up around the city. And we do not need to destroy the towers; we just need to destroy what is powering them," Luna continued while the images flashed to a small gem that radiated power. "These orbs are what Adam is using to power the shields. If we can destroy them, not only will it weaken the shield, but it will also take a long time before others can be created. If we time it right, we can have them all down in a month." "But that's not counting if we run into Adam or any of his goons," Trixie reminded them with a somber expression. "So, how are we going to do this, then? I highly doubt that the six of us would be able to enter such a place without causing a commotion. Even in smaller, we would probably be seen." "You are correct there, Trixie. That is why we have somepony here who is willing to cause a distraction for you," Luna said as she nodded to somepony standing outside of the room. They entered a moment later and immediately upon seeing them Banner began to turn green and grow, barely managing to stop himself and revert back to normal while glaring at the changeling with cold eyes. "This is Insectum, Chrysalis' daughter." "And why would I trust my life to a queen raised by Chrysalis?" Trixie asked with heat in her voice while she gazed upon the queen, but the changeling shook her head with sad eyes. "Because my mother is no more. But allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Queen Insectum, queen of what's left of the changelings," Insectum said to them with a low bow, both Banner and Trixie letting up their glares for a moment. "Black Adam killed my mother five years ago when she gave up her life to protect me, before he wiped out nearly all of my people. Since then, I have led what was left of the changelings into battle alongside Luna, doing whatever we can to help." "And how the heck are you going to distract him if he managed to wipe out your entire race at once?" Ryan asked as he leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. "If I were you, I'd focus on keeping your remaining people alive instead of throwing them at a god." "While I appreciate your concern, the changelings have become adept at avoiding Adam and his magic. Something we have discovered in the years of battling him is that he cannot distinguish a transformed pony from a regular one, and neither can the ponies. Using that trick, we can slip away when he comes after us. We have done so for years." "Trust her, the changelings have proven that they can keep Adam occupied," Luna said before addressing the other problem. "But you do bring up an interesting point, Trixie. If we do send all of you at the tower at once, it would almost be a guarantee that you would destroy the orbs powering it, but then it would also leave you all liable to be captured." "Then how about this? We split into two person teams while taking whoever would be best suited for that Spire," Batmare began as she walked up to the map and memorized where the Spires were located. "For example, one of them is in the deepest parts of the ocean, a place that most of us can't get to even with our magic. But the Big Daddy over there is designed for deep sea exploration, so naturally he would be one of the members to go destroy that tower. The other four could run interference in case of Adam or his goons." "That...is not a bad plan," Luna muttered, the other members of the team nodding their heads in approval as well. "Yes, it seems like for now that is our best bet. I would assign the teams myself, but I figure it best that you discuss amongst yourselves whom you believe are best suited to handle each Spire. The one that we are planning to take down is not guarded with that many soldiers, but is rumored to have a very dangerous beast within. That is all." Luna turned and began to speak with the queen about the distraction, while Banner rose to his feet and motion for the group to follow him. -====_====- "Before we get down to who should go on this mission, there are two other things I wish to talk to you about," Banner said as he looked around the room at the other members of the group, hands clasped together as he silently thought for a moment. "The first is, that I think that we should elect a leader for the team. If we all do our own thing or fight amongst ourselves on the battlefield, it will end only in death. If any of you have any recommendations, speak them now." "Not that I give a shit who you pick, odds are I still won't listen to any of you," Ryan chuckled as he leaned back. "Is that your way of voting for yourself?" Trixie asked. "Are you kidding me? If I lead, we'd all be dead within minutes. No, this is a story where a supervillain is our foe, so I think it best for a superHERO to be the one to lead," Ryan reminded them with a smirk. "My vote goes to the cosplayer or Banner." "Sure, I could go with Batmare being our leader," Billy said with a smile at the surprised Batmare. "Back on my world, Batman was in charge most of the time, so if you were trained by him, I'd say that qualifies you way more than anyone else on this team." "Then, that is three votes for Batmare," Trixie said while she placed a hoof on her friend's armored shoulder. "I believe that you would make an excellent leader for this team." "Are you sure, Trixie? You actually have more experience than me at leading a group," Batmare reminded her. Trixie shrugged with a smile. "Maybe, but you are the most clever member here. After all, you did almost singlehoofedly bring down that organization that was trying to unleash the twin demons in our world. I trust you." "And what about you, Doctor Banner?" Batmare asked the doc, who looked up from his thoughts with a shake of his head. "I might have been a part of a large number of team-ups, but I was more of the muscle than I was leader," he said with a small laugh. "No, if the others think that you should lead, then go for it. Besides, it isn't like I can't give you advice if you ever feel lost." Mr. Bubbles let out a moan before pointing his drill at Batmare, getting another chuckle out of Banner. "Then it seems that it is unanimous. Batmare, you are our leader now." Batmare looked down at the ground for a moment, before letting out a sigh and looking up at them with a fiery determination. "Alright then. I'll do my best not to let any of you down!" "Too late." "And that leads me to my second topic that I wished to talk about," Banner began as his gaze hardened. "And that is the end game. Luna obviously wants those towers taken out so she can overthrow Celestia and return Equestria to how it used to be. That's her end game. But what about the mare's? Surely she wouldn't need all of us for a threat like that. Why not just gather the Avengers or the Justice League and have them handle Adam? If he arrived here without his voice, then clearly he was defeated before. Why did she need us?" "That's actually a good question," Billy muttered as he placed his face in his hands and thought about it. "I might struggle with Adam alone, but not even he is strong enough to handle the whole League. You're right, Doctor Banner, why all of us?" "I believe that is where Ryan can help us. The end game for us isn't to help Luna defeat Celestia, it's to use the Elements of Harmony to bring down the being of destruction, isn't it?" Banner asked Ryan point blank. Despite the shot out of nowhere, Ryan didn't even blink under the pressuring looks from the others. "What do you mean, Doctor? None of us are the chosen Elements of Harmony," Trixie reminded him, Bill and Batmare nodding in agreement. "If the mare needed the Elements, wouldn't she just grab Twilight and the others from any world where they were still alive?" "That is what I am trying to figure out. When the silver mare helped us, she sometimes mentioned that we had been chosen, and now I think I know why. We were chosen to replace this world's Elements of Harmony, weren't we?" Banner asked Ryan once again, yet the man only pulled his hood over his eyes in response. "So, then the mare knows that this destruction beast will rise here and she wants the six of us to use our Elements that we have acquired to--" "Let me stop you right there, Banner, and shoot a couple of holes in your theory," Ryan cut in as he flipped his hood back. "To start things off, no, none of you were chosen to replace the Elements here. The Elements of this world are nowhere near strong enough to take on the monster that we might fight." "Then why bring us here?" "Let me finish. During each of your adventures, the mare wasn't finding champions who could take on Twilight and the other Elements, she was finding those who could reforge the original Elements of Harmony." The words struck the others dumb, giving Ryan a moment to smile at the looks on their faces. "The original Elements of Harmony?" Billy asked in confusion. "But I thought that Twilight and the others wielded the Elements of Harmony that Celestia and Luna used." Ryan rolled his eyes at the kid with a sigh. "Those are the ponies' Elements of Harmony. Let me ask you a question: Why would the Elements of Harmony, magical artifacts that are powered by others coming together, be pony exclusive only?" he asked them with a raised eyebrow, watching as the others began to connect the dots. "You guessed it, I hope; they weren't. The original wielders of the Elements were from all races, ranging from an alicorn to an effing Diamond Dog. And according to the mare, the old Elements were even stronger than the ones Twilight and her annoyances used, with different names as well." "And that would explain why the mare went from world to world testing others," Banner added up. "Because it would take a team as diverse as the original to reforge them." "Yep. Apparently this being of destruction can only be beaten with those Elements, because they not only hurt it, but they also protect the wielders from its powers. Anyone else who tries to fight the monster without them would be destroyed no matter how strong or powerful," Ryan muttered as he remembered his fight with the herald of destruction. "That's why no Avengers or League. They would just be fodder." "Yeah, but three of the six are humans, two are ponies and the last is...Bubbles," Billy pointed out. "Technically, you're a god, Banner's a monster, Batmare is a creature of the night and Bubbles is dead. That makes me the only normal human here," Ryan said with a smirk, but he caught Banner's glance out of the corner of his eye. "There's more that you're not telling us." It wasn't a question, it was a fact. Ryan was about to stay silent before he saw Banner's eyes flash green, giving him all of the incentive that he needed to open his mouth again. "Fine, fine. However, the mare's plan hit a little hiccup a few months ago when the sixth wielder of the old Elements died in battle." The room went silent at his words and even Banner had a stunned look on his face. "Yep, Mr. Freeze was supposed to be the final champion, but he died in a fight with Sombra while Adam whipped the mare something fierce." Batmare cast a quick look at Trixie, seeing pain in her eyes at Ryan's words. "So, that left her going into the final battle against darkness without a wielder. Not a good idea if you ask me." "Then why are you even here?" Billy asked with both concern and annoyance in his voice. "You weren't chosen by the Element, meaning that you could die if you were to fight against the monster!" "Thanks for the concern, kid, but you could trade my life for a can of soup and it wouldn't be a fair trade," Ryan joked, but his words only got him hard glares. "This was something that she didn't want me to tell you because she figured that it would make you doubt the plan. The new plan is to find whoever is trying to release the monstrosity within the sphere of destruction. I don't need to say what would happen if we failed." "That still didn't answer my question. Why you?" "Because despite knowing that this is a bad idea, I owe the mare my life multiple times over," Ryan answered. "So now that you have forced the new plan out of me, care to tell me how we're going to do this now?" The group all looked to Batmare, who had lowered her head and was thinking about everything that was said. "We need to take care of Adam and his Judges first before we go after the monster," she decided after a few minutes. "We won't be able to make any headway with them if we have an angry god constantly attacking us. So I've decided that Ryan and I will take the first tower together. While he may not look like much to you, I can tell that you've had your own personal training in combat and stealth, haven't you?" Ryan nodded with a shrug. "Alright then, it's a plan." "Alright, sounds like a plan," Banner said before he stood up and placed his hands in his pockets, walking towards the door while whistling. "And where are you going?" "Out. I'm going to draw the attention of Black Adam," Banner said, the others looking at him to explain himself. "We need a distraction. I can do that. But I'd also like to hear the other side of the story. Luna has done her best to convince me that her sister is crazy and Black Adam is a homicidal maniac. I don't buy it. And where better to find out about the opposing side than from their leader? Trixie and Marvel can back me up, but don't enter the conversation or battle unless I ask for it." "I hope you know what the hell you're doing, Banner," Batmare said as she and the others stood up as well, Banner giving her a small smile. "Don't worry. I've got insurance in case I don't." -===_===- Hundreds of cloaked unicorns stood at attention as a unicorn with a long, black beard walked by them, all of them stiffing up as they felt the darkness that the unicorn was giving off. His hoofsteps caused the floor he walked upon to slowly break apart, yet he did not notice the destruction for his attention was on the mirror in front of him and the cloaked pony next to it. "What news do you have for me?" the unicorn consumed by the darkness asked, his mere breath destroying the air around him. The unicorn next to him shuddered when he felt the darkness wash over him before he managed to stammer out an answer. "O-our spies have shown that the six champions of the silver mare are in this land and that they will fight against Black Adam and Celestia," he stammered in fear, the dark unicorn nodding with a thin smile. "It...also seems that the human that escaped you is with them, yet we are not sure why as he cannot fight you." "Is the mare with them?" he asked, the unicorn shaking his head as he felt himself unable to speak. The bearded unicorn nodded before turning around to face all of the other unicorns hidden beneath their cloaks. "My brethren, we are so close to achieving our goals. The being within the sphere that I possess is so close to being freed that I can feel his presence in my own soul. Soon, we shall have what we have wanted all of these years, the destruction of the new ways and a return to the old ways, when unicorns ruled over all!" The other unicorns let out roars of approval before a nod from the bearded one silenced them. "But as you know, there is only one way the being can be freed and that is with destruction, a destruction so great that it can destroy the very sphere that holds him prisoner. And to acquire that kind of destruction we need this war, we need it to claim as many as possible. So, remember your duty is to fuel this war, no matter which side you fight with. And do not let them know of us. We have stayed hidden this long, we only need to do so a little longer." "But also remember that the silver mare may be the only one who can stop us, because she possesses the power of creation within her," the bearded one added. "That, and five of her champions are able to battle against the force of destruction. But without the sixth, it is a battle that they must lose. So no matter what, as long as we can free the being, we have won. Now go!" The unicorns all rushed out of the dark room, leaving the bearded pony of darkness to turn and look into the mirror, where a smile crept across his face while he spoke out to the multiverse. "It is almost time...the time to destroy the rulers of old and create a world that belongs to the superior ones again," he spoke into the mirror, feeling another's presence on the other side of it. "I hope that when the time for that battle comes, that you will keep to your word and help us to unleash destruction upon the land." "As long as you keep your promise to surrender your nations and people to me, then you shall have my power on your side when that battle comes," a voice so powerful that it shook the room said from the other side of the mirror, causing the unicorn to chuckle with delight. "I care not who rules, as long as the old ways are destroyed and unicorns are the superior race once again," the pony said as the mirror went dark, before it illuminated again and a pair of red eyes looked out at him. "Do not be so angry to see me again, because I have brought great news. I know that you do not wish to cooperate with us, but we may have finally given you a reason to. Allow me to tell you of the six champions who oppose us and let us see if you believe them worthy."