Six figures stood around a single occupied bed in a makeshift hospital deep underground, each of them looking at the unconscious figure with both fear and anger in their hearts. Ryan had not awakened since they had returned and the silver mare had sat by his side all the while, keeping her magical presence to a minimum so as not to attract Adam. Bubbles stood outside in the hallway, not certain why everyone was upset, but he wanted to be as close to them as he could. Banner had a lot of alone time following the battle, because his other side had not said a word since.
"His body might have been repaired by the silver mare's magic, but the Hulk beat him into a coma," Luna explained to the group as she let out a sigh, looking down at the information that her doctors had given her. "And despite how powerful or skilled our magic is, we can't bring a pony or human out of a coma with magic. He'll have to wake up on his own...if he wakes up at all. His eardrums also received considerable damage, but they were healed to some degree. He will have some issues hearing...again, if he wakes up."
"Thank you, Luna," Banner said to her with a deadpan voice, looking down at the human on life support who the previous day he had considered to be almost as infuriating as Stark. Now, he wished he could thank him for the sacrifice he had made. Luna read the mood and started to leave, but when she reached the door to the small room, she looked back at the mare.
"What do we do now? You said yourself that if we did not have all six champions that we would not be able to win this fight," Luna asked the silver mare with fear in her voice. The mare took a minute before she answered, and when she did she looked up at the Princess of the Night with dull eyes.
'Ryan was never one of the champions. The sixth champion died before I could bring him here,' the mare admitted as she turned her attention back to Ryan. 'I brought Ryan here because I believed that he would be able to replace Freeze; that he could be a hero. It seems that he could be...and it cost him nearly everything.' Luna narrowed her eyes, comprehending the new information that the mare was telling her, pissed that she had not been told this before she had gone ahead with her plans. But all she did was snarl when she left, leaving the room silent again.
"I can't believe he took the Hulk on alone," Billy eventually said to break the silence. "Black Adam and I could barely defeat the Hulk together, yet Ryan fought him without a second thought. I don't know if he's the bravest man I've ever met or the craziest."
'Both,' the mare answered for Ryan. 'He's both.'
"What I want to know is, why he did it?" Trixie asked, the question having gnawed at her since she had awakened and been told what had happened. "Ryan is not somepony I would expect to sacrifice himself for others. From what I gathered of him he hated being here--hated working with us--and he was only fighting because he owed you a favor," Trixie said to the mare.
'So that's the excuse he went with, was it?' the mare said with a bitter chuckle. 'He always did like making things up.'
"He mentioned your daughter. He knew," Banner said, breaking the news to Trixie and the others. Trixie's eyes went wide with surprise while Batmare's assumption had been confirmed, but nopony spoke while Banner continued. "He also said that he had to distract Hulk so that those who mattered could live. Normally, I would assume that he was going on about him not being one of the chosen champions, but according to the mare's words there's more that we don't know." Silence was how the mare answered him, getting a frustrated sigh out of Banner while he rubbed his eyes.
"So, what do we do now?" Billy asked Batmare, who had remained silent the entire time as she leaned against the wall while the group had been talking. "We're down a member of our team and we're no closer to finding out anything about the Sphere of Destruction or how we can stop Black Adam. I saw that power of his up close, the power he stole from the wizard and...I don't think I can beat him."
"It will still be teams of two," Batmare decided after a moment of silence as she lifted her head. "But you four will need to get used to working with each other. Billy's right in saying that we have been neglecting the Sphere of Destruction and we still haven't figured out anything about it."
"What are you saying?" Banner asked.
"I'm saying that it's time for me to do what my Dad trained me to do, and that's to be the world's greatest detective," Batmare darkly said as she began to head for the door, looking up at Banner when she walked by him. "This is what I should have done from the beginning. With only five of the six, our main concern should be finding and stopping whoever is seeking to release the demon within the Sphere of Destruction. And I can't do that here. You should take over in my place, Banner...you should have led from the beginning. Maybe then, this wouldn't have happened."
"And maybe if I had been leading, Ryan would have been killed instead of surviving," Banner replied with a shake of his head. "We don't know. If you want me to lead while you are away, fine, but when you return I'm giving the position back to you. Come back when you find something." Batmare nodded before walking out of the room and by Bubbles, vanishing within moments.
"So Doc, what's the plan?" Trixie asked.
"No more chances. Billy and I will take the next tower together," Banner said with a quiet fierceness that gained him cautious looks from both Billy and Trixie. "We will bring it down without anypony or anyone getting harmed. But we will have to wait. The defenses certainly would have been increased since we struck down the other three towers, but with Captain Marvel and the Hulk...excuse me for a moment." Banner turned and left the room without another word, leaving Billy and Trixie to share a look before Trixie turned to look at the mare.
"I have never seen you look so concerned before," she pointed out to the mare, who shrugged in response. "Does Ryan really mean so much to you? Because for the short time that I have known him, I would wager that the two of you would hate each other."
'I consider him to be my only friend,' the mare said sadly before a small chuckle escaped her lips. 'But you would be right in saying that we often cannot stand each other. But even the best of friendships are not perfect. You should all get some rest. I fear that things may only get worse from here on out, with two of our own out of action. I...must go see if I can find somepony...or someone who can replace Freeze as a champion. We are running out of time.'
Out in the dark, carved hallway Doctor Banner walked alone, waiting until he found a place that was far enough away from all of the ponies and his allies before he stopped and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and speaking to himself. "Hulk, please talk to me. You have been silent for over a day and I don't need to tell you how much that worries me."
'Go away.'
"Hulk, if you're upset over what happened with Ryan, you have to know that--"
'It what, Banner? It wasn't my fault? It wasn't my fault that I lifted him into the air and hurled him into the ground with enough force to place him into a coma?' Hulk snarled back within Banner's mind. 'Or how about when I nearly killed everypony in a village without any thought for them or their lives? Is that not my fault either?!'
"Hulk, Tinker separated us. He used magic to make it so that we couldn't work together like we always do. It's not your fault that you did what you did," Banner said as comfortingly as he could, but all Banner got in response was a bitter snicker at his words.
'Yeah, he separated us. But when we were separated did you want to kill your allies or a town filled with innocents? Did you lose all ability to think, to act...to be yourself and be consumed with rage?' Hulk asked Banner, yet he only got silence in reply. 'Five years, Banner, for five years I tried to learn to control my rage, to not become the monster that so many of our enemies--and even our friends--believed that we were. And for awhile, I thought I was getting somewhere. But now I see that without you in my head holding me back, I am a monster. A monster of rage.'
"You can't believe that, Hulk. Think of all the good you have done."
'And all of it was because you were within me, keeping me restrained and sane. But we saw the real me when we were split apart,' Hulk coldly said, hatred filling every word. 'I'm a monster; a monster that struck down an ally of ours with no remorse. A monster that would have killed an entire village without mercy. My power could have broken the world, Banner, had Black Adam, our enemy, not stopped me. You are the one who is the hero, Banner, the one who taught me how to be restrained...how to be a champion. But without you, I'm just a monster.'
"Hulk..."
'There's only one way to keep you safe from the monster that I am. And that's to lock myself away,' the Hulk began while his voice began to fade. 'I'm sorry Banner, but I can't trust myself. And none of you should either. I won't let anymore be hurt because of my rage.' Hulk's voice completely vanished at that point and he did not speak again, no matter how many times Banner called out for him, getting the doctor to sigh while he rubbed his temples.
'I'll have to deal with the Hulk later. Right now there's something that I need to figure out,' Banner thought as he walked back towards the hospital room where Ryan lay. He knocked once on the door before opening it, finding only the silver mare sitting beside Ryan and two empty chairs. Banner didn't bother asking where the other three were while he pulled out a chair and sat down. All he did was stare at the mare until she looked up at him.
'What do you want? There is nothing I can do to help you now,' she said to him.
"Actually, there is," Banner began in a serious voice that told her she wasn't getting out of this. "If I'm going to lead this team in Batmare's absence, then I need to know about the team I'm leading. I want you to tell me all of their stories and spare none of the details," Banner demanded while he looked down at Ryan. "And I want you to start with him."
S=H=A=Z=A=M
"She is in there? You are certain of this, Windy Days?" Black Adam asked the small red and gold unicorn, who nodded meekly in the presence of such a powerful being. Adam dismissed him with a wave of his hand before raising the same hand to knock on the metallic door before him. There was no answer and for a moment Adam considered knocking again. Yet his magical senses picked up something amiss on the other side of the room, so in the next moment the door was torn from its hinges and Adam entered.
"What in the...?" he muttered aloud when he saw the portal bathing the room in a red light, informing him that the Phantom Zone generator was active. A quick glance around the room confirmed his suspicions, but the image of the generator did not inform him of why Celestia had activated it. But he knew how he could figure that out. A moment later he was within the red portal, closing his eyes until he felt his boots strike the ground. His eyes opened to greet him with the sight of one of the most accursed prisons that used to belong to the League, but instead of hundreds of inmates, the only living being that greeted his eyes was the white and orange alicorn sitting at the top of a large hill.
"This is reckless, even by your standards," Black Adam chastised while floating to the hill towards his Queen. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it was to open a portal to the Phantom Zone without anypony guarding..." Both Adam's anger and his voice died when he reached the top of the hill, his face mirroring the one that Celestia wore perfectly. Down below, in the valley beneath the hill, were bodies--the endless number of bodies of those who had been condemned to the Phantom Zone.
"How...how can this be?" a horrified Black Adam asked while his eyes swept over the endless corpses, his godly vision able to see what remained of Tirek and even Ares within the mass of bodies, both mutilated horribly. "They are not supposed to be able to harm each other within this dimension."
"Teth...what is going on?" Celestia demanded as she turned to look up at her champion, fear in her eyes as well as concern. Adam thought for a brief moment before he lifted Celestia into his arms and burst through the portal back into the real world, practically dropping Celestia before he was at the Phantom Zone generator, which he powered down immediately. He then walked to where the door used to be and bellowed for Willow before turning to Celestia with a hard look.
"We can no longer use the generator," Adam said, his tone leaving no room for debate. "If we do, we run the risk of unleashing whatever killed all of the inmates and a god of war within that prison. I would destroy it here and now...but I am not certain how this machine works or what destroying it would do. WILLOW!" he bellowed again. Within a moment the bearded unicorn burst into the room, breathing heavily since his old legs weren't used to moving so fast.
"Master Adam! Queen Celestia! What is the-"
"Take this and place it in the location," Adam cut him off as he held out the Phantom Zone generator.
"O-of course sir, but why are we hiding the generator? It has been where we have stored our most dangerous criminals," Willow asked, but the dark gaze from Adam told him that this was not an order to be questioned.
"It has been compromised."
Willow said nothing more as he took the generator within his magic before turning to the exit, but before he left their sight, Adam spoke once again. "Willow. Do not tell any other pony what happened to the generator or where it is located...not the Judges nor anypony else. There are hidden dangers all around us. This stays between us three." Willow gave Adam a slow nod before leaving him and Celestia alone, giving Adam a moment to regain his thoughts before his anger towards her returned once again.
"Why were you within the Phantom Zone by yourself with nopony guarding the entrance?!" Adam demanded with a cold look. All Celestia did in reply was turn her head away from Adam and stalk out of the room. She had barely made the hallway before Adam was in front of her, his eyes telling her she was not leaving until she answered.
"I was looking for allies within the zone," she admitted with no remorse on her face for her actions, while her words caused bafflement to appear upon Adam's.
"Have you taken leave of your mind?" Adam asked her coldly, placing his hands to his temples. "All of the beings that were cast into that zone are criminals, Celestia, yet you were trying to see if one of those monsters could be made into an ally?"
"If I recall, a certain murderer-turned-champion was once imprisoned within that very machine," Celestia reminded Adam, who flared his nostrils slightly but remained silent. "And yes, I was seeing if one of those monsters could be made into an ally. My traitorous sister has six monsters now and all I have to oppose them is you."
"You do not believe me able to defeat them?" Adam asked with a snarl, his pride and feelings being wounded at the same time.
"I am simply going off of your record after your battles with them," she replied with cold eyes before turning away and walking towards the nearest window, looking down upon the city. "And if it takes monsters to stop monsters, then I am willing to do whatever it takes to bring down my "sister." She turned on me when I needed her most and raised an army of my own subjects to fight against me."
"And she will fail. You have my word," Adam said to comfort her while he swallowed his anger, but Celestia only had amusement in her eyes when she turned to face Adam.
"Then, where is my sister? Where is the mare that killed my daughter? You have failed to capture either of them," Celestia reminded him with far more venom in her words then Adam was accustomed. "They both see me as weak, both believe me to be a broken princess that they can simply brush away as if I am nothing. No, they will see that I am no longer weak. They will see my power!" Celestia roared with her eyes flashing a crimson red while a streak of orange replaced the other colors within her mane, Adam taking note as he saw that her mane was now nearly all red and orange.
"I wish to face these champions alone," Celestia decided when she turned to face Adam once again, her words catching Adam off guard and getting him to tilt his head in confusion. "I will show my sister and her forces the power that they fight against."
"There is no need for you to enter the battlefield yourself," Adam said with an expert's tone, knowing full well what would happen if Celestia were to be captured by the enemies. "We are more than enough to deal with them. One of their champions was barely alive after the events of the Hulk, so they are already weakened. But if they spot you upon the battlefield alone--"
"You do not believe that I can take them," Celestia snarled as she turned her crimson gaze upon Adam and slowly began to walk towards him. Adam never budged as the horn of his queen began to glow while she looked up into his face with rage. "You are just like the rest of them. You believe me to be weak as well. You think that I am a broken old mare who should be put out to pasture instead of ruling a kingdom! But I will show all of you how strong I am!"
"I have never believed you to be weak," Black Adam replied without any doubt in his words. His gaze, along with his words, caused Celestia to blink before her eyes returned to normal, a small blush appearing under her eyes before she sighed and held a hoof to her head.
"I...am sorry for my words and actions, Adam, this war has left me weakened and tired," she said while she leaned her head against him for support, letting out another sigh. "I...just do not want to be seen as the weak, foolish leader that I used to be. I wish to be seen as a pony who can protect her people."
"You are that and more," Black Adam said with a nod. "I am here in case you simply need a little help."
"You are far more to me then that," Celestia chuckled before lifting her head and walking towards the door at the end of the hallway. "Teth...I am sorry for my words. I just...was afraid that you were leaving me as well. I lost my daughters, lost my sister...I do not know what I would do if I lost you too."
"And you will never know, because I will never leave your side," Adam comforted, getting one last grateful smile from Celestia before she turned to leave. Adam's lightning-quick reactions caught change in her mane as a strand of orange hair turned blue, but then Celestia left the room, and left Adam alone.
'But now I most focus on those who wear the cloaks,' Adam thought to himself while he gazed out the window and across the land, wondering how many of them were against them, and how many more may be a part of this mystery. 'They have made it clear that they seek to destroy us and everything within the land. But who are these chosen? And how is Star-Swirl, a powerful but mortal unicorn who lived hundreds of years ago, tied into all of this? According to legend he may have been a rogue, but...'
Adam shook his head, knowing that thinking about it wouldn't get him any answers. It was time for him to visit a place he had not been to in awhile. So as he sat down upon the air, crossing his legs while placing his wrists on his knees, he began to think of the questions he would ask Zehutti and hope that he had the answers.
S=H=A=Z=A=M
"...and you are certain that this information is correct?" Star-Swirl asked the unicorn cowering before him, who nodded under his hood with fear within his closed eyes. Star-Swirl leaned against the small throne within the hidden room beneath the castle in what remained of the Everfree forest, a castle that had long since collapsed. Star-Swirl nodded and the unicorn raced off, leaving him to turn to his other subordinates while a plan appeared within his mind. "Luna's army will be moving supplies tomorrow. This is a chance for us to turn the sisters even further against each other."
"Of course sir."
"Use one of our inside ponies to tip off the royal guard. We will want as many corpses to show up as possible," Star-Swirl demanded before a thought came from the sphere, which he then relayed to his forces. "And what is our progress on securing the device? If we wish to free the embodiment of death, we will need the item."
"Our closest source within Canterlot says that it is almost within their hooves," a cloaked pony informed him, getting another nod from the hooded pony. "He will alert us when he has it."
"See that he does. Send the others to plant a weapon at where the two armies will collide," Star- Swirl ordered before he flickered and vanished, leaving the unicorns there to let out their collective breaths that they had been all holding in.