//------------------------------//
// Darkness Consumes the Light 
// Story: The War of Champions 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

With a blow that could shatter 'nth' metal, Hyperion was sent flying across the skies, only coming to a stop when he slammed into the side of a cliff that quickly came down around him. Yet with a roar, Hyperion blasted the rubble off of him and shot back into the sky, where he found a cross-armed Captain Marvel waiting for him.

"Y'know, after fighting Doomsday, a more heroic version of Black Adam and my own personal failures, it's nice to come across a problem that's just evil...and the solution to this problem is 'punch it in the face'," Captain Marvel said with a smile as Hyperion snarled in rage. Both figures then moved at super-speeds and collided in the air, creating an electrical field from the force of their impact. Marvel then punched Hyperion in the face and sent him hurtling across the skies. With the speed of Mercury, Marvel appeared beside Hyperion and slammed him down towards the ocean below, smiling as a torrent of water came splashing up towards him...which was followed by the red and gold villain as Hyperion slammed his shoulder into Captain Marvel and sent them both hurtling into the sky.

"You think you can beat me?! I wiped out an entire planet and all of its heroes by myself!" Hyperion growled as he threw a mighty blow towards the Captain, yet it was deflected by one of the golden gauntlets that covered Marvel's forearm. Marvel smirked when he drove an electrically charged fist into the jaw of Hyperion, snapping his head back and allowing the Captain to follow up with a kick to the side of Hyperion's skull that sent him sailing.

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard this monologue plenty of times," Captain Marvel said, still smirking, as Hyperion crashed into the sea once again, Marvel watching as he struggled back to the surface before lifting his lightning-filled hands and aiming them at where Hyperion was laying. "You're the strongest, you're invincible and you'll be the end of me, blah blah blah. But let me show you my power!"

The sky flashed as Marvel unleashed his divine lightning into the area of ocean that surrounded Hyperion, the combination of water and lightning causing Hyperion to erupt as lightning coursed through both him and the water around him. Marvel ceased the lightning as he floated down to the smoldering villain, floating just in front of him while Hyperion weakly lifted his head. "So, can we just skip your whole "you'll never beat me" part of this fight and get to the part where I throw you in jail and never have to deal with you again?"

To Marvel's surprise, Hyperion began to chuckle at his words as he lifted himself out of the water, letting it stream off of his costume while he crossed his arms and looked at the hooded hero with a smirk on his face. "You have no idea how much power I truly wield."

"Oh gods, you're actually doing this."

"I am Hyperion! I am the ultimate savior! And I will not allow myself to lose to the likes of you!" Hyperion roared as he slammed into Captain Marvel and sent him skipping across the ocean, yet a moment later the Captain recovered and retaliated by throwing bolts of lightning at Hyperion. Hyperion countered the bolts of magical power by letting his heat vision fly from his eyes, getting a chuckle out of Marvel as the Captain flew in and punched him in the jaw.

"Wow, heat vision as well as super strength and flight? Do you want to rip off any more of Superman's powers?" Marvel chuckled before a blow to the gut shut him up. Hyperion followed it up with an elbow to the back that rocketed the Captain down to the planet below, yet the moment before impact Captain Marvel stuck his hands and feet out, allowing him to land like a cat. He then kicked off with all of his might and flew back up at Hyperion, where he caught the villain with a blow to the side. "Hey, if I paint a rock green, does it strip you of your power as well?"

"You still dare to mock me?!" Hyperion roared as he flung his fist at Marvel, yet once again it was deflected and countered with a kick by the Captain. "I am strong enough to defeat Thor! The Hulk! Any of the Avengers! I match the one you call Superman! And I can do it without the aid of another!"

"See, that's why you're having such a problem against me," Marvel said as he spun past a punch and elbowed Hyperion in the head, setting him up to be lifted onto Marvel's shoulder and driven straight down at the speed of Mercury into the land below. "SHAZAM!" Marvel cried after delivering his powerbomb, before quickly backing away and allowing the lightning bolt to strike Hyperion in the chest in a torrent of power. 

"You might be a lot like Superman, but there's one key difference between you and him that makes him so much stronger. He fights for others, not himself," Marvel explained to Hyperion as the villain tried to pull himself out of the hole that had been created when the bolt of lightning came crashing down upon him. "And when he fights for others, he can do the impossible, even if he has to fight magic or kryptonite to do so. And I've fought Superman when he's at his strongest, when he has others that he needs to protect. So compared to that kind of power, fighting you is more...simple."

"Simple?" Hyperion asked with a cold fury as he floated out of his hole and glared at Marvel. "You believe that defeating me will be simple?!"

"Well, only one way to find out," Captain Marvel said with a smirk as he started hopping on his toes while bringing up his fists close to his face. "So, want to keep going? Because I can go all day." Hyperion roared as he lunged at Marvel with one fist raised over his head, getting the Captain's smirk to turn into a smile as he swung for the heavens with an uppercut.

S=H=A=Z=A=M

"OH FUCK ME!" Ryan roared while he spun around and drove his baton into the nose of a unicorn that had hopped onto his back, shocking the hell out of the cloaked pony before he kicked it in the gut to get it off of him. "Ugh, and I thought the ponies were annoying when they were trying to be friends with me. Who knew that it would be worse when they were trying to kill me?"

The sound of thunder shattered his thoughts and caused the very mortal man to look up to see the monster of destruction trying to consume a small, white figure who barely managed to avoid the endless wave of darkness that was trying to envelope him. Yet from his angle, Ryan could see a small beam of darkness that came from the machine within which Star-Swirl resided. 'Wait, is that bastard still channeling more darkness into the beast of destruction?' Ryan asked with narrowed eyes. 'I thought he was trying to rule the world, not send it to hell.'

"Yo mare, can you hear me?" Ryan asked as he was forced to leave his thoughts while another group of unicorns attacked him, making him prioritize kicking their asses first before turning his attention back to the machine. "Something's not adding up, and I think it has to do with Gandalf the Dumb over there. Back me up!"

Ryan began to sprint towards the machine as he said this, but he had barely made it ten feet before an explosion of magic went off at his feet and chucked him into the air. He landed on his head (so the damage was minimal) and quickly scrambled to his feet to see that a unicorn with a strange, red gem on its head was smirking at him. "Ah, the false champion. How I've waited to meet you."

"Wait a moment, I know that voice. You're one of those fucks, aren't you?" Ryan asked with a smirk, getting a snarl out of the pony while drawing his baton at the same time. "Batmare told me she kicked your ass, but you then ran off like a punk bitch."

"Yes, I may have underestimated Batmare, but I know that I can handle you," Undra snarled as he fired a spell at Ryan...only to gasp in disbelief as the spell slammed into a wall of gold and bronze that was a Big Daddy. Mr. Bubbles let out a moan of rage as he turned to face the pony with all red eyes.

"Well, it seems like you're fucked, so I'm just going to excuse myself and go...this away!" Ryan said with a laugh before he raced back off towards the machine, with a trail of silver following behind him. Undra snarled in frustration before he hurled himself to the side to avoid Bubbles' charge, a charge that took down a building when it missed the pony.

"Halt right there, monster!" Undra ordered as the Big Daddy pulled himself out from under the rubble, all eight of his red eyes glaring at Undra while the pony chuckled. "Do not even think of attacking me you fool. I know how you heroes work and I know that you all value life, above all else. So if you dare to attack me, I will kill this pony without a moments hesi-" Undra never got to finish his statement because Mr. Bubbles lunged forward and drove his drill right through the red gem on the unicorn's forehead, destroying the gem while also decapitating the pony. He let out a roar as he stomped on the pieces of the gem for good measure before turning and heading back to find his allies.

Meanwhile, Ryan was pulling himself up the side of a turret once again as he tried to get to the machine that rested upon the top of the turret. "Again, this would be so much easier if you would just magic me to the top like you always did," Ryan snarled at his backpack as he climbed.

'And if I recall, every time I magic you someplace you end up puking your guts out,' the mare replied with sarcasm before her voice went quiet. 'Besides...I do not have long...even now I find myself struggling to remain conscious and not fall back into the abyss that claimed me once.'

"Well, try to avoid dying until after we've saved your home," Ryan snarled, but the mare could hear hints of worry in his voice as he climbed. Their touching moment was interrupted when Ryan finally pulled himself to the parapet of the turret, rolling onto the top before slowly pushing himself to his feet. "God, I hate climbing...okay, time to file a complaint." 

He walked over to the barrier of darkness as he said this and banged his baton against the side of it, causing ripples to appear in the shield and grabbing the attention of one bearded pony within, who turned away from the fight between Adam and the monster to see Ryan standing at the shield with both middle fingers up.

"You? What are you doing here?" Star-Swirl asked in a bored tone as Ryan banged against the shield once again with his baton.

"Like I said earlier, I'm here to remove the stick you've got up your ass and replace it with this baton!" Ryan growled through the shield with a wicked smile on his face as he glared at the pony. "So come on, let me in so I can tell you about the rest of your day. Here's a bit of a spoiler: it's going to suck."

"Why should I bother myself with one who has no power whatsoever?" Star-Swirl asked as he started to turn away, but then a fit of insane laughter reached his ears and he turned his head slightly to see that Ryan was looking at him from under his hood with eyes that were far gone.

"Because if you're truly as powerful as you say you are, then you shouldn't have any trouble dealing with a single, weak, devilishly handsome human. But if you're afraid to face me...then leave the shield up. Let your pawns do your work." 

"You are trying to infuriate me to the point where I agree and let you into the machine, despite knowing that you are not worth my time or my effort, because you along with your allies will be dead soon," Star-Swirl explained in an emotionless tone.

"Is it working?"

Star-Swirl said nothing, but with a flick of his magic he lowered the barrier for a brief moment, allowing Ryan inside before the barrier sprung up around them once again. "Let me make this clear now. I do not care about you nor what you have to say to me. I am going to kill you and then I will use your body to fuel my machine even further."

"Well, at least for the first time in my life I'd be useful," Ryan snarked as he drew his baton and pointed it at Star-Swirl's chest, while the unicorn took up a stance of power. "Of course, killing me is going to be hard when I snap that horn off of your head."

"You are welcome to fail, scum."

S=H=A=Z=A=M

Black Adam roared with fury as he unleashed all of his divine magical power into the side of the monster, combining his own might with that of Shazam to increase his power even further. Yet despite unleashing enough power to sear the Earth in half, the monster of darkness barely even flinched as it turned to look at Adam with its red eyes.

'Impossible. No creature is so powerful that it is able to withstand the full power of Shazam,' Black Adam thought with fear before he flung himself to the side to avoid a stream of darkness that destroyed the color in the air where he had once been, leaving that section of sky a pitch black. Adam roared with rage as he unleashed his lightning into the stream as the monster fired at him again, and for a brief moment the darkness was pushed back by the light that his power generated. Then in the next instance, the darkness swallowed his lightning and very nearly Adam as well, yet his godly speed allowed him to just barely avoid the darkness.

'I cannot allow that to hit me,' Adam thought when out of the corner of his eye he saw the beam of darkness completely consume a part of the castle, making it vanish as if it had never been there. 'Even in my supreme state, I am not sure if my body would be able to survive a blast. I must find away to bring this creature down now!' 

Adam roared as he rocketed himself overhead of the monster, which slowly followed him with its gaze and a look of what seemed to be interest on its face. "SHAZAM!" Adam bellowed before hurling himself out of the way, watching with a smile as the divine lightning came thundering down towards the monster...only for the smile to turn into a gasp of fear when the monster lifted a wing to intercept the bolt and turn the greatest magic Adam knew off into nothingness with a touch.

T-that cannot be!" Adam stammered as he floated back from the creature, which now turned its full attention towards him with a long smile upon its ever growing face. "That is the ultimate magic! You cannot be so powerful that even the word does not affect you!"

'Can't it?' Isis' voice asked in the back of Adam's mind, shaking his confidence even further. 'Look at what is before you, Adam. It is the end, of you, of the ponies, and of all reality. Do you really think that the magic of one man would be enough to defeat it?'

"But...there must be something I can do! I will not be helpless here! I will fight!" Adam bellowed as he summoned a sphere of lightning into his hands, before shooting it into the sky above the monster. It exploded above the creature and began to rain lightning bolts down upon it, illuminating the darkness that made up the massive demon. But to Adam's horror, the lightning failed to even gain the attention of the monster, because it was far too busy spreading one of its wings and touching the ground with it. Adam watched with absolute fear as the area that it touched turned into nothingness...before everything slowly began to vanish into nothing.

'There is only one thing you can do, my beloved,' Isis whispered in his ear. 'You must kill one of the champions, take their magic and use it to save your world.'

Adam roared in defiance at her words before unleashing even more power into the side of the monster. This time, he got the creature's attention, though when it turned its head to face him it seemed to be annoyed. "Shazam....give me the power to win!" Black Adam roared as he thrust his hand forward and summoned a staff with a lightning bolt at the top of it, which he spun once as lightning crackled around him. He thrust the staff at the monster with a bellow of fury, but the divine lightning that stormed out of the staff was quickly swallowed by the darkness that the monster unleashed in response. Adam hurled himself out of the way of the all-consuming darkness, but when he lifted his staff he saw that half of it was gone.

'Could it be...?' Adam finally asked himself as the monster slowly raised itself so that it not only towered over him, but also so that its shadow covered all of the land. The monster was now far larger than Canterlot, nearly the size of the mountain upon which it had rested, casting a darkness that blocked out all light across the land. All light except for a small, lightning bolt upon Adam's chest that the monster did not like. 'Can it be that there is nothing I can do in the face of this monstrosity? 'Am I really...helpless?'

Faster than Adam could follow, the monster whipped a wing at the Dark God, the darkness and destruction in the wing tearing through his magical defenses when it struck him in the back, while the force of the blow sent him hurtling into the mountain beside the city. Then, with a shriek that destroyed the air around the monster, it unleashed its power upon the mountain. In a moment of power, the mountain vanished into nothingness, leaving just a crater where it used to be. The monster, upon destroying the small source of light, turned its attention back down to the city beneath it as it opened its maw, preparing to end all sources of light.

"SHAZAM!"

Divine lightning tore though the darkness and struck the being of destruction in the back, taking its attention away from the city and towards the small source of light that was still alive. "No, monster, even if I cannot harm you, I can be damned sure that you do not harm another. So come, creature, and face me!" Adam bellowed while he infused what was left of Shazam's staff with as much magical power as he could before hurling it at the being of destruction, striking it in the center of its head where a storm of lightning erupted from the staff. Yet the darkness of destruction swallowed both the staff and the lightning a moment later, as the creature let out a roar and hurled itself up towards Adam who rocketed backwards towards space while the creature of darkness followed.

The monster bellowed and unleashed enough darkness to swallow the entire land of Equestria towards Adam, who quickly found that he was completely surrounded by the darkness. In a last act of desperation, he threw up a cage of electricity around himself while the darkness closed in around him, already starting to eat through his shield despite him channeling all of his power into it.

'It is finally time to join me, Teth,' Isis' voice said within Adam's head, yet when Adam opened his eyes he thought that he could see his wife standing out in the sea of darkness that surrounded him. She held out a hand to him with a smile upon her face, inviting him into the darkness. Adam had just begun to reach out towards her when his barrier failed him, and in the next instance he was filled with pain as the darkness tore through his extended arm. With all of his might he willed himself to fly out of the darkness, just barely escaping as the darkness consumed what was left of his cage. Yet when the pain did not stop, he looked to his side to see that...his right arm was gone.

"No. Ra no," Adam whispered before he looked up at the monster of destruction, which was now flying down towards him while its wings and tail blocked out the sun behind him, casting the Dark God into darkness. 'This...is truly it. There is nothing I can do to stop this creature, is there? I...am powerless,' he thought as he closed his eyes--before they snapped open again and he hurled himself towards the creature with one last act of defiance. "NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT DYING LIKE THIS! IF I AM TO DIE, THEN IT SHALL BE FIGHTING!"

Yet he had barely made it halfway to the creature before it unleashed another overwhelming wave of darkness into Black Adam, who was too weak to move out of the way. He crossed his arm over his face as he created a shield of lightning, knowing that this was the end. Yet the moment before the darkness hit him, time seemed to slow to a crawl while his suit returned to its black version. He moved his arm to see that his supreme form had somehow separated from him and was now floating in front of him, yet its face was not Adam's but belonged to another that he knew all to well.

"Shazam," Black Adam whispered as he looked upon the bearded face of the wizard who floated before him in his full glory. A sad smile crossed the wizard's face before he turned towards the oncoming darkness, spreading his arms as he closed his eyes. 

"SHAZAM!" Adam roared as the darkness consumed the both of them.  Shazam took the full front of the blast himself, yet the attack was powerful enough to hurl Adam back to the planet below while he watched the wizard be consumed by the darkness. Adam roared one last time as he extended his arm towards the wizard, yet his consciousness slowly faded and he passed out before he hit the ground, the last image in his mind being the smiling face of Shazam.