• Published 14th Feb 2015
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The War of Champions - Onomonopia



A last attempt to restore a world that has fallen to hate

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Team Building Exercise

If it hadn't been for the pillars of rock and earth sticking out of the ground while precariously balancing themselves over the group, the quiet clearing surrounded by a dense forest would have been comforting to the group. If that wasn't worrisome enough, the looks on both Banner's and Batmare's faces told the other four that they were in for one heck of a ride today.

"So, remind me again why I'm out here, looking up at something I will probably be thrown off of in a few minutes instead of in my bed and resting from a decent day's work?" Ryan grumbled before a look from both Batmare and Banner shut him up.

"Because I have decided, as team leader, that we need to learn how to work better together so another mistake like today won't happen again," Batmare said as she cast the responsible team a look, all of them except for Ryan lowering their heads in shame. "And Banner is right, if we're to not only make it out, but also save the world, then we're going to need to learn to be friends as well as teammates. We'll each be breaking up into teams of two, with three teams total. Those three teams will all work together to save their partners and try to beat the other two teams."

"If Hulk and Marvel are a team, I'm just going to kill myself now."

"No, the teams will all be as balanced as possible. One power member and one skill fighter," Batmare said as she cast a quick glance at the other five. "Marvel's with me. Hulk is with Ryan. And Trixie is with Bubbles. Trixie's ability to use magic should help even out the fact that Bubbles isn't as strong as Hulk or Marvel. Any objections, aside from Ryan?"

"Actually, I've got a complaint," Billy said, which caused the others to look towards him with surprised faces. "Are you sure it's really a good idea that I change into Captain Marvel? I mean, Black Adam and I do draw our powers from the same word and he has managed to track me down in the past, so if I change, he might track us here."

"That is a thought that had crossed my mind, but allow me to ask you a question, Billy," Banner began, gaining the teen's attention. "When you were Captain Marvel, could you sense where Black Adam was in this world?"

"No...I couldn't," Billy began before more doubt crossed his mind. "But Black Adam is far more experienced with magic then I am, so it is possible that he would be able to do some things that I can't."

"I believe if Adam could sense you, he would already be here," Banner said in reply. "Not to mention I have another theory. The Black Adam of your world might have been able to sense you while you were transformed, but this Adam is not of your reality. It is possible that that connection only exists between the chosen wielders of the world from his realm. Of course, there's a much easier way we can know for sure, and we are far enough away from the base just in case. Please Billy, if you would."

"Alright, if you're so sure. SHAZAM!" Divine lightning descended from the heavens and impacted the area right where the teenager was standing, bathing him within its power while the others covered their eyes. When they could see through the dust again, Billy was replaced with Captain Marvel, who smiled at them with a friendly gaze before looking off into the distance. "Well, my super senses aren't showing Black Adam heading for me, so he must not have noticed. Alright, let's do this."

Banner nodded before taking in a deep breath as his body expanded while turning green, an evil smile crossing his face once the other guy was in full control. "Welcome to hell shrimp, hope you don't get smashed hanging out with me," Hulk laughed as he slapped Ryan on the back, hurling him across the ground and into one of the stone pillars.

"Great, I get the fucking Hulk. If you all want me dead you're sure not trying to hide it," Ryan grumbled as he rose back up, everything aching while he walked back over to the group.

"Alright, the first team building exercise is for the heavies to protect your teammate from the other heavies as we each climb to the top of these pillars. This is about protecting your teammate while also finding the time to stop the other team," Batmare explained, ignoring Ryan's sobs as she placed herself at the base of her tower. Trixie did the same and eventually Ryan did so as well. "You guys can be rough with each other, but restrain yourselves once you get to the climbers. No super-speed either; that isn't fair."

"So Hulk and I get to duke it out, huh?" Marvel said as he crossed his arms and smirked at the Hulk. "Should be interesting."

"Don't feel too bad when I beat you. Most gods get surprised when it happens as well," Hulk shot back.

"Alright, are you all ready?"

"No."

"GO!" Batmare hurled herself up the rock face while she screamed those words, Trixie using her magic to keep up with Batmare. The two were neck-and-neck until the earth shook beneath them as two-god like beings slammed into each other at the base of the tower. The three climbers looked down to see Hulk and Marvel pushing against each other, smirks on their faces while they tested their might.

"Come on kid, you're not giving it all you got," Hulk said with a smirk as he slowly began to push Marvel back, Marvel's heels digging grooves in the dirt. "If you're supposed to be as strong as Black Adam, I'm sure not seeing it. Let me see what you're really made of." Hulk's smile quickly vanished when he felt electricity begin to course into his hands as Marvel lifted his head, allowing Hulk to see both his smile and his electric-filled eyes.

"You want my best, Hulk? Let me give it to you!" With a yell Marvel began to push against Hulk, overpowering the giant while he slowly began to drive Hulk back. Hulk's muscles strained as he too pushed back with his feet digging trenches into the ground, slowing him enough so that he managed to keep from sliding any further. But in a flash of lightning, Marvel's knee shot into the air and nailed Hulk in the nose, snapping his head back and giving Marvel the chance to shoot up, hand extended to grab Ryan off the pillar.

"Get back here!" Hulk growled as his massive, green hand wrapped around Marvel's ankle, giving Hulk the chance to slam the Captain into the dirt, shaking the land around them once again. Marvel shook the stars from his eyes before he felt the Hulk sit on his chest, chuckling while Marvel struggled to escape. "Come on kid, for someone who can supposedly bench the planet you're not really--"

With a roar Marvel flung his arms upwards, throwing the Hulk off of him and into the air. Marvel shot up after him and grabbed hold of his leg, spinning the giant around a few times before letting go and hurling him face first into the dirt. Hulk pulled his head out of the ground and spat out some worms, turning up to look at the laughing Marvel with a snarl.

"Okay wise guy, I'm gonna--"

"Oh, boys..." Both Hulk and Marvel looked up to see Trixie beaming down on them from the top of her pillar, causing the both of them to blink once before they looked at their respective pillars. Ryan and Batmare were both no longer on their pillars. Instead, they were in the grasp of Mr. Bubbles, who held Batmare with his one hand and suspended Ryan by the back of his jacket with his drill. "Seems that I win."

"Alright, group up," Batmare said in an annoyed tone while Bubbles dropped her and Ryan, waiting until Trixie levitated herself back down to their level before lecturing. "Any one of you two want to tell me what happened back there? Don't. What happened was that you were too busy measuring muscles as opposed to keeping your teammates safe. Only Mr. Bubbles was able to stay on task and not only got Trixie up her pillar, but also got me and Ryan as well. This kind of thing I'd expect from Ryan, but not from two heroes like yourselves."

"You're right," Marvel said with a nod, while Hulk gave a gruff sigh and shrugged his shoulders before he slowly began to shrink down, allowing Banner to enter in on the conversation.

"Look, I know that you all might not like each other or that you might think that this is a task that you can handle on your own--talking about you Hulk--but I've been a part of these kind of things before. Teamwork is key," Banner said with such a serious tone that everyone took in his words, even Ryan. "Alright, next up is actually going to be tag team fighting, where we'll all learn how our partners fight and how we can work together to cover any weaknesses that we might have."

"Like, how the Hulk can step on me if he's not paying attention?" Ryan grumbled while Marvel picked up both Ryan and Mr. Bubbles before flying them to the top of one of the large pillars, placing the two of them next to Trixie as Hulk leapt up to join them. Batmare floated down beside Trixie before continuing her idea.

"The three big guys are going to use all three of the pillars to fight on, hopefully with control," she said in a warning tone, waiting until she had gotten a nod from all three of the heavies before continuing. "The three of us that aren't directly fighting are going to be running support; helping out in any way we can. Since none of us have any weapons that can hurt any of these three, we don't need to worry about injuring them."

"Still like to see what would happen if my magic baton hit Marvel," Ryan mused as he pointed his baton at the lightning bolt. "Would it nullify his magic or would it simply power him up?" Batmare gave him a look before each group moved to their separate pillars, each team speaking quickly with each other before the fight began.

"My magic should be able to fend off Hulk to a degree, but against a magic user like Marvel, I do not know how much help I will be," Trixie began as she stifled a quick yawn, her eyes falling as she realized what kind of monsters Bubbles would be up against. But Bubbles turned his eyes green and gently placed his hand on her head, giving her a gentle moan before turning back to face the others.

"This'll be just like the time B-man and I had to tag team takedown Sinestro after GL got capture, except that you're a pony this time around," Captain Marvel said with a laugh while Batmare went through her utility belt, placing her explosives and sharp batarangs in the back since they were useless against the two opponents Marvel would be fighting. "Man, he got so mad at me when I accidently used the space ship he was driving to smack the yellow-wearing coward across the stars."

"Hulk will more likely than not be your biggest threat, but watch out for Trixie's magic. I've known her for years and I think that she might be more skilled than Twilight," Batmare muttered with cautious eyes as she looked over at her friend.

"More powerful than Mom? Nah, don't think so," Marvel muttered under his breath as he cast a glance over at Hulk and Ryan to find that they were already fighting with each other.

"For the last time, no. No. No as in, "no, I'm not being a part of this stupid idea." Do you understand?" Ryan asked the Hulk with a threatening snarl. Yet all his angriest face got out of the green goliath was a chuckle.

"Come on, claw man and I do the 'fastball special' all the time and he never complains about it," Hulk said with a chuckle as Ryan flicked up his hood and backed away from the Hulk, who turned to see that the other heavies were advancing to the center of their platforms. Hulk joined them as each team awaited for their group to start, eyeing each other carefully.

"GO!" Hulk and Marvel leapt into the air and hurled themselves at each other, both about to collide in the air before a wave of wasps began to obstruct their vision. While the two of them landed and began swatting bugs out of their eyes, Bubbles rotated through a number of plasmids in his left hand. He knew that lightning wouldn't work against Marvel, but there was a way he could put it to use.

"ARGH! Low blow there, kid!" Hulk snarled with rage as he felt a bolt of lightning catch him in the crotch, angering the green giant even further. Hulk slammed his palms together to drive away the insects before he looked at Marvel with menacing eyes.

'Hulk, that didn't come from Marvel. It came from Bubbles,' Banner said in the back of his mind, changing Hulk's target from the Captain to the armored human, who lifted his left hand and motioned for Hulk to bring it. Hulk roared as he leapt towards the Big Daddy, arms raised over his head while he prepared to smash the tin man. But the moment his green feet touched down on the pillar where Bubbles stood, a gust of wind shot out of the ground and launched him back into the air. Bubbles then snapped his fingers and Hulk erupted into flames, which irritated him more than they hurt him.

'He seems to have a variety of plasmids. Stay on guard Hulk.' Hulk's response was to roar in rage and hurl himself back at Big Daddy. Bubbles thrust his left hand forward and this time a sonic boom went off, blasting Hulk back and into his own pillar. Bubbles hefted his drill over his head and let out a moan of victory before a fist slammed itself into his helmet and sent him skipping across the pillar top.

"You seem to have an easy time dealing with Hulk, but let's see how you handle someone who can fly," Marvel said with a smirk as he flew forward at Mr. Bubbles, yet before his very eyes he watched as Mr. B split off into ten different versions of himself. Marvel skidded to a stop in the air while he studied each of them, noticing an azure aura coming off of them all.

"Do not worry Bubbles, you are not alone in this fight," Trixie said from the sidelines while her horn glowed again, casting rays into the Captain's eyes to temporarily blind him.

'Time to take out the support,' Batmare thought as she drew a gas grenade and took aim at Trixie, preparing to incapacitate her before she heard an unholy yell and turned to see a hooded psychopath diving down towards her. She rolled as Ryan tackled her and kicked him off, the both of them spinning to a standing position while glaring at each other. "Shouldn't you be focused on helping your partner?"

"Help him how? Allow him to use me as a baseball? No, I think I'll be far better off taking care of Marvel's support than I will be helping out the Hulk," Ryan snarled while he drew his baton and lunged forward, his precision strikes blocked with an expert's skill as Batmare deflected or avoided every attack. Ryan swung wide while his other hand reached into his bag and drew out an electric disk. He waited for Batmare to block his strike before he switched the disc on and flicked it onto the Bat, watching with a smirk as she growled while electricity coursed through her.

He raised his baton to knock her out of the fight before the side of a drill connected with his face, hurling him across the battlefield and into the back of the Hulk, who was so busy fighting Marvel that he reached back without thinking and swung whatever had hit him into the chest of the mightiest mortal. Unfortunately for Ryan, his body was no match and he crumpled almost instantly as he fell to the ground limply.

"Oh crap, he's not dead is he?" Marvel asked with worry in his voice while the others stopped fighting and raced to his side, looking down in horror at the body that stared off into nothingness. Trixie placed a hoof on the human's chest and muttered some words under her breath while a smoky magic came off of her horn, a magic that both caused Marvel's eyes to widen as well as heal the damage done to Ryan.

"CHRIST!" he yelled as he sat up and held a hand to his repaired skeletal structure, taking a moment to breathe heavily before he gave death glares to every member of the team...except for the Hulk, to whom he gave a look of fear. "Well, now that I've had my tenth near-death experience, I think I'm going to call it for today. If any of you need me, fuck off," he growled while he pulled himself to his feet and staggered to the edge of the pillar, grunting as he began to descend it with one last middle finger.

"And here I thought we couldn't get him to hate us any more," Batmare said with a shake of her head while she turned her eyes to Bubbles. "Why'd you interfere with our brawl? I wasn't on your team and the heavies weren't supposed to touch the support. Why disobey my orders?" Bubbles only gave a moan of regret in response, but could offer no further explanation for his actions. "I need to go talk to Ryan; you guys just...don't get into any more trouble," she grumbled as she took off.

"So, how the hell can you use Sombra's magic?" Marvel asked Trixie the moment Batmare was gone, getting a look of surprise from the unicorn. "Don't bother denying it, I saw you use his magic right then. I had him in my head, so I know when I sense his power!"

"If it will calm you down, Sombra is my husband," she snarled back, taking a step forward to show she wasn't afraid of Marvel. Her answer created a look of the utmost confusion on Marvel's face, and he stammered to answer while the Hulk shrunk down. "He is the one who taught me his magic and much more. Is that a problem?"

"But he's evil! He took control of my body and used it to hurt my friends! He stole my power and nearly drove me to kill him!" Marvel yelled at her, gaining only looks of sympathy from Trixie's eyes. "How could you, a champion of good, marry somepony like that?!"

"Multiverse theory, Billy," Banner said as he placed a hand on the Captain's shoulder. "Sombra might have been pure evil in your reality, but I assume in yours, Trixie, he isn't as bad as Billy is making him out to be."

"I am fully aware that Sombra is no saint, not even my Sombra, but on my world me and my family would be dead many times over if not for him," Trixie admitted while she walked up to Marvel and gently placed a hoof on his leg. "I am sorry for any pain that your Sombra has caused you, but I still love mine. While not a champion of good like us, he is a good pony and a loving husband. Just egotistical at times." Marvel sighed as he looked down at Trixie before shrugging his massive shoulders, his smile crossing his face once again.

"Well, if you think that highly of him I guess not all Sombra's are evil. But they're all jerks, apparently," Marvel added with a laugh.

"No argument there." Banner laughed along with them before he turned his gaze towards the land below, where Batmare had just caught up with Ryan.

"Whatever you have to say to me, just stop right now and shove it up your ass," Ryan snarled at her when he heard her get close, but despite the anger Batmare could still hear the hints of panic in his voice.

"You're afraid of the Hulk," she said with certainty, her words stopping Ryan in his tracks. "More so than any of us, he terrifies you the most."

"Yeah, he does. He's the Hulk," Ryan snarled back at her as he tilted his head slightly to glare at her. "He's the only one of you I know I can't beat. Billy? Trick him into saying the word and he goes back to normal. You? I can handle martial artists, I think I could beat you. Trixie is no god of chaos and Mr. Bubbles is easy to outsmart, but the Hulk? There is nothing I can do, no trick I could use or weapon I have that would stop him. He is rage personified. So yes, I am afraid of him. And if none of you are, then I'm not the only crazy one here."

Ryan turned and stalked off after saying this, leaving Batmare alone while she contemplated his words, turning back to cast a wary glance at Banner. Hulk was on their side, that much was certain, yet Ryan was still terrified of him. Either he knew more or he wasn't as tough as he led them to believe.

But while the group argued with one another, a figure hidden well within the trees watched them, mentally recording every line and every action that they made. He snickered to himself as he zoomed in with his red eye upon Banner, having finally deduced what needed to be done.

'So you are the voice in his head that keeps him calm,' Tinker thought with a wicked grin. 'You are what keeps "rage personified" under control. But the scientist in me has to wonder, what would the monster of rage do if there was no you? There must be a way to split their mental states apart; I just need to find out how. I have seen what you are like together, but I think it's time you spent some time apart.'