Prelude here: https://brendansversus.wordpress.com/2020/05/20/prelude-black-adam-vs-apocalypse/
Alright, the combatants are set. Let’s end this debate once and for all! It’s time for a Death Battle!
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Throughout the vast desert of Egypt, thousands of miles away from any form of civilization, a series of muffled crunches could be heard as several pairs of boots or shoes slammed against the sand-coated terrain. The ones responsible for these sounds were a rather… interesting group. There were four of them in all, with each one bearing a different appearance.
The first was a man who appeared to be made almost entirely out of ice. His hair consisted of icy spikes fashioned in a slicked-back manner, with similar spikes jutting out of his shoulders. His eyes were completely white, surrounded by black paint that gave him an almost otherworldly appearance. His ears were also pitch-black, sporting some sort of line that ran diagonally from his ears all the way down to his lips, which were the same color. His only clothing lay in the form of a pair of form-fitting black pants that went down to his ankles, revealing his bare feet. This was Bobby Drake, normally referred to as Iceman, but recently he had begun going by a new name: the Horseman of Death.
The second was a redheaded woman clad only in a black-and-blue leotard that left little to the imagination. Her feet were covered by a pair of boots that went up to her thighs, and her legs were covered by small branches and leaves that somehow managed to stay healthy and green despite the searing heat. One of the more striking features about her appearance was her skin, which seemed to be a light shade of green. Previously, this woman had been known as Pamela Isley, or if you went by her criminal record, Poison Ivy. Currently, though, she had adopted a new identity: Pestilence.
Standing behind the two of them was a large figure with purple skin. He towered over them by several inches, his very body rippling with muscles that would have made most bodybuilders feel self-conscious. Unfortunately, this was where any positive notions about his appearance ended, as his face was rather unsightly to look at. His head was completely bald, and his eyes appeared to be sunken in. In addition to this, his mouth seemed more akin to the gaping maw of a demonic sea creature than anything that belonged on this planet.
Barring the loincloth he had been graciously provided, the man wore nothing at all, revealing a series of white lines that ran down his neckline, converged at his chest, and descended onto the loincloth until its middle had been completely covered by the massive white streak.
To the people of Metropolis, this man would have been recognized as Rudy Jones, the infamous power-sapping criminal known as Parasite. For the men and women who lived in this country, however, his greed and voracious hunger had earned him a different alias, one that described the results they suffered as a result of his gluttonous behavior: Famine.
Standing at the front of these three was their leader, a seven foot tall giant covered almost entirely in a brown robe. The only feature of his that did not remain obscured came in the form of the lower half of his jawline, which revealed his light gray skin.
As this enigmatic giant strode through the nigh-endless expanse of sand that lay before him, he suddenly halted, with his followers doing the same. Looking up, the gray-skinned man took a brief moment to glance upward, allowing him to see something in the distance. From the looks of things, it appeared to be a city, one that contained thousands of buildings. Standing directly in the middle of the minuscule town was a massive palace, large enough that it could be seen even from this far away.
Shifting his gaze back down, the mysterious traveler grinned, revealing a pair of blue lips.
“Perfect.” He declared in a deep, booming voice before turning to his men. “Lay waste to this city, enough that you might be able to spur him from his temple.”
As soon as this command had left their master’s mouth, the three leapt into action instantly. Death brought his hands to the floor and began creating a slide of ice as he rocketed toward one of the kingdom’s many cities. Pestilence responded by summoning several mutated plants, all of which began to swiftly approach a city far off from Death’s own. In contrast with his associates, Famine simply charged forward before leaping through the air and landing in one of the hundreds of cities with a loud CRASH!
While watching this from afar, the hooded man gave a wide grin. If this went as he had planned, then his target should make himself known-
“SHAZAM!”
Right now.
As the deep, powerful voice shouted that lone word, one which echoed throughout the entire kingdom of Kahndaq, something impossible happened. Despite there not being a single cloud in the sky, a lightning bolt suddenly came down from the heavens, striking the massive temple that lay in the middle of Shiruta. This caused everyone, even the Horsemen and their leader himself, to stop what they were doing and look toward its direction with an expression of confusion, relief, or intrigue.
Then, before any of them could react, a black blur suddenly rushed forward, grabbing Death by the neck and lifting him into the air. The blur then began to clear up, revealing a figure that made Kahndaq’s citizens breathe a sigh of relief while the robed man’s grin only grew further.
He was extremely well-built, possessing a frame that seemed second only to Parasite’s in terms of musculature. His attire consisted of a black spandex costume with a yellow lightning bolt across the chest. The costume had golden cuffs around its wrists, a yellow sash around the waist, and a pair of yellow boots that completely covered his feet. Billowing behind him was a cape containing the colors black and gold. His eyes were completely white, with sparks of lightning briefly coming out every few seconds. In fact, lightning seemed to be arcing around his body as he kept his firm grip on the mutant’s neck.
“You.” Black Adam said, his voice dangerously low. “You dare to attack my city… my people?” In his anger, the tyrant began applying pressure to Bobby’s neck, eliciting a choked series of gasps from the former X-Man. “Tell me who you serve, and perhaps I shall be willing to grant you the lenience of a swift death.”
“That won’t be necessary.” A voice suddenly called out, causing Adam’s gaze to shift toward its direction. Upon doing so, he was met with the sight of their leader, who was still obscured in his robes. “Teth-Adam.” The mysterious assailant declared with a grin. “It seems as though the legends regarding your abilities were true after all.”
Rather than respond to the comment, the monarch’s expression remained stone-cold as he instead chose to cut straight to business.
“Explain yourself. Who are you, and why have you chosen to attack my city?” The enigmatic figure responded to these questions by giving a wider grin before responding.
“I’ve been called many different names over many lifetimes – Huitxilopochti, Kali-Ma, Set. But perhaps one as well-versed in history as yourself would recognize the name…”
The man grabbed hold of his robes and threw them off, revealing his true appearance.
His head was shaved bald, and his eyes completely blank, covered in a red glow. The entirety of his body from the neck down was covered by a futuristic suit of blue-and-gray armor that gave him a bulky appearance. He stood over Adam by about nine inches, and looked down at the dictator with a smug expression.
“…En Sabah Nur.” He introduced himself, still sporting a grinning visage.
“En Sabah Nur? Of course I recognize that name. It would be difficult to ignore the existence of one of the longest ruling pharaohs in Egypt’s history. Though you still haven’t answered my other question: why are you here?” Adam questioned once more, emphasizing it by placing more pressure onto Iceman’s neck. At this point, the tyrant’s fingers were beginning to dig into the Horseman’s skin, eliciting further strangled gasps as blood began to drip down Bobby’s neck.
“There is no need for such hostilities, Adam. I have merely come to offer you a proposition: Swear your allegiance to me and join as my Horseman of War, and in return I shall grant Kahndaq a position of power in the new world. Otherwise-“
“I will do no such thing!” Adam roared angrily as he clenched his fist, crushing through Iceman’s neck as though it were glass. As both the severed head and its body fell to the ground, the corrupted champion rushed forward, intent on shoving his fist through the mutant’s stomach. Just when he was inches away from doing so, however, he felt something wrap around his arm and pull him back. Looking over his shoulder, the former archeologist found what- or rather, who- was responsible.
“You will not harm the master.” Poison Ivy declared with a scowl before raising both arms. Upon doing so, thousands of roots and vines began to wrap themselves around his body. As they began to constrict themselves around his struggling form, Adam noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was pulling itself to the surface, visibly connected by the roots and vines. Its red maw was the most visible thing about it, with the leaves that surrounded it just barely being visible.
While his restraints began pulling him toward the mutated flora, Adam continued to resist, mustering his strength and pulling in an attempt to tear himself free. He could hear it working already, as the SNAP of several vines tearing made its way to his ears. Giving a light grin, Adam continued struggling until he had managed to free both of his arms. Then, grabbing hold of the vines and roots that still held him, the Egyptian dictator began focusing as much electricity as he could through his hands, conducting it through his former restraints and into the massive Venus flytrap. The giant plant opened its leaves further, making it look as though it were screaming in pain, before its body began to blacken and char, causing it to slump over and rapidly decay.
“No, my ba- GAH!” Ivy’s horrified response was cut off as her “baby’s” killer threw one of the vines forward like a whip, causing it to wrap around her neck. Then, with a hard tug, Adam flung her around himself and threw her directly into the way of an oncoming Parasite. Upon the two Horsemen making contact with each other, Adam fired off a massive bolt of lightning from his hands that consumed both of them instantly. As it dispersed, the villains were nowhere to be seen, their bodies having been completely vaporized.
With the two of them dealt with, Adam turned back to face Apocalypse just in time for the mutant to thrust his hand forward, firing off a massive blast of energy that threatened to consume him. In response, Adam crossed both arms in front of himself, taking the full brunt of the blast. Once it had dispersed, he wasted no time and rushed forward, throwing out a right hook that struck the pharaoh in the face with enough force to launch him out of the city!
Upon hitting the sand-covered outskirts of Kahndaq some thousands of miles away, Apocalypse got back up almost immediately, though while doing so he could feel something trickling down his lip. Upon bringing his finger up to touch it, he realized what it was: blood.
‘Interesting. To think that there could exist someone powerful enough to draw my blood with but one blow…’
Apocalypse’s musings were cut off as a massive BOOM made its way to his ears, indicating that something had just broken the sound barrier. Upon looking up, he found what was responsible: Black Adam, currently flying toward him with an angered look on his face and his right fist reeled back. As he watched the king approach him, Apocalypse’s grin returned as he began following suit.
Once they had drawn close enough, Adam threw his fist forward, intent on delivering a blow that would shatter the mutant’s right jaw. Unfortunately for the king, Apocalypse proved faster than expected as he put up his own hand, effortlessly catching the punch and stopping the tyrant’s momentum. In response, Adam threw out another fist, only for that to be caught as well. The two struggled against each other for a brief moment, intent on pushing the other back, but they seemed to be at an impasse. Realizing this, Apocalypse began using his molecular manipulation to subtly build up bulk in his arms, adding to his strength and ending the stalemate as he began to push Adam back. Noticing this, Adam responded by delivering a wicked headbutt, causing Apocalypse to cry out in pain as he stumbled back. Before he could fully recover, Apocalypse felt several rapid punches slam into his face, each one shattering bone and forcing blood from his mouth. Just as he was regaining orientation, Apocalypse looked back toward his opponent just in time for Adam to throw his fist forward, ramming it through the mutant’s stomach and exiting out of his back…
Or at least that’s what he expected would happen. Just before it could make contact, his target’s body suddenly spread out, creating a massive hole that resulted in Adam’s fist going straight through. Before he could attempt to rectify this mistake, the hole immediately closed back up, ensnaring the spandex-clad limb inside of Apocalypse’s abdomen. The corrupted champion grit his teeth and tugged in an attempt to remove his captured arm, but to no avail. He looked back up and found that his opponent was smirking, his face having completely healed itself within the few seconds that had transpired.
“Such a foolish mistake, and one that will come at a grave cost!” Apocalypse taunted before decking his opponent with his bulked-up right arm, striking with enough force to draw blood. He then continued with a left hook, causing more blood to spew from his captive’s face. Just as Adam was beginning to recover from the blow, his captor delivered a knee strike to the chin, hitting with enough force that it ripped his arm free from its prison and sent him flying.
While still airborne, Adam managed to catch himself mid-flight and stared down at where Apocalypse had been. Upon doing so, however, he instead found that the mutant was nowhere to be seen! Before he could question where his adversary had vanished to, Adam’s ears picked up the sound of the wind currents shifting, signifying that something was attempting to ambush him from behind. In response, he turned around and delivered a vicious elbow strike that struck the oncoming pharaoh’s face, audibly breaking his nose and sending him hurtling toward the ground with a loud THOOM!
As his healing factor made quick work of his injury, Apocalypse let out an angered roar as he thrust his hand forward, firing a massive beam of energy at Shazam’s fallen successor. While the laser was still several feet away, Adam responded by bringing both of his hands forward, delivering a sonic clap that dispersed the beam in its entirety and sent his attacker skidding back slightly.
Not willing to let his opponent recover, Adam flew toward him at speeds that far surpassed even light itself. He drove his hands forward and, unlike before, managed to successfully tear through both the warlord’s armor and his skin. Apocalypse opened his mouth to let out a cry of pain, but he instead found himself vomiting up a small amount of blood, staining the sand a deep crimson. Refusing to waste a precious second, Adam grabbed hold of both sides of the hole and tugged with all his might, ripping through the mutant’s body as if it was made from paper-mâché. Both halves then fell to the ground, accompanied by a disgusting SPLAT as blood began to leak out and coat the sand even further.
“Hmph. If this was the extent of your power, then I fail to see how one such as you could have ruled for so long.” Adam declared before flying back to Kahndaq, unaware that his opponent wasn’t finished just yet.
Back at the scene of his “death,” Apocalypse’s vivisected body had managed to succeed in healing itself, with its owner regaining consciousness both halves collided. Letting out a groan of pain as he pushed himself up, the mutant immediately began scouring the area, looking for where Adam had flown off to. Upon spotting the spandex-clad monarch and finding that his back was currently exposed, Apocalypse gave a wide grin, the gears in his head turning rapidly as he began formulating his next course of action.
While still halfway from his city, Adam couldn’t help but feel as though someone was watching him from afar. Turning his head for a brief moment, the king noticed something that caused him to fully turn around. In the midst of doing so, the blue-and-gray figure he had spotted suddenly appeared in front of him, delivering a left hook that struck him in the jaw and sent him crashing onto the sandy dunes below. As he began getting back to his feet, spitting out both a tooth and glob of blood in the process, Adam cursed himself under his breath. How could he have allowed himself to fall for a trick his opponent had already tried?
As he questioned this, the corrupted champion noticed a massive shadow descending onto his current position. In response, he suddenly vanished as his body became consumed by flash of lightning, teleporting just as Apocalypse was about to crush him underfoot.
“A rather impressive reaction time, Adam…” En Sabah Nur began, only briefly cutting himself off to turn toward where the tyrant had reappeared. “Yet you still fall short when compared to Apocalypse!” With this declaration, Apocalypse threw his arm forward, firing out a blast of orange energy. Adam’s response was immediate as he crossed both arms in front of himself, blocking most of the damage at the cost of being sent skidding back. Once the energy had dispersed, Adam uncrossed both arms and glared at his attacker.
“That’s where you’re wrong, ‘Apocalypse.’ If anything, it is you who falls short compared to me!” As this statement left his mouth, Adam rushed forward, his fists crackling with electricity. His adversary scoffed before responding in kind, with both throwing their arms out and catching each other’s hands. As their hands locked together it seemed for a moment that history would repeat itself, though this soon changed when Adam delivered a powerful knee strike to Apocalypse’s stomach, forcing the mutant to lurch over.
Refusing to let up, Adam gripped the mutant by the neck and flew through the air, dragging his darwinistic adversary across the ground. Apocalypse grit his teeth, fighting back the urge to scream in pain as both his armor and skin were rapidly ground away. After what felt like an eternity, Adam finally let up as he ascended further into the air, taking Apocalypse with him. Then, once he felt he was at a large enough height, Adam reeled back the hand that contained Apocalypse and threw it forward, releasing his grip on the blue-clad conqueror in the process. Upon doing so, En Sabah Nur was sent hurtling through the air, his prone body crashing through a distant pyramid.
As he watched this from afar, Adam raised his arm into the air and summoned a mass of black clouds above himself. Then, with a forward thrust of his arm, he called forth a storm of lightning to strike down. As they flew toward their target, each of the streaks began converging on each other, quickly forming into a massive thunderbolt. With their added power and combined size, this abnormally large flash struck the airborne Apocalypse in the chest, eliciting a roar of pure, unadulterated agony from its target. Unfortunately for him, this pain would only grow further as he crashed through the other side of the pyramid, hitting the sand-covered ground with a muffled THOOM! This noise, combined with the destruction of one of the many pyramids that littered the country, caused the citizens and tourists who were wandering Egypt to stop what they were doing and look toward the source. Upon doing so, their expressions all contorted into ones of disgust or horror before they either looked away, lurched over and proceeded to vomit, or ran away out of horror at what they saw.
While he could see their reactions, Apocalypse wasn’t paying their reactions any mind, as he was dealing with his own troubles. For starters, he could hear nothing save for a hellish ringing, no doubt the result of his eardrums being ruptured by the lightning. In addition to this, he couldn’t move without a searing pain shooting through his body. Not helping matters were the winds buffeting his body with sand, which was an experience that could only be compared to pouring salt onto an open wound. This was due to the lightning having flash-fried his skin away, revealing the raw muscle that lay underneath.
In an attempt to get this pain to stop, Apocalypse summoned a force field around himself and began focusing as hard as he could, concentrating his healing factor onto regenerating all of his flayed skin and missing armor. Within the span of a few seconds he’d managed to restore a good majority of what he had lost. It wasn’t fully healed, but it was at least enough that the barrier was no longer necessary. With only a thought, he disabled the force field and started the slow process of pushing himself back up.
While he was in the middle of propping himself onto one knee, Apocalypse looked up to find that his opponent had suddenly appeared in front of him. In an attempt to take advantage of the situation, Apocalypse threw his fist forward, aiming to strike at Adam’s chest, but his would-be target responded by grabbed hold of his outstretched arm, trapping the wrist in a vice-like grip. Then, without missing a beat, the king violently twisted the encaptured limb, producing an audible SNAP as he forced it to bend at an uncomfortable angle. While this was able to elicit a cry of pain from his captive opponent, it would only grow in intensity as Adam continued applying pressure and twisting. Each time he did so, an orchestra of tearing muscles, ripping veins, and splitting tendons emerged from inside of the arm. In tandem with this, Apocalypse’s screams only increased in volume, allowing the citizens of Egypt to hear the traumatizing roars of agony that emerged from the mouth of history’s most persistent conqueror. These cries would eventually reach their peak when Adam gave a hard tug, tearing the outstretched limb clean from its socket.
Without missing a beat, Adam crushed the severed arm in his grip, reducing it to an unrecognizable puddle of blood. As he wiped the blood from his hand, he took note of his opponent’s current state. The stump of Apocalypse’s amputated limb was now spurting blood, though the Eternal Pharaoh paid this no mind. His screams of pain had ceased, and in their place was a guttural, animalistic snarl as he stared Adam dead in the eye. His furious, seething expression contrasted heavily with the king’s cold, judging look.
With his fury growing as he looked Adam in the eye, Apocalypse opened his mouth and let loose a roar of anger before rushing forward, moving faster than the tyrant had expected. Quickly regaining his focus, Adam brought his arm up as Apocalypse threw his remaining arm forward. For a split-second, he believed that history would repeat itself, but he was left visibly surprised when Apocalypse’s limb changed form, shifting into a clamp that restrained the defending limb.
Before the electrokinetic king could attempt to recover, his captor viciously slammed his head against his own. The strength behind this headbutt produced a massive shock wave, sending both the surrounding crowd and his intended target flying back. After several seconds of soaring through the air, Adam managed to reposition himself and violently slammed both feet against the ground, forcibly grinding to a halt. Upon stopping, he looked back up just in time to see that Apocalypse’s amputated limb was regenerating at a rapid rate. In an adamant refusal to allow his opponent a chance to recover, Adam flew toward En Sabah Nur, closing the distance in less than a second. In the time it took for Apocalypse’s mind to register that his opponent had moved, he also found himself hurtling through the air at hypersonic speeds, his limbs removed once again. While he was in the middle of realizing this, a familiar shout made its way to the mutant’s ears:
Immediately after that word was announced, another bolt of lightning came down from the sky. While he didn’t have much time to react, the Eternal Pharaoh was still able to hastily erect a barrier of energy in front of himself. Despite the force field doing its job, in that it managed to protect its creator from any major damage, it still couldn’t hold up against the sheer power of the lightning. In fact, the moment the bolt made contact, it exploded into a mass of white that shattered the barrier like glass and sent Apocalyose hurtling toward the sand-coated terrain below. While he was in the midst of descending, however, Apocalypse managed to regain enough focus to teleport away at the last second. As he watched this from afar, Adam scoffed.
“Do you really intend to rely on the same strategy twice?” He questioned. Upon receiving no response, his brow furrowed as he began looking around, searching for where his opponent could have disappeared to. Several seconds later, Adam noticed that his surroundings had suddenly grown darker. Looking behind himself, the former archeologist had little time to react as Apocalypse’s now gargantuan fist barreled into him, with the impact sending him flying through the air at hypersonic speeds. Before he could attempt to reposition himself, however, Apocalypse’s voice rang out, now loud enough that he could be heard throughout the city.
“You will not escape me so easily!” The kaiju-sized Egyptian roared, a grin adorning his face as he elongated his arm to catch the fleeing tyrant and reel him back in. Once he had drawn Adam in close enough, Apocalypse’s vice-like grip became tighter, eliciting a loud series of sickening crunches as several of his captive’s bones were audibly broken. Despite the pain that coursed through his body, Black Adam fought back the urge to scream. Famous conqueror or not, he refused to allow this invader the pleasure of hearing his pain become verbalized. As if in response to this stubbornness, his captor spawned a series of blades out from his fingers, with each one digging into Adam’s limbs, chest, and back. The spandex-clad Egyptian’s eyes widened in shock for a brief moment as he coughed out copious amounts of blood.
“Do you now see the difference between us, Adam? Your abilities and strength are formidable, that I will admit, but in the end they amount to nothing.” As he spoke these words, En Sabah Nur began applying more pressure as he added more blades to his grip, forcing more blood to spill out from the monarch’s body. “Had you accepted my offer you would have been granted countless blessings. Your powers would have been augmented beyond their limits, and your people’s safety would have been assured-“
“After you threatened their lives!” Adam cut him off, slowly straining as he attempted to rip himself free from his restraints.
”You mistake my intentions. I had only done what was necessary to gain your attention.” Apocalypse explained. “After all, it’s likely you would’ve paid us no mind had we simply entered your kingdom like common vagabonds and requested a meeting. Though now I see that I had made an error in judgment. Despite your powers and strength being enough to match my own, your mindset is the same as the modern world’s leaders. You’re blinded by your own arrogance, obsessed with maintaining your rule through fear and intimidation. And because of this, your people view you as a god.” As he venomously spat out the last portion, Apocalypse’s hands began to relax their grip, though this was not out of mercy. Instead, his fingers slowly changed shape, becoming thicker and stronger until they had almost completely restrained Adam’s body. The vice-like grip would only become more uncomfortable for Adam as his restraints constricted even further, drawing blood as they dug into his skin. Kahndaq’s king let out several grunts of pain as the widened digits burrowed themselves in even further, causing his bones to emit a series of nightmarish snaps.
”Once the world has been remade, there will exist no more blind leaders, no more false gods.” The giant’s voice boomed throughout the city. “With your death, the people of Kahndaq will realize that they were lost and seek solace in me. Any who remain loyal to you will perish, their skulls crushed into dust beneath our feet.” As if to emphasize this point, the First Mutant relinquished his grip on Adam before proceeding to kick him with as much force as he could muster. The former champion of Shazam could feel himself whipping through the air, his prone body slamming into multiple objects and structures back-first. Buildings, homes, pyramids, and shops found themselves quickly destroyed by the ballistic comet that was Black Adam. This immense destruction would only come to an end when the former archeologist slammed into his fifth pyramid thus far, exiting out of the opposite side and hitting one of the many sand-coated dunes that dotted the landscape. While in the middle of getting up, however, Adam suddenly found himself forced onto his back by a sudden blast of energy. It hadn’t been enough to harm him, in fact the only damage he’d suffered was that more of his costume was burnt away, but it was strong enough to stagger him for a brief moment. Realizing his opponent’s disorientation wouldn’t last, Apocalypse decided it would be best to act now.
Raising both hands into the air, the mutant began concentrating his telekinesis, making sure to spread its influence as far as it could possibly go. Then, as a grin began making its way onto his face, Apocalypse brought both hands higher. In tandem with this action, his telekinetic grip had begun exerting its pull as he forcibly ripped several structures from their foundations. Citizens began to panic at what they were witnessing as six of the pyramids that surrounded their city began floating through the air, each one rapidly converging onto one point. But their fear was about to be eclipsed by the arrival of something else, something that was being dragged from several thousand kilometers away.
Back in the city of Shiruta, the people of Kahndaq could feel a violent tremor spread throughout their city. Entire markets and houses began collapsing from the sheer force behind the earthquake, and the citizens were reacting with appropriate horror. Most had begun escorting their family and friends from the destruction, with others choosing to stay behind in order to help those who were unfortunate enough to be caught inside of the collapsing structures. While these rescues were still occurring, some of the family members had begun praying, begging for their king to intervene and save them from their plights. In the midst of these prayers, however, their ears were suddenly assaulted by a deafening cacophony of stone and concrete being torn asunder. In tandem with this was the new sight of a massive shadow looming from above, rapidly flying across the city at hypersonic speeds. In a mixture of curiosity and confusion, all of the civilians looked up, and what they saw caused their expression to shift into ones of awe and horror. Even those that were in the midst of praying went silent at what they witnessed.
Suspended over their heads by some several thousand meters, flying far above even the tallest of Kahndaq’s structures, was its crown jewel of architecture, the city’s palace. The massive temple towered over its onlookers, drastically eclipsing them in size. As they watched this from the surface, all of the astonished citizens found their minds filled with only one question: ‘Why is this happening?’
They wouldn’t receive an answer, and this question would continue to burn through their minds even after they pushed through their fear and continued their evacuations. While this was occurring, their thoughts also drifted to their king, with most wondering what was happening to him in order for this to occur.
While Kahndaq’s people were busy worrying, their invader continued his assault as he dragged the monarch’s temple to his current position. Once the dozens of pyramids and buildings had been perfectly aligned, Apocalypse looked down at Adam. Currently, the ex-champion was beginning to regain his orientation, and it was at this moment Apocalypse decided to act.
Thrusting both hands forward, Apocalypse shoved each of the structures toward Adam’s direction. All seven of the makeshift weapons converged onto his target, with the resulting impact creating a massive explosion of dust, limestone, and debris from the temple. Once the dust had settled, it revealed what remained of the massive buildings: a heap of rubble, one that was equal in size to the many sand dunes that surrounded the city. Despite knowing that his opponent was buried underneath the mountain of debris, Apocalypse knew that he wouldn’t die so easily, especially not after what he’d endured beforehand.
His hypothesis was revealed to be correct as, only seconds after the dust had settled, a fist burst out from the rubble, soon followed by a blast of electricity that blew away the surrounding pile. Adam rose up from the epicenter, visibly unharmed by the assault and only looking pissed-off. From the looks of things, his injuries had completely healed, almost like they were never there to begin with. As he noticed this from afar, Apocalypse found that Adam had turned toward his direction, currently sporting a hate-filled glare as they locked eyes.
”Surely you didn’t believe that such a weak assault would be enough to kill me?” Adam questioned, his tone having a cocky edge to it. Before his opponent could open his mouth to answer the question, Adam flew forward, moving at faster than light speeds and slamming into his jaw with a left hook. “If so, then you are more of a pathetic fool than I realized.” As this sentence left his mouth, he flew over to the other side, following up with a right hook that sent the conqueror staggering back. “But not just that, you are also a hypocrite! For all your talk of changing the world and being different from its leaders, in the end you are nothing more than the very embodiment of what you claim to despise!”
An electricity-enhanced punch to the abdomen forced En Sabah Nur to lurch over, coughing up a mixture of spittle and blood before his mouth was forced shut by a sudden uppercut.
”You say that I am blinded by arrogance, yet you believed that you could force me to kneel before you through reputation alone!” As this statement left his mouth, Adam cupped both hands together and reeled back for a brief moment before slamming his fists directly into Apocalypse’s forehead, striking with enough force that he sliced through the pharaoh’s skin. Nur let out a cry of pain as he stumbled back, blood oozing out of his now-torn flesh, though his opponent refused to relent, either in his beating or insults. He continued the assault with a dive kick that slammed into the darwinist’s Adam’s apple. The armored giant sputtered in pain as he collapsed onto his back, kicking up a massive cloud of dust from beneath.
“How pitiful! For all that history and the various legends built you up as, in the end you are nothing more than a deranged madman holding onto delusions of grandeur from times that have long since passed.” As he heard the king’s baritone voice call out to him, an enraged Apocalypse grit his teeth before propping himself up with one arm. He scanned the area for a brief moment, hoping to find some sign as to where his opponent had gone. While he was in the middle of turning to the right, however, his ears picked up the sound of something… bubbling, and from the sounds of things, whatever it was had quickly made its way to the surface.
Realizing he had little time to dodge what was coming, the Forever Walker erected a barrier around himself just in time for a pillar of lava to erupt from underneath, forcing him to soar through the air along with it. While the barrier had managed to shield him any damage, it hadn’t been successful in shielding him from the heat. In fact, the moment it had made contact with his skin, Apocalypse’s body violently burst into flames from the temperature alone. The fire ate away at his body, but he fought through the pain as hard as he could, focusing his efforts on escaping the molten liquid. With an immense amount of strain and a scream of desperation, Nur managed to force his teleportation to work in spite of his current condition, disappearing in a bright flash of light.
Some several thousand feet away, obscured by the shade of one of the few remaining pyramids, Apocalypse reemerged. He had decreased in height, having reverted back to his original size, and he appeared to be in terrible condition. Despite his healing factor lessening the results, he was still covered in major burns from head-to-toe, his armor had mostly been melted away, and his breathing had gone ragged. He leaned against one of the pyramid’s walls for support, taking slow, ragged breaths as he lay deep in thought.
‘His power… it’s more than what I expected, more than the legends had described. Perhaps it even surpasses my own!’ The warlord’s eyes widened in shock at this realization, but he quickly shook it off. ‘I must learn how he obtained these abilities! Self-experimentation? The Celestials? Magic?’ He looked down and found that his hand was… trembling? Was he… scared of Adam’s powers? ‘No! I will learn how he gained these powers and obtain them for myself!’
As that thought entered into his mind the mutant began focusing his telepathic abilities, utilizing as much of his psychic prowess as he could muster. The moment he attempted to enter Adam’s mind, however, a pang of pure, unadulterated pain entered into his conscience. No, just describing this sensation as “pain” didn’t cut it. This was a feeling more akin to having several thousand red hot needles being simultaneously jammed into his brain. It was agonizing enough that it overwhelmed the High Lord, forcing him to collapse onto all fours as a tortured, bloodcurdling cry was forced out of his mouth.
“Are you really so eager to know the source of my powers that you would attempt to pry into my mind?” The familiar voice caused Apocalypse to look back up just in time for Adam to grab hold of his neck and hoist him into the air. “As you said before, ‘such a foolish mistake, and one that shall come at a grave cost.’ But be grateful, Apocalypse, because I’m willing to grant you a personal demonstration.”
Quickly reeling his arm back, Adam then proceeded to chuck his captive with as much strength as he could, sending Apocalypse hurtling through the air. Before he could even hit the peak of his ascension, the High Lord found himself forced back to the ground by a hammer strike, resulting in a massive crater upon landing. He wasn’t even allowed a chance to get up before Adam forced him further into the ground by slamming a foot into his chest.
”Shu grants me the endurance needed to power through your petty tricks.” A sudden kick to the chin sent the Eternal Pharaoh rolling across the sand-coated terrain, only stopping when he placed his hand against the ground and forced himself to skid to a halt. He looked back up toward Adam’s direction, only to find that the king had disappeared completely!
…or perhaps not, as a left hook slammed itself into Apocalypse’s jaw. Before he had a chance to stagger back, another hook slammed into his face! These punches would only grow further in speed and intensity, with each one shattering a different part of his armor and bone. Despite still being in the middle of reeling in pain, Apocalypse could hear his opponent’s voice ring out.
“Heru grants me incredible speed and the ability of flight. Amon blesses me with strength far beyond most other men.” Captain Marvel’s nemesis explained, emphasizing his point by moving even faster than before, landing millions of devastating punches with each passing second. By this point, Apocalypse’s bones had been broken so thoroughly that not even his healing factor could counteract the constant damage he received. After a full 30 seconds of mercilessly beating the invader, Adam finally ended the onslaught with a final strike to the chest, forcing Apocalypse to spit out blood as his ribs were shattered into small fractures of bone. As he felt this pain shoot through his body, the conqueror realized he would need to change tactics, though this would be nigh-impossible given his current situation.
Out of desperation, Apocalypse began attempting to push through the agonizing pain, and through some miracle he was able to teleport away just as Adam attempted to grab hold of him. Upon seeing that his opponent had evaded him, the monarch began scanning the desert, using a combination of his own reliance on war tactics and the Wisdom of Zehuti to pinpoint where Nur would reappear.
As it turned out, the darwinist had reappeared a good distance away, but upon doing so he heard the sound of something rapidly approaching him. Out of instinct, Apocalypse attempted to summon a barrier in front of himself, but his attacker, seeming to expect this, intercepted it by summoning a bolt of lightning. The moment they collided, the energy shield shattered like glass, but before Apocalypse could even react to this, something smacked him across the face, knocking loose several of his teeth. He began staggering back from the pain, but soon recovered and turned to face his attacker, preparing to fire a beam of energy from his eyes. He wouldn’t even have time to begin this attack, however, as his assailant, almost seeming to predict his actions, proceeded to jam… something into his eyesockets. Screams of agony began emerging from the now blinded Apocalypse, but they quickly died in his throat as he felt something grab hold of his neck.
”So now you attempt to sneak away from our fight? It seems as though with each action you take you only succeed in irritating me further.” Nur responded to Adam’s statement with a series of choked gasps, though he still managed to croak out one question.
“How… did you… find me?”
“The Wisdom of Zehuti grants me intelligence beyond all others. Anything you can try, anything you plan,” the king temporarily cut himself off as he felt his captive rapidly slim down, his frame growing skinnier with each passing millisecond. Once he was slim enough, the snake-like shapeshifter attempted to escape from the vice-like grip he was being held in, but it was all for naught as the Egyptian’s grasp grew tighter, securing Apocalypse’s position between his palm. As he looked the blinded, serpentine mutant in the eye, Adam finished by declaring, “I will outwit it.”
Apocalypse continued his attempts at evading capture, trying to use his control over molecules as a means to escape, but no matter what he tried, it ultimately proved ineffective. While he was still in the middle of writhing around, Adam’s fists began crackling with electricity, which he then proceeded to charge through the pharaoh, forcing his skin to char and blacken.
“With the Power of Aton, I wield the lightning of the gods themselves.” As if to emphasize this statement, Shazam’s fallen successor began to discharge more electricity into his hapless victim, eliciting a chilling, primal scream of agony. He attempted to attack by forcing his body to shift into a mass of blades, each one digging itself into Adam’s skin, but his captor only gave an annoyed grunt in response before tossing him toward the ground. Upon landing, the High Lord quickly morphed back into his original form and rushed forward, planning to take advantage of Adam’s injuries while they were still fresh. One could only imagine his surprise when, rather than slamming into Adam’s body and sending it reeling back, he was instead stopped mid-momentum as the corrupt champion pushed back using equal, if not superior strength. Much to Apocalypse’s surprise, it appeared that Adam’s wounds had already managed to completely heal themselves.
”How is it that you can still stand? And your healing abilities! How is it possible for a mere mortal to regenerate so quickly? Is this another of your supposed God-given powers?”
”They aren’t ‘supposed,’ Apocalypse! They are! It’s thanks to the Courage of Mehen that I’m granted an infallible mental fortitude, in addition to a healing ability powerful enough to shrug off whatever damage you might be lucky enough to inflict.” Upon hearing his adversary’s boast, the armored pharaoh scoffed.
”So you attribute all of your blood I’ve spilled to luck alone?” He chuckled for a brief moment before continuing to speak. “Tell me, if all I’ve done thus far has been nothing more than mere luck, why is it that this fight still continues to progress?”
”The only reason this has gone as far as it has,” Adam responded as he began overpowering his opponent, “was because I had difficulty in finding a weakness to exploit in your abilities.” He then broke into a grin as his eyes and hands began crackling with electricity, further weakening the conqueror by leaving horrific burns on his hands. The current then began to spread further, quickly ascending up to the mutant’s forearms. In tandem with this, Nur’s grip began to grow weaker, allowing his spandex-clad rival to push him further back. “But that is no longer the case! Now I know what I can use to end this pitiful farce before it goes any further!”
As this statement left his mouth, a massive gust of wind suddenly blew forward, striking Apocalypse in the chest and breaking his grip on the king’s hands. While he was still in the middle of skidding back from the force of the gale he could feel himself being pulled into something. Upon looking over his shoulder, he saw what was trying to reel him in: it was starting off slowly, but quickly grew in speed with each passing second. The mountain of rubble from several minutes ago was quickly being swept into its grasp, forming a barrier of debris that would tear apart anything it came near. Entire pyramids were being ripped asunder, their limestone bricks being ripped out of their sealant and into the gaping maw of the funnel. The pharaoh turned back to face Adam, but whatever he was about to say wound up dying in his throat as Adam slammed a golden boot into his chest. As a result of this, the self-proclaimed deity found himself knocked off balance and sucked into the powerful tornado. Upon being dragged in, he found himself buffeted by the thousands of pieces of debris, yet these only seemed to break upon making contact with his skin. In response to these ineffective attacks, Apocalypse merely grinned.
’So he believes that after everything he’s thrown against me, that a mere force of nature can end my life? FOOL! It’s clear he still remains ignorant of who he faces!’ Unbeknownst to him, his adversary was only getting started. Raising his hand, Adam began summoning a mass of dark clouds, seemingly from out of nowhere, and with nothing more than a thought, proceeded to coat the entire city in dark storm clouds.
As he barked these words aloud, so much that they could be heard even over the deafening roar of the cyclone, Adam thrust his arm forward as he commanded the sea of clouds to rain lightning down upon one singular target: the tornado. Each bolt descended from the heavens, striking their target simultaneously. Upon doing so, something occurred that should have been impossible: each stroke of lightning merged, assimilating into one as the mass of winds absorbed the electricity into itself. To make matters worse for Apocalypse, he was the first to experience the power behind this newfound creation firsthand.
His screams were deafening, though the combination of howling winds and booming lightning rendered them nigh-inaudible. With each passing millisecond he could feel more of his skin become reduced to ash as his muscles and tendons were flash-fried. His body fat became fried into a disgusting gristle by the combined heat of the electricity, with each of his internal organs exploding into what could only be described as liquidated chunks.
Yet in spite of this hellish, agonizing pain he was experiencing, En Sabah Nur refused to black out. He hadn’t come this far in his journey, lived for thousands of years, and built his reputation this far just to fall before this arrogant mortal. He would persevere! Adam’s powers were amazing, he would even admit to them being superior to his own, but even the might of the Egyptian gods couldn’t compare to his ultimate weapon!
With little time to spare, the mutilated darwinist quickly reached into his armor and fished out an object from within. It was small, roughly the size of a skipping stone, and crystalline in shape. Adorning its frame were multiple veins, each one coursing with a mysterious pink energy.
This was the Death Seed, a cosmic relic that had been forged by the Celestials themselves. Under normal conditions, Apocalypse would use this to convert a worthy candidate into his Horseman of Death, but in this case he had a different target in mind.
With the rate of his blackening vision rivaled only by his desperation to survive, En Sabah Nur jammed the Death Seed into his chest, his healing factor absorbing the relic into his body. Upon doing so, an explosion of blue energy erupted out from his body, causing the tornado and surrounding storm clouds to disperse. With its space now unrestricted, the burst of energy began to grow further in size, consuming the entire city within the span of a few milliseconds.
Unfortunately for Adam, not even the Wisdom of Zehuti could warn him of the sudden explosion. As a result, the energy immediately overtook him, causing an excruciating, burning pain to spread throughout his body.
Quickly regaining his senses, the former champion of Shazam began struggling as he attempted to stand his ground, crossing both arms in front of his face and gritting his teeth in the process. The energy was searing away at his body, burning through his spandex costume and eating away at his skin. Despite this, he planted his feet further the ground, leaving craters as he stubbornly tried to remain firm. The pain he was experiencing was immense, that he was willing to admit, but he refused to let himself be done in by this invader.
Gritting his teeth, Adam began doing his best to push himself forward, violently fighting against the opposing energy. With a heavy struggle, he lifted one of his legs into the air before slamming it against the ground as he took one step forward. This was repeated by the opposite foot, allowing him to steadily grow closer to his adversary. As though it were sensing this, the energy then grew in intensity before bursting outward once more, sending its stubborn target skidding back several meters. Then, once he had come to a complete stop, the energy finally dispersed.
As he put both arms down, the heavily burned and shirtless monarch looked up, allowing him to see a familiar silhouette staring down at him. The transformed mutant then began speaking, his voice booming loud enough that the entire city could hear him.
Apocalypse stepped forward, revealing that the Death Seed’s influence had had a major influence on him. In addition to granting a major boost to his healing factor, as every one of his injuries seemed to have completely vanished, it had also drastically altered his appearance. His blue armor had darkened, becoming a black hue that seemed more appropriate for the night sky. The gray wires, wrists, and the A belt buckle adorning his waist were also affected, as all of them had become a rich shade of cobalt. Even his skin had changed in tone, going from light gray to the same color as the once-gray armor. One of the more noticeable changes, however, was in his chestplate. It had parted slightly, revealing that the Death Seed had fused itself into his skin.
”Not even one who has been granted the powers from the divine can escape from the cold grasp of death!” He boasted, his voice returning to normal as he looked at the tyrant with a smug sense of superiority.
“Escape death? I have lived for over 3000 years, and not once has there existed a man capable of bringing me to such a point.” Eyeing the device that lay in his opponent’s chest, Adam briefly cocked an eyebrow as his expression momentarily shifted to intrigue, only for it to quickly return to neutrality. “But if you believe that a mere jewel can grant you the strength to do such a thing, then come!”
Apocalypse response to this ultimatum? A wicked grin, soon followed by a swift lunge. His limb flew forward, milliseconds away from making contact, only to hit thin air as its target disappeared from sight. A sudden counter struck the High Lord in the back of his tibia, causing his left knee to buckle before he collapsed onto the ground. Fortunately, he proved quick to recover and pushed himself back up, moving fast enough to intercept an oncoming blow to his side and counter with an elbow to the stomach. Adam didn’t even have a chance to begin skidding back before the Death Seed-infected pharaoh stretched his arm out, wrapping it around his neck and pulling him closer. While this was occurring, Apocalypse shifted his free arm into a cannon, one that was already crackling with white energy, and proceeded to release his grip on Adam, allowing the Egyptian’s momentum to continue carrying him forward. Then, with a smirk on his face, Apocalypse unleashed the full extent of his pent-up energy.
Adam cried out in pure, unadulterated agony as the beam of energy struck him at full force, pushing him several meters away in the process. It burned away at his skin and slowly began eating away at his muscle tissue, revealing raw bone. Normally, this would have been impossible, but it was thanks to the Death Seed’s amplification of his powers that Apocalypse had managed to accomplish such a feat. Yet in spite of this immense power, the corrupt champion refused to let himself be done in!
With great difficulty, Adam began pushing through the massive laser, slowly taking steps toward the transformed limb as he crossed both arms in front of himself in an attempt to defend himself. While he was still in the middle of his struggles, the tyrant began focusing the Power of Isis, using it to project a psychic barrier around himself. Within the span of a microsecond the shield had surrounded Adam’s entire frame, allowing him to uncross his arms and launch himself at the transformed mutant. Apocalypse wouldn’t realize this until it was far too late, when his victim’s right hand shot out from the beam and violently seized the arm cannon.
”What?!” He questioned, followed by a cry of pain as Adam casually snapped the transformed limb like a twig. Fighting back the overwhelming urge to scream, Apocalypse instead gnashed his teeth in anger as he once again tried to use his shapeshifting, this time in an attempt to throw Adam off. Morphing his free hand into a spiked mace, Apocalypse swung toward Adam’s head, only for his anger to morph into shock as he felt it bounce off of an invisible force. Apocalypse didn’t even have time to regain his focus before Adam grabbed hold of the other arm and, with a harsh tug, attempted to rip them from their sockets. Much to his surprise, however, this didn’t occur. Instead, the structure of Apocalypse’s muscles and bones seemed to grow in rigidness and density, preventing them from even budging. Adam didn’t even have the time to think up another strategy before his captive managed to free himself, using his molecular control to loosen his arms and slip them from Adam’s grip. Then, just as quickly as he had freed himself, Apocalypse lunged forward, bringing both arms toward the Egyptian’s chest. While it was mostly nullified by the barrier, the blows had done their job as the psychic shield was shattered, with a third strike sending its summoner shooting across the desert and tumbling across the ground.
As he placed his hand against the sand-coated terrain, slowly crawling to a halt, Adam looked up just in time for Apocalypse to teleport in front of him and grab him by the head. Then, almost effortlessly, the First Mutant lifted him into the air.
“Do you realize your mistakes now, Adam?” Apocalypse asked, a psychotic grin slowly making itself visible as he threw out another punch, forcing the monarch to spit out blood. “You were arrogant enough to judge the Death Seed based on its appearance, unaware of the true power it holds within!” The transformed conqueror continued his beating by releasing his grip and delivering an overhead strike, hitting with enough force that Adam found himself embedded in the ground. “In the hands of lesser beings, the seed raises their power to the point of being comparable to the Celestials themselves! But when under my possession, it allows for more than that!”
With a snap of his fingers, a pillar of violet energy erupted from underneath Adam, consuming his mutilated body in its entirety. A scream of anger and pain emerged from the disgraced champion as he was sent hurtling through the air. Just as he was about to hit the peak of his ascension, Apocalypse suddenly teleported, rematerializing above him and delivering a dive kick to the chest. Adam fought back a pained grunt as he felt his ribs compress against his chest, an audible crack accompanying the impact. He hurtled through the air like a spandex-clad meteor, rapidly approaching the nearby Egyptian city. Within the span of a few seconds he felt his back repeatedly slam through dozens of structures, with each one collapsing immediately after the impact. His trip would only end once he hit one of the city’s paved streets, burying him several feet underground and forming a massive crater around where he’d landed.
Despite the rough landing he had just endured, Adam still managed to push himself back up, seemingly without too much difficulty. There was a good reason for this, as the Courage of Mehen had already gone to work with healing his injuries. By this point his skin and muscle tissue had fully regenerated, and even his recently fractured ribs had healed themselves. Yet he could still feel himself reeling from the blows Apocalypse had inflicted on him. It was almost enough to get Adam to respect him. Almost being the keyword.
His thoughts were soon interrupted as the Wisdom of Zehuti alerted him to a sudden attack. Realizing it could come from any direction, Adam teleported out of the crater, and he proved to be just in time. The moment he had done so, another explosion of energy erupted out from the crater, one that likely would’ve ended up burning through him had he not moved out of the way. Just as he had respawned some distance away, Adam heard his opponent’s voice call out again.
“My powers are enhanced beyond the shackles of this mortal body!” Apocalypse boasted as he suddenly charged forward, attempting to shoulder-tackle the tyrant. Despite having little time to react, Adam was still able to put both arms in front of himself, taking the full brunt of the tackle before pushing back with equal strength. The two seemed to be at a stalemate, locked in an unending struggle against each other. They looked each other in the eye, Adam’s glare meeting Apocalypse’s cold, smug expression. The two continued to struggle against each other’s strength, with Nur slowly gaining an edge as he started bulking up his muscles. A grin began to make its way onto Apocalypse’s face as he continued pushing Adam back, and soon he continued boasting.
“With the Death Seed in hand, I’m able to effortlessly cull out the weak from the strong!” As if to emphasize his point, the mutant gripped his opponent’s arms and pulled him forward, slamming his foot directly into the monarch’s chest. Before Adam could even try to get back to his feet, he found himself forcibly slammed into the ground by his adversary’s armored boot. “The worthy shall finally be allowed to flourish without being obstructed any further by their unfit counterparts!“ Orange energy began to crackle in the pharaoh’s eyes and hands as he continued speaking. “And I shall gladly start by ridding the world of one of the vestiges of its old gods!”
Once this statement had left his mouth, Apocalypse let loose a powerful roar as he fired beams of energy from his eyes, blasting Adam directly in the face. Had these lasers hit another being, they would have found themselves immolated, the agonizing pain overtaking their mind for a brief moment before the lasers’ heat stripped them down to the bone. But Adam was not most men. Through a combination of Shu’s Stamina, Mehen’s Courage, and his own nigh-limitless willpower, the leader of Kahndaq was managing to push through the flesh-searing heat. The muscles in his arms began to flex and pulse as he pushed himself up, slowly overpowering the conqueror’s grip. Noticing this, Apocalypse also responded by gnashing his teeth.
”You will stop resisting and STAY DOWN!” He barked, applying more pressure to his boot and eye beams.
”As though I’d yield to someone like you!” Adam roared back as he suddenly pushed himself back up, throwing Apocalypse off balance and forcing him to stumble back. He wouldn’t have a chance to recover, however, as his former captive was eager for revenge. Apocalypse didn’t even have the time to put his leg down before Adam suddenly landed a devastating uppercut to the chin. The punch struck with enough force that it sent the relic-enhanced warlord crashing into a nearby structure, with said structure’s remains instantly collapsing and burying him underneath. Just as quickly as he’d been engulfed, however, Apocalypse burst out of the mountain of rubble, his expression showing that he was more pissed than hurt. Upon fully making his way to the surface, Nur was immediately grabbed by the neck and hoisted into the air by Adam, who glared daggers into his eyes.
”I expected better from you, Apocalypse. Given your reputation, I thought you’d prove a worthy adversary, but instead I find myself fighting against a pitiful shell of a king.” As he said this, Adam started applying pressure to his attempted usurper’s neck, ready to let him meet the same fate as his deceased henchman. ”I will admit this: that ‘Death Seed’ as you call it is certainly powerful, perhaps it can even match the powers given to me by the wizard! In worthy hands, its wielder would be virtually unstoppable!” Adam then began clenching his fist, slowly crushing Apocalypse’s neck in his grasp. “Such power is wasted on you! Only the strength and resolve of a TRUE king can harness its true potential!”
Once he had finished this thought, Adam thrust his hand forward, fully intent on ripping the Death Seed from Apocalypse’s chest. Much to his surprise, it suddenly halted mid-momentum thanks to a sudden burst of telekinetic force.
”Do you really think… that I would allow someone as insubordinate as yourself… to steal the Death Seed from me so easily?” The bald darwinist asked as he struggled to hold Adam back. Even with the power boost from the Death Seed, his strength was still being rivaled by the augmentation granted by Adam’s Power of Isis. “You aren’t worthy of its power, much less of surviving as long as you have.”
”Is that so?” Kahndaq’s sovereign asked as he continued pushing forward, his fingers slowly jamming themselves into the mutant’s chest. “Because from what I’ve seen, it’s you who lacks the strength to survive! For all your talk of superiority and culling of the weak, you-”
Apocalypse’s roar of fury echoed throughout all of the city, causing the citizens to stop panicking and look up. Upon doing so, they were met with the sight of a blue-skinned mutant breaking free from the grip of a spandex-clad man, which was soon followed by said mutant tackling his former captor and slamming him against the ground. Their surrounding audience looked on in terror as Apocalypse continued to beat against his royal adversary.
“You know NOTHING of me, nor do you hold any right to judge my philosophy!” He proceeded to punctuate this sentence via an overhead punch, using his molecular control to enlarge his fist for further strength. A crater formed beneath Adam’s body, with its impact being accompanied by a massive tremor rocking the entire city. Adam prepared to get back up, but he soon found himself forced back into the ground as his opponent’s fist slammed against his face. “From a young age, I was taught that only the strong are fit to survive, and I have held by those teachings for my entire life.”
Another punch, this one being strong enough to tear away at Adam’s skin and leave a crater beneath his skin.
“Entire civilizations have fallen before me, either in worship or defeat, for centuries.”
A third strike, this one smashing the monarch’s face further into the ground.
“Those who survived were considered worthy of life, and those who fell would only prove to be worthy sacrifices to my cause!”
A fourth punch, this one audibly breaking Adam’s nose.
“That is the creed I have lived by my entire life, and through it I have seen one thing: that power is the only way to survive! And throughout the centuries I have lived, I have realized that there are none more fit to survive than me!”
As he said this, Apocalypse attempted to throw another punch, this one being strong enough that it likely would’ve been enough to crush his skull. Much to his surprise, however, Adam managed to effortlessly catch the enlarged fist mid-flight. Shocking him even further was that Adam was even managing to push his arm back, quickly overpowering him. In response, Apocalypse grit his teeth and attempted to use his molecular manipulation once again, but his former captive proved quicker on the draw in more ways than one.
Using his superior speed, Adam threw out multiple body blows, each one destroying the warlord’s armor or tearing through skin as he was pushed further back. Despite this, Apocalypse’s body was quickly regenerating, though even the Death Seed was having trouble keeping up with the damage. As if realizing this, Apocalypse began pushing through the pain and doing his best to fight back. Thrusting his arms forward, he fired off a massive beam of red energy that blasted the former archeologist in the chest, burning his skin and sending him skidding back.
Seeing a chance to get a leg up on his opponent, Apocalypse wasted no time in stretching his arm out and pulling his Egyptian captive forward. Once he had closed the distance between them, the mutant shifted his hand into a massive blade, which he then proceeded to ram into Adam’s chest. Oddly enough, the pain didn’t even seem to register with Adam, as he effortlessly pushed through and proceeded to throw out a lunging jab to Apocalypse’s own chest. The punch made direct contact with the First Mutant, forcing his blade-hand out of Adam’s chest. Much like his opponent, however, Apocalypse proved quick to recover and charged back in, with both throwing out punches that struck each other directly in the face. The impact resulted in a massive shock wave shooting throughout the city, creating yet another tremor that rocked the surrounding area. Additionally, it had sent both men flying back, though their unwillingness to give up so easily led to them quickly recovering. Unfortunately, one proved a bit slower to recover, which the poor victim would only realize when he looked back to see Adam’s fist preparing to nail itself into his face.
Despite having little time to react, Apocalypse was still able to put his arm up, allowing him to block the strike with little trouble. Then, with surprising reflexes, he threw out a counterblow, striking with enough force that another shock wave ripped through the air. While his opponent was still in the midst of recovering, Nur began throwing out five blows, using his shapeshifting to make each one stronger by either turning his hands into bludgeons or increasing their size. Unfortunately for him, these were the only free hits he’d be able to land, as Adam managed to regain focus and retaliated with his own series of blows. Each of these punches, kicks, and lunges were thrown out at faster than light speeds, allowing the king to throw out millions of strikes within the span of a few seconds. Unfortunately, his armored opponent was quick to recover from this seemingly endless combo and quickly responded by dishing out his own onslaught of equally powerful blows.
The two men continued struggling against each other’s strength, seemingly at a stalemate. It didn’t matter what they tried, Apocalypse’s molecular manipulation, energy blasts, size-shifting, and even his attempts at teleporting found themselves countered by Adam’s superior hand-to-hand expertise and his own immense powerset. It seemed as though this clash of fists, feet, and occasional energy blasts would last for an eternity, and neither man was willing to give in.
Unbeknownst to either of the Egyptian tyrants, their unending stalemate was causing immense amounts of destruction to their surrounding area, resulting in widespread panic. The population watched in horror as the various buildings and other structures began shaking, with their foundations rapidly collapsing in on themselves. The city’s architecture continued to deteriorate, and each passing second was accompanied by yet another structure collapsing in on itself.
As their surroundings crumbled to rubble, the citizens began running in terror, hoping they’d be able to evacuate from their collapsing home before they found themselves another casualty of the chaotic destruction. As this abject fear consumed their minds and fueled their desire to flee, the townspeople were unknowingly fueling something else as well. To be more specific, it was fueling something that lie in wait a whole universe away.
On the planet Qward, which lay in another world known as the Antimatter Universe, a yellow ring suddenly emitted a gold flash as it picked up a spike in emotion. As if in response to this surge of fear, the ring activated and began speaking, its voice low and mechanical.
“Sinestro Corp ring online.” It announced before suddenly taking off, exiting the planet and reaching the depths of space in less than a nanosecond. While in the midst of its travels, the yellow piece of jewelry spoke out once more, this time declaring “Seeking suitable candidate.” After three milliseconds of searching, the Power Ring sped off, approaching its desired target at trillions of times the speed of light.
Back on Earth, the seemingly endless exchange of blows between the two dictators was finally drawing to a close as Adam charged his fists with electricity and lunged forward, throwing an overhead punch that caused Apocalypse to briefly descend through the air, with the mutant only managing to stop himself several feet away from the ground. He looked up at where Adam had been, fully prepared to retaliate with his own attack, only to find that the king had teleported once again. Realizing that he could attempt to attack from any angle, the mutant prepared to erect a barrier at the exact moment he noticed any sign of his opponent appearing.
The trademark flash of light from Adam’s teleportation appeared from behind, and Nur immediately erected a psychic barrier around himself. Kahndaq’s sovereign hurled a bolt of lightning at him, with the electric arc bypassing the shield’s defense and striking him directly. Apocalypse cried out in pain, involuntarily lurching over as he felt paralysis overtake him. Quickly shrugging it off, the First Mutant turned around, retaliating with a blast of energy that Adam was just barely able to react to. Once the blast had dispersed, Adam prepared to throw out another attack, but his opponent proved quicker on the draw. Teleporting behind him, Apocalypse wasted no time in slamming into Adam’s back with both hands, forcing the monarch to let out a pained cry as he was sent flying through the air. Unfortunately for him, Apocalypse wasn’t willing to let his opportunity for revenge end there.
Just when it seemed like Adam was about to reach the height of his ascension, Apocalypse suddenly rematerialized directly in front of him and delivered a double axe handle to his head, sending him crashing onto the paved road below. As he looked down at the spandex-clad dictator, Nur’s expression was one of smug superiority. He could feel victory close at hand.
“I have wasted enough of my time on you, Adam! Already I have proven my superiority, yet you keep attempting to fight out of some misguided sense of nationalism! You are certainly powerful, even enough to rival my current state, but that in no way means you are justified in your irksome persistence! But now you shall interfere no longer!” As he said this, the mutant raised his hands into the air, rapidly pouring his energy into the palms of his hands. This violet sphere grew in size with each passing microsecond, starting off the size of a tennis ball and rapidly expanding. Within the span of three seconds it had already become the size of Apocalypse himself, and still it continued to grow larger. While this was occurring, though, something happened that confused him: a sudden gust of wind barreled into him, and he could have sworn he saw some kind of golden streak. Realizing it could likely be something that would impede his progress, the conqueror proceeded to chuck the massive energy ball as hard as he could, unaware that he was already too late.
Exactly one nanosecond after the Death Seed user had felt that “gust of wind,” Black Adam had ripped himself free from the several meter deep hole he’d created upon landing. At the exact moment he’d erupted out of the crater, the disgraced successor immediately took note of the swelling orb and prepared to intercept it, but before he could do so he noticed something else stop directly in front of him. Upon laying eyes on it, Adam immediately realized what it was: a yellow Power Ring. It was a device he was well familiar with, one he had even wielded previously, and now it seemed as though history would repeat itself.
“Teth-Adam of Earth. You have the ability to instill great fear.” The ring’s mechanical voice spoke aloud before placing itself on the middle finger of his left hand. Upon doing so, Adam’s body became doused in a blinding yellow light. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the yellow flash dispersed, revealing a drastic change in the Egyptian’s attire. For starters, the light seemed to have repaired his black spandex outfit, though the ring seemed to have had a major influence on its appearance. The cloth was now adorned with yellow star-like pieces of fabric that covered his shoulders, came down over his biceps and part of his side, and met around the lightning bolt that adorned his chest. One of the more notable changes was the sudden appearance of a silver belt around his waist, parted around the middle to not block off the aforementioned lightning logo.
As the feeling of this newfound power coursed through his veins, the Egyptian monarch heard the ring spoke one last message, one that he had heard only once before:
“Welcome to the Sinestro Corps.”
As these words echoed through his mind, Adam rocketed into the air, a yellow aura surrounding his body as he flew toward Apocalypse just as the pharaoh chucked his pyramid-sized sphere of death. Just when it seemed like the ball of energy was about to consume him, the newly reinstated Sinestro Corps member responded by thrusting his arm forward, firing out a beam from the Power Ring. Upon making contact, the yellow laser began spreading out, instantly surrounding the opposing projectile in a field of energy that stopped it mid-momentum. Then, with the greatest of ease, Adam slung the energy ball around and proceeded to chuck it back to its original owner. As he watched this occur, Apocalypse’s only response was to raise his arm and release a burst of telekinetic energy, dispersing his redirected attack in its entirety. Once he had seen the attack dissipate into nothingness, however, something immediately struck him in the chest, eliciting a cry of pain as he was sent him skidding back. The High Lord looked back at his opponent, quickly noticing both the new costume and newfound ring.
”So you berate me for relying on the Death Seed to gain more power, yet you see no problem in doing the same with your ring there?” Nur questioned.
”I’m not relying on its abilities. This is just to ‘level the playing field,’ as the saying goes.” Adam responded.
”Is that so?” Apocalypse asked, stifling a chuckle. “Then let’s see how well you can wield it!”
Apocalypse didn’t even have a chance to react before he felt something slice across his back. While he wasn’t aware of it, this was because Adam had conjured up an axe and used it to slice his back open!
Letting out a muffled cry of pain, Apocalypse turned around and attempted to throw out a punch, but his opponent, as if predicting this, suddenly teleported away. The Eternal Pharaoh prepared himself, waiting to see where his opponent would strike next. A bright light suddenly flashed behind him, causing him to turn toward its direction and hurl a bolt of azure energy at it, but Adam responded almost immediately by warping once again. He quickly reappeared at En Sabah’s side, throwing out a swift punch that shattered the sides of the conqueror’s ribs. Apocalypse attempted to fight through the pain and throw out another attack, but he quickly found himself intercepted via a teleporting punch to the stomach. As he lurched over, the X-Men’s nemesis felt a knee strike slam into his face, shattering his nose and sending him crashing onto his back.
As he got back up to his feet, allowing his amplified healing factor to quickly regenerate his injuries, Apocalypse could feel the return of an all-too familiar sense of dread. His hands had already begun shaking, and his skin had broken out into a cold sweat. Yet in spite of this growing sense of fear, the mutant tried his best to force himself to remain calm. Adam’s new ring may have given him some new abilities, but they still couldn’t compare to the power of the Death Seed!
Meanwhile, Adam had rematerialized, now a considerably safe distance from where Apocalypse was attempting to recover. At the exact moment of his reappearance, however, something odd occurred: a golden light flashed from the Power Ring, and with it, a message began to emerge.
”Nearby influx of fear located and steadily rising.” As he heard this, the corrupt champion looked up to see something interesting. The ring was showing him his opponent’s placement in the emotional spectrum, with his body being represented by two colors: the first was black, the color of death, which seemed to comprise a majority of his body. The second color was much smaller, but he could still see it: a wave of yellow, which was slowly growing in size.
Recognizing the yellow as being a physical representation of fear, Adam couldn’t help but grin. It seemed that his persistence was taking its toll on his opponent’s arrogant nature. Now just one question remained: how would he capitalize on this steadily growing advantage? Within the span of a nanosecond, a solution had come to his mind, one that caused his expression to become a devious grin. Quickly flying toward Apocalypse, the ring-wielding nemesis of Captain Marvel began to make further use of the device’s abilities. With nothing more than a thought, the tyrant caused a gold flash to emit from the Power Ring. To an outsider this may have seemed like an ineffective strategy, but as it turned out this light did serve a purpose. While it may not have seemed like it, the flash was preying on the transformed mutant’s fear, leeching off of it to power itself up while at the same time furthering the amount of fear that already existed within its target.
As he watched the yellow-clad monarch fly toward him, the armored darwinist could feel his preexisting dread continue to grow. But why? He couldn’t fear such an inferior being, could he? No, that was impossible! He was the ultimate being, the apex of evolution! To think that he could even feel a twinge of intimidation toward this inferior creature was laughable. It wasn’t possible, and he would prove it!
With that thought echoing through his mind, Apocalypse sought to prove it as he thrust his arm forward, stretching it out toward the Egyptian with the intent to knock him out of the air. Much to his surprise, his fist didn’t make contact with its target. Instead, Adam seemed to phase through it, almost like he was some sort of ghost!
Before he had a chance to question how this was possible, Apocalypse felt himself lurch over as his attacker suddenly drove an elbow into his stomach. Then, with surprisingly quick speed, Adam delivered a double axe handle that sent him crashing onto the ground. Apocalypse was still in the middle of getting back to his feet when he suddenly felt something grab hold of him. Upon looking down, he saw what it was: yellow chains, wrapped tightly around his torso and only growing tighter with each second.
“You can feel it, can’t you?” Apocalypse looked up, only to be nearly blinded by the intense golden light. Oddly enough, the longer he faced this yellow glare the more his sensation of fear seemed to increase. Despite this, he refused to let his spike in emotion show. He wouldn’t allow himself to show any sign of weakness, let alone in front of this inferior being!
”What am I supposed to feel? Infuriation at your poorly thought-out attempts at capture? Or perhaps amusement that after all you’ve done to me you believe that mere chains will be enough to stop me?” Nur responded, attempting to deny his sudden spike in fear.
“The answer is neither, because I can sense it: you’re in denial. You’re attempting to mask it with taunts and mockery, but there’s no mistaking this feeling: you’re afraid.” His opponent informed him, a smirk appearing on his face. “And with good reason.” As he spoke these words, Adam commanded a pillar of yellow fire to erupt from the ring, instantly consuming his target. He watched this with mild interest for several seconds before deciding that this was not enough. The mutant needed to suffer more, and the Yellow Lantern knew just how to do that!
While the flames continued to eat away at Nur, who was still thrashing about in an attempt to extinguish them, their creator ushered a telepathic command. Using a combination of his own knowledge of torture and the ring’s construct creation, he forced the pillar of fire to grow in size. The flames responded instantly, growing by several feet with each second. In tandem with this growth, several changes began to occur in the construct’s shape.
The first change occurred when two additional pillars began to grow out from the formless mass, their size increasing until they were equal in length to the pyramids below. Four extensions then emerged from these pillars, quickly morphing into paws. With these paws came further additions to the fiery creation: the first being a pair of blank eyes, created by a small parting in the flames, and the second being a maw of fangs.
With a savage roar, the fiery lion charged forward, using its front paws to tackle Apocalypse into the ground. Then, once it had made sure its prey was secure, the construct bit down on his neck, fully intent on tearing his throat out. Despite the immense pain that assaulted his mind, the armored warlord forced himself to look up, firing a beam from his eyes that phased through the lion, instead striking Adam in the chest and sending him flying back. As its master was sent flying back, the lion suddenly dispersed, freeing Apocalypse from its grasp. Upon hitting the ground, Nur immediately stood back up and looked toward the recovering Sinestro Corps member
“Afraid?” Apocalypse questioned as a grin spread onto his face. “What would I have to fear from you? Before the Death Seed, you are nothing more than a child wielding an advanced piece of jewelry.” In response to this, Adam merely smirked.
“You can deny it as much as you like, but this ring’s analysis tells the truth: your mind is slowly becoming consumed.”
”Is that so? Well, perhaps your readings are-“ Nur didn’t have time to finish his response before the ring began glowing yellow, and with it his emotional state went haywire. He could feel all of his emotions give way, quickly becoming consumed by one thing: fear. While he had been trying to deny it, his current mentality didn’t lie. He was terrified. If his emotional readings weren’t enough proof, his body had begun breaking out into a cold sweat, with his hands shaking uncontrollably. His vision had even begun blurring, though he wasn’t sure why until his eyes drifted to a certain device: the Power Ring. His mind quickly pieced the connection together, and he grit his teeth in anger.
“You think you can make me fear you with that ring?!” He roared angrily, taking a step forward. “FOOL! I am Apocalypse!” As he made this declaration, the mutant charged forward, his footsteps crashing against the paved terrain before he suddenly crouched down. “And I…” pressure built up in his legs for a brief moment, and then he released.
He boasted as he leapt into the air, flying toward Adam at faster than light speeds. Within less than a second he had managed to close the distance between them, throwing out a powerful left hook that was suddenly caught. Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t because of his would-be target using his own hand to catch it. Instead, it was thanks to a yellow arm that spawned from the ring.
“Then you will learn to fear me!” Adam responded as he forced his construct to violently twist his attacker’s arm, snapping it in half. Before he could attempt to recover or heal from this injury, however, Apocalypse found himself clocked in the stomach by a sudden punch from another arm that emerged from the ring. Before he could question what this creature was, the warlord found his question answered as the ring bearer’s latest creation emerged: a pharaoh. As this being materialized into existence, something happened that would have caused the jaws of any who witnessed it to drop in shock: it immediately grew in size, increasing to the point where it dwarfed Apocalypse in size by roughly 700 feet.
Once its size had fully stabilized, the construct of royalty threw one of its massive fists forward, only being stopped as Apocalypse brought his hand up and proceeded to casually block the oncoming limb. Then, without missing a beat, he proceeded to counter with a right hook of his own. The golden-skinned pharaoh was staggering back from the force of the blow, but it quickly shook off the punch before cracking its knuckles and putting its fists back up, raring to go for more. Another punch flew toward the mutant, but much like before it was quickly stopped. This time, however, Apocalypse’s body began to grow in size, increasing to the point where he matched the light-created being in height. Once he had, he gave an eager grin and proceeded to throw another counter punch, this one being a left hook that cracked his opponent’s “skin.” The construct grimaced in pain as its head snapped back, only for it to suddenly snap forward as its head made contact with En Sabah’s. An audible CRACK emphasized the strike as the construct reduced his nose to a bloody mess. Despite this, Apocalypse paid it no mind, instead choosing to throw his arm forward, stretching it around the construct’s neck and pulling him forward. Once it was close enough, he proceeded to fire off a blast of blue energy that struck it in the chest and left more chips in its flesh.
Yet despite these positive developments, Apocalypse still wasn’t able to shake off his overgrowing sense of fear that was still building up within him! He could feel his mind slowly becoming overwhelmed, and while he was managing to stave it off enough to continue fighting he could feel it growing more difficult to maintain control over his actions. Each punch or step was accompanied by a pang of primal terror that continued to spread itself throughout his subconscious.
In tandem with this spreading fear, the mutant was coming to another realization: each of the construct’s attacks were growing stronger, and he could easily piece together why that was. And he hated it!
With a furious scream, Apocalypse began using his molecular manipulation to continue bulking up his body. Energy began to surge through his body, fueling his increasing strength even further as he reeled both of his arms back. Then, in what could only be described as an adrenaline-fueled smackdown, he began throwing out energy-enhanced punch after energy-enhanced punch. Each one produced an explosion that tore further away at the construct’s light skin, and with each successful blow the Forever Walker’s speed only grew further in intensity. Unfortunately for him, his opponent wasn’t just going to take this. No, if anything, it planned to fight back with equal force!
Gritting its teeth, the massive construct responded by pushing through the onslaught of blows and threw out a left hook of its own. The pharaoh’s knuckles made direct contact with Apocalypse’s jaw, forcing him to stagger back. He proved quick to recover, however, and immediately went back in to retaliate! As they drew closer to each other, the two giants threw their fists out, smashing their knuckles against each other’s. This collision caused the bones in Nur’s knuckles to let out a nightmarish CRACK, while visible cracks began to form on the construct’s fists. If one expected this to keep the two down, however, they were dead wrong! Instead, the giants continued to beat against each other, with their stalemate seeming to be unending. Or at least that’s what it seemed.
As if sensing the idea of history repeating itself in the form of an unending clash of fists, Adam decided he would do something to switch things up. Conjuring up a sea of clouds above the entire city, he began applying his powers to various degrees. Using the Power of Isis, he had forced it to start manipulating the environment to his advantage. With a thought, the entire battleground began to violently shake, throwing Apocalypse off balance and allowing for the ring-generated construct to begin throwing out a savage beating. Using its target’s fear to further fuel its power, the golden creation had begun throwing out millions of punches per second, each one resulting in a nightmarish symphony of cracks and snaps as bones were quickly chipped to pieces. This pain, combined with the pre-existing maelstrom of fear, proved enough that the mutant’s mind nearly shut down from the overload of emotion.
But despite this, Apocalypse continued to push on. He didn’t care about his deteriorating mental stability, nor did he pay the agony of multiple broken bones any mind. He would fight on, to his last breath!
He took a step forward, preparing to use his shapeshifting to morph his broken arms into new weaponry. Unfortunately, his attempts were ultimately for naught, as something erupted out from underground and wrapped itself around his legs, ensnaring him in its grasp. Looking down, he found the cause: a massive set of vines, each one digging into his skin and preventing him from moving. Annoyed by this, he attempted to contort his body into a new form, but he soon found his attempts halted by another legion of vines. These ones wrapped themselves around his arms and neck, forcibly dragging him toward the ground below while also situating themselves in such a way that he wouldn’t even be able to budge an inch. Fortunately, he seemed to realize this and, in response, managed to teleport himself out of the floral binds.
Almost immediately, a bright flash of light suddenly flashed some distance away, revealing that Apocalypse had now reverted back to his normal size, and quickly spotted Adam. The thought of attacking him briefly crossed his mind, but Apocalypse quickly realized there were two major problems with that action: the first was that even with the Death Seed’s enhancement to his powers, his healing factor was still proving too slow to keep up with the injuries that had been inflicted. The second issue was that the giant pharaoh construct was still around, fully prepared to continue fighting against Apocalypse… at least until said construct was quickly dispersed by Adam, seemingly for no reason.
Although the action left him heavily confused, Apocalypse soon found out why his opponent had done such a thing. In less than a second, Adam had closed the distance far faster than the mutant could have hoped to react. In fact, the Forever Walker didn’t even realize his opponent had moved until a powerful left hook nailed itself into his face. With a sickening soundtrack of bones cracking and flesh tearing, the lower half of Apocalypse’s jaw was sent flying away, crashing onto the sand with a muffled THUD!
His body had already started healing itself, but Adam put an end to that as he drilled his hand into the mutant’s throat. Blood gushed from Apocalypse’s neck, but it quickly began repairing itself. Adam paid this no mind, however, as he grabbed the attempted invader up and hoisted him into the air. As he watched the self-proclaimed god struggle against his vice-like grip, Black Adam gave a malicious grin before opening his mouth and shouting one word:
Once the word left his mouth, a bolt of lightning flew down from the heavens and struck Apocalypse’s body directly. Once it had, the Eternal Pharaoh roared in pain as pure, unadulterated agony spread through his body. All he could hear was a hellish ringing in his ears, ringing that only grew worse as a fiery pain spread through his body. It felt as though every nerve in his body had been lit on fire, and each of his atoms felt as though they would explode any second. He silently prayed that the Death Seed would be able to heal off this damage, but that was when something happened that caused his eyes to widen in horror. Even with the deafening ring preventing him from hearing it, he could still feel the Death Seed shatter like glass, forcing him to revert back to his base form. The mutant looked down at the minuscule shards in surprise, but this surprise was soon replaced a completely different emotion.
Much to Adam’s surprise, his opponent wasn’t screaming in horror, nor was he cursing him in blind rage. Instead, he was laughing!
“Why are you laughing? Have you gone mad?” The king demanded.
”Ehehehe… no, the reason I’m laughing is because you’ve proven my point. I told you earlier that my creed is that only the strong are fit to rule, and no matter what I tried I still remained too weak to challenge you. By besting me, you’ve proven your superiority, and in turn that I was the one who was too weak to survive! Since you’ve proven yourself my superior, I leave your fate in my hands. Do with me as you wish!” As these words echoed throughout his mind, Adam gave a malicious grin before speaking.
“Very well, then. As king, I give you this one commandment: that you rest, and never return to this world!” Once those words had left his mouth, Captain Marvel’s nemesis lifted his captive further into the air and proceeded to open his mouth once again, barking out the word that granted him his power:
Another bolt struck Apocalypse’s body, this time yielding worse results than before. His skin and muscle tissue were quickly vaporized, revealing raw bone that soon became blackened and charred under the lightning’s heat. Much like earlier, his body fat and organs were completely destroyed, and their liquidated remains permeated the Celestial armor with a vile aroma. It was so sickening, so nauseatingly foul, that even the most hardened of men would have lost their lunch. Yet despite the smell, which even he would admit was assaulting his senses, Adam remained stationary. He stayed in the air, waiting for some sign of confirmation as to whether or not Apocalypse still lived. After seeing that the body- if it could even be called that- remained in its current state, Adam smirked.
”With your death, the last vestiges of your so-called ‘new world’ will die with you. Your fates are now one and the same…”
Bringing both hands back, Black Adam then brought them forward as he delivered a clap, producing a massive sound wave that shot out and spread through the sky. Upon making contact, En Sabah Nur’s mutilated remains crumbled apart, breaking down into dust that was quickly scattered by the Egyptian winds. Once he was certain his opponent had finally been finished off, Adam turned his back to where Apocalypse had previously lain, only looking back to speak ten more words.
“…reduced to nothing more than ashes scattered throughout the wind.” He finished before flying away from their battlefield, creating a massive BOOM as he rocketed back toward Kahndaq.
———————————–
With this fight, DC’s managed to claim its first victory in my Death Battles, and when comparing the stats of both it’s rather easy to see why that is.
First, there’s the matter of strength and durability. Both Adam and Apocalypse are immensely powerful, being able to trade blows with some of their universe’s strongest heroes, but Adam edged out in this category since he’s been able to contend with the likes of Captain Marvel, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Orion. Adding further credence to this is the time where he managed to overpower Martian Manhunter, a being that even Superman’s scared to fight. By comparison, Apocalypse’s best feats of strength came in the form of fighting against the likes of Thor and the Hulk, who are both certainly powerful, but ultimately fall short when compared to the people Adam’s faced off against.
Next is the matter of speed. Apocalypse has been able to tag Quicksilver and keep up with Thor, the former of whom can outrun radio waves and is calced as being able to move at
Let me explain. Adam’s been able to keep up with higher tier Justice League members such as Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman is able to move fast enough to keep up with the likes of The Flash and Professor Zoom, while Wonder Woman’s managed to move fast enough to block the Shattered God, a feat that’s calculated to be anywhere from 2.72 to 16.34 quattuordecillion times FTL (See here: DC Speed Revisited)
In short, Adam takes the stat trinity pretty handily. What about the other factors?
Well, they would both be even in experience and intelligence, seeing how they’ve been alive for centuries and fought in multiple wars. That said, Adam would have the advantage in close quarters due to his expertise in hand-to-hand combat and his no-nonsense approach to fighting meant that every hit would strike with the intent to kill Apocalypse, and given his already superior physicality he would eventually succeed. So why did this fight go on for as long as it did? The answer, if we’re excluding the main reason of entertainment purposes, is because of the next category: their powers.
While Apocalypse’s physical stats fell short compared to Adam’s own, he was ultimately able to keep himself in the game thanks to a combination of his Celestial armor and molecular manipulation. With the latter, he would be able to have a sense of unpredictability, on top of being able to lessen the gap in physicality and avoid some of Adam’s attacks. Add in his comparatively superior healing factor, and it would make Adam’s fight much more difficult than before. Unfortunately, these advantages wouldn’t be able to net him the win, as Apocalypse’s remaining powers were either countered or trumped by Adam’s own. More specifically, telepathy could easily be ruled out since Adam’s indomitable willpower has let him fight off the psychic attacks of Martian Manhunter, the strongest telepath in the DC universe. The only point where their powers are roughly even come in the form of both being able to fly and teleport, leaving them equal in terms of mobility. Besides that, Adam took every other advantage in terms of powerset.
He could call upon the lightning of Shazam to deal some serious damage to Apocalypse (which might even be enough to kill the mutant, seeing how it’s been able to incapacitate stronger beings like Martian Manhunter), use the Stamina of Shu to outlast Nur, and could even manipulate the battlefield to his advantage with the Power of Isis, which would also further boost his physicality.
Finally, let’s move onto their trump cards: the Yellow Power Ring and the Death Seed. The ring grants Adam more versatility thanks to its ability to create constructs, could boost his physical stats even further, and would likely grant him more powers considering that other characters who use these rings gain some new abilities in the process. In Apocalypse’s case, the Death Seed could boost his strength further, likely to the point of matching Adam’s own considering what we’ve seen from other hosts, but that’s really it. He wouldn’t be able to close the gap anywhere else, and given Adam’s far more brutal nature and superiority in almost all other stats, it’s unlikely he’d even be able to use it in the first place.
In short, this fight seemed close when looking at it from the surface, but upon digging deeper it became clear that this was a massive stomp.
Adam’s power left Apocalypse thunderstruck.
The winner is Black Adam.
Black Adam (Winner)
+ Completely dominated Apocalypse in the stat trinity
+ Superior stamina
+ Better hand-to-hand combatant
+ No-nonsense approach to fighting meant he’d be likely to end the fight early
+ Shazam lightning could easily take Apocalypse out
+ Indomitable willpower rendered Apocalypse’s telepathy useless
+ Power of Isis would allow him to manipulate the environment to his advantage, on top of boosting his already superior physicality
+ Yellow Power Ring allows for more versatility, a boost in physicality, and possibly more powers
= Mobility
= Experience and intelligence
– Less variety in terms of powerset
– Apocalypse’s molecular manipulation and shapeshifting made him more unpredictable
+ Though Adam would be familiar with these abilities since he’s faced an opponent with similar powers (Martian Manhunter)
Apocalypse (Loser)
+ Powerset had more variety
+ Armor and molecular manipulation would let him keep up with Adam for awhile
– Though it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s physically outclassed
+ Molecular manipulation and shapeshifting give him an edge in unpredictability
– Though Adam would be familiar with these abilities since he’s faced an opponent with similar powers (Martian Manhunter)
+ Better healing factor
+ Death Seed could boost his strength to the point of matching Adam’s own
= Mobility
= Experience and intelligence
– Adam’s no-nonsense approach to fighting, when combined with the aforementioned superior physicality, ultimately spelled doom
– Inferior stamina
– Less skilled in hand-to-hand combat
– Adam’s willpower rendered his telepathy worthless
– Shazam lightning would easily be able to take him out
– Power of Isis let Adam control the environment and furthered the gap in physicality
– Yellow Lantern Power Ring granted Adam more versatility, another physicality boost, and possibly more powers
Refusing to let up, Adam gripped the mutant by the neck and flew through the air, dragging his darwinistic adversary across the ground. Apocalypse grit his teeth, fighting back the urge to scream in pain as both his armor and skin were rapidly ground away. After what felt like an eternity, Adam finally let up as he ascended further into the air, taking Apocalypse with him. Then, once he felt he was at a large enough height, Adam reeled back the hand that contained Apocalypse and threw it forward, releasing his grip on the blue-clad conqueror in the process. Upon doing so, En Sabah Nur was sent hurtling through the air, his prone body crashing through a distant pyramid.
As he watched this from afar, Adam raised his arm into the air and summoned a mass of black clouds above himself. Then, with a forward thrust of his arm, he called forth a storm of lightning to strike down. As they flew toward their target, each of the streaks began converging on each other, quickly forming into a massive thunderbolt. With their added power and combined size, this abnormally large flash struck the airborne Apocalypse in the chest, eliciting a roar of pure, unadulterated agony from its target. Unfortunately for him, this pain would only grow further as he crashed through the other side of the pyramid, hitting the sand-covered ground with a muffled THOOM! This noise, combined with the destruction of one of the many pyramids that littered the country, caused the citizens and tourists who were wandering Egypt to stop what they were doing and look toward the source. Upon doing so, their expressions all contorted into ones of disgust or horror before they either looked away, lurched over and proceeded to vomit, or ran away out of horror at what they saw.
While he could see their reactions, Apocalypse wasn’t paying their reactions any mind, as he was dealing with his own troubles. For starters, he could hear nothing save for a hellish ringing, no doubt the result of his eardrums being ruptured by the lightning. In addition to this, he couldn’t move without a searing pain shooting through his body. Not helping matters were the winds buffeting his body with sand, which was an experience that could only be compared to pouring salt onto an open wound. This was due to the lightning having flash-fried his skin away, revealing the raw muscle that lay underneath.
In an attempt to get this pain to stop, Apocalypse summoned a force field around himself and began focusing as hard as he could, concentrating his healing factor onto regenerating all of his flayed skin and missing armor. Within the span of a few seconds he’d managed to restore a good majority of what he had lost. It wasn’t fully healed, but it was at least enough that the barrier was no longer necessary. With only a thought, he disabled the force field and started the slow process of pushing himself back up.
While he was in the middle of propping himself onto one knee, Apocalypse looked up to find that his opponent had suddenly appeared in front of him. In an attempt to take advantage of the situation, Apocalypse threw his fist forward, aiming to strike at Adam’s chest, but his would-be target responded by grabbed hold of his outstretched arm, trapping the wrist in a vice-like grip. Then, without missing a beat, the king violently twisted the encaptured limb, producing an audible SNAP as he forced it to bend at an uncomfortable angle. While this was able to elicit a cry of pain from his captive opponent, it would only grow in intensity as Adam continued applying pressure and twisting. Each time he did so, an orchestra of tearing muscles, ripping veins, and splitting tendons emerged from inside of the arm. In tandem with this, Apocalypse’s screams only increased in volume, allowing the citizens of Egypt to hear the traumatizing roars of agony that emerged from the mouth of history’s most persistent conqueror. These cries would eventually reach their peak when Adam gave a hard tug, tearing the outstretched limb clean from its socket.
Without missing a beat, Adam crushed the severed arm in his grip, reducing it to an unrecognizable puddle of blood. As he wiped the blood from his hand, he took note of his opponent’s current state. The stump of Apocalypse’s amputated limb was now spurting blood, though the Eternal Pharaoh paid this no mind. His screams of pain had ceased, and in their place was a guttural, animalistic snarl as he stared Adam dead in the eye. His furious, seething expression contrasted heavily with the king’s cold, judging look.
With his fury growing as he looked Adam in the eye, Apocalypse opened his mouth and let loose a roar of anger before rushing forward, moving faster than the tyrant had expected. Quickly regaining his focus, Adam brought his arm up as Apocalypse threw his remaining arm forward. For a split-second, he believed that history would repeat itself, but he was left visibly surprised when Apocalypse’s limb changed form, shifting into a clamp that restrained the defending limb.
Before the electrokinetic king could attempt to recover, his captor viciously slammed his head against his own. The strength behind this headbutt produced a massive shock wave, sending both the surrounding crowd and his intended target flying back. After several seconds of soaring through the air, Adam managed to reposition himself and violently slammed both feet against the ground, forcibly grinding to a halt. Upon stopping, he looked back up just in time to see that Apocalypse’s amputated limb was regenerating at a rapid rate. In an adamant refusal to allow his opponent a chance to recover, Adam flew toward En Sabah Nur, closing the distance in less than a second. In the time it took for Apocalypse’s mind to register that his opponent had moved, he also found himself hurtling through the air at hypersonic speeds, his limbs removed once again. While he was in the middle of realizing this, a familiar shout made its way to the mutant’s ears:
“SHAZAM!”
Immediately after that word was announced, another bolt of lightning came down from the sky. While he didn’t have much time to react, the Eternal Pharaoh was still able to hastily erect a barrier of energy in front of himself. Despite the force field doing its job, in that it managed to protect its creator from any major damage, it still couldn’t hold up against the sheer power of the lightning. In fact, the moment the bolt made contact, it exploded into a mass of white that shattered the barrier like glass and sent Apocalyose hurtling toward the sand-coated terrain below. While he was in the midst of descending, however, Apocalypse managed to regain enough focus to teleport away at the last second. As he watched this from afar, Adam scoffed.
“Do you really intend to rely on the same strategy twice?” He questioned. Upon receiving no response, his brow furrowed as he began looking around, searching for where his opponent could have disappeared to. Several seconds later, Adam noticed that his surroundings had suddenly grown darker. Looking behind himself, the former archeologist had little time to react as Apocalypse’s now gargantuan fist barreled into him, with the impact sending him flying through the air at hypersonic speeds. Before he could attempt to reposition himself, however, Apocalypse’s voice rang out, now loud enough that he could be heard throughout the city.
“You will not escape me so easily!” The kaiju-sized Egyptian roared, a grin adorning his face as he elongated his arm to catch the fleeing tyrant and reel him back in. Once he had drawn Adam in close enough, Apocalypse’s vice-like grip became tighter, eliciting a loud series of sickening crunches as several of his captive’s bones were audibly broken. Despite the pain that coursed through his body, Black Adam fought back the urge to scream. Famous conqueror or not, he refused to allow this invader the pleasure of hearing his pain become verbalized. As if in response to this stubbornness, his captor spawned a series of blades out from his fingers, with each one digging into Adam’s limbs, chest, and back. The spandex-clad Egyptian’s eyes widened in shock for a brief moment as he coughed out copious amounts of blood.
“Do you now see the difference between us, Adam? Your abilities and strength are formidable, that I will admit, but in the end they amount to nothing.” As he spoke these words, En Sabah Nur began applying more pressure as he added more blades to his grip, forcing more blood to spill out from the monarch’s body. “Had you accepted my offer you would have been granted countless blessings. Your powers would have been augmented beyond their limits, and your people’s safety would have been assured-“
“After you threatened their lives!” Adam cut him off, slowly straining as he attempted to rip himself free from his restraints.
”You mistake my intentions. I had only done what was necessary to gain your attention.” Apocalypse explained. “After all, it’s likely you would’ve paid us no mind had we simply entered your kingdom like common vagabonds and requested a meeting. Though now I see that I had made an error in judgment. Despite your powers and strength being enough to match my own, your mindset is the same as the modern world’s leaders. You’re blinded by your own arrogance, obsessed with maintaining your rule through fear and intimidation. And because of this, your people view you as a god.” As he venomously spat out the last portion, Apocalypse’s hands began to relax their grip, though this was not out of mercy. Instead, his fingers slowly changed shape, becoming thicker and stronger until they had almost completely restrained Adam’s body. The vice-like grip would only become more uncomfortable for Adam as his restraints constricted even further, drawing blood as they dug into his skin. Kahndaq’s king let out several grunts of pain as the widened digits burrowed themselves in even further, causing his bones to emit a series of nightmarish snaps.
”Once the world has been remade, there will exist no more blind leaders, no more false gods.” The giant’s voice boomed throughout the city. “With your death, the people of Kahndaq will realize that they were lost and seek solace in me. Any who remain loyal to you will perish, their skulls crushed into dust beneath our feet.” As if to emphasize this point, the First Mutant relinquished his grip on Adam before proceeding to kick him with as much force as he could muster. The former champion of Shazam could feel himself whipping through the air, his prone body slamming into multiple objects and structures back-first. Buildings, homes, pyramids, and shops found themselves quickly destroyed by the ballistic comet that was Black Adam. This immense destruction would only come to an end when the former archeologist slammed into his fifth pyramid thus far, exiting out of the opposite side and hitting one of the many sand-coated dunes that dotted the landscape. While in the middle of getting up, however, Adam suddenly found himself forced onto his back by a sudden blast of energy. It hadn’t been enough to harm him, in fact the only damage he’d suffered was that more of his costume was burnt away, but it was strong enough to stagger him for a brief moment. Realizing his opponent’s disorientation wouldn’t last, Apocalypse decided it would be best to act now.
Raising both hands into the air, the mutant began concentrating his telekinesis, making sure to spread its influence as far as it could possibly go. Then, as a grin began making its way onto his face, Apocalypse brought both hands higher. In tandem with this action, his telekinetic grip had begun exerting its pull as he forcibly ripped several structures from their foundations. Citizens began to panic at what they were witnessing as six of the pyramids that surrounded their city began floating through the air, each one rapidly converging onto one point. But their fear was about to be eclipsed by the arrival of something else, something that was being dragged from several thousand kilometers away.
Back in the city of Shiruta, the people of Kahndaq could feel a violent tremor spread throughout their city. Entire markets and houses began collapsing from the sheer force behind the earthquake, and the citizens were reacting with appropriate horror. Most had begun escorting their family and friends from the destruction, with others choosing to stay behind in order to help those who were unfortunate enough to be caught inside of the collapsing structures. While these rescues were still occurring, some of the family members had begun praying, begging for their king to intervene and save them from their plights. In the midst of these prayers, however, their ears were suddenly assaulted by a deafening cacophony of stone and concrete being torn asunder. In tandem with this was the new sight of a massive shadow looming from above, rapidly flying across the city at hypersonic speeds. In a mixture of curiosity and confusion, all of the civilians looked up, and what they saw caused their expression to shift into ones of awe and horror. Even those that were in the midst of praying went silent at what they witnessed.
Suspended over their heads by some several thousand meters, flying far above even the tallest of Kahndaq’s structures, was its crown jewel of architecture, the city’s palace. The massive temple towered over its onlookers, drastically eclipsing them in size. As they watched this from the surface, all of the astonished citizens found their minds filled with only one question: ‘Why is this happening?’
They wouldn’t receive an answer, and this question would continue to burn through their minds even after they pushed through their fear and continued their evacuations. While this was occurring, their thoughts also drifted to their king, with most wondering what was happening to him in order for this to occur.
While Kahndaq’s people were busy worrying, their invader continued his assault as he dragged the monarch’s temple to his current position. Once the dozens of pyramids and buildings had been perfectly aligned, Apocalypse looked down at Adam. Currently, the ex-champion was beginning to regain his orientation, and it was at this moment Apocalypse decided to act.
Thrusting both hands forward, Apocalypse shoved each of the structures toward Adam’s direction. All seven of the makeshift weapons converged onto his target, with the resulting impact creating a massive explosion of dust, limestone, and debris from the temple. Once the dust had settled, it revealed what remained of the massive buildings: a heap of rubble, one that was equal in size to the many sand dunes that surrounded the city. Despite knowing that his opponent was buried underneath the mountain of debris, Apocalypse knew that he wouldn’t die so easily, especially not after what he’d endured beforehand.
His hypothesis was revealed to be correct as, only seconds after the dust had settled, a fist burst out from the rubble, soon followed by a blast of electricity that blew away the surrounding pile. Adam rose up from the epicenter, visibly unharmed by the assault and only looking pissed-off. From the looks of things, his injuries had completely healed, almost like they were never there to begin with. As he noticed this from afar, Apocalypse found that Adam had turned toward his direction, currently sporting a hate-filled glare as they locked eyes.
”Surely you didn’t believe that such a weak assault would be enough to kill me?” Adam questioned, his tone having a cocky edge to it. Before his opponent could open his mouth to answer the question, Adam flew forward, moving at faster than light speeds and slamming into his jaw with a left hook. “If so, then you are more of a pathetic fool than I realized.” As this sentence left his mouth, he flew over to the other side, following up with a right hook that sent the conqueror staggering back. “But not just that, you are also a hypocrite! For all your talk of changing the world and being different from its leaders, in the end you are nothing more than the very embodiment of what you claim to despise!”
An electricity-enhanced punch to the abdomen forced En Sabah Nur to lurch over, coughing up a mixture of spittle and blood before his mouth was forced shut by a sudden uppercut.
”You say that I am blinded by arrogance, yet you believed that you could force me to kneel before you through reputation alone!” As this statement left his mouth, Adam cupped both hands together and reeled back for a brief moment before slamming his fists directly into Apocalypse’s forehead, striking with enough force that he sliced through the pharaoh’s skin. Nur let out a cry of pain as he stumbled back, blood oozing out of his now-torn flesh, though his opponent refused to relent, either in his beating or insults. He continued the assault with a dive kick that slammed into the darwinist’s Adam’s apple. The armored giant sputtered in pain as he collapsed onto his back, kicking up a massive cloud of dust from beneath.
“How pitiful! For all that history and the various legends built you up as, in the end you are nothing more than a deranged madman holding onto delusions of grandeur from times that have long since passed.” As he heard the king’s baritone voice call out to him, an enraged Apocalypse grit his teeth before propping himself up with one arm. He scanned the area for a brief moment, hoping to find some sign as to where his opponent had gone. While he was in the middle of turning to the right, however, his ears picked up the sound of something… bubbling, and from the sounds of things, whatever it was had quickly made its way to the surface.
Realizing he had little time to dodge what was coming, the Forever Walker erected a barrier around himself just in time for a pillar of lava to erupt from underneath, forcing him to soar through the air along with it. While the barrier had managed to shield him any damage, it hadn’t been successful in shielding him from the heat. In fact, the moment it had made contact with his skin, Apocalypse’s body violently burst into flames from the temperature alone. The fire ate away at his body, but he fought through the pain as hard as he could, focusing his efforts on escaping the molten liquid. With an immense amount of strain and a scream of desperation, Nur managed to force his teleportation to work in spite of his current condition, disappearing in a bright flash of light.
Some several thousand feet away, obscured by the shade of one of the few remaining pyramids, Apocalypse reemerged. He had decreased in height, having reverted back to his original size, and he appeared to be in terrible condition. Despite his healing factor lessening the results, he was still covered in major burns from head-to-toe, his armor had mostly been melted away, and his breathing had gone ragged. He leaned against one of the pyramid’s walls for support, taking slow, ragged breaths as he lay deep in thought.
‘His power… it’s more than what I expected, more than the legends had described. Perhaps it even surpasses my own!’ The warlord’s eyes widened in shock at this realization, but he quickly shook it off. ‘I must learn how he obtained these abilities! Self-experimentation? The Celestials? Magic?’ He looked down and found that his hand was… trembling? Was he… scared of Adam’s powers? ‘No! I will learn how he gained these powers and obtain them for myself!’
As that thought entered into his mind the mutant began focusing his telepathic abilities, utilizing as much of his psychic prowess as he could muster. The moment he attempted to enter Adam’s mind, however, a pang of pure, unadulterated pain entered into his conscience. No, just describing this sensation as “pain” didn’t cut it. This was a feeling more akin to having several thousand red hot needles being simultaneously jammed into his brain. It was agonizing enough that it overwhelmed the High Lord, forcing him to collapse onto all fours as a tortured, bloodcurdling cry was forced out of his mouth.
“Are you really so eager to know the source of my powers that you would attempt to pry into my mind?” The familiar voice caused Apocalypse to look back up just in time for Adam to grab hold of his neck and hoist him into the air. “As you said before, ‘such a foolish mistake, and one that shall come at a grave cost.’ But be grateful, Apocalypse, because I’m willing to grant you a personal demonstration.”
Quickly reeling his arm back, Adam then proceeded to chuck his captive with as much strength as he could, sending Apocalypse hurtling through the air. Before he could even hit the peak of his ascension, the High Lord found himself forced back to the ground by a hammer strike, resulting in a massive crater upon landing. He wasn’t even allowed a chance to get up before Adam forced him further into the ground by slamming a foot into his chest.
”Shu grants me the endurance needed to power through your petty tricks.” A sudden kick to the chin sent the Eternal Pharaoh rolling across the sand-coated terrain, only stopping when he placed his hand against the ground and forced himself to skid to a halt. He looked back up toward Adam’s direction, only to find that the king had disappeared completely!
WHAM!
…or perhaps not, as a left hook slammed itself into Apocalypse’s jaw. Before he had a chance to stagger back, another hook slammed into his face! These punches would only grow further in speed and intensity, with each one shattering a different part of his armor and bone. Despite still being in the middle of reeling in pain, Apocalypse could hear his opponent’s voice ring out.
“Heru grants me incredible speed and the ability of flight. Amon blesses me with strength far beyond most other men.” Captain Marvel’s nemesis explained, emphasizing his point by moving even faster than before, landing millions of devastating punches with each passing second. By this point, Apocalypse’s bones had been broken so thoroughly that not even his healing factor could counteract the constant damage he received. After a full 30 seconds of mercilessly beating the invader, Adam finally ended the onslaught with a final strike to the chest, forcing Apocalypse to spit out blood as his ribs were shattered into small fractures of bone. As he felt this pain shoot through his body, the conqueror realized he would need to change tactics, though this would be nigh-impossible given his current situation.
Out of desperation, Apocalypse began attempting to push through the agonizing pain, and through some miracle he was able to teleport away just as Adam attempted to grab hold of him. Upon seeing that his opponent had evaded him, the monarch began scanning the desert, using a combination of his own reliance on war tactics and the Wisdom of Zehuti to pinpoint where Nur would reappear.
As it turned out, the darwinist had reappeared a good distance away, but upon doing so he heard the sound of something rapidly approaching him. Out of instinct, Apocalypse attempted to summon a barrier in front of himself, but his attacker, seeming to expect this, intercepted it by summoning a bolt of lightning. The moment they collided, the energy shield shattered like glass, but before Apocalypse could even react to this, something smacked him across the face, knocking loose several of his teeth. He began staggering back from the pain, but soon recovered and turned to face his attacker, preparing to fire a beam of energy from his eyes. He wouldn’t even have time to begin this attack, however, as his assailant, almost seeming to predict his actions, proceeded to jam… something into his eyesockets. Screams of agony began emerging from the now blinded Apocalypse, but they quickly died in his throat as he felt something grab hold of his neck.
”So now you attempt to sneak away from our fight? It seems as though with each action you take you only succeed in irritating me further.” Nur responded to Adam’s statement with a series of choked gasps, though he still managed to croak out one question.
“How… did you… find me?”
“The Wisdom of Zehuti grants me intelligence beyond all others. Anything you can try, anything you plan,” the king temporarily cut himself off as he felt his captive rapidly slim down, his frame growing skinnier with each passing millisecond. Once he was slim enough, the snake-like shapeshifter attempted to escape from the vice-like grip he was being held in, but it was all for naught as the Egyptian’s grasp grew tighter, securing Apocalypse’s position between his palm. As he looked the blinded, serpentine mutant in the eye, Adam finished by declaring, “I will outwit it.”
Apocalypse continued his attempts at evading capture, trying to use his control over molecules as a means to escape, but no matter what he tried, it ultimately proved ineffective. While he was still in the middle of writhing around, Adam’s fists began crackling with electricity, which he then proceeded to charge through the pharaoh, forcing his skin to char and blacken.
“With the Power of Aton, I wield the lightning of the gods themselves.” As if to emphasize this statement, Shazam’s fallen successor began to discharge more electricity into his hapless victim, eliciting a chilling, primal scream of agony. He attempted to attack by forcing his body to shift into a mass of blades, each one digging itself into Adam’s skin, but his captor only gave an annoyed grunt in response before tossing him toward the ground. Upon landing, the High Lord quickly morphed back into his original form and rushed forward, planning to take advantage of Adam’s injuries while they were still fresh. One could only imagine his surprise when, rather than slamming into Adam’s body and sending it reeling back, he was instead stopped mid-momentum as the corrupt champion pushed back using equal, if not superior strength. Much to Apocalypse’s surprise, it appeared that Adam’s wounds had already managed to completely heal themselves.
”How is it that you can still stand? And your healing abilities! How is it possible for a mere mortal to regenerate so quickly? Is this another of your supposed God-given powers?”
”They aren’t ‘supposed,’ Apocalypse! They are! It’s thanks to the Courage of Mehen that I’m granted an infallible mental fortitude, in addition to a healing ability powerful enough to shrug off whatever damage you might be lucky enough to inflict.” Upon hearing his adversary’s boast, the armored pharaoh scoffed.
”So you attribute all of your blood I’ve spilled to luck alone?” He chuckled for a brief moment before continuing to speak. “Tell me, if all I’ve done thus far has been nothing more than mere luck, why is it that this fight still continues to progress?”
”The only reason this has gone as far as it has,” Adam responded as he began overpowering his opponent, “was because I had difficulty in finding a weakness to exploit in your abilities.” He then broke into a grin as his eyes and hands began crackling with electricity, further weakening the conqueror by leaving horrific burns on his hands. The current then began to spread further, quickly ascending up to the mutant’s forearms. In tandem with this, Nur’s grip began to grow weaker, allowing his spandex-clad rival to push him further back. “But that is no longer the case! Now I know what I can use to end this pitiful farce before it goes any further!”
As this statement left his mouth, a massive gust of wind suddenly blew forward, striking Apocalypse in the chest and breaking his grip on the king’s hands. While he was still in the middle of skidding back from the force of the gale he could feel himself being pulled into something. Upon looking over his shoulder, he saw what was trying to reel him in: it was starting off slowly, but quickly grew in speed with each passing second. The mountain of rubble from several minutes ago was quickly being swept into its grasp, forming a barrier of debris that would tear apart anything it came near. Entire pyramids were being ripped asunder, their limestone bricks being ripped out of their sealant and into the gaping maw of the funnel. The pharaoh turned back to face Adam, but whatever he was about to say wound up dying in his throat as Adam slammed a golden boot into his chest. As a result of this, the self-proclaimed deity found himself knocked off balance and sucked into the powerful tornado. Upon being dragged in, he found himself buffeted by the thousands of pieces of debris, yet these only seemed to break upon making contact with his skin. In response to these ineffective attacks, Apocalypse merely grinned.
’So he believes that after everything he’s thrown against me, that a mere force of nature can end my life? FOOL! It’s clear he still remains ignorant of who he faces!’ Unbeknownst to him, his adversary was only getting started. Raising his hand, Adam began summoning a mass of dark clouds, seemingly from out of nowhere, and with nothing more than a thought, proceeded to coat the entire city in dark storm clouds.
”Witness the power… OF ISIS!”
As he barked these words aloud, so much that they could be heard even over the deafening roar of the cyclone, Adam thrust his arm forward as he commanded the sea of clouds to rain lightning down upon one singular target: the tornado. Each bolt descended from the heavens, striking their target simultaneously. Upon doing so, something occurred that should have been impossible: each stroke of lightning merged, assimilating into one as the mass of winds absorbed the electricity into itself. To make matters worse for Apocalypse, he was the first to experience the power behind this newfound creation firsthand.
His screams were deafening, though the combination of howling winds and booming lightning rendered them nigh-inaudible. With each passing millisecond he could feel more of his skin become reduced to ash as his muscles and tendons were flash-fried. His body fat became fried into a disgusting gristle by the combined heat of the electricity, with each of his internal organs exploding into what could only be described as liquidated chunks.
Yet in spite of this hellish, agonizing pain he was experiencing, En Sabah Nur refused to black out. He hadn’t come this far in his journey, lived for thousands of years, and built his reputation this far just to fall before this arrogant mortal. He would persevere! Adam’s powers were amazing, he would even admit to them being superior to his own, but even the might of the Egyptian gods couldn’t compare to his ultimate weapon!
With little time to spare, the mutilated darwinist quickly reached into his armor and fished out an object from within. It was small, roughly the size of a skipping stone, and crystalline in shape. Adorning its frame were multiple veins, each one coursing with a mysterious pink energy.
This was the Death Seed, a cosmic relic that had been forged by the Celestials themselves. Under normal conditions, Apocalypse would use this to convert a worthy candidate into his Horseman of Death, but in this case he had a different target in mind.
With the rate of his blackening vision rivaled only by his desperation to survive, En Sabah Nur jammed the Death Seed into his chest, his healing factor absorbing the relic into his body. Upon doing so, an explosion of blue energy erupted out from his body, causing the tornado and surrounding storm clouds to disperse. With its space now unrestricted, the burst of energy began to grow further in size, consuming the entire city within the span of a few milliseconds.
Unfortunately for Adam, not even the Wisdom of Zehuti could warn him of the sudden explosion. As a result, the energy immediately overtook him, causing an excruciating, burning pain to spread throughout his body.
Quickly regaining his senses, the former champion of Shazam began struggling as he attempted to stand his ground, crossing both arms in front of his face and gritting his teeth in the process. The energy was searing away at his body, burning through his spandex costume and eating away at his skin. Despite this, he planted his feet further the ground, leaving craters as he stubbornly tried to remain firm. The pain he was experiencing was immense, that he was willing to admit, but he refused to let himself be done in by this invader.
Gritting his teeth, Adam began doing his best to push himself forward, violently fighting against the opposing energy. With a heavy struggle, he lifted one of his legs into the air before slamming it against the ground as he took one step forward. This was repeated by the opposite foot, allowing him to steadily grow closer to his adversary. As though it were sensing this, the energy then grew in intensity before bursting outward once more, sending its stubborn target skidding back several meters. Then, once he had come to a complete stop, the energy finally dispersed.
As he put both arms down, the heavily burned and shirtless monarch looked up, allowing him to see a familiar silhouette staring down at him. The transformed mutant then began speaking, his voice booming loud enough that the entire city could hear him.
“Your powers were given to you by the gods, correct? To gain the attention of your deities, much less their blessings, is indeed an impressive feat! But even gods are not destined to last! No matter their accomplishments, they will be forgotten, their names and identities snuffed out from history like a candle’s flame! There is but one constant throughout this universe, the one concept that is feared by many, admired by others, and has spread its influence throughout the world! It matters not what your powers are, nor where they come from, because in the end…”
Apocalypse stepped forward, revealing that the Death Seed’s influence had had a major influence on him. In addition to granting a major boost to his healing factor, as every one of his injuries seemed to have completely vanished, it had also drastically altered his appearance. His blue armor had darkened, becoming a black hue that seemed more appropriate for the night sky. The gray wires, wrists, and the A belt buckle adorning his waist were also affected, as all of them had become a rich shade of cobalt. Even his skin had changed in tone, going from light gray to the same color as the once-gray armor. One of the more noticeable changes, however, was in his chestplate. It had parted slightly, revealing that the Death Seed had fused itself into his skin.
”Not even one who has been granted the powers from the divine can escape from the cold grasp of death!” He boasted, his voice returning to normal as he looked at the tyrant with a smug sense of superiority.
“Escape death? I have lived for over 3000 years, and not once has there existed a man capable of bringing me to such a point.” Eyeing the device that lay in his opponent’s chest, Adam briefly cocked an eyebrow as his expression momentarily shifted to intrigue, only for it to quickly return to neutrality. “But if you believe that a mere jewel can grant you the strength to do such a thing, then come!”
Apocalypse response to this ultimatum? A wicked grin, soon followed by a swift lunge. His limb flew forward, milliseconds away from making contact, only to hit thin air as its target disappeared from sight. A sudden counter struck the High Lord in the back of his tibia, causing his left knee to buckle before he collapsed onto the ground. Fortunately, he proved quick to recover and pushed himself back up, moving fast enough to intercept an oncoming blow to his side and counter with an elbow to the stomach. Adam didn’t even have a chance to begin skidding back before the Death Seed-infected pharaoh stretched his arm out, wrapping it around his neck and pulling him closer. While this was occurring, Apocalypse shifted his free arm into a cannon, one that was already crackling with white energy, and proceeded to release his grip on Adam, allowing the Egyptian’s momentum to continue carrying him forward. Then, with a smirk on his face, Apocalypse unleashed the full extent of his pent-up energy.
THWOOOOOOOOM!
Adam cried out in pure, unadulterated agony as the beam of energy struck him at full force, pushing him several meters away in the process. It burned away at his skin and slowly began eating away at his muscle tissue, revealing raw bone. Normally, this would have been impossible, but it was thanks to the Death Seed’s amplification of his powers that Apocalypse had managed to accomplish such a feat. Yet in spite of this immense power, the corrupt champion refused to let himself be done in!
With great difficulty, Adam began pushing through the massive laser, slowly taking steps toward the transformed limb as he crossed both arms in front of himself in an attempt to defend himself. While he was still in the middle of his struggles, the tyrant began focusing the Power of Isis, using it to project a psychic barrier around himself. Within the span of a microsecond the shield had surrounded Adam’s entire frame, allowing him to uncross his arms and launch himself at the transformed mutant. Apocalypse wouldn’t realize this until it was far too late, when his victim’s right hand shot out from the beam and violently seized the arm cannon.
”What?!” He questioned, followed by a cry of pain as Adam casually snapped the transformed limb like a twig. Fighting back the overwhelming urge to scream, Apocalypse instead gnashed his teeth in anger as he once again tried to use his shapeshifting, this time in an attempt to throw Adam off. Morphing his free hand into a spiked mace, Apocalypse swung toward Adam’s head, only for his anger to morph into shock as he felt it bounce off of an invisible force. Apocalypse didn’t even have time to regain his focus before Adam grabbed hold of the other arm and, with a harsh tug, attempted to rip them from their sockets. Much to his surprise, however, this didn’t occur. Instead, the structure of Apocalypse’s muscles and bones seemed to grow in rigidness and density, preventing them from even budging. Adam didn’t even have the time to think up another strategy before his captive managed to free himself, using his molecular control to loosen his arms and slip them from Adam’s grip. Then, just as quickly as he had freed himself, Apocalypse lunged forward, bringing both arms toward the Egyptian’s chest. While it was mostly nullified by the barrier, the blows had done their job as the psychic shield was shattered, with a third strike sending its summoner shooting across the desert and tumbling across the ground.
As he placed his hand against the sand-coated terrain, slowly crawling to a halt, Adam looked up just in time for Apocalypse to teleport in front of him and grab him by the head. Then, almost effortlessly, the First Mutant lifted him into the air.
“Do you realize your mistakes now, Adam?” Apocalypse asked, a psychotic grin slowly making itself visible as he threw out another punch, forcing the monarch to spit out blood. “You were arrogant enough to judge the Death Seed based on its appearance, unaware of the true power it holds within!” The transformed conqueror continued his beating by releasing his grip and delivering an overhead strike, hitting with enough force that Adam found himself embedded in the ground. “In the hands of lesser beings, the seed raises their power to the point of being comparable to the Celestials themselves! But when under my possession, it allows for more than that!”
With a snap of his fingers, a pillar of violet energy erupted from underneath Adam, consuming his mutilated body in its entirety. A scream of anger and pain emerged from the disgraced champion as he was sent hurtling through the air. Just as he was about to hit the peak of his ascension, Apocalypse suddenly teleported, rematerializing above him and delivering a dive kick to the chest. Adam fought back a pained grunt as he felt his ribs compress against his chest, an audible crack accompanying the impact. He hurtled through the air like a spandex-clad meteor, rapidly approaching the nearby Egyptian city. Within the span of a few seconds he felt his back repeatedly slam through dozens of structures, with each one collapsing immediately after the impact. His trip would only end once he hit one of the city’s paved streets, burying him several feet underground and forming a massive crater around where he’d landed.
Despite the rough landing he had just endured, Adam still managed to push himself back up, seemingly without too much difficulty. There was a good reason for this, as the Courage of Mehen had already gone to work with healing his injuries. By this point his skin and muscle tissue had fully regenerated, and even his recently fractured ribs had healed themselves. Yet he could still feel himself reeling from the blows Apocalypse had inflicted on him. It was almost enough to get Adam to respect him. Almost being the keyword.
His thoughts were soon interrupted as the Wisdom of Zehuti alerted him to a sudden attack. Realizing it could come from any direction, Adam teleported out of the crater, and he proved to be just in time. The moment he had done so, another explosion of energy erupted out from the crater, one that likely would’ve ended up burning through him had he not moved out of the way. Just as he had respawned some distance away, Adam heard his opponent’s voice call out again.
“My powers are enhanced beyond the shackles of this mortal body!” Apocalypse boasted as he suddenly charged forward, attempting to shoulder-tackle the tyrant. Despite having little time to react, Adam was still able to put both arms in front of himself, taking the full brunt of the tackle before pushing back with equal strength. The two seemed to be at a stalemate, locked in an unending struggle against each other. They looked each other in the eye, Adam’s glare meeting Apocalypse’s cold, smug expression. The two continued to struggle against each other’s strength, with Nur slowly gaining an edge as he started bulking up his muscles. A grin began to make its way onto Apocalypse’s face as he continued pushing Adam back, and soon he continued boasting.
“With the Death Seed in hand, I’m able to effortlessly cull out the weak from the strong!” As if to emphasize his point, the mutant gripped his opponent’s arms and pulled him forward, slamming his foot directly into the monarch’s chest. Before Adam could even try to get back to his feet, he found himself forcibly slammed into the ground by his adversary’s armored boot. “The worthy shall finally be allowed to flourish without being obstructed any further by their unfit counterparts!“ Orange energy began to crackle in the pharaoh’s eyes and hands as he continued speaking. “And I shall gladly start by ridding the world of one of the vestiges of its old gods!”
Once this statement had left his mouth, Apocalypse let loose a powerful roar as he fired beams of energy from his eyes, blasting Adam directly in the face. Had these lasers hit another being, they would have found themselves immolated, the agonizing pain overtaking their mind for a brief moment before the lasers’ heat stripped them down to the bone. But Adam was not most men. Through a combination of Shu’s Stamina, Mehen’s Courage, and his own nigh-limitless willpower, the leader of Kahndaq was managing to push through the flesh-searing heat. The muscles in his arms began to flex and pulse as he pushed himself up, slowly overpowering the conqueror’s grip. Noticing this, Apocalypse also responded by gnashing his teeth.
”You will stop resisting and STAY DOWN!” He barked, applying more pressure to his boot and eye beams.
”As though I’d yield to someone like you!” Adam roared back as he suddenly pushed himself back up, throwing Apocalypse off balance and forcing him to stumble back. He wouldn’t have a chance to recover, however, as his former captive was eager for revenge. Apocalypse didn’t even have the time to put his leg down before Adam suddenly landed a devastating uppercut to the chin. The punch struck with enough force that it sent the relic-enhanced warlord crashing into a nearby structure, with said structure’s remains instantly collapsing and burying him underneath. Just as quickly as he’d been engulfed, however, Apocalypse burst out of the mountain of rubble, his expression showing that he was more pissed than hurt. Upon fully making his way to the surface, Nur was immediately grabbed by the neck and hoisted into the air by Adam, who glared daggers into his eyes.
”I expected better from you, Apocalypse. Given your reputation, I thought you’d prove a worthy adversary, but instead I find myself fighting against a pitiful shell of a king.” As he said this, Adam started applying pressure to his attempted usurper’s neck, ready to let him meet the same fate as his deceased henchman. ”I will admit this: that ‘Death Seed’ as you call it is certainly powerful, perhaps it can even match the powers given to me by the wizard! In worthy hands, its wielder would be virtually unstoppable!” Adam then began clenching his fist, slowly crushing Apocalypse’s neck in his grasp. “Such power is wasted on you! Only the strength and resolve of a TRUE king can harness its true potential!”
Once he had finished this thought, Adam thrust his hand forward, fully intent on ripping the Death Seed from Apocalypse’s chest. Much to his surprise, it suddenly halted mid-momentum thanks to a sudden burst of telekinetic force.
”Do you really think… that I would allow someone as insubordinate as yourself… to steal the Death Seed from me so easily?” The bald darwinist asked as he struggled to hold Adam back. Even with the power boost from the Death Seed, his strength was still being rivaled by the augmentation granted by Adam’s Power of Isis. “You aren’t worthy of its power, much less of surviving as long as you have.”
”Is that so?” Kahndaq’s sovereign asked as he continued pushing forward, his fingers slowly jamming themselves into the mutant’s chest. “Because from what I’ve seen, it’s you who lacks the strength to survive! For all your talk of superiority and culling of the weak, you-”
”ENOUGH OF YOUR PRATTLE!”
Apocalypse’s roar of fury echoed throughout all of the city, causing the citizens to stop panicking and look up. Upon doing so, they were met with the sight of a blue-skinned mutant breaking free from the grip of a spandex-clad man, which was soon followed by said mutant tackling his former captor and slamming him against the ground. Their surrounding audience looked on in terror as Apocalypse continued to beat against his royal adversary.
“You know NOTHING of me, nor do you hold any right to judge my philosophy!” He proceeded to punctuate this sentence via an overhead punch, using his molecular control to enlarge his fist for further strength. A crater formed beneath Adam’s body, with its impact being accompanied by a massive tremor rocking the entire city. Adam prepared to get back up, but he soon found himself forced back into the ground as his opponent’s fist slammed against his face. “From a young age, I was taught that only the strong are fit to survive, and I have held by those teachings for my entire life.”
Another punch, this one being strong enough to tear away at Adam’s skin and leave a crater beneath his skin.
“Entire civilizations have fallen before me, either in worship or defeat, for centuries.”
A third strike, this one smashing the monarch’s face further into the ground.
“Those who survived were considered worthy of life, and those who fell would only prove to be worthy sacrifices to my cause!”
A fourth punch, this one audibly breaking Adam’s nose.
“That is the creed I have lived by my entire life, and through it I have seen one thing: that power is the only way to survive! And throughout the centuries I have lived, I have realized that there are none more fit to survive than me!”
As he said this, Apocalypse attempted to throw another punch, this one being strong enough that it likely would’ve been enough to crush his skull. Much to his surprise, however, Adam managed to effortlessly catch the enlarged fist mid-flight. Shocking him even further was that Adam was even managing to push his arm back, quickly overpowering him. In response, Apocalypse grit his teeth and attempted to use his molecular manipulation once again, but his former captive proved quicker on the draw in more ways than one.
Using his superior speed, Adam threw out multiple body blows, each one destroying the warlord’s armor or tearing through skin as he was pushed further back. Despite this, Apocalypse’s body was quickly regenerating, though even the Death Seed was having trouble keeping up with the damage. As if realizing this, Apocalypse began pushing through the pain and doing his best to fight back. Thrusting his arms forward, he fired off a massive beam of red energy that blasted the former archeologist in the chest, burning his skin and sending him skidding back.
Seeing a chance to get a leg up on his opponent, Apocalypse wasted no time in stretching his arm out and pulling his Egyptian captive forward. Once he had closed the distance between them, the mutant shifted his hand into a massive blade, which he then proceeded to ram into Adam’s chest. Oddly enough, the pain didn’t even seem to register with Adam, as he effortlessly pushed through and proceeded to throw out a lunging jab to Apocalypse’s own chest. The punch made direct contact with the First Mutant, forcing his blade-hand out of Adam’s chest. Much like his opponent, however, Apocalypse proved quick to recover and charged back in, with both throwing out punches that struck each other directly in the face. The impact resulted in a massive shock wave shooting throughout the city, creating yet another tremor that rocked the surrounding area. Additionally, it had sent both men flying back, though their unwillingness to give up so easily led to them quickly recovering. Unfortunately, one proved a bit slower to recover, which the poor victim would only realize when he looked back to see Adam’s fist preparing to nail itself into his face.
Despite having little time to react, Apocalypse was still able to put his arm up, allowing him to block the strike with little trouble. Then, with surprising reflexes, he threw out a counterblow, striking with enough force that another shock wave ripped through the air. While his opponent was still in the midst of recovering, Nur began throwing out five blows, using his shapeshifting to make each one stronger by either turning his hands into bludgeons or increasing their size. Unfortunately for him, these were the only free hits he’d be able to land, as Adam managed to regain focus and retaliated with his own series of blows. Each of these punches, kicks, and lunges were thrown out at faster than light speeds, allowing the king to throw out millions of strikes within the span of a few seconds. Unfortunately, his armored opponent was quick to recover from this seemingly endless combo and quickly responded by dishing out his own onslaught of equally powerful blows.
The two men continued struggling against each other’s strength, seemingly at a stalemate. It didn’t matter what they tried, Apocalypse’s molecular manipulation, energy blasts, size-shifting, and even his attempts at teleporting found themselves countered by Adam’s superior hand-to-hand expertise and his own immense powerset. It seemed as though this clash of fists, feet, and occasional energy blasts would last for an eternity, and neither man was willing to give in.
Unbeknownst to either of the Egyptian tyrants, their unending stalemate was causing immense amounts of destruction to their surrounding area, resulting in widespread panic. The population watched in horror as the various buildings and other structures began shaking, with their foundations rapidly collapsing in on themselves. The city’s architecture continued to deteriorate, and each passing second was accompanied by yet another structure collapsing in on itself.
As their surroundings crumbled to rubble, the citizens began running in terror, hoping they’d be able to evacuate from their collapsing home before they found themselves another casualty of the chaotic destruction. As this abject fear consumed their minds and fueled their desire to flee, the townspeople were unknowingly fueling something else as well. To be more specific, it was fueling something that lie in wait a whole universe away.
On the planet Qward, which lay in another world known as the Antimatter Universe, a yellow ring suddenly emitted a gold flash as it picked up a spike in emotion. As if in response to this surge of fear, the ring activated and began speaking, its voice low and mechanical.
“Sinestro Corp ring online.” It announced before suddenly taking off, exiting the planet and reaching the depths of space in less than a nanosecond. While in the midst of its travels, the yellow piece of jewelry spoke out once more, this time declaring “Seeking suitable candidate.” After three milliseconds of searching, the Power Ring sped off, approaching its desired target at trillions of times the speed of light.
Back on Earth, the seemingly endless exchange of blows between the two dictators was finally drawing to a close as Adam charged his fists with electricity and lunged forward, throwing an overhead punch that caused Apocalypse to briefly descend through the air, with the mutant only managing to stop himself several feet away from the ground. He looked up at where Adam had been, fully prepared to retaliate with his own attack, only to find that the king had teleported once again. Realizing that he could attempt to attack from any angle, the mutant prepared to erect a barrier at the exact moment he noticed any sign of his opponent appearing.
The trademark flash of light from Adam’s teleportation appeared from behind, and Nur immediately erected a psychic barrier around himself. Kahndaq’s sovereign hurled a bolt of lightning at him, with the electric arc bypassing the shield’s defense and striking him directly. Apocalypse cried out in pain, involuntarily lurching over as he felt paralysis overtake him. Quickly shrugging it off, the First Mutant turned around, retaliating with a blast of energy that Adam was just barely able to react to. Once the blast had dispersed, Adam prepared to throw out another attack, but his opponent proved quicker on the draw. Teleporting behind him, Apocalypse wasted no time in slamming into Adam’s back with both hands, forcing the monarch to let out a pained cry as he was sent flying through the air. Unfortunately for him, Apocalypse wasn’t willing to let his opportunity for revenge end there.
Just when it seemed like Adam was about to reach the height of his ascension, Apocalypse suddenly rematerialized directly in front of him and delivered a double axe handle to his head, sending him crashing onto the paved road below. As he looked down at the spandex-clad dictator, Nur’s expression was one of smug superiority. He could feel victory close at hand.
“I have wasted enough of my time on you, Adam! Already I have proven my superiority, yet you keep attempting to fight out of some misguided sense of nationalism! You are certainly powerful, even enough to rival my current state, but that in no way means you are justified in your irksome persistence! But now you shall interfere no longer!” As he said this, the mutant raised his hands into the air, rapidly pouring his energy into the palms of his hands. This violet sphere grew in size with each passing microsecond, starting off the size of a tennis ball and rapidly expanding. Within the span of three seconds it had already become the size of Apocalypse himself, and still it continued to grow larger. While this was occurring, though, something happened that confused him: a sudden gust of wind barreled into him, and he could have sworn he saw some kind of golden streak. Realizing it could likely be something that would impede his progress, the conqueror proceeded to chuck the massive energy ball as hard as he could, unaware that he was already too late.
Exactly one nanosecond after the Death Seed user had felt that “gust of wind,” Black Adam had ripped himself free from the several meter deep hole he’d created upon landing. At the exact moment he’d erupted out of the crater, the disgraced successor immediately took note of the swelling orb and prepared to intercept it, but before he could do so he noticed something else stop directly in front of him. Upon laying eyes on it, Adam immediately realized what it was: a yellow Power Ring. It was a device he was well familiar with, one he had even wielded previously, and now it seemed as though history would repeat itself.
“Teth-Adam of Earth. You have the ability to instill great fear.” The ring’s mechanical voice spoke aloud before placing itself on the middle finger of his left hand. Upon doing so, Adam’s body became doused in a blinding yellow light. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the yellow flash dispersed, revealing a drastic change in the Egyptian’s attire. For starters, the light seemed to have repaired his black spandex outfit, though the ring seemed to have had a major influence on its appearance. The cloth was now adorned with yellow star-like pieces of fabric that covered his shoulders, came down over his biceps and part of his side, and met around the lightning bolt that adorned his chest. One of the more notable changes was the sudden appearance of a silver belt around his waist, parted around the middle to not block off the aforementioned lightning logo.
As the feeling of this newfound power coursed through his veins, the Egyptian monarch heard the ring spoke one last message, one that he had heard only once before:
“Welcome to the Sinestro Corps.”
As these words echoed through his mind, Adam rocketed into the air, a yellow aura surrounding his body as he flew toward Apocalypse just as the pharaoh chucked his pyramid-sized sphere of death. Just when it seemed like the ball of energy was about to consume him, the newly reinstated Sinestro Corps member responded by thrusting his arm forward, firing out a beam from the Power Ring. Upon making contact, the yellow laser began spreading out, instantly surrounding the opposing projectile in a field of energy that stopped it mid-momentum. Then, with the greatest of ease, Adam slung the energy ball around and proceeded to chuck it back to its original owner. As he watched this occur, Apocalypse’s only response was to raise his arm and release a burst of telekinetic energy, dispersing his redirected attack in its entirety. Once he had seen the attack dissipate into nothingness, however, something immediately struck him in the chest, eliciting a cry of pain as he was sent him skidding back. The High Lord looked back at his opponent, quickly noticing both the new costume and newfound ring.
”So you berate me for relying on the Death Seed to gain more power, yet you see no problem in doing the same with your ring there?” Nur questioned.
”I’m not relying on its abilities. This is just to ‘level the playing field,’ as the saying goes.” Adam responded.
”Is that so?” Apocalypse asked, stifling a chuckle. “Then let’s see how well you can wield it!”
Once those words had left his mouth, Apocalypse shot out a burst of red energy. It only traveled about 4 feet from its creator before suddenly being intercepted by an opposing blast from the ring. Apocalypse didn’t have the time to properly react before his opponent slammed into him with a construct, sending the darwinist crashing into the sand-coated terrain. Letting out an annoyed grunt as he pushed himself back up, Apocalypse’s first action upon getting back to his feet was to look up, allowing him to see what had hit him: a construct of a battering ram. Gritting his teeth, the mutant let a furious scream as he stretched his arm out, attempting to grab hold of Adam and pull him forward. Just when it seemed like the Egyptian tyrant was about to be grabbed, he suddenly vanished into thin air!
Letting out a muffled cry of pain, Apocalypse turned around and attempted to throw out a punch, but his opponent, as if predicting this, suddenly teleported away. The Eternal Pharaoh prepared himself, waiting to see where his opponent would strike next. A bright light suddenly flashed behind him, causing him to turn toward its direction and hurl a bolt of azure energy at it, but Adam responded almost immediately by warping once again. He quickly reappeared at En Sabah’s side, throwing out a swift punch that shattered the sides of the conqueror’s ribs. Apocalypse attempted to fight through the pain and throw out another attack, but he quickly found himself intercepted via a teleporting punch to the stomach. As he lurched over, the X-Men’s nemesis felt a knee strike slam into his face, shattering his nose and sending him crashing onto his back.
As he got back up to his feet, allowing his amplified healing factor to quickly regenerate his injuries, Apocalypse could feel the return of an all-too familiar sense of dread. His hands had already begun shaking, and his skin had broken out into a cold sweat. Yet in spite of this growing sense of fear, the mutant tried his best to force himself to remain calm. Adam’s new ring may have given him some new abilities, but they still couldn’t compare to the power of the Death Seed!
Meanwhile, Adam had rematerialized, now a considerably safe distance from where Apocalypse was attempting to recover. At the exact moment of his reappearance, however, something odd occurred: a golden light flashed from the Power Ring, and with it, a message began to emerge.
”Nearby influx of fear located and steadily rising.” As he heard this, the corrupt champion looked up to see something interesting. The ring was showing him his opponent’s placement in the emotional spectrum, with his body being represented by two colors: the first was black, the color of death, which seemed to comprise a majority of his body. The second color was much smaller, but he could still see it: a wave of yellow, which was slowly growing in size.
Recognizing the yellow as being a physical representation of fear, Adam couldn’t help but grin. It seemed that his persistence was taking its toll on his opponent’s arrogant nature. Now just one question remained: how would he capitalize on this steadily growing advantage? Within the span of a nanosecond, a solution had come to his mind, one that caused his expression to become a devious grin. Quickly flying toward Apocalypse, the ring-wielding nemesis of Captain Marvel began to make further use of the device’s abilities. With nothing more than a thought, the tyrant caused a gold flash to emit from the Power Ring. To an outsider this may have seemed like an ineffective strategy, but as it turned out this light did serve a purpose. While it may not have seemed like it, the flash was preying on the transformed mutant’s fear, leeching off of it to power itself up while at the same time furthering the amount of fear that already existed within its target.
As he watched the yellow-clad monarch fly toward him, the armored darwinist could feel his preexisting dread continue to grow. But why? He couldn’t fear such an inferior being, could he? No, that was impossible! He was the ultimate being, the apex of evolution! To think that he could even feel a twinge of intimidation toward this inferior creature was laughable. It wasn’t possible, and he would prove it!
With that thought echoing through his mind, Apocalypse sought to prove it as he thrust his arm forward, stretching it out toward the Egyptian with the intent to knock him out of the air. Much to his surprise, his fist didn’t make contact with its target. Instead, Adam seemed to phase through it, almost like he was some sort of ghost!
Before he had a chance to question how this was possible, Apocalypse felt himself lurch over as his attacker suddenly drove an elbow into his stomach. Then, with surprisingly quick speed, Adam delivered a double axe handle that sent him crashing onto the ground. Apocalypse was still in the middle of getting back to his feet when he suddenly felt something grab hold of him. Upon looking down, he saw what it was: yellow chains, wrapped tightly around his torso and only growing tighter with each second.
“You can feel it, can’t you?” Apocalypse looked up, only to be nearly blinded by the intense golden light. Oddly enough, the longer he faced this yellow glare the more his sensation of fear seemed to increase. Despite this, he refused to let his spike in emotion show. He wouldn’t allow himself to show any sign of weakness, let alone in front of this inferior being!
”What am I supposed to feel? Infuriation at your poorly thought-out attempts at capture? Or perhaps amusement that after all you’ve done to me you believe that mere chains will be enough to stop me?” Nur responded, attempting to deny his sudden spike in fear.
“The answer is neither, because I can sense it: you’re in denial. You’re attempting to mask it with taunts and mockery, but there’s no mistaking this feeling: you’re afraid.” His opponent informed him, a smirk appearing on his face. “And with good reason.” As he spoke these words, Adam commanded a pillar of yellow fire to erupt from the ring, instantly consuming his target. He watched this with mild interest for several seconds before deciding that this was not enough. The mutant needed to suffer more, and the Yellow Lantern knew just how to do that!
While the flames continued to eat away at Nur, who was still thrashing about in an attempt to extinguish them, their creator ushered a telepathic command. Using a combination of his own knowledge of torture and the ring’s construct creation, he forced the pillar of fire to grow in size. The flames responded instantly, growing by several feet with each second. In tandem with this growth, several changes began to occur in the construct’s shape.
The first change occurred when two additional pillars began to grow out from the formless mass, their size increasing until they were equal in length to the pyramids below. Four extensions then emerged from these pillars, quickly morphing into paws. With these paws came further additions to the fiery creation: the first being a pair of blank eyes, created by a small parting in the flames, and the second being a maw of fangs.
With a savage roar, the fiery lion charged forward, using its front paws to tackle Apocalypse into the ground. Then, once it had made sure its prey was secure, the construct bit down on his neck, fully intent on tearing his throat out. Despite the immense pain that assaulted his mind, the armored warlord forced himself to look up, firing a beam from his eyes that phased through the lion, instead striking Adam in the chest and sending him flying back. As its master was sent flying back, the lion suddenly dispersed, freeing Apocalypse from its grasp. Upon hitting the ground, Nur immediately stood back up and looked toward the recovering Sinestro Corps member
“Afraid?” Apocalypse questioned as a grin spread onto his face. “What would I have to fear from you? Before the Death Seed, you are nothing more than a child wielding an advanced piece of jewelry.” In response to this, Adam merely smirked.
“You can deny it as much as you like, but this ring’s analysis tells the truth: your mind is slowly becoming consumed.”
”Is that so? Well, perhaps your readings are-“ Nur didn’t have time to finish his response before the ring began glowing yellow, and with it his emotional state went haywire. He could feel all of his emotions give way, quickly becoming consumed by one thing: fear. While he had been trying to deny it, his current mentality didn’t lie. He was terrified. If his emotional readings weren’t enough proof, his body had begun breaking out into a cold sweat, with his hands shaking uncontrollably. His vision had even begun blurring, though he wasn’t sure why until his eyes drifted to a certain device: the Power Ring. His mind quickly pieced the connection together, and he grit his teeth in anger.
“You think you can make me fear you with that ring?!” He roared angrily, taking a step forward. “FOOL! I am Apocalypse!” As he made this declaration, the mutant charged forward, his footsteps crashing against the paved terrain before he suddenly crouched down. “And I…” pressure built up in his legs for a brief moment, and then he released.
THOOM!
”FEAR NO ONE!”
He boasted as he leapt into the air, flying toward Adam at faster than light speeds. Within less than a second he had managed to close the distance between them, throwing out a powerful left hook that was suddenly caught. Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t because of his would-be target using his own hand to catch it. Instead, it was thanks to a yellow arm that spawned from the ring.
“Then you will learn to fear me!” Adam responded as he forced his construct to violently twist his attacker’s arm, snapping it in half. Before he could attempt to recover or heal from this injury, however, Apocalypse found himself clocked in the stomach by a sudden punch from another arm that emerged from the ring. Before he could question what this creature was, the warlord found his question answered as the ring bearer’s latest creation emerged: a pharaoh. As this being materialized into existence, something happened that would have caused the jaws of any who witnessed it to drop in shock: it immediately grew in size, increasing to the point where it dwarfed Apocalypse in size by roughly 700 feet.
Once its size had fully stabilized, the construct of royalty threw one of its massive fists forward, only being stopped as Apocalypse brought his hand up and proceeded to casually block the oncoming limb. Then, without missing a beat, he proceeded to counter with a right hook of his own. The golden-skinned pharaoh was staggering back from the force of the blow, but it quickly shook off the punch before cracking its knuckles and putting its fists back up, raring to go for more. Another punch flew toward the mutant, but much like before it was quickly stopped. This time, however, Apocalypse’s body began to grow in size, increasing to the point where he matched the light-created being in height. Once he had, he gave an eager grin and proceeded to throw another counter punch, this one being a left hook that cracked his opponent’s “skin.” The construct grimaced in pain as its head snapped back, only for it to suddenly snap forward as its head made contact with En Sabah’s. An audible CRACK emphasized the strike as the construct reduced his nose to a bloody mess. Despite this, Apocalypse paid it no mind, instead choosing to throw his arm forward, stretching it around the construct’s neck and pulling him forward. Once it was close enough, he proceeded to fire off a blast of blue energy that struck it in the chest and left more chips in its flesh.
Yet despite these positive developments, Apocalypse still wasn’t able to shake off his overgrowing sense of fear that was still building up within him! He could feel his mind slowly becoming overwhelmed, and while he was managing to stave it off enough to continue fighting he could feel it growing more difficult to maintain control over his actions. Each punch or step was accompanied by a pang of primal terror that continued to spread itself throughout his subconscious.
In tandem with this spreading fear, the mutant was coming to another realization: each of the construct’s attacks were growing stronger, and he could easily piece together why that was. And he hated it!
With a furious scream, Apocalypse began using his molecular manipulation to continue bulking up his body. Energy began to surge through his body, fueling his increasing strength even further as he reeled both of his arms back. Then, in what could only be described as an adrenaline-fueled smackdown, he began throwing out energy-enhanced punch after energy-enhanced punch. Each one produced an explosion that tore further away at the construct’s light skin, and with each successful blow the Forever Walker’s speed only grew further in intensity. Unfortunately for him, his opponent wasn’t just going to take this. No, if anything, it planned to fight back with equal force!
Gritting its teeth, the massive construct responded by pushing through the onslaught of blows and threw out a left hook of its own. The pharaoh’s knuckles made direct contact with Apocalypse’s jaw, forcing him to stagger back. He proved quick to recover, however, and immediately went back in to retaliate! As they drew closer to each other, the two giants threw their fists out, smashing their knuckles against each other’s. This collision caused the bones in Nur’s knuckles to let out a nightmarish CRACK, while visible cracks began to form on the construct’s fists. If one expected this to keep the two down, however, they were dead wrong! Instead, the giants continued to beat against each other, with their stalemate seeming to be unending. Or at least that’s what it seemed.
As if sensing the idea of history repeating itself in the form of an unending clash of fists, Adam decided he would do something to switch things up. Conjuring up a sea of clouds above the entire city, he began applying his powers to various degrees. Using the Power of Isis, he had forced it to start manipulating the environment to his advantage. With a thought, the entire battleground began to violently shake, throwing Apocalypse off balance and allowing for the ring-generated construct to begin throwing out a savage beating. Using its target’s fear to further fuel its power, the golden creation had begun throwing out millions of punches per second, each one resulting in a nightmarish symphony of cracks and snaps as bones were quickly chipped to pieces. This pain, combined with the pre-existing maelstrom of fear, proved enough that the mutant’s mind nearly shut down from the overload of emotion.
But despite this, Apocalypse continued to push on. He didn’t care about his deteriorating mental stability, nor did he pay the agony of multiple broken bones any mind. He would fight on, to his last breath!
He took a step forward, preparing to use his shapeshifting to morph his broken arms into new weaponry. Unfortunately, his attempts were ultimately for naught, as something erupted out from underground and wrapped itself around his legs, ensnaring him in its grasp. Looking down, he found the cause: a massive set of vines, each one digging into his skin and preventing him from moving. Annoyed by this, he attempted to contort his body into a new form, but he soon found his attempts halted by another legion of vines. These ones wrapped themselves around his arms and neck, forcibly dragging him toward the ground below while also situating themselves in such a way that he wouldn’t even be able to budge an inch. Fortunately, he seemed to realize this and, in response, managed to teleport himself out of the floral binds.
Almost immediately, a bright flash of light suddenly flashed some distance away, revealing that Apocalypse had now reverted back to his normal size, and quickly spotted Adam. The thought of attacking him briefly crossed his mind, but Apocalypse quickly realized there were two major problems with that action: the first was that even with the Death Seed’s enhancement to his powers, his healing factor was still proving too slow to keep up with the injuries that had been inflicted. The second issue was that the giant pharaoh construct was still around, fully prepared to continue fighting against Apocalypse… at least until said construct was quickly dispersed by Adam, seemingly for no reason.
Although the action left him heavily confused, Apocalypse soon found out why his opponent had done such a thing. In less than a second, Adam had closed the distance far faster than the mutant could have hoped to react. In fact, the Forever Walker didn’t even realize his opponent had moved until a powerful left hook nailed itself into his face. With a sickening soundtrack of bones cracking and flesh tearing, the lower half of Apocalypse’s jaw was sent flying away, crashing onto the sand with a muffled THUD!
His body had already started healing itself, but Adam put an end to that as he drilled his hand into the mutant’s throat. Blood gushed from Apocalypse’s neck, but it quickly began repairing itself. Adam paid this no mind, however, as he grabbed the attempted invader up and hoisted him into the air. As he watched the self-proclaimed god struggle against his vice-like grip, Black Adam gave a malicious grin before opening his mouth and shouting one word:
“SHAZAM!”
Once the word left his mouth, a bolt of lightning flew down from the heavens and struck Apocalypse’s body directly. Once it had, the Eternal Pharaoh roared in pain as pure, unadulterated agony spread through his body. All he could hear was a hellish ringing in his ears, ringing that only grew worse as a fiery pain spread through his body. It felt as though every nerve in his body had been lit on fire, and each of his atoms felt as though they would explode any second. He silently prayed that the Death Seed would be able to heal off this damage, but that was when something happened that caused his eyes to widen in horror. Even with the deafening ring preventing him from hearing it, he could still feel the Death Seed shatter like glass, forcing him to revert back to his base form. The mutant looked down at the minuscule shards in surprise, but this surprise was soon replaced a completely different emotion.
”Eheheh… Heheheheheh… AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Much to Adam’s surprise, his opponent wasn’t screaming in horror, nor was he cursing him in blind rage. Instead, he was laughing!
“Why are you laughing? Have you gone mad?” The king demanded.
”Ehehehe… no, the reason I’m laughing is because you’ve proven my point. I told you earlier that my creed is that only the strong are fit to rule, and no matter what I tried I still remained too weak to challenge you. By besting me, you’ve proven your superiority, and in turn that I was the one who was too weak to survive! Since you’ve proven yourself my superior, I leave your fate in my hands. Do with me as you wish!” As these words echoed throughout his mind, Adam gave a malicious grin before speaking.
“Very well, then. As king, I give you this one commandment: that you rest, and never return to this world!” Once those words had left his mouth, Captain Marvel’s nemesis lifted his captive further into the air and proceeded to open his mouth once again, barking out the word that granted him his power:
“SHAZAM!”
Another bolt struck Apocalypse’s body, this time yielding worse results than before. His skin and muscle tissue were quickly vaporized, revealing raw bone that soon became blackened and charred under the lightning’s heat. Much like earlier, his body fat and organs were completely destroyed, and their liquidated remains permeated the Celestial armor with a vile aroma. It was so sickening, so nauseatingly foul, that even the most hardened of men would have lost their lunch. Yet despite the smell, which even he would admit was assaulting his senses, Adam remained stationary. He stayed in the air, waiting for some sign of confirmation as to whether or not Apocalypse still lived. After seeing that the body- if it could even be called that- remained in its current state, Adam smirked.
”With your death, the last vestiges of your so-called ‘new world’ will die with you. Your fates are now one and the same…”
Bringing both hands back, Black Adam then brought them forward as he delivered a clap, producing a massive sound wave that shot out and spread through the sky. Upon making contact, En Sabah Nur’s mutilated remains crumbled apart, breaking down into dust that was quickly scattered by the Egyptian winds. Once he was certain his opponent had finally been finished off, Adam turned his back to where Apocalypse had previously lain, only looking back to speak ten more words.
“…reduced to nothing more than ashes scattered throughout the wind.” He finished before flying away from their battlefield, creating a massive BOOM as he rocketed back toward Kahndaq.
———————————–
With this fight, DC’s managed to claim its first victory in my Death Battles, and when comparing the stats of both it’s rather easy to see why that is.
First, there’s the matter of strength and durability. Both Adam and Apocalypse are immensely powerful, being able to trade blows with some of their universe’s strongest heroes, but Adam edged out in this category since he’s been able to contend with the likes of Captain Marvel, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Orion. Adding further credence to this is the time where he managed to overpower Martian Manhunter, a being that even Superman’s scared to fight. By comparison, Apocalypse’s best feats of strength came in the form of fighting against the likes of Thor and the Hulk, who are both certainly powerful, but ultimately fall short when compared to the people Adam’s faced off against.
Next is the matter of speed. Apocalypse has been able to tag Quicksilver and keep up with Thor, the former of whom can outrun radio waves and is calced as being able to move at
4.94 times the speed of light. Thor, on the other hand, has been shown to have multiple MFTL+ feats. Admittedly, being able to keep up with either of them is certainly impressive, but how do these compare to Adam’s feats? The short answer is they don’t. At all.Let me explain. Adam’s been able to keep up with higher tier Justice League members such as Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman is able to move fast enough to keep up with the likes of The Flash and Professor Zoom, while Wonder Woman’s managed to move fast enough to block the Shattered God, a feat that’s calculated to be anywhere from 2.72 to 16.34 quattuordecillion times FTL (See here: DC Speed Revisited)
In short, Adam takes the stat trinity pretty handily. What about the other factors?
Well, they would both be even in experience and intelligence, seeing how they’ve been alive for centuries and fought in multiple wars. That said, Adam would have the advantage in close quarters due to his expertise in hand-to-hand combat and his no-nonsense approach to fighting meant that every hit would strike with the intent to kill Apocalypse, and given his already superior physicality he would eventually succeed. So why did this fight go on for as long as it did? The answer, if we’re excluding the main reason of entertainment purposes, is because of the next category: their powers.
While Apocalypse’s physical stats fell short compared to Adam’s own, he was ultimately able to keep himself in the game thanks to a combination of his Celestial armor and molecular manipulation. With the latter, he would be able to have a sense of unpredictability, on top of being able to lessen the gap in physicality and avoid some of Adam’s attacks. Add in his comparatively superior healing factor, and it would make Adam’s fight much more difficult than before. Unfortunately, these advantages wouldn’t be able to net him the win, as Apocalypse’s remaining powers were either countered or trumped by Adam’s own. More specifically, telepathy could easily be ruled out since Adam’s indomitable willpower has let him fight off the psychic attacks of Martian Manhunter, the strongest telepath in the DC universe. The only point where their powers are roughly even come in the form of both being able to fly and teleport, leaving them equal in terms of mobility. Besides that, Adam took every other advantage in terms of powerset.
He could call upon the lightning of Shazam to deal some serious damage to Apocalypse (which might even be enough to kill the mutant, seeing how it’s been able to incapacitate stronger beings like Martian Manhunter), use the Stamina of Shu to outlast Nur, and could even manipulate the battlefield to his advantage with the Power of Isis, which would also further boost his physicality.
Finally, let’s move onto their trump cards: the Yellow Power Ring and the Death Seed. The ring grants Adam more versatility thanks to its ability to create constructs, could boost his physical stats even further, and would likely grant him more powers considering that other characters who use these rings gain some new abilities in the process. In Apocalypse’s case, the Death Seed could boost his strength further, likely to the point of matching Adam’s own considering what we’ve seen from other hosts, but that’s really it. He wouldn’t be able to close the gap anywhere else, and given Adam’s far more brutal nature and superiority in almost all other stats, it’s unlikely he’d even be able to use it in the first place.
In short, this fight seemed close when looking at it from the surface, but upon digging deeper it became clear that this was a massive stomp.
Adam’s power left Apocalypse thunderstruck.
The winner is Black Adam.
Black Adam (Winner)
+ Completely dominated Apocalypse in the stat trinity
+ Superior stamina
+ Better hand-to-hand combatant
+ No-nonsense approach to fighting meant he’d be likely to end the fight early
+ Shazam lightning could easily take Apocalypse out
+ Indomitable willpower rendered Apocalypse’s telepathy useless
+ Power of Isis would allow him to manipulate the environment to his advantage, on top of boosting his already superior physicality
+ Yellow Power Ring allows for more versatility, a boost in physicality, and possibly more powers
= Mobility
= Experience and intelligence
– Less variety in terms of powerset
– Apocalypse’s molecular manipulation and shapeshifting made him more unpredictable
+ Though Adam would be familiar with these abilities since he’s faced an opponent with similar powers (Martian Manhunter)
Apocalypse (Loser)
+ Powerset had more variety
+ Armor and molecular manipulation would let him keep up with Adam for awhile
– Though it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s physically outclassed
+ Molecular manipulation and shapeshifting give him an edge in unpredictability
– Though Adam would be familiar with these abilities since he’s faced an opponent with similar powers (Martian Manhunter)
+ Better healing factor
+ Death Seed could boost his strength to the point of matching Adam’s own
= Mobility
= Experience and intelligence
– Adam’s no-nonsense approach to fighting, when combined with the aforementioned superior physicality, ultimately spelled doom
– Inferior stamina
– Less skilled in hand-to-hand combat
– Adam’s willpower rendered his telepathy worthless
– Shazam lightning would easily be able to take him out
– Power of Isis let Adam control the environment and furthered the gap in physicality
– Yellow Lantern Power Ring granted Adam more versatility, another physicality boost, and possibly more powers
Brendan’s Versus Battles 
Still as awesome here as it was on DeviantArt
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