The Strongest Hero In Ooo

Finn and Simon were spending their day exploring an abandoned area in search for artifacts of interest. They were traversing an upturned city, hopping from floating rock to floating rock, careful not fall into the sky.

"I must say Finn, you've been an invaluable friend to me. Your knowledge of the more unique parts of Ooo has led us to such fascinating relics! You truly are the best companion and antiquarian like myself could ask for." Simon jumped, barely landing on the edge of a chunk of floating road.

"No probs S man. I remember comin across this place and thinkin of you, glad you're havin fun."

"And what exactly is the name of this place?"

"I dunno. I just call it The Town Upside Down on account of how everything is, y'know, upside down." Finn looked up, or rather down, at the earth below them. Or perhaps above them? A rather large piece of the ground was torn from its roots, presumably where the city used to be located.

"Quite the apt name. Would you like to know how this all happened?" He followed after Finn who had just jumped a large gap. Simon landed but unfortunately lost his footing. He was caught in the nick of time by the young man.

"You know what happened here?" He said with curiosity.

"Not for certain, but I can hazard a guess using context clues given to us by some of the relics we've found here." Simon found a tree to sit under and opened his duffle bag, revealing all kinds of trinkets.

Finn joined him. "Alright lay it on me!" He was eager to hear him out. Listening to Simon analyze his artifacts and explain their significance was a joy for him. He himself never had the know how or intuition to deduce the history of the lands or dungeons he explored, not the he cared much when he was younger. However, these days not only was it opportunity to gain some wicked insight into the world, but it was also good for bonding with Simon. And Simon loved sharing his hobbies with Finn and Marceline, anyone who would lend an ear, really.

"So first we have this ID Card, which we found in the debris of what looked like a research facility. See here where it says Gennedy Space Institute? This means that that old building was most likely performing studies and experiments to further our understanding of the cosmos." He said handing the card to Finn.

"And who is Mike Hunt? Is he important?" He said reading the name on the ID.

"Probably not all too important, just a researcher who had a good chance of being bullied as a kid." Simon giggled to himself.

"Why? Cause he was a nerd?" Finn handed back the ID.

"Mmm, not quite." He giggled more while the hero was simply couldn't find the humor.

"Ah now here is the real culprit of this mess." Simon held out a purple crystal and released his grip, the object hovered in place. "This is gravinite and it has some kind of effect on gravity, I don't know the specifics but if you look down, erm, I suppose given our orientation I should say if you look up. You can see something peculiar." He pointed towards the earth.

Finn looked to where Simon was pointing, he saw nothing at first but after squinting and focusing his sight he noticed something. "Whoa wait, the ground is littered with those things!"

An uncountable number of crystals were embedded in the crater, they were hard to notice because of how deep they were buried.

"How did they get there?" Finn inquired.

"Do you remember that big glowing machine we came across in that rundown research facility? When we were in close proximity this crystal had a strong reaction, my whole bag began to float upward while the crystal pushed itself downward. My guess is this; the researchers came across a large deposit of gravinite. They would come to discover its strange effects on gravity and built something to enhance those powers. Perhaps they placed these crystals in the ground and super charged them with the machine thinking that they could suspend the city in the air."

"Why would they do that? I'm not sure; maybe for show? In the name of science? Because they could? Regardless, things didn't go as planned, clearly. I've come across gravinite in my studies before, theoretically their idea should have worked. These crystals seemed to be pushed from Earth instead of being attracted to it, that is how they levitate; if enough of them are gathered together they can even lift any objects they surround. But that machine they used didn't supercharge them, it gave the gravinite different properties. The gravity here is completely reversed! That is why, even though we've been flip turned upside down for a considerable amount of time, we haven't experienced any nausea or blackouts! Fascinating, isn't it?" Simon's face beamed with excitement.

"Wow, I never woulda pieced that together. All that knowledge juice you got swishin in your dome is absolutely friggin amazing! It's always a trip hearing you talk."

Simon blushed at the compliment. "Oh hush, you contributed just as much as I have. I couldn't have navigated this place without your adventurer's wisdom y'know?"

"Heck ya, we make a rockin team! Alright let's close off this adventure the right way." Finn stood up and held his fist out.

"Indeed!" Simon stood up and prepared to slam his fist into Finn's.

When the two made contact they shouted in unison.

"ADVENTURE TIME!"

The antiquarian danced in place. "That's always so much fun! I can see why you and Jake do it so often!" Simon's face lit up.

"Speakin of, I think I see him comin this way." He pointed in the direction of a giant yellow dog off in the distance.

"Oh, and I think I see Marceline resting on his back!" The vampire was chilling with Jake as he rushed to meet Finn and Simon.

"Heads up Marcy, I think I see em!" He alerted her to their friends in the distance.

"Sweet" she got up and waved. Once the figures waved back they knew they were in the clear.

"I wish they woulda called me sooner, this place looks rad. I wonder what kind stuff my bro and Simon have been up to heeeeEEEERE AHHHH!" Jake reverted to his normal size as he quickly began floating upwards once he stepped past the edge of the crater.

Marceline caught him and delivered the dog to their friends. Thankfully she didn't have to obey the laws of gravity.

"Sup guys." She said tossing Jake to Finn.

"Yo Marcy."

"Good evening, Gunter." he said going in for a hug before stopping short. He was unsure how to approach due to her not being affected by the gravity reversal like they had.

"Oh, lemme just" Marceline re-orientated herself to match her friends and hugged Simon.

Jake was on his knees and hands hyperventilating from his near death experience.

"Oh calm down Jake, I wasn't gonna let you go just like that." She scoffed.

"I ALMOST DIED!"

"Pansy" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I like the hoodie and cap combo Marcy, it's a nice switch from your usual day time get up. Very cute." Finn noted.

"Glad someone noticed. Bonnie was being a major butt today, she was giving me the silent treatment. Guess she's mad about me being gone yesterday and probably will be for a while. Can't say I'm bothered too much at this point though, I just left and decided to hang with you guys till she learns better."

"Ain't that just gonna make her more mad?" Jake retorted.

"Not my problem." She shrugged.

"Hey at least you got us! We can all hang out together at the Tree Fort!" Finn pulled everyone together for a big hug.

"I guess you dweebs will have to do." She said with a grin.

"I'm a dweeb?" Simon pouted.

"My favorite dweeb" She gave him a kiss on the head which caused him to smile.

"Who's up for some of your home boy's Most Famous, Supremely Delicious Yet Not Quite Nutritious, Revamped To Get The Crowd Amped, Steakn' Sausage With Bacon Pancaaaaaakes!"

"Aw heck yeah! You guys have gotta try Jake's new Most Famous, Supremely Delicious Yet Not Quite Nutritious, Revamped To Get The Crowd Amped, Steakn' Sausage With Bacon Pancakes!"

Simon's interest was piqued. "I'd love to sample some of Jake's Most Famous, Supremely Delicious Yet Not Quite Nutritious, Revamped To-" He was cut off by Marceline.

"Okay we get it! They're good! You guys seriously gotta shorten the name on that one." She picked all three of them up and took them outside of the reverse gravity field.

"Let me take if from here sister" Jake said morphing in to a bigger form to carry the others.

"Oh Jake! You mind if we stop by and grab some red dye? We also got some strawberry syrup if you wanna try that Marcy."

"Aw, thanks for the consideration. And I'll pass on the syrup, my body don't jive with that stuff."

The sun was setting and the four of them had collected their groceries with Finn carrying to bulk of the load. Now they were walking towards the Tree Fort.

"Finn you sure you can carry all that? I don't mind takin some." Marceline offered.

"S'all good, I got this." He hadn't even broken a sweat the entire trip.

"Somethin you gotta learn about my Bro here is that while he may be humble, if you give him the chance to show off his newly gained muscles he'll take it." Jake said slapping Finn's abs.

"Wha- N-no I don't!" His face turned red from embarrassment, like a child caught in the act.

"That would explain why he suggested we walk from the store. I had thought it was odd then." Simon giggled.

"Hey I ain't gonna shame the guy, if I had a sexy bod like that I wouldn't be afraid to flex" Marceline flexed and kissed her bicep for emphasis.

"Why thank you Marcy" Finn tilted his head up with a smug grin feeling vindicated.

"Hey Finn there's somethin I've been meaning to ask. What's up with you callin the house like ten times yesterday?" Jake swerved the conversation in a new direction.

"Oh that was, uhh…" Finn became nervous. He managed to forget all about Huntress up till this point and he wasn't ready to have a discussion about her right now.

Simon chimed in as well. "That reminds me, you said you wanted to talk yesterday but I ended up doing most of the talking. And then you said you wanted to discuss something important today but then we went exploring which led to me doing all the talking again. What exactly did you want to discuss?" Simon turned, eyeing Finn with an inquisitive look.

"Uhh...Uhh...I…" now he was beginning to sweat. He struggled to find a way out of this conversation.

"You okay dude?" Marceline begun to prodd too.

"HEY LOOK I CAN SEE THE FORT!" Finn laughed nervously as he ran ahead of the group.

The three looked at each other and shrugged. They assumed he was just being weird.

When they had caught up Finn was already inside, but what was most peculiar was the fact that he had left the groceries at the door alongside a large package. Marceline went to pick up the box and discovered a note attached.

"Your share of loot. Evenly divided. I did not keep more. Other items belonging to you included. Goodbye, Finn" she read aloud. It was signed by Huntress Wizard. The message came off as cold and robotic. Marceline's heart sank and her expression immediately became sullen. She knew what had happened.

"Did she break up with him?" Simon said with concern.

"That's not it Sim" Jake shook his head with worry.

"He broke up with her…" Marceline's tone conveyed great stress.

She floated inside to find Finn reclined on the couch head thrown back staring at the ceiling and arms limp at his sides. His bear hat was thrown on the ground.

"Finn…" Jake and Simon stepped in to see for themselves.

"It must've take her a lot to write that...the harder she tries to hide her emotions the more you can tell how much she cares…" his voice was despondent. He knew there was no way out of talking about the issue now.

Marceline floated towards him, giving a hug from behind the couch. Simon and Jake joined from the sides.

"I had to. I didn't wanna stay stuck where I was. I wasn't happy...Kinda mad it took me a while to move forward though… I was a wimp, for the longest time I was afraid of losing love. Truth is I had already lost it, ain't that funny?" his voice was weak. He didn't know what to say, so he simply voiced the thoughts that ran though his mind.

"Bro, don't be mad at yourself like that." Jake hugged tighter.

"Finn do not mistake your pain for weakness. In fact I'd say you're much stronger than anyone in this room. That was four years of your life you dedicated to her, it's only natural that you harbor some fear of seperation." Simon patted his chest.

"I'm pretty bad at this whole relationship biz huh? I funked up real bad with FP, but we smoothed it over didn't we? I thought I learned from that. Guess I didn't because here I am again, sitting at rock bottom. I don't like it here. I wanna go back in time and stop myself from breaking up with Huntress. It's dumb and it's the wrong move, I know. But I really don't like this feeling guys… I just… ARGH!" He shut his eyes, grit his teeth, and clenched his fists in frustration. He hated those stupid little drops of water that kept finding their way to the corners of his eyes. He fought against them, managing to keep them tucked away.

Marceline was oddly quiet. She gave Simon a look to which he nodded his head. He knew she liked to be alone when her conversations were more personal.

"Jake lets go make those pancakes now, yes?"

"But I can't just leave my baby bro-"

"Jake…" he said flicking his head to Marceline.

He understood immediately "I'm gonna make the best darn pancakes in the universe! You better get that stomach ready Finn!" he said with strong determination, marching to the kitchen with Simon.

"Hey, Finn. Let's head up stairs, yeah?" She spoke with a soft voice.

"I really don't feel like moving right now…"

She grabbed him from underneath and floated upstairs. "I gotcha covered."

He made no attempt to fight back.

She laid herself on his bed with her back to the wall and laid Finn down placing his head on her stomach. She held his head, looking down and trying to stare him in the eyes. Her hair fell down covering the sides of both of their faces, acting as curtains narrowing their vision to just their faces. He tried his best to avoid eye contact.

"I'm not gonna sit here and tell you you did the right thing. I won't tell you everything is gonna be okay either. That's something you gotta decide." It wasn't her job to tell him how to feel, she wanted to but she knew that's not how this works. "Finn, you got it rough right now but beating yourself up isn't gonna make things any better."

He frowned, still averting his gaze.

"You absolutely have grown, it's honestly kind of crazy seeing how much you've matured in four years. Meanwhile here I am, a one thousand year old vampire who still throws dumb temper tantrums and uses her disposition as an ageless demon as an excuse for a lack of moral understanding." She remembered telling him how excited she was to see how he'd grow. She was right to be, he was an outstanding young man and a part of her was sad to miss his growth. However, there was one area he still lacked in and she was hoping she could teach him.

"That's not fair Marceline!" He looked her in the eyes now. "You've grown too! You're nowhere near as mean and nasty as you used to be! And those tantrums you have, they're not dumb! You've got every right to throw em' cause you got heavy biz goin on." Finn was dead set on convincing his friend she was doing just fine.

"Oh? So it's not okay for me to ignore my growth and berate myself, but you can?" She gave him a warm smile while maintaining eye contact.

"I-I...right…" He blushed, she was right. His eyes shied away as he was unable to refute her point.

"Finn, look at me." His eyes slowly met hers. "Tell me how you did it."

He fidgeted out of nervousness. "I...I thought of you."

She raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Go on."

"Huntress did something and I wanted to be mad and frustrated, but I was just tired. And then I remember you saying that you were tired. I was like this feels so awful and the idea of you feeling the same thing, yet not doing anything about it made me realize how dumb I was being. So I put my foot down and finally made the move to break up, no matter how much I didn't want to…"

Marceline simply chuckled.

Finn realized his words could be interpreted as calling Marceline an idiot for dealing with her own problem poorly. "Wait! I don't mean, like, you're stupid or anything! We're like two different people so, y'know, everything applies differently. So just because I did one thing doesn't mean you gotta!" He tried to salvage himself.

"Simon was right, you really are stronger than anyone here."

"You're strong too Marcy…"

She ignored him, he was just trying to be nice but she couldn't believe him until she did what needed to be done.

"But, just because you're strong doesn't mean you gotta act tough." Hopefully she could help Finn with one last problem of his.

"Huh?" He wasn't sure where she was going.

"Do you know why you keep beating yourself up?"

"Because I deserve it?" Did she know something he didn't?

"Nuh uh" she said shaking her head. "Lemme tell you what I think. I think your just distracting yourself from a different type of pain. Finn don't think I don't notice when you're trying to stop yourself from crying."

He was shocked, his face burning red.

"You probably get mad at yourself so you can cover up your sadness with frustration. Is it because you're supposed to be a rough and tough adventurer and only little sissies cry?" She used these words not because she wanted to tease him, but because these were things he most likely told himself.

She was right, he quickly shut his eyes as he could feel those nasty droplets resurface. He didn't wanna be a sissy, he's supposed to be strong and sissies aren't strong.

"You're not a sissy Finn. You're the strongest person I know. You deserve a chance to cry. Everyone gets hurt, even the meanest people, and no one should be refused the right to let it all out. So go ahead hero boy, bring on the water works. You've earned it." She closed her eyes hoping that would help Finn become more comfortable.

Her words touched his heart, despite that he still tried his best to hold back. It was clearly becoming a futile effort as his face twitched between angry and grief ridden. His breathing was quick and raspy as he choked on his tears and his macho facade crumbled away. His crying slowly ramped up until it all came bursting out. He turned over and pressed his face in to Marceline's stomach sobbing uncontrollably and holding her tightly. She ran her fingers through his long strands hair to help soothe him.

"Why am I so bad at this?! Why do I care so much?! Love is stupid! I hate it! Why do I want it so bad?!" He shouted into her. His words were shaky as he took frequent deep breaths.

Right now Finn reminded Marceline of much younger version of himself. This piece of him was hold over from his youth, one he never thought worth acknowledging. What was happening here wasn't a bad thing, it was necessary. Now that they've brought out this undeveloped part of Finn he could work towards making it grow, just like he had with every other aspect of himself.

After he had his fill and was sated they would go down stairs feeling much better. They would join Simon and Jake in high spirits and feast upon his Most Famous, Supremely Delicious Yet Not Quite Nutritious, Revamped To Get The Crowd Amped, Steakn' Sausage With Bacon Pancakes.

Marceline laughed and enjoyed the time spent with her friends, soaking in all the good vibes flowin around the room. She was gonna need as much positivity as she could get to face Bubblegum and do what needed to be done.