A/N: Hello all my devoted readers. If you're still with me you're in for a treat. I have the arc completely mapped out this time and the story won't just be written as I go along. Hopefully this also means I'll update more. I think there will be this arc and then one more. Then we will be finished with this story. A big shout out to all that have been reading and bearing with my slowing update rate. This time the villain will be a character that is canon. His future will obviously not be. Be please keep reading and if anyone can correctly guess who the villain of the arc is then you'll get a special prize: the ability to create a character of your own to be used in the final arc. Now what I do with this character will depend completely on how you create him and how he or she will fit in the story. My only stipulation is that it has to be completely original, no relatives of any of the characters, but they can be an old friend or enemy or something like that. Well I've talked enough, time to read and be sucked into the arc.
Finn and Jake were laying in the grass outside their home, watching the clouds go by. They made silly faces at the passing clouds, who would make silly faces at them in return. Finn laughed at particularly funny one as Jake stretched his face to make his own silly face. They did this for quite a while before Finn noticed a feeling in his back pocket. It felt like a hand was going for his gold coins. Finn leapt up with a cry and saw someone he didn't expect to see: Penny, the thief.
"Oh. Hey Finn. Nice to see you."
"Hey Penny. Still into stealing I see."
"Yeah. It's my passion. You know that."
"So how've you been?"
"Oh you know, trying to find a way to break the force shield surrounding the City of Thieves while the people inside go insane without new things to steal."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah. There's a force shield all around the City. I can't get in and nobody can get out. It's terrible."
"Jake, we should help them."
"I dunno man. A whole city of thieves locked up and forced to steal each others stuff instead of other people's doesn't seem so bad to me," Jake replied.
"But they're still people man. We gotta help them."
"Yeah I guess so. Let's go then."
Jake grew bigger so Finn and Penny could ride on his back to the City of Thieves. Finn watched as the landscape went by quickly until he hears Penny yell in pain. Jake stops and Finn sees his Holy sword on the ground. Penny was holding her hand, which was smoking from what looked like a burn.
"What happened Penny," Finn asked?
"Your stupid sword burned me when I tried to steal it."
"Yeah. It's a Holy sword. Only Good people can touch it. It's in the rules."
Finn retrieved his sword while Penny stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance. Hopping back on Jake, they travel to the City without further interruption.
As the grassland shifted to desert, the giant turtle shell came into view, as did the City. As they got closer, they could clearly see the dome of blue light surrounding the City, cutting it off from the outside world. The three went up to the edge and Finn and Jake looked inside, seeing complete chaos. The citizens of the City of Thieves had turned to stealing the wood off of the houses. Finn and Jake cringed as they saw brawls erupt throughout the City in an all out riot.
"This is nuts," Jake said.
"We have to help them. They're gonna slay each other at this rate," Finn replied, trying to cut through the barrier with no success. Jake tried punching it with similar results.
"You guys, it's magic. Fists and swords won't break the spell," Penny said in annoyance.
"We had to try. There would be no sense in bringing our mage friend here if we can just bust the shield ourselves," Finn reasoned.
"We're gonna get Simon, aren't we," Jake asked?
"Yeah man. We both stink at magic. All I can do is a power shriek."
"Hehe I remember that."
"Yeah. So we need to get Simon over here and see if he can crack his egg."
"Ooo ooo and make an omelet out of it."
"Dude you ate like an hour ago."
"Yeah, but running through the desert take the food right out of ya."
"Well Betty will probably have something for us to eat. She always does."
"What are we waiting for then?" Jake shifts again and Finn and Penny ride him till they reach Simon and Betty's home in the Ice Kingdom.
"Penny, you wait outside," Finn says.
"But Finn, I want to go with you and Jake inside."
"Sorry, but this is the home of three of our best friends, plus he's the guy that can bring down the shield. We can't have you making him mad by stealing all their stuff."
Huffing in annoyance, Penny sits and waits while the boys knock on the door. Betty answers it with Gunter on her shoulder. "Well hello boys," she greets.
"Wenk wenk," Gunter adds.
"Hey Betty, Gunter. Is Simon home," Jake asks?
"Why yes. My husband is in his study. You know how seriously he takes his magic."
"Thanks Betty. I'll go talk to him," Finn says, going up the flight of stairs.
"So Betty, do you have anything to eat," asks Jake.
Finn climbs up the stairs and makes his way towards Simon's study. He hears a voice coming from the study, a loud and familiar voice that chills Finn's heart with dread. It's the voice of the Ice King. As he hears Ice King's mad cackle, Finn leaps into action to save his friend from a cursed relapse. Bursting in the door of the study, he's confused to find Simon sitting at his desk. A few candles are lit, illuminating the study. What confuses Finn is that on Simon's hands are puppets of Ice King and Gunter.
Simon turns in surprise and fright when his study door bursts open but relaxes when he sees Finn standing in the doorway. "Hello, my young friend. Come in. Come in. Please sit."
"Umm, Simon, are you by chance playing with an Ice King puppet?"
"Why yes. I was acting out some of the conversations I remember Ice King and Gunter having. I was hoping they would jog my memory and clue me in on some of the Ice King's spells. I haven't had much luck yet. However, I have managed to do a perfect Ice King impression. I imagine that you hearing me do it alarmed you, thinking the Crown was somehow back on me and Ice King had taken possession once again, correct?"
"Yeah man. That scared the apples outta me."
"I apologize. What can I help you with though?"
"The City of Thieves has some sort of barrier surrounding it. The people are trapped inside and are going nuts without new things to steal. It's already started getting violent. People are getting punched in their buns."
"Isolationism can sometimes do this to people. When a culture has no room to grow it stagnates. I assume you wish for me to break the barrier spell?"
"Yeah man. I tried poking it with my sword but nothing happened."
"I would think so. Your sword is made to fight evil, not magic. I suppose it would work on evil magic but I'm getting off topic. Let's go see what we're dealing with and then I may have the appropriate action necessary."
Finn, Jake, Penny and Simon returned to the City of Thieves, right after Jake had some sandwiches, courtesy of Betty. Simon approached the shield while the other three watched and waited. Simon stared long and hard at the shield before pulling out some things from his bag, stopping occasionally to retrieve them from Penny. Simon put a red jewel to his eye and looked through it at the shield for a moment, before nodding his head.
Putting that away, he pulls out a chip of crystal and casts a spell, causing a loud sound wave to attack the shield. Everyone except Simon covers their ears as the sound gets louder and louder until it disappears suddenly. Simon looks at the shattered crystal in his hand and the unchanged shield and frowns in annoyance. He casts two other spells on the shield with no visible effect. Finally, Simon puts his spell components away and walks back to the trio.
"I have done all I can think of to try and break the shield. Shatter, Dispel Magic and Remove Curse all were powerless to affect it. This is a very strong sealing spell. We need to go to Turtle Princess's library so I can do some research and hopefully find a spell that can break the shield."
"This is some spell if you can't break it," Jake said.
"Yes. This is magic of the highest order. I can't begin to imagine the strain on the caster. It is beyond my current skill to break. We need the guidance of old magic."
"Alright then guys, to the Turtle Library," Jake exclaimed before picking up everyone and running to Library. Finally there, Simon got permission to visit the magic section from Turtle Princess and began to study some books on sealing and abjuration magic. Jake kept Penny out of trouble while Finn conversed secretly with the Pagelings.
After a few hours of study and some snack breaks, courtesy of Jake's stomach, Simon shouted in victory. "You have something Simon," Finn asked?
"Yes Finn. While the exact spell itself is custom made, the spell is a mix of different enchantments. The reason nothing worked was because I treated it as a single spell. I had no idea mages could blend spells like that."
"So you can break the shield," Penny asked?
"Yes, young one. This book teaches a spell that allows me to blend my own spells. By mixing dispel magic, remove curse, and break enchantment together, I have a strong feeling I will be able to bring the shield down."
"That's wonderful. We need to go save them now."
"Yes, but perhaps we can spare another hour so I may learn a teleportation spell. It's unfair making Jake run us around all the time."
"Oh. I didn't think about that."
"It's quite alright. You are young. It is not your place to think of all things. Just learn to be mindful of others," Simon said with a smile.
Jake turned to Finn and whispered, "Yeah right. She's a thief. Out for herself."
"I heard that Jake," Simon said, staring at him.
"Hehe," was Jake's reply as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
After an hour of learning, Simon had successfully learned the teleport spell and had gathered the group outside of the Library. As Simon gathered them in a circle and began to gather the mana to power the spell, they heard a voice cry out, "Finn. Wait."
Finn turned to see the hulking figure of Susan Strong running towards them. "Wait Finn," She yelled again.
"Simon, hold up a second," Finn said, breaking away from the group to greet Susan and see what she wanted.
Finn had honestly forgotten all about Susan Strong. He hadn't seen her since he helped her defeat the Lub Glubs in Beautopia. It was there that Finn learned that he wasn't the only Human in Ooo. He had been harboring a small crush on her before he learned the Hyoomans were fish people. It returned when she broke in his house late at night begging for his help to save the Hyoomans. It just got bigger as they bonded along the way to Beautopia. And while Finn wanted to pursue her when he learned she was Human too, he knew her place was with them, as his place was with Jake. So he left Beautopia with Jake. He hadn't heard from her since.
Finn couldn't help the increase in his heartbeat was he walked over to her. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his heart rate, thinking of Pyra as he did so to keep it strictly business. "Hey Susan."
"Finn. I need your Hero Heart again. Big bowl around Beautopia. Can't get in. Think Lub Glubs are behind it."
"Wait, Beautopia has a shield around it too? That's weird. We're about to bust one around the City of Thieves. Wanna come with?"
"Yes. Then can save Beautopia again," Susan said, following Finn back to the circle.
Simon channeled his mana again and cast the spell. They felt a sense of pull then lightheadedness. Finally they regained their senses and noticed they were outside of the City of Thieves again. "Just as I thought. The shield blocks teleportation as well," Simon said out loud. "You all stand away from me. I need to work and I don't know what will happen when I break all the spells."
Everyone but Simon retreated from him while he took some chalk and started drawing a circle on the shell of the turtle. After adding some runes and a few other components, he began chanting, his eyes and hands glowing brighter as he spoke until the circle began to light up along with him. With a resounding crack, the shield broke in half and dissipated into the air.
A great shout of victory and relief came from the City as the thieves were aloud to vacate their prison. Finn and Jake rushed back to him before he was overrun by the grateful citizens and all his things stolen. After fending off the rabble, Finn and Jake said goodbye to Penny, who returned to her home. Meanwhile, Simon was sleeping from the overuse of his mana. Finn and Susan watched him while Jake ferried them all to the underground former home of the Hyoomans. By the time they had retrieved a boat and had gotten past the shut down clashing gates, Simon had awaked and explained that his fatigue was due to overuse of magic. He then asked Finn and Jake not to tell Betty as she would be mad at him, which they agreed to since he was helping the people of Ooo.
They soon arrived to Beautopia and saw the same shield that was over the City of Thieves. Simon waited for his body to recover before repeating the process from last time, with the same results. The shield broke and Simon fell to the ground, but was able to stay conscious this time.
"You think we're pushing Simon too hard," Finn asked Jake?
"Nahh, he's fine. Besides, sometimes a man has to struggle to do what's right. That's what makes a hero. You know that."
"I guess man. I just worry for the guy. He doesn't really seem to know his limits."
"Pushing past his limits will help him get stronger. Besides we're here to make sure he's ok."
As Jake walked to check on Simon, Susan pulled Finn aside. "Thank you Finn. Your Hero Heart and your friend help save Beautopia."
"It wasn't a problem."
Susan grabbed Finn's hand and pulled him into a hug which Finn returned. When Susan put him down, she leaned over towards his face and closed her eyes. Finn's face lit up when he realized what she wanted. "Woah Susan wait. Stop."
Susan looked at him, confused. "I thought you like me."
"Susan. I..I have a girlfriend already."
"Girlfriend?"
"Yes. I'm with Flame Princess. She's my girlfriend. We're together."
"Oh. You have asshimar. I understand," Susan said, backing up. "Sorry Finn."
"It's ok. You didn't know. Umm I'm gonna go check on Simon."
As Finn turned and started walking, Susan said called out his name. Finn stopped without turning around. "If she hurt you, asshimar or no, I stomp."
Finn simply smiled a bit, knowing that their friendship was still ok. Finn returned and helped Jake bring Simon up to full health before Simon teleported the three of them back to his cabin.
Susan sighed in disappointment. She had done everything the weird headed man said to do to win Finn's heart but it didn't work. She was lost now, not knowing what to do.
"Don't fret Susan Strong. You and Finn the Hero will be united," said an emotional voice from behind her.
"Really donoic," Susan asked the voice?
"Yes. In death," answered the voice, as the shield that Simon broke reformed over Beautopia and trapping Susan and the Hyoomans inside. "Now that you are inside, Finn and Jake won't be able to save you in time. Now I must return to the City of Thieves and recreate the seal there as well." The figure the voice belongs to opens up a black hole and jump inside, sealing it shut behind him.
A/N: So the new Fiona and Cake episode was leaked online and I got to see it. Personally I loved it. I just hope they introduce Flame Prince soon. Anyway let me know what you thought about the chapter. Review and guess the villain. The winner gets the prize. Raistlin99 out till next time.