"Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any those is to lose all three."
–Ziad K. Abdelnour
I do not own 'Adventure Time'.
Chapter 31
The Betrayal
(ten years ago)
"Evolution." Dr. Gross said aloud as she wrote the word on the chalkboard. "Defined as the change in the characteristics of a species over several generations, relying on the process of natural selection." Dr. Gross crossed her arms. "Charles Darwin himself theorized that every species on this planet shares a common ancestor, but they all changed over time. Some of them become dominant and survived evolution, while other species went extinct, due to their incapability to stay alive. 'Survival of the fittest', Darwin called it. Only the strong survive. Only the dominant survive." Dr. Gross turned to face the classroom. "Any questions about this topic?"
Eight-year-old Finn, being the only student in the classroom, raised his hand.
"Yes, Finn?"
"Why can't all the species just be friends?" Finn asked. "Wouldn't it be better if they all just got along?"
Dr. Gross chuckled at Finn. She put down the chalk and wiped the white residue off on her yellow dress. "This island loves you for a reason."
Finn blinked.
"Finnegan, my dear boy." Dr. Gross walked up to Finn's desk. "Evolution is not a bad thing. The extinction of...lesser species, is not a bad thing. Evolution is what makes humans...humans. We are superior in this world because we have been in the lead of evolution's race, outdoing every other species."
"That...makes us better than any other species?" Finn asked.
"That is exactly correct," said Dr. Gross.
Finn frowned, still looking uncertain.
Dr. Gross sighed placed a hand on Finn's shoulder. "Oh, never mind. Let's just continue with the lecture, shall we?" Gross patted Finn's shoulder and headed back to the chalkboard.
"Dr. Gross?"
Gross turned around.
"Why are humans the best at evolution?" Finn asked. "What makes us better?"
Gross smiled. "Having the ability to become better."
(present day)
Before anyone could even blink, Huntress Wizard drew her bow and shot an arrow straight at Mecha-Gross. The arrow sailed at the speed of sound and pierced through the polycarbonate of Gross's suit. It didn't go all the way through though, Gross stared in surprise at the tip of the arrow that was stuck a couple of inches away from her face.
"You don't mess around," Mecha-Gross marveled. "You happen to be a merc for hire? I could use someone like you for what's to come."
"Your head will decorate my wall along with the rest of my trophies," HW said as she nocked and aimed another arrow.
"Damn, you could've been useful." Mecha-Gross raised her big, robot hand and snapped the arrow with her claw. "It's a shame you choose defiance."
"Uh, you guys seem like you got this covered." Ice King said nervously. "I'm gonna fly away in a tactical retreat and…get help. Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna get help. Call me when you save Gunter. Bye." Ice King took off like a bat out of hell and flew away.
"Ice King, you wuss!" Jake shouted, shaking his fist. "Ah, we don't need that guy. Take this, puppy stealer!" Jake sent an inflated fist flying towards Gross.
Mecha-Gross caught the fist with her claw and pulled Jake towards her, landing a heavy punch to Jake's face that sent him right back to where he started. The bulldog crashed into the sand like a meteor.
"Jake!" Finn shouted.
"...Ow." Jake whimpered. "That did not go the way I planned."
"Dad!" TV ran to his father's side. "...Did that hurt?"
"Yes, son. Yes, it did." Jake said as TV helped him back up. "Listen, kiddo. Do Dad a favor and teleport back into that Narwhal submarine. Grab everyone else that was imprisoned and teleport them to safety."
TV saluted. "You got it, Dad!" he said before disappearing.
"Oh, let's just kill this robo-bitch already!" Marceline flew at Mecha-Gross. Gross, in return, tried to grab Marcy, but the Vampire Queen was too fast. Gross moved around and swung her claws in an attempt to strike Marcy as she flew around Gross like a mosquito, striking the mecha-suit with her axe, looking for weakness on the armor. Huntress decided to join the fun and ran up to Mecha-Gross as well. The violent Forest Nymph began climbing on and around Gross's armor like some kind of monkey, thrusting an arrow into random chinks.
"Get off me you mutants freaks!" Gross demanded. "I'll destroy you all!"
Nothung in hand, Finn looked up at the looming form of the Guardian. It didn't move a mechanical muscle, suggesting that it was waiting for its next order. Finn had no idea how he was supposed to stop the Guardian. All the stories and blueprints he heard and seen suggested that the Guardian was indestructible. Nothing ever suggested anything about a potential weakness. One thing seemed to work though; as long as Dr. Gross was kept busy, she couldn't give the Guardian its next order.
"You ready, Jake?" Finn asked.
Jake dug himself out of the sand and hopped back onto his feet. "Heck, yeah! Let's trash this tin can!"
Finn and Jake charged towards Mecha-Gross. The cannons mounted on her shoulders aimed at the boys and fired rounds of energy at them. Jake bounced around to avoid getting hit and Finn deflected each blast off of Nothung. Jake grew to the size of Mecha-Gross and grabbed her hands in an attempt to overpower her. Marcy and Huntress each went to a shoulder and held the cannons back from shooting Jake as he and Gross held each other in a contest of strength.
"You kidnapped my son!" Jake shouted.
"And I was prepared to dissect that creature as well!" Gross shouted back.
This made Jake even angrier. He grew larger and pushed Mecha-Gross back several feet. The shoulder-cannons fired, but hit nothing with HW and Marcy holding them back.
Finn climbed up Jake's back and jumped off his head, bringing his sword down the polycarbonate barrier that protected Gross. The blade went through, but only a few inches. Finn hung onto the blade and planted his feet on the barrier.
"I won't let you destroy Ooo!" Finn shouted.
"You would rather destroy mankind's future?!" Gross demanded.
The shoulder cannons both spun a three-sixty quickly enough to push Marcy and Huntress back far enough for them to open fire on the girls. They were both made of tough stuff, so the energy blasts that sent the girls flying to the left and right of Gross were painful, but not lethal. They landed on their backs in the sand several yards away from either side of Mecha-Gross.
"You're not a hero." The shoulder cannons aimed themselves at Finn and Jake. "You're just a stupid kid who ran away from home!"
"I didn't run away, you and your bullstuff got me sent here!" Finn slammed his palm down on the sword's hilt and the blade went a little deeper through the polycarbonate. "You killed the Island Leaders along with a bunch of innocents and my Mom." Finn slammed his palm down once more. "You nearly got me and a bunch of other people killed by the Guardian just to prove your point!" Finn pushed the blade in another inch. "This isn't a noble act. This is you and your inflated ego pretending to be a savior!"
"Pretending?!" Gross shouted. "I AM HUMANITY'S SALVATION!"
Mecha-Gross began to hum with power, then electricity danced madly around her suit. Jake lit up with light as his skeleton came in and out of view, then Gross landed a solid punch to his face that sent him flying back.
"Jake!" Finn cried. While Gross was momentarily stunned by the fact that Finn was unaffected by the shock, he placed his hand in the polycarbonate and a thick layer of frost spread all over the barrier, completely blocking Gross's sight. Finn yanked Nothung out of the barrier and fell to the sand as Gross began to blindly stomp around and swing her arms, cannons firing at random. Finn danced around Mecha-Gross, slashing at what looked like weak spots on her legs. Gross raised a mechanical foot to stomp on Finn, but he vanished in a cloud of snow and reappeared a few yards away. Finn summoned a chain whip of ice and swung it at Gross. The chain wrapped around her legs and Finn pulled, pulling Gross's feet right out from under her. Mecha-Gross fell onto her back and the ground shook as sand flew. While she was down, Finn wasted no time as he charged at Gross, leaping into the air to bring the sword down on the barrier.
Gross calmly raised an arm and it extended fast enough to do damage, sending forth a metal fist that knocked Finn right back where he had been. Finn struggled back to his feet, spitting out some blood as he did. He raised his blade, despite the pain.
Gross back to her feet as well. The frost-covered barrier glowed red and the frost quickly melted off, revealing the mad doctor.
"Swordplay, electricity-resistance, cryokinesis, teleportation," Gross listed off. "The desire to protect a country of mutants and a lust for undead women."
"Will no one let that go?" Finn asked in disbelief. "I have a scary girlfriend, get over it!"
"Finn…what have you become?"
Finn hesitated for a few seconds. "...If I say 'something more' will that seem a little corny at this point?"
"Is this a joke to you?!" Mecha-Gross's shoulder cannons fired at Finn. Finn managed to deflect the energy blasts with Nothung, but he struggled to keep up with the shots. "The future survival of the human race depends upon this world, and you want to keep our people trapped on an island!"
"Let the Humans come!" Finn shouted as he deflected the blasts. "There's no need for genocide!"
"To quote one of the greatest human minds to ever live," Gross aimed her palm at Finn and shot a blast of energy at him Iron Man style. She then ceased her cannons' gunfire as Finn was blasted off his feet. Painful, but thankfully not lethal. "Survival of the fittest."
"I couldn't agree more."
Huntress Wizard jumped onto Mecha-Gross's back. Gross thrashed around as she tried to get Huntress off of her. Her guns fired and Gross's claws snapped as she stumbled around trying to shake the wizard off. Huntress moved around the robotic body, sticking more arrows into more chinks in her armor, adding to the collection. It wasn't until Gross began to resemble a giant pin cushion that Huntress backflipped off her, dodging a barrage of energy blast as she landed on her feet a few yards away from Gross.
Dr. Gross aimed her arm cannons and her shoulder cannons all on Huntress Wizard.
Huntress smirked and calmly snapped her fingers.
The arrows all over Mecha-Gross blew up in a small, green explosion. Gross's mechanical body stiffened like she had been stabbed in the back and she fell to her knees.
Jake came charging towards Gross in the shape of a rhino, shouting an angry battle cry as he rammed Mecha-Gross back with enough force to land her into the shallow of the beach.
"I am so sick of robots electrocuting me into unconsciousness!" Jake roared. "I mean, really, that is the third freaking time that's happened!"
Gross tried to get back up, but Marceline came at her like a bullet and planted her feet on the polycarbonate, forcing Gross back down and spreading cracks across the barrier. Waves splashed on Mecha-Gross as Marceline held her down.
"Screw Huntress, your head's going on my wall." Marcy swung her axe down and stuck it into the barrier, spreading more cracks. "I'd drink every ounce of your blood too if I wasn't afraid there'd be some motor oil in it."
"So you're the one who Finn has been romancing?" Gross asked. "I'm curious…how much do you get paid?"
Marceline's eyes glowed the crimson color of blood behind her face mask. "...That was a mistake."
"So was your existence." Gross spat back. A shrill, sonar sound suddenly emitted from the suit. At first, Finn feared that the sound was an order given to the Guardian. But the titan didn't move. Instead, the Narwhal submarine that had been sitting on the ocean surface and watching the fight sank into the sea. Then it burst out of the water in a geyser of saltwater, rising into the air on a pair of manta ray wings like some kind of freak hybrid.
"Seriously?" Finn complained. "That thing can fly?"
Marceline looked up to see the now flying metal manta ray narwhal thing, and Mecha-Gross punched the vampire off of her with an extended fist. Marcy landed back next to her friends and Gross rose to her feet.
"An aerial as well as a maritime warship," Gross explained. "Pretty cool, right?"
The Flying Narwhal floated towards Finn and friends and electricity danced along its drill horn. The team barely had enough time to get jumped out of the way before a bolt of lightning shot from the narwhal's horn and blasted the spot where the team had been a moment ago, leaving a smoking crater.
"As you can see, Finn, I came with my guns loaded," said Gross. "What do you have? A sword, a few magic tricks, a pet dog, and two of your concubines who happen to be good in a fight."
"Okay, you can have her head, but only after she watches me rip her heart out of her chest," said Marcy.
"Deal," HW replied.
"You've already been a disappointment to humanity, but I will not fail them!" Gross declared. "And to think this all could have been avoided if you had just-"
A blast of energy struck the side of the Flying Narwhal and it listed to the side and let out a metallic groan of pain.
"Do you ever stop talking?"
Finn and the team turned around to see Princess Bubblegum standing in front of the forest treeline. She wore a dirty lab coat and her hair was set in a messy ponytail. Behind her in the forest, flanking her on either side, were the Gumball Guardians. Pitiful in comparison to the Island Guardian, but still impressive on their own.
"Princess!" Finn cheered.
"Ah, the other disappointment," said Gross. "A child whose toys need to be taken away from her." Gross lifted her arm at the twin Guardians and emitted the same sound that had activated the narwhal.
Nothing happened.
Gross blinked in confusion. "Impossible."
"Ain't gonna work no more." PB adjusted her smudged glasses. "I got your virus out of the Guardians, and now they obey me, and only me."
Dr. Gross growled angrily. "It seems I owe you an apology, Princess."
"Apology accepted," said Bubblegum.
"I mistook you for a fellow woman of vision. When instead, you're just a scared little girl who hides behind her candy fort and throws things at anyone who might try to take it away from her." Gross continued. "So much wasted potential. And to think, I saw a future where you and I worked together. We could've been partners, Bubblegum."
"Your mistake was thinking I was anything like you," said Bubblegum.
"If you weren't so pathetic and weak, we would be mirror images of each other," said Gross.
"How's this for pathetic and weak?" Bubblegum raised a hand and the Gumball Guardians both fired on the Flying Narwhal again. The ship seemed to struggle to stay airborne from the impact of the blasts. While Mecha-Gross was distracted by this, Bubblegum slung a high-tech-looking rifle off her back and aimed it at Gross. PB fired a shot of pink energy at the mecha-suit's naval area. Pink electricity danced over Mecha-Gross and she cried out in pain.
"Stings, don't it?" Bubblegum asked.
"Damn," Marceline muttered under her breath.
"I'll chew you up and spit you out, damnable Gum Golem!" Gross screamed. "I'll destroy the Candy Kingdom and make you watch as it burns!"
"Threatening my Kingdom is one thing," said Bubblegum cocked her energy gun. "Threaten my friends and you'll pay the ultimate price."
"...Damn," Marceline muttered again.
Finn smiled at Bubblegum. "Princess…I'd hug you, but…you really need a shower."
PB sighed. "Yeah, I know. I've been busy, alright? I came as soon I could."
"I know, I know," Finn said, raising his hands in defense. "But still…you look like someone tossed you into a dumpster."
Bubblegum looked at Marceline. "Does he talk this romantically to you?"
"There's…more action than communication between me and Finn." Marceline grinned behind her face mask. "You remember when we used to date, right, Bonnie?"
Finn and Bubblegum both blushed.
"Did Ice King get you?" Finn asked after awkwardly clearing his throat. "Is that how you knew to be here?"
"What? No. That giant robot is humongous. I saw it all the way from the Candy Kingdom." PB replied. "I have no idea where Ice King is."
(at the Candy Kingdom)
"Doo do doo. Doo do doo." Starchy sang as approached the phone booth. "Starchy's gotta call his accountant so he doesn't lose his house." Starchy opened the door to the phone booth.
"Zap."
Starchy was suddenly frozen in a block of ice. Ice King walked up and pushed frozen Starchy out of the way. "'Scuse me, bud. National emergency."
Ice King entered the booth and picked up the phone, putting in some coins he made out of ice and dialing a number. IK twirled the phone line between his fingers as the phone rang. The call was answered.
"...Yeah, hi. Uh, this is the Ice King… Yes, that Ice King. Not really a lotta Ice King's running around Ooo… I need to speak to Flame Princess… Princess Phoebe? That's her real name? And I thought 'Simon' was a lame name. Yeah, her… Look man, I just need to talk to her… No, I am not trying to ask her out. I like hot chicks, but not when they're that hot… Fire joke, yeah. Hope it wasn't racist… Hey, I'm old, I'm allowed to say racist things… Look, just let me talk to her. Tell her it's about Finn. Tell her he's in danger, that oughta do it."
Ice King waited for a minute as his call was transferred.
"...Flame Princess, hey! It's me, Ice King! Remember, we duked it out a few years back and you nearly killed me but we're totally cool now…? Hey, Bubblegum made me do it. And when a hot babe asked a guy to do something, he pretty much has to. Just ask Finn, he's been dating Marceline for a while, he knows exactly what I'm talking about… Woah! Easy! What'd I say…? Why am I calling? Oh, no reason, I just felt like you and I haven't talked in a while. Oh, and Finn's aunt or something–I didn't get the whole story–came to Ooo and she's kidnapped a bunch of people, and she brought a narwhal submarine and a robot the size of a mountain. She kidnapped Finn, but he got away. And now he and every else is on a beach about to do battle… Uh-huh… Uh-huh… Uh-huh…"
Ice King grinned like a shark. "Remember our brawl?"
(back at the beach)
"Yeah, Ice King kinda bailed on us," Finn said.
"Not entirely surprising," said Bubblegum. "It's better if he stays out of this anyway."
"Hey! I'm still here, you know!" Dr. Gross shouted.
As soon as Gross said the word 'know' PB aimed her weapon and shot another blast at the mad scientist. The pink energy hit the mecha-suit and Gross screamed in pain once more.
"DESTROY THEM!" Dr. Gross shouted.
Finn was afraid she was talking to the Island Guardian, but the Flying Narwhal aimed its horn at the Gumball Guardians and fired a bolt of lightning. The lightning struck one of the Guardians and the other opened fire on the Narwhal. The Narwhal dodged out of the way with surprising agility and fired another blast. The Gumball Guardians walked into the sea, saltwater up to their ankles. The twin giants and the Narwhal began to play a dangerous two-on-one game of dodgeball, blasting and dodging beams of energy and bolts of lightning.
"This is just irritating!" Gross complained. "I came here to conquer the world and subject it to ethnic cleansing. During the second World War, Adolf Hitler tried to do the same thing for the glory of his people, as I am doing this for the glory of my people. Hitler had an army, he had followers, there were those who worshipped him! What do I have other than an ungrateful nephew and the big guy?" Gross raised a hand up towards the Island Guardian. "And here you all are," Gross spread her hands towards the Finn team. "My Allied Powers. Banded together, trying to protect what's yours."
Mecha-Gross pointed a finger at Finn, a look of anger on her face. "And then there's you. None of this is yours. These aren't your people, this isn't your world. You think that doing this will make you a hero when in truth it will make you solely responsible for humanity's descent into oblivion."
"Why do bad guys always talk so much?" Finn asked.
"Hey, everyone loves villain dialogue," said Gross. "Question is…who's the villain here?"
"Who's the one trying to kill everyone?!" Finn demanded.
"Who's the one trying to doom his people?" Gross countered.
Quick as a wink, Huntress shot an arrow. The arrow stuck into the sand right between Mecha-Gross's big feet.
Gross raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the arrow. "Was that supposed to scare me?"
"I'm supposed to scare you," HW said. "I suggest you give in to reason and fear me."
The arrow exploded into a web of vines, wrapping around the startled Dr. Gross and restraining her. Gross struggled with all her might to break free from her bonds, but to no avail.
"Aw, yeah!" Marceline cheered. "Spider binder, bitch!"
"Awww, you remembered the name?" asked Huntress.
Mecha-Gross screamed in dismay. "I have had enough of this!"
Gross looked up into the sky. "Guardian! Destroy EVERYTHING!"
Finally, the Island Guardian moved.
"Oh, crap," said Finn.
(back at the treehouse)
Neptr rolled up to the window and looked outside. In the distance, he saw a giant robot out on the horizon.
"Hey, another robot!" Neptr cheered. "BMO! Come look at the new robot!"
BMO came over and looked out the window with Neptr. "Wow. That is a very big robot." BMO commented.
"Maybe he is a friendly giant," Neptr suggested.
They both saw the robot begin to move.
"Huh. I wonder where he is going." Neptr said.
Susan came up and looked out the window. "What are robot friends looking at?" she asked.
"At the big robot off in the distance," said BMO.
Susan saw the robot and blinked, becoming as still as a statue.
Neptr then saw two giant figures in the distance approaching the giant robot.
"Hey, Susan. You suddenly do not seem very big by comparison." when he didn't answer, Neptr turned around from the window. "Susan?"
Susan was gone.
(back on the beach)
The metal titan stepped out of the sea and onto land. Thankfully, the Guardian moved away from Finn's team and the Gumball Guardians, so no one was stepped on. The Guardian moved diagonally away from them, perhaps having a specific destination in mind.
"Magnificent, isn't he?" Gross asked. "He comes from a line of Guardians; the youngest of his order. The first of his predecessors was a giant made from wood, stone, and metal. A clockwork mechanism, built to protect, one way or the other. What in this mutant-infested world would stand against such a being?"
A really big block of ice slammed into the Guardian's chest, knocking him back a step.
Then a fireball the same size slammed into the Guardian, with the same result.
The group turned to see what had challenged the Guardian and their jaws all dropped.
Ice King's mad cackle could be heard from his mountain, which had grown arms and legs made of snow and sleet. The cut-out face of the mountain glowed artic-blue as the King of Ice took control from his position at the mouth.
Next to him was…well, imagine if the sun turned into a woman the size of a skyscraper, then got hecka angry, then turned into a demon. Flame Princess blazed like an oil rig caught on fire. Her features were terrifying, like humanoid hellfire.
"How's this for a song of ice and fire?!" Ice King shouted.
"And here I was hoping I'd never have to see that again," said Bubblegum.
"I am so writing an album worth of rock songs dedicated to those two," said Marceline. "Well, three. Can't leave out the robot I guess."
"Oh, come on!" Gross shouted. She strained against her bonds again. This time, with more concentration on her face. Her mechanical body obeyed and broke HW's bonds with the sound of a thousand whips. "How hard is it to kill that which should have never been alive in the first place?!"
Everyone got ready to fight, and Finn led the charge towards Mecha-Gross.
Finn ran up and slid between Gross's legs. Gross brought her fist down but missed as Finn slid under her. With her guard down, Jake went big and punched Mecha-Gross right in the barrier. Finn dove out of the way as Gross stumbled backward, slicing at her leg as she passed. The shoulder cannons fired at Marceline and Huntress who both made a B-line straight towards Gross. The girls jumped up onto either shoulder and held the cannons back as they fired, digging a hatchet and an axe into the base of their cannon. Gross tried to electrocute everyone, but Bubblegum shot another pink energy blast at her, which caused Gross to cry out in pain and stop the electrocution from happening.
The Gumball Guardians continued to trade fire with the Flying Narwhal. The Narwhal was holding its own against the two, but it was still outnumbered. The Gumball Guardians landed more blows than the Flying Narwhal did, and it look like the warship was beginning to struggle to stay airborne.
And as for the three titans.
The Island Guardian recovered quickly from the surprise attack and stoically held his ground. Ice King, wasting no time, charged towards the Guardian. Mountain Ice King swung a snow fist with ice-for-brass knuckles at the Guardian's face. But the Guardian dodged, countering with a hook that Ice King was able to block. The two of them boxed for a while before the Guardian landed a blow to the mountain's head that sent Mountain Ice King stumbling back with a long crack that ran down his face.
No sooner than he did, Inferno Princess came forward and blew a geyser of fire at the Guardian with her outreached hands. The Guardian struggled as he tried to shield himself from the fire with his hands. An evil grin spread across the Princess's face as she continued her moment as El Diablo. But the Guardian braced against the fire and slowly began moving towards her. Inferno Princess tried to turn up the heat, but the Guardian made it to her and delivered a punch to her stomach, which stopped the flames, then an uppercut that sent her back.
Ice King tagged in and landed a powerful punch to the Guardians head, which sent the metal titan reeling back. The Guardian's eyes blinked on and off for a second, then seemed to glow angrily brighter. In retaliation, the Guardian landed a blow to the Mountain Ice King's midsection. The ice titan stumbled back as cracks appeared along his body. The Guardian charged at Ice King, but a cloud vortex appeared in the sky and a bolt of blue lightning shot from the vortex and struck the Guardian's head. As the Island Colossus twitched and jerked, Mountain Ice King clenched his fists and the cracks on his body all froze over.
With the roar of a beast, the fire titan rushed at the Guardian. Inferno Princess rammed into the Guardian and knocked him back. She then took in a deep breath and like the queen of dragons, blew a column of fire at the Guardian while twin columns of fire shot from her hands. The Guardian let out a mechanical roar as he was bathed in fire.
One of the upgrades Dr. Gross had secretly installed in the Guardian was then put into effect. The Guardian's eyes glowed cherry red, then twin beams of energy shot at Inferno Princess. The lasers struck the side of the fire titan's face. She arched bach and cried out in pain, bringing her hands to her face.
The Guardian turned its gaze on Mountain Ice King and fired its laser eyes. Ice King brought up his arms in an 'X' formation as they formed a coating of ice and blocked the beams of energy. Ice King struggled to hold back the lasers, which kept on coming. Mountain Ice King took a knee as the laser eyes relentlessly bore into him. The Guardian clenched its fists as the lasers burned into the target.
With even more burning rage than before, Inferno Princess charged at the Guardian. She wrapped around the metal titan as it was busy trying to finish off Mountain Ice King and held the Guardian in a full nelson. The Guardian's attack on Ice King ceased as the Colossus struggled to get out of the Inferno Princess's hold, shooting random beams of red energy into the sky or into the ground. The Inferno's body began to grow even hotter, and the Guardians body began to glow red where the Princess's body touched it. As the Guardian writhed in pain, Mountain Ice King came up and started delivering blow after blow to the Guardian's abdomen. The Guardian managed to kick Ice King away, but Inferno Princess applied more heat. The Guardian let out another mechanical roar of pain as its body began to redden. Ice King came back and started delivering the punches to the Guardian's face. The Guardian tried shooting him with its laser eyes, but Ice King dodged out of the way and punched the Guardian even harder.
On the ground, where the fight against Mecha-Gross was taking place, Gross knocked back Jake as he attempt to charge her and shot a burst of energy from her palm at Marceline, sending the vampire flying back. She looked up and saw the Guardian in his state and Gross's eyes widened with panic.
"No."
After a few more punches to the face, Mountain Ice King grabbed ahold of the Guardian's head like he was about to snap its neck. Instead, frost covered the Guardians head, slowly spreading until the head looked like a sculpted block of ice with two glowing eyes. Ice King brought his fists together and raised them above his head.
"The iceman cometh!"
He brought his fists down and the Guardian's head shattered into pieces.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
With a victorious grin, Inferno Princess tossed the Guardian's corpse aside. The dead, iron giant fell to the Earth, shaking the ground so fiercely it could have leveled a building.
Mecha–Gross's body began to hum, increasing in magnitude until the sound shook rattled Finn's teeth and made his head hurt. A red warning light blinked inside of the polycarbonate barrier. An explosion of energy emitted from her suit, a surrounding burst of energy that painfully tossed everyone aside. Bubblegum's gun was thrown out of her grip and torn to pieces by the energy blast as the princess flew into the air. Marceline was flung into the forest area. She got back up quickly, but when she tried to fly back at Dr. Gross, she cried out in pain as the sun burned her, a result of the energy blast tearing apart her sunproof suit.
The Gumball Guardians finally managed to take down the Flying Narwhal, both of them simultaneously blasting the ship out of the air. But as the ship exploded, it emitted a burst of energy similar to the one Gross had emitted. When the Gumball Guardians got hit by the blast, they were both shut down, falling down and becoming half-submerged in seawater.
Gross seemed to be unable to move for a bit. A list of warnings popped up on the polycarbonate for Gross to read. 'Cannons: offline.' 'Energy turrets: offline.' 'Electric neutralizer: offline.' 'Mobility: 60% capacity.'
Gross looked over and saw Finn struggling to get back on his feet. Making an effort just to move, Gross stomped over to Finn. Trying to lift himself with his sword, Finn looked up at Gross glowering down at him.
"You…" Gross lifted her arm to strike.
Something big slammed into Mecha-Gross. It was large and muscular, wearing a purple uniform and a cat hat.
"Su-saaaaaaaaan!" she sang. Susan grabbed the front of the Mecha-suit and lifted Gross off of the ground. The Seeker stared at Gross through the polycarbonate.
Gross stared back in surprise. "You?!"
"Susan protect friends!" Susan threw Mecha-Gross across the beach and into the surf. She then ran towards Gross as she tried to lift herself up and slammed a knee into the polycarbonate, tossing Gross back again and splashing into the water. Gross tried to land a hit on Susan, but Susan caught her arm and tossed it aside before landing a punch herself on Gross's polycarbonate barrier, finally shattering it.
Mecha-Gross was knocked onto her back and she stared in fear through the shattered barrier as Susan approached her.
"Stop! I command you!" Dr. Gross shouted.
"You are a meanie." Susan picked Mecha-Gross up and casually tossed her into the sea. "I do not like meanies."
"Wait, no!" Finn got to his feet and hurried over to Susan's side. "Susan. Go help the others. They might be hurt."
"Okay. Susan go help friends." Susan walked away, leaving Finn alone.
The team regrouped with painful limping and groaning, gathering by the shade of the trees so Marcy could join. The ten victims that Dr. Gross had kidnapped emerged from the forest, with TV in the lead. Ice King and now-back-to-normal Flame Princess flew down to join them, but they both fell on their backs in exhaustion. Ice King panted with his tongue hanging out and Flame Princess was burning on fumes, barely glowing at all.
"I feel…" FP croaked. "...So tired."
"You're telling me." Ice King replied. "I still have to move my house back."
"Hey, wait a minute," said PB. "If that's your mountain over there, then is the Lich in there?! Or is he still back in the Ice Kingdom openly exposed to the-"
"Yeah, yeah. Major hole," said Ice King with a weak wave of his hand. "Look, the fight scenes were awesome, can't you just be happy with that?"
"Wenk." Gunter waddled over to Ice King and hopped onto his chest. Gunter flapped his wings happily. "Wenk, wenk."
"Oh, not now, Gunter." Ice King complained. "Can't you see daddy's exhausted?"
Gunter gave Ice King a flat look before hopping off of Ice King and waddling away.
"Where's Finn?" HW asked. She looked over and saw Finn searching the surf, a look of desperation on his face. "Oh…there he is."
"Come on, come on." Finn stepped deeper into the sea. The waves pushed him back but Finn pushed forward. "Where are you?"
Dr. Gross burst out of the surf, no longer in her mecha-suit, and used her hand that she had morphed into a plasma cutter to slice off Finn's right forearm.
Finn screamed in pain as his sword arm was cut off. Nothung, with Finn's arm still gripping the handle, fell into the water. Finn fell down as well, halfway underwater with the waves occasionally washing over him. His blood reddened the water and Finn began to feel nauseous. Gross stood over Finn with rage and murder in her eyes.
"...Traitor." she hissed.
Huntress was the first to react when Finn's scream was heard by the team. She ran over to the water's edge and aimed an arrow. Gross quickly picked Finn up and used him as a human shield. Huntress couldn't get a clear shot.
Dr. Gross held the cutter over Finn's throat. "You're not strong enough to kill me. And you should know that I will never stop hunting these freaks for as long as I live," said Gross. "I will never give it up. Ooo will burn, and I'm the one who's gonna be holding the lighter and the empty can of gas."
Finn panted from the sudden blood loss and fatigue. "No one…has to die."
"They all have to die," said Dr. Gross. "And I'm gonna kill them. And if I have to, with no amount of joy, I'll kill you as well."
Finn closed his eyes. "...D…Do it…"
Gross blinked in surprise. "You…give up? Just like that?"
"...D…Do it…" Finn repeated. "...Do it, Shoko."
"Shoko?" Gross asked. "Who is-"
Everybody else saw a levitating sword. Only Finn saw Shoko pick Nothung up out of the surf with her one arm and use the blade to run Dr. Gross through, stabbing her through her heart. Gross went rigid and her eyes bulged. Shoko pulled the blade out of her and Gross and Finn both fell into the surf.
Finn stared into Dr. Gross's dying face and listened to his friends shout his name as he slipped into unconsciousness.
"There are good men and bad men of all nationalities, creeds, and colors; and if this world of ours is ever to become what we hope someday it may become, it must be by the general recognition that the man's heart and soul, the man's worth and actions, determine his standing."
–Theodore Roosevelt