(a/n: here you go and enjoy. don't forget to review!)
Act 5: Fools Gold
The Gravemaker pulled himself onto the topmost branch of the tree with ease.
His human and cybernetic eyes scanned the vast forest, quickly comparing it to an old photograph he held in his hand
"Well?" called Zim from down below, he tapped his foot impatiently on the forest floor
"Overgrown but its familiar" replied the Gravemaker, he jumped off the branch and he dropped back to earth, gracefully landed on his feet without any incident.
A day after the visit from Princess Bubblegum and friends Zim had begun his operations again. He had the base computer run an analysis on the scans he did on Princess Bubblegum and her friends but it was still in the process of coming up with conclusive results.
So, while the computer continued analyzing the scans, he decided to go ahead with continuing his plans for world domination.
First step was to find a secret armory that Zim built before the human race blew itself to Hell.
Zim lead the way through the thick forest, followed closely by the Gravemaker and GIR.
GIR was perched on the assassin's shoulder singing theme songs to various cartoons.
"-Absorbing and yellow is he, Sponge-man Square something guy!" screamed GIR, the Gravemaker just hummed along and Zim just kept growling at the two, "Silence, silence, silence!"
"Come on sing!" said GIR "It's fun!"
"Its not fun, its annoying!" hissed Zim.
He glared at GIR saying "Now be quiet while I find the hatch" suddenly Zim bumped into a large metal hatch that jutted out of the ground and he crumpled to the ground "Found it" said GIR and the Gravemaker in unison.
Zim muttered curses in Irken as he rubbed his forehead and scrambled to his feet.
He looked at the hatch then said "this is it" he turned to the Gravemaker, "Open it" the assassin nodded and approached the hatch.
He grabbed the cover, tore off the lock and opened the lid with ease.
The assassin stepped aside "Wait here for a minute, then you follow" said Zim as he climbed over the edge and then down the ladder, descending into the hidden armory.
After a few minutes of climbing down the ladder, Zim's foot reached the solid floor and he hopped off the ladder. He pulled out a glowing orb from his Pak, its soft white light pierced the darkness that filled the room.
Zim saw a few control consoles, a few large metal conduits that ran along the walls and he saw a door on the far side of the room.
Zim realized that he was standing in the control room. The room contained the main computer that controlled the air ventilation and the power in the base and a secondary consol that controlled the base's defenses.
The armory doubled as an emergency base, in the event that humans discovered his base, Zim could escape his home base and hide in the armory. Zim strolled over to the main control consol and he began typing in commands.
Slowly, the armory's main power generator came on followed by ventilation, draining the base of musky air and producing cool, clean air. Lastly the lights came on, bringing the room into view.
Zim looked up and saw a stasis pod, containing a single being. Zim punched in a few commands and the stasis pod hissed, the glass lid slid away and the being floated out, dazed and confused
"Minimoose" said Zim "It is good to see you again"
Minimoose squeaked, Zim shook his head "No it is not time, apparently thanks to the Dib monkey we overshot our target by a thousand years" Minimoose groaned and looked to the floor, looking sad.
Zim smiled "Don't worry, we're still going to take over the earth and this time, the Tallest is going to throw us a party when we get home!" the miniature moose perked up a little.
The Gravemaker just dropped down from the opening in the ceiling with GIR still on his shoulder, holding tightly to the assassin's neck.
GIR spotted Minimoose "Hi!" he screamed, Minimoose squeaked happily. GIR hopped off his shoulder and ran over to Minimoose. The two began dancing around the control room.
The Gravemaker put his hands in his pockets, looked around the control room "So what's the plan boss?"
"Why should I tell you anything about my ingenious plan?", said Zim, still typing away at the control consol.
Zim felt a cold feeling run through him, he looked up and saw the Gravemaker towering over him fixing him with a glare.
The Gravemaker said curtly "Because I won't be able to function properly if I don't have foreknowledge of what you are planning, so you will tell me everything about this plan, so I may perform efficiently".
Zim felt a bead of sweat run down his cheek. Even thought the Gravemaker obeys him and there were protocols that ensured that he would never harm him, he still terrified Zim.
Zim managed to speak "Ok"
the assassin smiled "Good", he backed away from Zim a few inches.
Zim coughed "My plan is to conquer the earth the old fashion way"
"bribing politicians?" guessed the Gravemaker
"nachos?" guessed GIR
"squeak!" guessed Minimoose.
Zim shook his head "no, but you're close Minimoose" Minimoose squeaked happily. Zim crossed his arms "No, I plan on using an army of death bots to take over the world"
"Ohhhh" said all three of Zim's minions in unison. Zim grinned smugly "I know, I know I'm a genius"
"No its not that" said the Gravemaker, crossing his arms "its just that…it sounds like you just came with that at the last minute"
"I didn't" said Zim, looking offended.
In fact Zim had spent four weeks coming up with it "Besides you're just jealous of my genius brain meats" sniffed Zim.
The Gravemaker just rolled his eyes "Whatever you say" there was soft beep from the consol "proximity alert" said an automated voice.
Zim scowled at the consol "What now" he pounded on a few keys and a view screen appeared on the wall.
The screen came to life, displaying a live image of the surface. The image flickered and it zoomed in on a small group of beings that were marching through the forest. Zim exclaimed "Not them again!" on the screen was Finn, Jake, Marceline and Princess Bubblegum.
Princess Bubblegum was at the front of the group holding an aged scroll and they were marching towards the armory.
Zim grabbed his antennas in frustration. He racked his mind for a solution "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?!" Minimoose squeaked a suggestion, Zim shook his head "no that won't work, we don't have enough time for that".
Zim looked to the Gravemaker "You! Go up there and send them away!"
the assassin sighed "Fine" he pealed off his black coat revealing the casual clothes that he wore underneath.
The Gravemaker pulled off his hat and tossed it aside, revealing his spiky black and grey hair. The cybernetic implants melted into his flesh and his robotic eye shifted and twisted till it became a normal human eye. Within seconds the Gravemaker had changed into the human known as Marcus
"Now hurry and get rid of them" barked Zim
"Yes, master" grumbled Marcus.
Marcus scurried up the ladder and out of the secret armory.
Up above Princess Bubblegum studied the map in her hands carefully.
After meeting Zim and Marcus, the group decided to continue their treasure hunt the next morning. At dawn they all met up at Finn and Jake's house and they have been following the map for hours and they were now in the middle of a forest, with no sign of any treasure.
Marceline floated above the group lazily "We've been at this for hours, can we please stop for a moment?"
"Alright" sighed Princess Bubblegum, looking up from the map.
The four stopped to rest after hours of hiking.
Finn sat down on a boulder "So PB, what's this treasure we're looking for?"
"Its called 'the treasure of the demon empress' it is said to have untold riches and a trove of lost items that are rumored to be beyond value" said Princess Bubblegum as she sat down on a tree stump.
Marceline sat on the ground with her back against the boulder Finn was sitting on "Sounds interesting but how did you know all of this?"
"It was in a book I found in the library" said Princess Bubblegum "It was the same book where I found the map" "What did it say exactly?" asked Jake.
Princess Bubble gum frowned "the author's account talked about finally escaping a cursed land and that he was being hunted" Princess Bubblegum scratched her chin
"What else did it say?" asked Finn.
Princess Bubblegum shrugged "I don't know, it became incoherent and there was small scribble that said that he died a week after the last entry in the book".
An eerie silence fell on the group and they heard a twig snap, the four jumped to their feet. Finn swung his red sword towards the source of the sound but stopped, standing there was Marcus.
He wore a red flannel shirt, jeans and dark red shoes. He held up his hands a little "Sorry if I scared you"
"Marcus" said Finn, sounding a little relieved, he lowered his weapon "What are you doing here?"
"Just taking a jog" Marcus said casually.
He leaned against a tree "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for treasure" said Jake. Marcus's eyebrows rose "Really? Can I help?"
"Sure" said Finn.
Marcus smiled "Thanks" he approached the group "Nice to see you again ladies" he nodded to Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. The princess smiled a little, her face turned a darker shade of pink, Marceline nodded back at Marcus "nice to see you too" said Marceline.
Truthfully she was sort of happy to see Marcus again, he was nice to be around. Something about him lightened the general mood of the group.
Marcus clapped his hands together "So, may I have a look at the map?"
"Sure" said Princess Bubblegum, handing the map to him. Marcus unrolled the map and scanned it.
After a minute of silence he rolled it back up saying "Well so far you're heading in the right direction but from what I saw, I would say we should head in…" he pointed towards a nearby mountain range "That direction until we find a cave"
"We're so close" said Finn, sounding excited.
Suddenly Finn took off running towards the mountain "Come on lets go!" he vanished into the forest.
Marcus grinned, "I like his attitude!" he took off running after him, followed by Marceline, Jake and the princess.
Zim watched as Marcus and the rest of the group, head away from the secret armory.
The Irken sighed in relief "Phew, glad that I had the guidance chip implanted in him" Zim scratched his head "Now on to business" he turned and walked out of the control room.
He trudged through a small hall till he reached a door, the doors slid aside revealing a spacious room.
The room was large enough to contain a dozen large aircraft. Zim walked in and he froze "W-wha, eh huh?!" instead of being greeted by the sight of his army of robots he saw nothing but mountains of scrap metal that stretched as far as his eyes could see.
Zim rushed into the sea of scrap metal, his eyes darted all over the decimated army of robots "What, Who?" muttered Zim.
His eyes darted around the room for a sign when he spotted something. He spotted a large hole in the wall that led to a dark tunnel.
Zim scowled "Dib, always Dib" he approached the tunnel, he looked in to the dark tunnel then back into the room "If he found my armory then…" he rushed over to the far side of the room opposite of the destroyed robots. He placed a hand on a panel of the wall and a section of the wall slid away revealing a small compartment.
When Zim saw that it was empty he let out a string of curses, he then turned back to the tunnel "Even a thousand years after their end, humans are still a pain".
Zim frowned "How could Dib have known about the container?" a single name came to his mind but he shook his head "No, she couldn't have known. I mean she's just a stupid human, there's no way she could've known, could she?"
Zim's voice wavered and he stood alone among the ruins of his robot army wondering where his stolen container could have gone.
A cold sensation crept into his stomach.
If Zim didn't get the container back, someone would open it and if they open it, it would be the end of the world. Again.
After a few minutes of running the group came to the edge of the forest and they saw at the top of steep slope that led to the base of the mountain was a cave.
The mouth of the cave was wide and it had stalactites along the upper part, making it look like the mouth of a monster.
Finn looked into the cave, his eyes squinted "Its kinda dark in there"
"I might have something for that" said Marcus, he reached into his pockets and he pulled out a small flashlight. Marcus switched on the flashlight and he marched into the cave, followed by Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline.
The group walked deeper and deeper into the cave, it got darker and darker.
With only Marcus's flashlight lighting the way, the group went around a corner and they stopped.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Finn at what they found.
Ahead of them was a spacious cavern filled with mountains of gold, jewels and boxes overflowing with valuables. On the domed ceiling were massive blue crystals that gave off a bright blue light, making the sea of jewels and gold glitter.
Marcus whistled "Quite a bit of gold"
"Amazing" breathed Princess Bubblegum
"Cool" said Marceline.
Marcus grinned, "What are we doing standing here with our jaws hanging open? Lets go!" he took off running and he dived into the nearest pile of gold. Pretty soon everyone else followed his example.
Princess Bubblegum began going through a box filled with old books and antique figurines.
Finn and Jake were playing around with old weapons that lay strewn all around and Marceline floated above them studying a large ruby in her hands.
Unbeknownst to the group they were being observed. Perched atop a pyramid of perfectly stacked gold bars was a crystal skull.
Inside one eye socket was a camera with a fisheye lens, giving the observer a full panoramic view of the cavern and the intruders.
The lens whirred a little, zooming in one three particular members of the group.
Marceline sat on a pile of boxes looking around the sea of treasure "I got to say Bonnibel, this has been a nice little diversion but I'm a little disappointed"
"Why?" asked Princess Bubblegum
"I thought that we would run into some sort of monster or something, you know? A treasure this big would have some sort of security, wouldn't it?"
Princess Bubblegum scratched her chin "I guess, usually maps would have a little warning about treasures having guardians but this map didn't have any mention of a guardian or a curse or anything"
"Strange" mused Marcus.
Marceline glanced over to Marcus and saw him sitting in a golden throne at the top a massive mound of gold, with a crown on his head and large jewel encrusted medallions around his throat, making him look like a king.
He studied the rings on his hand "It is strange that someone would leave all this valuable treasure in a cave unguarded but that's not the strange part"
Marceline's eye brow rose "What's the strange part?"
"What's strange is that all this treasure hasn't been taken yet, I mean its in a cave that anyone could walk in with no trouble and they could just walk out with it at all but it seems to me that this treasure has been undisturbed, unless…" Marcus trailed off and he stared off into the crystals on the ceiling.
Marceline frowned "Marcus?" Marcus's eyes just glided around the cavern quietly till his eyes landed on something.
He rose from the throne and he jumped off the mountain of gold, he tossed the crown, medallions and rings aside "We got to go"
"What? We just got here" said Finn
"I know but we need to leave, now" said Marcus, his tone growing urgent.
Finn, Jake and Princess Bubblegum began making their way towards the entrance of the cavern. Marceline followed after them but she stopped, she turned and saw Marcus pull a thin, curved sword with a blue scabbard from a nearby pile of gold "Marcus, what are you doing?"
he glanced back as he tied the scabbard to his side "Go, I'll be right behind you" he tossed his flashlight to her and he took off running back into the sea of gold and jewels.
Marceline hesitated a little then followed after Finn, Jake and Princess Bubblegum.
Marcus sprinted past mountains of platinum bars and gold coins.
He weaved through the maze of treasure till he reached his destination.
Nestled in between two large statues of knights was a small maroon colored metal box with the black Irken empire insignia on its lid. The box was roughly the size of a tennis ball so Marcus scooped up the box in his hand, shoved it in his pocket and he took off running back to the entrance.
The ceiling crystals started dimming and he saw a shadow move in the corner of his eye.
Quickly he drew his katana and swung it effortlessly.
The blade slashed through something solid as if it were made of warm butter, there was a horrible scream and a loud thud. Marcus didn't have time to see what he cut down and he didn't care, he just kept running.
On any given day, he would stay and slaughter all his opponents but since he was with the enemy and with Irken cargo in hand, he had no choice but to flee carefully and try not to blow his cover at the same time.
More shadows moved in the corner of his eye, he saw one try to strike him but he just vaulted over the enemy's strike and slice off what looked like a limb.
Another scream pierced the air and more shadows moved to intercept him.
Marcus just smirked "Fools" he pulled out long dagger from his pocket and he launched himself into the wall of opponents with both blades in hand.
One by one his opponents fell, his blades sliced through flesh and bone easily, they tried to strike him down but he just evaded their strikes and swipes gracefully.
Marcus reached the other side of the wall of opponents, he sheathed the sword "It was a blast but I really must run" with that he departed the cavern of treasure.
Marcus had memorized the path back to the surface so he didn't need to see where he where he was going. He heard loud howls emanating from the bowels of the cave as he approached the exit up ahead.
The shadowy creatures bounded after him, one raised its claw like limb to strike but Marcus spun around with one of his pistols in hand and he fired a shot that struck the lead creature in the skull.
It tumbled and caused the others to trip over its corpse. Marcus burst through the cave entrance and into the sunlight.
One of the creatures skidded to a halt at the threshold of the cave. He finally saw what tried to kill him.
It was a large, lizard like creature with a large scaly body, massive muscled arms and legs. The creature was twice the size of Marcus. It had a bat like head, large sharp claws and milky eyes.
The creature let out a low whine and it retreated into the cave.
Marcus let out a sigh of relief, he saw Finn run over to him "Dude are you ok?"
"Yeah" said Marcus, his heart was hammering away in his chest
"What were those things?" said Jake
"I don't know but I'm glad they don't like sunlight" said Marcus, he scratched his cheek "I think we should put some distance between us and the cave, once night starts, I don't want to be anywhere near here"
"Agreed" said Jake, Finn and Princess Bubblegum.
After a few minutes into their journey back through the forest, Marcus plopped down beneath a nearby tree breathing heavily "I need a break"
Marceline sat down beside him, she smiled a little "Quite the thrill back there"
"Yeah" nodded Marcus "Its not everyday that you find a cave full of treasure and get chased by murderous cave dwelling monsters".
Marceline nodded "Yeah" she looked at Marcus "So what were you doing running back into the cave?" "I thought that I dropped something" said Marcus "But it turns out I didn't and I ended up running into those things".
Marceline nodded again "Yeah, but how did you know that those creatures would attack?"
"I didn't" said Marcus "But I knew something was off about that cave, the treasure just gave me this bad vibe. It was like a lure to bring in hapless adventurers and once they got nice and comfortable among the gold, the creatures would strike".
Marceline's eyebrows rose "Really?"
Marcus shrugged "I don't know, but that's my theory anyway".
Marceline smiled and she noticed that on Marcus's wrist was a tattoo. The tattoo was of a snake devouring its own tail. Marceline's eyes narrowed, she had seen the tattoo somewhere before but she just couldn't remember.
Marcus noticed her worried look and asked, "Are you ok?"
Marceline blinked, looking up at Marcus "Yeah, I'm fine" but she really wasn't.
The group returned to where Marcus had joined them and he departed the group, carrying the curved sword in hand.
Later the group returned to Finn and Jake's home and they all parted ways.
Irken General Tak navigated the crowded streets of Mavros with ease.
She had secretly departed the Irken Capitol in her personal spacecraft and had landed on the bustling planet of Avorn.
It was a major planet that traders, merchants and outlaws frequent. A perfect place to hire an assassin, thought General Tak.
Tak knew she couldn't kill anyone without the general public noticing her movements. If the public discovers her attempt to murder Zim, now a hero of the nation, she would be stripped of her rank and she would be punished harshly.
So the only alternative is to hire an assassin to kill Zim.
Tak pushed through the crowded market till she reached her destination, a bar with a sign that read "The Red Shadow, bar and grill" she pushed open the door and walked in.
Dim lamps hung on the ceiling and neon signs hanging on the walls lit the bar.
It was empty for the most part but sitting at the bar was a woman dressed in a tattered blue coat that was once part of a uniform for a military that was defeated long ago.
She had long white hair, pale skin and one golden eye, the other eye was covered by a brown patch.
The woman downed the glass in her hand and demanded another
"Malice Lovelace I presume?" said Tak.
The woman named Malice glanced at Tak suspiciously "Who's asking?"
"General Tak of the Irken Empire" said Tak.
Malice smiled a little "Sit down General and have a drink"
"I'm not here for a drink, I'm here because I am in need of you're services" said Tak.
Malice took another swig of her drink "Why would you need of my services? I thought the wars were over"
"They are" said Tak, growing impatient "I need you to eliminate a rouge element".
Malice Lovelace's single golden eye stared at the General sternly "My services don't come cheap"
"I know" grunted Tak, she reached into her pack and withdrew a translucent card that had numbers on it "Twenty thousand monies" said Tak "Another twenty for when the job is done"
Malice nodded "Sounds reasonable" she downed the last of her drink, sighing with relief "That's good stuff" mumbled Malice.
Malice took the card "So whose the target?"
"An Irken named Zim" said Tak, a nasty smile started to form on her lips.
In a secret room filled with room beneath the cavern of gold and jewels sat two men.
One man reviewed the footage the skull camera had captured and the other just watched
"Surprising" whispered the second man as the dark haired boy sliced the bat-lizard in half with a single swing
"I know and look" said the first.
He hit a few keys on the keyboard and the footage froze, the image zoomed in on the boy's face and a photo of him appeared on the screen.
The second man gapped "That is him, but how?" "I'm wondering that myself sir" said the first man.
The second man looked at another screen containing the image of a boy in a bear like hat and a dark haired girl, he adjusted his glasses "They look familiar as well, did you run a search?"
"I got a match on the girl but the boy is a total mystery" said the first.
The second man squinted at the boy "He looks like-"
"I know, I thought that myself but I just wanted you're opinion on this" said the first.
The second man adjusted his tie "Monitor the surface in case they return, I'll sound the all clear" he turned and walked towards the door "But what of the Empress?" the second man stopped.
He turned to his subordinate "I'll tell her majesty of the assassin but we don't have conclusive evidence on the boy's identity, so I say we keep most of the details about him to ourselves"
"But she knows" said the second man, fearfully "She always knows, and if she catches you, you know what she'll do"
"Then I'll mention him but try not to mention the details" said the first man "I mean if she found out that the boy resembles-" "resembles who?" said a cold voice.
The two men froze.
They turned towards the door and they saw standing their was a woman cloaked in dark violet, her eyes glowed scarlet, her skin pale as the moon and her hair purple and spiky.
"Empress Membrane!" they cried, bowing their heads.
The empress held up a hand "At ease, now what is it that you didn't want to tell me" she strode into the room and marched up to the view screens.
She noted the dark haired teen with the sword "I had a feeling that he would be back, I'm sorta glad too, its nice to have someone from the old days again" she glanced over to the screen containing the girl "The girl is familiar and-" she stopped on the boy in the hat.
Her hand touched the screen "It can't be" she murmured
"We didn't want to inform you about the boy because-" began the first man but was cut short when the Empress threw him a death glare "I know what you were thinking but you were wrong"
She turned back to the frozen image of the boy named Finn "I recognize my own flesh and blood when I see it".
The two men fidgeted "What shall we do your majesty?" asked the first man.
Empress Gaz Membrane just waved a hand "Nothing, for the moment. observe the boy and when the time is right, take him".
the second man asked "What of the box my lady?"
"What of it?" snorted Empress Gaz, she reached into her cloak and pulled out a sleek metal box with the irken empire's insignia on it "I have the real prize right here". She returned the box to her pocket, she turned and strode out of the room "Do please keep me informed of Finn's progress, I have missed my son dearly and i don't want you to lose him again" the door slammed shut leaving the two men shaking nerviously.
End of chapter
(a/n: i hope you enjoyed it. what do you think of this chapter? well review and tell me)