(a/n: Enjoy or whatever. Review)

Act 15: What They Died For

The apocalypse tower shook violently and groaned loudly.

Zim wobbled a little but he managed to steady himself. The irken scowled "What was that?"

He barked "Computer, run a diagnostic and find the problem!"

"Searching" droned the computer.

Zim waited for a few moments then the computer reported, "Problem found. Source: the neutron star reactor"

"What!" exclaimed Zim "What's wrong?"

"Someone has disabled the reactors safety protocols. Power levels are fluctuating to an incredibly dangerous level" explained the computer.

Zim frowned "What will happen if it isn't stopped?" "Energy levels will rise to an uncontrollable amount till they explode" said the computer

"How bad would that be?" asked Zim

"The explosion would have the equivalent force of a supernova" droned the computer.

Zim's eyes widened in horror "That's bad!" he spun around and he took off running for the generator room in the hopes of containing the situation.

Outside, the ground began to quake.

Trees were knocked over, the ground began to crack and split open.

Finn looked to his mother "What's going on?"

"Something horrible" said Gaz evenly "I'm guessing someone is messing with the generator. If they're not careful, they might just destroy the world"

"What!?" exclaimed Finn in shock. Gaz shrugged "It'll be an improvement"

Finn drew his sword "I gotta stop him"

"Whatever" muttered Gaz "Wake me up if something good happens" she laid down and she closed her eyes.

Finn took off running towards the Apocalypse Tower.

Marceline breathed heavily and wiped some sweat off of her brow. She had been avoiding Marcus's for a while and each one was getting close to hitting her. A few shots managed to singe her hair and parts of her clothes.

Marcus remained standing by the door with one weapon trained on the vampire. Marceline tried to reason with Marcus but he ignored her and kept shooting.

Suddenly Marceline was pulled out of her thoughts when in a flash of violet light, Princess Bubblegum appeared in the room.

Marceline frowned in confusion "Bonnie what are you doing here?" "I think Zim might have sent me to the wrong place" mused the princess.

Marcus's cybernetic eye zeroed in on the princess and he droned, "Target acquired" he directed his weapon to Princess Bubblegum.

Quickly, Marceline tackled the princess and the two tumbled to the ground, narrowly missing the plasma bolt that was aimed for their heads.

"Stay down!" ordered Marceline. Princess Bubblegum nodded and the vampire launched herself at the cyborg.

Gripping her ax tightly, Marceline swung her weapon at Marcus. The cyborg simply ducked and he kicked Marceline, sending her flying backwards. Marcus fired a few shots at Marceline but she managed to deflect them with her ax.

Malice stood by one of the doorways with Gir perched on her shoulder. Both were watching the fight going on between the siblings.

Malice noticed that Marcus's human eye was twitching and some sparks were shooting out from the back of his neck "That's not good" muttered the assassin.

The cyborg lowered his pistol and droned "Reassessing strategy" he scanned the room quietly till his eyes landed on Princess Bubblegum "Initiating new strategy".

Before anyone could blink, Marcus snatched up Princess Bubblegum by the throat and he aimed one of his guns at the princess's head.

Princess Bubblegum struggled to break free but she couldn't. Marceline's eyes widened in horror "No!"

Marcus didn't listen. Instead his grip tightened around Princess Bubblegum's throat. The princess began coughing and struggled to breath.

Marcus growled at Marceline "Surrender or else". Marceline said nothing. The vampire tried to find a solution to save Princess Bubblegum but she came up with nothing. Suddenly, Lucas's words echoed in her mind "When the time comes, swing hard, don't hesitate and don't miss".

She now knew what he meant. The vampire wanted to find a way to save her brother but she saw her long time friend being strangled to death.

Princess Bubblegum tried to speak but Marcus squeezed her throat, silencing her. Something in her snapped, Marceline gripped the handle of her ax tightly and she launched herself at Marcus at a breakneck speed. Marcus frowned in confusion "What are you doing?" before he could react, Marceline swung her ax as hard as she could.

For a moment there was silence. Then Marcus let out an inhuman scream of pain. Marceline saw Princess Bubblegum fall to floor along with Marcus's arm.

The cyborg clutched the bleeding stump that used to be his arm, howling in agony. Marceline didn't stop. She kept swinging. The blade sliced through his body effortlessly. Marcus staggered back as black fluid began to flow freely through his wounds. Malice and Gir watched in surprise as she continuously hacked away at her brother. Normally, such an act would horrify Marceline but she didn't care.

The cyborg threatened her friends and had tried to kill her. He was no longer her brother he was her enemy.

Marcus tried to lift his weapon but Marceline chopped his hand off. He fell flat on his back wheezing and pleading "p-please" But his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Marceline kept swinging, over and over. Black liquid splashed all over the walls and on her face. Once she had enough, Marceline stopped. She breathed heavily and looked down at what she had done.

Marcus's body was mangled and hacked into pieces. Black fluid flowed through the open wounds like a fountain. She looked back at Princess Bubblegum. The princess looked terrified. The vampire looked to Malice. The assassin looked shocked and disgusted.

Malice rushed over to Marcus's mangled body and she lifted his head "Marcus, Marcus can you hear me?" said Malice in a shaky voice.

Marcus's face had large slashes that ran deep and his cybernetic eye dangled out of its socket. His human eye was wide and Marceline saw a single drop of a clear liquid streaked down his cheek.

Malice looked up at Marceline and said in shock "He's dead. You just killed your own brother"

"I-I had no choice" stammered Marceline.

Malice shook her head "He was trying to resist his programming. He was almost free" Marceline felt her gut twist into a knot "N-no, he tried to kill Bonnie"

"If he wanted her dead, he would've broke her neck instantly and he wouldn't have given you an ultimatum" said Malice.

Marceline stared at the assassin in shock. Malice gently placed Marcus's head back on the floor and she wiped the black liquid off of her hands.

Malice regarded Marceline coldly and said "Congratulations, You won. Now go" she pointed towards the door that led up to the control room.

Marceline didn't move. She stared down at Marcus. The tower rumbled and shook. Malice looked up at the ceiling muttering "That's not good" suddenly the door to the control room opened and Zim bolted out of it.

Zim ran past them screaming "To the generator room!" then he vanished through the exit.

Marceline, Malice, Princess Bubblegum and Gir stared the door Zim exited through. Then Marceline hurried after him with intent to kill the tiny alien.

Down below, Tak groaned and rubbed her head. She had been planning on disabling the generator when suddenly someone jumped her from behind.

The Irken got to her feet and she looked around. She was still in the generator room but she saw Billy standing by the power source. He removed the glass container and his hands were hovering around the star's heart, which was still resting in its place on top of the small metal pedestal. Billy's hands were glowing dark green and the blue orb pulsated, emitting an intense wave of heat and energy.

The former general noticed a speck of dark green on the sphere and saw that it was growing very slowly.

Tak scowled, realizing that Billy was not all he claimed to be. She drew a plasma pistol from her pak and aimed it at Billy "Step away slowly"

Billy looked at Tak and said nothing. His eyes glowed dark green and he said in an eerie voice "Nothing can stop it now"

Tak glared at him "We'll see about that" she pulled the trigger. A bolt of plasma shot out of the gun but it ricocheted off an invisible barrier that surrounded Billy.

Billy sneered, "It is futile"

Tak snarled and she pulled out a larger weapon from her pak, A rocket launcher.

Tak growled, "Die!" she pulled the trigger.

Zim reached the door to the reactor room and heard a loud boom coming from inside.

The irken opened the doors, letting black smoke spill out into the corridor. ZIm shielded his face and he squinted his eyes. Once the smoke dissipated enough, he saw Tak standing there with what looked like a rocket launcher aimed at one of Finn's friends.

The walls around them were covered in soot. Zim scowled at Tak "Tak! What are you doing here!"

She glanced back at Zim and growled, "Trying to save the earth, unfortunately" she nodded towards Billy and the neutron star "He's doing something to the generator, if we don't stop him-"

"There'll be an explosion, I know" interrupted Zim, sounding annoyed.

Zim scowled at the former general and said, "Unfortunately, you're correct. We must stop him".

The two Irkens were interrupted when Marceline, Princess Bubblegum and Gir arrived. Marceline was ready to hack off the Irken's head but she stopped when she saw Billy.

"Billy?" said Marceline in shock "What are you doing?" "He's trying to kill us all" said Zim.

Everyone looked to him. Zim explained, "From what I can tell, he's magnifying the neutron star's power output. He also disabled the safety protocols that keep it from blowing up. If we don't work together to stop him, he will set off a chain reaction that will result in an explosion that will rip this world apart!"

Everyone looked at Zim in shock. They all considered the situation for a moment then Marceline growled, "Why should we help you?"

"If you don't we all die," said Zim.

Marceline scowled at him and said nothing. Tak added, "If we survive this, you can kill Zim"

Marceline grinned "That's more like it".

Tak and Zim brought out their weapons and fired upon Billy. Princess Bubblegum assisted with the weapon she brought. Gir unleashed a barrage of missiles and lasers. Marceline swung at the invisible barrier with all her strength. All their attacks were having minimal effect.

Zim, Tak, Gir and Princess Bubblegum's weapons were being deflected and Marceline's ax bounced off of the barrier.

The Lich stared at his attackers and snarled. They were starting to get on his nerves. He decided that he had just about enough of them. The Lich reached out with his mind and took control of the alien's broken tin soldier "Awake" he whispered "Arise and take revenge".

Several floors above, Malice sat slumped against a way with a cigarette in her mouth and Marcus's head resting in her lap.

She dug into her pockets and withdrew her lighter. Malice took one long drag and puffed some smoke muttering "Poor bastard".

Marcus laid perfectly still, blood and oil oozing out of him from every wound. She had grown fond of him, even though he was a stickler for orders. Suddenly Marcus's cybernetic eye began glowing green and his human eye blinked. Marcus sat up and he rose to his feet.

Malice's mouth opened slightly and her cigarette dropped out of her mouth. The cyborg looked down at its missing arm and hand than in the blink of an eye, they reappeared. Marcus flexed his fingers and his arms. He nodded slightly and he marched to the exit growling "Marceline".

Once Marcus was gone, Malice sat there trying to make sense of what she had just witnessed.

After a few moments, she looked down at the packet of cigarettes muttering, "That's it, no more of these after a battle".

Down below, Zim and the others stopped their assault for a moment.

The Lich was unharmed and he still had the neutron star generator in his hand. Zim panted, "This isn't working"

"What do we do?" growled Tak "If we don't stop him, this whole planet will explode"

"I think I have an idea" said Princess Bubblegum. Everyone turned to the pink princess and she explained "I think I can increase our chances of victory if we pool our resources"

"No way!" yelled Zim.

Tak punched him and he wheezed, "I mean, what do you need?"

Tak and Zim handed the princess their weapons and she quickly got to work combining and upgrading their weapons. Marceiline glared at the Lich.

The Lich stared back at her with his soulless green eyes. Suddenly, he began laughing.

The vampire frowned "What are you laughing about?" the Lich pointed towards the door. Marceline glanced back and she felt her heart drop to her stomach.

Standing in the door was Marcus. His face and body was still slashed and oozing black and red liquid. His cybernetic eye was glowing green. Marceline breathed "How….I…?" the Lich chuckled at her and he snapped his fingers.

Marcus crouched down and he launched himself high into the air. He collided with Marceline and the two hurtled back to earth.

Marceline felt the air get knocked out of her lungs. Marcus's hands wrapped around the vampire's throat and he began to strangle her. Desperately, Marceline tried to free herself from Marcus's grip but his hands only closed around her throat tighter. She looked into his eyes and saw intense hatred in them.

Marceline glanced around trying in vain to find something to help. She spotted Gir. "H-Help" coughed Marceline.

Gir's eyes went red and he jumped to Marcus's side. Marcus looked down at the little robot blankly.

The tiny robot chucked a rubber pig at Marcus's head. The rubber toy bounced off of Marcus's face and he just swatted Gir aside with one hand.

With Marcus momentarily distracted, Marceline was able to wriggle free. She lifted her ax and she swung at Marcus's head. The cyborg caught the blade in his hand and he kicked Marceline. The vampire went flying and crashed into a wall.

Marcus stomped towards the fallen vampire with her ax in hand. Marceline tried to get up but Marcus stepped on her back and forced her down. He raised the ax and was about to decapitate her.

Suddenly, the ax and his arm fell to the floor with a loud clatter. Marcus looked down at his missing arm blankly then turned to see who was responsible.

Standing there was Finn. Finn lunged his demon blood sword into Marcus's heart and the blade hit its target. The cyborg wobbled a little then crumpled to the floor.

Finn helped Marceline to her feet asking, "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah" said Marceline, still feeling a little shaken by Marcus's resurrection.

Princess Bubblegum announced, "It's finished!" Marceline and Finn rushed over to Princess Bubblegum, Zim and Tak.

Princess Bubblegum held up her modified weapons and handed them to Zim and Tak "These should be strong enough to pierce the magic shield but they are only have enough power for a few shots. Make them count"

"Don't worry" said Tak "I will".

The Irken spun around and she fired the first shot. The red ball of plasma struck the shield and cracked it, which caused the Lich's eyes widened in surprise.

Zim sneered "Not so powerful now, huh?" he fired a shot.

The shield shuddered and the cracks spread further. Tak and Zim fired at the same time and the shield shattered into a million tiny, glittering pieces.

The Lich snarled "No!" "Gotcha!" said Tak. She leveled her rifle and fired at the Lich. The plasma bolt rocketed at the Lich. The Lich swatted it aside but the flesh on his hand was instantly seared away, exposing bone.

Zim fired as well and his plasma bolt grazed the Lich's cheek, which instantly burned away more flesh, exposing a twisted cow skull with a curled ram's horn.

The Lich snarled at them furiously. Tak raised her rifle to deliver the kill shot but all that came out of her weapon was steam. The Irken grunted and tossed her weapon aside "I'm out"

"I'm not" said Zim. He took aim and pulled the trigger. The plasma bolt raced to the Lich but suddenly Marcus threw himself in its path. The plasma bolt struck him in the chest and Marcus's body crashed to the floor.

Almost as quickly as he got hit, Marcus quickly got to his feet and he raised Marceline's ax with his one good hand. He charged at Zim swinging wildly. The Irken quickly jumped out of the way but Marcus managed to slice Zim's weapon in half.

Marcus halted abruptly then turned to Marceline. He growled "Die…Little Marceline" he swung the ax but Finn quickly blocked it.

Finn and Marcus traded blows and they slowly moved away from Marceline, moving towards the center of the generator room. Marcus managed to knock Finn's sword out of his hand and knocked him down with a kick to the chest. The sword slid across the floor and stopped at Marceline's feet.

The vampire picked up the sword and she saw in the ruby blade the image of Lucas. Lucas grinned at her mischievously and said softly "Now's your chance. Remember, Swing hard…don't hesitate and don't miss"

Marceline gulped and she gripped the sword tightly. The vampire saw Marcus standing over Finn, ready to behead him. Marceline felt her blood run cold.

She charged Marcus screaming, "Get away from him!" The cyborg looked up in time to see Marceline drive Finn's sword through his throat.

The possessed cyborg stumbled back a bit, trying in vain to pull the sword out. He bumped into the Lich and Marcus's body landed on the star's heart. The star connected with Marcus's flesh and suddenly the dark green blots overshadowed the blue.

The Lich smiled eerily and he hissed, "It is finished".

Marceline helped Finn to his feet and they heard Zim scream "Fool! Do you know what you have done?"

"What?" said Marceline. The vampire turned and saw that the star was starting to pulse faster and the temperature in the room skyrocketed.

Marcus's body twitched and convulsed, then slid to the floor with a large gaping hole burned through his body.

The entire tower began to quake violently.

Outside, the earth began to crack and split open further.

Hot magma oozed through the cracks like blood from a wound. Gaz glanced around her as the earth began to split open and spew magma.

The violet haired empress shrugged "Eh, whatever". She just sat there on the grass and waited as the magma began to bubble to the surface.

Inside, large labs of metal began to rattle loose from the ceiling and crash to the floor.

Marceline glanced at Zim and screamed over the loud screeching of metal "What's going on!"

"The end of the world!" screamed Zim "The corrupted star heart is starting to tear this planet apart"

"What do we do?" asked Princess Bubblegum.

Zim shook his head "I don't know". The Lich let out a booming laugh as shards of the tower began to rain down on them.

The entire planet shook even more violently. Cracks and seams split open, letting magma flow more freely, burning and melting all that laid before it. Finn, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, Zim and the others fled from the generator room.

They raced up the stairs to the very topmost part of the tower.

Outside, they watched as fire consumed the planet. Black smoke blotted out the night sky.

Finn saw his mother standing outside, in the middle of an ocean of magma.

Slowly, the magma began to draw close to her. Finn screamed "Mom!"

Gaz stood there, watching as the tide of magma rise. She looked up at Finn and waved goodbye. Gaz muttered blissfully "Sweet release" as she allowed herself to be swallowed up by the rising tide of magma.

Finn felt an overwhelming sense of loss. He had just seen his mother die before his very eyes.

Marceline turned to Zim and grabbed him by the throat snarling, "Fix this!"

Zim shook his head quickly stammering, "I-I can't! Even if I wanted to, there is nothing I can do" "You're lying" said Marceline.

She felt someone's hand on her shoulder. The vampire turned and saw Princess Bubblegum. The princess stared at her with a sorrowful expression "He's right".

Marceline didn't want to believe her friend but she knew that the princess was right.

The vampire released Zim. The Irken rubbed his throat and muttering something in Irken.

Tak stared down at the inferno saying softly "I have always dreamed that I would die in glorious battle"

"Me too" said Zim, sighing wistfully "Except I thought there would be more robots and lasers".

The two irkens shared a glance and Tak muttered "I can't believe I'm going to say this but, goodbye Zim. I wish things would've worked out differently between us".

Zim stared at her for a moment and nodded "Me too".

Suddenly the floor beneath them gave way and they fell to the sea of magma below. Gir rushed over and he dived after them screaming, "Wait for me!"

Mini moose squeaked loudly and he dived after Gir.

Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, Finn and Jake watched in horror as the flames consumed them. Another tremor shook the tower and Finn fell over the side.

Jake stretched and caught him but his paws slipped. The two went tumbling into the flames. Marceline watched in horror as Finn and Jake were consumed in the fires.

The planet groaned loudly and shook. Princess Bubblegum turned to Marceline saying "Marceline…I-" but the words died in her throat.

The planet shook more violently, the crust split open wider and magma shot into the black sky like a geyser. Screams could be heard for miles as people from all over Ooo. One final quake split the planet in half and the core exploded, consuming everything in an inferno.

Marceline's eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring up at a white ceiling.

The vampire sat up and she saw that she was lying in a bed. Marceline frowned as to how she got there. She looked around and she saw that the she was in a spacious, empty room.

The vampire crawled out of bed and floated over towards the only door there. She opened the door and Marceline saw that it led to what looked like a lounge.

In the lounge was a bar with bar stools, a couch, some vending machines, a large plasma screen TV and a large fountain that spouted soda. Soft rock music was playing from a massive stereo system that sat behind the bar.

The vampire's eyes went to the couch and she saw three beings occupying it.

One was Don, the man who appeared in the Library in the Candy Kingdom. The other was a woman with flowing red hair. She had pale skin and sky blue eyes. The last being was none other than Lucas. He wore a red, velvet bathrobe. In one hand was a goblet that was studded with emeralds and rubies. In the other was a cigar.

Marceline stared in wonder at the three beings.

Don glanced over his shoulder and he nudged Lucas. Lucas frowned at his friend than he glanced back.

His eyes lit up and he smiled "Ah, Marceline you made it!"

"Where am I?" asked the vampire

"You're dead" answered the woman as she reached down at a goblet that sat on the floor by the couch.

Marceline stared at the woman in shock "What?"

"You're dead" repeated the woman as she drained her goblet "And this is just one of many Purgatories that Death had dropped you in".

The vampire stammered, "H-how am I dead?"

"The planet blew up and killed you and your friends" said Lucas casually. He motioned to the TV. Marceline's eyes went to the TV and she saw a planet on fire.

She recognized that it was Ooo, or Earth as it was once known. The planet glowed brighter and brighter until suddenly it detonated.

Chunks of earth, fire and other matter flew into millions of random directions, scattering its remains to the stars. Marceline sank to her knees and watched as the remnants of earth, the planet where she was born and raised dissipated and became nothing but space dust.

Lucas sipped something from his goblet and sighed in pleasure "Perfect and I didn't have to be there to get any dust on my favorite jacket".

The four sat in silence, staring at the television screen until Lucas clapped his hands together saying "That was fun. Now, who wants lunch?"

End of chapter.

(a/n: Almost done, one chapter to go! Sorry if this sucked. Review...or not.)