-Hedron Hunt-
On the upside, Marceline no longer had to worry about being burned; ever again, for that matter. Although, she'd prefer to not have the planet fall into permanent darkness, and so put great effort into hauling her flightless friends toward the Candy Kingdom. Ice King and Flame Princess were in the air, keeping a close eye on the ground.
Fifth Arc was the only person fast enough to keep up with them, and performed her function as the humans' scout like she always did. Ice King tried conjuring a hailstorm to slow the girl down, but found that any weather altering magic was negated by the dark clouds Elodeus had summoned to blindfold the Earth.
On Marcy's back, Peebles slid the chip Second Arc had given her into the slot of a pink hologram pendant. After a few seconds, the device drew up the contents of the data, which projected a map of Ooo, with multiple flashing red dots. PB studied the image carefully, scanning several information blocks and a couple schematics.
Jake leaned over to see the pink images himself, but was utterly lost to their purpose.
"Ok, I give. What does it show?"
Bubblegum expanded one of the images, displaying a three-dimensional, diamond-like object.
"The locations of HAVEN's control nodes."
The magical dog and others all looked to the pink princess.
"Seriously? So we can smash that time-space doohickey?"
PB nodded.
"Right. Once we disable HAVEN, we can freely use the environment and each other to fight the Arcs, without being isolated."
The gang frowned, struck by the recent memories of the humans losing their self-control to the power of a vile wizard. Flame Princess was constantly looking back at the horizon they had left behind, to the boy she had left behind. There was only one thing left of Finn that she could hold; the artificial flower he'd crafted her.
It never burned, it never wilted, it never needed water or food. It was more than a pretty sight, it was a symbol. The boy was growing up, becoming more deep and emotionally sound. He had accepted the fact that they couldn't be together, what with all the duties FP had to the Fire Kingdom.
And yet, she couldn't deny. She missed him.
Gazing in the direction of where the corrupted hero and his fellow Arcs were sure to be following, Flame Princess sighed sadly, wishing it could all just end, so that she could walk up to Finn and give him a truly heartened embrace.
If you're really growing up, then why can't you grow up with me?
Marcy made it to the borders of the Candy Kingdom, still leveled with tons of sand from the earlier fighting. The gumball guardians, now awakened from their suspension, were doing their best to clean up the mess, first pouring water on some of the sand, then making large sand snowballs which they proceeded to hurl into the distance.
The citizens had all evacuated, taking cover in the upper floors of PB's secret royal dungeon, since it was largely secure and adequate for safety. Aside from that, the place was abandoned, as if it were a ruin being dug out of the ground. Marceline landed on the walls protecting the city, allowing Susan, PB, and Jake to get off. The candy monarch studied her data for a few more seconds, then pointed to the massive tree sprouting from her castle.
"One of HAVEN's hedrons is in the top of the tree."
She turned to her vampire companion.
"Marcy, can you get me up there?"
The raven-haired girl nodded and took the princess's hand, floating up towards the tower. However, she stopped her and had Marceline turn back to the others.
"Here."
PB tossed the pendant to Jake, who caught it in a baseball mitt-shaped hand.
"Go find the other three hedrons. We'll take care of this one."
The magical dog nodded, then faced away from the kingdom and stretched himself fifty feet tall. Susan hopped on, as FP and Ice King flew along from behind. Peebles motioned for Marceline to continue towards the tower, as she watched the others shrink in the distance.
"You're trying to separate the Arcs, aren't you?" Marcy asked.
The princess nodded.
"The less we have to deal with at once, the better."
Marceline agreed, now within range of the tree. She swung PB and gave her a boost to land within the core of the old wood, while the vampire floated outside watching her back. The pink lady scanned the interior, widening her eyes as she spotted the large hedron, stuck into the glob of amber that once held back the mighty Lich.
"Gotcha."
She turned to her companion.
"Marcy, could you help me smash this thing?"
The vampire grinned.
"I thought you'd never ask."
She flew in and pulled out her ax bass, amusedly eyeing the hedron as she raised the weapon over her head. With an added battle cry for effect, she slammed her crimson blade down on the object, immediately denting and placing a large gash into its surface. The circuitry inside crackled, disrupted by the hit. In fact, the entire environment seemed to momentarily blur as the server operating that portion of HAVEN struggled to stay online.
Marcy wouldn't let up, hacking at the geometric processor as if she were a lumberjack taking down a huge tree. At last, the hedron began whirring, spitting out sparks and destabilizing. The vampire grabbed Bubblegum and shot them both out of the tree's opening.
"Timber," she smirked.
A detonation came next, freeing the area of the augmented battlefield. The sky briefly let out a white pulse, signifying the dying HAVEN. Peebles smiled.
"Excellent. That just released about a quarter of the land. Once we take care of the others, we'll be good."
Marcy nodded, setting them both down on one of the castle's outer rims. They stared up at the site of the blast. Luckily, the tree was intact, and not on fire. The amber had likely soaked up any debris and the majority of the force. Satisfied, the two ladies looked out onto the kingdom. The gumball guardians had stopped their cleanup, gazing in confusion at the dust cloud enveloping the tree top.
"It's ok, boys, just keep working," Peebles announced.
The two towering robots acknowledged and returned to their task, but only for a few moments, as their sensors suddenly went off and they faced the castle once more.
"Threat detected!"
PB and Marcy spun around, instantly shocked to see Second Arc standing right behind them. The two ladies gasped and jumped back, placing a safer distance from the human.
"What the!? How did you-"
The Arc pulled out a circular device and tossed it to the floor in front of PB, who examined it for a moment before widening her eyes in shock.
"A portable teleporter?"
Second Arc nodded, then took hold of her lab coat and slid it off her shoulders, revealing a second coat underneath, layered in what seemed to be circuitry that fed up to her neck, where the Ooocian ladies saw implants connected to her spinal cord. The natives were stunned.
"Wh-what are those for?" Peebles staggered.
The Arc held out her hands, allowing two strange triangular objects to slid out of her sleeves and onto her palms. These instantly sprouted coils, which secured them to the woman's hands then suddenly powered up, glowing a faint orange. Bubblegum now understood.
"She's wearing a neurological biosuit."
Marceline frowned.
"Uh...what?"
PB motioned for her friend to back up as Second Arc began to step forward.
"It's an energy suit that draws power from your brain's electrical signals."
Her vampire friend nervously gazed at the approaching human.
"So basically, the more active a person's mind, the stronger it makes them?"
Peebles nodded.
"Exactly."
The monarch then thought of something.
"Oh no. If only Second Arc followed us, than the rest went after the others!"
She swung her eyes to Marceline.
"Go, I'll deal with her."
The vampire was stunned.
"Bonnie, are you crazy!? She's too powerful to handle by yourself!"
Bubblegum gestured to the two gumball guardians, who were now standing behind them, awaiting the chance to remove the human intruder.
"I won't be alone. Now go, they'll need you."
Marcy's concern was painfully evident, but she sighed and gave the princess a quick hug.
"Be careful."
"I will."
The musical vampire flew off in the direction that Jake was last seen walking, hoping to catch up before the remaining Arcs could cause any complications. Meanwhile, now flanked by her guardians, PB faced Second Arc, who had halted her movement and was fluctuated energy through her biosuit, waiting for the moment to strike. The princess didn't give her a cold stare, but rather one of both determination and concern.
"Duo, I promise you, I'll get that wizard out of your head."
The data had also provided her with the names the Arcs used for each other.
Her opponent gave no smirk or sign of amusement at the utterance, which was understandable considering how collected the woman usually was. The human just stared back at the gummy ruler with a fairly blank look.
"I highly doubt that."
Jake bounded across the grasslands, heading towards the cliffside prairie where the marauder village had once stood. The Mountain Man's head was coming into view, before the magical dog suddenly felt something trip him up. Stumbling, he was dug into the ground with a painful yelp, while Susan jumped off and stuck the landing. Ice King and Flame Princess remained in the sky, scanning around to discover what had interrupted their journey.
A blur was circling the fallen Jake, whizzing around at high speeds and slowly closing in. As the figure drew closer, the magical dog was surrounded by a wall of flames, courtesy of Flame princess. Instantly, the blur halted, unable to pierce the protective circle of combustion. It was now that the gang saw the anomaly's true identity: Fifth Arc.
She stood with a blank look, her now red eyes trained on the four beings behind the fire. The red circle on her chest burned brightly, releasing a dark aura around the girl. From the safety of the flames, the quartet contemplated a plan.
"What do we do now?" Ice King began.
Jake groaned as he thought up an answer. Right now, they were stuck, unable to continue with the Arc standing in their way. However, a new voice joined the fray.
"Let me deal with her."
All heads turned to the direction of the Candy Kingdom, where the definite form of Marceline was streaking towards them at high speed. The vampire took a glance at Fifth Arc as she passed, receiving the same blank look from the human. She hovered next to Jake's head, as the three gave her a rather worried expression in reply.
"Where's Prubs?" the canine asked in concern.
Marcy kept her serious face as she responded.
"She's dealing with Second Arc, the others all came after you guys so she asked me to follow."
The four were shocked.
"What! That's nuts! Facing that brainy gal herself," IK blabbered.
Marceline shook her head.
"It's alright, she's got the gumball guardians supporting her. I'm sure Bonnie will do just fine."
The others looked slightly relieved, but still held a touch of concern, knowing how clever and perceptive Second Arc could be. Marceline floated closer to Jake's face, with determined features in her expression.
"Now go, find the other hedrons and bash them good. I'll hold off Fifth Arc."
Regretfully, the others agreed and got into position to continue. Flame Princess cancelled her flames, allowing the human patiently waiting behind them to suddenly charge at the group. Luckily, Marceline prevented this, blocking the Arc with her bass. The human's fist didn't manage to damage the instrument, but it did force the vampire back several feet in the air.
"Ngh, still tough, even with the brainwash."
Fifth Arc made no reply, other than to take a combat stance as the floating girl shook off the hit. He ax bass held in two hands, Marcy stared at her opponent as Jake fled with Susan on his back and Ice King and FP above.
"I don't hold anything against you, V. I know what it was like for humanity back during the war. I won't let your lives be played out in vain. We'll stop Elodeus, and free all of you."
The Arc just narrowed her eyes.
"Your power can't come close to his."
Marceline raise her bass.
"We'll see."
The two girls charged at each other head-on, determined to settle the score from their earlier engagement.
Howls of pain were what entered the ears of the Ooocians as they came upon the cliffside field that once hosted the marauders village. However, it also had a different meaning, especially to Flame Princess.
The fire elemental landed on the ground, standing solemnly as she gazed upon a large pile of ashes in the center of the area. The sight brought back sweet memories. Her first real home; a place she could call her own, and where she was free to come and go as she pleased. And it was Finn, the first person to truly care about her, who had bestowed the lovely abode upon her.
Now it lay abandoned, completely unrecognizable. FP felt a single tear slide down her cheek, then drip to the ground, sizzling the several blades of grass that it touched. This place was a shrine of sorts, representing everything the human had given her. While Jake and the others stretched up to the Mountain Man's face, she remained, pondering the past few years.
Jake used his powers to bring Susan to eye-level with the towering rock being, whose face was scrunched up in pain. It was he who was howling every few moments. He finally noticed his visitors after a minute, halting his wails as best he could.
"Jake! What are you doing here?"
The magical dog scratched his head.
"Um, well, this thingy is saying there's a diamond-shaped computer in your mouth."
He pointed to the pink pendant, while Mountain Man threw his eyes wide open.
"Really!? That would explain everything!"
Ice King raised an eyebrow.
"How come?"
The rocky man frowned.
"A few weeks ago, I woke up to a painful toothache, and ever since, I haven't been able to do anything about it. The pain is unbearable."
He howled again, displaying his open mouth. Jake quickly stretched down and looked inside, using his sharp canine vision to spot the hedron wedged in between his molars. He grinned, then looked up to Ice King.
"Yo, IK, can you numb his gums for me?"
The wizard nodded and aimed his icy powers at the mountain's exposed teeth, striking the spot containing the hedron and causing the Mountain Man to instantly stop his cries. He was stunned at first, then smiled.
"Oooooh! That feels so much better!"
While the poor fella was enjoying the relief, Jake stretched his hand into a pair of tweezers and stuck them into the rocky mouth. With some careful poking around, he managed to grab the technological object and gave it a few yanks. Eventually, the node broke free of the mountain's pearly whites and Jake pulled it out, holding the hedron in his morphed appendage.
"Got it!" he signalled to Ice King.
The wizard nodded and snapped his fingers, instantly shattering the ice encasing the gums. Even with it gone though, MM was still feeling much better.
"Ah! Thank you so much, friends."
He yawned.
"Now I might be able to get some decent sleep..."
The rock being instantly nodded off, letting out a low snore as his facial features nearly disappeared from the lack of activity. Jake shushed his friends, then motioned for them to return to the ground. Once back on solid earth, the magical dog grinned to his human companion and casually tossed the hedron up and down.
"Hey, Susan, bat 'er up!"
He chucked the object at her, upon which the woman promptly sent a fist at the device, smashing it to pieces in midair and sending debris everywhere. The group cheered at the server's destruction, as a brief flash echoed throughout the skyline, indicating HAVEN's further weakening strength.
As the celebrating died down, Jake noticed Flame Princess, kneeling down beside an irregular patch of the ground. Concerned, he slowly walked over to the young king and lowered himself beside her.
"FP, are you ok?"
The fire elemental didn't respond right away, but eventually sighed sadly.
"This was it. The spot where it was proven we couldn't be together any further than hugging, and even then, there was the flame issue."
She patted the uneven mound. The impressive pit her instability had caused, all that time ago, had been covered long ago, barely visible with the new grass that had grown upon it, but the dirt remained different. Jake frowned.
"Yeah..."
He looked to the spot as well.
"I sometimes wonder, was it my best idea to do what I did and search out a lady for my bro?"
FP stared rather hurt at the dog, seeing as her own life would've been much different without the canine's interference. However, he wasn't done.
"You know what Finn always said in response to that?"
There was a small grin in his lips, drawing the fire elemental's attention further.
"He would take me by the shoulders, look me straight in the eyes, and say with total seriousness: 'Jake, my heartbreak is worth the lives of all the fire elementals now happy in the Fire Kingdom, including Flame Princess.' Those words, every time."
FP sat there on her knees, thinking over the dog's explanation. Jake went on.
"He...he loves you, you know. He's just too shy to say it to your face."
The young king gazed back at the ground.
"I...I don't know what to think."
Jake did his best not to wince as he gently placed a paw on the girl's shoulder.
"Do you still have any feelings for my brother?"
Flame Princess furrowed her brow, having been thinking the very same thing.
"My kingdom, it comes first. But, honestly, how could I ever forget what Finn gave me? A home, a life, a new view of the world..."
She pulled out her flower and slowly rubbed one of its petals.
"...a friend."
She stood up, setting her eyes back to the ash pile.
"Yes. I still do."
Jake was admittedly a bit surprised she gave in.
"Regardless of everything else, the letter, the fights, the lies, he never gave up on me, ever."
The fire elemental stepped closer to the remnants of her old home and knelt down again, sticking the stem of her flower into one of the piles of powdery cinders. Getting back to her feet, she backed away and examined the silvery shine of the aluminum among the black.
"Hope grows out of despair. I learned that, thanks to him."
Jake was silent, amazed at the king's revelations. The sole interruption came from an unlikely source.
"No matter how much you hope however, he is an Arc, and he always will be."
The four all had their attention caught by the new voice, turning to see a verdant girl standing not too far away, holding the same expression that Fifth Arc had. Jake, Ice King, and Susan backed away, as FP remained where she was, unafraid. Third Arc stopped her advance, a fair distance from the fire elemental.
Flame Princess had no evidence of anger or distaste on her features, only concern and hope, eyeing the human before her carefully.
"Tres, we share a feeling, you and I. I wish I could help you reunite with the one you love. But now, I'm going to do whatever is necessary to get back mine."
The brown haired girl tilted her head slightly.
"Yours?"
FP nodded, determinedly.
"That's right. I love Finn the Human, the silly boy who offered his hand to a fire."
Her hands ignited.
"No matter his faults, his heart is in the right place. And for that, I can't ever repay him."
Third Arc readied herself for a fight, while FP nodded to the others to continue on without her. They reluctantly did so, dashing away in a hurry to track down the last two hedrons. The two girls locked eyes, neither rival nor enemy. The princess was fighting the human's body and powers, puppets of Elodeus, as the Arc's mind was suffering the pain of forcibly attempting to harm a being of pure passion.
"I'm getting you out, Tres, I promise."
A/N: Again, work, but at least only one day off this time.
Fiery Crusader: Haha, I was hoping for some good reactions.
DJ Rodriguez: All that and more, coming up.
TheMentalAdventurer: Interesting thoughts, I think I had a few of the same.
I am The7: Yep, total back-stab.