On a desolate battle field where death thrived and destruction ruled stood two figures face to face.
The Lich and Nightclad wearing his armour, but not his helmet. Both beings in their own league of power.
"Hey." Said Nightclad or Marshall as he glared at the Lich with a whirlwind of emotions going wild inside him. "You've been busy, huh."
Sorrow, Anger, Pain, Hatred, Fear, Disgust, Regret and Determination. All these emotion roared inside his mind to get rid of the entity in front of him. To get rid of The Lich. The one who killed his best friend and so many more.
The Lich chuckled at Marshall's pained expression. "You and your friend have done well to stop me until now, child. But now, you are alone." He said calmly with an almost gleeful tone. "There's nothing left for you. You will fall and so will all you protect. You are indeed powerful, but I am-"
Marshall cut The Lich off. "Beyond power? The ceaseless wheel? The last scholar of Golb? My doom?" He said brooding as he glared at his friend's killer. "Get a life."
The Lich flinched. "How-" he asked before Marshall cut him off once more.
"-do I know the Golb thing?" Marshall said brooding and the Lich went silent. "I used to think this world was all candy and rainbows. A dream of endless adventures and happiness. An escape from the hell I lived in. How wrong I was. It was only another hell just more creative this time. Imagine giving someone the ONE thing they wanted their entire existence and then having it be destroyed by their own hands...crazy, right?"
The Lich didn't answer and instead stayed silent, curious to what the hero was trying to say before tears started falling out of Marshall's eyes as he continued as if the tears weren't there.
"Everything was so absurd, I even thought about getting out of this hell. But I couldn't. Because if I did, that dream of happiness and adventure would be impossible." Said Marshall clutching his face as tears fell down his cheeks. "*Sob* Because I messed it all up."
"Are you saying this is your fault?" Asked The Lich calmly with a hint of anger. "My purpose has nothing to do with you. You're just one of many souls I shall claim."
Green flames covered the Lich's hands as he got ready to end Marshall, ready to end this once and for all, but the half demon didn't even acknowledge the hostility.
Marshall chuckled with a weak smile as tears fell down his face. "Somehow, I can't even blame you for wanting my soul. I AM pretty horrible." He said as his eyes began glowing yellow.
Suddenly, without warning or sound, Marshall was an inch away from the Lich's face and wearing his Nightclad helmet. The Lich couldn't even react as Nightclad raised his fist in the air and set it on blue nightospheric fire.
"I'll hurt you." It was stated more like a fact than anything else. An fact Nightclad intended to make when his blue nightospheric flame covered fist made contact with the Lich's face, knocking the scholar of Golb into a nearby boulder.
The Lich, now stuck to crater in the boulder with a half melted face, blasted Nightclad with his green flames. This didn't bother the hero as he just deflected them with his nightospheric flames and flew straight into the Lich, slamming the Scholar's body through the boulder before pinning him to the ashen ground.
The Lich opened his mouth and released pitch black smoke from inside. The smoke never made it to Nightclad as it was blocked by a shield made of magic mint.
The Lich immediately tried to cast another spell to push Nightclad off of him. But before he could, he felt a painful burning sensation course through his self.
Nightclad was burning every part of his soul and mind with nightospheric flames. Although it was painful, it wasn't going to kill the Lich.
"These flames can't slay me, child." Said The Lich as he tried to grab Marshall and throw him off his body. "Give up."
"I know." Replied Nightclad, anger clear in his voice as he punched the Lich's ribcage with as much nightospheric magic as he can muster...which was a LOT. "It's the POINT!"
Nightospheric magic was fundamentally different from the Lich's. The Lich's magic was focused towards killing efficiency. For nightospheric magic, killing is just an afterthought. It's true purpose is causing PAIN.
Nightclad continuously slammed his fists into the Lich with unending fury. Each blow containing more nightospheric magic than the last. Each causing the Lich more and more anguish as it burned through his soul.
The Lich desperately reached for his well of power to aid him in this battle and succeeded. Using this power he pushed Nightclad off of him and flew into the air before beginning to gather his power.
This power was quickly used to create an ever expanding field of death that killed all that entered. Nightclad didn't care as he countered the field with one of his own before punching the Lich in the face with a fist charged with nightospheric flames sending him crashing to the ground.
Ignoring the anguish that punch gave him, the Lich gathered his power and fired a giant green beam of energy towards Nightclad. The hero merely teleported out of the way and to the Lich's face to deliver another nightospheric magic punch to the Lich's face before he pinned him to ground once again.
Slam*
And once again, Nightclad began wailing down punches charged to the brim and over with nightospheric flames.
Slam*
Over and over, he slammed down anguish onto his enemy. And the Lich screamed as each punch scorched his soul.
Slam*
Hours passed and Nightclad didn't stop. He unleashed all his Sorrow, Anger, Pain, Hatred, Fear, Disgust and Regret into these punches. He didn't even care if the Lich felt or not. He was just letting all those emotions out.
Slam*
Eventually, the Lich stopped moving. He was still alive, but each attack took its toll on him. Nightclad did not stop even after that. He couldn't care less if the Lich was alive or dead, feeling it or not. He just continued to punch.
Slam*
After six hours, forty two minutes and seventeen seconds of doing nothing but punch the Lich with nightospheric magic without rest, Nightclad finally stopped.
His hands glowed magically before ice and candy washed over the Lich, trapping him in two layers of elemental crystals.
Once the Lich was trapped, Nightclad's arms went limp from exhaustion. He slowly took off his helmet and sat next to the Lich's prison before curling into a ball.
"It's finally over." Marshall said in a shakey voice as he looked to the night sky above. "... again?"
And then, he woke up.
xxXxx
In Marshall's house.
"AHHH!" Screamed Marshall wearing a red shirt and black shorts as he woke up drenched in sweat. "Haah Haah. Hate that dream."
Marshall immediately started undoing the IMMENSE destruction and damage his dream had inflicted onto his bedroom before sighing in relief when his room was back to normal.
"Stupid Lich. Why did I even remember that guy?" Muttered Marshall tiredly before something clicked into place inside his brain. "Wait- Finn's fighting the Lich!"
Marshall immediately panicked and ran into the living room to find Oracle Crystal asap. How did he manage to sleep with something so important was happening? And why didn't OC warn him?
He couldn't understand or remember how.
Marshall noticed OC sitting on the couch and ran to her. "OC! Finn's fighting the Lich! We need to make sure he's okay!"
OC turned to him and smiled cheerfully. "Oh, hey. You woke up." She said without a care in the world. "You must be hungry. I made us breakfast burritos."
"How are you so calm about this?! Finn and The Lich? Fighting for the fate of Ooo?" Exclaimed Marshall in a panic. "This is important!"
"Oh, that. That happened almost week ago." Replied OC nonchalantly as she headed to the kitchen to get a burrito for Marshall. "Finn beat the Lich and PB now looks 13. Everything's cool."
Marshall froze. What did she say? Almost a week ago? How? The last thing he remembered was Finn going to fight the Lich. "What? How? It was just-"
OC, knowing what Marshall was about to ask, cut the half demon off. "I put sleep medicine in your decaf coffee before the fight happened. The fight scene was super cool." She said nonchalantly as she prepared a burrito for Marshall.
Marshall was left speechless. He paused for a while to process what he had just heard. A while so long, OC decided to explain herself.
"I did it for your own good." OC explained with a smile as she handed Marshall his burrito. "You would've stalked the whole thing and maybe even fought the Lich yourself. It was the only way to keep you in place. Now enjoy your soup."
Marshall stared at the burrito in his hands and frowned. He couldn't argue with her logic, it was completely correct and she made him his favorite food, but he was still upset.
What if something went wrong during the fight? Was all that was on his mind.
"But what if something bad happened?" Asked Marshall heading to the living room couch with a frown as he took a bite from his burrito. "What if Finn couldn't do it and I wasn't there to help?"
"But he did do it." OC replied cheerfully as she jumped into Marshall's lap.
"Yeah, but what if he needed my help?" Asked Marshall anxiously as he took a bite of his burrito.
"Except he didn't need your help. You should have more faith in him." Said OC cheerfully, waving off Marshall's worries. "How's the burrito by the way? It's my secret recipe."
"Pretty good...man I'm hungry." Said Marshall as his stomach grumbled before he took another bite from his burrito.
As Marshall continued to eat the burrito, he began to think about Finn and Jake. He couldn't rely on the story to go the same way. He had to make sure everything would turn out okay.
Perhaps he could try a more hands on approach.
"You're being anxiously, aren't you?" Asked OC with a disappointed expression as she crossed her arms. "Have some faith in the kid!"
"I have faith in him...I just need to make he's ready for the future." Said Marshall as he finished his burrito before standing up. "I've decided. I'm gonna go as Nightclad and personally train him for a bit."
"What?! But you promised you'd finish the next issue of Lunaris! I was so excited about seeing Lucas finally uncover the secrets of the evil cult! And what happened to his missing parents?! What is the artifact for?! I NEED TO KNOW!"
Marshall paused. He did have the stuff planned out so maybe he could just tell her. "I guess I can spoi-" He said before OC cut him off like lightning.
"Finish that word and you're be dead to me." OC glared at Marshall. "Dead. To. Me. I take NO spoilers!"
Seeing OC's threatening aura, Marshall decided this was a good time to leave. "Okay okay. I'll just go." He said as he snapped his fingers and immediately changed into the Nightclad armour.
As Marshall changed, OC quickly changed her mind about spoilers. "Wait- maybe some spoilers might be okay. Tell me what-"
"Too late. Bye!"
And without hesitation, Nightclad teleported away leaving a distraught OC who might be a little too addicted to his comics and heading towards Finn and Jake's house while practicing what he was going to say.
xxXxx
Finn and Jake and BMO sat in the kitchen together messing around in their house.
Finn was beatboxing as Jake was hitting a plate with a spoon as if using the drums. BMO was also making some tunes.
As the three had their fun, all of a sudden something crashed through a wall and landed inside the kitchen.
Finn and Jake immediately got up to see what fell into their home, the smoke around the intruder disappeared to reveal their identity.
"Nightclad!" Exclaimed Finn and Jake in union.
"Hello, Finn the Human and Jake the Dog." Said Nightclad calmly as he fixed the damage to the house he caused.
The two newbies were obviously excited. A legendary hero they idolized is INSIDE THEIR HOME!
As the two struggled to say anything in their excitement, Nightclad decided to speak. "I'll make this short. I've heard about your battle with the Lich and I've come here to make sure you're ready for future threats even more dangerous than the Lich, young heroes. By training you."
"Awesome!" Exclaimed Finn and Jake in union.
"Let's prepare the training area!" Exclaimed Nightclad before, all of a sudden, the scenery changed to an empty white room. "In this room, you will fight powerful evil entities similar to the Lich. But each one has a weakness. You must come out victorious like you did with the Lich."
"Okay." Said Finn nonchalantly before remembering something. "By the way, where did you get the power of love to beat him? Was it from, like, a lady friend or...?"
"What?" Asked Nightclad in confusion.
"Y'know? The Lich? You did beat him with the power of love, right?" Asked Finn innocently, causing Nightclad to go silent. "Right?"
"Uhh, yeah." Said Nightclad awkwardly as he started fidgeting with his fingers. "I used a LOT of love against the Lich. Yeah, love. That's what it was."
Yes, Nightclad used the purest form of love against the Lich. Love that lasted around six hours, forty two minutes and seventeen seconds. Love that shattered the earth around them.
Love meaning Lots Of ViolEnce.
"Anyways, let's begin!" Declared Nightclad as he summoned the first enemy.
Wanting to start small, Nightclad summon a buff bear with an injury for the duo to fight. Naturally, the two took it down with ease.
The next battle was harder and the one after was even more so. And at some points, Finn's sword began glowing.
Eventually, the battles got so hard to the point that it was just completely unfair. So much so that even Finn and Jake were starting to panic a little.
"Hey, man. Don't you think this is a bit of an overkill?" Asked Finn panting over the dusty remains of his last foe.
"Yeah, that guy took us three hours to finally get him to puke his organs just so we can stab 'em for another hour." Added Jake taking a breath.
Nightclad put a hand on his chin. Finn still hadn't used the thing he came here for. Magic. Nightclad knew Finn had a lot of potential for magic and so he decided to give Finn the power to fire sword slashes by training in a magical environment.
He wanted to give Finn more ranged options. He just needed to push Finn a little more.
"Perhaps you're correct. Your next foe shall be the last." Said Nightclad calmly before Jake was trapped in a bubble that floated far into the air where Finn couldn't reach it.
"Jake!" Exclaimed Finn in surprise at his brother getting whisked away. "Nightclad, what's going on? Why's Jake in a bubble?"
"That, Finn, is because your next enemy is...ME." said Nightclad as he flew into the air. "Defeat me or the dog dies."
"What?!" Exclaimed Finn in shock.
"Not cool, man!" Added Jake angrily before the bubble he was in started shrinking. "Oh no."
Seeing Jake in danger, Finn turned to Nightclad. "What will you do, Finn?" Asked the armoured hero menacingly.
Finn held sword and clenched his teeth before dashing towards Nightclad in the air. Just as he was about to reach him, a powerful gust of wind pushed him away.
Finn watched as tornadoes began swirling around the old hero, protecting their maker. Finn didn't care and dashed towards Nightclad once again only for a tornado to fling him away once again.
"C'mon, sword slash." Muttered Nightclad to himself as Finn paused for a second to look at Jake before dashing towards him again with a glowing sword.
Nightclad watched with bated breath as Finn tried to swing at him once again, waiting for that sword slash.
But Finn exceeded all his expectations.
The young hero was flung away by a tornado once again, but this time, it was with a plan. The tornado flung him towards the bubble Jake was trapped in.
Finn quickly stabbed the bubble with his sword, freeing Jake for his prison.
Nightclad was shocked, not expecting this development whatsoever. He was so shocked, he didn't notice Jake's enlarged fist coming his way and was punched to the ground.
The magic dog pinned the retired hero to the ground before speaking angrily. "It's over, man!"
"Yeah! We wanna leave!" Added Finn disapprovingly.
Nightclad paused for a long time before he burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!" Nightclad laughed loudly and happily as he clapped for Finn and Jake.
Nightclad looked around. His plan failed, Finn didn't gain any new powers and he got defeated by two kids. Everything was horrible...but why did it make him so happy.
Did it remind him of those goofy adventures used to watch in his old life? It did, but that wasn't all of it.
He quickly figured it out. It was the thing he lost so long ago. A best friend to mess around with. Someone who had your back and you had theirs.
Someone to have faith in.
The duo stared at the retired hero thinking he might have a loose screw in his head as he continued to laugh before they suddenly floated into the air and off of Nightclad.
"I'm impressed. You've made me feel something I haven't felt in so SO long!" Exclaimed Nightclad happily as the white room disappeared and they all were in the tree house once again. "Your friendship will carry you well against evil and on all adventures. You two will be better heroes than I ever was."
Finn and Jake turned to each other with happy expressions before turning to the retired hero.
"Wait- was this your plan all along? To teach us about the power of friendship?" Asked Finn cheerfully, causing Nightclad to chuckle.
"Nope. My plan was to teach you how to do this." Said Nightclad as he took Finn's sword and swung it around. With every swing, an arch of energy was fired from the sword. "But your idea is better."
"What? No! I wanna do that!" Exclaimed Finn seeing the energy archs fired from the sword.
Nightclad paused. "Some other day. I'm tired from laughing so much. Bye."
And before Finn and Jake could react, Nightclad was already gone. Leaving the two to lament the cool technique they didn't get to learn.
xxXxx
At Marshall's.
Marshall teleported into the house wearing a red shirt and black shorts before sitting on the couch next to OC.
"So, what didja learn?" Asked OC cheerfully, learning on the couch's arm.
Marshall paused before smiling. "To have faith in someone."
"See? I'm always right." OC bragged with a smug expression.
"Yeah yeah, you were right, I was wrong. Just don't put sleep medicine in my food again."
"No promises."
"And there goes my faith in you."
xxXxx
I hope I showed a good contrast between Finn and Marshall's mentalities as heros in this one.
Tell me how I did. Leave a review.
Toodles.