Finn, Ice Queen, and Huntress hold their breath in tension as they float through the void of space, the trio eventually opening their eyes to gaze at the environment as they ride the giant. Finn takes the first breath, his experience with the citadel in the past informing him of the breathable air, his companions swiftly doing the same as they peer around in awed curiosity. The hero however wastes no time, and glances at Hekate, scowling as he watches her carry his father.
She was heading for the upper layers of the giant citadel prison as she hums a little tune, before gesturing her arm at the massive citadel. Little sparkles of thousands of beams of light suddenly fill the void of space atop the maze, until the sea of lights becomes one blinding orb, and a new structure is made. It was a dome shape sitting on some pillars, a massive pure white room the entire size of the citadel. Every gap between the support beams dotting the edges of the new structure having a see-through light blue shield protecting everything inside.
She nods in approval at the massive structure, then sighs as she glances at her frozen stiff escaped convict, "Well Martin, it's been a while, hasn't it? Do you remember us talking all the time in those rooms? Where you got in range to stab my heart?"
Her inquiries get a nervous laugh from the older man, "Hehe, yeah, but you liked it when we were like that! Talking, chatting, discussing about having magic powers, explaining about being a normal mortal person, how about we go back to that, y-yeah!?" He pleads.
His response was a scoff as her face violently twists into rage, her spare hand becoming shattered, long sharp claws, "No you bitch! Now you're going to face the music and pay for your deviltries by spending the rest of your fucking eternity in a crystal!"
He grimaces, "Yeesh, chill Heky! I'm sure we can talk this out! Like think about all you've learned! You just said deviltries, I bet you didn't even know of the devil until after meeting me!" He grins awkwardly as he flicks his gaze to the rapidly approaching prison, and the fate that awaits him within.
She growls, grasping his throat and choking him slightly, "Yeah! I met him after you led me into him on one of our stupid goose chases! He nearly fucking ate me- I mean, yes I have learnt a lot around you, like pain and betrayal, what they do to the mind- AND HOW IT MADE ME STRONGER!" She screams, flicking out a hand and unleashing a lightning so large it lights up the void of space, obliterating a planet far in the distance as a star goes out.
Martin gulps, "Well, I helped you there! Didn't I!? I mean, you were already stupidly powerful, but you're even better now, right!?"
She snarls as her hand starts to glow, and approaches his face, "Like how a water droplet makes an ocean bigger... Goodbye Marty, I'll always miss our talks." With that, she flicks her glowing hand, and he is warped out of existence, disappearing into some crystal somewhere with the labyrinth. Hekate sighs, and glances at the massive dome room before her that she had made, "... And my punishment is to watch over you and everyone else in this filthy- important place!"
Thus she herself teleports inside the massive chamber, and starts interacting with a massive keyboard, while Finn and the girls focus back onto one another as Ice Queen clicks her tongue, "So… your dad pissed her off personally."
Finn nods somberly, "Yeah. And she probably just put him in some crystal. And this place looks nothing like it used to! I have no idea how to navigate it, or where he could be, or how we can find out!" He panics slightly, a worried glint in his eyes as Huntress frowns in symphony. She reaches out and gently grasps his hand, giving him a soft comforting smile as the guardian they ride heads towards some large slot in the prison.
Ice Queen's eyes suddenly widen as she stares into the distance, "Guys!"
They jolt, before snapping to her as Finn's eyes lock onto her with a gaze of concern, "What!?" She merely points her finger behind them.
They both flick their attention to her pointing, and her knight pales slightly. She meekly informs them, "There. That giant is the one that crushes AAA." The group simply stare at the colossus new Cthulhu guardian currently snoozing, standing stiff in space with its head down low, awaiting the call to slaughter.
Finn glances at the others, "Erh, I vote we don't piss it off." The response was unanimous as the women nodded their heads, Ice Queen grimacing in fear as she touched her trembling tiara.
Huntress pulls out her arrows to examine them, "I think that would be for the best bear…" She pokes her head over the leg again, then swiftly taps him, "Hey guys, we're going somewhere." She informs, causing the other to snoop out as well.
They were now floating inside the massive slot in the side of the citadel, making the hero nod in approval, "Well, at least we have a direct way inside. We can find our way to Martin when we stop... actually, I guess we should probably try to find a map first, then rescue my dad."
Huntress suddenly squints, "Erh, Finn, I don't think we have that choice!" The hero blinks at her words, and glances again.
A massive sign that said decontamination and repair drifts past them as they ride the giant deeper.
Finn blinks, then snaps his gaze to the path ahead. Massive claws, flamethrowers, lasers, and other such deadly objects were awaiting them. They panic, Finn screaming, "Run!"
Ice Queen snaps her eyes around, "Where!?"
Huntress suddenly points to their left, "There!" She grabs their collars, and leaps before they had time to even check or respond.
The duo scream in shock as they drift through the air, before slamming harshly into a wall, grunting in pain as Huntress whips a vine out.
It catches onto the warning sign they had just passed a moment ago, yanking their floating forms towards it as an anchor. Thus they drift in zero g, holding onto a vine as the queen and her knight glance at the nymph, who simply nods to their right. They shift their gaze to the flat corridor wall, and their eyes widen at what Huntress had seen. A vent grate.
Immediately, she begins to swing them in that direction, disintegrating the vine and letting the lack of gravity do the rest. They all float towards it as Ice Queen shoots off an ice hook out of her palm, piercing into the vent and gripping it tight, then yanking them towards it. They 'climb' the spear, until reaching the wall itself, where the royal then glues them to the wall with her ice.
Finally, Finn grasps the metal vent, and with a grunt, yanks it completely off, letting it drift off into space as they hurriedly begin climbing inside the cramped tunnel. Finn lets Huntress go first, then he slithers inside, and finally the royal herself sneaks in, the group hurried crawling through the ventilation system. Only a few minutes in, they release sudden grunts of pain as gravity kicks in, stunning them slightly for a second, before Huntress sighs as she recovers, "Well, we're inside."
Finn nods, "Yeah… let's crawl a bit, see if we can find some way actually inside the citadel." He orders, and the squad proceed ahead, glancing at all the diverging paths in worry.
Ice Queen groans as she peers down a corner, "So, we're in a labyrinth. Inside a bigger labyrinth… any ideas how we don't get lost?" She inquires as she begins to squint, darkness enveloping them in the lightless tunnels.
Finn sighs, "No. But I don't think we want to get separated either. Honey, wait a second." She halts, grunting in the tight, constrictive vent.
"Finn, I don't suffer from claustrophobia, but by glob I'm not liking this one bit. We need to get out, and fast." She warns.
Finn places a hand on her leg to comfort her, "I know, just trying to think of a way for us to see… and not lose one another."
Ice Queen suddenly slaps a hand onto his ankle, and an ice chain is formed between her wrist and his leg, making him blink as he glances back at the royal, the woman grinning at him, "You're not escaping me yet, bear~"
He chuckles, needing the light humour at the moment as he gently grabs the watcher of the forest's cape, asking softly, "Do you mind?"
She shakes her head, "No, go ahead. And I'll use my huntress vision to see in the dark. Don't worry Finn, we'll track your dad down." With that, she slowly moves forward as her eyes glow softly in the pitch black, illuminating the silver walls completely surrounding them.
They listened intently to the environment, searching for a sign they were going in the right direction by some noise of some kind. But there was nothing. Just, crushing void. They admittedly shiver slightly, their hairs, except Huntress, were standing on edge as they searched in the complete darkness.
Finally, they hear a constant noise ahead, a mix between a groan of a motor, a whooshing noise, and a slight knocking taps, and they waste no time in heading for it. They crawl along as fast as they can, desperate for the noise, for a sign that this vent wasn't a prison itself as they head towards it like a moth to a flame. Suddenly Huntress stops with a grunt as they turn a corner, and immediately back peddles, "Fan! It's a giant fan!"
The other two waste no time in crawling backwards for the nymph as Finn raises an eyebrow, "How close was it? Is it dangerous?"
She shrugs, "No idea if it's dangerous. It's just a tad ahead, and it's not exactly strong enough to suck us in… yet, if we were close, then maybe we would feel the suction… we can likely simply destroy it." She informs, grunting as she struggles to get a sturdy arrow out her quiver.
Finn nods, "Do it! Who knows? Some dude might come checking, open up a vent or something for us to follow!"
Huntress shrugs, crawls forward until she can see the fan blade, then shoots an arrow directly into it. Sure enough the arrow flies much faster than it should off, proving that if they had crawled even further ahead then they would now be minced meat. It smashes dead centre into the machine, shattering it into a thousand pieces as it violently shatters.
Immediately, sirens blare as the group cringes, snapping their gaze about in the tight confines as a deep, robot male AI voice echoes in the vents, "Damage detected, no-security-risk measures activated, purging vents of life."
Finn snaps to Huntress, "Go! Go! Go!" They all rush forward, heading towards the destroyed fan as a hiss of gas fills their prison.
The nymph makes it to the obliterated fan, and begins jiggling it as her arrows leave her quiver, precisely rocketing them into the destroyed machine. Joints and bolts shatter as it eventually becomes loose, and promptly falls, banging into some place outside the tight vent.
She falls down into it, Finn and Ice Queen tumbling after her as the group end up in some low lit corridor, then scramble away from the vent hole. Not a second later the gas inside the tight vents above ignites, becoming a roaring explosion of hell fire.
It sprays down from the hole they came from as the group watch in silent shock, watching the stream of burning gas torch the floor. A few seconds later, it ends, and the dark, emotionless robot voice speaks again, "Purging process completed. Scanning..." A red light of a scanner wails as it swoops through the vent system, repeating the circuit a few times before deactivating, "No life detected. Rest in hell."
The trio blink for a second, before releasing their pent up breath they didn't release they were holding, glancing at one another as Finn gives them a scan of his own, "You guys alright?" He inquires, checking them over before finally checking himself.
Ice Queen nods, "Yeah, I'm fine."
The watcher of the forest brushes her clothes off, "Yeah I'm fine as well." She then smirks as she glances at Finn, "Shoot the fan! Some guy might appear!"
Finn blushes at her tease, nervously scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah well I didn't expect them to respond to a damaged fan by completely lighting the place up… sorry."
The nymph smirks and kisses him on the lips real quick with a slight blush, "It's no problem, but we probably should start moving and find a way to locate Martin. It can't be long until he faces whatever punishment is awaiting him, because by the sounds of that Hekate woman's tone, there's more coming for him." She suggests, causing the hero to nod and glance down the dark corridor they were on.
Ice Queen undoes the chain on her hand to his leg, melting the ice as she glances at the vent, "Two quick questions: A. Did that robot just say 'rest in hell'?"
The nymph shrugs as they all begin sneaking down their new, dark metal path in the dim light, "Yeah it did, I thought it was 'rest in the night-o-sphere'." She shrugs, causing Finn to chuckle,
"Yeah, stupid robot. But what's the second question?" He inquires.
Ice Queen stares at him, "I had to ask this in vents, but got distracted: do you do squats?" She asks as gestures to his ass.
Meanwhile, deep inside the prison, a loud hum of electricity fills the air as a massive machine of computers and wires runs its systems, its security eyes locked on the three intruders, "Unknown personal detected, counter security commanders informed… no response. Facility not complete, personal missing. Conclusion: terminate them myself. Rest in hell." It decides, its war systems warming up, as on its side, it states its belonging to the NATO alliance. "Weapon systems charging. Threats are nothing to the invaders of peace a thousand years ago. Rest in hell."
Back in AAA however, Gumball rushes about frantically inside his lab, barking orders down his phone. His kingdom was in ruins after the surprise invasion by cosmic law enforcement, and worse, the other princes were still in their ice cocoons, trapped until the blue royal returns to free them. They were begging for their freedom, and their kingdoms were demanding their return, yet logic was demanding they stay in his kingdom!
He groans as he slams the phone back down, and spins in his science chair for a moment, before quickly whipping up the phone again, dialling his knight. A few seconds later her stunning voice comes through, though slightly out of breath, "If this is about your princes then I'm afraid I can't-"
"Fionna it's me Gumball!" He cuts her off, glancing at the security camera of her currently calming his panicking citizens, "Listen, I need you to do something!"
"That is?"
"Go to the Ice Kingdom, and see if you can find some book or some sort of knowledge on how to undo her cocoon spell! If they're in there too long, they might suffocate, or starve, or if the spell doesn't melt, die of dehydration! But the air is the main problem! If you don't hurry, they may only have a few hours before they- "
Butterscotch Butler taps him, "My lord, that spell will sustain them air wise."
The candy prince stares at him, blinks, then sighs into the phone, "Okay, you have three days then before dehydration gets them. So go! Go to the Ice Kingdom and find a way to undo the spell!"
She wastes no time on his cameras, waving at Cake to follow as they rush out of his destroyed Kingdom and towards the exit. The feline glances at her sister, "So what's going on girl? What's the rush?" She sighs as they heads towards their home, the treehouse not too far away,
"Ice Queen donked up and forgot to unfreeze the princes before rushing off with Finn and Huntress after that woman and those giants. We're about to go to her castle to see if there's a way to free them!" She explains.
The feline sighs, "Ah, freeing princes from an Ice Queen cage, the good old days… wait, so why are we going to the treehouse?" She inquires as she raises an eyebrow at the rapidly approaching home of theirs, wrapping an arm around the girl and elongating her legs.
Fionna sighs as she is being carried, "I doubt the place is unlocked, we're going to need to break into her castle. And I don't think we should leave him alone too long…" Cake blinks, then her eyes widen in realisation.
"Ohh! Stephen!"
Fionna nods, "Yeah, we should probably take him with us... and I can already see a hole in the treehouse." She informs plainly, as Cake glances at their home again to indeed spot a point of broken wood in the side, causing her to sigh.
In less than five seconds, they arrive and poke their heads inside, and spot a worried, nervous Stephen as he bites his nails, his gaze flicking to the ladies, "Ah, I erh… broke, it." He explains in his broken English as the sisters walk inside.
Fionna giggles, "No probs big dude, but we need your help!" She calls as she extends a hand to him, making his nervous mood do a full one eighty.
He hops on the spot, "Ooh! Another adventure?" He asks as he swiftly jogs his way over, shaking the house before Cake ends it by wrapping her other arm around his form.
As Cake pulls them out with a grunt, the heroine nods, "Yeah! And we might need your help! The people we're going to are friendly, but we might need your help in breaking down some castle doors if any are locked up."
The muscle man flexes with a grin, bulging his muscles at Fionna as she stares, "No… problem, muscles big!"
She nods, "Awesome."
As they make their way to their objective, Gumball paces in his lab, his mind adrift in the moment of silence in his kingdom. The workers were all busy, he had no more orders to give, but that doesn't mean he should stop working. The royal meeting flashes in his mind constantly, his face twisting in aggressive thoughts, 'Who took my Bubblegum Guardians!?'
He needed to talk to his robot self, but he was nowhere to be found, even on his security cameras!... What was worrying him definitely, 'Before I activated him, the part I struggled most with was his personality chip, it was why I left it to last so I could have more time to think of a solution.' He flicks his gaze to his cameras in curiosity, searching his castle again. And notices his robot self hiding in the shadows. He squints in effort, noticing he was directly outside the royal kitchen, then grips his phone, and dialling the number for his food, "Hello, chef, could you bring me some lasagne?"
After a moment of acknowledgement, he hangs up, and waits, staring at his machine self as it continues to lurk in the dark. Butterscotch Butler strolls up to him, "Sir, what are you doing?"
He scowls at the screen, "Checking something." He informs his helper, and a few minutes later, the skilled chef exits the kitchen with food in hand, making her way towards him in his lab. When his robot self suddenly steps before her.
She blinks, then grins at him, "Gumball! Your meal~!" She presents it to him as the real prince grinds his teeth, 'My people are too stupid!'
The fake royal smirks as he leans down and takes the plate from her, "Thank you master chef, I'm sure it will be delicious." He watches her as she spins around and heads back inside the kitchen, before chuckling and whipping out his vial of green poison.
As he pours the liquid into the meal, the real Gumball sighs, and turns to his right at the equipment he was going to use for the dungeon raid. He wastes no time, and immediately begins equipping it all, the laser gun, the energy vest, the three pink grenades, the two knives, and the lighter. With a roll of his neck, he squats before his lab door, aiming his rifle directly at it as Butterscotch positions herself next to him.
They wait in dead silence, their gaze locked onto the massive reinforced metal slab that seals the lab, digits twitching to fling magic or pull the trigger. Finally a knock racks out on the door, and Gumball smirks, "Yes?"
It starts to open, "Just me creator, I have your-"
The moment he appears enough to look death in the eyes, Butterscotch flings out a fireball while Gumball lights him up. The laser guts the machine as the plate drops to the floor, before the maids slower fireball slams into him, sending him flying backwards in an explosion. The whole area burns as robot Gumball sits against the blackened wall, on fire and melting as his robot skeleton is revealed.
He flicks his gaze to the smug prince approaching with his laser gun aimed at his head, the prince lining the shot up, "Thanks for the food. And the betrayal. I saw the poison you added so don't try to lie! Tell me what you did with the Bubblegum Guardian parts!" He demands, his laser rifle charging up.
But the machine only chuckles, "Please. Like I don't have fail-safes. Data has already been transferred you blob."
Suddenly he flops over dead, the machine powering down as its flaming body goes limp, yet the spy computers behind them change their feed, becoming his face as he grins, "You're outdated, and I'm superior in every way. It is better for our people if you were to simply lay down and accept this!" Suddenly metal clanks echo out from down the candy halls the duo were in.
Gumball curses, and grabs Butterscotch, throwing her back into the lab as he swiftly follows her, then slams the lab door shut, locking it up tight. Not a moment later, thousands of sharp scratches shred at the door with horrid screeches, the duo grimacing as they glance at the fake robo Gumball on the screens.
He chuckles, "They're swarming in every direction, Fionna is nowhere near and will likely be gone for a while, and there is no one else to save you!"
Gumball lifts his gun at the screen as he flicks his other hand to a grenade, "Funny. We both know I did fine the last few hundred years by myself." With a pull of a trigger, the bright laser blasts through the screen, puncturing a hole through it and the walls behind it.
Immediately metal scratches scramble towards the hole, and with a pull of the pin on the grenade, he lobs the pink explosive device through the hole. In less than a few seconds, it explodes in a pool of corrosive pink goo that sticks to every surface, melting everything.
The robots won't be coming through that hole for a while.
Suddenly a massive bang slams against the lab door, making the prince jump and snap his laser gun to the noise. It rings out as the large metal slab gets rammed into again and again by some giant machine on the other side.
Not a second later, the massive door comes tumbling off its hinges as a flood of metal comes swarming in, with a few humongous droids in the middle. They were large, storming forward at nearly ten feet tall with black metal and gold accents, their six purple eyes on their forward placed long heads locking onto the prince as their bulky body parts bang forward.
Gumball wastes no time, unleashing his deadly laser into its face as Butterscotch focuses on the small black drones scuttering forward. She unleashes a continuous stream of lightning, letting it arc between the drones and fry their circuits faster than they can ready their tail lasers.
Still, they were quickly swarming in, and their AIs were learning fast, dodging the sight of Gumball's gun and staying well clear of Butterscotches lightning. The princes growls as he and his maid slowly back it up, watching as they use the previous failures bodies as a shield. The duo hit the wall of the lab as they continue blasting away, and the machines let out a mechanical roar as they charge.
They suddenly start smashing down the lab walls, bursting out the floor and ceiling as well as their mechanical parts collide together in a show of sparks. Gumball yells and spins around, aiming his weapon at the wall behind him and flipping a switch to send it into overdrive.
A continuous stream of laser blasts out the weapon as he does a swift circle, before booting the wall to kick out a large circle. He grabs Butterscotch still unleashing spells, then dives out the window as the machines swarm in, lasers shooting out after them.
The duo fall, before the maid immediately begins an incantation, her eyes glowing a toxic green as they are enveloped in a glow. Then with a punch to a gut they suddenly stop their freefall, the prince grunting at the sudden halt as they slowly float down. Butterscotch starts walking forward mid air, and they begin drifting ahead as the prince glances at his castle.
Machines were now climbing all over it, aiming their laser weapons at him as he panics, and does the same. Immediately his scoped weapon starts firing, hitting small drone after small drone as they return to sender, beams sweeping. Yet, as they hit the Candy Kingdom, and possibly any citizens, they immediately halt and give up, tracking him for their master instead.
As they float down, and their feet grace the roof of a building, the mechanical voice of robot Gumball fills the street as metal thuds echo out, "My people, I will lead us to a glorious future where you shall never be in danger…"
The candy royal snaps his head to where the voice was coming from, and his eyes widen as he spots his robot self. He was in a massive mech, with the two reclaimed and rebuilt Bubblegum Guardians in black standing close behind him. The mech itself was decked out in weapons, a mobile war machine to lead the charge in his upcoming conquering. It was humanoid except its chest and head, the head missing and the chest more of a massive cockpit. Above its shoulders sat dual rockets pods, and its arms were two hands that gripped tightly to a heavy duty auto rifle. Its wrists wore two retractable blades, and on the back appeared what to be a large jet engine.
He stands tall, and gestures to the kingdom as his suit lights up in ink defensive energy barriers, his smirking gaze locked on the escaping duo as they spin and rush for the kingdom's exit, "And all your needs will be sated. Help will never be far if it is needed, you won't be reliant on Fionna anymore for your safety…"
The candy people actually glare at him at his words, a woman yelling out, "What!? No! We like Fionna!" Her words are accompanied by hundreds of agreements.
The machine merely, "I know… that is why I plan to make her OUR NEW QUEEN!" He yells out, and a moment of silence fills the air. Before the candy people start cheering, then chanting his name as he smirks at his creator, "I'm glad you agree with my judgement, my people, but first, I must do something important." He informs with a smirk as he aims his weapon at the fleeing duo.
With a twitch of his finger, heavy bullets rip through the air at terrifying speed, with little spread thanks to mechanical analysis. The building Gumball was running on gets lit up as he and Butterscotch dive off, floating for a second before the maid deactivates their spell. The hit the floor with a slam, groaning in pain for a second before hurriedly getting up.
A roar of an engine fills the air, and the prince glances up to spot the mech launched into the air by the jet on its back. He rears a fist back, before falling towards the earth at high speeds, his serrated blade wrist snapping out for action. He ground pounds before the rushing duo, sending them flying as a mess of broken candy road is flung up.
The robot royal chuckles at the duo laying stunned on the floor, rising to a stand as he aims his weapon again, this time point blank. Butterscotch slams her hand on the floor, and dark magic cracks across the ground and underneath the mech. Before not a second later massive undead alligator maws shoots up from the ground, and snaps on the mech's legs.
The duo waste no time and scramble away as the robot is tugged about by the spell attempting to devour it. The mech simply reactivates its defensive barrier, and it electrocutes the undead beasts so hard they explode in bone fragmentation.
Robo Gumball spins around, and activates his jet again, catapulting him into the air as he lines his gaze up with the fleeing duo, "Unwavering Guardians! Attack!"
The former Bubblegum Guardians charge forward with the blare of a twisted fog horn, their deadly weapons targeting the duo's positions.
Then a roar distracts them.
The ice dragon guard that Ice Queen had arrived on rockets through the air, slamming into the first guardian's head while swinging its massive tail into the other. It roars with rage as it smashes the glass head it was completely covering, then leaps off as it charges its ice breath.
It shoots towards the mech mid air, and sprays it with ice, the cold breath freezing the flying war machine solid. It tumbles towards the earth as the massive beast shoots towards Gumball and Butterscotch, its massive claws grasping them tightly.
Then they shoot far into the sky, and away from the now captured Candy Kingdom, heading towards a familiar blue mountain in the distance. Gumball pants in its grasp, flicking his gaze to his maid as he gestures to the dragon, "What the glob!? Why did this lizard save us?"
She remains silent for a second, thinking, before her eyes widen and she gains a grin, "Because it is a guard! For Ice Queen and her friends!" He raises an eyebrow at her as she pats its legs, "The night-o-sphere, remember? I and the queen became friends there, so when it realised we were under attack, it came to our rescue!... After failing to get a response from Ice Queen."
He sighs, "So that's why it didn't leap to our salvation immediately… but at least we're heading to the Ice Kingdom, Fionna is there! She needs to know what's going down." He says, before chuckling a little, "You know, I think this is the first time I'm happy to go to the Ice Kingdom…"
Finn and his companions meanwhile trek through the humongous Citadel space station, their gaze constantly scanning over the wires and pumps that make sure the frozen convicts remain frozen. Ice Queen flicks her gaze to her knight, "Hey bear, was it this… creepy the last time you were here?" She inquires, her hairs standing on end as she listens to the eerily quiet world she was in, the only interruptions being sudden hisses from pistons that occasionally make them all jump.
Finn shakes his head, "No… it was nothing like this. It's almost like someone else planned this prison after I wrecked the last one… or worst, we're in a higher security one." He worriedly glances behind him, "That means there could be-"
"Security." Ice Queen finishes off with a sigh.
Huntress however grunts, "Probably both really, but the good news is that I can't hear anyone, even with mine being better than normal." She quickly shifts into a dog and remains like it for a few seconds, before shifting back to her wood nymph self, "Nope, no one… but I did hear metal clanking ahead." She informs them, causing the other duo to stare straight ahead.
Finn then flicks his attention to her, "How much?"
She nods, "A lot of noise. There's loads of machinery ahead, what means we could be entering an important area."
The royal grimaces, "What means people could likely be there." She shifts her gaze to her hero, "Any idea other than those guardians and… whatever that massive monster is, on what could be waiting for us?" His response came in the form of a sigh and a shake of his head.
She nods, then makes her hands glow with magic as she scowls, "Well, whatever comes our way, be prepared!"
Huntress flicks her gaze to her, "Worried?" She teases.
Ice Queen sighs in annoyance, "Yes, I'm not a fan of my dream, and I'll be the first to make sure nothing happens. In fact, if you two can, can you get behind me?"
Finn shakes his head, and swiftly kisses her on the cheeks as the woman ends up blushing heavily, the man grabbing her glowing arms and lowering them, "Don't worry Sarah, we'll be fine! This isn't the first time we've been in a seriously dangerous spot. And honestly? I doubt it will be the last. Please, don't step in my place, I don't want you to get hurt."
Just as the words leave him, the sounds of repeated mechanical clanking finally can be heard, and they snap their gaze ahead, finding an end to the corridor they were in in the form of a massive door. They stand up and rush down the long hall, before slowing down as they approach, Finn taking the lead as they press themselves up against the wall.
He peeks his head out, and blinks in shock, scanning around to double check before stopping going pressed against the wall, casually walking out. The girls stare at him in confusion, but swiftly follow him, peering into the room before coming stumped themselves.
It was a massive mixer.
Below the small alcove they were on was a humongous pool of glowing, light blue liquid getting sloshed by some massive spinning machines, the gears above them groaning as they did their endless work. Ice Queen scrunches her face up in confusion, "What the-?"
Finn pulls a face, "I think… I think it's the stuff they use to crystal freeze their prisoners, just in a liquid form… well, doesn't matter what it is, I don't think we should take a plunge into the stuff." He glances around the room, peering around massive spinning mixers as he attempts to locate something. In the end, he simply sighs, "Sarah, I can't see anything, and I don't think we should be a massive bird here…" She and Huntress nod in understanding, before the wood nymph becomes a small bug and flies onto the royal's shoulder, latching on tightly.
Ice Queen grabs Finn by his armpits, and flaps her eyebrows as they begin to rise into the air, the royal twisting her head about as she attempts to spot some other exit or escape. They begin to fly forth, their gaze nervously twitching to the massive machines spinning right next to them, a gruesome end awaiting them if they get too close.
Yet as they bop and weave about the mixing machines, the security machine watches them carefully, "Intruders in an area of delicate machinery. Can not harm without greater risks to other areas of the facility. Solution: precision is key, no misses allowed. Rest in hell."
The group continue to flutter forward unaware, slowly making their way about the massive room that is nearly the size of an entire city, when they hear an unnatural clank. They snap their heads to the right, and spot a hole in the wall as a humanoid crawls out onto some metal platform that just formed. It stands up tall on its robotic chicken-like legs, the pale fleshy top half holding a sniper rifle as its helmet covered head hides its long face.
It snaps its gaze to the trio, and swiftly aims it's weapon at their heads as Ice Queen hurriedly acts. She drops just as it was zeroing in on her, the scope swaying as it attempts to keep up with her swiftly moving form. She starts to sweep and swoop as she keeps her smirking gaze locked on the cyborg, "We just need to keep stuff between us and it!"
Another clank happens to their left, and on the other side of the room another cyborg appears. Then another in another spot. And another. And another. The royal curses as she goes full speed, "Hold on!" She screams, and begins taking evasive manoeuvres.
She sweeps and swoops around the hundreds of mixtures as the sniper line their aims up, their scopes getting them in their sights. One pulls their trigger. The bullets launches towards the group, whistling through the air. Then whistling straight through Ice Queen's leg. She gasps in pain as a spurt of blood comes from her wound, tears forming as she doesn't stop for a second.
Finn goes wide eyed at the wound, before yelling at them, "You bas-" He bites his tongue in rage as more aim at them, before snapping his head about again, before spotting a vent hole what he swiftly points at, "There! Go there!"
With a scream of effort, she pushes her wounded body towards the vent while Finn activates his energy shield. He does his best to protect her, trying to cover up her body from any more damage, but he can only do one side at a time. Worse, the sniper's platforms begin to move, several of the twisted creations now moving in on hovering stations.
Their guns track the trio, waiting for the perfect moment to take the shot, the silence occasionally broken by a loud bang and the feeling of dread. Luckily, the royal learnt from her mistakes, and was taking incredibly harsh and unnatural evasive actions as they struggle to keep up.
Her gaze was locked on the hole, her breath becoming deep in pain as she suddenly rockets forward with all her speed. Finn deactivates his shield as he holds his metal arm forward, "Drill!" His limb shifts as the royal holds him before her.
They smash into it as the metal breaks with an ear shattering screech, the trio tumbling inside the tight vent. Snipers were moving in behind them, and they were now stuck together in the tight hole thanks to them both trying to fit in at the same time. Finn grimaces, and with a groan of effort turns his drill arm downwards.
He shreds through the vent, making a bigger and bigger hole as the hiss of gas fills the air, spurring him onward. Finally he drills away the vent's structural integrity, and it breaks under their combined weight, the group flailing as they fall into a second room.
It was a factory.
And they were on the conveyor belt line.
All around them were smashing pounders and flaming hot materials as the red crystal the citadel guardians were made of were being produced. Finn curses as he grabs Ice Queen and picks her up, Huntress in bug form leaping off and becoming her wood nymph self. She grabs the royal as well, the duo making her wrap her arms around their necks as she limps along with their rushed steps. The vent behind them explodes into fire, then after a second, starts getting filled with bangs and clanks as the snipers follow them.
As the trio rush on the completely sealed conveyor belt, their eyes snap to the mashers and grinders all around them, a gruesome end awaiting them. Finn snaps to Huntress as she glances behind them, "We need a way off this thing!" She nods, watching the snipers follow closely behind them, and unleashing her arrows into them.
She aims for their helmet, her target being their crystal visors they see out of. Her five arrows plunged into them with enough force to send them flying into their backs, but more were on the way. With a growl she summons her arrows back and glances at the hero as they rush down the assembly line, "I know Finn, but we're obviously in the engineering part of the citadel. We need to go up!"
He blinks, and glances to the heavens, and finds grey metal above them, "Right. I have my drill, just find us a spot, and I can try to drill our way out." He informs her as she snaps her gaze about, spotting a hole between the pumps.
She squints in thought, then snaps to Finn, "Actually can you hold the line for a bit!?" His response was to let go of Ice Queen, spin around while whipping his blade free, and bonk a sniper with his handle as it runs around a corner
As it flops to the floor unconscious, he nods at her as he picks his royal up again, "Yeah, but I don't know about holding Ice Queen at the same time! Why? What have you got planned!? Why can't I just drill?"
Before she could respond, the blue woman lifts herself out of their grip with a flap of her eyebrows and aims her hands at a wall. She unleashes a spray of ice, creating a cold light blue platform that she promptly sits on, before glancing down at the duo. Finn blinks, then glances at Huntress, "Alright, I'm fine. What are you planning?"
She runs on the conveyor belt, heading to the gap in the pipes as the snipers move in, their synchronized steps warning of a formation. She stands at the gap, "I'm going to turn the factory off if I can, hold out until I find the switch! And Finn, we're in a factory. You'll drill into wires and die."
With that final warning, she shrinks into a fly, and shoots through the gap. Finn is left walking on the conveyor belt, standing/walking beneath Ice Queen and her platform as the shadows of snipers come from around a corner. The royal growls, and shoots a beam of ice out.
She hits the wall, building a barrier of ice as she seals off the path while Finn checks behind them. There were shredders awaiting them, and any bodies to follow, the unconscious sniper slipping into. He looks away with a shiver as its body disappears with a crunch, "That's not what I want-..." He glances at his girlfriend sitting above him, "How long do you think you can hold them back?"
She smirks at him, "For a while, unless they bring heavier stuff. You don't need to kill anyone unless you have to."
He nods in appreciation, then jumps when a heavy pounding hits the ice wall she made, causing them to sigh and ready themselves for a fight. He glances at her, "You think you can cover that shredder? If we knock them unconscious…"
She gives him a worried gaze as another pound makes the ice crack, "I can, but knocking people out is more dangerous and harder to do Finn… and they're trying to kill us." She shakes her head at him, "My knight, if there's a time to kill over sparing, it is now. We're about to be swarmed by guards probably, we can't hold ourselves back."
He grimaces, "But, I have my code. I won't kill anyone."
She points at her leg wound, still dripping with blood as she freezes it up, "Please, I don't want you to get shot as well because you were holding back." She creates a small snowflake as the wall cracks at another pounding, "Please Finn. Your queen asks you to fight."
Suddenly the ice shatters, and immediately she snaps her hands up and unleashes a stream of icicles into their foes. A bulky four legged beasts with overgrown teeth comes charging around the corner, it's metal reinforced head taking the icicles no problem.
It rushes towards them, heading towards Ice Queen as she readies another spell. Finn suddenly leaps beside it and with his momentum sweeps his sword at its neck. With his strength that can flip two ton beasts, the four legged creature stood no chance, its head flying off from its body. It was an animal, not a person.
He glares as he raises a hand at the snipers, "Shield!" His tech shield rises up as he runs at them, slightly slowed by the opposite direction the conveyor belt was going, 'Maybe I can knock-' The snipers yell in some language as the fire at the tech barrier with no effect, only for a massive icicle to pierce their skulls.
Ice Queen yells a war cry as she repeatedly unleashes icicles into them with one hand, and with the other lob an orb at them. It hits the ground before them, and explodes in a circle of a whirlwind, a small blizzard of harmless icicles spinning in the air. However, it was definitely cold, as proven by the final few snipers stepping inside, and instantly becoming frozen solid.
As their cold dead bodies fall over and get carried away by the conveyor belt, Finn grimaces behind his shield, holding his ground. He won't seek out to attack, he'll hold his ground and will only swing his sword if necessary, he will keep the blood on his hands to a minimum. 'That counts… right?' He shakes his head, and sighs as more, heavier footsteps come stomping along, more marching to their end.
Ice Queen throws two more ice balls, letting them hit the floor, and rise up for a second, before they start spraying constant streams of ice. Garbled screams fill the air as they get mowed down by the sentries, their shredded bodies flowing down as Finn glances up his queen.
She shrugs at him, "What? I wanted revenge for the bullet!" She yells, gesturing both her hands at her frozen injury.
Finn groans, uncomfortable as the ice balls do their work, the weapons floating so they weren't being swept away by the factory line. He stares at them, the blood that was now being swept towards him from around the corner, and looks away.
Ice Queen moans softly, giving him a worried look before touching her platform, and enlarging it even more, then patting the open space next to her. He sighs, and with a single leap reaches up to her, their hands grasping one another as she groans to pull him up. Eventually, he was seated beside her as she wraps an arm around him, "I know you made a promise to never do violence again, but it can't be helped Finn. The world isn't that simple."
He sighs, "I know, it's just… I literally just told Breakfast Prince the other day why we shouldn't kill, and how it just creates an endless chain of violence." He glances at her, "I… I don't want to be fighting all my life. I want more from life."
She blinks as she takes a moment to process a response, "I know… and we should always be as peaceful as possible, and never give into our violent side. But sometimes, we don't have a choice, and it... sucks, but it must be done for the people we care about. Sure violence leads to more violence, but even if we stop, it will still be there, it will likely never end until the universe itself collapses."
She throws a few more orbs, letting them explode into a swarm of ice arachnids that hiss as they rush more reinforcements, "Just because you stop, doesn't mean everyone else will as well. And it's a fundamental right of any living being that's faced with death to defend themselves no matter what, even if it means causing a death."
He shakes his head, "I know, but if I stop, then that's one less person creating violence, and the endless cycle weakens. And yeah, we should fight if our lives are at stakes, but not to death. I've learnt my lesson when I killed Fer- someone important to me, that when we do take a person's life, it's the worse thing we can do in this world."
She stares at him with a soft, comforting gaze, and pulls him against her as they snuggle together slightly, their head resting in one another as she takes a deep breath, "And I've learnt my fair share of lessons of being alive as well Finn. We should never kill. We should never do crimes, we should never break the law, we shouldn't go against moral codes, but people do it all the time. The world will always be grey, even if we stop adding the black paint, so why should we let the evil people exploit the good?"
He shakes his head, "Because they're never always just 'evil' as you say. There's usually a reason why they do what they do, and I think you'll find out that at the end of the day, it's desperation."
She nods, "What is why we give people like criminals a chance to redeem themselves. But here? In wars and clashes between sides? It's always good people. There's no desperation, just jobs and duties. So why should we, some innocent people, die for them? Yet, also why should we murder innocent people? Life… it's never pleasant, and as much as I wish we can live a life of peace and tranquillity, we can't. There will always be people adding black paint to the painting that is life."
He sighs, "I know death and destruction won't simply disappear, I'm not asking to live in a fantasy world, just to not simply be a part of the endless cycle."
She sighs, as she gives him a small kiss on his cheek, "Unfortunately, I don't think you have a choice my knight, not with the life and history you have. It's almost like it is your destiny to always be involved in justice." She cups his hands in her own as her sentries murder away, "So Finn, if you can't escape it, yet want no part of it, then don't kill people for yourself or see it as such, see that you're doing it for us. That you're protecting the one you love, that we, me and Huntress, are the reason your blade swings at those who wish to inflict us harm." She stares into his eyes, "And let us bare the weight of any guilt. Come to us if you ever need our support, let us hold you tight if you need it. Let the blood stain our hands, not yours, so you may go on in peace."
He gazes into her soul, then sighs as he glances at his blade, gripping the handle tightly as his knuckles go white, then he stops clenching. He takes a deep breath, and slides off the ice, landing on the conveyor belt and saying wearily, "Tech shield." The defensive barrier activates as he takes defensive position behind it, "I'll defend those that I will care about, not attack those that I hate. I fight for what's behind me, not because I hate what's before me."
The royal nods, and watches as her spells do their work, 'Please, hurry Huntress, he needs our support. And don't fail me now spells, he needs as much time to prepare…'
The wood nymph herself meanwhile was sprinting around outside the factory line, watching all the machinery for any signs of deactivation switch. She was admittedly puzzled, most of the old human facilities she used to find had emergency off switches everywhere, but this place was seemingly missing them. And workers.
She hadn't spotted a single living person in the factory so far, the place seemingly abandoned, yet she simply grits her teeth, 'That means they're likely in one overseer room! I need to find that control room!' Her head snaps to the above her, scanning the top of the walls for some sort of glass window the workers were using to watch construction.
She spots it, and what appears to be creatures similar to that of the Cthulhu guardian outside, a twisted creature of grey. Instead of hands, it appeared to have four tentacles or tendrils instead, which it promptly points at her.
Immediately holes appear in the walls around her as she simply glares at her new foes, her arrows already leaving her quiver. They definitely appeared to be soldiers. Covered in thick armour except at the joints to allow a max build between mobility and defence.
They all held what appeared to be doubled barrelled shotguns, causing her to panic a little, 'Not good!' She starts leaping away from them as her arrows seek out blood, diving into their flat visors as before. Five drop, but another three aim their weapons, pulling their triggers as a spray on energy bolts sear the air. They rocket towards Huntress just as she dives to the floor, the attack flying just over her as she summons her arrows once more.
As the plasma shotguns attacks hit the wall and floor behind her, her five arrows slam into their metal armoured backs. They stumble forward, their defences too strong for her arrows to penetrate, yet it gives her an opportunity to leap at them.
She whips her skinning knife free and stabs it into one of the soldier's visors, shattering it as some blood squirts out. Her other hand meanwhile throws a punch at the second one, sending him sprawling onto his back as the third recovers.
She whips her blade free from the first's head and slashes it at the third's hand, cutting it badly as its grip on its gun fails. Before it could even comprehend what's going on, she stomps on its leg joint, sending him to a kneel. Another slash to his neck ends him with a bloody shower of purple blood.
Finally the third one aims its weapon at her, and she shapeshifts into a huge, thick snake and lunges at it. It flails about while screaming in some alien language while she wraps her body around him, her venomous fangs itching to do their work. She bites its neck and pumps it full of poison as it spasms in her crushing grasp, bones breaking and cracking beneath her strength.
It goes still, and she quickly unwinds of it, shape shifting back to her wood nymph self as she wipes her mouth free of any blood. She locks onto the window again as the workers inside panic, and she growls as she reaches down and grabs a shotgun.
She has no idea how to use one, but it looked like a human's… why, she has no idea, but it will do. If need be she'll ask Finn how to reload the weapon that was alien to her in more ways than one. She rushes forward as her arrows return to her quiver, heading for the window and possibly a nearby entrance.
She spins around the corner of a large machine pumping away, and a massive hole opens in the wall before her. She grimaces, and leaps back around the corner, putting her back against the pump to use it as cover, and peaks her head out. A massive figure grips the side of the hole, before dropping to the floor with a humongous bang, shaking the room with its weight. It rises up to a whopping twelve feet tall, and is decked out in heavy armour nearly a foot thick.
It's head was large and blocky, with six vents on its face serving both as breathing holes and a visor, its head snapping to her. It raises both hands to its back and yanks off an enormous machine gun, a full blown multi barrel weapon that starts to rotate.
Huntress gives it no chance, her arrows flying at its face which forces it to look away for its own protection. As her arrows pings against its armour, she aims her newly acquired weapon directly at its chess, and pulls the trigger. Of course, she's never used a gun before, and the recoil nearly trips her unprepared self, but her blow hits its mark.
The spray of plasma strikes the giant, burning multiple large holes into its armour as it gives a deep grunt of pain. By now, she has crossed the distance between her and it, and leaps at the giant, latching onto it with shotgun in hand. She brings it to its face and fires again, the super heated plasma obliterating its helmet as its hand goes to its head.
She launches off as she drops the empty gun, summoning her arrows back as the giant clutches its melting helmet with one hand. The other hand still on the minigun. It pulls the trigger and starts spraying randomly, Huntress going wide eyed and leaping away. The roar of the gun fills the room as bright plasma melts everything, the wood nymph grimacing as she rushes away.
Finally the giant roars in pain as it rips it's melting helmet off, its seared grey face revealed as its one good eye locks onto her. With both hands on its gun, it hunts her down as she desperately leaps about, plasma following her everywhere. She leaps onto walls and springs off them, hitting the floor and rolling as her arrows shoot up from the floor.
They launch themselves at the weapon, jamming themselves into the spinning barrels as the weapon locks up with a screech. The giant wastes no time and drops the weapon to the floor, before giving a roar as it charges her, a hand snapping to its waist. It rips off a large block that fills its double clenched fist, before it explodes into a fiery longsword.
The massive burning weapon the size of the soldier is slammed at the nymph as she rolls out of harm's way. The ground shakes with the strike, and then with every step as the giant gets up and rushes her with a roar. She hisses, and leaps at it, grabbing it by the chest and whipping her knife free again before plunging it into its face.
It roars with agony with the knife in its eye, but does not die as its hand goes to rip her off, grasping her tightly as she grunts in pain. It yanks her off, then slams her into the ground as she bounces a little, eyes and mouth wide in shock before hitting the floor again. The giant's massive heavy foot lifts above her, and comes rocketing down towards her gut.
She swiftly rolls out of harm's way, and summons her arrows to her, before launching them into the giant's arm joints. It stumbles backwards in pain as its arms go limp, dropping its great sword with a bang as Huntress scrambles up. She leaps at it while shapeshifting, becoming a large bear as her paws slam into its chest and sending it tumbling to the floor with her atop it.
She roars as her paws start slamming and smacking into its skull, obliterating it beneath her might with a gruesome crunch. Finally the heavy duty soldier was dead, and she shapeshifted back to normal, ripping her knife free from its head's remains as she stared at the engineer window. And the open door beneath it as more shotgunners rush in.
She charges forward, her arrows flying out the massive corpse's limbs and into the reinforcements, killing all five instantly. She lunges at the open door. And it slams shut as she rams into it with a painful bang, stumbling back in slight concussion. She growls, and reaches down for a shotgun, aiming it at the door before shifting her gaze elsewhere.
In the engineering room above her, the unknown creatures with tendrils for arms sigh, wiping their brows as the door to their area seal shut. They glance at one another, one worker speaking to the leader of the group, "(We've got them, they're still outside but they can't come in here.)"
The boss nods, and wipes his brow, "(That was close, those intruders seem deadly. Status report?)" He yells, only for an uncomfortable silence to set in.
It was only after a few seconds later did one speak up, "(Well, that pre-mushroom war human war machine has obviously detected them, and is sending what it thinks are adequate defences… though it doesn't look like it is working.)"
The other's shuffle nervously as the boss quickly regains control and calms his people, "(It's learning. It's figuring them out and preparing a counter… and it doesn't help that we stole it before it was complete. Whatever, the intruders will be dealt with soon, they'll make a mistake and then it will all be over, those human weapons we copied are very deadly. They'll be… destroyed and disposed with soon.)" The boss explained with a smug grin.
One nods nervously, "(Yeah, only useful things those old humans brought to existence were their weapons…)"
Just then a bang echoes above them as they all jolt, and snap their gaze to the heavens, discovering nothing.
Except an air vent
A moment later it bursts open as Huntress dives into the room, pouncing onto an unfortunate worker as they release a blood curdling scream. She stabs it in the face as her arrows shoot from her quiver, impaling themselves in five more workers.
She snaps her head up, locking onto the last three as they panic and pound on the window, desperate for salvation. She lunges at closest while throwing her newly acquired shotgun at another's head, stumbling it as she slaughters its friend.
Her blade plunges into its shoulder blade as it curses in its language, the nymph ripping her weapon free and throwing them to the ground, before leaping at the other standing. She shapeshifts into a large bird as it turns to stare at her full of fear, her claws plunging into its foggy eyes as it screams. She shifts into a panther as they fall to the ground, quickly moving to biting its neck, before violently ripping out its throat.
She glances up just in time to see the third one picking up the shotgun she threw at its face, and pounces before it can take aim. She tackles it as they both fall to the ground, becoming her normal wood nymph self as she growls directly in its scared face. Its four tendrils move to rip her off, but her arrows quickly pin them to the ground, while her fifth plunge into its skull.
Its blood splatters on her face as she gets up, scowling at the first one she had stabbed in the shoulder, watching it crawl away. She bounds for it, leaping into the air on all fours like a wolf as her fist rears back step, then slams into the back of its head as she lands. Its skull thumps against the metal floor as her knife is pulled free again, and dives into its head as it releases a final desperate gasp.
She growls as she rips her weapon free, and rushes to a console as her arrows come back to her, the nymph scanning the machine controls. Shame she doesn't understand machines, let alone alien ones. She scans her eyes over the control panels, and the other thirteen in the room, before randomly starting to slap things and buttons.
The machinery outside the room goes haywire, acting randomly and spasming out as Finn and Ice Queen glance around in worry, the bodies of the dead soldiers of all sorts rolling by them. Until they don't, and the conveyor belt stops, then goes in the other direction, then jitters, and switches direction again. Finn stumbles, but his queen was swift to his rescue, grabbing him and yanking him onto her ice platform again as the machines go crazy all around them.
Inevitably, a loud bang suddenly rings as a machine breaks somewhere on the line, exploding in a rain of metal parts and smokes as alarms blare. The whole line's safety precautions automatically kick in as the entire line shuts down, before the pumps, conveyor belt, and gears slowly lower into the ground for repairs. It starts taking Ice Queen and Finn's platform with them, but the royal holds her boyfriend tightly as she flaps her eyebrows and flies straight up. They hit the roof of the assembly tunnel, but as the protective side walls and pumps lower into the ground, a hole opens up for them, the duo squeezing out as everything is taken away.
They take one last glance at the assembly as it sinks into the floor, watching the bodies of hundreds of dead soldiers go with them as Finn grimaces slightly. They lower themselves to the ground as the royal lets go of her warrior, the hero swiftly putting away his bloody sword as he glances around for Huntress. Suddenly banging catches their attention as they snap at her in the control room, waving at them as they both beam at her and rush over, the nymph pointing at the nearby vent she came in.
After a panic crawl through it as it fills with more gas, they fall inside the control room just as an explosion fills the tight tunnels above them. Finn immediately leaps at his green girlfriend, wrapping the watcher of the forest in a firm hug as she stands embarrassed for a second, before sinking into it with a blushing grin. Ice Queen grins at them, before looking around at the dead bodies including the ones outside the room with a slight raise of her eyebrow, "Man you've been busy."
She blushes, and pulls herself off Finn as a punishment, "Yeah… I honestly lost myself to the hunt back there, I was biting people…" She slowly lowers her gaze in slight disappointment, before shaking her head and pointing at a control panel, "I have no idea how anything here works unfortunately, but it does seem to be based loosely on human designs. Finn, mind having a prod around?"
He blinks, before strolling forward with slight nervousness, "Erh, just because I'm a human doesn't mean I know how to do everything technical-" Suddenly banging comes from the distance as they snap their heads to a door, noise coming from down the halls.
Ice Queen swiftly covers the door in thick ice, sealing it up as she frowns slightly, "I had wondered why they stopped attacking. They were regrouping."
The nymph nods, "Yeah, probably after we slaughtered them like they were nothing." She sighs, "We need to hurry, they're likely going to be moving Martin since they know we're here, or worse send that woman after us again."
Ice Queen shakes her head, "She's stupidly strong, I couldn't even harm her, and she disabled my magic! Let alone that riddle she gave me…"
As the royal slips into deep thoughts about Hekate's clue to her identity, Huntress strolls up to Finn, watching him press buttons randomly as she gains a slight smirk. Suddenly his robot arm beeps at him, making the duo jolt and stare at it, before the hero cautiously taps it, and one of his fingers surprisingly pops off, a wire connecting it back to his limb. The couple stare at it for a second, before Finn grabs his detached digit, and glances at the control board again, before spotting a hole. Curious, he plugs his digit in, and immediately a digital projection of translated alien language shoots from his arm, Huntress squinting in confusion, "What the glob? How?..."
Finn stares as well, "I have no idea… perhaps pb meet aliens at some point? And made my arm to match their stuff? How- how would she even know their langua-" He shakes his head, "Whatever, we'll ask her if we meet her again. Let's just use it." He starts navigating the screen, eyes darting about at the info as the nymph backs off from her area of lacking knowledge. She wanders towards her dropped shotgun as Finn squints, then widens as he finds something, swiftly pressing it.
Not a second later, a pink 3d projection of the entire citadel is projected from his arm, a glowing spot gently flashing in the lower layers. Ice Queen snaps from the ice sealed door to stare at the map, and swiftly approaches her knight with a beaming grin, "Good work bear~ Now, I'm guessing that flashing dot is where we are?"
He shrugs as Huntress approaches them again, his eyes scanning the higher levels, "Probably, and I'm guessing that Martin is held on one of the higher levels."
Huntress squints at the map, looking at the drunken spider web of corridors, rooms, prisons, and power cores that makes the citadel. "Well, if we're here…" She points at the flashing dot, "... Then we simply need to find a path upwards."
The trio immediately start running paths with their eyes, hoping to find a way to the upper levels, until Finn points at a massive door. "There, that leads to the next level up, however…"
He doesn't need to say anything as the girls shake their heads in annoyance, Huntress sighing "It looks heavily defended. Does the map have any information?"
He begins tapping the projection, but all it does is make it spin, making him scowl slightly, "No, but what we've seen so far is that all their security comes from the walls… so the defences will likely be adapted to our weaknesses. So-" He hits a random room near the centre of the projection in the heart of the maze, and immediately a bar pops up.
Security room.
They blink as where Finn pressed on the map, an elevator going straight through the maze and to an upper layer where a large room was resting was highlighted in light blue. Ice Queen blinks, "Well… that sorts that problem out, we go there and we can likely shut everything down… wait. Why do they have the elevator going through the maze with the prisoner crystals?" She wonders, pointing at a frozen convict.
Huntress squints, then gestures to the long rod, "Because if you look it goes straight through the whole citadel. It is a primary support in keeping this whole thing together… likely reinforced with magic since an elevator is hollow. She points to the bottom of it, "If you look the entrance is all the way down there, and there's none in the maze itself, so there isn't too much of a security breach-" She halts for a second. "Hold on. Security breach. If we destroy the security room, wouldn't that mean all the prisoners would escape? Or at least be unchecked."
Finn blinks, "That's not good… we'll have to see if there's just a way to turn it off temporarily, like flipping a switch or something. So people like them-" He gestures to the dead engineers, "Can easily flip the switch back on after we've left." He shakes his head, "However, first things first, we need to get out of engineering, and to the next level… what is Guardian housing." He says, going slightly wide eyed.
The women grimace, Huntress checking her new plasma shotgun, "That doesn't sound fun. Any way to skip it?"
He scans over the structure, then sighs, "Nope, doesn't seem to be. But maybe we can avoid the big main door that is easy for them to defend?"
Huntress glances about, then eagerly points to a side path branching off the main one leading to the massive door, "Yeah! A massive vent!... Filled with the gas they use to explode the vents above us."
They go silent
Finn clicks his tongue, "Next plan."
"No hold on!" The nymph cuts him off, "These pipes, they all have vents, right? For cleaning and repair, they have to release all the gas, so if we can find the valves to turn them off, I can get through completely fine…" She traces her finger across the pipeline, going straight through the wall and into the guardian room, "Then I'll use my… gun here to melt through the metal wall of the pipe. After that, I can trick a guardian into firing it laser eye straight at the wall between us, what should destroy it and let you in."
Ice Queen smirks, "And let us run straight into an angry guardian's line of fire. Sounds like fun."
Huntress gives her dead eyes, "Let's be honest here, no matter what we do here, we'll be in a guardian's line of fire. The moment we enter that room, no matter what plan or entrance, those things will likely attack us." She sighs, "However, that's not my biggest worry. My main worry is sleep. Because guys, if you remember, that royal meeting took all day, and now that it's drawing close to the end…"
Finn nods in understanding, "We're about to get tired. In the middle of the citadel. With enemies swarming in from all directions. And automated security."
That puts the group on edge, fidgeting slightly as the blue royal sighs, "I think if I encase this entire room with very thick, reinforced ice until there's a little tiny circle for us to sleep in, then we might be safe for the night? I don't know, I have no idea what they're packing, or if they can get through."
Huntress stands tall as she stares at the ice covered door, banging on the other side as they struggle to get in, "... They haven't made progress so far… do it, if they start getting close, we'll likely wake up from all the noise they'll be making."
Finn gives her a nod as well, signalling the vote as Ice Queen raises both hands that glow with magic, before a thick stream of ice starts spraying everywhere.
In only a few minutes, they were completely sealed inside the ice room, all huddled together as they glanced around in slight worry. Ice Queen was rummaging through Finn's bag, trying to find some cyclops tears to finally heal her leg injury, while Finn begins laying down in the middle of the room, Huntress snuggling up to him as she sighs, "I'm guessing we're keeping our clothes on tonight?" She jokes, a small smile tugging on her face.
He chuckles, "Seems so." He glances at his queen as she finishes healing her wound, plopping his bag down as she goes to lay next to him, "Polar, you should probably make your ice armour tomorrow, I... don't want you getting hurt again." He tells her honestly, blushing slightly as he peers into her eyes."
She merely giggles weakly, kissing him on the lips, "Don't worry bear, I'm tough, I've taken bullets in the past from desperate humans trying to survive. But I'll put it all on, for you."
He beams at her, and kisses her again, before spinning around and snuggling up to Huntress face-to-face as she blushes strongly and grins stupidly. The royal spoons her knight as he and Huntress fall asleep in each other's arms, the nymph being a bit more possessive of her mate as she pulls him tightly against her. They don't have long to rescue Martin, but they need to sleep if they plan to make it to him alive, something Ice Queen definitely worries about, 'I won't let my dream become real. I won't let everyone die.'
Chapter finish
So the fight chapters begin again! I'm so sorry it took so long to get back into the action, what really slowed everything down was the sex arc. After seeing everyone was so hyped for the sex scenes, I thought I couldn't just drop it into a chapter randomly, at was going to be a special thing for you guys. So, I built that miny arc between it all to make it seem more special. However, in the end all I've done is really slowed the story down and lose interest in the story (obvious by the reduced amount of reviews.) I won't make the same mistake again, I'm sorry about that.
Review response:
The Book of Eli, on FF, chapter 48:
(P.S this is two paragraphs because it got so big). Yeah, I'm recovering slowly, though still definitely in crippling pain, hence why the chapters are slow in coming out. Some days it's too much to even think. Anyways, yep the tiara is alive, remember that? It's been a while since it showed itself, but the tiara is once again messing with our royal, and the prophecy it's given is definitely terrifying to her. What Finn plans to do with Martin captured is obvious: he's going to take on the citadel and cosmic beings, he believes his dad is truly on the path to redemption, what is the modern goal of prisons. Yet, it clashes with what should be done with an escaped convict as dangerous as him (presumingly), and that's locked up. But as he said, he can't return to his mum and say he let his dad and her lover be locked up or killed.
Yeah… I realised I couldn't make Ice Queen do the relationship reveal yet. If I did, it would go either: A. the fight arc of rescuing Martin would happen, leaving a large break between Cake and Fionna's terrified reveal and snooping around to see if Finn was hypnotised or something. B. The citadel arc wouldn't happen, and then it would become even more boring and dragged out without fight scenes as we do the date and Fionna snooping (it will be interesting! But I think a lot of people are here for the fight scenes.) Hekate will indeed be a tough cookie to crack… they're going to have to find another way to defeat her. Also dude, I want to thank you for remaining here all this time, everyone else has left or moved on as evidenced by the lack of reviews (excluding all the one's wishing me a swift recovery). Thank you.
SartorResartus, on FF, chapter 48:
Yep, Finn and Ice Queen are finally dating. Of course Ice Queen and Huntress ways of showing affection will clash occasionally! Each person has their own way of showing love, and in a three way relationship that's when it's most prominent. Marshall and Ice Queen's bonding was inevitable, but as per usual life has other plans for them.
Glad you like the Finntress! It's my favourite ship, and I occasionally dislike the three way relationship due to me not being able to more intimate scenes more often, but I squeeze them out whenever I can! Yep, I had to think of a way to make this Finntress stand out a little bit, and already have plans for the bond.
Finally, yes, the twin threat of Hekate and robo Gumball is definitely going to be a handful for our heroes, especially since they're now split up. I hope I can live up to your expectations dude!