In a dark back alley in the candy kingdom, a short cloaked figure walked as they vigilantly looked around. The figure's face was obscured by darkness, but underneath the sleeves of black cloak one could see icy blue skin. It didn't take long for company to arrive for the cloaked figure. Peppermint Butler entered the alley with a serious expression as he held a sack of unknown content.
"You got the goods?" Asked the cloaked figure in a serious tone, their voice dripping with a hint of excitement. Peppermint butler nodded as he opened the sack to reveal dozens of brownies inside before closing it up once again. "Beautiful."
"Don't forget your end of the bargain." Replied the butler calmly and the figure nodded.
"Lure Princess Snowflakes to the predetermined area." Said the figure calmly. "You're not gonna beat her, so I'm wondering why you even want this." Peppermint Butler went silent; sensing that prying any further was useless, the figure took the sack away from Peppermint Butler and walked away.
The figure soon left the candy kingdom, removing the cloak hiding their face to reveal none other than Jimjam the snome.
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Later, in the ice kingdom's palace Diligence Snowflakes stood wearing a golden crown, a short sleeved white t shirt, black shorts and sneakers in front of Gunter who had a pile of dodgeballs behind him. "Alright, Goonts. Hit me!" Said the ice elemental before Gunter nodded. Without waiting a second, Gunter began throwing dodgeballs at Diligence as it was his life's purpose; the princess, one the other hand, dodged each and every single one while making comical poses with each dodge including but not limited to damsel in distress, using her arms as a hoop for the ball and spinning door.
Eventually, Gunter grunted in frustration. "This is unfair!" He argued grumpily, crossing his flippers. "I can't throw properly with these flippers." Diligence chuckled and rolled her eyes playfully.
"What about your brain?" She asked with a mischievous grin. "You could've pulled it out and used its hands." She added, causing the penguin to pause before groaning in frustration. "And yes, it still wouldn't have helped." Diligence added proudly as she brushed through her snow hair, not hearing Gunter's grumbling before a snome entered the room with a panicked expression.
"Princess! Princess!" It was Jimjam the snome wearing a panicked expression, causing Diligence to raspberry.
"Not now, Jimjam. It's dodgeball time." She said picking up a dodgeball off the floor before turning to Gunter. "How many do you think you can dodge?" The penguin gave her an unamused expression as she smiled mischievously.
Jimjam paused. "But princess! I've been attacked!" He exclaimed waving his noodle arms around dramatically causing Diligence to let out an aloof nod, as she focused on Gunter. "And they called you names!" Diligence once again did not reply, focusing on her time with Gunter. Seeing this, Jimjam got on his knees. "Please! Princess, they stole my gym potions. I won't be able to work out anymore!" He begged, desperation dripping from every word prompting the ice princess to massage her temples. "I'll become like the other scrawny snomes!"
The elemental sighed tiredly. "Do you NOT have someone else to bother with this?" She asked with a frown and the snome shook his head. Diligence groaned. "Alright, Goonts. Let's go wipe out a group of bandits or species or whatever." She remarked unenthusiastically, causing Gunter's eyes to narrow. Alas, the penguin stayed silent leaving his friend to carry him and the snome before jumping out a nearby window and flying away. Soon enough, the three made it to the edges of the ice kingdom before landing on the grassy plains somewhat from the snow. Diligence put her two short companies on the ground before speaking. "So? Where are these so called thieves?"
Before Jimjam could reply, a massive figure fell down from the sky with mind boggling agility. It was a giant red haired humanoid with six fingers and cyan skin wearing only pants and wielding a giant sword. The ice elemental recognised the figure as quickly as he appeared. "Billy." And at his peak as well. She muttered with widened eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Ice Princess, I'm here to stop you." Said the hero firmly, causing Diligence to raise a brow as Jimjam smiled in satisfaction. Suddenly Gunter's eyes widened as he realised the current situation.
"Dilly! This is a trap!" Exclaimed the penguin in a serious tone. "Jimjam set us up!" Not a second after Gunter finished his words did the temperature suddenly drop into freezing levels. The ice elemental stared at the snome with widened eyes before all motion from Diligence halted immediately. Jimjam, however, didn't look worried as he backed away enough to be safe from the fight.
"Go! Princess! I know you can beat him!" He cheered gleefully before a blade of ice coated the princess' arm. The ice elemental raised her arm in the air, ready to slice the snome in two before Billy dashed between the two ice beings and spoke.
"Look! I don't wanna fight you either, but after the stunt you pulled with the Lich every princess is after you!" He said trying to calm Diligence down. "You've caused too much fear. Everyone wants ME to do something. But I'm a hero; it's my job to rescue princesses, not fight them. I have to ask you to either stay in your kingdom and not come out or apologize or something else; I don't know." He added with a shrug. "I'm still figuring this out."
Diligence glared at the hero. "I'm not doing any of that and once I find who set this, I'll shove my arm into their ribcage." She said as her eyes glowed white with ice magic. "Now get out of my way!" Pillars of ice formed around the furious ice elemental before she shot towards the snome at lightning speed.
However, before she could reach Jimjam and slice him apart with her arm blade, her attack was met another blade. Nothung, Billy's sword. The ice elemental glared at the hero before he swung he sword against Dilly's. Like a hot knife through butter, Diligence's arm was amputated. The Princess blinked in shock, her breathing quickening as the pain assaulted her brain like vicious scorpions. Yet she stayed silent. Her arm quickly regenerated as the gears in her mind turned.
Her mind was focused on the hero's swing. It told her many things. Billy was strong. The strongest person she had ever faced. He was also much MUCH stronger than her physically. That made physical combat akin to suicide. Diligence took a deep breath before floating into the air as her arm fully regenerated. Suddenly, her hands started to glow with ice magic before she aimed at Billy and fired a beam of icy blueish energy at Billy. The hero jumped out of the way before noticing the beam following him around. Seeing this, Billy landed and stood firm, raising his blade above his head before slashing the beam in two letting the icy vapor cover him entirely.
The vapour soon settled to reveal Billy with a frozen shoulder with a pained expression. He looked at Diligence with a serious expression as Diligence did the same, a silent agreement to a duel. And so, the battle of Ooo's most powerful had begun. Billy rushed towards Diligence with a his sword ready to attack and Diligence's hands glowed magically in retaliation. Once the hero had reached her and raised his sword, Diligence quickly moved out of the way and fired a thunderbolt of ice towards Billy's face. But before the bolt hit, Billy's sword finally hit the ground causing a powerful shockwave that shook the earth and sent Diligence crashing like meteor into a nearby hill. Her bones cracked from the impact, causing her to grit her teeth as she climbed out of the crater she was in to see Billy's state. Half of the hero's face was frozen over. Both sides silently acknowledged the other's prowess before they both charged once again, yet the results were largely the same. Diligence dodged the Billy's sword and attacked only to be blown away by the shock of Billy's attack.
This repeated again and again and again. It was no stalemate; it was a battle of attrition. Neither could truly avoid the other's attacks without sacrificing their own. All that was left was to see which would prevail, Diligence's stamina or Billy's endurance. The two, standing face to face painting in exhaustion from the battle recognised this. Determined expressions decorated their faces as both were unwilling to surrender.
"You're a monster, y'know that?" Remarked the ice elemental with a frown, panting between each word as her disheveled hair covered one of her eyes.
"You're one to talk." Replied Billy with a somewhat cheerful, yet exhausted voice. "I've never had a fight last this long before!" Billy raised his sword as Diligence's hands glowed, both ready for another exchange before a beam of purple energy slammed into Diligence's back, causing her to scream in pain. Billy's eyes widened in shock as his enemy fell to the ground groaning and grunting as she clutched the dirt below her. "What?" He asked before noticing a gumball guardian standing in the distance behind Diligence.
The gumball guardian's eyes shot out a holographic screen to reveal Princess Bubblegum looking at Billy. "Sorry, Billy. But I can't risk you losing to her." She said calmly. "Gumball guardian, capture her." The gumball guardian immediately obeyed.
"Wait!" Billy screamed out before his body gave out, forcing him to collapse onto the ground and pass out as the guardian got ever closer, keeping the call with PB on.
The guardian carefully picked up the fallen elemental before turning around to leave only to be met with a larger yellow being that was holding an unconcious Jimjam with yellow tendrils. Princess Bubblegum's eyes widened at the creature that seemingly arrived from nowhere. "Hello, Bubblegum."
"Who are you?" Asked the candy princess in a serious tone.
"I'm Gunter." Stated the being calmly as he swiftly swiped Diligence out of the guardian's hands.
"The penguin?" Asked PB narrowing her eyes before yellow tendrils started wrapping around the guardian's neck. Gunter nodded.
"We all have secrets." He said calmly, staring deep into PB's eyes. "Now, enough about that. Here's the deal. You leave now and I don't kill your toy." He said tightening his grip on the guardian's neck, a sense of urgency in his voice, before it fired a eye beam of energy at him. One that left an injury that quickly healed. "Do it now!" He ordered angrily unleashing hundreds of tendrils to show his impatience.
The Princess paused for a second before turning to the guardian. "Come back." The guardian did as ordered and began to leave quickly. Seeing this, Gunter sighed in relief before walking to the snow of the ice kingdom next to them. He buried Diligence and Jimjam both deep inside the snow before transforming back into his penguin form. The penguin then sat down on the snow patiently.
Minutes later, Gunter heard a sniffle from where he had buried Diligence. "It's okay, Dilly. I managed to hide you in the snow before they got you. They left now." He said calmly before the sniffles suddenly turned to laughter. Worried, Gunterr quickly dug through the snow to see Diligence's face covered in tears and snot as a big broken smile decorated her expression.
"Ha...haha...hahahahaha! I've figured it out, Gunter." She said with a hic, madness and hysteria seeping into her voice. "They're all scum. Everyone in every world is a monster. THEY WANNA PUT ME IN RAGS ON THE STREETS AGAIN!!!!" Gunter almost jumped back at Diligence's screams. The once proud ice elemental was in tears and panting as she clutched her face. It was as if she was about to go mad as laughter and sobs followed each other rapidly.
"Dilly! Calm down! You'll be fine!" Gunter reassured her softly as he placed a flipped onto her cheek.
"No!" She exclaimed as the tears continued to stream down her face with her eyes filled with horror. "I need to stay somewhere safe or they'll eat me ALIVE the moment I sleep!" Gunter winced knowing this had happened once. "It doesn't matter if I'm stronger anymore!" She said panting as fear and hysteria took over her eyes. Panic clear in her heart. She quickly grabbed Gunter and hugged him tightly as she spoke. "I'm locking the castle and keeping them out. Not just those traitors, but everyone! I can't trust anyone else! Only you, Gunter. Only you."
And to this, Gunter could only say one thing. "You can trust me."
xxxxxXxxxxx
Diligence has lost her trust in everything, her people, the characters she loved, even her own strength. But her trust in Goonts remains strong.
Toodles.