Summary:
When Bubblegum sends Finn & Jake to find the components for one of her latest experiments, they come back relatively empty-handed. P.B. Soon discovers that the ingredients she needs can only be found in a dangerous frontier: The Nightosphere.
Bubblegum grudgingly realizes that she will need to enlist the help of an expert.. One of the few that know the Nightosphere. A shadow that has seen things that will make her go "Like what?"
Disclaimer:
Everyone has to add these, right? I do not own Adventure Time or any characters of the show. I own nearly none of the subject material of this fic, in fact. All credit goes to the proper creators, including Penn W.
Thanks for reading, this is my first fanfiction, etc. etc.
If you like, favourite or review. If you don't, feel free to use that little review box to insult me however you like. However, I would prefer constructive criticism. Make use of all that disgust and anger, right?
Peppermint Butler, a short, striped Candy-man, padded silently down one of the many corridors of the candy kingdom, dimly lit by the rising sun. He was heading to Princess Bubblegum's corridors dutifully, as early as always. He held a covered silver tray on one hand above his head with an air of ease. He did this every morning, after all. What kind of butler would he be if he could not serve his princess in such a small way?
"It is a butler's duty to wake his princess with an appropriate breakfast for the occasion." Peppermint Butler would recite the many codes and duties of a butler in the solitude of his own head. It kept him calm and distracted himself from his more… Inappropriate thoughts that often sprouted like twisted, black weeds when his mind was not busy.
The Candy Kingdom was actually quite a strange place to be... Even though Peppermint Butler did belong there, when he pondered upon it, he realized how unfamiliar it must be to those of other lands... After all, every surface was made of candy. Most of the walls were a light yellow, a pastel-toned depiction of bright spring sunshine. The torches lighting the castle distorted the colour of the walls by giving them an orange hue. In reality, the floors were even stranger than the walls. They were composed of Pastel purple bricks of varying shades. It seemed that the colours of the bricks only varied enough to notice a spot that was slightly darker every few meters.
Peppermint Butler cleared his throat as his tiny fist raised to knock on Princess Bubblegum's door lightly. "Princess Bubblegum?" He added to identify himself in his high voice. He couldn't be rude to his Princess, after all. She had been left in his care by her parents and Peppermint Butler took his job very seriously, as he had with all of the past princesses he had been assigned to serve. He had practically been passed down the Bubblegum line, from mother to daughter.
After a moment of waiting, Peppermint Butler opened the door quietly. Princess Bubblegum's room was dark, the pink curtains over the transparent balcony door shutting out the early-dawn light. However, Peppermint Butler could still barely perceive the scattered hearts on the Princess's pink walls. He could also see the hulking shapes of the furniture that towered over his vertically-challenged frame. A simple desk in one corner of the spacious pink room held to the left of that was another table with test tubes and various chemistry equipment…
Peppermint Butler's eyes narrowed as he found that Princess Bubblegum's bed was empty, the floral bedspread lying flat for once. Scanning the room, he quickly found her asleep on the simple desk in the corner, snoring quietly. The desk held the Princess's computer that was vital to her research and contained the digital copies of all of her findings and usually a neat stack of notes. The striped man set the tray of breakfast on a pink nightstand next to the Princess's bed before moving over to open the curtains. The light illuminated the desk, and Peppermint Butler was shocked to find that Princess Bubblegum's workspace was a mess. There were messy piles of papers stacked hazardously both on and around the desk. The small trash bin next to her desk was overflowing with crumpled papers. Peppermint Butler found random papers with math equations and frantic notes that had obviously been flung away from the princess in frustration and discuss.
Peppermint Butler continued to look around, at a loss for words. "Wh-What?.. Why?" Both Peppermint and the Princess held an utter disdain for disorganization, so he could only question the sudden clutter. He made his way over to the Princess, tapping her leg. The Princess looked disheveled, to say the least. Her normally glossy and neat pink hair was messy and frazzled, lacking its common luster. It looked almost as if she had tugged on it many times in frustration. The giant glasses that Bubblegum wore when she worked were still on, having slid down her nose while she was asleep. Her usual pajamas, pink silk pants and the usual black shirt, were crooked and wrinkled. It looked as if she had been pacing, grumbling, and scribbling furious all night. "It was most likely just one of her more difficult experiments frustrating her…" Peppermint Butler figured with a sympathetic frown.
The butler began to tug on the Princess's shirt lightly. "Excuse me, Princess.. Princess!" He said. "Please do wake-up now. We do have a tight schedule to follow today." The pink-haired princess began to stir begrudgingly, grumbling quiet complaints. She sat up in her chair, rubbing her eyes with a yawn childishly.
"Peppermint?" She questioned sleepily. "Is it already time to wake up?"
Peppermint chuckled, figuring that she was joking. "Six-forty-five in the morning, Silly Princess. The same time I always wake you up." His smile drooped. "Well, Six-Forty-Nine in the morning... I appear to be running behind schedule." He sighed dejectedly, frowning now.
A look of distress crossed Princess Bubblegum's face as she began to look around her bedroom. "Oh, Glob..." She murmured, her eyes wide and forehead wrinkled. "I have to get back to work." The pink-haired Princess exclaimed, quickly turning back to her work. She pushed her glasses back up with her index finger and began to boot up her computer, a whirring noise from the machine filling the room. Her foot tapped impatiently on the floor, her right leg bouncing up and down furiously.
"I'm sorry, Princess, but I cannot allow that." Peppermint Butler said after a moment's thought. "You are tired, and you'll work much better after... A nap." He said in a firm tone as he mentally cleared Princess Bubblegum's schedule. He could take care of that while she rested... After all, what kind of Butler would put his Princess's health at risk like that?
"B-But…" The Princess protested, but the loyal butler shushed her.
"No, no, Princess. You rest, I'll take care of your royal duties for today." He said, and led the Princess gently by the hand to her plush bed. He could see her resolve weakening, her tired eyes drooping as she laid down. He covered the already slumbering princess with her pink comforter, blocking the sun out with the quiet swish of drapes closing. Peppermint Butler closed the door behind him and his shoes clicked as he strolled down the corridor away from the room, headed to take care of some paperwork. He would allow the Princess to slumber as long as she needed. He was her butler, after all.
Consider this more of an.. Introduction.
Or maybe just a chapter working out the kinks. I really am pretty rusty. I haven't written anything in forever, and I feel like my writing has taken a turn for the worse. I'm struggling for descriptive words and elements of actual storytelling. xP
So, uh, Here's to hoping my shit straightens itself out.
I actually have a basic outline, so I will be uploading the first couple of chapters fairly quickly.
Thanks for reading again, and if you thought it was shitty, just hit the review button and tell me just how I failed this time.
