AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, wieners. I'm back with a new fanfic and to unveil a new fanfic series I've developed. It's called "What If?" It's a completely unoriginal concept inspired by the Marvel Comics series of the same name. It will be one-shot stories about alternate universe events, all starting with "What if…" I'm excited to work with this series, so here's the first of hopefully many "What If?" stories. Hope you enjoy!
I do not own Adventure Time. Adventure Time belongs to Cartoon Network.
Today was a rainy night in the Land of Ooo. Jake, along with his best friend and brother, Finn the Human were just at home telling scary stories. He must have really scared the boy that night with his vampire tale. He had made it sound so convincing. After Finn had informed him that he saw a figure outside, Jake was patting himself on the back for telling such a scary story. A sudden window crashing open took all the confidence out of the yellow canine.
"No one's outside." Finn had declared, looking outside the window. Jake was relieved. "It was just the wind, scaredy-cat!"
"I wasn't scared! I was singing. I was singing my scream song." he claimed, then proceeded to improvise some rhythmic screaming.
Finn didn't buy it. "You're a total wuss, man." he taunted. Suddenly, a green duffel bag fell from the ceiling. Finn shined his flashlight at it, and then pointed to a corner of the room, exposing a strange female creature with pale skin and fangs. She hissed at the pair and they stumbled backwards onto their couch. The creature then floated herself to them and sat between the brothers, putting her arms around them.
"Hey, guys. What's up? I'm Marceline, the Vampire Queen." she greeted.
The brothers were scared out of their wits. A vampire had entered their home. A Vampire Queen, no less! Finn decided to ask if she was going to harm them, to which she laughed and assured them that she wasn't going to do that. She then spent a few moments talking about her adventures in the Land of Ooo. Finn was impressed, but Jake was still wary about the vampire that had entered their home uninvited. Isn't that what vampires can't do? Anyway, after turning some nuts into small colorful creatures, Jake was sort-of at ease. Marceline then declared that she was tired and that the pair should probably get going.
"What?" Finn asked unsure.
She used her powers to move a board aside, revealing an "M", which she claimed to have carved it there years ago. She then lifted up the two friends and took them outside to the cold rain.
"But seriously, guys. Thanks for keeping the place warm for me! Like, really great." she told them, floating back into the house.
"Huh?" Finn said, still dumbfounded at the events that just transpired.
"Good night!" she told the pair. She then shut the window and the two friends were left outside in the cold.
Jake didn't even see it coming. A vampire had taken their home! Finn challenged the Vampire Queen to a fight, but Jake discouraged it, claiming that vampires will kill him. He suggested that they go house hunting. Finn wasn't so sure, but after some convincing words and some gibberish, he agreed to do it. After a long day of unsuccessful house hunting, the pair managed to find a vacant cave and make it their new home. After they set up their house, they threw a party to celebrate. Everything was going smoothly, until they got an unexpected and unwanted visitor.
"Hey, Finn." Marceline said, making her way into the cave.
Jake turned around and stated, much to his disdain, "She's back!"
Finn asked what she was doing there. In response, she walked to a nearby rock, lifted it up, and revealed another "M" carved on the rock beneath it. "This cave belongs to me!"
Finn shrieked in shock and disbelief. Marceline was taking their home again! "It's vampire fighting time!" he shouted. Jake restrained him and reminded him that vampires will kill him. Finn reluctantly halted his challenge and walked to the Vampire Queen, claiming that Jake is his home, and that he's better than all of her homes combined.
"You know, you're right." Marceline admitted, earning a smile from the human boy. She then picked up Jake and announced, "I guess I'll take him too!" Jake shook in fear in the vampire's arms. Finn ordered her to drop Jake. "Make me!" she challenged. Finn slapped Jake away from her grasp and she was furious. "NO ONE...MAKES ME...LET GO...OF JAKE!" she shouted, turning into a giant bat-monster.
"I'm not scared of you!" Finn declared, leaping to attack the beast, much to Jake's dismay. She grabbed to young hero and tossed him towards some nearby stalagmites, breaking them in the process.
She deemed him pathetic, to which he replied, "You're pathetic!", and then spit in her face, not fazing her one bit. "Get ready for an uppercut, you dog!" he bellowed, leaping towards her again.
"Make me!" she taunted, slapping the boy's rear end and shoving him away. She picked him up again and tossed him down on the ground. Finn was down on his back, crawling away from his attacker.
During the whole ordeal, Jake was cowering in a corner, watching the fight in fear for his friend's life, as well as his own. He had seen enough; he had to do something. "I...gotta help my buddy!" he stated.
Finn was cowering away from the giant bat monster in front of him. Marceline was closing in for the kill. "YOUR BLOOD IS MINE!" she yelled. Before she could go any further, Jake burst into the picture flailing his arms and legs around and blubbering like a lunatic. He landed on Marceline's face and tied himself around it. The bat-creature grabbed the magic dog and sunk her teeth into his side, siphoning his life force. She tossed the dog away and laughed in victory. Finn shouted in frustration and charged at the Vampire Queen in pure rage. She grabbed him with ease and held a tight grip on the human boy. She revealed her large fangs to the boy currently trapped within her grasp. She flashed an evil grin and opened wide.
"Uggggghhhh..." Jake muttered groggily. He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. Unbeknownst to the Vampire Queen, Jake had managed to put all his blood and guts into his thumb. He rearranged his organs back to their proper placements. He turned around to the fight and what he saw would, without a doubt, scar him for life.
Marceline opened her jaws wide and bit into Finn's torso. Her fangs pierced through his ribcage and punctured his internal organs. She drank all his blood and reduced him into nothing more than a lifeless sack of flesh and bones. Jake's eyes were wide and his mouth agape. Finn, his brother and best friend, died in front of his eyes. He fell to his knees and looked at his lifeless body in utter shock. Marceline licked her lips and said, "Man, when they said humans taste good, they weren't kidding!" She turned around and was surprised to find the dog she had just bit moments ago still alive. "You're still alive?" Before she could finish what she started, the cave started shaking and pieces of rock were falling from the ceiling. The cave was collapsing! She groaned in anger and told Jake, "You're lucky, dog. You better run now before you end up like your little friend here." She then flew away and escaped the cave. Jake just stood there motionless, looking at the corpse of his late brother. He didn't say anything for a long time. The ceiling then gave way and collapsed. Fortunately, it was only the area around the lake near the cave's rear entrance that fell apart. Jake walked towards his brother's body and picked it up. He walked out of the cave with Finn in his arms. He still had no emotion in his face. He walked towards the Candy Kingdom with no thoughts at all. Something had happened to Jake. Seeing his brother and best friend get murdered right in front of him by a vampire made something in his mind snap.
Outside the Candy Kingdom, Princess Bubblegum was looking at the stars through a telescope. She was writing some notes down on her notepad, when she heard footsteps nearby and turned to find Jake carrying Finn's pale body. She dropped her notes and ran to them. "Jake! What happened?! What's wrong with Finn?!" she frantically asked.
"Me and Finn just had a bad adventure, is all." he responded monotone. The princess looked at him surprised, and then checked for Finn's pulse. She didn't find one. Jake placed Finn's body on the floor and looked at the princess without a single strand of emotion on his face.
Bubblegum was holding Finn's body in his arms crying her eyes out. "No...Not Finn! No! Please, Glob no!" she cried, holding his body close.
Jake looked down and said, "Can you hurry up, Princess? Me and Finn need to get home."
The princess looked at the emotionless stretchy canine with anger and disgust. "Jake, what is wrong with you?! Finn is dead!" she scolded him tearfully.
"Naw, Finn's fine. He and Marceline were just playing and he got a little scrape. He's fine." Jake told her with no emotion. He then sat down on the grass and muttered repeatedly "just fine...just fine...just fine..."
Bubblegum looked at the canine in concern. "Oh no." the princess said. "It's just as I feared. Seeing Finn die traumatized him. He's no longer himself." She looked at him mumbling to himself and declared, "He's gone."
"Just fine...just fine...just fine...just fine...just fine..."
TWO YEARS LATER...
The dark halls of the Candy Kingdom Mental Hospital are filled with the psychotic howls and pained screams of the inmates pleading for freedom. Walking the dreaded hallways of this hellhole are Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess. The doctor is walking the matriarch to a room to talk with an inmate. She is petrified to hear the screams and to gaze at the faces of nearby inmates. One of them stuck his arms out his door window in attempt to grab one of the ladies. "Princess! Let me feel your skin!" he shouted. The women managed to back away before he could touch them.
"Oh, my! Has it always been like this?" Princess Bubblegum asked wearily.
"Unfortunately, yes. The amount of mental cases has increased ever since...that day." Dr. Princess said. Indeed it did. After Finn had been killed, Jake was traumatized to a point where he had to be incarcerated to the Candy Kingdom Mental Hospital after being declared legally insane. With the two heroes of Ooo gone, widespread chaos and panic emerged. Much more crime started springing up and the Guardians of the Royal Promise had been destroyed by a gang of hoodlums. The Candy Kingdom fell into chaos, along with most of the Land of Ooo. The young princess had tried her best to keep everything in order and keep her kingdom from falling apart. She employed a new revolutionary system she called a "police force." She read something about it in some ancient books from the 20th Century and back. The streets were littered with policemen and patrol helicopters, all authorized to perform "lethal force, if necessary." It worked fine most of the time, but it was nothing compared to having dedicated heroes around.
"Here he is, princess. Be warned, he's lost his grip with reality and can be very unstable." Dr. Princess warned. She opened the door and Princess Bubblegum walked in. In the room, two security guards are standing around the inmate who is in a straitjacket that disables his stretchy powers and sitting on a chair. Across them are a table and another chair for the princess to sit on. A hanging light barely illuminates the room. She takes her seat and sighs in discontent.
"How are you, Jake?" she asked. Jake stays silent. "Been doing ok here, Jake?"
Jake moved his head slightly closer to reveal a terrifying toothy grin. "I'm fine, princess! A-OK!" he responded cheerfully. PB could only look on with wide-eyes and growing discomfort. "How about you, princess? How's the holly jolly Candy Kingdom been like since me and Finn were assigned this so-called 'sanity adventure'?" That term was invented by Bubblegum in order to make Jake feel at ease. It worked.
"Until the doctors say it's over, Jake. Now, how is...Finn?" Bubblegum reluctantly asked.
"Oh, Finn is fine, princess! A little sleepy, but he's doing great! You wanna see him?" Jake offered.
"Um, sure."
"Barney, can you wake up Finn, please?" he asked the guard.
"Sure, psycho." he replied. He then placed a pillow that's "wearing" a blue shirt, blue shorts, a green backpack and a familiar white hat. A crude pair of eyeballs and a smiley face was drawn on the pillow. Princess Bubblegum smiled nervously.
"Hi, Finn." she said, waving at the pillow.
"Hi, princess!" Jake replied, imitating Finn's voice. "You're looking very pretty today, your highness!"
"Well, um thanks, Finn." she said wearily. "What have you and Jake been up to as of late?"
"Oh, me and Jake have been having a great time here! Yup, two bros in this white castle of corrections! Nothing better, right?" he told her, still imitating Finn's voice.
"That's right, Finn! You're the best bro a bro can have." Jake praised "Finn."
"Umm, how sweet." the nervous princess noted. She turned her attention to the pair of guards and asked, "Gentlemen, I would like to speak with Jake in private. Do you mind?"
"Oh, not at all, your majesty." Barney responded. He, along with the other guard, left the room, leaving the princess, Jake and "Finn" alone.
Bubblegum then cut to the chase. "Ok listen, Jake-"
"What about me?" Jake brought up, imitating Finn.
The princess sighed. "Listen up, Finn and Jake."
"Yes, princess?"
"I want you out of here, and I'm sure you want out, as well. You and...Finn here."
Jake looked at her and tilted his head in confusion. "But-"
"Listen, Jake. I have a lock pick in my purse. It will break you out of your straitjacket. I told the guards not to search me or I would behead them. Teehee!" she informed the dog and his pillow friend. "Anyway, once I remove the straitjacket, you run away and try to escape from this evil place! I'll tell them that you managed to escape by yourself. Once you're out, you need to go to the graveyard and find the real Finn's grave. There, you will find a steel box with further instructions." She then used her lock pick and after a few moments of fiddling with the lock on the straitjacket, it fell off of Jake. He was now free. "You understand, Jake?"
"Well, I get the gist of what you're saying, but Finn here has a few questions, such as-"
"No time for that, Jake!" Bubblegum interrupted. "You gotta get going now! Good luck!"
"But princess-" Jake whined. Before he could have any further say in the matter, Bubblegum pushed him out of the room.
"GUARDS! Jake slipped out of his straitjacket! Get him before he escapes!" she demanded, winking at Jake and giving a thumbs-up.
"Hold it, Jake!" Barney ordered. He, along with the other guard jumped on Jake and held him down.
Princess Bubblegum looked down in defeat. Before she could go home and cry, Jake stretched into a ball and rolled out of their grasp. He kept rolling like a bowling ball until he hit the front door, smashing it open and reaching freedom. He was out!
"We did it, Finn!" Jake exclaimed, hugging the clothed pillow tightly. Suddenly, a loud alarm went off. "We better get going, buddy! To your future grave!" The dog and his pillow then ran off into the night.
After about ten minutes, Jake had made it to the graveyard. He entered it and walked around the many tombstones and crypts. He stopped in front of a statue of Finn striking a hero pose. He found his grave. In front of the statue, Jake noticed the steel box that Princess Bubblegum was talking about earlier. He knelt down and opened it up. Inside, he found a glass bottle filled with an unknown blue liquid, a syringe, a wooden oak stake, and a note. He lifted up the glass bottle and observed it. "What could this be for?" he thought to himself. "Maybe you should read the note!" Jake imitating Finn suggested. "Great idea, buddy!" Jake noted. He lifted up the note and read it to himself.
Jake.
The state of Ooo has deteriorated since the death of Finn and your incarceration. I don't want you to rot in that horrible place, so I've given you a second chance. Inside the bottle is a special medicine I've made. Once you fill up the syringe and inject the medicine into your bloodstream, you will regain your sanity, but only temporarily. Use it wisely. As for the wooden stake, I want you to use it so you can get closure. Use it to kill Marceline. She should still be in your old treehouse.
Avenge Finn and avenge yourself. Good luck, Jake!
-Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum
Jake dropped the note and looked at the bottle again. "Regain...my sanity?" he told himself. He pondered on for a moment, and decided to try the medicine. He opened the bottle up, picked up the syringe and dipped the needle into the liquid. He pulled the plunger back and was ready to inject it to his arm, directly to his bloodstream. He took a deep breath and injected himself with the medicine. He flinched and gritted his teeth, but maintained his cool. After he injected the fluid into his bloodstream, he blacked out.
"Ugghh. What happened?" Jake mumbled to himself. He stood up and looked around. He was still in the cemetery. He looked at his arm and removed the syringe that was stuck in his body. "Man, that medicine is crazy." He dusted himself off and looked to left and found his pillow dressed like Finn. "Man, I really lost it that day..." He then turned to the statue of Finn and started to tear up. "Oh, Finn..." Jake placed on hand on the epitaph. "I'm sorry, Finn. I'm so sorry. I'm going to kill her, Finn. I'm going to kill her for what she did to you. For what she did to us. I swear, bro!" he pledged. He stripped the pillow of its clothing and put it on himself. He was now dressed as Finn. He saw this as a way of honoring his late brother. He picked up the stake and announced to himself, "Let's kill a vampire."
After he had gone to a black market in the seedy part of the Candy Kingdom, Jake walked to the Grasslands to find his old home. There it was. It looked almost the same as he and his late friend had left it. Now it looked like a fortress. There was a huge electric dome fence around the entire treehouse and "MARCELINE" was spraypainted on the roof. Jake couldn't stretch over it, so he decided to dig under it. Thankfully, he was able to dig under the fence with ease. He popped his head out once he reached the other side.
"Well, that was easy!" Jake remarked. He was about to take a step forward, but then thought of something. "Too easy..." he muttered. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the pillow. He tossed it in the air. Once it hit the ground, it exploded. Jake almost fell over by the afterblast. "Land mines! Crafty vampire..." Jake didn't know what to do. He hadn't bought a metal detector at the black market and the only experience he had with mines was playing a few games of Minesweeper on BMO. He couldn't shrink down or increase in size because he didn't want to tear Finn's clothing. He also couldn't climb on anything above him due to the electric dome fence around him. "Dang! What do I do?" he asked himself. He squint his eyes and saw a "Shut off electric fence and land mine" switch on the ON position next to the front door. He stretched his arm to the switch and pulled the lever down into the OFF position. The electric dome fence was shut off and many land mines made tiny beep sounds, indicating that they have been disabled. "Well, that was easy." Jake remarked. "It's like some bad solution from a crappy fanfiction or something. Oh well. On to Marceline!" He opened the front door carefully and looked around. All of the familiar furniture was gone and replaced with new stuff. Jake heard the sounds of a bass guitar being played from upstairs. He turned his attention to a nearby cupboard and saw a framed picture of Marceline along with some ghosts. He smashed the picture with his fist in anger.
"Hello?" a voice asked from the floor above him. Jake's eyes grew wide and he looked around for a hiding spot. He opened a nearby closet and hid inside, locking the door. Marceline flew downstairs and looked around to investigate the noise she heard. "Is someone here?" She scanned the room and used her supersonic hearing to improve her search. She heard a scraping sound in a nearby closet and went to investigate. She tried turning the knob, but it wouldn't budge. "Oh, dear. The door is locked! Whatever will I do?" she sarcastically asked out loud. "Oh, I know!" She then used her strength to rip the door off its hinges. "You can't hide from-" She stopped mid-sentence when she realized no one was there. "Huh." She turned around and floated away. Jake had managed to hide inside a nearby coat in the closet.
"Heh heh. I still got it!" he whispered to himself.
"Who said that?" Marceline suddenly asked. Jake's eyes grew wide and he sprinted out the room. "HEY, YOU!" she shouted. Jake kept running away. He went inside the refrigerator and hid inside. Marceline saw him enter and shook her head. "You're gonna have to do better than that, you weenie! You think I was born yesterday?" she told the intruder. She opened the fridge and was smashed in the face with a ketchup bottle. "Gahh! What the plum!" she cursed. The ketchup was in her eyes and blinded her. Jake took the stake out of his backpack and was ready to kill Marceline with it. Marceline swung her arms wildly and managed to slap Jake across the face. He dropped the stake and was dazed temporarily. Marceline wiped the ketchup off her face and saw her attacker. "You! You're that dog I messed with years ago!" She floated closer to the canine and asked, "You're Jake, aren't you? What are you doing here?" She then put on a devious smile and asked, "Are you here to end up like that kid of yours?"
"His name is 'Finn'!" Jake shouted, angered at her callousness. "He was my best friend and you killed him!" Tears were starting to flow from his eyes. Marceline took note and her expression actually softened. "Now I'm here to do what you did to him..." He reached inside his backpack again and pulled something that Marceline couldn't quite get a good look at. "DIE, UNHOLY THING!" he exclaimed, tossing two cloves of garlic at her. They hit her skin and started burning it. She hissed back at Jake, who didn't flinch one bit. He enlarged his fist and punched Marceline, smashing her through a wall and to the next room.
She groaned in pain and got back to her feet. "That son of a-" she managed to say before being smashed with a mirror. The glass cut her skin and one shard managed to go in her eye.
"Bet you didn't see that coming, did ya, Marceline?" Jake mocked. "Hehe, pun."
Marceline was angered by that clever wordplay. One thing about Marceline: you never want to piss her off. "You dare laugh at the Vampire Queen!" she snapped. "NOW YOU WILL DIE!" She then started to take the form of the bat monster that haunted Jake for many years. The very same form that took the life of his brother. Jake was starting to shake in fear at the sight of her monster form. "HAHAHAHA! What are you going to do now, little dog?" she threatened. Jake stopped shaking and reached for his backpack again.
"Just one thing." he told her. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Jake then exclaimed, "Look at this!" and presented a crucifix. Marceline hadn't seen one of those in ages. She hissed and shielded her eyes. Jake ran towards her and tapped her slightly with the crucifix. He was surprised to find it burning her skin and leaving a mark the shape of a lowercase t. She howled in pain and started to pat out her sizzling flesh. Jake saw another opening and went for it. He reached for his backpack again and found his ace in the hole: an ancient vile of Holy Water. "How about a drink, Marceline!" he asked, opening the vile and splashing the water to her face. The Vampire Queen shrieked in pain. She has never been in this much pain in her life. The Holy Water was like acid, severely burning her face and blinding her. She patted her face in attempt to wipe the water away, but it only hurt her more. She then flew away blindly and crashed through the roof of her treehouse.
Jake went out the front door and saw her about to leave. "No!" he cursed under his breath. He then noticed the switch he had turned off earlier. He pulled the lever back to the ON position. As expected, the electric fence dome and the land mines were reactivated.
"That stupid...AAGHH! I'm gonna kill that freaking dog!" Marceline grumbled to herself. She was still blinded by the splash of Holy Water on her face and was now blindly flying towards the fence dome, ready to smash through it. What she wasn't aware of, unfortunately for her, is that Jake had flipped the switch back on and the electric fence dome was reactivated, along with the land mines. Marceline rubbed her eyes and declared, "I'll get you next time, Jake! YOUR BLOOD WILL BE MI-" Her threat was interrupted by the sounds of electricity running through her body. She had impacted with the fence and was electrocuted. She screamed in pain as the electricity surged through her body, shocking her to the core. She then started to fall to the ground, lifelessly heading towards the active landmines.
Jake's eyes widened as he stepped back in the house and took cover. He crouched down on the floor, covered his ears and shut his eyes.
BOOM!
Marceline landed on one landmine. However, the explosion set off more landmines in the vicinity. In total, about sixteen landmines went off, creating an incredible explosion. The Vampire Queen was barely intact after the blast. Inside the treehouse, Jake opened his eyes and looked out the door. All he saw was a smoldering crater. He walked closer and found Marceline slowly crawling out of it. Her clothes were tattered. Her skin was bloody and burnt. She was barely breathing. Her right hand and left leg were blown off. She was just destroyed. She crawled forward for a bit, but stopped after she was too weak to continue. Jake walked towards the incapacitated Vampire Queen and looked at her weakened state. "You took my brother away from me." he coldly said. "You took him from this world, and it went straight to Hell because of you. Look what you did!" Marceline put her head down. Jake lifted it back up so she was facing him. "Look at me! Look at what you did to me! You broke me that day! I lost my mind thanks to you and I had to be locked up! Look at what happened while I was gone!" He then gestured to everything around him. There were sounds of gunfire, fires everywhere they looked, and the sounds of tormented souls audible in the air. "You killed the best hero in the Land of Ooo, and I was put away in a mental asylum! With no one here to keep justice, the whole Land went into chaos. Chaos that I couldn't stop! Chaos that you made because me and Finn weren't there to stop it!" He stopped and sobbed for a bit. All Marceline could do is look on. Jake sniffled, wiped the tears off his face and continued. "You ruined me and you ruined this land." He reached for his backpack and pulled out the stake he recovered earlier.
"You don't think I know that?" Marceline managed to say. "For years, I've been under fire for killing that boy. I had to build this fence dome just to protect myself. You're not the first one to try and kill me, dog! Many have tried, and none succeeded." She took a deep breath before continuing her speech. "I've been a wanted woman since that day. If I could go back and not kill him, I would."
"Marceline..." Jake said in a shocked tone. He never knew that Marceline had been a wanted woman and that many people wanted her dead, as well. Did Jake see a smidgen of remorse in her tone? Jake was dumbfounded and didn't know what to think or even what to do.
"Just kill me." the injured Vampire Queen requested. "I have nothing to live for."
"But what about your kingdom?" Jake inquired.
She chuckled at that remark. "What kingdom?" she stated. "The Vampire Kingdom's been gone for 500 years. I'm the only one left."
"Just like Finn was the only human left..." Jake thought to himself.
"I have no friends, my dad doesn't love me, everyone wants me dead, I cry myself to sleep every night, I'm the Queen of a dead race, and to add insult to injury, I was taken down by a dog." She chuckled sadly. Jake just stood there. "Isn't this what you wanted? To kill me?" she questioned.
"Well...yeah." Jake replied.
"Then do it." she said, rolling over to lay on her back. "Trust me; you'll be doing me a favor." She shed one tear and sniffled. She wanted her pain to end. Jake still didn't move. He just didn't know what to do. "Don't do it because I asked you to." she told him. "Do it for Finn."
Jake raised the stake in the air and shouted to the heavens, "This is for you, Finn!" and jammed the oak stake into Marceline's chest. She screamed in pain and her body turned to ash. Her screams died away, along with her. Jake fell on his knees and cried softly. "Finn..." he whispered. "I did it." He heard sirens in the distance. It was now his time to leave. He took off the bear hat he was wearing and placed it on top of the grounded stake. "I'll miss you, Finn." he said. He turned and ran back to the hole he dug. He had mixed feelings about what happened a few moments ago. He was happy that he had avenged the death of his brother and best friend, but he just felt empty inside. The murder of the Vampire Queen was bittersweet to him. That was behind him now. He was free, and he didn't know what to do. Maybe he'll swing around a certain Rainicorn's house on his way to a new life. He didn't know. All he knew is that he would continue living his life. It was what Finn would have wanted.
THE END
INCREDIBLY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, wasn't that shocking? I've done the worst possible thing any AT fanfic writer can do: I've killed Marceline. Why did I do this? It's because I'm annoyed by the amount of Bubbline, Finnceline and Fiolee fanfics that started to spring up on this site. I nearly drowned in a sea of stories about these pairings, so I decided to write one where one of the stars of the pairings perished (or two for Finnceline). Let me get one thing straight: I don't hate Finnceline. I don't even dislike it. I do like it. I like it Hell of a lot more than I like most pairings in the back! I hate this idea that it's the best. Because it's not. Flinn's (or whatever Finn x Flame Princess is called) the best. Flinn's the best in the world. I'm kidding. I don't favor any of the pairings. Speaking of which, I have nothing against Marceline as well! She's my second favorite character! It's just frustrating when everyone keeps asking the producers of the show when she's going to show up again because they're impatient children! Marceline doesn't have a track record of showing up frequently. She's only had ten major appearances in the whole series as of August 17th, 2012 and to further elaborate, allow me to break it down by season:
Season One appearances: 3 (2 major, 1 minor)
Season Two appearances: 5 (3 major, 2 minor)
Season Three appearances: 4 (3 major, 1 minor)
Season Four appearances: 2 (2 major, no minor)
In total, she has had 14 appearances. Compared to other secondary main characters, she's in last place!
Princess Bubblegum: 38 appearances (22 major, 16 minor)
Ice King: 27 appearances (21 major, 6 minor)
LSP: 25 appearances (7 major, 18 minor)
BMO: 20 appearances (6 major, 14 minor)
Lady Rainicorn: 17 appearances (6 major, 11 minor)
Marceline: 14 appearances (10 major, 4 minor)
For major appearances, she's in third place, which isn't bad. By the way, if my info is wrong, feel free to correct me.
Appearances aren't the big picture here. It's that everyone wants to see their favorite character show up again. Marceline has such a huge fanbase that everyone wants more of her. I, for one, am okay with Marceline not appearing too much. Too many appearances of a secondary character runs the risk of alienating the audience and grow sick of the character, so when Marceline finally shows up, everyone gives thunderous applause. It makes it more special. The main reason everyone is dying to see her again is because of the episode Daddy's Little Monster when she said she didn't want to hang out with Finn anymore and people thought that she was serious. She wasn't, by the way. I'm guessing she'll be back by the episode Reign of Gunthers or sooner. She'll be back, though.
My problem is the oversaturation of the pairings. I'm not trying to start a revolution or something. I'm just breaking the mold. Will people hate this fanfic? I don't know. Do I hate the people that write the stories about the pairings? Absolutely not. Am I committing career suicide by releasing this story? Maybe, but I just had to do it and I love living dangerously.
Well, enough about that. What's the next "What If?"? You tell me! This series will mostly be kept alive by reader requests via reviews or PMs. You give me any situation you can think of, and if I like it, I will turn it into reality! And of course, you'll get story credit. Let's see those requests roll!
Completely unrelated, but in case you haven't noticed, I've changed my pen name to my primary alias. Johnny Pancakes is dead and buried, and bazaaboy44 is back on the saddle!
Well, thank you for reading my fanfic and my incredibly long diatribe. Reviews, comments, corrections, and criticisms are welcome. Direct your hate mail to my inbox, if you want. Well, see you in the next one.
-bazaaboy44