The band of heroes separated after their meeting, heading to different corners of the tree house and placing sleeping bags on the floor. Because of the sheer number of refugees, the group had decided to loan their mattresses to the injured in the tent serving as a makeshift hospital. As the sky slowly turned red, Finn sat on the roof of the house, staring towards the cloud of smoke near the Candy Kingdom.

"Why do things like this always seem to happen to me?" he said, curling his knees into his chest. This was the third time he had to avert a possible apocalypse, fourth if you count the time he saved Flame Princess from destabilizing her elemental matrix. He closed his eyes, wondering why he couldn't have a normal life. As he opened them, he saw a series of sparks rising from the roof. He rose slowly, recognizing them.

"Hey… I've seen those before! Those are dad's sparkles. He stopped; realizing that the area he was about to walk on was not supported like the rest of the roof. He carefully took a step forwards onto the leaves. He exhaled, relieved it had held, and took another step...

The leaves fell with a crack. Finn landed on his side and rubbed his head. He was in a small room with a cupboard to one side and no windows or doors.

"I don't remember this being here…"

He opened the cupboard carefully, trying not to disturb anything.

There, sitting in the middle of the cupboard covered by an old coat and a rotting banana, was a hologram player.

"Dad has another message!" Finn exclaimed, excitedly putting the holodisc into the player.

The pink hologram sprung to life, revealing the old dog standing in the middle, carrying his demon-blood sword.

"Dad!" Finn said.

"Hello Finn." The hologram started playing. "If you are seeing this message, this means that you have completed my dungeon, proving yourself as a hero, and that a great disaster has befallen Ooo." Joshua stepped forwards, revealing a young Finn and Jake behind him. "I have seen this coming for a while now, and let me say that it won't be easy. But I have two pieces of advice: One, believe in yourself. You have more determination than any kid I know, and I know you can do it. Two, trust your friends and those you love. They are your most valuable assets as a human in this strange world of ours. If you trust them they can aid you in your journey. I love you Finn, and I know that as I look down on you now from Glob-world I am proud of you."

"Wait! Dad! What is the disaster?"

"Remember Finn, even though this holomessage appears to perfectly replicate a conversation with you. I can't hear you!"

"But-"

"Butts are for pooping! Do it for poppy!" The message cut off, leaving the room dark.

"Dad…"


Flame Princess found Finn on the roof, looking towards the horizon. She walked towards him nervously. She had been searching for him for about 15 minutes now, and had almost given up. She sat down next to him, looking off into the horizon as well.

"Hey…" she said, attempting to get his attention.

"Hey."

"Listen, I was wondering, am I coming?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

FP winced, worried that she shouldn't have asked. "I mean…uhh…on the mission…" she trailed off, wondering why she couldn't say something a bit more eloquent.

"Of course!"

"Really?" she said, relieved she wasn't being left behind.

"Yeah! What gave you that crazy idea?"

"Well…I guess when I was in that lamp, nobody took me anywhere, even if it was important."

"Well, you're coming with us…I mean…er…If you want to…"

"Do I!" She ecstatically pulled him into a hug, then winced as she realized she set his shirt on fire.

"Aaah!" Finn rolled, putting the flames out and causing her to cringe slightly. Even after all the time they'd been together, she still wasn't used to someone putting them out.

"Oh my glob! Are you okay?"

Finn sat up, looking at the charred spot on his shirt. He examined it, then gasped and fell over.

"I knew it! I'm so sorry Finn." She said, looking at him. "I'll get some Cyclops tears…"

Finn rose steadily, reaching an arm out towards her.

"Finn?" She noticed a greenish gleam in his eyes. "Finn!"

Finn stepped towards her, and suddenly everything went black save for him. Flame Princess increased her flames and stepped towards Finn.

"Finn…come towards the well Finn…" A large undead creature appeared from the darkness, huge with broken horns and a tattered cloak.

"The Lich King…" Flame Princess muttered. "Don't go towards the well! Come here!"

"Come towards the well, Finn, aren't you cold?"

"I've…got a sweater…" Finn whispered weakly.

"No, Finn…you don't have a sweater on, Finn…now, come towards the well Finn." The Lich King beckoned with a single skeletal finger.

Finn took a step towards the well.

"I've got to stop Finn from getting into that well!" Flame Princess thought. "But how? Hmm…cold…AHA!" She turned into her flame form and jetted over to Finn, increasing her flames against the cold of the Lich's cave.

"Come closer, Finn…Aren't you cold?"

"No! He's not cold! Because I can always warm him!" FP said, her flames burning brightly. She raised a hand, igniting a fireball in it and throwing it at the Lich. It burst in his face, igniting his cloak and sending flames rushing through his skeletal body.

"You think you can defeat me with a little fire, Princess of Flames? Well, two can play at that game!" The Lich raised a ball of green fire in each hand and cast it towards them. FP recognized the demon-fire, which could kill even fire elementals, and ducked her face behind her arm.

"No!" shouted Finn. He jumped in front of the fire at the last moment. The flames parted around him, sparing her, but sending Finn falling to the ground.

"Finn!" No creature could survive that blast. It was a miracle Finn wasn't incinerated. But to her amazement, Finn stood back up and turned towards her.

"You're ok…but how?" FP said quizzically. "That should have killed you."

The Lich screamed in frustration. "I thought I got rid of his little crush on the bubblegum princess! But to have it happen a second time, and without a sweater too! I'll be back!" The Lich disappeared in a ball of green flame and the world returned to normal.

"Finn…what happened back there?"

"The Lich tried to possess me again. When you stopped him, he then tried to get rid of you."

"But how did you survive?"

"The greatest weapon against evil is…um…er…"

"Liking someone a lot?" FP said, finishing Finn's sentence.

"Yeah." Finn said, blushing uncontrollably.

"C'mon, let's go back inside, Mr. I've-got-a-sweater-on-when-I-haven't."

"Yeah." Finn replied, looking considerably brighter.

"So what is this I hear about a little crush on a bubblegum princess?"

Finn blushed again, and the two walked back into the tree fort.


Meanwhile, in the kitchen of the tree fort, Ice King and Marceline sat at a table while Jake cooked some bacon pancakes.

"I can't believe you've never had bacon pancakes before." The dog sighed in disbelief.

"Hey, when you only eat shades of red it's hard to have most foods…" Marceline replied.

"Can you make mine look like Gunter?" Ice King said, picking up the penguin in question.

"Remind me again why we're bringing him along?" Jake asked.

"Something to do with the gems in his crown, I think." Finn replied, walking into the room.

"Finn! Where have you two been? You haven't been up to anything you aren't supposed to be doing, have you?" The dog asked.

"No! No! We were just on the roof…" Finn responded, blushing.

"Oh, just sitting on the roof, huh? Then why is your shirt charred?"

"Huh?" Finn looked down and realized he had forgotten to change clothes.

"Cut it out!" Flame Princess said. "Finn was possessed by the Lich.

"Oh no!" Jake exclaimed. "Is he all right now?"

"Yeah. Do I appear to be attacking you?"

"Oh. Right. So now the Lich is after us too. Just our luck. How did you stop him?"

"Well…umm…the same way as last time, except Flame Princess helped."

"What do you mean, the same way as last time?" Marceline asked curiously.

Finn blushed mumbled something about being tired, and departed for his room. Flame Princess looked around once, and then followed him out the door.

"What was that all about?" Ice King asked.

"I'll tell you later, if Finn lets me. It's his personal biz."


I don't own adventure time.

Well, you probably all thought I was dead. I did too, with the amount of work I had to do. But now I'm back with the second chapter and now that it's summer I should be able to update far more often. In response to the question about point of view, I'm kind of writing this in omniscient, which means I don't use I for any of the characters but may sometimes reveal what they're thinking. Sorry if it's confusing. How large should I try to make my chapters?

-WWKC1