I had the same dreams I usually do.
The circus.
The Ring Master.
Marceline dying.
The ice cream doctor already came by and gave me the second injection. Just like this morning. I think this morning since it's dark out now. I'm still a little groggy and can't feel anything.
I remembered what Jake said this morning. About bringing back Marceline. He's said things like this before. This time though, he seems like he's sure. Maybe I think it's serious because he's involving me in his plan. Something he's never done before.
I wait for the Fear to speak and say something to make me miserable.
Nothing.
I have the queasy feeling in my stomach, but he's not saying anything.
While waiting for Jake I think about what the Ring Master said.
I'm sorry.
Why?
Why would she say that?
What was she sorry for?
For putting me in a cage?
For whipping me?
For not letting me speak!?
For making me want to kill myself!?
For saying that her and Marceline were friends!?
For letting Marceline die?
I stop thinking for a moment.
I wonder when Jake is g-
My thoughts are cut off by a scream. It came from outside. It was followed by many more like it.
I turn my head with more effort than should be needed. Its dark outside. But there's an eerie green light. It's moving and pulsating like flames. It seems far away.
I think about just sleeping. Just sleeping and waiting for this to end. I consider that Jake will be coming for me, and that he'll need me for his plan.
I'm still contemplating this when a hand roughly shakes me. I try to turn my head to see who it is. Before I could the question was answered for me.
"Finn, come on buddy we gotta go!" said Jake the dog.
Jake tries to lift me up out of the bed before I'm ready. I fall to my hands and knees. "Sorry brother." Jake apologizes. He lifts me to my feet. Usually I can stand on my own. But the drugs haven't worn off yet. If I wasn't seeing it, I wouldn't know that I was standing.
I look over at Jake, waiting for him to tell me what we're doing. Instead, he's cutting a hole in my pillow case. When he's done he puts it over my head. "This should fool people from knowing that your human," he explains. I thought it was a good plan when I did it the first time. It worked, but not on the Ring Master. But I still don't take it off. It doesn't matter if I have it or not for what I have planned.
"Okay brother," Said Jake, while picking up a bag he brought in with him. "We gotta get a move on if we want this to work."
Jake helps me down the stairs. It's chaos outside. Candy people are running around everywhere. Some are running against the crowds. There are banana guards trying to control the crowd. They are not succeeding.
Good.
This should help my plan.
While Jake is distracted I slip away into the crowd. He doesn't notice that I left. I'm deep in the chaos when I hear Jake yell. "FINN! WHERE ARE YOU BROTHER!?"
I feel a twinge of pain. The drugs are still working a little, so I know that I couldn't have gotten hurt. Because I wouldn't feel it. I know I feel quilt for leaving Jake. But I have to do this.
I don't know if Jake's plan will work. I don't even know what it is. But I do know one thing. That if Marceline was brought back, or if she isn't, and Jake and me have to run and hide for the rest of our lives, SHE won't let me go.
The Ring Master will never let me go again.
She'll never let me be free.
She'll never let me be with Marceline.
She'll never let me go.
So there's only one choice.
I'm going to kill her.
I don't care if I die in the process. Or if I die before or after I kill her. As long as I'm free.
I will kill the Ring Master.
. . .
"Looks like I picked the perfect time to come back," Jermaine says, mumbling to himself.
I look up at the black smoke emanating from the green flames burning the candy buildings. There are candy people running through the streets panicking.
I try to remember where the hospital is. Jake doesn't have a real address. He's just been traveling around Ooo for the past three years. I'm not an idiot. I know what he's trying to do. He's trying to bring back the Vampire Queen.
I try not to think of her real name. Every single time I hear it my arm hurts. But hearing Vampire Queen still gives me a slight tingle.
I know why Jake's trying to bring her back too. For the human boy, Finn. I knew that he was going to bring problems when Jake brought him home from the circus. I would have told Jake to get rid of him. Or have gotten rid of him myself. But I promised that I wouldn't make my brother sad again. And the human made him happy, happier than he's been in a long time. And I couldn't put Jake through again.
I tried to be nice to him, for Jake's sake. But then Marceline showed up. I knew the human was going to bring trouble. But I didn't even suspect that the trouble was going to be the Vampire Queen. I knew for Jake's safety that I was going to have to get rid of the boy. But I couldn't just kick him out. Jake would hate me. Also the vampire would definitely kill me. Or worse. So I tried to make it seem more like it was they're choices. I ate every food in the house that was red, to get rid of Marceline. And I told the boy some not-so-truthful things.
They both left. Jake was safe. That's what I cared about.
But then the human came back. He was hurt and Jake knew it. I couldn't let him down again. I got the boy to a hospital. It wasn't my intention to kill Marceline. It just happened. Now the human is practically catatonic and Jake hates me.
I see what I did wrong. I'm not sure if I think what I did was wrong. But it must have been if I ended up losing Jake again. I'm going to try and make it up to him. I don't know what exactly I'm going to do though.
I come around a corner. There's the hospital! And not only that, there's Jake!
Before I can say anything, he stretches up into the smoke. "FINN!" Jake hollers.
I guess he's trying to look for the human. I don't know why he's out here. Jake must have been trying to get him to safety. He also stretched higher so he could see him better. But the smoke is in his way. Jake wasn't exactly the bright type.
"Jake!" I yell to him. He didn't hear me, even though he's a dog. The screaming must be in the way. "JAAAKE!" I yell louder.
Come on, just look over here!
I get pushed toward him a little by a group of candy citizens. Good! I'll get to him faster.
"JAAA-" I get interrupted by a searing pain in my side.
I fall hard onto the candy pavement. Everything kind of goes silent. I can only see the running feet of candy people. Then they are gone. The group must have passed me. I can see Jake again. He's not that far away. I try to yell his name, but nothing comes out. I try again. A sort of gasp comes out. I see Jake lower himself below the smoke.
Please! Just turn your head.
He does turn his head. The other way. He's spotted who he was searching for. He heads towards that direction. As I look at him getting further away, I feel a chill in my spine. I try to turn to see. I see a large skeletal man, in dark clothes. He looks at me. Studies me for what feels like eternity.
Then he said "Damn, wrong dog," he then looks towards were Jake was. And follows him.
Jake, Run!
I lay in the same spot for a short time. Unable to think of anything useful. One last thought pops in my mind.
I knew that human was going to bring problems.
...good luck, Finn.
. . .
Pain.
I almost missed it.
I haven't run in a long time. My legs are weak. The drugs are starting to wear off.
Luckily Jake couldn't catch up to me. He couldn't see me through the smoke. I don't want to get him involved in this.
I don't want to see him hurt too. Like Marceline.
Thinking about her brings new tears to my eyes.
Stop it! I'm doing this for her.
I'm already inside the castle. I don't know where the Ring Master's room is. But there's a weird black trail going through the castle halls. I follow them. It's the only lead I have. I come to a large hole in the wall. It looks like it was there before whatever is going on. It was definitely a doorway. I can see what's left of the huge door. I enter the room.
Nothing.
There's a bed, some sort of dresser, and a mirror attached to a desk. All broken and tossed around. In the center of the room is a crown. I'd know it from anywhere. It's the princesses crown. But there's something different about it. Something missing.
"Come one, come all," a groggy voice says. "See the last human."
I turn around to see whose speaking. I don't see anyone. It doesn't matter. I'd know that voice anywhere.
"See the last...human," the Ring Master repeats herself.
I still don't know where she is. But I'm getting closer.
"See my beautiful, Finn,"
I hear something behind me. I turn to see something pink lying on the ground.
A glob of gum.
It has a thin tendril attached to it going strait up. My eyes follow it to the ceiling.
I am unable to comprehend what I see for a few moments.
There's gum covering two of the walls and some of the ceiling. On the corner of one wall and the ceiling there's a face. The black soulless eyes look at me.
"Hello, Finn," says the mutilated Princess Bubblegum.
Just when I thought I could feel my legs again, they went numb.
I didn't notice what had happened to her, not only because the room is a similar pink, but because she takes up most of it. There are twisted webs made of her pulverized body stuck to the walls and ceiling. Some are twirling in a desk fan. The only part that's not pink on what's left of her is a black spot, like the ones in the castles halls, in the center of this horrible sight.
"We could be...together, Finn," she gasps this.
How? How is she able to talk? How is she even alive?
...You really are a monster, aren't you?
"...Your hair looks beautiful, Finn."
I don't understand. I'm still wearing the pillow case. She can't see my hair.
"Also... you'll be able to go outside again, Finn."
Realization comes to me. I slowly look to the floor.
I can't kill her. She's already dead.
She's just repeating things she's said before.
"I miss Marceline."
I look up startled.
"She was there for me when the Ice King captured me."
"But she wasn't there when Recardio killed me."
Who's Recardio?
Something she said this morning pops into my head.
"But not when it counted."
What do I do now?
Should I try to kill her?
Can I even kill her?
Should I just leave her.?
Is that what she deserves?
Before I could come up with what to do. The Ring Master continued.
"Such a beautiful face...so beautiful, not a scratch on it."
my face. That's what she always cared about. If she truly loves me, she wouldn't have tortured me for years.
I look to the ground again. I notice my reflection. It's a piece of the broken mirror. It kind of looks like a jagged knife.
Maybe if my face was cut up, she'll finally leave me alone.
I bend down to pick it up.
"...I'm sorry..."
There it is again.
What are you sorry for!?
For hurting me!?
For killing Marceline!?
For making me wish that I was never born!?
I wait for her to answer questions she could not hear.
Of course, she doesn't answer.
I wait. I wait for her to say something else.
Nothing.
The black soulless orbs seem to be even more lifeless.
I fall to me knees and just look. I look for a long time.
She's dead. The Ring Master is finally dead! I'm free. I'm finally free.
So why? Why don't I feel happy that she's gone? And why? Why am I crying?
Because you're weak! That's why your crying. And you know very well you're not free. She's still in your head. And she always will be.
The Fear finally speaks. He's been quiet since I last woke up. I hoped that maybe he'd stay quiet and leave me alone.
HA! Like I would leave you when I can get so much fun out of your fear. I was just waiting for you to get in over your head so that you'd be trapped and even more afraid.
I wonder what he means exactly.
I mean that you are now in a room with a dead princess. If someone were to see this you'd be executed. Also you ditched your only friend, who knew a way to bring back your preciousMarceline. He's stupid, but not stupid enough risk himself for you. He's probably miles away by now.
Hearing him say Marceline's name in a mocking tone makes me angry. But he's right I left Jake behind. I don't care about being killed. Even if the Ring Master is dead, if Marceline isn't alive, then there is no point of me being alive.
I look over at the mirror shard.
If I can't bring her back, I might as well join her.
The cowards way out. Fitting.
I raise the shard to my throat. But before I could do anything. I hear a voice in the panic outside.
"-iiinnn," the voice is far.
"fiiIINNN!" the voice is getting closer.
"FIIIINNN, WHERE ARE YOU BROTHER!?" Jake yells trying to find me.
Jake? You stayed?
Stupid mutt! I was having so much fun.
I run to the window and looked for him. I spot him when he yells my name again. He's right in front of the castle. I get ready to yell his name back.
Nothing.
Even though the Ring Master is finally dead, I still can't speak. I didn't speak for three years because in all my life, whenever I spoke, all that followed was pain.
When I spoke at the circus, the Ringmaster whipped me.
When I talked about the circus, it brought up painful memories.
And when I screamed Marceline's name, when she was dying, it made no difference.
So why? Why is it that now that the Ring Master is finally gone that I still can't talk?
HA HA HA HA! Haven't I told you before? She isn't gone. She's still in your head. And she always will be.
He's right. What was the point of doing this? I wasted my time trying to kill the Ring Master. I left Jake behind for nothing.
I look at Jake through the window.
Maybe I can throw somethi-
My thought is cut off when I see some dark mass emerging out of the smoke. It looked like a rotting corpse, covered in dark robes. It's arms looked like they were completely skeletal. Its face, if you can call it that, seems to be a cloth of some kind wrapped around a skull. It left a trail of dead earth behind it. And it's eyes...I don't know any words to describe it's eyes. But even though I'm kind of far away, when I look at its eyes, it seems like I could be sucked into them.
I was so fixated on the dark form that I didn't realize that it was walking toward Jake. I tried to yell at him. But still, nothing came out.
Even when your only friend is in danger you still can't speak. Heh hehe heh.
Jake hasn't noticed that he was in danger yet. I can't warn him and I'm running out of time.
I can't think of anything. I start running.
You think you can make it in time? You've barely done anything for three years. Your to weak. You'll never make it.
Quiet! Quiet! QUIET!
I don't know why I'm thinking this. It never did any good against him.
Oh! so you can yell at me in your head. But you can't yell to save your friends life. Pathetic.
I try to ignore him. Like how I ignore the pain in my legs. Or how hard it seems to breathe. I have to focus on getting to Jake.
I've been running for what feels like forever. I start to think that maybe I was going the wrong way. But then I saw the castles entrance that I first came in. I run through it.
Everything is the same. The smoke, the panic, and the green flames. Except there's no Jake. I look in all direction for him.
Nothing.
Oh glob. I was to late.
Heh. Told you so.
I start to look in all directions again, as if that would make a difference, when I heard a voice. A new one.
Come... Come this way.
I didn't like this new voice. Unlike the Fear, this one seemed to speak to me from outside. It felt like it was whispering right behind my ear. It felt like someone was breathing pure evil on the back of my neck.
Come on, Finn... Don't you want to save Marceline?
I remember why Jake did this in the first place. If he is dead then I'll have to finish this. And maybe, whatever it is that he had to bring Marceline back, then maybe I can bring him back to. If he isn't, then he'll find me. There's a good chance that he noticed the dark thing and ran. He's a survivor. His scars are proof of that.
Come this way, Finn.
I start to run again. Even though the new voice didn't tell me where exactly I was supposed to go, I felt like I knew.
I run through the chaos that is the candy kingdom. I don't notice right away that I was running on grass. Before Marceline died, I would have slowed down to enjoy this. But I have something important to do. So I ignore it. I ignore how good it felt running on cool grass at night. I ignore it when the grass changed into dead earth. And because I ignored it, I didn't notice that I was about to fall into a hole until it was too late.
I'm falling into darkness. I don't know how far I'm falling. Is this it? Is this how I d...
