Finn and his friends have been running through the maintenance tunnels ever since the outbreak started. Although the majority of the bystanders used the main exits, some of them fled with the heroes and relied on their protection.
"The parking garage's this way!" Finn motioned.
Everyone followed his lead as they ran into a full sprint. Adrenaline coursed through their veins and sweat covered their bodies. Once they got to the exit, Finn kicked the door open and halted his company from proceeding.
"Dang it, find another exit," Finn ordered.
"There's a storage room we could use for shelter," Princess Bubblegum suggested, "Just follow me!"
Without hesitation, the group of survivors followed the candy monarch. Most of the zombies moved at a jogging pace, but there were also some who sprinted to pick off any victims who fell behind. For instance, one candy citizen tried to save his best friend by pulling the monster away that had him pinned. The problem, was that as soon as he freed his friend they were quickly tackled to the ground and devoured moments later. Screams and shouts of protest were heard briefly from the victims, and then silence.
Bubblegum's eyes watered slightly as she fought hard to contain her emotions. To her, all of her citizens were like her children. Every time she lost one to the goo monsters, her heart was stricken with grief. Fortunately, she maintained her concentration as she spotted the storage room her group was searching.
They quickly slammed the blast doors shut as the zombies reached out and snarled in vain.
"Hurry, find something heavy to block them," PB said as she locked the doors.
Finn and Flame Queen acted quickly first by using their flame powers to weld the doors shut. The rest of the group gathered several bags of sand and provided a large table. Lastly, they added blocks of concrete for good measure. Everyone kept quiet and rested their weight on the barricade until the banging subsided.
The group breathed a sigh of relief and slowly parted to recover their strength. At this point, their adrenaline subsided and everyone scattered in the large room to reflect on their own thoughts.
Marceline Abadeer was just a seven year-old girl when she first the goo monsters. Back then, the Mushroom War recently ended. Most of the buildings from the main cities were structurally intact, while the smaller nearby towns were reduced to ash and debris. As far as she knew, the young girl was unable to use her vampire powers to defend herself. Fortunately, she traveled with a lone scientist named Simon Petrikov who served as her guardian and father-figure.
They watched over each other in the apocalypse and Simon would occasionally wear the ice crown to utilize its powers whenever they faced a life-threatening situation. At the time, the crown was cursed and Simon's personality deteriorated every time he used it. Marceline was devastated at this prospect and one day made her friend promise to never use it. He consented, but in the end he was forced to break his promise when the goo monsters cornered them into desperation.
Simon also looked back on his past when he recalled his first encounter with the goo monsters. His friend Marcy was afflicted with the common cold and he spent a few days searching for a can of soup to remedy her illness. There were some pleasant moments such as making jokes and singing silly songs. However, the girl's health worsened each day as she coughed more frequently. Not wasting anymore time, the two continued their journey to search for supplies.
Sometime later, the two travelers walked into an unnamed city and stumbled upon a soup cafe. They discovered all the essential supplies were taken already and met their first goo monster at a nearby souvenir stand. After they fled, Simon carried Marcy and searched a food truck on top of a nearby bridge. More goo monsters approached their position and chased them throughout the abandoned city. In what he thought were his last moments, he moved Marcy to safety and used the crown's ice powers and became the infamous Ice King.
Back in the present, Simon lifted his head from his thoughts. "I need to talk to Bubblegum when I get the chance," he thought to himself. "But first, I need to check on Marceline." He looked at his wife, Betty to his right who gave him a look of encouragement.
"Go, I'll be fine," Betty reassured.
He nodded and smiled briefly as he got up to speak with his vampire friend. She was stricken with grief as she held her ax bass close to her chest.
"Hey, Marceline," Simon said.
The vampire's features brightened a little when she saw her old friend speak to her. She immediately got up and hugged him in comfort.
"I-I'm so embarrassed that everyone's seeing me like this," Marcy sobbed.
"There, there. Everyone cries sometime even me," Simon said with a light chuckle.
She nodded meekly, "I know people go crazy at concerts all the time, but this is something else. When I saw those monsters again back at the stage, I just froze."
"Those things out there have only brought bad memories. However, there is one significant difference."
Marceline broke the hug and asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
"All of us have powers, Marceline. We can fight back and retake this city."
She face-palmed in realization, "Oh, right. I completely forgot that for a second! If that's the case, then why are we here?"
"We need to come up with a plan of course. We'll never stop this outbreak if we just scramble all over the place."
"Gotcha, I think Bonnie might be able to help."
The two walked over to the candy monarch who was sitting down with her left hand placed on her forehead. She was still trying to figure out how her kingdom defenses have failed at the last second. It also didn't help the fact she kept remembering her citizens being consumed before her.
"Bonnie," Marceline said.
PB gasped as she broke from her thoughts, "Oh, hi guys. What can I do for you?"
"We need your help. Simon just reminded me we can all fight back with our powers," said the vampire.
"However, we were wondering if you have any ideas to stop this outbreak altogether," Simon added.
Bubblegum thought for a moment and replied, "I think the serum from the last zombie case should do the trick. The problem is, it's in my personal lab at the palace."
Marceline shrugged, "Ok, I mean I could just fly you there."
"That's not what I'm worried about. It's the fact we'll attract a lot of attention once we get there." She leaned forward and whispered, "But, I'm mostly concerned about how this all started. Those goo monsters had a minimal chance at finding this place. And what gets me the most is the fact that my Gumball guardians went down right when this all started. In short, I have a feeling this was deliberate."
Marcy and Simon were both speechless at the possibility.
"That doesn't make any sense, as far as I know, you don't have any tense relations with any of the other kingdoms," Simon stated.
PB replied, "No, just some petty disagreements and none of them seemed dire enough to lead to a motive. We may not know who or what is responsible, but we'll soon find out."
Meanwhile, Finn and Flame Queen were sitting together alone from the rest of the group. Finn was frowning as he stared off into the distance. His wife was next to him on his left as she leaned on his chest. Then, she looked up at him and noticed his expression.
"You've seen them before haven't you," she asked hesitantly.
His blinked a couple times as he gained his bearings, "Huh?"
"Finn, I recognize that look on your face. Can you please talk to me," she pleaded.
He looked into her eyes as they expressed concern. He was uncomfortable from what he needed to tell her, but was more unsettled to see her worry about him. Taking a deep breath, he reluctantly told her.
"I don't want to lie to you, Flame and I don't want to keep something from you either. Before I tell you, will you please promise to hear me out first?"
She held his hands together while keeping eye contact and nodded.
"Here it goes: seven years ago, PB led an expedition at the Desert of Wonders. There were four of us, including her and myself. The other two who were with us were Jake and this other guy James. Anyway, our mission was to collect samples from the region so PB can colonize and expand her kingdom."
Finn frowned for a moment and continued, "But something went wrong, what we uncovered turned out to be the resting place for all those monsters we just saw out there. We tried several methods to escape and call for help, but we were set back every time. When it seemed like it was hopeless, I offered to sacrifice myself as a last resort by acting as a distraction while everyone else would get away."
He watched the elemental's features change into an upset expression as her eyes pooled with tears.
Finn concluded, "But, in the end, James was the one who sacrificed himself and the rest was history. I'm sorry for telling you this, but I didn't want you to find out from anyone else. And I know you have some questions."
"Finn... why didn't you tell me before?"
He answered carefully, "There was no reason for me to bring it up at the time. I figured that since it was all in the past, I didn't need to worry about it."
She nodded slightly, "Well, I guess I would have known earlier if I had asked. But then again, I had no idea to begin with. I still have more questions however."
"Go ahead, Flame."
"Why were you so keen on sacrificing yourself?"
He took a breath, "It's what heroes do to ensure the safety of others. But the truth is, deep down I was an emotional wreck... That mission took place recently after our breakup."
FQ was bursting with tears upon realization and asked, "How could you just do something like that? Did you have any idea how many people you would have left behind if things happened your way?"
Finn replied, "I justified my actions at the time thinking it was the only sensible thing to do. Bubblegum had Rattleballs and later on you would have Cinnamon Bun as your champion. It led me to believe I wouldn't be needed as Ooo's protector anymore and that I would be replaced and ultimately forgotten..."
She chastised him at first. She berated him for his past demeanor as her voice cracked and her lips quivered. Finn remained silent throughout her rant, never daring to argue and aggravate her more. But after a while she recomposed herself. "Finn, thank you for telling me this. Just promise me you'll be careful out there, ok? I don't want to lose you and be alone again," she hugged him tight.
"I promise, Flame. We'll get through this like any other obstacle." He gently wiped her cheeks and leaned in for a comforting kiss.
Meanwhile, back at the Fire Kingdom palace, Cinnamon Bun was finishing washing his face. He and a few of his guards were waiting for the tv broadcast to be restored, but nothing changed.
"This is taking longer than I thought," he thought to himself.
One guard approached him to the side and asked, "It's still not working?"
"Yeah, it's been an hour already. I think I'm just about ready to give up and tune in for tonight."
"(yawn) Alright, I might as well too."
Suddenly, another guard approached at a brisk pace, "Sir, Jake 2 just returned here without our leaders!"
The outskirts of the Candy Kingdom were packed with masses of citizens. Hundreds of thousands of families traveled with suitcases and luggage bags to contain their belongings. Most of their inventory was usually packed with essentials such as food and clothing. As they made their exodus, the local guards and construction crews gathered together to seal the breaches made at the outer walls.
Princess Bubblegum's assistant was supervising the development until his phone rang.
"Peppermint Butler, what's going on out there," Cinnamon Bun asked through the phone.
"The Candy Kingdom's been overrun with zombies!"
"Are you kidding me?! (sigh) Where are Finn and the others? Are they with you? I can't seem to get ahold of them."
"N-no, they were last seen at the stadium when this all started."
CB turned away from the receiver and silently cursed to himself. He thought for a long moment to process the situation before him. "I'm sending help," he said with finality, "I know Finn and Flame Queen can look after themselves, but I don't want to depend on that notion."
"I understand," Peppermint nodded.
"Contact the other kingdoms and arrange an emergency meeting. We need to suspend all trade and travel activities as soon as possible. There's no telling where else the infection can spread or where it even originated."
