Chapter Eleven: Lullaby
The Ice King taunted the girls, smirking as he looked from one to the other and then back again. He sneered a sharp toothed grin as he lowered to the ground. Bubblegum clenched her fists nervously as she stared into the white eyes of the madman. Marceline unknowingly shook her head back and forth as the consequences of her actions sunk in. As sudden as the realization was it was all too much for her. She'd truly failed Simon even for all her good intentions.
"Eenie", he eerily said pointing at Marceline with a blue clawed finger. "Meenie", he chuckled pointing at the hesitant Bubblegum. "Miny…mo…who. Will. Live. And. Who. Will. Die?" At this point his finger was on Marceline.
His hand filled with ice magic.
Both girls stared with wide eyes. They were frozen from the overpowering presence of his evil aura. In his incidence they felt a brittle coldness akin to death and it made their fingertips numb. His shark toothed grin opened into a wide mouthed intake of breath as he locked eyes with Marceline. She gasped thinking he was going to strike her but accepted the initiation of a battle.
"Goodbye!"
To the surprise of both girls he changed the course of his blast at the very last second. Bubblegum barely jumped out of the way. She bounced off one of her counters hitting the edge in just the wrong way. Marceline leapt into action, grabbed her friend mid air and made a break for the door. A howling chuckle escaped the deranged king as he summoned furious winds to lift him into the air after them.
While the Ice King flew after Marceline she panicked. She grabbed random laboratory objects and chucked them over her shoulder, aiming to knock the crown off the top of his head. He was in rare form and dodged every attempt quite easily. It seemed giving him near full access of Simon was a gratuitous advantage.
"What's the matter sweety?" he laughed. "I thought you'd be HAPPY!?"
A blast hit the girls and sent them careening in different directions. They hit the cold ground and felt their skin cling to it as they spun into separate walls. The collision left Bubblegum unconscious and Marceline struggling to pick herself back up. Cold and cloudy breathes began to leave their panting lungs. The walls of the candy library iced over as the magic of the crown emanated from Simon's body.
Snow swirled around the king's feet and grew, piled itself up till four snowmen formed and came to life. They crept towards the unmoving body of Bubblegum. Seeing this Marceline lifted her upper body off the floor with trembling arms. She looked hesitantly over her shoulder to see the Ice King's white eyes focused on her. Anger boiled her blood when he opened his arms for a hug.
"You're a psychopath!" Marceline spat as she tried to get to Bubblegum. "Bonnie! I'm coming!"
"Just you and me kiddo", Ice King laughed as he flicked his wrist and a wall of ice sprung between Marceline and her injured friend. "You should be happy, we're going to be together…forever. Just like you wanted!"
"Simon is my friend, you're just a twisted remnant of some horrid soul's past life", she growled, throwing her fists down on the ice barrier with all her might in an attempt to break through.
It was too thick. Marceline barely managed to break off a few ice cubes before the king was at her side, grabbing onto her arm. Pulling the vampire off balance as he lifted her, the Ice King laughed in a mockingly jolly kind of way. Marceline swung at him but even a blow to the face did not deter the king. He only laughed and twisted back, using the momentum of the strike to throw her away from his handiwork. Ice King was so much stronger than he looked.
"Bonnie!"
Bubblegum stirred from her short sleep, eyes fluttering open to monstrous ice abominations hovering over her. As she screamed Bonnie scrambled to stay out of their reach. She ran to the barrier and banged it without so much as making a scratch. Marceline leaned up on creaking arms, wished she could help her. The king hardly gave her the chance.
There he was now blocking her view of Bubblegum. Snow fell from the ceiling and as cold as it was he hardly seemed to notice. He was the Ice King after all.
He leaned down to her, taking a knee. And it brought tears to her eyes to see the very face of the man she once knew as a little girl taken over by this monstrous energy. His hair had come undone and fell around his shoulders and disheveled beard. White was all she saw in his eyes.
"Come on, Marci", he snickered as he opened his arms to her. "Just a hug, a teeny tiny hug"
Marceline faced him with a hardened stare. When she did not move or show signs of such he waited for her, fingers flexing, anticipation washing over his now fanatical features. She hesitantly moved forward, leaned into a crouched position. Marceline studied him. Locking eyes she proceeded slowly into his arms.
He felt cold…
'Simon?'
Simon hunched over the fire, his palms dangerously close the flames. He shivered like he was cold but how could he be? It was a blistering summer night and even Marceline couldn't bear to sleep under the covers. She'd woken up for a cool glass of spring water.
'Simon?'
He hesitantly turned his head at the mewling of her sleepy tone. Simon pretended to be fine when she came to his side rubbing her eyes. But when Marceline tucked herself under his arm she felt how cold he was. She saw the crown sitting between his legs.
'It's too late for little girls to be up, what do I have to do to get my little Marci back to sleep?'
'Water", she murmured, smiling as she suddenly felt cooler leaning against him.
…I'm hot…it's…hot…
He let out an icy breath of relief as he clasped his arms around her frame and squeezed with all his might. She felt so warm when he was so cold. A shiver ran up her spine as Marceline focused on the task at hand. While he was distracted Marceline stealthily reached toward his crown. Just as her fingers were about to touch it something cold grabbed her wrist. A small squeak escaped her as strength of his grip was again stronger than expected.
He spun her around, twisting her arm behind her back. Marceline let out a frustrated growl as he yanked on it. She felt his elongated nose poking in her hair, his icy breath on her neck.
"Don't test my patience", he hissed. "You and me…we're going to have so much fun wreaking havoc on this post apocalyptic wonderland. So smile Marci", he whispered his free hand lightly running down her arm. "Smile for me"
Twisting her body Marceline managed to kick her leg back in such a way that her heel connected with just the right spot to make her captor keel over. Ice King released a hoarse dry sound as he bent over till his forehead touched the ground. Marceline missed the opportunity to kick off the crown as she backed away with tightened fists. The need to separate herself from him was overwhelming her. She hissed at him, her face contorting into that of a monster bat.
"You make me sick!" she screamed. "Keep your hands off me!"
"Fair enough", he commented dryly as he prepped himself up with one hand and shot an ice blast with the other. "This is probably a big shift for you, but I'm patient…I mean we'll have all eternity to get better acquainted, my queen"
"Simon is my FRIEND!"
She flamboyantly avoided his attack with a back flip and landed with precision by a counter. Grabbing a scalpel off of Bubblegum's counter Marceline threw it with deadly accuracy. The projectile veered off course by the wind surrounding them and stuck into the ceiling. Furious, Marceline charged her feet hitting the ground like a stampeding elephant.
"This was his chance to make things right!"
"His or yours Marci?" he spoke calmly even with her only feet away.
"I'm not going to let you ruin it!"
xxx
Bubblegum wrapped her arms around her sensitive side as she scrambled to safety. Pulling a few drawers open she found one of her emergency weapons and fired it. A small glowing green ball flew out and hit one of the beasts, turning it to slush on the floor. She fired a second shot and the projectile missed, bouncing off the wall and into the ice barrier. A large crack formed in it from half way up to the floor but it did not break.
When she tried for a third shot nothing happened.
The snow beasts were closing in fast. Two figures fell from the ceiling and sliced them in two. Finn and Jake landed ready for action. As the beasts began to reassemble themselves the two heroes protected the princess, using their bodies to guard her from the assault.
"Finn!" Bubblegum tried to catch her breath. "Things went horribly wrong…the crown, it completely took over Simon"
"What!?" he squeaked, slashing at the snow with his demon blood sword. "Just great…do we uh, have to kill him now?"
"Aw dude, that might make Marci sad", Jake added solemnly.
"No!" Bubblegum grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him. "If you remove the crown Simon should regain control of the body"
"Got it princess", he boasted. "Jake smash!"
Jake grew till his head nearly touched the ceiling, raised his fists and brought them down on the beasts. They squished like old fruit, splattering everywhere. Chuckling Jake shrunk down to his usual size and lassoed Finn out of the way of a sneak attack. Both brothers lashed out and punched the last beast on the face.
"That shouldn't be too difficult", Jake mused as he caught his breath. "But how do we get over to him?"
"Like this", Finn's voice was low, serious as he charged at the ice barrier.
He slashed at it with his sword and though it did not break he seemed assured that a few more would do it. Jake joined in and punched the wall while Bubblegum rummaged through her things for anything she could assemble together.
xxx
"Looks like we have guests", Ice King chuckled as the snow around Marceline's feet solidified and trapped her. "You sit in the corner and think about what you did while I deal with the princess and our guests"
Ice King backed up and walked through the wall of ice as if it weren't even there. A bubble of ice water surrounded his form as he made his way to the other side. Marceline yanked at her ankles trying to get free.
"Stop!" she screamed frantically. "Simon! Simon Please stop him! Finn! Jake! Don't fight him he's-"
xxx
On the opposite side of the barrier Marceline's warning went unheard. The Ice King was composed except for the mad smile on his face. He reached his hand back and lightly touched the wall of ice. It instantly solidified. Dusting his hands on his coat the Ice King chuckled at the trio.
"Why isn't it my two best friends in the land of Ooo", he offered a nod to both as he spoke. "Finn. Jake"
"Simon what's going on here?"
"Ice King", he muttered, agitated. "My name is Ice King. I don't call you the boy with that hat, so remember my name"
"Were not going to let you kidnap Bubblegum!" Jake blurted out with his fists enlarged.
"Kidnap her?" Ice King chuckled, his shoulders bouncing lightly as he did so. "Be assured I have no intention of such things"
"Oh…really?" the pudgy orange dog scratched his head. "Cool…then are we done here?"
"He's not going to kidnap me because he wants to kill me!" Bubblegum squeezed past the boys with her weapon bared. "But he's not getting the chance"
Her weapon fired a missile. It spun in the air trailing a swirling cloud of thick gray smoke but inches from Ice King it stopped. From his palm ice extended and engulfed the missile. This was a familiar defensive move for the survivor of a post apocalyptic wasteland. Finn was over his head but Ice King was quicker than usual. Swinging his arm up he used the ice to sway Finn's attack off course.
The ice connecting the missile to his hand snapped and fell.
Ice King flew to the side as the bomb hit the ground and exploded. Bits of metal and shards of ice flew everywhere. Finn flew back and hit the ground groaning. He reached up and touched a jagged shard that had stuck in his side. Luckily the magical ice had deterred the blast from reaching its full potential.
"Homie!" Jake scooped his brother into his noodle arm with worry. "Princess! He's hurt."
"I'm fine…homie" Finn hissed as he reached down and yanked the metal from his body. "Just a flesh wound"
"Aw, I dunno about that…" Jake muttered. "It looks pretty deep and it's bleeding a lot"
Finn pushed himself out of his brother's arms. He staggered forward determined to continue to fight for his friends. From the other side of the wall he saw Marceline screaming even as her cheeks flushed red. The Ice King raised a hand over his head and as he gathered power the temperature dropped.
Finn used the pain to fuel his rage and sprinted towards his sword. As hail fell from the ceiling he grabbed the hilt and swung it to turn around. Ice King lowered his hand and icicles fell from the clouds swirling over his head. Jake used a desk to shield him and Bubblegum while Finn dodged and shattered them with his sword. One came to close and scratched his cheek. It was a sharp and bitter blow.
"Oh did I hurt you Finn?" Ice King taunted. "Or did I just kick your ego down a notch?"
Finn caught himself before he collapsed. The temperature was dropping too fast for his body to adjust. His lungs burned when they took in the brittle air. Very soon his breathing was ragged, forced and pathetic. On one knee he braced himself by stabbing his sword in the ground.
"Ice…King…" he spoke with bated breathes. "It doesn't…have to…to be this way", his eyes drifted down and up as he felt feint from the amount of blood leaving his body. "Let the girls go…we…we can work things out…Simon"
"Stop calling me Simon", he responded coldly. "Simon isn't here anymore…Simon is nothing but a bittersweet dream faded to memory in wake of a living nightmare"
He snapped his fingers and the snow and hail on the ground solidified, trapping all three. Finn stabbed at the ice with his blood sword but a few jabs in it flew from his hand. Ice King was stronger then he looked. Finn had to admit this when his fist connected in full contact with his cheek. The ice around the boy's feet melted as his limp body fell to the floor in a heap.
"Your nightmare, human", Ice King grumbled as he reached won and pulled Finn up by the collar of his shirt. "Because you're no longer the king of this land…I am! And I shall reshape it in my image! In ice and snow!"
Bubblegum called out the heroes name but he did not hear her. His mind was filled with blackness. Jake roared as he charged forward and swung at the Ice King but his attack was weak. The cold had made his body stiff and his powers nearly unusable. Ice King stepped aside and struck Jake with a wave of slushy ice. When the dog flew back it solidified, trapping half his body.
"Jake!" Princess Bubblegum shrieked as she backed away from the scene before her. "Finn…"
"It's just you and me now princess", Ice King chided as he rolled his shoulders. "Just you…and me"
It was a hard decision to make but at that moment Bubblegum turned on her heel and ran. She ran with all the strength that remained in her body. Before she made it to the door she heard the dark mocking laughter of the Ice King. And then…nothing.
xxx
"Bonnie!"
Marceline's voice was hoarse as she banged her fists on the ice at her feet. She had been chipping it away little by little and was nearly free. As the last of it shattered Marceline collapsed on the floor with her face buried in her hands. Angry tears fell down her face as she clawed her hands around her head. She heard the sound of the ice barrier melting, washing over the floor in one giant wave.
"Can't hear you I'm afraid", Ice King chuckled. "At least I don't think she can"
"Oh shut up", Marceline snorted as she stood. "You won already you frickn jerk"
"…" Ice King tilted his head. "Are you…crying?"
"Stop talking to me!"
"Stop crying"
"No"
((Authors Note))
Only one chapter left. I'm already working on the sequel which will feature more characters, since barely any appeared in The Thaw. I want to post the last chapter of The thaw and the first chapter of the next fic on the same day so expect it to be up this weekend. See ya homies!
And I hope the Ice King is creepy enough for you guys. I wanted him to be darker this time around but still a little, not goofy exactly but you know...I always thought his powers were limitless so if he were to actually use them properly he could be a huge threat.
Read and review!