A/N: Hope everyone is having a great New Years :3 I think this chapter came out pretty good and the story should be more interesting now that it is no longer basically a Princess Bubblegum monologue. I believe I kept them both in character, but feel free to critique, review or whatever! Thanks and enjoy


Chapter 11: Chewed

The yellow mud that encrusted Bubblegum's sleeve crackled softly as the clouds rolled over the moon, concealing its silvery glow once again. Frozen, her shoulders slumped forward and back bent, the princess could not breathe. The sound of rushing blood filled her head as her clammy fingers brushed the smooth surface of her pack's purple strap. Run! Do something! Glob, at least say something! Teeth clicked together as she struggled to regain movement in her body. Biting the inside of her lip, the princess allowed her arm to drop from the strap and straightened her spine, standing fully. Occasionally, in moments of great stress, if Bubblegum was lucky her emotional mind would simply- deactivate? Well, however one would describe it, her logical side would take over, making her seem unaffected or invincible to whoever stressed her. This often happened around the more pushy diplomats. The downfall to this was that it only occurred in face-to-face interactions, alone anxiety was a flame that could easily melt her into a puddle of liquefied sugar and burn her into nothing. But anyway, the princess turned slowly, her expression seemingly flat and tendons unstrained.

"So, what do you intend to do with such information?" Her mouth spoke unwavering and eyes gleaming powerfully in the dim light.

In the darkness, the creature's brows raised and her eyes narrowed their irises, appearing to glow emerald. The being took in the question, examining it, visibly surprised. Scanning the princess again head to toe, the corners of her lips turned up revealing large pointed canines. Bobbing in a manner that reminded Bubblegum of a rubber duck on bathwater, the grey female laughed noisily with no restraint. Her jet-black locks seemed to have a similar reaction, curling and swaying excitedly around her shoulders and back again. The pink monarch felt heat rise into her cheeks, her logical wall crumbling at a record pace though her expression revealed almost nothing of her discomfort. She felt exposed and strange, like all of this had once happened before, but was sure it had not.

"What am I going to do…? I don't know. What should I do?" she said her floating form lounging in the air and mouth wide with a mocking, almost bitter grin.

The candy princess, a bit flustered, did not answer immediately, but instead stood blankly in front of the other. Her left hand found its way into the damp hoodies pocket and fingers rediscovered the rough rusted metal. Regaining some strength from its comfort, Bubblegum turned quickly, recovering her backpack and swinging it over her shoulders defiantly.

"I really don't have time to play games with you…whatever you are. So if you don't mind, I'll be leaving." Her words came out like vomit, sickly unexpected and tasting of bile.

Chuckling sourly under her breath, the imp-like female gazed down at the princess's bare foot as the pink girl spoke her words, hard and unemotional. Black lashes raised to a muddy candy face as the grey creature observed silently, her irritation building. Her rounded lips parted to reveal white teeth, which glistened in the clouded light before she spoke.

"You'd think that the so called "perfect" Candy Kingdom would have a smarter princess. Not some bull gunk, bratty kid who is really nothing compared to..." Her face had started with a harsh sneer, but flashed that same sad look from before as her words dried up without finish. Chuckling resentfully under her breath, her lips bowed up once again, "Honestly I'd normally leave someone like you to fend for yourself, cause ya know, whywolves gotta eat too, but since what's left of my conscience wont let me, you'll have to come with me…at least until I figure out what to do with you."

Bubblegum stood motionless, staring at the other's vexed expression as the wind blew, causing the branches over-head to groan as they brushed against each other. Muddy earth formed tightly around the pads of her pink foot, and the humid air felt too thick to swallow. Truly she did not know how to respond to the creature Going with would be not only idiotic, but basically suicidal. Rubbing the roughness of the charm between her thumb and forefinger, she attempted to take apart the situation and assess her options. She was sure her conversational skills would not aid her, but also knew she would be unable to physically escape the levitating female. The princess would have to be more cunning to out-smart this being. She would, in the midst of strained thought, the floating creature seemed to flicker and with the blink of the eye disappeared completely. Spinning around, the princess looked up, but found herself alone among the upright stones. Tensing veins became easily visible from her wrists and neck while her eyes grew round, wide and unblinking. What the actual cabbage? Where did that thing go? She stood still, unwavering; this was a trick of some sort, obviously. That goblin girl wanted her reaction, wanted her- shrieking a high-pitched note, Bubblegum was lifted up into the air. The straps of her pack pulling her up and out of the mist by her armpits as she flailed in alarm.

"Wha- Let me down at once!" Yelling her voice came out panicked, and with no response she went on, her vocals loud but growing hoarse "I will have you know I am a princess! And what you're doing now is- is an assault against the Candy Kingdom itself! It's- it's-!"

"Oh shut you're trap. Glob, I told you I know who you are, Bonnibel Bubblegum, so called 'princess' of the Candy Kingdom…Ffft whatever that means anyway." Sighing in annoyance, the creature continued, her hand effortlessly gripping the hooking-loop of the bag from over her right shoulder and setting them then back-to-back, "Just be still or I will drop you."

The princess's body stiffened quite quickly after that comment as she felt the creature shift her body up to rest her weight on her back, inclining forward. Like Bubblegum's limbs, her lips fell silent formed as a tight line on her face as she felt the being below her glide slowly. They were not high above the ground (only just above the graves), but slipping out from her packs straps was not a possibility. Not only was all of her survival gear in the purple backpack, but also the book of poems and notes including the map that guided her travels. The creature paused for a moment, muttering incoherently to herself under her breath and swaying slightly before beginning to ascend upward. From her peripheral vision, the candy teen saw the glint of what she supposed the being had stopped for. Her skin tingled and mouth grew dry, because to Bubblegum's right a pale grey hand below held what appeared to be an enormous ruby-ax with great ease as if it weighed nothing at all. She was chewed for sure. There was no escape, this thing was going to take her back to it's den, cut her up and- and…No…no. She needed to stay calm and logical, there was always some kind of solution. She just needed to treat this situation as if it were an experiment…with extremely dangerous chemicals.

Attempting to shut off her emotions once again, she focused on her breath and the realities of her situation. So she was caught and for now there was nothing she could do about it without excessive injury or outright killing herself. Feeling the sticky air growing slightly colder and damper, a thought struck her. How in the name of Glob Almighty did this creature know her full title? Now, if this thing had been from the Candy Kingdom she wouldn't have questioned it at all, but the fact that this nightcrawler knew her full name really gave her chills. She had never been to a realm with beings such as this, so the familiarity of her name seemed odd. Though the Candy Kingdom was powerful and well known, it was possible it was not so strange at all. Whatever the reason, there was more important things at stake, such as not getting eaten by this thing.

With the veined trees branches passing her and the little of the earth she could still see becoming distant, her eyes faced yet again a stormy inky sky. Little to almost no light came through the clouds, which had gathered tightly again with the thunder's faint growls budding in strength and growing closer. This seemed to have no effect on the flying being, who continued soaring up at a slight incline. Wind whipped by as the pressure change popped Bubblegum's ears, her heart thumping loudly in her chest and arms crossing tightly to grasp the bag's fastenings with her opposite hands. Oh, stale gum! They were high above the landscape (at least one hundred and fifty feet), which appeared now as a void beneath. Her legs dangled like a rag doll and occasionally made contact with the grey skinned girl's underneath. Terrified of falling, she clung her nails down, digging deep into the fabric of the straps while her head swam. Higher and higher they went, the oxygen was getting thin, she was sure of it. She had read about air qualities at such heights, but now could not seem to remember what she had studied. It seemed sudden, but after a good ten minutes they were descending, the storm enraged with their passage. Walls of water crashed down as she felt the grey female's feet hit the earth with a single swinging motion. Heaving, her chest fell and rose rapidly. She saw only black, and her body felt like her favorite food- cooked spaghetti noodles. How could she let this happen? Bubblegum was in an extremely precarious state and she had allowed herself to become incapacitated at the mercy of this- goblin thing! Knowing her body had slipped from the others back, she felt the wetness of the earth meet her skin. She heard a muffled curse and was sure she had been lifted. The scent of smoky incense pressed her as she felt the environment change from wet to dry. Although she could not see, and hearing was becoming a challenge, the oxygen-deprived princess caught a single phrase from the creature as her legs swayed loosely:

"…this would've never happened with…"

Darkness took her, as the sky grew frustrated crying out long, lonely notes in anguished misunderstanding as the princess fell limp.