A/N Get the body bags and deep cleaning materials… This is gonna be messy...
Ch. 13: Double Damage
Princess Bubblegum couldn't believe what was going on; the moment she heard the gates opened, dozens of Candy People were immediately swarming and taking over the floor, as she and Peppermint Butler made their way down to face the frightened townspeople.
"What the glob is going on around here?!" PB demanded an answer from at least one person.
"Princess, are you saying you don't know what's going on out there?!" exclaimed an astonished Starchy.
"Please answer her question," said Peppermint Butler, ignoring the donut's statement.
"Some Finn look-alike showed up and went on a killing spree!" Starchy bluntly answered.
"The Gumball Guardians couldn't stop him!" Lollipop Girl added, shocking both Princess Bubblegum and Peppermint Butler.
"And he's heading this way now!" Mr. Cupcake finished.
"Say WHAT?!" Bubblegum couldn't believe what she just heard. "Guards!"
On command, one of several dozen Banana Guards showed up, all lined up and ready for another set of commands from the princess.
"Go out there and deal with the problem this instant!"
"Right away, your majesty!" one of them spoke out, before all of them marched out of the castle to deal with this mysterious intruder. Almost a few seconds later, however, the sounds of groaning and screaming heard from outside, all crying out in pain from being sliced, splattered or both, causing the Candy People to panic even more.
"Guards, block the door!" PB commanded, as another set showed up, carrying any objects with them towards the main entrance, piling all of them until it reached the ceiling.
"Are you sure that's going to work?" Peppermint Butler asked Bubblegum.
"Honestly, I'm not so sure," Princess Bubblegum admitted, as she and everyone else embraced for the inevitable.
For a moment, silence filled up the room, as no one made a single sound. Then, they heard banging on the main entrance, as the Candy People panicked, with some heading upstairs for safety, while Princess Bubblegum looked on horror.
"Everyone, up to the towers!" Bubblegum ordered, leading most of the frightened citizens upstairs, just as the main entrance broke down to reveal a deranged Finn look-alike.
"Here's Finnie!" Nega-Finn mockingly greeted everyone, before he stabbed the nearest Candy Person.
The Ice King flew to Princess Bubblegum's castle as much as his beard could take him, but he was starting to feel tired out. Even so, he had no time for rest, as all he could think of was preventing another Princess death from the hands of Finn's crazy doppelgänger.
'You can do it, man!' the Ice King thought to himself. 'Once you saved PB, perhaps she'll finally love me back!'
"Simon, wait up!" the Ice King stopped in mid-air to turn around to see Marceline, but was more shock to see Finn coming along with her.
"Marcy, what's going on? How did you managed to convince Mr. Doom and Gloom to help us?" asked the Ice King.
"I'll explain everything later, Simon. Right now, we need to save Bonnie from Nega-Finn," Marceline informed her friend.
"I was like twenty steps ahead of you but you held me up!" the Ice King said as he continued on, as Marceline and Finn sprinted towards to Princess Bubblegum's castle once more, but upon getting a full glimpse at their destination, the trio stopped in their tracks at the horrific scene: hundreds, if not in the thousands, of dead Candy People scattered all over the place, body parts spread like broken twigs and the Banana Guards had been hacked, slashed and even splattered. There was no doubt in their mind that Nega-Finn had already beaten them to the punch.
"Damn it, we got here too late!" the Ice King cursed.
"We still have enough time, Simon…" Marceline began her explanation. "Bonnie might still be alive and we could catch up with Nega-Finn before she became his latest casualty." Marcy then turned her attention to Finn, "Are you ready?"
Finn didn't answer her question right away and instead, simply unsheathed his sword from his backpack, arming himself to face his evil self.
"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," the Ice King simply stated. "Now c'mon, we got a princess to save!"
With those words spoken, the trio cautiously made their way inside the castle, their guards raised up, as they readied themselves for whatever onslaught Nega-Finn had in stored for them.
Princess Bubblegum lead her people to what she prayed would be a safe haven for them from the wrath of the Finn look-alike, who had managed to force his way into her castle. But with each step she made, the once large group was slowly starting to diminish, as she could hear their screams of agony from behind, being slaughtered like lambs, as well as the manic screaming of a raving lunatic who clearly had no empathy of his actions. After what felt like a very long time, she finally made it to the top of the tower with the remaining survivors, quickly blocking the door with whatever was moveable for reinforcement, before she backed away from the door and positioned herself in a fetal position.
"Milady, are you alright?" Peppermint Butler asked worriedly.
"...No, I'm not," PB admitted, her voice trembled with fear. "Some ruler I turned out to be. Many people got killed on their way here and I couldn't do anything about it. Even now, that…that monster is heading right here and it's going to be a matter of time before all of us are killed and for once, I have no idea on how to handle a situation like this."
"Princess, what's done is done," said Peppermint Butler. "I know that you're afraid but so are we but your life is more valuable than mine. Now go."
"T-Thanks Peppermint Butler," Princess Bubblegum's nerves calmed down, but not enough, as she still felt fear flowing through her body. But before she could say another word to her faithful butler, she was cut off by the sound of several knockings.
'Can Starchy come out and play?" Nega-Finn sarcastically asked.
"G-Go away, you freak! J-Just leave us alone!" Starchy nervously but bluntly shouted.
"I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," Nega-Finn nonchalantly spoke.
Suddenly, the banging on the door got much louder than before, each force causing the bolt to go loose, as everyone cowered in fear, uncertain of what fate awaited for them. Eventually, another bang on the door caused it to completely break down, along with the objects that previously blocked it, as Nega-Finn slowly approached the group, dragging his now blood-coated sword on the floor.
"So, who has the honor of becoming my next victim?" Nega-Finn then looked at the remaining survivors, before raising his sword. "Ernie, menial, money...you," Nega-Finn's sword laid on a Gumdrop Guy, who began to panic and wailed like mad. Unfazed by his reaction, Nega-Finn raised his sword and is about to fatally strike his victim down until…
"Stand back, you fiend!" Peppermint Butler suddenly spoke, as he leaped into the air and kicked Nega-Finn to the wall, as he positioned himself in a fighting pose. "You will not lay another hand on them!"
"Peppermint Butler, what are you doing?!" Bubblegum demanded.
"I'm going to hold him off as much as I can, milady. Now go and lead everyone else out of here!" Peppermint Butler ordered.
Sighing with reluctance, PB led the small group out of the tower for another safe place, leaving just Peppermint Butler and Nega-Finn in the tower alone.
"Very noble of you, Jeeves," Nega-Finn remarked. "That won't stop me from killing 'Your Majesty'."
"If I'm going to die, I'll die with no regrets," Peppermint Butler stated. "As long as Bubblegum is safe, that's all matters."
"Then consider those to be your last words!" Nega-Finn then picked up his sword, before he and Peppermint Butler ran towards each other to fight to the death.
Bonnie couldn't believe that she had to leave her faithful servant behind so he can fight that menace, but at the same time, he knew what he was doing and wasn't going to let his sacrifice be in vain. She continued to lead the small group back to the stairs, intending to head to the dungeon once they reached the main floor. But just as she was about to reach her destination, something, or someone, flew right towards her and giving her a big hug.
"Princess Bubblegum, you're safe!" Bubblegum recognized an all-too familiar voice and for once, she was actually happy to see the Ice King, despite giving her a crushing hug. "Are you safe?! Did you have a scratch?! Is there anything that I can-?"
"I...can't...breath!" PB barely managed to say her words loud enough for the Ice King to hear her.
"Oh, my bad," the Ice King apologized, as he lets her go and dusted her off as well.
"Bonnie, are you alright?" Marceline asked out loud, as she and Finn were able to catch up with their friend.
"Marceline, what are you doing here?" Princess Bubblegum asked, before she spotted someone she thought she never saw again. "Finn, is that you?" she simply asked incredulous. She was surprise to see him in here after their last conversation with each other.
"Bubblegum, you're safe now," Finn replied in a monotone voice, much to her shock.
"Marcy, why is Finn acting like that?" asked PB.
Marceline sighed heavily and took a deep breath, explaining to Princess Bubblegum of how Finn accidentally created an evil clone and how it took his emotions along with it, along with the clone's path of destruction. After what felt like hours, PB looked at Finn with open disbelief.
"I can't believe something like that happened in one night," she finally spoke.
"So do you know a way of defeating Nega-Finn?" asked Marceline, prompting Bubblegum to ponder for a moment; after much deep thought, an answer seemed to have finally come to the princess.
"I think I know how to stop him, but first, let me lead my people to safety and I'll be back the solution, while you, Finn and the Ice King hold Nega-Finn off until then."
The trio understood her decision, as they step aside to allow Bubblegum to secure the group's safety, while they head up to the tower to halt the clone's madness once and for all.
Peppermint Butler was doing all he can to stop Nega-Finn in his tracks, but he proved to be a much deadlier opponent than he thought; he swung his sword like a maniac but with precision and was able to land a few blow at him. Peppermint Butler, however, didn't back down so easily and managed to land a few punches and kicks, but this had little effect on his opponent.
"That tickles, you know," Nega-Finn dismissed his injuries, as he got up from the floor.
"I won't stop...no matter what…" Peppermint Butler began, as he breathed heavily. "You will not...lay a finger...on the princess...even if I-"
Peppermint Butler was unable to finish his words, as he felt a sharp object suddenly thrust into his body, before the life in him vanished, as Nega-Finn forcefully thrust his sword out of the butler's body and kicked his corpse to the side.
"You talk too much," Nega-Finn mockingly spoke. "If you don't mind, I have a princess to kill."
"You won't be killing any more princesses!" Nega-Finn turned around and saw the Ice King, Marceline and of all people, his pathetic self.
"Look who the cat finally dragged in," Nega-Finn joked. "You think you dopes can stop me?"
"You're not going to harm no one anymore!" Marceline declared out loud
"You're reign of terror ends now," despite the deadpan tone in his voice, Finn gripped his sword tightly and put himself in a battle stance.
"Suit yourself then," Nega-Finn simply said, before Finn, Marceline and the Ice King charged right towards him.
Anticipating such an obvious move, however, Nega-Finn swung his sword, unleashing a shockwave that send Marcy, Finn and the Ice King to the wall. Despite this, the trio barely managed to avoid a fatal strike from Nega-Finn, as the Ice King shot some ice projectiles at him. The projectiles, however, did little to slow him down.
"Is that the best you got, Simon?" Nega-Finn asked like it was nothing.
After shrugging off some of the ice from his body, Nega-Finn dashed right towards the Ice King, intending to plunge his sword at his heart, only to be unexpectedly blocked by Finn's own sword.
"Looks like you still have some fight in you," Nega-Finn noted. "But that still won't be enough to stop me."
"I'll be the judge of that," Finn replied.
Soon, the two Finns' swords clashed at one another, each trying to land a blow on the other, as sparks fly through each contact. No matter how many moves they made, neither Finns couldn't past each other's own defense and it felt like an eternity, before Finn managed to make a single swipe at Nega-Finn's face, as it slightly bled, much to the latter's amusement, as a similar injury formed on Finn's face.
"That's good, but not good enough!" Nega-Finn gloated.
Nega-Finn then violently swung his sword like mad, forcing Finn to repeatedly raise his sword for defense against his clone's manic move. It wasn't simple as he thought; however, as Nega-Finn managed to leave a few slash on Finn's body, despite the latter's best effort, unaware that the same injuries were forming on Nega-Finn himself.
"Face it Finnie boy, you have no chance of stopping me!" Nega-Finn exclaimed, as he continued on with his wild swordsmanship.
Finn, meanwhile, continued to block his evil counterpart's insane move, all the while trying to figure out a way to counter Nega-Finn. At the rate he's going, it'll be a matter of seconds before he became another of his copycat's list of casualty.
"Don't worry Finn, I got this!" Marceline suddenly spoke, as she swooped right at Nega-Finn, knocking him to the nearest wall, while Finn managed to catch his breath after one too many blockings, before he felt pain in his chest and collapsed to his knees.
"Yo buddy, how are you feeling?" the Ice King asked, as he approached the hero with concern.
"I'm good," Finn insisted, despite the pain he suddenly felt for an unknown reason, as he got up and face Marceline. "Thanks for the help."
"Don't mention it," Marceline insisted, before she became curious. "What happened back there?"
Before she could get an answer, she and her friends turned around to face Nega-Finn, who was starting to get up from Marcy's surprised attack.
"Aren't we having a lovely moment," Nega-Finn spoke in a mockingly sweet tone. "It sickens me so much. I'm going to enjoy slaying you all."
"Like we're going down that easy," the Ice King retorted, his hands glowing with magic.
"No matter what you do, we'll just keep coming right at you," Marceline added.
"Even if it cost us our lives," Finn finished.
"I'll send you goons to hell in a matter of seconds. Tell Death that I said hi," Nega-Finn darkly joked, before all four rushed right at each other, determined to find out who will emerged victorious and who shall be slayed.
After making sure that the remaining survivors were safe and secured in the dungeon, Princess Bubblegum immediately went into her labs and worked on her newest idea without a second thought. She didn't know how long her friends can slow down Nega-Finn, but she needed enough time to create the only device that could stop the doppelgänger once and for all.
'Alright Bonnibel, you can do this...' PB thought, as she continued to work on her project like mad. 'It's been almost half an hour and I only got one shot with this.'
Despite feeling exhausted, Bubblegum nevertheless persevere, checking her notes twice and making a few changes with her idea. After many exhausting minutes, the tired princess made one more change until she was satisfied how her newest project turned out: a firearm in the form of a ray gun.
"Eureka! I finally did it!" PB shouted, before she became serious. "I really hope this works because it may be our last chance to stop that monster. Don't worry you guys, I'm on my way and I'm going to end this now!"
With that in mind, Bubblegum, armed with her ray gun, immediately rushed out of her lab, as she made a mad dash to the tower, hoping that she wasn't too late to stop the madness.
The trio didn't know how long they were fighting Nega-Finn, but they were determined to stop him, no matter what. Just moments ago, the Ice King formed a barrier for him and his friends for protection to give them a fighting chance, while Finn dashed right towards him to stab him right through the heart. As expected, Nega-Finn blocked the move, before Marceline flew right at him knocking him down to the ground. It was also during their fight with Nega-Finn that, unbeknownst to them, Finn was also receiving the same injuries that Nega-Finn was, as the same pain in his chest reappeared with twice the force, as he clutched it and gasped in pain, much to his friends' shock. Nega-Finn saw this and figured out something crazy.
"So that's how it works, huh?" Nega-Finn said as he realized that all damage dealt to him is also dealt to Finn. While that means he can't kill Finn himself, his friends can't kill him.
"Dude, are you alright?!" the Ice King asked, as he pick Finn by his side.
"Finn, what's going on?" asked Marceline.
"I...I don't know," Finn replied. Despite his monotone voice, he was clearly in pain
"What's wrong, Finn? Are you hurting?" Nega-Finn jokingly asked, having got up from the floor. "Here, let me help you!"
Much to their surprise, Nega-Finn raised his fist and promptly punched himself; suddenly, Finn felt something hard smacking his face, as he fell down to the floor. Finn, now confused about what was going on, tried to get up again but just then Nega-Finn punched himself again, sending his counterpart to the floor in pain. It didn't take too long for the duo to realize what's going on.
"Stop it!" Marceline demanded, preparing herself to leap right at Nega-Finn, before the Ice King put his hand on her shoulder.
"Whoa there, Marcy. If you attack him, you'll harm Finn too," he pointed out.
"And how are we supposed to stop him?" Marceline questioned her friend.
Their brief argument was stopped by Finn moaning in pain, as the two saw him badly injured: his face was totally bruised up, his body had slash marks from head to toe and he could barely stand up. Remarkably, he was still alive, as Finn stared at his counterpart. Just then, a certain princess showed up, having finally arrived just in time.
"I'm sorry I'm late, everyone," Princess Bubblegum apologized. "I finally found a way to…" she stopped in mid-sentence when she saw a beaten Finn, before she saw Nega-Finn with some blood on his fist.
'It's now or never!' PB thought and immediately raised her ray gun and shoot both Finn and Nega-Finn; before everyone knew it, the two are drawn towards together, as Nega-Finn fought with all of his might to free him from the pull of the fusion but to no avail.
"What is this, you witch?!" Nega-Finn demanded, as he continued to struggle.
"As you can see, you and Finn are going to be reemerged into one being again…" Bubblegum explained. "The ray gun was created specifically to make sure you'll never escape from Finn ever again."
"This isn't over!" Nega-Finn threatened, before he and Finn made contact, as a light enveloped the two, before they slowly became whole, leaving just Finn alone on the ground, to everyone's relief.
"Finn, thank goodness you're alright!" Marceline, along with the Ice King and Princess Bubblegum, approached the hero, as he managed to get up on his two feet.
"Guys, I feel like myself again," Finn said, his tone much happier.
"For a moment, we thought you were going to croak!" the Ice King remarked.
"I thought so too," Finn admitted, before he turned to face PB, becoming guilty suddenly. "Bubblegum, about what happened the other night, that wasn't very cool of me to say that. I should have accepted your apology instead of-"
"It's alright Finn. Apology accepted," Bubblegum insisted. Finn was surprised to hear this, but touched at the same time.
"Thanks PB," Finn simply said, before he faced Marceline. "I want to thank you for everything. You've been at my side and wanted to help me, ever if I didn't ask for it."
"No sweat, Finn. That's what friends do," Marceline assured him.
"Now that crazy night is over, I say we should celebrate and have a good-" before the Ice King could finished his words, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, much to his and the girls' shock, as all three turned to see a cruel smile forming on Finn's face.
"Like I said, this isn't over," Nega-Finn spoke.
"Didn't see that one coming," was the last thing the Ice King said, before he collapsed to the floor.
"SIMON!" Marceline shouted, devastated to see his death, before a sword was pointed right at her.
"You missed him already? Good, because you'll join him now!" Nega-Finn declared.
But as he moved to end Marceline and Bubblegum, his arm was suddenly stopped in mid-air, much to his confusion. Then, his other arm grabbed his hand and his legs began to walk away from Marceline.
"No! There will be no more killing this time!" Finn shouted, struggling to control his body.
"Big words from a crybaby," Nega-Finn mocked his counterpart. "No matter what you do, I will always come back."
"You've caused so much pain and misery. I should have never left you go unchecked!" Finn argued back.
"What are you going to do about it?" Nega-Finn asked with indifference.
"Like this!" before Bubblegum and Marceline knew what was happening, Finn plunged his own sword into his chest.
"So… very… close…" Nega-Finn muttered as Finn gained control for what time he had left.
"Finn, NO!" Marceline shouted, as she and PB rushed towards him. "Not you too! Please don't die on us like this!"
"I'm...sorry…" Finn meekly apologized, coughing up more blood before he gave her a smile. "Looks like...this is it."
"Don't say that! You'll make it out!" Bubblegum pleaded, while she tried to fight back her tears.
"It's...alright PB. I'll be...fine," Finn insisted, as he could feel his life fading away. "It was...my fault...that I allowed...my grudge…to take control...of my life."
"Finn, it wasn't your fault," Marceline tearfully insisted.
"When Flame Princess….died...I thought life...was worth nothing…" Finn began. "But now...I realized...there was...something worth…living for…" he turned to face Marceline and smiled right at her. "It was you...it was...always has been."
"Finn…" was all Marceline could say, unable to form a complete sentence.
"I'm sorry...I didn't...noticed this sooner. I wish...we could...have more time...together," Finn managed to finish his sentence before his body went limp, the energy from within gone, as Marceline and Princess Bubblegum wept for the fallen hero, who gave up his own life to stop a dangerous threat.
A/N The fighting is done. Next chapter we wrap up loose ends and the epilogue will be released by the end of the month though from the lack of response from the last chapter, it appears no one really cares except for like two people. Who knows; more people may care but if I don't hear anything, how am I supposed to know? No one tells me anything.
Till next time, Sal out.