Chapter 21: A Heroes Duty - Part 1
Finn felt light as air. His pains had vanished, and his consciousness was coming back to him. He looked himself over and noticed that he was looking through himself like he had been using the ankh, but the problem he then noticed was that he didn't have the ankh. All but one of his items had been taken, which was the orange eye that had become fused with him, so it was not able to be removed.
"Finn the Human… welcome…" he then heard, looking over to see Death sitting nearby. He was in his castle. Finn couldn't remember being brought there. "Death? H-how did I get here?" he hesitantly asked. The grim reaper himself just laughed at his question. "What do you think? It's our agreement. You died, and now it's time for my half of the deal," he said, beginning to approach him, his beady yellow eyes turning red. Finn recalled his agonizing death, and did not enjoy thinking back on it. "Oh yeah… our deal…" he muttered. "Remember. You have one day to get Psiquico's crystal orb for me, and I'd suggest you hurry. You've been dead for three days," Death said, snapping his fingers. Finn saw his ghostly body receive a red aura around it before he let out a loud scream, while beginning to fly towards the sky of the Land of the Dead, slowly vanishing.
Finn woke up, gasping, looking over his body. All of his injuries were replaced with scars. He growled, forcing himself to his feet, his orange and blue eyes piercing the darkness of the final temple in anger. He found himself in a pool of his old blood. The bridge was still up, so he crossed it, glaring over at the lever that had a dark aura around it. "You forgot one thing, Dinn," Finn smirked, ripping the lever out. It turned back into its staff form, glad that not every item he had had been stolen, but he was terrified to imagine the damage done in three days while he was unconscious. "I gotta get home," he told himself while beginning to escape from darkness that shrouded the temple. He had much worse things to fear than the darkness now.
Finn ran across the Land of Ooo. It was raining, the sun completely blocked by the clouds. The enraged Finn had a grin across his face. "I should've learned this a long time ago. I have a moral compass, and keeping it pointing towards good is hard," he thought, unable to believe how he used to be finding it actually funny, thinking back on how upset he was when he injured the Ice King, but he didn't care. Finn saw his house in the near distance. He ran up to the door and banged on it frantically until the door opened on its own.
"Jake!" Finn called out while in the treasure room that was just after the front door. He was wondering where his older brother was. The whole house was empty, but Finn noticed one of the cushions on their couch shaking violently. He went over and removed it. Under it was a cowering BMO. "BMO? …dude, why are you hiding?" Finn asked the little animate console.
"AH! Don't hurt me!" BMO begged, still terrified. "It's me, Finn. What's going on? Where's Jake?" Finn questioned, picking him up. "Y-you were here earlier. You tried attacking Jake, and some girl you were with lit the treefort on fire," he explained what had happened. Finn didn't notice it until now. The ceiling was charred black. Finn gritted his teeth, realizing what had really been going on. "BMO, listen. That was a fake. I need to call PB," he said, putting him down after reassuring him that he was no threat.
Finn didn't hesitate to pick up the phone and try calling Princess Bubblegum. "Come on… come on…" he waited impatiently, just hearing a faint ring in his ear. "H-hello?" Princess Bubblegum finally answered. He was relieved. "Peebs, it's me. Have you seen me at all lately?" the teenage boy tried to get information. "Finn? What…? The Candy Kingdom is being ruined… by you!" she said in an upset tone. Finn could hear a loud rumbling sound come from the background of her phone, knowing that she was more than likely hiding in one of the many castles hidden rooms to stay safe. "No, PB. You and the others are mistaken. That's a dumb clone. Listen, I'm on my way. Just stay safe," he warned her before hanging up and making his way back down into the treasure chamber.
Finn frantically looked around the treasure chamber. He had no spare weaponry lying around that he could use. He remembered him and his older brother getting overstocked with the weaponry and had decided to sell them all. He never expected it to come back to bite him in the neck. He couldn't afford to waste time, and so knew that his only weapon he had was now his hands, and the morphing staff on his back, although it couldn't turn into other forms of weaponry for an unknown reason. He presumed it could only change into natural objects. After this, he set off to the Candy Kingdom with a spark to his spirit that was ready to rip his dark doppelganger Dinn to shreds.
Finn ran like his life depended on it. Moments later, he could see smoke in the distance. "Oh, glob… that's coming from the Candy Kingdom!" he shouted to himself in fear, not giving his body any rest after all he had been through. His quest wasn't finished yet. He had to get into that kingdom and set everything right.
The entrance to the Candy Kingdom was a wreck. The gate was in pieces as well, and the guards were badly injured and rendered unconscious. Normally he would help the injured, but he knew that stopping the evil duo behind this was the best option available. A loud strike of thunder came towards the center of town.
Most of the buildings were damaged. Dozens of the candy citizens were fleeing. They just ran from Finn right after they saw him, and they couldn't be answered. Finn came upon a horrid sight in the town square where a smashed fountain lay on the middle of it. His dark doppelganger was seen, holding Jake up by the throat, holding their father's sword in his other hand. This was exactly like in the vision that Psiquico had shared, a destroyed candy kingdom and his brother on the verge of death.
"STOP!" Finn shrieked, breaking into the scene and whacking Dark Finn's back with his staff. Jake fell on the ground, unconscious from the injuries that he received. "Ah, you're alive? How cute," Psiquico said, mocking how he attempted to continue playing hero. Her crystal ball had multiple colors on it. She had the crystals fused with it. Finn got ready for this battle, hoping that it was the last one.
End of Chapter 21