Chapter 54: K.I.A.
A large crash vibrated throughout the ground, shooting chunks of garbage and waste all over, which eventually came down and splashed into the shallow water, forming a plethora of chaotic ripples that now bore the soaked trash in their wake.
Upon the mound of debris, the demon cat groaned and slowly lifted himself out of the impression resulted by his impact. A darkened bruise was now present on his cheek, signifying the fact that he was recently slugged in the face by a strong force. That strong force was now running towards the recovering feline, aiming to finish the vile beast with a second strike.
Unfortunately, Susan's attack missed due to the cat's sudden burst of agility, causing him to roll to the side as the woman's fist smashed into the garbage where he once lay. The humanoid immediately changed directions and aimed for another hit, but was left with nothing but empty space.
"What?" the lady stated with confusion.
Susan swung her head all around, trying to spot the demonic enemy. His laugh briefly echoed around the room.
"Careful, Susan, he turned invisible again!"
PB was doing her best to aid the humanoid with the fight, observing whatever she could though her tear-soaked eyes. Meanwhile, the powerfully-built woman had stopped her pointless gazing and closed her eyes, staying completely silent as her friends watched on in shock.
"What are you doing?! He'll take you out if you stop moving!" Jake shouted, sniffling in between the sentences.
The lady didn't listen, instead choosing to remain in her meditative stance while the demon cat's cackle continued to reverberate off all the walls.
"Hm, I find it difficult to analyze your fighting style. Rest assured though, soon I will learn all there is to know about ripping out your organs, one at a time."
The chilling comment had no effect on Strong, who was still as a statue. The room grew quiet again as the others went through an agonizing wait, desperate to see what their friend was trying to do. Hopefully, it wasn't getting herself killed.
Soft, rhythmic splashes began to quietly fill the empty air, adding a grave sense of terror to those still imprisoned, remembering the result of the cat's last sneak attack. The eyes of the Ooocians tore back and forth, unable to decided what to stare at; the bloody and traumatized body of Finn, or the completely defenseless Susan standing in the middle of a wide open space.
The splashes continued, neither heightening nor lowering in volume, yet creating a delusional atmosphere of fear and anxiety. In an instant, the sounds stopped, leaving only utter silence once more.
Susan flashed her eyes open, immediately striking a hand forward with two fingers sticking out. A pained yelp was heard as the woman's digits hit home on what seemed to be thin air. However, once a large splash materialized with no apparent object having caused it, it was clear that the translucent cat had been snuffed out.
The demonic beast rematerialized, covering his eyes with his paws as they released pained tears. Not wasting a second, Susan charged forward and sent the monster a mighty kick to the gut, knocking the air out of him and flinging him straight into the hard stone wall. A second yowl echoed in the room as the beast fell back into water, dazed and noticeably injured.
"I live down here for long time. No one know the sounds of water better than me."
Sure that the foe offered no more resistance, Susan lowered her guard and looked back over to where Finn was sprawled out on the floor. The humanoid began running over to him, desperate to give some help, but was caught off by a massive object tackling her to the side. A raging growl filled the air as the demon cat's now blood-red eyes glared deeply into Susan's, who was stunned by the sudden comeback.
"If I can't perform a silent kill, then I'll simply tear you to shreds head-on!"
The beast fired its gaping jaws at Susan's head, prepared to end the struggle. Luckily, she was able to block the critical damage with her arm, letting out a scream as the sharp teeth dug into her skin, trickling blood at a fast pace. Ignoring the failure of the intended result, the cat used his powerful neck to swing the woman up and over, releasing her from his clamped jaw and sending her sailing many feet, right into a pile of metal scraps.
The jagged edges of the material gave Susan further cuts along her back and arms, but she held in the urge to groan painfully and set her gaze upon the charging feline. The beast pounced, extracting his claws and ready to peel the humanoid's skin off. Thinking quickly, Susan grabbed two nearby pieces of metal scrap and used them to block both of the cat's strikes.
She used all her strength to hold back the increasing force the monster exerted, who was trying his best to reach the woman's neckline with his snapping jaws. As spit rained onto Susan's face, she grinded her teeth and put one final effort into shoving the foe off of her. The push succeeded, but only allowed the cat to take a swift swipe at her before she could dodge.
A bad cut was now present on Susie's shoulder, but she once again held in the urge to shout and looked over at the fallen hero, still motionless on the ground.
Need to get to Finn. Have to finish this, fast.
Recovering from the strike, the humanoid rushed at the demon, who was legitimately surprised when she head-bashed him. The beast cried out and staggered back, delivering him within range of a mountain of garbage. Susan quickly grabbed a metal rod lying nearby and aimed it at a chandelier hanging precariously above the towering pile of trash. The demon cat saw her intent and laughed, although was still a bit dizzy.
"Ha! You have no idea if that will work!"
The woman narrowed her eyes at the feline and drew her arm back.
"But neither do you!"
The demonic beast's eyes went wide, unable to move as Susan hurled the pole at the rusty chain holding the decorative light source and snapped its support instantly. The heavy iron object tumbled right onto the peak of the debris pile, immediately disturbing its stability and sending a deep rumbling throughout. Rapidly, this progressed into an avalanche of massive metal components that rained down upon the disoriented demon cat.
With one last indignant 'meow', the beast was buried beneath the scrapyard's worth of metallic odds and ends. The crash rang hard through the room, displacing every inch of water for a brief moment. Due to the dampness of the surroundings, there was no resulting dust cloud, right away revealing the effects of the cascade.
Susan stared blankly at the pileup, half expecting her foe to burst out at any given moment. Instead however, a red light began to grow from within the debris, rising to the surface and revealing itself to be Eternity's mark. The double arrow momentarily levitated above the fallen junk, then instantly dispersed, trickling shimmering crimson sparkles into the air which disappeared seconds later.
From back behind the cage, the gang cheered for Susan's triumph over the vicious monster. In response, she sprinted back to her friends and began methodically breaking the locks on their chains. One by one, each companion was freed, and one by one, they ran over to the fallen figure of their beloved human hero.
Once the whole group had been unshackled, Susan herself joined the others in kneeling by Finn's side. Fresh tears returned to their eyes as they saw the young man struggling to keep his lids from shutting. Blood was now even dripping from his mouth, stating the severity of damage to his body. Flame Princes was nearly crushing him in her arms as she bawled relentlessly into the boy's shoulder.
With a boost of desperate energy, Finn was miraculously able to lift his arm and place it on FP's cheek, drawing her attention as the others all held their gazes with hopeful thoughts. The human smiled at his beautiful lady as she peered despairingly into his pupils.
"I guess I've…(cough)…always been destined to die in your arms, huh? (cough)"
Each sputter sent specks of red fluid at the princes, but she could care less about her stained clothes. She shook her head while continuing to lock eyes with her hero.
"No! No! You can't say that, Finn!"
The human groaned a bit, resisting the pull of the afterlife as much as he could.
"I'm sorry, FP, but, the…(cough)…white light is already consuming my vision."
Flame Princess's eyes momentarily went wide before she slammed her forehead into Finn's, squeezing her eyes shut.
"No Glob damn it! You can't die! We've gotten past so much! It can't end here!"
As she was crying her heart out, the infinity symbol illuminated upon Finn's shoulder, catching everyone's eye. The blue rune was now blinking, in sync with the fading young man's heartbeat, which was dangerously slow. The same symbol on the others' bodies glowed as well, making them wonder what was happening.
At first, the gang thought the cosmic lock was defying the cycle of life, creating a miracle to bring Finn back from the brink of death. Sadly, this was beyond its power. After all, Infinity had but a fraction of its influence imbedded within each being touched by it. Without direct contact, its divinity was limited.
Finn gazed curiously at his platinum necklace, whose own corresponding symbol had also begun glowing. As the pulse of his insignia began to decelerate, his eyes grew more closed, causing further devastation to his beloved friends. Flame Princess was slowly shaking her head.
"You made a promise. And heroes keep their promises!"
Finn frowned at this, knowing it was true.
"I know. And, I'm sorry for that. But just look.(cough) Even Infinity is accepting that I won't make it."
The others placed their hands against the illuminating runes on their skin, immense sorrow plastered on each face. Finn noticed this through his fading vision and forced up one last smile.
"You guys can do it without me.(cough) Get back your powers, get to the Citadel, and…(cough)…find Infinity. You'll stop Astrum and everything will be…(cough, cough)…everything will be alright again."
FP's expression was now mixed with anger.
"You idiot! How could you possibly think things would be anywhere near alright?!"
She was tightly holding onto Finn's hand, where their rings were vibrantly releasing heat due to their proximity.
"You're leaving your friends, your brother, me. How could you let yourself do this?!"
The young man truly felt a sting of guilt, allowing such a tremendous loss. He blamed himself for creating so many bonds to the companions now circling him.
"I…(cough)…I can't defend myself. As much as it…(cough)…pains me to say."
FP placed her free hand over the hero's mouth.
"Don't talk. It'll just make it worse."
Finn used his remaining strength to push the girl's fingers aside, revealing his still present smile.
"It…(cough)…won't matter. Besides, I have two things to say."
He trailed his eyes to his other companions.
"Jake, PB, Marcy, Simon, (cough) Ferrum, Flambo, Susan. Family is made by love, not blood, and I've got a whole lot of it for all of you. Thank you, (cough) for all the adventures and good times."
The gang was beginning to run out of tears by this point, having already soaked their faces. Finn then shifted his gaze to Flame Princess, tightening his own grip on her hand.
"And of course, there's one girl (cough) who will always be my most treasured source of passion and beauty."
The fiery princess was shaking extensively.
"This has always been (cough) the last thing I wanted to say, in the event that I (cough) passed on."
He stared with gratitude into his lady's amber eyes.
"FP, I love you, with all my heart…"
His final burst of strength was used to lift up his head just enough to place his lips against the fire elemental's, who absentmindedly kissed him back, wishing that single moment could last forever, without the end result that was unavoidable.
One, single, soft splash barely made its way to the group's ears, as Finn's head fell back to the ground; his eyes closed, his mouth set in a peaceful smile. The first minute held nothing but silence, witnessing the gathered individuals, who all held the great hero of Ooo to such a high esteem, silently gaze upon the young man's departed life.
Before anything further could commence, Infinity's mark flashed once more, igniting an unknown force in Finn's necklace, causing it to shake about wildly around his neck. The symbol it contained glowed the same as its counterpart; only now, it began spreading its light to the rest of the human's body. With wide eyes, the group watched Finn's form disappear beneath a shroud of cobalt, hidden from view and undergoing a unprecedented metamorphosis.
The human's shape gradually dissolved, being drawn inwards by the energy twisted around it. Within another minute, the glow began subsiding, finally removing the basking light and unveiling the final fate of the young man's remains.
Flame Princess's trembling hand reached into the shallow waters and recovered Finn's necklace; the source into which his essence had been absorbed. Looking to a spot nearby, the fiery girl also recovered the other sole remainder of her love's existence: his ring. Gently, she slid the golden band onto her finger, right above the one that was hers.
The heartbroken elemental then placed her hands against her chest, the slivery necklace sandwiched in between. The others were all hanging their heads in silence, partially in disbelief, partially in acceptance. Red-eyed, they were all out of tears. Flame Princess was, surprisingly, the first one to get back to her feet. She kept her head low however, hiding her face beneath hanging bangs.
"That jerk…"
The gang looked at her in shock.
"What are you talking about?" Jake asked weakly.
FP finally raised her head, staring straight ahead with the others to her back.
"He didn't even give me the chance to answer back."
The princess swung around to her companions, an expression of mixed misery and determination on her face; an odd combination to say the least. She looked to the vampire among them.
"Marcy, how much do you know about the dead?"
The black-haired girl frowned as she briefly thought about it, then sighed.
"I know what you're thinking, but it won't work. We can't just jump into the Land of the Dead and try to get Finn. With Grod and Death temporarily out of commission, the dead worlds are likely in chaos. Souls are probably not where they should be, making a mess, and corrupting the delicate balance between our two realms."
She gazed at FP.
"There's nothing we can do, Flame Princess. I'm sorry."
The fire elemental shook her head and gripped the necklace she now wore.
"No. Infinity gave us something. We have to figure out what it is, but I'm sure it's a way to bring Finn back to us."
She closed her eyes, focusing on the young man's memory.
"He never gave up on me, ever. Now it's time I do the same for him."
The fiery girl looked upon the group once more, seeing them slightly conflicted about her ambitions.
"For us, he would do the same. Wouldn't he?"
It was more of a demand than a question, but she fully expected a response nonetheless. Slowly, Jake's expression shifted more toward the one FP currently had. He then nodded and took a step forward.
"I won't let the world take him too; it was already too much to let go of mom, dad, and Jermaine. I'm with you."
The rest progressively blossomed the same attitude, each in turn nodding to Flame Princess and taking stand next to Jake.
"We believe, FP. Let's go."
The fire elemental did not nod back to acknowledge the commitment, but rather kneeled down so that Flambo could hop onto her shoulder and turned around to lead the way out of the room. On the way, Jake snagged Finn's backpack and sword, which were lying in the corner of the cage. Nicely enough, there was a roll of bandages for Susan's injuries tucked inside. The girl was tough, but consistently losing blood would eventually bring even her down.
Once the gang had exited the trash infested cavern, a small portion of their pain drifted away.
A low and distorted groan was the first thing that came out of Finn's mouth as he felt himself lying on his back. The young man twitched his tendons and experimentally tried wiggling his fingers and toes. Everything worked. Next, he cracked open his eyes, easily, he might add.
"Ugh…what the junk happened?"
He raised his hand and held a hand to his temple, struck with a headache.
"Man, I'm feeling awful."
What the human wasn't expecting, was an answer back.
"Yeah, you should be."
Finn nearly jumped out of his skin as he gasped and darted his eyes all over. The blue orbs stopped their mad movements upon seeing a hooded figure standing right above the hero. From what he could tell, the being was around his height, so nothing too immediately threatening.
"Uh, who are you?"
The figure sighed and walked over to Finn's side, where it drew back a leg and proceeded to kick him in the kidney.
"Ow! What the-Ow! Will you stop-Ow! Cut it out! Ok, now you're really-Ow!"
The hooded one stopped its beating and switched to an angrier tone.
"Get up, dork!"
It was at this point that Finn recognized the voice as female. After a few more groans and a struggle to get to his feet, the hero reoriented himself and gazed at the scenery around him, which caused his eyes to grow wide.
"What in Gob's name!...oh, right. I died."
The familiar setting of the Land of the Dead was nothing too happy to look at. All over the realm was a wasteland of skeletons and wandering souls. On the other hand, it seemed that there was no one around besides him and this mysterious lady.
"So, where the math is everyone?"
He looked to the hooded figure, who shook her head.
"That's not important. What is important is telling me why you're here."
Finn raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, cuz I'm dead?"
He said it in an obvious tone, but the response from his new companion was not a pleasant one. She raised a hand and smacked him.
"Jeez, lady! What's with you and the hitting?"
The stranger crossed her arms.
"One, stop calling me 'lady', I'm technically your age. Two, that's how I do things around here. And three, stop being a smart-alek. I know you died, what I'm asking is why you allowed yourself to."
Finn was confused.
"Technically? What's that supposed to mean?"
The girl raised her hand again.
"You want another one?"
The human shook his head obediently.
"Alright then."
Finn sighed.
"Ok, look. I was fighting this crazy demon cat, he was stronger than me, he killed me. End of story. Oh yeah, now I'm really depressed. I left a lot of people back there who needed me. I bet I'll end up in one of the worse dead worlds for being such a donkus."
The girl groaned.
"Maybe. But right now, no dead world is available."
The hero frowned again.
"What? How come?"
The hooded female motioned to the surroundings.
"As you can see, there's no one here. Know why? They're all running around like idiots and messing up all 50 of our realms."
Finn was alarmed at this.
"Oh crud! Is this because Grob and Death are missing?"
The girl scoffed.
"Quite the genius you are."
The human glared at his unfortunate company.
"What's your problem?"
The figure huffed.
"I have several, but most of them I can't say; for safety reasons."
Finn was a bit skeptical about this but shrugged and decided not to push it, thus run the risk of being hit again.
"Ok. Can you at least tell me your name though?"
He could tell the hooded being was nervous, even underneath her cover.
"Um. Well. That's classified too. Just, call me M."
The hero brightened a bit and smirked.
"Alright. That's cool. I call several of my friends by their initials anyway."
The girl chuckled a bit underneath her hood. Finn smiled.
"Nice to see we're on better terms than a minute ago."
The girl ceased her laughing and cleared her throat.
"Right, anyway. We've got to get you out of here. But, there seems to be an issue already."
Finn furrowed his brow.
"What do you mean?"
The cloaked female pointed to him.
"That."
Totally lost, Finn looked down at his torso, causing his eyes to grow huge and his mind to race.
"AGH! There's a freaking hole in my chest!"
As the human began flipping out due to the gaping circular void in his body, the girl shook her head sadly and walked forward. She delivered another slap to the young man's face, forcing him to calm down.
"Chill out, dork!"
Finn managed to do so and gulped.
"But, what the math is this?"
He motioned to the missing piece in his form, which ran right through him. The hooded one leaned forward and pondered the anomaly.
"Hm. It seems a part of your soul has been separated from the whole."
The hero could hardly believe that.
"What!? How?"
The girl placed her hand on the chin concealed by her garb.
"It would explain your aura. You don't count as a dead person, completely. I noticed it the first time I saw you."
She reached forward and stuck her hand right through Finn, who resumed freaking out.
"It seems that something has kept a piece of you bound to earth."
Seeing that the human wasn't responding, she removed her hand to calm him once more. In the meantime, Finn was thinking hard.
"Huh, I can't really think of any reason that would happen, or what could do such a thing."
He absentmindedly reached to his neck to adjust the chain of his necklace, as was a habit of his, but found that his neckline was void of any object.
"What the- where's my awesome chain?"
The girl was likely confused underneath her hood.
"What are you blabbing about?"
Finn looked at her with panic.
"I had this very important gift from my fiancée, but it's gone. I thought stuff you die with comes with you."
The hooded one recoiled, as if surprised.
"Y-you were about to get married?"
Finn was still partially new to the idea and so blushed while answering.
"Uh, yeah. What's it to you?"
The cloaked female turned away slightly and began mumbling to herself, while apparently covering her mouth in shock. Finn managed to distinguish parts of what she said.
"Oh man, they'd be so…he's really…..once we're…what a day that…..Hey! Are you trying to butt in!?"
Finn fell back as the girl noticed his snooping. She walked up and grabbed his shirt collar, yanking him back to his feet. She held him close to her face, allowing the hero to finally see some of her features.
The mysterious girl had what seemed to be a fairly light face, but it was hard to tell with the shadow of her hood. Her eyes he was unable to colorize, but noticed that her hair was a shade of red, however dark it may appear. Most of her locks were tucked into her cloak, otherwise they'd likely blow around as she walked.
When she realized what Finn was doing, she shoved him back and turned away.
"Come on. I've got to do my job, even if ol' horse head isn't around. He'd chew my butt out later."
Bewildered by the girl's strange behavior, Finn took great care in deciding whether to follow her. However, when he factored in that she probably knew the area several hundred times better, there was little internal argument about that subject. He jogged over to catch up and paced directly behind her.
"So," he began casually.
"What type of work do you do?"
M didn't stop walking but replied.
"Death can't exactly run all the dead worlds on his own. I mean, have you seen how obsessed he is with that garden? And that tacky castle? Who the heck builds a shimmering white castle in a place like this?"
She cleared her throat, realizing all that was coming out was rambling.
"Anyway, each of the dead worlds has a monitor assigned to watch over it. The usual stuff being keeping the souls in line, dealing with 'breaches', or some other irritating junk. It's our duty to keep the cycle of life running smoothly, and also to 'discourage' cheaters."
Finn raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
M actually laughed a bit.
"We're the ones who make up the punishments for trying to bend the rules of death. It's the only fun part of our work."
The human was now a fair bit more intimidated by the person he was following.
"Wow, that's, pretty hardcore."
The girl smirked.
"Sure is."
Before the conversation could continue further, M halted her step and held up her arm to stop Finn as well. In front of them was a sight that the hero actually knew. It was the main entrance to the Land of the Dead. Sitting vigilantly beside the gate was its guardian, a giant bird-like skeleton who retained his wings, albeit they looked in bad shape. His one yellow eye immediately spotted the newcomers and he glared at Finn.
"Hey! You're that jerk who wouldn't listen last time!"
M looked over at the hero, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeeeaaahhh, listen, I'm really sorry about that. It was kinda an emergency."
The huge winged beast grunted but nevertheless shook it off and turned his gaze to the girl.
"How did you get stuck with this guy, Me-"
"SSSHHH!"
M held a finger to her mouth as she angrily cut him off. Even the bird looked intimidated by her force.
"Not in front of him, you moron!"
The guardian frowned and hung his head.
"Sorry, boss."
Finn was stunned.
"Boss?!"
M sighed.
"Yeah, sort of."
She looked back at the towering creature.
"Anyway, we've got to go through."
The guardian set his one eye back on Finn, narrowing it at him. The human held his hands up.
"Hey, this time I'm actually dead. Ok?"
"Cause of death?"
"Uh, mauled by demon cat?"
The pink skeleton nodded once and gestured to the entrance.
"You may enter."
The pair of normal sized beings began to walk towards the opening, but stopped when they heard a nasty-sounding crack.
"Ow! Oh jeez. Ugh, a little help?"
The guardian was holding a hand to his spine, which seemed to have fallen out of alignment. M sighed and changed her direction to walk over to the giant.
"That's another part of our job; fix Al's spine when it gets out of whack."
The girl proceeded to climb up the small ladder connected to the bird's hip bone and reached his awkwardly positioned back. With a few punches and shoves, she managed to click the bones back in order and patch up the guardian's framework. After climbing back down, M returned to Finn's side and sent a quick wave to the towering skeleton.
"There you go, Al. Take it easy."
The guardian waved back as the two crossed the gate.
"Thanks!"
As the two humanoids exited on the other side of the giant wall, Finn looked over to his companion.
"So, why do you guys have to do that?"
M looked back at him as if it were an obvious reason.
"Well, his back gets pretty sore from sitting like that all day. Somebody's got to help the poor guy out. His job is stressful enough, namely people like you, according to what he said."
The human blushed from a bit of shame.
"I said I was sorry."
The girl ignored his statement and motioned for him to follow past a few dunes and under a decaying bridge made of pre-mushroom war design. Several cars were half buried in the landscape, adding a bit of flair to the otherwise barren wastes. Instead of traversing the area for much longer though, M led Finn down into one of the many caves dotting the landscape.
"Where exactly are we going?"
The hooded monitor groaned.
"Jeez, you're so impatient. I can't imagine how your lady deals with you."
Finn was about to argue but decided against it when M stopped in front of a port-o-potty nudged into one wall of the cave.
"There are some people who you should meet. They might be able to help us get you back to earth."
The human nodded and stared at the mobile toilet.
"Cool. So, what's this for?"
M walked up and opened the potty's door, gesturing to its seat.
"Traversing dead worlds. Hop in."
The hero did a double-take and stared at his companion as if she were insane.
"Did you just tell me to jump into a toilet?"
The girl nodded.
"Basically. Now get in."
Finn crossed his arms.
"No way, lady. That's going too far. That is disgusting!"
M sighed in irritation.
"Well obviously we had to put the entrances in the least expected locations. Otherwise we'd have morons running all over in the improper dead world."
Finn was resistant.
"No way, just, no way."
M smacked her forehead and shook her head.
"Oh for crying out loud. You're a piece of work."
The young man scowled.
"Yeah? Well this 'entrance' is a piece of sh-"
"Hey! Watch it! This thing is T-rated!"
"What?"
"Never mind. Now, do I really have to drag you in there?"
Finn looked at the port-o-potty, then back at M, then the potty, then M again.
"Yes."
The girl's answer to the hero's decision lay in lots of kicking, slapping, and beating to the edge of consciousness. After M found the easiest way to pull Finn's dizzied butt over to the mobile toilet, she took great effort in pushing the resistant human down the opening in the shack's bottom. Afterwards, she jumped in herself, following her whiny companion.
Ok, scratch that, one more OC for this arc.
Wow, 100+ favs and almost as many follows. Getting to the big leagues now.
TheMentalAdventurer: Indeed!
Hollahelo: Sweet. Success.
PhantomHermit: Hm, not familiar but will likely check it out.
Brony225: True, it was a stretch, but some moves must be pulled for the sake of drama and epicness.
Hope you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/reviews!
next: Chapter 55: Purr and Burn
