Statues.
Countless statues of Minerva in every shape and size rising from an endless white expanse. Some in the distance are easily bigger than mountains, others no bigger than a few centimeters tall. They stretch out around Princess Bubblegum – all a pure ivory white, like their surroundings. None of them have faces. The monarch rises to her feet, looking about to get her bearings within the eerie digital landscape.
From what Finn had told her of his first time meeting her, she'd been anticipating something that resembled the virtual domicile that Doctor Minerva had constructed for herself. This was…much more abstract to say the least. Far larger, too.
She raises the bottom of her wrist to her face. "Testing, testing. Can you read me, Frieda?"
A little holo-icon of Frieda's head appears in front of her.
"Loud and clear, Princess."
"Great. What's the Lich's status?"
"Uh, a little hard to tell from where we're sitting."
An icon of Simon's head appears next to Frieda's as he chimes in. "Still fighting with Marceline and the others, it looks like. Her father seems to have disappeared somewhere, though."
"Ugh. Typical."
"How are things looking on your end?"
"Weird. This place is massive, so it's gonna take me longer to find Minerva's core personality than I thought. I'll call in once I find her but keep me posted if anything changes with the Lich."
"Will do."
Shutting off the link, Princess Bubblegum looks about. Her position is too over-crowded with statues to get a clear lay of the land. A little ways from her, she spies a series of statues with interlocking hands, each one taller than the one before it, rising like a set of stairs. The figures run up against and eventually melt into a large oval stone which, keeping with the theme of the area, turns out to be a giant polished effigy resembling the right portion of Minerva's head. Using the space between the hands and arms as finger holds, PB hoists herself onto the tops of their smooth bear caps and scales to the peak of the half-head.
There, she peers out across the virtual vista. Nothing strikes her immediately; most of the landscape is oppressively homogeneous, as though she were stranded in the middle of an immense petrified forest. It's not until she looks out to the region directly behind her that she notices the statues gradually converging towards a specific point in the distance: a great crystalline dome shaped like Minerva's hat. It's the only defining landmark in the entire place as far as she can see. With nothing else to go on and time running short, Princess Bubblegum decides to chance it. She hops over to another series of statues ahead of her, using them as steppingstones to make her way towards her goal.
It's rough going.
Though the statues are clustered tightly enough to allow traversal, their smooth features and frequent shifts in size make for challenging terrain. PB stumbles frequently as she tries to maintain her balance without having to sacrifice too much speed. Eventually, she settles into an uneven lope that sees her further into the android's bizarre mental palace.
The sculpture garden grows increasingly unnerving as the gum girl penetrates deeper into it.
Statues begin to show signs of deterioration around her: chips, cracks, and fractures accruing rapidly across their increasingly yellow facades. Worse still, they gradually lose their recognizably human proportions, deteriorating into garbled tangles of limbs, torsos, and heads. Many resemble tumbleweeds made from body parts instead of the kindly doctor.
At one instance, PB takes a step only to have the statue crumble away entirely underneath. She falls through with a yelp, barely catching hold of a calf that juts from the wall of legs across from her. The surface of the leg is coarse and digs down into her hand sharply as she's wrenched to a stop. She grits her teeth and hangs on through the pain. The space below opens up into a 12-foot drop straight into a pile of giant, jagged fingers.
"Princess Bubblegum?!"
Frieda's icon appears next to her.
"Your vitals just spiked. Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah." She replies, bringing up her other hand to grasp the rest of the leg. "Just took a bit of a fall. I'm fine."
"Alright…let us know if you need help."
Princess Bubblegum swings forward and bicycles her legs in the air until she catches the tip of her toe against one of the nooks in the wall. She pulls as close as she can against it and transfers her hold to another pair of legs further up. With delicate movements, the monarch clambers her way up until she reaches the edge of the lip above. There, she stretches her full length up along the wall, groping around blindly until she finally grabs a handhold. She gives it a testing pull and, finding it solid, mantles back up and over the brink. A grin spreads PB's lips as she emerges triumphantly from the treacherous pit and crawls to safety. Sprawled out across the stone, panting, PB affords herself a moment to catch her breath, then collects herself.
She starts off again, much more mindful of her step this time around.
There are a few more close calls, though not nearly as perilous, before she finally reaches the side of the crystal dome. She cups her hands against the clear surface and presses her face up to them. Inside, she sees what appears to be picture frames, degrees, and a handful of other domestic decorations suspended in the air. Their orientation suggests the presence of four invisible walls in the shape of a perfect cube. Along its edges are several pieces of furniture set atop a wooden floor with Minerva, herself, puttering about in the middle.
The gum girl raps hard against the side of the thick glass to try to get her attention, but the human pays her no mind. She sees no entrances on any part of the dome. PB sighs in frustration.
"Frieda, can you hear me?"
The human girl's icon blinks on.
"What's up?"
"I found Minerva's core personality, but there's a wall blocking me out. Can you hack me up an entrance?"
"Let me get a lock on you. One sec."
The icon's eyes fill with static.
"There you are. Okay, lets see…boy, that's a heavy-duty isolation program. I can get you an opening, but it'll be a small one. Also, I won't be able to contact you once your inside."
"I'll manage."
"Alright. Here goes."
A solid rectangle of code appears at the base of the glass dome. It sits with glimmering flashes of binary for a short moment before fading away. Left behind is a long, rectangular shaft that cuts directly through the width of the wall. The entry hole is only a bit larger than a chess board.
"Got it." There's a pause on the other end before the young hacker speaks again. Her voice is much more urgent this time. "You need to hurry, PB! It doesn't look like Marceline and the others are going to hold the Lich's attention for much longer."
"I'm *gnnf* aware, Frieda."
Princess Bubblegum grunts as she assumes a crawling position and squeezes into the tight chute. Normally, it would have been nearly impossible for her to fit through, but fortunately her virtual gum body seemed even more pliable than her real one. She works her way along in a high crawl, feeling her shoulders, waist, and hair all distending as they're dragged against the slick surfaces about her. Eventually, she reaches the other side and deposits out upon the hardwood floor like a long strand of toothpaste.
Minerva does not notice her. The AI appears engrossed in pushing an imaginary vacuum cleaner across the little room. Reworking her body back to its normal configurations, Princess Bubblegum stands up and calls out to her.
"Doctor Minerva?"
She starts and glances up. "Oh! Sorry, Ceres. Didn't hear you come in over the vacuum." She clicks an imaginary off switch and leans the non-existent cleaner into a standing position. "Just doing a bit of cleaning before Finn and Martin get back from their walk."
"Minerva, I need-"
"Before you ask, Ceres, I'm not doing a shift at the hospital. You know I'm still on maternity leave. I don't care how much they want me back at work; my family comes first for right now."
"No, listen, Minerva: I'm not one of your colleagues, I'm Princess Bubblegum, remember? I need your help, but you're trapped inside an isolation program. We need to get you out of here right now."
Minerva blinks and then waves her off. "Yes, yes, I'm sure the chief of medicine would just love for me to give that presentation to the board, but I can't. Tell them that they'll have to wait another month or two. Now, if you excuse me, I have more cleaning to do. We can catch up later for tea."
At this, Minerva turns away and resumes miming her vacuum about.
'Cram. The program must have some kind of data filter in place to keep her pacified.'
PB runs a hand over her face in exasperation.
'Okay then, if she can't recognize a direct inconsistency in her surroundings, maybe I can talk around it in a way that's compatible with the simulation.'
She walks up and taps Minerva gently on the shoulder. The AI turns the imaginary vacuum off again.
"I apologize, Minerva. You know how pushy the director can get when we don't have our star helper around to get things done properly. Would you like to take a short break? We could have that tea and catch up right now, if you'd like."
Minerva's face lights up at the invitation. "That sounds lovely, Ceres. Have yourself a seat and I'll put the kettle on."
Playing along, Princess Bubblegum takes a spot on a small wooden chair nearest to her. Minerva walks towards the edge of the block and, immediately, the wall unfolds itself into an additional room filled with kitchenware. Oblivious, the AI goes about setting up her imaginary tea pot before returning and taking a seat across from Princess Bubblegum.
"It'll be ready in just a moment."
"Thank you."
"Now, what would you like to talk about? You must have had a few interesting cases in the ER over the past few weeks."
"Uh, yes, we have. Before we get into that, though, I wanted to ask you something. When are Finn and Martin getting home?"
"Hmm?"
"How long have they been gone for? I was wondering if I'd get a chance to see them before I left."
"It's been-" Minerva pauses. She frowns and blinks, confusion shrouding her expression. "You know, it's so strange…I can't seem to remember. It feels as though it's been years since they left. But that can't be right."
"That is odd. Are you certain that everything is alright with you, Minerva?"
"N-no, I'm sure they're fine. Maybe it's just a touch of postpartum anxiety; I'll get over it in a moment. Ah! But there's the tea. You still take it with two sweeteners, Ceres?"
Minerva stands back up and walks away without waiting for a reply, "Good, good. Just a moment."
Princess Bubblegum watches from her seat as the agitated AI bustles about her 'kitchen' pretending to pour their drinks. She stops at one point, leaning heavily upon one of the counters for a time. She then picks up an imaginary tea tray and returns to the 'living room'.
"Tea is served." She announces with a strained voice. Her hands are visibly shaking as she lowers the nonexistent tray onto a coffee table.
"Would you like to go out and look for them?" PB motions to the far wall where she assumes an imaginary door would sit. "They might be over at the park or coming down the road right now. Wouldn't you like to check? It might put you more at ease."
"I want to, but…no, I c-can't…I…" A pained expression overtakes Minerva's features. She presses both hands to the sides of her head. "It's…it's – GAAH!" She cries and sinks to her knees.
Princess Bubblegum bolts to the AI's side. "Minerva?!"
"There's something…heavy in my mind. I can hear it, so faintly." She presses a hand against the floorboards. "Down below."
Acting quickly, PB takes the chair she'd been sitting on by the legs and rams the backrest against the spot that Minerva indicated. Despite the appearance of polished walnut, the wood is surprisingly brittle and splinters away readily as though rotten. She tosses the chair aside and leans down to brush the pieces away. There, inside a hollowed-out area just below the virtual prison, sits a tape recorder.
The gum girl picks it out from the debris and clicks the play button. A recording of Minerva's voice comes rolling out sweet and airy over the speaker:
"I see the moon and the moon sees me
Down through the leaves of the old oak tree
Oh, let the light that shines on me
Shine on the one I love.
Over the mountain, Over the sea,
Back where my heart is longing to be.
Oh, let the light that shines on me
Shine on the one I love.
I hear the lark; the lark hears me,
Singing from the leaves of the old oak tree.
Oh, let the lark that sings to me
Sing to the one I love.
Over the mountains, over the sea,
back where my heart is longing to be.
Oh, let the lark that sings to me
Sing to the one I love.
I kiss a rose; the rose kisses me,
Fragrant as only a rose can be.
Please let the Rose that comforts me
Comfort the one I love.
Over the mountains, over the sea,
back where my heart is longing to be.
Oh, let the rose that comforts me
Comfort the one I love."
As the lullaby ends, Minerva reaches a hand around Princess Bubblegum's and clicks the stop button. She's no longer holding her head in pain.
"I remember. Finn, Martin, my people. Where am I Princess Bubblegum?"
"An isolation program. Leader Malloy trapped you inside of it and I'm here to get you out."
"Malloy…he did this? Why?"
"We don't have time to go into his reasonings right now. Malloy unleashed an incredibly dangerous entity onto Ooo and I need your aid to defeat it before it kills all of us, including your son."
Hearing this, Minerva nods soberly and rises back to her full height. "How can I help?"
"First, we need to get you back to your full operating capacity. Can you access your servers in Founders Island?"
"I'll need to override this barrier first. Let me try."
She approaches the nearest wall. It folds back before her as she walks up to the side of the crystal dome. Minerva places both hands against it and closes her eyes. Thin filaments of code wind out from her fingertips across the surface, like vines threading across the groves of old brickwork. She grunts in concentration. A pulse of bright blue energy runs out across the strands and the dome immediately shatters before them. The program dissipates into nothing, leaving Minerva and Princess Bubblegum standing together amid the great virtual expanse of statues.
"Oh, I apologize; my mind is in such a state right now. Let me fix that."
She snaps her fingers and the endless sea of effigies wipes away into an empty white void.
"Much better. Now, let's see if I can reestablish my primary link. This might take a few moments."
Minerva's eyes grow wide and fill with static.
Frieda's icon appears next to Princess Bubblegum.
"Princess! Finally! I've been trying to call you!"
"What is it, Frieda?"
"The Lich! He's taken Simon! I couldn't stop him; I'm sorry!"
"Oh, Glob! Can you get me a visual?"
"Yes, hold on."
Frieda's icon opens its mouth and a large screen appears inside of it. There's a burst of static before an image finally swims into focus. It shows Simon suspended in the air, drifting high over Humantown. Marceline, Flame Princess, Jake, and Lady Rainicorn are all grabbing onto him, desperately trying to steer him away from the Lich's outstretched hand.
"Have you gotten Minerva back online?"
"Yes, I have, but it'll take a few seconds to get her to connect with her main servers."
"Princess, Simon doesn't have a few seconds! He needs help now!"
PB stares at the footage, utterly helpless as she watchers her friend dragged away. "I-I don't know! I can't do anything!" She turns to the AI next to her. "Please, Minerva! We need you!"
The young nymph shivers as she huddles along the edge of the cave. She'd hoped that the weather would hold for just a little while longer – at least long enough for her to finish collecting kindling for her nighttime campfire – but no such luck. A wall of driving rain clatters upon the dark forest across from her. The curtain is so thick that she might as well be looking out from behind a waterfall.
'At least it's not raining knives.'
A knife storm wouldn't have left her as cold, though. Her clothes (not so much a cohesive outfit as it was a grimy assortment of rodent pelts and old strips of cloth that she'd pieced together over the last few weeks) were soaked completely through. Surrendering to her circumstances, the little forest girl shrugs off her pack and begins setting out her supplies: a few knives she'd scavenged off a skeleton, pieces of flint, some dried meat, a small log, more cloth (bandages), a ragged tarp, and some old-world books. She notes that others had been in the cave before her as she lays everything out along the dusty floor. Much of it was littered with droppings of rats, jackrabbits, and other vermin. A few scatterings of bone indicate that it might've recently housed a pack of wolves or some other predator.
A fire would ward off any unwanted visitors from returning as she slept.
She gathers up a few dry pieces of tender along with some of the more substantive pieces of scat and collects it all into a small pile around her log a little further into the cave. She then tears out a page from one of the books, crumples it, and tucks it into the bottom of her makeshift hearth. With everything prepared, she brings out her knife and a piece of flint, carefully strikes the former over the latter. Sparks jump out across the paper and quickly spread out in large smoldering holes. Blowing delicately, the nymph pushes the burning paper into the tender and smiles as the twigs blossom into a bright orange rose of heat. She tears out a few more pages from the book and adds them in for an extra burst of fuel.
The chill in her bones gradually recedes as she crouches near it. She watches as one of the pieces of paper below starts to blacken and curl inward. A fragment of a sentence is still legible upon its edge: "-he heart rambles onwar-". Some of the elders knew old hew-man speak; most of her kin were taught it once they came of age. She knows the noises that the symbols represent, but rarely their combined meanings.
The nymph tries sounding the script out aloud. "He-art ra…ra." But the words burn away too quickly for her to read it in full. "Art Ra. Artra." The newly formed word sits nicely on her tongue. She rolls it around a few more times to amuse herself, watching shadows tremble upon the cragged cave wall for a time. A rumble starts up from her stomach. She gives it a soothing rub, picks out a dried piece of rabbit meat from her pack, and bites into it. She'd been lucky enough to happen upon the jack while he was busy drinking from a stream. Right before he scampered off, she had pegged him with a stone.
As she takes another bite, another low rumble passes through the cavern. This time, it's not her stomach nor the sound of thunder. No, the reverberations come from deeper within the cave itself. They grow closer, accompanied by the shuffle of heavy limbs. Terrified, the little nymph grabs her longest knife and scampers around to the other side of her campfire, putting it between her and the unknown thing approaching her. She ducks into a half-crouch, eyes riveted to the veil of shadow that her pitiful hearth cannot hope to pierce.
The eyes come first, yellow and glinting as they bore straight through the gloom. A gangly foreleg reaches out next, capped with three long claws that dig into the dirt as the rest of its bulk drags into view. A tall, wolfish beast with a thick, bristly coat looms before her. Three goat horns jut out from the side of its head, framing a long alligator-like snout spiked with a pair of tusks. Thick, jagged fangs line its powerful-looking jaws. It's nose twitches as it catches her scent and its lip snags upward into a snarling growl.
Quickly, the little nymph throws herself out past the edge of the cave just as the beast's other foreleg comes hurtling out from the dark, obliterating her campfire in a single swipe. The rain batters down atop her, soaking her through in an instant. She scrabbles up from her hands and knees and takes off at full tilt back into the forest with the knife still in hand. With any luck, the beast might be trying to scare her away from its territory instead of hunting her for food.
She glances back over her shoulder only to feel fresh waves of panic and horror crash against her heart at what she finds. The beast comes clawing straight into the tree line, right after her.
'DEFINITELY WANTS TO EAT ME!'
The little nymph knows that trying to outrun a beast is pointless. She is either going to fight or die. She spins around, holding the knife out again. Silently, she starts to say her goodbyes, wishing love to her family (despite their betrayal) and the Great Mother.
'May I find them all again upon the next turn.'
The beast's dreadful form comes bounding in through the misty white sheets of rain. It slows to a halt a few feet in front of her, perhaps wary that its prey has taken up a defensive posture. It crouches low, letting out another growl as it stalks forward at a slight angle. The young nymph squeezes the hilt of her knife tightly. She can't even tell if there are tears in her eyes from all the rain.
Another step and the beast charges. The nymph lets out a furious, desperate cry and leaps out at her pursuer, blindly plunging the knife as deep as she can somewhere in its hide. The beast lets out a pained howl and she feels something sharp dash her hard across the face. The force of the strike flings her back, landing her in a painful sprawl amid the scrub and mud.
Groaning, she rolls over and forces one eye open. Blood courses down the tip of her nose and the point of her chin, mixing freely with the rainwater. The nymph tries to raise herself up again, but nausea and pain overwhelm her. She slumps back into the mud and watches in resigned silence as the beast limps toward her, maw opened wide. Hopefully, it'd tear out her throat first: end her suffering quickly.
The flesh rending bite doesn't come, though.
Instead, she feels something pick her gently up off the ground from behind. Her vision swims before she can see who it is. There is a bright burst of light and her consciousness fades.
Frieda's gaze is torn from Susan as Princess Bubblegum's voice crackles over her wrist projector.
"Testing, testing. Can you read me, Frieda?"
She holds the speaker up to her mouth. "Loud and clear, Princess."
"Great. What's the Lich's status?"
The human girl stands up from her half-crouched position next to BMO and looks out into the night. She can pick out Flame Princess and the Lich easily enough, but the others are much harder to pinpoint in the dark of the night. She thinks she can see Marceline taking off from the ground and heading towards the Lich.
"Uh, a little hard to tell from where we're sitting."
Simon walks over and leans in next to her.
"Still fighting with Marceline and the others, it looks like. Her father seems to have disappeared somewhere, though."
"Ugh. Typical."
"How are things looking on your end?"
"Weird. This place is massive, so it's gonna take me longer to find Minerva's core personality than I thought. I'll call in once I find her but keep me posted if anything changes with the Lich."
"Will do."
The audio link cuts off and Frieda returns to dividing her attention between BMO's readouts and Susan. The ex-seeker is still unconscious. She feels a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, it'll be alright." Simon speaks in a comforting tone. "Susan has gotten through a lot worse."
She smiles and squeezes his hand in return. "Thanks, Simon."
"No problem."
"Susan told me about you. You're really from over a thousand years ago?"
"That's right."
"You know, I've read a lot of what Founder's Island had on pre-war human history. I was never sure how accurate the records were, though. The censorship department probably cleaned most of the unflattering parts up."
"Yes?"
"Well, since we're stuck waiting here, can you tell me about humans before the war? What was it really – and I mean really – like during those times?"
Simon grows quiet and adjusts his glasses.
"When Marceline and I weren't busy just trying to survive, I would give her lessons every once in a while. She was a little girl in a ruined world, so I tried to keep the things I taught her engaging and fun. I'd tell her all about interesting scientific facts, different parts of the world, bits of art and music that I'd enjoyed from way back when. Even some basic math here and there, though she hated doing anything beyond basic algebra."
He chuckles at the memory.
"It felt good to teach her those things, Frieda. It was like I was passing on the little remnants of what was good and pleasant in humanity. And, I assure you, there were many things that were good. Most of them were the product of decent people just living their lives with love in their hearts for friends and family. But…I never could bring myself to tell her about the other side, the ugly parts hidden behind so many of those nice things."
"What ugly parts?"
"Suffering on an unimaginable scale: war, genocide, billions subsisting in slavery or crushing poverty. The human civilization of the past was built upon vastly imbalanced power structures. While many sought out ways to correct or overthrow these systems, their beneficiaries bitterly sought to consolidate their regimes as violently as possible. Eventually, it all culminated in the great Mushroom War. After that, the good and best in humanity was buried in the same mass grave alongside humanity's bad and worst. Or nearly so, it would seem."
"Wow…"
"Mm. Not a pretty picture, is it? Leader Malloy seemed intent on carrying out the tradition of his forebearers. He met his end in much of the same way, too: burnt to ashes by what his selfishness unleashed." He looks out, watching with worry as Marceline tangles with the Lich once more, trying with Lady to free Jake from his claws. "And here we are, again: stuck in the fallout of another madman's shortsighted power grab."
Frieda nods and takes a glance at the readout of Princess Bubblegum's vital signs on BMO's screen. "Do you ever wish it'd turned out differently for us humans?"
"You mean for the great Mushroom War to never have happened? If it meant sparing all those innocent lives lost, then, yes. Yes, I do. That said, I love the world that arose in its place. I think it's much better in many ways."
"Oh?"
"A few of the larger states like the Candy Kingdom share some of the old world's problems, but on such a small scale that it's not even comparable. Most of Ooo's major leaders also actually seem interested in fixing these problems in order to serve their people's interests instead of themselves. And most people are able to live on their own terms, if they wish. All things considered, I think Ooo today far outstrips the past I knew, even with the inherent chaos that magic throws into the mix."
Simon pauses and looks to the young girl. "Apologies if my take on humanity's past is discouraging."
"No, no. It's a relief to finally get a glimpse at the truth. I was always a skeptic, but ever since I started traveling across Ooo with Susan, I've been trying to separate myself from all the preconceptions that Founder's Island drilled into me. It's been enlightening to discover how completely detached everything is from human memory; really puts things into perspective."
A loud series of beeps interrupts Frieda before she can continue. She looks at BMO's readout and brings her wrist projector to her mouth. "Princess Bubblegum?! Your vitals just spiked. Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah." The princess replies, breathily. "Just took a bit of a fall. I'm fine."
"Alright…let us know if you need help."
The link goes off and the two humans are quiet again. The sound of the battle in the distance fills the air between them. After a little bit, Simon speaks up again.
"As much as I love this world, I can't imagine this is what you or any of your people wanted, though."
"What do you mean?"
"When you and the other humans set out from Founder's Island. I doubt you or they wanted to be drawn into this mess with the Lich and Malloy. I hate that Susan got hurt because of it. I hate that you might get hurt, too."
"Hey, it's okay. I mean, sure, it's not great – I'd rather be cruising around Slime Kingdom or exploring somewhere with Susan – but this is the sort of stuff we need to confront. After all the wonderful things I've seen, I don't want to go scurrying off like a roach at the first sign of trouble. It might mean getting hurt, and that's okay. I want to help protect this world and the good, decent people in it, too."
Simon nods. "We could've used a lot more people with your courage back before the war, Frieda. If you'd like, I can teach you more about human history once this is over. There's still a lot of nuance outside of my general impressions of the past that we could get into."
"That'd be really cool, Simon. Thanks."
Sitting a little closer together, now, the pair continue their hushed discussion on humans for a while longer until the speaker in Frieda's wrist picks up again.
"Frieda, can you hear me?"
"What's up?"
"I found Minerva's core personality, but there's a wall blocking me out. Can you hack me up an entrance?"
"Let me get a lock on you. One sec."
Frieda opens up a few menus on her wrist projector and types rapidly across the screen. After a moment, a wall of code appears before her. One portion is flashing pink and another large section is flashing red.
"There you are. Okay, let's see…boy, that's a heavy-duty isolation program. I can get you an opening, but it'll be a small one. Also, I won't be able to contact you once your inside."
"I'll manage."
"Alright. Here goes."
Fingers dancing across her holographic keyboard, Frieda executes some computational sleight of hand and the flashing red bit of code turns a solid yellow.
"Got it."
Frieda and Simon's ears perk at the sound of an explosion in the distance. Looking out, the two humans spot The Lich with all six of his arms extended as a wave of green energy rings outward. Marceline and the others are huddled around Lady Rainicorn as the attack lashes out at them.
"Marcy!" Simon clutches a hand over his mouth in worry.
"You need to hurry, PB! It doesn't look like Marceline and the others are going to hold the Lich's attention for much longer."
"I'm *gnnf* aware, Frieda."
The line cuts out.
Frieda sighs. "I guess all we can do now is wait. Huh, Simon?"
"Hkk!"
"…Simon?"
Glancing up at her fellow human, terror breaks across Frieda's face as she sees a green glow creeping down from the top of Simon's head towards his legs. He mimes incoherently at her as she struggles to speak. He starts to float up into the air.
"Simon!"
Frieda runs to his side, grabs hold of his ankles, and pulls down as hard as she can in a desperate attempt to keep her friend grounded. The pale green magic continues to creep downward, taking the bookish man higher. He starts to drift away with Frieda dragging behind him, heels dug as hard as they can into the tile floor.
"What do I do?!"
Simon shakes his head mutely as Frieda's toes reach the edge of the tower. The green magic runs down his legs and licks up against her fingers. It feels like trying to hold onto a red-hot stovetop. Despite herself, she instinctively releases him as the pain erupts through her hands.
"GAAAH! Simon!"
Before she can plummet down the side of the tower, a large hand reaches out from behind and hauls the young ex-experimenter back from the brink.
Finn notices that something is up when Jake's nose starts to twitch. At first, he thinks that his older brother is simply taking a moment to enjoy the aromas rising from their small campfire. Even without a hypersensitive pair of nostrils, Finn sympathizes. He was already salivating in anticipation over the savory blend of beans, burnt bacon fat, and birchwood smoke calling out to him as their breakfast cooks. Moreover, the pleasant odor serves to dull the edge of fatigue still clinging against him.
It'd been a harsh few weeks fending for themselves as they toured across some of Ooo's relatively less hostile territories in search of a place to call their own. The journey had been fraught with hard-fought battles against some of the more common monster subspecies – goblins, trolls, bugbears, and the like – that seemed to litter the mountains and forests outside their parents' house. Thanks in no small part to Jake's magical powers and his own remarkable aptitude for knocking heads (surprising even to himself), the duo had made it all the way to the border of the grasslands in one piece. Even so, they'd yet to find a single suitable dwelling place. And miles of hiking, along with the constant need to sleep in fitful shifts had taken a gradual, but inevitable toll on the two brothers.
It's only when Jake takes another deep inhale through his nose, that Finn decides to broach it:
"What's up?"
"Something smells weird."
He points it out without urgency, as one might make idle mention of the day's weather.
"Wasn't me. And I dug the hole way out before we went to bed."
"No, dude, it's not that. It smells sorta like old, damp leaves. Like mildew, except a lot stronger. More bitter, too."
"Probably something further inside the woods. There's always trees and junk rotting out here."
"I guess so. If it were a tree, though, I think I would've noticed it while we were setting up camp."
"Huh. Well, I bet the air will be fresher once we get further into the grasslands. You said a bunch more peeps live out here?"
"Yeah, the map Dad gave us shows that there's a bunch of kingdoms around here. The closest is the Candy Kingdom, just a few miles East. I'm thinkin' we can head over and pick up some more supplies there. Maybe sleep on some real beds, if we can find a vacant motel room for super cheap."
"Sounds good. It feels like forever since I've had any sweets."
"Heh, yeah, you're all about sug-"
It's only by the fact Jake had mentioned something being off that Finn is able to react quickly enough as a long needle strikes the side of his brother's arm. He rolls to the side just as another needle skewers the dirt where his butt had been parked a second prior. Acting on pure reflex, he grabs his sword and a half-flaming log next to him. He then chucks the piece of wood hard towards the location where the projectile originated from.
There's a crash and a loud shriek as a skeleton emerges from behind the tree line holding more needles. A fire is spreading rapidly over the oily hides draped across its rusted-out armor. The undead warrior goes up quickly as dozens of his brethren emerge into the clearing.
"Undead marauders! Jake, we need to fight!"
"Rrrgh!" Jake struggles, but his limbs don't move. "I can't! That dart thing must've had some kind of paralyzing poison on it!"
As a team, it usually was no problem for them to take on much larger groups of enemies together. On his own, though, Finn isn't so certain of himself; he'd never fought so many monsters at once before.
"Cram! Okay, hold on!"
Finn picks Jake up and hurriedly stuffs him inside his pack before taking off. One of the skeletons directly in his path takes a swing at him with an axe, but the young adventurer ducks through the sweep and breaks past their line before the rest can move to box him in. Now, sprinting straight into the grasslands, he hears a choking cry as one of the undead marauders, much larger and with heavier armor than the others, waves a tattered banner through the air. It points at him and shrieks again, as if issuing a command for the others to pursue. With a mass clatter of rusty armor and rattling bone, the horde obeys. A few of their ranks throw out harpoons and spears, many landing only a few inches away from Finn. He grimaces.
There's no way he can fight them all on his own. Their only hope, at this point, is to make it to the gates of the Candy Kingdom.
"Hoof it, Bro! They're gaining!"
Taking a glance over his shoulder, Finn can see that Jake is right; a couple of the undead are outpacing the rest and following hot on his heels. Another spear lands next to him and Finn grabs it. He then twirls about mid-run and hurls it at the skeleton closest to him. It lands true and pegs his target, straight through its sunken chest. The hit doesn't destroy the marauder, but it does throw it off balance. It stumbles and collides into the second skeleton behind him. Both fall to pieces as more come rushing over them, seemingly uncaring as the skulls of their allies are crushed underfoot.
Finn continues running for all he's worth, occasionally grabbing a spear or harpoon thrown his way and returning it in kind. Any skeleton that he's lucky enough to take out, though, does little to diminish their numbers. Worse yet, he can feel himself wearing out, a trait not shared by his boney pursuers. Desperate to put some distance between him and the shambling horde, Finn scrambles up a steep ridge, hoping that the uneven terrain and loose dirt might bog them down.
It works for the most part. Skeletons tended to be less coordinated then the living, so some start to slip and fall into each other as they try to make their way up after him. Others, however, simply use their slower brethren as climbing holds. As Finn reaches the crest, he finds the welcome sight of the Candy Kingdom rising in the distance.
"Just a little more, Jake, and we'll be home free."
"Look out, Finn!"
From below, one of the skeletons further up on the slope than the others flings a throwing knife at the human boy. The serrated blade twirls through the air and bites into the flesh of Finn's left thigh.
Finn lets out a shout of pain as he pitches forward. He rolls raggedly down the side of the hill, battering against rocks and shrubs that leave a trail of cuts, scrapes, and bruises down his entire body by the time he reaches the bottom. Jake, having tumbled out of his brother's pack during their fall, lies next to him in a similar state. They moan out pitifully.
"Are y-you okay, Jake?"
"Not, ugh, really."
"Just…just hang on. I got you."
Using his sword as a crutch, Finn climbs back to his feet and limps over to Jake. Pain hammers up his leg, but he ignores it. He leans down, hefts Jake up, and puts him back in his pack. He glances over his shoulder and sees the first of the undead marauders arriving at the top of the ridge. Immediately, they begin to race down the side, clacking and shrieking as they come.
"Oh spit!"
Finn tries to run for the Candy Kingdom, but barely manages a lopsided hobble.
"Leave me, Finn! Save yourself!"
"No way, dude! I'm saving you or we're both going to die."
"Finn! I love you, but that's hecka dumb! I'm the big brother and it's my job to protect you. Get the flip out of here!"
"NEVER!"
The skeletons are already at the bottom and coming up fast. Finn forces himself into a short sprint, but pain surges as the knife saws into his leg muscle. He stumbles and falls, sending Jake tumbling out ahead of him once again. Groaning, Finn crawls over to Jake's side. He's unconscious.
"…Sorry, Jake. I couldn't save us. I love you."
He leans down and plants a kiss on his brother's head. Finn then turns and props himself up into an agonizing crouch, planting himself firmly between Jake and the undead hoard bearing down upon them. He levels his sword.
Before the first skeleton can reach him, a pink beam of energy lances down and sweeps across the field, incinerating any undead caught in its path.
"Hey!" Someone shouts from above them. "I guess you guys didn't learn anything the last time I wrecked the whole ding dang lot of you up. Well, here's a reminder:"
Another beam carves through the marauders, taking out their leader and several more skeletons along with it.
"Stay the heck out of my territory!"
The remaining undead drop their weapons and flee back towards the border of the grasslands. As they retreat, more beams fire down upon them, leaving a dozen or so smoking piles of ash spread across the landscape. Finn, still staring at the retreating forms in disbelief, finally lowers his blade and looks up behind him. Suspended overhead is a giant white swan. Its wings beat in long, powerful strokes as it descends before them. As soon as it lands, Finn notices a pink girl riding atop it. She gives the large bird a gentle caress along its slender neck before dismounting by sliding down one of its wings. The girl runs up to them.
"Glob, you're both hurt! Here, let me help you."
"T-Thank you…" Finn stammers as he takes her hand. She pulls his arm over her shoulder, lending him support with her own weight. "Jake needs help, too. He's unconscious."
"Of course, let me just set you down on Swan and I'll get him. Jake it was, right?"
"Yeah."
"My name is Princess Bubblegum." She says as she helps Finn climb gently up onto Swan's back. "I'm the ruler of the Candy Kingdom. What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Finn the Human. Most everyone calls me Finn."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Finn. I apologize it's under such terrible circumstances. Those undead screwbs have been making incursions along my borders for months now."
She goes over to Jake's unconscious form and lugs him back over.
"They're always on the prowl for stragglers." She explains, hefting the unconscious dog up into the spot in front of Finn. "In fact, they nearly caught some of my candy citizens a few days ago, so I set up some monitoring devices in the area. You're extremely lucky that one of them happened to pick you guys up."
"I, just…thank you so much, Princess. For real. I thought it was the end for us back there."
She climbs up and straddles the base of her swan's neck. "You're welcome but try to save your strength, Finn. I'll have you and Jake in the Candy Kingdom's infirmary right away. My doctors will get you fixed up."
With a drowsy nod, Finn leans forward, practically sinking into the plush feathers around him as the swan lifts into the air. He wraps his arm protectively around Jake and promptly passes out. Right before he does, though, he thinks he hears a light chord piping in from a place he can't quite pinpoint.
It's a faint, flute-like descent.
'I could pluck Finn and the Huntress out with a thought, Marceline. Don't you want to save your friends?'
'What I want is for you to shut the sliz up!'
The Vampire King's constant entreaties at the back of her head were really starting to throw off the precision of her swings. The effect was even more pronounced, now that they accompanied Jake's incessant screams. Marceline tries to tune it all out as she hacks into the Lich's hand once more, her axe blade narrowly missing the top of her yellow friend's head. The cut sends out a spray of green sparks, pelting her across the face. She hisses in pain.
"조심해!"
"AHHH!" Jake shrieks as he struggles inside the Lich's grip. "LADY SAYS CAREFUL, MARCELINE!"
"Yeah! I flippin' know! Quit wriggling around!"
From below, Flame Princess musters a cluster of small fire bolts. She shoots up and releases them, burning away more of the fibrous limbs swarming along the Lich's arm. They instantly reconnect themselves.
"GAH!" She yells out in weary frustration. "How much longer do we have to keep fighting him!? We're not even doing anything anymore!"
As the Lich makes a grab at FP, Lady weaves her way in and wraps her arms around her husboyfriend. Together, they phase back out of his grasp and Jake sends another giant fist into the necromancer's face. At this point, the Lich is so unglobly huge that the strike appears to barely affect him.
"I don't know, but we have to keep it up." Jake says. "We just have to."
"Look out!" Flame Princess cries.
The Lich sharply extends all six of his arms, conjuring a wide halo of crackling green energy. All around, the air goes electric with the thick hum of a building necrotic charge. The charge rapidly culminates in an explosion that discharges a wailing tide of green, soul-like apparitions. Lady moves swiftly. She only just manages to slip in amongst her friends and wrap herself in a protective loop around them before the devastating attack comes rolling in. It phases through, but the tail-end of the magical shockwave tosses all four of them out across the air. Finding his adversaries still unharmed, the Lich straightens and laughs madly as one last arm reaches up from the multiverse below and attaches itself to the center of his back.
"Then you shall bear witness to it!" He booms. "The wheel turns and the ocean springs anew."
He extends one of his six arms towards the tower. A small pale-green light appears in the distance. It hangs for a brief moment and then comes floating forward. Closer and closer, until the four friends' eyes widen in collective panic at what they find: Simon Petrikov suspended in magic, floating head-first toward the Lich's outstretched hand. Just as Leader Malloy did, before he met his grisly fate.
"SIMON!" Marceline shouts.
She rips through the air and arrives at her adopted father's side in an instant. Without pause, the vampire girl reaches out, grabs tightly around his ankles, and pulls. The green magic surrounding him burns. It burns as though she stuck her hands into a suntanning station, but she still holds on with all her might.
"I. WON'T. LOSE. YOU!"
Jake, Lady, and Flame Princess dart to her side, each grabbing hold of one another in a line and pulling to help keep the vampire girl anchored. Despite their combined effort, Simon continues to slip ever closer toward the Lich. Tears flow freely down Marceline's face as she looks helplessly down into Simon's eyes. She finds no intimation of panic in their depths: only a sorrowful resolve. He shakes his head at her slowly. Unflinchingly.
"No! No! NO!"
'You are out of time, Marceline! Let me in NOW!'
"GRRRGH! Okay! Just save Simon already!"
A dark chuckle runs through her head. 'Good.'
Smoke pours out from between Marceline's fangs as her eyes turn bright red. The lion-like features in her face become more pronounced. She abruptly releases Simon and lifts her hands – nearly charred to the bone at this point – up toward him. A fierce pulse of psychogenic energy erupts out around her, pushing her friends back, while her telekinetic grip locks around the human. It wrenches him to a complete standstill. The Lich looks upon the vampire queen with no small amount of surprise as the pair fall into a mighty tug-of-war of eldritch powers. Thin blue veins of ionized energy arc between the two clashing, titanic forces. For a time, both appear evenly matched, but then the Lich starts smiling again.
"Much too late, Daughter of Abadeer." The Lich calls out. "The wish of the mad woman was just the same: power to protect this mortal, above all else. What happens, then, if his safety comes into question?"
The Lich clenches his hand into a fist and, from within Simon's magic encasement, a drop of green fire drips down onto his cheek. He flinches in pain as it singes him. And, instantly, like a great devouring maw, another giant portal opens within the night sky.
Emerging from deep within the infinite, chaotic fringe that hems all realities, a vast crimson figure descends upon the land of Ooo once more.