Chapter 19

An intense unease hung heavily in the air as the four captives huddled together. For what felt like an eternity, they had been plotting and planning their escape. They knew that their captors were on to them by now. They had to be. Their eyes and ears were everywhere within the machine. But if they didn't act soon, then they would lose their chance at escaping. They had to do it now while everyone was in one place.

"Alright, here is the plan," Marceline said in a very hushed voice. "We need to make it look like one of us is dying."

"Why?" Phoebe asked. "What will that do?"

"They need us alive for their game." Bonnie responded. "If one of us is sick or hurt, they will send someone to patch them up."

Bonnie looked down at her heavily stapled arm and tried to flex her fingers.

"They did it with all of us. Finn, Marcy, me, and you Phoebe." She stated bitterly. "They need us alive."

"So, we trick them into sending one of their goons down here, then what?" Finn asked quietly.

"We jump them." Marceline answered with excitement. "They must have a key to me and Phoebe's collars on them. Once we free ourselves, Phoebe and I will tear this place apart."

Phoebe's body flickered as a rush of heat surged through her. She yearned for her flames to scorch and char this vile place. For what they had done to her and her friends.

"But what if they are expecting that?" Finn asked uneasily. "What if we are playing right into a trap?"

Fionna's warning was still fresh in his mind.

'Play by the rules, or suffer the consequences.'

"Finn…we have to try." Bonnie stated softly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "If we don't, they will kill us."

"She's right." Marcy stated. "If not now, then they will kill us later. One by one until we are all dead. We have to act now."

Finn was conflicted. He trusted and loved his friends, but he knew what could happen if they break the rules of the game. Never the less, Finn knew that deep down, they were right. If they didn't try to escape now, then they may not survive long enough to try again.

"You're right." Finn said softly. "Now, what's the plan?"

Marcy smiled and motioned for everyone to huddle.

"Okay, first, one of us needs to take a dive." She stated firmly. "Bonnie, think you should be the one to act. That would leave me and Finn free to jump whoever they send."

"What if they send more than one goon in here?" Bonnie asked.

"Then we will have to deal with them too." Marcy answered. "I have an ace up my sleeve."

Marcy could still feel the broken metal spike resting just beneath her skin. All she would need to do is pull it out and stab whoever they send.

Bonnie looked over her friends and nodded her head. She was ready for she would need to do.

"Everyone ready?" Marcy mouthed silently.

Everyone motioned with their eyes that they were ready. It was now or never.

"Alright let's do this."

With as little movement as she could make, Princess Bubblegum slowly pulled out a few of the staples from her arm. Almost immediately, pink sugary syrup began to flow out of the freshly opened wound. Bonnie started taking rapid breaths as a sizable pool of syrup had pooled on the floor. Suddenly, her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped back against the floor with a dull thud.

Finn didn't know if the princess was really good at acting, or if she had really passed out.

Regardless, he had a roll to fill. The scene needed to be believable.

"Princess…Princess what's wrong!" he shouted as loud as he could. He needed their captors to hear him. "Princess, can you hear me?!"

Finn began to shake Bonnie's limp body as if to try to wake her.

"No, no, no!" Marcy exclaimed as she rushed to Bonnie's side. "Come one, babe. You gotta pull through! Please, please don't leave us!"

Phoebe let forced tears roll down her face as she pushed herself off into a corner.

"They killed her!" she sobbed as she held her face in her hands. "They killed Bonnie!"

Their cries for help were answered with the sound of a door hissing open. Out of the door lumbered the giant with the rotting pig mask. Just as when they first met the giant, three spindly metal arms sprang out of the giant's sleeve. With a growl, the giant stopped across the room to where the group had gathered. The claw like clamps at the end of each arm snapped angrily at Finn, Marcy, and Phoebe. They all raised their hands and backed away slowly from the giant, leaving Bonnie at its mercy.

With a snort, the giant picked up Bonnie and began to inspect her. The giant's head tilted left and right as it tried to find what was wrong. A few loose staples, but that was the worst of it. Her vitals felt fine. Was there something they weren't seeing?

As the giant was busy with Bonnie, Marceline slowly crept up behind them. She looked to Finn and to Phoebe, signaling them to get ready. Marceline readied her fangs as she pulled the broken spike from her arm. It was now or never!

The giant couldn't understand what was wrong with the princess. Everything seemed fine. That's when they remembered something. Something that Jigsaw had told them. Jigsaw had warned them about the players. But they couldn't quiet remember what it was. Panic tore through their mind as the last piece of the memory fell into place. The players were planning on escaping!

With a terrifying snarl, Marceline leapt forward and pounced onto the giant's back. Bonnie's eyes snapped open and she quickly wrapped her arms and legs around the giant's head. Finn and Phoebe leapt into action and tackled the giant's legs. The giant roared as they staggered blindly before grabbing Bonnie with its massive hands. With a loud roar, the giant began to pull Bonnie off of its head. But Bonnie wasn't about to be tossed aside so easily. She bared her teeth as she tightened her grip on the giant's head. Marceline drew her arm back with the spike held firmly in her hand. With a powerful thrust, Marcy drove the spike as hard as she could into the giant's back.

The giant let out a loud pig-like squeal of pain as the spike pierced its body. Thick green slime oozed down the giant's back. The giant roared as they gripped Bonnie with their massive hands. As it pulled at her, the three metallic arms began to stab and pry at her arms and legs. Despite her best efforts, Bonnie's grip quickly failed her, and with a scream, the giant threw her across the room. The princess's body hit the concrete wall with a loud thud. But her actions did accomplish one thing, she had removed the giant's maggot filled mask.

As she shook the haze from her eyes, Bonnie looked up from the mask and up to the giant. Her sugary blood froze as her eyes locked with the beady black eyes of the giant. She knew them. She had seen them before. They were one of the victims in her last game. They were one of her unfinished creations. They were supposed to be dead. Jigsaw had killed them.

"Butter…Cakes?" she rasped weakly. "But…how…why?"

Butter Cakes snorted as they kicked Finn and Phoebe off of their legs, sending them rolling like dolls until they too hit the wall. Marceline hissed as she drove and twisted the spike deeper into Butter Cakes' back, forcing another pained squeal from the unfinished creation. Snarling like an angry beast, Marceline opened her jaws and sank her teeth deep into Butter Cakes' neck.

Marceline gagged as her mouth was flooded with putrid green slime.

"Why won't you go down?!" she screamed through a mouthful of slime.

There was a subtle click followed by the sound of gears spinning rapidly. The room was suddenly torn by the sound of a buzz saw screaming to life. Marceline let out a terrified scream as several saw blades erupted out of the giant's back. Despite pushing off as hard as she could, Marceline felt a blinding, searing pain pierce through her like lightning as the saw blades slashed her ankles.

Marceline hit the floor with a thud. She hissed in pain as she looked down at her legs.

That's not good. She thought grimly as she saw how extensive her injury was. Her feet were just barely attached, with only a few strands of muscle and tendons keeping them from falling off completely. Pools of black ichor quickly formed as her legs bled.

"Marcy!" Finn shouted as he leapt off the floor. With a mighty cry, Finn charged and tackled the giant candy creature.

Butter Cakes roared as they tried to grab the young adventurer off of their back. The metallic arms all reared back like snakes about to attack. But before they could strike, Phoebe jumped and wrapped her arms and legs around the metal arms. She shut her eyes and tightened her grip as hard as she could.

"Finn! Find the key!" she shouted as she struggled against the snapping and jabbing metal arms.

Finn tightened his grip with his left hand while he began to run his robotic hand through the giant's robe.

Butter Cakes let out an angry squeal as they reached Finn only for the young adventurer to easily avoid it. They heard a loud snap followed by the sounds of screws and springs popping out of place. The spike in their back had finally broken through one of the many cables that kept their skeleton together. The giant fell to their knees only for them to fall to pieces beneath their weight.

The giant let out a snort as they pulled a switch within their robes. The unfinished candy creature leapt out of their crumbling metal body and rolled as they hit the floor. With a loud click and a flash of metal, Flame Princess was thrown to the floor as the giant's skeleton began to coil and lock tightly around her.

"Phoebe!" Finn shouted as he fell to the floor.

"I'm fine, just get the key!" Phoebe shouted as her arms were forced behind her back by the metal skeleton.

Finn's eyes locked with the once great giant. It was now nothing more than a pitiful torso dragging itself across the floor with its only arm.

"Keep going Finn!" Marcy shouted as she pulled her way over towards Bonnie. "You've got this!"

Finn's heart was pounding. He couldn't believe it; he was actually winning. All the pain and despair he and his friends had to endure was about to end. He had the giant at his mercy. All he had to do now was find the key and then they could bust their way out of their prison.

As Finn reached for the candy creature, he felt something grab his arm and pull him off of his feet. A formless black tendril squirmed and writhed before it quickly changed into a clawed hand. Holding Finn by his robot arm was a figure veiled in shadows and eyes.

"That's quite enough out of you." The shadow being spoke in a velvety voice as their form began to take shape. The shadow being chuckled as their form warped into a humanoid figure.

"You were told to play by the rules." The figure spoke "But look at what you have done."

Phoebe let out a shrill scream as the metal skeleton began to tighten even more around her body. The metal gleamed an evil glow as cursed ruins burned brightly along the surface of the metal.

"You were warned, and you still decided to break the rules." The figure spoke with a hint of anger in their voice. "And for that, I'm afraid that you will need to be punished."

Gears and broken metal scattered across the room as Finn's arm was effortlessly destroyed by the shadow figure. Finn fell to the floor, stunned by what had just happened. He was so close. How could he have failed?

"Don't you dare touch him!" Marceline roared as she leapt off the floor and attacked at the figure.

The two struggled and rolled on the floor in a mass of shadow and tendrils as the two fought each other. Marceline snarled and sank her fangs into the figure's neck. A familiar black ichor seeped into her mouth as her fangs drove deeper into the figure's neck. It tasted like vampire blood, more importantly, it tasted like her own blood.

"Taste familiar?" the figure chuckled. "To be honest, I don't care for it much."

Several tendrils coiled around Marceline's wounded and ankles and with a fluid motion tore her feet from her legs. Marceline screamed as black ichor poured from the stumps of her ankles.

"Oh, please. We both know that won't be enough to kill you." The figure stated as they ran a tendril over their neck. Slowly the shadows retreated and revealed the figures true form. They wore a grey robe with a boar head for a mask. One of their tendrils gently pulled back their mask to show their face. The figure was grey, just like Marceline. Their hair was black, just like Marceline. And they too possessed fangs and a bite mark on their neck.

Finn's jaw dropped and his heart sank as he stared up at the figure.

"Marshall…Marshall Lee?" Finn stammered as he struggled to wrap his brain around what was happening. "You…you're working for Jigsaw?"

Before the figure could respond, an alarm blared and a thin vapor began to fill the room.

"Hmm…so they finally decided to use the gas." Marshall spoke calmly. "Wonder why they didn't use it sooner."

A haze began to creep into everyone's vision. Princess Bubblegum slumped over to her side as the gas overpowered her. Phoebe followed shortly, with Marcy following behind her.

Finn struggled as he fought the effects of the gas as best as he could. His legs and arms grew numb. As the haze slowly overpowered him.

"You were warned Finn." Marshall stated as they walked over him and over towards Butter Cakes and picked him up off the floor. "And yet you still broke the rules."

Darkness filled Finn's vision as the gas finally over powered him.

"Now you will all face the consequences of your actions."