Frieda tumbles back into the lab, rolling over the hard floor until she comes to a stop a short way from where NEPTR, BMO, and Princess Bubblegum lie. She rubs her head and looks back up to see Susan Strong on her hands and knees looking back at her.

"Susan! You're okay! And you saved me!"

"Frieda, what happened to Simon? Why is the Lich so big now?" She winces and clutches at her head. "Grod, every time I'm out, things are worse than before."

"It's bad Susie. Real, real bad. We have to do something!"

"What?"

"I gotta call Princess Bubblegum. She's working on something that can stop all this."

She brings up her wrist projector and attempts to hail the candy monarch. Her screen responds with an angry electronic buzz as a red 'X' flashes across it. She tries again, only to receive the same response. Frieda slams her fist against the floor in frustration.

"JAM IT!"

Susan stands up and walks over to Frieda's side. She sits down and wraps her in a brawny hug.

"Are we going to be okay, Fri?"

"I…" Frieda pauses, trying to silence the quaver in her voice before continuing. She's not successful. If anything, it only forces the warm tears from the corners of her eyes as she buries her head down against her girlfriend's bicep. "I don't know, Suze. I really don't."

Another moment, and Frieda climbs up Susan's arms. She takes a seat on the ex-seeker's shoulders and looks off to the green glint signifying Simon's position. The pale green flames, combined with Flame Princess' dark blue, provides just enough light to give her a twinkling glimpse of them together – Marceline, FP, Jake, and Lady – all doing their best to delay the human's advance towards the Lich. A feeling of desperation balloons in the pit of her stomach. It reminds her of when Susan wrecked her escape pod all those years ago: something precious is being destroyed right in front of her, but she is incapable of stopping it. The only difference, this time, is that Susan is holding her a different way.

As she moves to wipe the tears from her face, she hears a note jingle from her wrist projector. Quickly, she brings the holoscreen into view. A bright green circle appears in place of a red 'X'. She mashes the call button as fast as she can.

"Princess!" She blurts into the microphone. "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 shifts about atop Susan's shoulders and aligns her screen with the green gleam of Simon's magical shell. She zooms in on her struggling friends and taps the live feed function.

"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!"

"I-I don't know! I can't do anything!"

"GROD!" Frieda curses as she cuts the call.

"Calm down, Frieda."

"How?! Simon's about to be burnt alive and we can't help him!"

"I don't think he is. Look."

Frieda brings up her wrist monitor's camera screen and zooms back in on Simon. Somehow, Marceline has managed to bring the human to a complete standstill without even touching him. She's yelling something at the Lich (or maybe just shouting in effort), but she can't make it out from this distance. The Lich speaks something in return and clenches his fingers together. Then, all at once, a new portal bores its way into reality high above them.

Something big and red crosses over from the other side.

"W-what is that?"

"Golb. Or, at least, it used to be."

Frieda and Susan look behind them. There, they find Peppermint Butler leaning up against the entryway, breathing heavily with the top of his head cracked open.

"Hoo." He wipes his brow. "Glob, that was a lot of stairs to climb."

"You're that guy who hangs around Princess Bubblegum…Peppermint Butler, right?"

"At your service, Miss Strong and Miss Frieda. Ah, there you are, Princess." He crosses the room and kneels down beside the candy monarch's prone form. A look of concern crosses his face as he picks up her limp hand. "What is the Princess doing? Is she injured?"

"Oh, no, she's doing a virtual dive into Minerva's OS to see if she can get her back online. It's part of her plan to stop the Lich."

"Thank goodness." Peppermint Butler sighs in relief. He then gently crosses Princess Bubblegum's arms over her chest and stands back up.

"What is that Golb thing doing here?" Susan asks.

"I can't say for certain." He replies, joining the two girls along the edge of the tower. "I have a gut feeling that we're about to find out, though."

The three sit together, unable to do anything but stare at the two half-deities while the next scene unfolds before them. Above her, Susan can feel Frieda's grip tighten in fear around her head as they watch.


'Betty?! Betty! I'm here! PLEASE!'

Simon stares up, unable to move or even call out as his lost love looms high above him. He tries. He tries with everything he has to scream, shout, grasp out at her – anything at all – but his body cruelly refuses to heed his command. All he can do is lie there and watch. Tears fall down the side of his cheeks. He has neither the need nor ability to hide them from her.

Outside of the human's magical shell, Marceline, Flame Princess, Jake, and Lady all stare up in open-mouthed astonishment. The Lich, however, allows no such concession for his plans. With a gesture, a current of energy surges from his hand. It jumps to the magical sheath keeping Simon aloft and travels onward, as though carried along a conduit, straight into Marceline. The vampire girl shouts in surprise as the spell discharges against her, breaking her telekinetic hold and blowing her back. With nothing left to keep him in place, Simon lets out a cry as he plummets toward the ground.

"S̶͍̽i̷̡̛m̵̻̀o̸͎͝n̷͈̾!"

The red giant plunges downward, her body melting and effervescing through space (and possibly through multiple dimensions) until she appears already fully formed right below him. She catches his tiny form in her outstretched hand and lowers him to her face. Her four eyes are wide as they focus in on him.

"Betty?" Simon huffs, catching his breath. Shakily, he stands up in the palm of her hand. "You…you came back?"

"H̸a̵d̷ ̵t̴o̷,̵ ̴S̴i̷m̵o̴n̴.̷ ̵H̸a̶v̴e̸ ̴t̵o̷ ̷k̴e̴e̵p̶ ̵y̴o̶ù̸̬͒ͅ ̸̦͓̋̀s̷͚͓̏̊ȧ̷̭͕͠f̷͙͔́͗ë̴͉̱́͋.̷͖̰̒̓"

"Oh, Betty…I thought I lost you forever."

Simon reaches up and gently strokes his love's cheek (what little bit of it he can reach) and a portion of it crumbles away against his touch. He recoils.

"Betty! What's wrong?"

"F̸a̶l̵l̸i̴n̵g̷ ̸a̷p̸a̴r̷t̵.̶ ̵I̷'̶m̷ ̷s̶o̴r̵r̸y̴,̶ ̵I̴'̴v̷e̷ ̶t̸r̵i̴e̴d̶ ̵t̴o̶ ̴h̷o̶l̶d̴ ̶i̴t̸ ̷t̸o̴g̸e̶t̵h̸e̸r̵.̴ ̷C̸o̷m̴i̴n̴g̸ ̶h̴e̵r̷e̴ ̸d̷i̴d̸n̵'̷t̵ ̶h̶e̸l̸p̸.̸"

The small cleft Simon's touch had made in her façade continues to grow, webbing outward across the side of Betty's face until it resembles a broken mirror.

"What…what can we do?"

"Nothing." The Lich calls out. "You mortals always lack the resolve for what must come."

He extends all six of his arms towards Betty. A pale green aura surrounds the human-god hybrid, lifting her into the sky.

"A̸̦̺͝H̶̟͌H̴͍̤̑Ḧ̵̤̗̿Ḧ̴͖́H̶̖̅!̸̬͉͊͝"

"Whoa!" Simon nearly teeters off the edge of Betty's hand, but Marceline, having bounced back from the Lich's blast, hooks him with another telekinetic hold. She quickly reels him into her arms.

"I got you Simon. Don't worry, your bloo-I mean you're safe with me."

"No! Marcy! Don't worry about me! Help Betty for Glob's sake!"

Marceline, Flame Princess, and Lady Rainicorn all make toward the Lich to aid the deteriorating god, but they are not fast enough to keep him from speaking his spell into motion.

"SUNDER."

"G̶̲̲A̶̠̳̱͟H̴̲̳̲̳͟H̴̲̳̲̳̲̄͞H̴̲̳̠̅̅̿̄͟H̷̱̲̅̿̄̅̄̿͟͞H̷̱̲̠̳̲̳̿̄̄̿͟͟H̸̱̳̠̲̅̅̄̅̄̿̅͟͞H̶̱̳̱̱̲̅̿̿̿͟͟͟͞͞͞!"

Like a mountainous glacier calving, there's an explosive *crack* as a massive fissure splits down the center of Bettygolb's body followed by what sounds like the uninterrupted roar of water. A dark, clay-red seepage beads out across the seam. It draws open wider and wider, swallowing all of Bettygolb's defining features into the bleed until only the blank red bulk of Golb's form remains. The amorphous liquid collects and condenses as a small, almost imperceptible ball above the center of Golb's chest.

Then, suddenly, a hot flash of light and there she is: Betty, magic-woman hat and all.

"BETTY!" Simon shouts, nearly clawing his way out of Marceline's arms.

The human woman stares down wordlessly as she floats in front of what remains of her previous incarnation.

The Lich's next command fills the air.

"TO ME."

At his call, the sound of crashing water ceases and Golb's remaining essence melts together, spilling forth as a coursing red river through the sky. The surge of elemental chaos collides into the necromancer's body. It washes over, melding and seething until something new manifests: an awful crimson fiend with six arms that stands even taller than Bettygolb once did. Its flesh ripples and churns unendingly. A mutated skeletal face with six hate-filled eyes are set inside a horned, pyramidal head. It grins down at them – all of existence – a true synthesis of Golb and Lich.


Terror-stricken, Princess Bubblegum watches the advent of Bettygolb with both hands locked around the edges of the virtual screen before her. The Lich had done it; there was no time left for any of them now. She whirls back to Finn's mother.

"Minerva! Can you hear me?!"

There is a musical tone and the AI's eyes blink back to life. She smiles. "Yes, I can, Princess Bubblegum. I am now fully reintegrated with both my outpost and island-side servers."

"Oh thank, Glob! Okay, now I need you to access the Sword of Damocles subroutine. I've hooked up an object of power to the central tower's lab station. If my assessments are correct, you can use it to augment the satellite's defense beam. Once it hits, it should cause a catabalistic chain reaction throughout the Lich's body, destroying him and all his trans-dimensional duplicates at the cellular level."

"Of course. I'll get a proper lock on this 'Lich' brute with my sensors."

She waves her arms and several more screens appear around them. Some display the Lich, while others zero in on Bettygolb.

"Exactly which one is bad, Princess?"

"The one that's a big evil skeleton! Please, we have to hurry, Minerva!"

"Yes, I apologize. Scanning target and locking in coordinates now."

'Oh please, oh please, oh please!'

There's a pause. And nothing happens.

"Wh-what are you waiting for?! Shoot him!"

Princess Bubblegum turns to find that Minerva's face has suddenly darkened.

"Doctor Minerva?"

"You didn't tell me that Finn is inside that thing, Princess Bubblegum. My scanners know his vital signs anywhere. You're asking me to kill my own son."

A cold sweat prickles up across the back of Princess Bubblegum's neck. "Minerva: listen to me! There is enough power in the Lich's reach to kill everyone if he gets his hands on it. I know Finn, and he would want to give his life for us. You have to take the shot now!"

The virtual realm shudders in response. All around them, mountainous statues of Finn rise out from the ground. Each depicts the young hero in the midst of a particularly graphic death. They begin to crack and erode as soon as they surface.

"I…I know. I know he would, Princess. But I…" The AI's face contorts in full anguish as tears start to trace down her cheeks. "But I just can't! I just can't kill my baby boy. I'm so sorry, but you have to understand!"

"SUNDER."

Princess Bubblegum briefly returns her attention to the screens and watches as the Lich's magic begins to peel open Bettygolb's crimson flesh. She clasps her hands together.

"Please, I'm begging you, Doctor Minerva. Give me access to the satellite controls. I'll take the shot if you can't do it yourself."

"But there has to be another way. We could wound the Lich instead, just enough to slow him down."

"The beam doesn't work like that." PB growls in mounting frustration. "It's an all-or-nothing chain reaction and we are out of time for any discussion. Give me control NOW!"

The virtual realm quakes with tremors of rapidly increasing strength. More and more effigies of Finn form and fall with fluid-like abandon, splashing into each other.

"NNN–!"

"MINERVA!"

"TO ME."

The Lich's spell filters in over the AI's heaving mind palace.

"PLEASE!"

"A-" Minerva squeezes her eyes shut and gnashes her teeth. "All user restrictions lifted! Issue firing command!"

"Fire on target!" Princess Bubblegum bellows. "NOW!"


The obscene spectacle of the Lich transmuting a chaos god's corpse into molten flesh completely grips Frieda, Susan, and Peppermint Butler's attention. So focused, in fact, that the trio collectively jump as a loud mechanical whirr picks up from underneath the lab's floor. Susan Strong immediately places a protective arm around Frieda and Peppermint Butler and jumps back with them to a more defensible position next to Princess Bubblegum.

"What's happening?!" Susan shouts.

"Something good would be a nice change of pace!" Frieda calls back.

A thin blue laser bursts out from the lens embedded at the bottom of the docking station that once housed the Lich. It strikes dead center against The Maid's base and exits out of its tip, taking on a bright, sparking white aura as it shoots off into the night sky.

The three friends stand glitter stunned as it trails away. And, in the next instant, an even larger beam pierces back downward from high overhead.

Just as the fusion concludes, a giant, crackling energy beam rips down from the heavens. It smashes into the Golblich, swallowing the new god in a burning white light that blinds everyone else in the vicinity.

"What the flip is that?!" FP shouts as she covers her eyes.

"I think it's PB!" Jake replies, clinging to Lady's back.

The light dissipates after a few seconds, and the adventures look to find the Golblich still standing without a scratch on him. The dread god tilts his head skyward, seemingly unimpressed.

"T̴h̶a̶t̴ ̸w̵a̵s̶ ̶y̵o̵u̷r̶ ̶ ̷p̵l̵a̴n̷,̷ ̴P̵r̸i̴n̸c̶e̴s̸s̸?̷ ̷A̷l̸a̸s̵,̸ ̴t̶o̷o̴ ̴l̷i̷t̸t̷l̴e̷ ̴t̶o̶o̶ ̶l̶a̵t̵e̶.̸ E̸v̴e̴r̸y̷t̵h̴i̴n̷g̶ ̵e̶n̷d̸s̶"

Flicking one of his gargantuan wrists, the magical sheen around Betty bursts with a small explosion. She shouts as it sends her sailing uncontrollably towards the rest of the gang. Lady quickly snakes into position, and Jake throws out a rope-like arm to snag her mid-fall.

With Marceline still recovering from the flash, Simon wriggles the rest of the way out of her hold. He drops the short distance down onto Lady's back, just as Jake plops a frazzled Betty down. Immediately, he moves to embrace her, but Jake stretches out a hand to bar his way.

"Slow down there, Lothario." He proceeds to stretch his ear into a blanket and wrap it around her comfortingly. "Give the lady some room to breathe before you smother her."

"Betty! You're back! Are you okay?"

The longsuffering woman blinks at the question. Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she finally finds her voice again. It's shaky. "I…I d-don't think I am, S-Simon. I don't think anyone is any…anymore."

"What do you mean?"

As if in answer, the Golblich stretches out a great red hand towards the main tower.

"S̷i̵n̶c̵e̵ ̷y̵o̶u̶ ̵s̶o̴ ̸g̷e̶n̴e̷r̵o̶u̴s̷l̵y̶ ̸a̶n̶o̸i̵n̶t̴e̴d̴ ̶m̶y̵ ̴n̸e̵w̷ ̴f̵o̶r̴m̴ ̶i̸n̸ ̵l̶i̶g̶h̶t̵,̵ ̶P̷r̵i̵n̴c̴e̴s̵s̵,̵ ̶y̸o̴u̶ ̶s̸h̴a̶l̵l̷ ̸b̶e̷ ̸t̵h̷e̴ ̵f̴i̶r̸s̶t̶ ̵t̷o̵ ̸r̶e̵c̶e̸i̵v̴e̶ ̸i̸t̴s̵ ̶ b̴l̴e̸s̵s̴i̷n̸g̴.̸"

"HSSSSS!" More smoke vents out from the corners of Marceline's mouth as she shoots up straight in front of the new god's open palm. Her eyes spark bright crimson again. "You won't hurt her! You won't! HRAHH!"

Throwing her arms up, the vampire girl unleashes a wave of psionic energy that splits the space between her and the Golblich into countless razor-thin ripples. They whip forward in an instant, leaving a crisscross pattern on the necrodeity's arm and face. There's a moment's delay, and then the Golblich's limbs explode outward into hundreds of finely diced red cubes. A large black mass of limbs bubbles and froths at the center of each stump.

"Holy cow…" FP whispers under her breath.

The rest of the gang look on in similar states of amazement.

There is no ensuing downpour of Golblich chunks, however. Instead, they remain suspended in orbit around the body. There's a dark, hitching rumble that quickly rises to something akin to a chuckle. The cubes dissolve and bleed their way back into their original places across the Golblich's eldrich continence in a matter of seconds.

"F̵i̷n̸a̴l̶l̶y̶ ̷d̷e̶c̷i̷d̵i̶n̴g̵ ̸t̸o̵ ̶t̵a̵k̴e̶ ̷t̶h̵i̸n̷g̴s̵ ̵s̵e̷r̴i̷o̷u̴s̵l̵y̶,̷ ̶h̸a̷v̶e̶ ̴y̸o̸u̶,̷ ̸D̵a̶u̵g̶h̵t̴e̷r̷ ̶o̵f̶ ̵A̶b̷a̶d̵e̷e̶r̶?̴ ̶W̵e̸l̸l̷,̵ ̶s̵o̴ ̶h̷a̵v̶e̴ ̶I̴.̶"

The new god extends two titanic red fingers and aims them squarely at Marceline. She gasps.

"B̸E̸G̷O̶N̷E̴.̵"

'MOVE MARCELINE!'

The vampire girl is no further than a half-turn into her retreat before an intense burst of entropic radiation catches her on the right side. A portion of her shoulder and an entire wing evaporate simultaneously, knocking a shriek of pain from her throat. The shockwave, meanwhile, sends her tumbling back through the air toward her friends. Flame Princess pops up and quickly catches her wounded friend before she sails past them.

"We need to retreat and regroup now!" The young elemental exclaims, already jetting for the tower. In her arms, Marceline's feathered, lion-like features are already reverting to normal.

Lady follows FP's fiery tail. From atop her back, Jake, Simon, and Betty huddle together, all casting anxious looks back towards the Golblich as they fall back. Simon takes a moment to slip his hand into Betty's, giving it a firm squeeze. Betty squeezes back. Whether it's to lend him reassurance or simply out of fear, he can't tell.

"A̶h̶,̸ ̷b̸u̷t̵ ̵n̸o̵w̵ ̸w̸h̷e̵r̶e̴ ̸c̴o̷u̵l̶d̸ ̶y̸o̴u̶ ̷b̷e̸ ̵g̴o̴i̴n̸g̵?̷" The Lich calls out at them mockingly. He then slams all six of his arms down upon the ground around his portal. Sinewy red strands begin to slowly creep out from the edges of his hands and thread their way across the crumbled streets of Humantown. Anything caught up in the creeping web's path is quickly broken down and incorporated into a roiling red bed of chaos.

"A̸f̵t̷e̷r̴ ̶a̷l̶l̷,̶ ̷t̵h̴e̶r̵e̸'̷s̵ ̴n̴o̶w̵h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̸l̸e̸f̵t̵ ̶i̸n̸ ̶a̷l̴l̷ ̴t̶h̶e̶ ̷m̷u̴l̷t̴i̷v̶e̴r̵s̷e̶ ̷t̴o̴ ̸r̵u̵n̸.̴"


Left eye fluttering open, the young nymph wakes sharply to the motes of light that glance down through the canopy. She sits up with a wince and finds herself in the middle of a thicket – white oak by the gauzy, silver-pink leaves hanging overhead. Their dense trunks are so tightly intertwined that they give the impression of intricately carved walls instead of discrete organisms. Below her is a soft pile of dirt. Flowers, moss, mushrooms, and climbing vines cover practically every other available surface within the little haven, save for a perfectly round pool of crystal-clear water just off to her side.

Staring vacantly ahead for a time, she finally notices that she can only see through one of her eyes. She blinks and blinks again, thinking it simply stuck from sleep. It doesn't open.

Gingerly, she brings her hand up and runs the tips of her fingers across the ridge of her brow. The papery texture of leaves greets her; not of her own hair, but much broader and interlaced with flower petals. They're plastered across the upper right portion of her face along with something else. Something sticky. A small dab of it comes away on the curve of her thumb and she brings it under her nose. Bitter scent. A strong medicinal sap, most likely.

"A dark howler's claws are not only sharp, but they also secrete a powerful venom."

The little nymph whips her head in the voice's direction, just inside her blind spot. Standing there is an odd-looking green being. His body is composed of three circular lumps stacked upon one another, with long light-brown hair, gangly arms and legs, and a zigzagging pattern around his lower half. He smiles and holds out a deeply cupped leaf filled with water.

"Thirsty?"

She snatches the cup and drains it eagerly, keeping her good eye on her would-be benefactor all the while. The water is sweet and unnaturally cool against her throat. She finishes and tosses the leaf away.

"You saved me?"

"Yes, I did. I am the Spirit of the Forest. Do you have a name, little one?"

"I…" She hesitates. "My name is Artra."

He gives a slight bow. "Well met, Artra. You were in terrible shape when I got you here. To counteract the venom, I had to supply you with some of my own magical blood. You wouldn't have survived otherwise."

Artra stares at the spirit. "Why did you save me?"

"Why not? I was in the area when I heard your cries. I wasn't about to just leave you."

She eyes him warily. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Unfortunately, it also means that you're bound to me and vice versa. You are now 'part' of the forest. All forests."

"What does that mean? I'm your prisoner or something?"

"No. Though you may leave, you are now tethered to the wild. You will ache for it wherever you may go. It will be a harsh and lonely life."

Artra is silent.

"I cannot relieve you of this burden, Artra; but, if you wish, I can teach you how to survive – to hunt. With enough time, you might even come to thrive here in my domain."

There is another long pause in their conversation before Artra answers.

"Okay."

"Good. We'll start your training once you've recovered." The Spirit of the Forest conjures a wooden bowl into his hand. He then walks over to the round pool of water and dips it in. "Let me get you some food. You'll need plenty of strength as your wounds heal."

The young nymph settles back into her bed, eyes passing over her caretaker every so often as he prepares her meal. He begins by conjuring a small blaze of elemental fire and sets the bowl atop it. He then summons a small wooden knife and sets to picking mushrooms, peppers, and wild onions from the carpet of vegetation below, carefully cleaning and chopping each one before adding it to the steaming pot.

It's from this languid position that Artra catches it clearly for the first time: a faint, airy progression of notes coming from a flute somewhere outside the thicket. As much as she welcomes the prospect of a hot meal, the little nymph can't resist rising from her spot. She follows the music, as if entranced. It leads her to an archway set in the wall, covered by a dense curtain of vines. The Spirit of the Forest makes no notice of her as she passes him. Rivulets of dark fluid weep down from his eyes and mouth. Without stopping, she steps straight through the barrier. The memory parts around her like a membrane, clutching and sticking at her limbs. She presses on unabated, focusing wholly in on the sound of the flute ahead until, at last, the grip of the past relents and snaps back behind her.

Suddenly, thrown back to the present, she realizes that she is not now that lost, hurt little girl from years before. She is Artra the Huntress Wizard: Watcher of the Woods. And she has a mission to complete.

Looking around, she finds herself once again caught somewhere in the Lich's bowels. Instead of a churning sea, though, the light emanating from her runes reveals a massive spherical hollow yawning out ahead of her. She was bound against its wall, her arms and legs encased in dark, gelid mounds of muck. Huntress Wizard gives a testing pull against it, but the ooze holds tight.

'Alright, try this then…'

The nymph concentrates, letting out a hum as she redirects a portion of magical energy flowing across her runes straight into her wrist. There is a small burst of golden light and the ooze recedes, freeing her arm. She flexes it with a grin.

HW prepares to do the same with her legs when a weak groan echoes out from the shadows surrounding the other half of the chamber. At once, she uses her huntress vision to peer out at the source of the noise.

She gasps.

Directly across from her is Finn, unconscious and trapped against the wall. Several dark, dripping skeletal arms extend from the lining around him, attaching the tips of their fingers to his head and chest. He groans again.

"Finn!"

HW sends a burst of energy through her legs and arm, freeing them in an instant. Mid-drop, she sends out a vine arrow, pegging it right into one of the arms probing her boyfriend. It melts away. The vine grows taught in her hand as she swings forward. There is a syrupy *glush* as the heels of her boots impact the jelly-like surface. She digs them in and sends out three more arrows to dissolve the remaining arms tormenting Finn.

With the rune spell taking up most of her energy, Huntress Wizard can't rely on any levitation magic to help her. Nevertheless, hand over hand, she gradually makes her ascent to Finn's side. She loops a knot in the vine for her to stand on and cups her hands around his face.

"Finn! Wake up!"

She shakes him, but only receives another pained groan in reply. His head lolls about loosely in her palms.

"Finn!"

No response.

The nymph curses and plants a fist against her forehead. 'Think. The rune spell lets me break out from my memories. I don't have the juice to cast another…so, something simple. Just to give him an edge.'

With a nod to herself, Huntress fishes her skinning knife out of her boot. She puts the flat of her thumb against the edge and draws it across hard. As blood wells up from the cut, she puts the knife away and dips the tips of her fore and middle fingers into it. She then brings her bloodied fingers up to Finn's forehead and traces a crescent moon with an arrow running through it – the same as hers.

She leans over, hugs his neck, and softly whistles the tune of the flute spell into his ear.


The second consciousness finds him again, Finn rocks his head to both sides in search of Jake. He finds his brother asleep in the bed to his left, trimmed in fresh gauze that barely conceals the patchwork of cuts, welts, and bruises covering him. The emotional relief Finn experiences on discovering that his brother is (relatively) unharmed is enough to dull most of the pain he feels cropping up along his own body. Or maybe it was the painkillers. Honestly, he was still a bit too woozy to parse all the different sensations.

"You're tremendously brave, Finn."

The sound of Princess Bubblegum's voice draws his attention over to the infirmary doorway. The candy monarch strides in with one of her servants – a small peppermint man in a suit – carrying a loaded tea tray at her side. Evidently, she'd decided to change outfits after rescuing them. Now, instead of a straight pink gown, she wore a white sundress with gold trimming.

"I saw how you tried to shield your friend Jake from the undead. You were ready to sacrifice yourself to spare him a few extra moments of suffering."

'Wow, she looks pretty…' He shakes the thought from his head and answers."Oh, yeah. I mean, he's my brother; I'd do anything for him."

"I don't doubt that."

The peppermint man sets the tea try onto the small table next to Finn and pours out two steaming teacups.

"Would you like to have some tea with me? I'd like a moment to talk to you before the doctors return."

"Um, sure."

Princess Bubblegum pulls up a chair to his bedside. As she sits, the peppermint man hands her a saucer and cup. "Thank you, Peppermint Butler. You may leave us."

"My Lady." Peppermint Butler replies with a bow before retreating from the room.

For a moment, only the regular chirp of Jake's EKG fills the room. Princess Bubblegum takes her time adding cream and sugar to both their cups, clinking the spoon against their rims as she stirs. She passes Finn his ready-made brew and then blows on her own. She takes a sip.

"So." She begins. "What's a young mensch and his hund doing all on their own at the edge of my Kingdom? Are you two traveling somewhere?"

"We, uh…we're not going to any place in particular. We're kinda between homes right now, and we've been trying to find a new one." He takes a taste of his tea and finds it pleasantly sweet. "Nothing we've found so far has had the right fit, though."

"Is that so? We have some available homes here in the Candy Kingdom. You could live in one, if you'd like."

"Well, thanks, Princess, but Jake and I were actually looking for someplace we could be on our own. Like a piece of land or something we could stake our claim on, you know?"

"Ah, I see. Actu-"

A low groan off to the side cuts the princess off. Jake fidgets underneath his blankets and slowly opens his eyes. "W-whu happuned? Where are we, Finn?"

"Jake!" Finn sits up suddenly and winces at the twinge he feels in his leg. He ignores it. "We're okay, bro! Princess Bubblegum saved our sausages."

"She did? How come I can't move anything below my neck? You guys didn't stick me with some sort of prosthetic body to ease me into a life as a decapitated head, did you?"

"Nah, man, you're still just paralyzed from the zombie poison."

"Oh yeah, that tracks. Thank you, Princess."

"You're very much welcome, Jake." Princess Bubblegum giggles. "Finn was just telling me about your search for a home."

"Yep, sorry for getting tangled up in your undead biz, Princess. We'll just heal up and be out of your hair to search again as quick as we can."

"Actually, I was about to tell Finn that I have a place in mind for the two of you. There's a treehouse in the Grasslands just outside my kingdom that's available. It used to belong to my g-." She pauses and clears her throat. "It used to belong to a friend of mine, but she won't be using it anymore. I doubt she'd mind if you two settled in. The three of us could go over and take a look at it after you've recovered."

Finn inhales dramatically. "Princess, not only have you saved our lives today, but you've also given us a home. I am honor bound as a hero of Ooo to swear my allegiance to the Candy Kingdom and serve it however I may."

"Whoa, dude, maybe we should look at what we're buying before we swear fealty to anybody."

"C'mon, Jake! I'm trying to do the noble knight thing over here!"

"Alright, geez. You saved both our lives, PB, so I guess I pledge, too."

"You're both serious?"

"Princess, I have never been more serious about anything. Ever."

"Well, it's not necessary of you, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't welcome your services, Finn and Jake. I've been looking for a few reliable champions to round out my kingdom's defenses. You know, go to the places I can't go; do the things I can't do." She extends her hand. "I, Princess Bubblegum of the Candy Kingdom, hereby accept your vow."

Finn reaches out to shake his new Ladyship's hand, yet he stops just shy of her fingertips. Something on the air grabs him: A fluttering flourish of intonations.

"Wait. Do you guys hear…that?"

The limpid notes sweep over him like a perfume or a caress, and Finn feels as though he should know the tune intimately. Yet, try as he might, he can't disentangle the forgotten treasure from its hidden resting spot inside his mind. Before he even realizes it, he's up and out of bed. The young adventurer nearly stumbles forward, expecting pain to race up his freshly sutured leg. Strangely, there's not even an ounce of discomfort as he finds his footing on the tiled floor of the infirmary. Stranger still, he's suddenly much taller. And his right arm is now made of metal?

Behind him, Princess Bubblegum and Jake don't react at all to his sudden transformation; they're frozen stock still. Black liquid seeps from their eyes and mouths.

Finn takes no notice. The song continues to play, and he is powerless against its pull. It's melody coaxes him to a blank wall at the far end of the chamber. At its center, a bright red dot appears then spreads out into the shape of a crescent moon. An emblem of an arrow slashes straight through its center and, like a gate thrown open, the music blares. A harsh blast of pressure barrels out of the symbol, hitting against him with such force that he has to fight to stay upright.

With a growl, Finn pushes forward against the headwind and reaches out. Then, just as the tip of his fingers touch the symbol, he remembers: The magic flute song. Huntress Wizard. Arta.

'Artra!'

The gale reverses itself and Finn is suddenly pulled forward, right into the wall. The memory residue tugs and pulls viscously against its prey, as if making one last attempt to hinder his escape. It's no match against the powerful current Finn is caught upon, though. It propels the young adventurer, ramming him straight back into consciousness.

"Atra!" Finn shouts as his eyes leap open. He looks about in a panic, only to find his girlfriend's arms already slung about his neck.

"Finn! It worked, thank Gob!" She places a hand on his goo-covered arm. "Here, let me get you out."

There's a burst of magic and the black gunk recedes. She moves on to his next hand, talking as she works:

"I have to say, dude, you have a knack for getting devoured by giant monsters; the Lich swallowed you whole. Since I'm magic and also a good girlfriend, I came in after you. Everyone else stayed behind to keep him busy."

Still hazy from the abrupt departure from his past, Finn listens to the nymph's explanation dumbly. He watches as the golden glyphs shimmer and flit like will-o'-wisps across her body.

"You…you look pretty."

Huntress Wizard pauses and blushes before continuing her work on his lower half.

"Aa, Finn, that's sweet of you to say to a girl covered in necromancer-flavored jelly. Anyway, Bubblegum has some master plan to take him down, but she wants you out before she drops the hammer. If she does, everyone's safe and the Lich is finally dead. The only minor downside is that we would bite it too."

She gives one last zap to the muck around Finn's legs, freeing him.

"So, that's all to say that we need an exit ASAP, because I have no idea how long we've been down here. I also don't know how much longer my protective runes will hold out."

With a bit of help, Finn unsticks himself from the wall and climbs onto HW's back. He loops his arms around her. She's so warm compared to the icy black pulp that once held him.

"That bring you up to speed, Champ?"

"Yeah, I think I get it. How are we getting out?"

"I wasn't sure I'd make it to you, so I'm pretty much improvising at this point. I definitely don't want to take another dip in all that Lich goop again." She glances around. "We'll have to cut a way out. I'm just not sure how."

They hang in thoughtful silence for a moment until Finn unsheathes the Night Sword from his pack.

"My bionic wrist can rotate as fast as a drill. If I hold out my sword while its spinning, it could make a hole wide enough for us to crawl through."

Huntress Wizard grins wide. "Clever hero boy. Fire that sucker up."

Finn nods and sets his arm straight, angling the blade parallel to the wall in front of them.

"Arm: drill mode. Keep hand attachment active."

"Drilling!" Princess Bubblegum's prerecorded voice responds from the little speaker. Immediately, Finn's wrist whirls to life and the blade blurs like a propeller in his grasp. He shoves it into the goo and the chaotic magic metal bores right through to make a decent sized hole.

"Heck yeah!"

"Keep it up!" Huntress Wizard calls over the mechanical whirr.

She clambers up from her vine and onto the small recess. She starts crawling forward with Finn on her back. He clears out the way ahead as she goes along. Luckily, the blade seems to have a cauterizing effect on the Lich's tar-flesh, preventing them from sinking back into its depths as they progress. Tunneling deeper and deeper with only the steady buzz of his arm between them, Finn decides to speak up.

"Hey, Huntress?"

"Hm?"

"I haven't told you guys yet, but the Lich told me something while Maloy and his goons had us captured. I'm not sure what to really make of it, but if it's true, then someone has to be around to tell everyone. If I don't make it out of here."

"We are getting out of here, Finn. You have to believe that."

"I know and I do, but just in case."

"Okay. Lay it on me."

"The Lich said…he said that Golb was dying. Betty can't handle being merged with a god, so she's losing control over all the chaos in the multiverse. He said that every reality will collapse once she does. And it'll be the end of everything. Permanently."

Huntress Wizard is silent. She continues to crawl.

"What scares me the most, HW, was that he was making sense. The Lich said he was trying to replace Betty as Golb to keep reality from melting down. Yeah, he'll probably kill everyone who's alive if he gets that power, but at least we'll get to come back as something else. If we fight him off and he's right about this, then we'll have doomed everything and die anyway. You understand, HW?"

"So, if I'm grockin' what you're rockin', then we might be doomed no matter what we do."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Hm. Did it occur to you that he was just spouting all that to keep you out of his way? To make you docile and indecisive?"

"It did. Do we want to roll those dice, though?"

"We're heroes, Finn. We wouldn't be here in the first place if we didn't like to take chances."

"That was my first instinct, too. I want to fight, Huntress; I want to save everyone. But, even if we do, what's our next step if Golb is dying for real?"

Finn can feel Huntress shrug her shoulders underneath him.

"We figure it out as it comes. If we succeed, good for us. If we don't…then, I guess we had a good run. Who knows, maybe the multiverse itself goes through a reincarnation cycle. This could just be one of the ways it resets itself. If not, well, then I get to spend the final moments of existence with you, Finn. And that's something."

"Huntress, I-"

A loud *clang* cuts Finn off. The Night Sword grinds to a halt in front of them.

"Arm: deactivate drill mode."

"Drilling complete!" PB's voice chirps cheerfully in reply. Finn's wrist powers down and he retracts it from the Lich goo. "What the heck did we hit?"

Huntress Wizard sends out a small burst of magic to clear the remaining layer of tar-flesh ahead of them. As it dissolves, it reveals a dark red wall blocking their way forward. Again, HW tosses a splash of magic at it, but to no apparent effect. Finn raises his sword and takes a testing slash against it. Sparks jump out from the blade's path yet, still, the wall stands without so much as a scratch.

"So, what now?"

"I'll be real with you, Finn. I seriously did not count on the Lich growing magic-proof, metal skin all of the sudden."

"We could try digging around it."

"No, I heard the vibrations that your sword sent through it. This stuff stretches all the way out. Probably across his whole body."

Finn scowls and throws a punch against the barrier. "GLOB!"

He's about to land another, but Huntress Wizard catches him by the wrist.

"That won't help, dude."

"But-"

"Shh." She lowers his fist, then scoots up closer against the barrier and runs a hand over its surface. "There's something about its composition that I recognize. It's pure chaos magic; Golb-level purity."

"You mean he somehow absorbed Golb, like he did with Stoliad?"

"That, or he somehow managed to copy Golb's powers exactly."

"Then how are we still alive? What about Betty and everyone outside?!"

"I don't know, Finn. What I do know, though, is that there's only one sure-fire way to pierce a chaos god's hide." She makes a few signs with her hands and a small portable portal appears. Huntress Wizard reaches inside it and pulls out a familiar object: a flute made from the tusk of a legendary thunder boar. "You know it, too."

"Huntress, you kept it?"

"Sure did. You still have yours?"

Finn reaches back into his pack and pulls out his well-worn instrument. "Yeah. I haven't played in a while, though. A bear used it for a butt scratcher and then got it stuck up its nose. You don't want to know what I had to go through to get it back out."

"Ew." HW grimaces. "You've cleaned it since then, right?"

"Of course."

"Then let's make some music together."

With her fingers lightly curled atop the keys, the forest nymph lifts the tusk to her lips. She takes a deep breath and blows.


Author's Note: Hoo man. What a crazy month this has been, right everyone? Again, apologies for the long wait. I was traveling for a while, possibly came down with the flu or corona virus, then recovered. My available writing time was a bit all over the place, but here's the new chapter. We're getting close to the big finish now. As always, thanks for reading!