Chapter 16:
"I never thought I'd eat again," Minerva murmured. Bonnie nodded absently. "Do you taste the sugar," she asked? Nodding, the android offered up a frown. "It's a little too sweet, I think," she said. Clacking keys, Bonnie adjusted the sensors in her mouth. As she was about that, Fionna came in, this time with Billy in tow. "Hi, gramma," she announced. She'd been coming by every day since Sarah told her about building her grandmother an artificial body. "Fi," Minerva greeted her. "Who's your hunky friend?" Chuckling, Billy replied, "your grandson." As Minerva flushed, the big man announced, "I'm Bill." "Well," said Min, "I'd get up and give you a hug, but..." Bonnie gave the two kids an ironic look.
The pair strode up to where Bonnie was working away at a terminal that seemed to be plugged into their grandmom's back. The massive computer was still sitting in the center of the space and humming away. Seeing their interest, Minerva explained, "downloading data. There's a lot in there that we collected in the early going when the colonies were built. I'd hate to see it lost. What brings you?" "Looking in on you," Fi replied. "I'm... I'm headed to Jungle Kingdom." She'd explained 'The Deal' to her grandmother. Far from being upset, Min had rationalized it. Finn was a warlord, much like the warrior-kings and conquerors of the past. The twist was that he was using his mind to solve problems now instead of always resorting to his fist. To Min, it was a very good solution for Fi to build something for the folk of this Jungle Kingdom instead of beating them into submission.
The two youths sat down before their grandmother. "How go things with the town," Min asked? "Not as well as we'd hoped," Fi rumbled. The survival shelters had all been built. They had squeezed in five-hundred thousand of the city's inhabitants. That left half a million people in a vulnerable state. With a heavy sigh, the older woman announced, "I think I need to get my butt involved." Glancing over her shoulder, she said, "I don't really care about some of the more... esoteric issues... Can I work?" With a sigh, Bonnie said, "yeah. I wouldn't recommend leaving the palace until we've had a chance to get everything working properly, but yeah, you can work."
Closing out of the processes she'd opened, the candy monarch said, "let me get you a robe or something to wear. We're having a meeting upstairs in about half an hour." "Kids," Min announced, "I'll see you in a bit." The two youths kissed her on either cheek before getting on their way.
The meeting was already underway when Min arrived in company with Bonnibel. Finn was on via hologram from the old meeting room in the Candy Kingdom, and his wives and confidantes were going down the list of problems they had to deal with. Min slipped in and stood off to one side to listen while Bonnie went up the length of the table to her place beside Simone.
Blargetha had the floor, and she was sharing out a measure of very bad news. She had an easel at her side with a heavy sketchpad covered with facts and figures, and it was clear to Min that those numbers were unpleasant facts that they were going to have to address. With heavy sigh, Blargetha summarized the problem, "we're... We're not going to make it, Finn. There's no way to build all the housing needed... to build the infrastructure. One million peeps... there's just no way to do it." Nodding, Finn replied, "ok... What can we do...?"
Nadia took up the tale then, saying, "top need is power to support the project across the winter... We need steady power. You have to give up the castle... temporarily..." She proposed to lay power-lines across the floor of the lake to the shore. Her folk would build a distribution station there. "The two villages and the castle... they don't use much power," Sarah explained. "We've got far in excess of what's needed to keep them healthy through the winter. We've got plenty of food stores if we ration..." They had troops on the island sufficient to keep the fledgling colony safe from the predations of local tribes.
Nodding, the big man said, "ok. I give up my castle. What's next? You said you couldn't build the houses..." Hurletta took up the thread then, saying, "we have to move them, Finn. We... they'll have to be separated. My sister's calculations say we can take care of no more than half of them here on the site. The rest... we have to find other places for them to live temporarily." Decisively, Finn announced, "ok. Time to start working the phones. Figure out where we can stash peeps for the winter. Figure out who can take some of them and how we're getting them there. Then I'll start calling."
Shoko stood up then. Glancing at Maja, the elemental announced, "I've come up with a way to move the people down south to Stilt Town." Nodding at Maja, the young woman explained, "I think we can do maybe three-thousand at a time..." Maja rolled her eyes in irritation. This was about to basically erase her free time. Three thousand at a shot was ok for the ten-thousand souls they'd originally promised. They could move them in three or four weeks tops and be done in time for the holiday season. Five-hundred thousand souls was a vastly larger proposition. "We'll sit down and talk this out afterwards," Nadia suggested.
Bonnie turned to Finn and asked, "when are you back?" "Not coming back," Finn replied. "Not right now. I think I'd do better staying in the east, working the phones and talking to people." He'd really hoped to put something together for the people in the human homeland, get them up and running on their own, and head back east. This news put paid to the idea. He could only hope they could get the humans self-sufficient in a couple years so he could get his castle back. Bonnie sighed. They needed that satellite.
Turning to Blargetha, the candy monarch said, "we should deploy Blargetha to the Coca Kingdom, Finn. The sooner we get the rocket-base built, the better off we are." Billy announced, "I worked a deal with Pirate Princess. The toll is agreed. I set up an account for the money to deposit into in Tequila Kingdom. We can ship the materials and people when we're ready." "The word's given," Finn declared. "Blargetha? You've got four months." The King broke the link from his end, precipitating the breakup of the meeting.
As the lights came up, Min shuffled forward to talk to Simone. The Ice Queen was speaking to the girl who was made of fire and a green-skinned woman with vaguely Asian features. The Asian woman was rather animated, but Simone was calm in the face of that. "It has to be done, Maja," the Ice Queen declared. "Don't tell me how hard it is. Tell me how many wizards are going to be needed to make it happen." The Sky Witch muttered curses.
In soothing tones, Simone remarked, "this isn't the time, Maja. I'm headed east to get us some resources. How many do I need to send?" "It'll need a dozen," the witch growled. "No less than a dozen. I won't be responsible for killing one of them." The Sky Witch, in spite of her own wild and chaotic nature, was no fan of her fellow wizards and their antics. "I'll take responsibility for them," Shoko announced. Maja glared at her. "Fine," she muttered. "Fine. Have them here in a week, dearie, and they'd best be ready to work."
With that, the Sky Witch stormed off, casting random color cantrips on bits of the furnishings as she went. "She do that often," Min asked? Rolling her eyes, Simone replied, "too often. What's up?" "I'm here to put in my share," the AI declared. "Where can I help?" Simone gave her a dubious look. "I don't need an artificial skin or organs to get busy and help, Simone," Min said in even tones. "You need me. Where can I help?"
"Power transfer to the shore for starters," Nadia announced, as she joined the huddle. "We're harnessing the escape-ships' internal radiant heaters. That means exporting power to the shore from King's Island." "What have we got for a power source," Min asked? "Dozen fission plants buried in the heart of the island," Shoko replied. With a groan, she muttered, "that fusion reactor's getting farther and farther away every day." "Pity we can't salvage the Ark," Min murmured. They had plenty of materials there and enough nickel-iron to last centuries. It was a thought for another moment. There was work to do right now. "Come along, grandmother," Shoko said. "Let's go back to the lab and look at the island's schematics."
Across the ocean in Chocago, Kim Kil Wan motioned for his henchman to call the meeting to order. The bond offering was proceeding, and their window to intercept the funds and take control of the money was closing. He'd already had a couple of leaks in his coalition–men who'd gotten cold feet and decided to walk away from the money that was on the table. As the chocolate bar rose to his feet, a commotion outside interrupted the meeting. Every face turned to the ornate wood door, wondering what was going on outside and why the secretary seemed to be screaming.
Suddenly the door burst inwards, slamming into the wall, as a massive, blue-black creature came in wearing a shabby, ill-fitting suit and spectacles. "Hey, Kim," Bryce announced, as he came striding up the aisle to Kim's left. The dogicorn goggled at the sight of his uncle's former business manager. What was Bryce doing here? He'd heard that Bryce had gone back to...
"Yeah, this guy," the demon announced, as he came to the middle of the table. Consulting a list, the evil being stared through his spectacles a moment. Then, to the shock and horror of all present, the demon jammed his fist into the hapless breakfast-person's back. The man's tormented shrieks were cut off as Bryce tore his soul from his body. With a jaunty wave for Kim, the demon said, "sorry to interrupt, man. Got places to be at. I'm headed west to see Jermaine in a couple days. He's doin' lots better. You want me to say somethin' to him? No? Peace." He had another four of these losers to go. Serving notice on Finn's Royal Promises was turning out to be pretty lucrative.
Two-hundred miles away, Finn the King sat down in the space that had once been his office with his now-third daughter. Star was looking beautiful as ever. She'd been working out like a fiend, and all her baby-weight was gone, though she'd gone a little broader in the hips. Settling into the chair before her dad's desk, the little woman announced, "can't find him, daddy. Not a trace." She'd been burning up the roads, hunting up every lead in the civilized kingdoms. She'd been all the way north to Frozen Yogurt Kingdom, and she'd been all the way south to the southern shore. There was nary a trace of the three gum-people.
"That would be because he's gone east," Orzsebet announced. The slinky spy sauntered through the door. At least that was the way Finn always thought of her. Slinky. She hardly looked slinky now with her belly swollen. The big man flushed unconsciously. Occupying the other chair, the saucy slut crossed her legs artfully, declaring, "Gordon Wells escaped your trap, King of Ooo." The big man frowned. He'd almost forgotten the hit he'd put on the Wax-Hustler. He'd put contracts out on both Gordon Wells and Damien Vega. Damien was thoroughly dead now, but apparently Gordon was a little smarter.
Nodding, the Lady of Spies declared, "his faction of the F.I.R.M. has broken away, my King. He's gone freelance." She'd warned him of the dangers of underestimating the F.I.R.M. and its people. His mind was already racing ahead, as she said, "there are rumors that he has sought out this Prince Gumbald." Studying her fingertips, the slinky slut told him, "he has connections among the Wax-Folk and a power base on their island. He may even have connections overseas in the west. My agents there have been sending patchy reports of attempts to suborn them or butcher them."
It was all very bad news. Finn groaned. As if he didn't have enough problems. Gumbald and his family were already bad enough. With this master spy in their camp, that made them doubly dangerous. On top of that, one of the possible places to stash some of the humans of New York was Tequila Kingdom, but that was now dangerous because of the risk of Gordon Wells and his spies trying to harm them. It was a bunch of flavors or no-good. "We're still fighting, daddy," Star interrupted. Snapping out of his fog, the big man said, "ok... The search for Gumbald goes on the back burner. I want people watching out for him, but he's no longer your first job. Somebody blew up an airship trying to get me. I figured it was Gumbald. Now, with him in the east, I'm not so sure. Find out what's going on there. Nadia's peeps are going to be looking into the business in Engagement Ring Kingdom. Get on the ground and help them out."
His daughter rose and offered him a hug and a peck on the cheek. With that, the little woman headed out, leaving just a whiff of her perfume. She was missing valuable time with her kids, and he felt bad about that. Fi was going to be missing time with her daughters too. It was another reason to hate the world he'd found himself in. Orzsebet interrupted his maundering by occupying his lap. Grabbing his hand, she put it on her swollen middle and announced, "whatever shall we call her?"
Finn countered with, "how many does he really have?" With a sigh, the spy-girl said, "enough, King of Ooo. He has enough. He commanded the Flying Squad. They were our troubleshooters, with access to airships and resources to travel the world." They could be anywhere and everywhere, and his guys didn't have those same resources. "I'm'a talk to Nadia," Finn said. "We'll work something out."
As the sun rose over King's Island, Simone finished up the job of packing her bags to go back to Wizard City. Strange as it seemed, she'd been enjoying her stay here in the west. It was peaceful, and the people she'd met among the population of New York were pleasant. She was going back to the madness of Wizard City, and she wasn't thrilled by the prospect. A noise at the door brought her attention to Bonnie's presence there.
"Simone," Bonnie murmured. The Ice Queen knew exactly why she was here. Calmly, she responded, "sometimes our morals bring us risk, Bonnibel. Her illness lies heavily on her, but she's shown us loyalty. Twice. That deserves a better reward than permanent prison..." Those were the words that Finn would have spoken, if he'd been here, and Bonnie knew it. They'd had that conversation when Finn commuted her sentence. "We also can't leave her running around on the loose," Bonnie sighed. Better a dangerous weapon in the hand than turned against them. She wasn't happy with this, but she could see Simone and Finn were right. More to the point, Finn was already committed to this. "I just wish this whole thing were a little more... certain," Bonnie muttered. Nodding, Simone responded, "well, Bonnie, you're the scientist. Maybe you could spend some time working on that." The candy monarch flushed at that hit to her vanity. "Right," she muttered. "I have plenty of free time for that." Chuckling, Simone hefted her bag and got on her way.
Out on the island's airfield, Jake Junior loafed about, shivering in the chill morning air, waiting. Simone had arranged for her to have passage and admonished her to be here waiting. Her overwrought and paranoid mind wanted to suggest that everybody on that field was watching her. She couldn't help it. Part of it was the knowledge of her diagnosis. She was a monster. Confirmed. And it felt like everybody could see it. The other piece of things was her relations with her family. Nobody called. Nobody came. Nobody sent a letter or even tried to find out what was going on with her. That was just her own family. Bill's family...?
The prejudice was inevitable. She was a murderer. She knew it, and so did everyone else in her extended family. Still, each time she'd entered Finn's castle, either to talk to Bill or Simone, she'd endured staring and awkward, painful silence. The whole business had Jake Junior wanting to run and hide. It was painfully clear that some members of the family thought she should leave the island, walk into the wilderness, and die, with major emphasis on the 'drop dead' part.
A car rolled up, and the shapechanger found herself anxious to see who was inside. She wanted out of the cold. She wasn't dressed for this, and though she knew she could have asked for a coat, she hadn't been excited about that. The car stopped at the edge of the pavement, and Bill got out with one of the others. The sight of him standing there with another woman, holding a baby, brought back pangs of loss. The shapechanger turned away. The monster inside her fed on those ugly emotions and left her scheming on ways to butcher the pretty fox-woman and her bastard daughter–in a vain hope of having Billy back again.
Billy embraced his wife, hefted his bag, and headed towards the airship. "JJ," the big man greeted his ex. "Bill," she replied. Seeing her shivering, the big man chivalrously offered his coat. "Nah," she replied. "I-I'm good." Billy took off his coat anyway, saying, "JJ... You're the mother of my three eldest kids. Do you imagine I could look the three of them in the eye...?" "I'm ok," she muttered, as she stepped away from him. Billy shrugged. He'd tried.
Moments later, another car rolled up, and Simone got out with Betty and Fionna. The trio came strolling over, dragging suitcases. "Junior," Betty greeted the shapechanger. Simone clucked at her, "where is your coat?" "Don't have one," she muttered. Rolling her eyes, Simone said, "we'll have to get that fixed." The tall woman looked her up and down, taking in the raggedy jeans and tee-shirt the shapechanger was wearing. "That won't do," she said. "You'll need to see Peppermint Butler for a wardrobe." "Wardrobe," Junior burbled? Nodding, the Ice Queen said, "we're now a Royal family. We need to, collectively step up our game. Jeans and tee-shirts are out."
The Ice Queen headed up the ramp, handing boarding passes to the cyborg at the top. With a sigh, Jake Junior walked up the ramp after her. At least she'd be warm now. Billy was at her back, and he asked, "where you headed?" "Going to apply for a legit job," she responded. With an approving nod, the big man replied, "good luck. I hope it works out." Junior nodded absently as he fell in alongside her for the trek up the length of the cargo bay to the small passenger space at the front.
In the palace, Shoko sat down before one of the communications terminals and toggled the thing on. Waiting patiently for it to complete the connection sequence, she rehearsed what she was going to say. It was every flavor of awkward at the moment. She'd had an ugly fight with her husband, and they hadn't spoken beyond text messages in weeks. Far from doing as her father had suggested, she'd been ducking the issue as rage slowly got converted over to shame. She was ashamed of her behavior. In the clear light of day, having had ample time in this empty place to think about the fight, Shoko Mertens-Okonski was ashamed of her behavior.
Finally, the machine announced that it was ready. She had access to one of the precious satellite circuits for a few precious minutes. She could extend the time by sending texts. Texts didn't use as much bandwidth as voice. Trouble was it was harder to convey emotions by text. Steeling herself, the elemental started typing her message, refining it several times before hitting send. Then, she waited. She waited several moments. It was already mid-day in the Fire Kingdom. Randy would likely be at work. She just hoped he had a few moments to spare.
The machine bleeped as a message returned. Are you well? Shoko found herself blinking back tears. Typing a response, she declared, 'fine. And you?' The response was almost immediate. Missing my family. She did begin to cry. Another message appeared. I hope you are not working too hard. There's no-one there to make you rest. Which was what had precipitated the previous fight. She'd been grinding on the numerous problems facing her father's empire and struggling to get the Grand Cannon's controls working, and Randy had been fighting her to get her to lay down and rest before she killed herself. She felt two-inches tall right now.
'The struggle continues,' she typed. 'I need a favor.' There was nothing for it but to get to the point. She couldn't tie up the channel forever. He'd agree, or he wouldn't. 'Say on', came the response. Carefully, she outlined what she was up against and what it needed to solve the problem. The response was calm and succinct. I'll need to burn my leave, Shoko. I won't get to see you. 'There's lives at stake,' Shoko responded. 'Please, help.' Randy responded, 'I'll sign out. It'll take a week to get there. I'll ask our friends, but I'll be there in a week. Stay safe.' She wanted to talk, but there was no more time. 'Travel safely,' she admonished him. 'I will,' he responded.
On the far side of the ocean, Finn the King came striding through the upstairs hallway in the guest quarters, bound for the small suit where his son was spending his days. After his conversation with Roselinen, he'd been doing his best to get Jay to sit down with him. He'd sent messengers, and he'd left notes on Jay's door. Nothing was working. Now he'd decided to just grab the dragon by the horns and press the issue. Roselinen was right in ways she didn't even know. It was very dangerous for a man to be alone with the emotions Jay was suffering right now. Finn's mind went to his father, and he thought of the moment where the older man had lost him in those woods all those years ago after losing his wife on the Ark. He had a very good idea what that had felt like after losing Simone and Emeraude after coming close to losing Bill.
As his mind marinated in those dark emotions, a shriek up ahead announced that he had spent too long avoiding this confrontation. Quickening his steps–resisting the urge to reach for the Quicksilver Curse–the King dashed down the hall to his son's doorway. He reached the entry to find Jay kneeling inside, cradling one of the maids. The little marshmallow woman had fainted dead away. "I... She came in without knocking," the younger man explained. Finn's eyes told that he didn't quite believe it was something simple as that. His mind went to Wolf's explanations of what it meant to be carrying a Reality Marble around with you the way his family was. Indeed, as the big man stepped into his son's small suite, he felt a heat that shocked him. What the fuck had Jay been conjuring in here?
The King of Ooo took the unconscious woman from his son's arms and stepped back into the hallway. In the blink of an eye, he was gone. It was just like Roselinen had said, and it left Jay staring back and forth down the hall in astonishment. The hospital, Jay, the younger man thought. His father was going to the castle's little hospital. He'd been there twice now, so he knew the way. Gathering on a shirt, he rushed after his father, passing startled and worried faces in the hallway. His mind wanted to imagine those people as thinking he was a monster. He felt that way. He'd been down deep in his anger when the maid came in, and he knew the ugliness she had seen. One thought raced through his mind as he tore through the halls of the palace. Please be alright, he thought. He needed her to be unhurt. He wasn't sure he'd be able to forgive himself if she wasn't.
The doctor was attending the maid when he reached the hospital. His father was in the outer room, staring through the door. Jay might well have pushed past him to see what was going on. "You've done enough," Finn rumbled. Jay flinched back from him, when the King turned around to face him. Nodding at the hallway, the big man shut the door on the examination room and led his wayward son outside. Seeing the expression on the King's face, folk scattered. Nobody wanted to be curious today.
The older man's eyes burned into the younger's. He wanted an explanation, but Jay wasn't sure he was able to give him one. "She was startled," Jay rumbled. "She was overcome by heat," Finn retorted. Jay flushed. "This has to end today," said the King. Jay knew that tone well. He'd heard it often when he was a boy. He'd heard it less and less as he went through his teenage years and became a man. His father had never needed to scold him. He'd done the things a man was expected to do. As he squared off against his dad in the hall, a voice inside him asked, what happened to that man, Jay?
"Whatever came before... that's the past, Jay," Finn rumbled. "This ends today. She had nothing to do with the Wizard Sheetz or whatever hatred you have for me." Glancing away, Jay stammered, "I... I didn't intend to hurt her. She came in, like I said. I just wanted to be alone." "You need help, son," Finn murmured. "The Wolf is here for another whole week. Get that help." His eyes said it. He was asking now. He'd be telling if Jay didn't listen. "Ok," the younger man rumbled. "Tomorrow." Finn nodded. That was good enough. In the right now, he had to get to work. There were people in the west who needed saving.
Elsewhere in the guest tower, Billy's wives were frantically packing bags and assorted belongings for an early morning departure. An airship was scheduled to arrive in the morning. After a few hours on the ground being serviced, said airship was headed west again, bound for Tequila Kingdom. All of Billy's household would be aboard. Olesia was in her element, rushing here and there to get the kids squared away for travel while their Royal Mothers dithered between their official responsibilities and the task of getting their own shit packed. The business was likely going to take well into the evening, and a couple of them were already frazzled, Hamest being first on the list.
Olesia's mind was on the main chance though. She'd have Nieve out of here. Nieve would be out of the palace and away from Odessa's reach. Even if she wasn't on King's Island, she'd be far away from any people the Dowager Princess controlled. They could talk to Billy or Simone, and they could figure out what to do about Odessa's power-grab in a position where she couldn't butcher them out of hand.
As Olesia turned to the job of packing Engessa's medicines, footsteps announced someone walking past the nursery. She glanced up in time to see Nieve go padding past. Frowning–the girl had been gone much of the day–Olesia put the current task aside. Nieve needed to get her things packed too, and there wasn't a lot of daylight left. Passing Hamest's room, the curvy elemental stuck her face into Nieve's quarters to find the young princess staring into space, wearing a look of abject fear. That expression set Olesia's hackles up.
"Ok," she said, "where've you been, and why do you look like that?" Nieve looked up, and the first tears began to fall. "I-I'm recalled home," she sobbed. "Grandmother's had me recalled. The family's enforcing her edict for me to return. I-I'm... I'm declared an outlaw if I don't go." The commotion brought a concerned Hamest to her door. Frowning, the Lizard Princess demanded, "what did you just say?"
It came tumbling out, then. She'd found herself on the hot seat facing her grandmother, aunts, and uncles. They'd come down hard on her, leveling veiled threats about what would happen should she choose to disobey. She was summoned home, and she'd better not even think about defying the summons. Ragnhild stepped in, then. Her face was strained. The time apart from Billy had not helped her mental health at all. And now she was facing her first real crisis. She was leader of Billy's household, and she had her first crisis to manage. Question was: what should she do here?
Time stood still, with three faces staring at her. Abieuwa came out of her room, carrying Adaeze and Engessa on either hip, and Noemi stuck her face out into the hall to hear what was going on. The pressure rose dramatically. They were a family. This was a test. Could they hold the family together in spite of the other things they were? Taking a breath, the Frozen Yogurt Princess announced, "right. Hamest will board the airship tomorrow alone. The rest of us are going to Muscle Kingdom." Turning to Abieuwa and Noemi, she said, "please summon your personal guards, ladies. Things are going to get bumpy for a bit."
Things get worse for the humans. Odessa makes her move, and Ragnhild counters. Looks like the Dowager Princess is on a collision-course with the Finn-Crew. Meanwhile, Kim's best laid plans meet unexpected setbacks. Never break a Royal Promise.