Chapter 37:
Kim Kil Wan slipped out of bed and padded over to the phone sitting on its charger, leaving the woman sleeping in the bed. He wanted to feel satisfied. He wanted to say he'd enjoyed that. Instead, he felt... dirty. He had seduced many impressionable young women over the years of his life, and more than one of those had been a daughter or sister of a colleague. This... felt different. He knew why it was different. He'd tried to convince himself that this was just what Finn had done to him, but he knew better. Just like Bronwyn, a lot of those young girls from his misspent youth had wanted to piss off daddy, even if they never got around to telling their father about the encounter.
Shutting the evil thoughts of what he'd done out of his mind, the dog-icorn picked up the phone and dialed John Hersey. It took a while, with the phone ringing and ringing. He wasn't sure if it was the signal strength up here in the mountains or what the problem was. There was only the one tower down in the village serving who-knew how many customers after all. His mind hoped it was that, because he didn't want to face the possibility that John had bounced on him. A corner of his mind suggested that Kim would have bounced on himself if he'd seen the high-risk shit that Kim was doing.
Finally, John picked up. Kim tried to keep the tremor out of his voice as he announced, "I made contact. I need you to get me a list of what ships we have on the eastern end of the southern sea." On the far end of that ethereal link John Hersey groaned as he contemplated the bottle he'd been at the bottom of. He was going to have a killer hangover, and a part of him wanted to just go back down that bottle. He came immediately awake when he processed what his boss had to say. This shit again?! Kim was going to keep going until Finn killed him, and he might take John with him.
"Ok," said the henchman. "When are you coming back?" "I'll be up here a couple of days," Kim replied. "You can take a train back down to the Candy Kingdom." John very nearly hurled the phone across the little compartment. He was to get on some fucking rattletrap in coach and ride back through the frigid mountains with a bunch of smelly sheep herders?! He barely checked himself from screaming at his boss.
Kim was still speaking, and he gave his henchman instructions to start the implementation of a very dangerous plan. "I have some cargoes to be picked up in the stone barrens east of Laurel Kingdom," he said. "The cargo is to go to Marsa southeast of Jungle Kingdom." "What's in the cargo," John asked? There was a pause on the other end of the line, telling him that the cargo was dangerous. They'd already been down this road, when he'd gotten himself sucked into that wax-hustler's scheme.
Kim rumbled, "I think it better if I'm the only one who knows the contents of the cargo, John. I'll be back in a few days. Keep tabs on Bronwyn and Pat, while I'm gone." Kim hung up on his henchman. An angry John Hersey hurled his phone across the car, nearly breaking the window. Running his hands through his hair, the angry candy-person pondered what to do about this development. They were committing treason. His boss was committing treason. John couldn't ignore the lands they stood in. Peanut-people. His boss was meeting with somebody from Peanut-Kingdom. If John couldn't know about the cargo, it meant that the cargo was the kind of illegal that guaranteed you were going to get put down.
So what are you going to do, John, he thought? He was looking at a secret so dangerous that it could burn the company to the ground. But you don't know what's in the cargo, he thought. He only suspected it was dangerous. He could be burning his world to the ground for nothing. Rising, the angry chocolate bar gathered up his phone. If he moved quickly, he could get a ride on a train back down to the lowlands before the morning was out.
In the east, the final audience in Tongchon was wrapping up. Finn watched Lord Hyun Ki's retainers file out. The peeps were happy. He had made some big promises, but he thought there was a hope of pretty good rewards. He had a site for the second of the nuke-plants he was hoping to build. Tongchon had forever been in a state where there just wasn't enough electricity to go around. Now, Finn was in a position to help with that and change the locals' stars.
As the last courtiers strolled out the door, chatting about how they were going to run a new cement factory off their brand new nuke-plant, Finn drew his phone from his pocket. He'd felt the thing buzzing, telling him that he had some messages. In a time not long past, he would have put the people he was talking to off so he could check the messages and answer. He now saw that as rude. The messages weren't going anywhere. The world was unlikely to be so on fire that it couldn't wait a few minutes, and, anyways, they could easily have called Jake to get his attention.
Now, he found himself nodding in delight as he scrolled through his messages. The army was in place. Bonnie had tested the waters, as it were, walking into the deadly radiation with a company of soldiers to feel out how she was going to do this thing. She'd been stretching her powers, testing just how far she could go, and she was now comfortable with what he'd asked her to do. There was no time like the present.
Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Finn turned to the smiling face of his mistress. Offering Reese a smile, the King of Ooo announced, "please arrest Miss Griffin for treason and spying." That wiped the smile right off the wax-hustler's face. Her jaw came open, and she stood there, staring, just a moment too long. Deftly, Jake Junior used her stretchy powers to snatch the bitch's purse out of reach. By the time the wax-woman realized what was happening, her weapons were in Jake's hands, and the palace guards had her surrounded.
The King strolled up to her, his face serene and inscrutable. The wax-hustler tried a lie on him, suggesting that she was working his enemies. Finn laughed in her face. Coolly, the big man said, "you talk in your sleep–a pretty bad habit for a spy." Jake fought down the urge to laugh as she watched all the color drain from the spy-girl's face. "I'd like to thank you for passing all that juicy fake information to Mr. Wells," he said, as he stroked her golden locks. The woman spat curses at him. Smiling, the King said, "I didn't just fall off the truck, Ms. Griffin. Please cooperate with the guards and tell them what I wish to know. I don't really like torture, but you know I'll do it if you force me."
The guards latched onto her arms and dragged her out of there. The little bitch fought like a tiger, but, lean and fit as those men were, it was pretty hopeless. "C'mon, Jake," said Finn, "we have to get out to the carriage. The guards can deal with her, while we're gone." Handing the bitch's purse to one of the soldiers, Jake Junior twined her fingers with her boyfriend's, as the pair sauntered out the door. One dirt-bag done, one left to go.
Back in the Candy Kingdom, Tania Stanek rose from her shockingly comfortable bed after a deep, relaxing sleep. It was a massive change from sleeping on the hard, frozen ground in a freezing-cold tent, and it brought back memories of the Mayor's Mansion in New York. Yawning and stretching for a moment, the evil heiress climbed out of bed and sauntered over to the bathroom. She'd been admonished not to use too much water in their new home, but nobody had been very interested in bathing in ice-cold water anyway. Honestly, she feared she'd been getting a little stinky, and she'd been delighted when her mother had managed to talk her way onto the island floating off the coast.
Now, the young woman got in the shower-cubicle and took a long, luxurious shower, scrubbing away and whistling a tune from her favorite band. It felt so fucking good. Of course, her mind kept going back to that bitch, Fionna. The princess lived here. She'd lived here with her wimp of a hubby, and their little brats. It was shocking to think that those people had the money not only to live in this place but to have that castle on the island too.
Done bathing, the leggy blonde went out into her quarters and got dressed. As she was about that, knocking at the door announced a visitor. Tania Stanek glided over to the door and opened it a crack, peering out at the figure beyond. It was a chocolate person. It was a little chocolate woman in a maid's uniform. The sight of her astonished Tania, and, at the same time, made her hungry. "Hello," the maid announced, "Her Highness, Princess French Toast, has invited you to breakfast." Tania, who hadn't been sure where to go to get food around these parts, was quick to agree to go. She was supposed to be meeting the important people of this world anyway.
The palace was alive around them, as Tania followed the little maid through the halls. There were folk of all stripes around them. Some might have passed for human. Others came as exotic as talking turtles and people with living, prehensile hair. Tania filled her eyes while trying to appear not to be gawking. The maid led her through the commons of the palace, past a pair of burly guards, and into a much more quiet area.
"Where are we," asked Tania? "This is the secure wing of the palace," the little maid responded. "Admittance is by invitation only, unless you are a member of the Royal Family." "Huh," Tania burbled. Her keen mind was already pondering how to get herself into this space. The furnishings were much nicer here, and this was clearly what these people hoarded for themselves.
French Toast was sitting in her parlor with her husband and sister-in-law when the maid brought their new guest in. "Good morning," the princess announced. Tania was a little taken aback by her host. She'd been wondering who or what Princess French Toast would be. She found herself facing a pretty humanoid woman with long, golden-brown hair, brown eyes, and strange, mottled brown skin. She'd met the tall man beside her. Prince Boniface Bubblegum, son of the King of Ooo. Opposite the tall prince was princess Fionna, who sat cradling a baby.
French Toast greeted her new guest with a polite, "good morning, Miss Stanek." "Morning," Tania replied, as she walked up to the table. The little chocolate maid immediately fell to work gathering up silverware and laying it out on the table. "I'm French Toast," Frenchie said. "Fionna, here, has asked me to look after you and help you get settled." Fi gave the other woman a sunny smile, while she juggled her niece and breakfast. Tania sat herself. This was about to get interesting.
Breakfast got laid out, while the trio at the table bantered with each other. Fionna Mertens-Petrikov chatted with her sister-in-law, while she kept an eye on the stranger. Kara had made it pretty clear that she didn't trust the Staneks, and Fionna took the older woman's words to heart. She would give this girl a chance but only that. More to the point, she had places she had to be and commitments to keep. Bon had business of his own to take care of in Cocoa City. The town was recovering from the wars, but there were a lot of peeps who were still homeless and a lot of damage to clean up. Frenchie would be on her own.
"I wish you could stay," the little woman murmured. Fionna sighed heavily. She wished she could stay too. Her nephew and niece were adorable, and she was missing time with them. "Bonehead could come back any day," Fi replied. "Mom wants me to go out and wall off the refugee village, so she can't threaten them." Tania's ears perked up. Apparently, she wasn't friendly with these people, meaning she might be useful to Tania's father.
"After that," Fi sighed, "I have to go back to Jungle Kingdom and finish the barrier there." It was taking longer than she'd hoped. Some of the ground was nothing but muck, going down hundreds of feet. She'd had to change strategies. Not only was she not seeing her nieces and nephews, she was missing time with her own kids. It was a big bowl of suck. "Well, you're welcome to take some time off with us," Frenchie reminded her. Jabbing her husband with an elbow, the breakfast person said, "don't be like your brother..."
Bon took the jab with good humor. Turning to their guest, the tall man said, "my brother will be conducting formal audience today. You're welcome to come with me. I can introduce you to the Privy Council." Tania quickly agreed. She'd come over here with no idea what she was going to do, who she would find, or how she would make contact with the powers of this world. These people were delivering everything she needed right into her hands!
In the east, the sun rose over the blasted lands near the Burn, waking Jake Junior from a deep sleep. The shapechanger sat up with a yawn and stretched. Glancing to her left, she was unsurprised to find Finn gone. Climbing out of bed, she padded down to the tiny shower cubicle to wash off the remnant of last night. She was in the safe piece of her monthly cycle, and she'd jumped Finn the minute the landship was moving, making up for days of giving him nothing and watching him climb into Reese's little panties. They'd fucked for hours, and she'd crashed down hard afterwards. It was the best sleep she'd had in years, and if she'd had any dreams, she couldn't have told you what they were about.
Returning to the cabin, she found the outfit that Finn had left for her. This one was rugged hiking pants, a sturdy blouse in wool, and hiking boots. A part of her would have defied him, more because she enjoyed the sexy skirts and tight tops, than any desire to keep him from fighting. At the same time, she knew what they were going to be doing. There would be no safety for anybody, where they were going, and she needed to be ready to fight.
Gathering on her clothes, the shapechanger went over the plan in her mind. Her plan. Finn was planning the fight to take down Nagoono. Jake was planning out how she would get him out of there if things went sideways. She needed Bonnie. She would do her best to keep Bonnie close. If they had Bonnie, she could get Finn out of the Burn alive to fight another day. It was ugly and ruthless. She wasn't giving much thought to her father's namesake. As in at all. But that's the world you're in, now, she thought. It was the world of a King, and she had to keep that in the front of her mind at all times.
Finn was outside in the chill air, talking to his generals, when his girlfriend emerged from the landship. Bonnie immediately shoved a mug of hot coffee at Jake, as she approached. Thanking the pillow-person, the shapechanger stepped off to one side, as she'd done since taking up this task. Sipping at coffee, she took in all that was said with her keen hearing, while her eyes sifted the faces of the men gathered around her boyfriend. The Grid-Face peeps had sent them a picture of Nagoono's camp inside the Burn, having flown over at high-altitude on their way west to Jungle Kingdom. Just as Finn had hoped, his foe was moving to exploit the army's absence. There were war-machines down on the docks and even loaded on some of the warlord's ships, ready to head down-river to the sea.
The troops were lined up in their ranks, weapons ready to hand, with the few heavy weapons the army had brought lashed to trucks and ready to roll. The silence was thick around them, and Jake found herself feeling the strain of the moment, as her mind conjured ugly scenarios where she would lose Finn. She wasn't prepared to go home without him, and she'd already committed herself to dying at his side if it came to that. At the same time, she wanted to see the bright future she'd glimpsed. She was at his side, pregnant with his babies.
Finally, Finn wrapped up his conversation with the army's leaders. Handing off the coffee mug, Jake Junior strode towards him, coming up on his left. "I'm ready," she said. The shapechanger was rather transparent to Bonnie. She was starting to be able to read Jacob. Just now, Jake Junior was worried about her father and working herself up for some kind of reckless act to protect him. Coming up on his right, Bonnie chuckled, "I'm ready too, daddy." Nodding, Finn said, "then let's get started."
Bonnie strode forward, walking right past the companies of men in their bright armor and equipment. As she walked, she went to her center, finding the spark of tranquility that she so carefully hoarded. Fanning the flames of her inner peace, the tall woman focused her mind on the bright summer day where she'd gone down to meet her father as he was coming back from Lord Woolcot's unpleasant little war with his neighbor, Lord Tartan.
The sun was shining, bright and hot in the sky. She could smell the flowers of spring, and the grass was green beneath her feet. Her father fell in at her back, a part of him marveling at what he was feeling and seeing. Pillow-World, in all its strange, quirky glory. The tiny, stinging little zippers buzzing around. The strange, curly grass that reminded him of nothing so much as Margaret's ugly blue carpet from his adoptive parents' home. He'd married Rosie on a day like this. He'd come home from war on a day like this.
Behind him, Jay Mertens slunk along, feeling like a terrible sinner. It shocked him to find this inside his sister. They'd become somewhat estranged over the years. Jay ran the farm, and his sister did her share of the chores and cooking. They interacted around the dinner table in the evenings with their mother, but Jay had been nursing his grief over his wife and his worry for their mother. Bonnie had been his strange, spinster sister, who'd never managed to find a man who matched up to their father's example. But Bonnie had this beauty inside her, and all Jay had was his rage and hate.
The soldiers of the Army of Ooo marched along behind the tall stranger, and an almost carnival-air prevailed. Men and women were laughing and joking, and at least one fellow stopped and bent to snatch up a bundle of the strange flowers for the woman he had been wooing for weeks. Of course, he promptly got a tongue-lashing from said woman for endangering himself by touching something that could have been dangerous.
It all left Finn feeling bemused, and he wished Jake's father was here to share it with him. One of the worst things about Pillow-World had been the dreadful homesickness. Every time he saw some new marvel, he would find himself turning to where his brother would have been standing, with Jake's name on his lips. Each time he realized that Jake wasn't there–that he would never see his brother again–he'd died a little inside until eventually he stopped thinking about wonders and the beauty all around him.
Walking at his side, Jake Junior murmured, "it's been hours, Finn. She... you should make sure she eats." Finn, who'd had no idea what time of the day or night it was, turned to his strange girlfriend with a frown. Turning his wrist, the big man glanced at his watch, only to realize that it was still eight in the morning and had been for quite a while. He had no idea what time it actually was in the real world. "I can sense things," Jake reminded him. "I'm part rainicorn. I can feel the flow of time, even in this place. It's been hours, Finn. Bonnie needs to eat."
The King called a halt to proceedings, finding that, just as Jake had warned, his little girl was already struggling. Some of the soldiers put together a meal there on the spot in that strange space. Bonnie's stomach was rumbling as she lined up for her turn at the pot, causing more than one soldier to chuckle. As she stirred her soup, Bonnie told her father, "we're not far away now, daddy. I think we'll reach Nagoono's camp within the hour." Finn nodded. They'd plotted and planned out exactly how they were going to do this. It was time for the metal to hit the meat.
Bidding his daughter to finish up her meal, the big man got up and went over to the car his generals were traveling in. As Jake watched, he talked with General Ultrich. Shortly thereafter, runners were going among the soldiers, issuing instructions. Bonnie took her time, finishing up her meal, though Jake couldn't help the stirrings of worry that afflicted her. This was it. She could feel it.
By the time the slim pillow-person had finished her lunch, the soldiers had redeployed, grimly taking up position for the coming assault. Bonnie Mertens was almost startled by the change in demeanor when she stood up to hand off the bowl she'd eaten from. The grim sergeant who'd been in charge of the cook-pot took the bowl to put it away, asking the pretty young woman if she'd enjoyed the soup. Bonnie stammered out a reply, as she realized the sergeant no longer wore his grease-stained apron, but instead had a pistol strapped to his hip, and a dart-gun slung over his shoulder. It was a jarring change that reminded her of just what it was they were going to do.
Squaring up, the tall half-breed strode over to where her father was chatting with General Ultrich. "I'm ready, daddy," she announced. "Let's... Let's get this done." Turning away from the general, the big man studied her. He'd taught her to ably defend herself, and she'd carried a knife on her belt from an early age. He'd never taken her away with him when he had to go off to one of Woolcot's squabbles with his neighbors. He'd taken Jay once and been blessed never to have to take his son again, but he'd never taken Bonnie. Now, he gave her the same admonishment he'd given his son on that long-ago day. "Stay close to me," he said. "Follow my orders to the letter. If we're separated, find the closest body of soldiers and stand with them until the army rallies together. Don't let your courage exceed your skills." Swallowing hard, Bonnie nodded.
Finn turned and grimly started marching towards the head of the army. Bonnie and Jake fell in at his back. Jake reached out and took Bonnie's hand. The slim woman took it for kindness, and she turned and offered the shapechanger a smile. Jake Junior smiled back, but she had an ulterior motive. Bonnie wasn't going to be wandering off, if she had anything to say about it.
In the Candy Kingdom, Bronwyn Rainicorn walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen to find her mother sitting there at her kitchen table. The last couple of days had been pretty tense, and her bodyguard had come close to tossing Patricia Rainicorn out of the house on several occasions. "Good morning, momma," Bronwyn murmured, as she passed her mother, headed for the stove.
Impulsively, Pat got up, saying, "you're pregnant. Let me get that..." Bronwyn's eyebrow went up, but she didn't argue. The older woman replaced her at the stove, and she began to pull together breakfast of hamsteak, eggs, with berry pancakes in honey. In short order, the scent of good food was wafting through the house. Of course, that would soon have the rest of the family up and about, and both women knew it. As the eggs simmered, Pat came to a decision.
Turning towards her daughter, she announced, "I don't understand..." Bronwyn's eyebrow went up, but she said nothing. Pat would have to get to the point. "Bronwyn, we're fabulously wealthy," she said. "You could have your pick of guys..." "Momma, you're living a lie," Bronwyn retorted. Pat flinched from that bald statement. Calming herself, the younger woman put her hands on the table and said, "our happiness left the building years ago, momma–when dad started climbing the ladder, and you both decided my friends had to go. Our lives became about money, momma. We stopped caring about our family, and we only cared about money. We became miserable, and we didn't even realize it."
Pat turned back to the stove. Rising, Bronwyn went to her side and hugged her. "Momma, he's gone," she sighed. "Daddy's gone. He left us years ago, and we didn't know it. We... Our family fell apart, and we didn't know it. He cheats on you, and he doesn't have any remorse over it anymore. The only thing he cares about is that he doesn't get caught and have to give you a payout."
Gathering up a plate, Pat started putting together breakfast for her daughter. Turning off the fire, the party-bear took the plate over to the table. She was clearly having trouble. Bronwyn followed her to the table, saying, "I can't do this anymore, momma." Sitting herself, the younger woman said, "I can't pretend my dad isn't banging every female he comes across while he pretends he's an upstanding member of society. I can't pretend my dad's shenanigans with money and his run-ins with the law are just the games the wealthy play. Momma, he let hundreds of murderers through the wall. I helped him let those men in. For money. Vivi's husband died for it. Those men tried to storm the Candy Palace. Let that sink in. Daddy's on the ragged edge of treason, and I can't pretend it isn't happening in front of my face. I... I won't be part of that. I won't be part of ruining countless lives for money. I've moved on."
Pat was just processing those harsh words when a shout from the hallway announced that her cousin had heard that unpleasant news. They'd never given Vivian Baines a satisfactory answer for what happened to her husband, Barry. Now, she was finding out in the worst way possible. Bronwyn's ernest bodyguard stepped out in the hallway to find the family in full meltdown. Round five (or six?) was well underway, and he almost wanted to go back to bed, pull the covers and pillow over his head, and wish the whole thing would go away.
As Bronwyn dealt with the ugly fallout of her father's actions, the men of Tatsuo Nagumo's fledgling empire were hard at work preparing for a full-scale expedition against the coastal cities. He had promises in hand from Gordon Wells that Finn the Human had sent his nasty progeny home to his palace in the west. The wax-hustler was taking steps to kill Jay and Bonnie Mertens by sabotaging any airship they were aboard before they could return to the east once more. Without their help, Finn would be alone against Nagumo's army, and the Quicksilver Curse wouldn't be enough to save him.
They had the majority of his first-generation weapons aboard the transport ships, and the first ships were already headed down the river to the sea. The troops were in the process of loading the remainder. If he struck all the cities of the coast at once, they would force Nagumo's would-be vassals to their knees. More to the point, there would be nowhere for Finn the Human to hide.
As the would-be warlord considered what he would do when he had laid Finn the Human low and exacted vengeance upon him, one of the techs came sprinting out of the command bunker. "Lord," he shouted! "Lord, there's a problem with the life-support shield." Kaito turned and shouted at the fool to get to the point. Shouting and racing about weren't useful actions. Skidding to a halt before his master, the tech shoved a data-pad at Kaito, announcing, "there's something wrong. We're getting feedback... I fear it will collapse."
Blood gone cold, Kaito snatched the pad from him. His eyes scanned the readings the pad displayed, searching for an answer for the mysterious disruption. What he saw on the little screen was terrifyingly familiar. The tech they'd sent to work with Gumbald had been feeding them information on his findings–information that fit the pattern on the screen in Kaito's hand. The blood drained from his face, and Nagumo growled, "well? What is it? Do we need to evacuate?"
As if in answer to that question, a massive segment of the forcefield that protected the site shimmered, as if it was going to collapse. And then a field of strange flowers and flowing grass suddenly replaced the blasted vista beyond their wall. And out of that field of riotous blue-green growth poured an army. Tatsuo Nagumo stared, struck dumb by the sight. It fell to Kaito to raise the alarm. Dropping the pad, he reached up, one-handed, for his radio, shouting commands to their soldiers.
Let me start by apologizing for the delay in getting this finished. I'm dealing with a lot of work-drama at the moment, and I also had to basically rewrite this as I wasn't really satisfied with the first draft. It was running kind of long, and I try to keep these in chunks that people can read quickly. We are almost there. The wax-chick is locked up and Nagoono is about to get his.