Hello everyone! Here is chapter 3 of Something More, this ones a bit longer than the others so far but I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. With 11 whole follows and favs. this story seems to be turning out quite nicely. Loving your guy's reviews, keep 'em coming.

Enjoy!

I do not own 'Adventure Time'.

Chapter 3

A Slight Change in Scenery

Once Finn had left the Holding Cells, he walked down to the beach. Once he got there, he sat down on a rock and stared out at the sea. Surprisingly, there wasn't a Minerva-bot or even a Seeker patrolling the beach, so Finn had the place to himself. Finn closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'Tomorrow.' he thought to himself. 'Tomorrow, the rest of my life begins.'

Finn tried to focus on the positive. He was going to start his schooling to become a Helper, he would become what he always wanted to be. And yet, staring out into the sea, Finn couldn't help but have doubts. Finn wanted more than anything to help out the people of Founder's Island, but he felt that he wouldn't be able to do anything for them. Life on the island was as safe as it gets, he would probably end up helping out with colds and helping old people across the street. The most productive thing Finn foresaw himself doing was mending a Hider's broken bones and sending them off to re-education, like how his mom and dad met.

'Maybe I'll meet my future wife that way.' Finn thought to himself.

The thought however made him think of Sarah and her unspoken confession, his hand fingered the coin she gave him, still in his pocket. Finn had no idea what to do about Sarah, he liked her but had never even considered dating her. Finn knew his mom would tell him to go for it, knowing her, she would probably put an or else in there.

'Maybe Mom's right, Sarah is as good as they come on the island. Mom probably just wants to make sure I wind up with a good one.'

That thought got Finn thinking of his dad, he probably wouldn't see him again for a long time. Finn wasn't entirely sure what to think of that, the man had nearly gotten him killed when he was a baby and Finn grew up without any father figure. But still, Finn saw no reason to hate Martin, maybe one day he would try to set his dad free. Thinking on it, there were a few things Finn figured he could try to do in the future; he could try to have the other islands re-colonized, Hub Island still had a bunch of equipment and buildings left from before the survivors of the Pandemic left. The Back to Nature Island had some promise, though from what his mom had told Finn the place had crazy severe storms covering it everyday since the failed weather controlling experiment. All the Experimenters of the project were presumed dead. Then there was the island Finn's mom had called Better Reality Island, at least there were still people on that island. But from what Dr. Gross had told Finn, it would take months of physical therapy, and possibly years of hypnotherapy, to get those people ready for the real world if they were to leave their alternate reality pods.

'Convincing mom to even consider any of that is going to be extremely difficult though.' Finn thought glumly, he sighed and continued to stare at the sea and listen to the sound of the waves.

"Hey Finn!"

Finn turned around and saw Kara walking toward him, alongside her walked one of the Helpers.

Finn smiled, "Hey Kara, hello Helper Grover."

The Helper Finn recognized as Helper Ted Grover gave him a grin. Helper Grover was an old Helper, pushing eighty yet still a respected Helper who Father Time still couldn't render incapable. The old man's tanned, mustached, wrinkly face didn't look that old, but his eyes shined with the wisdom of age. He wore the same white lab coat and white polar bear hat Finn's mom wore, the standard Helper uniform, over a simple brown shirt and pants. Helper Grover was actually Minerva's mentor when she first went into schooling, the two had shared a bond ever since.

"Finn, dear boy, how are you? Enjoying the view are we?" His voice was deep yet warm and kind.

Finn smiled at the old man. "I'm doing fine Sir, just trying to work off the nerves."

Gopher let out a chuckle, "Yes I can imagine, I still remember the nervous wreck I was when I first began the schooling. Your mother was the same way you know, It's natural Finnegan."

Finn rubbed his arm nervously, "It's more than that really Helper Grover." he said.

"Oh?" Gopher and Kara both formed looks of slight concern. Grover sat next to Finn on the rock and Kara walked up next to him. "Care to talk about it?" the old man then asked.

"Well Helper Grover," Finn looked down at the sand. "I would guess things were different before, but do you ever feel like what you do nowadays… isn't really contributing very much?"

Grover seemed confused. "What do you mean by that Finn?"

"I mean no offense Helper Grover, it's just that… I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to help Founder's Island as much as I could. I'm worried that I won't be able to really give the people my all, when my all could really contribute."

Grover looked at him for a bit, then he let out a chuckle. "Of course." he said to himself with a shake of his head. Kara now had a smile on her face as well.

Now it was Finn's turn to look confused. "What?" he asked.

Grover and Kara both gave him a warm smile. "Finn my boy," Grover began, "That very fact that you're this worried about the amount of good you'll be able to do gives me the impression that you're destined for greatness." Grover looked out to the ocean. "I'll admit, ever since Minerva became an AI and took control of the island, my job has been far less productive. However, I still have no regrets in this life I chose. Being a Helper, it's been an honor, and still is."

Grover looked back to Finn, "Did you know that I was once asked to be one of the Leaders?"

Finn and Kara both were shocked by this.

"Heh heh heh, yeah it's true. Leader Samuel was retiring, so a new Leader needed to fill the empty seat. I was nominated by a few of the Leaders, and I had the support of just about everyone on Hub island and Founder's Island. But I turned the offer down."

Finn stared at Grover in disbelief. "Why did you turn down becoming a Leader?, imagine all the good you could have done with that position."

Helper Grover looked out at the sea again. "Yes, to this day, I still wonder 'what if I had taken the job'. Well, seeing as how all the Leaders are now dead, It seems I may have dodged a bullet. However, the reason I turned down the offer was because I was content with the way my life was. I didn't need a promotion, I was doing good work as a Helper. Some people might have called me a coward, but I say I was happy and had no need for a change in pace."

Grover looked to Finn once more. "Finn, the trick to living a happy and productive life is knowing and accepting who you are and where you stand in this world. I'm a Helper, and a darn good one, who loves his job. I have a wife who I love with all my heart and I've raised two kids who I couldn't be more proud of. Your only turning eighteen Finn, you have the rest of your life ahead of you. And even if you do end with some boring desk job, you'll still live on an island paradise, and you'll still have a lovely home and family to return to everyday. That sounds like the ideal lifestyle to me."

Finn stared at Helper Grover for a while before turning his gaze back to the ocean horizon. After a bit of contemplation, he turned back to Grover with a smile.

"Thank you Helper Grover, that helped a lot."

Grover gave another chuckle. "It's my job dear boy." there was vibrating sound and the old man pulled out his phone.

"Oh boy, I'm late for dinner. Word of advice for when you're married Finn, never be late for anything. Doesn't matter what your excuse is, you'll only succeed in ticking the missus off even more."

The old man stood up and looked at the setting sun. "Time seems to speed up every year, and I'm eighty." he mumbled to himself. Grover looked to Finn. "Well I guess I'll see you later Finn, and if I don't see you tomorrow, happy birthday."

"Thanks Helper Grover."

Grover turned to Kara. "Seeker Kara."

"Helper Grover." she replied with a slight bow of her head. And with that, Grover walked off.

Kara put a hand on Finn's shoulder. "The old man's right little guy, you need to stop worrying about not being able to do enough. Just live your life, it's as easy as that."

Finn looked up at his sister-figure, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Kara looked like she was about to say more, but then she turned her head, as if she heard a sound. Her eyes lit up with a faint white light for a second and a frown formed on her face. "There's trouble on the other side of the island, a group of Hiders, trying to leave in an old submarine. Finn I need to go, talk to you later."

Kara made to leave but Finn stopped her before she could. "Kara, wait! There's something I wanted to talk to you about!"

"Alright, but try to make it quick Finn."

Finn twiddled his fingers. "I know it's not any of my business, but… I think you should go and see Frieda." Finn had buried the idea for a while, but the surprising mention of Hider activity managed to bring it back to the surface.

Kara seemed taken back, "Finn I-"

"Look, I know It's been a long time and the two of you didn't really leave off on good terms. But still, going to see Frieda could give you some closure. And who knows?, maybe you two could even be friends again."

The Seeker looked to the sandy ground, a pained look on her face. She managed to recompose herself though and she looked back at Finn.

"I… I have to go… see ya later Finn." Kara said before running off.

Finn let out a sigh, 'Worth a shot.' he thought to himself. Finn looked in the direction that Kara had run, 'Gee I hope none of the Hiders get hurt, still though, gotta root for my home team.' Finn looked back out to the ocean sunset, he knew how it would go down, the same way it always went down. The Seekers nabbed the Hiders every time, so far not a single person had escaped the Seekers and the Guardian in Island History. The Hiders were caught every time (if they survived the Guardian), then they were put into re-education. Finn never learned how exactly re-education worked, he never had the courage to even ask what they did to the Hiders. After the Pandemic, most people had assumed that Hider activity would drop big-time. Being confined on one island though, Hider activity actually rose. Although it had been two years since any Hider had attempted an escape, Dr. Gross still had the Seekers on high alert.

Finn watched as the sun slowly dipped below the sea, filling both the ocean and the sky with beautiful coloring. "Kara and Helper Grover are right." Finn said to himself. "I've got a good life, nothing worth complaining about. I should just accept it and move on." 'Maybe I'll even ask Sarah out.' he mentally added.

Finn heard a heavy pair of footsteps coming up from behind him, footsteps that could only belong to a Seeker.

Finn just sighed, he didn't even bother to turn around. "Look Kara, I'm sorry about earlier, I was just trying help." when he didn't get a response he tried something else. "So how did the Hider thing go?, it must have gone down quickly you were only gone for-."

Finn felt a thud on his head, then everything went dark.

Martin flushed his toilet and watched as the water swirled around, then he did it again… and again… and again… and again. "Man what I wouldn't do for a TV, or radio, or something. Anything." he said to himself, the only person he had to talk to.

Marin heard footsteps, he turned to the bars of his cell and saw one the Seekers. The one with the rhino hat, twice the size of Martin and ten times the muscle mass. "Stop that." he said. "It's a waste of water."

Martin grinned at the big Seeker. "An environmentalist huh?, I respect it. But give me a break big guy, I don't even have a magazine to read in here."

"You're in here because of your own misdeeds." replied the Seeker with a frown.

Martin gave a shrug, "Eh, every little thing we do determines where we end up in life. I ended up in here yes, but I did a lot of things in the past. I might just get out of this prison suite someday, ya never know." he gave the Seeker a grin.

The Seeker narrowed his eyes at the bearded man and leaned forward a bit. "You will spend the rest of your life in this cell you dirty, greedy, good for nothing-" before he could finish the Seeker's whole body lit up with electricity. The big man fell to the ground with a loud thud, revealing the squirrel hatted Steve, wearing a black jumpsuit, yielding a high powered stun rod. While the Seeker was down, Steve quickly got down and removed the rhino hat on his head revealing his implant. Steve took out a small rectangular remote and held it up next to the implant, he pressed a few buttons and a faint static sound emitted from the handheld device.

Steve stood back up and looked at Martin. "That should keep him down for a while, the Seeker upstairs is out as well." Steve then pressed a few more buttons on his remote and waved it back and forth above his head in front of the cell. The remote beeped like a bomb about to go off, but instead of an explosion Martin's cell slid open.

Martin Mertens walked out of the cell he had spent nearly eighteen years in and looked down at the unconscious Seeker.

"Ya never know."

Kara ran as fast as she could to the Hider site, with her enhanced stamina she would be there in no time. Kara tried to get Finn's words out of her head as she ran, she hated it but Kara knew the little guy was right. When Frieda had been sent to re-education, Kara didn't even try to visit her, or even look her up after she was released. Freida had been Kara's best friend, they grew up together, they did nearly everything together. But everything changed when Dr. Gross had caught Freida red-handed trying to leave the island. Kara could still hear Frieda crying to her, begging for her help, before she smashed Frieda's ship while she watched. Frieda had put a lot of work into that old thing, Kara could still remember her sobbing on her shoulder as she carried her off to re-education. 'I never even told her I was sorry.'

Kara recomposed herself, she had arrived. A large group of Seekers were gathered around the entrance of a cave, with them stood Dr. Gross and even Minerva.

Dr. Gross looked like a level-boss in a video game, she had looked a bit more human back before the Pandemic, but now her blue mohawk and shaved sides along with the metal that made up most of the left side of her face gave her a bit of a crazed look. She wore a green tank top with darker green shorts, revealing arms and legs that were noticeably composed of different parts. Kara had seen almost all the things those parts could do, she knew that Dr. Gross was indeed dangerous. She was the ultimate walking swiss army knife. It was easy to understand why everyone was so scared of her.

When Dr. Gross saw Kara, she gave a smile. "Kara Strong, nice of you to join us. We were almost about to begin without you."

Before Kara could reply Minerva walked to her. "Is Finn okay?, I tried to call him but he didn't answer his phone."

Kara turned to Minerva. "He's at the beach watching the sunset, Helper Grover talked to him and now Finn's just trying to relax."

Hearing that her old mentor had talked to her son seemed to calm Minerva down a bit, she then turned to Dr. Gross. "Are your Seekers ready?"

Dr. Gross gave a nod. "Just give them the word." She turned to Kara. "Get into formation with the others, you'll be leading the group."

'Yes Dr. Gross."

Once Kara was in formation Minerva walked forward and faced the group. "Attention Seekers, as we speak a group of Hiders are attempting to leave the island. This cave will lead to an underground lake connected to the ocean by a series of underwater tunnels. The Hiders mean to leave via an old model submarine, through the tunnels and out into sea. For their own safety, you are to capture each and every Hider, and bring them in for re-education."

Minerva raised her hand in the air. "Seekers," she brought it down, "Go!"

The Seekers, led by Kara, rushed into the cave. It sounded like a herd of rhinos charging.

Minerva and Dr. Gross calmly walked into the cave side by side, completely confident in the Seeker's ability to handle the situation.

Dr. Gross started up a conversion. "So, it seems little Finnegan is a little nervous about tomorrow."

Minerva smiled, "Yes and it's only natural, I remember when I first started schooling, man was I a wreck." she said with a chuckle.

"You know Minerva, I could install a quick implant into Finn's brain that would negate any anxiety he may have." they way Dr. Gross said it made it sound as casual as a vitamin shot.

Minerva turned to her number two with a blank look on her android face. "Dr. Gross we have discussed this, you are to never install any bionic or cybernetic parts on or in Finn's body." she said with a tone that declared the statement absolute.

Dr. Gross formed a slight look of panic before turning back to the path. "Yes Minerva."

They walked in silence for a bit before Minerva spoke up again. "Sarah gave Finn a kiss today."

Dr. Gross looked back to Minerva. "Sarah Cornell!?, really!?"

Minerva nodded, looking quite pleased herself. "Mmm-hmm. For his birthday, Sarah gave Finn an old gold coin and a kiss on the cheek. I just wish that boy would finally work up the nerve to ask her out to coffee or something."

"Dr. Gross chuckled. "A fully loaded pistol with no hammer that one, no girl likes being kept waiting. I remember my first date, I was sixteen, trying to get the attention of-"

"Laurence Finch." Minerva finished, "Yes I remember him, he was attractive enough but a complete idiot."

"Hey he was hot, dumb but hot, and I was getting fed up with flirting with him and getting no results."

"So did you give up?" Minerva asked Gross.

"No, I cornered him one day and demanded a date, we ended up going to the beach alcove on the east side."

"How'd it go?"

"Awful, the guy had the nerve to try to hit third base with me, so I broke his nose, gave him a kick in the groin and we never spoke again."

"Oh my."

"Yup, taught me a lesson about dating a guy just for his looks, how about you? Before you married a bum, how was your dating experience." Gross asked.

Minerva looked away. "Well," she began "Nonexistent really."

Dr. Gross laughed "And to think you're giving Finn a hard time for not having a girlfriend yet."

Minerva looked back at Dr. Gross sharply, "I'm trying to make sure Finn ends up with a good one, unlike me. Sarah Cornell is the best candidate for the position, so I will see to it those to get together even if I have to lock them in a room together."

Dr. Gross just shrugged "Makes sense."

They two of them finally made it to the underground lake, where the submarine sat in the middle. Some of the Seekers were on top of the submarine, pounding their fists against the metal exterior, trying to find a way in. The rest were standing on the water's edge, waiting in anticipation. The Seekers had ripped the sub's large propeller off, it now laid in the corner of the cavern, bent out of shape. Smoke now came from the hole where the propeller used to be.

"I can detect multiple heat signatures in the submarine, but the lead interior of the sub is making it difficult to count exactly how many are in there." Minerva said. "It's strange the Hiders didn't leave when they had the chance."

Dr. Gross put a hand on Minerva's shoulder. "Hey don't look a gift horse in the mouth, the Guardian would have killed them all if they had attempted to leave sooner." Dr. Gross shouted to the Seekers on top of the sub. "Bring it ashore!"

The Seekers on the sub dove into the water, then they all swam to one side of the sub and began to push it towards Dr. Gross and Minerva. Once it was ashore Dr. Gross walked up to it, knocked on the side of the sub and walked around it. "No visible entrances, what'd they do, weld themselves in? Bring out the laser cutter!"

A Seeker came over carrying a large high tech cannon looking object. "Cut a square hole into the side. Don't worry about the Hiders, they'll back away once they see the melting metal. Kara stand by, you're going to go in first once the hole is done and grab a few Hiders."

Kara got into position and the Seeker with the laser cutter began cutting. Once the hole was done Minerva let out a small gasp. "The heat signatures just spiked dramatically."

Kara walked into the sub, only to walk back out with a look of shock and panic on her face. "We… have a problem." she said.

Minerva and Dr. Gross, with looks of confusion on their faces, walked into the sub. When they saw the issue they both let out a startled gasp.

In all the seats, even the pilot and co-pilot seat, sat buckets of burning debris. They must have been burning for a while because the wood in the fire buckets were starting to crumble to ash, and the fires were getting low. But still, it was enough to fool Minerva's heat sensors, no Hiders were seen in the sub.

"Wha-wha-what is the meaning of this!" shouted Dr. Gross with a voice filled with shock.

Minerva looked at the buckets of fire. "This must be a diversion, Dr. Gross I need you t-" Minerva froze, her eyes went to static.

Dr. Gross looked at Minerva's frozen form. "Minerva?" her voice filled with worry. "Minerva are you okay, what's wrong?"

Minerva just stood there for a few seconds. "Finn." she finally said.

Dr. Gross looked confused. "What?"

"Finn." Minerva repeated, her eyes returning to normal. "His phone… the tracker chip… he's not on Founder's Island anymore."

Finn opened his eyes, and saw yellow. He stood up and looked around, he was in a strange bright yellow cubular room. The whole room was bare, Finn couldn't even see a door. Finn did however notice the large pink painting that covered the floor and wall. It was a painting of what looked like the silhouette of a person, or at least Finn assumed it was a painting. It had a long, slender, pink body and a pair of arms that covered the floor which then led up the wall to a pair of shoulders. Between the shoulders the silhouettes neck attached to a head which showed curly hair and a nose that pointed to the right. Its single yellow eye had a bright blue dot for a pupil. It seemed to be staring right at Finn.

Turns out it was. "How's it going?" the giant pink shadow asked. Revealing it's mouth on the same side as it's nose.

Finn backed up a few steps. "Uh… uh… uh… uh…"

"Look, don't freak out. I know all things considered that's a lot to ask, but don't freak out." the shadow raised its hands in what might have been a calming gesture, it was hard to tell with the two-dimensional being. "Alright listen, we don't have a lot of time. I'm actually not even supposed to be doing this, but hear me out. Now I can't give you too much, because of dumb cosmic laws and junk, so here's what I'll do- I'll just give you a fun rhyme. When it comes to fate and destiny stuff, rhymes are always the best way to go, never really understood why but, it is what it is, I guess."

Finn just stared at the being silently in a state of bewilderment as the pink shadow cleared his throat.

"All right here we go, I'll make it short and easy to remember for you. Now, 'When you find yourself afloat, move to the front of the boat, when the giant brings the chop, hug the dolphin so you don't… uh… get cropped.'"

Finn stared at the strange being in front of him, feeling and looking highly confused.

"...What?"

"Give me a break man, it's not all that easy to come up with something on the spot like that. Look just try not to die, how about that? If you survive the trip, seek out the Candy Elemental, that one's normally the most helpful of the four of them. If you die, well sorry man, don't say I didn't try though."

Finn was about to ask the pink being more but before he could, his vision began to fade to black.

"Good luck man!" he heard the shadow shout out.

Finn woke up to a bucket of cold sea water in his face, his eyes flew open and his head shot straight up, hitting his dad square in the nose.

Wait… his dad? Sure enough there he was, in his black and white jumpsuit, clutching his bleeding nose painfully.

"OW! Dangit Finn, is that any way to greet your father!" Martin said, voice muffled by his hands.

Finn jumped to his feet and looked around, dread filled him from head to toe when he realized where he was.

He was on a moderately large wooden boat filled with people, several miles away from Founder's Island.

"Wha-what's going on?" Finn asked, praying it wasn't what it looked like.

"Look calm down son, get a hold of your bearings." Martin stood up and wiped the blood off of his face with a handkerchief one of the people had handed to him. "Thanks Frank. Now look son, what we have here is a good old fashioned 'escape the island' ordeal. Nothing to to freak out about."

It was exactly what it looked like. Finn stared at his father incredulously.

Martin raised his hands up defensively. "Now before you start getting too judgmental, take a look around you." he gestured to the Hiders on the boat. "All these people want is to see the rest of the world. For some, it's for the thrill of the adventure. For others, it's a chance to escape their uneventful and boring life. It's only human, heck even Dave over there behind ya felt the need for a new life, and he's a Seeker."

Finn looked behind him and sure enough, amongst the Hiders sat a Seeker wearing a boar hat.

Dave gave Finn a little wave. "Hey." he said shyly. "Sorry about bonking you on the head."

Instead of responding, Finn just rubbed the sore spot on his head that Dave had bonked him on and turned back to his father, face void of emotion.

"So son, any thoughts?" asked Martin.

"Yes dad I have one… ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Finn shouted angrily. "You're gonna get these people killed!"

Finn's outburst unsettled the Hiders on the boat, there were sideways glances and nervous chatter all around.

Martin took control of the situation. "Now now, don't panic everyone. Remember, we are perfectly safe as long as we have Finn with us."

Finn gave his father a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

Martin looked to Finn and smiled. "Yeah son that's why we brought you on board, the Guardian won't bite as long as we have you here with us."

Finn stared at Martin in disbelief. "Dad that's-"

"The same trick I tried when you were a baby yeah I know, and I can't apologize enough for that. But things are different now, your mom's an AI who governs the island. And from what my contacts have told me, your mom was designing a new coding for the Guardian to make sure it would never attack you. So we're in the clear my boy!"

The Hiders around Finn cheered, shouting out for freedom and adventure and a new life. Finn just stood there, his face void of emotion once more.

"Hey dad?" Finn finally said when the cheering died down.

"Yeah son?"

"That coding for the Guardian you were talking about?, in order for mom to download it into the Guardian, she needed a direct link to the Guardian."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well you see, the Guardian operates on its own frequency, there is no direct link to the Guardian from the island."

"Oh? So how did your mom end up putting the coding into the Guardian then?"

"She didn't, mom ended up scrapping the project and just decided to have one of the Seekers keep a closer eye on me."

"Say what now?"

Too late. The Guardian rose from the depths, up close the Island's Colossus was indeed a sight to behold. The dark, grey, metal behemoth with two long, powerful looking arms and a solid cylindrical body looked like it could withstand anything. It's eyes were actually the scariest thing about him, it's small rounded head had no other features except for the eyes. However, those almond shaped eyes glowed with an intense white light. In the dark the eyes seemed three times as menacing. I see you, and you cannot escape me, those eyes seemed to say.

The Hiders screamed in panic. "Abandon ship!" one of them shouted, and then the Hiders jumped off the boat into the sea, swimming like hell towards Founder's Island. Dave the Seeker cannonballed into the sea with a large splash and started paddling towards the island.

Back on the island, Minerva, Dr. Gross and the Seekers watched from the beach as the Guardian rose from the depths. Dr. Gross ordered the Seekers to ready the boats to go save the Hiders.

Minerva's computerized mind was going crazy, a flashback of the day she almost lost her baby to that giant played through her mind like a tape recording.

"Please no." Minerva begged silently to herself. "Please."

Back on the boat, Finn and Martin were the only ones who hadn't jumped overboard yet.

"Come on dad we have to go!" Finn shouted to his father.

Martin looked at his son, Finn was surprised to see so much fear and desperation brimming in his old man's eyes.

"Finn… I can't go back to another eighteen years alone in a cell… I can't." Martin spoke with the voice of a broken man.

Finn tried to think of something to say to his dad, but before he could the Guardian let out a loud metallic hum and raised his arm, preparing to smash the boat.

'This is it, I'm going to die.' Finn thought to himself.

Then Finn remembered the weird dream he had, and the pink shadows bad rhyme. 'When you find yourself afloat, move to the front of the boat,' he had said. Moving without thinking, Finn left his dad at the back of the boat and raced to the front, ignoring Martin calling out to him. When he got there Finn quickly looked around.

He then noticed the boat's dolphin figurehead. 'Hug the dolphin…' Finn looked up at the Guardian, it was bringing hand down on the boat.

Finn swung down below and hung on to the figurehead as tightly as he could, he shut his eyes tight as the Guardian cleaved the boat in half.

Back on the island, everyone watched as the Guardian karate chopped the boat in half. Kara had tears in her eyes, Minerva's eyes blinked out for a bit before returning to normal.

After the Seekers had retrieved the Hiders on their boats, they were all lined up and questioned, but there was no sign of Finn, or even Martin.

Minerva walked up to one of the Hiders, the one with the squirrel hat. She stared at him with a blank, robotic look.

"Where is Finn?" she finally asked, no emotion in her accented voice whatsoever.

The Hider gulped. "I-I-I don't know Lady Minerva, I swe-"

Minerva grabbed him by the throat and squeezed.

"Let's try that again." she said with the same lack of emotion. "Where. Is. My. Son?"

The Hider's eyes nearly bulged out his skull, gasping for breath, he clawed at Minerva's hands to no avail. The other Hiders, and even the Seekers, looked at Minerva with terrified eyes.

"Minerva stop!"

Minerva looked over to who had spoken, Kara came running towards her. She stopped a safe distance from Minerva but looked her dead in the eyes.

"This is not going to bring Finn back. Let the Hider go, you're killing him."

Kara looked at Minerva desperately, the two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.

Then Minerva released the Hider, who fell to the ground hands on his throat, breathing in the air in large, desperate, greedy gulps. Kara ran up to the Hider to comfort him, she then looked up at Minerva.

But the androids' eyes were black and lifeless, the AI was no longer inhabiting the body.

Finn had kept his eyes closed for a long time, he kept gripping the dolphin figure head for dear life. When he did finally open his eyes it was nighttime, and the half moon and the stars were his only source of light. Finn climbed onto the front half of the boat, which by some miracle, still managed to stay afloat. He looked around across the inky black sea, but Founder's Island was nowhere to be seen.

"No, no, no… no." Finn kept looking in every direction, trying to spot his island across the dark moonlit ocean. Finn was beginning to panic, tears were beginning to form in his eyes. Finn kept turning and walking all over the broken boat, trying to spot his island.

Finn tripped over his own feet and fell forward, the railing hit his head in the exact same spot Dave had. Finn fell to the floor and slipped once more into unconsciousness.

As Finn laid on the deck of his half of a boat, something in the water swam towards him. Once it reached the wrecked boat it rose from the water, revealing itself to be a water dragon. The green serpent-like dragon looked down at the unconscious body of Finn.

"Awww, it's a sleeping human," the dragon said in a friendly voice, he then waved at Finn. "Well hey there little guy, I'm Whipple the Happy Dragon, but Whipple works too. Man you're pretty far from home huh? I guess I could give you a push in the right direction." Whipple looked around then pointed. "I'm pretty sure the island filled with humans is that way. I don't normally go anywhere near that place though, there's this giant metal monster that lurks by that island, but you probably already knew that huh?" Whipple asked the still unconscious Finn.

"Alright then sleepyhead just hold still and I'll-" Finn groaned in his sleep and clenched his fist, when he released the tension from his hand it almost looked like he was flipping Whipple off.

Whipple just stared at Finn. "Wow, you know that's pretty rude of you. You know what, just for that, I'm gonna blow you away even further from your island. I hope this teaches you a lesson."

Whipple's body then blackened a bit and his eyes turned grey. Then he swam around Finn's boat over and over, forming a vortex. Finn, still unconscious on the half-a-boat, was flung up into the air in a flurry of wind and sea water, until he disappeared into the clouds.

Whipple returned to his normal colors and stared at the spot in the sky where Finn had vanished.

"He'll be fine." he said before disappearing into the ocean.

All Finn could see was darkness, the pitch black void Finn stood in seemed to stretch out without limit. Finn couldn't help but feel a tad annoyed. 'How many of these weird, prophetic dreams am I going to have before the week's over?' Is what Finn thought of his current situation.

Then the flames appeared. All around him, large green fires erupted, instantly turning Finn's annoyance into fear. The heat of the flames were intense, but the strange fires made Finn feel cold on the inside, when he breathed he could see his breath in front of him.

"So, your journey has finally begun, has it?" said the most terrifying voice Finn had ever heard. The voice was cold, hard and sharp like a butcher's knife.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before fate brought forth a champion, I'm just surprised fate decided to send you into the fray now, of all times. Oh well, 'better late than never' they say." the voice continued. "You came into this world, a ball of fire and destruction, same as I did child. Your soul preserved across the ages, until you were needed. Another tool of the universe, I would pity you if I was capable of doing so. However, keep in mind I bear no hatred towards you boy. In fact, as a sign of good faith, I will grant you what the universe will not: a choice."

The flames around Finn intensified, as did the voice.

"Stay out of my way, return to your home and stay there. Do that for me, and your death will be far less painful. But if you decide to oppose me, if you decide to be the hero, then I promise you will die screaming in agony."

The flames vanished, and Finn was left shivering in the black void.

"Awaken child, make your choice."

Finn woke up the next morning feeling downright awful, he was lying on a wooden deck and his head hurt like hell. Finn could hear the familiar sound of waves crashing onto a shore. 'Land, I'm on land.' Finn struggled to his feet, clinging to the railing. Sure enough his half-a-boat had run aground into a sandy beach. 'Where am I?'

Finn looked around, the sandy beach stretching out to either side of him. To his right, a few yards down, a large sailboat had also run aground, but the old thing looked like it had been sitting there for ages. The broken mast laid across the ship and stuck into the sand, the whole vessel was covered in algae and barnacles, and a large hole could be seen in the hull near the front of the boat.

In front of him, a large forest could be seen. Finn was wondering if he could find anything to eat in those woods when he heard a creaking sound.

The railing he was leaning on gave way and Finn fell off the wrecked boat and landed on his back with a thud in the sand. Finn just laid there, quite ready to just give up and let the seagulls eat him.

"What the hell just happened to me?" Finn asked no one in particular. He decided he would just lay there for a bit. The best course of action would be to wait for a rescue, Finn knew his mom would be frantic looking for him. That thought made him kinda sad though, he was supposed to start schooling today, but now he was stranded on a beach with no way home. Which reminded him.

"Happy birthday, Finnegan Campbell." Finn said, voice filled with angry sarcasm.

Unbeknownst to Finn, he was being watched from the inside of the wrecked ship. Woken up by the smell of human flesh, the creature of shadow watched as Finn fell off his boat and grinned, but waited until sundown to make a move.

Ba-da-bing there we go! Now since Thanksgiving break is over it may be awhile before the next chapter. But don't worry I'll see this story through. In the next chapter, Finn meets one of Ooo's most annoying inhabitants.

And he totally gets laid.

Okay not really.

Maybe later in the story… Maybe.

Goodbye!