A beast stood alone in a thick dark, tangled jungle, its mawl smothered in bloody mucus and eyes pure white and bloodshot from diseased. It was feasting on a animal carcass, little remainder as the animal was ripped to shreds, its black mangled fur sticking together in clumps as the preys blood splashed acrossed it's face. The beast was mangy, spots of exposed and diseased flesh festered, dribbling black, inky blood in waves. The beast was completely oblivious to the single golden glowing eye above it within the thicket of foliage surrounding the area.

The beast lowered its head into the carcass, blood and spit flying as it gorged itself on the meat, laping up the blood. The sound of a stick snapping grabbed it's attention, the hairs sticking straight up, growling loudly as it barred its blood stained mouth. The golden eye narrowed at the the back of the beasts head slowly shifting about, not making a sound as another beast walked out of the foliage, the same as the one in front of it. They began to circle one another around the hunk of meat between them, snapping at each other every now and then, neither one giving ground to the other.

Two green spears shot out from above them, lancing the two in the spine, staking them to the ground underneath. The Golden eye began to move out from its cover, revealing the hunter as he landed quieter than a any feline, grabbing both spears and yanking them out of the quickly dissolving beasts, a scowl on his face as the green flint of the spear tip seem to turn black then crack.

He was a old and worn man with a skinned wolf head hat on his head. tan, slightly wrinkled skin stretched taught on his tattooed face, the symbols meaning long forgotten to the world except the oldest beings, eyes pure white with a single, lone golden eye atop on his forehead, resting under braided long silver hair that reached his lower calfs as beads, feathers, and fangs adorned his hair. His ears were pointed, twitching at the slightest sound made while his sharp and pointed nose continued to sniff the air for any more beasts and their vile but familiar blood. Over his shoulders rested a black fur pelt, wiggling about on it's own, the smell of ozone faint around it. A mighty wooden bow was slung over his shoulders, a beauty that mother nature herself has crafted as the bow was made of twisted oak covered in moss and vines with the bow string comprised of silver. His emerald tribal tattooed chest was bare to all to see, a leather chest holster held his sheathed hunting knife, the handle made of smooth bone. His forearms were wrapped with green fur overlapped with bones going down to his exposed hands, sharp bone claws resting over his hands like spiked gauntlets. On his legs were leather buckskin chaps with plain brown pants underneath held up by a belt that held multiple sacks and pouches around it. His feet were bare, sharp claws instead of toe nails and fingernails

The man stared at the quickly evaporating bloody gloop on the ground before unsheathing his knife, the green flint seeming to faintly glow while in his hand, and pulling a tiny corked phile from one of his many pouches. He scraped up the little remaining blood and meat on his knife, uncorked the bottle, and slid the now tiny bit of meat into its glass confines. The meat was no bigger than the size of a pebble before he put the cork back into the Phile, showing no more signs of disappearing or evaporating. The hunter looked up from his task, no sign that the beasts were here except for the carcass he set out and the two holes in the ground from his spears. He looked back to the phile in his hand, watching tendrils shoot out of the bloody sample, wiggling about as if trying to escape its glass prison. 'Very familiar, similar yet different from that Human' the hunter thought, 'are they coming back, I wonder?'

"Hey'ya Wolfie! You finally noticed these things to, you old dog!" A young, playful women's voice was heard to the left of the hunter, making him frown as he knew who it was. This might be a headache if the previous owners of her title was to be based off. "What is it Fox, and make it quick! I'm in no mood for your games." He growled.

A volupus and shapely youthful women stepped out from the foliage, her orange, red, and white Kimono worn loosely as seven fox tails kept up right. Her well combed hair was black, long and flowing as two fluffy fox ears rested atop her head. She wore a porcelain fox mask over her face, the foxes slanted and narrow eyes glowed blue as the grinning fox masked face cocked her head to the hunter.

" why so mean wolfie? Aren't you happy to see me?" Fox pouted, resting her arms under her chest and slightly leaned forward, her Kimono sliding further down her shoulders. The hunter stood up from his place on the ground and pocketed the filled phile into a leather sack on his belt before walking away from the women, his two spears resting against his shoulders. His blank eyes narrowed at the women next to him before turning around and walking off, working his way through the foliage. The women watched him move through the foliage without making a sound for a few seconds before she took off after him, her tails sliding her Kimonoback into place.

"What's the deal Wolfie?! A young beauty stands in front of ya wanting to talk and you walk off!?"

The hunter simply keeps walking with a scowl on his face the more he heard her talk. He kept ignoring her as he continued onwards, ducking under low branches and gracefully navigating the sudden pit falls and plants he came across, but she just simply won't leave him be as she began to float on top of a giant plush purple pillow that was conjured from her now glowing tail, the tip having a blue flame around it, illuminating the dark jungle. She was on her belly, kicking her feet like a bored child, her eyes never leaving him as she circled around him.

'Just like the past Foxes, full of mischief, pranks, and headaches' he thought as he abruptly stopped and planting his spears into the earth, causing Fox to almost roll off her pillow. She eyed him, head cocked in curiosity as she watched him. He planted both spears into the earth, crossing his arms over his chest. She rolled off her floating pillow and stood in front of him. "Well, are you going to tell me-" her question was cut short as Jimorgan quickly shot out his hand and... Flicked her masked nose. She reeled her head bad, holding onto her foxy nose whimpering from the sudden assault. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

The hunter stared at Fox with a bored look as she patted her mask, checking for any damage on the smoothed porcilen like material. She growled at him, the narrow eyes of the mask radiating blue light as her tails swishes around the air, her hands clenched into fists as her arms were tucked into her sides. The hunter wasn't impressed as he dealt with her like one would deal with a unruly child. "Keep wasting my time young one, and I'll simply take away your mask! Now what do you want!"

Fox went from angry to happy in the span of a second as she heard what was said. She took a deep breath, one hand on her chest as if she was going to sing.

"The land of Oooo is becoming interesting again with these new developments! Things are getting exciting as new variables sprung up from nowhere! That, and I heard that the mighty Jimorgan has taken an interest in a pair of individuals, finally found a replacement eh?"she asked, elbowing Jimorgan's side in good nature. Sadly, Jimorgan did not like it so he grabbed her by the ears and held her at arms length, her struggling to get out of his grip on her ears to no avail.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" She quickly made her displeasure known. He let go of her fluffy ears, Fox tenderly rubbing them to ease the soreness away as Jimorgan picked up his spears and began walking off once more.

"Aren't you going to say anything about this! You were called upon in how many years and you got a first hand look at these things! Grandma crow said that you would fill me in!"

Jimorgan abruptly stopped and slowly turned his head to Fox, a oppressive aura suddenly filled the area, causing a bead of sweat to roll down Fox's neck. He was showing why he wasn't just the Spirit of the Hunt, but the embodiment of it. No mortal, god, or celestial was safe from his sights, all was fair game for him to hunt what ever he desired. No matter what it is, if it was sentient or not, everything in existence was fair game. He was very, very, very old, with only a few of the great spirits and even fewer cosmic beings were still around that could guess his age, while a few are rumored to know his age. He was older than the Weaver and Death if Grandma Crow and Old Tortoise was to be believed, and centuries older than the very first Fox." If that old bird told you that I would impart some wisdom into your head, than I will for her, but!" The oppressive aura increased in pressure, making Fox's hair stand on end, bristling in points as Jimorgan's Golden eye atop his forehead glowed bright in the darkness.

"If you are tricking me Fox, I'll make you the one Fox that found a 'Replacement' the earliest in time! I don't take to kindly to those who set the old bird up for unneeded headache."

"Cross my heart and hope to die!" Fox loudly squeaked out, crossing her heart with a trembling hand. Jimorgan sighed, the oppressive feeling in the air dissipating. He leaned his spears up against a tree before sitting down next to them with a barely heard groan.

"Sit Kit, and listen well because I won't repeat myself after this."

She conjured a plush pillow on the ground before sitting down herself, sitting out of striking range of his spears. ' not like I could escape now. Even if I did slip away, grey Fox told me it would be a headache to escape him.' The memory flashes through her mind, in a time when she was a simple kitsune being taken under his wing to be the next trickster in line. A time before the bombs fell.

"Why don't we just mess with that old dog Grey-sama? I bet we can make him chase something in circles for awhile. Maybe move something just out of reach?"Oh, oh, oh how about we make a illusion of an creature he hasn't seen before!"

Fox was sitting down on a bar stoll, spinning around on it while using her three tails to propel her off the bar top to spin faster as her Kimono fluttered and swirled, a mix of orange, red, and white. She was inside of a luxurious penthouse one would find at the top of floor of a New Vegas casino, cushioned leather sofa in the center with a large TV in front, carpet lining the floor so thick that her feet were covered by the soft material like it was trying to suck her in. Can't forget about the poker table and pool table a couple feet away from the bar neither. The bar she sat at held a wide variety of liquor held in glass bottles, kegs, and even gourds. A giant jacuzzi sat next to the glass walls, looking out to a floating city of lights and neon. Millions upon millions of lights shined upward like sparks in the abyss, competing to be acknowledged by a god by being humble in design or inviting the most lustful and depraved with their lewd and scandales designs and adds. Flying vehicles zoomed about in the sky like busy bees going from one honeycomb to the next, giving the illusion of never stopping. Her mentor told her that the place was once a barren dessert where only the crafty and quick of wit had a chance to survive and prosper. Hard to believe that the place turned into something Las Vegas could only dream of becoming if its sins hadn't caught up to it.

Humans were fascinating creatures and were the funniest to mess with compared to other creatures. They just seemed to have there own unique way of reacting to her pranks. So did Vampires, werewolves, and demons but humans just react in a way she finds the most entertaining.

A man came up behind her small form, dressed in a fine black suit and shoes contrasting his slicked back shoulder steel gray hair. His face was covered by a wooden masked carved into a grinning face of a fox. he wore necklaces of beads and gems around his neck with a pack of silver playing cards in his breast pocket. This man was her mentor, Grey Fox: The crazy and mad Fox trickster, though she didn't think he was crazy. She pegged him more so... eccentric and very lucky.

Very, very, very, VERY lucky. So lucky the devil didn't like playing poker with him anymore. He probably has some percentage of hell to do what he wants with it after winning the big games and losing the small ones. Lose the horse but gain the kingdom he once said.

Grey Fox gently slapped her upside the head, nearly knocking off her porcelain fox mask before she caught it. "What have I said kit? Jimorgan is not to be trifled with. Do you remember the others who shouldn't be tricked, Miho?"

Miho placed a small finger upon her chin, thinking or acting like she was thinking. Her three bushy tails swishing lazily behind her as her kimono stayed still.

"Don't fool around with Death to much, Weaver is a no no, OldTortoise doesn't leave his shell often enough, and Grandma Raven" she listed off on her fingers.

"I think its Grandmother Crow right now but I'll give you that one. That old bird just can't seem to make up her mind on which one she wants to be." Grey sighed.

"Why is that Grey sama?" She looked up to him, her blue eyes shining underneath her mask, ears twitching. She heard the faintest of sound, like she could hear a bee buzz miles out but only when its completely silent, the slightest, smallest sound drowning it out.

"Kit" Gray gently said, sounding tired " I doubt even Tortoise and his seemingly infinite knowledge knows either. Weaver knows I tried to understand her peculiar ways. it's one of the many mysteries that I haven't solve yet. "

Miho hummed in response.

Grey took a seat next to Miho, a whispy gray fox tail forming at the base of his spine as he pulled out the pack or cards from his breast pocket before laying them down in front of him. He split the deck in half and set them down in front of him on the bar top. He pulled a singled card from each deck in both his hands before flipping them over. A small TV hanging above the bar suddenly flashed to life, a emergency alert being broadcasted blaring inside of the quite penthouse. Both Miho and Gray Fox looked up at the screen, a tiny wail of a siren began to blare outside.

'Bombs incoming, Bombs incoming! SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!'

"Gray..." Miho whimpered, suddenly feeling very uneasy as the sirens blared outside, growing louder and louder. Grey resumed pulling cards from the decks before holding seven in each hand. His masks face began to move and morph, the foxy grin looking more sardonic then ever as he looked at his hands. Royal straight Flushes, impeccable luck as always .

"Here's a reason why you shouldn't trifle with Jimorgan, old Tortoise, or that old bird above all else"

The lights overhead flicked for a moment, the TV going dark. Miho felt her seat violently shake, the glass bottles shattering on the floor as the earthquake seemed to increase in intensity, one of a kind brand's mixing and melding on the floor, the stench of everything mixing together wasn't pleasant, not helping her already upset stomach. She looked over to him as his grin grew wider, threatening to split the mask as he looked into her eyes. one eye the shade of a blazing inferno with specs of gold around slitted pupils and the other a orb of pure gold, both showing a maddness threatening to spill out from the very fringes of his eyes.

She then knew why they called him crazy and mad.

" because" he whispered, somehow overtaking the sounds around them, louder than the countless screams below them" those three have seen things before the Cycle began and I'd bet the Legacy of the Foxs that they WILL out live everything till the end. Watching and fiddling about as they please." A loud explosion killed the lights leaving the young fox's blue eyes and Gray's red and golden eyes glowing in sudden darkness.

Miho looked outside and saw a gaint mushroom cloud rapidly grow at a astronomical rate, a large wave of dust growing larger than the city, getting closer and closer to crashing down upon the city.

"At least" Gray fox threw his cards in the air, opening up a kaleidoscope hole from thin air. He gently took Miho's hand and led them into the hole, the penthouse shaking so bad that she couldn't keep her feet under her. Gray had no difficulties navigating the constant vibrations and tremors blasting through the penthouse. The cloud grew closer and closer till they walked through the hole, bombarded by a realm of colors, as the rift closed behind them.

"Till they Subcome to their replacements. They are a different bunch compared to us great spirits, gods, and cosmics, even if they parade around as us. From what little I learned Miho is that they must be bested and consumed if they are what I think they are". a light chuckle escaped from his throat, the sound so familiar yet it sent a chill up her spine.

WHAP!

Fox felt Jimorgan's green tail slap her upside the head. Snapping her out of the sudden memory.

Why did they always slap her upside the head?!

"You beg and beg for my time, yet you start to daydream! What grabbed your attention young fox?"

"Just something Gray told me once" she mumbled, playing with her long hair." Something shortly after the bombs dropped"

Jimorgan sighed, no longer looking annoyed but compassionate. His tail faded from the realm in a whisp of smoke as he eased back up against the tree he was resting on. 'She was alive during that Cycle of life. Kit probably still misses it.

"Gray was the one Fox that I didn't mind having his company, eager to learn something other than tricks and pranks. What did he tell you that day young one?"

"Just that I shouldn't really prank you... to much!" She cheekily said.

Jimorgan snorted in amusement, glad to see the youngin before him snap back to her playfulness. He may grow tired of the Fox's attitude and shenanigans but what can he say, he has a soft part for the very young spirits and gods. Well, anything younger than a thousand years usually. That and she really hasn't angered him like the first few Foxs have done. The others found out real quickly that you don't need to find your replacement yourself. The role would find someone or something eventually. He was responsible for a quite a few new beings taking the place of older Great Spirits and the like, either asked to do so or simply because he decided he wanted to.

Now that he thinks about it, a certain cosmic owl might get a visit. It has been so long since he hunted a cosmic being and that council was quickly forgetting there place in the larger scale of things. They were getting a little to ARROGANT for his liking, though Grandmother Crow and Old Tortoise haven't asked him to humble them and they haven't stepped out of line... yet...

That and those two he aided and the one he nearly fought with wouldn't mind having that council leave them be for now, even if they aren't aware of them. That boy, Finn, would make the council fearful, more idiotic than they already are. He isn't so prideful that he will lie to himself and will say the truth, Finn was one of few creatures, a very familiar yet very different being, that made him feel a sense of unease and fear at the prospect of fighting him. He smelt like a human, a rarity in of itself in this Cycle, a dangerous beast of blood and a smell that he hasn't smelt since he was just a youngling himself, looking across the infinite, before the first Weaver, before the first cosmic god. Something before he met Grandma Crow and Old Tortoise. Something older and more powerful than that supposed ' Cosmic Council'.

" At least Gray had enough sense to impart that wisdom to you. You wouldn't believe how little few followed that advice young one"

Fox hummed, getting comfy on her plush pillow before giving Jimorgan her attention. "Ok, now can you tell me what's going out there?"

"Are you going to listen this time?" Jimorgan raises an eyebrow. Fox quickly nodded.

"From what I know young one is that these... beasts are seemingly popping up from the Ather or some other plane. To my knowledge a young wood nymph who called upon my aide has been doing a good enough job of hunting these diseased beasts from spreading, but they seem to grow stronger the more blood they consume or flesh they eat. I guess that human -"

"There's a human!" Fox exclaimed, her tails swishing around excitly, "Didn't they all pass after the last Cycle!"

Jimorgan simply gave her a deadpan look till she calmed down.

"Questions after?"

Jimorgan nodded, resuming from where he stopped.

"That human has been missing for a while and seemed to have a scent similar to the beasts themselves but the real intregring part is that these mad, mindless beasts fear him more than me, and I don't blame them."

"Sounds like a scary fellow..." she quietly muttered to herself.

"He is. He also has a peculiar scent about him, something that reminds me of my younger days, older in origin, something I thought long gone. I think I'll see if that Old Crow wouldn't mind keeping an eye on them for me if she hadn't already started. Knowing her she's probably sent her birds to investigate this new development." 'In this world and the others.' he quietly thought.

"Question!" Fox exclaimed, shooting her right hand up into the air, waving it about.

Jimorgan sighed. "What is it Kit?"

"I can understand the human, but why keep an eye on the nymph? Are you trying to play matchmaker you old dog!" She laughed, finding the idea of this grizzled old wolf as the human's or nymph's wingman, the same one who would rather do his thing and hunt anything that catches his eye. Or anything that royally pissed him off.

Jimorgan smiled sadly at her laughter." Let's just say that I don't want either of them to make the same grave mistakes when I was still a youngling myself." Jimorgan sighed before looking out to the jungle, " I won't interfere unless I think I need to. They need to grow on there own for the most part."

Memories flashed in his head. letting a primitive civilization from long, long ago warship him. them offering their shaman to him to do as he pleased with her. Taking the shaman on her first hunt, getting annoyed with her performance, laughing about things other than the hunt, teaching her new ways to channel power her own power and hunting what use to walk the lands. Pushing her to get stronger, using her love for him as a tool to make her hunt more and more to get her strong enough to be at his side, demanding more and more for the 'honor' of being the Great Spirit of the Hunt's newly appointed high priestess, the first chosen by him. If only he could go back and beat his younger self to an inch of his life to get it through his stubbornness and stupidity that all he had to do was just love her and pull her away from her quest she set herself upon. To stop her decent into the unknown and madness from that eldritch corpse from the deep she devoured. to stop the monster, the thing that devoured her very being and identity.

"Ok!" Fox loudly exclaimed as she jumped up from her pillow and pumped her arms,"Operation ' Cupids Arrow' is a go!"

Fox went to go take off into into the lush jungle but was stopped as Jimorgan's wispy green tail wound itself tightly around her midriff, not letting her escape. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that he was still looking out into the distance, reminiscing about his younger days.

"I don't want any of the others messing about with those two."

"Oh come on! Jimorgan, 'The Great Spirit of The Hunt' seems to see those two getting together, what's wrong with... speeding it up a little! Plus, humans will start making a comeback! Do you know how boring it is to mess around with everything in this land everysince the bombs fell for the past thousand odd years?!"

Jimorgan simply tightened his grip around her, not enough to hurt her but tight enough to send a message." Let these things come naturally Fox. And don't blab this to the other younglings, I have to see what's going on and meet up with some people about these changes ontop of my usual routine."

Fox rolled her head, before patting his tail,"Fine, but if see a opportune moment, you know for sure I'll strike!"

Jimorgan shook his head, hoping that she wouldn't interfere to much. That was one defining trait of all the Foxes he dealt with, you can't tell them no and expect them to simply follow orders. If they want to do something, they are going to do it and damn the consequences and hazards. "Later!"

Fox snapped her fingers, exploding into a cascade of sticky glitter, a echo of her mischievous laughter fading. Jimorgan looked at his now sparkly tail before flicking it, trying to get rid of the the colorful and shiny specks before he learned that this wasn't normal glitter. Fox thought it would be funny to add a Fox special adhesive to it! It was going to take awhile for his flames to melt it off and his tail would be a like those rainicorns flying around Ooo.

"That Kit. give her an inch and she'll take as much as possible." He chuckled, looking to the north where he heard her laughing up a storm in the distance. "You taught her well Gray, hopefully she won't subcome to that madness you suffered"

Jimorgan stood up from his position, grabbed his two spears and began to walk through the jungle, his body disappearing into a green fire before it died out, not even leaving a singed mark or any thing that gave away that he was here. A single thought came to his mind as he floated through space, nothing but galaxy and cosmos far as the eye can see as he left a trail of green fire in his wake. 'Finn is technically the last human, isn't he? He isn't fully human but the characteristics are there, wonder how he even came to be? A stray god perhaps? Or maybe it's those great old things that use to roam around? Another question to this ever growing mystery. Now, Should I vist that old bird first or the old Tortoise about this I wonder?

The morning sun began to rise, its Ray's shining through the slatted windows of the treehouse, bathing the dark room in natural light and bringing a new day to the land of Ooo. Isabela stirred awake as the suns light touched her, rousing her from slumber as she slowly opened her tired eyes. A few mushrooms grew on her exposed shoulder that she quickly swatted off, throwing the leafy blanket to the side, feeling like she was missing something as she rubbed her tired eyes. She began to recall everything that's transpired the last night. she ate good food, enjoyed a very delicious drink, easing Finn to sleep after ... her eyes shot opened as she quickly scanned the empty room for Finn. she quickly grabbed a leaf from the blanket, transforming the leaf into a plain shirt and cloak to wear as she shot up from the couch. She heard footsteps up the ladder to Finn and Jake's bedroom as Jake groggily climbed down the ladder and made his way to the coffee maker, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he yawned loudly, oblivious to Huntress in the kitchen as he streched his arm out to a cabnet, retrieving a coffee mug with the words ' WORLDS BEST BRO' in big red letters.

"Jake!"

Jake yelped in surprise and jumped, nearly dropping the mug. he was fully alert as he quickly faced Huntress as she quickly walked towards him, concern in her eyes"Wheres Finn?"

" I thought you two were sleeping down here!?" He replied, each word laced with concern and panic.

Suddenly, the two heard a faint sound outside the treehouse, the sound of ringing and clashing metal drawing there attention. The tempo of the sound seemed almost erratic yet at the same time following a rhythm. Sounds of clashing and clanging metal were mixed in to the rhythm at random before the tempo increased and decrease. Jake and Huntress quickly rushed outside, forgoing the ladder to jump straight down to the front door. once the door was open, they found who and what was causing the ringing and clashing sounds.

It was Finn, wearing nothing but trousers and boots darker than night, his scarred upper body open to all to see with his locket around his neck. Fresh nics and cuts dribbled reddish pale blood that glistened in the rising morning sun's rays. A few flowers blossomed around him, their white petals seeming to glow in the new dawn. The Heroic Hunter was spinning and swinging around Gehrman's scythe. Every slash he made with it, every twirl, was made with a laser focus, the blade singing with each and every strike and move.

SHINK, CHING!

Finn performed a few more strikes before detaching the blade from the folding shaft with a loud clash of gears, clanging metal, and sparks. A bit of skin was ripped from his hand that got to close to the mechanism connecting the two, the droplets being flicked onto the grassy ground as he swung the now curved sword, white flowers quickly growing from the ground. The folded shaft clunged to his exposed back no matter how he swung the curved sword in his hand. Sweat rolled off him, mixing into the blood as he continued to relentlessly swing and stab, still completely focused on each movement he made. Over head slice, back-step, lunging stab, spinning slash.

He shifted his arm for a over head strike and held it there, the muscles in his arm flexing, building power.

"YEE-AAH!"

Finn swung the sword downward with a crushing force, sending earth flying into the air and the sword half inbeded into the soil before he smoothly removed it and placing it on his shoulder, the blade clean without so much as a speck of dirt on its finely honed edge. He was panting, the sweat rolling off of him as he quickly regained his stamina. In one motion he extended the folded shaft from his back and reattached the blade back into its notch without ripping anymore skin before easing the scythe on his shoulders with a twirling flourish. He lifted his head skyward towards the sun, his pale body basking in its golden rays as a cold morning breeze blew his wild hair, sending a pleasant shiver through him.

'I forgot how it feels during the day. it's so warm. I feel... at ease'. And Finn truly did feel more relaxed in the wide open plane before him. no shadows to hide the beasts and monsters he had hunted down, no constant chill or the constant need for villigance, even that beast inside him seemed more lethargic while he was in the daylight. He felt closer to his humanity than ever, his thoughts a smidgen clearer, but that thirst for the hunt and blood was still there. Suppressed, itching like an addict's desire for his dropped vice, waiting for him to fall back to it's embrace.

"Dude! When did you learn all that, and where'd you get that scythe, sword thing!?"

Jake's had stars in his eyes from watching his brothers moves with the weapon in his hand, his excited outburst shattering the first real moment of serenity that Finn experienced in ages but he didn't mind the break. They were behind him, standing near the doorway to the treehouse. He turned his head towards them and gave them a brilliant smile, showing off his teeth." Morning you two! Beautiful morning isn't it!"

Huntress and Jake ran towards Finn as they saw the amount of cuts litter body. Huntress pulled out a bottle of cyclops tears from her pouch, quickly opening the bottle as she took Finn's bloody hand, splashing some of the healing tears onto the torn flesh and to her shock, Nothing happened as the wound continued to bleed freely with no signs of healing.

Finn raised an eye as the tears rolled down his wounded hand, mixing in with his blood and dripping down onto the ground as more white flowers began to bloom on the ground. He looked towards Huntress who stared at the still opened wound in shock as the bloody tears rolled onto her hand. Jake seen the same thing,quickly stretching his hand into the treehouse and pulling out a medkit that hasn't been used in quite some time, pulling out disinfecting spray and bandages as he began tending to Finn's wounds. Finn chuckled, trying to brush him off.

"I'm fine guys! Save the supplies for someone else. it'll heal and it isn't that bad, just a few nics here and there."

"A few... Dude! Your hand is missing like, 20 percent of flesh right now! And some of these are a bit deeper than a few nics because you're bleeding like siv!" Jake raved as he continued to apply bandages around the fresh wounds around Finn's scarred body, trying to patch up the larger cuts with gauze and large adhesive bandages if he couldn't wrap them .

Finn continued to smiled and shook his head at his brother's reaction. He appriecate the concern, he truly does, but these cuts were simply that, cuts and nics, nothing to warrant the use of his blood philes. they would heal on there own and would clot after awhile. It's not like when his hand became grounded meat, bone and muscle by some shark giant's jaws. Gods he can still feel the wet, jagged toothed maw of the thing as it kept chewing up his arm towards his shoulder as he continued to stab it's head with desperation with the Ryoko he got from its dead companion's back in that well in the hamlet.

It, like most everything else during his time in the more nightmarish parts of the dream, was not pleasant.

'Speaking of healing' Finn thought, 'I need to take an inventory of what I got left. I don't think I can find most of the stuff like I found in Yharnham, especially the old blood . Unless the healing church has taken residence here as well... what ever happened to my little messenger friends?'

At some point in his quest, the messengers simply stopped showing up, causing the doll to be quite saddened over it. It was after he devoured the last piece he needed to escape that dream, to end it once and for all. did they escape? Did anyone still somehow alive escaped? Is the Doll free from her duties like Gehram?

Huntress continued to stare at the bottle of cyclops tears in her hand before doing a little experiment. She bit her thumb with her canine, drawing blood before she dripped the tears onto it. The wound sealed shut instantly, leaving no scar or evidence that she even bit her own thumb.

'The tears work' she looked to Finn, now wrapped in the slowly redding bandages wrapped around him.

Jake also noted Finn's bandages were being bled through.
"We need to run you to PB buddy, these bandages aren't holding up good."

"P...B?" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow

"Princess Bubblegum, ruler of the candy kingdom, good friend of ours"

"Candy kingdom? As in... a kingdom made of candy?" Finn slowly asked, feeling skeptical about the kingdom. the memory of the place feeling more like a hallucination or sweet dream he had if his mind needed somewhere to escape to." Like, EVERYTHING made of candy?"

"Of course! Buddy, we'll start heading up there now to get you patched up and try to get that noggin of yours working again" Jake ruffled Finns hair while the Heroic Huntsman laughed as he gently swatted his hand away.

"Just let me give her a heads up so we can get you patched up quicker." Jake reached up into the treefort, bringing out a sleek cellphone with a slightly cracked screen.

As Jake was waiting for Princess Bubblegum to pick up, Huntress looked to the bottle in her hand then at Finn, the white bandages slowly turning pinkish red in color. A mystery was bouncing in her mind as the tears and blood rolled off Finn's hand. If the cyclops healing tears didn't heal Finn's wound, how would other magic react to him? her thoughts were cut short however as Jake lifted her and Finn off the ground and onto his growing form, his legs growing into large stilts for legs as he held the phone next to his ear.

" Hey PB! Guess who we found!"

Princess bubblegum was busy working within her hidden lab, deep beneath her castle. The walls were made of grey steel, the powerful overhead lights left little to no shadows as Cool, fresh air blew from the air vents along the walls, the air filters and air vents, which were barely wide enough to fight a full grown rat, hummed softy. There was large computer against the wall, next to the elevator, the only way in and out, with 12 smaller screens around the large 10 by 10 foot computer screen, 4 screens showing movement within enclosed white rooms. Screaming, mad and wild, and gnashing teeth was heard in the clean and sanitized bubblegums laboratory, medical equipment and tools for disecting surrounding a steel table where a creature was strapped down tight with reinforced steel bonds by the waist, wrist, ankles, legs, and forearms. The thing use to be a candy person, a citizen made out of gummy bears. The creature was once a citizen living in the distuted areas of the kingdom with ties to the underground, slinging a phile of dark crimson that was currently being analyzed one level higher with peppermint butler who's interest in it was almost concerning. The one clamped to that table was one of the growing number of those afflicted with this strange rapid mutation. His color has changed to a sickly purple and a unpleasant aroma wafted from him that had PB wear a air filter to deal with the unpleasent smell. He grew sharp and jagged teeth within a mouth to small to fully contain and seemingly comprised of rock candy that continues to grow both in number and size. His hands continue to develop claws made of the same sugary cyrstle as his teeth, smaller jagged cyrstle grew from its knuckles. Tiny tendrils bursts from under his candly flesh, moving as if with minds of their own acted like fur in patches while the most unsettling change were in his eyes. His eyes were now not of candy, but of extremely bloodshot and sickly yellow around black beady human which shocked uncontrollably as he continued to scream.

"I want more! More! Paler, paler blood! Must devour it, I want to see MORE!"

Princess bubblegum frowned as she continues to observe the mad ramblings and animalistic craziness and rage coming from her subject. She grabbed a clipboard from attop the computer keyboard with multiple sheets of paper as she pulled a pen from her slightly purplish lab coat pocket. She began to write.

Subject 2 seems to morph and mutate at the same alarming rate as subject 1 and patient 0 as well as suffering from the same exact hallucinetic effects from the syringe of the unknown substance being circled around the more shady parts of the kingdom. Still unclear of origin and composition as of right now, she wrote onto a clipboard as she looked to the large computer screen, showing the cellular structure of her mutating and crazed subject. The candy cells that once comprised the citizen was rapidly being engulfed by dark redish grey ones, converting and duplicating faster than anything she has seen.
She studied the screen intently, scribbling down obsevarions as the cells continued their rapid conversion from the victims blood, if it could be called that. it was thick like syrup and shouldn't even be produced by candy people and yet here it was. Gathering another sample from him would prove more dangerous and difficult than the initial one as more crystals began forming around his body and its frenzy making the task not worth the risk of the possibility of passing on whatever it has by biting or scratching. Why hasn't she used some sleeping gas on it yet? The answer is simple after the she tried that on the first carrier.

Like subject 1, the more it transformed, the weaker the gasses effect has on it had till it only seemed to enrage it enough where it began to chew off its restraints, later its own limbs as they still have enough rational thought when they failed to chew the restraints off with little success to go after the lest resistent flesh. they were driven to attack any living, breathing organism as they went after anything with some form of life. Now knocking it out through concussion force seems to be the most reliable solution but like the gas, it becomes more enraged, acting more like a rapid beast if not taken out in one hit. Even Pepper mint buttler is at a lost at finding the safest and most effective way to move them about as his magic enrages them as well, almost seemingly immune to spells that are more mental and psychedelic in nature. If Marcilen wasn't here to help her with her strength and durability then she would've had to study their dead or frozen bodies for some way to fix any future victims.

"Bloodless! Greedy, greedy bloodless, bloodstarved tick! You won't take it! It's mine!"

And they seem to sense marcilen coming from a decent range. The monstrous candy person began gnashing and snapping its teeth aggressively, its struggle of freeing itself increased twofold as the table it was strapped to began to shake more violently now, the bindings holding it down creaking from the strain its struggle caused.

"MINE! ITS MINE! NOT YOURS, MINE!" It screeched, its voice changing to a high pitched roar.

The elevator dinged, the doors opening smoothly with a little swish sound.. Marcilen floated through the door, her axe slung over her shoulder. Her hair was an unkempt and shaggy mess now, reaching the back of her military booted heels. She wore a tore up black studded jacket over a black shirt, the skull with snakes slithering out in front of a flame showed signs of fading. Metal studed bracelets,shining with the overhead lights, wrapped around her pale wrists. She looked at the struggling creature on the table with a raised eyebrow and a frown. "You would think they would say something different, y'know? Made any progress in fixing them up Bonibel?"

Bubblegum sighed in resignation at the question, crossing her arms closing her eyes. Marcilen could see the fatigue and stress on her face clearly, knowing that she hasn't rested much since Finn disappeared. What's happening to her people like the one struggling on the table was another dose of worry shes been dealing with.

"No Marcilen. Though They all seem to morph the same with little to no variations, which is good for finding a way to stop , cure, or eradicate this thing but I just can't figure out THIS!" She motioned to the screen with the clipboard, the Dark grey cells continuing to convert more and more candy molecules. Marcilen looked at the screen and let out a low whistle." These grey guys are sure going to town."

Bubblegum opened her eyes to look at the monitor and gasped, her clipboard falling to the ground with a loud clack! She moved marcilen to the side to look at the screen closer, not believing what she was witnessing. The conversion was rapidly increasing and that wasn't the worst part. The cells were splitting like usual except a few were splitting dark, crimson cells instead of the typical reddish grey. The ratio to grey to crimson was changing rapidly as more and more crimson devored the grey and colorful candy cells. It wasn't long before there were very few gray cells and even fewer candy cells. "That's not suppose to happen, is it?" Marcilen asked bubblegum.

"No." Bubblegum's voice was little above a whisper.

A loud screech from the candy person pulled there attention away from the screen. The candy person was becoming more beastial, more monstrous, growing in size, more tentacles grew along its body, its mouth shifted and stretched into a wide mawl filled with more crystal teeth that were blood red and white as bone, and more and more crystals grew in various places upon his body; neck, forearms, knees, knuckles, chest, toes all protruded the sharp crystals. The steel binds began to stretch and warp as the monstrous thing grew in size and pulled with renewed vigor, the sound of metal being pulled to its limit echoing in the room as blood flowed from the things sliced wrists, purplish red to black ichor seeping from the wounds!

"Marcilen!"

"On it!"

Marcilen quickly flew next to the monsters side, raising her axe over her head with both bands, and slammed the flat of it down upon its face with a resounding Crack! Dark liquid seeped from its mouth and nostrils, multiple teeth fractured but still held together. Its eyes were still open but glazed over as blood dribbled out from the sockets. The only sign that marcilen hadn't killed it was the low, bearly audible sound of its voice.

"Blood... so white... blinding...show... the truth...more eyes..."

Marcilen swung once more with a cry, teeth,cyrstle, and its blood flying through the air. She lifted her axe off the things face, it's syrupy blood and its teeth sticking to the axe in strands before she flicked it a few times, most of the stuff flying to the floor as the things breathing became relaxed, its eyes still opened but non responsive.

Marcilen slung her axe over her shoulder, immediately regretting the action with grimace and shivered from the things syrupy blood getting on her hair and her exposed neck, next to her fang things blood felt so wrong on her and yet... felt invigorating. Like she was indulging in one hell of a drug, better than she ever had throughout her long, long life.

Bubblegum quickly tapped some buttons on the keyboard and the ends of the table lowered wheels and detached from the main base from the floor. She got behind the the table and started to push it to the reinforced steel door against the other side of the room. A green keypad was attached to the wall next to it, she typed out codes onto it and with the last press on the keypad, a loud clang and clash echoed from the gaint door as locks and bolts disengaged. With a groan the door slid apart, and as the steel doors widen further apart the sounds from within grew. A grave look crossed bubblegums features, while a unsettled, haunted look marred Marcilen's as the noise hit there ears.

Nothing but screechs, babbling of blood, and the slamming of sickly and monsterous bodies into steel doors resounded off the scratched hallway walls. There were a dozen doors on each side of the narrow hallway, a red light above each door, as bubblegum pushed the cart down to the farthest reinforced steel door, the screaming and slamming quickened in pace, frenzied as the duo walk by. They stopped in front of a regular sized steel door, with two large locking mechanism, firmly engaged to stop anything from entering or leaving. A massive 3, painted on the door in yellow paint, the light flashing above it for a moment before a resounding clack of disengaging locks and bolds of the two mechanism echoed over the sounds that the other afflicted were making. Bubblegum wheeled the mutated candy citizen towards center of the room before leaving, making sure the heavy door shut behind her with a quite click followed by the loud sound of the locking mechanisms re-engaging. The bench lowered till it reached the floor, the wheels folding upon themselves, fusing the table and floor together, held in place til the binds gave out or the thing would rip its limbs off. They made their way back to the main lab, trying to drown out the the noise in the hallway till they finally returned back to the lab, the large steal doors slowly locking into place, bringing the sweet sound of silence as it was just marcilen and Bubblegum alone in the lab, complete silence enveloping them like a blessed peace.

Marcilen let out a deep breath after a few moments, the silence broken.

"Well," she started, straining to keep her voice upbeat for bubblegums sake as she rubbed her neck where the blood once was, forgotten about as it seemed to dissappear."at least we caught this one before they could really cause some damage..."

Bubblegum nodded from her leaning posture against the large computer desk, arms crossed, tight lip and a pondering expression. She was staring off into space, her mind going down avenues of possible solutions to stop, contain, and eventually destroy whatever is causing this. She was very deep in thought that she didn't register the sound of a phone going off in her lab coat pocket.

" you going to answer that?"

"Oh!" Yelped bubblegum in surprise as she fished the phone out of her pocket. With a flick of the wrist, the circular device opened with a click, the name Jake was written in green over a blue screen. She tapped the receive the button and put the phone to her ear. Marcilen could hear Jake through the other end. What he said suprised both bubblegum and Marcilen, news that lifted their spirits.

"Hey PB! Guess who we found!" Jake joyfully yelled." We found Finn!"

Marcilen grinned ear to ear as she heard that while bubblegum smiled wildly as she replied with a glee that hasn't been head in the last few months. " thats great! How is he, is he alright!?"

"Well... he's a bit cut up so you think you ca-"

"Just bring him over and I'll patch him up." Bubblegum cut him off, excitement plainly heard in her voice.

"Nice, we're on way now, but just a heads up though". Jake now began to whisper" he seems a little... off, so tell Marcy to not go shape-shifting any around him, or watch what vampire powers she had"

Marcilen and Bubblegum shared a look, curious as to why Jake was whispering and what he meant by that.

"Jake.. what do you mean by... vampire? Does this women have Cainherst blood?" a quite, almost raspy, familiar voice was heard on the other end.

"Is it hunting time?" A low haunting chuckle seemed to reverberate off the laboratory walls, a chill running up Marcilen's and Bubblegum's spine.

"Jake..." Bubblegum quitely asked," who was that?"

"Thats Finn! Hey, we're coming up towards the walls and Finn's giving the kingdom a weird look." A loud clashing of gears echoed out of the phone, "Finn? ...We'll be at the castle in a few."

The call ended and Bubblegum closed her phone. Her and Marcilen made there way towards the elevator, the doors opening before them. They entered the somewhat roomy area as the doors closed behind them before they felt the elevator rise.

"This is going to be an interesting reunion, isn't?" Marcilen calmly asked plucking a few strings on her axe as she tuned it.

"Yup" Bubblegum replied, popping the the P, as they continued to rise and rise till the elevator stopped with a ding.

Authors Notes

ANNND CUT! I finally got this chapter out! So I been putting more time in to come up with ideas in between the beginning, middle, and end of this series and some ideas I'm not sure how to incorporate or if I want to do it. I've been debating to add a bit of a love triangle between Finn, Huntress Wizard, and a certain doll of the workshop but I don't if I should go that course.

I hoped that I made it apparent that while Finn can use his tools and weaponry to great effect, he still needs practice to just use them without causing harm to himself.

And I thank you guys for leaving reviews and saying your enjoying this so far as well as advice you guys give. I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter and I apologize for not being on top of it like I said I would. You guys have a good one.