Sarah was waiting on the patriarch of the family when Nadia's plane finally rolled to a stop at the boarding area. The android woman was dressed in a stunning red pantsuit with hip-hugging slacks and a form-fitting jacket designed to show off her perky knobs. For many who knew Princess Bubblegum, it was a jarring change. Bonnie didn't wear slacks because men stared at her ass. Determined to be something other than 'robot-Bonnie', Sarah pulled out all the stops. She was determined to have her own place in the world.
Drew was waiting there with the heavy-duty hottie, and the Grid-Face Princess knew exactly what that was about. Drew had nagged her for the entire trip, calling at least once a day and demanding vital signs. With no more patients to manage, the beautiful doctor had time to give her family undivided attention. Whether they liked it or not. Mostly they all went along to get along–and to avoid getting a beating if they didn't.
Slipping his arms around her swollen middle, Finn kissed Nadia's cheek, whispering, "go quietly. Vlad needs you now." She loved it when he touched her that way or spoke tenderly to her..." Stroking his fingers, the stacked princess murmured, "ok..." To Drew, she said, "alright. Let's get this over with." "First things, first," said Sarah as she shoved the hot-doctor at their husband. As Bill watched and chuckled, Drew pressed her still-hot body into Finn's as she kissed him thoroughly. Naturally, Finn helped himself, getting to grips with her curves until the pretty doctor finally broke that kiss.
Face flushed, the sexy physician took Nadia's hand and strode off towards a waiting car. Sarah now turned to Finn and started giving her report. Finn snatched the sex-droid off her feet and kissed her sugary lips as Billy chuckled, "first things, first..." A frazzled Sarah sputtered incoherently. Billy was already headed off to his own reunion. Abeiuwa had just arrived in a car. Finn stroked Sarah's cheek, sending shivers through her.
He'd become very touchy that way and now never seemed to miss an opportunity to touch her tenderly–like she was the most important thing in his world. She'd been having a little bit of trouble with that. It was the memories. Memories that were hers and memories that were clearly Bonnie's. Memories that came with tags like 'Braco' or 'Shoko' or 'Marceline'. It was the irrational piece of her running away, but she feared losing this. "Try and stay focused," she admonished him. Grabbing a handful of Sarah's big butt, the big man said, "I am focused." He started walking towards the car, never relinquishing his hold on her bottom.
The android-girl had been planning to give her husband a quick briefing on the way to the palace. The leadership of the Privy Council was waiting, and they were up to their same old shenanigans. Unfortunately, they weren't going to wait on him getting settled in from his trip. Just as Bonnie had expected, news that he was inviting the unaffiliated barons to a meet in Muscle Kingdom had gone over like a lead balloon. They were about to go shrill.
To her credit, Sarah Mertens tried to give her husband a briefing. Trouble was, even without the power of the Quicksilver Curse, the King of Ooo had very fast hands. Pulling up to the steps of the Candy Palace, they found Betty waiting on them wearing a natty dress in dark green. Sarah was walking funny and her hair and clothing were askew as she exited the car in the palace courtyard. That and the fogged-up rear windows on the limo pretty much said that Finn had screwed the shit out of her on the way over from the airfield. Betty rolled her eyes as Finn came up the stairs to meet her.
With her pussy feeling a little tender, Sarah fell a little behind, and she was honestly a little appalled at just how well Finn could focus while in the middle of the act. With all circuits in overload, she'd lost the bubble a couple of times. Betty embraced their husband as the android brushed by. "You're kind of taking advantage," Betty reminded him. With several of them preggers or away on business, Sarah was getting a lot more attention, especially as she couldn't get pregnant. Finn grabbed a double handful of Betty's big, bountiful butt, suggesting she could get some attention too. Kissing his cheek, she admonished him, "work first... You already had some..."
Falling in at her side, Finn said, "ok... 'Letta's making noises about doing in her sister..." Again. "More than noises," sighed Betty. She'd had Blargetha tried and condemned in absentia. There was a delegation here to collect the younger sister. Finn sighed. 'Letta had gone well beyond shrill. He was in kind of a bind. On one hand, he wasn't really a friend of Blargetha. There was a history of B raising hell at home and needing to be smacked down. This latest, with what had been done to Toast, sickened him. At the same time, he wasn't a fan of doing in someone who was completely defenseless. Blargetha was in prison. She'd be there until she got old and croaked. What more did 'Letta need?
"Debate as old as mankind," Betty observed. "I'm not a fan of the death-penalty myself, but it is the diplomatic route here. Right now, Slime Princess has the single largest army left in the region." And she was angry and hurting over what had been done to her. That made her trouble with a capitol T. "I'll go talk to her," Finn said. "Next..." Betty told him, "Rolf, Baron of Nutwald, is calling himself Prince of Peanut Kingdom. He's twice marched an army to Emeraude's doorstep." And E was very nearly defenseless. A large number of wood-nymph wizards had been slain on the Lich's ice-island, and the rest were hardly interested in a war. "Ok," said Finn. "That's top priority. I'll... I'll go see her tomorrow." "End of the week," Betty corrected.
When he frowned at her, Betty stopped him. "You need rest, Finn," she murmured. "My husband is being swept away by work. Don't forget to be a husband and father..." That got through. He still remembered how she'd felt about her dad–about the way the elder Grof got lost in working to put food on the table. Smiling, he said, "thanks for grounding me, babe." Taking his hand, Betty continued down the hall. There was a host of other problems, but she kept those back. He was one man, and they needed to remember that. She would work with Bonnie and try to limit the scope of today's meeting.
The whole pack of them were waiting when Finn strode in. Bonnie immediately rose and brought the meeting to order. Finn gave her a smile and greeted her with a very formal, "Bonnibel..." Unaccountably, Bonnie flushed. Her look was princess-formal compared to Sarah's look. Finn found the differences infinitely fascinating. It was a lot like Simone and Betty–like dating twins. Taking his seat at the head table, the King of Ooo nodded for the meeting to begin.
Ragnhild rose and announced the agenda. She ran down the list, and it was clear that most of it was complaints and old grievances against their fellow Royals. Finn smiled and told Billy's lady, "we won't get through all that. Let's talk frankly about where we are instead." It was clearly not what Bonnie had planned. Her face went pale with alarm. Finn paid not a moment's attention to her worry, though, as he launched immediately into what he thought was important.
"The world is broken," said the King of Ooo. "Elbow Kingdom is wrecked, with the soil burned by the Dipped. There's mass starvation underway in the wild-lands due to Suadela's crop sabotage. Those people will be headed this way, looking for handouts when the breadbasket of Bonnibel's kingdom is also critically damaged. We've already had word of cannibalism in what's left of Wildberry Kingdom, and I just shut down a bandit army in Truth Kingdom. What we need now is fewer games and more cooperation. Right now, that means deploying the Tesla Barriers to control entry to the civilized lands while we work on the food supply problem. However I can, if you like, simply leave them where they are..."
Shocked faces greeted those words. No-one could have imagined Finn could say such a thing. He was actually threatening them! At the same time, he was so eerily calm about it–like he was talking about the weather. It left Bonnie squirming in her chair and everyone else staring around them in a panic. Finn never stopped talking. In emotionless tones, he told the pack of them how this was going to go. Crab Princess was going to supply kelp. As much as could be gathered. Bonnie and Strudel's food-processing plants were going to turn it into yummy food. The Grid-Face People were going to distribute it to people in the wild-lands. And Finn? He would discourage visitors.
Betty was so proud of him as he laid the smack-down on a dozen different little schemes at once. It was an excellent answer to the problems they were facing right now. She felt as though they shouldn't have doubted him. Rising, Finn said, "later..." And he headed straight for the door, telling them all that the meeting was done and all the schemes were for nothing. Standing there in the entry, Finn paused a moment as if he'd forgotten something. Turning to the minister from the Slime Kingdom, he said, "you might want to put some troops on guard against all those peeps in Wildberry Kingdom. They sound kinda' hungry..." With no further word, he strode out the door. You could have heard a pin drop when he'd gone.
Finn was in his cramped little office when Bonnie caught up to him. "Hey, Peebles," he greeted his wife. Rising, he went to her and gave her a peck on the lips. She was angry at him. He could tell just from the look on her face. She'd had some clever little plan to claim moral high-ground, and he'd derailed it. Smiling, he stood there waiting on her to blow up. Instead, she stood there glaring. It was clear she realized he wouldn't succumb to emotional blackmail, and she had no idea what to do with that.
Finn brushed her long, sticky hair with the back of his hand. Softly, he said, "your biggest failing is that you want to be one of the girls, PB. You're not. You haven't been in over eight-hundred years, and you can't ever be again." She sucked in a breath. She'd been mortally embarrassed when he figured out just how old she really was. That had gotten tempered a little over the years, but it still had the power to sting her when he reminded her of it. Relentlessly, he told his beloved princess, "they're never going to like you, Peebles. No matter how hard you try, you're a deadly enigma to them. Now I am too..." Her face flushed.
Taking her face in his hands, Finn said, "they need to understand that I know I have power and that I know how and when to use it. When you pretend as if you have no power when you clearly do, you either become a joke or a target of suspicion." "Or both," sighed Bonnie. He was right. She was shocked and appalled to realize just how right he was. Hadn't she just gone through a few rounds of that with Wildberry? She'd kept herself defenseless in a bid to offer comfort to her neighbors and failed on both accounts. Finn slipped his arms around her and held her. After a moment, she cleared her throat and said, "that's not my usual greeting..." Finn slipped his hands down and gave her butt a squeeze. "That's better," she sighed as she pulled his lips to hers.
That was how Cherry found them. They were both fighting teenage hormones. It took both their considerable wills to stop with just kissing. After all, Betty was right. There was work to be done. The little crime boss came in and occupied a chair as if waiting her turn. Breaking free, Bonnie said, "well I need to go tell Sarah that she's got a week to figure out how to turn kelp into food. Later, honey." When she'd gone, Cherry opened with, "you needed to see me?" "Yeah," he said. "Two things. I've heard your request. I understand that I have to wean myself off calling on the mob to do some of my dirty-work. How much can I trust Orzsebet?"
With a sweet smile, the Boss of Bosses replied, "about as far as you can throw her. I have people in her organization now, honey. What's the second thing?" Finn said, "I'll be legalizing the sex trade. The Capos will have to find something else. I need favors from Emeraude. I have to offer something..." "Agreed," said Cherry. Finn's expression suggested he was waiting for the shoe. He was learning.
"Honey," she said, "as an attorney, one of the first lessons I learned was that vice is very hard to stamp out. An object in motion..." "...stays in motion," he burbled. "You're saying they'll keep going?" "You're doing the right thing, Finn," she said. "The sex-trade is an ugly world, but it can be made less deadly for those in the trade. There will be men who still cater to the uglier customers. I'll hand them over gladly, but I don't intend to hunt them..." "...because they'll just dig deeper," he sighed. She nodded. Just so.
There was more to get said. She was delighted that he was going to be a more enlightened ruler than Bonnie had managed to be. Vice was ugly, but it was a fact of life. "Piece of advice, honey," she said, "legalize the whacky licorice too. The side-effects are mostly harmless, and you can make a lot of money fast on taxing smokers..." Bonnie would shit herself. At the same time, he knew Cherry was right. He'd seen that for himself when Bonnie dropped the ball with the Spoon of Plenty, and Cherry picked up the slack to keep the Candy Kingdom from starving. "Slow rollout," Finn said. "In return for what they gave us during the Lich War, I'll give them a six-month lead on the licorice."
Standing up, she dragged his face down to hers, thanking him with her lips. Breakfast came in as she was straightening his tie. "I'm sure you have some things to dictate," said Cherry. She gave Breakfast a cold smile as she headed out. Still no love lost. Finn knew he couldn't bridge that gap. Breakfast and Cherry had to do that. The King moved on. There were decrees to get written. Then he was headed off to see the kids.
Finn turned and motioned for her to follow him out into the garden. She was a little puzzled by that, but she did as he asked. When they were outside, the King of Ooo sat himself and motioned for her to climb up on his lap. Uncertainly she did just that. Sliding his arms around her, Finn said, "take a letter, Mrs. Mertens..." Startled, she almost dropped the pen. She'd been joking about the sexretary thing. Finn never missed a beat. "I can spend time on you and still get work done," he whispered. Those words–and their delivery–made her shiver.
In a strong, clear voice, he dictated exactly what he wanted of the Princess of the Hidden Kingdom. "Y-you're letting her out," Breakfast babbled? Nodding, Finn said, "there's been a spymaster for four-hundred years, Beeps. If I keep Orzsebet locked up, those guys'll just pick somebody else." Like the Mob picked Cherry. He could control their leader or deal with the fallout of their actions. He was making the prudent choice from among a field of bad options.
Breakfast sighed. It was another humiliating sign that she made a poor leader. She would have crucified the bitch in anger. She'd have ended with a mess on her hands. "It wasn't her," Finn said. "Cherry's sources indicate it was Sugarlump's gang that let Blargetha into your kingdom." The Boss of bosses had men hunting the fallen gangster, but Sugarlump had disappeared after the fight in the cave.
There was a moment there where Finn feared how Beeps was going to react. The thing with Toast had hit her hard–far harder even than losing her rank and position. In spite of all the anger and angst between the three, Breakfast still loved her sisters more than anyone else in the world. If he worried about Toast taking her own life, he worried just as much about what that would do to Beeps. When she might have jumped off his lap–or tried to stab him with the pen–Breakfast instead gave him a sly look and asked, "will you make her your plaything?" Finn sputtered as, leaning in, his wife advised, "if you get her hooked on it, she'll be your loyal bitch... just like Cherry..." The nasty wench intentionally started squirming around on his lap to get him worked up until Finn had to make her stop. There was work still to do.
The pair worked on the various decrees and letters Finn needed to have written for more than an hour. Far from just simply copying his words, the King made his better-educated wife write and rewrite some of those letters until even Bonnie would have sat up and taken notice. Then, leaving his wife to her work, Finn went upstairs to lose himself in the simple joy of his kids.
At the close of the day, Finn the Human sat down with his ladies in Bonnie's formal dining room. Breakfast, Drew, Betty, Bonnie, Sarah, Nadia, Lollipop, and Cherry were all present, much as he expected. As Finn's butt hit the chair, Sarah clapped her hands, and holograms of Simone, Emeraude, Phoebe, Marceline, Ingrid, and Strudel appeared in their places at the table. The android gave Finn a sweet smile and said, "I thought this would help keep the family together." Finn, who was a little startled at first, quickly warmed to the idea.
For a little while, it was like the days and hours before they fought the Dipped–without the whole 'end-of-the-world' drama. They had time and space to talk, chat about the kids, and work out problems. As usual, the breakfast sisters had the 'family-strife' angle well covered. Strudel was irritated about money 'missing' from the Breakfast Kingdom's treasury. Breakfast was incensed to have her own sister call her a thief. Finn cut both off at the knees, reminding Strudel that Blargetha had deposed her sister and raided the kingdom's bank accounts for months with Strudel in no position to do anything about it. Breakfast got a stern command to surrender her credit cards and passkeys. Immediately.
With a sigh, the oldest of the breakfast cuties handed her wallet up the table. As she blinked back tears, Finn emptied it of all her cards and keys. Then, as Strudel goggled, Finn put his own card in the wallet and sent it back. Face gone hot, Breakfast put her wallet back in her purse. That message was clear enough. Kicking each other was not wanted. Beeps was alone with no income and no real marketable skills, and it wasn't right that her sister tried to punish her even further.
The rest of the evening was mostly calm, though Emeraude brought a bit of a pall. She said little, and she was clearly acting more like Matriarch than wife. Nothing got said though. After the mess with Breakfast and Strudel, nobody wanted to stir up anymore strife. In the end, dinner broke up with more of a whimper than a bang, with Finn heading off to spend the rest of the evening with Lollipop and Cherry.
Far to the east, a heavy vehicle came to a stop in the village of Fengdu outside the Ghee Kong Social Club. The atmosphere around the place had changed drastically over the course of the last few weeks. There was a pall over the notorious gangster hangout. Conversely, the town was bustling and prosperous with folk wandering the streets well past dark. The difference was clear. Fengdu's bandit-lord was gone. He'd crossed the wrong person and gotten smashed. His men were either fled or walking very small. Who knew if Shiyan's guardian would come here and finish the job?
The newcomers sat in their vehicle for quite a while before one finally exited. The bulky, robed figure went up the stairs and into the formerly raucous club to find it mostly empty. The dancing girls were gone–escaped from their captivity to return to their homes. The bartender was one of the gangs lowest members. He was a man of poor prospects who had nowhere to flee to. He'd resolved to stay here and claim the club for himself. Nobody else seemed to want it.
Everyone noticed the bulky man in the door, but nobody said anything. The club was no longer exclusive after all. A few took notice as the stranger clawed the man who'd been carving his name into one of the roof pillars. As the hapless barfly screamed, the demonic figure doffed his robe before the barkeep. The murmur of conversation died instantly, and the would-be barman pissed himself. The ugly creature began to chant in a voice like nails on slate. As the awful verse filled the room, blackened shadows began to ooze from the walls, ceiling, and floor. Screams rang out as those shadows touched the occupants. Then, as suddenly as the screaming started, there was absolute silence.
The stranger returned to the car, wearing his hood once more, and the car peeled out. Driving across town, the limousine finally stopped outside the police-chief's door. The station was livelier than the bar had been, with cops coming and going on their rounds and even some level of cheer. Morale was high. There was a sense of it. Shrimp-Boy was dead. His power was broken.
This time the hooded man had company as he left the car. A Kimono-clad female of imposing height followed as he went up the stairs and into the police station. The officers on duty there stared in puzzlement and no little fear as the evil duo approached. Nobody said a word–not even when the woman asked to speak to the chief. She didn't wait on them to find their tongues. She already knew the way.
The chief was at his desk, his lieutenant at his side. Their unpleasant visitor came in and sat herself, taking note of the stone head that sat on the chief's desk. Fengdu's top cop growled, "your kind no longer have power here..." The strange woman took the stone head from its place, and she seemed to spend several moments examining its lifeless expression as the captain shouted threats. The face was placid and serene. Kissed to death–an absolutely ridiculous way to go. Without speaking a word, she took the stone head and, in one smooth motion, smashed the chief's skull in, bashing him until his head was a bloody pulp. Her aide barred the door against anyone who might have interfered, shredding the face of one brave soul.
As the lieutenant stared in horror, the evil bandit lord sucked her finger's clean of the blood on them. She then rolled out a parchment that looked to have been made from someone's skin. Reading from that list, she gave him a long string of demands, and he only had to look at the corpse beside him to understand the consequences of disobedience. When she was done, the strange woman rose to go, leaving the parchment on the desk. When his eyes flicked to that sinister document, she shrugged and opined, "you can keep it. His wife doesn't need it anymore..."
The sinister duo went strolling back through the cop-shop as the owners they'd shown themselves to be. Men looked away from the sinister woman who was wearing the captain's blood. Back in her car, the bandit-lord ordered her driver to set out. She still had pieces of this mess to clean up. Shrimp-Boy's demise suggested the guardian of Shiyan wasn't above manipulating events to her advantage. It even appeared she could call on allies. The Black Scrawl Virus was out of reach. For now.
More Trouble On the Horizon?