Disclaimer: I don't own AT, if I did the show wouldn't feel like an NTR sometimes

Chapter 16: Dark Truths

Simon POV

Things were going very well after the battle was over. Everyone was in happy spirits and was getting along. Finn had somehow made up with Flame Princess and was even starting fresh with the other Kingdoms. It all seemed like everything had just become a dream come true.

"How did this all happen Betty? How did everything turn out for the better all of a sudden?"

"Oh fate just works in mysterious ways," she said mischievously. "Let's not ruin the moment by wondering on how it all came to be. Let's just relax and enjoy the moment Simon."

"Yeah your right, it just gets hard when you're as old as me. Wish I was still young like those two lovebirds," I said while pointing at Finn and Flame princess.

"Man Simon, you're really one heck of a buzzkill. Maybe this will get you to relax."

Suddenly she grabbed my head and pulled me into a kiss. I at first tried to pull back, but I soon melted into it. I just couldn't resist her.

"Think now you can finally enjoy the present day Simon."

"Maybe," I said. "How about we go talk about this in our room together," I said into her ear.

"You know it's always the wife who wears the pants in the relationship right. I'll make sure you never forget just who it is that really wears the pants in this marriage," she said while giving me a predatory smile.

At that I gulped at what she intended to do to me. "I think I just may have unleashed a monster," I thought.

Flame Princess POV

"You've done it Finn. You defeated the Goo Monsters and saved your Kingdom."

"We all did it Flame Princess. None of this would have been possible had it not been for all your help. I can't thank you all enough for helping to protect my Kingdom."

"It was nothing Finn," said Wild Berry Princess. "We would gladly help someone who has helped to keep OOO safe for so long."

"Besides it was the least we could do after the times you saved the whole world from The Lich," said Jungle Princess.

"Well think you can all stick around to help me rebuild my Kingdom. It would make things easier and faster after all."

"Of course we would Finn," I said while giving everyone a deadly glare to make sure they stayed and helped.

"Yup we should would," said Breakfast Princess looking a little scared.

"Don't need to ask us twice," said Muscle Princess.

"Let's get to work said," said Slime Princess.

With that they all ran off eager to help, but also to try and escape my wrath.

"You really know how to be convincing," said Finn smiling at me.

"Of course I do Finn," I said while putting my head to his chest as he hugged me.

"Can you tell me something Flame Princess?"

"Of course Finn, whatever you want."

"How are thinks in OOO ever since I left? Like who's been fighting all the bad guys and what not. PB said it was chaotic and I was wondering if thinks were really that bad."

"What made you ask this all of a sudden Finn?"

"It's always been on my mind, I just wanted to ask someone I knew I could trust is all."

"Of course, well things haven't been the same ever sense you left. Crime has definitely gone up and things aren't as peaceful as they used to be. But it's nothing that we can't handle. Besides you shouldn't have been forced to take on such a responsibility in the first place Finn. You don't need to worry about us; it's time we learned to take care of ourselves for once."

"It makes me happy to hear that Flame Princess and I'm happy that things are starting to turn around. I never thought that we would get back together again or be on friendly terms with one another again."

"Neither did I, but I'm happy we are. Are you Finn?"

"Of course I am Flame Princess. Never forget that. Now how about you and I go take a walk together to chat and catch up some more."

"I would love to Finn," I said smiling.

Cinnamon Bun POV

I needed to find out if my suspicions were correct. I needed to find out if my former ruler is indeed the one behind all this. In order to do that I would need to sneak into The Candy Kingdom and go through Princess Bubblegum's lab for any clues. She always left clues there whenever she was trying to do something secretly. The only people who ever knew what really went on in their were Peppermint Butler do to his long standing servitude to her and me do to her thinking that I was too dump to ever think of disobeying her. Thanks to that I knew every single secret entrance and compartment of The Candy Kingdom. Getting in would be a piece of cake, I just had to make sure I wasn't seen.

Quickly I snuck through one of the back entrances and ran past the guards. The good thing about the banana guards was that they weren't the smartest of enforcers around. Mostly they were all dump like I was, thus it made it easy to not be noticed by them. The only ones to really worry about were Root Beer Guy, Peppermint Butler, and Princess Bubblegum. As I finally made it to the lab, I quietly opened the door to see if she was asleep again in her lab. Fortunately she wasn't here it seemed. I then began to look around to see if there was anything that could prove my suspicions.

"Nothing," I whispered. "Either I'm wrong or I'm not looking hard enough."

It was then that I heard the door begin to open. Quickly I hid behind a nearby book case and looked out to see who it was.

It was none other than Princess Bubblegum of course. For all I know she will be here for days, thus leaving me trapped here for who knows how long. I could only wait and hope that she would leave soon.

It was then that I noticed that she was acting even stranger than usual. She looked very paranoid and angry for some reason.

"What could be going on in that head of hers," I thought.

I watched her move frantically around the lab as if she was looking for something. Suddenly she grabbed what looked like some sort of key. What it was for I didn't know, but I had a feeling I would soon find out. She then went over and moved one of her cages to the side to reveal a secret door that not even I knew about. She then put the key in and opened the door to her new secret room.

"I've got to see what's inside," I said

As I sneaked in and hid I saw that it was completely dark inside and I was unable to see anything. Quickly the lights were turned on and I was horrified at what I saw. It was The Lich hooked up to some sort of machine and he seemed to be unconscious. It looked like something was constantly being drained from him and it looked like the same green goop from the Goo Monsters.

"What is all this", I said just before I felt something hit the back of my head and knock me out.

Princess Bubblegum POV

Seems I wasn't careful enough at being aware of prying eyes. No matter, my former assistant won't be running away again to tell anyone what he just saw here. I'll make certain of that. I then dragged him over to a nearby chair and tied him to it. Got to make sure he doesn't try and escape. I then heard him begin to groan, seems like he was about to come to.

"I see you're finally awake."

"Ahh my head. What is this," he said looking down at his right restraints. "And what is that right there," he said looking at the contained Lich.

"You are being interrogated for trespassing and that is the one who I have been recently using I my latest experiments," I said while pointing at The Lich.

"Experiments, as in the Goo Monsters I take it," he yelled. Admit it Bubblegum, you have been the one who sent those creatures to attack Finn and his people aren't you.

"I take full responsibility for that Cinnamon Bun. I am the one who sent the Goo Monsters to attack," I said in a matter of factual tone.

"You say it like you feel no shame or remorse for what you have done. What excuse could you have possibly come up with to justify this atrocity?"

"It is not an atrocity Cinnamon Bun; this is to restore order to OOO and its Kingdoms."

"Restore order, are you mad? How can creating these monstrosities possibly restore order?"

"That's the problem with you and so many others Cinnamon Bun, none of you ever look to see the possible outcomes of things. You never look to see that things aren't always what they seem. Like I said before to you, this is all meant to restore order to OOO."

"And just how is that," he asked venomously.

"Why by bringing back our long lost Hero to OOO so that he can restore order to this place. That's what this has been all about."

"And just how is killing him meant to bring him back. Those monsters you created have almost killed Finn a number of times. Just how is that meant to bring him back?"

"Ah yes what you say is true, but I know that he won't die from such a thing as this. He's survived far worse than this after all Cinnamon Bun. No these creatures I made are meant to destroy that foolish Kingdom Finn made. By destroying The Sovereign Kingdom as he calls it, Finn will have no where left to go but here. We need him to bring stability to OOO again Cinnamon Bun."

Back to Cinnamon Bun

I could only listen in horror at what she was saying.

"She's lost it," I thought. Yet I needed to know more before I somehow escaped.

"So are you also the reason as to why these things keep getting stronger."

"Yes I am it wasn't too difficult after all. All I had to do was use one of my devises to rip The Lich from his imprisonment in the Time Room and hook him up to one of my machines where I continuously drain his power for my Goo Monsters. It serves to make the Goo Monsters stronger so that they actually have a chance at succeeding and keeping The Lich too weak to break free."

"You're crazy," I said. "Don't you realize that what you are doing is bad for OOO. You're going to revert everyone back into a state of dependency on OOO having a Hero to survive again by doing this. If Finn becomes the Hero of OOO again then all the Kingdoms of OOO will gradually lose their independence from needing a Hero to survive."

You're thinking of this in a bad light Cinnamon Bun. It will save OOO is what it will do. Not only will Finn enforce the law again, this will also keep the other Kingdoms from becoming too independent that it causes the downfall of OOO."

"What are you talking about?"

"In some ways you're just as dump as ever aren't you. You fail to see what I'm saying sadly enough. Let me explain this in greater detail then. Should the other Kingdoms ever learn to fully live without a Hero, then it will cause things like war. Each Kingdom will grow arrogant in their ability to now fully take care of themselves, that it will cause them to try and conquer one another out of this arrogance. This arrogance will sprout things like rulers who believe that they know what is best for the other Kingdoms since they think that they are now the strongest Kingdom and thus know what is best for the other Kingdoms. It is the Hero of OOOs responsibility to keep the Kingdoms in a state of dependence so that they never thing such things. He's more than just some ultimate police force Cinnamon Bun; he's also what keeps OOO from having a civil war. Do you see what I'm saying now?"

"Oh I see what you're saying Bubblegum." But I also knew what she wasn't saying. This was more than just some unbelievable war prevention mechanism, this was also about power. Ever since Finn left, she had lost a great deal of influence over OOOs Kingdoms. I never realized until now just how important Finn was to Bubblegum's strangle hold over OOOs power structure. Whenever someone needed Finns help they would also ask her about it. Since Finn was most loyal to her and lived closest to her Kingdom, she had the most influence over him. This influence allowed Bubblegum to pretty much keep Finn as a sort of political hostage. If someone ever asked for Finns help and she said to Finn not to help them, he would listen to her. This gave her almost complete control over every other since there were things that they were incapable of doing without Finns help. This is why she always felt superior to everyone. Yet once Finn left, she lost her superiority. Now she was trying to get it back by destroying the new life Finn had created for himself so that he would be forced to return to his old one. I could not let this happen.

"I completely understand what you're saying here Princess Bubblegum and I would gladly help you. Just let me go so that I can do it of course. With my influence over Flame Princess who Finn loves, I can convince her to try and convince Finn to becoming the Her of OOO again. With this you won't have to keep sending in the Goo Monsters to try and destroy Finns Kingdom and also risk killing Finn in the process."

Everything I just said of course was a complete lie and hopefully she didn't realize it.

"Of course you will help me Cinnamon Bun." At that I looked at her happy that she had fallen for my lie.

"Yet I can't risk you betraying me so it won't be exactly you who helps me." That caused me to look at her with a confused expression, what did she mean it wouldn't be exactly me. All of a sudden she came over and tore a piece of my body off. That caused me to let out a painful scream.

"I'm going to clone you Cinnamon Bun and have that clone be the one who does all the things you just said. This way I know for sure that there won't be any betrayal like the last time."

With that my hopes of warning Finn of this were completely crushed and I could only watch in horror as she put the piece of me into a nearby machine. I saw the machine start up and begin to glow brightly. Then it stopped and the doors to the machine opened up to reveal an exact lookalike of me. "Just what madness has consumed her," I thought.

"Now to take Cinnamon Bun 2 and put into his brain the plan to restoring piece and prosperity to OOO."

"You can't do this Bubblegum," I yelled to her. "Don't you see how horrible this is and how this will only bring Finn more suffering."

"I do Cinnamon Bun and I feel sorry that someone as young as Finn has always had to take such a huge reasonability on to his own shoulders. But this will all work out in the end no matter what I do to achieve it. As a wise man once said Cinnamon Bun."

"The end justifies the means."

Bet none of you saw something as insane as this coming did you. now just let that last line sink and understand what horrid mentality is going on here. Truly I myself don't know where I came up with this, but I'm sure as hell happy I did. You have got to tell me what you thought of this readers. Please tell me what you thought of this. I've got to know.