Thanks to all of you who read the first chapter and a special thanks to my one reviewer, Roses and Poison Ivy. Also, thank you to all of you who favourited and followed. {That means you guys, ea99, electorlizard, and livingstonnoah.}
Disclaimer: I guess I always have to put this disclaimer in.. I don't own any of these characters, nor Adventure Time. They all belong to Pendleton Ward, I believe. So, all credit goes to the creators of Adventure Time.
Bubblegum awoke to deafening silence. For once, both her room and kingdom were silent. "How odd.." She thought, her eyes closing to cherish the moment. Suddenly, with a small gasp, she realized that Peppermint Butler had allowed her to sleep in. Her brow furrowed as panic set in. The princess felt her heart begin to race, sitting straight up in her bed and nearly throwing her covers off of her body.
Bubblegum froze before forcing herself to take a deep breath. "A Princess must always keep her composure." She thought to herself fiercely, attempting to calm her racing pulse. Another deep breath, and Bubblegum closed her eyes for just a moment. Opening them again, Bubblegum carefully folded the floral bedspread off of herself. She slipped out of her bed daintily, her small feet hitting the chilly tiles noiselessly.
The Princess inhaled deeply one last time before she turned around and fixing the rumpled blankets. She absolutely could not stand messiness. There was never an excuse for disorganization. She believed that everything had its place and order must be maintained. This made her reaction to the sight of her messy desk understandable. Her eyes widened at the sight of papers strewn everywhere. Despite the sudden feeling of unease at the sight of the messiness, the Princess merely pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh and strode over to her workspace to clean up the mess. She huffed slightly in annoyance as her pink hair fell around her face, working like a curtain. The Fuchsia-haired princess deliberately moved her hair out of her face before standing to wrestle her soft locks into a messy bun.
After her research was organized into neat piles on her white desk, Bubblegum fell into her desk sigh with a groan of exasperation. No matter how hard she worked to keep up the composure required of royalty, the Princess could still feel the heavy ball of stress sitting in her chest like a painful parasite. A feminine hand moved up to rub the muscles of her neck. They were unbelievably tense.. She glanced at her computer, the screen having flickered to light when her elbow bumped the mouse. The diagram of the composition of the unknown material she was studying fervently was still displayed on the screen…
Bubblegum rubbed her face with her hands before standing up and getting dressed. She threw on her usual pink dress in a hurry, not even pausing to take her hair down… She completely ignored the mirror with braided gold wires trimming the edges, placing her crown on her head as she walked across her room towards the exit. The Princess opened her door quietly, peeking her head out to find the pastel corridor empty, much to her relief. Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, Bubblegum stepped into the hallways and closed the door behind her as sneakily as possible. She did not want Peppermint Butler or anybody else to see her. She had to be able to get there without being seen.
The Princess crept down the corridor as quickly as possible without being too noisy. She bit her lip as she continued to glance around the hallway to make sure she was alone. Meeting an intersection, Bubblegum peeked around the corner before turning left. She scurried down the shrinking corridor. It became dimmer the farther she went, and soon, the Princess had to squint to make out what was ahead. The torches were placed further apart now, and there were no windows to allow any natural light in. She ran a hand through her hair as she checked to see if she was alone one last time. Bonnibel turned to the wall, running her hand across the dusty stones. Leaning forward, the Princess whispered "Ttubllaw" and stepped back. A face appeared out of the stone, having very round cheeks and square eyebrows that looked much like bricks. His eyes were Large, and almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the hallway.
"Oh, Princess, it's nice to see you again! Why have you been coming here so of-" He practically shouted in his rough, slightly annoying voice.
Bubblegum slapped her hand over the Wall's mouth, wincing but still effectively silencing him. "Shh! It's just some royal business." She hissed with narrowed eyes before pinching his cheek. Stonesy squealed happily behind her hand and Bubblegum frowned slightly. She shushed him once more, and the wall looked dejected. "Okay, Okay." He lowered his voice. "You got me. Have a nice day, Princess." He whispered before the wall seemed to fold out until there was an opening big enough for her to step through easily.
"Thank you, Stonesy." Bubblegum said quietly in a more serious tone. She stepped inside, and the wall closed again, leaving her in a bright room, also lit by torches. She blinked rapidly as her eyes attempted to adjust to the light. The room was spacious and both the walls and floors were a stark white, a shock to the senses after spending more than five minutes in the colorful and vibrant Candy Kingdom. Bubblegum shivered and crossed her arms at the chilly atmosphere. The room was cold and colorless like one of the eerie Pre-Mushroom War hospitals that Bubblegum had read about.
However, this place was no longer one for the living room. On the wall to her left, there were six silver pegs holding sterile white lab coats and light pink medical masks. Bubblegum quickly shrugged a lab coat over her shoulders, but fumbled with the medical mask. Her hands had started shaking without her realizing. With trembling fingers, she covered her mouth, the elastic band snapping in place. Princess Bubblegum turned to the two rows of metal examining tables taking up most of the space in the room. On the side was a desk covered with beakers vials, and colourful liquids. Only one of the tables in the room were occupied... In the far right corner, a white sheet draped over the table, the edges almost touching the floor. Bubblegum stared at the table for a moment before making her way towards it slowly. She continued to shiver, more from trepidation than from room temperature now.
It felt like Bubblegum's legs were made of lead, weighing her down. It seemed like ages before she crossed the room, her feet pattering softly. A trembling hands clutched the sheet, but her arm didn't want to move. The Princess swallowed audibly before she ripped the sheet off, figuring she would have to do it like a Band-Aid. Her eyes widened. Lying on the table underneath her was a body. The body of one of the citizens of the Candy Kingdom…
The Ice-Cream Man's body was emaciated, his skin pulled taut around his facial features. There had been spots of colour on him at first, but now they were dark purple instead of a rashy red. His lips were blue and his skin definitely cold. He had only been here since yesterday morning, but the corpse seemed to be becoming more horrifying by the moment. His eyes were still open wide, his expression one of shock. His mouth was frozen in a dying scream, blood stains trickling around his mouth...
The Princess covered him back up and turned away, unable to stare any longer. She carefully picked a cluster of multi-coloured vials and a stack of paper, test results. She removed her lab coat, placing it carefully on the silver peg it came from, but kept her mask on. Bubblegum left the room as she ripped off the mask and stowed it away in her pocket, the passageway closing behind her and leaving the dead Candy-man in the darkness once again.
Thanks for reading again.
Remember, you should review... It's the polite thing to do.
Oh, and I apologize if my description of Stonesy's voice was incorrect. I could not find a video of that scene of "What Have You Done?" for the life of me. :c