Hey, gurl! (and guy). How ya'll doin'?
Me being dumb aside, welcome to chapter nine of Fionna: the Last Human Standing. I hope you are all enjoying the story. Please review! I no longer care if you're a guest or not and it doesn't really matter. :3
I am still accepting songs and can someone please make one for Charlie. I'm not much of a song writer but I'll try to make one for him too. I'm also still accepting headcannons. And since it's getting confusing, here's an example of a headcannon:
Marshall Lee: One of the reasons Marshall Lee was so jealous of Gumball and kept this rivalry going was because Gumball was the target for Fionna's affections. That's why Marshall always flirts with her, hoping to change that.
That's what I mean. So I'll take the idea and put it in the story, your name on it. It's like a secret about the character you made up.
Done with my rant.
Disclaimer: I don't lumping own it!
She had woken up an hour ago, her eyes landing on the ceiling of the bunker. A silent dripping noise was heard from a few feet away, echoing softly around the hallow room. Outside, the wind was blowing harshly, sending her deeper beneath the red and grey covers and snuggling into her sleeping bag she had also slept in since it was so cold. Charlie was still sound asleep, moving only slightly in the bed on the opposite wall. Fionna shivered a little and pulled the covers closer to her body, turning over and facing the other bed. Her blue eyes took in the sight of the room around her. How old it was... how long it decided to continue standing in the harsh weather and conditions of the War's aftermath.
A heavy feeling sunk into her stomach as she dwelled upon the crater waiting for she and Charlie to stumble across. What was in there that made Fionna so nervous... so scared? Was it the Lich? Or was it simply the thought of the human extinction? Whatever it was, Fionna didn't like it one bit. And she knew that Charlie didn't either. But they had a long way to go until they reached the hole so Fionna tried not to think on it too much. Marshall had said it wasn't the paradise like Aaa... for once, the vampire was right. Fionna smirked a little and thought of the constant teasing she would receive from him if she admitted that to his face.
Fionna suddenly felt a little guilty. She's been missing Marshall so much she hardly thought about Cake or Gumball. So she took this time to think upon them, hoping to even out the playing field. Fionna dreadfully missed Cake. Her sister, her pet, her best friend. The one that has been with her through thick and thin. Not having Cake by her side during this adventure was surreal. Cake would have made a lot of things easier for them. She would have also made great company. And what of Gumball? Her great friend and previous crush, her feelings being terminated after she met Flame Prince. Fionna deeply cared for Gumball and was always going to be there to protect him from the Ice Queen. And Flame Prince... Fionna had dated him for a year and a half until they got into a fight about something Fionna couldn't quite recall. However, Fionna still remained friends with him. He might not have made the best traveling companion but he still would have been good company. All of her friends were left behind in Aaa, waiting to see whether or not she would make it back in one piece.
A feeling of loneliness settled in place of fear. Even though she had Charlie to keep her company, it wasn't the same as having friends she basically knew all of her life around. It wasn't Charlie's fault either. It was entirely Fionna. She just missed her friends with such a passion she felt empty without them. Marshall would have been hovering above, sleeping off the journey. Cake would have been curled up by Fionna's side, purring in her sleep. Gumball would have been asleep, a book in his hands after falling into a slumber while reading. She had told Charlie that they would have gotten along great with him and she knew it was true. When they make it back, Charlie, Fionna, and the gang would have some pretty Algebraic adventures across Aaa.
When morning finally arrived, Fionna and Charlie made a sad, little breakfast out of the sausages that Fionna had brought and some left over bread. The ice box was full of nothing but grey food and rancid milk so that wasn't an option. Charlie asked politely how Fionna slept and she simply shrugged, chewing on her sausage in silence. He had a feeling she was still slightly bothered by the crater so he didn't press any further. After breakfast, the gathered up their things and the other blankets for extra warmth and began to travel down the path once again, their sweaters on.
"You mentioned something about Monochromicorns," Charlie said to Fionna, who was leading the way down the path that was now going downhill.
"Yeah. What about them?" she said, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Where do they live?" he asked.
"Why?"
"Perhaps we can visit them and ask about what happened," Charlie suggested.
Fionna turned on her heel and slammed a fist in his shoulder. "Are you trying to kill yourself? They'll gobble you up in a second, Dude! It's like, 'Oh, look! A human. Omnomnom!'" Fionna mimicked eating something out of her hand wildly. Charlie stared at her wide-eyed. She blushed slightly and stopped her little show. "Besides, they reside in the Crystal Dimension so it's unlikely we would be able to reach them if we wanted to."
"The Crystal Dimension?" Charlie repeated.
"Yeah. I told you that Cats and Monochromicorns fought a big war for thousands of years or something over territory. So they existed around the time humans were still enveloped in the world that they used to reside in," Fionna explained, turing back and continued to walk, Charlie at her heels. "So Monochromicorns might have hunted humans while everything was in chaos here, not just during their wars with the Cats. I don't even know how to get into the place so that's why it's unlikely we would find it."
"It's unlikely, but not impossible," Charlie said quietly.
"Why do you keep saying that?"
"It's kind of like my motto. My mother, ape mother I mean, would say that all the time and I just kind of picked it up. There are two ways to say it, though. The first one is 'it's unlikely, not impossible' and the second one is 'it's only as impossible as you make it out to be'." Charlie smiled fondly up at the grey sky.
"Yeah, well... I love the words of wisdom but it's not going to get us to the Crystal Dimension," Fionna said. "Not that we need to go."
"It's worth a try. Maybe if they see you, they'll recognize you and not eat me!"
"What's with the ecstatic attitude?"
"I'm somewhat of an optimist."
"A wha-?"
"Never mind."
"O-okay. Well, I've only ever met three Mocro's. There's Lord, who's Cake's boyfriend. Then his parents. We would have to get pretty lucky and see them first," Fionna said. "They eat soy people. It's not bad but it's kinda gross at the same time... I kind of lost track of where I was going with that."
Charlie laughed. "Well, if we can't go, we won't."
The two of them finally were going down a longer slope and then the path ended; They were back on flat land, the mountains behind them. It was a small mountain range but there was evidence it had been much larger. As they moved on, the skies began to clear and it got warmer, the sun peeking through the clouds, which were now a puffy white. Weather here appeared to change more erratically than it did in Aaa. Fionna voiced her opinion and Charlie guessed it was due to the war and the radiation/smog that made its way into the air, causing these dramatic changes. He continued on with saying he had read up on how humans destroyed a part of the Earth's atmosphere with smog alone, causing something called "global warming". A lot of the world thought it was fake but it was all too real. Especially when the Great Mushroom War hit.
In spite of the weather, they journeyed down a crumbled street and soon found themselves in a huge city. The skyscrapers were enormous, still standing tall. Fionna felt her stomach turn over as she heard the sound of the ocean not too far away. She turned towards the sound and saw a statue standing in the middle of the bay, one arm raised high, part of its head and hand missing. It was small from where she stood but she could still see it.
"It appears we'll have to cut across this city and meander our way over to the crater. It's an odd route but I don't think we'll have much of a choice," Charlie said, more to himself than Fionna. They continued walking and passed upturned cars and broken down streets. They soon came across a gigantic area with crisscrossing streets and a large, broken screen hanging many feet above a large sidewalk. Stores among stores lined the square, broken windows and smashed buildings that looked as if a giant ape could have squished it beneath its foot. A huge place with worn out words that read "T-y R -s" stood towering over them, a large wheel-lie structure inside of it.
Wherever this place was, it was once a prosperous city that humans had clearly inhabited. Charlie was whispering under his breath, "Amazing! Simply smashing! I never thought I'd live to see this place!" and Fionna was wandering around, feeling small. And eerie shiver rippled down her spine and her hand instinctively went to the hilt of her Golden Sword, her blue eyes darting every which way.
"Hey," she said in a hushed voice.
"Yeah?" Charlie replied, normally.
"Shush!" she snapped, taking her Family Sword and thrusting it at him. He caught the hilt clumsily. "I heard something."
"Fionna, this place was full of suspicious characters, from what I've read, so there's no need to fret. It's probably just the aura you're picking up from over one thousand years ago," he assured, but still holding the sword.
"No... listen."
They both strained their ears to pick up whatever it was Fionna had heard. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop so Charlie told her it was nothing and they continued to walk around the slowly decaying ruins of a once grand city.
Their journey continued on through a huge park with dying and already dead plants, an empty zoo, a dried up lake, and a dirt path. Then their legs led them down several city blocks to a building that read "R-io C-y Mu-c H-ll" and, further down the way, a large pool of water that was beneath a rather large statue. Charlie muttered something about "winter time when attacked" but Fionna didn't question him. Then they reached a huge lot that was suddenly so... empty. It appeared to be under some sort of construction, cranes falling apart and cement that was way too dry to the point it was deeply cracked. Something had once stood their in all of its might but... had just vanished. Fionna questioned what was there and if the war had caused this but Charlie didn't answer. He just said not to think on it too much, bowing his head in honor of the resting place. She did the same and felt a little more lucky to be alive.
After their little memorial for the lot, the went further into the city and found a huge building that stood taller than any of the others they had seen. Even though it was falling apart, it was still standing tall in all of its glory, a large point at the very top as if trying to tear open the heavens and reveal its secrets. On a worn out old plaque, it read "E-ir- -ta-e Bu-ding". Fionna wanted to explore it but Charlie shook his head, saying it might look sturdy but was close to collapsing at any moment. They took a route towards the ocean and stood by a rusty railing. Charlie was closer than Fionna, who was keeping a slight distance away from it, her insides squirming. The statue was still hard to see but it wasn't alone. On a little island in the middle of the bay, a building was surrounding the statue. It was like a sign- a beacon of hope for travelers. And, even though it was a sickly shade of green, there was an odd beauty about the statue and what it symbolized.
They returned to the square and sat on large, red-faded, stadium-like seats, on the very first row. They ate a lunch of cold pasta and a few other things they managed to salvage from local stores that weren't rotting or entirely gross, which were hard to find nowadays. They watched the empty streets, trying to imagine what this city was like before it went to the dogs. Was it a crowded, prosperous city full of many people, wonders that the world would know of filling the blocks and write history, or maybe a place were aspiring creators flourished. There had to be something more to this place than just a city. There was evidence that it had been much larger but a good majority of it was crumbling to the ground or simply vaporized from sight.
They finished lunch and decided to explore a little more. As they stood from the seats, a chill trickled down Fionna's skin, making her turn and unleash her Family Sword, facing whatever made her skin crawl. Out of the shadows of an alleyway emerged a crooked figure.
"Charlie!" Fionna whispered harshly at him, handing him her Golden Sword this time. "Look."
His bespectacled head turned towards the figure and his clammy hands gripped the hilt, hoping he would be able to defend Fionna and himself from whatever was coming their way. And it wasn't alone. About five more of the creatures wobbled out, groans and growls escaping whatever was in place of their lips. Fionna felt her knees shaking and Charlie's brow began to sweat. The things- since there wasn't exactly a good name for them- came out of the shadows and Fionna almost screamed. They were nothing like the monsters she had fought back home. They were almost human or mutant like but saying that would be more of an improvement on their part. Their eyes falling out of their sockets, skin hanging limply around their bones, and they looked downright monstrous.
"What the flib-flab are they?" Fionna whimpered, backing up a little. "Or what were they?"
"Good, Glob. I think they used to be human!" Charlie said. "Mutated severely by the war." He leapt a little as one lamely lunged at them. "They're slow so we could easily outrun them."
"What good would that do?" Fionna said. "There are probably more of them."
"You're probably right."
And right she was. All around them, dozens upon dozens of the things scrambled limply out of the streets and buildings, smelling the flesh that Fionna and Charlie wore on their bodies. Their noseless faces were feebly sniffing the air, trying to find the scent of their prey. Fionna made the first move. With her signature battle cry, she lunged forward and skillfully slashed the head off of one of the things. The others took notice and ran after her. Charlie was rooted to the spot, never having to defend himself from anything like this. Fionna was kicking, punching, and slashing every which way, heads knocking off their bodies and legs upturned, the things falling onto the pavement, a clattering of bones filling the air. Fionna noticed one of them going after Charlie and ran towards them, kicking the thing away from her friend.
"Are you okay?" Fionna asked him.
"I think so... Sorry," he said.
"Don't sweat it! Just slash!" she instructed, going after another wave of baddies.
Charlie hesitantly followed her, his sweaty had slipping over the hilt. Fionna encouraged him to get into battle and he dashed forward, sloppily taking down some of the things that were hopelessly clawing their way towards the pair. Charlie accidentally went a little too much to the side and his blade grazed Fionna's right side of her stomach. Her shirt split open and a cut was formed, starting to bleed. As Charlie apologized profusely, Fionna thought nothing of it, telling him she had gotten much worse. But the smell of freshly spilled blood stirred something in the monsters. They seemed excited at the scent and ran after Fionna with a little more gusto. Thinking on her feet, ignoring the pain, she leapt up and flipped backward, kicking two underneath what used to be their chins. They were sent flying and Charlie cut down three who were trying to get after her. Fionna then sent a punch with her left hand soaring into the side of a monster's head and stabbing him in the gut- or what would have been his gut- and kicked him away.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the monsters stopped coming and they lay on the floor, defeated. The two travelers were unsure whether or not they were really dead but didn't care. They proceeded to run and hide out in a diner a few blocks down, hoping to rest and wait until nightfall to make their escape towards the crater. They sat in a booth and Charlie took out a first aid kit he had brought along and started to skillfully bandage Fionna's side.
"Since when are you a doctor?" she teased him.
"Since I took care of my mother and ape siblings a lot," Charlie replied with a smile. "But something tells me one of my parents were a doctor so it might just come naturally, too." He finished cleaning her up and patted the spot where the bandage now covered her wound. "There we are. All done."
"Thanks, Dude," Fionna said.
"Again, I'm dreadfully sorry for my mistake," Charlie said softly.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Fionna said with a grin. "Put your strength into battle and give bad guys a few cuts like this and you'll be a full-fledged adventurer in no time!"
"You think so?" Charlie said, amused.
"Heck, I know so!"
They started to laugh for a minute and then settled down, searching around the diner for something to make for dinner. Fionna popped her head out of the kitchen window to call Charlie over but her breath caught in her throat. She had been here before, this diner. The broken glass and the seating... but when was she here last?
Marshall Lee's memories! This was the fateful place were Heather ate her son's fries. The table that she sat was still standing and what looked like an empty carton, stained with grease, was sitting atop of the table. Fionna couldn't help but laugh a little, thinking how she was almost following Marshall's tracks through this journey. Charlie questioned her giggling but she shook her head, telling him it was nothing. The two of them were able to make a small dinner out of old stuff in the freezer and the leftover food in their packs. Then they set up beds out of their sleeping bags and torn apart booths that had been ripped from the dining tables and took shifts to watch and see if the things returned to try and feast on their flesh.
Finally, morning came up and they packed everything back inside their bags and headed out into the now rainy streets of the city. They trooped down the pavement and made their way out, their feet leading them to a month and a half long journey to the crater that waited for them miles and miles away.
And that's chapter nine! Hooray! Thank you all for reading and I look forward to continuing on with the story. Next chapter will be all about Marshall, Ice Queen, Gumball, and Cake so Fionna and Charlie won't be appearing. And if they do, then it's just like a little bit at the end.
By the way, you know the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons? Well if this story had a movie preview, I think that song would be awesome for the background music. :P But that's just me.
Don't forget to review and, as always:
See you next time!