I have said this a few times before: my apologies for being so late to release this chapter. Especially to those who have been following the story from the start. I'd like to thank those same people for sticking with the story from the very beginning. Thank you very much for your patience and attention.

(Read/Review and as always, enjoy)

Now without further ado...

Chapter Ten: Follow You to Hell and Back

"Jake, move that table and junk over in that corner" The princess instructed, looking down at here notepad with a scruffily drawn layout of how she needed the room set up. It had been several hours since they arrived back in the Candy kingdom. The trio only had a couple of hours rest at most before they got back to work on this portal plan.

Marceline was out fetching the needed materials; Bubblegum was still intrigued to see what object of immense power was capable of tearing open and sustaining a portal, and how she didn't discover this. Either way she was soon to find out. She continued ordering Jake to clear up space for the portal entrance, knowing how these things worked, and how messy everything could get when a knew source of gravity appears from nowhere trying to suck in everything around it.

Jake just shovelled mostly everything up in his backhoe shaped hands, dumping on top of each other like a miniature landfill in the corner out of the way. He objected a few times before and again once more for good measure, "Uh, Bubbs you sure you're sure none of this is important and want it tossed over with the other junk?" Seeing a bunch of in-progress devices on her tables and in cardboard boxes.

She broke focus on her drawing inspection to put an end to his concerns. "Um, yeah, no-no I'll get Peppermint or someone to sieve through that later or something..." Not really bothering with her response or taking a second to think about what Jake was loading up and dumping. Her focus was purely on the portal.

"Okay.. if you say so." He scooped up all the neat-looking, would-be devices. He didn't need Bubblegum to tell him again, droping them on top of the scraps and rejects pile.

Bubblegum looked up from here notes and drawing to compare them to the now empty floor space she had in front of her, she looked back down and up again once more to reassure herself, "Yep, that'll do Jake. Now just waiting on Miss Abadeer and the ingredients and we'll be ready to go."

Two hours later.

Bubblegum succumbed to her boredom and natural instinct to creation and had dragged out a desk from the pile, scrapped together some of the scraps and started working with what she had. After and hour and forty minuets of fiddling about with it the end result looked like a mini reactor on stilts with a coil running down one side connected to a large battery, it looked pretty impressive considering it was put together out of rations of random junk.

"Pttffthfhbbh. (That was Jake doing a raspberry sigh, just clarifying) So what's that you've been working on the last hour Bubblegum?" He asked snaking his body over to the table, peeking over her shoulder.

She shrugged. Bored, holding up her heavy-head with one arm for support, wiring up a switch to the battery out of multiple lengths of copper wire all tied together to form one. Not really anticipating anything to happen when she flipped it, but was still curious and bored never-the-less.

Upon switching it on, feeding it power the small reactor looking disk lit up bright white with currents spiralling through it, and up the coil, letting off small sparks of electricity. Soon all the suspended lights hanging by wire from the ceiling pulled towards Bubblegums little contraption as it remained on, the light directly above it flickered off and then popped the bulb. The sound of the shattering glass breaking above them and falling next to the table made her jump and let out a small squeak before flipping the switch off again, all the lights released from the pull swayed backed into the normal vertical state.

Jake and herself looked up at the broken light, then at the device, then at each other. "So-uh, now do you know what that is?"

She had a clue and gaped open her mouth to respond before hearing a knock on the door and seeing Peppermint poke his head in.

"Sorry to bother you Princess, the creature insists she has to see you right away in, Gah!" Marceline shoved open the door, flying over Peppermint, sending him tumbling forward off balance.

"Sorry I'm late guys, it didn't help with Smeagol over there trying to stop me getting in."

Peppermint recuperated his balance, straightening his little bow-tie before yelling in his pompous breaking voice. "I told you that you needed to book an appointment. You can't just barge in and see the princess whenever you please!"

"And I told you I was already appointed!" Marceline formed her fists, nearing her face eye level with his.

Bubblegum intervened before Marceline got any ideas to suck on him like the piece of candy he was. "It's okay Pepp-B, I was expecting her, sorry I didn't tell you she was coming, I had to get things set up."

"Humfph! Is there anything you need before I go Princess - and will you be expecting an other rude visitors?" He asked before leaving the room frowning over at the vampire queen, with her returning a stuck out tongue back.

"Um, no.. thank you Peppermint. We just need to be left undisturbed for awhile."

"As you wish Princess." He said grumpily before closing the door behind him. Leaving the three to themselves.

"Wow, nice guard dog Bonnie, he held me up at the door for like ten minuets, when I asked him to go get you I just followed him to the lab without him noticing." She said proud of herself.

"Marceline please stop abusing my staff."

"Abusing him? He was the one abusing me."

"Sigh, whatever." Bubblegum felt like a mother breaking up a fight between siblings. "Anyway what the frackles took you so long?"

"Oh sorry, When you said go and get the stuff a get some rest before coming back I guess I overslept." Bubblegum gave her a judgemental look. "Hey don't stare at me like that. Vampires need sleep too!"

Bubblegum pinched her eyebrows together. "At least tell me you have the things..."

"Well, erm – see there was a few complications getting the stuff..." She rolled her eyes away from the princess as she explained sheepishly.

"Whaaat?!"

"Whoah, whoah, okay I'm kidding, it's all right here, just chill out." Marceline took out the bug milk and chalk and put it on the table. "Ta-da!"

Bublegum looked confused and disappointed. "Marceline.. is this a joke? What in Globs name is this?"

"A joke? No, this is the stuff." She said matter-of-factly, pointing it out with her hands.

She picked up the milk carton reading down it to see if it was some kind of special elixir. "This is just some gunked-up old bug milk, you expect me to believe this and a piece of chalk opens a portal to a demon realm?"

"Yeah, why not?" Speaking as though this was common knowledge.

"Why not-? Arrgh! Go on then, amaze me."

"What? We're going now?"

"Yes."

"Suit yourself. Hey puppy, you ain't saying much. You ready too?"

"Yeah, I'm with Bubblegum on this though. You sure this is going to work Marceline? You're not just fooling us around."

"D'you wanna make bets?" She looked at him deviously, hoping he'd say yes.

Jake went silent, waiting to observe if this would actually work.

"Okay then, hold on to your skin." She grabbed her ingredients, drawing the symbol (Phil's happy face) on the ground, applying a dosage of bug-milk afterwards, which sucked into the chalk lines. The room seemed to become ever so slightly chilly. She then stood and took two steps back and chanted. "Maloso vobiscum et cum.. spiritum!"

The portal erupted out of the blue swirling tendrils of the wormhole and ripped matter round and round. The pressure was like ripping open a door on a aircraft. Marceline held her footing, with her hair being dragged in the direction of the unnatural opening. She shouted, "Come on lets go!" before jumping in to the mouth of the wormhole.

"Come on Peebles, I'm sure it'll be safe!..." Jake too had to shout over to get his message heard before diving his stringy body inside. Him saying he was 'sure' didn't reassure her at all; she never had the best experience with portals in the past and certainly did not trust one formed by the combinations of out-of-date bug milk, a silly drawing and a childish chanting vampire.

Bubblegums eyes grasped dearly to the side of their sockets as she clung on to the edge of the table, it wasn't the best option for sturdiness as it begun grating it's legs along the concrete floor but as of the moment, she wasn't particularly choosy . She felt the force of the opening get stronger as it grew inch by inch. "Holy flubbing shiiiizArraaahhhh!" until it became too much, and her hands slipped off the table flinging her into the other realm.

Walking up a path of ash, Finn sweated his way up steep slope, each step not feeling secure, feeling the soles of his shoes slipping as the weight pressed down on them. No railings or out-standing rocks to hold onto didn't help, just a cliff face of steaming obsidian which he pressed up against to his right, and the open abyss into the wilderness of the Night-O-sphere coupled with a plummeting drop into the moats of lava below to his left.

The slope zigzagged its way up a spire emerging from the ocean of lava, allowing there to be no room for error, every step he had to be sure. At a moment like this he was ever so thankful the Lich wasn't yapping away carelessly in his head. He knew why the Lich refused to talk. Once Finn climbed to the top of this spire it would be the end to his eternal life. For Hunson's fortress stood above them with every bridge and other access destroyed or blocked, other than the one they were currently traversing.

He ditched the poncho not long after they entered the dreaded Night-O-sphere, it was shreaded all over and torn pieces kept flapping up to his face, it became a hindrance. Plus it was baking hot, everywhere felt like an oven, there was hardly any wind from all directions, it felt like the entire place was unventilated. He kept his hood and cape however, just wearing the hood down for the time being. His cape was torn up too, it once came down to his ankles, now it was cut up to his abdomen. He didn't bother tossing it like he did with the poncho, it wasn't anywhere near as much annoying. The rest of his clothes was his normal wear, with the exception of the boots. They wear dirty but still fine to wear, not that he had much choice for lack of substitute clothing.

Being that he was one slip away from a slow fiery death, he was remarkably cool-headed, the height he stood at or lava that bubbled below didn't seem to phase him; if anything it was the heat he would consider the worst part about this climb. Along with that he was growing starving, he hadn't suckled on any red products for awhile now, the last he had was some red sage flower growing in the desert, it was hardly a snack.

Almost reaching to the top of the isolated spire, Finn didn't even give a thought of how he was going to infiltrate the fortress. It could be guarded with patrols, the doors will be locked, but seeing as he got this far without the thought crossing his mind, he pushed it aside, waiting to cross that bridge when he got to it.

As the path became less of a hazard the closer he reached his goal, it was strange, the sound of nothing was new to him, especially when he was aware of what lurked inside. Its like he was used to it by now, the random threats and mocks, scoffs and idle expressions. It almost felt like it became a natural part of him. Not that he liked or excepted it though; he enjoyed the Lich's presence as much as a person liked a wart on there body.

It brought a strange sense of power or overwhelming satisfaction; the Lich's lack of speech that is. This was it for him. Was he scared, worried? Finn wanted to know which for certain so he could pinpoint those joyful feelings. He never became like this - before he would slay some other evil being on treacherous monster and be proud of it, being that it was a good deed.

In this case it was different. In this case it got to him on a more personal level. In this case, it quite literally got under his skin.

Finn wanted to hear his pain through his voice as he carried this leech to his grave. "...How does it feel, living for so long, being all powerful and knowing how you are about to die?"

He didn't respond, Finn gave it some time for him to respond, even stopping in his efforts to climb; till he passed it off and focused again, until, "...I don't feel anything boy. This isn't my body, I am incapable of feeling pain." Even in death the Lich was stubborn; he was certain that no matter what Finn did or how hard he tried, he would never get a satisfactory revenge on the Lich.

"I didn't mean physically."

"Then I don't know of this 'pain' you speak of." Finn wasn't getting the responses had had yearned for, the pleas for forgiveness and mercy. Instead the foul corpse just moped about. If this was the last insult the Lich could deal, he'd most certainly play it.

The mood went stagnant between the two again, Finn kept climbing till after half a minuet or so the Lich bothered to question plainly in his emotionless grim tone, "How did it feel when I first inhabited you? The first time you died..."

Finn stopped his progression upwards at his inquiry, trying to prevent his brain forming the image visualising the moment, unable to hold the memories at bay. "It was cold," Finn walked him through what he could see, what his body remembered feeling, regardless if he could read his mind or no. "my muscles gave up before anything else, I couldn't move. I could still see, I could still hear and feel. But I couldn't hear outside of what you wanted me to, I could swear I heard my name being called though, it was like hearing my name while my head was under water. You made me see.. think of some unreal fantasies... you twisted everything in my head. Then just like that, everything went dark and everything went silent."

The Lich made no comment, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if he asked to relish in dark past memories, or to know what death is truly like. Finn didn't need him too, so long as his description unnerved the Lich in some way as he anticipated his coming end. The climb continued and soon after another cease of words between them, Finn reached the top. Being unnecessarily stealthy, expecting some darkness fuelled demon guards patrolling the inner courtyard. To his surprise it was completely unmanned, empty.

"What did you expect Finn? He doesn't need guards. Nothing or no one is stupid enough to approach this place." The Lich sure did talk big about Hunson, even if they were sworn enemies.

The courtyard was small compared to the rest of the fort. An attempt looked like it had been made to make a quaint little garden either side the brick path leading towards the main cathedral looking doors. The garden was dead however all that remained was the brittle charred branches of the planted bushes, dried leafs and dead petals along the footpath.

"So how do we get in?"

"We knock till we anger him enough to let us in."

Finn walked up the steps to the enormous cast metal doors, it had intricate little details and demon insignias he noticed from the books he used to read about mythical beings. Bringing himself to stop observing the tales the patterns and designs told, he raised his fist to knock, only for the doors to open in front of him before he could even make contact. The air inside the halls of the fortress gusted out mixing with the lower pressures outdoors, the air was thick was dust and grime and freezing compared to the hellish heat on the exterior.

As he walked in, an odd feature came to his attention that the doors had loud clanking gears and cogs bigger than himself operating it. They all sat on top of each other, one-by-one climbing up the walls till climbing through the ceiling which was suspended quite high above him. The place had a grey heavy, medieval trend running throughout it, at least on the exterior walls and inside the current hall, no artificial lighting inside, which assisted the greys effective shade. Only the natural hue of the Night-O-sphere swept in from the open doors. Made Finn wonder: what exactly was the Night-O-spheres natural light source. There was no sun; the place didn't seem to have a day and night cycle, light just seemed to illuminate from the fog on every horizon.

The place seemed abandoned like all the other fortresses a castles they came across to get here. Cobwebs filled to the brim with dust and ashes, the tiled floor hadn't been walked upon in quite possibly centuries; though the place was left to the ages, the room had visually aged, but for the most part, perfectly - structurally intact.

"Are you sure this is Hunsons-"

"Yes – I'm certain. I can smell is presence from here. This is his dwelling. Can't you feel him? Every gust of wind breathing through these halls, synchronised with his breath."

The cool air whisking along his exposed skin now gave him goosebumps. Finns boots ploughed through the coagulated sheets of soot which rest along the ground, it was almost like a carpet. He was making his way over towards a spiralling stone stairwell off to the side of the main hall. Upon his approach when he came into close proximity of the floor candelabras positioned at every pillar, the charred wicks on the candles ember and sparked a flame from nothingness. Not the weirdest sight he had seen in his life, in fact he took benefit from the poltergeist candles as they uncovered every shadowed corner with their dim flame. Did provoke him to use more caution however. This and the doors; it was no secret that Hunson knew of his whereabouts, and perhaps was watching him. Watching him or not, Hunson's castle tricks seemed to invite Finn inwards.

"Well this is it." Marceline unveiled to the newcomer of the Night-O-sphere, Bubblegum. The princess was in awe, she'd travelled through portals before but never to other realms or dimensions, always stuck in the confines of Ooo.

"The trip here isn't so bad after you've done it a few times. It takes a little getting used to." She reassured, sounding like an expert on inter-dimensional travel.

Bubblegum was still speechless. This place was almost the polar opposite to her kingdom: Bubbling, spiting gorges of lava, flames licking their way up cliff faces and creeping out of depthless pits. She took in a deep breath of the not so fresh air. It was a surprising sense of refreshment she didn't wish to share with her two fellows, she had a reputation to upkeep.

Something in the crimson of the place, in the constant camp fire heat and glare that convected through the steam and mist, it very much appealed to her in an odd comforting way. She would question her mental stability and standing as a renown scientist if she didn't recover a few dozen samples of this place. "I hope it's not too much bother, but I'll beat myself later if I don't get any samples from here." She almost asked it like she was awaiting permission to do so from Marceline.

"Um.. sure if you want. I don't know what you expect to find, everything here is pretty much the same. But if you are looking for burnt rocks then you came to the right place." Marceline actually sounded like she could school Bubblegum for once on a thing or two about this place.

As Marceline talked, Bubblegum didn't hesitate after her approval to whip out a file and test tube and started scraping at the floor to get samples, pips and powder of the red tinted stone they stood on. She scooped the sample into the tube, sealing it with a cap and labelling it with a sticky note. She inquired after the tube was placed back in the safety of her bag, "Is this like your earth?"

"Um..."

Bubblegum clarified before Marceline got the attempt to answer. "This stone-like material, is it like dirt here. I mean it's kinda.. everywhere." She said looking off into the distance, demonstrating with her hands.

"I guess. I never really thought about it. I mean sure why not."

"Hmm. Soil could potentially have been in place above the crust, though looking around I'm not surprised as to why it would have dried up and dispersed. Anyhow we should get going. I'll collect more samples along the way. Speaking of which, what way is it?" She awaited to be given her sense of direction as though she was on a tour guide.

"It doesn't seem like we ended up too far away. My dads castle is north-east, over there." Marceline pointed it out through the mist and over the jagged hills. "You can see that place from just about everywhere in the Night-O-sphere." She added before taking the lead since she was most native to this place.

Up the stairwell, it was a long climb, Finn arrived in more lengths of hallways. Unlike the main hall the place now seemed to look less of a fortress and more like a home to the Lord of this realm. Well maybe not exactly this realm. For the ruler of what closely resembled hell, the interior design was quite warm and comforting. Red patterned wallpaper with waist-high dark oak brackets lined the walls with even more candles, now hung off the floor in candle holders along the walls themselves.

The floor was also planks of oakwood with a red carpet on top laying out to the end of the hallway.

The place still looked ancient, though not nearly as much as the main hall. Dusty spores floated around and the wallpaper was ripped and falling off here and there. At any rate Finn wasn't here to sight-see. He made his way to the end of the hall which split into a T, unsure of where to go next he noticed the candles igniting down the left hall, like a guide. He followed of course, till they stopped at a door. Going inside, the room was dedicated to be a small study area, the entire room lit up on his arrival.

"Oh is this like a whole 'secret door' thing?" He thought outloud to himself, walking around the room, looking for any out of the ordinary features. Mainly for books poking out of the shelves or something along those lines. "Ah, that's too easy..." He noticed one candle wasn't alight out of the many that were, he tugged down on its holder to hear a clank, the sound of success. A bookshelf slid inwards and then to the side, exposing another room behind it.

Finn hesitated to walk in, smelling a trap, peeking his head inside to see when it lead nowhere. However no traps where to be seen either. The room had a single candle inside and a plaque on the wall. Going in fully expecting the way out to seal, to his surprise, it remained open. He went to read what it said. "What wears a dark suit? And is completely evil? Um – Hu-"

"Don't..." The Lich cautioned Finn's actions, he spoke suddenly with little phlegm built up in his throat as he did so.

"What why?"

"It's a trick. Remain silent. Do not say his name."

Finn abided by the Lich's advice, a several seconds later a gargled and demented voice, "Welcome, my lord and tormentor." welcomed them.

Finn was still unknowing as to how that works. The Lich clarified. "He is known as Hunson Abadeer to a very select few. But to the legends and his subjects, he is the Nameless One. Many sentient creatures gifted with the opportunity to meet the demon himself have been relinquished on the spot for announcing him by his true name."

It still bugged Finn as to why the Lich decided on helping him progress, something didn't feel right. Seconds after the Lich's explanation a dark being slid aside a brick slab on the ceiling, and slithered up behind Finn. Before he could turn upon hearing the wet slivering noises that formulated at the rear of the room it wrapped itself around him. He tried to scream and fight back, but it all happened too quickly, he was already within the creature captivity. The last thing he saw was a black web of tar-like emulsion weaving around his limbs and torso before it masked his vision - lifting him into the air and carrying him away.