Hello everyone! Well I sure did pull an amazing d-bag move with the cliffhanger in chapter 5. I sure hope none of you will hold that against me… but of course you all will. We've come so far in Simon and Marcy's adventure so far and we are very near to the end, and dang it will make you cry and rethink your life choices once you see the ending I've got in store for you, and dear god, this chapter will make you cry so hard. I found myself tearing up a bit! Now this does not mean I'll stop writing, I plan to come back with little stories of Simon and Marcy later on in life, and maybe some fan fics that aren't possible backstories, like one where Finn and Jake go back in time to where they meet the old Simon and Betty! If you can, please leave a suggestion in the reviews for a story that you would like me to write. I won't just do adventure time, I could do Attack on Titan, Bleach, Inuyasha, Steven Universe, etc. I'm going to try and stay away from the M rated stuff for now, because I'm not really sure I want to get into it. Just give me some ideas and I'll try my best to write them. Now to get onto the story.

Chapter 6: Short on Time

Marceline's POV

Run. Marceline did nothing but run away from the horrors behind her. The monster, the city, and the anger and fear that she saw in Simon's eyes. She was scared of all that had happened, but what she feared the most was being all alone, that if Simon didn't return she'd be all alone in the ruins of the world with no one to be there for her. All of this flashed through her head as she ran and ran, not even caring where she goes. For what seemed like an eternity Marceline slowed down, realizing her legs were sore and she was exhausted.

'No I can't stop' she thought 'Simon told me to keep running and don't stop for anything, keep going ahead!'

She sprinted as fast as her tiny legs would allow her. She didn't care about how tired she was, she didn't care how far she went, all she cared about was what Simon told her to do, that was what kept her going. Simon knows what's best in a situation like this. She ran and ran and ran, until something finally made her stop. She heard the fighting. She saw snow blowing from the direction Simon was in, she could feel the sheer power emanating far in the distance. Simon was fighting, and he was fighting a fierce battle. When he had saved her from the clutches of that monster she heard the utter fury that came from Simon yelling at the monster. At that moment Marceline realized, Simon loved her more than anything. He had cared for her, made her smile, and he had never raised his voice at her. In a way Simon was family, the only family she had right now, and right now he's fighting that monster for her. Marceline dropped Hambo and broke down crying, whether it was from fear or from anger and frustration, she couldn't tell. Then, she heard a loud "boom" in the distance where Simon was, then silence. The world had completely gone quiet waiting in anticipation of what was the outcome of the fierce battle. Marceline closed her eyes, crying; scared to face the truth of whether Simon lived or died. Then she heard footsteps. Still not looking she kept her eyes closed, terrified of what she would see if she opened them. The footsteps grew louder and louder, and soon they stopped, and Marcy knew whatever was making those footsteps was right in front of her.

"Hey sweetheart, it seems you dropped your friend," said a familiar voice.

Marceline opened her eyes. An outstretched hand held Hambo and Marceline looked up to see Simon's old withered face with a grin stretched across it. She tackled him and hugged him fiercely, and then started hitting his arm over and over.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop!" Simon said, "What was that for!?"

"You jerk! I was scared, you went to go fight that thing, and I was so worried and… and" she stammered.

"I'm sorry Marcy, I'm sorry, but I have my reasons for doing what I did and I'm sorry I left you alone, but you're safe now and that's all that matters."

Marceline broke into tears again and she put her arms around his neck and sobbed tears of joy. Simon held her in his arms as he started crying too. After a while they stood up as Marceline let go and saw that Simon was still wearing the crown on his head.

"Simon, you're still wearing the crown!" she said worriedly.

"Oh yeah, I guess I should take it off"

Simon took it off his head, and then something happened. He started shaking, and then his eyes rolled back into his head. Time slowed. All Marceline could do was watch as Simon's body, convulsed, and jerked, and then… he was still. Then, he fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Simon! Simon, wake up!" Marceline cried shaking Simon's limp body, "SIMON!"

Simon's POV

'Wake up, Simon… It's time to wake up" a voice called out.

Simon sat up with a jolt, and looked around to see only darkness. He touched his face and body, to make sure he was still there.

"Hello? Who's there? Marceline?" Simon cried out.

"No, no, my dear Simon, you won't find Marceline here," said the voice, "for only the two of us can be in this world.

Then a tornado of white snow and ice swirled to form a figure in front of Simon, there stood a man clad in blue robes, with a long white beard, white lifeless eyes, a long pointed nose, blue skin, and a red jewel-encrusted crown on his head.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!" Simon exclaimed

"I am the spirit that dwells within the crown, the one who whispers to you at night, telling you of the secrets of ice and snow, and the one who grants you control over it," said the entity, "I am the Ice King's spirit, we are in the recesses of your mind, and I am the one who brought you here."

"Ice King? You're the spirit that causes me to go insane when I where the crown? Why? Why do you want my mind?" Simon asked

"Long ago, I ruled my kingdom of frost, where I ruled with insane power, wanting to turn the world into a frosty wonderland under my control. Then, one day a god offered me the power of immortality for the price of my kingdom," the Ice King said, "I was greedy, I wanted nothing more than infinite power, which I already had, and immortality, so I gladly accepted. But the god was a deceitful trickster who took my soul and trapped it in my crown, as a bodiless entity, I lived for thousands of years, traveling though auctions and antique shops, until that fateful day, when you bought my crown from that foolish dock worker in Scandinavia, you were the first to idiotically put me on your head, and that gave me the upper hand to take your body for my own, so once again the Ice King can rule!"

"Why? Why do you want me here?" Simon asked

"To tell you something of great importance," with a snap of his fingers, the Ice King produced an icy blue hour glass, with only a handful of sand in the top section, "this is how close you are to insanity. The last time you used the crown it sped up the process substantially, now you will go insane, whether or not you wear the crown. Get rid of the crown, you'll still go insane, embrace the crown, and you'll go insane even faster. I'd say that you have about a day, with use of the crown 12 hours. Either way your time is short." With that the entity smiled a wicked grin.

"No… No! I can't go insane, what will I do to protect Marceline!" Simon pleaded, "I can't leave her alone. She's all I've got left. I can't bear to think what would happen if she was all alone!"

Simon shook his head back and forth, sobbing. He wanted to believe it wasn't true, to just go on with life saying this was all a bad dream, that he'd wake up with Marceline at his side, safe and sound, with that radiant smile that soothed his aching heart.

"Too bad, your fate has been decided," Said the King, "Soon, I will have a body to control, and soon rule this foolish world, as I had tried to do millennia ago,"

Simon looked up at the Ice King, with an enraged look on his face

"You can take my mind, you can take my body, and you can try to take the world for all I care," Simon said with such ferocity, "but know this, Simon Petrikov will live on, as a hero, a man of selflessness, and one who puts his life on the line for the greater good. Not only will I live on, there will be others to stop you, heroes who will defeat you time and time again, and you'll never succeed. That will all come sooner or later, but right now I have a job to do."

"And what might that be dear Simon?"

"I'm going to save a little girl, who has been at my side through thick and thin, who I love more than anything, a girl who became the daughter I never had, and her name. Is. MARCELINE!"

With that the world began to rumble and shake, as Simon fell into a pit of darkness, he woke up with a gasp, and Marceline crying next to him.

"Marceline!" he exclaimed, Marceline hugged him again but Simon pulled her off, "Sweetheart, we don't have much time, we need to get you to you someplace safe immediately,"

"But, Simon where do we go, there's no place where we can go… we have nothing left," Marceline said miserable

Simon pondered. So many thoughts running through his head. Where to go? What to do? Who to look for? Who? Who? Then it hit him.

"Your father!" Simon said, "We need to get you to him, he may be the only chance we have left."

"But Simon, we don't know where the Nightosphere is, or how to get there, how will we find my dad?"

"I don't know, but we've got to hurry!" he stood up and grabbed the crown. He looked down at it.

"You can have my mind, but please allow me to use your powers to get Marceline somewhere safe, I beg of you," Simon pleaded.

Silence… nothing but pure silence as Simon waited for his answer.

"Know this Simon Pertrikov, I do not pity you, but for the time being, I shall give you my powers, without the negative effects, but only because you are the closest thing to a companion that I have had in the millennia I've spent in this crown,"

With that Simon put the crown on his head, picked Marceline up, and soared high in the air.

"Where are we going Simon?" Marceline shouted as they flew.

"You told me when your dad would come to visit, your mom would make him appear from another room, correct?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain- wait you don't mean-?"

"Yes, we're going back to where we first met, your old home,"

With that Simon conjured the winds to give him speed in their journey, as well as guide them to where they needed to go, for Simon couldn't remember the way, all while shielding Marceline from the cold. They traveled for what seemed like hours, for the sun had set long ago, and then they found the city. Simon landed in front of the broken down toy store where the two first met, the memory of it all swirling in his head. He put Marceline down and looked at the toy store, then at the raggedy bear in Marcy's arms. Hambo had gone through a tough journey, now he had patches all over his body from when his fabric had ripped. Marceline loved that stuffed bear more than anything, and always sought comfort from it.

"Marceline, I need you to guide me to your old house, do you know where it is?" Simon asked

"Yeah it's just down the street, that way," she pointed the way, and Simon put her on his shoulders as he walked down the deserted street.

"There it is!" she pointed to an old one story house with one of the sides demolished.

He made his way to the house, and then they heard the moaning, out from the sewers, and from around the corners, a whole herd of mutants came from the darkness of the night. Simon pulled Marcy off his shoulders and held her in his arms as he ran to the abandoned house. He quickly set Marceline down as he conjured an ice dome to keep the mutants at bay. The dome was thick but the mutants acidic saliva was eating away at it, they only had a small window of time. He picked Marceline up and ran inside the house. He quickly began to look through the house. The place had been ransacked, most likely by thieves. The house was covered in overturned furniture and empty cabinets. Marceline was shivering in his arms, obviously terrified, but Simon had a feeling that it wasn't because of the mutants. He made to open a door to the demolished part of the house, when Marceline cried out.

"NO! DON'T GO IN THERE!" she cried.

Simon retracted his hand as though it were in fire, he looked at Marceline curiously.

"What's the matter, what's in there?" Simon asked

Marceline buried her face into Simon's shirt crying. He set her down and opened the door, and saw the room was covered in debris, from what he saw it was a bedroom, and that's when Simon looked down at the horrors trapped under the rubble. There lay the skeletal remains of a woman, with hollowed eye sockets and shriveled skin, and grimy black hair, Simon looked around and saw a picture frame with a photo of Marceline and a woman with black hair. Simon clenched his stomach, horrified. The skeletal remains trapped under the fallen debris… was Marceline's mother. He fought the urge to vomit, absolutely mortified at what he saw. He knelt next to the corpse.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," he said, "she may never say it, but Marceline misses you every day, I can feel it," Simon was starting to choke up, "If you could see her now, you would be so proud of her. She's smart, sweet, and probably the person I love the most. I promise, I'll get her somewhere safe,"

Simon then went to the dresser, pulled out a blanket and covered up the skeleton. He looked over at the photo and took it out of the frame and folded it, then a little piece of paper fell out of the frame, he picked it up and began to read it. It was a reminder… on how to make a portal to the Nightosphere! Simon quickly pocketed the paper, and stepped outside the bedroom. Marceline was sitting on the floor, sniffling.

"Marceline," she looked up eyes red from crying "I know how we can get you to your father… and I also found this."

He handed her the photo. She took it hesitantly and unfolded it. She looked at it, eyes tearing up, and then she started crying again. He knelt down arms open, and Marceline hugged him. She sobbed and sniffled, as Simon rubbed her back and held her close.

"Thank you," Marceline said, "Thank you so much,"

"No Marcy, thank you for everything you've given me," he said, eyes tearing up.