Tunnel of Fate

Hello my fellow supporters of fan fiction and welcome to the latest installment of The Tunnel of Fate. I hope the action of this new chapter will be action-packed enough for everyone. A side-note… my responses to reviews I will now move to the bottom of the chapter. Onward to adventure!

Author's note: I do not own Adventure Time…

Chapter 5: Fight Club

The sun's warm rays radiated over the tall oak and spruce trees of the Forgotten Forest. The leaves danced in the cool morning breeze as it flowed through the treetops. The scene was utterly beautiful to the young man. From his position up a tall oak tree, in which he had stayed the night; he could see a tall clock tower indicating a nearby village. The tower was constructed entirely of wooden planks supported by large rocks melded together. The look was absolutely dazzling and it gave the tower an almost angelic appearance. The sounds of animals braying along with the clink of metal-on-metal suggested that this settlement was indeed inhabited. The night before, he had not been too sure of the town's existence. At night, the town's inhabitants were asleep. This left the area blanketed with an eerie silence that fit quite well with the surrounding forest.

"I must enter the village and refill my supplies" the young man thought. It was due to these new noises that had risen with the sun that young hero had been awoken to the settlement. He could have rejoiced in its presence. He had left the sanctity of Mother Scarlett's home about three days ago. The trip had been mostly uneventful. He had not even witnessed any type of intelligent animals. Most of what he had come into contact with had been either birds or furry, quadruped animals. The young man had attempted to start conversations with a few of these small animals; however, he had yet to make any sort of progress. Back home, he had experienced both speaking and non-speaking animals. The young man pondered how those animals even had the brain power to process the use of languages. Princess Bubblegum had mentioned that the radiation had created the changes and through the process of natural selection, these more intelligent birds and animals began to prosper over the "traditional animals", as she had put. However, it appeared that the small creatures here could not speak at all. Perhaps the radiation had not affected this area as much as back home. But how could he know for sure? The young man was just a simple adventurer.

"I must remember to purchase a sword or some type of weapon while in town. Roaming around the forest with only a single steel knuckle is dangerous." the young man thought. He was lucky to have not yet been attacked by some sort of large animal or a mercenary with a long weapon. Steel knuckles are not a weapon that can provide any sort of defense and in order to attack; the young man would have to get within an arm's length of his foe. The potential of getting within this zone of attack was almost impossible when you did not have something to deflect your opponent's sword.

When Finn had finally folded and tucked away his rope, he shouldered the now-packed backpack and scaled down the tree to resume his trek to the nearby village. He had secured sixty-four gold pieces into his wallet before leaving his treehouse behind. He hoped that he had enough gold to procure him enough sustenance to last his trip to the Nature Kingdom. He had thought earlier that he would have already reached the border of the kingdom by noon of his second day travel. This had ultimately proved incorrect as shown by his going on three days of travel. The map had shown the Forgotten Forest to be much smaller than it actually was. This next village, as he thought to be named Saar-Sven from the map, was only halfway through his trip to the kingdom border. He would most definitely be needing supplies from this town in order to continue.

After a few minutes of walking, the smells and sound of people pervaded the young man's senses. The smells of nature melded with those of fresh baked foods and goods from the town. The result was a mnemonic scent that left the hero reminiscing about his various walks though the cotton candy forests. He remembered one particular day. The sun was shining and the air was fresh. Finn had just picked up his girlfriend and together they set out for a picnic in the cotton candy forest…

oOo

"Hey FP, This spot looks perfect!" a young boy yelled to his girlfriend.

His indicated spot was on a small cliff above a large pond. A cotton candy tree grew from the ground and provided a perfect sun-cover from the blistering heat of the summer day.

"It's beautiful Finn. Did you remember to pack the sandwiches?" the young girl asked

Setting down the picnic basket that he had been carrying, the young boy laid on the grass and began to root through the basket's contents.

"Here you go FP! I think yours was the charcoal with petroleum sauce, right?" the boy asked innocently

The two ate their meals in peaceful silence until a thought occurred to the young hero.

"Hey FP, have you ever tried to eat anything other than your normal… ugh, combustible stuff?" he asked with genuine curiosity

"No, not really. Most of the food that your kind eats is water based. You know, it's like extremely lethal to fire elementals."

"Yeah but, you must have some sort of humanoid heritage, right? I mean you look pretty human-like. The point is, you probably have taste buds that you haven't even used yet!" he yelled excitedly

"Fine… I guess I would be willing to try something. But how am I even going to know what won't kill me?" she complained

Noticing that he had already swallowed his entire sandwich, the young boy directed his attention to the forest around him. Seeing the bright pink trees, his brain struck an idea. Standing up, he tore a massive chunk off of one of the fluffy trees.

"Here!" he offered with renewed enthusiasm, "Try this! It's really good!" he claimed while stuffing some of it down his throat.

"What!? You would just eat the leaves from trees!? Isn't that like… unsanitary, to say the least?" the girl asked. She was clearly thrown off by the boy's sudden appetite.

"What? I don't know. These trees are cotton candy trees. The entire leave and branch structures are made of sugar. They're completely edible. Try it!"

"I don't know" The girl asked with apprehension

"C'mon please! I promise you, nothing bad will happen." the boy said with puppy-dog eyes

"Alright" The girl gave in. Reaching up, she grabbed a handful of the pink cotton and slowly stuck it in her mouth. The boy was absolutely overjoyed at this point.

"Do you love it?!... FP?" the boy asked

The girl just sat there with her mouth closed and her eyes wide open. Suddenly she fell backward onto the grass,

"FP!" the boy exclaimed. Fear filled his mind and clouded his ability to think straight. No he couldn't have… he couldn't have killed his girlfriend. She was one of the only people who truly liked him for who he was on the inside and not just his outer hero reputation. If she died by his hand… how could he live with himself? He crouched by the girl's side and attempted to lift her up by her shoulders. However, before the boy could finish this action, the girl was suddenly reanimated. Her eyes rolled to meet the hero and her mouth formed the silliest smile that he had ever seen.

"This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" the girl shouted out loud.

It was then that the young boy caught the faint scent of burnt sugar. It suddenly clicked in his brain. The sugar had been instantly vaporized by the young girl's heat but had managed to stimulate her taste buds before its demise. The boy grew a huge and goofy smile himself. All he could feel in that moment was relief and a yearning to hold the girl closer. However, physical limitations would always make that simple contact impossible between the two. This was just a fact of life. One that Finn himself had very little chance of overcoming.

The young man's concentration broke…

oOo

He had reached a small bridge leading into town. A wooden sign clearly showed the name of the town, Saar-Sven, with a symbol of two torches passing behind a diamond-shaped shield. By now, he could hear joyful music and vicious banter ricocheting throughout the wooden and stone building of the town. People crowded the streets in celebration. Clearly, this amount of people could not have the living space to stay year around in this town. They must have gathered from outside the town for some sort of festival. However, the man was too distracted by the earlier memory to give much notice to the town. His entire way across the bridge, the young man's thoughts were jumbled.

"That was the first time I was able to see just how deep of an impact she had on my life." the young man thought. This had been after the whole ordeal with their first kiss. He had thought that they would have both died at that point as well; however, he had still felt as though he could have changed the outcome of his fate with quick action. Jumping into the Earth's burning crust, he almost felt at peace. If she were to die, he would as well, right beside her. Yet underneath the cotton candy tree, he had felt so helpless. Had she died right then and there, it would have been bad enough that he was her killer; however, what struck the young man was the burden of having to live the rest of his life without her. He too could not have died along with his beloved that day. The sugar would not have done away with him like a poison in an old tragedy film. What he felt that day was fear… true fear, which clogged up his ability to think like heavy rust on a pair of stationary gears. He could not have performed the necessary actions to save her had the situation been dire. And above all, he had feared of being alone in the world once more. Finn lamented his fear… this was the fear that crippled heroes. The fear that breaks the stoic and melts the solid resolves of the most confident people. But this is why he was here wasn't it? To find a way to suppress his fears, his insecurities; to mature and become the hero that everyone needed him to be. He could not afford to feel this fear. He was a hero; it was his job to jump through the worse that the world had to offer and bring the innocent out safe on the other side. And as much as it pained him to leave behind his friends and the only girl that he had ever come to love behind… he needed this. "Hopefully, this journey will teach me to never fear what fate has to throw at me… because… as long as I'm alive, there is hope. I can always change my fate." they young man whispered to himself with resolve.

The young man had finally made it into the crowd that flooded the streets. He now took the time to take in his surroundings. The clock tower and its surrounding buildings were even more brilliant in their architecture from up-close. Green flags flew from their façades into the streets depicting the two torches with an orange-colored shield.

"It must be the crest of the Saar-Sven villagers" the young man thought. Many races of people milled all around. One race of people appeared from afar to have been covered entirely by small green scales. Upon closer evaluation, the scales were actually leaves. The construct of these people were entirely of leaves laced upon one another to form a very protective outer-layering. Another race was constructed entirely of different types of rock. Their bodies were lumpy and very unsymmetrical, yet they still mostly resembled humanoids. Some were made of brittle shale while others were hardened granite. The young man took notice to how some of them breathed a slight bit of fire from their noses when they exhaled heavily. These two types of people made up the majority of the crowd. A few cloud people and water elementals were seen but no true fire elementals, no candy people, and no humans. He was slightly disheartened by this fact. The prospect of a new area brought the chance of discovering more humans. But he should have known better, the humans died out long ago.

The party-goes partook in celebratory foods and danced in a designated "dancing area". A large band played some sort of upbeat music while street performers juggled sticks of fire. This appeared to have just taken form in the center of town where the main roads crossed. A massive bar at the corner of these two streets seemed to be attracting a great deal of these people. "Perhaps I should see what is going on." the young man thought silently. Suddenly, however, a different sign caught the young man's eye. A gray rock man hammered away on a brightly glowing sword. It was a blacksmith's shop. Abandoning his curiosity for the tavern, the seasoned adventurer pushed his way through the crowd to the front of the blacksmith's shop.

"Aye, weary traveler. Looking for some new armaments I see. Well you came to the right place. Ol' Hennery Siam is my name, but you can just call me Hennery. What can I get for you? Perhaps some suitable armor to protect your body from harm? A simple cloak won't stand up to the slash of a sword my friend." the smithy exclaimed. It was obvious from his quick and overly-friendly speech that the man was attempting to make a sale.

"If the price is right and the quality is good" the young man replied unfazed. His eyes scanned the rows of weapons and fell on one with a green hilt and a wicked-looking black blade. It was a long-sword and it looked of great peculiarity. "How about that one? Does it have a history?" the young man inquired

"Ah good choice my friend. This is a legendary sword, it is said to have been used by the famous Arthur the Third during his siege on Fort Shalahon." The man exclaimed. Any person with less sword experience than the young man himself would not have known that the story was a fake. The sword looked much too new and scar-free to have ever weathered any battle before. However, the sword still looked of good quality.

"How much gold?" the young man inquired. After some pondering, the smithy responded.

"How about seventeen?"

Seventeen gold pieces for such a quality sword? It was almost too good to be true. In his excitement the young man asked, "Seventeen gold pieces?"

The smithy burst out into laughter.

"Your funny my friend. No, seventeen-thousand gold pieces."

The young man briefly lost his stoic expression. "Seventeen-thousand gold pieces?!" he thought. He wasn't good at math by any stretch of the imagination… but seventeen-thousand?! He was sure that even his treasure room back at the treehouse did not hold enough gold. Hennery saw the drop in the young man's face and responded.

"What kid? You should know better. Rising inflation rates along with the poor crop growth this year and the commonality of gold doesn't make your money worth a whole lot. Why don't you try getting some Kingdom Money? It would only cost nine-hundred dollars then and most stores will accept it. Okay?" the man said with a tired look

The young man was still in disbelief when he left the store.

"Stupid outsiders." the smithy grumbled, "Trying to use primitive money to buy modern wares."

After finding out that he was flat-broke, the young man wandered around the rest of the festival. He needed money to restock his supplies and continue his journey. Water could easily be found at the river that he had passed on his way to the town, but food was a little more difficult. He could not hunt his own food with only a single steel knuckle. Animals would not be nearly as stupid as the four mercenaries in the forest had been. He needed to make some of this Kingdom Money while he was here and he needed it soon. Suddenly, the music from the band was cut and the voice of an announcer came on.

"Welcome everyone to the Annual Saar-Sven Fight Tournament!" An excess of cheers followed the announcement. "The matches are about to begin where fighters will punch it out for a chance to win the title of Master Fighter, a secret weapon, and eight-hundred dollars!" the announcer screamed. The crowd followed suite and began to holler and shout. "Late entries are still available for two lucky fighters! First come first serve! That is all!" the announcer finished.

"I've got to do this… This is my chance to regain my footing. I need that money so that I can continue my journey to the Nature Kingdom." he thought

"But fighting your way thought people to get it? Doesn't it seem wrong?" a part of him reasoned

"But these people I will fight will probably be no better than those arrogant wizards that I had to face in the Wizard Tournament." he reasoned "These people would probably be some of the most disrespectful and dishonorable people the land had to offer" he felt slightly more justified about punching one or two in the face at this point. With his choice clear, the young man walked up to the announcer who had sat down on a chair outside of the bar.

"I'd like to enter the tournament." The shrouded young man said while wasting no time with formalities.

"You're in luck kid, you've got the final entry number. A few rules thought, no bladed weapons allowed and no blunt two-handed weapons. That excludes your brass knuckles there." the announcer said unenthusiastically

"It's a single steel knuckle." the young man countered

"Yeah… anyways no magic, potions, or groin shots. Misconduct of the rules will cause you to be escorted out painfully by one or more of the many bouncers around the bar, is that understood?" the announcer asked

"Yes"

"Alright, I just need your name."

"Finely Jacobs"

"Peculiar name… Okay Mr. Jacobs, head on to the back of the bar and wait until we announce you to fight. We have a medic standing by when you need it." the announcer said with a snide smile

"Thank you" the young man just faked gratitude along with a smile. He walked away ignoring the man's previous comment. He couldn't afford to lose this… literally.

oOo

Finn was not the first one called up to fight. He, along with a few of the other fighters, were allowed to leave the backroom and sit in at the bar. Although he thought that this may not be the most honorable way… allowing your opponents to evaluate you before you even fight. It soon occurred to the young man that many of those who had entered the contest were simply downing ale and chatting around with each other. Many were becoming drunk before the sun had even hit noon. A massive area in the center of the building was designated for the combatants. People stood all around the outside ring just hoping to catch a flying tooth or maybe even a stray punch. The entire place was pandemonium to the young man at the bar. He had originally thought that this tournament would be a little more open, perhaps a little more grand. The whole thing reminded the young man of those "late night fights" that his brother Jake had always gone to see in the bad side of the Candy Kingdom. Finn had always been too young to go but this seemed almost exactly like what his brother had described the scene as.

Suddenly, the sound of a shattering window pane broke the young hero's thoughts. The crowd cheered uproariously. He felt a sudden sickness in his stomach. Looking to the front of the building, the entire window was blown out. The combatant had just launched his opponent through the window and out into the street where many more onlookers were now trying to urge the fallen man to get up.

The scene was absolutely sickening to the young hero. He quickly took a look at the medic on the far side of the room. The young medic's expression said it all… disgust and anger. Finn's reaction to the situation was quite similar. For a second, the young man felt a tinge of guilt. He too would be forced to eventually make the young medic's job harder. This guilt however subsided when the young hero took a glance at the man who had just launched his opponent through the building's window. He had a very peculiar smile on his face matched with a similar gleam in his eyes. It was as though the man had found some sadistic pleasure from beating his opponent to near death. The man was a brute made entirely of large circular granite rocks that looked almost impenetrable. His heavy breathing produced flames to fly from his mouth and even his eyes at times. He was truly a force to be reckoned with. The young man felt rage building inside of him while looking at the granite man. Suddenly, the intimating man met the gaze of the shrouded hero. The granite man had expected to scare the young man like so many of his other opponents. However, the hero's rage allowed him to keep his cool. The Granite man almost looked to have become un-nerved for a brief second; this was soon replaced with an unmistakable gleam in his fiery pupils. Finn had seen this look before on only one other person. The Lich King himself. It was a glare of absolute murderous intent…

In that moment, a small shiver ran down the hero's back. He realized that this granite man would most definitely battle his way to the finals. Finn would have to fight him eventually…

Response time…

Ooobserver: Thanks for your support dude, I appreciate it. I hope this story continues to live up to standard.

kojh0124: Great to see my stories are still entertaining people. Thank you bro. BTW… I would be very interested in hearing who actually thought about, and wrote about, a "nacho kingdom". Freakin' hilarious.

Fiery Crusader: Thanks man, I really do appreciate the comments. Let me also take the moment to say that I love your name. It's like one of the toughest usernames that I have seen so far.

I hope you've all enjoyed this. Please let me know what you liked or didn't like. I love getting feedback for my stories.