I do not own Adventure Time, time machines, citadels or Bartram. Bartram. Bartram. Bartram is cool.
~~o~~
Chapter 2 - Blades Must Clash
"Wait, wait, wait! Dude, you got to be kidding me?" Finn scratched his butt out of sheer confusion. "So you're saying I have carbon copies scattered around the universe?"
"No, Finn. They are you, with varying differences, and scattered across the multiverse. And all of them are in trouble." Prismo conjured a stack of sandwiches for Jake, who immediately dived into.
"Hey Prismo. Why don't you just do some zing and make my buddy remember everything?" Jake said in between chewing his fifth sandwich. Prismo stared at him thoughtfully for quite a long time.
It is indeed too hard for him to understand. He's full of stupid, as far as Finn is concerned. He knew thinking tasks are not his calling. Slicing things up? Now that he understands. Prismo has his eyes closed. He seemed to be torn into making decisions.
"I'm not supposed to favor one universe over the others. Just being here made me broke numerous rules I've never broke before." He snapped his fingers and the scene changed. Finn was shocked by the sudden transport. It felt like something tugged at him upward. Him, Jake, and Prismo are now in some kind of yellow room. "But things are different now."
Jake wasn't even fazed. He just continued to devour his sixth sandwich from the table that was also transported. "You mean you have a boss? Someone who made the rules?"
"Yes, babe."
"Who is it?" Jake almost choked on his food in astonishment. Why does he have so much respect for this Prismo guy? Just who is he really?
The sentient shadow paused for a moment before speaking. "God, Grod, Glob, or whatever you're calling Him nowadays."
He said it so nonchalantly that Finn can't help but doubt him. "Who are you really, Prismo? And where are we?"
Jake wrapped Finn's neck with his elongated left ear and properly introduced him to the strange being. "Finn, this is Prismo. He's a super cool guy with super cool powers. He could grant anything you wish for!"
Prismo looked flattered with th praises and let out a chuckle. "Well, not really, you see...haha!"
"So you could grant my wish? Wow that's totally math!" Finn hopped up and down in place out of excitement. A dude that can make wishes come true? That's totally rad!
"Sorry to burst your bubble Finn, but no."
"Yeeaa- waaa?"
"Yeah? Why not?"
"Jake, you forgot already? Finn already made a wish before." He gave a look of utter frustration at his buddy. Finn was even more confused. He swore he never met this pink guy before.
"Check out the monitor."
Finn looked at where Prismo pointed. It's a blank yellow wall. Now that he noticed, this place looked really familiar. Suddenly, a sofa appeared at their back. He quickly made himself comfortable in it. Jake complied too, with the large jar of pickles in his hands. Turning back his attention to the wall, he was astonished to see it replaced by a large screen. "Is that a T.V.?"
"Yeah, where's the remote Prismo?"
"Eh Jake, I won't let you have it this time. This is too important." He flicked through the monitor, very much like switching channels in a normal T.V.. Except this is not a television, that much is apparent to him.
"What you see now Finn, are the different and alternate universes. Each one holding a counterpart of each person in another universe. Like this one." Prismo maxed out the volume of the monitor, much to Finn's disgust.
"How could you be so sure?! STOP IT! And get out of my room!" Finn saw himself in the screen, lying naked on his bedroom with Marceline, who was equally naked. He immediately covered his eyes.
"Uh-uh, Finn. Once you let a vampire in, you can never get them out." Alternate Universe Marceline stuck out her tongue and made a face.
"You know more than half of the maidens in this kingdom are effectively head over heels for you, weenie. You can choose anyone...well, anyone. Just stay away from LSP, for Glob's sake."
"This is sick, man, not cool!" Jake yelled in annoyance.
"Hahaha! I know, right? They've been at it for hours now."
Finn growled in indignation. He would never do that with Marceline. "Ugh, Prismo. Too much information!"
"Alright, alright guys. Chill." He pressed a button on the remote. It was just right on time because the AU Finn is now being ravaged by the AU Marceline. The next 'channel' showed Finn playing with Flame Princess in the Grasslands. They're both younger than him. Way younger, but before Finn could say something, Prismo already switched the 'channel'.
"You're not supposed to see that. Hehe."
He just grunted in disapproval. The monitor now showed a muscled human wielding his Demon Blood Sword to cut down a red dragon that seemed to be made of...bedsheets and pillows. The huge man roared in triumph, only to be squashed down by another red dragon. On the horizon, dozen more dragons are preparing to join the fray.
"Is that you, Finn? Man, you look like Meat Man."
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"Oh yeah, this is totally my favorite universe! Oh wait, don't tell that to Glob...oh Glob."
The screen momentarily whited out because of the sun. The scene does not look like Ooo at all. There are a lot of humans, all waving goodbye to a young man on a small, horse-like animal. He seemed to be going on an adventure by the looks of his face. Finn noted his missing right arm, replaced by a mechanical one. The young man's nose is more prominent and his eyes are bigger too, but Finn could never deny that this is also him.
"Woah! That looks like wishworld Finn! He's still mad uglies! Heehee."
"Hey I do-!"
His retort was cut short by his alternate self. Beside tye AU Finn, a teenager not much older than him, rode another small horse. They looked very similar. "Is that my, I mean, his bro?"
"Shh!"
"So I guess… this is good-bye, huh?" The teen said, watching how the AU Finn petted the animal.
"Yeah." AU Finn smiled. He faced his young companion, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Take good care of mom. I know dad will be there for her, but he's somewhat distracted."
"So he IS your brother. Real bro." Jake pointed haphazardly at the screen.
"You're the man now!"
"Awesome!" the teenager exclaimed. "Should I take care of Milli and Flanna too?"
"Sure, but don't tell Flanna…" the young man winked. "You know how stubborn she is."
"No problem, bro!"
The two brothers shared a handshake before they had to part ways. AU Finn walked into the woods, and finally disappeared from the view. Finn felt a pang of longing at the two people he saw. So he has a brother, albeit not in the same universe. He can't help but feel a bit jealous on his alternate universe selves. That Finn knew who really is his family, his parents.
"Hmm. As much as I like to dwell on that universe, we have to press on guys."
"I'm down with that. It is too boring!" Finn hit Jake on the butt for being so tactless, which caused him to nearly drop the jar of pickles he was holding. The dog was about to deliver his own blow when the screen changed tge scene into another. It appeared to be a blacksmith's workshop, although he can't remember any place that resembled the one being shown.
AU Finn finally came into view. He looked pretty similar to him, although he seemed a bit older. He seemed to be covered in flame shield, if the blue color that enveloped him is any indication. Finn noticed that he was not alone in the room. An older Flame Princess stood parallel to the AU Finn. Without warning, the two leaned their heads to the side and kissed passionately.
"Wow, now that is HOT, Finn. Way to go, buddy. Hehe."
"Jake, shut up."
"I bet you're jealous you can't do that to FP now?"
Finn just blushed in shame, mostly because his brother is right. He turned his attention back at the monitor. The two couples are now so into it, that they failed to notice the pink flames seeping from the forge. It seemed to be enveloping the two harmelessly, that is until he saw that his alternate self's flame shield was being peeled back.
"Watch out you doofus!"
"Relax Finn. It's just the Ancestral Flame...hey wait. Forget that I said that." Prismo looked positively alarmed. Finn doesn't know any An-what Flames. "The Citadel must remain a secret for now."
"You're not making any sense, man."
"Just forget it, will you?" They both nodded.
"I just don't get it Prismo. This is cool and all, but what does these universes have to do with you not being able to grant my wish?" He stole a glance at the screen. It now shows Finn, and curiously, Mr. Abadeer being chased by a huge zombie dog that looks a lot like Marceline's pet.
"You see Finn, I can only grant one wish to an individual. No more, no less. That's the rule, even I cannot break."
"...and?"
"You, Finn the Human, Hero of Ooo, and Hand of Righteousness, have already made a wish; and I already granted it."
"What? I don't..."
Prismo used the remote again and changed the 'channel' to something peculiar. In the monitor, a crying boy clad in blue robes and a bear hat so tattered that some of his hair leeked out. The white hair is so alarmingly familiar, together with the crown on his head and blue tinged of his skin.
"The Ice King! But...he looks young."
"Ice King? Well, technically Finn, he goes by the name Ice Prince now." Prismo looked gravely serious. What's wrong with this world? "You see Finn, right after the Lich went through here and wished for the wipeout of all existence, you and Jake came."
"Prismo, I thought you said not to tell this Finn?" He felt a bit angry at Jake for keeping secrets, but he let it slide this time.
"To save everyone, you wished that the Lich never existed. As a result, a new universe was born."
Prismo's eyes seemed to bore into his own. Something is happening with his head, like some building blocks falling in lto right places. But still, it raised more questions than answers. "So a new universe, so what?"
"Oh Glob, this will take a longer time than I thought. Good thing time is in our hands, for now. Make yourself comfortable Finn, you're about to see the the universe you created; the humble farmworld tainted with evil in the end."
~~o~~
Yeah. This chapter is a bit of pain to write. I just can't seem to nail Finn's character and I fear that I made him OOC. Maybe I should focus on Sawyer instead? What are your thoughts?
Add the fact that I have to find the balance between directly copying lines from the fanfictions I borrowed from, and rehashing the scenes to fit the story. Man, I think I have a headache.
R&R guys!
=]
Oh yeah, I'm in need for a beta reader. English is not my mother tongue, dudes, and I'm typing on my Android device (the Kingsoft Office app). The app doesn't have any grammar checks or whatsoever. Just a faulty spell check.