I do not own Adventure Time. On with the freak show!
Warning, this chapter contains mindless violence. Not M-rated yet, but close.
Ok, I admit, don't let kiddies read this.
~~o~~
Chapter 20 - Everything Will Be Alright
"We've got to leave her, Angie! We have to!" Lindell was out of breath already as he and Angie tore through the panicked streets of Breakfast Kingdom. Everywhere he looked was utter madness and sheer violence. Alberg, a fellow student from the military academy tried to reach them only to become jumped on by a vicious green monster.
Monsters that should have just existed only in the stories their grandfathers tell.
"We'll die here, Lindell... We'll die here!"
"Shut up, I won't allow it!"
He pulled harder at her hand and pushed both of them forward faster, all in the hopes of stumbling somewhere safe to hide. Deep inside he knew, they are too deep into the throng of danger. It would have been a lot easier if the dead stays dead but some of the Breakfast people with more intact body parts stood up and joined the ranks of their enemies.
"Stop crying, Lindell! You're scaring me!"
Lindell wiped the tears from his eyes with his free hand, inadvertedly making his second mistake of the day. A hulking green monster, with half of its face gone, suddenly barreled through their path and sent him crashing through the ground. Lindell hurriedly scrambled away and managed to get a clear look at the perpetrator.
"Muscle Princess...?"
The said Princess just growled and grabbed Angie by the neck.
- A few hours earlier -
"Lindell! Get down here, your breakfast is getting cold!"
Lindell smoothed his crisp red uniform and looked himself in the mirror, hurriedly fixed his shaggy bacon hair, and dashed out of his bedroom and down the stairs. His mother had her thin arms in her slim waist, tapping in beat at the wooden floor with her right foot.
"You skipped your morning breakfast! I won't let you skip this one!"
Lindell embarrasedly ruffled his hair and quickly snatched a toast from the table. "Sorry Mom, I'm already late for my afternoon class...I'll eat this on the way."
"Hmph! It's because you've been out late with Meredith's daughter again! I swear that girl is a bad influence to you."
"Deena, our son is old enough to go partying! Let the young man have some fun." His father peeked through his newspaper and winked at him. The newspaper seemed to be sensationalizing about a Ceremony of Heroship that happened earlier that day in the Candy Kingdom.
"You're not helping right now, Fran. I swear if anything happ-"
"Gotta go now, Mom! Thanks, Dad!"
Lindell placed a hurried kiss on his mother's cheek and dashed out of their house, the three toasts on his left hand. He ate his afternoon breakfast as he sprinted through the streets towards Fastbreakers Military School. On the way, he came across his girlfriend Fenella. Her usual air of serenity and calmness during the day belie her outrageous and unchained party animalistics during the night. Lindell noticed her scarlet blazer was not buttoned properly, which made one side look longer than the other. Fenella's short skirt was also askew on the side, as if hurriedly put on.
"You look awful, Ella."
"Thanks. I appreciate your compliment." Ella let out a huge yawn and cupped her mouth too late. "What can I do? I can't skip Gardenia's pool party."
Lindell remembered the gigantic pool filled with full cream milk in which they swam and did some unspeakble things. He blushed at the thought. "I told you we can't keep partying every night... Me Mom's getting worried."
"I never forced you to come!"
"Are we really having this conversation right here in the street?"
Ella shook her head. "You could really use a joint right now. You're so uptight."
Lindell glared at her at the mention of the word 'joint'. "Don't ever bring that up again!"
For the next few minutes, they walked in silence. They were no longer in a hurry because it was already thirty minutes since the start of class. They were late again for the fourth time in a row. It was a good thing those were all different subjects.
"I can't think of an excuse for Ms. Lana."
"Me neither, Dell."
They opened the door of their classroom and was greeted by semi-darkness. Several faces looked at their direction. Some smiled, while others scoffed. Ms. Lana motioned for them to take a seat which they complied.
Out of the gloom, Marty, a fellow classmate, poked at him. "Hey Lindell! How could you miss movie day for our history class? Ms. Lana would be disappointed at you."
"I know... What's the movie anyway?"
"On The Shore."
He frowned, knowing full well what is that movie. He watched it with his ex-girlfriend a year ago in the cinema at Candy Kingdom. He shifted in his seat and caught Ella's attention. "Hey, the movie is On The Shore. Jot that down."
Ms. Lana muttered 'silence' which Lindell obeyed. He focused instead at the projected movie on the board in front. It seemed to be in its last few moments, being quite a short of a film. Apparently, it was a found footage from somewhere the old continent of Australia was once where around 1000 years ago.
"Kent, I don't think I'll last long enough to see the sunset..." The shaky camera work of the protagonist, or Kent, greeted his eyes in an annoying way. He couldn't get a proper look at the humans. "I can feel it, Kent. I'm sorry..."
"C'mon, Honey, don't say that! Stay strong, don't sleep yet..." The sandy-haired woman coughed hard and spat out copious amounts of blood and flesh bits. Someone from the class uttered an audible groan.
"Dad? Why does Mommy can't sleep? I thought sick people need sleep?" A small human girl spoke from somewhere to the left. Kent did not focused the camera at his daughter but he answered the question.
"Mommy needs to see the sunset, darling. That's why. Now go wake up your little brother, for me okay?"
"Alright, Daddy!"
Kent panned the video recorder at the sea and shot nothing but greenish-gray skies and still waters. "Look, Honey, the sunset! Isn't it beautiful? Haha!"
"Kent... Kent... promise me... don't let our kids suffer. I love...you." Kent hurriedly refocused the recorder at his wife, further blurring the video momentarily. For a whole minute, the only thing that could be seen was the sick face of the woman and her blankly staring eyes. Then, he reached a hand and closed them. That's where the resolve of the protagonist broke, evident in his hands that started to shook uncontrollably.
"Dad, Austin won't wake up. I don't think he's breathing either..."
"Shh... don't worry, darling. Your brother's probably just too tired. He's sleeping like your Mom too. Look."
"Okay. Why are we at the beach anyway? It's cold in here. I wanna go home."
"We have to see the sunset! Just wait and see. It will be beautiful, I promise ya."
Kent focused the recorder at his daughter this time, revealing a shrunk down version of his wife, except for the eyes. The little brown orbs looked positively better on her sandy hair. She too looked sickly and thin though. At the backdrop was a cacophony of dead trees and shrubs, which offered haunting visuals to the already disturbing scene.
"What are we going to do to past the time though?"
"Remember Mr. Petrikov? Olivia?"
"Of course! I love his classic stories, and he's the one who stopped the World War III!"
"Yes, yes, that's what the history books tell but I bet you haven't heard his story 'In The Wrong Hands'?"
The girl, Olivia, shook her head and smiled sadly at the camera. "Isn't that the story you've been telling nonstop every night, Dad?"
A long bout of silence ensued, then Kent burst into a half-cry half-laugh hysterics. The video recorder drooped and pointed instead on the sandy shore. It was really a morose scene, although a tad bit boring.
"Dad...I don't think we'll be able to see the sunset. It's already getting dark and cold."
Kent pointed the recorder at the darkened sea again, proving what her daughter said. "Come here then, Olivia. Let your old man warm you up."
Olivia scooted closer to her Dad and shared a hug, her back against the sea. "Hey, Austin's hands are shaking...I think he's really really really sick."
"Shh...darling. Focus on me. Focus on your Daddy." Kent placed the recorder on the ground, offering an unobstructed view of the whole family. Kent seemed to be a man long past his breaking point.
"Dad...I can't breathe. You're hugging to tight..."
"Hush, hush, darling... Everything will be alright. Everything will be alright..."
Lindell forced himself to watch as the father slowly killed his daughter by oxygen deprivation. He kept watching even as the small girl thrashed and emitted weak squeaks, while most of his classmates looked away in terror.
At last, after a few more agonizing moments, Olivia stopped struggling. Most likely she was dead if the loud crack that came from her neck was an indication. Kent howled in grief and shouted incomprehensible string of words.
"The radiation...I was a fool to think... it would never reach us. I'm a fool... a murderous fool. I shouldn't...have forced her to bring children to this world."
The monotonous monologue of the protagonist always unnerved Lindell. Something about speaking with no one can get really creepy. He stole a glance at Ella, who was already blue in the face.
Kent exploded into a series of violent coughs, blood dribbled down his chin. "A promise... a promise."
Suddenly, his wife sat upright and emitted a low growl. Copious amounts of green liquid flowed out of her eyes, nose, and mouth. The woman stood and hurled herself at his husband who was too stunned to act in time, costing him his ear as his wife bit off the organ.
Out of his jacket, Kent pulled a Pre-Mushroom War revolver and shot his wife square in the face, shattering her skull and sending bloody pulps on the sand. What seemed to be a part of the skull landed near the video recorder. Lindell hear one his classmates vomit.
"I'm sorry, Jamie...I'm so sorry..." Kent knelt down near the corpse of his once beautiful wife, now just a pile of disgusting and disease-laden flesh and bones. He stood up and shot his already dead daughter in the head nonchalantly, as if mustering all the courage to do what his wife requested him.
Spare them the terrible fate of turning into those things.
In a blink-and-miss event, Kent's son toppled him over from behind and bit the small of his back, tearing through the small fabric of his jacket. It wasn't enough to break skin though. In another series of disturbing struggle, the father managed to get a firm hold on the neck of his son and shot him on his right temple. The actual damaged it caused was thankfully obstructed from the view of the recorder.
Here comes the longest scene of the movie.
For whole five minutes, Kent sat on the sand and rocked back and forth. "Everything will be alright. Everything..."
He stared intently at the gun on Kent's hand, knowing full well what would happen for the next few seconds. Lindell willed himself not to blink as the father inserted the muzzle inside his mouth and pulled the trigger, all in one solid and decisive motion. The ending credits rolled right after, accompanied by sudden burst of chattering among his classmates.
"Humans are sick creatures..."
"...I think they deserved that fate."
"They really are inferior species..."
"...What about that hero in Candy Kingdom?"
"I say he's just the same!"
"No way! Sawyer is waaaay cool!"
Lindell ignored most of the babble except the bit about that human hero in their neigboring kingdom, the Candy Kingdom. A hero, huh? I've been spending years studying how to become a hero in this school and some human dude became one overnight. That's fair.
"Dell! Dell! Hey! Are you listening?" Ella smacked the side of his head to get his attention, which she succeeded in.
"What?" The short end credits finished and light was restored to the room. Ella did not replied faster as Ms. Lana dictated an essay assignment. Audible groans rang across the room. After few more pointers, the teacher left without another word.
"Weapons Training is next... I don't think I'm up to that class right now. Wanna cut-class? I've been itching to try that newly opened coffee shop a few blocks from here."
"Sorry, Ella, I can't. I've already missed two meetings for that class."
Ella looked at him incredulously and without breaking eye contact, stood up and stormed out of the classroom. Lindell just shrugged and bid Marty goodbye, who had a different class next. Along the hallway of the school, he passed by Angie who waved shyly at him. Lindell returned the wave and beckoned her to come closer.
"Hi...Lindell."
"Hello, Angie! You seem happy? What's up?" The bespectacled girl just looked down at her feet and muttered something inaudible. "Come again? I didn't quite heard you."
"Nothing...I said I'm just...happy to see you."
"Oh. Okay... I'm happy to see you too. So, what's your next class?"
"Weapons Training 303. How about you?"
"Same, c'mon let's go to class together." They went up the stairs side by side and reached the farthest door to the right which housed the gym, which also doubles as Weapons Training room if the real one was occupied. They were immediately greeted by Shawn and Axel, fraternal twins who were always top of the class and always tried to outdo each other.
Axel, the one with spiky pasta for hair, did a high five with Lindell while Shawn, the one with free-flowing pasta for hair and slightly fairer skin, only nod at him. The two were a nice bunch if one could look past their seemingly intimidating looks. The ever hated perfectionists...
"Wassup, dude? Hey Angie!" Angie just smiled shyly in response to Axel. "Ready for the practical exam today bruh?"
"Practical exam?" Lindell was mildly shocked.
Shawn laughed airily at him. "Flippin' heck, he forgot, 'Xel. Lindell forgot."
Suddenly, a loud whistle filled the whole gym, signifying the start of the exam. Mr. Figaro, their teacher, tapped something on his lapel and then his voice was magnified. "Ok, everyone each of you get practice knives on the rack over there. We'll start with Melee Combat exam first."
Lindell gulped. He's feeling not so good, and he's still also sleepy. Add to that the effects of mild hangover. He was not really sure how he will fare, not that he was exceptionally good to start with. Sighing, he let his eyes wander to the large windows that lined the sides of the gym, which let in the bright lights of the afternoon, and most of the heat. Then he saw something far off in the distance. At first it was a pair of black and yellow dots, until the dots became closer and Lindell had a better look.
It was a flying woman with some kind of large yellow cape with a dog's face.
"What the...?"
Lindell furiously rubbed his eyes and looked again, this time, some of his classmates saw the peculiar sight too and excitedly crowded close to the windows. Angie looked at him questioningly, but slowly went nearer the window too.
"What now? A flying woman and some stretchy dog got these morons excited?" Shawn laughed airily again and played expertly with the practice knives in his hands.
"You gotta admit, that's something you don't get to see everyday bruh." Axel interjected and shrugged.
"I agree with-"
In his peripheral vision, something frightening appeared that halted him midsentence. In the horizon, what seemed to be a whole mountain with a pair of rocky wings flew menacingly. It certainly hushed everyone as every flap of its mighty wings sent some shockwaves on the ground, which was certainly something considering they were already at the seventh floor. He was shook out of his trance as his phone vibrated inside his pocket. As he picked up the call, Lindell noticed a lot of his classmates were on their phones too.
"Hello, Mom?"
"Lindell! Oh Glob...Oh Glob...why are you out of reach earlier? You need to get back home right now! Haven't you heard the news? Fruit Kingdom and Muscle Kin-" Suddenly, the line went out. Again, a lot of his classmates lost signals too.
"Oh my Groddy Glob..." Burly Mr. Figaro's cracked voice was enough to convince him trouble was about to happen. He looked back at the window at got a closer look at the looming flying mountain, that was until he realized it wasn't really a mountain but a dragon with one green and lifeless eye, the other was destroyed beyond use. It was now close to the edge of the Breakfast Kingdom, and seemed to be ready to make a touchdown.
Many students screamed while others scrambled to go out of the gym. The sudden break of chaos was enough for Lindell to lose sight on Angie, who was immediately swept away by the crowd. Around them, numerous huge explosions followed by furious roars across the kingdom dampened other sounds. The ground violently shook, signaling the touchdown of the colossal beast.
"Lindell! Over here!" He whipped around and saw Angie shielded by Shawn and Axel against the stampeding students. Mr. Figaro was nowhere to be found.
He waddled closer to the group and was relieved that most of the students were already out of the classroom. It did revealed their teacher's whereabouts, slumped on the wall next to the door with his left leg stuck at odd angle.
"Kids... I think I need some help here." One of their classmates, which Lindell only knows by the name Hansel, decided to knelt closer to the fallen faculty member.
"Sir, what should we do now?" They were now the only people left in the gym. He needs to know what to do next.
The teacher groaned in pain, forcing himself to stand up. His ham handlebar moustache was glistening with sweat. "I guess our evacuation drills could be thrown out of the question now, huh? We need to get you home...and...I really don't know."
Shawn's eyes were always sharper than anybody, and it was him who noticed the next anomaly that they were facing. "That dragon...look!"
All of them except,Mr. Figaro and Angie, strode closer to the windows and marveled at the ensuing chaos on the kingdom below. Almost half of the whole kingdom was flattened to the ground by the mere touchdown of the dragon, numerous soldiers were already trying to control the situation but as far as they could see, it was a hopeless scenario.
"What are those holes? And that green stuff?" Shawn pointed at the dragon eagerly, thoroughly fascinated at the sight.
"Bruh! Those aren't just holes! Look, people are coming out of them!" Axel was right, Lindell trained his eyes on the beast and he found the people pouring out of the holes, but from their distance, they only look like ants.
Hansel, the one with a string of biscuits for hair, snapped his fingers together. "Whatever, man. We need to get out of here."
They all agreed and hurriedly went back to their other companions. Hansel hoisted Mr. Figaro's one arm over his shoulders to help him stand. The group made a slow trip through the school's hallways, passing by numerous empty classrooms. By the time they were out into the school grounds, the smoke from the horizon was already nearer to their location. What it meant could simply indicate that the dragon was winning, for what purpose, he dared not to think. Numerous crowd of agitated Breakfast people were running around the streets, the newly opened cafe in particular was nearly devastated by the rampaging customers.
"Dang it! Fenella! I totally forgot about her!" Without another word, Lindell broke into a run and covered the distance between the school and the coffee shop quickly. Axel and Shawn were fast on his heels, much to his surprise. "Dude, you left Angie and the others?"
"Bruh, there's no way we would let you go on this alone."
"Thanks...Glob, there're too many peepz in here... I can't see her." They stood outside of the coffee shop, waiting before the final throng of people were finally outside the establishment. A loud explosion followed by another powerful tremor nearly toppled the three, they could already hear the screams of people and sounds of fighting. "We've got to hurry...I'm really worried for me Mom and Dad."
"Blimey...us too! But Lindell...are you sure Ella is here?" Shawn ruffled his hair, apparently struggling to maintain his cool.
"It's dangerous outside bruh, we need to be quick. Let's storm the place!" Axel swiftly strode and went inside the coffee shop, easily entering because of the door that was left ajar. He and Shawn followed suit.
Inside, Lindell threaded carefully because of the various debris that littered the floor, fearing he might get injured by spiked shards of shattered glass. Some tables were reduced to splinters, as well as some chairs. "Ella? Are you here? It's me, Lindell!
At the corner of his eye, he saw a blurred movement and heard a resounding thump from the door behind the service counter, probably a kitchen of sorts. Shawn crept quickly and crouched behind the counter, motioning them to do the same. He peeked over and Lindell saw his eyes widen in apparent shock.
"What did you see?" He whispered agitatedly, but took a peek himself and immediately became bewildered at what he was seeing. A man dressed in soiled business attire was repeatedly banging on the kitchen door. His white sleeves were drenched in blood, the yellow stuff curiously mixed with green and thick slimish ooze. The man was emitting a low groan, apparently un aware of their presence.
"Is he drunk?"
"Axel...this is a coffee shop, not a bar!"
"Stop bickering!" He was racking his brain for something to do. Deciding that there was no other way, he directly talked at the weird man. "Hey, Mister! Do you need help?"
The man stopped banging at the door and slowly turned to face them, at which they all gasped. His eyes were sunken back into his head as more green ooze were pouring out of the sockets. The man's mouth was left hanging, with copious amounts of drool and more green ooze flow down like crazy. He growled at them like a rabid animal.
"What the actual..."
Then the man lunged at them, scurrying over the counter with surprising agility that they barely had time to back away. He spoke more to calm the man. "Easy dude! What the heck is wrong with you?"
"Remember the people pouring out of that dragon? I could swear this man have some resemblance to them."
"But bruh..."
"Fenella! Can you hear me? Are you there?"
At first Lindell couldn't hear her clearly, but another weak shout rang. "I'm here, Dell! Ow ow ow ow... Thank Glob you came! Watch out for-"
Too late, the loud voices spurred the man into action and leap at Shawn who was closest to him. Shawn expertly evaded, swerving behind his enemy and kicked him hard, sending him down to the wooden floor. Axel immediately picked up a nearby intact wooden chair and pinned down the man with it.
"Get Ella out of the kitchen, we can take it from here!"
He nodded and quickly mantled over the counter and kicked down the door, opening it in one fell swoop. Inside, he was greeted with a well-lit mess kitchen. Lindell immediately found Fenella sitting on the floor propped against the refrigerator, numerous wounds covering her arms.
"Are you alright babe?"
"He bit me... he bit me... I feel hot, Lindell. I feel like I'm about to burst in flames..."
He reached for hands and inspected the wounds. They were shallow but deep enough to draw blood. The puncture wounds looked like bite marks alright. Her usually bright yellow complexion was duller than what's healthy for Breakfast people.
"Let's get out of here. You can tell me more on the road." He hoisted Ella on his back and carefully carried her.
"He bit them... he bit a lot of people. There was a struggle... I don't get it! He looked normal when he walked inside the shop...said he got bit on the way here..." The Ella broke down into disoriented cries.
"Hush...we'll get you to a hospital. Don't worry."
Outside the mess kitchen, he spotted the twins beating furiously on the unmoving man. He made no motion to protect himself from the incoming chairs the two were using on him.
"What the heck are you doing dude?"
"That bastard grabbed me and off my finger bruh! Look!" Axel furiously glared at him and raised his right hand, his index finger completely torn off. Axel wasn't even flinching in pain from. He resumed bashing the man until he got a solid aim and punched through the eye socket with the chair's leg. "Damn you!"
"Blimmin' blues...you killed him!"
"I don't care bruh!"
Shawn threw away the wooden armchair and wiped off sweat from his forehead, his flowing hair tousled. "C'mon, let's get out of here! Is she okay?"
"She have shallow bite wounds on his arms, but she seemed fine. Just passed out, I can feel her breathing but I think we need to see a doctor. And I need to check up on Mom and Dad, they're quite close to that...huge thing."
"C'mon."
Outside, numerous people were milling about, probably unsure on what was happening. Others were running away from the general direction of the crash site. Lindell noticed some where bloodied. They saw Angie, Mr. Figaro, and Hansel waiting with one more unfamiliar girl. When they got close, Angie looked relieved.
"Mr. Evans...what happened to your hand?"
"Some crazy bum bit off my finger, Sir Fig." Lindell noticed Axel becoming tense, sweat dribbling from his chin. "Nothing I can't handle."
"Where to now?" Hansel seemed like the type that needs others to decide for him, as far as Lindell knew.
Shawn, ever keen on detail, addressed the new face. "Who are you, Miss?"
"I'm Hamma...Angie's classmate in Organic Chemistry." Lindell thought she was really cute, and he wished they had met on a more desirable circumstance. He shifted his weight to his left foot, feeling a cramp on his right forming slowly. He caught a glimpse of the peak of the mountainous back of the dragon looming on the horizon. It's coming closer still.
"We need to move, guys. Where are you all going? Me and Axel kinda want to check up on our Mom...so..."
Lindell quickly replied to Shawn's inquisition. "I need to take Ella to the hospital. She looked really torn up."
Hansel instantly sported a look of alarm. "Are you saying we'll have to split up?"
"You can come with us...Mr. Figaro would probably want to have someone check up on his leg."
"It's settled then! I'm going with you Lindell!" Angie hurriedly piped up. "...and look! There's an ambulance speeding down the street!"
He traced where Angie was pointing and saw a red and white ambulance indeed speeding down the street. Suffice to say it was overspeeding. Numerous people scramble away to steer clear off the road. Hansel immediately waved his free hand to get the driver's attention. Lindell felt something wrong happening, but realized it a moment too late.
"OUT OF THE ROAD! Ge'off the ro-" Lindell grabbed Angie's hand and pulled her away just in time and landed hard on the pavement sidewalk face-first, luckily preventing any harm happen upon Angie and Ella. He cannot say the same for Hansel and Mr. Figaro though.
"Oh my Glob...!" Angie burried her face on his chest because of fear.
Hansel's head was squashed like a pumpkin, his brain scattered along the road in a bloody trail. Tire marks decorated his battered body. Mr. Figaro was even worse. His head was nowhere in sight., assumingly carried far by the ambulance. His torso was split roughly in half, spilling the contents of his stomach. Lindell was totally stunned by the sudden turn of events.
"Grod...Grod...he seemed to be a nice kid...Oh Grod, Mr. Figaro..." Lindell was glad enough to see Axel, Shawn, and Hamma unharmed, having managed to jump away just in time. He steered his vision towards the ambulance, which was now swerving dangerously on the road before crashing to a nearby boutique. The sirens kept blaring, deafening out much of the noise of the gathering crowd.
"Angie, are you alright?" His friend was visibly shaking, her glasses askew. "Hey?"
"I'm fine...but Mr. Fig and Hansel...Oh Grod!"
Lindell shook his head and turned his attention to Ella, who was still clinging clumsily to his neck. She doesn't seem to be breathing. He set her down on the ground and lightly tapped her cheek. "Ella? Hey Ella? C'mon wake up! Ella!"
Fenella won't budge, not even opened her eyes. A large volume of greenish drool was forming around her lips. It scared him as much as the Nightosphere. He was about to slap Ella when she suddenly opened her mouth and sucked air like a fish out of the ocean. When she opened her eyes, Lindell almost screamed.
"Angie, run!"
Those eyes...those blank eyes...no...Ella ...no... It's just like On The Shore! But those were humans!
He desperately pinned down Ella as she tried to bite him in the face. Lindell couldn't scream as he held her close, swearing he won't ever let her go. He heard footsteps behind him, panicked screams around them, and various noises of war. A battle fought and lost. Just what is happening? What is this madness?
"Lindell! Kill her! We have no choice!"
"I can't... There must be some mistake!"
One bloody stranger spoke up to him, apparently fearful of the current developments. "Kill her, kid, or we would. I swear to Grod, I would. Those sons'a breaches took my wife!"
"Dang straight, kiddo! Haven't you watched pre-war zombie films?"
"What..?" It only took a moment of distraction for someone to spear Ella straight in the face with a pitchfork, puncturing both of her eye. He looked up in shock at the person who did it, only to realize it was Shawn, his eyes steeled as he raised the pitchfork. The eyeballs came free, dripping blood from the prongs like grapes on a fork.
"What the bleeping doodles have you done? Why, Shawn? Why?!"
"Get a grip, Lindell! I know what's a happening, that man is right, it's like in the movies! This is a zom-"
A piercing scream snapped them from their heated discourse, as all heads turned to the direction of the scream. There they found Axel viciously ripping apart a little Breakfast kid like wet paper with his bare hands. The mother hysterically kicking Axel in the head, only for her to get bitten in the process.
That's the point where Lindell learned how hard Shawn can be, raising his pitchfork spearing his own twin brother straight in the back of the head and thrusting it down on the ground. He repeatedly thrust in and out, anger flashing on his steeled eyes. Shawn then turned his attention at the mother who was thanking him, but the boy speared her in the neck just the same. The crowd gasped in surprise, some ran away in fear, while others just looked away.
"What the junk, Shawn?"
His friend ignored him as he unceremoniously handed the pitchfork back at the person who probably owned it. The mishappened man refused to take it back. Shawn was about to strode closer to them when he suddenly knelt down and buried his face in his hands, howling in agony.
Lindell sat there, for how long, he wasn't sure. The crowd was dispersing, somehow going in the opposite direction of the disaster. Some were talking about an evacuation, others were talking about rescue forces from allied kingdoms.
"Lindell? We need to go...it ain't safe here." Angie tugged at the sleeves of his uniform.
"Nowhere's safe."
"We need to check up on our parents..."
"Oh Grod...Mom and Dad!" He stood up in alarm, realizing he cannot leave behind Ella's lifeless body.
"Go, Lindell. I'll take it from here."
"Don't you need to check up on your parents too?"
"No...a message got through."
"What message?"
Shawn held up his phone. "Stay where you are."
The next moments were a blur, he was practically plowing through the streets and noticed that as he neared his home, fewer and fewer people were milling about. Sooner, a military blockade impeded him from progressing. Angie took a moment to catch her breath. Lindell took note of the two soldiers guarding the blockade. They were wearing the standard white uniform with yellow stripes indicating their rank. They both held broadswords.
"...Nah, man. Wizard City won't help us. Last status report was about them raising their Dome of Sentinels. Not even that dragon could pry that open."
"That sucks... they're the closest armed settlement and yet they won't help us?"
"You know those bunch... Wizards only, fools!" The two grunts exchanged a disheartened laugh.
"They've been way too uptight, especially when they struck a partnership with that Lemongrab..."
"Son's a breaches."
Lindell tapped one of the soldier to get his attention. "Excuse me, Sir? Can we pass through? I need to check up on Mom and Dad."
"What the flippin' steaks are you doing here kid? Haven't you heard of the evacuation?"
"I kinda heard but..."
"Sorry dude, we can't let anyone through. Beyond here is Ground Zero. Too dangerous."
Lindell was close to tears from that information. His house was just at the end of the street, clearly visible and yet he cannot get there. He checked his phone and got frustrated for the lack of signal.
"Look, I'll just be quick!"
"No, dude. Look, we have our families beyond here too and we can't check up on 'em too."
Lindell frowned, slowly forming a plan inside his head. Just when he was about to further convince the two, a loud roar followed by thundering footsteps rocked the whole street.
"Draggy's on the move again...looks like Charlie team failed too huh?"
"Yeah-"
Lindell took their moments of distraction to snatch away the broadsword from the nearest soldier and stab him in the foot. He held Angie's hand, becoming surprised that she's with Hamma. He mentally smacked himself, for the extra load.
"Whatevs!" They mantled over the concrete barrier and disregarded the yells of the soldiers to get back. Speeding down the street, they finally caught glimpse of the dragon's head in the distance. The destruction was indeed massive, and numerous bodies lay prone on the battlefield. It was like a meteor crashed down and made a huge crater.
"Lindell...our homes!"
"What the...?"
Their house, or what's left of those, only stood by the foundations of the front porch. The rest of the structures were crushed underneath a humongous boulder that apparently came from the mountain dragon. Greenish substance leaked from the several holes that adorned the object. The smell was incredibly a pungent, sweetish-rottish odor.
"Mom...Dad...Grod, no..." Angie reached behind him and hugged him tightly, softly crying as they both realize what happened to their parents.
Hamma just stood near them, probably quite unsure what to say to the two of them. Lives lost in a senseless and brutal manner. Lindell just wished they did not suffered before death. He mentally prayed to Grod that it was a swift and painless death.
A low groan signaled him it wasn't the case. It was coming underneath the nearest rubble a few paces from them. There were three figures slowly creeping out of the ruins. Three legless creatures dripping with the same sticky green substance presented themselves.
Until he realized those were his parents and Angie's mother. All of them possessed the same blankly staring eyes, even the same mutilation of their bodies from the waist down. He couldn't curse enough. Nothing could have prepared him for this. Nothing.
"I thought Princess Bubblegum said only humans get to become toxic creatures?! She lied! Why is this happening? We're supposed to be immune!" Hamma looked lost and shocked. Lindell wished for her to shut up.
"I...need to put them to rest... I have to!" He closed his eyes to muster the courage to do what he said. Lindell gripped the handle of the broadsword firmly, recalling his trainings on how to properly use a sword.
They never prepared me to murder my own parents though.
"No! No! Let's just leave them be! There might be a cure, Lindell!" Angie pleaded with her big teary eyes, momentarily causing him distraction. "Hamma, duck down!"
The girl's eyes widened, but managed to duck down and evade his sword strike, which cleanly cleaved the head of another monster coming from behind them. Lindell's heart dropped as he saw the multitude of monsters running at their direction, their feet furiously pounding on the street. He recognized some as his own neighbors, despite of the green drool soiling their features. The military barricade from where they came from was no longer visible.
"Run! Run! Run!"
The three of them broke into a run towards the opposite direction, only to see much more monsters of way more severe mutations swiftly sweeping across the kingdom. Some of the people went outside of their houses, surprising Lindell that there were still more civilians in their street.
A loud shriek snapped Lindell to his sense, whipping back to see the source only to lay his eyes upon the vicious mauling of Hamma by numerous monsters, ripping open her abdomen as if searching for something inside. Angie screamed and screamed, nearly drowning out Hamma's own panicked screeching. One of the monsters pulled at her carefully braided french toast hair, prying open her scalp. He barely caught up his breath but he started to run again.
"We've got to leave her, Angie! We have to!" Lindell was out of breath already as he and Angie tore through the panicked streets of Breakfast Kingdom. Everywhere he looked was utter madness and sheer violence. Alberg, a fellow student from the military academy tried to reach them only to become jumped on by a vicious green monster.
Monsters that should have just existed only in the stories their grandfathers tell.
"We'll die here, Lindell... We'll die here!"
"Shut up, I won't allow it!"
He pulled harder at her hand and pushed both of them forward faster, all in the hopes of stumbling somewhere safe to hide. Deep inside he knew, they are too deep into the throng of danger. It would have been a lot easier if the dead stays dead but some of the Breakfast people with more intact body parts stood up and joined the ranks of their enemies.
"Stop crying, Lindell! You're scaring me!"
Lindell wiped the tears from his eyes with his free hand, inadvertedly making his second mistake of the day. A hulking green monster, with half of its face gone, suddenly barreled through their path and sent him crashing through the ground. Lindell hurriedly scrambled away and managed to get a clear look at the perpetrator.
"Muscle Princess...?"
The said Princess just growled and grabbed Angie by the neck.
He immediately sprang into action and hurriedly pierced the Princess' biceps, spilling blood and more green stuff down the ground. The attack was enough to save Angie though. Lindell forced her to stand up and run away while the hulking monster just thrashed around in search of them.
"C'mon! There's no way I could kill that huge thing! Please, Angie! Hurry!" He grabbed her hand and pulled harder, further spurting her to run faster. He was getting really dizzy, and he felt really hot too. It was like a severe fever.
"Lindell...I'm tired..."
"Please, just be-!"
A red blur zoomed past him, followed by the same flying woman with a yellow cape made of a stretchy bulldog. Lindell stopped and turned back. He saw the woman ferociously hacked and slashed away at the former Breakfast people with fierce preciseness and battle-worthy movements.
"Marceline! I think I'm getting sick... We need to get out of here! I don't know how long I could cover you up, Marcy! Get some umbrella, yo!"
"You're right... I just can't get rid of the nagging feeling that I'm the cause of the downfall of these three kingdoms..."
Lindell reeled at what the woman said, it was even stranger than the peculiar weapon she wield, some cross between an axe and a stringed instrument. "What's going on here...who are these two?"
Suddenly, the two took off in a blur, leaving behind a mass of chopped up monsters. "C'mon, Angie..."
He felt behind for Angie's hand, but groped nothing but thin air. Lindell turned around and saw five formerly Fruit people mercilessly pinning down Angie on the ground. He was about to rush to her aid when an ethereal voice spoke within him.
Your mind is strong, child. Strong enough to resist, but weak enough to bend to my will.
You shunned away my essence seeping through your veins.
But not for long.
You see, my child, you piqued my interest.
Your strong mind can do us wonders. You can lead my army. Your army. A hero as you should have been.
You wanted the suffering to end, you want your family back, and you want your life back.
Then join me in wiping all existence, and you shall receive the just reward you deserved.
"...and everything will be alright."
Lindell touched the bite wound on his neck, cleverly covered by the collar of his uniform. It was a bite from the lady she loved. It was a parting gift.
"Everything will be alright."
He looked down at the struggling woman he can barely remember who. She was still struggling like a lowly prey.
"Lindell! Help me! Please! I beg you!"
"Shh...Everything will be alright." Lindell raised the broadsword over his head, the dim dusk light gleaming in the blade.
The woman died with a sword impaled on her throat, pinning her indefinitely on the ground.
~~o~~
Finn can't focus on the television, what with him drifting in and out of sleep. From what he could understand, a huge winged bull with a dragonic head flattened three whole kingdoms in one whole afternoon, and released a deluge of toxic creatures. He wasn't sure if the news was just a figment of his muddled brain or an actual catastrophe. He stole a glance at the Ice Prince was admiring his Imatari with genuine interest.
"Did you made this?"
"Of course not, man. I bought it from Choose Goose."
"Oh, Choose Bruce. He surely always have fancy merchandise to offer..."
"I said Choose Goose."
The Prince just shrugged and looked away, carefully setting back down the Imatari on the table next to his Demon Blood Sword. The creaking sounds coming from his golden mechanical arm gets a while to be used to. It was sure annoying to hear so often. Finn certainly had an urge to get his hands on some grease and fix his noisy appendage.
"Where were your dog companion, human?"
"Dude, you don't look so immortal to me right now. Are you sure you aren't human again?"
The monarch just smiled bitterly and looked away again. "Sadly, I can't be fully human again, or else I risk turning into dust. I'm a lot older than I look, which I'm sure you're aware of."
Finn nodded. "...and that's butternuts."
"Why do you know so much about me anyway? Who are you really, Finn?"
"Uhhh...someone kinda made me promise not to tell anyone about who I am...but...let's just say that this world is not my home."
Ice Prince momentarily closed his eyes. "Flanna says you're telling the truth...not the whole truth though. Ah...it doesn't matter."
"Sorry, Finn...I just can't spill the beans, man."
Ice Prince laughed a bit and stared into his mechanical arm. "I still feel weird knowing we resemble each other and share the same first name. You should probably call me Mertens instead."
Finn nodded and noticed Mertens was slowly dropping his guard of almighty-immortal-ancient-wizard persona for a more approachable attitude. It was like the violent events of that afternoon between them were slowly being forgotten. To tell the truth, Finn couldn't see what was so Multiverse-threatening with the Prince. Aside from his power to control ice, which Ice King can do too, he can also manipulate time-space junk. Prismo probably pertains to that power, but from what he saw before, it wasn't really anything to write home about. He seemed more mild-mannered now, and even a relateable person too.
And who thought it would be quite easy to befriend yourself, huh?
~~o~~
Vera deeply inhaled in her cup of tea, calming her enough to induce drowsiness. The two boys were mulling about in her living room as she spent a solitary evening drink in the kitchen. She eyed the two who were seemed to be enjoying each other's company like they were siblings. It wasn't enough to quell her discomfort though.
She was still worried for what was going to happen tomorrow, the start of her regular "training" session with Sawyer under Joshua the Dog. She will definitely run the risk of being prematurely exposed to Princess Bubblegum, of course.
But it's where you want to be.
She need to somehow bring Sawyer to her side by any means possible, and persuasion is the best option. Subtle seduction is the viable notion. Vera will be playing with her strongest suit, while hopefully striking on Sawyer's weakest point.
Heh, the look on Bubblegum's face when she find out her strongest knight was reduced as my pawn - it would be priceless.
I hate you for what you are.
Vera took out the set of nine Tarot cards she stashed inside her breast pocket. Sawyer, Ice Prince, and Finn - three cards each, which represents their predicted past, present, and future.
"Sawyer, who willingly picked three." She evenly spread the boy's cards on the table, Judgment, Queen of Cups, and Ten of Swords. "Heh, the card of giving up. It seems like his future is uncertain as he can be. Will he move on or give up?"
"Ice Prince, who's fate was entwined with Finn, had his cards picked by fate itself."
The next set of cards seemed to possess the most positive reading yet. The past card was the Ten of Cups, which signified the Ice Prince's early life, of emotional fulfilment, a happy home, and perhaps, country living. The simple farm life of the old. His present card was The High Priestess, which signified his subconscious, the unseen, his secrets, and the feminine side. All directly pointed to this "Flanna" he always babbled about. The future card was the Wheel of Fortune, which more or less ensures a bright future for the Prince. Drastic changes await the old wizard, changes for the better.
"Finn, who's fate was entwined with Ice Prince, had his cards picked by fate itself."
Vera grimaced at the bitter aftertaste the boy's card spread left on her tongue. He had the worst draw of cards among the three of them, the short end of the stick. King of Swords, Seven of Wands, and The Devil.
Who are you working for, Finn? Who is your King of Swords? Seven of Wands, the steadfast bravery against insurmountable opposition...The Devil, the card of indulgence, stagnation, and...self-destruction. Why? What lies ahead of you?
Vera took a sip of her tea, which she spat out quickly. "I hate cold tea."
~~o~~
Sawyer couldn't sleep. His head was buzzing with activity, never letting his mind rest for a minute. He spent the one good hour thrashing about in his bed, clearly not sleepy or tired enough to go to dreamland yet. It really baffled him to no ends.
"It was a tiring day! What the hell? Why do I feel so...energized?"
There was also this slight itch on the back of his left hand, and navel. He resisted the urge to scratch the itch, fearing they might worsen and make his training the next day harder than it should be.
"That's it. No sleep for me tonight."
He was really glad that he would finally receive some formal training at last, indefinitely postponing his trip to Wizard City. He was not really keen to meet Lemongrab unprepared.
"Oh well...wish I have a T.V. in my room..."
He layed his eyes upon the Enchiridion carefully perched on his bedside table, which piqued his interest. Sawyer sat upright and reached for the heavy tome, carefully leafing through the preliminary pages while flicking the switch for the night lamp. He was clearly twenty pages through the book when he scratched his head in realization that the whole book does not contain any texts at all.
"Just what is this book...? Is this a joke?"
His eyes widen in awe as words, illustrations, and whole paragraphs slowly scribbled itself on the previously empty pages, all pertaining to the nature of the book in Sawyer's hands.
The Enchiridion, the Hero's Handbook, the Adventurer's Guide to the Multiverse, the Tome of Collected Knowledge, the Sojourner's Chronicle, the Guiding Torch's Safekeep, and the Multiverse' Omnibus - few of the most common names and titles this artifact possess, among three million and seven hundred forty-two others across the other universe in which it exists.
As the names suggest, the Enchiridion is a compilation of everything, every event, every information accumulated through the different cycles of the Multiverse's rebirth. Simply put that it contains within its confinements everything you need and want to know.
The front cover houses various powerful secrets of instant transportation, powerful enough to make the Enchiridion among the very few artifacts that could send the holder to the coveted Citadel of Truth.
The Enchiridion can never be fully destroyed by any means known up until the current cycle. It will simply rematerialize near the current safekeeper provided that the safekeeper is still worthy of using it.
"This is cool...!" Sawyer can't help but be overwhelmed bh the sudden influx of information from the book. What is the Citadel of Truth? Who is this Sojourner? Guiding Torch? What do I even want to know anyway?
The Enchirdion was already filling itself with the answers he was subconsciously vying for, Ooo's greatest threat. A huge illustration of a skeletal being with a long shapeless cloak took up a whole page, its sinister eyeless sockets were burning with green flames which nearly rivaled its two horns in height. There was a human standing near the being, clearly dwarfed in comparison to the humongous skeleton beside him. They share the same burning eyes though. Underneath the illustration, the book scribbled what seemed to be hurriedly written words.
"The Lich...and the Echo.
~~o~~
Thanks for the reviews dudes! Sorry for the long period of no updates too! The longer part of this chapter made me encounter a lot of writer's block and numerous revisions. It resulted into various versions that barely passed my standards. This is also heavily edited in order for me to get by the T-rating, which I'm no longer sure if that still holds true
Ooobserver: Don't worry, man. Sawyer will have his butt handed to him in due time. You'll probably like what I wrote so far for his showdown with Lemongrab. *oops, spoilers haha* Oh yeah, my main inspiration for the multi-perspective writing style is Charlie Higson and his Enemy series of books. That is my textual narcotics.
Samushark: hey dude! Thank you very much for that in-depth review of The Line That Divides! I'm really stoked you liked Sawyer as a character, and that you appreciated the "darker stuffs" within my story. Hope you liked this chapter more.
Everything will be alright, dudes!