A/N: And here's the next episode, which takes place after the episode with Marceline's first appearance with some changes to help it pan along. I know it's a bit early since it aired in Season 4, but I always felt like it made some sense. Or rather, it would, if it hadn't taken so long. Anyway, here it is.
Adventure Time with Finn, Jake, & Rachel
Chapter 5: King Worm
A voice spoke up in the darkness.
"My king...", Bubblegum spoke.
Finn opened his eyes, noticing Princess Bubblegum in front of him.
"My king? ...Wake up, husband.", Bubblegum said, lovingly.
"What?", Finn groaned puzzledly.
He was revealed to be in the Candy Kingdom throne room and wearing a big crown.
"Long live the king!", the banana guards hailed.
"What... is... goin' on?", Finn asked.
As if that wasn't enough confusion, Finn's crown suddenly rose from his head.
"Hm. Not much.", Princess Bubblegum responded.
But now, the Banana Guards' bodies are upside-down.
"Long live the king!", the upside-down Banana Guards hailed.
"Huh?!", Finn exclaimed.
Just then, a crowned worm rose on Princess Bubblegum's shoulder and warbled.
"Hey... do I know you?", Finn asked, trying to reach for it.
But before he could, it quickly escaped.
"Hey... I know that guy!", Finn realized.
Suddenly, Princess Bubblegum's face appeared in the back of her head.
"He doesn't know he's dreaming.", Bubblegum spoke to Peppermint Butler.
"Huh?", Finn puzzled in worry.
Then, the apparent dream shifted again, puzzling the human boy.
This time, Finn found himself sitting in front of Rachel.
"Come on, honey. Eat your soup.", Rachel offered, holding a spoonful of soup in her hand.
"...Huh...? Wait, wait, wait...", Finn said, confused.
"Come on. I made it myself.", Rachel egged.
Finn cautiously did so and smiled, unaware that the dream was shifting all over again.
"Mmm... hmm... What kind of—AAAH! How... did we get here?", Finn puzzled upon discovering what has happened.
What's more, Rachel now had three mouths and was muttering incomprehensibly.
"Uh... I'm good on the soup. Huh?", Finn puzzled.
Suddenly, he noticed that the spoon was now King Worm.
"You!", Finn shouted.
Then, from where Rachel was now stood Peppermint Butler.
"You haven't much time, sir.", Peppermint Butler warned.
"What?", Finn asked.
Suddenly, Peppermint Butler now had a tiny head jutting from his body.
"You are trapped in a dream.", the 2nd Peppermint head began.
"And you are in danger.", Peppermint Butler added.
Finn just scowled at him before Peppermint Butler's face got scratched off and moved to his hand.
"You need to find this worm and break it.", Peppermint Butler urged.
"Find the worm? But... you've got 'im right there!", Finn puzzled before gasping.
Before he knew it, the worm was the spoon again. Phil popped up and appeared in Peppermint Butler's pants from behind.
"Satori!", Phil spoke in a monotonous, techno tone as Peppermint Butler threw the spoon at Finn, who found himself now in the library.
"Huh? Huh? Huh?", Finn puzzled before noticing Jake in a window in a bookshelf. He was struggling to wrap a present.
"Jake?"
Next to him was Lady Rainicorn, but she had two mouths. She started blowing tape out of her "tape hole."
"Hold down the tape until it fully sticks to the paper.", Lady advised while speaking english, and in an incredibly deep voice, no less.
"Like this?", Jake asked.
"Yes, but now, try holding it higher.", Lady advised.
"Like this?", Jake asked.
"You need more tape.", Lady said before she dispensed more tape out of her hole.
"Use this.", Lady advised before Jake took the tape and wrapped it around the present.
"Now, tape the bottom.", Lady instructed before Jake did so.
"Who's it for?", Jake asked.
"Who's it for?", Lady repeated.
"...It's for... um...", Jake began.
Just then, a transparent Finn glided in front of Finn saying, "It's for meeee!". Right after that, Finn heard laughter from above and looked up to see Rachel not only flying amongst the stars, but also, naked with only her long, snow white hair covering her chest and lower part of her body without a care as she seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Huh? Rae-Rae?", Finn puzzled.
Puzzled, he called out to her, though not without covering his eyes.
"Rae-Rae, why are you flying around in the nude?!", Finn called.
Suprised, Rachel reacted in surprise.
"AAH! Finn?! How did you get here?", Rachel puzzled.
"Pep But told me that I'm trapped in a dream.", Finn explained.
"Yeah, but... how?", Rachel asked, flying over to him.
Finn just shrugged.
"Play this.", Lady suggested before Jake took his viola out.
"Uh... okay.", Jake said.
Jake started playing his viola terribly. As he played, a music note came out of the viola and became the worm.
"The worm!", Finn shouted.
"Worm?", Rachel puzzled just before another transparent Finn glided across both her and the real one saying, "The worm!" in an incredibly high-pitched voice.
"Huh?", Rachel puzzled.
Finn tried to catch it but it went into a mouse hole before he could catch it, causing him to run into a wall.
"Worm... worm... Woyyym! Worm!", Finn shouted impatiently as Rachel followed, catching Jake's attention.
"Finn! Rachel! Aw, man, is it really you two?", Jake asked.
"Jake?", Finn and Rachel asked in unison as they turned around and looked at the mousehole.
"Yeah. I think so.", Finn said before he felt himself.
"Yep.", Finn grinned.
"I'm trapped in this dream, and I can't wake up!", Jake explained.
"Me, too! I was just in some other part of the dream with Princess Bubblegum and Rachel.", Finn responded.
"Make-out dreams? Nice...", Jake smirked.
"What?! No, it wasn't like that!", Finn exclaimed as he floated toward Jake.
"I only look like this because I was trapped in my own dream where I was flying in space and couldn't wake up. Not that I don't enjoy that dream, but still.", Rachel explained.
"Hey, I won't judge.", Jake responded just as Lady gaped at Finn and Rachel while making a deep noise.
"Is it just me? Or does Lady have two mouths?", Rachel asked.
"Mm-hmm. I don't think she's real.", Jake replied.
"Weird...", Finn commented as he felt her "tape hole."
Suddenly, Jake pinched both Finn and Rachel, making the two exclaim in slight pain.
"Ouch! What was that for?", Finn asked.
"Why did you do that?", Rachel asked.
"Just wanted to make sure you two were real. Our dreams must be linked for some reason.", Jake replied.
"Okay. So, Peppermint Butler said that you're trapped in a dream, right? What else did he say?", Rachel asked.
"Well... Pep-but told me we gotta find that worm that crawled through that hole and break it.", Finn replied.
"How?", Rachel asked before Finn scratched his head.
"In my dream—", Finn began incredibly fast before speaking normally. "In my dream... suddenly, an unimaginably amazing sword appeared in front of me able to blast the hole open."
Then, a golden magic sword appeared.
"Rad!", Finn laughed.
"I usually dream of messed-up stuff, like a shark tryina' bite off my face.", Finn explained.
All of a sudden, the blade of the sword turned into a shark and roared like a lion, making Finn and Rachel shriek in fear. As a result, the air behind him began to crack.
"Careful! If you grunk up the dreamscape with your subconscious fears, the whole thing'll blow apart!", Jake warned.
"Ohhh.", Finn responded.
"Just shrink down like me.", Jake advised as he shrunk down with the Shark Sword disappearing.
"And then I shrink down like Jake.", Finn said before he shrunk down.
"And I turn into a cute mouse.", Rachel responded before shrinking down and turning into a cute mouse.
With that, Finn, Jake, and Rachel entered the mouse hole, entering an apparent underground tunnel. As the trio talked, their voices echoed as if they were in metal chambers.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Jake. How do you know so much about dreams and stuff?", Rachel asked.
"'Cuz I sleep a lot.", Jake replied.
"Oh. Neat.", Rachel grinned.
With that, Finn, Jake, and Rachel emerged from a hole in the ground, now in normal size with Rachel reverting back to how she was moments earlier.
"Huh? Why are we out here near the Ice Kingdom?", Rachel puzzled.
At that moment, Ice King came up to them after going in the opposite direction over a mountain.
"Fionna, Cake, Raymond, I need your help!", Ice King pleaded.
"What?", Finn asked.
"What did you say?", Jake asked.
"And what's with the opposite gender names?", Rachel asked.
"I really did it this time! They're loose, and they're coming for us!", Ice King responded.
"Who?", Finn and Rachel asked.
All of a sudden, "wenks" were heard from far away. The source of the sounds apparently came from monsters composed entirely of merged penguins as they marched. The sight of them freaked the trio out into running away while Ice King simply ran in circles. But as they ran away, the dream shifted into a forest where they saw someone resembling Jake.
"Dad?", Finn asked.
"Whoa. That's your dad?", Rachel asked as she and the others saw the dog sitting nearby.
"Help us!", Jake urged.
But he said nothing. The trio looked at each other.
"Maybe he's not really... real.", Finn guessed.
"That does make sense. He doesn't seem like he's... all there.", Rachel agreed as she, Finn, and Jake stopped in front of him.
"Dad, are you okay?", Jake asked.
The father dog wordlessly opened a case and got yarn and knitting needles out. Then, he started knitting a scarf, which seemed to be mesmerizing the trio.
"That scarf looks... familiar...", Finn said.
"Yeah...", Jake agreed.
"I can see why...", Rachel concurred.
The scarf then turned into the full sized King Worm, snapping them out of the trance with Rachel gasping.
"That's the worm we need to break!", Rachel realized before the worm quickly crawled away, and at a fast pace, at that.
"Whoa! Look at that worm go!", Rachel spoke in amazement.
"The worm is fast!", Finn agreed.
"Yeah, it's nuts! Fast as nuts.", Jake concurred.
"Well, let's catch it with... some big ol' legs!", Finn spoke as he and Jake made their legs bigger.
"Well... that's kinda boring for me... 'cuz that's my normal power, you know?", Jake commented.
"Then you get... birds!", Finn spoke.
With that, Jake was now able to fly, with the lower half of his body being a bird.
"That's cool. Now, you get to fly with me, Jake.", Rachel grinned as she started hovering in the air via her hair.
They then pursued the worm up a mountain. But as soon as they got there, it starts raining little Lumpy Space Princesses, making Rachel tumble a bit in the air while Finn fell.
"Ay ay ay ay ay!", Finn exclaimed.
"Remember, guys, this is just a dream! Keep climbing!", Jake urged.
"Okay.", Rachel nodded.
So, they went further up the mountain to the snowy part. Now, it was snowing little Lumpy Space Princesses. When they got to the top, Finn Jake, and Rachel found a frozen King Worm.
"Huh. Well, that was easy.", Rachel grinned.
"Now what?", Finn asked.
"Break it!", Jake urged.
It was then that both a rock and a hailstone fell from the sky. Finn and Jake used the rock to shatter part of the worm while Rachel used the hailstone to shatter the rest. As they put the items down, the dream itself melted into nothingness. Finn, Jake, and Rachel were now in bed, awaking with a startled gasp. BMO woke up because of the noise, and then, after a moment, went back to charging its battery.
"Guys, are you okay?", Finn asked.
"Yeah.", Jake replied.
"Never better. Are you?", Rachel asked.
"Yeah. I'm okay.", Finn grinned.
Then, the trio grinned.
"We did it!", the trio cheered.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!", Jake shouted.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!", Finn shouted as Rachel giggled.
But then, they noticed that something was off.
"Huh?", Rachel puzzled as she looked down to notice something while Finn noticed his reflection.
"Uh, can someone explain why I'm still draped in only my hair?", Rachel asked.
"What do you mean? You've always had longer hair.", Jake responded.
"That's not what I...!", Rachel began before groaning, peeved by his response.
"...Hmm. Was that... was that mirror always like that?", Finn asked as he and the other two walked to the mirror.
"I'm pretty sure this is not normal.", Finn said.
"And I'm pretty sure I'm not a boy.", Rachel added, gesturing to her gender-switched reflection looking just as odd as Finn's reflection.
"Nope, it's fine.", Jake said, now bearing a human nose.
Just then, Rachel turned and saw something out-of-the-ordinary.
"Guys? Look!", Rachel said, pointing toward the scene currently taking place: a cup falling and shattering on the ground only to rise up un-shattered and repeat the process.
"I think we're still dreaming!", Rachel responded.
"Nah, it's just dream residue. Forget about it.", Jake only replied.
"You sure know a lot about dream stuff...", Finn said, suspicious as he turned around, his reflection and Rachel's floating away, before both looked closer at Jake.
"Now that you mention it, Jake pinched us earlier, but I don't think we pinched him yet.", Rachel stated to Jake.
Then, both Finn and Rachel chased Jake while the floor suddenly became the wall before they finally caught him by the shoulders.
"Everything's normal.", Jake assured calmly.
But the moment Finn and Rachel pinched him, Jake started to melt away as his voice got lower.
"Everything's norrrmaaaal...", Jake spoke as he melted into a skeleton, which then collapsed onto the ground.
"Ah, rattraps!", Rachel groaned as the dream shifted back into the tree house's entrance room.
"It's still a dream.", Finn said.
"Then, that means that worm we smashed was a fake.", Rachel said.
Suddenly, Jake's remains suddenly turned into a laughing King Worm, making Finn and Rachel gasp.
"Hey, guys...", the King Worm chuckled.
"Hey, guys!", the transparent Finn said in an incredibly fast voice.
Finn tried to throw the shattered, but now un-shattered cup at the worm while Rachel blasted ice lightning at him, but both projectiles simply went around him and came right back at them.
"Why're you jankin' up our dreamscapes!?", Finn exclaimed.
"Listen, don't worry about it.", King Worm responded calmly as he shook his head like a metronome.
"What the donk are you talking about?!", Rachel exclaimed.
"You two can't defeat me... I'm the king worm. I'm going to keep you both in this dreamscape until I've consumed... all your...", King Worm began before a smaller version of himself appeared in his mouth and finished.
"...Life energy!"
"Our life energy?! We use that!", Finn exclaimed.
Both Finn and Rachel charged. When they did, however, their actions were now being represented via a "long, undulating snake."
"Wait... something's wrong. I'm missing something.", Finn said.
"Worm!", Rachel exclaimed in fury before Finn became discouraged, much to Rachel's worry.
"Oh, man... I'm gonna be stuck here... forever.", Finn spoke sadly.
But then, the air suddenly cracked again. The crack reached the ceiling and made it crack. Very soon, as Rachel took notice, a piece of the ceiling fell and hit King Worm on the head.
"Ouch! Hey, guys!", King Worm groaned before the transparent Rachel appeared this time with an incredibly fast voice.
"Hey, guys!", the transparent Rachel said.
"Knock it off...!", King Worm said.
"Huh?", Rachel puzzled.
"That crack again...", Rachel said before gasping as she realized something.
"Wait a minute. It's just like Jake said...", Rachel said before showing a flashback of Jake's warning.
"If you grunk up the dreamscape with your subconscious fears, the whole thing'll blow apart!", Jake warned before it went back to the present.
"Finn, if we're gonna escape the dreamscape, we have to grunk it up with our subconcious fears. The rest will take care of itself.", Rachel responded.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah! Thanks, Rae-Rae!", Finn grinned.
"No problem.", Rachel responded.
Very soon, Finn's actions once again became a "long, undulating snake."
"GET READY TO EAT IT!", Finn warned.
Then, a green spotlight turned on, shining just below both Finn and Rachel, the source turning out to be King Worm as the room was now a green room resembling King Worm.
"So, how do we do this?", Rachel asked.
"Okay, Finn... Concentrate. Deepest... gut... fears!", Finn grunted as it panned into Finn's mouth, and faded into black.
A baby Finn was then seen running happily and giggling.
"Kitty!", Baby Finn giggled.
Then, it showed a sort of dark cloud behind a case, which then opened it. When it did, Finn gasped before Rachel noticed something coming out.
"Finn? What's that?", Rachel asked, gesturing to the water pouring out of his belly button.
"Oh, gross!", Finn commented as a small fish popped out, too before Finn tasted the water.
"The ocean.", Finn stated.
"What?", Rachel puzzled.
In no time, the room began to fill with ocean water as Finn started panicking and screaming before he and Rachel became entirely submerged with the former covering his mouth as the latter took a deep breath and held it before then until another goldfish popped out from Finn's belly.
"Huh.", Rachel said.
"Okay... Okay, that wasn't so bad.", Finn grinned.
"Huh. Well, as long as we're talking about fears, I have one of my own that you should know. ", Rachel warned.
"Really? What is it?", Finn asked.
"Nowadays, I'm worried about... about what would happen if I were to lose control...", Rachel responded as her tiara's gem glowed before her chest started to glow brightly with her chest puffing up by a few inches, making Finn blush.
"Finn? Why are you blushiii...?", Rachel began right before seeing what's happening to her.
"Yowsers! It's happening already?!", Rachel exclaimed.
Suddenly her butt began to puff up just as much as well.
"Ah! No! Stop!", Rachel pleaded in fear, causing the King Worm to shrivel up and cough.
"Hey, why don't you sit down, or pass out or something?", King Worm asked.
"NEVER!", Finn shouted back in refusal.
Suddenly, Rachel groaned as she convulsed and laid down on all fours.
"Rae-Rae!", Finn shouted.
"Finn...! Stay back...! I... can't control it...!" Rachel groaned.
Suddenly, she moaned loudly as her chest and butt puffed up again, but twice as much. Then, in almost an instant, that moan of fear turned into that of a somewhat sadistic pleasure and chuckle.
"Don't want to control it...", Rachel sighed before standing up.
"Rae-Rae...? Rachel, what are you doing?", Finn asked worriedly.
"Oh, nothing much... just loosening up before I bring you home..., my dear... HUBBIE!", Rachel responded with a crazy look as she quickly turned to him, her hands pulsating in ice magic before laughing maniacally.
This earned Finn's girl-like shriek and King Worm's cough.
"SO MUCH SCREAMING!", Finn shouted before his bed legs suddenly came out of his belly button. Finn laid in the bed in helpless fright as a Ghost Lady came towards him, making Finn scream in utter terror as he fell out of the bed, attracting Rachel's attention, allowing her to shake off the madness, although her body was still altered by it.
"Finn!", Rachel shouted in worry before flying over to him and laying him down on the floor panting.
"Oh, thank glob...! You okay?", Rachel asked.
"Almost...!", Finn panted before Rachel looked up to see King Worm, who is now incredibly shriveled up.
"So, how about it? Had enough destabilization?", Rachel asked.
"I don't... know what you're talking about...", King Worm coughed.
"Finn, do you still have one more fear left over?", Rachel asked.
"Yep.", Finn responded.
"Is it a clown?", Rachel asked.
"Definitely.", Finn responded.
"I'm not even gonna ask how you do it, so you think you can handle bringing it out?", Rachel asked.
"I know I can.", Finn responded.
"Do it.", Rachel replied.
Then, a clown popped out of Finn's belly button.
"I'm a clown!", the clown spoke with a silly noise at the end.
Finn let out a small scream as Rachel gave a cute, warm giggle from seeing this.
"Well, that's that.", King Worm responded.
With that, the dreamscape finally got destroyed. Because of this, Finn and Rachel, now back to normal in her adventuring attire, are now in the entrance room with Jake, in front of King Worm, surrounded by smaller worms.
"Now!", Rachel shouted before then casting Force of Blizzard on King Worm and the other smaller worms, forcing them out of the tree fort.
"How do you like that, you tranch?!", Rachel shouted.
"I don't feel so good.", King Worm groaned.
"Get out of our house, King Worm!", Rachel spoke in a deep voice just as Finn and Jake recovered before King Worm groaned and left as instructed.
"Hey, where'd all the snow come from?", Jake asked before BMO popped out of the snow.
"Snow day!", BMO, Mille, and Callie spoke eagerly.
"Oh, yeah. Is it really you... this time?", Finn asked.
"Or are you a dream?", Rachel added.
"Yeah, mans. Actual Jake.", Jake replied.
"Cool...", Finn responded before pinching Jake.
"Pinch.", Finn said, making Jake recoil in pain.
"Ow, man, come on!", Jake groaned, earning Rachel's small giggle.
"I'm just checkin'! ...Just checkin'.", Finn responded.
Later, Finn and Rachel were getting ready for bed as Jake was already asleep by then with the latter growing concerned as Finn noticed.
"Still worried about that dream?", Finn asked.
Rachel sighed in response to confirm it.
"What if that dream becomes real? I don't wanna end up like Dad and lose myself. Or you guys.", Rachel spoke in worry.
"You know, I gotta admit. I wasn't expecting this. But believe it or not, that tiara doesn't determine who you are just because it gives you ice powers or some other magical junk. It's what you do with what you got that counts.", Finn responded.
"So, you'd still...", Rachel asked.
"Help you like the best friend that I am? Yes.", Finn replied.
Hearing this, Rachel was driven to tears before the two hugged.
"Thanks, Finn. It means a lot coming from you...", Rachel grinned with a sniffle.
"No prob. Homies help homies. Always.", Finn responded, making her nod with a smile.
Then, Rachel happily curled herself up into a ball while wrapped up in her own long hair like a blanket.
"I've been meaning to ask, though. Why were you flying in the air in your birthday suit?", Finn asked.
"First off, that was only in my hair. It's basically like alternate clothing without having to put it on. And second? I think that means I feel free to think and ponder about lives other than ours on Ooo, I guess.", Rachel responded.
"Oh. Like the Astral Plane?", Finn asked.
"Well, not exactly...", Rachel replied.
Then, she quickly blushed a dark blue.
"And I think I heard myself out loud! Good night, Finn!", Rachel said in embarrassment before going to sleep quickly.
"Good night, Rae-Rae.", Finn responded before going to sleep, all wrapped up in his sleeping bag as well.
BONUS: Rachel Time
Finn: What time is it?
Singer: "RACHEL TIME!" Who's the princess who, in the face of Evil, scoffs?
Rachel: I am Ice Princess Rachel Petrikov.
Singer: This girl is hot and just as cold as ice! But most of the time, she's totally...
Jake: Nice!
Singer: And since Ice King gets himself in hot water, Rae-Rae is...
Rachel: ...more of a mother to him than a daughter.
Singer: Always on guard, she kicks evil in the trousers. But when she's surprised, she says...
Rachel: Yowsers!
Singer: The Ice Princess is always in her prime, so with Finn and Jake, it's always...
Finn, Jake, & Rachel: (fist bump) Adventure Time!
A/N: And that concludes the chapter. Now, we know that Rachel's greatest fear is losing herself to the madness of the tiara and turning out like Ice King did, but probably, as Jake said, "a thousand times worse". I apologize if any explicit content was found here, though. To be fair, Rachel is covered in her hair, which acts like an alternate outfit you can wear without having to put it on, like she said herself. And you can expect the next episode to be here tomorrow for Thanksgiving as well, whether it's Tree Trunks or not.