Chapter 15
A blur of color flew high above the pre-dawn sky as Jake and Lady Rainicorn made their way to the Candy Kingdom. They had spent most of the night preparing for their quest. They had packed enough food and water to last them for three or more days. They knew that if they ran out that Huntress Wizard would no doubt hunt for more food. Despite their preparation, both still felt the gnawing sense of anxiousness. This wasn't going to be like most of their adventures. This was a matter of life or death.
Jake held on tightly to Lady as she darted across the sky. BMO was held in a pouch morphed out of Jake's back. The tiny robot wanted nothing more than to find their friends as much as the others did. BMO was also the only one that could decipher any technical clues that Jigsaw might have left behind.
As the Candy Kingdom came into view, Lady and Jake saw that the others had already arrived at the rendezvous point outside of the kingdom. Huntress Wizard and Peace Master both had packs and satchels of supplies and equipment for their long travel.
"Sweet, everyone's already here!" Jake exclaimed jovially.
Lady quickly and gracefully spiraled down out of the sky and coiled on the ground.
"You guys all packed up?" Jake asked as he hopped off of Lady's back.
Huntress reached into her hunting bag and withdrew the damaged pig mask from before. She held it up to her nose and sniffed it deeply.
"Our prey's scent is mine." She stated firmly. "They will not escape."
Peace Master gave Huntress an annoyed look. He distrusted wizards for the madness that they held within and would eventually be consumed by. But for the sake of hunting and destroying a mighty evil, he would tolerate the wizard's presence.
"How about you PM?" Jake asked. "Have you told your kids about our quest?"
Peace Master averted his eye at the mention of his beloved children. It was still a sensitive topic for him.
"They are…at a relative's house." PM answered uneasily. "They will be safe there for the time being."
Peace Master then held up his charm sack out in front of him.
"All that I need is with me." He stated firmly. "No evil can hide from my ever-watchful eye and the power of my charms."
Jake was happy to see that everyone was taking the quest as seriously as they needed to. Their party had some of the best magic users and hunters in all of Ooo looking for Finn and the others. Whoever this Jigsaw was, they would find them, wherever they were.
Jake hopped back up onto Lady's back with Peace Master uneasily following him. Huntress Wizard morphed herself into a giant hawk and quickly took to the skies.
"The ruins that the tape spoke of are north east from the Candy Kingdom." Peace Master announced as he looked over his map. "As I said before, it will be at least a two-day's travel."
Lady Rainicorn smiled and coiled like a spring.
"I'll make it in one!"
Suddenly, Lady sprang forward and bolted into the sky at breakneck speeds. Huntress Wizard flapped her wings and quickly caught up to Lady. Peace Master clung for dear life to Lady. Jake smiled and pointed towards the horizon.
"Don't worry guys! We're coming for ya!"
The clouds blurred past the group as they flew high in the sky. All of Ooo could be seen from such heights. Houses and trees dotted the land like tiny specks of dirt on a sea of green. But marring the luscious green grasslands were massive deep gashes in the earth. They all knew them as the tracks that the evil cloud left behind. Huntress Wizard focused her "Huntress Vision" on the large tracks.
"Our prey is mechanical in nature." She announced. "There is oil staining the mud, and the smell of metal is still heavy in the air."
"And it has about a day's head start on us." Peace Master responded bitterly. "For something so large, it seems to move rather fast."
Huntress frowned and turned her gaze back towards the monstrous tracks. As they flew closer towards the Candy Mountains, the large gashes in the ground suddenly came to a halt and were replaced by deep craters in the ground. Huntress followed the craters with her keen vision and noticed that there were several craters driven deep into the face of the mountain.
"It changed from rolling on wheels to walking on legs." She announced. "Judging by the spacing of the craters, I'd say it has six legs."
"So, it changed how it moves, just to make it over the mountains?" Lady asked. "Why didn't it just go around them?"
"Perhaps it is an old machine." BMO responded. "Old machines don't always make sense to non-machines."
Jake shrugged his shoulders and gave Lady a bewildered look. There was definitely something more to this cloud than they had thought.
The group soon passed over the Candy Mountains. Past the mountains was the land of the former Ice King, still as cold as ever. More craters covered the face of the icy mountains, showing that the cloud had been past there. It felt strange seeing the former Ice Kingdom after so long. It gave Jake a nostalgic feeling. It reminded him of all the adventures he and Finn had been through. Back when things were simpler. Back before the Lich had reawakened.
As the group flew over the ice-covered tops of the mountains, they were greeted by a vast flat expanse of grassless land. Huntress Wizard noticed that the craters had changed back to the deep gashes in the ground at the base of the mountain.
"It switched back to its wheeled form." She announced. "It is traveling north east. Into the Unknown Lands."
"We must be vigilant." Peace Master stated firmly. "The lands past this point are rife with dangers."
"How do you know so much about the Unknown Lands?" Jake asked curiously. "I thought they were supposed to be well, unknown."
Peace Master scowled and tugged on his bandages.
"Ever since I took part in the failed coup of the Candy Kingdom, I have been sentenced to exile. In all of her mercy, Princess Bubblegum only allowed me entry into the kingdom to see my children every other week for one day." Peace Master spoke bitterly. "While outside of the kingdom, I have continued my pursuit of all those who dabble in the dark arts. My mission has often led me into the Unknown Lands."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group as Peace Master finished speaking. No one had expected him to give such a heavy response.
"Sorry, dude." Jake said sheepishly.
Peace Master did not respond and remained silent with his gaze focused firmly on the grey empty horizon.
Minutes turned to hours as the group flew over the grey expanse of the Unknown Lands. For miles there was nothing to be seen. No trees, no grass, and certainly no people. It was as if they had entered into one of the dead worlds. The sky was a greenish grey color, and the sun seemed to be shrouded.
Everyone was on edge, except Huntress Wizard. Her being of single-minded focus made it easier for her to ignore the unsettling environment. So long as she could see the tracks that her prey had left behind, she would be content. It helped that she was also hunting for Finn. Such an exceptional beast was worthy of her skills as a huntress. She had been yearning for a chance to hunt Finn again, and she was enjoying every moment of this glorious hunt.
Suddenly, the deep gashes in the barren ground ended. Startled and confused, Huntress Wizard flew back and hovered over where the tracks had ended. Her eyes scanned the tracks with her vision, but could not find where the tracks resumed. It was as if the clouded monstrosity simply vanished.
"The tracks end here!" she shouted towards the others. "But they do not continue. Why and how?"
"Uhhh…maybe because of that?" Jake answered as he pointed towards the horizon.
Huntress Wizard looked to where Jake was pointing and felt a wave of unease fall over her. Before them laid the sun bleached and sand blasted ruins of an ancient city.
"We must be very cautious now." Peace Master stated quietly. "There are many things hidden within this dead city. Things that have been hidden since the Mushroom War."
With newfound worry, the group descended into the ruins of the city.
There was an oppressive stillness within the ancient ruins. The air was sour and filled with dust. Wind gently whistled through the dilapidated metal skeletons of once mighty buildings. Rusted cars were buried up to their roofs in dirt and dust blown from the great wastes that surrounded the once lively city. There was no grass, no vines, not even any weeds. The twisted metal and crumbling concrete cast unnerving shadows across the sun-bleached ground.
Lady Rainicorn carefully snaked down from the sky and hovered above the long-destroyed streets. Huntress Wizard transformed back into her normal form and landed on the ground. She reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt.
"The earth is poisoned and dead here." She stated grimly. "Nothing can grow here. Nothing can live here."
Peace Master hopped off of Lady and withdrew a map from his charm sack. The rest of the group quickly gathered around him to look at the map.
"The building that the tape spoke of is close." He stated as he circled their destination on the map. "Follow me and stay alert."
As Peace Master led the group down the desolate and crumbling streets, the sense of dread they had all been feeling only grew stronger. It was as if they were walking through a graveyard. Ruined buildings and the husks of skyscrapers blocked out the horizon. Signs of the Mushroom War could be seen scattered around the city as well. Half-buried tanks and rusted out troop carriers could be seen amongst the other ruins. The silence and stillness were enveloping.
"It is as if the ruins are trying to pull us into them." Lady stated nervously.
"Such is the nature of these places." Peace Master stated in a hushed tone. "Do not let the ruins separate you."
Huntress Wizard kept her eyes sharp and her head on a swivel. The lack of sound was making her uneasy. She felt as though they were being watched by some unseen predator.
After what felt like hours, the group finally made it to the building that the tape had showed them. The Mushroom War and the eons of desolation that followed it had left the building as nothing more than a hollowed out steel and concrete husk. Sitting, half-buried in the dirt and dust was a large sign that read "Gideon Meatpacking Plant".
"Is this the place?" Jake asked Peace Master. "This looks nothin' like what the dummy showed us."
Peace Master furrowed his brow and tucked the map back into his charm sack.
"I'm sure of it." He responded firmly.
The group cautiously approached the building, unsure of what they would find. Just as they were about to walk through the remains of the doorway, Huntress Wizard stopped and signaled for the group to step back. A single arrow levitated out of her quiver, and with a point of her finger, the arrow flew through the air. There was a loud bang and flash as the arrow flew under the doorway.
"Now we can go in." She stated calmly.
As the group entered through the doorway, they saw what Huntress Wizard had stopped them for. Fastened over and along the doorway were several still smoking shotguns. They had all been set to fire by a trip wire. Huntress had spotted the wire, and used an arrow to trigger the trap from a safe distance.
"Good eyes." Peace Master stated with a weary smile.
The insides of the building were just as bad as the outsides. Dust and debris covered the concrete floors. But out of the dirt and rubble, laid something familiar to the group. Something that filled them with dread. Sitting on the ground, tangled in razor wire, was Finn's signature hat. Sitting alongside the hat were the tattered remains of Princess Bubblegum's nightdress, Marceline's fangs, and Flame Princess's tiara.
"No, no, no!" Jake exclaimed as he rushed over to the tattered hat. As he picked the hat up, a single tape fell to the floor. BMO was quick to pick up the tape and hold it up for the group to see.
"Look, another tape!" the small robot exclaimed.
After taking a moment to collect himself, Jake looked back towards the group and then down to BMO.
"Play it BMO."
BMO nervously placed the tape into their tape slot. The group watched anxiously as BMO processed the tape. After a moment of silence, BMO's screen flickered to white. Just like the tapes before, the image of the white-faced dummy appeared on the screen. Slowly, the dummy's head turned towards the screen.
"Congratulations, you have found the next piece of the puzzle and are now one step closer to finding your friends. The gifts I have left behind for you is a sign that your friends have survived my games thus far. But they still have many left before they can be rehabilitated. Before they can earn their freedom, they must look inward and dig deep inside of themselves and face the sickness that is afflicting them."
Suddenly, the screen flickered and cut to static. Over the static, and new voice spoke. The audio was aged and garbled.
"Day two hundred. We are running out of food and water. The voice over the intercom keeps reminding us of the time we are losing, and keeps telling us to make a choice. 'Live, or die'. The blast doors won't open, and the other cells are reporting life support failures. We need to get out and shut down the dimensional rift reactor before it collapses."
As the tape played, Huntress Wizard began to scan their surroundings. Something felt off, and she was going to find what it was. She noticed a stray handprint in the dust and knelt down to inspect it. As she placed her hand over the handprint, a loud metallic groan echoed throughout the building. The ground began to tremble beneath them. Suddenly, a large slab of stone moved and revealed a flight of stairs that led deep underground. With BMO's screen still filled with static, Jake, Lady, and Peace Master all followed Huntress down the flight of stairs into the darkness.
Peace Master and Huntress Wizard used their magic to illuminate the way down the stairs. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they came to a long corridor lined with metal doors and clouded windows. Lady peered inside one of the windows and let out a small gasp.
"There are skeletons in those rooms!" she exclaimed as she coiled around Jake.
"There are more in this one as well." Peace Master stated grimly.
"What was this place?" Jake asked. "Some kind of pre-mushroom war bunker?"
BMO's speakers crackled as the tape began to play again.
"Day two hundred and ten. We ran out of food. We will run out of water tomorrow. The voice on the intercom keeps telling us to make a choice whether we live or die. How can we make that choice when we can't even get out of our cell? More and more cells have stopped reporting in. Why haven't the safety protocols gone into effect? Why is the automated maintenance system not responding to the shutdown commands? None of this makes any sense!"
The corridor came to an abrupt end. Before the group was a massive underground chasm that spanned for miles. But the chasm did not look naturally formed, nor did it look industrial. It looked as though a large section of the earth simply disappeared, leaving a perfect spherical cavern in its absence.
BMO's speakers crackled once again as the tape resumed.
"Day…what does it matter? I finally get it. I finally understand. The voice on the intercom wasn't speaking to us. It was speaking to the automated maintenance system. The automated maintenance system has become self-aware. The voice wasn't asking us to choose to live or die. It was asking the automated maintenance system to choose whether it lives or dies. The machine knew that letting us out would mean that we would shut down the dimensional rift reactor, and deactivate it in the process; killing it. The machine chose to live, which meant letting us die. It doesn't matter now. Soon, the dimensional rift reactor will-"
The tape suddenly ended and with a loud crackle of static, the image of the dummy reappeared.
"You see what one can find, if they simply dig deep enough?" the dummy spoke coldly. "Sometimes, the most vexing of problems can be solved by looking at it from a different perspective. Things never truly disappear; they are simply moved to another place. Follow my trail, and you will find the next piece of the puzzle. Or you can abandon your pursuit and trust that your friends have what it takes to survive. The choice is yours."
BMO's screen flickered and went black as the tape was ejected out of their body.
The group stood in silence as they processed what had been revealed to them. Whoever, or whatever this "Jigsaw" was, it was clear to them now that they were far older than they had imagined. It had been doing this type of sick game for eons. It needed to be found, it needed to be stopped.
"Looking from a different perspective…moved to another place…" Peace Master muttered to himself thoughtfully.
An idea suddenly formed. A crazy idea, but an idea none the less. Peace Master reached into his charm sack and began looking through it.
"The trail ended right outside of the city, correct?" he asked as he rummaged around in his charm sack.
"Correct, it's like the trail simply disappeared." Huntress answered. "What are you suggesting?"
"What if the trail didn't end there? What if it was simply moved to another place?" Peace Master responded. He then withdrew a large green eyeball from his sack and held it out in front of him.
"What if the trail continues in another parallel realm?" he asked with an almost zealous fervor in his voice. "What if our target can travel from our world to another? With this Wizard's eye, I'll be able to see where the machine's trail leads. In this realm, or any other!"
Jake looked back to Lady with an unsure expression.
"Crazier things have happened in Ooo." She responded.
Jake nodded and looked back to the group.
"Alright everyone, that's the plan." He announced. "Let's bounce and get back outside. Then PM can work his magic."
Everyone grabbed ahold of Lady before she bolted out of the underground tunnel, out of the ruins, and up into the sky. Once they were high enough, Peace Master raised the Wizard's eye over his forehead. He muttered a few inaudible incantations before his eyes snapped open, bright green and glowing.
"Yes, yes I can see the tracks!" he shouted ecstatically. "The tracks continue north east of the city! No evil can hide from me, Peace Master!"
"Alright everyone, hold on tight!" Jake shouted as Lady reared back like a coiling spring. "Let's go save our friends!"
With a blur of color and a sonic boom, Lady tore through the sky towards the horizon.
The metal armed figure stood and looked through one of the few windows out onto the horizon. Through the smoke they could see the sun rising over what would have been a very beautiful day. They felt a small sadness in their heart. Past memories came to mind. Memories of friends, family, love, and loss.
"I had almost forgotten what it looked like." Simone spoke softly as she approached from behind. "Still as beautiful as ever."
The hooded figure remained silent as they looked through the window.
"If you want to, you can always go back." Simone stated in a soft yet cold tone. "You could leave all of this and go back. I mean, who knows when we will be back here again."
The figure placed their hand over Simone's shoulder and gently pushed her aside.
"We both know this world holds nothing for us anymore." They stated firmly. "My place is here, with Jigsaw. You of all people should know that."
Simone scowled as the figure walked away. Ice began to creep across the floor from where Simone stood. Her scowl turned into a cruel smile.
"Just remember who was here first, little bunny." She hissed venomously. "I will always be the first and never the last."
