Family
Chapter 516 Nightmares and Ashes 2
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just a story for fun.
800 years in the future
On the surface of the the ruins of the Fire Kingdom, Simon, Marceline, Lucinda, Lance, Henry, X, O, Serenity, Django, Mara, Lapis, Fire, Earth, and Wind had finished off the last of the ash zombies and golems as Chicle and Peridot finished up the repairs of the Omni Transport. It was then most of the group took notice of the disappearance of both Bubblegum and Neddy. Mara quickly filled the others in on the Green Knight's attack which had resulted in Bubblegum and the Green Knight falling through a hole and that Neddy had flown down after them. She then lead the others to the hole and they looked down it.
"That's a long way down." Said Serenity.
"We need to go down and rescue Bubblegum and Neddy." Said Lapis.
"Some of us will go rescue them, while the rest stay here and guard the Omni Transport." Said Simon.
"Who should go?" Asked Peridot.
"I'll go. I've sensed a dark magical presence since we've gotten here and I know who it is." Said Simon.
"Who is it?" Asked Django.
"Dark Shaman." Said Simon.
"Yikes. That guy is bad news." Said O.
"Dark Shaman specializes in many dark magics including nightmare magic. I think I have a pretty good idea what he's putting Bubblegum and Neddy through." Said Simon.
"Alright I'm going, since there's probably a great deal of wraiths lurking about wanting revenge on Bubblegum. Give me a good chance to finally send them to the afterlife." Said Django.
"I'm coming too. They're my people, so maybe I can help deal with them." Said X.
"Count me and Lance in." Said Marceline.
"I'm coming too." Said Mara.
"Alright the six of us will go. The rest stay here." Said Simon.
Marceline and Lance flew down the hole, X picked up Mara and flew after them, and Simon summoned a cloud of snow for Django to ride on and they flew after the others. Lucinda and the others remained behind watching over the Omni Transport and waited for the others to return. As they waited a swarm of nanobots that was Phantomrider's body snuck out of the ruble and headed down some cracks that lead underground.
Neddy found himself standing outside of Gumbald's palace ready to fight his great uncle. He was decked out in cool armor and ready to fight. Neddy flew coward and smashed right through the palace to enter a large chamber and be confronted by Gumbald who towered over Neddy eating some grapes.
"Your reign of terror ends today Gumbald! I'm here to put a stop to you! Said Neddy pointing up at Gumbald.
"Stop me? Don't make me laugh!" Said Gumbald looking down at Neddy.
"I will defeat you!" Declared Neddy.
"How can you ever hope to defeat me, when you're not wearing any pants." Said Gumbald with a cruel smile.
Neddy looked down in confusion and saw that he was no longer wearing any pants or underwear. He blushed a darker shade of pink as he desperately covered himself as dozens of shadowy figures showed up and began to point and laugh at him, along with Gumbald. Neddy screamed loudly and flew out of the palace as fast as he could. He looked around the area and was a little surprised to find his pants and underwear laying on the ground. Neddy put them back on and then he found some chains to help secure them to himself, before storming back into the palace.
"Back so soon?" Asked Gumbald.
"I am and this time I have my pants!" Said Neddy.
"So you do. Well are you ready for your surprise math test?" Said Gumbald.
"Math test? But I didn't study!" Said Neddy looking freaked out.
Before Neddy could do anything a giant calculator fell from above and smashed him through the ground! Neddy groaned as he found himself in chains in a strange cave. A cold chill went down Neddy's spine as he began to recognize the cave he was in, when he heard a groan next to him and saw his father, Braco laying on the ground battered, beaten, and bleeding, with chains wrapped around him.
"Dad? Wait no! This can't be real! I can't be back here seeing you like this!" Said Neddy as he looked around fearfully.
It was then that a few Fire People entered the room and Neddy felt his body go num in terror as he saw the one leading them.
"Lord Infernicus!" Said Neddy with fear.
Lord Infernicus was a Fire Person who resembled a skeleton wearing a red robe.
"Hello Candy King and Candy Prince. I have a couple of special treats planned for you today. Death and despair. One of you will die and the other will live with despair." Said Lord Infernicus.
"No not this day!" Cried Neddy as he tried to attack with his psychic powers, but nothing happened.
Two Fire People grabbed Braco undoing his chains and held him up as another two forced Neddy to look at his father as Lord Infernicus approached him with a sword. Neddy screamed and shouted as Lord Infernicus just smirked with a cruel slasher smile as he prepared to ram the blade through Braco's chest!
"Brother this isn't real." Said a voice within Neddy's head as things suddenly froze.
"Gee? What's going on? Why am I back here?" Said Neddy.
"This is a nightmare created from your worst memory. None of this is real. You and mom were captured by the magic user Dark Shaman and he placed you under a sleep spell to torment you with nightmares." Said Gee.
"Then why can't I use my powers?" Asked Neddy.
"Dark Shaman is using your fear and sense of powerlessness that day to trick you and prevent you from focusing. You need to focus. This is your dream and you're in charge." Said Gee as things started to move again.
Neddy took a dell breath as he thought back to his time with Betty and all the counseling they had gone through to help Neddy get over his nightmares all those years ago. He thought about his wife and children and the desire to return to them as well help his mom return to the past to change the future. The chains on Neddy burst into bits and the Fire People holding him were knocked back. Neddy stood up tall with a determined look on his face as he flew at Lord Infernicus and slammed him into the wall knocking the sword out of his hands. The Fire People holding Braco tried to attack him, but Neddy knocked them away with a psychic blast.
"This moment no longer has power over me and neither does Lord Infernicus! I know this isn't real, so why don't you reveal yourself Dark Shaman!" Said Neddy glaring at Lord Infernicus.
Lord Infernicus just laughed as his features melted away and changed into Dark Shaman.
"Not bad child. You psychics do have strong minds and senses when it comes to matters of dreams." Said Dark Shaman.
"Where is my mother?" Demanded Neddy.
"In her own personal hell. She has a lot of guilt, which is a good ingredient for nightmares. I'm having a special time with her." Chuckled Dark Shaman.
"Wake us up!" Demanded Neddy.
"No can do. I'm having too much fun. If you wish to save your mother you have to escape your own dream and find your way into hers." Said Dark Shaman before he vanished from Neddy's grip.
Neddy cursed as he flew out of the cave only to be met with a large army of nightmarish creatures. He fired blast of psychic energy and candy at the monsters as he flew around and tried to think where the exit to his dream would be.
Bubblegum found herself in what appeared to be a bathroom. She walked over to a mirror and noticed that a part of her right cheek had a cut in it and was peeling. Bubblegum reached up and peeled the skin away, then she peeled move and more away, until the right part of her face was gone and she saw the Lich's twisted decaying face right where the right side of her face had originally been! Bubblegum just stared at her reflection in horror and disgust as the Lich let out a cold chuckle.
"You and I are the same Queen Bubblegum." Said the Lich.
"No that's not true!" Said Bubblegum.
"You and I are the most hated beings in Ooo and we both have a body count. The one real difference between us is that I'm honest about myself to the people I hurt, kill, and betray." Said the Lich.
"I'm nothing like you!" Yelled Bubblegum.
"Why don't we ask your friends." Said the Lich tas the bathroom suddenly vanished.
Bubblegum was startled to see that she was now wearing the Lich's clothes and to be facing a angry Finn, Jake, Phoebe, Gata, Marceline, Lucinda, Lance, Henry, and Simon in the middle of a field.
"It's over for you you evil being!" Yelled Finn holding up his sword.
"For all the death and destruction you cause, you must die!" Yelled Phoebe conjuring up a fire sword.
"Wait guys! This is a huge misunderstanding!" Yelled Bubblegum as she raised her arms up.
Finn and Phoebe
The heroes ignored her and Finn and Phoebe ran at Bubblegum and stabbed her in the chest!
Bubblegum screamed as everything around her suddenly vanished and she found herself in zen garden being tended to by a strange white being with a horse skull for a head.
"What's happening? Where am I? Who are you?" Asked Bubblegum looking at the being with a horse skull for a head.
"You died Queen Bonnibel Bubblegum of the once great Candy Kingdom. I am Death and you are in the afterlife about to be judged and your fate decided."
"I'm...dead! But wait...I have so much I need to do and I'm the Candy Elemental! Don't I get reincarnated after I die?" Said Bubblegum.
"Normally you would, but you angered the heavens and great cosmic powers with the actions you committed, so your reincarnation has been revoked." Said Death.
"What?" Asked Bubblegum as she felt her mouth go dry.
"The Cosmic Flame Solaro was furious about what you did to her child and her people and she convinced the other high powers to vote against you to be reincarnated. Sugarey tried to persuade Solaro not to do this, but she was overruled." Said Death.
"No..." Said Bubblegum looking incredibly pale and nervous.
"I'm sorry about that. You do have a chance to argue where you end up in a good afterlife and possibly argue your case for reincarnation by writing an essay." Said Death.
Bubblegum felt defeated, but decided she could at least try to argue a case and maybe try to convince the higher powers to reinstate her reincarnation. She nodded her head and Death lead her into a study with a desk. Death gave Bubblegum some pen and paper as well as a candle to help light up the room.
"You will be given till the stroke of midnight to complete your essay." Said Death indicating a clock on the wall before leaving.
Bubblegum took a deep breath and began to write away.
Elsewhere Neddy flew and fought his way through hordes of monsters as he looked for a way out of his dream and into his mom's dream. He thought of where the exit could possibly be. Dark Shaman would place the exit in a secure place or a place Neddy wouldn't think about. Neddy searched his mind for a place and then he thought of the Space Angel Kingdom, it was a real place of nightmares and would be a ideal place for someone like Dark Shaman to place the exit. Neddy took a deep breath and flew off to the Space Angel Kingdom.
The dream version of the Space Angel Kingdom had a energy dome around it to keep the inhabitants trapped inside like it did in the real world. Neddy flew through it and tons of ghost-like grey creatures flew up at him and he blasted them away as he searched for the exit hoping to find it before the really bad horrors showed up. He soon came across the main lab and palace of the kingdom and saw what appeared to be some kind of door. Neddy rushed at it as Space Angel Princess appeared and began to chase after him.
Space Angel Princess was incredibly pale now with glowing purple eyes and sickly black lines going down her face. Neddy knew that Space Angel Princess was a huge victim of the space criminals that had overrun her kingdom and had become a host body to the ghost-like alien Ghostfreak. The possessed princess rushed after Neddy with a slasher smile and Neddy quickly blasted her away before going through the exit.
Bubblegum put down her pin to inspect her work and was very shocked and startled to see that the only thing she had written was a large very fancy 'The'. The candy woman was confused about this, she could have sworn she had written more then just one word. Bubblegum tried to calm down, when the clock struck midnight.
"No...!" Said Bubblegum looking up at the clock in horror.
Death walked into the study and picked up Bubblegum's paper to read it.
"I'm sorry, but this won't do at all. Your fate has been decided." Said Death.
"Where am I going?" Asked Bubblegum nervously.
"The Nightosphere." Said Death as a fiery portal opened up nearby and out stepped Hunson Abadeer.
Bubblegum felt her body go completely num. Though she had never met the Lord of Evil in person she had heard about him from Simon and Finn and had seen video footage of him during that one soul sucking rampage he went on. Hunson looked at Bubblegum with a cruel little smirk on his face.
"Come along girl, there's a lot of punishment awaiting for you." Said Hunson reaching out to Bubblegum.
Bubblegum let out a scared whimper as she fell onto her rear and began to back away from Hunson.
"Oh come on your suffering is going to last for a eternity. After a thousand years you'll get use to it." Said Hunson as he advanced towards Bubblegum.
Just when Hunson was about to grab Bubblegum, Neddy burst through the ceiling and punched Hunson in the face knocking him to the ground! Death tried to grab Neddy, but Neddy just punched him in the face as well and knocked him to the ground.
"Neddy...?" Asked Bubblegum looking very confused.
"Mom this isn't real. None of this. We've been captured by a powerful dark magic user who uses nightmare magic." Said Neddy.
"What?" Said Bubblegum as Neddy helped her to her feet.
"Think about it. I just knocked down both the Lord of Evil and Death without too much effort and neither one of them is getting back up. I'm powerful, but not that powerful. Things like that don't happen. Everything here makes no sense." Said Neddy.
Bubblegum blinked her eyes as she stared down at the fallen forms of Hunson and Death. It was true. None of what Bubblegum had been experiencing made no sense. Someone was messing with her.
"How do I know you're really my son and not just another illusion?" Asked Bubblegum.
"Why would Dark Shaman want to save you from the Nightosphere? That place is pure nightmares and chaos. Dark Shaman wouldn't want you to be saved from that." Pointed out Neddy.
"I...guess you're right." Said Bubblegum realizing this and seeing the logic.
"You really are a annoying pest." Said Dark Shaman's voice as the bodies of Death and Hunson vanished.
There was a swirl of darkness and Dark Shaman appeared hovering before Bubblegum and Neddy.
"Your illusion has been seen through. Now release us." Said Bubblegum feeling angry.
"I will not. It really doesn't matter if you broke my illusion and realize you're dreaming. I'm still in control. I can torture you all I want and I can easily kill your sleeping bodies." Said Dark Shaman with evil glee.
"You really are sick." Said Neddy.
"Maybe, but I'm the one in control." Said Dark Shaman.
"Guess the only way to get out of here is to defeat you." Said Bubblegum.
"You can try, but you will fail." Said Dark Shaman.
"Unfortunately for you, I have a little surprise. You see I haven't used my full power yet and I'm about to show you what I can really do." Said Neddy as his body became enveloped in a pink light.
"Time to show this creep what we can really do." Said Gee voice as it seemed to come from next to Neddy.
"Indeed. Mind merge resonate." Said Neddy.
Bubblegum and Dark Shaman watched as Neddy's grew two pink feline ears, a tail, and his hands and feet became more feline-like. Neddy's body was wrapped in pink energy that made it look like a jumpsuit.
"Neddy?" Asked Bubblegum in amazement.
"Introducing the Pink Panther." Said Neddy with a smirk.
Dark Shaman scowled at this and raised his staff up. Large rocky spikes shot out of the ground and tried to impale Neddy, but he dodged them all with a great deal of speed and feline agility as he raced at Dark Shaman. Dark Shaman threw energy blasts and boulders at the charging Neddy, only to have him dodge those and leap from boulder to Boulder towards Dark Shaman. Bubblegum decided to aid her son by firing balls of candy that contained mixes of pop rocks and soda at the dark wizard. The balls flew near Dark Shaman and exploded blinding the villain and distracting him. Allowing Neddy to tackle him out of the air and into the ground.
"Release us!" Ordered Neddy.
Dark Shaman merely glared at Neddy and melted into shadows, before reapers get a few yards away. The villain prepared to attack, when he suddenly winced and the world suddenly violently shook.
"What was that?" Asked Neddy.
"Something must be going on in the waking world." Said Bubblegum.
The world shook some more and Dark Shaman screamed in both rage and pain as the world around began to crack and crumbling.
"We're waking up! Be prepared to face whatever is going on in the waking world!" Said Neddy.
The world around them shattered to bits and Bubblegum and Neddy found themselves laying on a stone platform in some kind of large chamber as a battle raged on around them. Django jumped around swinging his scythe at wraiths, X flung fireballs at the Phantomrider, Lance blasted some golems, Mara sliced some ash zombies, Marceline fought against the Green Knight, and Simon and Dark Shaman were throwing blasts of magical energy at each other. It was chaotic, but at least Bubblegum and Neddy knew they knew they were in the waking world.
Bubblegum and Neddy quickly scrambled to their feet and Bubblegum took in the surrounding area and recognized the chamber as the place the Sleeping Fire Giants had been kept. The wraiths in the area took notice of Bubblegum being awake and became enraged by this.
"Kill her!" Screamed one wraith.
Eight wraiths broke away from fighting Django and flew screaming at Bubblegum. Marceline kicked the Green Knight away and quickly flew in getting in between the wraiths and Bubblegum. The vampire let out a loud hiss as her jaws opened incredibly wide in front of the charging wraiths. Marceline then began to loudly inhale and half the wraiths got sucked into her mouth, while the other half veered away from her in Bubblegum. Bubblegum stared at Marceline in shock. Marceline's cheeks were comically big as she held the wraiths in her mouth then she spat them out and sent them crashing into some wraiths.
"How?" Asked Bubblegum looking a bit stunned.
"My dad had the power to suck souls into his body and turn them into power. I basically inherited that power, but I don't like using and I'm not going to use it on these Fire People." Said Marceline wiping her mouth.
"But couldn't you contain all those wraiths within your body and use their power to make this fight much easier for us and give us a easy victory?" Asked Bubblegum.
"I can't handle that much energy all at once and I'm not going to imprison a ton of lost souls who have been turned into rage filled wraiths. They're innocent people who got turned into monsters and I'm not going to stoop to some low level just to beat them like that. We already got a method to beat them, you just watch." Said Marceline facing the wraiths.
As that happened Simon was firing blasts of mystical lightning at Dark Shaman who blocked it with his staff, but the force of the attack still smashed him into a wall. Dark Shaman was breathing hard as blood dripped from dozens of cuts on his body. The villain knew the battle was not going in his favor and he needed to take extreme measures if he wanted to win.
"Enough! Time for you to see a true monster! Wraiths come and merge together!" Said Dark Shaman as he raised his staff up high.
All the wraiths began to fly towards each other and merge together becoming a singular entity that began to rapidly grow. The new being grew and grew, until it busted through the ceiling and above reaching the outside and forcing the heroes, Green Knight, and Phantomrider to get out of the chamber to avoid getting crushed in the process. Bubblegum and her allies made it outside and watched as the entity finally stopped growing to reveal itself as a giant flaming skeleton!
"Behold the Ultra Wraith! A being composed of thousands of hat filled spirits!" Laughed Dark Shaman as he floated near the giant.
The Ultra Wrath let out a monstrous roar that shook the area. The giant then stomped towards the heroes and Lance fired a bolt of lightning at it that struck the monster, but barely see,Ed to phase it. X flung some fireballs at the Ultra Wraith and Neddy threw chunks of rubble at the monster, but it swatted them away with ease.
"It's too strong!" Said Bubblegum.
"We...might have a way to stop it, but will need a little time to do it." Said Django looking at X.
"Leave it to me." Said Simon before he took to the air.
Simon formed a enormous chunk of ice that was about the same size as the Ultra Wraith and shaped it into a Ice Golem. The Ultra Wraith glared and fired a blast of fire from it with his mouth. The Ice Golem raised it's arms and managed to block the attack though it did melt a few chunks out of it's arms. The fired attack died down and the Ice Golem punched the Ultra Wraith in the face knocking the monster back. The Ultra Wraith roared in rage as it slashed the Ice Golem across the chest causing a fair bit of the giant's chest to melt as it stumbled back. The Ice Golem backed away to avoid another slash, then it charged forward and tackled the Ultra Wraith to the ground pinning the monster to the ground with it's icy bulk as it began to melt. The Ultra Wraith screamed in both pain and rage as steam began to rise up from the melted ice meeting it's fiery body.
As all this happened Django and X had a quick whispering conversation and then X sat down and began to meditate.
"What's going on?" Asked Mara.
"X is getting in touch with a past life who has the power to help bring the Ultra Wraith down and help send the spirits to the afterlife." Said Django as he held his scythe.
"I got her." Said X.
"Now it's my turn. You ready for this X?" Said Django.
"I'm ready." Said X.
Django put the flat of his scythe on X's back and hummed a little melody. Everyone watched as X's body was enveloped by a fiery cocoon that obscured his body then quickly vanished. Where X had once sat there was now a older Fire Woman with long flaming hair with a jewel on her forehead and dressed in red battle armor. Bubblegum stared at the woman in shock as she recognized who it was.
"Phoebe?" Said Bubblegum.
"Bubblegum." Said Phoebe with a slight scowl as she stood up.
The Ice Golem finally melted away and the Ultra Wraith got back to it's feet letting out a murderous roar. Phoebe flew up into the air as flames shot out of her body and she grew in size, until she was the size of the Ultra Wraith.
"This ends now. It's time to send these souls back to the afterlife." Said Phoebe.
"I couldn't agree more." Said Django as he changed his scythe back into a guitar.
The Ultra Wraith screeched as it charged at Phoebe swinging it's arms at her only for Phoebe to catch both arms and stop the attack. The monster tried to yank itself free, but Phoebe's grip was too strong. He Ultra Wraith tried to blast Phoebe in the face with a blast from it's mouth, but she dodged the blast and pulled the monster in close into a tight embrace. At first the monster tried to break free as Phoebe sung a little lullaby and Django played a soothing song on his guitar. Marceline joined in by playing her guitar as well. As Phoebe sang the Ultra Wraith's struggle became weaker and it's flames began to die down and become less brighter.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Yelled Dark Shaman as he floated nearby watching the scene unfold.
"Phoebe and Django are calming the spirits that make up the Ultra Wraith's body. All that hate that was in them is leaving them and soon the spirits will head to the afterlife." Said Simon as he floated nearby.
"I won't allow this!" Yelled Dark Shaman as he prepared to attack, but suddenly found it hard to move as ice formed along his body as Simon froze him.
"That's not going to happen. The nightmare is over." Said Simon as he froze more of Dark Shaman's body.
"Noooooo!" Screamed Dark Shaman as he was completely frozen and turned into a ice sculpture.
Simon watched as the frozen form of Dark Shaman fell and shattered to bits once it hit the ground. The wizard bowed his head for his fallen enemy.
Green Knight and Phantomrider who saw this from the roof of a building decided it was time to retreat, so they did.
The Ultra Wraith's body began to crumble to bits as Phoebe let go of it. Everyone watched in awe as thousands of Fire People spirits flew into the sky and vanished. Phoebe shrank down to her normal size and flew over to Bubblegum. Bubblegum tensed up expecting to get physically attacked or verbally abused from Phoebe.
"Relax I'm not going to attack or yell at you. I'm still angry at you, but I've mostly gotten over what you did." Said Phoebe.
"Um...ok. Look Phoebe...I'm sorry for what happened to your family and kingdom..." Said Bubblegum.
"Save it. I'm not going to forgive you either." Said Phoebe.
"But...I need to say it." Said Bubblegum.
"Then don't say it to me. Say it to the child me that you hurt and give her a better future." Said Phoebe staring at Bubblegum with a fierce intensity.
"I...will." Said Bubblegum.
"I do wish you some luck in returning to the past Bubblegum. Try not to make a bigger mess of things with your second chance." Said Phoebe before she was enveloped in flames.
The flames vanished and Phoebe was replaced with X, who nearly fell over in exhaustion, but Mara caught him. Simon joined the rest of the group along with Lucinda, Henry, Serenity, O, Chicle, Lapis, and Peridot.
"Well it's been a long day. Let's head back to Sanctuary and begin planning to fight Gumbald and his army." Said Simon.
The heroes loaded up on the Omni Transport and continued on to Sanctuary.
To be continued.