Chapter 40:
The sound of the waves against the shore and the brilliant moonlight made Fionna wish Patrick was here to share this moment with her. It was all so very romantic to a woman who hadn't had a whole lot of romance in her life before having to grow up. Just now, the worried expression she'd seen on her husband's face at the airfield on King's Island wanted to crowd out the more immediate concern of why she'd come here.
Forcing thoughts of her family to the back of her mind, Fionna refocused on the deadly matter in front of her. There were six people in the hospital right now, struggling to stay alive after being attacked by dangerous creatures from the jungle. She needed to get the barrier up again, pronto.
The failure was at the worst possible location—two nodes in from the beach-front fortress where the barrier device was installed. "The Grid-Face peeps are talking about pilings and making the node float," Abeiuwa remarked.
Fionna knew what that was about. Some of cow-tits' peeps were butt-hurt that it was Fionna who got the cash for building the barrier.
"The stone is injured," Fionna remarked. Abeiuwa goggled at her. As she watched, the tall blonde turned and glanced over her shoulder at the nearby village.
"What," Abeiuwa demanded? Rising, Fionna began walking toward the village. The Grid- Face peeps, who'd been standing around doing their silent-communication biz, followed her with their eyes.
Given the way they all stared, Abeiuwa imagined they were seeing some strange sort of radiation or something. Fionna, like her father, was a terrifying miracle of science interwoven with the arcane.
The Jungle Princess turned to her guards and said, "stay here." With no further word, she set out after her sister-in-law.
Step by step, Fionna walked unerringly through the jungles towards the sleep little fishing village that lay nearby. Abeiuwa couldn't help thinking that her focus on the place was in very bad taste. Two of the villagers had been attacked by beasts not long after the barrier failed.
The Jungle Guard had emptied the village of its people, moving them into a larger town that still had its protective fencing.
"Where're we going, Fi," Abeiuwa queried? "To the source of the problem," Fionna replied. Blinking owlishly, Abeiuwa glanced back the way they'd come. She was a little startled to find the five cyborgs following them.
Fionna stepped out of the jungle and into the eerie silence of the empty village. Stepping out behind her, Abeiuwa demanded, "where're you going?" Shushing her, Fionna stepped off, striding towards the ramshackle barn where the locals repaired their boats and nets.
Just as the bad bunny approached the double doors at the end, a dozen men burst out, weapons ready to hand. As two of them leveled dart guns and let fly, a third leveled a flamethrower.
Abeiuwa imagined their shock as the tall blonde waded straight through the flames and jabbed her hand through the chest of the man with the flamethrower. She was certainly surprised.
As the flames sprayed this way and that, igniting several of Fionna's assailants, the leggy blonde calmly gashed the throat of the closest man with her diamond-hard nails, ending him right there. Two men ran. Reflexively, Abeiuwa leveled her assegai at one and shot him in the back.
As her assailants stared in shock, the bad bunny bent down, grasped the nozzle of the flamethrower, and crushed it, choking off the flow of air. Dropping the nozzle, she waded into the remaining assailants, knocking one unconscious with a closed fist, before slaughtering the rest.
The whole business was over in the space of minutes, leaving the cyborgs stunned. Indeed, it was the sound of one of them emptying her stomach of its contents that got Abieuwa thinking and moving again.
Striding forward, the Jungle Princess threw her robe over her sister-in-law, declaring, "you're naked. Cover up." The bad bunny flushed to her hair. The flamethrower had nuked her tee-shirt and shorts.
Glancing at the now-burning barn, Abeiuwa demanded, "why here? Obviously you expected someone to be waiting..."
"They made the tunnel from here...," Fionna replied. Abeiuwa's face whipped around. Pointing, Fi explained, "they spread the dirt and rock over there to hide what they were doing."
"Wh-who," babbled the lead cyborg? "The node didn't fail on its own," Fionna calmly declared. "I went down to where there's ancient rock under the beach... Three-hundred feet total. They probably paid off the locals to look the other way. I'm guessing they didn't know what these guys had planned."
The cyborgs were all staring at each other, and Abeiuwa could imagine what they thought. This had been a chance to show that 'magic' was inferior to their technology. Except it was sabotage, thought Abeiuwa.
Shaking her head, she leaped to the more important issue. "Can you repair it," she asked? "My people are frightened..." "Yeah," Fi replied. "Take me a couple days. I'll go down in the tunnel to get at the node to make it easier."
Shaking her head, Abeiuwa retorted, "the Jungle Guard will go down in the tunnel, Fi. If they went through all this trouble to damage the node, there could be traps."
As the sun rose over the Candy Kingdom, Finn the King rose from his bed and headed for the toilet, leaving Bonnie sleeping alone. Climbing into the shower, the big man dialed up some hot water and stood soaking in the steam, doing his best to burn away stress as much as filth.
As the big man pondered what he had to get done today, the shower stall door opened and a slim figure stepped in with him. Shutting the door, she pressed her slim body against Finn, the firm muscle telling him this wasn't Bonnie.
"Master," Orzsebet murmured, as she began to grind her body against his. Finn responded, "I thought you were in the east..."
"I've learned some things," she murmured. "Oh," Finn replied? The feel of her grinding against him told him she was some kind of horny. More to the point, after a night of Bonnie's angst, it was getting him wound up too.
"Insight has a plan to move against King's Island, Master," she murmured. "They're behind the Heart Kingdom's attack on Stilt-Town. I believe they're also behind the attack on Jungle Kingdom's barrier."
"What would they hope to gain," Finn mused? "Perhaps the control system for the Grand Cannon," Orzsebet replied. "With King's Island in their hands, they have time to subvert the weapon... There's also the matter of His Majesty's children..."
"When," Finn asked? "Days, Your Majesty," Orzsebet replied. "I believe the attack will happen within mere days. I believe they will simultaneously attack Jungle Kingdom, Stilt-Town, and King's Island to stretch your resources."
"Hmph," Finn rumbled, as he turned to face his plaything. "I don't think things are going to play out the way they think."
Seizing her, the big man jammed his tongue down her throat. At the same time, he got his hands on that hard little ass of hers. Orzsebet slipped her arms around his neck, as she kissed him back.
She was a hard little thing, made all the more so by her return to youth. Every square inch of her body was covered in muscle. At the same time, pregnancy had given her a nice set of hips and plumped up her perky, young tits.
Stroking that hot little body, the big man got his toy heated up even before he started stroking the kitty. Licking her ear, Finn whispered, "this is what you were hiding under that tux, huh?" As he squeezed her plump right knocker, he added, "don't hide this, baby. Let the world see it..."
His strong right hand stroked her washboard belly. "You'd almost give Kara a run for her money," Finn murmured. "Of course, she's got that box plugged into her neck..." "Cheater," whispered Orzsebet. "Yeah, baby," Finn responded, as he stroked those hard thighs, "you did it the hard way, and it's so damned nice..."
"Stop teasing," Orzsebet whined. "I want it..." By now, she was grinding her snatch against his thigh. "You want it," he teased? "Yes," she pouted. Grabbing her by the thighs, he hoisted her aloft. Aiming his fat pecker against her snatch, the big man eased inside. Pressing Orzsebet's body up against the wall of the shower, he shoved it in deep, causing her to shriek.
The Lady of Spies wrapped those long legs of hers around His Majesty's hips, as she tried to become one with his body. The King of Ooo hit it hard enough that he shook the walls of the shower.
Clawing at his back, Orzsebet pressed her face into his chest and screamed. A vague corner of his mind knew that Bonnie would hear that. She'd hear and likely get horny/jealous, and then it'd be a short step to her being pissed off at him.
He'd started to figure out some things about Peebles. He'd once called her a control-freak. Now, he realized just how true that was. When she wasn't in a mood to put out, she wanted him to suffer—to even come begging. The fact that he had options irritated her.
He'd have to square this—banging a woman that Bonnie despised—but in the now, he gave Orzsebet his full attention.
Gluing his lips to hers, Finn tongued out the inside of her mouth, while he tweaked her fat nips, causing her to shriek and squeal. And then he was ramming her again. As their lips broke contact, the Agent Princess let out another high-pitched squeal.
They were in the final throes now. Squeezing that hard ass like it was a sponge, Finn shoved his rod in deep and gave his little fuck-toy both barrels. At the same time, those thighs squeezed him so tight, it was almost painful. Her whole body went rigid to the point where she was almost vibrating.
When she finally relaxed, Finn let her down, though her legs were so rubbery she might well have fallen on her face if he didn't hold her up. "Master," the slinky spy-girl moaned, as she lay against him, panting like she'd run a mile.
Spinning her around, the big man began to wash up the evidence. Soaping up that hard little body, the big man rumbled, "remember what I said. I want to see this... I always want to see this on display. Let other men see my property and be jealous."
He could tell those words turned her on. While he could've spent an hour in here bangin' his nasty little girlfriend, work was waiting on him.
Finn was all smiles as he exited the bathroom. That had been a much better surprise visit with the Agent Princess than the previous time she'd shown up in his quarters.
Intimacy. Though he'd scarcely understood what that meant in his youth, his understanding had been growing. Love was more than just bumping uglies in the dark, and honestly he'd gotten a charge out of washing the skinny spy-girl's hard little body after bangin' her.
He'd been discovering the things that made her tick—though she tried her best to keep her guard up. He'd even been figuring out how to make her laugh.
As he shut the bathroom door, the big man came face to face with Bonnie, who wore a frown of irritation and jealousy. That look was just a little bit ironic, when she'd been doing her best to be cunty last night.
Striding forward, Finn tore the robe off her and threw it aside. Shoving her down on the arm of the couch, he paddled her ass, causing her to squeal and shriek. "F-finn," the candy- monarch howled! "Y-you... dooon't...! Finnnnn...!"
"I'd say get a room, but...," Cherry announced. She was standing in front of the suite's outer door. Glancing up, Finn gave her a grin. Bonnie took the opportunity to wriggle out from under him and flee into the bedroom.
Taking up the robe, Finn padded over to the bedroom door and threw it in after her. Returning to the living room, the big man sat himself on the couch opposite Cherry. "What's up," he asked?
"Last night," Cherry announced, "pirates intercepted a merchant ship leaving the Bee Kingdom..." Finn sat up straight now, as Cherry declared, "a man named Bardolf Aigner was aboard said ship... I have evidence connecting him to the distilled narcotic honey."
Leaning forward, the big man rumbled, "and..." "After an extended conversation, he gave up a Minister Alexander Hammond," Cherry responded.
"A patsy," Finn muttered. Shaking his head, the big man chaffed his hands together and opined, "she'll find a way to either make him disappear or... something else that keeps his mouth shut..."
"Call it a brush-back," Cherry retorted. When Finn glanced up at her face, she remarked, "you remember how much Rootie loved baseball..." Nodding, Finn responded, "yeah. He liked to pitch. He had that crazy curve-ball that I could never hit..." "Knuckle-ball," Cherry responded. "He was very particular about the name..."
Shaking her head, she said, "anyways, when a batter would get too aggressive, Rootie would throw a pitch close to his body to make him duck... He called it a brush-back..." "...to warn the other guy not to get out of pocket," Finn surmised.
Nodding, the big man said, "got it. I... guess it's all we can do for now..." "For now, Your Majesty," Cherry replied. "She'll fuck up again. She's the kind of greedy that guarantees it..." "Ok," Finn sighed.
Moving on, he said, "we may need to make arrangements to move the kids back here to the Candy Palace." Frowning, Cherry responded, "why?" Nodding at the bathroom, Finn explained, "Insight's targeting King's Island..."
The little woman's eyes got big. "I'm moving some troops around," he said. "Don't know how they're going to strike, but I'll have plenty of dudes there to take care of business. I'll send Lollipop orders to get the docks secured and close the palace water-gate."
Cherry nodded, though her eyes suggested worry. "Come here," Finn commanded. Rising, Cherry crossed that short space to stand before him.
Having made a clone body, she was no longer covering up wrinkles with makeup and hiding her age. She was just as beautiful as the day he'd met her and Rootbeer.
Looking natty in a chick-suit, she reminded him of how professional she'd looked to his fourteen-year-old eyes. At the same time, the way those pants hugged her curves and the little dash of cleavage that the jacket showed off made him want her.
A part of him felt it was wrong to be talking about Rootbeer, while he was sitting here with the man's wife. At the same time, Cherry was now his wife, and he risked losing her if he got lost in worrying over how Rootbeer would've felt about this.
Reaching out, the big man pulled her down onto his lap. "You'll get to see Van, Birch, and Honeydrop," he whispered. It said something about the stress she was under when the little woman lay her head against his chest.
Before Finn could say a word to comfort his most wayward of wives, Bonnie came out, wearing yesterday's clothing and looking pissed. Striding forward, the bubblegum princess cussed him. Grabbing her by the arm, Finn pulled her down on his other thigh.
Coolly, the big man said, "sometimes, I think maybe Bonnie will stop playing female games since she's older than dirt..." Face gone red hot, Bonnie howled, "Finnnn!" "Go take a shower, peebles," Finn murmured, "and put on some clean clothes."
Sniffling in anguish, Bonnie said, "you take that back!" Stroking her side, Finn murmured, "sometimes I wish I could've lived every one of those days with you because you're my first love..." The tall woman shivered at those tender words, her jaw going agape.
When Orzsebet emerged from the bathroom, Finn was making out with the pair sitting on his lap, going from one to the other and back again. Wearing a smirk, the Lady of Spies strolled to the door and slipped out, having already gotten hers.
With a sigh, Finn murmured, "I don't have time for more than this, and I'm sorry for that." Bonnie whimpered, and the big man imagined she was regretting being cunty last night.
"We need to get to morning audiences," Finn sighed, "and then I need to let Lollipop know what's going on with Insight. I'll dispatch some more guys to Jungle Kingdom to back Fionna up and send some guys from the rocket base to backfill King's Island."
"I don't like doing that," Bonnie sighed. "Me neither," Finn agreed, "but we still have the southern section of the Wall to guard, since Fi wasn't able to raise the height, and we still have the fort at the north end to keep manned."
Those things were all the more important now. The civilized kingdoms were mostly safe from the rogue spies' meddling, though there were some problems in Emerald Kingdom and Laurel Kingdom.
Bonnie had been making noises about simply locking down travel into and out of the kingdoms, requiring peeps to have travel passes. Having experienced what it was like to live in a country that was locked down in Pillow World, Finn wasn't excited by the idea.
Sliding off Finn's thigh, Bonnie sighed, "lots of stuff is getting half done, Finn. We... we need to do something about that." "Get me out of endless crisis-mode," Finn chuckled. Pinching her butt, he sighed, "yeah, still a very nice butt... Wish I had more time to enjoy it..."
When Cherry climbed to her feet, Finn stood up too. "See you in a bit, peebles," he said, as he strode towards his closet.
Thirty minutes later, as the trio walked towards the audience chamber, Bonnie announced, "I... have something to say." "Sure, poibles," Finn responded.
With a sigh, Bonnie declared, "I... haven't been acting as a team player..." That was some kind of revelation. Though Cherry snorted in amusement, she didn't say anything to set Bonnie's back up.
Glancing at the wall, Bonnie admitted, "some of why things aren't getting done is the First Minister failing to do First Minister stuff. The King's having to shoulder a lot of day-to-day stuff that should be my job..." Finn gave her hand a squeeze.
Taking a deep breath, Bonnie declared, "starting today, I will investigate what's needed to finish the northern barrier, so we can get rid of the fort there. Nadia built a reflecting node. The Candy Kingdom should be able to build something similar."
"The Kingdom," Cherry teased. "The Kingdom," Bonnie retorted. "I... don't have time to lose myself in the lab anymore."
"We'll have to see about that," Finn murmured. Bonnie's face whipped around towards his. Twining his fingers with hers, Finn murmured, "my wife's heart has always been in science. It's painful to see that taken away from her."
"You'll make her cry, Finn," Cherry chuckled. "You should stop doing that when we're about to go into the audience chambers... surprising us with sweet words like that..."
Stopping at the door, the big man said, "dudes feud with their wives because they get so caught up with carryin' the weight, they forget why they're carrying it. I'm... sometimes I forget. I'm sorry. I'm trying to do better."
Wiping away a tear, Bonnie admitted, "I'm not good with relationships, Finn. My first ones were awful. I'mma try to be better too." Straightening, she said, "let's get to work. What we get done today, we don't have to fumble at getting done tomorrow." "Amen," agreed Cherry, as she opened the door.
As the sun rose over Stilt-Town, Billy sat down before a breakfast of steamed fish, while a very jealous Kate sat down opposite him. She was shocked and appalled that the curvy princess could cook so well, when her best dish was a very sketchy clam chowder.
Billy was far more concerned about the risk Olesia had taken in going down to the market to procure the fish. They were on what was effectively a tiny island in the middle of a saline lake—a terrifyingly dangerous place for an elemental.
"Tell me what you think," Olesia murmured, as she set a plate in front of Kate. "I've never tried cooking these creatures before."
Billy, who'd never been a fan of fish, carefully sliced up the fish on his plate. At least it's not pickled fish and yogurt surprise, he thought.
Taking a bite, he was astounded at the flavor that came through. At the same time, it was some of that hot. Indeed, Kate was already fanning her mouth and reaching for a glass of ice-cold sweet-tea.
"I learned this from your pirate friends," Olesia murmured. Billy blushed. The food on Morgana's boat had twice sent him to the toilet with his ass burning. It was delicious going in, but everything eventually came out the other end.
As the big man pondered a day of sitting on the hopper, a familiar voice announced, "hey, babe... Oooh! Jerk Fish. I want some..."
Cameron came up and immediately occupied Billy's lap. Taking the fork from his hands, she stabbed a big chunk of the fish and swallowed it whole. "Mmmmmm," the nymph mumbled! "So good!"
It was clear from Olesia's expression that she was torn between enjoying the praise and being angry that the little bitch had just sat herself in Bill's lap and started eating his meal. Before she said a word, Kate declared, "a little too spicy for a breakfast, Your Highness... Better as a lunch treat..."
Turning to her lieutenant, Kate asked, "how'd it go? What did you find?" "There's a fleet," Cameron responded, "just like we figured. Eight battleships, twelve transports, a dozen cruisers."
"Lot of firepower," Kate sighed. "That's going to be tough to deal with..." Her eyes flicked to Bill's face. "Not so bad as you think," Billy replied. "I've got a plan..."
Turning to Cameron, who was emptying his plate (eating for two), the big man asked, "how far away?" Between bites, the nymph responded, "two days sailing. Figure they'll be here tomorrow..."
"Then Olesia and I will sail tonight," Billy responded. To Kate, he said, "we need to borrow your boat." The curvy pirate shot to her feet. Interrupting what was sure to have been a fiery response, Olesia declared, "I'll be with him. It'll be fine. The goal is to take the will to fight out of them before they get here."
Seating herself once more, Kate retorted, "not much hope of that. I'm guessing you've never met anybody from the Heart Kingdom..." "Just his dukeness," Billy replied.
"They're... a lot of them are like that," Kate sighed. "Wound up like springs..." "At the least, there'll be fewer of them coming ashore, when I'm done," Billy responded.
Tweaking the nymph's nose, the big man said, "got to go, sugar-snatch. There's work to do." A disappointed Cameron climbed off his lap, relinquishing the man and his now-empty plate.
The battle begins in Chapter 41.