Adventure Time: Transcendence

Chapter 2

            Within a couple of hours, Bubblegum enters the room. She sees a look of horror and sadness on Marceline's face as she is just sitting on a chair in the corner, staring into nothingness. Bubblegum rushes to Marceline's side and kneels down in front of her, looking up at her face. "Marceline! What happened?" she asked.

            Marceline was on the verge of tears. The whole time she had been wondering what the Lich had done to Finn while in the Prison. She didn’t want to think about it anymore, but every time she saw Finn in his current condition, she couldn’t stand it. Marceline looked at Bubblegum. "He woke up earlier today," she said faintly. "He looked at me. Called me the 'Lich'. I'm sure he still thinks that he is in the prison." Bubblegum was shocked.

            "How can he think that?" asked Bubblegum.

            "I think that while they were stuck inside the prison, Finn was the Lich's chew toy," Marceline couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. It all came rushing out. "The Lich probably tormented him the whole time. When I see those scars and look at Finn's condition, I just can't help it." Bubblegum embraced Marceline in an attempt to console her, and for a moment, it did help. Slowly, she stopped crying and Bubblegum held the frantic Marceline in her hands.

            "Everything is going to be okay," she whispered. "I will make sure of it." These words comforted Marceline very much due to the fact that what Bubblegum had said reminded her a lot of Finn. They stood by him, all night, not leaving his side.

            Bubblegum could not dismiss the possible real danger of having Finn back. No matter how hard she tried to make herself think that the threat isn’t there, it was always a possibility in her head. Every time she looked at Finn, she sees the evil that may possibly returned. She had to talk to Marceline about it. "Marceline…"

            "Yeah, Bonnie?" she asked.

            "I know you love Finn… and trust me, I am really happy to see him, but he is a liability."

            Marceline's face morphed into an angry serpent. "What!?"

            "Just hear me out, Marceline. There is always the possibility that Finn still has the Lich inside him. If that's the case, then he is dangerous to have back. We must find a way to send him back."

            "NO!" Marceline protested. "I already lost Finn once. I am not going to lose him again!"

            "Marceline! It’s the only way!"

            "What if the Lich isn’t inside of him?"

            "What if he is!?" Bubblegum screamed. "We can't take that chance of not knowing. We have to send him back."

            "Bonnie, if you send him… then you better send me too," Marceline demanded. "I went ten horrible years without him, and I am not going through that again!"

            "Marceline…" was all Bubblegum could say in response. There was a long moment of silence.

            "… Bonnie, I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just… I… I-I need to be alone."

            "I'll be in my study," Bubblegum said quietly as she left the room.

            Bubblegum gave Marceline some time to think as she stared down at Finn. What is happening? I mean, I love Finn with all my heart, but he shouldn’t be here. Why is he here? Who brought him back? These questions echoed in her head like screams in a hallway. She didn’t want to believe that someone would bring the Lich back to terrorize the world. To her, it made more sense that something or someone brought Finn back to serve a greater purpose.

            Later that night, Marceline continued to observe Finn sleeping. Once again, she couldn’t help but think about the enormous amount of pain that he had gone through. She felt around his scars, especially his neck scar, questioning what happened, when she noticed that Finn had been sweating. Marceline grabbed a towel from the bathroom adjacent to the room they were in and started wiping Finn down. She came across the scar that she had left on his sternum the last time they made love. It was a symbol of hope for her, for it made her feel as though Finn wasn’t lost; that Finn was still inside there and could be cured. Finn opened his eyes, which startled Marceline. "Finn?" Finn began to struggle again, which made him sweat even more. Marceline tried to pin him back down, placing left her hand on the 'M' shaped scar on his chest. Upon contact, the scar began to shine brightly, illuminating the entire room in a bright white. It shined so bright, the light went completely through Marceline's hands, revealing the shadows of the bones within her fingers. She covered up her eyes with her other arm, not taking left hand off of the scar, and even the light shined right through it. Only her eyelids gave her some closure from the light.

            The ground beneath them began to rumble. Items in the room, like IV bags and poles, as well as the heart monitors, they all began to topple over. Light was shining through Finn's eyes and his mouth. "Marceline!" he called. And with that, it was all over. Finn passed out again, leaving Marceline to question what just happened.