The Lich Read online

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1 STEP INTO A NIGHTMARE

  CHAPTER 2 A ROOM OF SECRETS

  CHAPTER 3 EVIL UNLEASHED

  CHAPTER 4 RECOVERY

  CHAPTER 5 POSSESSED

  CHAPTER 6 THE TRUTH IS REVEALED

  CHAPTER 7 A NEW BEGINNING

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  The sky was grey and cloudy over Princess Bubblegum’s castle in the Candy Kingdom. The princess decided to relax by meditating with her friends Finn and Jake on one of the castle’s balconies.

  ‘OMMMMMM,’ they chanted in unison, their legs twisted like pretzels on the yoga mat they were sharing.

  ‘Jake,’ Finn whispered to his canine companion. ‘What am I supposed to be meditating about?’

  ‘Don’t know,’ Jake admitted. ‘I’m thinking of pillows stuffed with spaghetti.’

  Princess Bubblegum placed her hands on Finn’s and Jake’s heads.

  ‘Clear your minds,’ she said in a soothing, yet serious, tone of voice.

  Finn closed his eyes and imagined himself as older and stronger, the bravest adventurer in the Land of Ooo, his muscles bulging on one arm. He imagined that his other arm was mechanical.

  Jake closed his eyes and imagined Lady Rainicorn, his true love, riding a wild stallion.

  When Princess Bubblegum closed her eyes, a dark, shadowy, horned creature appeared. Flames raged all around the creature. It murmured to the princess ominously. The princess opened her eyes, gasped and jumped off the yoga mat.

  ‘I have to go check on something,’ she said cryptically.

  ‘Can we go with?’ Finn asked.

  ‘Perhaps you are ready to go with,’ Princess Bubblegum replied, her brow furrowed with worry.

  Finn and Jake pounded fists. They were always ready for a new adventure, and it looked like their time on the yoga mat had helped them find one. Who knew meditating could have such quick results?

  ‘Guys, you’ll need to put these on,’ the princess informed them.

  Bubblegum unclasped the golden earrings she was wearing. The jewellery opened up into a golden circle with a green jewel inside.

  ‘Roll back your hat,’ she said to Finn as she placed the chain on top of his hair.

  It immediately formed a protective bubble around Finn’s head. Then, just as quickly as the bubble had appeared, it disappeared. The same thing happened when the princess placed the other chain on top of Jake’s head.

  Princess Bubblegum touched her crown and a bubble enveloped her head, too.

  ‘Stay close to me,’ she quietly advised them.

  Then she clapped her hands in a rhythmic pattern and Peppermint Butler appeared. He blew a huge pink bubble around the princess, Finn and Jake. They floated up until they reached the tree that grew at the top of the castle. They weaved in and out of its branches.

  ‘At the heart of this tree is an ancient evil held in a prison of amber,’ Bubblegum explained. ‘The Lich.’

  ‘What’s that sound?’ Finn asked nervously.

  ‘He’s casting spells, trying to get in your head and control your bod,’ Bubblegum explained. ‘But these gems are protecting our minds from his influence. If we lost them, we’d be defenceless. He would have full control over us.’

  ‘That’s freaking nuts!’ Finn exclaimed.

  While Princess Bubblegum and Finn were talking, a snail emerged from Finn’s backpack and waved at the Lich. The evil Lich possessed the snail and beckoned it toward the amber trap. Finn was powerless to stop it.

  ‘Beyond Iceberg Lake lie the ruins of the Lich’s tower, where he was converting the planet’s life force into unholy power to destroy all of Ooo,’ Princess Bubblegum continued. ‘But before he could, the legendary Billy attacked him and pummelled him into the resin of this tree.’

  The possessed snail slithered over to the Lich and began to bang its head against the amber prison. A small crack appeared. As the snail butted its head against the amber over and over again, the crack grew until it was large enough for the Lich to ooze through it.

  The ancient evil had been unleashed again!

  Princess Bubblegum put her hands on her head and shrieked when she saw the Lich.

  ‘What the nuts?’ she cried. Her voice was a mixture of trembling fear and perturbed princessy petulance.

  Finn and Jake turned around and gasped in horror.

  The Lich was sprawled on the floor in front of them. His hands were made of bones, just like a skeleton. His face looked like a fur-covered mask. His terrible teeth were bared as he snarled at them. But his eyes were the worst. They were black pools of nothingness, and looking into them was like looking into the dark side of one’s soul.

  ‘Dude, be a big sword!’ Finn called to Jake, who had the magical ability to morph his body into any shape imaginable.

  Instantly, Jake stretched out his torso into a sword shape. Finn lifted him and headed toward the Lich, who was at least ten times his size. Finn smashed the Jake-sword down on the Lich, who immediately vaporised. The evil thing then escaped by burning a hole in the side of the tree.

  ‘Quickly!’ Princess Bubblegum commanded. ‘To the other secret room!’

  Bubblegum led Finn and Jake through the castle and into the other secret room. She used a key to unlock a wooden wardrobe.

  ‘There’s only one known weapon that can harm the Lich,’ she informed Finn and Jake. ‘The Gauntlet of the Hero.’

  A blinding white light filled the room as Princess Bubblegum pulled open the wardrobe’s doors. The Gauntlet of the Hero was a long, large metal glove with an eye on the back of the hand and a sparkling blue jewel on the wrist.

  ‘Billy’s big old beef fingers,’ said Jake knowingly.

  Princess Bubblegum lifted the gauntlet out of the wardrobe and held it in her arms.

  ‘Finn,’ she said solemnly. ‘You have but one chance. While the Lich isn’t at full power, you must smite him with this gauntlet.’

  Bubblegum placed the gauntlet on Finn’s hand, and it magically melded in place.

  ‘His only desire is to destroy life,’ the princess said. ‘If you fail, you’ll kill everyone.’

  ‘No!’ Finn replied, as he clenched his gauntlet-covered fist. ‘That will NOT happen.’

  Princess Bubblegum walked over to a trunk and lifted the lid.

  ‘There’s something else I want you to have,’ she said to Finn. ‘The Lich’s lair is supposed to be cold. I just don’t want you to get sick.’

  The princess pulled out a pink woolen bundle from the trunk and handed it to Finn.

  ‘Take this sweater,’ she said. ‘I made it myself. I’m not great at knitting, but please wear it. I care about you, Finn.’

  Finn took off his backpack and pulled the bright pink sweater over his head. Then he threw his backpack on over it.

  ‘I love it!’ he intoned convincingly.

  Princess Bubblegum put her arms around Finn and hugged him tightly. There might have been better incentives for going out and facing an ancient evil than getting a squeeze from a princess, but if there were, Finn didn’t know about them. He hugged her back.

  ‘Me, too!’ Jake said, not wanting to be left out of a group hug opportunity. He squeezed himself into the centre of the love fest, forgetting for a moment the seriousness of the mission.

  Just then, the shutters on the room’s only window began to rattle. They burst open. The three friends gasped, fearing that the Lich was coming for them.

  It wasn’t an ancient evil, though. It was a more common form of badness, the Ice King.

  ‘Hey, hey, hey,’ the Ice King greeted them. ‘So, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and well, gosh, I’m so nervous. Finn and Jake, will you give me your blessing so I can marry Princess Bubblegum?’

  ‘What is wrong with you
?’ Jake asked before he slammed the shutters shut.

  Princess Bubblegum turned to Finn.

  ‘Quickly now,’ she said. ‘Track the Lich by his trail of death.’

  ‘Here I go!’ Finn called as he raced off.

  ‘Here I go!’ Jake echoed, following Finn.

  Finn and Jake raced through the cotton candy trees in the Candy Kingdom forest, following the Lich’s path.

  ‘This is our first fate-of-the-world deal,’ Jake panted.

  ‘Yeah, man,’ Finn replied. ‘We have to shut this fool down hardcore!’

  Jake began to get stomach cramps from running so fast. He slowed down, and when Finn turned to tell Jake to push through the pain, he ran straight into the Ice King. They tumbled down and landed in a pile of dust.

  ‘Oh my! How clumsy of me,’ said the Ice King.

  ‘What the heck, Ice King?’ Finn asked, shoving him out of the way.

  ‘Hey, wait, you guys,’ the Ice King called. ‘I’m serious about Bubblegum. Look! I wrote her name all over my arms and legs!’ He rolled up his sleeves and lifted his frock to show off his handiwork.

  ‘Yuck!’ said Finn as the Ice King pulled back his robe to reveal his ink-covered legs. They ran down the trail while the Ice King hovered in the air behind them.

  ‘Guys, it’s not fair,’ he whined. ‘She always hangs out with you. And it’s not like you want to marry her.’

  Finn’s cheeks turned red. He picked up a rock and tossed it at the icy monarch.

  ‘Why are you FOLLOWING US?’ Finn screamed.

  ‘I told you already,’ responded the Ice King. ‘I want your blessing so I can marry Princess Bubblegum!’

  Finn and Jake tried, but they couldn’t outrun the Ice King. Then the king lifted his arms and used his powers to trap them in an ice dome.

  A doorway melted in the ice as the Ice King walked into the dome.

  ‘Come on, you guys. Give me permission to marry her,’ he begged.

  ‘NO!’ Finn yelled.

  ‘Come on,’ the Ice King pleaded. ‘If you bless our wedding, then maybe she’ll really love me.’

  Finn held up his gauntlet-covered hand.

  ‘Ice King, go away, man,’ he commanded.

  ‘I WILL!’ the Ice King screamed. ‘WHEN YOU BLESS OUR WEDDING!’

  ‘No thanks, guy,’ Finn replied.

  Finn held the Gauntlet of the Hero out in front of the king, but nothing happened.

  ‘Huh? How does this gauntlet work?’ Finn wondered.

  Finn smacked the eye on the back of the glove, and a super-strong laser beam shot out of it. He struggled to control the beam as it seared through the ice dome walls.

  ‘Whoa!’ Jake yelled.

  ‘I can’t turn it off!’ Finn cried.

  ‘Punch it in the eye,’ Jake suggested.

  Finn punched the gauntlet’s eye again. It worked. The laser disappeared in a flash.

  ‘Let’s blow this stand!’ Jake yelled as he and Finn escaped through an opening in the ice wall.

  ‘I tried to do this right, but you’ve driven me to this,’ the Ice King snarled. ‘Driven me to bad doing!’

  Princess Bubblegum sat in her secret room, snacking on ice-cream and worrying about her friends.

  ‘Oh, Finn and Jake, please be okay,’ she wished out loud. ‘Please be okay…please be okay…please be okay.’

  The princess’s meditations were interrupted when she heard a banging at the window. Someone was trying to sneak into the secret room! It was the Ice King, and he wasn’t going to accept ‘no’ for an answer to his marriage proposal.

  ‘Ice King!’ Bubblegum yelled. ‘Get out of here!’

  ‘I didn’t want to do this,’ the Ice King said as he crawled through the window. ‘But by not blessing our wedding, Finn and Jake have forced me to kidnap you.’

  He sent an icy blast toward the princess. Her feet and arms were soon encased in ice blocks.

  ‘That’s insane!’ cried Princess Bubblegum.

  ‘I know!’ agreed the Ice King, misunderstanding the princess. ‘But I’ll show them. I’LL SHOW THEM HOW THEY’VE HURT US!

  ’ The Ice King grabbed the ice block that surrounded the princess’s wrists and dragged her out of the castle.

  Meanwhile, Finn and Jake had tracked the Lich’s trail of destruction to Iceberg Lake.

  ‘There! Out over the lake!’ Jake said to Finn as he pointed to a black streak of evil darting through the water.

  Suddenly, the Lich rose above the surface, moaning his evil moans and glaring at them.

  ‘After his butt!’ Finn called in an effort to put himself and Jake in a butt-kicking state of mind.

  Jake transformed his body into the shape of a dinghy and Finn climbed aboard. Finn wanted the help Jake move faster, so he placed the gauntlet into the water and stroked its eye.

  ‘Hey, it’s me,’ he said softly to the glove.

  The eye looked back at him suspiciously.

  ‘Aw, come on,’ Finn apologised. ‘I’m sorry I punched you.’

  Finn leaned over and gave the eye a kiss.

  The gauntlet accepted his apology and began to paddle through Iceberg Lake at warp speed. Soon, they were right in the Lich’s wake.

  ‘Closing in!’ Finn cried. ‘Going to get you, man!’

  Finn held out the glowing gauntlet, ready to smite the Lich with it.

  ‘Closer, Jake,’ Finn called. ‘Closer…closer….’

  Just when it looked like Finn might soon be within smiting-distance, an interloper jetted in between them. It was the Ice King, interfering again!

  ‘Princess?’ Finn asked, confused upon seeing her royal highness locked in ice. ‘No!’

  A geyser spouted up from the lake, taking Finn and his dinghy dog on a high ride. Finn was furious when they finally washed ashore.

  ‘ICE KING!’ he screamed.

  ‘Look!’ the Ice King screamed back. ‘LOOK

  WHAT YOU MADE ME DO TO HER!’

  ‘Guys, don’t let the Lich reach his well of power,’ the princess warned.

  Too late! An eerie green glow filled the sky as the Lich released a horde of evil souls from the well.

  ‘Oh, no!’ Princess Bubblegum cried. She watched the Lich’s evilness unleashed upon the world. ‘He’s made it!’

  ‘Don’t worry, Princess,’ Finn called to her.

  Finn and Jake set out to undo the Lich’s evil. They raced down stairs that led to the well. Undead evil skeletons rose up to fight them. Finn blasted each of them with the Gauntlet of the Hero until the ground was littered with their bones.

  ‘I don’t have time for this,’ Finn huffed.

  ‘Then let’s go!’ said Jake.

  As Finn raced away, the undead creatures grabbed his backpack and ripped it open.

  ‘My backpack!’ Finn cried.

  Jake leapt on Finn’s back and morphed into a backpack shape.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he reassured Finn.

  An enormous skeleton rose from the floor, lifting Finn and Jake to a perch at the top of its skull. Finn raised the gauntlet to blast the skeleton, but he also blasted a hole in the ground. Finn and Jake fell for what seemed to be an eternity.

  Before they crash landed, Finn grabbed onto a pipe and held on for his life. Then he jumped down to a safe surface and peered through the hole. At the bottom, he saw a pool of bubbling evil with a dark figure crouching over it.

  ‘The Lich,’ Finn gasped.

  The ancient evil dipped his skeleton hands into the pool and groaned.

  ‘He’s getting his powers back!’ said Jake. ‘Weird.’

  Jake held out the Gauntlet of the Hero and directed its beam at the Lich.

  ‘No!’ he yelled, as the Lich jumped out of the way of the blast. ‘Prepare thyself to get smote in the name of Bubblegum!’

  Jake stretched his ears into wing-like shapes, and then Finn and Jake glided down toward the Lich. Finn held out the gauntlet, ready to give the Lich a beat-down, but the Lich just grabbed the gauntle
t and held Finn in midair.

  ‘Shhh,’ the Lich whispered, holding one bony finger in front of his mouth.

  The Lich squeezed, and the Gauntlet of the Hero crumbled into a million pieces. Then he tossed Finn and Jake to the ground. The Ice King and Princess Bubblegum gasped. The king had followed Finn and Jake into the well and was hovering with the princess in the air, watching the whole time.

  ‘Look out!’ Jake shouted as the Lich hurled green orbs of evil their way.

  ‘That’s it!’ he yelled in frustration. ‘I’m going to bark him!’

  Jake rolled over and traded positions with Finn, so that now he was carrying Finn on his back like a backpack. He stretched his torso across the pool of evil and barked ferociously at the Lich. While most people would have run off in fear, the Lich did not.

  Instead, the Lich picked up a ball of evil and tossed it into Jake’s face. Jake fell to the ground, his face burned. Finn’s protective headband fell to the floor and the jewel shattered. Princess Bubblegum screamed.

  ‘Finnnnnn,’ the Lich snarled. ‘Come!’

  Finn struggled to fight against the Lich possessing his mind. But the evil was powerful.

  ‘Stop!’ Finn called to the Lich.

  ‘Aren’t you cold, Finn?’ the Lich asked. ‘Walk into the well, Finn. Aren’t you cold?’

  Finn, now being sucked in by the Lich’s evil, stepped toward the well. He was balanced on the edge when his hero self triumphed over the evil possessing him.

  ‘NO, I’M NOT!!!’ he cried. ‘I’VE GOT A SWEATER ON!’

  ‘You are a joke to me,’ answered the Lich.

  He sent a green beam of evil toward Finn, but the sweater Princess Bubblegum had knitted seemed to have magical powers, just like the headband.

  ‘This sweater,’ Finn gasped. ‘It’s keeping me safe!’

  Finn suddenly remembered that when the princess had given him the clothing, she’d told him that she cared about him.

  ‘This is it, the ultimate weapon against evil,’ Finn realised. ‘The power of…l…l…liking someone a lot.’

  Finn pulled off the sweater and waved it in front of himself like a weapon.

  ‘Lich!’ he yelled as he rushed toward the ancient evil.