It Came From the Nightosphere (4 page)

Marceline screamed. ‘And when I get it back, I’m going to break it over his neck and slam my dad back into the Nightosphere!’

‘Oh, clam!’ Finn agreed. ‘But first, we have to return the souls your dad sucked back to these sad little husks. Right, Marceline?’

‘Uh, sure, we’ll do that,’ Marceline answered unconvincingly.

So Finn and Marceline continued to hunt for the Lord of Evil. They soon found themselves at Red Rock Pass, a deep cavern in the Land of Ooo.

‘Red Rock Pass,’ Marceline told Finn. ‘If my dad wants to get through the mountains, he’ll have to go through here.’

‘We can work together and smash him with this rock,’ Finn said, pointing to a tall rock that sat precariously balanced at the top of a cliff. ‘And once he’s smooshed, all the souls will go back to their rightful bods,’ he added hopefully.

And so, they waited.

While Finn and Marceline lay waiting at the top of Red Rock Pass, the Lord of Evil was busy collecting more souls. He came upon the Marauder Village and found a group of tough Marauders sharing combat stories. They were unaware that there was an evil soul snatcher on the loose and now, suddenly, in their midst.

‘So, I popped his head like a cork,’ the head Marauder continued his story to his comrades. ‘That’s what I think of expanding-Earth theory.’

The Marauders laughed and cheered. That was a good one! They didn’t notice that the Lord of Evil was now sitting with them and had already sucked out the soul of one of them.

‘All right,’ the Lord of Evil said, interrupting their conversation, ‘I’ve got a joke, too. What wears a dark suit, is completely evil, and is about to suck out all your souls?’

‘Your mama!’ the head Marauder called back laughing, impressed with his own comeback and trying to beat the Lord of Evil to the punch line. The Marauders laughed, but the joke was on them.

‘That’s right. I’m your mama,’ the Lord of Evil answered coldly as the Marauders congratulated themselves on their leader’s quick wit.

While the Marauders chuckled, the Lord of Evil opened his mouth wide and sucked out every last Marauder soul. The Land of Ooo was easy pickings. It was time to move on to the next meal.

He headed over to Red Rock Pass and walked leisurely through the deep valley. He managed to suck up some insect souls along the way while making up a cheerful tune.

Stompin’ on ants.

Suckin’ their souls.

Stompin’ on ants –

Souls, souls, souls!

Finn and Marceline spotted him from above but stayed silent. They would watch and wait until he was in the perfect position – and then they would crush him like a bug.

Finn pushed with enormous effort against the giant boulder, trying to get it to fall on top of the Lord of Evil. Then he realised why moving the unsteady rock was so difficult: Marceline wasn’t helping him! She’d flown down the pass and was trying to wrestle the axe-guitar from her father’s hands. Her guitar was all she cared about!

‘So, finally taking a run at your old man, huh?’ the Lord of Evil asked as Marceline tried, unsuccessfully, to attack her father. She missed and crashed into the ground.

Marceline charged again. And missed – again.

the Lord of Evil yelled as he warded off yet another of Marceline’s futile attacks.

‘Marceline!’ Finn yelled from above. The Lord of Evil was just where they wanted him. ‘Keep him right there!’

Finn pushed and pushed. Finally, the rock tilted off its perch and went tumbling down the steep side of Red Rock Pass. Just before it crushed them, the Lord of Evil and Marceline jumped out of the way.

the Lord of Evil announced as he continued to fight with Marceline for the guitar. ‘You can’t destroy me.’ Neither dad nor daughter seemed to care that they’d just avoided being crushed by a giant boulder.