Adventure Time Rebellion: Fight for the Throne

Chapter 44: PB's Choices (2)

"You're lucky, PB. Do you get that?" Finn's tone darkened as if burdened with a heavy truth. "I was as gentle as I could be—more than you deserved. You think you were punished?" He scoffed. "You should've seen Simon. What I did to him… that was a lesson. That was justice. What I gave you? That was mercy."

His words slithered through her ears and coiled around her heart like serpents. She couldn't speak—couldn't even meet his eyes.

"And your questions," he continued, "the ones spinning in your brilliant little head? They're not complicated. You keep wondering what you are now? I'll tell you." His tone rose, thick with authority—unshakable and final. "You're mine, PB. All of you. Your body, your mind, your soul... every breath, every thought—it belongs to me now."

He paused, watching her crumble beneath the truth she'd already begun to feel.

"You want to know why you're in this state? Hmph..." He let out a bitter chuckle. "It's not complicated. It's your pride. Your dignity. They're choking you, making it impossible to accept that you—Princess Bubblegum, the great ruler of Ooo—are no longer at the top. That someone else holds the reins. That you belong to someone else. That someone is me."

He reached out, slow and calculated, and took her face in his hand. His fingers slid over her cheek with a possessive tenderness, then turned her toward him so their eyes could finally meet.

"And the future?" he asked. "A lot will happen, believe me. We'll keep going, as if nothing ever happened. We'll wear masks, say our lines, keep the world fooled. But when my plans are finished... that's when things will really change."

His other hand moved to her lap, covering hers with unexpected softness. "And you'll be there when it happens. Because you're part of it, PB. Whether you like it or not. And as long as you're with me, I swear on everything—nothing will touch you. Not the earth beneath your feet, not the sky above your head. I will burn the world before I let it."

His hand began to tremble. Not from rage—but from the sheer weight of the words he spoke. His pupils widened, and something ancient flickered behind them. A passion deeper than obsession. A bond etched into bone.

Then slowly, he released her shoulder and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing gently across her temple. "I understand," he murmured. "More than anyone, I understand how impossible this must feel for you. You've built everything. You've led armies. Designed civilizations. And now… you're mine."

His tone shifted again—blame melting into sympathy, command dissolving into comfort.

"But what matters most—what you need to hear the loudest—is this..." He held her chin again, more gently this time, lifting her gaze to his. His thumb ran along her jaw with haunting delicacy.

"I forgive you, PB. You've suffered enough."

He smiled—a true one, small and tender, almost warm. And for a brief second, the rage and fire that defined him were gone. All that remained was the boy she once knew. The boy who once looked at her like she was everything.

And in that moment, her walls shattered.

Without thinking, without hesitation, she leaned forward, lips trembling, drawn to him like a moth to fire. She reached for a kiss—not out of lust, but something deeper. Something aching and lost. Something she couldn't name.

But just as their lips were about to meet, Finn stood up.

The sudden cold of his absence hit her like a gust of winter air.

He turned toward the door, not facing her. But his voice came, soft and deadly calm.

"PB…"

At the sound of her name, her head lifted. Her heart jumped.

"If you want to walk away from all of this... all of it," he said slowly, "then say the word. And I'll pretend none of it ever happened."

The silence after that was unbearable. Her body felt like it had been hit by lightning.

"I'll leave you now," he added. "But know this—if I take your virginity... it's done. We lose every option. You'll be mine. Truly mine. My woman. Forever. And nothing—no power, no kingdom, no god—will stand between us."

Then he opened the door. Stepped outside. And the soft click of it shutting behind him was the final punctuation—an ending and a beginning, all at once.

PB sat still, stunned.

He really... gave her a way out.

Freedom.

He'd walk away. No punishment. No chains. No more claiming or domination. She could go back to being the ruler of her own fate, of her body and her mind.

The thought felt like a gift from the heavens. A miracle she hadn't dared to hope for.

Her soul wanted to scream in relief. Her logic wanted to dance.

But something else... something deep and quiet... just sat still.

She didn't move.

Why was she still thinking?

Why hadn't she gotten up and run?

The question echoed through her skull like a hymn.

Then, like a ghost whispering through her blood, one line returned—one sentence Finn had said, almost casually.

You'll be my woman forever...

Those words didn't frighten her.

They didn't disgust her.

They haunted her—in the most beautiful and terrifying way.

And her lips moved on their own.

"My woman... forever..." she whispered, the phrase stabbing deeper than anything else ever had. It was the key to the lock. The sentence that made everything else meaningless.

She knew now.

She was already his.

PB whispered the words that sealed her own fate.

"My woman... forever..."

Her voice trembled, yet carried the weight of finality. And with that whisper, the internal war she had waged for twenty-four hours fell silent. There was no more struggle. No more questions.

Only surrender.

[I'm with a madman.]

The voice that cracked into Finn's mind belonged to Sika—sharp, analytical, and brimming with disbelief. And yet, despite all the data, logic, and simulations at her disposal, she could not compute the sheer irrationality of what Finn had just done.

[This is insanity. You want the princess. She's a cornerstone in your plan to seize control over Ooo. You finally have her—in your bed, no less—and what do you do? You give her a choice. A way out. Freedom. Voluntary escape. Are you broken?]

Her voice was part fury, part disbelief.

[How much idiocy does it take to offer the prey the key to the cage and still expect them to stay?]

"Can you just stop talking," Finn muttered aloud, dragging a hand across his face as he strode down one of the palace's corridors, his tone flat with irritation.

[I'm programmed to follow your commands by default, and I literally can't disobey. So yes. I'll shut up.]

Silence returned for a few seconds.

But it wasn't peace. Not really.

Because Sika might have gone quiet, but her unspoken accusation lingered in the air between them.

And the worst part? She wasn't entirely wrong.

It was madness.

And yet, he hadn't acted without reason.

She thought he was a fool.

But Finn had never been a fool.

Every step—every word—had meaning.

He could feel her confusion crawling through his neural link, itching to understand the contradiction between his ruthless ambition and what looked like mercy.

"She won't choose her freedom," he said at last, his voice soft, almost solemn, as if speaking a universal truth.

[Uh... excuse me?!] Sika's voice snapped back, her restraint immediately breaking under the weight of those words.

But Finn didn't answer.

He didn't argue.

He simply continued forward through the sleeping halls of the Royal Pink Palace, his pace calm, his mind certain, heading into the night—

Toward the Treehouse.

Toward whatever came next.