Slumber Party Panic Read online

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  Princess Bubblegum explained as she conducted her latest scientific experiment. Finn stood by her side, in awe of her deep knowledge of the universe.

  The drops splashed into the glass beaker.

  Finn exclaimed with his eyes wide as he watched the chemical reaction take place. A puff of smoke rose from the concoction.

  ‘Hey, Princess Bubblegum. When we bring the dead back to life, will they be filled with worms?’ Finn asked about this latest, secret and somewhat controversial project.

  ‘No,’ the princess answered her curious friend. ‘If my decorpsinator serum works, then all the dead candy people will look as young and healthy as you do.’

  Finn yelled out while beating his chest in a loud demonstration to prove just how healthy he was.

  ‘Pick up that platter, tough guy,’ Princess Bubblegum ordered, getting back to work. Finn held it up in front of them and removed the lid.

  ‘Old Mr. Cream Puff?’ Finn asked in surprise. He jumped when he saw the longburied confection lying on the dish.

  ‘We used to date,’ Princess Bubblegum giggled. She plunged a syringe into the beaker, withdrew some of the serum, and squirted it into the lifeless blob in front of them.

  Finn held his breath, waiting to see what would happen next. At first – nothing. But Finn knew that Princess Bubblegum’s work was never without some big consequence. So he waited patiently, eyes focused on the once-living Mr. Cream Puff.

  Then…

  ‘Something’s happening!’ Finn yelled excitedly as Mr. Cream Puff’s body began to fizz and glow. ‘Come on! Come on!’ he said, encouraging the sweet treat to breathe in the fullness of life. Princess Bubblegum, too, tried to will the lifeless body towards rebirth.

  ‘Work!’ Princess Bubblegum pleaded. Suddenly, the pile of dough lifted itself up on two feet and threw its two hands into the air. It was trying to talk!

  ‘Algebraic!’ Finn yelled in triumph.

  ‘Wait,’ Princess Bubblegum cautioned.

  ‘Something’s wrong.’

  ‘Sugar!’ the blob finally sputtered.

  Mr. Cream Puff puked their precious, but now disgusting, serum all over the table.

  Finn said. He and Princess Bubblegum then cringed in horror.

  With a loud plop, the half-alive creature dived into the beaker filled with a green liquid.

  The beaker, now with the strange creature wiggling inside, bounced all over the graveyard.

  The beaker threw itself against a headstone and shattered. The liquid serum oozed down the side of the old stone grave marker and seeped into the ground – disturbing the graves of dozens of dead Candy Kingdom citizens. One by one, corpses began clawing their way out of the cold ground.

  ‘No, this is wrong!’ Princess Bubblegum shrieked. ‘They’re not coming back to life. They’re still dead! My decorpsinator serum is incomplete!’

  ‘Must…eat…sugar!’ a zombie candy heart bellowed when he emerged from the broken earth.

  ‘You’re grounded, mister,’ Finn said, as he pushed the creepy candy heart back into the dirt.

  Princess Bubblegum fretted. She looked at the emerging army of zombies and shook her head in despair. ‘They’ll be attracted to the Candy Kingdom.’

  ‘Why?’ Finn asked as the zombies continued to crawl around their feet.

  ‘Because the candy people are made of sugar, you ding dong!’ Princess Bubblegum huffed with misplaced fury.

  Then, as if to prove her point, Mr. Cream Puff slithered up Princess Bubblegum’s coat, demanding, ‘Give me some sugar, baby!’

  Princess Bubblegum cried out in horror.

  Finn wasted no time in confronting the disrespectful (and dead) subject. He offered a swift kick to the sugar-starved miscreant. ‘Chew on this!’ he yelled as he kicked Mr. Cream Puff off the princess.

  ‘Good one, Finn!’ Princess Bubblegum cheered. ‘Now – quickly – to the kingdom!’

  ‘Get a life!’ Finn repeatedly warned the growing zombie army as he kicked them out of the way to clear a path for the princess back to her castle.

  ‘All citizens of the Candy Kingdom, report to the palace immediately!’ Princess Bubblegum ordered from the tower as the royal bells chimed behind her.

  ‘Let’s go! The princess needs us!’ the citizens agreed.

  Her people were on their way, but Princess Bubblegum couldn’t breathe easy until they were all safely inside the castle walls. Off in the distance, just outside the graveyard, she could see the zombies making their way towards the palace. It wouldn’t be long before they were walking through the streets of the kingdom.

  Princess Bubblegum pleaded, trying to mask the worry in her voice. Though some were taking their sweet time, her sugary subjects were soon marching through the palace doors.

  ‘All right, you heard the princess,’ Finn barked. ‘Hurry! Everyone in! But no pushing! Come on!’ Finn puffed out his chest, feeling proud of his role as helper of the royal princess.

  ‘Dude, what’s up?’ Jake asked as he walked through the doors with the others.

  ‘The princess will explain everything,’ Finn promised.

  ‘Tree Trunks, get those hot buns in here, girl,’ Finn called out to the plodding creature, who was carrying a basket of sweet hot buns.

  ‘Oh, I hope it’s not bad news,’ Tree Trunks drawled as she moseyed into the castle.

  As soon as Tree Trunks cleared the threshold, Finn and Princess Bubblegum slammed the doors shut.

  ‘Did we get everyone?’ Finn asked Princess Bubblegum. She nodded and then turned to Manfried for confirmation. His usual hangout on the ceiling gave him a good overview of all the activity in and around the palace.

  ‘All present and accounted for,’ Manfried, the talking piñata, announced.

  ‘Thanks, Manfried,’ Finn called up cheerfully.

  ‘Yer welcome,’ Manfried answered in his intercom-like voice.

  ‘Citizens!’ Princess Bubblegum called out to bring her subjects to attention. ‘We are assembled here in the candy foyer for a momentous announcement. Tonight, we are going to have a slumber party!’

  ‘What?!’ Finn called out in surprise.

  ‘Yeah! Woo hoo!’ the citizens of Ooo called out, waving their arms in excitement.

  ‘Wait!’ Finn interrupted, ‘What about the zom…?’

  Princess Bubblegum quickly cuffed her hand over Finn’s mouth.

  ‘Go ahead and start partying!’ the princess yelled out, while still silencing Finn. He looked at her with a mixture of surprise and hurt.

  ‘But, Princess,’ Finn mumbled through her hand, ‘the undead!’

  The princess placed her other hand over her first to drown out Finn’s protests completely.

  ‘We’ll be right back, everyone!’ Princess Bubblegum yelled over the cheering crowd. Then she grabbed Finn and pushed him into a back room.

  ‘Finn, the candy people can’t know about the zombies,’ Princess Bubblegum explained. ‘If they knew, they would flip out.’

  ‘What do you mean, “flip out”?’ Finn questioned.

  ‘I mean they would flip out,’ Princess Bubblegum growled, trying to impress upon Finn the importance of secrecy in this matter. Princess Bubblegum had no choice. She carefully explained how the candy people reacted to fear and uncertainty. It wasn’t pretty.

  ‘Candy people explode when they get scared!’ Princess Bubblegum said.

  Finn cringed at the mental image of exploding sweets.

  ‘Not telling the candy people about the zombies is so important that you need
to promise, royal promise, not to let anyone find out about the zombies,’ Princess Bubblegum insisted. ‘Ever.’

  ‘Yeah, okay, sure,’ Finn shrugged.

  ‘No, Finn,’ Princess Bubblegum exhorted, ‘you have to royal promise.’

  ‘Yes,’ Finn answered, getting down on one knee to show he was serious, ‘I royal promise.’

  ‘I must cloister myself in the lab and finish the equation to my decorpsinator serum,’ Princess Bubblegum explained after securing Finn’s all-important royal promise.‘You keep the candy folk distracted and ignorant. Can you do that?’

  ‘Yes, your highness,’ Finn agreed.

  ‘Good,’ the princess smiled as she turned to go. ‘Don’t tell anyone about the zombies. Never, ever.’ She hurried out to return to her experiment.

  ‘Wait!’ Finn called after her. ‘Can I at least tell Jake?’ But it was too late; the princess was gone.

  ‘Tell me about what, dude?’ Jake asked as he entered the room through the other door.

  ‘You know, about the outbreak of zom...’ Finn slipped. He’d almost spilled the beans! But then he remembered his royal promise and, as the princess had done earlier, he slapped a hand over his own mouth.

  ‘All right, what’s going on?’ Jake prodded.

  ‘Uh, nothing! Nothing at all, buddy,’ Finn answered quickly. He then ran out into the big hall to join the gathered throng.

  ‘Hey, dude, I think you and Bubblegum are up to something,’ Jake said accusingly, following right behind his friend.

  ‘What? No way!’ Finn stuttered. He wasn’t used to keeping secrets from Jake.

  ‘Whoa! You guys are up to something!’ Jake yelled. He knew his friend too well. ‘Is it some sort of prank? Can I get in on it?’ But instead of answering Jake, Finn turned his attention to the crowd.

  ‘Who wants to play truth or dare?’ Finn yelled to them.

  ‘Okay, Chocoberry,’ Finn instructed once he’d got everyone sitting in a circle. ‘You get to pick someone, and they have to answer a deep truth or take a saucy dare.’

  Chocoberry yelled in excitement as her eyes scanned the room looking for a victim. ‘Mr. Cupcake, truth or dare?

  ‘Dare,’ Mr. Cupcake replied instantly.

  ‘I dare you to take off your wrapper,’ Chocoberry challenged. Mr. Cupcake sported a fancy blue covering – and had never been seen without it.

  the candy people in the circle shouted. Some giggled in anticipation. But not everyone was laughing or distracted. Jake just couldn’t get over the suspicion that Finn was keeping something from him.

  ‘Hey, seriously, man, I’m your bro,’ Jake nudged his best buddy as they sat in the circle. ‘Bros are supposed to tell bros everything – all the time. What are you and Princess Bubblegum up to? Is everything all right?’

  ‘Yup. Fine,’ Finn answered nervously with a forced laugh. ‘Everything is great.’

  ‘Umm, except for that,’ Finn continued with his mouth agape.

  Mr. Cupcake had followed through on the dare and was standing in front of everyone with his paper wrapper down around his feet.

  ‘I didn’t know he was chocolate!’ Peppermint Butler yelled out, voicing the shock of everyone in the room.

  ‘Jake, truth or dare?’ Mr. Cupcake called out. Mr. Cupcake had bravely completed his dare and was now allowed to single out someone else. And he’d chosen Finn’s best buddy.

  ‘Truth,’ Jake answered boldly.

  ‘Do you prefer chocolate or fudge?’ Mr. Cupcake, now exposed as chocolate himself, asked.

  ‘I can’t eat chocolate or fudge because I’m a dog, and they would probably kill me, but, hmm, probably...neither,’ Jake answered. Jake’s response failed to shock the audience, but he still got to pick the next victim.

  Jake called out, knowing immediately how to use this situation to his advantage.

  ‘Dare!’ Finn answered back. No way was Jake going to get him on this one. ‘Ha ha!’

  ‘I dare you to tell me the truth about what’s going on in your mind,’ Jake countered with a satisfied grin. ‘What were you and Bubblegum talking about when you were alone together?’

  the candy people yelled out in unison. Now this was juicy!

  ‘Um, uh,’ Finn stammered and blushed as everyone in the circle stared at him. ‘The truth is... uh…’ Suddenly, just before cracking, Finn remembered his promise to Bubblegum – his royal promise.

  ‘Um,’ Finn continued. ‘The truth is that I’d rather play dodge socks!’ Finn pulled his socks off his feet and threw them at Jake, trying to distract him and all the candy people with another game.

  ‘I’m not playing dodge socks until you stop dodging my questions!’ Jake insisted, speaking through the somewhat stinky sock that was now hanging over his face.

  Suddenly, Jake’s superior sense of smell was paying off. The sock had a strange aroma. He sniffed again. He detected a familiar odour.

  ‘Old Mr. Cream Puff?!’ Jake wondered out loud. ‘Isn’t he dead?’

  ‘Give me my sock back!’ Finn demanded in a panic as he grabbed for the sock. ‘Dodge socks was a bad idea.’

  ‘Whoa!’ Jake answered, stepping back from his loopy friend. ‘Look, dude, just tell me what’s up because you are crazier than a cannonball tonight.’

  ‘Oh, my goodness,’ Finn mumbled to himself desperately as he looked out the window and spied the zombies, all heading towards the castle door. ‘The princess hasn’t finished the equation, and the zombies are here!’ Sweat was beading up on Finn’s forehead, but he had to keep the candy people distracted and ignorant. He’d promised. A royal promise.

  ‘I just want this slumber party to be super fun,’ Finn told Jake nervously. ‘And if I did have something to tell you, then I would, in a second. And it would make my life easier, unless there was something stopping me, like a promise, but there isn’t. So I won’t. So it’s cool.’

  Finn shut the open window with a force he didn’t know he had so that none of the candy people would see the approaching zombies.

  ‘What? You lost me,’ Jake answered, more confused than ever.

  ‘Hey, you know what time it is?’ Finn asked, trying to distract his friend once again.

  ‘Adventure time?’ Jake asked.

  ‘No, it’s time for…Seven Minutes in Heaven,’ Finn announced. ‘You’re first!’

  ‘Really?’ Jake answered, flattered that Finn would pick him to start their next game.

  Finn called out to Lady Rainicorn to spend seven minutes in the closet with Jake. The unicorn-like object of Jake’s desires was thrilled and immediately wrapped her long rainbow-coloured tail around him. They squeezed into the closet together.

  Finn slammed the door in relief. He would have at least seven minutes to figure out what to do without Jake’s constant questions.

  ‘Okay. All right,’ Jake giggled from behind the closet door. ‘But in seven minutes, I’m going to come out there and make you spill your beans, Finn!’

  ‘I can’t hear you all the way in heaven!’ Finn yelled back, as he ran to the window to check on the status of the zombies.

  ‘Sugar! Must eat sugar!’ the spaced-out zombies repeated again and again as they got closer and closer to the castle.

  The zombies were knocking on the castle doors relentlessly. Chet, who was sitting at the entrance to the castle, started to wonder who – or what – was outside. The candy people started to wonder, too.

  ‘I don’t hear anything,’ Finn lied, trying to sound convincing in spite of the evidence quickly building against him.

  ‘I hear something that I don’t understand, and it makes me scared,’ Chet continued as he started to shiver.

  ‘What?’ Finn asked the little candy treat, remembering with horror that the candy people would explode if they were frightened. ‘What noise? You mean this noise?’

  Finn blasted some music from the radio to mask the sound of the banging. Chet smiled. He liked the music and quickly forgot that he’d heard any other noise.

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sp; ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ Finn yelled out as the candy people started to dance. He happily encouraged their willingness to ignore the threat and return to their partying. ‘Dance! Bust it up!’ he shouted. But just then, Finn saw a zombie trying to get in through a back door. He ran, taking a bench with him, and used it to block the entrance.

  ‘What is this game you are playing now, Finn?’ Chocoberry asked when she saw him hammering the bench to the door.

  ‘Um, it’s called blockado – the game of barricades,’ Finn answered hastily. ‘Come on. Let’s block all the entrances and windows.’

  ‘Yeah!’ the candy people yelled back enthusiastically. ‘Blockado!’

  The candy people took all the furniture they could find and began covering every possible entrance to the palace.

  ‘All right, this is not a permanent solution,’ Finn said to himself as he watched the candy people go to work.‘Think, Finn!’ he whispered to himself. ‘How can you keep everyone from finding out?’

  ‘Find out about what, Finn?’ Manfried called down from the ceiling.

  ‘Manfried! The talking piñata!’ Finn yelled up. ‘Your convenient appearance gives me a great idea. Everybody grab a stick. New game. We’re going to smash some piñatas.’

  Manfried cried back in terror.

  ‘Except for you, Manfried,’ Finn assured him.

  ‘Oh, thank goodness,’ Manfried sighed in relief.

  ‘Now, everybody, take a blindfold,’ Finn instructed as he tore off pieces of taffy from Taffy Girl to use as eye coverings. ‘Thanks, Taffy Girl.’

  ‘All right,’ Finn continued once he was sure the candy people were completely in the dark. ‘I’m hanging the piñatas. They are all around you. Smash piñatas!’