Chapter Text
I lean against the wall inside of the coffee shop, tending to my wounds. This was once a joyous place that gave wonderful memories to my friends and I. Seeing it like this, glass broken, lights flickering, nobody inside but me, is a bit odd to say the least.
Things have been like this ever since a few months ago, I still remember it so vividly, and I don’t think that’ll ever change. I’m Bonnibel Bubblegum, and I’m what you would call a “Candy Elemental”. Due to this, my main friend group consisted of the two other elementals; Phoebe, the Fire Elemental, and Eden, the Slime Elemental. There were a couple other people in our group as well, but us three always had a special bond due to our circumstances.
Everything was perfect, I had friends, I was doing well in college, I had a decent job, but of course, it all had to be stripped away. It was evening time and I was walking home after a long day of work, when the sky suddenly turned green and an ear piercing explosion was emerging from a distance. Ghosts and monsters were rising up from the blast as the few people in the area began to turn green. I could barely make out the large, terrifying figure emerging out of the explosion before I blacked out.
I must have slept walked or something, because when I woke up I was no longer on the sidewalk, but inside of a gas station. Nobody was there, not even the cash register. I must applaud myself, though. Sleep walking into a gas station, with food and drinks, was very convenient for the current situation, even if I had no idea that an apocalypse had just begun.
That was months ago, though. I tried looking for my friends, but to no avail. I just hope they’re out there, they have to be, because I am. We’re all elementals, and for some reason I didn’t get infected during the detonation of the bomb, I only blacked out. My theory is due to my elemental structure, the chemicals in the air were unable to affect me. I just hope this is the case for Phoebe and Eden.
Eden and Phoebe are likely immune, but the thought that *she* might have been infected sends a sharp pain through my chest, I have to remind myself that I don’t care what happens to her. Maybe if she is infected both of us can forget about each other, it would be difficult to try and find closure while monsters, “oozers”, are trying to bite our throats open, anyways.
On the topic of oozers, that’s why I’m even in this depressing coffee shop. I had just encountered a few of them, and although my peashooter and sheer skill were able to fend most of them off, one of them still managed to bite off a small chunk of my arm. It’s not as bad as it sounds, I’m made of bubblegum. I had to wrap a bandage around it but I couldn’t just do it in the open, so I went to the closest building to me, which just so happened to be here.
I finish wrapping the bandage around my arm and pull my sleeve over it. I put everything I have on the floor and go over it. A peashooter, bandages, stash of food, science books, flasks, and a pocket knife. I’m hoping to upgrade my weaponry, but that’s for another day. I put everything back into my bag and put my hair in a ponytail. I walk back out into the green city, putting on a gas mask. The air isn’t poisonous, but I hate the smell of it.
I walk cautiously on the sidewalk until I see a small white and pink cat, with one of his ears bitten off. I was never a pet person, but something about seeing other life that isn’t oozers relieves me. I walk slowly towards the defensive cat, offering him a fish from my stash. He hesitates for a moment, but eventually walks over to me and takes small bites out of it. I pick him up in my arms while he’s still eating. “I think I’ll name you.. Timmy.” I say, booping his nose.
“All right, Timmy, wanna head back to the station?” I ask. He purrs, and I take this as a yes. The station is, well, the gas station I slept walked into, but with some renovations. I took all the food and put it into a chest and moved all the shelves into a corner, giving me tons of space for stuff in the future. We arrive at the station as night begins to rise, Timmy playing with the cash register as I pour cat food from the chest into a small bowl. He eats it and after a few minutes he falls asleep. I should do the same, I suppose.
The nightmares haven’t stopped since all those weeks ago when the bomb went off, although tonight these nightmares take a different approach. I dream about Phoebe and Eden being eaten alive by oozers, melted, extinguished, you name it. And they’re upset at me. Upset at me for not doing anything to save them. I want to reach out and help them but it’s already too late when my hand reaches over. The bomb goes off in my face and I’m blown back, landing on my back as the smoking skeleton with green glowing eyes emerges from the dust and walks towards me.
I wake up just before I’m set ablaze.
I look at my watch to see that it’s 4AM, and accept that it will be a restless night. That nightmare couldn’t have been true, right? It’s just my head messing with me. Phoebe and Eden are fighters, they survived the bomb and are surviving right now.. Right..? I focus on slowing down my breathing and I stand up.
I look out the window and gaze at the moon. It’s one of the last few beautiful things in my life. In this life, anyway. I don’t want to count this as my life, because it isn’t. My life is being with my friends, doing chemistry, reading, not fighting off ooze monsters and having nightmares about the ones I love dying in front of my eyes.
How did any of this even happen, anyways? It’s so convenient. Nothing ever seems to stay good for long. Just when I thought things were improving, just when I thought I was finally at peace. This happens with everything. This happened with Marceline and I.
I don’t even notice the tears running down my cheeks, I quickly wipe them off and try to brush all these thoughts out of my head, although something in the distance makes it easier to stop thinking about it.
In the moonlight, I see a.. Sideways pill shape with long, stretchy legs, and a human boy on top of him, walking through the clouds. How is that thing stretching like that? Is it an oozer? Before I can even process this, the boy on top of it points toward my direction, and the sideways pill begins to stretch its limbs towards the station.
Whatever that thing is, it’s coming for me.