Just A Hero

The rings of flames surrounding the sun made themselves be seen. The flames appeared to be dancing so delicately. The sun was rising, significantly morning and a new day. The hour before the sun peeked out, Finn was already out, remembering his actions, his errors, and his promises.

"Just a hero, nothing else. Not a friend, not a person who spend time with others, just a hero who saves and protects the innocent." That was the way Finn thinks now that his brother passed away. He blamed himself for causing his death. The way Finn wouldn't let up caused Jake's death.

Flashback

Six Months Ago

"Finn, I think I can't fight any longer" Jake yelled hoping Finn would listen to him. The two were inside a dungeon fighting grass monsters. They were inside the dungeon because Finn heard rumors of a powerful sword being in there and he wanted it.

"Stay strong Jake. We are almost at the end." Finn responded while killing two monsters with the sword Hunson Abadeer cursed. The sword was very powerful but Finn being the young, and immature man he was, wanted more. Finn just turned 18, but he continued to do the same things he did when he was younger.

As the two finished their last opponents, Jake fell to the ground. He was out of breath, and couldn't continue their quest. He always wanted to help his brother, but it was starting to be too much for him.

"Finn please, let's go home. I'm can't fight any longer" the dog begged. Finn looked at the tunnel that was just opened and decided to continue. He thought Jake was just being lazy, so he forced Jake to continue as well.

"Jake get up. We are almost there. It's just the next room and boom. The sword is ours." Finn said with a smile in his face. He continued to try to moviated Jake but Jake couldn't continue. However finding strength inside of him, Jake stood up, took deep breath, followed Finn to the tunnel.

The room they enter felt very good. Not too cold, not too hot, and it was very peaceful. Not much inside the four wall surrounding the hero's except bookshelf's filled with books. Finn looked around and saw the sword he was looking for.

"Jake, there it is." Finn ran to it but was smacked into a wall. A tall, fat hooded figure appeared, shaking his head.

"Not... for... sale..." the figure said in a low, deep voice. Finn stood up and pulled out his demon sword. Jake tried to make a fist, but it appeared very weak and fatigued.

"Who says we paying" Finn shouted as he charged at the figure. Before he could reach his opponent however other smaller hooded figures appeared and attack the heros. The two stood their ground, and fought to the death. There were many of them, but as soon as they tried to attack, either Jake would punch them into the wall, or Finn would slice them. Minutes past as the fight continued. Neither Finn nor Jake knew when it would end.

As Jake fought he was more slower in his movement. Finn continued his pace and killed more sorcerers than Jake. Jake would constantly try to eliminate all the sorcerers at once to catch his breath but all he managed to do was get more tired. He took deep breaths, tried to hid but nothing was working. He was at his limit, and couldn't fight, not even if his whole family depended on him, he still couldn't fight.

"Finn... I can't... fight any... longer" Jake muttered as he squashed the sorcerer in front of him. Finn didn't heard him and continued to kill each enemy in front of him. The sorcerers were less and less so the two thought the end was near. Jake fell to the ground seeing no more enemies appeared. Finn was still standing as he confronted the first sorcerer.

"It's over. Give me the sword!" The hooded figure shook his head. Finn decided not to waste anytime and charged at the sorcerer. As Finn tried to stabbed the figure, he went through the figure. Finn was confused and looked around.

"Jake, watched out!" Finn saw as Jake rose his head, and was killed. The sorcerer had a axe in his hand and managed to cut the head off Jake. Finn instantly became filled with raged and killed the sorcerer. He cut him into there was basically nothing left. Just his green blood in the floor. Finn walked to the corpse of his brother, and grabbed his head. Finn saw the lifeless eyes, and fell into his knees. He yelled, as tears fell from his eyes. It was hours before Finn found strength to stand. As he stood he gently put Jake's head down, Finn walked over to the sword.

"You have proved worthy of possessing the most powerful sword" a voice sounding from the sword said. "What is your name?"

"Fi... Finn" Finn responded still mourning his brothers death.

"Well Fi Finn I am the sword of Lu...". Before the sword finished his sentence, Finn destroyed it with his demon sword. It took him a while but he made sure the sword wouldn't be able to return to it's original form. As Finn started to leave, he grabbed Jake's head and left with, holding his brother tightly in his chest.

Finn kept the head of Jake very close to his heart as he went to the Candy Kingdom. He had hoped Princess Bubblegum could do something, but all she managed to do was help Finn set up a funeral. Jake was buried near the treehouse in a very sturdy wooden casket. Every princess was there, seeing a hero that they loved and cared for go six feet under.

Finn was shaking and crying as his brother disappeared into the ground. Starchy was the one in charge of placing the dirt above the casket. As Starchy was finishing his job, Finn fell on his knees, allowing his head to hit the ground. He screamed that Jake's death was his fault. He yelled for forgiveness, knowing that there would be no way for Jake to respond. All the princesses circled Finn and tried to convince him that it wasn't his fault. But they didn't knew what happened so how could they speak.

Finn fell into a pit of despair and self hatred. The hero knew he made a bad judgment call, and his brother paid the price. Now he was alone with no one to save him from his misery.

End Of Flashback

Finn was by himself, as he witnessed the beautiful sunrise. He remembered each adventure, each joke, each heroic deed he did with his now dead brother. Even though months past, he couldn't get over his death. Not only has he lost his brother, but he lost his best friend. Finn continued to blamed himself for Jake's death. Even though many of his friends tried to convince him it wasn't his fault, he always placed the pointing finger to himself. That's why he is the way he is now. If he wasn't so filled with envy, wanting everything, Jake would still be alive.

Emotions kill, that's why Jake died. If I wasn't so stupid I would have ended the adventure there, and saved Jake, Finn thought. I should be the one who's dead, not Jake. Please Jake, if you can hear me, please forgive me for being so naive.

As Finn mentally cursed himself, Lumpy Space Princess hovered behind him. She tried to scare him but Finn showed no reaction.

"Oh my Glob Finn, aren't you over Jake's death yet. Get over it, there's nothing you can do." Finn stood up, not looking at LSP direction, and started to head to the treehouse.

"I know. Just leave me alone" Finn muttered, in a bit of a saddened voice. LSP didn't do what he told her to do however.

"Finn! Stop acting like you aren't my friend." Finn stopped walking and responded.

"You aren't my friend... no one is. I'm just a hero who protects the innocent" Finn answered while losing the sadness in his voice. LSP scuffed before she spoke.

"Oh wow, the greatest hero of Ooo has no friends because he lost his brother. So all we done was nothing huh?" LSP had a smirk in her face as she waited for Finn to respond. Finn just needed two seconds to shut the biggest mouth in all of Ooo.

"I'm sorry if you thought I liked you. You know all you did was try to help me get over my breakup right? You meant nothing to me, and I have kissed better princesses than you." Lumpy Space Princess lost control as she yelled at Finn. Finn didn't had the time to listen, nor did he cared so he simply walked to the treehouse as he left LSP talking to herself.

As soon as Finn entered the treehouse he immediately jumped into his bed, ignoring BMO and Neptor. Although it was morning Finn hid in his bed to hide all the horrors of the real world. As the human was starting to fall asleep, the emergency phone rang. When he answered, Princess Bubblegum voice sounded.

"Finn, I need help. There is a giant spider like creature attacking the castle." Finn stayed as the Candy Kingdom's champion after the Gum War but he was bored of saving them.

"I be there" he said as he hung up the phone. He grabbed his three swords and headed towards the Candy Kingdom. He was a bit frustrated that the world still wouldn't change and that being the hero he is, he would always face the world. Princess Bubblegum better have a reward for me.

As Finn arrived he saw the spider on top of a bunch of candy houses. He wasn't worried, as he charged at the beast. The spider saw him and tried to pounce on him. As soon as the spider landed the cursed sword went between his eight eyes, and it was sliced through the stomach. The blood of the spider splatter and fell into Finn. Finn was cleaning himself, as the Candy citizens came out to congratulate the hero. As he was wiping the last bit of blood from his shirt, Princess Bubblegum showed up and hugged him. Finn didn't return the hug, instead his put his hands to his sides, as he looked forward.

"Thanks so much Finn. I was starting to worry that the spider was going to destroy more property. Although it may not be much, it might take a while to fix the damages it did managed to do." Finn had no smile on his face as he listen to PB.

"I'm not interested in Candy Kingdom's politics. Just pay me for saving everyone." Princess Bubblegum was shocked by what Finn said. Never had he asked for a reward and now he wanted one. PB didn't know what to say. She did want to reward him with gold or money but she needed the money for her people.

"Finn, I can't pay you. I need the money for my people."

"Then don't, but I'm not returning to save you from non lethal threats. That spider was looking for a mate ,not food." Princess Bubblegum realized Finn was right, and she smacked her forehead.

"I should have known, I'm sorry Finn" she said in a disappointing voice. Finn remained emotionless, hearing Princess Bubblegum apology. As Finn tried to walk away, Princess Bubblegum called out to him.

"By the way Finn, I found something that might interest you. It's a quest. The reward is unknown but I believe it's highly valuable. Do you want to hear more?" Finn looked more alive as he nodded his head. "Ok then. Everyone turn around, we are going through the secret passage." Every citizens complied and turned around. Princess Bubblegum removed a brick allowing Finn to enter first, then she entered, and she placed the brick back. The two went through a small, dark passage leading to one of PB's labs. As they arrived Finn saw many chemicals, and books. As he continued to look, PB placed a table, and a map on top of it. She signaled Finn to come before she started to talk.

"The location of the treasure is in the Wastelands. My data says there is a lot of heat signatures there, even though there isn't supposed to be anything living there. And deep down inside one of the tunnels is something with a huge heat signature. It appears to be guarding something, but it disappears and reappears from time to time. What do you think Finn?" PB asked looking at the young hero. He nodded his head slowly. "Ok then. You have to go through the Fire Kingdom to get there, so you will need your fire suit. Besides that, get all the stuff you usually get."

"Consider this payment" Finn said as he grabbed the map. Princess Bubblegum was a bit angry but got more mad when Finn broke through a window. As she looked through the broken window she saw Finn running down the wall of the building he was just in, then jumped onto another building roof. Finn was out of sight within eight seconds. Couldn't even say good luck said PB in her mind. She decided to forget what happened, and go back to her science work.

Finn was sprinting to the treehouse. He finally had gotten rewarded for his heroic work in the Candy Kingdom. He entered the house, and was in the kitchen preparing himself. He intelligently placed water bottles, sandwiches, and tools inside his book bag. He had his fire suit ready as he study the map he stole. As he studied very carefully, BMO tried to talk to Finn.

"Hey Finn. How's it going?" BMO asked hoping he get a response.

"I'm going to leave for around 2-3 days. Take care of the house" Finn answered with a aggressive tone.

"Yeah, I kill anyone that tries to break in." BMO was karate chopping until Finn ended his hopes.

"I meant clean it. Nobody's stupid enough to break in my house." BMO stopped and showed Finn a huge frown. Finn didn't notice BMO so he continued to study the map. BMO tried to get his attention by making noise, and jumping but all he got was a "stop that". He gave up and went into a small hole inside he house so he could cry in. After finally finding the best way to approach the quest, Finn grabbed his all his supplies and headed out. As he opened the door LSP appeared still mad for what Finn said.

"Listen here Finn, if you think I'm going to let you walk away from me, leaving to talk by myself, you are mistaken!"

"Ugh, please just get lost LSP." LSP simply saw no reason to continue arguing so she floated away. Finn tried to calm himself down before he continued his path. He couldn't be angry inside the Fire Kingdom. Flame Princess might be the next one to worry for the hero. Finn didn't want no one to care for him, so he forgot what happened and walked to the Fire Kingdom.

As Finn walked his way to the Fire Kingdom, he put on his fire suit, protecting himself the the flames of the dangerous kingdom. The guards protecting the entrance stopped Finn from entering.

"Name and purpose of entering" one of the two guards said.

"Finn Mertens and I'm just passing through." The guards saw no reason to hold back the hero so they didn't check him.

"Should I tell the Princess that you are here?" Finn thought for a couple of seconds before he responded.

"Tell her, or don't. I'm most likely not even going to talk to her."

"Finn!" a familiar voice came from behind Finn. The guards bowed when they saw who it was. Finn turned around to see Flame Princess with Cinnamon Bun behind her. They were out of the kingdom, and they have now returned when Finn was just trying to pass through.

"Hey FP" Finn said in a very cold way. "How you been?"

"I been good. Cinnamon Bun and I went to the Slime Kingdom to work on some issues our kingdoms been having."

"That's good. Anyways I got to go. I have places to be." Finn tried to turned around but Flame Princess grabbed his hand. The two were staring at each other's eyes until Finn looked over at Cinnamon Bun. He had his lance up his nose, trying to remove a booger he had. So she prefers him over me. Good luck with that idiot.

"Finn, don't make fun of Cinnamon Bun." Finn returned to look back into Flame Princess's eyes. She had a serious stare, knowing what Finn was thinking. Finn however felt no shame for insulting the Fire Kingdom's champion. Flame Princess took a deep breath and told the guards to rise.

"Cinnamon Bun could you go to the Candy Kingdom to deliver this letter?" Flame Princess said as she grabbed a letter from her pocket. CB showed a huge smile and left on Jake Two. "Finn do you mind if we walk and talk?" Finn wasn't trying to waste time but he knew he would take longer if he denied her.

"Let's go" Finn replied.

As the two walk throughout the castle, Finn saw many new paintings, new decorations made, and he was impressed by the progress of the new Fire Kingdom. Although it was nice to spend time with his ex, Finn was trying to leave to complete the quest.

"Phobe, what is it that you want to talk about?" Flame Princess giggled before she answered, leaving Finn confused. "What's so funny?"

"Finn are you jealous of Cinnamon Bun?" As Flame Princess bursted out laughing, Finn didn't understand what was funny. "You do know me and Cinnamon Bun are only friends, right?"

"Of course I knew. I know you wouldn't be going out with a idiot like him. Besides that he is old..."

"Well, I dated you didn't I?" Flame Princess interrupted, leaving Finn without a comeback. "I got you there." Flame Princess smiled while Finn questioned if escaping was the better choice.

"Listen Flame Princess, I got stuff to do. I just came here to go to the Wastelands. Princess Bubblegum said something highly valuable might be there and I just need something to take my mind off things." As Finn finished his sentence, Flame Princess stopped her giggling, and lost her smile.

"So that's the only reason you come here? You have forgotten that me and you are friends. Does that matters to you?" Finn could see that Flame Princess was about to cry.

"I don't have friends. I detached myself from having friendships with anybody. Now I don't have to feel sorrow for something I do wrong to them."

"Could you teach me that? I wish to be the same. I wish that I never have emotions so I don't have to feel bad for you!" Flame Princess tried to slapped Finn, but he caught her hand and her other hand when she tried to do the same. As he hold on to her wrist, he put her next to a wall. Flame Princess was struggling to break free as she stare into Finn's eyes. She could see he had no emotion. She continued to struggle, and almost yelled for the guards until Finn spoke.

"I still care for you" Finn said. Flame Princess stopped moving and now saw Finn more calmly.

"Do you love me?" Flame Princess asked. Finn turned to the left and look at one of the paintings. It was Flame Princess with a beautiful red, and white dress. She looked like a queen, a queen that Finn wanted to be with. Before he could answer her question, Cinnamon Bun yelled for Flame Princess.

"Flame Princess, there was nothing in the letter. Are you sure you gave me the right one?" Finn let Flame Princess go and backed up, looking at the wall behind him. Flame Princess turned to the direction CB's voice came from and answered him. Cinnamon Bun didn't saw what just happened so he didn't questioned Finn about his actions.

"Oh did I gave you the wrong one. Silly me. Here's the right one." She pull another letter from the same pocket as before and she tried to give it to Cinnamon Bun. Cinnamon Bun was a bit suspicious when he got the letter, and tried to open it. "Don't look what's inside of it. Princesses only." Cinnamon Bun stopped his investigation and bowed as he left. Flame Princess turned to Finn.

"Listen I got to go Flame Princess" Finn said as he ran through the hallways. Flame Princess sighed and called for Cinnamon Bun to return. He wasn't far so he could hear her and returned as quickly as his two feet could let him.

"Is everything okay Princess?" Cinnamon Bun asked as Flame Princess stare into the ground.

"Yes, everything is burning" she responded.

"Isn't that a bad thing?"

"Shut up Cinnamon Bun" Flame Princess said as she was walking to the direction Finn left. As she looked through the window she saw Finn running out of the Fire Kingdom's land. He was very fast and she would missed him if she waited another minute.

Finn do you love me?

As Finn ran, he replayed the question over and over in his head. He did loved her, but he knew he shouldn't. He was lucky Cinnamon Bun arrived in time, because of not he would need to start caring for people again. He believed if he didn't care for nobody, then he wouldn't suffer if something bad happened to them.

When he finally reached the Wastelands, he took off his fire suit and hid it in a tree. The tree was the only one there so it wouldn't be a problem looking for it. As Finn walked to the tunnel he planned to go to, he reminded the promised he made himself.

I'm just a hero. Not a friend, not a person who spends time with others, just a hero who protects and saves the innocent. He took a deep breath. Love isn't what heros strive for. Sorry Flame Princess but I can't love you.

Authors Notes: Sorry for deleting this fan-fic. I felt like I ruined this story with chapter two so I wanted to delete it. Also I removed Horrors of the Broken Hero because I gonna rewrite most of it and when I release it, it's going to be completed or near completion ( I might put chapter one up soon so you can see how much I improved, but it's just going to be a preview of what's to come). Forget what happened in chapter two ( In Just a Hero) if you read it and sorry for not informing you before I deleted it. However I most likely am going to be making new chapters weekly, since my schedule is filled up in most of the day, and I only work on the story at night. With this said, I hope you enjoy future chapters, and have a wonderful day. Peace