Wow, I'm doing a rewrite of my first fanfiction? Let's see if I can make this hot mess better~...

Chapter 1

If there was ever a worse time to have some horrible cosmic business occur, it would be right now. Fionna was two steps out of the door to go and see Phoebus, the Prince of the Fire Kingdom, when a flash of light blinded her. The ground shook and the wind howled. And when it all became quiet, all that was left was a crater. Inside, someone lay still, unconscious.

Fionna backpedaled and ran inside. "Cake," she shouted, "Get down here!"

Her sister, Cake, stretched down into the front room. Cake was a magical cat. "What's the fuss, Sugar?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we need to find out."

Outside, just at the edge of the crater, Cake yowled, "Woah! Let's back it up here, girl!"

"What? What is it?" she asked.

"I think it's a boy. Hold on, I'ma take a look for the both of us. Stay up here," Cake said.

Fionna nodded, but unsheathed her sword, just in case. Cake slid down the slope of the crater, down to whoever laid in it. It was indeed a boy. Brown hair, pale skin, cracked glasses. He looked human.

His breathing was shallow. He looked a little dirty and worse for wear. It didn't look like he was getting up soon without medical attention. So, she took him onto her back. "He needs a doctor. Should probably take him to Gumball," Cake said.

Sheathing her trusty weapon, Fionna hopped on behind the boy. Cake grew tremendously in size and headed in the direction of the Candy Kingdom. The crisp Autumn wind bit at Fionna's exposed skin. She asked, "Cake. You think this guy's human?"

"He looks the part," she paused, "Try not to let your hopes get too high, baby."

"I know."

Still, she couldn't help but stare into the boy's face. He looked young. His features were still soft, not the well-defined, sharp features of a man. Maybe he was her age? So many thoughts in her head.

They swirled around like clouds in the early morning sky. Fionna had stared so intensely that she barely even registered the passage of time. When she looked up, the Kingdom was in sight and rapidly approaching. Even from there, she could see into one of the taller towers that held Gumball's lab. In fact, the prince was in there now.

He caught sight of them and waved with a smile. Cake shrunk at the front gate of the castle. It was opened soon after by Spearmint Maid. When the small candy lady saw the boy draped over Cake's shoulder, she gave a little gasp and hurried off. Little time was wasted as they hurried inside.

Gumball, a man who normally carried himself with all the dignity a prince should, now swung his arms with his wide gait, a concerned look in his eyes. "Ladies," he said, "Who's this poor soul?"

Fionna spoke, "Wish we knew. But, he just... appeared outa nowhere. He needs a doctor."

His eyes flickered between her and the mystery boy. It wasn't until he spotted his very human-like skin that he said, "He's human?"

"We don't know," Cake said, "We were hoping you'd know."

"Very well. Bring him to my lab. I'll do what I can."

A very short walk later found them in the depths of his lab. Gumball looked over the boy laid on the table. Other than the bruises and scrapes that littered his body, nothing seemed wrong. He snatched a device from the table behind him. With a wave over the boy's body, it flickered to life.

Brain activity's normal, he thought. Both Fionna and Cake were quiet. Gumball knew what they wanted to know. With a sigh, he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and check the boy's eyes. Brown, normal.

There wasn't much room for doubt. "Well," he stood up straight, "Based on his appearance, he's human. And he isn't in any mortal danger. Just a little dinged up."

"Wow," Fionna stared down at the other human, "Another human. Like me."

"We'll have to wait until he wakes to learn more, but..." he trailed off.

"But, what?" Cake narrowed her eyes.

After some of the stunts Gumball's pulled in the past, a certain distrust had been brewing in her gut. He was thinking about something she didn't like. "There's something that I've wanted to test- on a human- but, not on you, Fionna," Gumball turned his back on them, "Since you have always been precious to me, I never even thought to ask you about it. But, now that this young man is here, perhaps I can try this."

Fionna tittered nervously, "And what's that?"

Gumball went over to a little, old vault on the wall and punched in the code. When it opened, blue mist poured out in thick, cold locks. Between his hands was a cylindrical canister. In it, an odd material. It almost looked like goop or wet sand, except it was black.

"This, Fionna, is what started the great Mushroom war, over a thousand years ago," Gumball said, "An ancient disease of mankind's creation. This is the only sample in existence. But, as you know, not even the Candy Castle is infallibly secure. If this fell into the wrong hands, the world as we know it could end."

Cake frowned, "You wanna make him a lab rat."

"No! I mean," he huffed, "Yes. But, it's for a good cause. If I can analyze its effects on the human body and create a cure or a vaccine, we wouldn't need fear a complete apocalypse."

"Prince, I..." Fionna shook her head, "I just can't say yes to that. That's so many levels of wrong to just use this guy. We don't even know him! He's the only connection I have to my people. I'm sorry, but-"

Gumball held up a hand, "No need to explain. I understand completely, Fionna."

He smiled warmly at her. "Phew," Fionna threw up her hand to scratch the back of her head, "I'm glad you do. When you think he'll wake up?"

"I don't think he'll sleep past this evening. I'll keep him under close watch until then," he said, "Oh! But, you must both have places to be today. Shall I give you a call when he wakes?"

"Sounds good to me," Fionna gave a thumbs up.

Gumball saw them both to the gates. He watched them leave and fade from view. For the sake of caution, he waited for an hour. While he hated to betray the trust of his knight and heroine, this wasn't something he could pass up. For the sake of the safety of his people, sacrifices must be made.

Back up into the lab he went. The canister was retrieved once again, its contents then emptied into a rather large syringe. He moved the boy to a new table and restrained him with metal bars. And then, Gumball hesitated. Gumball cautioned a glance into the face of this boy, this human.

He looked so young, so full of life. Beyond the syringe, what was his fate? Would he die...? It took only a moment to break the chain of thoughts. With a quick shake of his head, Gumball plunged the needle deep into the boy's vein.

He swiped a pen and notebook from one of the surrounding desks. No immediate change. Five minutes later, no change. Thirty minutes, no change. An hour, no change.

Two hours, no change.

Time passed by in blur and there was no change in anything. There weren't any strange behaviors or brain activities. Absolutely no change. But, what did this mean about the disease? Had it just been an old myth from his Great Aunt Bubs?

Gumball sighed. "I can't always expect results on the first day," he muttered.

He left the lab, locking it behind him. The lights dimmed and went out, leaving the room dark. Gumball had never seen the body consumed by the same strange substance he had injected into it. By the time the boy came to, time had passed, though it was hard to pin down how much. He woke up screaming bloody murder, and the fact that he was pinned down only made him begin to panic.

"Is anybody out there?" he cried, "Please, somebody, anybody!"

A whimper escaped his lips and tears stung at his eyes. He struggled against his restraints. They were coming loose! Eventually, the bars broke right in half. The boy fell off the table.

He scrambled back from the table on his behind with wide eyes, whimpering to himself, "Oh, what the hell. What the hell. What the shit!"

His head turned to the wall, where there hung a tall mirror. Horrified, the boy realized he didn't recognize the person in it. Try as he might, he couldn't remember anything. Not a thing. No name, no age, no family, no friends.

Now, tears were falling down his face. He got closer to the mirror and found that there were long, glowing tendrils of red slithering beneath the skin of each of his arms. "Oh, my God," he gasped out in horrified sobs, "Oh, my God, what the hell is this?!"

Gumball burst through the door. The young human's eyes snapped to meet the prince's. As Gumball took a slow, steady approach, the boy back up until his back hit the wall. It pained Gumball to see the fear and misery in the young one's eyes so clearly. "What's your name, son?" he asked.

"I-I dunno," he blubbered, "I can't remember my name- I can't- I don't-"

Gumball hushed him gently, hand outstretched, "Calm down. It'll be okay. I'm Prince Gumball, a friend."

"Did we-" he swallowed thickly, "Did we know each other?"

The monarch shook his head, "I don't believe so. My knight found you. Which reminds me... excuse me- Spearmint, darling."

From nowhere, the little white and green mint lady appeared. A startled yelp leapt from the human boy's mouth, "Wh-What is that?!"

He tried pressing himself further into the wall, to no avail. "Be calm, son. This is my maid. Spearmint, be a lamb and send for Fionna, please?"

She nodded and left the lab. Slowly, the human detached himself from the wall and meekly came closer to the prince. Gumball turned back to the boy, "Now, I don't wish to alarm you, but I can't rule out the possibility that you may never recover your memories."

"What happens to me if I don't? I... I don't even know my own name."

Gumball let out a soft sigh. Lies were supposed to be his forté. It was something about the look in the boy's eyes that made him hesitate, one he knew all too well. There was this look of despair, of not knowing if he belonged anywhere. He once held that look himself, in another life.

"Perhaps then, you will have to make a new life for yourself," he said, "But either way, you won't be alone in this."

The boy wiped his eyes, sniffling, "Thanks."

Gumball nodded. But, he thought, That doesn't mean I can't benefit from this. He spoke up, "Perhaps if I can draw some blood, I could tell you a bit more about who you are."

"What? How?"

"Why, anything from local pathogens and bacteria in your blood could tell me what area of the world you're from," Gumball gave a small smile, "Then, we could travel there and find people who knew you."

"But- um..." the boy trailed off, "Nevermind, let's do it."

"Alright, if you'll sit here on the table, I can get right to work."

Gumball grabbed a pair of gloves from the box. The colorful label read, Decker's Latex Gloves: Deck 'em in the Schnoz! Ridiculous label. Who would use latex gloves just to punch someone in the face? With a syringe in hand, he turn around and found that the boy was rigid.

Nerves, he assumed. But, when he went to press the needle into the young man's arm, it didn't break skin.

It bent until it broke.

Gumball's eyes widened. Not wanting to alarm him, he chuckled nervously, "Darn thing. Scared of needles, are you?"

The boy nodded, "Sorry."

"Don't be," he said, "Do your best to relax your body, okay? Breathe slowly and deeply."

As he went to get another syringe, he could hear the slow, shaky breaths rattling through the young boy's body. The breaths slowed further and became steadier with each moment. Gumball came back and pressed the needle to the skin. He took on a gentle tone that he used with his candy people, "You won't feel a thing, I promise."

Slow, steady, deep breaths and the loosening tension in the boy's arm gave Gumball his cue. The needle punctured the skin and entered like molasses. "If you like, you can look away, son," Gumball said.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

And it surely was for the best, because what came out of him wasn't blood. It was the same color and consistency of the substance he injected. Gumball's eyes widened. When it was full, he withdrew the needle and turned away from the boy. "I'll analyze this later tonight, when my royal duties ease up," he said as he tucked it away in his lab coat.

Once again, out of nowhere, the little Spearmint Maid appeared. And again, the human yelped, "Don't... do that!"

"Fionna and Cake have arrived, your Highness," she said.

"There's... seriously someone out there named Cake?" the boy gave an uneasy chuckle.

Before Gumball could answer, a girl barged in. This girl was human too. It took a minute to realize he had been staring for longer than a second or two, lost in his own hormones. With that, came the red hot glare from her giant house cat. That was on his list of strange but wonderful things. Geez, that's enough to make anyone a cat person.

The girl rushed over and checked him all over, inadvertently whipping some of her golden hair in his face somewhere along the way. He looked to Gumball, concerned. Gumball gave him an embarrassed smile and shrugged. On top of it all, the cat spoke, "That's enough, sugar. I think you're givin' him the willies."

"Oh," she jumped and repositioned herself in front of him, "Hi! I'm Fionna the Human. Sorry about that, I just- I've never seen another human before. What's your name?"

"Uh, Fionna," Gumball interrupted, "That's going to be a bit of a problem."

"What? Why?"

The boy looked down. "He has retrograde amnesia. Can't remember anything. No name, no home. Just... nothing."

Fionna covered her mouth with a gasp, "Oh, Glob. I'm so sorry. What're we gonna do, then?"

Gumball replied, "As far as where we go from here, I have no clue. But, I do know we need to give him a name until he remembers his own."

"A name like what?" the boy asked.

Gumball, Fionna, and Cake all exchanged looks. Fionna did the best she could and picked up the box of latex gloves. "I dunno, I mean," she shook the box, "We could just use Decker for now."

His cheeks painted pink as he muttered indignantly, "Erm, gloves...?"

But, he didn't decline the name and exhaled something resembling 'nevermind.' Bringing up any sort of confrontation at this point wouldn't be prudent. Before he could censor himself, the thought crossed his mind, "Where will I live?"

Oh boy, did that come out way more pathetically than he wanted. Apparently, it didn't offend anyone because Gumball was about to speak when Fionna blurted, "You can stay in the Treefort with me and Cake!"

"Wha-a-t?!" Cake hissed.

Fionna saw the hurt look on Gumball's face. She blushed and twiddled her fingers, "Sorry, PG. the beds here are super comfy, but they also get me all sticky too."

"As long as I have somewhere to stay, I'm happy. But, seriously, my memories. Can we get to work on that?" Decker insisted.

Fionna waved him off, "Ah, don't worry about that. Gumball's gonna take care of that."

His expression flattened humorously, "Are you sure that's something that should be waved off, Fig Newton?"

"Fionna," she corrected, "And sure it is! Gumball's, like, the smartest dude around. He'll have all this mess figured out in time."

Gumball bristled at the mention of him and tried to interject, only to be cut off by Cake. The cat had stood up to be just shorter than Fionna on her hind legs, her front paws on her shoulders. Cake whispered something inaudible in the teen girl's ear. It was met with a chuckle and dismissal. Decker just raised an eyebrow silently, Does she just... brush people off all the time?

Still, it was nothing to worry about yet. It helped that she was super hot. Decker momentarily worried that he may have a girlfriend already. Hell, he may have a boyfriend already. But, it was fleeting thought.

The spirit was willing, but the flesh was oh-so weak.

A prolonged, awkward silence filled the room, only to be broken by Gumball. "I'm going to go and," he paused, eyes shifty, "analyze this blood sample from... 'Decker.'"

He didn't wait for an answer, and immediately left. Fionna gave an odd look, "That's weird."

But, she shrugged it off and smiled at Decker, "Let's head back to the Treefort and getcha set up in a room."

Decker's eyes lingered over the door Gumball disappeared behind, but said, "Yeah. Let's."

Fionna led the way, a broad smile on her face, "I know my way around this place, so we don't have to wait for Spear Maid."

After a minute of following, Decker made it a point to walk beside her. Fionna's skirt was far too short for him to stand and Cake was starting to scare him with her looks. Not only that, but his conscience was nagging him for staring at her rear. He took a deep breath, Can you please not, body? Still, she rambled on about one thing or another as they left the kingdom.

Beyond the Kingdom walls were great, grassy plains that were dotted with patches of forest. The colors were all so vibrant that it almost hurt Decker's eyes. Even the clouds looked whiter. Then, Cake expanded, leaving him flabbergasted. He sputtered out some confused noises, making Fionna giggle, "What? You've never seen a magic cat before?"

After recovering his jaw from the ground, he replied, "I may not have memories of my life or anything, but I'm pretty sure I don't have anything like this where I'm from."

"We don't."

The new voice was unfamiliar and caused Decker's head to swivel and seek out its owner, only to find no one else there. Unsettled, he took Fionna's hand as she grabbed onto Cake's leg, and tried his best to ignore whoever it was he heard. At the end of the short, silent ride, he marveled at the Treefort. It was huge! "You're gonna catch flies with your mouth like that, y'know," Fionna teased.

Decker's teeth clacked shut and the girl giggled. "Sorry," he said, "It's a big place."

"It's alright. C'mon, I'll show you the guest room."

Cake scampered over to a little teal box with arms and legs. Its side was labeled 'BMO'. A cute little thing, he decided as he followed Fionna. The rooms were up the stairs and down an uncomfortably narrow hallway. At the end were two doors facing each other.

Fionna opened the one on the right. "Alright, this is yours til we can find your real home," she gestured to the left door, "This one's mine and Cakes. Just make sure you knock since you're a- woah, hey..."

"What?" Decker asked.

She pointed to one of his arms, "Those weren't... always there, were they?"

Hidden by the light of the sun, the thick, glowing tendrils beneath his skin had been revealed by the dying light of the hall. "They were there when I woke up. I-I just assumed-"

"And your eyes!"

"Huh? What's wrong with my eyes?!" he yelped.

Fionna drew a sword from her pack and Decker stepped back in fear. "Woah, woah. It's okay," she said, adjusting her grip so she was holding the handle out to him, "Take a look-see."

Decker looked into his reflection and gasped. His brown eyes held the same faint glow as the veins. He sputtered and stammered to find words. Not only his arms, but his eyes as well? "I don't understand," he handed her sword back, "Was I not like this before?"

"Not when we found you, you weren't!" she said, "We need to go back to-"

It was then that she remembered the canister Gumball had shown her earlier. Fionna felt a pit forming in her stomach. The prince had a penchant for lies, she knew that. Why had she left Decker alone with him immediately after he tried to convince her that experimenting on the poor guy would be a good idea? Guilt crept up over her.

If her theory was true, if Gumball had gone ahead with the experiment, and Decker's memory loss was a side effect, she would have to share the blame. She only prayed to Grob-Gob-Glob-Grod that that wasn't the case. "- to Gumball," she continued, "I-I know we just got back, but we can do this pretty quick. C'mon, maybe he's got some answers."

"I hope," he murmured.

The trip was shorter than he remembered and unremarkable in nearly every way. Decker was far too busy focusing on the lights beneath his arms. The strange, glowing fluid bubbling his skin up like snakes swirled both there and in his mind. Uneasiness quaked in his heart. Part of him wondered if he was still human.

There was enough left in his brain that he knew that this wasn't normal, and it made him worry even more. The Candy Kingdom's creamy, chocolate soil came up to meet his feet. Decker wobbled on his legs only for a moment. They stood at the base of Gumball's Tower.

Decker was ready for answers.

And here we go.

Hopefully this dumpster fire does just a little better than last time.