Finn stood watchful, staring into the distance from the highest-reaching branch of the tree in which he lived. The balancing act took no toll on his keen senses, watching closely in every direction as quickly as his head would move.

He had been diligently working for two days and one night with his pal Jake on a mysterious letter he had received that long ago. The threatening – and somewhat cryptic – message warned of the stranger who had written it coming after the two. Since its arrival, Finn and Jake have traded between posts. One, which Finn took now, was to keep watch while the other worked at decrypting the letter.

Jake was supposedly inside the house, studying and comparing the notes each of them had taken between turns. In truth, Jake had not the same dedicated energy as Finn. The poor dog could not keep his eyes open long enough to focus on a coded message.

Just as Jake was dozing, a scratchy voice startled him.

"Fat Dog, this is Strong Man, come in Fat Dog, over." It was Finn, calling for Jake through the ancient walky-talkies they had found.

Jake rubbed his eyes and groaned angrily, picking up the radio. "I never agreed on those names, Finn." After a few seconds of silence he remembered what he was told two days ago, "Over."

"Your disagreement has been noted Fat Dog. I believe it is time to trade posts, over." He was using a false reporter's voice that only made Jake angrier at him.

"All right fine. Just let me make lunch first." He was about to put the radio down, before remembering again, "Over."

"Copy that Fat Dog. I'll expect your arrival at sixteen-hundred hours, over and out." Finn finally said, letting Jake know that he was done talking.

Jake didn't know what sixteen-hundred hours meant, and he was sure Finn had no idea either. He remembered it was something they'd heard in a movie they'd watched last week. It had something to do with time.

While Jake took his time making some sandwiches in the kitchen, a breeze blew through the den and carried away piles of notes Finn had taken earlier. The draft stole the papers away and out the open window. Unfortunately, Finn's quick eyes were distracted by a mysterious duck with two heads floating in a pond on the other side of the house.

After some time, Jake stretched up atop the tree with his elastic powers and handed Finn a large sandwich. They sat in silence and ate together, humming their approval of the delicious sandwiches. Once Finn finished his, he bid his friend farewell and jumped from the treetop and into the open window with a series of impressive flips and tricks.

He was at work immediately, re-reading the letter for the hundredth time.

Dear Heroes,

I write to you on this day to invite you to my home. Technicalities will be given upon your arrival.

To my despair, however, I must also inform you that only one of you can be allowed to compete.

Again, technicalities will be given. I hope to see you here soon, we cannot wait for long.

I suspect you will be able to exhume the veracity hidden among this final sentence.

25-15-48-44

This is all that is given in the letter. Finn shivered again upon reading it.

He and Jake had worked tirelessly for so long. Or, at least tirelessly for Finn.

He re-read the letter again and again, and filed through previously taken notes. He did not notice that there was anything missing.

With the lack of a certain sheet of paper, he had to re-discover a certain pattern. He thought to himself: Did the numbers count the digits? He counted from the beginning and ended up with; A-a space-H-and another space. He quickly discovered that the spaces couldn't mean anything and tried again without counting the spaces, ending up with; V-H-L-N. Still, he found no use in the letters.

After some more pondering, he identified the separate lines of the letter. He thought it worthwhile to attempt to use the pattern in each of the lines, skipping the spaces. This is what he found for each, respectively:

V-H-L-N

L-E-R-Y

E-I-S-H

X-L-M-D

Again, he did not find any significance in the supposedly random assortment of letters. He Sighed and sat back on his rump, massaging his forehead and sore brain. Then a voice startled him.

"It's an address!"

He jumped so quickly he fell onto his face. He sat back up and turned to see Marceline, his vampire friend. "Oh, hi Marceline," Finn said. "Wait, how did you get in here? Jake's keeping watch."

In truth, Jake had found a bird's nest and used his powers to shrink down to sleep in it. Marceline laughed at Finn's face when she told him.

"Anyway," Finn changed the subject, "how can you tell it's an address? And where is it?"

Marceline pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket. Finn recognized that the notes on it were his own and grew more furious with Jake.

"Well," the vampire began, "'XL' is forty and -"

"How does that make any sense?" Finn interrupted.

"It's just an old way of counting that humans used to make themselves sound smarter." She explained. "Now, 'XL' equals forty and 'R' most likely stands for 'Road.' We just have to find out which road in all of Ooo it could possibly be."

The two sat thinking for a moment before Marceline spoke up. "What about Marzipan Road, in the Candy Kingdom?"

"Actually, it's Marzipan Avenue," Finn pointed out.

"Right," Marceline sighed.

A few more seconds of silence and Finn had an idea. "How about Maple Syrup Road from the Breakfast Kingdom?"

"I think it's Maple Syrup Boulevard, dude."

They scratched their chins in unison for nearly a minute to think of more road names that started with M.

"There's always Municipal Road," Marceline suddenly spoke up, "in the city of thieves."

Finn groaned loudly and squinted his eyes. His previous event in the City of Thieves had not fared well for him, it had practically scarred him.

"Relax," Marceline rolled her eyes, "it's just an abandoned street on the edge of the city. I can go check it out. And when I find nothing, be back in a jiff."

Finn thought about that for a moment. It was an all right idea; he wouldn't have to enter the dreadful city again. But some heroic part of his mind wouldn't let him. "No," he said, taking a manly stance, "I was the one the letter was sent to, I couldn't risk sending you into a trap."

Marceline thought it was hilarious when he acted stoic for her. "Pfft, if you say so hero."

Just then Jake swung through the open window, half-asleep and yawning. With his eyes closed he squeaked, "Hey Finn it's time to switch again."

Finn gave the magic dog a hard scowl as Jake realized Finn had caught onto him.

The group had decided to begin their adventure the next day. Early morning, Finn thought it best not to carry a massive load of weapons and tools. Despite their possible convenience, he could not risk having everything stolen from him in the city. He carried only a rusty old sword, which he swore to never let go of.

Marceline had a dark parasol, to keep her safe from the sun. Jake had to wear a blindfold because Finn knew of his weakness to temptation within the city. Jake didn't like wearing the blindfold, or the collar Finn used to guide him, but he knew it was for his best interest.

The party kept a watchful eye as they crept around the outskirts of the city. Finn forced himself to keep his eyes open and alert, despite what horrible things he was witnessing. Gold, gems, precious items, bars of soap, even the clothes off peoples' backs were not owned by a single person for more than a few seconds. Finn remembered the time he had sworn to cleanse the city, and how poorly he had kept the promise.

Suddenly Marceline spoke up, breaking Finn out of his stupor. "There it is," she said quietly. They stood at an intersection, completely void of any thief or pickpocket. There was not a living creature to be seen down the menacing Municipal Road. Most of the buildings stood in shambles, if they stood at all. Not a window without a crack, neither a door without a squeaky hinge. As the three friends lurked onward down the street, more and more pieces fell from walls and ceilings. Finn was certain he'd seen something move down an alley, but with the lack of life among the rest of the street, he thought nothing of it.

They counted as slowly as they walked, making sure not to miss any of the buildings. Marceline discovered quickly that even numbers were on the East side of the road, and odd numbers on the West. This made the job easier; now they only had to count along the one side to find the specific building.

And finally they did find it, Forty, Municipal Road. The discovery astonished them, for at the dead end of the barren lane, was only a door. A solid wooden door stood alone, blood-red, among a black stone lot stretching out behind it. The emptiness disturbed Finn, while enticing Marceline.

"Can I take off the blindfold yet?" Jake whined, and did so without waiting for a response. He rubbed his eyes and adjusted to the light to gaze upon the discouraging site. He hid his fear for the place by asking what he assumed was on everyone's mind. "Is this it? Just a door?"

Finn shook his head to escape the rotted feeling of confusion and answered. "Yeah, I guess this is the wrong place. Better get back to studying the letter."

Jake began a low-pitched moan when Marceline cut him off. "No, why don't we check it out?" Her tone only unsettled Finn's heart more so than the door itself.

"It's just a lonely door," Finn said, trying to distract Marceline from the place she found more pleasant than any living person.

Despite his concern, Finn knew he couldn't stop the vampire from opening the door. She did it so agonizingly slowly, Finn almost jumped up to do it himself and get it over with.

She grabbed the glass knob and twisted gently, as if it would break. An audible click jerked the tumblers open. Marceline could hear Finn's heartbeat through the silence of the crimson door opening. She pushed it inward without a sound and peered through the empty frame into an impossible expanse of green hills and fields.

Finn's heart skipped a beat when he finally looked through at the rolling hills. He could smell the clean breeze overpowering the city's stink as the grass furrowed under the soft wind. Their seemed to be no sunlight, beautifully shrouded over by a sweet layer of soft white clouds.

Jake stood in awe, speechless, as the others were also. Finn unconsciously reached over and closed Jake's gaping jaw.

Marceline was the first to enter, a kind-of peaceful ecstasy washing through her as the breeze drifted through the doorway. She slowly drifted above the ground to the opposite side of the doorway, and before she knew it, she had placed her feet on the ground. It had been sometime since she had made any effort with her feet, but she enjoyed this now. She could not feel the soft grass through her thick boots, but the warm soil swept across her body, giving her chills. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel threatened. She could not remember a time when such peacefulness had consumed her, but this was happiness.

She turned around saw Finn and Jake slowly stepping through the open door, looking around more cautiously. Finn was still skeptical of the strange magic, but Jake quickly absorbed his surroundings and took to rolling around in the grass. It's soft yet tickling strands wove around him as he played, seeming to hug him through his doggy coat. He called for Finn to join him, but the human boy was far too suspicious. He couldn't believe Marceline was letting her guard down, and actually lying down.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew across them all and Finn barely turned in time to see the door slam shut. Everyone's emotions shut down. Marceline retrieved her parasol and she and Jake rushed back over to the door, which surprisingly opened without issue. Inside, was in fact just that, inside.