Of Earls and Kings

Lemongrab ate the disclaimer that I don't own any Adventure Time characters. Just a one shot about a conversation that might have happened after the events of Lemonhope.

"Man that's one freaky tale Prubbs," Marceline whistled. She had come over later that night to visit with Bubblegum alone in her castle. "So you just sewed up a new Lemongrab out of the pieces of both of them?"

"That's right," Bubblegum nodded. "Technically he's more Lemongrab 2 than one by about 15 percent. And another five percent I think are some of the other Lemon people that exploded. Kind of hard to tell where everything came from with all the body parts…"

"Now I see why you decided to run this by me before you informed all the other kingdoms of Ooo about this," Marceline shook her head. "At least they can rest easy for a bit. Some of them were getting worried that Lemongrab would get too grabby for their own kingdoms."

"You mean like Hot Dog Princess and Wildberry Princess? Yeah I know," Bubblegum sighed. "Then again those two are always worried about something."

"But why did you make another Lemongrab?" Marceline asked. "Was that your plan all along?"

"Not really. Originally I was thinking of having Lemonhope take over the earldom but he's too young," Bubblegum sighed. "So I thought with him as a champion he could watch over Lemongrab and help his kingdom. But he just walked away from the whole thing. I can't understand it."

"I can. Honestly Bonnie," Marceline shook her head. "I would have done the same thing. Come on, this is Lemongrab we're talking about. After all the crap he pulled…"

"This Lemongrab will be different. Sort of," Bubblegum interrupted. "I think…"

"You think?" Marceline gave her friend a look. "Let me recap the highlights. He has overthrown you and locked you and your subjects in the dungeon. Several times. He's spied on your subjects in the middle of the night. He's tortured Finn and a lot of people. He's attacked your kingdom…"

"Almost attacked the kingdom," Bubblegum interrupted again. "Lemonjohn stopped…"

"He sacrificed himself when he gained a conscience," Marceline added. "Something Lemongrab Number One never did…"

"Lemongrab Two did," Bubblegum pointed out.

"And was promptly eaten by Lemongrab One who ate and enslaved his own people!" Marceline snapped. "Why did you even remake that maniac in the first place?"

"Because I am his creator and I am responsible for him," Bubblegum said.

"You should have gotten rid of him the moment he became a threat," Marceline snarled. "Treaties shh-meeties Bubblegum! All of Ooo hates Lemongrab! No one would have faulted you for going in there and busting his head. But no, you stood back and let someone else do your dirty work. As usual…"

"Marceline you have no idea…" Bubblegum snapped.

"Oh I have more of an idea than you think," Marceline challenged. "I'm the Queen of the Vampires, remember? You think I never had to put my fangs down when any of my subjects got out of line? My people know that there are consequences when they break the rules. That's why most of them are smart and follow them."

"It's still not the same," Bubblegum shook her head. "I created Lemongrab…"

"You really think I never had to destroy a vampire I created?" Marceline gave her a look. "Believe me. I know how you feel."

"You…When?" Bubblegum was stunned.

"Once. A long time ago," Marceline let out a breath. "Long story short I turned someone who shouldn't have been. And when he wouldn't stop snacking on innocent people I stopped him. Permanently."

"Oh…"

"You know I don't normally turn people, well not as many as you would think…" Marceline admitted. "My numbers are the lowest of all vampire rulers. And I'm usually pretty careful but this one just slipped by me. Didn't make that mistake again."

"So…You do understand," Bubblegum sighed looking away. "To a degree anyway."

"Yeah I do," Marceline nodded. "Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and admit when you made a mistake. It sucks but it's better than ignoring the problem and hoping someone else will fix it."

"I couldn't break the treaty Marceline," Bubblegum said. "For the good of the Candy Kingdom. I couldn't get directly involved in the Lemon People's affairs."

"Technically you did, you know? After Lemongrab blew up," Marceline pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

"You sewed up Lemongrab and Lemongrab 2 together to make a new one after they were destroyed," Marceline pointed out. "That means you physically entered the earldom and put him together. Therefore by doing that you placed him back on the throne. By doing that you got directly involved in the earldom's politics. So there goes that non-interference theory."

"Oh…" Bubblegum blinked. "You're right. But I just couldn't leave the Lemon People without a leader."

"Again, that's interference," Marceline pointed out. "The only way not to interfere was to let what's left of the Lemon People work it out themselves and elect a new ruler."

"Oh Glob you're right again," The implications hit Bubblegum.

"And then there's that whole subtle manipulation of Lemonhope but I'm not gonna go into that," Marceline waved. "My point is that you were going to interfere anyway. I know you too well so don't bother to say otherwise. You just should have done it sooner and more directly."

"I made him Marceline," Bubblegum sighed. "Lemongrab is still one of my children so to speak. I just couldn't completely abandon him no matter what he's done. And you're right, I should have put a stop to it sooner. I never thought that any of my people would go so far… Do such horrible things. He was my first creation. I can't just forget him like that."

Bubblegum gave her a look. "Just like you can't forget Simon."

"That's a low blow Bonnie," Marceline looked at her. "The Ice King can't help…"

"I know. Mostly he's harmless but he's done some terrible things too," Bubblegum pointed out. "And you can't stop caring about him no matter what he's done. So you see we both care about people that…well are far less than perfect."

"At least the Ice King never ate his subjects," Marceline gave her a look. "And don't forget I've had to deal with the Ice King a few times myself whenever he gets into his princess kidnapping moods."

"I'm aware of that," Bubblegum said. "I'm just making a point."

Marceline let out a breath. "Yeah I get it. Still…I got a bad feeling about Lemongrab 3. Just saying."

"I know. But I had to try," Bubblegum sighed.

"Guess I can't fault you for trying," Marceline sighed. "I know how that goes."

"As long as there's hope, we keep trying," Bubblegum said.