Hello everyone,

I've been writing for a while, but I've tended to specialize in screenplays. I've always wanted to try prose, and I decided to write this little story based on how I would've handled the Princess Bubblegum/Marceline dynamic, and I wanted to flesh out the hints from the show that Bubblegum is obsessed with preserving life. I'm planning on posting a chapter every ten days or so. If you liked it, hated it, or have any sort of criticism please leave me a comment.

Hopefully you enjoy it,

Soundless Singing

"This is fucked up, even for you." Marceline was transfixed by sight of Finn on the gurney. He should be dead; his soul finally able to rest after a lifetime of service to OOO, but Bubblegum hadn't been able to let him go. A network of cables linked his comatose body to a choir of humming machines, tracking the man's vital signs, and keeping blood and oxygen flowing through the corpse.

"I have a responsibility to my kingdom, Marceline. Finn was a champion, and I don't know if we'll get another. When Billy retired it took years before Finn was ready to take his place. I can't risk my kingdom. I have to do this." Princess Bubblegum busied herself injecting more of her purple serum into the body.

"He was our friend." The Vampire Queen stared at the princess' face searching for any hint of regret. Marceline's hands curled into fists when she found none. Her fingernails dug into the palm of her hands. The physical pain giving her a moment's clarity

"Yes, and I mourn his passing, but now his body is an asset. I can't bring him back the way I do with the candy people. The science on the human body just isn't there. This is the best I can do." Bubblegum's pulled the syringe out of a vein, and discarded the spent needle. The vampire hugged herself. It was difficult to reconcile the hideous scene in front of her with the companion she'd loved and respected. They had both known him since he was a boy. The had seen him grow up, marry, and grow old. Finn had been a model champion up until he was slain in battle defending the Candy Kingdom. This is his reward for helping Bonnie, Marceline thought.

"This is mad scientist shit… this is wrong." The Vampire Queen stared down at the thing that had once been Finn as the machines pumped the purple serum throughout it's venous networks. The pinkness in his skin had disappeared, replaced with a cold grey hue that matched Marceline's own flesh. His cold lifeless eyes stared up into the ceiling.

"Think of this body as a machine, Marcy. It was inhabited by Finn, but now it isn't. I'm taking all his intuitions and instincts, and making use of them to save others. Would you rather we lose it all?" a hint of tenderness slipped into the princesses' voice. It was her monarch's voice; the same patronising tone she used on her subjects.

"Yes."

"Well it isn't up to you." Bubblegum caught and held Marceline's gaze, and the vampire looked away first. One finger at a time, Bubblegum removed the latex gloves from her hands and began to wash off the blood and viscera clinging to her arms on a sink just outside the operating room. Marceline kept her gaze on the swirling crimson stained water as it disappeared down the drain. It still stirred that ancient hunger buried deep within her. The vampire shrugged off the nagging intuition begging for food.

"Now what? Does he shoot up from the slab like one of those old movie monsters? Maybe go destroy a couple of peasant villages?" Marceline voice dripped with contempt. Bop her one good one on the chin. She'll be out for a little while then I'll bury Finn, and this can all be over, the Vampire Queen thought. Her palms ached as her fingernails dug deeper into flesh.

"It's a process. It'll take a couple of days for his body to be able to keep itself alive, and maybe another ten days before he's functional."

"Will he be the same?"

"No, at least I don't think so. Consciousness is a mystery even to me. I can rebuild his brain, but I don't know what it'll do to his mind." The princess pinched the bridge of her nose.

"He'll have some of the same impulses and intuitions, but for our purposes, it's likely he'll be a whole new person."

"He could be a monster, or a psycho. It's unlike you to take such a big risk."

"I believe in Finn… There was something inherently good about him. I have faith that this will lay the foundation of what he'll become." Bubblegum finally made eye contact. Marceline could see the depth of sorrow in here eyes; her fist unclenched. She fought back the instinct to reach out and comfort her. A part of her screamed for her to embrace the exhausted princess, but no matter how much she longed to rekindle what they had she couldn't forgive Bonnie's crime.

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then you'll get what you want and we'll bury him."

"None of this is what I want, Bonniebel."

"I-I know, and I'm sorry," Bonnie's voice wavered, "but this is out of my hands. I have a duty to the kingdom. The needs of the many are greater than what's right."

A silence hung between the two immortals. Princess Bubblegum pressed her forehead into her hands. "It's wrong. Glob, I know it's wrong, but OOO is held together by sacrifice. I can't break the cycle."

"How long did you say it would take for us to find out if your process will work?" Marceline looked back towards where Finn's body laid on the gurney.

"About two weeks, maybe less."

"I guess I'm staying here until then," Marceline shook the tension out of her shoulders. Gob damn it, what was she doing? "Got a place for me to stay?"

"You'll stay?" Bonnibel blinked in surprise. "I mean, if you want to you can stay I'll have Peppermint ready a room for you."

"Hey, someone's got to keep track of the shit you do. Karma's a bitch, and I want to be around if it bites you on the ass." Marceline said, giving Bubblegum a mocking half smile.

"Great, so you're here to taunt me, and you're hoping that this whole thing will blow up in my face."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Marceline walked away. She needed to get away from Bubblegum, and whatever it was she was making out of Finn's body.