Something Wicked That Way Went

by Some1Else

Marceline shows Finn and Jake the remains of a wrecked spaceship where they discover the lone survivor of a mysterious catastrophe.

Something Wicked That Way Went.

"You know what I hate the most about swamps?" Jake asked Finn as they made their way through murky water while Marceline floated safely above them.

"The rash you get afterwards?" Finn replied, straining his eyes to see better through the heavy mist.

"Yeah, that and pretty much everything else."

"Hold up, guys," Marceline said. "This is the tricky part."

Finn and Jake paused and examined their surroundings. Old rubber ducks and empty bottles of shampoo that hadn't been disturbed for years watched them as they tried to learn what Marceline already knew.

"I don't see anything different," Finn said.

"What about that inconspicuous tree growing out of the water right in front of us?" Marceline asked.

The tree with grey bark in question had been dead for quite a while. Torn wet washcloths dangled from its twisted branches.

"It's cursed and we have been passing it for the past twenty minutes," Marceline stated.

"Crud! We should have noticed that! I knew nothing good could come out of a place called 'The Devil's Bathtub'," Finn said.

"You put devil in anything and it automatically becomes bad. Except for deviled eggs. Those are delicious," Jake added. "I hope you know how to get us out of this maze, Marceline, because I'm about five seconds away from panicking."

"I'm sure you two will totally flip out. We have to circle the tree three times and then head east. That will get us out of this trap."

Jake stepped forward and took a closer look at the tree.

"How long did it take you to figure that out?" Finn asked.

"Not long. I've got dark powers, after all."

"Plus it's carved into the bark," Jake said, pointing at the rather obvious instructions.

"You're welcome," Marceline said, briefly taking a butterfly knife out of her pocket to indicate that she had been the one to leave the hint behind.

"How much further do we have to go after that? I'm starting to prune," Finn said.

"Chill, Finn. We're close."

Marceline took the lead, floated around the tree three times, and began heading east. Finn and Jake were right behind her. They wandered into an area full of drain plugs, which was a clear change of scenery. Jake caught a whiff of something interesting and ran ahead of his two friends to follow the scent. He found a bottle with a loose cap sitting on a stray piece of land at the end of the trail.

"Cherry blossom bubble bath!" Jake exclaimed. "Lady Rainicorn loves this stuff."

"Is that the surprise?" Finn asked Marceline.

"No. That is," Marceline replied, pointing in the other direction.

The mist covering the area parted in front of them, revealing a relatively large turbine engine sticking out of the soapy water.

"Is that a spaceship?" Finn asked.

"It sure isn't a boat," Marceline replied.

"How did you find out about this?"

"What, I can't go on an adventure without you guys? If you must know, I have a private stash of conditioner out here. It's the best kind for my hair, not like the garbage the major merchant caravans make and sell. I was scrounging around for more of it when I found this ship."

Finn started running towards it, but immediately stepped into a deeper section of the swamp and found himself in over his head. Jake tossed Marceline the bubble bath, which she caught, and pulled Finn out of the water before he had a chance to start freaking out. Finn flailed his arms wildly until Jake let go. He collapsed to his knees and began rubbing at his eyes furiously.

"Great, I got some of that nasty spent bath water soap in my eyes," Finn said.

"What's soap look like, bro?" Jake asked.

"Pure agony."

Marceline tightened the cap on the bubble bath container and gave it back to Jake, who stuffed it in Finn's backpack.

"So yeah, it's a spaceship," she said. "I thought you two might enjoy it."

"It's so awesome. I wish you could see it, Finn," Jake said.

"I don't have to see it. I can feel it. How about you pull it out of the water so I can feel the rest of it?"

"Sure thing. Stand clear, you two."

Marceline and Finn took a step back as Jake grew in size and girth until he had enough strength to lift the turbine out of the water with two fingers. Jake set it down in an area full of soap bars that were whittled down from use to the point where they were barely useful and shrank down to his normal size. They then scuttled forward a few hundred yards until the space ship was in front of them. Though it had been soaking in used bath water for quite some time, the hull had managed to resist rust.

"Sorry I didn't set it down closer. I didn't want either of you to get hurt," Jake said.

"That's okay. Trekking through a swamp is good for your thighs. Or whatever it is that Marceline uses to float. Where do you think the entrance is?" Finn asked.

"Towards the front," Marceline answered. "Do you have a pair of binoculars?"

Finn handed her a set of binoculars that he had retrieved from his backpack. Marceline had to admire them for a moment since they were much nicer than what she had expected Finn to have in his inventory. She used them and spotted what she was looking for.

"This way," Marceline urged.

They made their way along the length of the ship. Lacking a proper dock, the whole ship was tilted upward at a slight angle since the heavier section housing the engines and drive core was starting to sink into the mud. Marceline found an indent on the side of the ship with the binoculars that was unreachable through normal means and pointed at it.

"That looks like a door. We might be able to get in through there. Jake, can you get it open?" Marceline said.

"Hah, that looks like a cinch. I've been in tighter places than that," Jake said.

Jake stretched up to the pressurized door and wiggled his body into the crevices, intending to use his form as a lock pick. Only his eyes and lips were visible as they wiggled furiously while he tried figuring out how the door opened. He quickly realized that this task was a lot more difficult than unlocking treasure chests or picking rings out of crawl spaces beneath floorboards.

"Are you okay, dude?" Finn asked.

"Just dandy, friend! Gimme a minute," Jake replied.

There had to be a way to get the door open without damaging it. Without power, there was no way that the hydraulics would function properly. Alternatively, the door could be blown open manually in case of an emergency. Jake ignored the explosive and was forced to pry the door open. Upon finishing, he stretched down, stood next to Finn, and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Okay, that was a little different. No worries, though. It's open and it's pretty dark in there. Did you remember to bring a flashlight this time, Finn?"

"I got something even better,"

Finn reached into his backpack and pulled out the item in question, holding it high in the air for everyone to see.

"Glowstick bracelets!" Finn proclaimed.

"That's awesome! Are they green?"

"You know it."

"Are you sure those are going to work?" Marceline asked.

"Yup, Princess Bubblegum made them. I watched Cinnamon Bun try them out. They're pretty bright."

"I think I'll pass. I see better in the dark anyway."

"How many of them can we wear?" Jake asked.

"Twenty. No more than five on each arm and leg."

"What if I feel like wearing twenty one because I'm that hardcore?"

"Then you'll go blind."

"Oh. Well, that blows."

Finn and Jake quickly put on the bracelets while Marceline wondered how much illumination the trinkets were going to provide.

"Okay, Jake. It's time for a muscle man pose off!"

They both struck exaggerated poses that did nothing more than show off their lack of muscles. The glowsticks cracked under the pressure of their contorted postures and temporarily blinded Marceline. Jake didn't bother stretching to win since he didn't want to break the bracelets and get whatever chemicals were inside all over his body. He was clearly the loser of their little contest.

"Check me out. I'm Atlas holding up the world!" Finn roared.

"In that case I guess that makes me Hercules after Rome runs out of peanut butter," Jake said.

Jake became a ladder that led into the ship. He carefully spaced all twenty bracelets across twenty separate rungs since grouping them together would make for a display that wasn't safe to look at without welding goggles. Finn climbed the ladder while Marceline levitated, matching his pace so they arrived at the top together. Jake morphed back into his normal form and Marceline had to shield her face again.

"I don't know how you guys can stand those things. Do you have a pair of sunglasses, Finn?" Marceline asked.

"Sure do. I got a magic pair from Choose Goose that keeps you from turning into stone when a gorgon gives you the stink eye."

Marceline reached into Finn's backpack and found a pair of aviators that fit her face quite nicely. The frame was hot pink and the lenses were tinted purple. It was gaudy, but she didn't complain.

"You good?" Jake asked.

She landed on her feet and decided to continue on foot for as long as they were in the ship.

"I am now," Marceline replied.

Bubblegum's bracelets cast an eerie green light across the interior of the ship. Visibility was not a problem. Finn and Jake were bright enough to light up the entire room. Smooth metal failed to achieve a proper façade and made the entrance feel cold and lifeless. They were standing inside a decontamination chamber judging by the nozzles decorating the ceiling. Jake pried open the door in front of them and they stepped into a locker room.

There were ten lockers in the room. Each contained a single suit that looked human. Finn couldn't take any of them out for a closer inspection since they were stashed inside a chamber that kept them sterile, but he could press his face up against the glass and ogle the outfits from behind the glass door electronically locked in place by a keypad that wasn't currently functioning.

"Wow. You could be king of the pajama party with those things on," Jake said.

"Do you guys think that this could be an alien spaceship?"

"No way. It's probably a prototype that was made around the time the world ended," Marceline replied.

"What if it's an attack vessel? If we can get it up and running, we could blast Ice King from orbit. Even better, we could throw a shindig on Jupiter! Quick, whose birthday is coming up?" Jake asked.

"Peppermint Butler, but I don't think he'll fit in one of these suits," Finn replied.

"Okay, first of all, Jupiter is a gas giant. You couldn't throw a party on it," Marceline said. "Secondly, I doubt this thing is capable of making it into space."

"Like we would know all about a ship just by visiting the second room," Jake said.

"Says the dog that automatically assumes that it is an attack vessel."

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep it real. Why would we bother going any further if we thought this was just a dumb old prototype? Your glass is half empty, Marceline."

"If nothing else, we might be able to barter these suits. I'm sure they would be worth something to somebody," Finn said. "Do you think this ship is from Mars?"

"Nah, man. Remember how they built stuff over there? They had their own style going on and this ship don't got that style," Jake said.

They stepped out into a hallway that left much to be desired in terms of interior design. No attempt had been made to conceal the fact that the ship had been carved out of metal. Dead fluorescent lights hung above them. A few different colored lines were on the floor, which were undoubtedly pathways used for navigating the vessel.

"Where to?" Finn asked nobody in particular.

"The front, I want to fly this thing!" Jake declared, breaking from the group and running off to the right.

"Jake, wait up! This is usually the part in movies and comic books where something happens!"

"Let it happen, brother. Embrace the chaotic milkshake that is life. Cowabunga!" Jake hollered.

Jake began laughing heartily as Finn and Marceline tried to catch up with him. The green glow he gave off was easy to follow through the twists and turns his companions went through. All of the doors were shut and locked, which kept the purpose of the ship shrouded in mystery.

"Oh, my Glob!" Jake cried out from somewhere up ahead.

One of the doors had been left open. Inside the room, Jake stood before a capsule the size of a large bed. A holographic interface was floating above the flat glass surface of the capsule. The letters on the screen were complete gibberish, but indicated that the device was functioning. Power to the container had been routed to an external generator that was so quiet that they almost didn't notice it. Various outlets were all on one side of the generator and only one was in use. A small screen displaying a meter marked only with dashes indicated that less than half of the energy inside the case was still available. There were several other capsules in the room, but only one was functioning.

"I think there's somebody inside of this thing," Jake said.

"Should we open it?" Finn asked.

A chime emitted from the capsule and the interface faded from view. Vents in the capsule automatically slid open and let out a chilly fog. Once the vapor had been expelled, the lid popped open. A being that looked human and feminine was resting inside the chilly coffin. Five tubes tipped with needles that had been stuck into its body retracted and slid back into the compartments they had originated from. A sixth tube snaked its way out from the mechanics of the capsule and injected something into its arm. The tube then slid back where it had come from. The alien opened both of its eyes, which were unusually large. It screamed in pain at the site of those who had discovered it.

"Jake, let's get out of these glowsticks," Finn said.

They struggled to be rid of the bracelets and stuffed them in Finn's backpack. The party favors managed to shine through the fabric and provided enough light to see what was going on in the room.

"Sorry about that," Finn said to the alien. "Are you okay?"

They didn't receive a response. It was hard not to focus on the aliens eyes, which were pitch black. Its grey skin and thick black hair were textured differently. It didn't seem to breathe the same way they did and was able to remain perfectly still while they ogled its hip out-of-this-world features.

"I don't think it can understand us," Marceline said.

"Try some rainicorn, Jake," Finn said.

"Good idea. Annyong! Jeonun, Jake imnida."

That earned them a blank stare.

"I think we might need one of those translator collars," Finn said.

"I understand," the alien said in a heavily accented voice that elongated every vowel.

The alien climbed out of the tube and stood in front of them. It was an inch taller than Marceline and very slim.

"Hi, there," Finn said, trying to be friendly. "Sorry we woke you so rudely. Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you. My name is Finn. This is Jake. We're professional adventurers. That there is Marceline. She's a vampire."

The alien might have looked confused if its face was a bit more expressive. Jake decided to elaborate when they received no reply.

"In other words, we look for stuff and Marcy is a fantastic supernatural rarity," Jake said.

"So, where are you from?" Finn asked.

"I do not recall."

"What happened to rest of your crew?" Marceline asked.

"I can't remember."

"Can this ship shoot lasers?" Jake asked.

"I'm not sure,"

"Well, that leaves us at an awkward impasse," Finn concluded. "You must have been asleep for quite a while. Maybe your memory will come back in an hour or so."

"Maybe," the alien said.

"Hey, can we call you Galaga? At least until you remember your name?" Jake asked.

"Isn't that one of BMO's games?" Marceline asked.

"Yeah, it's the one where you shoot all the bugs," Jake replied.

"That's fine," the alien said.

Its tone was cold and impartial. It didn't seem to be looking to make any friends. They gave it the benefit of the doubt and assumed its attitude had something to do with being preserved in a freezer for more than five minutes.

"Galaga, would you like us to see if we can get this ship back up and running so we can send out a distress signal and have your buddies come pick you up and give you a ride home?" Finn asked.

"That's fine," Galaga said, obviously not knowing too much of their language or simply not caring enough to spice up its dialogue.

The team wandered back into the hallway. Marceline stuffed the magic aviators in a side pocket as they continued to make their way towards the front of the ship. Galaga lagged behind, keeping all of them in front of her. Jake opened the next door they encountered, revealing the cockpit. It was much smaller than they had imagined and only contained two stations. There was no chair for a captain. Two blank screens were in front of the seats. Analogue controls were available, but there was no telling what any of them did. They all had a feeling that there were hidden projectors in the room that would stream data using a holographic interface since the cryogenic coffin had relied on them so heavily.

Shutters designed to shield against cosmic rays and the other deadly pleasantries of the universe covered a panoramic view. Finn and Jake sat at the two stations, touching the blank screens in front of them while they pretended to pilot the ship. Fed up with the eerie silence, they provided their own sound effects while working with the dead screens. Marceline sighed and waited for them to get it out of their systems.

"Watch out for that asteroid, Ensign Finn!" Jake ordered.

They both leaned to the left and yelled for a moment until Finn stopped when he realized that something was wrong.

"Wait, you're the captain? Why are you the captain?" Finn asked.

"I'll not have mutiny on my ship!" Jake replied. "X-O Marceline, stuff him in one of the escape pods and we'll drop him off on the next planet!"

"Harsh," Finn said. "Okay, you guys have had your fun. You're going to have to wait until Galaga gets her memory back before you can cruise the cosmos."

"There's probably a potion or an elixir for that," Jake said. "We might already have one somewhere at the house."

"All of those bottles are unlabeled," Finn said.

"Yeah, and one of them might be brain food. We'll just have to get PB to come over and help us out. I'm sure she's got a kit for that sort of thing."

"Either that or CB will test them out."

"Sometimes I worry about that guy."

Finn and Jake got out of the seats and stood in the doorway to the cockpit with Marceline and Galaga.

"Would you like to stay over at our place?" Finn asked Galaga. "We've got a really bumpin' guest room."

"Just a suggestion, but you should probably say yes. Our flow might be more your speed. It's a crazy world out there," Jake said.

"I will stay over at your place," Galaga said to Finn.

"I'm coming as well," Marceline said. "Bubblegum might get a bit overexcited in the presence of an alien and you two will need a moderator."

Just as they were about to leave, Marceline spotted something on the floor next to the seat Finn had taken. She picked up the object and examined it. The item was the size of a paperweight, incredibly light, and in the shape of a cube. There were no outlets on it. A tiny orange light was blinking in one corner.

"What's this?" Marceline asked.

Finn took it from her and gave the cube a quick twist. It clicked, but didn't budge.

"BMO might be able to figure it out. Let's take it with us."

"Do you think BMO might be able to figure out how to fix the ship?" Jake asked.

"That's a stretch," Marceline replied.

"I don't know about that, Marceline," Finn said. "You would think BMO would eventually hit a wall seeing as how he's only got two megabytes of RAM, but BMO can still do some pretty amazing things."

Finn stuffed the black object into his backpack. Galaga continued to remain quiet while the team worked their way back to the entrance of the ship. Jake stopped at the locker room and looked at the suits they had passed earlier again.

"I just realized something that gave me a sad," Jake announced. "If for whatever reason Galaga couldn't breathe our air, she'd be dead right now because of what we did."

Finn and Marceline exchanged horrified looks with each other while Galaga walked passed them into the decontamination chamber and looked at the world outside of the ship. This was the first time she had appeared remotely interested in anything. Jake put his hand up against the keypad and worked it into the crease of the locker door. He sprung the lock and the door slid open.

"Galaga, you need to put this on right now," Jake said. "There's something in these parts known as the common cold and I don't feel like betting your life on chicken soup."

"You just contaminated that suit. This isn't a sterile environment," Marceline said.

Jake looked like he was about to start crying.

"I'm fine," Galaga said.

Without a care in the world, Galaga jumped out of the ship. Finn cried out in shock and looked over the edge just in time to see her hit the ground. At the height they were at, walking away without a serious injury was unlikely. Galaga was motionless for a moment. She stood, stumbled, and then began walking normally. A stray rubber duck distracted her before she could go wandering off on her own.

"What the junk?" Finn stated. "Her knee bones should have gone through her face."

"Maybe she's made out of whatever Jake is made out of," Marceline said.

Jake turned his body into a curvy slipper slide. Finn and Marceline used him to get back to the ground. Marceline began floating before she hit the water. Galaga had moved to a boulder that she was using as a seat. She had captured a loofa octopus that she was inspecting without much interest. The loofa octopus changed its color to match her skin tone in a pathetic attempt to hide from her. When her temporary caretakers approached her, she carelessly tossed the animal back into the water. Finn frowned, but decided to ignore her treatment of the octopus.

"Don't go wandering off like that," Finn told Galaga. "We don't have this place mapped, but we do know that there's a cursed tree nearby that will keep you in a loop for quite a while."

"One thing about adventuring that you learn pretty quick is if you find something like that in the place you're wandering around in, you're definitely going to bump into more nastiness if you're not careful," Jake added.

Once again, Galaga's emotions were unreadable. Galaga simply stared blankly at them and they weren't sure if what they had said had been understood or ignored.

"Follow us," Marceline said, doing her best to sound nice.

X

The trip home quickly became uncomfortable when Galaga decided to spend the entire time brooding while sitting as close to Jake's butt as she could safely get just to satisfy her rampant paranoia. Every time Finn looked behind his shoulder to check on her, she had her eyes on them. Galaga had long since established that she hadn't invested any of her skill points in charisma, which made it difficult to talk about anything without leaving her out of the conversation.

"Most people prefer the front of Jake," Finn said to Galaga in an effort to get her talking.

"Dot, dot, dot," Jake said in reference to the response Finn received.

Eventually their house finally appeared on the horizon and the tension the awkwardness was causing all of them dissipated for the time being.

"There it is! Home sweet home," Jake said.

When they were near the front door, Jake shrunk down low enough to allow his passengers to jump off his back. He then returned to his normal size.

"I'll go get those potions," Jake told Finn. "You and Marcy can show Galaga to the guest room."

Jake started to go behind the tree fort. He stopped three and a half steps later when he noticed that Galaga was following him. Jake didn't know what to think of this and looked to Finn for help.

"Hey, you should come inside with us," Finn said.

"I want to go with Jake," Galaga said.

This was the first time Galaga had spoken since they had left the ship.

"I'm just going to the shed we got behind the tree where we keep some of the swag we find that we don't know what to do with. There's nothing interesting in that pile of junk. Besides, most of it is cursed," Jake said.

Jake started walking backwards towards his destination to make sure Galaga didn't try to follow him again. The second he turned around, she started to tail him. Finn jumped in front of her and held out his hands.

"Intervention!" Finn said. "Cursed items are bad mojo and Jake can't afford to be distracted. Come this way."

Finn took Galaga by the hand and was shocked by how cold it was. Rather than listen to his sixth sense that was trying to communicate with him by giving him an upset stomach, Finn recalled that giving Marceline a hi-five was like slapping a bag of ice and thought nothing of how Galaga's skin felt just like a corpse. He led the alien by hand up into the guest room while Marceline followed from behind to make sure Galaga didn't try to wander off again.

The guest room made heavy use of Feng Shui. Lady Rainicorn's mother had helped redecorate it. The queen-sized mattress was flanked by two nightstands that both had the same type of lamp set on top of them. It was placed so that it wasn't in line with the door to the bedroom. An old painting of a beautiful corner of some garden that she had picked up from a traveling merchant was mounted above the bed on the supporting wall. There was one window at the other end of the room. Everything but the painting matched the color of the wood in the room. She made them get rid of the disco ball and the jukebox.

"This is your room. Pretty cozy, isn't it?" Finn asked.

Galaga opened the window and looked outside, saying nothing.

"We'll have better luck with BMO," Marceline said, to which Finn nodded in agreement.

"Feel free to settle in. Let us know if you need anything. We'll be in the living room."

Galaga continued staring out into the wilderness with a heavy air of melancholy and disappointment. They left the alien alone and wandered into the living room. Marceline took a seat on the couch while Finn stood in the middle of the room.

"BMO! Where are you?" Finn called.

"I am here!" BMO announced as it descended from the ladder leading up into the attic.

BMO came running up to Finn with a sheet of paper in one of its hands.

"Finn, I wrote a poem about life while sitting in the dark for six hours. Have a look," BMO said.

The poem was written in binary with the use of several crayons. To Finn, it was indecipherable. It didn't help that BMO's handwriting was illegible.

"Wow. This is deep. I'll hang it up on the fridge."

"Yay!"

Finn got down on his knees and took off his backpack. He looked away to avoid blinding himself by gazing directly at the glow sticks that hadn't died yet and took out the device they had retrieved from the alien space ship.

"BMO, we found this inside of a wrecked spaceship. It could be a personal computer, but it's probably just a piece of junk. Would you like to take a look at it?"

BMO took the cube from Finn.

"What secrets do you have to tell BMO? Do not worry, you don't have to say anything right now. It will make our time together more interesting. I'll find out what you're hiding eventually," BMO said to the cube.

BMO headed up into the attic with the device just as Jake entered the room with an old cardboard box containing several glass bottles identical in shape and size each capped with a chunk of cork. A great amount of cotton had been stuffed into the box to pad the fragile bottles. Jake set them down in front of the couch near Finn and Marceline.

"Do you know what any of these potions do?" Marceline asked.

"Absolutely not," Jake replied. "Unmarked potions are relatively common and extremely dangerous. PB has an exchange program going on where you get a sticker for every potion you turn in."

"You've got a notebook full of them, don't you Finn?" Marceline teased.

"So what if I do?" Finn asked defensively.

"Good for you, Finn. Maybe you can loan it to the Candy Kingdom's museum if they ever have an exhibit chronicling your achievements."

"Exactly! That way they would know better than to drink a potion the second they found it."

"So you wanna go get PB?" Jake asked.

"Most definitely," Finn replied. He then turned to speak with Marceline. "We'll be back in about half an hour. Is that cool?"

Marceline nodded.

"Man, I hope Galaga is less of a flake when she gets her memory back," Jake said as he mounted the ladder leading down into the hollow.

"Even if she isn't, I'm sure she'll fit in somewhere," Finn said.

X

Marceline went looking for a book when she heard the front door close. The bookcases she found were a kaleidoscope of fiction and non-fiction titles. It was not kept in any particular order and it was stuffed to the point where it was overflowing. Only one thing looked to be in some semblance of order and that was a collection of comics bearing the name Berserk. The sixteenth volume was missing, but the set was otherwise complete. Marceline smirked. Finn and Jake hadn't outgrown comic books quite yet. Despite her misgivings, it did look interesting so she picked out the first volume and quickly learned that this particular book had to be read back to front instead of the way she was familiar with.

She was not too concerned with the alien. Galaga was obviously in more trauma than she knew how to handle. Unless they could figure out how to jog her memory without hurting her, Marceline believed it was better to leave her alone until she snapped out of her funk. She heard movement coming from the guest room. Galaga was probably quite hungry by now. Marceline put the book down just in time to see Galaga enter the living room.

"Need something?" Marceline asked.

Galaga said nothing and stared directly at Marceline. It was more than a little unsettling. Suddenly, Galaga's body began to quiver. Her flesh started to reshape itself. Galaga's suit had not been a piece of clothing. Instead, it was a part of whatever made her whole. The form in front of Marceline shrunk down to her height. Portions of the pulsating mass turned red and indigo until a perfect doppelgänger of herself stood in front of her. What had once been Galaga began jumping up and down. Marceline realized that it was trying to imitate her ability to levitate, which led her to doubt its intelligence.

"Okay, you are really starting to freak me out. I'm giving you a warning. Stop it," Marceline said.

A mouth spanning vertically from its neck to its belly opened, revealing a set of teeth that could devour Marceline in seconds. The alien posing as Marceline took a step forward, getting close. Delicious close. Marceline bolted for the box of potions just in time to avoid being pounced on. Usually she didn't prefer to use something that would produce an unpredictable effect to defend herself with, but she currently didn't have much of a choice. Marceline avoided the red and black potions, assuming that they would have the most negative effect, and picked out a bottle containing a dark green liquid.

She hurled the potion at the creature, who swatted it to the ground. The glass bottle shattered and the liquid inside balled up like mercury the second it hit the air. Eight liquid balls were at the foot of the alien and they immediately began hatching. Baby dragons made from the fluid emerged from their shells, which evaporated once they had served their purpose, and began assaulting the creature. Marceline had figured that she was mostly done with being surprised at what she could find in the land of Ooo, but a mysterious mixture that created baby dragons was more than a little fascinating.

The alien whirled around in a fit of exasperation, trying to swat them off as they bit into it and blew tiny fireballs into its exposed mouth. Marceline had enough time to pull out a hot pink potion before they latched on to their target and started turning back into liquid that burned the skin of the alien. She threw the bottle at her target and struck it square in the face. The fluid stuck to her opponent and didn't seem to have any effect until an unseen force began hurling furniture and whatever else it could find at the creature.

"I hate pink!" a sinister voice declared. "Why are you wearing pink when you could be wearing any other color?"

She could sense that another entity was in the room with her and figured that the potion had summoned a malevolent spirit that couldn't stand the color pink. This was getting her nowhere fast. She needed a weapon of some sort. The shack out back containing cursed items undoubtedly had a dagger inside of it. With her mind set on defeating the creature before it could hurt somebody, she set the box of potions down gently and jumped out the window just as the poltergeist broke a chair across the face of her copy.

Marceline floated down to the shack and burst through the door. Various items of questionable importance were intermingled with the limited selection of weapons and armor in front of her. A basic short sword with a golden hilt was propped up in the corner of the shack surrounded by empty ant farms. She was ready for whatever ill fortune the weapon might inflict on her. Marceline picked up the sword in her left hand. Her wrist instantly went numb and it felt like she was trying to use the sword without her dominant hand despite being ambidextrous. She passed the sword off to her right hand and experienced the same sensation. Being picky seemed out of the question, especially if it meant being cornered in a small shed.

The moment she rushed out of the shed, the creature landed in front of her. It had added a few predatory enhancements to its form, which now only vaguely resembled Marceline. The bones in its fingers were exposed, elongated, and sharpened to the point where the creature could make a salad with a flick of its wrist if three tomatoes and a head of lettuce were thrown at it. Additionally, it had given itself eight eyes instead of two and had sprouted a pair of wings.

Marceline yawned, unimpressed by the thing in front of her. It lunged, she parried, and she managed to slice off its right hand. The moment the hand hit the ground, it sprouted legs and crawled back to the foot of the alien. It knelt down and extended its stump to the severed limb. The hand reattached itself to the stump in a somewhat horrific display of rapidly reforming nerves and tendons. Defeating this monstrosity would be trickier than she thought. It tried attacking her again, but Marceline had long since mastered the art of dodging sloppy grappling attempts and other uncoordinated outbursts of rage. She needed to find a way to trap the alien until she could figure out what to do with it.

The alien seemed to realize that taking Marceline on in a fair fight wasn't going to work and flew back into the house via the same window it had jumped out of. Marceline followed, not intending to allow the monster to find somewhere to hide. The two opponents found themselves back in the living room. The alien grabbed the box stuffed with potions and held it above its head.

If all of them went off at once, it was possible that they would both die. Marceline dropped the sword and held up both of her hands. It threw the box directly at her like an idiot. Marceline caught it in both of her hands. Thanks to the padding, nothing cracked. She was temporarily left open to attack and the alien took this chance to push her out of the window. Marceline closed the flaps to the box to keep the potions from becoming airborne and held the container against her chest while she took a short trip to the bottom of the tree. She landed on her back, which would have forced all the air out of her lungs if she wasn't undead and had to rely on air to live.

"Marcy!"

After carefully sliding the box off her chest, she stood and looked in the direction that the familiar voice had come from. Jake was approaching with Finn and Bubblegum on his back. Marceline looked at the window she had just fallen from and frowned. There were plenty of places to hide in the tree fort.

Her friends hurried to her side.

"I saw you get shoved out of the window. What happened?" Jake said, taking a moment to catch his breath. "Did you beat Galaga at slapjack or something?"

"That alien is bad news," Marceline said. "It tried to kill me."

"Jokes on her, huh?" Finn asked.

"Are you certain you did not offend it by violating one of its customs?" Princess Bubblegum asked.

"I was reading. It came into the living room, turned into me, and then tried to stab me in the face."

"How dangerous would you say it is?" Finn asked.

"Like maybe six out of ten."

"Crud, I knew I should have brought a sword with me this morning," Finn said.

"I don't know how much a sword would help. It can heal itself rather quickly."

"Let's not be too hasty. Perhaps it was frightened by Marceline's literacy," Bubblegum said.

"Girl, this ain't no time for diplomacy," Jake said.

"Please at least give it a fair warning," Bubblegum requested.

"Okay. Time to search our house without a warrant," Finn said, trying to sound cool.

X

Finn and Jake rushed into their foyer full of loot at the bottom of the tree. They kept their fancier weapons impaled into the mountains of gold coins since decorative swords were typically useless in a fight. Finn chose a two handed sword that appeared to be forged entirely out of silver except for the blue grip. Marceline grabbed a battle axe while Bubblegum picked up a pair of spiked gauntlets and slid them on her hands.

"What do those do?" Marceline asked.

Bubblegum didn't reply and extended her arms. Red lightning shot out of the tips of her fingers for a moment.

"Normally we use them to charge BMO's batteries on game night," Bubblegum explained.

"You sure you can fight, Princess? Shouldn't you wait outside?" Marceline asked.

"I can carry my own weight," Bubblegum replied confidently.

Given how foolish the Banana Guards could be, it seemed only natural that Bubblegum had learned to defend herself. Finn approached the ladder leading up into the next room.

"Galaga! We're going to give you one chance to come down here and say you're sorry," Finn shouted up the tree.

"Yeah, and then we'll have some waffles and laugh about it!" Jake added. "Marceline's not mad, are you Marcy?"

Marceline glared at Jake.

"Nah, she got over it," Jake said.

Finn and Jake waited for a moment before they started climbing up the tree. They climbed into the tree trunk where even more gold was stored.

"Yo, bud, I just had a thought," Jake whispered to Finn. "If this alien can change into whatever it wants, do you think it has enough control over itself that it could match the texture of its skin to the environment around it like a chameleon?"

"Maybe. I'll go get our thermal goggles. Stay down here and cover us in case its hiding in the gold," Finn said.

"Bro's forever," Jake said.

They bumped knuckles and Jake jumped to the highest platform in the room and tried blending in with the environment by morphing into a highly conspicuous pile of gold with two eyes and a set of jowls. Finn took the lead and proceeded carefully to the armory. Unlike the foyer, most of the weapons and equipment they normally took with them on their adventures were stored here when they weren't scattered around the house because they were too lazy to put them away.

Finn opened up a cardboard box and took out two sets of thermal goggles. He gave one pair to Marceline and put the other over his eyes. After flicking them on, he immediately spotted a figure lying down on the ground by one of his sword racks. He pointed at it and was about to say something when it sprouted four arms from its back and grabbed all of the swords off the rack it had been hiding in front of. Marceline tossed the pair of thermal goggles back into the box while Finn popped his pair off his eyes and let them rest on his forehead.

The alien's body was still covered in the pattern it had absorbed from the floor, but the swords it was carrying were quite visible. It had retained Marceline's form and still sported the same mouth it had formed earlier. The alien focused on Finn, convinced that it could overpower him since it carried more than one sword. Finn successfully deflected its initial onslaught. Marceline tried throwing the axe at its eyes, but it knocked the projectile aside.

Bubblegum raised her arms and unleashed a torrent of electricity on the creature. It made a unique noise that they would remember forever in their nightmares and began changing uncontrollably into various combinations of animals they had not seen before as red electricity danced all over its body. The creature charged blindly, running into the walls and knocking over all the weapons in the room until it finally collapsed on the floor in a smoldering heap.

Bubblegum ceased her attack. The alien had become something that looked suspiciously like a walrus merged with a spider that had Marceline's form strapped to its back.

"No. That is not how we behave," Bubblegum said.

It scuttled out of the room with a burst of energy that confused its prey. Knowing that it was clearly at a disadvantage, it jumped through the same window it had pushed Marceline out of. While falling, it sprouted wings and began heading towards the Ice Kingdom in a blind panic.

"That went pretty well," Finn said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Jake appeared, drawn out by the commotion.

"Shoot, I missed the fight," Jake lamented.

"It's not over yet. We've got to catch it before it hurts somebody," Bubblegum said.

"How?" Finn asked. "It would kind of be like trying to catch Jake and that is not an easy task."

"Then we freeze it," Marceline said.

"We'll need some kind of magical freezing item unless you want to ask he-whose-name-we-no-longer-mention for help," Finn said.

"Do you have a better idea?" Marceline asked.

"I need to think. Jake, you think, too."

"Aww, man. Okay."

They turned away from Marceline and Bubblegum and stared at the floor. Their brows were furrowed by the weight of their thoughts as they tried to think of some way to avoid asking the Ice King for help.

"What if we use a fire extinguisher?" Jake asked, looking at Bubblegum.

Bubblegum shook her head.

"Well, that's all I have to offer. What about you, Finn?"

"I've got nothing. I guess we'll ask I'm-still-not-saying-his-name for help. Let me go get my root sword before we head out."

Finn set the silver sword on a table where it would remain until either him or Jake worked up the motivation to put it back where it had originally been and headed up to his room to retrieve the sword he desired. While he was busy, Bubblegum decided to plan their attack with Marceline.

"He's going to expect us to give him something in return," Bubblegum said.

"Maybe we could let him borrow a movie or a video game," Marceline suggested.

"No way! Don't let him near any of your stuff," Jake warned. "We let him borrow a book once and Gunter ate it. We gave him a video game and he lost the instruction manual. Then we lent him a DVD and when he gave it back to us the disc was cracked and he told us that it was like that when he got it! Neither a borrower nor a lender be, Marcy."

"I guess we'll have to throw a party and invite him over," Bubblegum said, her voice heavy with sadness.

Jake cringed and gagged when he thought about having to hang out with the Ice King. Finn came back in the room with the sword he wanted strapped to his back. The door leading up to the attic opened and closed. BMO quickly made its way down the ladder and ran towards Finn while flailing its arms wildly.

"Finn! I have hacked the device! Come quickly!" BMO said.

They followed BMO up to the attic where the only source of light was emitting from the item Finn had taken from the space ship. BMO sat down next to the cube and fiddled with it for a moment.

"Hold still. It is calibrating," BMO instructed.

A screen projected from the top of the cube and hung suspended in the air at just the right height and size for all of them to view it. Galaga was looking right at them. The quality of the video was flawless.

"In case your civilization hasn't figured it out yet and by some stroke of divine luck your language is in our database and you can actually understand what I am saying, allow me to fill you in on a little secret," Galaga began. "Those lights in the sky you see when the bright sky ball goes down? They are called stars and without going in to too much detail, your species might be around to watch them burn out if the planet you're on hasn't been decimated by an asteroid the size of a small continent. When all of them burn out, everything gets dark and cold. I am part of a crew that explores these pockets of the universe in search of resources and suitable galaxies to recolonize. We do not do this alone and the ship in our flotilla that is designed to create suns was about to do its job when our scanners picked up a life form on one of the planets. This is perhaps one of the most fascinating discoveries any sentient being could hope to make, but I digress."

Galaga paused for a moment and looked behind her shoulder, searching the room she was recording her video in for something that they could not see. Jake took this as an opportunity to stretch one of his arms all the way down into the kitchen, retrieve a container of cheese popcorn, and bring it back with him. He gladly offered the food to his friends.

"Good call," Finn said to Jake as he stole a handful of the popcorn.

After a moment, Galaga was looking at them again.

"All resources were diverted to the fourth planet of that particular solar system. We held off on making a sun because it might have harmed the creature we were looking for. A large ship that was not in any of our databases had crashed into the surface of the planet. We discovered three aliens of an unknown race frozen stiff in various parts of the ship and rescued them from the wreckage. Once they were revived, they were not very social with us. The commander of our flotilla had them put on the cargo ship I'm currently broadcasting from and had the same vessel reel in the broken ship with a tractor beam so that we could study their technology. Our orders were to transport the cargo back to our mother ship in a nearby galaxy."

"This is a good movie," Jake said.

They shushed him.

"While we were on our way, the aliens disappeared. Three members of our crew mentioned that they felt ill and retired to their quarters. They then vanished and three more members of our crew were overcome with apathy. By the time I finally realized what was going on, it was too late. We were being killed. It is difficult to say why these creatures behave the way they do without analyzing them properly, but one can easily deduce that they have an insatiable appetite and are very good at not leaving any evidence behind after they have finished feeding. They are capable of mimicking their prey, so I assume that they are in complete control of their DNA. It almost seems impossible when you think about it, but you should never believe that a fact applies to absolutely everything in the universe."

Galaga reached over to the right and retrieved a black gun unlike anything they had ever seen.

"This gun vaporizes organic matter. It seems to be the most effective way to deal with them. I took two of them down while the third sabotaged the engine of the ship. It also busted our mainframe. If I - "

Something grabbed Galaga from behind and pulled her to the ground beneath the visible area of the video.

"Finn is not old enough to see the next part of this video," BMO said cheerfully, stopping playback of the file.

Each member of Galaga's audience stood frozen in the dark with their mouths agape and eyes wide open in terror as their imaginations pieced together how fantastic Galaga's final moments were.

"Rest in peace, Galaga," Jake said. "This really sucks. The one part I don't get is that three of them managed to take out an entire crew by themselves and one of them can't get passed us. What's up with that?"

"We're too hype," Finn remarked.

"True that. Well, I guess we had better go the Ice Kingdom before that thing wipes out all the penguins and yetis."

"Good luck dot E-X-E," BMO said as it headed back into the attic with the cube in tow.

Jake swallowed the rest of the popcorn, tossed the bowl aside, and jumped out of a nearby window. He grew to the height of the tree and stood with his back to the window. Marceline and Bubblegum watched as Finn jumped out of the window and latched on to Jake's back. They followed his lead. Jake got down on all fours and began heading towards the Ice Kingdom.

X

"Do you think we'll pass it?" Finn asked.

"Boy, would that be awkward," Jake replied.

Finn reached into his backpack and pulled out his binoculars. He looked towards the Ice Kingdom and spotted the Ice King in the sky. Finn lowered his binoculars for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and then looked again. Ice King was so far away that Finn almost couldn't see what was happening with the binoculars. Finn cranked up the magnification as high as it would go and pressed a button to stabilize the image. A flawless clone of Bubblegum was nearing the border.

"What do you see?" Marceline asked.

"PB," Finn replied.

"No way," Bubblegum said as she snatched the binoculars away from Finn and looked for herself.

Bubblegum's jaw dropped as she watched Ice King swoop her double into his arms and fly away. Having had her fill, Bubblegum gave the binoculars back to Finn. There wasn't anything on their planet that the alien could warp into. Finn wondered why it had not just remained in one place camouflaged until something it could overpower came along and then considered that it was probably afraid that they would pursue it and since they had already found it when it tried blending in with its environment once, it knew that they could undoubtedly do so again. It was running scared and there was no place for it to hide in the plains. As for why it had morphed into Bubblegum, Finn assumed it had not found the luck it was having with Marceline very agreeable.

"Nothing good will come out of this now," Bubblegum said.

"What if it tries to eat him before we get there?" Finn asked.

"Let's hope that it does. He'd freeze it right then and there and then we wouldn't have to throw him a party," Jake said.

"So how should we approach this?

"Directly. We walk in and tell him what's going on," Marceline replied.

"He's not going to listen to us," Bubblegum said.

"You guys can wait outside if you want to. I'll talk to him."

They all knew that Marceline didn't want the Ice King to get hurt, but nobody brought that up. Jake made his way down the usual path they took to get to the Ice King's tower, which took them past a forest covered in snow and a frozen lake. Jake shrunk a little as they got closer so that they wouldn't be spotted. Their approach went unnoticed and Jake shrunk down to his normal size near the front door. Finn took out his sword while Bubblegum raised both of her hands and held them in front of her since she still had the gauntlets from earlier.

The Ice King's hysterical laughter drifted out to them from the living room. They found him bounding across all of his ice furniture in glee as he held up his wizard robes to make platforming easier while the clone of Bubblegum sat rooted to his couch staring dead ahead, disinterested. A penguin was offering the alien a tray supporting a margarita glass containing a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri, but it did not accept the drink and the penguin simply stood there until it was ordered to do something else by its owner.

"Ice King, rope that nonsense in!" Jake demanded.

Ice King came to a stop on top of his non-functioning ice television, still holding up his robes.

"Hey, guys! Say hello to the guest of honor who is here of her own accord," Ice King said. "It's been so long since I've had a girl over that I can't contain myself!"

Ice King threw both of his arms into the air and shot a blizzard at his ceiling. Snow drifted down to the floor gently. While Ice King was distracted, the penguin offering the daiquiri quickly drank it and left the room.

"I think you're overdoing it," Jake said.

"I know, but the second I saw her heading towards my kingdom willingly all the stuff I learned from Jay T. Dawgzone went straight out the window. By the way, who's that?"

Ice King pointed at the real Bubblegum.

"Wait, don't tell me," Ice King said before they could start talking. "Bubblegum has a twin! So, what do you do? Do you rule the kingdom on weekends?"

"I am the real Princess Bubblegum," Bubblegum said. "That thing right there is a dangerous alien that seems to be driven purely by instinct to kill and imitate everything around it like some sort of virus."

"You're lying!" Ice King shouted defensively.

Finn and Jake facepalmed at the same time.

"They are lying," the alien said.

"I know they are, dear. Would you like another daiquiri?" Ice King asked.

"Simon, that's not the real Bubblegum," Marceline said.

"Who are you talking to? Nobody in this room is called Simon," Ice King said.

"Help me, Ice King. Help me," the alien begged, fleeing from the couch and hiding behind the Ice King.

"I don't know what you guys are up to, but you're upsetting the princess and I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Ice King said.

"Wait, we'll prove it to you. What's something only the real Princess Bubblegum would know about you?" Marceline asked.

"How should I know? She never hangs out with me."

"That is such a lie. We have hung out before," Bubblegum said. "Why don't you ask that thing what happened the last time you came over to my place with an invitation?"

"Why, what would that prove?" Ice King asked.

"Just ask it the question!" Marceline replied.

"Fine, you don't have to yell at me!" Ice King cleared his throat and faced the alien. "Princess, what happened the last time we hung out?"

"I can't remember," the alien replied.

"That makes two of us,"

Marceline and Bubblegum seethed with rage while Finn and Jake stood ready to fight. It looked as though Marceline was about to start pummeling the alien into goo, but she thought of one last test they could try to get the Ice King to understand what was going on.

"Bubblegum, let the Ice King touch your gown," Marceline said.

"What? Why?" Bubblegum asked.

"Because when that thing turned into me it didn't steal my clothes. It imitated them."

"Oh, snap!" Finn shouted.

"Good job, Marcy. That's thinkin' with your thinking cap on," Jake said.

"So what's supposed to happen?" Ice King asked.

"Bubblegum is wearing clothes. That alien isn't. It's clothes are a part of its skin. You will be able to tell the difference," Marceline explained.

"Fine, but if this doesn't work you guys need to leave because I want to play Crazy Eights with the real Princess Bubblegum and I don't want any distractions while I savor every second of her presence."

"It's a deal," Marceline said.

Bubblegum reluctantly approached the Ice King, shivering at how disgusting it would be to let the Ice King touch her clothing. She intended to burn the outfit the second she went home. Bubblegum grabbed her gown and gestured for the Ice King to take a hold of it and once he did she let go.

"See? Those are clothes," Marceline said.

"They're silk," Ice King confirmed in a rather unsettling tone.

Bubblegum slapped his hand away and gagged a little. Finn and Jake moved in and stood behind the alien. Ice King reached for the gown the alien wore and it made no effort to stop him from doing so. Bubblegum raised her hands and curled her fingers, priming the gauntlets for use. Ice King grabbed the gown and pulled it. His fingers lost their grip and the piece he had been holding snapped back.

A piece of the aliens arm detached itself from its body and flew at Bubblegum, sprouting several pincers and a mouth full of teeth as it sailed through the air towards its target while Finn shoved his sword through the alien as its gown came alive and wrapped around the Ice Kings hand. Bubblegum caught the pink burrito in both hands and held it away from her face as it lashed out at her. Before it could do any damage, she pumped it full of magical electricity.

Marceline tried to pull Ice King away from the alien, but it had a good hold on him. Noticing this, Finn attempted to dislodge his sword from the creature only to find that it had tightened its form around the blade and now made pulling it out quite a challenge. The back of the alien formed into a mirror image of the front, highlighting the fact that he had stabbed a twisted visage of Princess Bubblegum right through the heart. It was attempting to weird him out, but Finn had been through too much to be surprised by such amateur tactics.

"Tag team!" Jake shouted as he pumped himself full of testosterone and enhanced all of his muscles.

Jake ripped the sword out of the aliens body, leaving a clean cut behind that had gone through the tissue holding the Ice King hostage. Marceline ushered the Ice King into his bedroom while Jake gave Finn his sword back and Bubblegum tossed the limp burrito aside. They quickly retreated into the bedroom while the alien stood completely still.

"Holy mackerel, that's one crazy broad," Ice King said.

"Freeze it!" Marceline ordered.

In the living room, the alien was steadily growing larger, which seemed to take a lot of effort. It was forming into a creature with plenty of sharp edges and a mouth with several mandibles. Bubblegum's copy was all but lost in the mess of pulsating flesh except for the pink color of her skin. The burrito had rejoined with the original form as the DNA of the monster continued adapting to the appearance it desired. Though not finished transforming, it still leapt at the Ice King, who responded by shooting a magical beam at it. Unfamiliar with magic, the alien had no means of replicating any sort of barrier to shield itself from the attack. It uttered one final roar that was a combination of several animals before it was sealed inside an ice cube. Finn and Jake cheered.

"Alright, level up!" Finn said.

"Finn and Jake gain ten percent chance to crit against extraterrestrial baddies," Jake said.

The penguin from earlier walked from the kitchen over to the Ice King and offered him a daiquiri, which he downed in less than five seconds.

"Thank you, Ice King," Bubblegum said.

"Yeah, no problem. Happy to do it," Ice King said. "Gunter, I think I need something stronger. Mix me a cosmo, would you?"

The penguin vocalized an indifferent chirp and wandered back into the kitchen. Ice King sighed and sat down on his couch.

"I can't believe I thought that was the real Princess Bubblegum. I know she doesn't have a twin, but I didn't want to believe it. Doublethinking is harder than it sounds," Ice King said. "I just wanted to hang out hardcore style with the princess. What a stupid backed up pipe dream."

In that moment, the Ice King could almost be pitied by everyone, not just Marceline. Their empathy almost overshadowed their knowledge that he was an insufferable twit.

"Ice King, in recognition of your assistance in the disposal of a great threat to all the inhabitants of Ooo, I do believe that you deserve a reward," Bubblegum said without much enthusiasm.

"Really?" Ice King asked, his melancholy vanishing in an instant and turning into excitement. "A reward?"

Bubblegum nodded. Ice King hiked up his robes and resumed his platforming from earlier using the chunk of ice containing the alien as a new stop on his route around the living room. Being the king of ice, he didn't slip and fall when his bare feet pranced across the smooth surface of frozen water.

"Ask what you will of me, but keep it within reason," Bubblegum said.

Ice King came to a rest on top of the cube and thought about what he wanted for a moment.

"We should throw a shindig in my honor!" Ice King declared.

"Gee, I never would have guessed he'd want that," Jake said.

"Just be glad he didn't ask for something outrageous," Finn said.

"Hey, I just had an idea. The cube can be a center piece," Ice King said. "Normally they'd charge five bucks a gander for this sort of thing."

"Speaking of the cube, what should we do with it?" Marceline asked.

"I want to have it moved into my cryo lab beneath the castle so I can study it later."

"For some reason I was really hoping she'd want to drop it in a giant cup of root beer," Jake said. "Imagine the look the alien would have on its face when the cube unthawed."

"PB, are you sure that's a good idea?" Finn asked. "We don't need a sequel to this story."

"I'll be extra careful. I also want to get a good look at the ship you found it in sometime this week. Any technology we can salvage would be incredibly helpful since that's historically how it's been acquired."

"Stop being boring and help me plan my party!" Ice King demanded. "Make sure to invite all the princesses, I don't want to get my groove on in a sausage factory."

X

Later that same evening, a party was held at the tree fort. None of the women on the guest list were willing to come to the Ice King's house since his place had a mixed vibe. The fact that there was a prison in his bedroom had never made any of his guests comfortable. They still brought the cube to the party and kept it outside in front of the house surrounded by some snow the Ice King conjured to prevent the container from melting since the evening turned out to be relatively warm. Marceline was tasked with the tedious job of ensuring that the Ice King didn't step out of line and scare any of the guests away because she was the only person who could stand to be around him for more than five minutes.

Some of the guests had gathered in the living room to chat while others danced on the roof where the Ice King was embellishing his participation in the scuffle with the alien even when those who had fought alongside him were within earshot. Party God, who had stopped by uninvited to make sure that their party was cool enough, decided to hear what Ice King had to say. Marceline and Finn danced nearby to make sure that a fight didn't break out between them.

"What? You don't believe me?" Ice King asked.

"No, not at all. I've been poppin' moves all over this roof for an hour and in that time you have told your story to six people over the course of three sessions. Not once has it remained consistent," Party God said.

"Okay, Party God," Finn said, butting in. "I think it's time for you to get back to dominating the dance floor."

"Yeah, you're right," Party God said. "This square needs to stop lying. I hate it when people lie about awesome stories. Tell me the real version later, would you?"

"No problem, Party God," Marceline said.

"Thanks. By the way, the punch sucks. Go add some more sugar while there's still time."

Party God went back to the dance floor and busted some moves with Cinnamon Bun and Flame Princess while Finn went into the kitchen to sweeten the punch. While doing so, he saw Jake appear from the passage leading up to the bedroom they shared. He was holding a box he had wrapped up with gold colored paper that he presented to Lady Rainicorn, who was laying on the couch in the living room and chatting with Bubblegum.

"Baby, you'll never guess what we found in the swamp," Jake said.

"Jinheulg?" Lady Rainicorn asked as she opened the box.

The cherry blossom bubble bath they had found earlier was in the box. Lady vocalized her surprise and everyone in the room expressed their endearment.

"Kamsa-hamnida!" Lady said.

She gave Jake a kiss on the cheek.

"No problem, honey! When I'm out adventuring, I'm always thinkin' of you," Jake said.

Finn smiled, but the air in the room suddenly became tense as a feeling of dread stamped out the heartwarming moment. The guests in the room felt it as well and began looking around to try and identify what was making them feel so terrified. Every single piece of furniture in the room began rattling.

"I tried. . ." a raspy voice said. "I did! I tried so hard for so long, but I cannot deny it. I hate it! I! Hate! Pink!"

An unseen force ripped the bottle of bubble bath out of Lady's hands and threw it on the ground. Bubblegum was lifted up into the air where she hung suspended by nothing until whatever had a hold on her could decide what it wanted to do. Jake pulled her back down to the ground only to find himself lifted up into the air at the mercy of whatever was attacking them. The rug was ripped off underneath the coffee table and Bubblegum was forced up against the wall. A stapler flew in from the attic and tried to secure the rug covering Bubblegum to the wall. Marceline came down the ladder to see what had caused the commotion and almost swallowed her tongue when she realized that her fight with the alien was to blame.

"What is going on?" Finn demanded.

"I threw one of those unmarked potions at the alien when it was attacking me earlier and it summoned a poltergeist that absolutely cannot stand the color pink. Don't worry, I'll fix this. Somehow," Marceline said. "Geez, I might have to call my dad."

Before she could desperately try to come up with any solution that didn't involve asking her father for help, Finn received a flash of inspiration.

"Ask it if it wants to dance!" Finn said.

"Are you out of your mind?" Marceline asked.

Obviously Marceline wasn't going to be much help, so Finn carried out his plan by himself.

"Ghost that doesn't like pink, do you want to dance?" Finn asked.

The furniture stopped shaking and the ghost stopped wasting staples on a project that was not going to work.

"C-come again?" the poltergeist asked.

"This is a party, yo! You shouldn't be focusing on what you hate. Just relax and get down with your bad self."

Jake and Bubblegum fell on the floor. The container of bubble bath was given back to lady and the rug was placed back where it belonged. A disco ball materialized out of nowhere and hovered above everyone for a brief second before it turned on even though it wasn't plugged in and didn't seem to have a power cord. The guests cheered and resumed partying as a shadowy apparition appeared and began moonwalking. Even though it had not left a favorable first impression, the ghost was immediately pardoned because everyone in the room collectively agreed that what had just happened with the disco ball was one of the raddest things they had ever seen.

The End.