Hey guys!
I originally put this up on AO3 in July and the Deviant Art annnnd thought I'd put it up over here now too. It was finished last week. :)
Prince Bubba Gumball of the Candy Kingdom was angry. Very angry. So angry he gleefully cooked the creme brulée with the blow torch until it was burnt black and then he burned it some more, pushing the switch harder, doing his level best to make the flames come out faster, bigger and hotter. He wanted that creme brulée to be nothing more than ashes!
When the canister was empty and the former would-be dessert was nothing more than black sludge in the serving dish, the Prince slammed the empty canister down on the table and glared at it for few moments, grinding his teeth angrily.
"Augh! Who does he think he is!?" He roared, whirling around, breathing heavily. "How-How dare he!" Shoulders shaking, fingers curling and uncurling, Prince Gumball felt his rage burn hot through his body. "Marshall Lee!" He yelled, storming over to the kitchen window and flinging it open wide. "You're wrong! Do you hear me!? Wrong!" He screamed to the world outside.
Some startled birds flew squawking from the trees below and their sudden appearance seemed to drain the anger out of Prince Gumball. Slumping against the window ledge, the Prince ran a hand through his pink hair and sighed, closing his eyes and letting the rage leak out of him.
"...You're wrong. Marshall Lee." He whispered against the candy brick ledge. "So very wrong."
"You're Majesty?"
The sudden voice behind him caused Gumball to abruptly straighten and turn around. Peppermint Maid stood there looking both concerned and slightly scared. Clearing his throat, the Prince summoned up his dignity and tilted his head.
"Y-Yes?"
"Is... Is everything all right? We heard yelling and..." Her eyes slid over to the thoroughly charbroiled dessert on the table top beside her.
"Yes. Just a... A little accident, nothing more." Prince Gumball assured her with a smile and a firm nod.
"Of course." Peppermint smiled and gave a little bow. "Prince Applebottom of the Fruit Kingdom has arrived your Majesty."
The breath froze in his throat and a blush rose to his cheeks. Had the Prince heard his little fit? Oh he hoped not, that would be truly embarrassing.
Straightening out his crown (it was already straight), brushing some crumbs from his shoulders (there were no crumbs) and smoothing down the wrinkles in his doublet (the invisible ones), Prince Gumball set about making himself presentable.
"H-Has he? I'll be along presently." Satisfied that he looked immaculate, Gumball gestured for Peppermint Maid to lead the way and he left the kitchen without giving the blackened smear in the dish on the table another look or thought.
Prince Applebottom stood in the Audience chamber, the afternoon sunlight beaming down around him and giving him a heavenly glow. He had short, soft looking, perfectly coiffed, starfruit yellow hair and eyes the colour of the bluest blueberries.
Prince Gumball stopped in the doorway a moment and gave a little breath as he drank in the sight of the Fruit Kingdom Prince.
"Ah, Prince Gumball!" The Fruit Prince turned and looked at him, his face blossoming into a brilliantly charming smile. He walked forward, looking Gumball up and down with a happily helpless look. "I have missed you." He said warmly, holding out a fruit bouquet of artfully cut and decorated kiwi's, starfruit and cherries.
"Oh Applebottom!" Gumball accepted the bouquet gratefully, some part of heart twinging at the sight of the blood red fruits amid the other colours. But the twinge was forgotten instantly as Applebottom took hold of one of his hands.
"I know we only saw each other yesterday, but I feel as though it has been an eternity. Your crown is crooked."
"Oh!" Blushing, Gumball withdrew his hand from Applebottom's, gave a little laugh and reached up, straightening the crown upon his head. "How embarrassing!"
"Truly. Now, please, show me more of your wondrous kingdom!"
Hand slipping back easily into Prince Applebottom's, Gumball sighed in a lovesick fashion, stepping close to the Fruit Prince.
Marshall Lee was very wrong.
"Idiot! Globsdamned moron!" The glass shattered against the wall in an explosion of red liquid. " I'm right! I'm fucking right! And it'll be too fucking late by the time Prince I'vegotafuckingpinkstickupmyass knows it! And you know what I'm gonna do? Come on, ask me what I'm gonna do when it happens."
"Uh... What-"
"I'm gonna laugh! I'm gonna laugh right in his stupid little tear stained- cause he's gonna cry- pink baby face. I'm gonna laugh and laugh and dance around his globsdamned castle and tell him that I fucking TOLD HIM SO."
"Marsh-"
"And then, he's gonna BEG ME to come back to the Candy Kingdom! And you know what? You know fucking WHAT? I won't! I won't go back! You don't BANISH the globsdamned King of Vampires!"
Fionna watched Marshall rage around her house with growing concern. The Vampire King's eyes were glowing red, his fangs and claws were long and sharp- he looked angry and dangerous.
He'd shown up at her house (formerly his) and floated in a huffy sort of silence until she'd asked him if anything was wrong; if something had happened.
Now, Marshall was raging about something to do with Gumball and she was making very little sense from it other than...
"He banished you?" She asked, eyes growing wide.
Marshall gave a hiss of rage, his body tense and shaking. Fionna wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look so angry. Making sure Cake was firmly behind her, the blonde took a hesitant step forward, flinching as Marshall turned his red eyed gaze onto her.
"Yes... He did."
"Why?"
"Because I told him his new boyfriend was a dickwad."
There was more to it than that, Fionna knew. There had to be something else that had happened, something that Marshall has said or done to make Prince Gumball... Banish him.
"Ar-are you sure he BANISHED you? And not just-"
"Oh, he banished me all right." Marshall gave a bitter sounding laugh. "I was seized by the Banana Guards and everything."
His eyes were still glowing and it was clear he was still seething, but for the moment the Vampire King had stopped throwing things and making a mess of her house. He was floating on his back, arms behind his head, legs crossed – typical lounging position.
Fionna took another step forward; though she was the bravest of the brave, one did not want to get on the bad side of an angry half-demon, half-vampire.
"Marshall... What...What happened?" She asked, genuinely concerned. For all that Marshall Lee and Prince Gumball argued and dug at each other, she knew the two to be surprisingly very close. In fact, when Gumball told her that he was dating someone, she'd been completely thrown off when he didn't say it was Marshall.
"Prince Applebottom happened." Marshall replied, his voice dripping with acid. "And Prince I'msopinkandfuckinperfect can't see that fruitboy is a tragedy waiting to happen."
"But... Marshall..." Fionna braced herself, she was about to step into the danger zone. "Prince Applebottom is... Really nice. Gumball introduced me and-" She stopped as Marshall's eyes flashed at her.
"Applebottom makes me look nice." Marshall spat, floating towards her. "Applebottom is going to make Gumball, you and everyone in that fuckin' kingdom cry." Floating nose to nose with her, Marshall's lips curled into a sneer. "And when it happens, I'll write a Globsdamned song about it." He snapped his fingers, giving a nasty sort of smirk and disappeared. "It'll be my next big hit."
Silence reigned through the tree house as Fionna and Cake held their breaths, waiting for Marshall to reappear or do something.
"...Marshall?" Fionna queried, looking around cautiously, the only movement was the steady drip of the red cherry juice running down the wall and pooling on the floor. "Marshall Lee?" Nothing.
"That boy!" Cake exclaimed suddenly, covering her face with her paws. "He is going to be the death of me one day!"
Fionna looked over at the window, curtains fluttering in the breeze.
"Yeah..." Fionna thought for a moment and then, narrowing her eyes, she made a fist and smacked it into her other hand. "Come on Cake! We're going to see Gumball and get to the bottom of this 'banishment' business." She declared, scooping up her backpack.
"And then, after he showed me around his castle and the orchards and the nearby towns- He was right by the way, his orchards are much nicer than mine. He's sending some fruit people over tomorrow to help me with that."
Prince Bubba Gumball of the Candy Kingdom was head over heels in love. He was completely infatuated with the Prince of the Fruit Kingdom.
"We went to his kitchens- which are bigger! He was right! And we baked pastries! We baked pastries together Fionna! He taught me how to make mine better!"
"I thought yours tasted just fine already Gumball."
Prince Gumball waved her comment off with a dismissive flick of his hand. "No no, mine weren't nearly fluffy or crisp enough and never tasted quite right."
"Fluffy enough... Gumball, the FLUFFY PEOPLE taught you how to bake pastries!"
Laying on Gumball's bed, Fionna watched her friend move about his room, telling her about the week he'd spent over in the Fruit Kingdom with his ever loving boyfriend.
He and Prince Applebottom had been together for little over three months now and it was clear to anyone and everyone that they were totally in love.
It was good for both of the kingdoms- the Candy Kingdom was getting the very best of fruit in trading, as well as new tips and tricks to try and the Fruit Kingdom was learning the art of Candy making and sweets.
It was a good arrangement royally it seemed, but there were... Things that Fionna wasn't sure about.
"Hey um... Gumball?"
"And then we- Hm?" Prince Gumball paused in his reliving the dance he and Applebottom had shared in the recent Fruit Kingdom Ball. He looked at her, tilting his head to the side.
"Are you going to unbanish Marshall Lee?"
The silence was so thick, Fionna thought she could taste it. That had been happening a lot since Gumball and Applebottom had gotten together. The worst had been when she'd asked Gumball the first time about Marshall's banishment. They hadn't talked about it since.
"Gumball?" Rolling over onto her stomach, Fionna rested her chin on the back of her hands, looking at the Pink Prince. He wasn't looking at her; he was looking down at his fluffy pink slippers and for once, she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Marshall Lee had been 'banished' from the Candy Kingdom many times over the years, but he'd always be back after a few days, laughing and playing (sometimes cruel) jokes on Prince Gumball and his Candy people. The banishment was never a serious thing that lasted- Gumball never really meant it and Marshall never took it seriously.
Until this time.
The Vampire King hadn't been seen in the Candy Kingdom since he'd been seized and thrown from the Castle by the Banana Guards.
"What... Happened anyway? Gumball? What did Marshall say?"
Prince Gumball's hands curled into fists at his sides and he glared at the floor, shoulders shaking for a moment.
"Tsk..." Making a noise, Gumball ran a hand over his hair and rolled his eyes, the tension draining out of his body as he shuffled over to the bed. He sat down on the edge of it and looked at his hands between his knees.
"I've never had a lover, just for the sake of love." He said quietly, "It's always been some arrangement for the sake of the Kingdom- for either mine or theirs." He drew a breath, moving his fingers absently. Fionna listened intently. "It was at the Cube Kingdom's Queen's birthday banquet that I really talked to Prince Applebottom for the first time five months ago." Prince Gumball smiled and looked up, a blush blossoming across his cheeks at the warm memory.
Fionna smiled at the sight, resting her cheek on a hand.
"We must've talked for hours. Just talked. A few days after, I received a letter from Prince Applebottom. Not one requesting a meeting, or something to do with running our countries. It was just... A letter, to continue our conversation. I... Wrote back. And received another one and another one."
The Prince gave a little laugh, looking back down and resting his hands on either side of him.
"I know I must sound a lovesick fool."
Fionna smiled and poked his side, wiggling closer to him.
"Not at all! Keep going!"
"We just... kept writing letters for a few weeks, then he wanted to come see me. He wanted to see me. Not the Kingdom, not the Castle, not anything else. He wanted to come see me. And he kept coming over after that. I'd still write and receive letters, but I'd see him in between too and then one day... Oh Fionna..." He sighed and a dreamy sort of smile drifted across his face. Fionna giggled, her eyes glistening as she listened to Gumball talk- he looked so happy.
"You were the first I told. I was very excited to be sharing such wonderful news. Peppermint Maid already knew, she's far too perceptive she is. Then Lord Monochromicorn and it was..." The smile slowly fell from Gumballs face, and his brows came together. "About a week after that I told Marshall."
The silence fell on the room again; Marshall's name hanging thickly in the air. Gumball swallowed.
"He... was most displeased. I..." He drew a breath, hands gripping his knees.
"Gumball? What did he say?" Fionna asked, pushing herself up, waiting to finally hear what had happened between the two boys- what had after so long, made them go their separate ways.
"He told me that... In much less polite terms- that Prince Applebottom wasn't good for me and that he was a terrible person. I, of course argued with him but he... He got so angry. He said awful lies about Applebottom! Told me that if ever there was a 'rotten fruit in the barrel' he was it. Marshall he... Said that the things he knew about Applebottom would 'curdle my cream' if he told me." Gumball took a breath, hot tears springing to his eyes. "I won't repeat the vulgarity he threw at me about Applebottom, but I'd heard enough of his lies and I, well... we-we fought, Fionna."
The blonde girl felt her heart reach out for Gumball. The Prince rubbed the back of his head looking ashamed, a few tears leaving glistening trails down his face.
"I said... Unkind things to Marshall Lee." The Prince whispered quietly. "I think I... I think I may have hurt him, Fionna."
Gumball looked so sad then, that Fionna moved and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his back.
"It's okay Gummy... it's okay." She whispered, recalling how angry and upset Marshall had been in her house afterward.
Gumball drew a shuddering breath and raised a hand, setting it against hers on his chest.
"I regret it. But he... He had no right or cause to say such things! None!" Sniffing, Gumball angrily wiped away his tears. "Until he apologizes for telling such nasty lies, he is not welcome here Fionna." Disengaging her arms from him, the Prince stood abruptly and marched across the room and braced himself on the window ledge, brows furrowed, jaw set.
Fionna slid off the bed and followed him, standing a little ways behind the Candy Prince.
"Gumball... You know Marshall won't. You know he'll never say sorry for it."
"Then I guess he's never coming back."