Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time or any of it's characters or the song in this chapter.
"Gah!"
"Gah?"
Sitting in the middle of the silver platform, covered by clothes 10 times bigger than it, was a little baby biting its fingers. The baby had midnight black hair that wasn't even close to passing its neck and had light gray-blue skin, looking almost like and exact replica of Marceline.
"Mathematical! It worked! Marceline traveled in time!" Finn laughed excitingly and bounced up and down, not knowing exactly what the real term 'Time Travel' meant. "Great job PB! I knew you could do it!"
Bubblegum was frozen."Oh no, oh no, oh no! What could have gone wrong? I precisely checked every detail, every research, every word! How could this have happened?!"
Stopping his bouncing by the silence of no reply, Finn turned around toward Bubblegum and stared a bit with worry at her.
"Yo Peebles? You okay?" Finn waved his hand up and down in front of her eyes, trying to get her attention back, "What's with that serious look you have? It worked!"
She was barely able to gasp out any words.
"N-No Finn. I-It seemed t-to have malfunctioned..." She stuttered and replied in a deep tone.
"Oh…"
"…"
"…"
"GLOB! MARCY!" He rushed over to the Marceline infant who was spitting little bubbles and picked her up only to quickly put her back down, discovering she didn't have any clothes on. Blushing a dark red, he quickly turned away and looked back at Bubblegum.
"Er, can you exactly tell me what went wrong? Marceline did travel through time right? Like how you said!"
Finally letting go of the breath she didn't know she was holding, she sighed and put her hand to her head to think.
In the meantime, Finn slowly approached Marceline and grabbed a hold of her clothes and closed his eyes, wrapping it around her making one of those little infant-blankets that only showed the face of the baby. He then sat down and held Marceline in his arms, watching Princess Bubblegum patiently, knowing how she doesn't like to be disturbed when in the "thinking zone".
After playing with the giggling Marceline for a couple of minutes, he heard Princess Bubblegum sigh once again and turned his head back to her direction.
"No Finn. You're thinking of a different time travel. What was supposed to happen was Marceline getting SENT BACK 1000 years. But the machine supposedly malfunctioned for an unexplainable reason at the moment, sending instead her AGE back 1000 years, making her younger. Waaaay younger."
"Well, how do we change her back?"
Walking forward with her back turned toward Finn, she continuously tapped her chin and continued.
"I'm not so sure, but if I could run a few test on her, I might be able to figure out what."
She turned back around, only to find Finn poking Marceline's nose, who in return tried to grab his giant finger with her two tiny hands. When Finn ever so lightly reached her nose, it would send them both into giggles. This made Princess Bubblegum smile. "Would you mind if I take her for a bit to check how she's doing?"
Finn looked back at Bubblegum and smiled in return. "No of course not! Why would I mind?"
"Oh, no reason." She slowly looked to the left still holding her small smile on her face. "Here, give her to me so I can see what I can do." She held out both of her hands, curving her arms a bit to show she wouldn't drop her. Finn carefully, walked over to her and gently placed Marceline in her arms.
Looking between Finn and Princess Bubblegum, registering what was happening, Marceline gave a small gasp and burst into tears.
Princess Bubblegum panicked and both quickly and harshly rocked Marceline back and forth in her arms, obviously going way too fast trying to stop the noise. "It's okay Marceline! No need to cry! Please don't!"
But of course, Marceline didn't stop.
"Here give her back for a second." Finn gently took Marceline back in his arms and slowly rocked her back and forth with way less speed and strength than Princess Bubblegum. Then automatically by instinct, he quietly began singing the lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he was a baby, trying not to let anybody hear except the person he was singing for.
Don't be weepy sleepy puppies.
Slip your slippers on your footies.
In the morning you'll get goodies;
Puppy hats and puppy hoodies.
Slowly blinking, and allowing her cries to settle down, Marceline began falling asleep in his arms, giving a small yawn. Finn gave a soft smile and continued.
No stripes or polk-a-dots;
Heather grey and feather soft,
Baby pink or baby blue...
All the draw strings you can... chew...
Finn ended the song and handed her sleeping form back to Princess Bubblegum, who looked at the two of them with astonishment. Now holding the sleeping Marceline back in her arms, she placed her on a little machine that apparently scans the body on what was happening on the inside. Then turning the machine on she stepped back and watched a little red laser-like ray scan up and down on Marceline's body. The weird machine was also printing out a receipt-looking paper on the side that obviously wasn't actually a receipt, but instead the data from what the machine has discovered.
Finn too was watching, but instead with a hint of worry.
"Hey Peebles? When did you get this machine anyway? You've never showed us it before. And is this thing safe?"
"Oh I've had it for a while. I built it long ago to research and see how my candy people were doing on the inside. I never showed you guys because I kind of forgot about it from the long periods of time away from it. And to answer you're last question, yes it is safe, I've used it plenty of times in the past to make sure."
"Oh. Okay cool."
They continued watching the machine and listened to the little clickity-clackity sounds the data printer was making. An awkward silence also filling the air, causing Finn to pretend to be interested in random stuff around the room. Then finally, the machine made a loud *Ding!* informing the person using it that it was done.
Princess Bubblegum reached over and ripped out the data paper and read over it. Finn looked over her shoulder and read it too, but he could barely get past the first words. There were way too many words nobody would understand besides Bubblegum.
"Let's see, it says here from Marceline's scan, that her brain has reverted back to a baby's brain...? Meaning, it was basically like she was born here. And it seems she doesn't remember anything at all."
"So like a normal baby?"
"Yes, like a normal baby."
"Her bone structures and intestines are like a normal baby's too. And they seem to be in pretty good shape, nothing broken or damaged. Everything looks the same."
"So everything just- i don't know...- like reset for her?"
"I'm afraid so."
It was silent for a while until they heard a soft yawn coming from Marceline. They turned their heads to the side simultaneously to watch her rub her eyes and blink a few times to get her eyes adjusted. Then Bubblegum looked away and sighed.
"Finn… I'd like to get some more research done about what happened and about Marceline's condition. If I am able to complete these research, I may be able to change Marceline back to her original age. Along with her old memories and everything."
"Well, go ahead. Nobody's stopping you. I can't wait till I get my old buddy back! This is starting to weird me out."
"I can't Finn… research takes time. A long time. So I'm going need you to take care of her while I do so."
And just like that, it was like everything, including time, froze.
"Wha…What? What?! You want me to what?"
"Yes, Finn you heard me correctly. You see, I need peace, quiet, and lots of time. And I can't do that if I have an infant to take care of. And besides, she seems to like you more anyway." She gave a small smile, looking back over at Marceline who was giggling at Finn's sudden reaction.
"B-b-b-but!"
"I'll be working on what went wrong, and in between that, I'll be checking in on you every so often to see how Marceline's doing. That way, I can get both projects done most likely at the same time."
"But Bubblegum! How is a fifteen year old supposed to take care of a BABY? I have no experience what's so ever and I am WAYY too young to even have a baby! And second, in case you haven't noticed, Marceline is a GIRL! That means I can't look at her if I try to change her and stuff!"
Princess Bubblegum giggled. "Well Finn, I saw you playing with her earlier, and how you put her to sleep. I think you have enough experience to take care of her in the meantime. And besides, where am I going to find someone as trust worthy as you? Also, looking at a baby naked is technically okay. As long as you don't have any weird ideas while doing so."
"Not when it used to be one of my best friends it's not okay..." Finn grumbled.
Finn pouted and crossing his arms defensively. Then finally, he sighed, knowing she was right.
He cleared his throat.
"Just for a while?"
"Maybe a couple of months or so."
Finn looked over at Marceline who seemed to be chewing with her growing teeth on an empty syringe.
"Alright I'll do it... But what if I need help?"
"You'll find a way. You always do. You can do it Finn!" She smiled sweetly at him and placed Marceline in his arms. "Trust me."
And that makes up chapter two guys! Thank you everyone so far for the support you've given me! It means a lot!
Also about the update times, I need a couple of days or so to look it over. And also, like the majority of people, I have other things to do like school and other things that randomly happen, so the update time might be even longer if that happens. Sorry! But I'll try to get an update a week at most! And if i can't I'll tell you guys.
Thanks again and I'll see you next time!
