A/N: Here's the second chappie~ I know, I know, I took my own sweet time to update this. But the truth was, I ended up in writer's block for almost a while now. xD So, I had to think hard and read multiple fan fictions until I could get what I want to write. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter and made up for the long wait! It's about 7K+ words and that's like...12 pages in Word! So, yeah, don't forget to review to let me know what you guys think!

Warning: This is boyxboy and this Marshall Leex Prince Gumball. Don't like, don't read. I beg you, leave if you hate that pairing, okay? I hate being mean but if you give me no choice, I will block and delete your review so in the end, you're just humiliating and wasting your time. No hate/stupid/homophobic comments or I will report you! And those who review anonymously in hate, I will delete you. 'Nuff said.

To those who has no hate and are enjoying fan fictions like I am, do review to let me know if you liked it or not! And, see you guys soon!

Disclaimer: Not mine except this plot and Theo.

Krystal

Episode 2

The next day, Prince Gumball sighed softly as he rubbed the back of his neck, obviously tired from the meeting he had with the Biscuit Kingdom. He had come back to the castle at a very late hour after the little worry chat with his vampire lover. Of course, he also had to wear some pink foundation that he made for himself to conceal the bigger marks that the vampire did on his neck. Why it so important, the prince was could never figure it out.

As he walked down the hallway, he thought up the agenda for today. Well, since he had some free time left before he had a meeting with the royal council, maybe he could visit his laboratory and start on his new experiment.

He definitely missed Science. He missed how the chemicals would react and bubble around the flask and he definitely missed playing around with the elements to see if he could create any new reaction. Sighing dreamily, yes, he had missed his hobby so much. Quickening his pace, he walked through the hallway and took a sharp left until he came face to face with the familiar door. Smiling to himself, he opened the door and walked in. Making sure he locked the door so nobody could burst in while he was busy, he looked around his lab.

There were some dusts everywhere but that wouldn't matter. He would just have to dust them off and get on with his experiment. Quickly walking to his experiment table, he placed his file on it and grabbed his lab coat. Dusting his lab coat a bit, he finally wore it and felt himself squealing in delight. He didn't waste any time as he went to the nearby cupboard and opened the doors. Looking through, he found some rare species of rose flower that could only be found if he went to the deepest part of the forest.

He remembered the few times that Marshall Lee had brought him to see the night creatures and that was when Prince Gumball had stumbled upon these rare things. Of course, he had wanted to take it and examine them. It was just the fact that time didn't allow him to, until now. Quickly grabbing the jar, he walked to his light microscope. Opening the jar, he used a pair of forceps and grabbed one of the flower's petals. Placing the petal on a slide and wetting it with some distilled water, he quickly slid another slide on it and pressed them tightly before placing it under the microscope.

Before he could examine them, he needed his trusty notebook. Looking around, he spotted his notebook near his bookshelf where he would categorise all of his experiments' results. Taking the book, he walked back to his microscope and grabbed a pen from his lab coat's pocket. Taking a look through the microscope, he jotted down everything he saw and even drew out its structures.

"Interesting," he hummed out.

After a few minutes of observing and writing down all of his observations, the prince felt worn out all of a sudden. Sighing, he decided to stop his experimenting for today and head out to seek out other duties to finish up. As he kept his things away and walked out of the room, his thoughts had run off to the vampire again. He didn't know why the feeling of uncertainty entered his heart as he thought about Marshall Lee and he didn't like it when he didn't know. Shaking the thoughts, he walked away from there with the files and decided to head to the council room. If he wasn't mistaken, they were about to start now.

Walking down the halls, he smiled when he noticed how his staffs were already running around getting things ready to meet the everyday requirements for the castle and kingdom. Prince Gumball finally reached the meeting room, suddenly feeling nervous. This would be the first meeting he would have with the new member, Theo. His green beady eyes that spoke a million secrets somehow caught Gumball in a frantic trance. He didn't like him and for him not to dislike anyone, it was a surprise. He could feel something slithering underneath that man's smile and it didn't settle well for the prince.

Taking in a huge breath, he finally nodded to himself that it would be alright, despite the fact that he doubted that thought. Shaping his knuckles, he knocked on the door before he opened it. Voices inside of the room shushed as he entered. Smiling at the members, he closed the door and went to sit down. He scanned the room and saw all of the council members were here, including Theo. The man was sitting opposite of him and the prince was more than afraid to look at him in the eyes.

"Welcome, your highness," Theo greeted him with a tight smile, stretching ghastly on his face. Gumball looked at him and tried his best not to cringe at the look and smiled back in politeness.

"Thank you and welcome to you too, Theo, to this meeting," the prince spoke as he looked away from him and to the files in his hand. Taking it, he handed to Theo. "These are the conditions Biscuit Kingdom has agreed on. I signed it, knowing it will benefit both of our kingdoms."

Theo took the file slowly and looked at it before his smile morphed into a smirk, catching the prince off guard. "Well," he said softly as he placed the file down. "You certainly lived up to your title. You were all right, he's the most reasonable and intelligent ruler we ever had."

A small chorus of laughter echoed in joy from the council members as Gumball smiled small, unsure of what to say as Theo kept his eyes sharp on him. "He certainly is," one of the council members agreed.

"But that isn't what we're going to talk about today, this time," another one of the council members spoke, catching Gumball's attention.

"What's the topic, then?" Gumball asked as Theo smiled again.

"Well, your highness, we've gotten some complains that unauthorised visits into the castle should be limited, don't you think?" Theo said. Gumball looked at the man as he raised his eyebrows upward, confusion filling in his eyes.

"I'm sorry?" Gumball asked, quite unsure of where this was going.

"Well, ever since of the Ice Queen incident," the council member sitting next to Theo spoke. "We thought it would be best to increase security. Like, not allowing random people to just walk in here to talk to you. Getting passes and bodyguards at corners, outside of your room. For your safety—of course."

The prince stared at all of them for a while as the explanation settled in. What were they suggesting? That everybody that he adored no longer allowed visiting him? Dread slowly settled at the bottom of his heart as he realised that his own freedom was now on the table. There was a possibility that he would be isolated. He wouldn't even be allowed to go out on his own. How was he supposed to meet up with his friends for movie night?

What about Marshall Lee?

The council members kept quiet as they let their prince to think for a while. The prince knew that if he didn't say anything now, they will proceed and if he did say something, they would pick and dot on him until he would agree. He didn't know which way he could take to escape. He knew that this was something that would happen since he was a royal ruler, but he somehow wanted things to go his way for once. Anger and frustration mixed inside of him for a while before he dismissed it.

He needed to be rational about this and get them to know where he stood and where they were.

They weren't allowed to control every aspect of his life.

Royal or not.

"I disagree," the prince had said out, ringing it clearly as some of them were shocked to hear the answer. They always had no problem getting the prince to agree. This was the first time the prince disagreed. Silence took over as the prince sighed and decided to elaborate. "You're talking about restricting castle grounds from all of those people who looks up to me. You're talking about separating me from my friends and subjects. You are making a line, separating me from those people out of this castle who I love and adore. You're talking about taking away my freedom."

"No, sire!" one of them objected as Gumball looked at the man. "We're just increasing your safety. You might get targeted over and over again. If you stick to a schedule and curfew, wouldn't it be safer?"

The prince just shook his head. "As much as I appreciate your concerns, I'm perfectly fine and will continue to be fine. I don't need any constrictions."

"So, you want your freedom, even though you might endanger yourself?" Theo asked, catching the prince off guard. "You aren't married and you have no heir, if something was to happen to you, wouldn't this jeopardise the kingdom? Do you want to risk this kingdom's stability for the sake of your freedom?"

The prince was stunned at the accusation. Every word was like a knife that cut through him. Theo made him sound so selfish, as if his subjects were not important at all and this angered him. Theo was someone who just arrived yesterday! He doesn't know how he did things around here and the prince, even though was slightly intimidated at Theo's gaze, didn't want to back down. This was his life, they were discussing about. This wasn't something for them to toy around, even for the sake of this kingdom.

"I hope this doesn't offend you, Theo, but you just came around yesterday," the prince said suddenly, catching the rest of the members off guard. "I'm sorry, but I'll be fine. I don't need any more security. There's Fionna, she knows how to keep me safe. We won't discuss this anymore. Thank you," the prince said as he concluded the meeting and stood up before he left.

"My prince!" one of them called out as Gumball walked out, closing the door as he left. Just outside, he took in a huge breath and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe the nerve of these people! The prince just shook his head before sighing. This was his duty after all, wasn't it? He just walked away after that small ponder, deciding to head to his room for some relaxing. As he walked down the hall, someone familiar called him. Turning around, he came face to face with Fionna, the heroine herself with her best friend, Cake, tailing her.

"Hey," Fionna said as she grinned before finally standing in front of him.

"Hello, Fionna, Cake," he greeted with a smile, already forgetting about that meeting with the council members. Cake smiled back as Fionna opened her mouth to continue speaking.

"Man, we missed you," Fionna said. "We didn't see you for almost three weeks!"

"I know, I apologise," Gumball said. "I was busy."

"Oh, we know," Cake said as Fionna giggled. "Marshall wouldn't stop sulking whenever he came around."

"Well, I talked to him yesterday, so I'm sure everything's straightened out," the prince assured as Fionna grinned at that. "But you two seemed to have just gotten back from somewhere," the prince continued as he looked at how messy Fionna was. Scratches were evident on her skin near her elbow and her hair was messed up at awkward angles. Even Cake looked tired.

"We just came back from an adventure," Cake said as Fionna nodded.

"It was fun! But it didn't last long," Fionna said, sounding disappointed.

"Oh, well, how unfortunate," the coral prince said, even though he doesn't sound regretful. Fionna just rolled her eyes at him.

"Anyway, we're wondering if you're free today, like around six," Fionna said, looking at the prince in the eyes. Gumball sighed and didn't give out a definite answer for that.

"Well, it depends," he said. "Why should I be free at six?"

"We're going to search for the amulet," Fionna said, excited all of a sudden. Raising an eyebrow, the prince just stared at her, asking her to continue her explanation. "It's an amulet which can grant any wish for you and they said, it was lost after the war. We found the map and we're gathering troops to help us out."

"So, we thought you'll like to join," Cake said as Fionna nodded again, gleefully.

The prince pondered this for a while as he looked at both of them. "I don't know…," he said sincerely, unsure if he should risk going out tonight. "Wouldn't it be too dangerous?"

"Marshall Lee's coming too!" Fionna interjected his thoughts, catching the prince's attention. "You don't have anything to worry about! Come on, man. It'll be fun!"

The prince just cracked a small smile. Well, he hadn't gone out since these three weeks, excluding yesterday. It had been a long time since he had hung around with Fionna and Cake. They always went to adventures whenever they could before Marshall Lee and he happened. A strong feeling overcame him as he finally sighed again.

"Why not," he said as Fionna beamed.

"So, meet us near the forest edge," Cake said as Gumball nodded.

"Do you want Marshall to pick you up—"

"No!" Gumball quickly said, suddenly aware that they were at the halls and not really in anywhere private. He couldn't risk anybody hearing about this. Fionna was startled a bit as she looked at the prince until a realisation dawned on her. "I'll sneak out, don't worry. I'll be there at six."

With that, the heroine and her best friend nodded.

Gumball took his bag and slowly opened the door of his room. He peeked out, hoping that nobody was around. He sighed to himself, realising that he was sneaking out for first time since a long time. He even brought a bag, for blob's sake! He didn't know why he felt the urge to dump the bag with strawberries and flashlights, but he did and he guessed, this was how it ought to be then. He decided to wear something dark and concealing and so, while rummaging through his closet, he found a hoodie he thought he didn't have. He suspected that Marshall Lee had placed that hoodie into his clothes since he never remembered having a clothing in dark red colour that almost turned black with words in white saying, 'Death is Cool'.

He wore his almost bleached pink jeans with it as he finally decided that nobody was at the hall. Grabbing the bag and wearing it against his shoulder, he sneaked out from his room and closed the room door tightly. Holding his breath, the prince finally dashed down the hall, stopping once in a while to make sure nobody would see him. Once he had made it out of the castle, making sure the banana guards didn't notice him as well, he wore a cap to cover himself up in a disguise. With one last look, he made it out of the kingdom safely without being seen.

The sunset and the glow of the aftermath basked the whole land in a beautiful orange turning dark. He sighed as he continued to walk away from the kingdom, hoping that nobody would recognise that he had left. The only person he had talked to was Peppermint Maid and even though she wasn't happy that the prince was going to pull a stunt like this, she had to admit that it had been a while since the prince was left to do anything on his own. So, she agreed to keep this secret.

Prince Gumball knew the way to get to the forest. It wasn't that hard when he could see that frightening trees just from a glance. It stood out scarily and angrily at whoever dared to walk into the land. He never dared to go in by himself, it was always with the Vampire King. At least with Marshall Lee, the prince knew he was safe somehow. Even though, occasionally the vampire thought it was funny to scare the blob out of the prince.

It took him a total of thirty minutes before he finally made it to the entrance of the forest. Just there, up ahead, he saw Fionna already swinging her sword around as she laughed at whatever Cake said. "I'm here," the prince finally said, catching the attention of his two friends. Fionna immediately stabbed the sword edge onto the ground before she grinned.

"You did it!" she exclaimed happily as he smiled. "You even wore something other than pink! And a hat!"

Gumball laughed at that before he took the cap off, fixing his pink hair. "I needed to be less revealing."

"It just looks a bit off on you though," Cake said. "The dark colours don't suit you."

"I don't particularly like dark colours honestly," the prince said as Fionna nodded.

"Well, all that's left is for Marshall Lee," Fionna said as the prince raised one of his eyebrows.

"He's still not here?" Gumball asked as the heroine shook her head. "Well, he does love to make an entrance," the prince mused on as Cake giggled at that.

"He'll be here soon," the cat said as the coral prince huffed out. The day was shedding into darkness and the temperature was dropping slightly as they waited for the vampire. Finally after twenty minutes, Fionna yelled at Marshall Lee when she saw him perched up at one of the trees, grinning at them.

"Marshall Lee the Vampire King is here!" he said proudly as he jumped down from the tree and landed perfectly on the now darkened green grass due to the night sky.

"What took you so long, man?" Fionna asked as she took her sword and placed it back behind her bag. Marshall Lee just chuckled before shrugging.

"I come and go with style and entrance," he said as Cake rolled her eyes at him. The prince just smiled small before he saw the vampire's eyes meeting his. A small devilish smirk made way on his pale lips when his eyes travelled down to what his lover was wearing. "Nice shirt, Bubba. It suits you," he said while giving him a wink.

The prince's eyes widened a bit before he blushed, giving the vampire the satisfaction of making his love going red. "You're late," he said, trying his best to wield away this blush. Marshall Lee just took a few steps forward the prince before grinning.

"Aww, did you miss me?" he asked as he leered in close, successfully crowding the prince in his personal space. Gumball felt his cheeks reddening again, the blood rushing until to the peak of his ears. He felt his heart hammering faster against his chest and his palms going sweaty. The prince couldn't look away from those eyes that swallowed his soul deeply. He sometimes didn't know that the vampire could make him feel so different, but he does and the prince couldn't find anything to complain at that.

"N—no," Gumball said as he finally broke the eye contact. "You were just tardy."

"Bleh, tardiness," Marshall Lee said in distaste before one of his pale arms wrapped around Prince Gumball's waist, dragging him close until their hips met. The prince was taken aback as he placed both hands against the vampire's chest, looking at him in the eyes again. His breath hitched when he realised that their noses were touching and there was less than a few micrometres from his lips and the nightwalker's lips. The vampire smirked wider as he noticed how red the prince got. He could feel the warmness under these clothes.

"Marshall," the prince said under his breath, finding everything around him going blank. The vampire liked how his lover spoke of his name under these times. As he lessened the distance, the prince felt his eyelids sliding closed, waiting for the cold ones to touch his warm ones.

"Uhm—guys?" Fionna called out, breaking the trance as the prince's eyes snapped open and widened. Blushing deeper, he quickly pushed the vampire harder than necessary, causing the dead man to stumble a few centimetres away from the prince in shock.

"Sorry!" the prince looked away from the vampire and to his friends, feeling embarrassed. He completely had forgotten that they were here to search for that amulet. Cake looked at them amused but Fionna looked feverish. Her cheeks tinted slightly as the prince cursed inside for his mess-up.

"Aww, just when things were getting good," Marshall Lee said, his voice tinting disappointment. Gumball just glared at him as the vampire looked at him and grinned.

"Uh—okay," Fionna said, shaking herself from that scene she almost witnessed. "Let's get going. We need to get to the amulet before midnight," she continued before she took out what looked like a map, folded out from inside her pocket.

"Why before midnight?" Marshall Lee asked, floating a few feet from the ground.

"The amulet disappears before midnight and won't appear again forever," Gumball said. "That amulet will only appear on a full moon on the second week of the third month, which is today."

Cake nodded as Fionna finally folded open the map. "Right! Let's get going!"

With that, the three of the friends followed the petite blonde to the destination. They thankfully didn't have to travel through the forest, instead, they had to travel a few blocks from the forest to get to a rock maze. The walls were as tall as the Candy Kingdom's safety walls. Gumball just stared at the entrance, inviting them into a darkened abys.

Just outside of the entrance, there was a plated sign in a strange language. Fionna frowned as she stared at it. "Gumball, can you read this? It seemed to be before the war language."

Gumball took a step forward as he stared at it. He couldn't read it fluently but he could understand some of the words. "Well, it said that if we were to enter, we should be prepared to know the way out."

"Scary," Marshall Lee said, although he doesn't sound spooked out at all. "Are we going in or what?"

The prince suddenly felt like not going in after all. The walls were so tall and they were as thick as the thickest walls in his castle. The passageway entering this maze was also narrowed and darkened. He doesn't feel safe. "Uhm, what if we couldn't find our way out?" Gumball asked, fear latching slowly into himself. Fionna turned around and looked at the prince before smiling brightly.

"Don't worry, Gumball. I have the map!" she said as she showed the map. Somehow, he didn't feel assured at all. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder, catching him off guard. Looking to his right, he saw the vampire giving him a grin.

"I'll be here to save you, Bubbs," the vampire said as the prince smiled small, even though, it still didn't entirely squish that fear.

"Come on!" Cake said as she followed Fionna in. Marshall Lee followed in next, leaving only Gumball to look and weigh his options. But after a few seconds, he decided that following his friends would be better than staying here and wait for the worst. With that in mind, he quickly followed Marshall Lee into the maze.

It was dark, but it wasn't that dark to the point they couldn't see. In fact, the moon was bright enough for them to know where they were stepping. Just then, Gumball felt someone grabbing him by the hand, making him stop walking. The prince looked at who stopped in and noticed the vampire. "What?" the prince asked as the vampire smiled sheepishly all of a sudden.

"Hey, Bubbs, did you bring anything to eat?" the vampire asked. "Something red?"

The prince stared at the vampire for a while before he looked ahead and saw that Fionna and Cake had stopped in front of them, trying to decide which way to go next. The prince took his bag out and let his hand go from the vampire's. Searching through, he finally found three packs of strawberries. Taking the first pack out, he handed it to the vampire. "Here."

"Wow," the vampire said, grinning as he took the strawberries. "How did you know that I'm going to get hungry?"

The prince blushed a bit before rolling his eyes at the nightwalker. "Just eat them, Marshall Lee."

Marshall Lee did exactly as he was told, opening the lid of the plastic container and took the first strawberry before sucking the red out of them and then the juices until they were shrivelled and grey. The prince just watched him eat them as he suddenly felt the urge to try one himself. He looked into his bag and decided to take another packet out it. He opened the lid and was about to take the first strawberry when Marshall Lee grabbed onto his wrist. "What do you think you're doing?"

The prince slowly looked at the king and raised an eyebrow. "I want to taste one," he said, unsure to why the vampire was stopping him. The vampire thinned his lips before he snatched the second pack away from the prince. "Marshall Lee!" the prince exclaimed as his eyes widened with the vampire's confiscation.

"You can't have them," the king said possessively. "They're mine."

"What? I brought them here," Gumball said as he tried to grab back the packs only to be pushed away by the vampire.

"They're still mine," the vampire said matter-of-factly. The prince didn't know why the vampire suddenly acting childish but he should've expected this. He should've known better when it came to strawberries with this nightwalker. The prince slowly looked at his bag and before he could grab onto it, the king had taken a step forward and took it instead, grinning gleefully when he saw the bag was filled with the third pack of the strawberries.

"Marshall Lee! Give my bag back," the prince yelled sharply, even though he didn't raise his voice. The Vampire King slowly looked back at the prince with a smug smile before he took the next strawberry and sucked the colour again, his eyes never leaving the prince's eyes. Gumball didn't know what to make of this situation. Get angry at him or stay silent at him. Mixed emotions flowed into him before he decided that he really wanted to taste those strawberries. It had been a long time since he had ate one. Before the King could react, Gumball grabbed one of the strawberries and plopped it into his mouth.

It was definitely sweet and delicious! Gumball felt the juice squirting around his mouth as he took another bite. The fruit definitely had that tiny edge of sourness but it wasn't something that the prince hated. He didn't even realise that the vampire had begun to narrow his eyes. Dumping the strawberries into the bag and placing it on the ground, the vampire grabbed onto his lover's wrist and pulled him close, making sure to wrap his free arm around the prince's waist until they were flushed together at every angle.

The prince was startled as he looked at the prince, stopping mid-way in his chewing. His cheeks flushed as he realised the look Marshall Lee was portraying. "M-Marshall?" he called out, trying his best to wiggle out of the grip only to gasp when the grasp on him tightened.

"I thought I said they were mine," the vampire suddenly said, his voice dropping low. The vampire slowly nudged his sharp nose against the prince's cheek, enjoying the warmth his lover had. "They're mine, Gumball," he cooed again before his mouth reached the prince's right ear. "Just like how you belong to me." The vampire gently bit the tip of the prince's ear, causing Gumball to gasp sharply and shudder.

"M-Marshall Lee," the prince said. "W—we're in public," the prince tried to coax the demon out of this trance but all he got was chuckles near his ear, sending shivers down his spine. The king slowly looked back at the prince, his lips worked out into a thin smirk.

Without saying anything about what the prince had said, the vampire leaned in and darted out his tongue to lick the bottom lip of the prince. Gumball's mind went blank as his free hand curled against the shirt the vampire wore. His cheeks were reddening even deeper as he felt his breath becoming shallow. The Vampire King didn't waste any more time as he pried open the prince's lips with his tongue and sealed their mouth together, catching the prince off guard. The coral prince closed his eyes shut as he exclaimed into his mouth, feeling the vampire mashing their lips together.

His cold tongue pierced through the warmness of Gumball's mouth, licking at the edges inside, trying to get the taste of the strawberry. The prince felt slight tremors going through his body as he felt his legs becoming slightly wobbly. The vampire smirked internally as he felt his lover already losing his breath. He slowly moved his hand from holding the prince's wrist and treaded his pale fingers through Gumball's hair as he pushed Gumball deeper into him, almost giving no space for the prince to stop. Gumball kissed back but he was surely losing under the waves of dominance this vampire was showcasing.

The vampire finally broke the kiss, enjoying how hard this prince was panting as he opened his eyes slowly, looking into the vampire's eyes. His cheeks were flushed and his lips were slightly swollen but the nightwalker licked his lips enjoying the sight, making the prince blush heavier. "That—that was uncalled for!" the prince said under his breath as he tried to regain his breathing. Marshall Lee just chuckled before he let the prince go slowly once sure that the prince could stand.

"You tested me, Gumball," he said, not really being serious. "Besides, you taste sweeter than strawberries."

Before Gumball could retort, they heard Fionna exclaiming happily. "Guys! I found the way!" The prince blushed harder when he realised that this happened while they were with those two! He was just thankful that they were in the dark shadows and quite far from them. He certainly didn't want them to witness that.

"Great!" Marshall Lee called back as he grabbed back the bag and this time, he carried it before he winked at his lover one last time. Gumball just sighed, trying to finally calm down his rapidly beating heart. The vampire walked ahead first, following Fionna and Cake before the prince did the same. He couldn't believe that Marshall Lee would do something like that in public! But then again, he didn't understand why he was shocked. He should've expected this much, especially when it came to these strawberries.

It was always the strawberries, Gumball noted in his mind.

Silence filled in all four of them as they walked down the path where Fionna was leading. The night was darkening and Gumball knew that it was nearing midnight. By the time the finally found the big golden gates, the stars were twinkling at their brightest. The gate was tall, as tall as the walls and just behind the gates, they saw what seemed like a tombstone with the amulet engraved on it.

"What are we going to do now?" the prince asked as Fionna hummed out.

"We can always get through the gates," Marshall Lee pointed out as he saw how the gaps between the bars were large enough for them to go through. But something in the way of passage didn't settle well for the prince. It looked like a trap.

"Let's try it out," Cake said as she and Fionna slowly crept to the gap. Without a second though, Cake went through it. Silence took over for a while before Fionna took in another step. But just as she touched the gap, something frizzled up in bright white light and she backed away in pain.

"It buzzed me!" Fionna said as she looked at Cake from the other side.

"That's strange," Gumball said as he stood next to Fionna. Why did Cake got through and Fionna couldn't? The prince slowly took another step forward and let his fingers hover at the gap. Before he could even touch it, a light buzz hit his fingers, making him to retract them with a hiss of pain. "That's painful."

"Well, since Cake got through," Fionna said as she sighed. "Cake, can you get the amulet?"

Cake nodded before she went near the amulet. She took in a few breaths before she touched the light purple diamond in the middle of the necklace. Nothing happened for a while before Cake decided it was safe to grab the amulet. Just when she had grabbed it, the ground began to shake.

Gumball almost fell if it wasn't he clinging onto Marshall Lee. "This place is going down!" Fionna yelled out. "Cake! Hurry out!"

Cake didn't waste any time as she did, running through the gap. "Let's get out of here."

Without much said, Fionna looked at her map again. "Okay, I think I know how to get out of here," Fionna said as she began running in the direction they came from, following closely behind was her three friends. Gumball felt the walls crumbling and the ground underneath them caving in. Marshall Lee even looked slightly worried.

But Fionna was right. She did know her way out and within a few minutes, they had managed to run out of the collapsing maze. They watched how the grey stone walls broke down on each other, finally destroying any trace that there was a maze here. Gumball was breathing heavily as he slid down on the ground, trying to catch some breath. Fionna sat down as well, a grin slowly creeping onto her face as she took the amulet from Cake.

"We have it!" she said gleefully as Marshall Lee grinned.

"So, what are we going to wish for?" the demon asked as Fionna shrugged.

"Anything, I guess."

"D—Don't we think we s—should keep that wish w—when needed?" Gumball panted out the words as he felt his heart slowing down from the frantic race. Fionna thought of it for a while before nodding.

"I guess," she said, already back to normal since she was used to this type of escapade. "I'll just hang onto this until we're sure what to do with it."

"Okay," Marshall Lee said, clearly enjoyed that adventure as his eyes glistened. Gumball just smiled, somehow wondering why he hadn't gone into more adventures like these. Even though it scared him off, it certainly was fun. He now knew why Fionna and Cake enjoyed their adventures so much. Seconds ticked by before Gumball sighed and stood up, finally regaining balance.

"I should get back," he said as Fionna nodded.

"Thanks for joining us, Gumball," Cake said as the prince smiled before he looked at the vampire.

"Can I have my bag back?" he asked as the vampire grinned mischievously.

"Nah, I'll hold onto it," he said as the prince scowled at that. But he didn't want to fight for it. He knew that the vampire wasn't going to let that bag of strawberries go. The prince just shook his head before he looked at the night sky. The wind hollered at them was calming and he definitely enjoyed himself.

With that thought, he finally decided to leave, Marshall Lee following him. Fionna and Cake bid them goodbye and soon, it was only the two of them, walking in the dead of night back to the castle. "It was fun," Gumball said as he looked at the vampire, who was walking instead of elevating next to him. The nightwalker nodded, agreeing with his lover.

"Glad to see you're not that stick in the mud anymore, Bubba," the vampire stated out cheekily as Gumball rolled his eyes.

"And you're getting too intimate in public," the prince bit out as he felt his cheeks reddening when he thought about what had happened. The vampire chuckled before he grabbed onto the prince's right hand and clasped it tight. The prince looked at the hand immediately before his cheeks reddened even deeper, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he clasped it back, smiling softly to himself before he looked at the vampire.

"I don't see you complaining," he said with his devilish smirk.

"I do," the prince protested.

"Nah, you don't. Not after I make you lose yourself," he said proudly, loving how his lover went red again. Gumball huffed out his breath, not sure how to respond to that before he looked away.

"Whatever," the prince said, suddenly feeling tongue tied as the king just shook his head and laughed. Soon, no words were exchanged as the vampire hummed a song while they walked. After a few minutes, Gumball saw the familiar pink bricked walls and he knew that his kingdom was here. Sighing, he finally looked at the vampire and smiled. "I have to go now."

The vampire nodded but he didn't let the hand go. Silence enveloped between them before the vampire took a step forward. The prince just looked at him for a few seconds before he noticed the vampire was leaning in. Closing his eyes, the prince met him halfway and let their lips touch. But it was short, it wasn't something they rarely did. The prince just let it go as he moved away from the kiss and smiled, his cheeks flushed even if it was a short kiss.

"See ya, Bubbs," the nightwalker said as he tightened on the hand and then let it go. "I'll give you the bag after I finished with the strawberries."

"Enjoy yourself, Marshall Lee," the prince said as he finally took a few steps back and turned around to walk in. Just then, he forgot that his hat no longer was with him. He might've lost it along the way, he pondered as he sighed and looked inside of the kingdom, noting that rare people was on the streets. Looking at the vampire, who was now walking away one last time, he dashed inside.

Once he reached into the castle, well, using the backdoor of the castle, he couldn't help to heave out a relieved sigh. Looking around at the halls for a few times, he finally had managed to dash to the familiar hallways to his room. But just as he was about to take another step, he clashed into someone's chest and ended up falling on the ground on his butt.

"Ah, my prince," a sleek familiar voice cooed out as the prince looked up from the ground. His eyes widened when he noticed who it was.

"Theo," he said as the man in front of him smiled, something in his eyes gleamed at that. The prince slowly stood up, patting out his backside as he looked at the council member in the eyes. He was beginning to feel that same unsettling feeling creeping into his mind again.

"It's almost one in the morning," the man said, something dark dripping in his tone. "What are you doing out here? And why are you wearing such appalling clothes?"

The prince couldn't help but to frown at that. "I was just…just walking around the castle. I couldn't sleep," the prince said, hoping he didn't sound too untruthful. He was never good at lying. Theo raised one of his eyebrows as he stared at the prince.

"Wearing those clothes?" Theo asked, leering in close all of a sudden, almost invading the prince's personal space.

"I—I like wearing something different and relaxing," the prince said, trying to maintain eye contact with those devil-like eyes. Theo remained quiet before the smile grew, almost splitting his face in half.

"I see," he said as the prince finally broke the eye contact and took a step back.

"Excuse me," he said. "I'll be sleeping now." He walked around the man and continued to walk away from him, his heart suddenly screaming out that something wasn't right.

"Do remember, my prince," Theo suddenly said, his voice suddenly sounding tight and dark in this hallway. "I was just beginning to like you."

The prince halted on his step. He quickly turned around to look at the man only to find that he was no longer there. In fact, it was as if he had disappeared. The prince felt something cold slithering down his spine and the prince knew that it was fear. Without a second thought, the prince had started to run to his room. Opening the door, he went in and closed it shut, his breath coming out in short pants. Sliding down the door, his eyes wandered around his room, licking his suddenly dry lips.

Why was Theo out in one in the morning anyway?

Why was he inside the castle? No council member stayed in the castle.

And why was he lurking around the hallway?

Gumball closed his eyes as Theo's face flashed into his mind. His beaded eyes were gleaming in something dangerous and the prince felt himself shivering again at the thought. He could feel like he did something wrong, allowing that man to come into the royal council.

Suddenly, he realised, that something was very off with this situation.

Why was it that the prince couldn't find any links of that man to the royal family? Was it really the family tree was cut off somewhere?

But deep inside his mind, he knew that wasn't the case. Something in him just said, Theo wasn't someone who he thought he was.

Theo wasn't safe.