Morning came shining through their window and BMO started buzzing, rousing the boys from their sleep to start the day. Jake was thrilled to see Finn's usual energy returned to him. Finn leapt out of bed and raced downstairs to find breakfast. The boys ate a hearty meal, though neither of them had any idea what BMO had wrapped in their individual breakfast burritos. Finn donned his usual clothes, only barely pausing to reflect on the severely singed right ear of his hat, and Jake gave a call to Lady to check on the kids. Ready for their day, the pair strode to the front door, threw it open, and were surprised to see Princess Cookie with his hand raised, about to knock. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, hey Princess Cookie, we were just heading out. Something we can help you with?" The cookie shook his head and pointed at Jake.

"Nah Finn not you, thanks though. I'm here because I have a letter that was delivered to me by a banana-guard last night. I need my mailman to deliver it to its recipient!" Jake stared at him for a moment, then burst into a fit of joy.

"YES! YES! YES! Oh Princess Cookie, I'll happily deliver your mail! Just one second!" With that, he raced upstairs. Finn whistled while he waited politely as the house filled with the din of Jake tearing his drawers apart looking for his uniform. He scrambled back downstairs and saluted Princess Cookie in his proper mailman regalia.

"Reporting for mail delivery duty your highness!" Cookie gave a chuckle and smile and handed Jake the letter.

"Here you go Jake. I'm trusting you!" With that, Cookie skipped away merrily over the hills and out of sight. Finn looked excitedly at Jake.

"Hey dude, who's the letter for?" Jake protectively held the letter to his chest, raising his chin at Finn.

"No way man, it's a mailman's solemn duty to keep the privacy of the sender and recipient of mail intact. It's why we alone are charged with the delivery of such important items." Finn whistled low and took a step back as Jake held the letter in front of his own face, carefully reading who it was meant to be delivered to. With a grand flourish he swept up his postbag, stuffed the letter inside, and pointed at the doorway.

"Finn! Do you know what time it is?" Finn looked at him blankly for a second, then hazarded a guess.

"Mail Time?"

"MAAAAIIIIIIIIL TIIIIIIME!" With that, Jake charged out the open door, slamming it behind him. Finn stood in the fort for a few seconds blinking while he digested the past two minutes' events in his head. His thoughts were cut off by a knock at the door. He opened it, and looked out to see Jake standing outside.

"Hey Finn, PB sent you a letter!" Finn resisted the temporary urge to slap his forehead with his palm and simply took the letter that Jake now held out to him. It was pink, and had candy decorations bordering it.

"Huh, that's new. Usually Bubblegum calls or sends someone. Why'd she write a letter?" Jake huffed a breath on his fingertips and rubbed them against his shoulder.

"Maybe somebody told her that the Grass Kingdom has an awesome heroic mailman and she wanted to test his mettle?" Finn opened the envelope, pulling out a pink piece of paper inside. He looked it over, and smiled.

Dear Finn and Jake:
I'm writing to ask you to come to the desert lands, as there have been reports of lightning, flashes of light, and weird sounds coming from the desert near Spiky Village. Also, Princess Cookie told me last week that the Grass Kingdom has a wicked fast postal service, so I trust this will get to you quickly. I'll be waiting!
- Princess Bubblegum

"HAH! See? I totally called it Finn! Best. Mailman. Ever." Finn shook his head and double checked his pack, deciding to add the demon blood sword, just to be on the safe side.

"Well, you did get that letter here almost immediately. If you're done with Mail Time though, I think we might have an adventure on our hands."

Jake ran the pair to the Desert Lands double-time, both of them excited to have a new occurrence to explore. Jake was also pleased to see Finn's spirits remaining high, as he laughed and whooped and swung his sword around on Jake's back, shadow fighting imaginary monsters. They reached the Spiky Village and could see not too far into the desert that Bubblegum had put together a large pink tent under an area of the desert where ominous black clouds were gathering. They arrived in time to see the Princess giving instructions to some banana guards who were busy putting the finishing touches on the makeshift encampment. She turned and smiled at the boys as they approached her.

"Finn! Jake! I'm so glad you got here quickly! Cookie was right about that postal service, wowee! Anyways, look!" She pointed at a weird shimmering light in the middle of the tent. It was about four feet high, and looked like a weird bright blue mirror that was made of liquid. The shining object oscillated in the air, bobbing slightly to its own rhythm. Finn looked it over and looked back at Bubblegum.

"Ok, cool light PB. What's it have to do with us? Wait, is it a MONSTER?" He drew his sword and jumped between the light and the Princess, waving the sword at it and narrowing his eyes. Bubblegum gave a small sigh a put a hand on Finn's shoulder, pulling him back.

"No silly, it's not a monster. It's a portal!" Finn and Jake both looked at her with wide eyes, which they turned in unison to the portal. Jake pawed the air in front of him.

"Oh oh oh oh, I love portals! Where's this one go? Wait, where'd it come from? I don't remember there ever being any portals out here. You Finn?" Finn looked back at him and shook his head, he couldn't remember any portals in the desert. Bubblegum interrupted the pair.

"That's why I called you both here, nobody knows where it goes. I've asked the Spiky Chief, Breakfast and Toast Princess, I even had my banana guards find some tart thieves who hadn't been paralyzed! This portal just showed up yesterday during a big lightning storm. Will you see where it leads? I need to know if it's dangerous or not." Finn and Jake looked at each other for a moment, big adventurous smiles on their faces, before nodding vehemently at the princess.

"You came to the right bros m'lady!" Finn declared with a bow, Jake mimicking him.

"Yessirree you did! C'mere Finn, hold one of my arms while I check it out. If my hand pinches you, pull me out again!" Finn held a hand out between Jake and the portal.

"No way man, you've got Lady and your kids to worry about now, leave the dangerous stuff to me!" Finn pounded a fist to his chest, "I don't have anybody... to..." He petered off, having reminded himself that he was alone again. Jake winced and patted him on the back, morphing his lips over onto the hand he'd placed on Finn.

"Hey! Finn!" Jake's hand whispered, "C'mon dude you can mope again when we get home, gotta stay strong for Bubblegum and the Candy People." Finn shook his head, regaining his composure and resuming his heroic stance.

"Ahhhh, anyways, I'll go! Jake, give me a hand!" Bubblegum looked concerned as he walked closer to the portal.

"Be careful Finn!"

Jake placed a hand in Finn's, and the boy drew his sword in the other. He braced himself for a moment, took a deep breath, and charged at the portal shouting "AAAAADVENTTUUUUURE!" as he plunged through.