Cake and Marshall were ten paces behind, and Fionna was already trying to budge the rock. Marshall hurried over. "Need some help?" Fionna rammed her shoulder into the rock. Its eyes were rolling around aimlessly in their sockets as it made 'duh' noises.

"No. I-" She backed up. "GOT THIS!" She yelled as she rammed her shoulder into the rock again. She recoiled and grabbed the injured arm.

"Okay, calm down before you hurt yourself." He put his feet down, then gently guided her into a sitting position on the ground. The rock continued gurgling and making random noises. "It's not a bad thing to ask for help." He turned to face the rock, ready to move it, but Cake had already uncovered the hole underneath the boulder. Fionna sprang up and jumped in as fast as she could, followed by Cake. Marshall couldn't understand how Fionna could even move after jarring her shoulder like that, and followed. He knew that Fionna felt she didn't need a babysitter, but he felt that she was too reckless. He didn't want to see her get hurt. He landed gracefully on his feet, and was alarmed by Cake's excited yelling.

"Whoa! Burgers and hot dogs! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" There were two piles of food lying in the stone slab room, and Cake ran toward the hotdog pile.

"Wait, Cake!" Cake turned around to face Fionna, a sad look in her eyes.

"But… But those are hot dogs…"

"Didn't you say you were hungry for burgers this morning?" Fionna had an inquisitive tone.

"Yeah, so?"

"And didn't I say I was hungry for hot dogs?" Fionna slowly walked toward Cake.

"Mmm hmm, I remember." Marshall already knew where Fionna's train of thought would lead. This was a trap. He brandished his axe, ready to strike.

"I don't think those burgers and hot dogs are burgers and hot dogs at all…" She neared one of the hot dogs, and it started to move in a chain with the others. She yelled loudly and kicked it melodramatically The hamburgers started to move as well. Marshall jumped into battle, slicing juicy meat with his axe. He was slicing furiously, every attack countered with a limb decapitation, having more fun than he'd had in a while. He didn't notice Fionna's escape until the doorway opposite the entrance collapsed.

"Fionna!" He yelled and flew over to a crack in the destroyed stone slab. A hamburger arm was pinned by the rubble, and Cake was trying to eat it. Fionna smacked her before she could eat anything. "Are you alright?" Marshall peered through the crack as she dusted herself off.

"Yeah. Can you get through?" Marshall tried to stuff himself into the crack.

"No." He was stuck. His shoulders were too broad.

"I'll be alright. You should probably just go back." She started walking down a passageway, out of his line of sight.

"But-" Marshall was cut off when a hot dog tentacle wrapped around his ankle and yanked him loose. He yelled as he was flung this way and that, until the tentacle flung him full force toward one of the walls. Marshall stopped in midair about a foot away from the wall, exhaling in relief. He figured that he might as well defeat this thing, in case they had to come back this way. It looked like Fionna forgot to pack her sword, and he didn't want to see her hurt. He snapped back to reality just as the hot dog monster lunged toward him. He dodged, narrowly missing a clobbering appendage of meat. He took a swing at it, but his heavy axe was too slow and the tentacle had already wound up for another attack. He held his axe's shaft with two spread hands in front of him, preparing to block another attack. The hot dog jabbed right into his gut. Blocking this beast would take more than a simple weapon defense. Marshall threw off his jacket and hat.

Marshall grew into a bat-beast that's size rivaled the food monster's. The flopping of meat and bun echoed in his giant ears, and Marshall quickly echo located the beast and took it down within a minute. He shrunk back down to regular size. Might as well find something else to do. Marshall didn't want to wait around all day, so he donned his hat and jacket and floated back home. Now that he finally had a moment to himself, he pondered the day while strumming his guitar. Cake was more high-strung around him than usual. He could feel the relief emanating from her when he got stuck in the remnants of that wall. He understood that it was probably a very personal errand for Cake. If he had watched the part of the cartridge that was meant just for her, he'd probably understand her position more. But Fionna was oblivious to that aspect, so why was she being all weird? She'd blushed at least three times in one hour. She never blushes. No matter which way he looked at it, he just couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something odd happened at that party. But it didn't feel right to ask.

He sat around, ate, and sat around some more. He was expecting the day to be really awesome, but it just ended in disappointment. He had a feeling that this was going to be quite the busy week.

Since Marshall still had a whole day to burn, he thought. A nice quiet thinking period was good for the soul. Marshall was unsure if he had a soul. If he didn't, maybe a thinking period was bad for him. Either way, there was no avoiding it. He had already started thinking. He thought about Ash by the fridge when he was grabbing a bowl of strawberries. He thought about Gumball while floating up his ladder. He plopped down on his bed with his guitar, apple held between his jaws, and thought about his guitar. He eyed it closely. No new scratches, thankfully. Maybe next time he needed a weapon, he'd skip the guitar and find something else to use. He was the second-most powerful being he knew. The first was his mother. That reminded him that he should really get around to the monthly visit he paid her. He'd get around to it, eventually. Still on the topic of motherly figures, Marshall thought about Simone. Which reminded him of their song.

Marshall placed his fingers on his bass and tried to stretch them wide so that he could hit that specific note. The muscles between his fingers were taught, even after all these years of playing. It was some vampire thing, maybe his muscles wouldn't stretch properly without human blood. There was only one place he could get that… Which brought him to the topic of Fionna. She'd been so weird today… Marshall wondered why he cared. He wondered why he was such a softie. Everyone in the Vampire community frowned upon him for drinking shades of red instead of victims. You'd think surviving the apocalypse would harden a person, where in Marshall's case it had made him have a soft spot for the living. Most of all, Fionna. Maybe she could be the muse for his new song. He grabbed a nearby notepad and worked through some chords and lyrics. He started off with a C. "Good little girl," So far, that was all he had written. He had ideas, but couldn't seem to fit them into this song. It was odd that it sounded really sappy. Almost like a love song. But it wasn't. Marshall didn't write that kind of crap. Couldn't. He decided to add in a description of their playful rivalry. That would change the song, wouldn't it? He couldn't seem to get the words in the song, only the melody. So he refined it. A strange feeling overcame him while playing the song. He was almost relieved when he heard a knock on his door. He went to the ground floor to answer it. His relief was exchanged for that odd feeling again when it was Fionna at the door.

[Wow. It's only been twelve hours since I posted this and it's already got 49 visitors. Was it because the summary was better? Or was it because people who were reading my last story decided to see what it was like when it was only a single storyline? Whatever, guys. It's pretty much the same story, just more to the point. I'll update both of them at random. When I write these stories, the Gunther-related bits throw off the intervals. Marshall's Madness has two chapters less than Cold Criticism, but it's already ahead in the story. I guess all us horny teenagers don't give a rat's ass about penguins. BRING ON THE FIOLEE, am I right? Yeah, I'll shut up now and get back to writing. :P]