a/n- D: the Finnceline is on its way. Promise!

R&R

Chapter after this is when all of our multiverse folks meet up, so keep an eye out!

Chapter Four- Fire, Forest, Failure

Fionna swirls.

She swirls in sync with her blades as they cut down tree demons. Her feet turn in rhythm and another beast falls. Behind her, a fire blazes before collecting itself into a male face, topped with a flaming mohawk with fingers-of-tendrils-of-fire-

She strikes, and the leaves fall, and the fire burns them away, while a cat watches behind a tree.

"Dude, this is awesome!" the blonde girl laughs, swiveling her foot to kick a monster square in the chest. The fire-boy grins wickedly and his flames devour a nearby beast.

Yes, the cat decides, watching her sister fight with- dance with, in an odd enough way- the boy. They are a good team, though a little unconventional.

"What do you mean, the crown's gone?" Marshall Lee asks, warily.

The Prince and the King stand in front of a golden column within the Royal Castle; in the middle of the golden column, which rises to the regal domed ceiling of the castle, is a fluctuating circle of energy. A portal, most would call it.

The Prince frowns at Marshall. "I mean, the crown has been stolen. Not mine, of course-" he adds hastily, gesturing towards his ruby-topped crown- "-and not the Royal one, that was taken long ago by the Undead Queen-but the one stored in Beryl's Cave. The Child's Crown."

Marshall feels sick, and the world spins for a moment. "What?" he asks, blankly.

Prince Gumball nods, and suddenly the golden-leafed walls of the castle seem much too bright, and the sunlight streaming through the large windows seems almost painful. Marshall hisses and Gumball must notice it, because the Prince rushedly fetches an umbrella from an umbrella holder and brings it to the Vampire King.

"Thanks," Marshall says, pushing the umbrella with his gray hand. The umbrella blossoms outward, casting a shadow in which Marshall can stand. He collects himself for a moment before he speaks-

"What the glob? When did this happen?" Marshall asks. He knows admittedly little about the Crown, but he does know it's important, important enough to make Gumball look sick and frightened. "Come on, dude, and explain."

Gumball takes a breath before beginning. "It happened yesterday. Right before you and I returned from the other world, in fact." A look of guilt crosses the Prince's face, but it passes quickly. "I returned from our little adventure to find out that the Cave had been ransacked, and only one item taken."

Suddenly Gumball stops and presses his hands to his face.

"Nobody even understands the enormity of it. Nobody knows that anything's wrong. I lied to my people, they don't know- they could be, be hurt- killed- because I won't tell them anything-"

Marshall Lee shakes his head quickly, and a sort of panic flares up inside of him. Emotions make him uncomfortable, especially emotions on the sorrow-spectrum. "Okay, dude, calm down. It's not your fault; they would explode if they knew. Right?"

The Prince looks ill. "Logically, I know that," he says. "But, I don't believe it. Okay?"

The Prince looks unsure, and sick, and frightened, and Marshall feels a pang of guilt and then anger. It must have been the Lich, Marshall is sure of it. Only the Lich could've done it- and this feeling is confirmed when the Prince continues to speak. "The cave was protected by magic guards and runes, as well as a ton of booby-traps- of course," Gumball murmurs quietly, "we were working on disabling those- it wouldn't do well to have our museum visitors be disemboweled by a missed trap."

"So it had to have been the Lich," Marshall says, giving Gumball a 'duh' look. "Only the Lich would be powerful enough to get past all of that magic stuff." When no answer came, Marshall prodded with a, "right?"

Gumball paused and twisted his hands. His eyes became shadowed as he bowed his head in thought and worry.

"I…suppose," he conceded, finally. "Though I wish it wasn't." He looks back up to Marshall. "I don't think I can go with you tonight." He looks away, and peers distantly at the walls of the castle.

It takes a moment for the meaning of the words to sink in. When it does, Marshall feels a sudden surge of anger.

The Prince continues, oblivious to the Vampire King's furious expression, still looking at the castle walls. "If I leave, and something happens when I'm gone-"

Marshall cuts him off abruptly, with a voice that could cut steel. "Then what? You're doing this to help them, dude! If you come with me, we can figure out how to beat the Lich. Together, with Marceline and- and her friends-" he pauses, breathes deeply, continues- "and then you won't have to worry anymore, Gumball. We'll fix it. With their help." The Vampire King expectantly stares at the Prince.

The Prince looks stricken as he holds Marshall's gaze. Finally, his eyes drop to the floor.

"Okay," he says. "But- just know that- I feel like-…"

"What?" Marshall asks, impatiently, red eyes flashing in annoyance. The Prince grimaces before speaking.

"I just don't think that I can do it. Alone, anyways. I bake, okay? And, though your Marceline really is a lovely girl-" Marshall notes with displeasure that Gumball's fallen back into his habit of polite speech- "-she will not be sufficient to help us in this endeavor."

Marshall watches as the Prince takes on an expression of guilt. "I tried to contact Fionna," he says quietly. "I thought maybe she could help. But I fear she is finished with me. I think, in pursuing her, I was too forward- she was not interested in me, yet still I tried to win her."

Marshall frowns in thought. "What?" Gumball asks.

The Vampire King shakes his head. "Nothing. Just, different strokes for different multiverse folks." At that, Gumball only looks more confused. Marshall chuckles.

"It's just, in the, uh, other universe? Alterna-you was not interested in alterna-uh, Fionna? Yeah. I dunno, Marceline explained it a little, it was pretty funny." Self-conscious of himself, Marshall coughs awkwardly. "Yeah. Not funny, maybe. I dunno," he says again. He shifts his umbrella from hand to hand.

After a moment, Gumball speaks. "I've noticed a few discrepancies," he begins slowly, "between our universe…and- theirs-…"

He pauses and looks uncomfortable. "When we go, we must convince Marceline to bring her Bubblegum to the portal, as well as Finn," he says abruptly.

Marshall nods slowly. "Fine, okay. I'll pop in through the portal and tell her to bring them. Tonight?"

"Yes."

Marshall grunts in annoyance and turns on his sneaker-clad heel. "Fine," he says again. "I'm going back to my old haunt, now- your digs suck," he jokes, injecting fake levity into his voice. He turns his face to the Prince suddenly, fangs peeking out, face looking mischievous, red eyes glinting. "Get it? My old- haunt-"

The King wheezes with laughter as the Prince groans in annoyance, covering his face with tinted-pink hands. Behind the Prince's fingers, however, a relieved smile peeks out.

As Marshall quietly leaves the castle later, reminiscing on the strange and drifting conversation, his mind skips on that scene, over and over. Pauses, and looks at it. Perhaps the Prince was grateful for Marshall's understanding. Perhaps he was grateful that the conversation was over. Perhaps he was grateful that the talk had ended on a light note.

Who knows, Marshall thinks to himself, as his feet float above the Kingdom's stone-and-peppermint pathways. As he floats away, he realizes suddenly that Gumball had stealthily avoided answering his question- what did the Child's Crown do? Why was it so important?

The Vampire King hissed in annoyance before laughing as he continued to float down the path. Gumball was sneaky, alright.

"My lady," the flame monster said, kneeling at Princess Bubblegum's feet. The beast was an envoy from the Flame Kingdom; Bubblegum had requested details on the situation in that Kingdom, and she was pleasantly surprised to find the Flame King had granted her request. She peered down at the monster pensively.

After a moment, Bubblegum realized the flame-beast was waiting for permission to speak. She waved a hand and nodded. "Please, speak."

"Princess, it is getting steadily worse in our Kingdom. The holes are ripping and tearing, and getting wider. Our citizens have reported-" and the beast pauses for a moment, then continues- "-seeing things in these holes; glimpses of color and light. Already, the Flame Castle's floor is showing signs of ruin; there is an entire part of the royal ballroom sectioned off, due to a gaping hole in its floor."

Static rushes in the Princess's mind. Seeing things- in the holes-

They're-

Oh. They're not holes, she thinks absently. The flame-beast is still talking, but she can't hear him through the buzzing panic in her brain. Its lips move and silence comes forth. They're not holes-

they're portals.

And they're portals to a world that is steadily becoming enmeshed with Ooo.

This, the Princess thinks as she watches the flame-envoy speak, is very bad.

When Marceline sees Marshall Lee in midday, standing by the portal-tree, she's surprised and a little shocked.

She becomes angry when she hears his request, but after a few pleas, she finally agrees, with an irritated "whatever you say, dude".

Marshall feels relieved as he slips back into the tree and into Aaa.

A blackened figure reaches from the dark, and a glittering gold crown, small and delicate, is wrapped around its reaching hand's wrist.

The Ice King shuffles around his castle, distractedly. Gunther toddles behind him.

The Ice King stops, suddenly, in front of his fridge, scratching his beard. After a moment's pause, he pulls the fridge door open.

"Only ham and bo-log-na, Gunther. Sorry! Daddy will get some turkey on his next flight to the Candy Kingdom!"

The penguin squawks in agreement and watches as the Ice King walks around, apparently looking for something. The King's crown slides forward on his head, once, when he kneels down to peer underneath a cabinet.

The Turtle Princess pauses in her reshelving and looks to her friend. "What, girl?" she asks. "I didn't hear that last part."

LSP gives an annoyed huff but repeats herself. "I sa-id, there's, like, a sinkhole in the middle of Lumpy Space! Didn't you, like, hear me?"

Turtle Princess blinks and looks back to her books. She glances at the title of the tome in her hand- The Cosmic Owl and You. "Oh, sorry, girrrrl," she says, placing the book back on to the shelf.

Finn backs away from the girl, a red handprint marking his cheek.

"Jerk!" she cries, running away, and her orange-red shifting legs fly into the forest. Finn hopes to himself that she manages not to blow up the forest with her anger. Last time he spoke to her, that's what she did. And it was really, really bad!"

Lost in thought (and misery, and a little pain), Finn leans against a tree and stares up at the sky. He doesn't notice when a dark figure clad in jeans and a red t-shirt emerges from the foliage and looks at him.

The figure clears her throat.