"Bonnie please..."
"There's nothing we can do guys, we'll just have to hope marceline'll be fine."
"We can't just give up!"
"Well what should we do then?!"
Everyone remained silent.
"I thought so..."
Bubba sat on the floor, he didn't know what to do anymore...
His own portal was used to connect to this one, it wouldn't do much good.
Unless...
He thought for a moment.
Ice queen planned to trap everyone in the cave, keep them from helping.
But IQ would never leave him here with no way to kidnap him.
No, never her precious prince.
Maybe she didn't plan for him to come along...
Or maybe...
"She planned to come back for me..."
"Hmm?" Fionna looked at the prince who's face was now suddenly excited.
"PB, where's your phone?"
"In my bag, why?"
Bubba took it immediately.
"Ice queen was going to come back for me...she must have a way to travel between worlds, she didn't use the portal."
"So..."
"We call Marceline, if she can get IQ to use her portal or whatever she has...we can get over to the other side.."
PB stood up, "I say it's worth a try..."
"Is anyone opposed to this plan?" Bubba asked.
No one answered.
"Give it a try prince, we're with ya." Cake said.
He dialed the number.
-
Marceline hid behind a wall, clutching her phone in her hands.
Make ice queen open the portal?
Geez, that was quite a request.
Especially since she was now raging like crazy all over the kingdom.
Marcy wasn't scared of her, far from, but she was worried.
One wrong move and she and the baby wouldn't walk away.
Approaching this carefully was important.
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
"Uhhhh who?" a small timid voice said, Marceline recognized the maid right away.
"The fanged girl who stole my prince! Where is she?!"
"She's er..."
"SAY SOMETHING!"
"I'm loyal to the prince and milady Marceline...and in doing so milady's location is not your business." The maid crossed her arms, refusing to betray her loyalty.
The queen shrieked and blasted her.
"I'll find her myself..." She left the hallway in a rush.
When she left Marceline moved in and saw that the maid was completely frozen.
"Thank you..." Marceline mumbled, "Don't worry, I'll get you outta there..."
She picked up the frozen maid and snuck her way to the castle's study.
There was still a fire blazing in there, as always.
Ice queen hadn't found the room yet, luckily.
The maid melted enough for her head to be showing.
She blinked away the blur to see Marceline above her.
"Milady! You must go hide in our safety bunker! The ice queen-"
"Trust me, I know that sick freak is running around." She grunted, "But unfortunately, I need to find her.."
"No no Marceline, you don't ne-"
"Yeah I do...bubba's trapped with the others on the other side of the portal and they can't get back, I need IQ to open it up."
Marceline watched the door, expecting the rival queen to burst in any second.
"She must have her own way to travel, and I need her to use it."
"She was wearing a bracelet!" The maid piped up. "A strange one!"
"Really?" The queen presented a smirk, "Then I believe I need to get my hands on that lovely bracelet."
"She's after you milady!"
"No kidding. But don't worry, I'll be fine, the prince needs to come home..."
"How do you plan on getting her to stop?"
"Easy..." She said leaning on the door, "I outsmart her..."
-
Ice queen was still raging on in the castle, angy and fiercly taking it out on the citizens.
Most of them had gone into retreat, but some were unfortunate.
Frozen candy people were everywhere, it was horrific watching them so scared.
Marceline had to save them now, somehow.
"Cut this out ya freak!"
Marceline stopped recognizing that voice.
"OUT OF MY WAY!"
"What? Vampire king ain't good enough for ya?"
Marceline peeked around the next corridor to find the vampire king confidently mocking the ice queen.
"Leave everyone alone, ice freak. " He growled, "Pestering this kingdom is MY job!"
"Where is she?"
"Fionna? Sorry lady, I think she's taken."
"NOT TOMBOY! The vampire runt!"
"Ahhhhh, so you mean bubba's fiancé?"
This only made her face more twisted.
"WHAT?!"
"Didn't you hear? Bubba proposed, those two old lovebirds are getting hitched!" He was enjoying this too much.
"YOUR LYING!"
"Am I now? "
Marceline stepped out of the shadows.
"He's telling the truth." She held out her hand, "Check out the ring..."
The ice queen's eyes glowed in rage.
"YOU STOLE HIM FROM ME!"
"Technically no, WE just had the relationship you COULD'VE had if you bothered to actually TRY."
"Excuse me?"
"You're excused, now if you don't mind, I'd like that lovely bracelet your wearing.."
IQ looked at her bracelet, it was clearly important to her.
"Over my dead body..." She growled.
"That can be arranged.."
"You'll pay for taking my gumball away from me!"
"Didn't we already discuss that I didn't steal him away? He was into me, I liked him, we went out, end of story."
Marceline was already getting bored of this conversation, she just wanted the bracelet so she could end this.
Ice queen prepared to blast her.
"Listen ice witch, you don't want to do this..." Marcy threated.
"Why? What are YOU gonna do?"
She got closer.
"Eh, not much I CAN do...but that won't stop me from getting rid of you!"
"Why me? Your a vampire, a horrible mangy monster who kills for food, he doesn't want that.."
"Bubba is a pure being, I know that...but if he didn't want me, he wouldn't have let us go so far..."
She hugged her arms, almost blushing.
"He loves me IQ, weird or not, wrong or not, but he loves me. And there's nothing you can do to change that..."
She sighed, "He had faith in you y'know? As much as I hate you and as much as I wish I could destroy you, I cold never do something like that and betray bubba. He wants to see you change, he wants to see you move on..."
She looked at the ground now, avoiding ice queen's gaze.
"When me and bonnie broke up it was the worst thing in my life, I wanted to die, I wanted the sun to just take me..."
She was almost about to cry, she felt it coming.
Ice queen lowered her hands, watching the vampire in curiosity.
"Why do you think me and bubba started off not liking each other?! Because he reminded me of bonnie...I didn't want another 'bonnie' in my life. I didn't want another repeat of that torment, to feel that pain again..."
He shoulders sagged, but she managed a small smile.
"You can only imagine my face when I realized how different they were...and when I finally allowed myself to be vulnerable to him, I no longer felt that pain..."
She looked up at ice queen, who was no longer trying to kill her.
"I had my heart broken too, by someone I really loved...I know your pain...but you can't keep letting it torment you like this...you need to move on.."
"But I- he was supposed to be MINE!" The ice queen complained
"He never belonged to you, he belongs to who he freaking wants to! listen, I'm sorry you're going through that torment. But hurting me and all these people isn't gonna solve it, if you love him so much than just let him freakin go already, do it for him, let him be happy!"
She bit her lip, as if thinking it over.
"Do it for him, alright?"
Ice queen stepped closer and grabbed the vampire by the neck, and pinned her against the walls.
Marshall growled from behind, prepared to strike.
But as soon as she attacked, the ice queen dropped Marceline.
"Just take it..."
She removed the bracelet.
"He wants you...just go to him..."
Marceline snatched it out of her hands.
"What is it anyway?"
"It's magic, I took some notes from the prince's lab the last time I was here, and gave them to a wizard...and he made me this."
"This thing goes between worlds? By magic? huh...pretty cool, makes things a little easier."
She placed the bracelet on her wrist, it glowed bizarrely.
"I've been watching you two for forever..." Ice queen mumbled to herself, "It hurts..."
"It would..." Marceline agreed, "I'd be upset too...if I were in your position"
"You remind me of fionna...the way I felt about her when I noticed she looked at him the same way I did."
"Well I can't blame either of you.." Marceline shrugged, "He's quite the catch isn't he?"
Ice queen nodded, and for once, she smiled.
"What's he like?" She asked
"Bubba? Well, he's nice, and he's kinda awkward and goofy, and he's quite the charmer too...sometimes.." This became awkward, ice queen was fangirling.
Marshall was even looking at this in confusion.
"Are you really getting married?"
"Yeah...yeah we are..."
"does he like me?"
"Er, yeah, in the more 'friend' way, I guess."
"Can I hang out with you than?"
"Uhhhhh."
Her eyes suddenly became red again, "I WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH MY PRINCE!"
"FINE fine freak! You can hang out with us...as friends, but no more kidnapping, destruction, or trying to stab me. Kapeesh?"
"Deal."
Ice queen calmed down, enjoying the fact that she could at least be allowed within 5 feet of the prince again.
Marceline examined her wrist, the bracelet had no obvious keys to travel.
"Uhhhh, how's this thing work freak?"
"Easy, just press the gem!"
"The what now?"
On the bracelet was a single green gem.
Marceline looked at it skeptically, as if she'd blow up while wearing it.
"Er, is this thing safe, I mean, where does the portal come out?"
Marceline then tried to remove the thing from her wrist.
"It won't come off!"
Ice queen grinned.
"You actually thought I'd fall for your petty story? I don't need to be your friend! I know what I want..."
The bracelet slowly crept up Marceline's arm, Ice formed all around.
Marshall attacked the ice queen from behind, making an attempt to take her crown.
"Foolish boy, you can't stop the spell, she'll be entirely frozen in ice in not much longer..."
Marshall took the tiara, and held it in curiosity.
"Maybe...I can...I can stop the spell..."
"Forget it Marshall!" Marceline said, ice up to her shoulder, "It's not worth it!"
She knew how Simon acted when he wore the crown...she couldn't lose another friend to it's madness.
"But I could put it on, just for a little bit...I gotta try..."
"You can't control yourself! Please...do something, anything else!"
"How about me?"
A figure dropped down from a hole in the ceiling, wearing a rather large backpack.
"Flame prince?"
"Mow."
"YOU!" ice queen growled, "Come to see the show have you?"
"Release her!" He hissed.
"And why should I?"
"For this little fella."
He took off the pack and opened it.
There was a penguin inside.
"GUNTHER!"
"Her life, for his...or it's I really can't tell what gender it is..."
Ice queen debated this silently.
"This isn't a trick IQ, unlike your cruel attack on Marceline, don't sacrifice your penguin for your own greed."
Reluctantly, the ice queen pulled out a potion bottle.
"Here, just pour it on and she'll be fine, just give me my crown and penguin back."
Marshall tossed the crown and took the bottle, opening it and pouring it on the vampire queen, who was almost completely frozen.
He gave the fire elemental a nod of gratitude, thankful he didn't put on the crown.
FP released the penguin, letting it waddle to it's master.
"Sooo, if the bracelet wasn't what ice queen used to travel, what did she use?"
"I found this at her home..." He pulled an object out of his bag, "After she begun her attack I wanted to be one step ahead of her..."
It was a glove.
"I think it tears through reality..."
"How do YOU know that?"
"Fionna would read a lot of strange adventurer books to me when she taught me to speak, one was on magic objects.."
"So you THINK you've seen this thing in a book?"
He nodded
"And how do I know you're not wrong and this thing wont blow me up or something?"
"Trust me..."
Marshall carefully held it, it had claws and looked more like a gauntlet than anything that changed time and space.
FP stayed near Marceline, allowing her to warm up a little.
Marshall placed it on his hand, trying to figure out how it works.
An eye opened on the glove's palm.
It was alive.
"Er...can you find my friends?"
He moved his hand, not sure what he was doing.
An eerie green glow surrounded the palm, and soon enough a small reality seemed to appear on the palm.
It got bigger, and soon enough a giant hole was visible.
A brand new portal.
"Er... should we test it?"
But before they could debate, a pink hand shot through the portal.
A head came soon after.
"Guys!"
"Gumball!"
"You got it to work!"
"Er yeah..."
Gumball stepped out, and soon enough everyone else followed.
"where's Marceline?! " Bubba asked, scoping the room.
"Oh, she's over-"
Then Marshall noticed Marceline was no longer beside flame prince.
"Uh...where'd she go? and for that matter...where'd IQ go?"
Marshall rushed to where ice queen had been hobbling.
Bubba didn't hesitate to follow behind.
"You little liar!"
They stumbled into quite a scene.
Marceline had pinned ice queen to the ground and was flashing fangs, she also had a clump of the womans hair, and was yanking it upwards.
"GET OFF!"
"NO!"
The vampire hissed in anger, "YOU TRIED TO KILL ME! I GAVE YOU A CHANCE FOR ONCE AND YOU BETRAYED ME!"
"MARCELINE!" Gumball rushed over and grabbed the girl from behind, holding her waist and pulling her back.
"LET ME GO!" She growled, She clawed the air, attempting to attack IQ again.
Then, realizing who was holding her, she turned around.
"Bubba...geez stop scaring me like that..." She held him tight, "Your such an idiot for doing that to me..."
He chuckled, "Yeah, I am, but I'm still here okay? "
He looked at the ice queen on the floor.
"So...care to explain what happened?"
"She- she freaking betrayed me bubba, I-I thought I could stop her like you wanted...non-violent...and she freaking tried to kill me anyway!"
Ice queen sat up, relaxed at the sight of gumball.
Marceline's eyes flashed red, "She gave me a cursed bracelet...Marshall and flame prince cured me..."
"So? What could I ever gain from a friendship with you?" Ice queen blurted out
Gumball moved Marceline behind him.
"You know something IQ? How long has this ben going on for? Years! I've had you kidnap me time and time again for YEARS! And what did you gain outta it? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
I've tried to help you, I've tried to be kind to you, but you just don't change do you? You could've had the chance to at least be considered a friend in my eyes and what do you do? You harm my candy people, wreak my kingdom, and you STILL tried to kill someone dear to me...why?"
"I-I..."
"What do you really want?! "
"You..."
Gumball shook his head.
"Get out of my kingdom...now.."
Ice Queen stood up holding her penguin close.
"But-I..."
"I've given you one too many chances...just leave...NOW!"
Marceline shuddered, gumball rarely yelled, but when he did, he could be pretty terrifying.
He was also on the break of tears...
Ice queen gave the couple one last glance before flying off into the clouds.
Marceline held gumball's waist from behind him, "You okay?"
"I'm fine.." He said in a clearly 'not fine' voice.
"Bubba..."
He grunted
She leaned her head forward, nuzzling into his back.
Bubba was normally such a light-hearted happy person, seeing him so cold and emotionless...it was unnatural.
Normally it was HE who made HER feel better in situations like this...
Bubba detached himself from her and looked around at what was left of the room around him.
Ice Queen had caused so much damage that it hurt to look at it
The prince fell to his knees, and cried.
-
"Bubba?" Marceline called out in silence.
The prince had gone to bed early, and was facing the wall.
Normally Marceline would be up during the night, but she felt the need to be as close to him as possible right now.
He was distraught, and he wouldn't explain why.
Bonnibel was working on repairing her lab, and there was much repair being done to gumball's kingdom.
Marceline felt awful, she wanted to do something...anything...but he seemed to be ignoring her.
She sat down on her side of the bed and laid down next to him.
"You wanna talk?"
No answer.
"Bubba, your freaking me out! Please say something..."
He still didn't answer.
She started to play with his hair, hoping to get a reaction out of him.
"Bubba...c'mon babe..."
She frowned at his utter lack of response.
"Fine! Don't answer me! I'm just worried about you..."
She hissed, upset.
Which in turn finally provoked a response out of bubba, he flipped over and hugged her.
"I'm so sorry..."
"Wha- bubba?"
"I almost let you die..." He mumbled, "I should've listened to you about ice queen..."
"Bubba- hey! It's fine dude.."
"No it's freaking not! I spent so much time trying to get that women to understand, and she still tried to finish you, I feel horrible..."
"Bubba, it's not your fault...she's nuts."
"And I still tried to help her, to defend her, if I hadn't done that-"
"Than she would've tried to stake me..." Marceline said, "I bought myself some time bubba, the guys cured me..."
"But what if they couldn't?"
"But they did..."
"MY people suffered Marceline, and I wasn't here to save them, I'm a horrible leader..."
"Oh come here you big baby." She caressed his cheek , forcing him to look at her. "You know what happens when we get married?"
"mmmm?"
"We share this big ole' kingdom, both of us...it's as much of my responsibility as it is yours. Your people are still safe, and me and the baby are great...just relax."
He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I acted like that, I-I just let everyone down alright?"
"Hey, I forgive you...and you didn't let everyone down, IQ caught everyone off guard."
He nodded.
Marceline bit her lip, "Your not an awful leader bubba...if anything, your a great one..."
"How?"
"You saved your friends, your people made it out okay, and you didn't give up trying to get back to me..."
She playfully stroked his hair.
"You're MY hero..."
He gave a small smile, "Thanks, I guess I feel a little bit better..."
Marceline turned over, sitting up now.
"Ugh, baby's kicking my freaking bladder again..."
Gumball sat up next to her.
"She seems to be quite a rebellious one isn't she?"
"Remind me to ground her when she gets out..."
He chuckled.
Feeling a little bit better now, he looked at the baby bump anxiously.
"May I?"
"Fine..."
Bubba immediately made playful baby noises to the belly.
Blowing raspberries and making faces were among his favorite thing to do.
"Dork..." She teased.