At some abandoned shack in the dead of night, Keila is having a meal consisting of, like, five tomatoes as she tunes her guitar. "Goodbye, old life, hello new life." Keila said as she took down a dartboard with an image of Marceline. She throws the dartboard into a fireplace where her old clothes as the assassin Star are burning. She packs the rest of her belongings into a case containing ninja weapons and leaves to the door. "It's time for a new Star to shine." Keila said.

At the edge of the forest, Guy is taking his keyboard from Hangman's noose. "Hey, Guy." Hangman called to Guy. "I'm sorry what I said the other day, I was worried you'd make another bad choice." Hangman told Guy. "S'alright, Hangman. Just make yourself more homey for the others when they get here." Guy told Hangman. "Alrighty. One treehouse coming right up." Hangman said as he exerted himself to the sound of metal creaking and wood breaking.

At a shallow grave below a bridge, Bongo emerges from the ground. He stretches his ghostly body before finding a pile of boxes. "Ooh, fan mail?" Bongo said excitedly. He opens the box and digs through the packing peanuts to find a new bass drum and a letter. "Let's make some noise. From, Guy. Aw… he shouldn't have… then again, I really needed this. I mean, what's a drummer without a set?" Bongo read the letter before pulling out the drum. "Wait, how am I gonna move all this?" Bongo wondered.

At Marceline's cottage, she takes her Axe Bass while Simon sits on the couch, reading from a folder. "I'm heading out for a band meeting at Guy's." Marceline informed Simon. "Don't stay up too late, Marcy." Simon joked. "But it's- oh, Simon, you kidder." Marceline chuckled before leaving. "I'm so proud of her." Simon commented.

She travels to the forest where she meets Keila and Bongo, hauling a radio wagon with his drum set. "'Sup, K, Bongo." Marceline greeted them. Marceline goes to shake Keila's hand when she suddenly pulls out a knife and swings it down to Marceline, who promptly stops it by grabbing her by the wrist. "Sorry… old habits die hard." Keila said as she drops the knife. "You're lucky you're incredibly predictable." Marceline chuckled.

They enter the forest, passing by a recently-dug hole at the edge. Within the forest, they see a large tree housing a great treehouse with lights emanating from within. "This is Guy's place? Looks pretty great for a treehouse." Bongo commented. "We've seen better." Marceline and Keila said simultaneously before chuckling. Guy emerges from the house and waves to them.

"Hey, y'all! Come on in!" he called out. They float up onto the main deck to meet him. They enter his home, decorated with wood-crafted furniture, lit by fairy lights. "I wish I had a house like this. Heck, I wish I had a house at all." Bongo commented. "So, where's your roommate?" Marceline asked.

"Hi." Hangman said as his face pops out from a wall. "This is him. He's the tree." Guy said. "We've been through thick and thin. We're close like this. I would show you how close if I could." Hangman told them. "So, we gonna brainstorm, or what?" Guy asked them. The band sets up their instruments around the treehouse before sitting down to write.

"So, anyone here have any ideas for our first song?" Marceline asked. "I have some old sheets I kept from my old life." Keila said. "I just play whatever my ghost heart desires, and channel that straight into my beats." Bongo said. "I had a few ideas floating in my mind core. Had them for the past thousand years." Guy said. "You're a thousand? You never mentioned that before." Bongo commented.

"Close to a couple thousand. It's pretty young for my kind." Guy corrected. "Guess longevity is something we can relate to." Keila said. "We can make a song about how old we are!" Bongo suggested. "One at a time, everyone. I can only write so fast." Marceline said. "If I may, why d-" Hangman said before being interrupted by Bongo.

"So, uh, one of my song ideas is about my, uh, former career." Guy said. "I got this old one about a brave new future… ironically, I wrote it on the eve of a cataclysmic war." Keila suggested. "Why don't we go freestyle, channel our feelings that way!" Bongo suggested. "Guys, hey, one at a time." Marceline told them. "Freestyle, really? We're supposed to write a song with meaning, not whatever we felt like at the time." Keila argued.

"Nor are we gonna recycle an old one you wrote in your college dorm." Guy added. "We don't need a song about how much your life sucks, Mister Identity Crisis!" Keila barked back. "Identity crisis?!" Guy shouted as he stood up. Embarrassingly, his legs suddenly transform into a single fish tail, causing him to slip on the floor. "Okay, maybe you have a point about that. But if not me, we can go with Bongo's idea." Guy said.

"Of course you'd go for the person you stan." Keila said. "I don't stan him… I just respect Bongo as an artist." Guy defended. Bongo said. "Guys, can we just focus on an idea?" Marceline asked. "Just take a look at this!" Keila said as she hands Marceline a sheet note. "And this too!" Guy said as he handed his own sheet to Marceline.

"Soaring through the stars…" she read Keila's. "World of darkness…" she read Guy's. "Hey, Marceline! I don't have sheets, but I can give you a live show!" Bongo said before going at his drums. "Is mine great, or what?" Keila asked Marceline over Bongo's drumming. "Hey, mine's got intrigue, deception, and purpose as a theme!" Guy added.

Over the backdrop of Bongo's drumming, Keila and Guy argue over their songs, while Marceline stresses. "Everyone… shut up!" Marceline screamed, causing them to stop. "I'm gonna take a breather, so behave!" Marceline said before floating down to the ground. She touches the grass and lies on the forest floor. Hangman's face pops out of the trunk next to Marceline.

"Hey." Hangman greeted her. "Leave me alone." Marceline said. "I just wanna talk about your band." Hangman said. "And?" Marceline asked. "Well, first, I wanna know what you had in mind." Hangman asked.

"Before I met everyone, I didn't know what to write. I used to write about me, but I wanted new stories, so I tried to find people with interesting ones." Marceline said. "I've known all four of you for a while now. I kinda know all your deals." Hangman said. "How? You're just a tree." Marceline asked. "Oho, there's more to me than meets the eye." Hangman said. "So, what's your point, stalker tree?" Marceline asked.

"Keila wants to move on from her old life and look to the future. Guy has a messed-up past, one that comes back while he's reinventing himself. Bongo, he's a soul who exists in the present. He played his drums like that to reflect the tension in the room." Hangman explained. "What about me?" Marceline asked. "I can see a bit of the three in you, and vice-versa." Hangman answered. "Future… past… present…" Marceline muttered. "Put them together, they make a new you, and you make a new them." Hangman advised.

"Dang, I guess the stereotype of old trees being wise is true." Marceline commented. "Aw, shucks." Hangman blushed. "I didn't catch your name." Marceline said to Hangman. "It's Hangman." he answered. "Well, Hangman, thanks for the talk. I really needed it." Marceline said before floating back up.

Inside, she finds the Keila and Bongo standing before her, with Guy sat in a chair. "Marceline, we're sorry for arguing about our ideas." Keila apologized. "It was kinda selfish of us." Guy added as he flips his tail. "I have no regrets. My music's awesome." Bongo said before being poked by Keila. "Sorry. I'm sorry." Bongo said.

"Bands argue sometimes. I wish it hadn't happened so early." Marceline said. "How should we go about this, Marceline?" Keila asked. "Bongo, play something nice, something that reflects the mood." Marceline told Bongo. "Gladly." Bongo said. He goes to his drum set and plays a calm jazz tune.

"Keila, Guy, show me everything you got." Marceline said. They go over the sheet music provided by Marceline, Keila, and Guy while Bongo continues the beat. As Bongo plays, local creatures gather around the base of Hangman's trunk to listen. "Away from darkness, looking forward to the light… sounds good, but needs some tweaks." Keila commented. More creatures come to the tree to listen to the music as more instruments join in.

Inside, the rest of the band are playing around with their instruments, slowly piecing together a beat. "I think we're getting somewhere!" Marceline said. As Guy plays his keyboard, his left arm transforms into a tentacle to interrupt his playing. Keila laughs, before Guy does, and the rest of the band joins in as the sound of drums is replaced by joy. Hangman watches them have fun from the wall, smiling.

Soon, they take a break from practicing, sitting on a couch to relax. "I haven't had this much band in… ever." Marceline said. "That's the life of a solo girl." Keila said. "C'mon, turn back." Guy said as he hit his tentacle, which transforms back into a human arm. "Shouldn't you see a doctor about that?" Bongo asked Guy.

"They couldn't fix it. I'm a rare breed to my kind, so we know very little, aside from being real small." Guy answered. "Hey, Guy, I'm sorry for calling you Mister Identity Crisis. I was just a liiittle to focused on my thing." Keila said. "It's alright, K. I know you didn't mean it. Besides, I've gotten used to people saying things like that." Guy responded. As the three converses, Marceline continues to write lyrics, smiling as she does. As they talk, they hear a knock from below.

"Marceline, you up there?" Princess Bubblegum called from below. Marceline looks down to see Princess Bubblegum waving at her. "Peebs, what are you doing here?" Marceline asked. "I wanted to see how your band's doing. I could hear your band from the cave." Princess Bubblegum responded. "We're doing great! You wanna come up?" Marceline asked.

She rolls down a rope ladder for Princess Bubblegum to climb up. "Band, meet Princess Bubblegum. Peebs, meet the band." Marceline introduces everyone. "I'm Keila." "G-Guy, my name's Guy." "Hi Peebs! Remember me, Bongo? I was on one'a your restraining orders three-hundred years ago." The band introduced themselves. "Bongo's here too? I thought you hate him?" Princess Bubblegum said to Marceline. "I'm a very forgiving person." Marceline responded.

"Since when?" Princess Bubblegum chuckled as she playfully shoves Marceline. "So, what brings her other majesty to this neck of the woods?" Keila asked. "I wanted to meet all of you. Make sure Marceline's not joining the wrong crowd again." Princess Bubblegum answered. "While you're here, we can give you a demo of our first song. I haven't put the lyrics together, but the beat's fire." Marceline offered. "I'd love to hear it." Princess Bubblegum agreed.

The band takes their places and prepare to play. "B-T-dubs, we've only been working on this for two hours, so it might sound a little sloppy." Marceline warns Princess Bubblegum as she sat down on the couch. With three taps of Bongo's sticks, they band plays, mesmerising Princess Bubblegum with an all-new melody put together from their individual styles, creating a harmony unique to them. "That… was amazing, Marcy." Princess Bubblegum complimented. "Don't thank me. Keila, Guy, Bongo helped too." Marceline said.

"It's got some kinks…" Keila said. "But we're working on it." Guy added. "Once we do, we're coming up on top!" Bongo said. "And we're doing it together." Marceline concluded. "So, what's the name of your band?" Princess Bubblegum asked.

"We're the Scream Queens."

THE END