"So," Princess Bubblegum began. "You remember nothing?"
"That's right," the man answered. "Just remember waking up a few weeks ago. Somewhere deep in the mountains."
He stared intently at her face, making sure not to stare at the rat on her shoulder. At this point, they were sitting at her desk in the underground lab. Something about the man seemed familiar.
"And anything about where you woke up?"
"Oh yeah, sure. It was wet, and it looked like a fire had just finished burning out. There was some melted snow. I thought maybe some kind of traumatic experience may have given me amnesia. I remember some kind of aircraft too. It was flying in the sky when I woke up."
Fire in the mountains? Princess Bubblegum thought hard. It couldn't be... although the time placement would be correct, and the details matched, there were too many questions that would need to be answered.
"You don't even remember your name?" She asked him.
"Not really," he said. He fiddled around, scratching his elbow and his chin. He put his hands in his pockets, only to become confused.
"Eh, what's this?"
He pulled his left hand out. It was a small slip of paper. It read: Thanks for the gift. He flipped over the paper. On the back, in big black letters: PROPERTY OF S. PETRIKOV. He looked even more confused now.
"What gift, and who's Petri-whatever?"
All the pieces were beginning to fall into place for PB. But how could it be him if his crown was missing? Shouldn't he be dead? And who wrote the message?
Finn and Water Princess joined Flame Princess for dinner, in honor of the previous ruler of the Fire Kingdom. At the table, his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Finn, where are you?"
"Jake? I'm at the Fire Kingdom."
"PB says you might want to take a look at this."
Flame Princess accompanied the two of them to Princess Bubblegum's lab. As they approached, they noticed PB herself, Jake, Marceline, Peppermint Butler, and the mysterious old man.
"Finn, come over here," the princess called. "Peppermint Butler is going to help confirm a theory of mine."
Peppermint Butler performed a series of incantations, moving his hands around the old man's head. The old man was asleep. A few minutes later, he snapped awake, peering around the room.
"Finn, Jake, it's you guys. It's me, Simon."
"What!?" The two asked simultaneously?
"It's true," Simon said. "It all started that day."
Two Weeks Earlier
The Ice King was currently flying through the sky, Scorcher struggling to get out the Ice King's grasp. He punched the Ice King, resulting in the king becoming dazed. He continued to fly forward, without looking. Suddenly, the duo crashed head-first into some mountains. The duo were knocked unconscious from the impact, scorching the rocky mountains, and leaving ice and snow (from Ice King) melting. Ice King woke up in a ship. A small man walked up to him.
"Good morning Simon. Your little war is over. We are the Seekers."
"Who are you, and where's Scorcher?"
"You need not worry about him. We took you in because were are interested in that artifact of yours. We are well informed that it keeps you alive, and so we decided to trade. We take the crown, and we can give you a new beginning."
With that, they put a mask over his face, gas putting him to sleep. Before he fell unconscious, he heard another voice.
"Don't erase his memories, just store them away. We never know if we'll need them in the future."
Present
"That's how it happened," Simon finished his tale. "They found a way to restore my life without the crown, and with no madness either. Whoever they are, they certainly are dangerous."
As soon as he finished that thought, Science jerked up and bit Princess Bubblegum on the shoulder. She screamed in pain as her eyes widened, a faint green light growing inside her pupils. Her body spasmed as she tried to regain control. She finally stood up, and the voice that came out of her mouth was not hers.
"Finn the Human, I will return for you, and all whom you hold dear."
With that the possessed princess took out a gun, and shot at the wall. A portal opened up, and it closed as she walked into it.
Finn knew the voice well. The Keeper had somehow found a way to infect Princess Bubblegum, and now it was her that needed help to be cured.
It was all too much for Finn; he had been through enough of an ordeal. More than that, he was having a crisis, and no one knew about it. And only one other person felt it, unbeknownst to everyone else: Flame Princess.
Both could feel the old familiar attraction to each other, but both knew that Finn already had someone new. With that, along with the return of pure evil, the two were practically having mental meltdowns, and no one could help either of them.
Marceline broke the silence.
"We have to go help her!"
Simon said, "We don't even know where she went. That portal could have taken her anywhere. We can't do anything about it right now. We have to put together a plan first."
Finn's arm reacted by activating the Kouvier Blade involuntarily. He willed it back to hand form with a bit of effort, confused.
"How are we going to put together a plan if we don't know where she is?" Marceline continued.
Simon's eyes shined beneath his spectacles.
"I heard a legend once,l. It could help us, but we would need to travel far from here. We'll need to find a boat first."
"There's a boat in my cave," Marceline said. "But we'll need to fix it up first."
"No need," Water Princess interjected. "There's a ship at the docks in my kingdom".
With that, the group set out for the Water Kingdom. Peppermint Butler grabbed a tube of some cream with him. He handed it to Marceline.
"This will protect you from the sun. It's a prototype, but it works. There's not much, so use it when you need it. It lasts about 8 hours."
After getting the boat, the seven of them (Finn was a bit reluctant due to his fear) set sail. Using a map Simon found in his one of his ice caves, they began sailing toward a small island far from home.
It would be quite an adventure with the seven of them stuck on a ship together. Especially for Finn, Flame Princess, and Water Princess, as their love triangle dilemma was coming to its climax. However, Simon and Marcy were finally united, and Finn was determined to stop the Keeper before he did anymore damage.
