S'up, peeps! Long time no see! Sorry for the long wait. You know how it is; writer's block, self-doubt, family business, pure laziness, etc. I would tell you all about my life's story and all the struggles of being a writer, artist, and a man with autism, but honestly, I just want to start the New Year with a loud, thunderous bang and a clear, happy conscience. I was gonna finish this chapter on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, but I wasn't feeling good those days, so, now I'm posting it, today. Also, from now on, I'm not gonna promise any due dates or even approximations to when I will update. The story will get done when it gets done, and that's all there is to it. ;)

Chapter Six: The Adventure Begins

(Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice! Teehee. Sorry, peeps. I've just always wanted to say that.

Ahem; meanwhile, at the filthy, bacteria-ridden junkyard of Ooo, Finn trains with his sensei, Rattleballs, in a typical bout of sword-swinging shenanigans, while Jake watches on with his nasty, chip-smothered face, no doubt giving himself several different diseases in the process) "Hiya!" Finn shouted as he slammed his sword into Rattleballs' own blade.

"Press the attack, Finn," Rattleballs monotonically instructed him as they continued clashing blades. "Break my focus. Don't give me a chance to counter."

"You got it, R-Beezy!" Finn answered back with more vigor and ferocity. He kept hacking and slashing with all his might. Despite his the dismal lose-to-win ratio of five-hundred forty-three to zero, Finn didn't really mind it so much, as training with Rattleballs was always fun for him, regardless, and it had the added bonus of keeping him at the peak of both physical and mental sharpness. But, most of all, it was the only time in Finn's life where his mind was completely free of any girl-type thoughts (Even of the sexy-vampire-lady variety). For him, it was two and a quarter hours of utter, heroic bliss. And for Finn, it seemed like his luck was only gonna get better. Finally, after suffering many defeats, Finn was able to keep up with Rattleballs' superhuman reaction speed, trading blows with the robot as if he were a robot himself (well, if he himself wasn't just one-fifth a robot, that is). Soon, Finn found himself in a dominate position, pressing down on Rattleballs sword with so much force that the robot was visibly struggling to keep his footing. Alright Finn! This is it! Just keep hammering down on him, knock him down and you win! Finn kept slamming his sword down on Rattleball's blade like a blacksmith on an anvil, each hit seeming to put Rattleballs' feet deeper into the ground. I got this! I got this! I got this! I go…

"Go get 'em, Finn!" Jake shouted with a mouthful of chips. "Break that bucket-of-bolts into tiny pieces and sell his remains for spare parts! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!"

Finn frowned at the sound of his brother's unwanted cheers. Oh great, Finn thought. The one day Lady HAD to go visit her folks in the Prism Dimension, and Jake just HAD to have a "boy's day out."

"N-n-not that I'm saying I hate robots, Arby!" Jake said, his demeanor quickly going from a blood-filled battle cry to a more regretful reassurance. "In fact, some of my best friends are robots! There's BMO, of course, and NEPTR, and…well, I'm pretty sure my coffee maker is secretly a robot. I mean, it seems to always no when I need a cup a Joe in the mo before I press the button to 'go.' He chuckled as his own rhyme. Ooh…and the lawnmower is definitely a robot, big time!"

"I'm…busy…Jake!" Finn snapped, still hammering away at Rattleballs. "I…told you could stay… but only if you kept quiet while I….trained!"

"What?" Jake asked, mockingly, stretching out his ear. "Sorry. Didn't quite catch that, bro. Maybe if I pour more chips in my mouth, you'll fight harder!" Jake stretched out his mouth like an anaconda, before downing the entire bag of cheesy, ranchy and greasy chips (I mean, seriously, man, did you really have to put that image on the page… and in a freaking junkyard, no less? Are you trying to scare away your already miniscule fanbase?). "Therf bertr! Kerm on, Fern! Yer karn der ert! Kerp at erm! Kerp at erm!"

"I said shut up, Jake!" Finn's sword was slowly rising up as Rattleballs began to push him to a more even position. "Oh, Glob!"

"What's the matter, Finn?" Rattleballs said with a smile. "Can't keep your focus?" Rattleballs pushed Finn away and retaliated with his own flurry of strikes.

"Gert em, Fern!" Jake shouted. "KERM ON FERN! GER FERN! GER FERN! GERN FERN!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Finn squeaked as he struggled to parry all of Rattleballs strikes, before inevitably being bent down on one knee from Rattleballs pushing down on him.

Jake swallowed his chips with a disgustingly loud gulp."Huh? Whats that?," He continued to mock. "Sorry, Finn, I still can't hear ya. He stretched his mouth all the way over to Finn's ear and whispered, "Maybe if Marcy were here to cheer you on, maybe then you could fight at your best and actually win, huh?"

At the sound of her name, a flash of Marcy's drop-dead gorgeous visage came into Finn's mind like a flashing white light, a wave of euphoric joy and excitement striking his heart. Yeah…what if she was here…that would be so…But, as Finn saw himself on the receiving end of Rattleballs' counter, his joy was soon replaced with red-hot rage, and he slapped Jake's mouth away with his robot hand, who yelped in pain. "AAAAAARGH! I ALREADY TOLD YOU JAKE,

I…DON'T… LIKE-LIKE… MARCY!" Finn angrily swung his sword madly around in a bout of

anger, a last ditch effort to finally beat Rattleballs. However, he lost his footing, his nerves and, most of all, his focus, giving Rattleballs ample oppurtunity to kick Finn onto the ground, taking his sword and scissoring the two blades to Finn's neck. Finn's anger soon turned into mopey, pouty-lipped disappointment, "Ah, man."

"five-hundred forty-four to zero," Rattleballs chuckled. He helped Finn back to his feet and handed him his sword. "I must admit, I actually thought you had me, that time."

"Hey!" Finn whined. "I so totally would have, if Jake hadn't butted in!"

"Well, serves you right for given me a fat lip," Jake rubbed his swollen mouth. He spat out a tooth onto his hand, and immediately brightened up. "Oooh! Definitely gonna get big bucks from the enamel pixies, this time!"

"Don't put the blame of failure on others, Finn," Rattleballs whirred. "It's your lack of focus that made you lose the fight. Remember rule number twenty-four?

Finn sighed, agitatedly. "Always be focused during a fight, even when the battlefield is hazy. I know, I know."

"Well, then," Rattleballs answered. "Maybe you should really put that to practice, next time."

"But, Jake…"

"And work on your cardio," Rattleballs interrupted. "You're not going to last long in a fight if you keep eating sweets."

"Aw, man," Finn said, lifting up his paunch to reveal is slight, but noticeable paunch. "I didn't think you'd actually noticed."

"Now," Rattleballs continued, pointing behind himself. "Proceed to the center most part of the junkyard. I want to see how your Whirlwind Maneuver is coming along."

Finn cringed at the question. Oh man! I totally forgot that was a part of the lesson plan, today! I was too busy hanging out with….her. He sighed and hung his head low. "Yes, Master Arbles." He turned to Jake as he went. "Jerk."

Jake chuckled. "I love you too, bro."

As Finn went out of ear shot, Rattleballs whispered, "Thank you for helping me with the lesson plan, Jake. I think it's really taught Finn a valuable lesson in focus and humility. That, and it won me a free victory.

Jack quietly laughed. "No problem, Arby. Anything to get under his skin."

"To be honest," Rattleballs mused. "I think the boy has gotten stronger over the years I've trained him. Much stronger. I think he may be able to beat me, one day…if he can just keep his focus."

"Oh, I think I know what's keeping him outta focus," Jake answered, suggestively. "Don't worry,

I'll get what's bugging him out of his system. You can count on it."

The three dude bros went to the center most part of the junkyard, which consisted of a large, square space surrounded by cars.

"Now, Finn," Rattleballs said. "I want you to demonstrate, for us, your Whirlwind Maneuver. You have been practicing, right?"

Finn feigned a huge smile across his face. "Y-yeah, man! I've been practicing, like, 5 times a day, at least!" He gave a weak chuckle. "So, uh, hehehe, yeah."

"Hmm," Rattleballs answered, doubtfully. "Then, please demonstrate the whole procedure, step by step please. Jake, take cover inside the "Safety Box."

And within the blink of an eye, Jake was already hiding inside an old outhouse reinforced with metal sheets, with red words spray painted on the door that read, "Safety Box: Smelly, but Secure," with a peephole inside the O. Jake stepped out the door covered head-to-toe in various pieces of junk for armor, his head being protected by a football helmet lamppost. "Way ahead of ya, Arby! Good luck, Finn!" He gave Finn a thumbs up before closing the door. He sniffed the inside of the outhouse. "Hey. This place doesn't actually smell all that bad. A little bit on the moldy side, but give me a week to redecorate, and it would make for a great coffee room."

Finn shook his head at his brother's weird habits. "What's with Jake and his stink obsession?" Finn turned back to Rattleballs. "Anyways, Reese's Pieces, prepare…to have your mind blown!" Let's see: Lift sword in the air. Close your eyes." He gave a deep breath, out and in, before continuing. "Clear your mind, spin, jump in the air and and let your body do the rest!" He did so, and in only a few seconds, he caused a massive blue-and-white hurricane that blew away numerous cars and other junk across the yard. When all was done, Finn descended to the ground with a satisfied smile, surprised at his level of destruction. "Huh. I did it!" He began to laugh. "I-I actually did it!"

"Wow! Dude! That was amazing!" Jake shouted from inside the outhouse. "That was totes a categories ninety-leven!"

Finn laughed with glee. "Thanks, Jake, I thought it was…" "That was terrible," Rattleballs said, flatly.

"What?" Finn mused. "But, I did everything you said to do. Sword, close your eyes, clear mind, spin, jump all that other junk."

"No, Finn," Rattleballs interjected, surprisingly agitated. He sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you. "Ugh… Let me demonstrate, and watch closely, will you?" Rattleballs breathed in and out a long, focused breath. "Breath and clear your mind, first. Raise your sword. Jump." As he did so Rattleballs seemed to ascend right into the very clouds, making Finn's jump look like a geriatric flea, by comparison. "Spin!" He shouted as to be heard over the growing amounts of wind. "And let your momentum do the rest!" Rattleballs spun so fast that the entire world seemed to be consumed by an enormous, red tornado (please don't sue us, DC. Or you, Pendelton Ward, for that matter), with cars, trash, a house, cows, various poultry, an old woman on a chair knitting a scarf, two men rowing a boat and even a cackling, green-skinned witch made their way across the crimson, swirling sky (Oh yeah…definitely getting sued, now).

Finn held onto a long piece of rebar lodged in the ground for dear life, his robot hand keeping him firmly secured as his normal hand made sure is awesome hat didn't leave his scalp. When his eyes weren't being bombard with dust and various other debris, he could see Rattleballs' spinning, red mass in the sky, moving so fast he appeared like a red, swirling ball. "Wow! That's...totes DISCOIDAL, man!"

As the tornado died down and the world became visible, once more, the junkyard now appeared like a dusty wasteland, with only a few cars and strewn-about scrap piles giving the slightest hint of its former self. The blast was so powerful that even the Safety Box was dismantled, with only three of the support beams, the toilet, and Jake's caboose atop that toilet still remaining. Half of Jake's armor, including his helmet, were blasted right off of him, and his eyes and mouth were widen at the utter awe of the situation. He fell right off the toilet a few seconds, later, stunned from the majesty of such a display. Finn's mouth, too, was hung agape, his clothes were torn in various places, and his hat was so devastated it could no longer remain atop his head. He popped his own jaw back in place.

"Wow…" Finn said, still completely dumbfounded. "That was…utterly elemental!" Finn started cheering and pumping his fists in the air from the awesomeness. "Woohoo! You totally wrecked this place!"

"You said it, brother!" Jake replied, equally amused by the feat, as he propped himself on the toilet. "That was completely, wild, Arby! That was a definitely a category eleventy-leven, fo sho!"

"You see, Finn," Rattleballs said, plainly. "Anyone who uses the Whirlwind Maneuver can create a simple tornado to disorient a small group of enemies or dismantle a few obstacles, but a true master has the power to decimate entire armies and landscapes within seconds. But before one can truly become of master of this technique, one must master his mind, first."

"Oh, I will, I will, Arbs!" Finn answered, excitedly, still pumping his fists in the air. "I will totes def master the Whirlwind Maneuver, and become a master, just like you!" Rattleballs cleared his throat to remind Finn of his place. "Oh, ahem. Uh, I mean..." Finn calmed himself, placed both hands together, and bowed to his sensei. "I will work on it, master. I will keep practicing until I'm ready to perform this feat."

Then, out of nowhere, Bubblegum's emergency pendants glowed and rang in Jake and Finn's pockets. Jake grabbed his first, the pink light almost blinding him. "Oh crud, Finn! The pendants are glowing hot pink! I think Princess Bubblegum might be in trouble!"

"Oh Glob!" Finn exclaimed, looking at his own pendant. "I think you're right! Sorry, R&B! We gotta scoot!" Finn almost immediately ran off in the direction of the Candy Kingdom. "We'll finish this later! I promise!"

"Alright! But, remember what we discussed, Finn!" Rattleballs called to him. "Clear your mind, sword, jump, spin, momentum!"

"Got it!" Finn called back. "Thanks Arbles!"

Rattleballs stroked his chinless metal chest, sensing something was not right. "Hmm. Strange." He pulled out the same pink pendant that Finn and Jake had from his dispenser and noticed that it didn't even glow at all. "If this was truly a dire situation, why would the princess warn Finn and Jake, but not me? Does she still not trust me? I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if that were the case." He looked back at the adventurers, who were now so far away that they looked like ants. He sighed. "I suppose if they need my help, they'll let me know." He sat in a yoga pose and began to meditate.

In only a few minutes, Finn and Jake reached the gates of the Candy Kingdom, both heavily panting, but with Finn standing up tall, hands on hips, and his face in the air, taking deep breaths, while Jake collapsed on the ground, panting frantically.

"Oh, man," Jake whined, breathily. "That was the…whew…longest run I ever went on these stubby legs. I shoulda just taken us over here in horsey mode."

"Naw, dude," Finn said, obviously tired, but still ready for some action. "This is much better for both our healths. Keeps up fit and strong." He flexed his robot arm.

"Easy…huff…for you to say," Jake complained. "You train with a freaking robot every dang week. I always to do my training with…well…I guess with a smaller robot…on a couch…while eating ice-cream."

Finn smiled smugly. "Serves you right, trying to mess with me, during practice."

"Hey," Jake whined. "I was just kidding, bro. I was just tryna get you to fight at your best…" Then Jake whispered under his breath, "And get you to admit that you like-like Marcy."

"What was that?" Finn asked, intently.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Jake said, propping himself back to his feet.

"Well, whatever," Finn dismissed. "We gotta go help PB!" They walked over to the gate, but noticed that there were no guards watching it. "What the heck? Where are the Banana Guards?"

"Well, maybe Peebles told them to pull to back to the castle. "Ya know, because they got overrun?"

"Hmm, maybe," Finn mused. "But, then why are there no signs of a fight. And why haven't the Gumball Guardians woken up to fight back?"

"Huh," Jake thought. "That's a very good point. Hmm." Jake pondered the situation.

"Well, we won't find out what happened, all the way out here so…" Finn ran backwards to prepare for a massive drop kick to the gate. "Let's storm the gates!" However, as Finn kicked the door, he felt a sharp pain in his foot. "YOW!" Finn hopped around, before falling down.

"Dude," Jake said. "Did you forget that the gates are made of solid, candy steel?"

"Oh…yeah," Finn said, wincing from the pain. "I forgot." Finn rose to his feet and gave a few deep breaths to ride out the pain. "Well, then can you bust open the gate, please?"

"Gladly!" Jake exclaimed, expanding his fist to ten times its original size.

"JAKEY…PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!" And with little effort the gates opened wide.

"Thanks, dude," Finn said, simply.

"No problem, dude," Jake punched his fist into his other hand. "Now, let's go save the Princess!"

"Ah yeah!" Finn said, giving his brother knucks. "Let's save the kingdom!"

The brothers charged in, Finn holding his banana sword, while Jake held out his mallet hands. However, they both stopped in their tracks when they realized that the Candy Kingdom was perfectly intact.

"Huh," Finn mused. "No sign of a fight here, either."

"This is getting pretty spoopy, man," Jake whimpered. "I really hope this isn't some form of psychological warfare. Man, I really hate it when the enemy uses psychological warfare. It's always so…psycho, and…well…logical. I much prefer a straight up fight, ya know?

fightological warfare."

"Yeah. Me too, bro. Me too," Finn answered. His eyes darted from side to side, scanning the Candy Peoples' house doors for any sign of a threat. "Hmm. Then, I guess will just have to…" Finn dropped kick one of the doors open. "Bring the fight to them!" He held up his sword in preparation for a fight. "Come on out, you cowards!" However, there was still no answer. "Huh. Well, maybe there…" He dropped kick another house door open. "Hiding in here! Come on out so I can grant you a warrior's death!" However, there was no answer or attack there, either. "Dang it. Well, maybe they're…" Finn, again, kicked a house door down. "In this house!" Again, no answer. "Ugh! These psychological, war-faring dudes are getting on my nerves!"

As Finn kept jumping to every house to kick its door in, Jake began sniffing the air and the ground for any sign of the Candy People or their possible assailants. However, all he could smell was a slight whiff of the Candy People's scent, implying they've been gone for a while, as well as the candy buildings and street. There was no scent that was decidedly not very candy-like. Jake frowned. "Hey Finn! Quit kicking people's doors in!"

"Hiya!" Finn said, kicking another door in, before realizing what Jake said. "Oh! Hehehe! Sorry, Jake! I guess kicking down people's doors was more fun than I realized. So, what's up?"

"I don't think any of the Candy People are here, dude. It's like they completely disappeared."

"What? No way, man. They've gotta be here. You don't just evacuated an entire kingdom of peeps in the course of two hours. That's just totes cray-cray. Finn stroked the stubble on his chin with his robot hand, pondering what could've happen in that short amount of time. "Hmm. Hey! Maybe they got turned invisible by a grumpy, old wizard dude."

"I doubt it, Finn. If they really were invisible, I woulda smelled them a mile away."

"Huh," Finn realized. "Good point. Hmm. Well, what should we do?"

"I dunno, man," Jake worried. "But we better do something, fast. Who knows what sorta danger Pee Bubs and the Candy People are…" Then Jake's nose began to twitch. "Wait a minute…sniff sniff…sniff…

"What is it, Jake?" Finn inquired. "Did you catch something with your ol' factory gun?"

"Yeah," Jake answered, still sniffing the air. "And it smells like…yuck! moldy bread?"

"Well, where's it coming from?"

"I think its…sniff sniff…He descended to the ground, and turned completely around. "sniff…sniff…over there! Towards the Candy Castle. It's faint, but it's there!"

"Well then, let's follow it!" Finn grabbed onto his brother's legs and used him like a metal detector.

"Beep-boop, Beep-boop, Beep-boop," Jake said, doing his worst impression of a metal detector. "Any closer, Jake?" Finn asked.

"Turned me a little to the left." Finn did so, and Jake sniffed even harder. Be-boop, be-boop, beboop. Keep going left." Finally, Jake made it a pile of moldy bread crumbs and gasped, fearfully. "Bebebebebebebebebebebe!"

"You found it?" Finn asked, excitedly.

"Yeah!" Jake shrieked. "And I think I know what it is!"

"What? What is it, Jake?"

"Oh my glob!" Jake cried. "It's the petrified remains of Cinnamon Bun! And now they're using his flesh to lure us into a trap! They really are using psychological warfare on us! That's it! Game over! Game over, man!" Jake began rocking back and forth, sucking his thumb.

Finn raspberried him. "No, its not, man. It's just CB's dandruff. You know how he is. He can't never keep himself together, mentally or physically."

Almost in an instant, Jake began to relax. "Huh. Uh…hehehe…yeah. I knew that."

Finn pondered. "Hmm. I got it! Maybe CB intentionally left his dandruff here so he could lead us to the Candy Kingdom for a surprise birthday party!"

"Hmm. Maybe," Jake doubtfully thought. "But, you do realize that neither of our birthdays are today, right?"

"Hmm, oh yeah," Finn answered. "Well, maybe its PB's birthday party, and she's making a super-sleuth-themed party, and we have to use our skills to find out where she is?" He flipped around, pretending to fire a gun.

"That doesn't seem likely either, man," Jake worried. "Old Pee Bubs is usually pretty forward when it comes to inviting guests to her shindigs…plus I'm not even sure if she has a birthday, either. At least, not that I'm aware of."

"Well," Finn said, still trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe it's a special kinda birthday party where she's celebrating her one-thousandth-something year of living, and she's celebrating it with the other Candy Peeps in another dimension. I dunno, man. She's really old, and I still don't know how Candy royalty celebrates their birthdays…or even if PB has any preceders…or suceeders, for that matter."

"Man, now, you're just sounding crazy," Jake said. He sighed. "But, ok. If this is some kinda surprise birthday party, then I guess we can try to act surprised. But we better stay cautious, ok? I don't want my skin ending up as somebody's sock puppet."

"Psshaw," Finn answered. "You're dealing with Mr. Cautious himself."

Finn gave a karate yell as he smashed his robo fist through the door of the Candy Castle. "We're here, Princess!"

Jake face-palmed himself. "Right. Shoulda known not to trust you with stealth."

Finn blushed. "Sorry. It's just not in my nature to be conspicuous, bro." Finn looked around the ballroom, but there were no lights, or balloons, or party hats, or Candy People of any kind. Still, Finn kept his dopey smile in hopes that it was all a ruse. "Ok! Princess! We're here! You can yell 'SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE' now!" Finn kept a hand to his ear. "Any second, now!" He kept listening. "Any second, now!" Still, he listened for any noise. "Any se…"

"Dude, I don't think they're in the ball room," Jake interrupted, agitatedly. "We woulda seen them, by now."

"Well, it was worth a shot, man," Finn, slightly embarrassed. Soon, however, he spotted the breadcrumbs again, leading to a trap door. "Hey, look! The crumbs are going into one of PB's secret entrances. Maybe the surprise is in there."

"Oh, no, man!" Jake complained. "This a definitely a trap! It's like Dad always said, 'Jake, mah boi, never, ever go into a trap door, unprepared," Jake said in a terrible impression of Joshua, turning the top of his head into a fedora. "There's always something awful on the other side." Finn grabbed his hand and ran for the trapdoor.

"Come on, scaredy cat!" Finn shouted. "Where's your sense of…" They both descended into the trap door, and began sliding down a large pipe. "ADVENTUUUUUUURE!"

"Oh glob! Oh glob! Oh glob!" Jake cried. "Why do you always have to leap before you look!"

"Because leaping is way more fun!" Finn yelled back in joy. After a few more seconds of laughter from Finn and the horrified screams of Jake, the brothers fell with a painful oof! On Princess Bubblegum's bedroom floor, the only light source being from the light outside. Finn lifted his head and turned to Jake with a smile. "See, Jake? We're still in one piece."

Jake moaned in pain. "Yeah, well, my facial bones don't feel in one piece." Jake shook his head, and tried to reshape his face.

Though it took him a moment, Finn finally found the breadcrumb trail, again, and it led to PB's workbench, a big pink note with red crayon written all over it. "Look! This is where the trail ends!"

"Harumph," Jake whined. "And still no sign of the Princess or her peeps."

"Don't lose hope, my dude," Finn assured him. "Maybe this is all a part of big "yeaster egg" hunt. Hehehehe. See what I did there?" Jake simply just frowned at him, to which Finn just decided to cough his discomfort out. "We just gotta grab the note and find the next clue!" As Finn tried to run for the note, Jake stretched out his arm and held Finn in place.

"And just in case it isn't, and is, in fact, a really elaborate trap," Jake said, with all seriousness. "Then I think this is the one time we DON'T go running towards an object without being careful, ok?"

"Hmph," Finn pouted. He turned from Jake and folded his arms. "You're no fun at all."

Jake stretched his arm, slowly and cautiously, across the room, making sure he didn't trip any wires and the like. He delicately plucked the note from the workbench, and slowly reeled his arm back towards them. Jake smiled, smugly at Finn.

Finn raspberried him. "Lame-o! So, what does it say?"

Jake cleared his throat. "It says," Jake began. "'Dere Fyn and Jaik…me and the candee peepull are been being held hostaj at the lends of bul…jeer…ia…come and saiv us, plez, love bublegumm.'" Jake eyed the note, questionably. "Hmm. Definitely not Poible's penmanship. Heck! Even I have better grammar than this."

For a moment, Finn began to take this whole thing more seriously. "Hmm. I think you may be right about this whole trap biz, bro. Why the heck would PB leave such a crummy note to tell us where she is?"

"And for that matter, what the heck even is 'Bul-jeer-ia', and how the heck do we find it?" As Jake scanned the note again, he caught site of a tiny posted note at the back. "'Saury…Naught inuff rewm, inside.'" He flipped the not over on the bacl. "'Pee Ess; chek the wurc binch 2 faind map to Buljeeria." Jake stretched his arm again across the room to the work bench, splitting his arm into smaller arms to explore every nook and cranny of the work bench. After a moment of blind searching, he finally felt a piece of rough paper. "U-R-E-KAAAA!" Jake yelled like a bird. And he pulled his arm back to them, revealing the paper to be a map.

"Alright!" Finn shouted, excitedly. "Nice work, Jake! So, how do we get there?"

Jake eyed the map, carefully, spotting a large island off the eastern coast of the Ice Kingdom, written with the same red crayon as the one on the note that red, "Bulggera". "Hmm. If map is right, and it may or may not be, it says we gotta go east of the Ice Kingdom, right into the Unknown Regions. The island's pretty dang big, so we can't miss it."

"Alright!" Finn shouted with determination, slamming his robot hand into his fleshy one. "Ouch! Then we'll just go to this Buljeeria place, find out who's behind all this evil biz, kick his butt, and save our friends!"

Jake gave a nod of approval. "You know it, bro! What time is it? It's…"

They fist bumped each other and both said, "ADVENTURE TIME!"

"Alright!" Finn shouted, as he ran for the bedroom door. "Let's go!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Jake said, restraining him by his backpack. "We still need to pack for the trip ahead, bro. We can't enter unfamiliar territory without the proper tools or the right amount of snacks." Jake rubbed his belly. "No snackies make Jakey go attacky, members?" "Oh yeah," Finn agreed. "You're right, my dude." He cleared his throat. "Well then, it's"

They bumped fists, again, and both said, "PREPPING FOR THE ADVENTURE WITH TOOLS,

WEAPONS, AND OTHER SNACKERALS BEFORE GOING OFF INTO DANGEROUS TERRITORY TIME!"

"Right! But, one more thing," Jake said, suggestively. "Do you want to bring your GIRLFRIEND along for the adventure, too?"

Finn blushed madly from the question, tempted to slap his brother right in the face, but with a calm breath, he patted his brother on the shoulder, instead. "Naw, bro. We got this, no probs. Besides, today's Tuesday, the day Marcy hangs out with Ice King, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Jake remembered. "Keep forgetting her and that big nerd are really close. Man, I still haven't gotten used to that fact." After a long awkward pause, Jake cleared his throat. "Well, then I guess it's just us guys, again! Now, you sure you won't be lonely for this adventure, bro?" he asked, patronizingly. "You want me to cut off a lock of her hair for you to sniff when she's away…."

Finn turned an even brighter shade of red, but before Jake could say anymore, he simply forced out a laugh and shoved him out the bedroom door. "Shut up, bro!"

Next time on "Return of the Undead Jerkwad," Marceline gets up to speed, and the adventure begins! Well, that and she goes through her issues, like usual. 'Til next time, peeps! :D