Mini-sode

Prince Gumball has hit upon the perfect red velvet cupcake recipe! But when his new creations start to go missing, he's left entirely bewildered as he attempts to catch the thief.

"Aha! Finally, they're perfect!" The candy prince cried joyfully as he took a bite from his sour cream frosting-covered red velvet cupcakes that he'd been laboring for a week to make just right. He had the old-style sour cream frosting down to an art, and had finally hit upon the right recipe for the batter. He hurried to his oven to put in the next batch, and only minutes later when he returned, he found the pan empty. With a gasp, he looked all around for evidence of what had happened, only finding a trail of crumbs leading to the window. He hurried to the window and gazed out. The first person he saw was Cinnamon Bun.

"Cinnamon Bun! Did you see anyone pass by with cupcakes?!" He called out to her.

"Oooh, cupcakes? Can I have one?" She hopped up and down with excitement.

"Of course, but did you s-"

"Cupcakes! Cupcakes!"

"Please, d-"

"CUPCAKES!"

"When they're cooled!" He told her with an exasperated sigh. He heard a loud clang behind him and turned to see the cooling pan had dropped to the floor and the six new cupcakes had fallen apart and made a mess. "Oh, no!" He gasped, his brows furrowing in confusion.

The thief must've burnt himself! He thought, serves him right! I know how to catch him!

The prince set to making a new batch of goodies, this time pumpkin muffins, and by the time they were done and out cooling, Prince Gumball was already planning his strategy. He laid them on the windowsill and pretended to hear someone calling. "Oh! I'm coming!" He jogged out, but stopped right beyond the arch, peering back in just enough to see the pan. He watched for several minutes, but no one came to take them. With a long sigh, he entered and poked his head out the window.

"Cinnamon Bun! I made muffins!" but she was nowhere to be found. She must've forgotten about the cupcakes.

He decided to go back to making his new cupcakes, baking several batches at once without a thought for the thief, reasoning that they'd probably stolen all they wanted. But when he turned his back for just a moment after frosting a new batch, he heard another pan clatter. He expected to see the cupcakes smashed on the floor, but it was just the pan. The sweets were gone. Again, he tried to catch the thief, laying out a hot pan of the cupcakes and hurrying out with the same ruse as before. When he peeked back in he saw the pan begin to float and he gasped, hearing a quiet yelp. The pan clattered to the floor and Prince Gumball jumped in and caught hold of the invisible thief.

"Aha! Show yourself, vagabond!" He cried out as he fell with the wriggling invisible being still in his grasp,

"Get offa me!" Marshall Lee yelped as he hit the floor with the candy Prince's full weight on top of him. Gumball was so surprised that the vampire was easily able to slip away. Knowing he was caught, Marshall Lee floated lazily up to the ceiling once he'd calmed himself, giving Gumball a smug frown.

"Marshall Lee! What on earth do you think you're doing, stealing my cupcakes!" Gumball demanded as he jumped to his feet with his hands planted firmly on his hips.

"They're red, dude. I eat red."

"You could've asked, thief!"

"It was way too much fun to pass up seeing the look on your face when they disappeared," Marshall Lee reasoned as if it were entirely normal.

"Hmph, well, see if I make that red velvet cake for your birthday now!"

"Huh?" Marshall sat up from his lounging position. "How d'you know about my birthday?"

"Next week. Fionna told me."

"How the glob does she know?!"

"Your calendar, she said."

"Nosy little bunny," Marshall growled under his breath.

"Now look here, if you wanted some sweets, you could've asked. I need someone to taste-test for me anyway while Fionna's away exploring."

"I'm not gonna hang around while you bake like she does."

"You don't have to. I'll let you know when I finish more."

"… I'm not sorry for this, yknow," Marshall Lee reminded the candy prince as if looking for a reaction that he'd expected but not gotten.

"I know you're not, but I forgive you anyway. If Fionna sees good in you, then so can I."

"Ugh…" Marshall stuck his forked tongue out.

"Now then…" Gumball returned to his counter, but he paused when he went to reach for the ingredients. "Oh… oh no…"

"What?" Marshall Lee raised an eyebrow, looking over at the prince who'd frozen in place.

"I… forgot the recipe…"

"Here," Marshall Lee landed beside him, pulling a notepad from beside Gumball's cookbooks to begin scribbling down a list of ingredients.

"… You were here when I came up with the recipe?"

"Yeah. Don't get all excited, I was bored and I was looking for red stuff in your castle that I could eat."

"… And I thought you never paid attention," Gumball smiled, patting Marshall's shoulder. Normally, Marshall Lee might've hissed at the prince not to touch him, but this time, he let it go, tearing off the note from the list and handing it over. "You don't know how much your help means to me, Marshall Lee. Thank you kindly."

"Don't get used to it."

"Of course not, my friend."

I've always enjoyed the Marceline-Bubblegum relationship in Adventure Time, especially in 'What Was Missing' and the song 'I'm Just Your Problem'. I'm aware that in the comics of Fionna and Cake, Gumball and Marshall Lee are on fair terms whereas the 'Bad Little Boy' episode shows them as similar to the girls. In my head, they've got a relationship halfway between the two where Gumball knows, like Fionna, that Marshall's not all bad, and Marshall likes to prank him seeing as it's so entertaining, but still helps and respects him now and then. This was just a fun little exploration into their relationship in the form of what I like to call a 'mini-sode'. I hope you guys enjoy, and leave me a review with your thoughts.

P.S.

Be prepared for some serious sad.

-Taiylor Wallace