Fell For Her Song

Chapter 7: Their Wager

Finn and Jake continued crouching towards their prey as it became closer with every step they took. Finally, when it was only feet away from them, Jake jumped up and pounced on it, and Finn landing on Jake.

"Awh, man. It's just another rock. You can toss that one, Jake," Finn said, straightening his shirt. Jake put the rock down gently.

"Okay. Now what?" Jake asked, looking towards Finn expectantly.

"I wonder if Gumball has some kind of gym..." Finn answered.

"Bubblegum!" Finn and Jake called as they walked down the halls of the castle, searching for their friend. They both opened the double doors that led to the kitchen and gasped.

"Prince!" Finn exclaimed as he rushed to the prince sleeping on the floor of the kitchen. Gumball sat up with a start looking around alarmed, yet still drowsily.

"Prince, how long have you been here?" Finn asked in worry as he helped the sore prince up. Gumball popped his back and stretched before he realized it was morning.

"Oh my Glob, Finn! What time is it? I was up late last night thinking about M- ... making... breakfast... that I guess I fell asleep! What time is it? Oh, I asked that already..." Gumball asked, discombobulated.

"Slow down there, Gumball. It's still pretty early," Jake reassured.

"Yeah, Prince, not even your chefs are awake yet," Finn added. Gumball sighed in relief. If his chefs weren't even awake, surely Marceline wasn't either. Gumball realized he left food out on the counter and quickly threw it away. He continued with his usual chores, yet still, the two friends had not gone away.

"Um... May I help you two with something?" Gumball asked, turning towards them awkwardly.

"Oh, well, yeah. We were going to ask Bubblegum to show us the way, but I guess since this is your castle... do you have some sort of gym or something here?" Finn asked awkwardly. Gumball chuckled. Finn was just like Fionna, it must be a human thing.

"Yes, of course. Surely you will challenge Fionna in a duel?" Gumball returned to his cleaning.

"Fionna? She does that stuff?"

"Yeah. She's quite the adventuress." Finn raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Really? I didn't quite catch that the night of the ball. She didn't seem like that kind of person- to be an adventurer, I mean."

"Well, she does. She even has a hat like you, Finn. Except, y'know, it's a bunny, not a bear." Gumball grinned as he heard Finn gasp and scramble out the door with Jake on his heels. Assuming that Finn was making his way to Fionna's tree house, he grabbed his telephone and made a wake up call to Fionna.

After his call, he looked around his kitchen and groaned. It was a complete mess.

"Um, excuse me, Sire," Peppermint Maid came in, "You have a letter from the Lumpy Space Prince." Gumball arched an eyebrow, but took the letter from his maid. Usually Lumpy Space Prince would just call him.

Dear Gummy,

Sry I cudn't make it 2 ur party, I was like, doing somthing else. But if you come to this nxt party of mine, I totes swearies to come to your nxt party. Got it?

I don't usually rite letters and I totes frgot how 2 do this, so um... It's like round sunset or somthing, I wanna throw a welcome party to your friends from Ooo. Its in the woods somwere... bye

-LSP

Gumball shook his head and chuckled. He put a magnet over the poorly written letter on the fridge to remind him.

Marceline awoke as she heard footsteps coming from outside of her brother's house. She peeked out of the window above her bed that faced the cave's entrance and saw Finn and Jake passing by the mouth. They didn't enter, just walked passed it. Marceline blinked at her friends as they disappeared from her vision before stretching in the bed. She scratched her back and smacked her lips.

"Alright, let's get out of bed…" Marceline took the covers off of her legs and stood up. After looking around the room she flopped back onto the bed and fell back asleep.

Gumball scrambled to look for something decent for Marceline to have for breakfast. Last night was the most joyous, and the scariest, moment of his life. What started out as a scary monster in his closet ended with Marceline becoming his friend. And they kissed! His heart was sent aflutter every time he thought of it. He was practically dancing through his kitchen, looking for something to make. He was still in the clothes he wore last night, not wanting to change them because they smelt like Marceline, too.

After an hour of looking for something decent to make, Gumball finally shrieked in frustration. "Will I never think of something efficient to make?" He threw his arms up in the air and yelled.

"Why don't I just call Marceline? See what she would like for breakfast!" Gumball was about to grab the telephone on the wall next to him, when he took a glance at the clock. It read: 5:34.

Gumball yelled out again. There's no way Marceline would be up at this hour. He paced in front of the phone, glancing at the clock to see if she would be up yet. 5:35.

Aargh! Could time be any slower! Gumball thought angrily.

"Gumball! What is the matter? You look awful!" Bubblegum entered the kitchen in shorts, a t-shirt, and Marceline's converse.

"I am fine, Bonni, where are you going?" Gumball replied confused.

"Oh, I'm going with Lady on her double date with Jake, Lord Monochromicorn, and Cake," Bubblegum answered.

"Oh, okay. Tomorrow we shall go to my lab!" Gumball said.

"Of course, Gumball." Bubblegum hugged him and turned away to leave.

Gumball sighed and shook his head. Gumball ran a hand over his thick bubblegum hair and felt it weld back into place as he huffed and widened his eyes in a bit of stress before he finally decided that he would make a pink tart with strawberry filling. This will take a bit of time but Marceline will be worth it! And the sweet prince got to work...

Marceline shot forward and gasped as she woke up this time. She felt her hairs flatten out as they fell around her face and she pushed them back The digital clock on the nightstand read 9:44 AM. Marceline looked around the room groggily as she recalled her dream. Oh, wait... and she smacked herself in the head.

"That wasn't a dream!" Marceline yelled out in frustration, "That was really you and that blasted prince! Why did you do that!" Marceline buzzed around her room. "It felt like a dream though..." Marceline admitted, floating down to lean against the foot of her bed on the floor. "It was too magical to be real. And we kissed..." Marceline surprised herself with a smile as she feathered her fingertips over her lips. She recalled all the things that happened the night before and chuckled in defeat. She was falling for that crazy gum ball. Gumball... Marceline actually giggled at his name. He kissed her back!

Alright gusher girl, get your ass up and let shit play out as they do. Marceline thought.

She puckered her lips as she thought about just letting her and princey let things happen. She sighed in defeat. She knew she wanted to, but she was afraid to. She rolled her shoulders and popped all her joints.

I guess it's time to try something new and face your fears! Now don't be a wuss!

Marceline got dressed for the daytime and picked up her bass. She was going to go have some breakfast with the royal pain.

After Marceline pulled her shirt over her head she looked towards the ladder way leading downstairs. Knock knock. "Do you have clothes on?" Marshall Lee called from under her. "Yeah, you dip-thong. You can get dressed, I'm going back to the castle."

"Okay, dearest sister, love, munchkin, pumpy-lumpin-umpkin..." Marshall continued with the baby names until Marceline started saying them back. "Sure thing, cutey brother, chubby wittle tomato saucepan..."

"...sweety pie nugget heart..."

"... vase fulla lusciousness..."

"...galactic rapper baby..."

"YOU ARE THE SWEETEST LITTLE HOT TAMALE..."

"NO! YOU ARE THE FLUFFIEST SLICE UH' CAKE..."

"See, ya, later, Marshall, I'll be back... sometime..." They high-fived each other whilst flying in different directions and Marceline slipped on her hat. As soon as Marceline was within a mile of the palace, she could already hear the clashing of metal coming from the Candy Kingdom. Thinking of the worst, Marceline put a devious smile on her face and zipped down to the castle.

"Take this! You won't beat me, Finn the Human!"

"Hah! You better eat your own words! I'm not losing to a girl!" After Finn had said this, Marceline broke through the window to the palace's Training Courts and roared. "Won't lose to a girl, huh, Finn?"

Finn observed Marceline as his next challenge and smiled in anticipation. "It's on! Me and Fi are gonna whoop. Your. Butt!"

"I was hoping you'd say that, Finn," Marceline said, cockily, and closed the drapes to the Training Courts so that the sun's rays couldn't enter the room. Candles everywhere were lit and the sunlight only peeked between the curtains. Marceline threw her daytime gear into a corner and planted her feet on one side of the Courts. The humans positioned themselves, their swords at the ready, in a defensive squat. Peppermint Maid pressed the buzzer, Start.

As Gumball walked to the Training Courts, holding a tray of different meat patties and fruits, he whistled happily. There was nothing he could think of that would ruin his day. There only seemed to be good things to make them better. Lady, Cake, Lord M, and Jake all seemed to be getting along. Finn and Fionna are having fun together. Bonnibel enjoyed the company of his best friends. And Marceline had accepted their friendship! He sighed in satisfaction. He chuckled as he stood outside of the door to the Training Courts, hearing the clashing of medal and playful flying insults. Without looking through the window that stood before him, he pushed the door open with his backside. He turned around with an uplifted smile before his face fell along with the tray of foods. Before him stood a darkened room, and a big hairy monster standing in the middle of his Training Courts, battling his friends. Worst of all there was a giant gaping hole in one of the windows!

Gumball let out a high-pitched shriek before grabbing a nearby sword and charging on instinct. After hundreds of years fighting in wars and one-on-one combat, Gumball knew a thing or two about fighting. Pushing aside his friends, Gumball let out a battle cry as he flung himself towards the enemy. Aiming carefully, Gumball swung his sword and sliced the monster in the thigh. It let out a shriek of pain before sitting down and clutching its wounded leg.

"Damn, Gumball! Go easy!" The monster cried. Gumball lowered his sword and widened his eyes as he recognized the voice of Marceline. He gasped and let the sword fall to his feet as he rushed to her side.

"Oh my glob, Marceline! I am so sorry!" Gumball apologized. Marceline shrank down to her regular size and hissed. She shed no blood, (I really have no idea if she bleeds or not!) but there was deeply teared flesh. Marceline hid her smirk though, and continued to rock back and forth until Gumball was only feet away from her. At the last minute, Marceline healed the wound on her leg and exploded into an even bigger and stronger beast with the body and wings of a bat and the head and tail of a wolf. Gumball was pushed back by the sudden explosion and sat in shock next to the sword he had dropped. Finn and Fionna ran passed the shocked prince and charged head on towards the monster, cheering and whooping.

Processing the situation, Gumball placed his hand gently over his sword's handle. He smirked. Standing up, Gumball cried out, "It's... ON!" And he ran along with his friends towards the "evil creature."

Marceline pushed Finn and Fionna away from her with one swing of her tail, but when Gumball started running towards her, she shrank back to her usual form and brought out her axe bass. As the two weapons clashed, Gumball stared into Marceline's playful eyes. He smiled back at her, causing him to throw her off and become confused. As Marceline lost her train of thought, she weakened her pushing against his sword and Gumball swung his leg around Marceline's ankles and tripped her. He pushed her to the ground and straddled her, raising his sword.

Marceline was trapped and she knew it.

Gumball thrust his sword downwards and it landed right above her head. The tip was buried in the ground. Gumball kept his hands on the handle of the sword above him as he lowered his face close to Marceline's.

"1 to 0. Me," Gumball whispered with a smirk. Marceline's face was twisted with astonishment and embarrassment. She was so flustered that she was barely breathing and didn't notice when Gumball rolled off of her.

When she did finally snap out of it she got up and dusted herself off. She looked at Gumball who was down on the ground, kneeling to pick up the food that had fallen when he first walked in. Marceline huffed and marched her way to her axe. She had thrown it across the room when she was tripped.

"Wow, Gumball. I didn't know you could fight like that!" Marceline heard Fionna exclaim.

"Yeah, you just gotta know your opponent," Gumball answered, winking at Marceline when she looked at him. She turned away, blushing in both embarrassment and at the fact that Gumball winked at her.

"We should take a break, though. Marceline, I made you breakfast."

Marceline slung her instrument around her shoulder and turned around. She raised an eyebrow at Gumball. "Just me?" Marceline questioned as she walked to him. "What about everyone else?"

"Well I would have made something for everyone else if they didn't eat already. So it will just be you and me this morning."

Marceline was nervous, but didn't let it show. But she did let her displeasure show through. "What about Bubblegum? How about Lady Rainicorn?" She asked frantically.

"Bubblegum is with Lady Rainicorn who is also with Jake and Cake and Lord Monochromicorn (GEEZ!)" Gumball explained awkwardly. He didn't plan on Marceline being this ticked about eating breakfast alone with him. "But Marceline, if you don't want to sit with me... I can eat alone. It's no problem.'' Gumball told Marceline sincerely.

But Marceline, remembering what she told herself that morning, spoke up. ''Oh, I'll sit with you... I was just wondering why you only made breakfast for me... and no one else... Let's eat Gumball!''

"Oh... Well that would be lovely! Come Marceline! I worked very hard on your breakfast and I very much want you to try it!" Gumball cheered as he took fast steps towards the kitchen and Marceline floated nearby.

"After breakfast I'm gonna beat you. Just you wait, princey," Marceline hissed at Gumball.

"Oh, Marceline. I've been training for war all of my life, I'm fairly sure that I have more experience fighting," Gumball teased as he dumped the wasted food down a trash chute. He knew this would infuriate Marceline. And he was right.

"Wow, Gumball. I'm surprised you're hungry after all of the bullshit you're so full of," Marceline challenged.

"Oh, I will eat as much as I want. I don't plan on losing, Marceline." Gumball opened the doors to the dining room and let Marceline come in first politely. Marceline rolled her eyes as she flew into the dining room and sat down at the spot that Gumball assigned her to which was two seats away from Gumball's spot at the end of the table.

"Marceline! You don't need to sit there now. There's no one else here! Come here! Sit by me!" Gumball exclaimed friendly.

"Alright..." Marceline said in response. She sat closer to the prince on his right side. She stared at him awkwardly, having nothing to say.

"So..." Gumball started.

"...So?" Marceline replied.

"Um... How was your morning so far?" Gumball asked. Marceline's morning with Marshall Lee flashed before her eyes.

"Normal..." Marceline replied, trailing off. They sat be each other in silence for moments. Marceline picked up her bass and decided to start strumming the chords on it. Gumball watched.

Gumball watched Marceline's hair fall over her shoulders. He watched her fingers softly pluck at the chords of the sharp instrument. The music was beautiful. Gumball could see Marceline was so dedicated to this song. He watched her eyelids twitch from side to side, watching each hand, each finger pick at a chord. He saw her lashes make little shadows on her cheek bones. Gumball forgot why he was sitting alone in a grand dining room with a beautiful enchantress. Everything else blurred away and he only focused on Marceline and her perfections. A tiny, peaceful grin spread across his lips as he continued to stare. Marceline's music took Gumball back to their kiss. It took him back to when Marceline told him that she liked him, too, and it gave him light goosebumps.

Marceline could feel Gumball's stare on her. She was blushing and refused to look up to meet his gaze. She played a few chords extra loud as her stomach growled. Even though she would like some food now, she appreciated Gumball's undivided attention. She continued strumming until she could take no more of her hunger. Marceline looked up, but was shocked to see Gumball so close. She looked deep into Gumball's eyes and was trapped. His eyes sparkled. She examined his perfect features. She looked over his flawless, smooth face. Her eyes fell onto his lips before she snapped her eyes away from them.

Marceline shook out of it first and looked away. She put her axe bass down next to her seat.

"Um.. right... I should order our food now..." Gumball said, blushing. He got up and walked over to the double doors leading to the kitchen. He could have simply yelled, but he was blushing immensely and didn't want Marceline to see.

When Gumball returned with the food, his blush had faded away. He set Marceline's food down in front of her and set his food down in his place and they both began eating in silence... plotting how they would win their next fight.

As the two finished their awkward breakfast, they headed back to the Training Courts. When they opened the doors, they found Finn and Fionna sitting next to each other sweating and panting.

"Oooh, what happened in here?" Marceline asked suggestively. "You two are sweating pretty hard," Marceline teased the humans while wiggling her eyebrows. The two friends widened their eyes and crawled away from each other, blushing intensely. Marceline laughed at them.

Behind her, Gumball saw that Marceline was teasing his friends and shook his head and 'tsk'ed' at her. "Now, now, Marceline," Gumball began, putting his hand on her shoulder, "Don't tease the adventurers! That wasn't very nice!"

"What? I'm just trying to have some fun!"

"You're 'fun' is rude!"

"It was a joke!"

"I'll tell you what's a joke! Your bad behavior!"

"Excuse me? How dare you!"

"Oh, please. You're sense of humor is... is... well it's distastful!"

"Distasteful! You! You're just like Bubblegum!"

"I am not! There is a great difference between me and Bonnibel!"

"Hah! Name... five! The only one I can think of is that you wear pants most of the time! And don't say the difference is that you're a male because I'd say you're hardly a man!" With that, Marceline flipped her hair into Gumball's face and pulled off her axe bass. She smirked as she heard Gumball sputtering in astonishment behind her. Her smirk grew as she heard the sound of a sword being pulled out of its case. She was planning on enraging the sweet prince so much that he would be blinded by his own fury to be thinking about his plans during their fight.

Gumball marched to his side of the Training Courts, sword in hand, and waited for Marceline to get to her side. She chuckled as she floated to her side.

"Alright, Marceline!" Gumball shouted from his corner, "Here are the rules! You can't use any of your powers! You have to have as many powers as I do!"

"Can I... Bite?" Marceline asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Can I... Kiss you?" At this, Marceline smirked. She watched as Gumball's eyes widened and a twitch of a smile appeared on his lips. But he dropped his sword. Gumball was blushing incredibly. He took a step back but froze as he watched Marceline come closer to heart began racing and his breathing heavy. Marceline stood before him, their faces inches apart. Marceline's eyes were half opened as she tilted her head around his face, as if examining it. She put her tiny hands on his face and grinned faintly, as if she were happy. She sighed and her breath spread across Gumball's face. It smelled of her sugary tart breakfast and was oh-so warm. Finally, Gumball was convinced that they were going to kiss, for Marceline was closing in. Gumball closed his eyes and leaned in. Only to find that he was kissing nothing. Marceline stood at the far end of the Training Courts. Gumball suddenly felt cold. Marceline's warm breath wasn't surrounding him any longer, and her presence was gone.

"Are you ready to start this thing, GummyBalls?"

"No, wait. What are we fighting for? What do we win?"

"Bragging rights, now c'mon!"

"No, no, Marceline, we must win something..."

"Ugh, fine! If I win, you have to... be my henchman for the day!" Marceline exclaimed, planning a day much like she did with Finn. And Finn, remembering that day, smiled.

"Oh... Okay... But if I win, and I will, you are going to... No... I'm going to teach you how to... do... things! Yes! Things!"

"Ew!" Fionna cried. But Marceline just rolled her eyes and put the butt of her bass on the ground so she could lean on it. "What kinds of 'things' are you talking about, GummyBalls?"Marceline asked in a bored tone.

"Things... with me..." Gumball replied nervously.

"Alright... let's get this party started..." Marceline turned off the lights again and lit the candle with her telekinesis.

"Okay, Marceline best four out of five?" Gumball called from across the room as he picked up his sword.

"Yessssstttthhhh..." Marceline hissed quietly, sending a shiver down Gumball's spine. Marceline approached with her axe out in front of her and Gumball did the same with his shining sword. Their friends watching from the corner by the door.

Gumball made the first move and charged head on to Marceline's axe and the clash echoed in the room. Pushing Gumball away, Marceline caused Gumball to stumble away, but he managed to stay upright. She dashed at him and jumped in the air, slicing the axe through Gumball's hair.

Gumball shrieked but didn't bother touching his hair, knowing that that could be a diversion to distract him. So there he stood narrowing his eyes at Marceline with a slit through his hair.

Marceline began to laugh but Gumball only rolled his eyes. "This isn't funny Marceline..."

"Oh, of course it isn't! I am so sorry!" Marceline yelled sarcastically before erupting into a fit of laughter she stopped laughing. "But you know what is funny Gumball?" Marceline asked before charging at him and taking a swing at him. She began pushing against his blade with her axe.

"What?" Gumball replied through gritted teeth.

"You," Marceline stopped pushing and swung her axe, "Never," and she swung again, "Answered," and again, "My," and again, "Question!"

"What question!" At hearing this, Marceline gracefully dodged Gumball's swing and ended up behind him to whisper in his ear, "Can I kiss you?"

Now every time Gumball heard this, or even thought about this, it sent his heart fluttering and his mind making as much sense as the static on a tv screen. And he would freeze. Letting Marceline kiss him on the cheek and bumping him to the ground.

"One to One, tied," Marceline called loudly in pride. She smiled deviously before turning around and walking away from the stunned prince lying on the floor.

I'm going to let the readers decide who will win this little fight! I've already planned what will happen so it doesn't matter which one you choose! I know I usually post every two days, but I will post the next chapter in three days just to give you all some time to vote!

Gumball wins- You will see what ''things'' he is planning for Marceline.(It's not dirty if that's what you are hoping for)

Marceline wins- Gumball will be Marceline's henchman for a day.

PLEASE VOTE! You have 2 options! Marceline or Gumball? Only vote once, but if you vote more than once, I'll just count your first choice so either way, both chapters end up the same way.

P.S. Gumball's chapter is longer and, in my opinion, waaaaay better!