Chapter 4: Thieving, Rampage, And Bird Stuff
The sun slowly fell into the horizon as Finn spoke to his girlfriend, who was able to pull off quite a convincing charade of the celestial body herself. It was that specific reason that made him fairly concerned; he knew he had to go after Marceline, but he needed to make is as clear as possible to Flame Princess that he had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever.
Which, really, shouldn't be that hard. Except he was himself, and his words turned to ugly yogurt someone left sitting in the sun when it came time to discuss complicated matters. So, he had tried to take it slowly and explain the entire situation as FP nodded here and there, mostly maintaining a neutral expression.
"And that's why I have to go after her. I'm sorry I put myself in danger like that," Finn finished to Flame Princess, his oven-mit-clad hand on her shoulder as she simply smiled at him. Finn smiled back awkwardly, surprised his girlfriend seemed to be taking the news of his near-death and quest to find another woman so well.
"Oh, Finn, I'm just glad you're okay!" Flame Princess replied cheerfully, patting him quickly on the shoulder as not to burn him. "Besides, I know you would never cheat on me, especially with someone who is a thousand years old, silly. I just want to make sure that I can give you any help you need, and that you know I'd like you back as soon as possible." Finn was positively beaming as she finished speaking, and quickly began looking around for a rock to kiss.
"I got you brother!" Jake shouted from a few yards away, lounging on a beach chair near the Tree-House's pond. The dog reached down and lifted a decent size rock off the ground, tossing it over to Finn, who caught it and gave his friend a thumbs-up.
The boy then smooched the rock heavily, even throwing in a little tongue for good measure; it might be awhile since he next saw her, after all. She giggled as she watched him assault it so with his lips, and when it came time to match his efforts took her time, lightly nipping before sucking heavily on the charred, moist (and now quite ecstatic) rock.
Finn felt his pants tighten for reasons he really didn't understand, and had the distinct feeling he was blushing terribly. "W-Wow. I'll really miss you FP, you're so math." He gulped as he quickly looked her shimmering, curvy and alight body. It sent shivers down his spine, how radically algebraic his dame was. Sometimes he couldn't even take it.
The Princess seemed stoked at her boyfriend's lust for her, giggling madly. "I know I am my hero, now go out and do what you do best," She whispered in return, taking his gloved hands in her own. "And maybe we can escalate through a few tiers when you get back. There are some parts of you I'd really like to burn off, if you know what I mean. Bye Finn! Good luck!" With that, she turned and sped forth, leaving Finn feeling both incredibly aroused and slightly afraid. Mostly aroused.
"You know," Jake said, leaping off his beach chair and flipping five times in the air before landing in a split, a brief sniffle emerging from his nose as he recalled his gymnastics days. "I know I said I would stop making these terrible puns, but your GF is really, really hot."
"Y-Yeah," Finn whispered, picking up the rock once more and putting it in his backpack for good luck. "She's something. Nice find, bro. I still owe you for that."
"Eh, I kind of caused our house to get the lump burned out of it and the Goblin City to get assaulted, so we'll call it even," Jake replied, remembering the day clearly. "At first I was pretty sorry I let a psychopathic Fire Elemental into our lives, but she's really sweet. I think you guys are really good for each other. We need to work on the whole 'kiss and you cause the apocalypse' thing, though."
"Totally," The boy replied, swallowing. "Anyway, we should probably head to Marceline's house and get a scent going."
"Aight," Jake said, knowing (and feeling more than a little smug satisfaction as a result) how important his schnoz was in this operation. Before they could continue, a large shrieking was heard, and both turned to find Bubblegum's Morrow swooping downward, the Princess herself upon its back and dressed in her regular garb.
"Hey boys!" She shouted with her trademark friendly wave as the bird landed, pooping a spurt of white out as it did so.
"Aww! Right on our yard! Common, man!" Jake shouted, waving his fist at the bird, who showed no sign of care whatsoever.
"Ugh… Morrow…" Bubblegum muttered, shaking her head and pinching her nose. "He just goes whenevs. Doesn't give a crap where we are, what we're doing…"
"You mean the opposite, he DOES give a crap no matter what," Finn replied with a girlish giggle. Jake groaned and expanded his hand before smacking his face so hard that he flew into the Tree House, while Bubblegum, who at first tried to convey the same displeasure, eventually fell into uncontrollable laughter, falling off the bird and rolling on the ground. Finn smiled, feeling accomplished; usually his puns only caused reactions matching Jake's.
"Whooo! Good one, Finn," She said after she caught a breath, wiping a stray tear from her eye.
"Anywho, I was wondering if you guys wanted a lift to Marceline's house. I'm not up to much today, so I figured I could lend you guys a hand."
"That'd be math Peebles!" Finn replied thankfully, and Jake nodded, though his eyes caught the Princess's and she had a distinct feeling he was more hesitant about her presence.
But the dog said nothing, and after clearing her throat the Princess said, "Well, hop on! But, er, watch your step." The two adventurers followed her advice, keeping away from the white glob, and leapt onto the Morrow's back before the trio of P, Finn & J lifted off in the direction of Marceline's house.
Marceline knew she should feel bad, she really did. She knew that taking her anger out in such pathetic and childish ways was wrong, and she had no idea why she felt afflicted enough to take things this far. Not even her breakup with the Princess had gone this badly. Well, there was one reason why this time was worse, but it was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. Still, even as she screamed bloody murder, she couldn't feel herself getting into it, and just wanted to stop. Since when had she not loved scaring the living crap out of a town?
The City of Thieves was a perfect destination, and one she had used before to unload her anger. Besides the fact that the area usually had a good deal of cloud coverage (as was the case today), all of the people were scum anyway, and there were so many streets to chase people down.
"I'M GOING TO SUCK YOU ALL DRY!" She screamed in her wolf-form, howling menacingly as people ran away from her in terror (the smarter ones taking the opportunity to steal in the confusion; this was the City of Thieves, after all) and then grabbing a horse off the street. "DO I TERRIFY YOU?!" She shouted, her words nearly incomprehensible, leaving her mouth open as she finished so the horse could stare directly into where it would end up if she was actually as cruel as she seemed. Marceline could even see her own reflection in a few of her pristine teeth that jutted out at incredibe lengths; yes, she looked horrifying, but she could still see the sadness in her eyes. She doubted anyone would be able to, though. Well… maybe one or two people.
"NEIGH! NEIGH! NEIGH!" The Horse shouted, kicking at her fingers uselessly.
"ANSWER ME! SPEAK SENSE!" She howled even louder, now closing her mouth and grinding her teeth, the sound that of a thousand swords being struck together at once.
"I JUST SAID NO THREE TIMES YOU CRAZY WOLF-THING!" The horse screamed in anger, and Marceline dimly realized that it was indeed correct. "Now let me down!"
"Hmmmm…" Marceline murmured, trying to think of other ways to kick her love of terror into gear. "Deal. You can be my steed." She transformed into her humanoid form, floating gracefully as the horse dropped and landed safely, immediately sending a sassy gaze her way.
"Yo what? Lady, I am no one's—" The miffed creature did not get a chance to finish his statement as Marceline slammed onto his back, smashing her bass into his butt afterwards. Rearing into the air and whinnying, the horse burst forward, Marceline laughing in joy as she felt the wind rush through her hair. Then, to add to the havoc, she extended her bass outwards, causing it to scrape against a nearby wall and fling sparks through the air.
While the main reason for her little trip to the city was that of causing cathartic chaos, she was also in the market for some nice, juicy reds, and makes sure to swipe anything colored as such off of the terrified denizens as they tried to dodge her and the rampant horse (whom she smacked in the buttocks every few seconds to keep up momentum). She directed the animal around a few loops, mindful to steal a bag to hold her loot, and finally took her leave, riding far out of the city before floating off the horse.
The poor stallion turned back to her, repugnant anger flashing across his countenance and his nostrils flaring violently. Internally, Marceline felt a stroke of guilt; even if he was a thief, no one deserved to be treated like that. Externally?
"Why the long face, you butt?" The Vampire Queen taunted, briefly morphing her face into a hideous wolf's head once more.
The horse reared in terror, panting as she changed back, and unable to stand her presence any longer, shouted, "You're sick, lady! Sick! I hope someone finds you and stuffs you back in the Nightosphere where you belong!" With that, he rode off quickly, and though Marceline had a half a mind to follow him and take her still blighting anger out on him, she did not move.
His words left a bitter taste in her mouth; she had, after all, been the one to take most of the terrifying demonic entities, some of which the Lich had released, and others which her dear old father had expunged into the world, and seal them away. Part of her desperately wanted to argue that she was not like them in the slightest, but she resisted that urge. Marceline had never been fond of starting arguments she wasn't sure she could win.
After slowly making her way to a little grotto she had taken residence in for the day, she laid out her prizes. But even as she sank her teeth deep into what she knew to be luscious, luscious reds, the taste was flat, and she soon found she had no real appetite at the moment.
Sighing, the distressed vampire leaned her back against the harsh rock. Her thoughts drifted to the people she had left behind; she wondered if Finn had finally given up, but had a sinking feeling that was unlikely. The thought of her friend's dopey, smiling face, brought a small smile to her own. With that image, she slowly drifted off to an uneasy rest.
The Morrow sat down within Marceline's cave, this time thankfully without any excrement marking its landing, and the hero, slightly morally-questionable-but-still-heroic-on-most-days-of-the-week dog, and highly chewable Princess leapt off the bird's back.
"Yo, eat some rats or something, but be back in like fifteen," Bubblegum commanded towards her steed, which nodded.
And then proceeded to scare the stuff out of Jake by screeching, "INDUBITOUBLY!" Before scampering off on its legs, but in reverse. The Morrow may or not have ingested too much experimental candy bio-mass at some point in its life.
The dog landed on his butt, his jowls rustling with shock, and questioned, "That freaking thing can talk?!"
Bubblegum nodded sadly. "Eh… he can shout that word, and that's about it." Jake and Finn both stared at her with blank faces, and she sighed. "Listen, I get it, the Morrow is weird. Believe me, I know. But going that fast while being that high is an ego trip, guys, and it's worth the occasional poop on the dress and his creepy staring."
"Point taken," Finn replied, despite having the feeling he was missing some meaning in her statement, and turned his gaze towards Marceline's house, Jake and the Princess doing so as well. It looked terribly empty and wrong, with the window shattered and basketball lying on the dock. "So, how we doin' this?" He asked, rubbing his side.
"…Huh, she actually DOES own a basketball. I've been meaning to ask her about that forever. Ahem, sorry, well, while obviously we want to have Jake catch her scent, we should probably look for… er… information," Bubblegum stated slowly, donning a smile showing she knew exactly how morally dubious she was being. Finn and Jake once again looked at her with mixed faces in return.
"Uh, are you saying we should snoop?" Jake asked, his eyebrows creasing. "Because I ain't a snoop, a Snoop Dog, certainly not a Snoop Doggy Dog, and not Snoopy either. Maybe Snoop Lion—" as Jake babbled, Bubblegum wordless mouthed "What is he talking about?" to Finn, who shrugged, used to rants of this nature and even more used to not understanding them "–so I'm not going in there and looking through her stuff. I mean, yeah, I've done it to the Ice King, but he's nuts. Marceline's on the level."
"I don't know, man," Finn replied, moving over to the house. "It's sketchy, but… maybe we could make some headway with Marcy if we actually knew what subject to bring up."
"…I guess," Jake mumbled, wrapping his arms around himself in multiple loops to physically voice his displeasure. Nothing about Finn siding with the Princess surprised him, though. Still… "Maybe we could figure out what she was doing with the Ice King that one time."
"…Marceline did what-now with the Ice King? That bozo didn't try to capture her, did he?" Bubblegum shot out, looking quite disheveled at the revelation, which came off as odd considering she was captured by him so often.
"Er, well, no, they were having a jam session. Or something," Finn replied, rubbing the back of his head; the memory still felt out of place, as if he could have very well dreamed it. "It was bizarre… we asked if she needed help, but she said no, but we stayed just in case. They ended up playing music together and Marceline got really emotional. Which happens a lot when she plays music I guess, but the Ice King being involved was weird. And every time we've asked her about it, she's been secretive. I mean, I figured she just was friends with the Ice King and embarrassed about it."
"Yeah, even if he was a decent guy back in the day, dude's a mad loony at this point. I've got more faith in my tush than that bozo," Jake added, slapping his buns for good measure as Bubblegum turned to him.
"…What do you mean by that?" She inquired, her scientific mind slowly beginning to piece together the puzzle the two buddies were too lazy and incompetent to solve. Suddenly, she blushed, and coughed. "I mean, what do you mean 'he was a decent guy back in the day?'"
"Well, you know how we have that holiday get-together thing come Yule-Tide times?" Finn asked, and Bubblegum nodded, memories of cuddling with Finn and pushing off the Ice King as he tried to join in filling her mind. "Well, we have those because of these tapes we found… turns out the Ice King actually used to be a cool dude. Hehe. Sorry, unintentional ice pun. Simon Petrikov was his name. He's been around for forever, I guess."
"…Pr-pre war?" Bubblegum asked quietly, her eyes wide. Finn and Jake shared a look, mutually creeped out as they usually became when the Princess got overly excited about a discovery. Both nodded, and she turned away from them, sighing.
"…I wonder if… they must know each other. From their past. I mean, Marceline's been around for… well, a good millennium, and Ice King has been around as long as I have…" She muttered to herself, smacking her head over and over again in annoyance at not putting together the connections earlier. Surely in between creating the perfect sandwich and tiptoeing (when not redrawing) the line of morality in genetics, she could have wondered whether or not two of the oldest beings she knew had ever crossed paths, and gathered information from there.
"Huh. Now that you mention in, I guess that would make sense. Maybe she met him before the crown replaced his brains with ice cream," Jake stated, nodding.
"Yeah, totally," Finn agreed, though he seemed to be contemplating something else entirely. "Hey, Peebles, how old are you anyway, then?" He asked, and Bubblegum smiled awkwardly. At first it appeared she might try to dodge the question, but instead answered him in a soft voice.
"…Well, in terms of actual years, 223 years old," She replied, Finn's jaw going limp while Jake's expanded to the ground and proceeded to roll off the dock, returning to his mouth a moment later sporting a fish he quickly spat out, along with a few gallons of water.
"W-wow," Finn muttered, stunned beyond belief as Jake attempted to scrub the taste of cave water out of his mouth in vain. He was well aware she was older than her physical appearance of 18, but now the phrase "too young" seemed much more acceptable, as much as he hated having heard it so many times. "Y-You've seen some stuff, huh?"
The Princess nodded with a tiny smile, no doubt running over a few of the more interesting moments in her mind. "I've been about this way," She said, sweeping over her body with her hand, "for half of that… so, lots of ruling. You know, the biz."
Jake turned to Finn and stared into his still shocked face, imagining his friend's thoughts. It must be somewhat liberating to know that she was apparently picky about her choice of suitors, though Jake had a distinct feeling there was something more to it than that.
"Hey, how long have you any Marceline known each other anyway, PB?" Jake asked with a slight bite to his voice, enough to draw a confused look from his brother, but the Princess did not seem phased.
"Quite awhile, I met her after I had been alive for around 50 years, when I was the equivalent of nine years old physically," She replied cooly, pointing to the house. "Anyway, we should get looking." Her voice held just a bit of Princessy authority to it, and per usual Finn immediately nodded, and made his way, but Jake was slower to do so, looking at Bubblegum once more before following his friend.
"WINDOW JUMP!" Finn shouted, leaping in through the window, while Bubblegum shook her head with a concerned sigh (that boy…) and walked in through the door, Jake following behind her.
"So, where we be peepin' for information?" Finn asked, using his hands as pretend binoculars while Jake took in a giant waft with his nostrils.
"Hey man, you check upstairs, we'll look down here," Jake said, rubbing his nose. "I've got her scent down pat, but you said she was upstairs before she left; maybe she was looking at something important." Finn gave a gung-ho thumbs up, and performed various acrobatics through the room and then up the ladder, including a wall run, triple flip, and running up said ladder with his hands. The Princess couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm and attempts to lighten the mood.
"Well, at the least, Finn's joviality seems to remain intact," Bubblegum commented as she scratched her oh-so-smooth chin, wondering where to begin.
"Yeah, I guess," Jake replied angrily, showing no signs of beginning to search, only stomping his foot on the ground as if waiting for something.
Bubblegum raised her eyebrow, and turned to the canine, with whom she usually had a very friendly relationship. "Okay, Jake, what's up? You're treating me like you usually treat LSP today," The Princess stated calmly, though she was feeling un-nerved. "We need to get looking for information…"
"I intend to, by asking you what your history with Marceline is!" Jake hissed, crossing his arms and glaring at the candy girl, who responded with a shocked gasp. "You've been bipolar about this whole shebang. First you didn't want to help, and now you're in her house trying to find her dairy of something! What is your game? You act like she's not worth helping because she's secretive, yet are obviously hiding something. Finn won't call you out on it, but I want answers."
The Princess sighed, biting her lip and gazing wearingly at the trapdoor as Finn's innocent whistling of the Heat Signature theme echoed through the house. "Listen, we need to keep this quiet," She began, turning her eyes back to Jake. "I-I apologize for being secretive. It's a hard situation." Jake nodded, content to let Bubblegum say her piece. Heh. Piece of bubblegum. Jake winced at how bad his pun was, and though the Princess seemed confused as to what his reaction entailed, she continued on.
"As I said, I've known Marceline for a long while. And… we've been very close for a long, long time. The reason I never bring those facts up is the same I've never mentioned my vast age to you. I am…" She gulped, taking one last look at the trapdoor and lowering her voice even further. "Significantly attracted to my sex, and in particular Marceline. We've had numerous run ins over the years, including a few recent ones, but time after time it fell apart because of me and my duties. It's… hard."
Bubblegum frowned severely, a sniffle escaping her, and Jake's relatively large displeasure quickly faded. "She, as it were, blamed herself for being pushy, but I can't help but feel it's less that and more her inability to just let anyone in. I tried so many times to talk to her about her past, but… she refused to, claiming that if I couldn't make time for her, she shouldn't have to reveal herself to me."
"Sucks, dudette," Jake replied solemnly. "So, you're trying to figure out her past by coming here?" Bubblegum nodded sadly. "Well, I kind of figured there might be some lesbo-loving (Bubblegum's blush was truly something to witness as Jake said this) going on between you two, so that makes sense. Also explains how you managed to fend off my main man and his macho moxie for so long," He finished, nudging the Princess in the arm.
"I've come close to telling him many times," Bubblegum replied, at obvious ease that Jake was understanding of her situation, yet falling once more into distress at the mention of the young hero. "But… no offense to Finn, I didn't know if he could take it. I also didn't want to make things awkward between them." Jake nodded, but then froze, his eyes widening. The Princess raised any eyebrow, but grew quiet when she realized the whistling of the boy in question had halted, and no sound was coming from upstairs.
"…Oh glob, go check on him, he could have heard," She whispered, putting her face into her hands, and Jake nodded, stretching up to the trapdoor to find Finn sitting with a small collection of items in his lap, and his hands over his ears.
Upon Jake's arrival, he removed them, and asked, "Are you guys done?" His expression was calm, but he obviously seemed hurt, well aware that two of his closest friends were being secretive around him.
"…Sorry man, I…" Jake began, feeling his marvelous yellow body sag with regret at his friend's angst, but Finn shook his head, silencing the dog.
"Man… too young," He whispered, his face getting all blooped out. "I get it." Jake frowned, wrapping his arms around his buddy and bringing him downstairs. As Finn plopped onto the ground, he held out the items he had collected, but before he could speak, Jake interrupted. "Listen, PB, I'm not keeping my bro out of the loop, especially when he's going on this trip alone. We need to fill him in."
Finn frowned, looking between his friends, his heart guts a little messed up. On one hand, he hated being left out. On the other, PB looked scared, and he didn't want to put her through that. He tried to come up with something to say, or maybe some funny exclamation to relieve the pressure in the room, but before he could the Princess spoke.
"I suppose you're right, Jake," Bubblegum whispered after a long minute, rubbing her pink arm. "Finn, this might be hard to fathom, but…" She walked over to her friend, putting a comforting hand on his arm. "Marceline and I, um, used to date. As in, we were together." She stopped speaking, letting her blunt words sink in, hoping he would be able to understand, but he just stared blankly.
"Yeah, I know," Finn replied nonchalantly, and both Jake and Bubblegum started.
"W-What? You knew?" She asked, extremely positive up until this point that her champion (she liked calling him that, regardless of the tackiness involved) had more knowledge of differential equations than of her tense relationship with the Vampire, and Finn shrugged.
"Well, yeah. After the whole Door Lord thing it was pretty obz," Finn replied, smiling slightly as he realized that for once he was on top of a personal situation, rather than crushed under a mountain of Nightosphere bananas per usual. "I didn't bring it up because you guys both seemed really awkward about it. Why, is that what made her run?"
"I, I don't think so," The Princess responded, though the look on face made it clear she considered it a possibility. "And, um, thank you for not mentioning it. The fewer people who know the better." She gave Finn a weak, forced smile, equally dismayed at having not trusting him to understand without any hesitation on her part and at having to discuss her relationship with Marceline, something she had guarded to a fault.
"Wow, dude, proud of you. You have some serious social tact goin' now! I knew dating someone who would set you on fire if you stupided up personal junk would set you straight!" Jake said, slapping Finn on the back, who simply grinned.
"Anything for Peebles and Marcy," The hero replied, Bubblegum blushing at his words. "Alright, while you two were blabbering, I found two things worth mention; Marceline's journal, and a picture of what I think might be her Mom." He held both out, the Princess immediately snatching the journal and pouring through the opening pages quickly and then looking at the picture.
"She never really mentioned her mother to me," Bubblegum whispered. "She looks just like Marceline…" Finn's face sunk as he watched PB's reaction, the Princess now openly letting her feelings loose rather than hiding them. It was clear she held a great deal of regret for the current situation.
"Hey, you can keep the journal, and read through it!" Finn said, patting her on the back, trying to find other words to comfort her. At a loss, he said with firm conviction, "And don't worry PB, it'll be okay."
"…I don't know," The Princess whispered, clutching the journal tightly. "I'd feel bad reading it, but… I guess I have to." Finn and Jake could visibly see the battle between the hunger for knowledge and desire to help her love, and her hesitancy to take advantage of Marceline's absence on the candy girl's face. "Just, just bring her back, Finn. It scares me when she leaves like this."
"No problemo Peeblo, I will get her back. And read it if you want to… Marceline would understand, I think," Finn said in an attempt to be soothing, the effect mixed. Understanding her unease, he coughed, and said, "We should probably head out, then." Jake and PB nodded, following the boy's lead as he made his way to the door.
"Morrow! We're good to go!" The Princess shouted as they stepped out on the dock, the bird quickly arriving in their field of view bouncing on the water like a over-sized pebble with wings until it landed on the deck, buns down.
"Sheesh. And I thought I was a weird animal companion," Jake muttered, shaking his head as the Princess's tweaked out avian righted itself. "We should head out of the cave, and then I'll point Finn on his way. Wish I could go, but puppies, man." Finn nodded, patting his friend on the back, while Bubblegum cleared her throat to grab their attention, and then reached into her bag.
"Uh, actually, Finn should just take this. It will direct him towards Marceline without fail," The Princess said, pulling out a weird purple object that looked like a magnet, and slowly twisting it until it began to make a whooshing sound. "When it does that, it… means… that's the direction to go," She finished lamely as both of the males stared at her, incredulous looks upon their faces.
"P-Bubs? What the lump! We just came here for nothing then? You had that the whole time?" Finn shouted, wincing as the Princess's face turned sour. "I mean… look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. It's just, getting strung on sucks." Finn didn't intend to use wording that invoked his awkward attempts at courting, and smacked his head when he realized his error. "Just… if you had wanted to come for her diary, you should have told us."
"Dude with the golden-locks speaks the truth," Jake quickly chimed in. "I mean, your thing is probably a hundred times more efficient that our full-of-holes plan, but still."
"…I know, guys, I'm sorry I've been such a patoot," The pink Princess lamented, her shoulder's sinking. "I've just felt stuck, unable to actually appear like I care to the degree that I do without questions getting asked. I'll try to be better in the future, and I hope the tracker helps out." She handed it to Finn without another word, though gave him a small peck on the cheek, immediately drawing out a blush. "Good luck Finn. I really am sorry."
"I know, Princess, it's okay," He whispered, hugging her gently. "Mind flying me out?"
"Not all," She said with a smile, and they boarder the Morrow which promptly flew out of the cave and landed on the grass. "Good luck Finn!"Bubblegum shouted as he leapt off, Jake echoing her sentiments as the human boy ran forth, weird purple Marceline-finding instrument in hand, waving at them. He had a good feeling about this adventure, and now had even more reason to succeed. Yep, things were definitely looking—
SPLAT. Finn desperately hoped, the moment after he collapsed to the ground, leveled by some gooey substance from above, that what he thought had happened hadn't actually happened. His fears were confirmed when Bubblegum screamed, "GLOB BLARG IT MORROW, ARE YOU LUMPING SERIOUS?!" from high above. Perhaps looking forward was a better bet than looking above. Unless you liked wearing Morrow stuff as makeup. Yeesh.
Writing this chapter was going really well until the Marceline section, where I hit a roadblock (making good people do bad things in fiction is difficult, as dumb as that sounds). Thankfully the muse hit again last week, so here it is. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit shorter so I can have it up sooner. I don't want to bring up the idea of a schedule, but I'd like to be hitting somewhere around once every week for updates, and not have gaps longer than two weeks.
So yeah, the Morrow really weirds me out, as you might have guessed. I have no idea why, but it made for decent comic relief.
Besides the obvious Marceline plot, I'm kind of scratching at the theme of Finn maturing in this story, at least in some respects. Also, I guess this is officially AU since Finn won't be back for the puppies being raised. And I'm not sure quite how much PB is going to tie into later chapters. We'll see. Thanks for reading!