Mystery Bubblegum-Abadeer giggled excitedly as her undead mother lifted her into the air and spun around, holding her close to her chest. Peppermint Butler was tempted to remind Marceline that Bubblegum had forbidden her from floating in the air with their daughter in her arms, but he knew she'd ignore him.
"Mommy, I missed you!" Mystery said, trying to sound more hurt than she really was.
"I'm sorry sweetie. It's been a really busy day…"
"I didn't see you yesterday either!"
Marceline loved her daughter with all of her lifeless heart, but her duties in the war prevented her from spending as much time with her as she'd like, and when she was with her, she always had the nagging anxiety that something would attack, which made her want to be back on patrol so she could protect her. She constantly worried that Mystery would misinterpret her absence as Marceline not wanting to see her.
Marceline playfully held Mystery above her head at arm's length. "How can I make it up to you?"
Marceline already knew the answer to her question. She didn't even wait for Mystery to answer it. She put the little girl down and crouched down on one knee. Mystery ran around her mother and leapt onto her back. Marceline's eyes turned yellow and she quickly began to grow. Mystery laughed excitedly as she was engulfed in the thick black fur that erupted from her mother's skin. In seconds, Marceline was on all fours in her giant bat form, and her daughter was sitting on her back, hysterically laughing. Marceline gave a joke roar and began walking in circles around the room, carefully holding the little girl in her wings.
Peppermint Butler backed into the corner of the room and sighed, Emperor Bubblegum certainly wouldn't approve of this, right before the child was about to go to bed, but he had decided long ago that, despite the fact that he was Mystery's tutor and babysitter, he wasn't going to take sides between the two girls' very different parenting techniques. He had learnt that lesson the hard way, when he had indirectly implied that Marceline could be a bit more responsible as a parent… and had woken up the next morning with the red sections of his body sucked dry of colour.
Eventually, Marceline shrunk down to her normal form, much to Mystery's disappointment.
"I'm sorry sweetie." Marceline said, as she picked Mystery up, and noticed her face. "But you've gotta have your story and go to bed, before your other mom comes up here and stakes me for keeping you up."
Mystery giggled, it was no secret that her moms argued a lot. In fact, they often gave her the deciding vote on casual spats when they were all together. Mystery knew her moms only fought because they loved each other, and her. Marceline collapsed onto Mystery's bed, with the eight-year-old still in her arms. She reached around to her nightstand and picked up the book that Mystery and Peppbut had set aside.
"The Fire Puppy and the Snow Fairy?" Marceline read the cover, cringing at the cutesy picture on the front. "What happened to all those awesome Nightospherean fairy tales I found?"
"Erm… Mrs Bubblegum burnt them…" Peppermint Butler answered quietly.
Marceline groaned. "Well Mystery, I can probably tell you one from memory. You wanna hear about the demon with horn insecurities?"
Mystery frowned at her. "Mommy! I want that one!" She protested, pointing at the book in Marceline's hand.
"Fine... But next time, you'd better be ready for some totally math stories about the Nightosphere."
Mystery wrapped her arms around Marceline and rested her head on her chest as she began to read. As she read, Marceline kept sticking her forked tongue out and making repulsed noises at the sickeningly sweet storyline, no wonder Bonnie liked this so much… Mystery laughed loudly as Marceline suggested more violent solutions to the adorable duo's problems.
"You know, if that had been me…" Marceline started, as she closed the book. "The story would have been way shorter! 'Oh, so you've stolen my candy?'"
"Bam! Pow!" Mystery cried, punching the air above them.
Marceline laughed. "You bet!" Once they had both stopped laughing and settled down, Marceline gently lifted into the air, and then pulled the blankets over her daughter. "Night buddy." She whispered, kissing her on the cheek.
"Night mommy."
Marceline smiled warmly as she floated from the room, with Peppermint Butler following behind. After Marceline dimmed the lights and closed the door, they walked past the two Banana Guards that were already standing diligently outside, in preparation of their departure.
"You didn't tell her about your trip to the Nightosphere." Peppermint Butler observed, as the two of them walked into Marceline and EB's room.
"Nah, it would just upset her."
Mystery loved her grandfather very much. They had used to play together as if he was younger than she was. But around a year ago, he had had a row with Bubblegum over the seal she had placed on Ooo's dimensional walls, keeping him from creating portals to come and visit, without Bubblegum's approval. Bubblegum had since apologised for some of the harsher things she had said to him, but Mr Abadeer had refused to return to Ooo unless it was through a portal he had conjured himself. That had been just over a year ago. Bubblegum was on poor terms with Prismo, the Cosmic Owl and Death for similar reasons. For Mystery, the potential alternative was her visiting her grandfather in his home dimension, but, no matter how much she begged, that was something her pink mother would never allow to happen. It was one of Bubblegum's few rules that Marceline agreed with without reservation. The Nightosphere was no place for children.
Marceline checked her watch and looked up at the blank stretch of wall that she and Bubblegum usually used for portals from the palace… just under two minutes until it opened. Marceline had butterflies in her stomach. Her relationship with her dad was a lot better than it had been eleven years ago, when Finn had forced her to confront him after so long, but it was still far from perfect. Marceline suddenly realised that Peppermint Butler was loitering next to her. He had no particular reason to wait for the portal with her. He rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of his little feet innocently.
"Hey Peppbut, aren't you on good terms with my dad?" Marceline asked, suspiciously.
The small mint looked surprised. "Oh… well yes, we used to get together irregularly, back before the war. So hard to find the time for social calls these days, you know?"
"Well aren't you off-duty now that Mystery's in bed? Tag along if you want…"
"Well… I wouldn't want to be a burden…" He babbled, awkwardly. Marceline looked at him tiresomely, silencing his gibberish. "Thank you Mrs Abadeer..."
A couple of seconds later, the room began to tremble very slightly, hopefully not enough to wake Mystery in the next room. A smiling face etched itself onto the wall in blue light, and thick, green liquid seemed to bleed from the lines. As Marceline picked up her axe from off the floor, a crack ran down the wall, and it separated, revealing the dull, red glow of the Nightosphere on the other side.
"Well… I guess we're going home…"
The Nightosphere hadn't changed. It never did. On the other side of the portal, the same bleak and barren landscape awaited Marceline and Peppermint Butler, with the same rivers of lava, the same columns of fire and the same burning sky. Grotesque, long-legged creatures strode across the land between mighty rock formations, with half of their bodies missing, displaying their internal organs, and humanoid demons dotted the area, with course, red skin and pointed horns. Not far from where the portal had opened, a tiny cottage, remarkably similar to Marceline's, nestled at the foot of an enormous mountain. The long queues of demons waiting for an audience with Marceline's dad had vanished, leaving only a thick trail of trampled dirt where they had once been, and the skeletons of several dozen demons who had died of starvation, waiting.
As Marceline floated towards the cottage, with Peppermint Butler in hasty pursuit, she looked worriedly around at the Nightosphere's occupants. Most of them paid her no attention at all, the ones that did acknowledge her, treated her with caution, and maybe even fear. The last time she had visited the Nightosphere, a few years ago, she had received a celebrity's welcome. The demons had flocked around her and cheered, mostly because they respected the authority of her father, but some were fans of her music. Although Marceline much preferred this welcome, or rather lack of one, it did make her worry what could have happened in the time she had been gone. She put on an extra burst of speed, disregarding Peppermint Butler's struggles to keep up with her.
With panic setting in, Marceline forced the door open the second she reached the little house and jumped. The inside of the cottage was in disarray. A shattered light bulb in a shredded lampshade hung over splintered and decomposing furniture, covered in a thick layer of grime, and the violently smashed shell of a TV. Several holes had been punched in the floor and the wallpaper was rotten and peeling in several places. Huddled in one corner, in a vest and striped boxer shorts, silently sobbing into a large tub of ice cream, was Marceline's dad. It looked as if the blue immortal hadn't moved from the spot for months. As soon as Marceline opened the door, Hunson Abadeer looked up and hissed, flicking his snake-like tongue, but immediately bit down on it when he realised who it was. Suddenly, a black haze engulfed the room, like Abadeer was a squid who had fired a spray of ink in self-defence, and a strong wind made Marceline cover her eyes for a second. When she looked back, the cottage was as good as new. The surfaces gleamed and stylish lamps illuminated tastefully decorated walls. Marceline's dad sat on a pristine sofa in a sharp business suit. His feet rested on a wood and glass coffee table and he casually flicked through a newspaper.
"Marceline!" He declared, looking up at her. "What a pleasant surprise!"
"Dad!?" Marceline gasped, demanding an explanation with her single word. "What's going on around here?"
"Well, the stocks I invested in are in the toilet, if you believe this old thing!" He chuckled, waving the newspaper at her.
Marceline swept over and snatched the newspaper from him, before he could stop her. "Daddy, this is from over a year ago!" She snapped, accusingly. "It's… from the day… that you had that fight with Bonnie…" She realised slowly.
"Oh… well no wonder it said that there was an earthquake yesterday!" Abadeer laughed unconvincingly. "You know how disorganised your old man is, pumpkin! I've gotta remember to throw these old things out!"
"Dad… what's going on?" Marceline repeated. "What? You're too stubborn to come visit, so you just give up on your job!?"
Although she doubted the demon population missed lining up for days on end, just to be sadistically tortured, the utter lack of what passed for Nightospherean government might put a damper on the job Bubblegum had entrusted her with.
Abadeer stood up. "Well, you know… I…" The corners of his mouth began to tremble and tears began to well up in his milky white, disk-like eyes. Eventually, he broke down again. "I JUST MISS MY LITTLE ANGEL SO MUCH!"
Marceline gasped. Her dad had always said that he loved her, but there had always been some part of her that believed he was lying to her. She suddenly felt horrible for what she had put him through. She flew forwards and wrapped her arms around her dad's shoulders.
"Oh daddy… I'm really sorry. I've missed you too."
Abadeer stopped crying immediately. "What? Oh… Oh right. Yeah, you're pretty cool too… I guess."
"What?" Marceline said quietly, as she backed away. "Wait…You mean Mystery? You let the Nightosphere fall into anarchy because you missed having a playmate!?" Marceline knew she shouldn't question anyone's love for her daughter, but her father had just reached a whole new level of ridiculousness.
"I just don't understand why you won't let her come and visit!" Abadeer whined. "It sounds more dangerous in Ooo these days than it is here!"
Marceline sighed. "Mystery's safest with her moms, dad. We're fine with you coming over for play dates. You just need to swallow your stupid pride and ask Bonnie to open a portal for you!"
Abadeer frowned at his daughter. "Mystery would have a blast hanging out here! There are tonnes of kids here she could play with! I mean, if we didn't have kids, we wouldn't have child-eating vultures, right?"
Marceline stared at her dad in disbelief, willing him to see reason and start using his brain for once. Suddenly, their stare-off was interrupted by a squeaky voice.
"Hey hey, Abadeer! How's it hanging?"
Marceline spun around and, along with her father, stared at the door, to see Peppermint Butler leaning into the room. He met their gazes, which both sent the same, very clear message.
"Erm… this is obviously a bad time… You know I've got some debts to collect in the area. I'll see you guys later…" He sheepishly stepped from the room.
Marceline rounded on her dad again, as if they hadn't been interrupted. "Anyway dad, I've got a really important message from Bonnie."
"Unless it's an apology and an announcement that her confounded walls are coming down, I'm not interested in anything your girlfriend has to say." Abadeer huffed, turning away from Marceline and folding his arms, like a self-righteous child.
"Wife, dad…" Marceline corrected. "You gave me away, remember?" When her dad continued ignoring her, Marceline got back to her point. "Dad, I want you to pull yourself together and help Ooo! The war is a stalemate right now, and it can only end with us running out of resources and losing! Our forces are finite, the Lich's aren't. We need you and your people!"
It wasn't the first time Marceline had gone to the Nightosphere with this request. In the war's early days, Bubblegum sent Marceline to talk to her dad almost on a daily basis, and every time, she got the same answer, almost word-for-word.
"Marceline… you're a young woman now, not a little girl." Abadeer started. Marceline's heart sank. "How do you expect to grow if I do everything for you?"
Marceline began to growl furiously under her breath. "Dad, I haven't grown for hundreds of years! And more importantly, you haven't done a thing for me in your life! Not ever! This is the one thing I've ever asked you to do, and all you can think about is yourself!"
"Really Marceline…" Abadeer criticised. "Don't you think you're a little old for teenage temper tantrums? Besides, I think it will be good for you to be ruled by an undead monarch who understands you. Much better than that candy dictator you're married to."
"Killed, dad, not ruled." Marceline corrected, ignoring the quip about Bubblegum. "The Lich will kill everything that moves eventually. Even the undead."
Of course, Marceline knew it would be far more effective to remind her father that the Lich would kill Mystery if it got the chance, but she could never bring herself to say the words, for fear of reminding herself that they were true.
"Well, I have every faith in you, darling. You give it your best shot and you'll see that you don't need your old man's help!"
"Dad…" Marceline began, desperately wracking her brains for something she could say that would make her father see reason, but she thought of nothing.
Lost for words, she let out a frustrated scream and swept from the cottage, slamming the door behind her. As she left, she saw Peppermint Butler walking towards her.
"Mrs Abadeer! Are we leaving already?" He sounded disappointed.
"Yes." Marceline spat, testily.
Peppermint Butler looked towards Hunson Abadeer's house longingly, then sighed and trudged after her. As they proceeded towards the small boulder, against which their entry portal had appeared, Marceline pulled a mobile phone out of her pocket and put it up to her ear.
"Hey Bonnie… we're done here… Yeah… same old junk. He's gone kinda crazy since he stopped seeing Mystery." Marceline didn't talk as if she was mocking her father, she truly sympathised both him and her daughter, and it was clear in her voice. "Ok… Thanks Bonnie, see ya."
Moments after Marceline hung up the phone, a swirling, green portal swam into existence against the boulder, and Marceline and Peppbut stepped in without hesitation.