It was a pretty average day. The local swamp monster had wandered out of his normal territory and was terrorizing a nearby village, so, naturally, Fionna was sent to handle it. On this particular day, I had decided to tag along and help. Not that I thought she needed it, but I was bored and had nothing better to do.

The fight was going pretty well. This particular swamp monster was pretty tough, and I knew that we couldn't afford to mess around with this one. Suddenly, the monster swung one of it's giant vined arms at us. I flew out of the way, but Fionna was sent flying into a patch of bushes.

"Fionna!" I exclaimed. I glared back at the monster. Now I was angry.
"You're gonna regret that," I snarled.

That monster didn't even know what hit it. I hit it so hard it flew halfway back to the swampy marsh from whence it came, and I'm sure it ran the rest of the way back. I looked over to Fionna. She was ok, only the sleeve of her long-sleeved shirt had been torn. I narrowed my eyes. Was that a...?

"Fionna," I questioned, "what's that on your arm?"

"Oh, what, this?" She asked nervously, immediately covering the mark with her hand. "Um, I burned myself the other day making spaghetti."

"Fionna, you don't cook."

"Well, ah, there's a first time for everything, Marshall."

"Mmm Hmm." I raised an eyebrow at her. I wasn't convinced. "Yeah. Just let me look at it."

"Cake looked at it. It's fine."

"I'm not stupid, Fi."

"Look, Marshall, just drop it, ok? I'm fine."

"Fionna."

"I said I'm fine!" She shouted at me. I looked at her blankly. She sighed. "I have to go home. See ya later, Marshall."

I nodded, and she hurried off towards her house. I immediately took off in the other direction towards the Candy Kingdom. I landed on Gumball's balcony and pounded on his big glass doors.

"Hey Gumbutt, it's me! Open up!" I shouted.

A few moments later, Gumball came rushing to the door.

"Goodness sakes Marshall Lee you're going to break the door! What's going on?!" He exclaimed.

"We have a problem, Bartleby." I said flatly.

His face hardened, recognizing my tone of voice. It was my 'king' voice. It was deeper than normal, and was backed by pride and authority. I didn't use it very often, but when I did, others knew I wasn't messing around. This was a time I needed them to listen.

"What kind of problem?"

"It involves Fionna."

"I see. Come inside."

Prince Gumball and I sat opposite each other at a small table in his obscenely large bedroom/sitting room combo.

"So, Marshall," Gumball began, setting down his teacup, "What is this problem that involves Fionna."

I crossed my arms and looked him dead in the eye. "Something needs to be done about Ignus."

"Marshall, I know you don't like him, but-"

"It's not like that."

Bartleby cocked his head slightly to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Tonight, Fionna and I were fighting a swamp monster that had made its way into the forest and was disturbing the locals. Her sleeve got torn, and she had a huge burn on her arm. She tried to pass it off as a cooking accident, but I didn't buy it."

"As well you shouldn't have," Bartleby said matter-of-factly, "You and I both know Fionna can't cook."

I nodded.

"So you think Ignus caused it?"

"I'm sure he did. And I think he did it on purpose."

"Come now, Marshall, he's a fire elemental and they're dating. She's bound to get burnt on accident every once and a while!"

"Not like this," I said, looking down. "This one was different."

Bartleby raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

I raised my eyes to look straight into his once again. "You and I have both seen what those accidental burns look like. She used to get them all over her hands, remember? She'd always come to you to get them treated. But this one, this one was bigger. It was worse than I've ever seen on her." I shook my head. "And I'll bet she hasn't been in here to get it checked out, has she?"

Bartleby shook his head. "No, she hasn't."

"That's what I mean," I said. "I think something's up. You and I both know Ignus can be a hothead. I think he hurt her on purpose."

Bartleby sighed. "You know, Marshall, I'm almost starting to agree with you. But what proof do you have other than your suspicions."

"None," I said. "But not for long."

Bartleby's eyes widened. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking?!" I looked at him with a smirk.

"Marshall Lee you can't just stalk those two until you find proof!"

"It's not stalking, it's investigating," I said with a grin. "Besides, I'll have you with me!"

Gumball threw his hands up. "Oh no. Ohhh no. Marshall Lee I am not going with you to follow Ignus and Fionna around! That's an invasion of privacy!"

"Well what if he is hurting her, huh? Wouldn't you want to do something about it?!"

"Well, of course! But-"

"Then come with me! That way, we can stop it the moment it starts! That way, Fionna doesn't get hurt anymore!"

Gumball sighed. "Ok, Marshall, you win. When are we going?"

"Tonight," I practically growled. "They're hanging out tonight."