*Author's Note*

Well, here it finally is. As usual, apologies for the exceedingly long wait. I really struggled with prying this one out of my skull, in addition to the usual obstacles presented by real life (work, family, etc.). I'm planning on taking a short break before the next chapter of Ab Intra to pump out some little Finntress one-shots, so expect those much, much sooner than it took me to get this one out. Thanks, and enjoy!

None of the representatives from Humantown respond. Instead, they turn their attention to Doctor Minerva. It's evident that, while personal disposition toward the android varied significantly between the four humans, they all regarded her with a sincere degree of respect. She gives them a cordial nod, clears her throat in accordance with her earnest speech delivery subroutine, and speaks:

"Thank you for having us, Princess Bubblegum. I believe I speak for my people when I say that, in light of recent events, your unabated generosity and willingness to work with humanity during our time of crisis is a true inspiration to us all. We are completely beholden to you, and the many brave champions in your company."

Minerva smiles lovingly at Finn across from her, and he flashes a bright grin in return. She continues:

"But, as you are already well aware, Humantown must overcome a number of harsh realities before it can repay its debt in full; the first of which is shortages in basic necessities. The attack of the Lich-Golb entity destroyed our central water treatment system and much of the pipework connecting it to the city. We were able to restore basic functionality of a few units with what little remains unscathed of our digi-resin stock, allowing our citizens limited access to potable water. Yet, we still have neither the volume nor infrastructure to reliably deliver water for things like personal hygiene or waste disposal."

"Mild cases of dehydration and waterborne illness are trending upward among incoming refugees according to our entry examinations," Doctor Princess confirms. "General smelliness is also a factor of growing concern."

"Precisely. And it will be months until we have enough digi-resin and fabricators to repair everything."

"Why so long?" Simon asks.

It is Minister Yan who responds instead of Minerva. "Why else? The city's entire industrial wing is shot. What few facilities we had dedicated to the production of digi-resin and fabricators are completely inoperable. We have no choice but to wait for a full restock from Founder's Island."

"Additionally, the creation of digi-resin from scratch is a complex and immensely energy-intensive process," Dr. Low adds. His voice is a throaty, deliberate monotone. "Even as we speak, Doctor Campbell is running the power grid of Founder's Island at near capacity to meet the considerable needs of Humantown and that of the Island, itself. Moreover, fabricators are delicate pieces of machinery. It's difficult to transport them safely across an ocean teeming with unknown dangers."

"Yes, well, there you have it," Minerva says.

"Could we use magic to transfer some of the resin and fabricators to Humantown? A portal or long-range teleportation, perhaps?"

"Interesting proposal, Aunt Lolly," Princess Bubblegum observes. "Betty? Huntress Wizard? How feasible would a project like that be?"

Betty considers it briefly and shakes her head. "A single wizard, two, or even three wouldn't have enough power to make it out that far. It might be possible if we got a whole bunch of the most powerful spell casters in Wizard City together…but, as you know, most wizards aren't too helpful or trusting of non-magic users. Most don't even trust other wizards, or anyone."

"You're definitely right about that," Princess Bubblegum says. She looks over to Huntress Wizard. "Huntress? Any thoughts?"

Still bent towards the tabletop, Huntress Wizard jerks upright at her name. Her grip on Finn's mechanical hand tightens as words start to trip out of her mouth in stilted bundles. "Huh? Oh, uh, right. Uhm…I d-don't…" HW trails off, grasping for something, anything that she could add, but her thoughts are in hopeless disarray amid a roiling ferment of anxiety. She grits her teeth and shakes her head. Why did she come here? She shouldn't be in this place.

"Huntress Wizard? Do you have something to add?"

"No."

"No? You don't?"

"No! I mean, yes, I do! But…" Huntress Wizard's gaze wheels about the room, taking in the wall of faces trained on her before returning to the princess. She flushes in bitter embarrassment. "Betty's right: you'd have to have a lot of wizards casting together to reach a spot halfway around the world. That's it."

"I see. Then, it appears that a 'magical' solution is off the table. Thank you both for your input."

Huntress Wizard hangs her head and sinks dejectedly into her seat. She feels Finn give her hand another sympathetic squeeze. It helps, but only a little.

"Which means we've no choice but to continue relying on you and the other princesses for the foreseeable future," Doctor Minerva concludes grimly. "And this is not even touching upon the lack of adequate shelter and defenses. Leader Killian? If you would?"

Leader Killian offers her a light bow and turns to address the rest of the chamber. "The digi-resin shortage has forced us to rely on scavenged materials to salvage housing units and fortify the holes in our city's perimeter. These materials provide little in the way of insulation, are highly flammable, and readily breached by both the elements and Ooo's more aggressive wildlife. This is compounded by the fact that a large portion of our security officers conspired in my predecessor's treachery and were killed as a result. To put it bluntly, we are exposed."

"Now, see here!" Colonel Candy Corn puffs up in his seat. "I deploy daily patrols to help secure the borders of Humantown. You're saying that my banana boys don't make a difference?"

"I don't want to sound ungrateful…" Leader Killian's eyes flick hesitantly towards the candy monarch.

"No, please, go ahead," Princess Bubblegum encourages him. "Believe me, I know."

"…Your Banana Guards are only effective as part of a large, fully entrenched force. The patrols are better than nothing, but they wouldn't protect us against any serious threat."

"Bah! If that's the way of it, then why should we even bother sending you troops from now on?"

"That's actually what I'm getting at, Colonel. Instead of wasting time with your Banana Guards, just one of the Princess' Guardians would be more than enough to secure Humantown until we get back on our feet. We just need the Princess' approval."

"I can't."

"But, Princess, please, under the circumstances, I think-"

"I would have already offered one of my Gumball Guardians to help defend your people were it in my power to do so, Leader Killian. However, I have numerous treaties with the other kingdoms of Ooo that strictly forbid me from deploying my Guardians outside what is considered strictly Candy Kingdom territory. The only way I'd be able to offer your people that level of protection is for Humantown to become an official vassal of the Candy Kingdom."

"That…that isn't an option."

"Then I can only offer what I've already provided. Nothing more."

"What you're all saying, then, is that neither Humantown nor the Candy Kingdom can ensure the safety of our people?"

All eyes turn to Saoirse. She meets their collective gaze with a defiant look and continues on: "Right? That's the bottom line, isn't it? No one here can fully provide for humanity."

"That's not entirely accurate, Saoirse," Minerva says. "The situation is delicate, but we can still help everyone so long as we work together."

"But then what, ma'am? Just put everything back the way it was and hope nothing else pops our little bubble?" She shakes her head. "Life in Ooo is unpredictable. We need to adapt instead of react, or else we'll never be prepared for the worst when it comes."

"What you mean to say is that we should all throw ourselves to the wolves," Minister Yan retorts in a dismissive tone. "That's how you and your separatists propose we 'adapt' to our new surroundings – strip ourselves of everything we've built so that we're even more vulnerable than we already are?"

"There's risks, but it'll be better for us in the long-term. We're too comfortable in our old way of living – island life. It won't work on the mainland."

"We make a break like that, we'll be picked apart by whatever's out there without any kind of defenses," Leader Killian says. "We're not all as well-trained as you and your scouts, Saoirse. We have children and elderly here."

"It doesn't have to be all at once; my people and I could go. We could establish a foothold for everyone else to join once we've established ourselves."

"A trial run would provide a way to gauge and potentially improve resilience to our new environment. Under certain constraints, it's worth considering."

Minister Yan scowls. "Worth considering? Get it through your microchip-filled head, Low! Humantown can't afford to lose more people on some misguided bid for self-sufficiency! We need every shred of manpower available if we're to have any hope of rebuilding, let alone keeping the city from running at a loss."

"Another settlement might also upset our delicate political position in Ooo," Leader Killian adds. "Other kingdoms might see it as a push for expansion. The last thing we need is to paint a target on ourselves."

"Listen to yourselves!" Saoirse cries, rising from her seat. "You're letting a bunch of worse-case-scenario fearmongering guide us all over again! We can't just turtle up whenever things look bad! We have to take a risk at some point!"

A shouting match breaks out between the four humans, their voices growing louder as they start to overlap one another. The audience sheds its respectful silence in a burst of excited chatter. Princess Bubblegum and Minerva attempt to mediate, but their entreaties only add to the commotion.

"Excuse me! Excuse me, please!"

The shouting stops as attention switches briefly to the Duke of Nuts.

"If I may, I think I have a simple and elegant solution to all of these problems."

"Yes?" Leader Milloy replies expectantly.

"What if we used peanut brittle to supplement the digi-resin supplies?"

The human representatives stare nonplussed at the duke then immediately turn back and resume shouting at each other. From the other side of the stage, Marceline watches the scene with growing irritation. It was just like those Stinky Cheese Kingdom trade meetings she used to spring Bonnie from hundreds of years ago – a bunch of quibbling hard-liners trying to make their problems a problem for everyone else. Worse still, despite her best efforts to sit up and pay attention to the issues at hand (made all the more difficult by the acute pangs of hunger in her gut), she still couldn't come up with a way to make things better for Bonnie. She was just as clueless as before, probably even more so. Her exasperation with the whole situation builds swiftly until, finally, it explodes outward in a brazen shout that echoes throughout the chamber:

"HEY! SHUT UP!"

Again, the bickering of the representatives comes to an abrupt halt at the interruption. All eyes turn to the fuming vampire girl as she floats out of her seat.

"Does anyone have any ideas on how to actually solve this bliz instead of yelling about what they want?"

"Marcy," Simon gently rests his hand on her shoulder. "Please, you shouldn't-"

She shrugs him off. "No, I don't care! I'm already sick of this!"

"Ah, the pop star. Miss Abadeer, was it?" Minister Yan answers with scarcely concealed condescension.

"Rock star."

"As you like. Forgive us if our little dispute bores you, but what each of us 'want' out of this situation may very well decide the fate of our people. It's not the kind of thing one can resolve as easily as a chord progression."

Marceline scowls sourly. "You're not resolving a donking thing; you're just spinning your wheels and blowing dirt on everyone's faces."

"What do you propose, then? We've yet to hear any ideas from you. Or any of your people, for that matter."

"I'll tell you! You, uh…you…" Marceline breaks off, trying to think of a decent comeback. She fails, but that doesn't stop her from making one anyway: "Y'all need to chill out."

Princess Bubblegum buries her face in her hands and breathes out a quiet "Glob".

"Chill out?" The Minister repeats the two words in near disbelief. "Chill out? Our people are in crisis, and you think we can just take it easy?!"

"Well, uh, yeah. Yeah! All this in fighting and stuff is getting you dudes nowhere. Just take it easy and trust that Bonn-I mean, Princess Bubblegum is lookin' out for you until you get up to speed again."

"Princess Bubblegum wasn't able to stop the Lich from destroying our homes. And by that token, neither was Minerva."

"You'll keep that disrespectful tongue of yours in check!" Leader Killian snaps at Saoirse.

"I'll speak if I have a mind to, Killian!"

Finn pushes his chair back and stands up. "Okay, cool it everyone!"

This time, the interruption goes unheeded. The four delegates are already too preoccupied once more with making their demands heard while also shouting down everyone else. It would surely have come to blows at this point were they not merely holograms, particularly between Leader Killian and Saoirse. The two projections had left their seats altogether and were now gesticulating wildly inches from one another's face. It was doubtful that either one could hear what the other was actually saying at all over their own outrage.

"Guys! I have an idea!" Finn calls out louder than before. He is completely ignored.

Seeing this, Minerva frowns furiously and turns to Princess Bubblegum.

"Princess, could you please place my colleagues' microphones on mute?"

Epiphany strikes PB face. In her largely sleep-deprived state, she'd forgotten she had direct control over her guests' speaking volume. "Oh! Yes, gladly."

Pressing a button on her lectern, the four humans are instantly silenced. They turn towards the princess with outrage write large upon their faces as their lips move in wordless protest.

"There you are, dear," Minerva smiles at her son with a small thumbs-up.

"Thanks, Mom." Finn blushes lightly, then gathers himself and addresses the voiceless representatives. "I know you guys all wanna do your own things and I mad respect that, but I have an idea that I think could work. It came from my brother, Fern."

The shared indignation over being muzzled by their host gives way to begrudging looks of interest among the humans as the young champion explains himself.

"A lot of your peeps are having doubts on whether they're safe where they're at, so what if instead we reach out to all the other kingdoms for help? We could have them join a treaty where everyone swears to protect Humantown if they're ever attacked. That way, it's not just on my mom or PB anymore; you'll have pretty much all of Ooo looking out for you. Then you can take your time to rebuild without having to worry so much. Like Marcy says, you could just chill out. Whaddya think?"

There is a pause, then PB presses the unmute button on her console. Saoirse speaks first:

"What about what my people want? Even if Humantown is made relatively safer, we still want a chance for independence."

"Uh, well, you'll need to settle that with the other humans, but you could probs still do it. Just maybe wait until Humantown is up and running again before separating?"

Saoirse doesn't provide a response. She simply withdraws from Leader Killian's face and returns to her seat. She does not wear the look of someone who has gotten their way.

"Swearing to protect a people that they have no previous diplomatic ties with is a lot to ask," Minister Yan points out. "I doubt they'd be willing to give us their cooperation without a substantial price behind it."

"You're right," Aunt Lolly answers. "You'd likely have to start establishing regular trade among the other kingdoms and share certain tech secrets with us."

"But that could be a positive," Simon adds quickly. "It'd make you less reliant on Founder's Island, for one. And I'm sure that the princesses would share any resources or useful technologies they might have as well. Right, Princess Bubblegum?"

"Yes, of course. All within reason."

Dr. Low strokes his chin, the aperture of his eye lens tightening ever so slightly. "Sensible. We were planning on gradually moving in that direction at any rate. Only our timetables would change."

"They'll have us at a considerable disadvantage, now, though," Minister Yan says. "Any trade agreements we broker will lean heavily in favor of Ooo's kingdoms. We'll be losing out significantly."

"Your people can't afford to wait around while you try to hold out for better terms." Betty remarks. "You'll have to take what you can get."

The loss of potential profit brings an embittered frown to the businesswoman's face. But the expression smooths itself away as she seems to accept the truth in Betty's words. She nods faintly. "You're right. We've already lost our position to make any bargains."

Dr. Low and Minister Yan look to Leader Killian (Saoirse, as the only dissenting vote, keeps her arms crossed and fixes her eyes elsewhere). The man saws his brick of a jawline back and forth as he considers the offer. After some deliberation, he straightens in his seat and signals Minerva with a short nod. She turns back to Princess Bubblegum and Finn and smiles proudly.

"By majority rule, we accept the proposal."

"Yusss." Finn gives a little fist pump as a polite scatter of applause rings out from the audience. He also feels a small squeeze against his mechanical hand. Glancing down, he catches an admiring look from Huntress Wizard. There's agitation, too. It disappears behind her leafy bangs as she tilts her chin down toward the desk again. Finn takes his seat and squeezes back a little firmer.

"Very well," Princess Bubblegum replies. "I propose we reconvene at Candy Kingdom Prime in three days' time to set the details of the treaty in person with the rulers of the participating kingdoms. Until then, the Candy Kingdoms and our territories will continue offering aid to Humantown in the form of food, water, medical aid, and building materials. My kingdom will also offer regular Banana Guard patrols and housing to any refugees unable to find shelter. In return, we expect that the humans of Founder's Island and Humantown will keep a close alliance with both Candy Kingdoms."

Minerva nods. "Agreed."

Aunt Lolly, the Duke of Nuts, Colonel Candy Corn, and Doctor Princess sound off with their own declarations of approval.

"We're all in agreement, then. If there's no further business, I will adjourn this week's-"

"Hold up! Hold up!" The interruption comes from Betty as she suddenly jumps up from her seat and claps both her hands down on top of her desk, pulling attention back to her. She speaks urgently: "Before we go! Before we go, I still have one extremely, extremely crucial question to ask of the Humantown delegates."

Minera raises her brow at the magic woman's manic outburst. "Yes, Miss Grof? Please continue."

"Okay. If you were on the fence about buying an autobiographical book, would the promise of a section of baking recipes sell you on it? Yes or no?"

A look of confusion rolls over the five humans' faces at the bewildering inquiry.

Princess Bubblegum rolls her eyes. "…Goodbye, Doctor Minerva, fellow delegates. We'll be in touch about the treaty."

Static fills the hologram displays as they wink off. All around, the audience members leave their spots and slowly shuffle out of the presentation hall, murmuring over the new developments while they go. PB slumps forward, lightly resting her brow on the ball of her hand as she braces her elbow against the podium. Peppermint Butler is instantly at her side, positioning himself so as to catch his mistress in case she collapses. It's an unnecessary gesture; Princess Bubblegum realigns herself in a heartbeat, righting back up as though the small slip never happened at all. It fails to escape the notice of her friends, however.

"Woah, Peebs, you alright?" Marceline's voice twangs with concern as she glides over to her girlfriend.

"Yes, absolutely. Just…relieved that it's over."

"Did we do good?" Finn asks. He and Huntress get up from their seats and follow Marcy, Simon, and Betty over to PB.

"Actually, yes. Mostly. Less fighting would've been nice, but the treaty idea was a good one, Finn."

Finn grins. "Like I said, it was really Fern's idea."

"Then he has my thanks. All of you do for your support."

Princess takes a breath and addresses the other members of the Candy Kingdoms. "Aunt Lolly, Doctor Princess, Duke of Nuts: I'm sure you all have your own duties to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll update you on any developments regarding the summit."

"Glad to be of help, deary." Aunt Lolly bows.

Doctor Princess and The Duke of Nuts offer their own little parting bows:

"Likewise."

"Yes, always a pleasure."

PB bows in return as the three representatives make their way off the stage. She then turns to her remaining subordinate.

"Colonel Candy Corn?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Don't ever threaten to pull support from an allied state without my direct approval ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

A tremble crawls up the old soldier's back at her icy tone. He gulps and nods. "Y-Yes, Your Grace."

"Good. Return to your post."

Colonel Candy Corn salutes and hurriedly removes himself from the stage, leaving only the Princess and her friends. PB smiles cheerily at them.

"So!" She proclaims. "Y'all wanna grab lunch? The royal cooks should have something ready for us by now."

"Uh, are you sure you're up for it, Pleebups?" Marceline asks. "You seem pretty out of it."

"Look who's talking," PB shoots back with a smirk.

"Okay, yeah, I'm not lookin' so daisy fresh myself, but are you sure you couldn't use, like, a nap or something?"

"Nah, I need something in my tum after dealing with all that human bliz. And it'd be pretty lousy of me not to feed y'all after you came all the way to help me out. Right?"

"Alright, if you insist, I'm down for a bite."

"Great! How about it, guys? Hungry?"

Simon smiles gratefully. "Famished."

"Yeah, me too," Betty admits, patting her belly.

"Finn, HW? Care to join us?"

Finn takes a sidelong glance at Huntress Wizard. The wood nymph is standing a bit off to the side, facing slightly askance to the rest of their friends. Her eyes are fixed upon the ground. He frowns and looks back apologetically to Princess Bubblegum.

"Bubs, I think Huntress and I are gonna head back to-"

Huntress Wizard suddenly whirls towards them and throws both her arms out. "NO!" The gang snaps to her in alarm. She flinches and drops her arms to her sides, startled by herself as much as her friends' reaction. "S-Sorry…I didn't mean to shout. I just didn't want to give the wrong impression: I wanna go to lunch. With everyone."

"…Well, yes, like I said, I'm happy to have all of you join me." Bubblegum replies, making her way to the steps leading off the stage. As she descends them with her lover and friends in tow, she addresses Peppermint Butler. "Peps: go let the cooks know. And tell them we'll be taking our meal in the royal luncheon room today."

"Right away, Your Ladyship." Peppermint Butler bows and vacates back through the stage curtains.

From here, Princess Bubblegum leads them from the meeting chamber and down another flight of stairs that conducts back into the elaborate crisscross of castle corridors.

"So, what were y'all up to before this shnaz?" PB asks as they make their way through the quiet halls.

"Well, after you sent Finn and HW to check up on me, I took them to get coffee. Simon and Betty met up with us there."

PB glances over her shoulder at Marceline. "I would've come see you myself, but you saw what I've been dealing with here."

"I know, I know. I'm just saying how it went down. Anyway, we talked and sipped on drinks for a while, then Finn convinced me to come see what the fuss with your big meeting was all about."

"And, of course, Marcy begged us to come along as well." Simon teases. "But we would have come regardless."

While their friends converse, Finn drops back to where Huntress Wizard is walking at the rear of the group. He whispers to her: "Yo, Hun, what happened back there? You alright?"

"I'm okay. I just…I dinked up hard back there, and it's got me off balance."

"And you're still sure you don't wanna get out of here? Maybe go mediate or something?"

She shakes her head. "I want to try to push past it. Besides, running away now would be even more embarrassing."

Finn smiles and gives her a small sideways hug around her waist. "Proud of you."

"Yeah. Just hope I don't donk up anymore."

They take a turn into one of the outer hallways and, reaching its center, come to a large pair of double doors. A panel in the wall directly across slides to one side, revealing Peppermint Butler at the end of a dark, round channel (built to his precise measurements) stretching out behind him. As though it were the most natural thing in the world, Peppermint Butler crosses over and pulls one of the doors open for them while the secret passage seals shut.

"Apologies for the slight delay," Peppermint Butler says as they head in.

"Slight? Dude, that was crazy fast. I don't even know how you beat us here."

"Kind of you to say, Mister Mertens, but I hold myself to a high standard of punctuality when it comes to opening doors for the Princess. I would have been on time, but we are having some issues in the kitchen."

The room they enter is understated compared to the grand dining hall: small and without pomp or filigree, but still elegantly furnished in pastel yellows, pinks, and blue-gray accents. A large set of domed windows along the far wall look out onto the castle courtyard, though the curtains are only slightly parted towards the bottom for Marceline's benefit. They head to a flawlessly set table at its center.

"What sort of issues, Pep-Butt?" Finn asks as he takes his seat next to Huntress Wizard.

"I don't wish to speak out of turn…" Peppermint Butler hesitates. He makes a quick glance towards Princess Bubblegum.

The monarch gives him a light nod. "It's fine, Peps. Go ahead."

"Well, in that case, there are a few shortfalls in our food stocks since we've been donating so much to Humantown and the newly arrived refugees. The cooks aren't happy with having to make do with less."

"Oh dear. How bad is it, exactly?"

"Nothing to fret about, Professor Petrikov, I assure you. Merely a temporary dip as our supply chains adjust to all the new mouths to feed. And speaking of 'feed', I should stop prattling on about matters of state and take your orders." He whips out a pen and notepad. "I've taken the liberty of preparing menus, but I can have almost anything made. What would you like?"

"Would a curried egg salad sandwich and a glass of ice water be out of the question?"

"Not at all. Miss Groff?"

Betty opens one of the menus next to her and glances over it. "I want a plate of shrimp and hushpuppies but give me some horseradish instead of cocktail sauce. And a tonic with lime, too."

"And you're certain about the…horseradish?"

"Completely."

"Alright then," Peppermint Butler shrugs, jotting it down. "Miss Wizard? Mister Mertens?"

"Steak, bleu, with a water."

"I'll have a cheeseburger with fries and a cola."

"Miss Abadeer?"

"A bowl of tomato bisque and cherry soda for me. Biggest bowl you got."

"Good, good. Princess?"

"The pesto linguini…and candy wine, please. Red."

Putting down the last note, Peppermint Butler bows. "I'll have everything out right away." He then turns and makes his way out through the main doors.

As he leaves, Marceline quirks an eyebrow in her girlfriend's direction. "Kinda early to be hitting the sauce, huh, Peebs?"

"Don't start. It's just a glass with some pasta."

"I didn't hear you say 'a glass'; all I heard was 'wine'. Like, in general."

"I don't know if you noticed back there, Marcy, but we barely got through that meeting. If Finn hadn't chimed in when he did, the whole thing could've fallen through and then we'd have a bunch of angry humans clamoring for civil war right next door to us. So, yes, I might want a little something to take the edge off after all that."

Princess Bubblegum shoots Marceline a reproachful look, only to receive one in kind. Observing the flareup between the two with concern, Simon leaps in to direct the conversation back to calmer waters:

"Princess, you're right. Finn really came through for everyone, didn't he? It's a good thing you thought to invite him. Wouldn't you say, Finn?"

"Uh, oh yeah. Yeah! Glad Fern and I could help, PB."

Disarmed by the enthusiasm in her knight's voice, Princess Bubblegum breaks her scowl and takes a gentler expression towards Finn. "Thank you, Finn, you were a huge help. I can't stress that enough."

"Do you think that getting all the princesses on board will keep the heads of Humantown satisfied?" Betty asks. "They seemed to want more than just an assurance of safety."

"I'm not sure, actually. But I think it'll do a lot to put their people at ease, and that's the main priority for the moment. It gives me a little more breathing room around them, at least."

"That's a relief. Those dudes seemed hecka focused on getting what they want. You'd think my mom would have more pull with 'em."

"She probably would under normal circumstances, but her position as their leader has been severely tarnished with all the havoc from the Lich. They know it and want to use the opportunity to expand their spheres of influence."

"They're not gonna try to overthrow my mom, are they?"

"I doubt it," Princess Bubblegum says. "They likely see it more as a chance to better serve what they see as the interests of humanity. Still, it's another potential source of instability that I could do without."

"And you're hoping the new treaty will make the citizens of Humantown feel safe enough that they're not tempted to throw in with any of the reps and upset the balance of power."

"That's the plan. Very astute of you, Betty."

She shrugs. "Not like I haven't hatched a scheme or two of my own. I have to say, this is a pretty good one, provided you get Ooo's princesses to sign off."

"Yep. That's gonna be a toughie to pull off. I'm thinking either threatening the holdouts with tariffs or even straight-up bribing-"

Marceline interrupts the princess by loudly clearing her throat. "Weird how you just said you wanted to unwind, but you're still talking politics. How about we talk about something that isn't boring for a minute?"

The remark earns her another annoyed side-eye from PB. "Okay, Marcy, have it your way. What's everyone doing after this? Any plans for the afternoon?"

"Simon and I were thinking of going for a walk around the kingdom. Visit some stores, see some parks – that sort of thing. Anyone want to come?"

"Count me in," Marcy says. "I've got nothing else going on today."

Finn takes another worried glimpse at Huntress Wizard. He finds her in the same pensive posture as in the meeting chamber, eyes cast down toward the yellow tablecloth. She doesn't appear to be listening to the conversation at all. With a small wince in sympathy, Finn answers for both of them: "Thanks, Betty, but I think Huntress and I are just gonna hang out on our own for the rest of the day, if that's cool with you guys."

"Hey, no prob. Y'all do whatever you feel like." She turns to PB. "Princess?"

"Uh, well…I'd love to, of course, but-"

"But you can't get away cuz you've got so many other important things going on. That's what you were going to say, Bonnie?"

Princess Bubblegum doesn't answer. Her lips thin.

"It was, wasn't it?"

"Roughly, yes. As delightful as it sounds, Betty, Simon, I will have to decline. Thank you, Marcy, for deliberately overemphasizing that point for me."

Marceline gives her a smug smirk.

"That's alright, Princess," Simon assures her. "We wouldn't ask you to take time away from your royal duties on our account. It'll be great to just have Marcy along with us."

"Alright. But you should avoid any areas under construction. The Banana Guards are nearly all thumbs when it comes to work safety."

Finn nods. "Last week, I saw Banana Guard 149 fumble a pipe from two stories up. It landed straight through Banana Guard 381. He was okay, but, you know, it would've been mad griz if they weren't candy."

"Ah, I see. We'll be sure to give them a wide berth while we explore, then."

"We should go clothes shopping. No offense, but you two could definitely use some new threads. I barely ever see y'all wearing anything outside your usual suit and wizard getups."

"But I like my suits," Simon murmurs. "My jackie…"

The double doors open wide from behind and in steps Peppermint Butler followed by a cortege of servers, each with a dish on a tray held level with their head. They circle the table and promptly deposit each order before its respective recipient, along with various drinking glasses filled with their beverages of choice. The servers next to Finn and Marceline – two maids with heads of coke and cherry soda – lean over and pour a small portion of themselves into their glasses.

"Please enjoy my sweet body fluids, sir," says the cola maid with a flirty giggle.

Finn pulls a slight face. "Uh, yeah…thanks. I will."

Unbeknownst to Finn, to his side, Huntress Wizard rouses from her thoughts and skewers the cherry soda girl with a lethal glare. The candy girl's smile drops as she puts up her serving tray in front of her face and quickly backpedals out of the room. Finn watches her go with a perplexed look. Satisfied with having driven off the intruder, Huntress picks up a fork, stabs it directly into the center of her nearly raw steak and then brings the entire slab up to her face to take a meaty chomp out of one of its corners.

Over at Princess Bubblegum's seat, Peppermint uncorks a bottle of candy wine and fills a crystal glass a bit over halfway before setting it aside. PB raises the glass to her face to take a deep whiff of the aromatic fumes wafting from its dark surface, then takes a long pull. Her eyes flutter as she swallows.

"Aah, thank you, Peps. Excellent pick."

"Only the finest, My Lady. Will there be anything else you require?"

"No, I think we're pretty good here."

"Of course."

Peppermint Butler claps his hands twice, at which point the remaining servers bow and curtsey before filing back out through the doorway. He then takes up position a few steps to Princess Bubblegum's left, ready to be called upon in a moment's notice.

Left to themselves, the six friends gladly tuck into their food together. Huntress Wizard is already ripping out another chunk of steak while Finn happily douses his meal in a heavy mix of ketchup and mustard. Not to be outdone, Betty shells, dips, and packs away her first few shrimp with feverish efficiency. Marceline, likewise, lunges head-first at the rim of her soup bowl (sized for serving soup, not receiving) and starts to suck up its hue as soon as her fangs touch the creamy orange-red surface. Only Princess Bubblegum and Simon avail themselves of proper dining etiquette.

A little further into the meal, and after several sips of wine, Princess Bubblegum dabs the sides of her mouth with a napkin and addresses Betty:

"So, you're writing an autobiography?"

The sorceress looks up from her plate, a shrimp tail still hanging halfway out her mouth. She slurps it up and swallows. "Oh, yes. Yes, I am. I'm a good ways in, but I'm still trying to decide on some things about it."

"Like whether or not to include a baking section?"

She makes a small wince and nods. "Right. I know, it probably wasn't the best time to bring it up during the meeting. I've been on the lookout for opportunities to canvass people on their opinions, and it seemed like as good an opportunity as any…"

"It weirded them out, for defs sure, but I don't think it did any harm. Just maybe try not to shout next time, hmm?"

"Yeah, sure."

"What's it about? Your book?"

"Magical madness and sadness – MMS, as it's commonly referred to within the wizarding community – my findings on it and experience coming to terms with it."

Hearing this, Huntress Wizard nearly chokes on her steak mid-swallow. She coughs roughly into her fist, causing Finn to look her way in concern.

"I'm fine," she quietly assures him before taking a drink of water.

"Ah, yes, MMS. I've certainly witnessed its effect in magic users, but never made any real study of the condition, outside of some observations I made of Ice Ki-Simon. Simon, I mean. Observations I made of Simon over the years."

"Nice catch, Peebs," Marceline remarks as she lifts her head from the edge of her mega-sized bowl, the soup inside now a milky shade of pink. "Real slick."

"It's quite alright, Princess. Ice King was my name for quite some time; you don't have to avoid using it around me."

Princess Bubblegum takes a flustered sip of wine. Her glass is already almost empty. "Yes, well…anyway, what are your findings?"

"My findings?"

"On MMS? Anything revelatory?"

Betty pops a horseradish-soaked hushpuppy into her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. She takes a pull from her drink, then answers: "I won't go too far into details, but MMS appears to manifest in magic users through a self-sustaining cycle of emotional and sensory feedback mechanisms. A person's thought patterns can gradually or suddenly destabilize through a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. Once this happens, the individual is left far more susceptible to highly altered states of awareness. This susceptiveness seems to allow a 'permeability' between the affected person's psychological state and reality, creating a kind of hyper-fluidity between the two wherein one can directly influence the other."

"Wha?" Finn asks, completely clueless.

"She's saying that if a person's brain gets thrown too out of whack, it can start to directly influence their surroundings and vice versa," Princess Bubblegum explains.

"Huh? How the hey-hey cee-kay does that work?"

"To put things simply, time and space are relative to our perception of it. Consequently, the fabric of existence is built upon the shared and overlapping perceptions of every living – and sometimes unliving – being in it. Magic users are able to tap into this superimposed network of perception and bend its energies to their will."

"So, there's a direct link between this 'perception network', MMS, and the feedback mechanisms you mentioned?"

"Right," Betty answers Bubblegum. "Drawing upon this energy network creates a kind of sensory overload that overwhelms the parts of the prefrontal cortex and limbic system – or their equivalent in non-humanoids – that govern things like emotion, anxiety, and behavior mediation. Over time, this can erode the brain's excitatory and inhibitory controls to produce a near permanent alteration in the user's brain chemistry. The effect is typically more pronounced with intensive magic use, though each magic user processes the change differently. Most sink to a certain depth of MMS before eventually achieving some measure of balance with their new state. There's a danger, though, that the user might continue to trigger the cycle, sinking deeper and deeper as their minds grow increasingly distorted with stronger magics on each pass."

Betty pauses and, realizing that she had been rambling, smiles self-consciously. "That's my working theory, at least. I still need to do a lot more research for any hard conclusions."

"Sehr faszinierend. What data do you have to suggest those specific regions of the brain as the ones most affected by MMS?"

"I have the leftover brain pattern readouts from back when I hacked Simon's crown. I've also used an imaging spell to monitor my own brain activity while preforming magic."

"You've studied other wizards, too."

Everyone looks to Huntress Wizard, surprised by her blunt entry into the conversation after staying so reserved until then. Her voice is flat as she continues:

"That time you took notes on all those wizards; those are a part of your findings, too?"

"Um, yes…they are, Huntress Wizard," Betty replies, unsure of the nymph's intention of pointing it out. "Those observations are the foundation for my studies on MMS. It'd be difficult to draw any conclusions without them."

"I see," Huntress Wizard replies. She makes no further comment and seems to sink into herself again as she goes back to stolidly chewing on her steak.

Betty, Princess Bubblegum, and Simon exchange a few confused glances with one another, while Finn knits his brow. He still didn't have a full grasp on what Betty and PB were actually talking about, but it's clear to him that it was causing Huntress major distress. The meeting had already pushed her well outside her comfort zone with people; the magical madness stuff probably wasn't helping her. Regardless, he should have realized it sooner. Now, all he could hope to manage was a bit of damage control.

"Hey, this book stuff is neat and all, but could we change the subject again? I'm having trouble keeping up with all the science talk y'all are putting out there."

"Ah, alright. I can get carried away with theorizing sometimes, but I realize it's not everyone's jam."

"We've already changed topics like four or five times. Why not one more?" Princess Bubblegum replies wryly. "What do you feel like talking about, Finn?"

"I dunno…uh…Marcy, didn't you say you were working on a new song or something earlier? How's that going?"

"You are?" Simon asks, his interest piqued.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Marceline looks up from her soup. Only a hint of pink remains in the mostly grayish liquid. She blushes lightly under her adopted father's attentive gaze. "It's going okay, I guess. Nothing big, I've pretty much only got the basic melody and a few lyrics nailed down right now. I've been feeling…a little out of focus to work on it all that much."

"That's not good. Have you not been sleeping well, or getting enough red?"

"I can assure you that she's getting plenty of red, Simon," Princess Bubblegum says. "More than usual, in fact. The castle staff have been replacing a lot of drapes and upholstery lately." She gives her girlfriend a knowing look. "Linens, too."

Marceline's blush grows deeper. Evidently, she hadn't been careful enough in hiding the evidence of her binges around the castle.

"A significant change in your normal appetite isn't usually a good sign. Is something the matter?"

"N-No. I'm fine. Can't a vamp, y'know, nosh down every once in a while? Heck, Bonnie, I've seen you demolish two full boxes of pizza during some of your late-night science marathons."

Now it's Princess Bubblegum's turn to blush. "Marcie! I'd appreciate it if you didn't blurt out my personal pizza record to everyone."

"Hey, you were the one who brought up my eating habits first!"

"…Okay, that's a fair point. But if you're feeling snacky, I wish you'd put an order in with one of the staff instead of just going to town on whatever red that's lying around. It's expensive."

"Well then, if there's nothing else wrong, then it's probably just some stress or a little fatigue. Give yourself some time to relax and I'm sure you'll put something incredible out eventually, Marceline. You always do."

"Thanks, Simon. Spending the day with all you guys is a really good start, I think."

The group of friends continue to eat and occasionally talk amongst themselves on a few one-note subjects (save for Huntress Wizard who maintains a resolute silence). Eventually, as the fare for both lunch and conversation diminish, Peppermint Butler and the other servers appear at their sides to bear their empty plates away one-by-one until only a half-full wine glass and its bottle remains. Princess Bubblegum pinches the crystal stem and quickly drains the bell-shaped bowl of its contents in a long swig. She sighs contentedly and looks to her friends. Her gaze is warm and markedly more relaxed than it had been at the start of the meal.

"Everyone, I just wanted to say, again, how pleased I am that you all showed up to support me. It was really, really great of you."

"Um, you're welcome, Peebles. I was hoping we'd be able to take some of the stress off of you."

"You did, Finn. You definitely did. Things would've been a lot more gunked up without you guys…that's why I wanted to invite you all to the summit before you leave. I think I'm gonna need all the support I can get to pull it off. Can I count on y'all showing up again?"

"Oh, yeah, of course I'll be there. Anything you need, PB. Always."

"I was half-expecting you to force me to attend," Marceline says. "But I would've come even if you hadn't. Someone needs to keep it loose with all that stuffed-up diplomacy schwizz going down."

"It'd be so nice to finally meet some princesses under more cordial circumstances. I'd love to go."

"And I'm interested in seeing how this whole scheme of yours goes down, Princess. I'll be there, too."

Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the table look to Huntress Wizard for her answer. The nymph continues to sit in silence briefly, then answers: "I'll come."

"Wunderbar. Come to the castle in the morning on the day of. The dress is formal attire. That means your good diplomatic clothes, Finn – no giant sweaters or just your usual clothes and a tie."

"Aw man! I hate wearing all that fancy junk!"

"All the same, you show up in anything less than your finest, you don't get in. Period. And I'll be very disappointed."

She passes her glass and bottle over to Peppermint Butler, then rises from her seat and smiles at her friends. "I've a giant load of calls and plans to make, so if you'll please excuse me, I'll leave you all to the rest of your day. Have fun with Simon and Betty, Marcy. I'll see you at dinner."

"Will do, P-Brains. Try not to sound too boozy when inviting the Princesses."

"Hardy-har-har," Princess Bubblegum retorts in dry amusement. She gives her girlfriend a parting peck on the head before proceeding to an empty space along one of the dining room walls. Peppermint Butler taps a small pressure tile hidden on the floor with the toe of his shoe. A portion of the wall lifts up to reveal yet another secret passageway heading off somewhere deep into the castle depths. "Auf Wiedersehen."

Bidding them a wave goodbye, Princess Bubblegum heads into the corridor and the wall seals shut. Marceline drums a little beat on the tabletop and floats up from her seat.

"Alright, Simon, Betty, y'all wanna head outta here? We should leave soon if we wanna beat the afternoon shopping rush."

"How about I just teleport us again? It'd be the quickest."

"Uhm, sure. Why not?" She looks to Finn and Huntress Wizard. "See you, dudes. Thanks again for hanging out and stuff."

"Yes, it was wonderful running into both of you together with Marceline," Simon concurs. "You know, we should all get together at one of our places sometime. Have a dinner party or movie night? Maybe some kind of combo deal?"

"Good idea, Simon. Hows about we do something like that after PB's summit thingy?" Finn suggests. "Like, to celebrate?"

"Yeah! If everything goes alright, Peebs will be so relieved, she'll def wanna unwind."

"We could do it over at my place. I got the setup, and I bet PB will wanna get away from the Kingdom for a couple hours after everything's wound down."

"Cool, cool. I'll text you some ideas and junk tomorrow, Finn."

"Sounds like a ton of fun," Betty chimes in, "but you know I'm not gonna keep revving up this teleportation spell forever, right?"

"Oh, right. Okay, later, you guys."

"Later."

Marceline floats over next to Betty while Simon joins her on the opposite side.

"You both ready?"

"Yes."

"Ready. Just make sure we come out with our faces in the same place. Okay?"

Betty's eyes glow as another psychedelically colored bubble starts to precipitate around them. "Trust me, Marceline; I'm at least, like, 80 percent sure that your orifices will stay exactly where they are."

"80 percent?! What?! Wait!"

"Too late!" Betty exclaims with a devious grin. The bubble swallows them up and pops in a burst of cyan.

"Well then, I believe I shall deliver these to the kitchen," Peppermint Butler declares, lifting up the glass and bottle in his hands. "I trust you and Miss Wizard can find your own way out, Mister Mertens?"

"Yeah, we're good, Peps. Thanks for the meal."

"No thanks necessary for doing one's duty. Good day to you both."

He gives a respectful bow and then steps lively out of the room, leaving Finn and Huntress Wizard on their own. Finn glances at his girlfriend. Her face betrays no emotion, even with everyone else gone. Any attempt at guessing her headspace right now would be pointless. But he still feels like he should say something to her – something she would need to hear, like a good boyfriend would know how to say.

"…Hun, I-"

Finn doesn't get to finish. Huntress Wizard vanishes in a poof of yellow-green smoke, leaving a green robin fluttering in her place. The little bird darts up toward the ceiling, makes a small loop, then stalls in a flurry of flaps to land on top of his head. She puffs her feathers up and dips her neck down so her head comes to rest just above the opening of his hat.

It's really cute, Finn has to admit to himself. He knows, though, that it's also a clear bid to get out of talking to him about what happened. If she was that desperate to avoid any and all discussion of her behavior, then a one-sided lecture wouldn't help anything; it would only cause her to withdraw further into herself. He would have to back off, at least until she signaled that she was ready to open up to him about it.

The young hero reaches up a hand and gives the little green bird nested between the ears of his hat a few comforting strokes along her back feathers. Although the soft chirr it elicits from her beak brings a faint smile to his face, he can't help but heave a short sigh as he walks out of the dining room.

It was going to be a long and quiet walk all the way back to his house.

As soon as Finn opens his front door, Huntress Wizard takes off from his head and reverts to her usual humanoid form. Wordlessly, she crosses his living area and parks herself directly in the furthest left corner of the room, just past the opening to the kitchen. She sits down in a lotus position facing the wall and starts to meditate. Finn brings the door shut behind him and stands there, not quite knowing what to do with himself. A couple seconds of awkward indecision pass before he decides to head over to his couch and television. He hovers in front of it then looks over at his girlfriend.

"Hey, Hun, you can keep doing what you're doing, but I'm gonna play some videogames. That okay?"

"Go ahead," she answers without turning around.

"Alright, cool. Uh…let me know if you need anything."

Finn grabs the remote shoved halfway down between the worn couch cushions and clicks on the television. He circles the little coffee table and kneels down to open the drawer below the tv to search the tatty carboard boxes comprising his game collection. Eventually, he picks out one with a brightly colored depiction of a blue-haired amazon warrior brandishing a fiery sword at a purple demon as it towers menacingly above her. The title 'Dread Dungeons II' is emblazoned above it in a charmingly tacky faux-medieval font (complete with a yellow-green gradient effect). He slides the cartridge out and blows a quick puff of air into its underside. Turning it over in his hand, he flips open the hinged door at the front of his game system, slots the cartridge inside, and switches it on.

A distorted, but triumphant flourish of chiptune music plays as the game's title fades in across a cloud-swept sky. The screen then slowly tracks downward to a reveal a band of heroes dramatically poised atop a hillside overlooking the entrance of a dark cave. The entire scene is rendered in loving, pixelated detail. As the music levels out to a steady upbeat tempo, the words 'Press Start' blink repeatedly in bright yellow along the bottom of the screen. Pressing the indicated button, the sound of a sword unsheathing plays, and Finn takes a seat back on his couch as he quickly navigates the menu to load his save from a few days prior. An isometric view of a dilapidated stone chamber pops up on the screen. The room is austerely furnished with no more than two beds, a table with a candle on it, and a chest. At its center, however, is a shrub-like tree growing up through the floor with a soft shimmering aura surrounding it. Next to the tree stands a young woman holding a stave. She is arrayed in a light set of noble's armor, a traveler's cloak, and an almost comically large, pointy blue hat with an equally wide brim.

Finn navigates out of the save room and into the middle of a labyrinthine sprawl of interconnected rooms, corridors, and staircases. The tileset suggests the murky, decaying interior of an ancient temple nearly reclaimed by the necromantic bog it was built upon. A foreboding trickle of synth notes loops overtop it to further cement the scene. Boldly, Finn forges ahead through the darkened halls which he had yet to explore and enters into the furthest room where a pack of fungal horrors shamble about in wait for a fresh victim to sprout from. He lets off a couple of fire balls to soften them up, then switches to a short sword and shield combo to conserve his spell slots as they draw near. Bashing away at the controller buttons, Finn settles in to concentrate on the virtual dungeon crawl.

Unfortunately, focus doesn't come so readily to Huntress Wizard. The nymph finds herself continually drawn from her meditative state, fidgeting restlessly in her spot. She even takes a small peek towards Finn at one point, only to snap back to her original position, teeth clenched in frustration. Years of practice normally afforded her the ability to filter out most distractions with ease, but the noise in her head seemed to amplify the world around her to a near unbearable degree. Minutes crawl by to the tune of an uncompressed synth soundtrack and blaring game effects, and still Huntress Wizard struggles in her corner, unable to find her center. Then, finally, after roughly an hour of trying, HW makes a small guttural noise of defeat in the back of her throat and slumps backward until she's sprawled out across the cottage floorboards.

'Cram. Why do I even try?'

Staring blankly at the ceiling, she listens to the television and her boyfriend's occasional grunts of frustration at a particularly tricky enemy encounter. She briefly considers slipping out the door and abandoning the rest of the day with Finn…maybe even several days – just to let things blow over. She quickly discards the idea, however. Tempting as it was, she didn't really want to leave; she just didn't want to own up to him, not after everything he'd done for her. But what else could she do?

Eventually, Huntress Wizard floats up from the floor and, still maintaining her prone position, drifts over to the couch. She gently drapes herself on the backrest, slotting herself in between Finn's head and the wall.

Finn immediately pauses his game and turns to look at his girlfriend. "Hey, Hun."

"Hey."

"You wanna talk?"

She sighs and cuts her levitation magic, making the couch creek as she comes down on it with the full weight of her body. "I guess so."

"Alright," Finn says. He folds his legs up and scoots around until he's facing her fully. "What's up?"

"Well…like I told you earlier, I really donked up at that meeting because I was too anxious to think straight. I came with you because I thought that I might be able to really break out for once: make some good ideas and show everyone that I'm not just some forest weirdo that can only talk to mushrooms." She frowns and shakes her head. "That didn't happen at all…like, at all, at all. And, yeah, I was pretty hung up on it."

"It's okay, Hun. No one was expecting anything from any of us. You didn't have to contribute stuff to look cool in front of everyone."

"But you did," Huntress points out. "And I bet it felt pretty good, didn't it? Being the good-idea-haver at the center of everyone's attention?"

Finn doesn't reply. His eyes dart to the side to avoid her accusing gaze.

"Thought so. Everyone was so proud of you and happy you were there, like always. No one would've cared if I'd shown up or not. Whether I'd tried or not."

"You know we care about you, Hun. We want to see you try. I always want you to try, even if it doesn't turn out perfect the first time."

"Yeah, I usually tell myself that when this kind of thing happens: 'with help from my friends and my wonderful BF, I can work through all of my debilitating mental illnesses. Just gotta keep on trying!' I could've taken a bit of comfort in that…but then, Betty opened up about her MMS findings."

Finn frowns heavily. He could already see Huntress Wizard's line of thought.

"You heard her – that stuff about changes in brain chems – magic users aren't on the same wavelength as you normies. I know I haven't been for nearly my entire life. What if there's nothing left inside me that can be fixed or helped? What if…what if I'm just…broken?"

At this, Finn immediately rises from the couch and exits the living room for the kitchen. A flash of dismay crosses HW's wide, cat-like eyes as she watches the young hero walk away. It was unlike him to leave just like that without so much as a word of reassurance. Huntress heaves another dejected sigh, then rolls forward and falls limply onto the now vacant cushions below with a soft *whump*. 'Probably fed up with all of my striz. Can't say that I blame him.'

From the kitchen, she hears a drawer slide open, the sound of Finn rummaging through it, followed by his footsteps back into the room. She squeezes her eyes shut and mutters a faint curse under her breath. 'Glob, our whole dang day together is donked to heck because of me. I should've just kept quiet.' Finn's footsteps approach and she feels something metallic tap gently against the top of her forehead. She peeks up to find him dangling a small canister above her.

"Know what this is?"

Huntress Wizard blinks and shakes her head. "No. What?"

He turns the can around in his hand to reveal its label:

'The Squeaky Wheel:

Premium Grade Machine Lubricant'

"Every two weeks I have to do maintenance on my arm to keep it clean and running. Sometimes more if I've been doing gunk like chopping through monster guts. I usually do it on my own, but I want you to help me this time. That okay?"

"Uh, sure."

A little confused, Huntress sits up and shifts to one side, allowing Finn to sit down next to her. He places the oil can and a small toolbox he'd been carrying in his other hand on the coffee table in front of them.

"First step," he extends his arm out in front of her, "we gotta detach this dude."

"Oh, you want me to…?"

"Yep, go for it. There's a little button near the bottom. It's really more of a divot, so you might need to feel around for it."

Scooting up close to him, Huntress Wizard takes her boyfriend's arm and gently runs her hands down its sleek surface until she reaches its base next to his bicep.

He snickers. "That tickles."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. You find it?"

"Not yet, it's pretty smooth. Wait…I think…yeah, there it is."

The edge of her thumb runs across a shallow groove in the metal. She presses it. There's a click and a soft whirring sound as the base of Finn's arm widens slightly. Once it stops, Huntress Wizard eases the prosthetic limb the rest of the way off. It feels surprisingly heavy cradled in her hands.

Finn shivers slightly. "Pins and needles," he remarks, rubbing the end of his stump. "Happens every time."

Huntress Wizard places his arm flat on the table. "Now what?"

"Now, we open each piece up and clean it out, bottom to top."

Finn reaches into the hole at the bottom and presses another hidden button on the inside. There's another click and the lowest segment of the prosthetic uncouples from the rest. He places it upright on the table, exposing an intricate interlay of cybernetics within the candy steel casing. Making a cursory inspection of the interior and finding nothing broken, he reaches over, and flips open the lid on the toolbox. Inside are a set of specialized instruments for the task at hand. Finn begins by taking out a can with a thin, straw-like protrusion at the top and handing it to HW.

"We can start by blowing out any crud and dust in there."

"Alright."

Huntress Wizard takes up the piece of her boyfriend and carefully directs a few hisses of compressed air across the electrical components. At the same time, Finn pours a measure of the lubricant onto a cloth and begins to wipe down the outside joints on the upper portion of his arm. They work quietly for a short time until Huntress speaks up again:

"I take it Bubblegum taught you how to do most of this?"

"I knew some basics from helping clean BMO, but, yeah, she showed me how to do the more complicated bits. I also have to take it to her every couple of months so she can run diagnostics and make firmware updates."

"Mm. That's nice of her."

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

Huntress Wizard stops spraying and looks squarely at the young hero. "Look, Finn, is this supposed to show me how you're broken, too, so I shouldn't sweat my own damage? I mean, it's a sweet gesture if it is, but losing a limb and struggling with magically induced brain damage is sorta apples-to-oranges. Don't you think?"

"Oh, uh, right," Finn admits, a little embarrassed at how quickly Huntress had seen through him. "It kinda is. There's a little more to it than that, but I was gonna wait to tell you about it after we got a little further in."

"Tell me what?"

Finn takes a breath and turns to face her. "Hoo boy. Okay, so, after I first lost my arm, it messed up my melon heart." He taps on his forehead. "Like, in a bad way. A really, really bad way. So bad that I'm pretty sure I plugged into that perception network thingy that Betty was talking about."

Genuine astonishment falls across Huntress Wizard's face. "You…did? How? In what way?"

"I think I used some mega powerful magic. Or something pretty similar. Remember that one time when all those blocks of stuff started floating across Ooo to make a giant tower in the Grasslands? Well…that was me. I did all that with my mind."

"No, that…can't…" Huntress looks into Finn's eyes, searching for some indication of falsehood. Finding none, she slowly puts the air canister down and cups a hand over her face. "Grob. That was you. That really was you. The head mages…geez, everyone in Wizard City was convinced that there was an unlicensed witch coven performing a kind of ultra-ritual in Bubblegum's territory. Something of that scale…it's unheard of outside of wizards."

"And according to what Betty was saying, that spell, or whatever it was, might've jacked up my brains to be that powerful. If I found out that it did, would you want me to quit on myself whenever I dinked something up? Would you think helping me through my trubs was a waste of time?"

Huntress Wizard huffs and shakes her head. "No. No, of course not. I'd want to help you try no matter what."

"Yep, you sure would," Finn says with a wide smile. "And so would I."

A small grin returns to Huntress Wizard's face. She leans in and presses a kiss into Finn's lips, which he happily returns. When they break, she tilts her head against his.

"You're right. Thanks, Finn."

"No prob. It's what I'm here for. Always."

The nymph hums her agreement. She takes an extra moment to bask in her boyfriend's comforting presence, then sits up, grabs the air canister again, and goes right back to meticulously cleaning out his arm. While making her way around its inside, she glances at Finn once more as he works to detach his hand from the top of his prosthetic. She shakes her head again in amazement.

"I still can't believe you did that. What were you even trying to do with that much juice in your tank?"

"I wanted to climb into space and rip my dad's arm off. Y'know, for revenge."

"That's…pretty cool. Insane, but cool."

"Heh. Yeah."

"You wanna make out and play more videogames after we finish up here?"

"Heck yes."