Slowly stirring awake, Finn groaned with a stretch. Tossing the thin candy floss blanket from himself as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. It had been almost 3 days since the conclusion of the Gum War and the chaos brought by GOLB, and Princess Bubblegum was still insisting on running countless tests on both him and Simon. Her reasoning being that simply coming into contact with a being with that kind of power could be unpredictable, let alone sitting in its stomach. Finn sat up and grabbed the water from his bedside table, quickly downing the glass. "Morning Finn, you sleep alright?" Asked Simon, as he looked up from his crossword puzzle. Finn looked over at the man in the candy hospital bed directly across from his. It was still so strange to see him like that, free from the crown and its curse, no longer the Ice King. "Yeah, for the most part, I guess. I just wish PB would stop with all the tests and let me go back to the tree-" He stopped himself short. That's right, there is no treehouse for him to go back to.
"Finn?" Simon questioned. Finn let out a heavy and drawn-out sigh as he tossed his legs over the edge of the candy bed to face him. "Sorry, I guess I'm still trying to come to terms with everything that's happened." He said placing the empty glass back down on the table. Setting aside his puzzle Simon said. "I know what you mean." The old scholar looked down at his hands. "Every time I close my eyes, I'm scared that when I open them again, this'll have all been a dream and I'll still be the Ice King or worse that I'm slowly aging to dirt again like I did the first time I was freed from the crown." The former wizard got up from his bed and sat beside Finn, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "You wanna talk about it?" Simon asked. Finn shook his head. "No, I think this is just something I need to deal with myself." Simon gave a sympathetic nod. "What about Jake, any word from him?" He asked. Finn again shook his head. "No. Last I heard from him he was still helping PB and Lady on cleanup around the Candy Kingdom." Simon sighed. "Well hopefully you'll be able to find him later on today." Finn nodded as Simon patted his shoulder. The two were left awkwardly in silence as they sat there. The tension being thick enough to cut through with a knife.
But, as if on queue, the large candy doors of the medical wing suddenly flung open with Jake bounding through them. "FINN!" Jake yelled as he ran up to the two. The sudden surprise startled both Finn and Simon, the latter of whom had fallen on the floor. Quickly recovering from the sudden scare, Finn sprang to his feet. "What's wrong!?" He shouted. Jake gave a huge grin. "Oh, nothing much, just THIS!" Jake had quickly revealed from behind his back Finn's robotic arm. Finn gaped. "Wha... How did you find my arm?!" "PB had me helping her out by picking up the rubble from where GOLB showed up so she could run some kind of test on it and while picking up a piece of debris from one of Gumbald's cake mechs I saw it sticking out of the ground." Retrieving the arm from his brother, sure enough, it looked like it was pulled from a pile of rubble. It was heavily dented in several areas, smashed and bent inward with one dent even looking almost like a footprint. Finn smiled nonetheless and gave his brother a firm one-armed hug.
"Thanks Jake, I'm sure PB is gonna yell at me for letting it get in this rough of shape but I'm just glad to have it back." He paused and looked over his shoulder at Simon, who had long since recovered from Jake's initial scare. "Speaking of which, where is PB?" He asked. Simon simply shrugged as he sat back down on his bed. "No clue. Last time I saw her was last night after she took that last blood sample." "Another?" Jake questioned. "She better not be running any weird tests on my little brother!" He demanded. Simon raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "No no, she just wanted another sample to compare to the ones before to see... something. She didn't really say what, just something about 'Things not adding up' and then she started mumbling to herself." Finn looked unsure, but still satisfied with the answer he laid his arm on the nightstand beside him and sat down on the bed too. "Well, whatever it was I'm sure she's working hard. We'll see her soon enough. For now, let's just be glad Jake found my arm." Turning towards his brother Finn patted the top of his head. "It'll be ok, Jake." He said. "PB is probably the smartest person in Ooo and I'm sure she knows what she's doing." The two looked at each other for a moment before Jake finally nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." He said before he started making his way towards the medical wing's exit. "Come on Finn, let's go raid Bubblegum's pantry for some breakfast." Finn gave a small chuckle. "Alright, you coming Simon?" Simon smiled and said. "No thanks boys, I'm sure you two have some catching up to do. Besides, I'm this close to finding a five-letter word for a metal or plastic tube at the end of a shoelace." Jake smiled and gave a small wave as he and Finn left the room. "We'll see you later, Simon. Have fun with the puzzles."
Elsewhere in the castle Princess Bubblegum was frantically searching her lab, looking for something – a piece of paper, a sample, anything that could give her the answer she was looking for. She continued to peruse her equipment before she finally stopped and sighed, collapsing onto her workbench with her face in her hands as she took a few deep breaths in an attempt to steady herself. None of this was making any sense. The results of Simon's tests were normal for the most part, having only a few abnormalities that could easily be chalked up to the residual effects of the crown and the thousand-plus years he had spent as the Ice King. But Finn's were all but bouncing around every chart she had. With every new test she ran on his samples, the results seemed to dramatically change with no rhyme or reason. Sighing and trying to steady her nerves, Bubblegum was about to sink onto her workbench when the sound of the lab door creaking open interrupted her. In stepped her faithful servant, Peppermint Butler, carrying a tea set in one hand and Baby Peps strapped to his chest with a baby harness. "Would madam care for some tea?" He asked politely. "Please Peps and thank you." She said with a mixture of exhaustion and exasperation. Baby Peps gave an amused giggle while Peppermint Butler prepared the tea. "It is my pleasure princess." He said. Taking a deep breath, she slowly sipped on the warm drink. The princess questioned if she had made the right call having remade her right-hand servant when the original was still alive, albeit as an infant. But that was a problem for another time.
"Is something the matter princess?" Asked Peppermint Butler. The princess began looking over her notes again. "I'm not sure Peps. These readings aren't making any sense at all." Hopping onto the lab table the candy servant asked. "How so?" Bubblegum began to mull over the entire situation again. "As of right now we still don't know what coming into contact with something like GOLB will do to someone. After seeing what GOLB did to one of the Guardians and several candy citizens I couldn't risk anything similar happening to Finn or Simon. That's why I've kept both of them here at the palace, so I can monitor them and see if anything is happening to their bodies." Peppermint Butler nodded as he picked up some of her notes and began to skim them. "Simon's readings are mostly normal from what I can tell, but Finn's keep shifting for some reason." She added, taking another sip of her tea. "May I make a suggestion your Highness?" The candy manservant asked. "At this point Peps, I'd be willing to hear anything." "Well, have you considered that maybe, when it comes to beings like GOLB, they are a little... beyond science?" He asked hesitantly. Bubblegum didn't like what he was implying. "Ugh... magic." She groaned. "I know princess, I know, 'all magic is just science we don't fully understand yet'. But considering that you STILL can't seem to figure out what's wrong with Finn's readings, it's at least worth a look, your Highness." She sighed, unable to deny the faithful butler's logic. "Alright Peps, what's your suggestion?"
Hopping off the table the candy man servant dusted himself and the now heavily asleep Baby Peps. "I have some... friends... who deal with the more chaotic side of magic. Give me a day or so to get in contact with them and I'll see if they know anything." Something about the way he said that made Bubblegum suspicious. She didn't like it, but it wasn't like she was making any progress with her method. "Fine." She spoke. "But if anything happens, I'm holding you responsible Peps." "Of course your Highness." He replied. "I will treat this matter with the utmost importance." With that, the candy servant gathered his things and wished her good luck as he was leaving.
Bubblegum sat still in the lab, looking over the readings from Finn and Simon again. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she had a feeling that Peppermint Butler might be right. Seeking out some kind of magical assistance might be the only way she could figure out what was wrong. But even with Peps' help, she was still stuck for the time being. "Magic..." She groaned. "Glob I can't believe I'm saying this but let's hope for a miracle..." She said as she stared blankly at her tea.
As Peppermint Butler made his way up the spiral staircase Baby Peps slowly began to stir from his slumber. Soft coos came from the infant as he slowly started squirming in his harness. Peppermint Butler stopped for a moment and rubbed the infant candy's stomach. "What's the matter buddy?" He asked. Baby Peps only babbled at first, but Peppermint Butler could tell he was trying to say something. "Go on buddy, use your words." The manservant cooed. "Da... Dar... Ma..." The infant mumbled. "Come on you're almost there." The butler added as he patted the child on the stomach. "D... Daaark... Ma... Magggiic..." He uttered with a giggle. Peppermint Butler smiled. "I know, the whole situation reeks of it. Whatever is going on with Finn has some SERIOUS wiz-biz attached to it." He spoke. "But luckily for us, I think I know just the person that can help us out." He said turning his attention back to the infant, giving him a gentle pat on the head as he continued up the stairs, Baby Peps giving a little cry of mischief in response.
As the manservant finally reached the top of the staircase, he heard a loud crash come from the palace kitchen. Peppermint Butler glared at the doors. "I swear to Glob, if those same two Banana Guards are screwing around with the cutlery again, I am going to flay them." Placing the tea set down next to the doors, the butler geared up and kicked the doors in, flinging them open. "What in her Highness's name is going on in here?!" He shouted.
The sudden shouting startled the source of the noise, Finn and Jake, the ladder of whom had seemingly dropped what looked like a full-course breakfast wrapped in a tablecloth. "NOOO! MY EVERYTHING BREAKFAST BURRITO!" Jake screamed as tears began to fall from his eyes. The sight of which caused Baby Peps to giggle. Peppermint Butler let out an exhausted sigh and clutched his forehead. "What are you two doing?" Finn quickly stepped up from the table, trying to ease the butler's annoyance while Jake sobbed over his now-ruined burrito. "Sorry Peppermint Butler, me and Jake got hungry and figured we'd make some breakfast." Jake lifted the remains of the burrito. "My burrito... It was innocent..." He moaned. With another sigh, Peppermint Butler retrieved the tea set and placed it onto the counter next to the sink. "Well just clean up your mess, I have too much to do today."
"Is something going on?" Finn asked as he began to pick up bits of food from the floor. "No, her Highness has asked me to assist her in research of you and Simon." He said making his way to the fridge. "Is everything alright?" Finn asked. "Yes, yes, it's nothing you need worry about." Peppermint Butler said, pulling a carton of bug milk from the back of the fridge. "But speaking of 'alright', what about you Finn? How are you feeling?"
The question confused Finn slightly. "Me? I feel fine, why do you ask?" "No reason, just making sure, it's always good to check on our friends every once and a while." Peppermint Butler replied with a smile. He made his way towards the door, stopping to turn back towards the duo. "But are you sure Finn? While I'm sure you're fine physically but what about emotionally, mentally... spiritually?" Finn was taken aback by the sudden deep question. He thought for a moment before he replied. "Uhhh yeah, I'm okay... I think. I mean, things have been crazy the last couple of weeks, what with the Gum War, GOLB, and... Fern... but I think I'm holding up pretty well all things considered."
Peppermint Butler solemnly nodded, a hint of intensity still in his eyes. "Very well." He said placidly. "But for the time being, I suggest you take her Highness's advice and remain here at the palace. I have a bad feeling that we have yet to scratch the surface of the ramifications of GOLB appearing in our world." With that, Peppermint Butler bid them farewell and headed out, bug milk in hand.
As the doors closed, Finn and Jake were silent for a short while, both left staring at the doors lost in their own thoughts. Stifling the last of his tears Jake perked up a little. "What do you think he meant?" He asked. Finn rubbed the back of his head, still trying to process the deep questioning the small manservant had asked him. "I'm not sure." The hero quickly tried to shake off the uneasy vibe of the room. "But I'm not worried. After these last few weeks, I'm fairly confident we can take whatever the universe will throw at us." Finn took a deep breath and turned to his brother, determination in his eyes. "Come on Jake, let's get this mess cleaned up. The day is still young and it looks like I won't be going anywhere for a while." Jake let out a soft laugh and dried the remainder of his tears. "You got it brother, let's knock this out and see if there's still enough bacon and pancake batter. If there is I can still make some bacon pancakes." He said with a smile and the two of them began the task of cleaning up their rather large mess.
This is a re-write of a story I wrote a LONG ass time ago. I reread it, didn't like it, and figured I'd try writing it again in my free time at work. This story will not be updated often, but it will be updated. Any and all comments, criticisms, and ideas are welcome and appreciated. Also, I am not a professional writer. I write this more for me and for fun. K thx byeee