Bubba mumbled in his sleep, he felt a soft surface underneath him, he must've passed out again. Ugh, he never had so many sleep problems before marceline came into his life, guess she really must've rubbed off of him.
Then he heard someone saying his name faintly, and then felt himself being shook. He buried his face in his pillow and tried to hit and puch back whoever was trying to wake him up, "Marceline, not now...later...".
"Marceline, who's marceline?"
That's when his eyes shot open, the voice wasn't marceline's but it was no doubt still familiar. His brain still felt fuzzy, he rubbed his forehead and forced himself to get up. Then he noticed there were dozens of people around him and his bed, and looking closer, he realized he was in a familiar room.
His bedroom.
He looked around him, this was his soft bed, his walls lines with paintings and notes, his everything. But then his eyes drawled to the familiar group in the room, there was a girl with blonde hair and bunny hat, a gold and white cat sitting on her shoulder, a small butterscotch butler standing next to a peppermint maid, but the one he started at the longest was the vampire who had been shaking him who now had a relieved look in his eye.
He was home, it worked.
Before bubba could even react to any of them though, the butterscotch butler wagged her finger at him in irritation, "You're in such big trouble! You left all your guests and ran off to the middle of nowhere! You could have died out there you idiot!", she elbowed the fellow candy servant next to her, "And you should've done better at keeping him from leaving..."
"I found him, did i not?", she replied, crossing her arms.
He blinked rapidly, unable to believe the sight in front of them, he wasn't sure whether to cry, laugh, or hug them all tightly. This decision resulted in a combination of all three, as he immediately lunged at all his friends, and refused to let them go.
"Oh my god you guys! I missed you all so much! ", he held them all much to tightly and Marshall ended up pushing himself out of the hug, freeing everyone from bubba's grasp. "Dude, is everything alright? You act like you haven't seen us in forever..."
Bubba's eyebrow raised, looking from all his friends, "I-I haven't...I haven't seen you guys in months...I'm sorry i've been gone so long, i promise to get right back to work to make all of it up as soon as i-"
"What you talking bout baby?", Cake spoke up, " You've only been missing for a few hours, I was waiting for my bf, fi went on ahead to see if fp wanted to escort her, and marsh was apparently "Fashionably late"...", she gave the vampire a look, " When we got here, you were long gone...we've all been worried sick..."
Fionna was now playing with her hair in guilt, "Sorry about the fp thing, i should've kinda called ahead, but fp doesn't have a phone and he's really shy and i really wanted him to come with and make friends...", she started to rambled, "And then when we couldn't find you i kinda maybe beat ice queen up cause i thought she had you-"
"Fionna...it's fine, i promise...i shouldn't have overrated...", bubba said, he gulped, so he was brought back the same day he left? No time had passed, it was like he was barely gone at all. He held his head, but he still remembered everything, he groaned as a headache begun to form.
"You ok prince? did you hit your head out there? We found you unconscious on the grass, you were twitching and mumbling "Marceline" for hours! Do you need anything? We can get you something to eat or-?" The small maid suggested.
Marceline.He looked around the room, eyes wandering everywhere, as if he was expecting to see marceline in the room, hidden maybe, knowing her. His fidgety behavior must've been really bothering his friends, because they all tried to calm him down.
"Marceline, i need to find marceline...i need to get back to her, something must've went wrong with the spell and- And...i don't know, I-I gotta find out what happened and-", the two candy servants tried to keep him from getting out of bed.
"Prince you need to rest, you are not going anywhere else tonight...we sent some others out to find your missing crown, we're worried you were maybe robbed...", the small maid said, which causing pg to feel the top of his head. He completely forgot to grab his crown, he left it at marceline's house, he'd been so used to not wearing it that he completely forgot all about it.
"Y'know, now that i think about it, I've never seen this outfit he's wearing before...when did he get this? This wasn't what he was wearing to the party was he?", The butler argued, before bubba calmly replied, "No, i-i got this from marceline..."
He was wearing the shirt marceline gave him, a jacket, jeans, and sneakers, all things he had gotten in Ooo. Everything was also soaked, or at least he assumed it had been, then he heard thunder outside.
He must've been passed out in the rain.
Marsh grinned this time at the mention of her this time, "Ooooo, so this marceline girl gave you her clothes did she? Geez, no wonder you vanished, you two must've beenpretty busytogether...", he gave him a wink.
The prince blushed horrible, and was tempted to hit him, "This is not the time for that Marshall lee, something went wrong, and i have to figure out what it is...". He finally managed to stand up, "marcy has got to be worried sick, i mean...i disappeared...right in front of her..."
"Gumball, what'ca talking bout?", fionna said, "Did something crazy happen to you?"
"It's a really long story..." He said, "But i need your help, all of you...i need to find a way to contact marceline, I don't care how ridiculous it is or anything, i need to get her back...". When everyone still gave him a look, he grumbled, "She's my...girlfriend..."
Everyone at first looked awestruck, but that immediately changed into mixes of emotions, Marshall actually looked impressed, fionna looked dumbfounded, cake's jaw dropped, and both candy servants shared the same expression of confusion.
"W-what?! Prince you've been gone a few hours and you already found a potential wife!?", the maid looked excited, "Was she at the ball? Do you know what kingdom she's from?! We can find her right away!"
Oh right, this ball had been organized to find him a suitor...
How can something that happened a few hours ago, feel like forever?
He laughed awkwardly, "Uhhhh, no...she's not from around here...she's not really from a kingdom either actually...look, i can't really explain any of it right now...it would be really hard to explain...or believe..."
He tried to brush past them, but then he flinched, his back stung him a bit. It might have been almost fully healed but if he wasn't careful he would feel a sharp pain, he tried to hide it as he pushed himself past them and tried to leave him room.
But Marshall flew right in front of him, "Dude, we found you in the rain, unconscious, wearing brand new clothes, and now you're telling us you've been gone for months with some girl we don't know and she has your crown...explain first", he crossed his arms and continued to block the doorway, despite bubba's angry expression.
"You guys are gonna have a hard time believing it...", he started, " I mean, Even I had a hard believing it..."
"Well, we'll think your crazy either way, so better you just tell us this biz now or otherwise...", Marshall said , "C'mon dude, you kinda had us all worried and you're rambling about all this crazy weird junk, it's not making us feel any better...you owe us some kind of explanation..."
Gumball sighed, " Ok, fine...", he turned towards the group of worried friends, trying to clam down despite the panic he was currently feeling in his chest. Ugh, i guess he did owe them something, he was once again a prince, and was once again surrounded by his friends from home, it wasn't Ooo with marceline anymore.
"It started a few months ago, or at least a few months for me..."
-
Nobody moved, nobody said a word.
Nobody even knew what to say at all.
Marceline had fallen to the floor, unable to even comprehend what just happened.
What even did happen?
"M-marceline?"
Finn looked at his distraught friend in complete worry and fear. Marceline could be like a ticking time bomb sometimes, and clearly bonnie saw the same thing coming as she was now backing up against the wall.
Marceline didn't explode however, instead she cupped her face, and it wasn't long before she started to break out in tears. She wasn't gonna break out, not at her friends, bubba wouldn't want her to do that...
She shivered in place, he was gone, like he had been erased from existence. She wasn't even sure if he was still alive or gone forever as if had never even been here, she didn't even have to heart to look up from the floor at the moment.
Her friends looked at her, mourning their loss before jess interrupted the long silence with a excited gasp, "G-guys!". She got everyone but marceline's attention towards her, and she held up the fan fiction book, which was acting quite peculiar now.
It was writing itself.
Words appeared by magic, as if it was being written, but it wasn't. Everyone but marceline was looking at it in awe before they noticed just what the book was writing, it as continuing the story!
Bubba was being picked up by his dear friends, all relieved to see him. they trudged through the mud, trying to get him back home safely, he was still asleep and-
It kept going, and bonnie immediately grabbed her friend's arm, "Marceline!, it's bubba! He's fine, he's in the book again, look at this!". She dragged her friend over, who although didn't want to move from her spot, still forced herself to look at the book.
Her crying stopped immediately, she snatched the book from their hands and held it in her own, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. then she felt immediate relief in her chest, attempting to smile, "Bubba...".
It worked, bubba was back home once again!
But she wasn't with him...
Jess stood up, "Maybe i can bring him back? Like i did before...?", she suggested, "I'm not sure what i did to the book but we still have a chance of fixing this if we're careful and the spell works properly..."
Marceline gave her the book back, "He's home...where he's supposed to be, I-I don't want us to force him away...I mean, it's kinda rude?". She sniffled, trying to stop looking emotional in front of her friends, who were smiling and winking at her.
She shot them dirty looks before returning to jess, "But if you can get us to see each other again, I think I might prefer that a lot more...". Jess grabbed her pen but before she could write again in the book, it stopped her, the pen couldn't touch the paper, as if a wall was blocking it.
The wizard began to panic, "It's...it won't let me touch it!", she put the book down with a frustrated sigh, "Great, i can't even affect the book...now what are we supposed to do?!". Marceline grumbled, "Well, there has to be something, i mean...what did you even do to the book anyway?!"
"Like i said,i don't know...i'm new to this magic...", she replied, frustrated. "Ugh, how did i even get him here in the first place?! Something is super weird with this magic...the book is doing it's own story...bubba's story...i can't change it anymore..."
Marceline picked up the book sadly, "He's thinking about me...", she muttered to herself.
"We're not giving up yet...". bonnie took her shoulder, "This is only a hiccup...we'll figure out how to handle this and then he'll be back as soon as we can, we just need jess to be able to control her magic and figure out how to solve this...promise...". She attempted to comfort her friend, whose eyes never left the book, as if it would disappear forever if she didn't keep an eye on it.
It was her boyfriend in there...and there was no telling when he'd get out, or if he could.
No wonder bonnie hated magic, at least science could be controlled (Most of the time).
This was like having him here, but but not being able to interact with him at all, she'd just watch (Or rather read) his life go on and she wouldn't be able to do a darn thing about it. Ugh, she felt conflicted, despite knowing there was a possibility that they'd be separated indefinitely.
"We should get this to a magic expert...have it examined, then we might be able to figure out what went wrong and bring him back...", the princess carefully took the book away from her friend, who mumbled, "And allow his world and ours to connect?".
"Yes, and do just that...", she replied,"Don't worry marceline, he's alive...we're not gonna give this up...".
She grumbled, "Why are you guys so willing to help me? I'm not worth this much...".
"Because you're our friend, and so is he, you don't think we'd honestly leave you guys in the mud right? Even if you drive us nuts, you don't just walk out on a friend...", she said, "Besides, just imagine how amazing it could be to pull this off? Make a fake world real? The possibilities!"
Marceline rolled her eyes.
Bonnie grabbed a outdoors coat, taking off her lab coat and putting it in it's place, "C'mon...we got a grand master to talk to about an enchanted book...". Marceline couldnt help but stare at the book in bonnie's hands as they left.
She could only wonder what bubba would do.
-
By the time bubba finished his story, everyone was giving him a strange look, only exception being fionna, who didn't really seem to find the story nearly as odd or unrealistic as everyone else did. Guess bubba couldn't really be surprised, Fi had been through some pretty crazy things for a human, and in an unpredictable world like this, anything could really happen.
Especially considering it was actually a fanfiction...
Marshall's face was probably the weirdest, he didn't know whether to laugh or to be serious about any of the nonsense bubba was saying. Maybe it was just the fact that them being fictional characters seemed like a stretch, or maybe just the fact that bubba was claiming to have moved in with, and got himself in a relationship with an actual person seemed unlikely for the bubba he knew.
But bubba talked about all this as if he was being serious, and although the vampire king wanted to think he was just messing with him, he knew bubba wasn't exactly a great liar. Bubba was being serious, and it was really starting to freak him out.
When bubba finished, marshall raised his hand as if he was a kid in school, "Hey...bubba, i have a bazillion questions..."
The prince didn't exactly look amused but he still pointed at his friend's hand, allowing him to ask whatever questions he wanted to ask and get them over with. Marshall grinned, "Ok...first off, you're telling me...we...are characters?"
"Well, yeah...", he said, "It's weird I know, i didn't believe it at first either...but our world...is not the way we think it is...". He sighed, "We were made...this world...we were written to be the way we are...", he rubbed the back of his head, "Everything we know...it's different..."
"Does that mean what's going on right now is being written in a book?", fionna asked, raising her hand.
He suddenly bit his lip, that's actually a good question, how was time even moving unless someone had been writing in this book. "I-I uh...I guess they'd have to be but i have no idea for sure who would be writing this..."
His head was starting to throb, someone would have to be writing his thoughts, his feelings, what he was thinking right now...man this was so much weirder when he was back in his world than in marceline's.
He fell to his knees, holding his head, he remembered everything, and his clothes proved it had been no dream. His falling to the floor caused the two candy servants to rush to his side and feel his forehead.
"You need to rest..." Butterscotch told him, "You can't go running off again, look...i don't know about this weird story you're telling me, but right now we just want you to rest and get better...you can worry about it in the morning..."
"I-I can't...how can i relax when i have so many questions? How can i sleep thinking about how i disappeared in front of marceline and that i have no idea how to get back to her again?", he rubbed his throbbing forehead, "I can't rest now...I just can't..."
"Well you have to try, whether you were gone for a few months or not...you're still our prince and we need you to be safe and ok. You're not exactly in the best shape right now, you need to relax and rest...", she coaxed him to stand up and tried to tug him back over to his bed.
He flopped back on his mattress, face first.
He already missed marceline, and her presence, and her dirty laundry spread out all over their floor...
But he couldn't deny he felt extremely tired, and that he really did want to get some sleep...
Marshall, fionna, and cake told the servants to get back to work and assured them they'd keep an eye on the prince and make sure he was well rested tonight. Bubba couldn't exactly evade a vampire, magic cat, and an experienced adventuress.
When they left, bubba flopped onto his back, he felt slight pain, but he didn't let it show.
His friends sat on the bed next to him, marshall crossed his legs and chose not to say anything, despite the fact that he wanted to make more jokes about bubba's story and tease him more about it. Bubba seemed to be taking this all very seriously, and honestly he didn't need him running off again.
Fionna, being herself, tried to make light of the situation and cheer up her friend.
"Heh, you shoulda seen ice queen's face when i took her down, she got all freaked out and we also had to fight an army of ice monsters...and it was super cool cause cake turned into a giant fist and b-", she rambled on, but bubba wasn't really listening, lost in his own thoughts.
Cake slipped herself off fionna's shoulder and over to the prince after changing to normal shape. She put a paw on his forehead, she looked really worried about him, especially since she knew that lovesick look anywhere.
"Fionna?", cake wrapped an arm around her sister and got her attention, "Can you do me a favor and get the prince some food? Poor baby might need something to eat to help him feel better...", she also tapped marshall's shoulder, "And paste face? How about you help her, i can watch the prince for a bit..."
Fionna playfully saluted, "Yeah, sure captain cake! I could get some tea, OOOooo and maybe some sweets?! We could all have a picnic in here!"
Marshall on the other hand raised an eyebrow, " Why do i have to go? Why can't fi just go by herself and get some sn-", he was met by the cat's glare, before she crossed her arms and stretched her face close to his.
"Paste face, go. help. fionna!", she growled at him, making him shudder and leap off the bed.
"Gee, fine...", he said, holding his hands up defensive, " I didn't realize it was this big a deal...". He grumbled at her and a smiling fionna grabbed his arm and lead him out of the prince's room, the door shut behind them.
Bubba was still staring at the ceiling, and cake sighed.
"Sorry bout that prince...", she said gently, "We were all so worried when you vanished, we thought you'd been kidnapped, or hurt...or worse...". She looked at him sadly, "Sorry we were all so late, we should've been there for you tonight...you shouldn't have been left alone all night..."
Bubba convinced himself to speak, "I was stupid too, I let my emotions get to me as usual...i should've thought of my kingdom, of my friends, living with marceline made me realize that..."
"You know, for the record, I believe you...", she mumbled, "I mean, it's kinda weird...but you've never acted like this before...this girl you're talking about must be something special huh?"
"Yeah...", his answered softly, "We've kinda been through alot together...and I just...I knew there was a possibility i'd return home and we'd never get to see each other again, but i was so sure we could make this work...so neither of us had to be alone again..."
"You like her this much?", she said, "I mean...you're telling me you two were kinda roommates..."
"Emotions are weird...", he muttered, "I mean...it's not weird is it? To imagine what would happen if you and a friend were a couple? I mean...when you're really close with someone...you just can't help but wonder a bit..."
She gave him a faint smile, "But you two are really dating huh?"
he blushed, " We...confessed our feelings to each other, i mean...it was kinda weird for awhile...we sorta had emotional problems and we distanced each other sometimes...it's um..not much fun to talk about..."
Cake was showing so much concern for him that he felt a little better about talking about it, marshall and fionna were past crushes, this would be way more awkward discussed with either of them. Romance was never really something he felt comfortable talking about in the past, mostly cause he just seemed to have bad luck with dating and therefore it made him feel worse.
Cake tried to comfort him, paws patting his shoulder, "Well, if she means this much to you, i'm sure we can figure something out...". She bit her lip, "Sorry bout kicking fi and marshall lee out, but i don't think either of them knew what to say to you bout this..."
"No, it's fine, i get it...but don't be mad at them, i wouldn't know what to say either if it was one of them..", he breathed softly, "But thanks for trying to cheer me up...you guys don't know how much i missed all of you..."
He sat up on the bed, "And it really means alot to me that you actually think i'm telling the truth, i mean...i thought i was going to come home with marceline so she'd back me up but...i really just look like a loony to my friends..."
"Gumball, you ain't a loony...most of the time, i mean...you're still way smarter than any of us...", she argued, "Ok...even I think it's alittle weird, but then again...we don't exactly live in a normal world..."
She stretched out he body and arms, "I mean, i can do whatever i want with my magic bod and stuff..."
"Well, the weirdest part about marceline's home..."He started, " Is that it's just like being here...but not, you're there, fionna's there...but they aren't...you're different people. I-I thought I knew our home...but everything changed...'
"How do you know...got any evidence prince?", she asked, "I mean, what makes youthis sure?'
"A book...there was a book...no, there were thousands of books...all of our adventures..", he said, "It tells our lives and stories, word for word, it was one of the scariest things I've ever heard...a chamber, all about us..."
"Well ice queen got her own chamber of fanfics for her own characters...", cake said, "I mean...do you think they could have a world likes ours too? I mean, if you're right about this, who knows how many could exist out there?"
"Maybe...I-I Don't...ugh...", he rubbed his forehead, "Look...i don't really want to talk about it right now...it's alot to think about...". He stood up, still rubbing his throbbing head, "All i care about right now is seeing marceline and my friends again..."
"But bubb-?"
"No cake, that's enough...", he said, "I may be smart, but i don't know everything, that's why i'm gonna need all the help i can in order to get back to her...". He heard footsteps approaching the door and immediately jumped back into bed.
Fionna and marshall lee entered, carrying a load of food, partially stuffing food into their faces. They dropped it into a pile on the bed, making a mess, if bubba hadn't already gotten used to marceline's messes, this certainly would've bothered him much more.
Cake folded her arms across her body, "Y'know...we asked for just some snacks, not dinner..."
"You complainin?" fionna said, mouthful of muffin.
"Nope...", the cat grabbed a bunch of elements to make herself a sandwich, and bubba convinced himself to slowly grab the heated kettle they brought up and pour himself some tea. Tea was usually his favorite, it usually soothed him in times of stress, and he did admit...he felt a little better.
His friends hadn't changed, which was expected, considering to them he'd been gone for only a short bit.
But it'd been so long, he almost forgot about them, what they were like.
Guess that's what happens when you get separated for awhile and are forced to live a whole new life...
He ate quietly, at least having something in his stomach helped him feel less sick, but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. Marshall was watching him the entire time, he wasn't sure if it was for concern , or if he thought it would irritate him.
Although marshall was stuffing his face with as much red as he could, since vampires always tended to have red cravings, he tried to show some kindness by giving bubba his grey apple, after finishing off it's red.
Bubba politely took it, and ate a bite.
"You outta rest dude...", marshall then said, "Look, girlfriend or no girlfriend, fanfiction or no fanfiction, you've had a long day...you should worry about it in the morning, you're gonna hurt yourself like this.."
"Marshall, you have no idea just what I've been through...", he said, "Everything is just so complicated...marceline and i should've thought this through, we should've been more careful...now we're separated and i'm just so...conflicted..."
"Bubs...you just got here...from...wherever the heck you said you came from, the 'real' world? Ohh, or something like that?", he did air quotes and bubba gave him his typical annoyed expression.
"It's Ooo...", he corrected, "The land of Ooo...marceline lives in a cave there..."
"Y'know, you describe her to be an awful lot like me...", marshall took note, "It's kinda weird bubba...". Now that he thought about it, their names were similar, their hobbies bubba mentioned were similar, this was getting suddenly more creepy by the minute...
"Trust me, she's nothing like you...", bubba said, "At least not entirely..."
Bubba said nothing else to marshall, and after they all ate, he ushered them out of his bedroom, wanting to be alone for the rest of the night. Although despite his wishes, his friends were unknowingly pinned outside his door and window.
He refused to remove his current clothing, and instead took off his shoes just to sleep in his clothes.
It felt really empty without the familiar presence of his roommate, it was just so...quiet in here, was it always this quiet in his room before? Marceline snored, not loudly, but despite her not being here, he wanted to make sure she was ok and that nothing was wrong.
She was going to tr and get back to him too right? I mean, surely they would continue to try the spell again to get back to him somehow right? Maybe they were having trouble, and that's why it was taking so long?
He felt his eyes droop a little, Marshall was right, hedid kinda need some rest.
It had only been a few hours or so since he had gotten up from bed with marceline, and now he was going right back to bed in his old room...
"Maybe i can rest for a few minutes...", he mumbled, reaching out to his side, expecting a cold body next to him and finding nothing.
Tomorrow is a better day~
-
After a long day of jess practicing her weird magic on paper, bonnie trying to scientifically interpret the new words written to find some way it could've interpreted the spell into bringing bubba back, and staring at finn and jake who had a permanent face of awe that hadn't left since the book started writing itself, marceline just wanted to go home.
Being here didn't exactly make her feel any better, in fact, she felt useless.
She couldn't perform any magic, do anything logical, or even come up with a good solution as to how to fix this mess. All she could do what sit here and watch and she was itching to dosomething to get bubba back.
Bonnie was busy with the book, so she couldn't even even read it to see what was even happening with bubba, but in the time they spent together, she could only imagine that he was panicking and desperate to find her, trying to figure out what went wrong.
At least that seemed to make her feel a little better.
Her moping must've become extremely irritating because eventually bonnie stopped to turn and look at her, "Marceline, i'm sorry my work is boring you but this isn't an easy fix at all, we don't understand what's happening..."
She, on instinct, tried to close the book but marceline rushed forward and forced it to still be open. She hissed at the princess, "Don't do that! We don't know what could happen if we close the book! He could get flipping hurt!"
"Ok ok...!", bonnie said, backing up, "I won't close the book!"
Marceline flipped forward to where the most recent page was, it wasn't writing itself anymore and at first she felt sick to her stomach till she saw that the last words that were written explained why the book wasn't continuing.
Bubba dreamt off to a troubling sleep
He was asleep, everything was fine, it wouldn't continue till he woke back up.
Bonnie took the book from her carefully, "Marceline, maybe you should go home for today...you don't have to be here if you don't want to and this is all really freaking you out. You should go home and take your mind off th-"
The vampire queen crossed her arms, "I'm not budging, bubba is in that book and i'm not going anywhere it ain't..."
"You're quite stubborn, did you know that?", Bonnie said.
She still didn't budge, eyeing the book, "I'm serious bonnie, he's in there and I'm not letting him out of my sight...". Bonnie sighed, rubbing her head, "Ok fine...but you do realize that this might take a long time...bringing him back?"
"Yeah..", she said, although she sounded a bit unsure.
"Marceline, we're going to do the best we can and bring him back as soon as possible but there's no guarantee he'll be back anytime soon...it could be weeks, months, and maybe years if we need to...", she said, "We don't know what we're doing remember? The spell didn't work how it was supposed to, we need to figure out how to do it right..."
Marceline tried not to look hurt, "Look, i don't care...I just want to see him again..."
"Marceline, you can stay if you want...but don't push yourself...", she put the book down carefully, "Bubba will be just fine until we figure this out, he can take care of himself, he's back home after all..."
Marceline bit her lip, "Are you sure he's gonna be safe with you? I mean, he could get set on fire, the pages could get wet...he could accidentally end up in the library, lost forever in all your stupid science junk.."
"Marceline...i'm never going to let that happen to him, you have to trust me on this...", she took her hand, "Things take time to happen, and if we're going to bring him back, we need all the time we can get...you just have to wait for him..."
"It's not gonna be the same without him...", she muttered, "He's my roommate...how am i supposed to just...relax and feel alright without him? I won't even know what's happening..."
"I don't know marceline, but you'll just have to wait...", she said, "Please, we're going to do anything we can but it needs time...and i don't want to see you suffer like this...it's already been a rough day for you marceline...just get some rest...i'll give you updates on him...".
She gave her friend a hopeful smile.
Marceline reluctantly gave in, "Fine i guess...my dog probably wants food anyway...and...whatever...". She packed up anything she took and just glanced at all her friends sadly before leaving the lab without another word to any of them.
-
Marceline arrived home, it was only slightly past noon but she still wanted to just go to sleep and just end this day already. Her small dog padded over to great her but she could tell he was also looking for someone else...
"Sorry schwabs...he's not here...", she muttered, "He's...not gonna be here for awhile..."
She petted his soft head and then climbed the ladder up to her room, suddenly not in the mood to float anymore. It had only been a few hours or so and the place felt like it had an entire makeover, was it always this empty before?
Their room was a mess, which was understandable since she did live here, but bubba usually picked up after her like a housemaid. And therefore it ended up mostly clean by this point in time, she even saw his things scattered around the room, things he might not even get back.
And that was when she saw something shiny underneath her coffee table.
His crown.
He forgot to put it on again, typical, living with her kept him from doing things he usually did as a prince back home, therefore he didn't need to wear a crown around their house anymore. Normal people don't wear crowns, especially ones like these.
She picked it up, "Why are you always losing this darn thing bubs...", she mumbled, "I told you this thing was too small for that big head of yours..."
She flopped onto the mattress on her back, staring at the ceiling, stilling holding onto the crown, and speaking to it as if bubba could hear her through it. "I was an idiot...I really should've- we shouldn't have rushed this... we were so eager to get you home..."
She was trying not to cry, trying to stay strong about this whole ordeal, but losses weren't something she tended to take very well.
"I shouldn't have allowed myself to get so stinking attached to you...", she muttered, "I knew from day one that soon you would be gone and out of my life and i might not see you again...and i was just hoping...maybe...that it wouldn't end up like this..."
It wasn't helping that in a normal situation like this, bubba would definitely be comforting her in any way possible.
Then she hissed at the crown, "You had to make me flipping care about you, and like you, and enjoy spending stinking time with you...didn't you? I lose so many great people in my life and you just had to make sure you were one more to my list..."
She wanted to throw it, but she stopped, controlling herself, and instead sat it next to her on the bed.
"I'm sorry I failed...I'm sorry I succeeded...now you're back in your stinking kingdom with all your amazing old friends and...things aren't going to be the same anymore without you...are they?', she hugged her shoulders.
She was laying in her usual side of the bed, the other side felt so empty and sad, he wasn't dead but he might as well have been, his crown laid there as if she was mourning him. She felt hot tears run down her face, "Look at me, the great vampire queen...talking to a stupid crown of a stupid...amazing... prince..."
She felt angry with herself , the world liked watching her suffer? Didn't it?
She laid on her side, brushing her long hair out of her face, she didn't really feel like getting up to eat or even use the bathroom.
She felt empty as she tried to close her eyes and rest a bit, trying to wash off the pain.
Alone
-
When bubba woke up, he was secretly hoping it was all a dream, that he would wake up to find marceline still next to him and they were both perfectly fine. However this wasn't the case as he sat up on the bed, and looked to his clock on the wall to see it was-
"10:00 ?!", he mumbled, usually he'd get up way earlier but living with marceline usually resulted in him staying up longer and sleeping in more.
He'd never slept this long as a prince...ever!
He got up immediately to get dressed, finding it hard to remember his organized clothes system he had in his bedroom, he found a suit and although he did change his pants, he still kept marceline's shirt on and under the suit, refusing to take it off.
Oh boy, butterscotch was going to have his head for sure on this one.
And sure enough, there she was in his study, sitting there with a face that screamed "I'm disappointed in you". Bubba felt like talking back; i mean he was lost, sick and miserable yesterday, why can't he sleep in and feel better? But she didn't look like she was having it.
"Sorry..." He said sheepishly, "I kinda overslept..."
"You...kinda overslept?" She repeated, "Prince you were supposed to get these papers and sheets signed hours ago, a meet with the duchess of the fruit kingdom at 7, and were supposed to have approved of the new construction for the next branch of our kingdom 20 minutes ago...what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry it's just I - I've been gone so long and I've just...changed...", he mumbled, "I completely forgot any of those things..."
"It's not like you to forget...", she said, "Are you feeling well today?"
"No...", he replied, "Look, can you please handle my work for today? I have something more important i need to do...". She looked as if she was about to tell him off but instead he just left the room, closing the door behind him.
He marched immediately to find the lab within the candy castle, unlike bonnie, he didn't spend alot of time in there., but therehad to be someone who could help him. Marceline came first right now, otherwise he didn't think he'd even be able to ever focus on work again.
Although he couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty about shoving all of the day's work on his servant.
He entered the lab, startling the candy scientists who were working in there, all looking at him as if they'd seen a ghost. He hoped BB or PM told them he was found and safe and sound but by the looks of it, they must've been completely unaware.
"Prince? What are you doing in here?"
"What happened to you last night?"
"It's a long story, but listen...", he said, "I have something important i want you all to take part of, i know it's going to sound really silly and it might not make much sense at first...but if you can help me, it'll be the biggest discovery you could ever accomplish..."
They looked amount themselves and back at the prince, half excited, half worried.
His smile was growing, "Don't feel nervous about this, your prince needs you and i know you guys can do it...". He ushered them to huddle up, "You guys have created many great things for my kingdom, I don't know how we would've gotten off our feet without ya...but this time, it ain't gonna be guardian magic or teleporting technology...no, we have a wall to break..."
"A wall to break sir?", asked one of the candy scientists.
"Yeah, a wall...a wall between worlds..."
-
Marceline's next few days weren't doing her much better, she couldn't recall ever being so...empty in a long time, she just sat around doing nothing but staring at the ceiling and she didn't even feel like grabbing her axe bass to try and cure the boredom.
Bonnie would call every so often with updates and it was clear those were the highlight of the day.
She wasn't expecting bubba to magically come back, but part of her did...secretly...want that to be the case . Bonnie's updates were so boring however, as she did nothing but blabber on about science, when all marceline wanted to know was "Was she close to getting him back?"
Well it was simple, no.
Honestly she wouldn't be surprised if the real reason bonnie was blabbering so much was to partially stall time, and just give marceline something to do besides mope and miss her roommate's company.
She appreciated the effort, but it wasn't really helping at all.
If anything, it made her think about bubba more, considering how much he used to ramble on about baking and tons of nerdy things, at least baking was food-related, that made it at least...a little more interesting than science.
The phone rang, and marceline, with little effort, picked it up and answered.
"Talk deadly...", she mumbled, in a very monotone voice. She'd been laying in bed all day, and refused to get up unless her vampire instincts kicked in and she needed some red, schwabl's kisses couldn't even cheer her up and that was saying something.
"Marceline...hey! So, here's what we have so far...", she started, before marceline rudely cut her off.
"Just tell me, is he close to coming back? Or No?", she muttered, she didn't mean to be rude, but science mumbo was the last thing she felt like hearing today.
She could hear the princess grumbled a bit, no doubt rolling her eyes as well, "No marceline, not yet, i was just saying...jess's writing magic is starting to go much better, the book is fine...still going about bubba's day...and I've been looking into magic books...nothing quite like our case but I did find something on a magazine that caused it's pictures to talk to the people reading.."
Marceline groaned from her end, "Yeah...yeah...that's cool..."
Bonnie sighed, "Y'know...he's trying to get back to you too, he's getting help, doing science...it's not like he's forgot about you or anything . He's barely done anything that isn't you-related..."
"I guess we're a match made in heaven then...", marceline muttered, huffing, "Cause I can't bring my self to do anything without him..."
"Marceline, life goes on...you can't stay there and feel sad for the rest of you're life till he gets back...", the princess said, "you've lived most of your life alone, c'mon marceline...you gotta get out of your home and try to have some fun.."
"No bonnie, I just...I need some time to relax ok...", she muttered, "Just...i'm not feeling it.."
"Marceline, i care about you...you can't just let yourself be miserable all day...", she proclaimed, "There has to be something out here that'll cheer you up until we can get him back...?"
"I doubt it...", she grumbled, "Bonnie, having a roommate can be a pain, but at least it always gives you someone to talk to...something to do, it's just different now...I don't even know what to do anymore.."
Bonnie bit her lip, "Well, i'm here if you ever wanna talk to me...you don't have to sit there alone..."
"I know...", she said, "It's ok..."
Bonnie sighed, "Ok, well i promise to call you soon and let you know what's up...and yeah, if you need anything at all...i'm still here marceline...we're still your friends, you don't have to avoid us..."
"I know...it's just, you guys will always be here for me...", she said, "I don't even know if he's ever going to come back..."
Bonnie sighed, "I know...but you can't let this eat you up for the rest of your life...we're worried about you. Finn, jake, me...everyone...you've barely left your cave and it concerns us...just...take care of yourself..ok?"
Marceline sighed, "I'll try...i guess..."
"Promise?", she asked.
"Promise."
Marceline hung up before stand up and stretching herself out, she yawned, brushing her tangled messy hair away from her face. Ugh, she hadn't been brushing it like she promised bubba, mostly cause she preferred he do it for her, but...
After grabbing an apple on the way out and changing into something nicer, she finally left the entrance of her cave, leash in hand with a small eager dog at the end. It was a nice pleasant day outside, a bit chilly but...nice.
She felt her coat pocket and smiled a bit at the crown sitting inside, like she'd ever leave something like that alone.
"We'll see each other again...", she said to no one in particular, "I promise...one way or another..". She kept walking amoungst the trees, letting the cool air touch her face and the breeze sooth her nerves.
"Just promise you'll keep hanging on to me..."
-
Bubba peeled work papers off his face, sleeping on his desk was really becoming a new habit of his and he sure didn't enjoy having his gummy skin attacked to so many objects. He yawned, how long had he been working? A few days?
He checked his calendar, no, it had been almost two weeks since he came home.
He hadn't stopped working, which was unsurprising, with his best scientists at work, he needed to finish his usual princely duties. This lead him to be kinda shut inside and working all the time, not even baking, which was very unusual for him.
His mind wasn't in focus however, so his work wasn't up to his usual perfectionist full potential.
He also, despite changing his suit or princely outfit every day, never took off the shirt he got from marceline. BB would keep scolding him for being oddly gross, but he washed the shirt himself as to keep from losing it.
He wasn't sure about how how effective the servants' approaches to getting to marceline would be, but at this point he was willing to try anything. He lived in a fanfictional story, at this point, he was willing to believe anything.
He got back on track, mind still lost in his thoughts.
Knock Knock
"Come in...", he said, he didn't want to get his hopes up , but a part of him always hoped that it was good news about marceline whenever he heard a knock on his door nowadays. The door opened and a girl and a cat wandered in, closing the door behind them.
"Hey hey gumball!", fionna went right up to him, laughing. "Me and cake totally found this super cool candy cavern and we wanted to know if you wanted to check it out!"
Bubba bit his lip, "I don't know fionna, i'm just really busy...i have more paperwork to do, and i need to make time to check up on my scientists work on bringing marceline back, or well...me to her.."
Fionna moped on his desk, "Oh come on...since you got baaccckkkk...you've done nothing but worrrrkkkkk...". Cake shook her head, "Prince, you gotta stop burying yourself in your work...relax a little.."
"I'm fine...", he said, smiling in a clearly fake way.
Fake enough for cake to see right through it and narrow her eyes.
"You ain't fine bubs...butterscotch told us you haven't entered your own kitchen in forever, there's gotta be something wrong if you ain't cooking anymore...", the cat stretched herself around him, "Live a little..."
"heh heh...yeah prince...", fionna chimed in, "We could do alot of baking and exploring and junk, it could be so much funnnnn!", she gave him her usual puppy-eyes look, begging to spend more time with one of her best friends.
"It probably is, but i just have so much work i need to do fionna...", he said, "prince stuff has to come first sometimes...and this stuff is really important to do, maybe later fionna...sorry..."
She didn't hide her disappointment well.
Cake pawed his face, "Baby you're not yourself, I know you miss her but you can't hide your pain in your work...you've never been this crazy bout working before, you like throwing parties...and baking..."
He didn't answer her, trying to lower his face to his desk even more to hide it from the cat's gaze.
"I-I just want her to come back...", he mumbled under his breath, "That's all I want..."
"I understand baby, but you gotta think about yourself, your kingdom is all worried bout you...staying in this room all day ain't healthy...you need to go out and get some fresh air..it'
s alot better for you.."
"Says the girls who almost get themselves almost killed every day...", bubba said, trying to make a joke and failing.
Fionna grabbed his arms and stood him up, "C'mon prince...me an cakey are your pals, let's do something fun together..."
He rubbed his eyes, "Well...i guess for maybe a few hours...i could...take a break...", he didn't look very happy about it though, despite wanting to hang out with his friends again for a long time now.
Fionna excitably hugged him, "Thanks prince...c'mon, we're gonna have so much together...and don't worry, if anything goes wrong me and cakey can totally protect you...nothing scares us!"
"Thanks fionna but...actually...do you have a sword i can borrow?", he asked, "I...I want to protect myself a bit for once..."
Fionna saluted him, "Aye aye gumball, i'm gonna go get one right now!", she rushed out of the room as fast as possible, she probably could've just asked cake to help but she was clearly too excited to think about it.
Cake gave him a look, "Since when do you do alot of fighting?"
He shrugged, "You'd be surprised what happens when you end up in a whole new world, i told you me and marceline had gone through some battles and issues with a gang of wizards did i not?"
"Yeah...but...I never thought...wow...", she actually seemed to be rather impressed, " You telling me you disappeared for months and managed to learn how to take care of yourself by fighting? I knew you swordfought, but..."
"Spending time with marceline might've put me on edge...i guess...", he shrugged, "I mean...I wasn't a prince anymore...I had to try and take care of myself and well, I just wanted to keep me and marcy safe i guess.."
She patted his shoulder, "That's really cool prince...i'm proud of you..."
"You think so?", he said, "I mean...I don't like being violent, I just didn't want either of us to get hurt...and since i didn't have guards or you guys there...I just needed to take matters into my own hands..."
"Oh honey, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to be violent...", she said, patting his shoulder, "Some things are better handled your way, and others handled our way, it sin't exactly easy living out here..."
He sighed, "I just wish I knew which way would help me through all this..."
"Things can't always be fixed so easily...", she said, "I mean, fi once got her head stuck in a gelatin monster, and i couldn't just pull her out, so i had to like...use my head to figure out something..."
"And what did you do?", he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I used my head...", she said simply, "It was pretty tasty..."
Bubba hid his slightly disturbed expression and moved on , "Well...I've tried using my head, but I don't know what to do...it's just not that simple, It's not like i can just simply change this reality..."
"Anything's possible...", cake said, "Don't lose faith.."
He smiled at her, "Thanks cake...w-we should go help fionna..."
"Yeah...i think it's gonna take awhile for her to get home on foot...", they both wandered out of the room and into the hallway, bubba closing the door and locking it behind him, he felt better already.
"By the way...you might be able to fight, but don't think we won't have your back if you get into any trouble...", she informed him, "We ain't gonna let anything happen to you, you always have us..."
"Thanks..."
-
"Marceline...can you please hand over the book?", bonnibel asked her friend, who was sitting on the lab table and staring at the magic book. "No..", she said, "I'm keeping an eye on bubba..."
She shook her head, "I know you are but I kinda require the book to bring him back...you can't keep staring at it forever...", marceline reluctantly handed the book over, "He's having a good time...with his friends..."
" that's good, at least he's doing ok...", she said, taking the book over to another desk to look over it, "At least he's happy, we don't need him to end up depressed like that one time ...so that's good..."
The vampire sighed, "Yeah, I guess that's good...but it's hard seeing him go on with life without me..."
"Yeah...but at least you know he's fine, imagine how he must feel...he doesn't know what's happening with you, he can't even be sure that you're alright.", bonnie said, " It has to be so much harder for him.."
"Well, the story only shows how he feels...and what he's doing...so...yeah...", she muttered under her breath, "I can only imagine how all his weird friends are thinking most of the time, the book is so weird..."
"Yeah...", bonnie said, eyebrows raising, "Itis kinda weird that the book only seems to really revolve around him, i mean, when it comes to his friends, it's not nearly as descriptive about their thoughts and it doesn't show what they are doing..."
She immediately went through her notes, making a huge mess.
"Uh...bonnie?", marceline gave her a look, "What are you doing?"
"Bubba is the center of attention in this story, why didn't i see it before!?" , she shouted, scrbbiling stuff on a fresh new piece of paper, trying to collect all her thoughts and formulate a plan.
Her confused friend wandered behind her, "Yeah...he's the center of the story, he was in the beginning of the story, what's the big deal about it?". She gave her a look, "is there something important about it?"
"The story is writing itself marceline...think about it, this book doesn't have a mind of it's own...someone has to be in control of the story, of time passing in bubba's home, of everything...it's bubba, he's in control of his story right now..."
"Wait...what?", she said, "What is that supposed to mean!?"
"It means he's no longer just a character anymore, he's so real that his home is what he makes it to be, he's not being written down to make his choices...he's really making his own, his life and story is being written down in response to him..", she explained, or rather, tried to.
"So...?"
"SO- that's why we can't interfere with the story!", she said, "It's all coming from him!"
"But how does that help us?", she asked, "Even if he's in control of everything right now, how is he still going to get back to us? It's not like he can write in the book and change reality or something, the book won't let us touch it..."
"Yes marcy, which is why he has to figure out how to get back to us himself, we can't control the book...he needs to control it himself, create his way over here...if he's writing the story, he can write his way back here...", pb stated.
"That makes no sense bon...", marceline said.
"Bubba has to take over the story enough to bring himself back...", she said simply, "If he controls the story and the book, he can write himself back to us...re-write the story"
"But how?", the vampire looked at the book very strangely, "He doesn't know that , to him he's just living back home...c'mon, did you even read the book? That isn't gonna work if he doesn't get it..."
"Then he's going to have to figure it out himself, or we're gonna need a way to tell him...", she said, "But if i'm right, we have a chance...sure, a small chance, but it's the best we've got..."
Marceline took ahold of the book, "Well...only if you think it's gonna help bon, i mean...trust me, i think you're being completely crazy...but if you're sure that this has any way of working...then...let's take it.."
She grinned, "Then we have a certain magic user to call.."
-
"So...is someone like...writing everything i do right now?", the curious human asked the prince, she moved her arms funny, "Are they writing me to do this? Or say everything i'm saying right now? "
He scratched the back of his head, "Yeah...I think...it's hard to think about it really..."
"Who's writing in the story now though? I mean like...it's super weird..", fionna then asked, "They are like...telling us what to say and do...are they like, glob or something? Cause they sound like glob..."
"Well, in a way...I guess they kinda are glob...", he replied, "I mean, simon created our world, all of us...I guess that does kinda make him glob to us...although...he's kinda crazy, so that does make me wonder..."
"Wonder bout what prince?", asked the cake trodding next to him.
"About how we came out so...normal, I don't know...it's hard to describe...", he aimed his flashlight ahead of him, the caverns were rather dark, and he was having a hard time seeing anything, causing him to trip a bit.
"Who do you think is writing the story now...?", she asked, keeping a close eye on her sister, making sure she didn't go too far ahead without either of them. Fionna was much to excited to have her friends adventure with her that she wasn't paying too much attention to her surroundings.
"I'd hope it was marceline...", he mumbled, "But why would she write me to feel so sad...why not bring me home?"
"I don't know prince, who knows what's going on from her end?", she said, "I mean, anything could be happening...if this whole "Fanfic" thing is as real as you say it is...then who even knows anymore..."
He took time to think for himself a bit as fionna stumbled and fell down, cake catching her.
"Girl you gotta stay with the group, we have no idea what's in here...this ol' place could be filled with slimy goo monsters, or dangerous crazy traps, or sticky stuff that'll get in your pretty hair..."
She started to tickle her sister, who playfully pushed her away.
"CAKE! i'm NOT A BABy AnyMORE!", she said, laughing hard.
"You'll always be a baby to me!". she said, laughing back.
Bubba smiled at them, getting warm memories of the boy and his dog, he caught up them quickly. The floor of the cavern was getting creepily sticky up ahead, no wonder fi fell, it must've stuck to her shoes.
"What is all this stuff anyway?", fionna asked, trying to look around but only truly seeing where the flashlight shinned.
Bubba knelt down, "Looks like taffy...at least i hope that's what it is, seems sugary..."
"Think we can eat it?", fionna asked eagerly, "Me and cakey skipped breakfast..."
"I don't really recommend eating anything you find in here...", he shined his light along the walls, which seemed to be coated with a similar substance. "I've never seen a cave like this...how'd you two find this place..?", he raised an eyebrow, not used to not knowing of a candy cave.
"Oh...me and marshall were hanging out and he said he found this super cool cave with like...treasure, but it was full of monsters and biz so he thought we should do it instead...guess he found it by smelling it..", fi explained, expressing her excitement through hand movements.
Bubba had sudden memories of marceline smelling him and his blood, "Yeah...vampire smell..."
He reached behind him to check if the sword strapped to him was still there, it was, good.
If Marshall lee recommended this cave, this wasn't going to end well.
-
"So yeah...that's what we think happened with the spell..", the princess explained towards their magic friend, who was looking over the book in question. She really couldn't help but wonder how this spell flopped around so much.
"Well...that's definitely...probably what happened...", she said, "That's...I-I'm not exactly what to do to help this or anything...". She bit her lip, "The book won't let me write in it, remember?"
"No...however...you CAN write in his others...", bonnie winked, taking out a book from behind her, "We aren't asking you to do anything crazy, we just want you to add something to one of the older stories..."
"Why?"
"Because it's like going back in time, and we need to make sure bubba gets this in the future, so we don't affect his story's timeline, you've been practicing, and we have faith that you can do this for us..", she said, handing her the other book.
She took it, "But are you sure? What if i screw something up?"
"You won't screw this up...", she said, being as supportive as possible, "You've gotten so much better at this, and if you pull this off, you'll be such a big hero to us, c'mon...please help us..you can do it.."
"You're forgetting the most important part Bonnie..", marceline said, finally speaking from the corner of the room, "If this plan works, we'll get bubba back..."
Jess looked at the book in front of her and drawled a pencil, "Ok...I'll do it, b-but just...just don't interrupt me...I need to think about this so i don't screw up anything else going on in this book..."
"Take all the time you need...", the princess said, marceline now floating to her side.
She gave them a look, "So...what do you want me to to add exactly?"
-
Bubba typically didn't like going on many adventures, or at least, he used to.
He couldn't get past fighting monsters, or running for his life, or all the time-wasting puzzles and running around. All the craziness might've worked for fionna and cake, but for him, it was extremely nerve-racking and terrifying, not to mention he was a prince and if anything bad happened to him...
So as they went deeper into the cave, he kept close to his friends, he might have alot more fighting experience now, but they were still the professionals.
The deeper part of the cave was just as dark and as horrifying as it was when they first noticed the taffy among them, if not more. Bubba was worried the flashlight might run out of power if they were here much longer.
When they finally reached what seemed to be a fork in the cave, the group looked amongst themselves.
"Right or left...?", fionna asked, mostly to gumball, probably assuming his brilliance would be able to deduct which route would be best.
"Uhhhh...", he looked between them, if marceline was here she would totally just rush into the first one she saw, smell for scents of possible enemies, and make herself intimidating enough to scare them away.
He looked between both tunnels, shining his light in both, but he couldn't see anything up ahead for either of them. There was no telling which way would be better, and with rumors of monsters being in here, he'd rather they went the best direction that guaranteed them safety.
He couldn't tell which was better though, he'd have to guess and therefore he had a one out of two chance of taking the best path.
But then he suddenly started looking at the left one, having the strangest urge to enter, as if it was calling out to him. He stepped in front of it, shining his light into it and taking a brave step forward.
Fionna and cake, seeing him finally make a choice, followed after him. Bubba didn't really know why he kept going, but he wasn't stopping either, following the tunnel in front of him to see what's at the end.
Fionna and cake stayed close, both a little worried someone was going to pop up to attack them in the dark.
"So...what kind of monsters do you think live in a place like this fi?", cake asked, tail frizzing up in worry.
"Probably some candy monsters, totally gross and slimy...bet they totally hate veggies...", she said, "We can totally take them, and then when we do, we all can go out for pancakes...i'm hungry..."
Bubba kept going and then squinted his eyes, "I think i see a light up ahead...c'mon, I think it's good..."
They went into a sprint, and reached the end of the tunnel into a small room, bubba found the source of the light and picked it up. He made a strange face and felt some chills down his spine.
It must've looked super weird, because fionna and cake looked very concerned.
"Prince? Everything ok?"
Bubba calmed himself down, before showing them what he was holding, and was making him so nervous.
It was a letter, with his name on it.
"Whoa...", fionna said, "That's super weird...how could there, why would there...? Like...how did anyone know you'd even be in here? Must be some sorta weird magic and stuff...creepy..."
"I wanted to go down this tunnel, I felt like I had to and...I found this, for me?!", He started, "I-I don't understand, how could there be a letter for me way deep in a cave i never knew existed?"
"Well, open it...see who it's from..", fionna shrugged, "Maybe it's a prank from marsh or something..."
Bubba bit his lip, if Marshall told fi about this cave, then yeah...this was possibly just another one of his silly pranks, he calmed himself down before hesitantly opening the letter addressed to him.
But before he could read it, he felt something grab his leg.
"G-guys...y-you can let me go...", he said, shaking in place.
"What are you talking about? We aren't holding onto you...", said fionna, who was indeed, too far away to be holding onto him, and cake's limbs all seemed to be close to her body, so it wasn't her.
He felt a chill down his spine as he tried to move his leg, to shake it off.
Fionna and cake immediately noticed the problem and went into action, but then they felt something grab their legs too, it was sticky and gross and overall just pleasant, despite the sugary smell..
"The taffy is attacking us?!" fionna cried out, swinging her sword at it to cut herself loose.
Gumball drawled his own sword, the letter provided a glow, so he turned the flashlight off and put it away so he could properly take down this goopy mess. But it was sticky and it didn't help that he was made of gum, so he had a much harder time removing himself from it.
Cake got her fur unstuck, and pulled them out, "C'mon...we getting out of this weird cave before the candy eats us!", she placed them on her now large back, and tried to go back the way they came, doing her best to see in the dark with the light the letter provided.
The walls, floors, and ceiling taffy reached out to them, like hands.
"FASTER!", fionna cried, swinging her sword at the hands, bubba alongside her.
Cake held on as he walls tried to collapse on them, she saw the exit up ahead, the entrance was trying to close itself.
"Hold on now babies!", she said, "We ain't stopping here!
She picked her friends up and on instinct to make sure they made it though, clutching them in her paws, she threw them outside just before the cave closed up, trapping her inside of it.
Bubba and fionna felt sore as they hit the ground, rubbing their aching bodies before fionna ran to the sealed entrance, "CAKE!", she cried out, swinging her sword at the entrance as if she could break it.
"Don't worry cake, i'll save you!", she cried, hitting the entrance as hard as possible, despite it now being solid.
Bubba sat up, aching all over, he grabbed his sword, and then saw the mysterious letter lying next to him.
He snatched it, to eager to read what he risked his life for.
He opened it, and began to read.
"CAKEEEEEE!", fionna was freaking out, getting more and more tired with every swing, tears coming to her eyes. She wasn't making an impact on the wall, not at all, not even a dent was visible.
She fell onto her knees.
"I-I Shouldn't have let us go to this stupid cave...", she sobbed, "I'm an idiot..."
She sobbed for a bit, sword falling out of her hand , and bunny ears drooping. She should have known this would be a bad idea, nothing Marshall suggested ever truly was, and now her sister was trapped inside a cave forever.
But then it happened.
The doors started to open, peeling apart and opening the cave, and fionna rushed to the scene as a large tired cat fell on the ground face forward, shrinking back to normal size and looking in rough shape. Fionna hugged her, "Cake, glob i was worried sick..."
"Wh-what happened?", she mumbled, "I thought i was trapped in there..."
"I-I don't know bu-",she started, before she saw bubba.
Bubba had been looking at the cave, and he still was, the cave closed back up again, as if by magic...
As if he performed magic.
"P-prince?", cake said in awe, ignoring her bruises.
"It'smy story...", he said quietly, "I'm writing this, all of this...this story and how it ends is in my control...". He held up the letter, "They wrote that this letter would find it's way to me, but this story was supposed to be about me and now...it's mine to control..."
"Prince what are you-?"
They looked amoungst each other as they saw themselves heal up in an instant, as if they had never been under attack. He smiled gently, "This story was meant to be about me, i'm the main character, but i'm under no one's control anymore...just my own, I can end this story happy...like I've always wanted..."
He looked up into the sky, as if marceline could see him, but he knew she could read him.
"I can't believe it, the only thing holding me back from going to Ooo...was me...",he said, "I was just...I lost faith in getting back and...it held me back...". He kicked the dirt beneath him, and he wrote in his mind to have it stay in mid air.
"I could do anything, get anything, write the story to end in anyway i want, repair lost relationships...conquer kingdoms, everything is up to me...", he said softly, "I no longer have to be alone...or get married, or suffer..."
He bit his lip though, "But...I think...there's something i'd much rather have come true..."
The world suddenly began to dissolve around them, words written in the fanfiction pages appearing and tearing, fionna and cake were now freaking out, huddling together.
The world was coming apart in pieces, all dissolving into the air, never to return.
"Prince?! what is happening?!", fionna screamed, "What is-?!"
Then everything went black.
-
Bubba felt someone touching his hair, he pushed them away, trying to fight back and continue sleeping.
"Five more minutes...", he muttered, "I'm not in the mood o work today..."
Then he heard a familiar laugh.
"Why do i always end up finding you unconscious and on the dirty ground..?!" came a voice that snapped his eyes open.
He looked right into the eyes of a girl with long dark hair, her brilliant red eyes looked as if they were about to cry.
He pulled her onto him, clinging onto her as if he had not seen her in years.
It felt like years.
"You did it...", marceline said, "I-I can't freaking believe you did it!?"
"Shut up...", he muttered, before immediately pulling her in for a kiss, crying tears of joy all over her.
She finally managed to separate herself from him, "Bubba, the book completely dissolved itself ...and it...it...you broke the barrier...you...you used your only magic...to bring your world to me..."
He looked around them, he was lying on the grass, sure, but he was more focused on the rather large gash in midair, an opening, to Ooo.
"I-I really did it?!", he said, "Are you sure i'm not dead?!"
"You could've just stayed there you know...", she said, " You could've written to have a perfect life...like...you know you no longer are gonna be able to write your life now that you broke the barrier right?"
"Yeah...", he said, "But honestly, everything i need is here...with you"
"You're an idiot...", she said, half crying as she pulled him in for another kiss.
"You're both idiots honestly...", came a voice, which was when they noticed bonnibel helping a currently terrified cake and human girl to their knees, who were looking at her as if she were a ghost, "You guys really did some seriously crazy magic you know..."
"But it worked...", marceline said, " It freaking worked..."
"I hope jess knows just how powerful her magic really is, cause now we have a linking universe to our own...and a tear between them...", she stated, ignoring the two adventuresses who were looking between her and their prince.
"P-prince...w-wha?", fionna said, unsure what to say or even do at the current moment.
"Fionna...cake...", he started, "Meet...my girlfriend.."
-
"Be careful with that!", marceline hissed, rushing over to the banana guards carrying a few of her guitars and amps as they tried to go trough the castle entrance. She quickly saved her precious band junk from falling onto the ground, and put it back in their arms," This stuff is mad expensive, Don't let it break..."
She then felt someone playfully grab her from behind, making her jump.
"Well, if it breaks, i'm sure i can make sure you get replacements...", the pink prince teased, "You have an awful lot of stuff for a girl who lives alone, you gotta go through some of this old junk..."
She grinned, "Sorry bubs, my stuff stays, fraid you're gonna have to deal with it..."
He crossed his arms, " It's hard to move you in...you mind helping us out?"
She crossed her own arms, mimicking him, "Princey needs assistance? Awwww, but c'mon, it's a big day for me, i don't wanna...work..."
"Sorry love, but if you're really gonna move in with me, you have to chip in...", he grabbed her hand gently, "C'mon, we already have all our friends helping, we should join them...they're probably wondering where we went..."
She winked to him, "Oh bubs, i'm sure they have a few ideas already in mind..."
He turned bright red before tugging her alongside him, ignoring her comment, "C'mon, i especially don't trust marshall alone with any of your stuff, glob knows how many times he reads my diary, he could be reading your journal right now..."
That seemed to wipe the smirk off her face.
She was dragginghim now, making sure they found Marshall before her did any snooping.
They found him outside of bubba's room, most of marceline's stuff was being transferred to her own room, but as far as clothes and certain stuff went, they were going to be right next to bubba's; where she wanted to sleep.
Even the couch was being moved in, right into marceline's new room, not that they would be using it anytime soon.
Marshall was digging through some boxes of marceline's stuff, but at the sight of seeing her and his best friend, he immediately retracted and tried to look as if he'd been organizing the boxes instead.
"Oh hey guys!", he said cheekily, when he first met marceline, he might of thought he was going slightly crazy. For starters, bubba was telling the truth, and not only was he telling the truth, he actually was in fact, in a relationship.
Yeah, every time marceline appeared in the same room now, he had to blink a few times just to make sure this was reality.
"Marshall lee, what were you doing?", PG gave him a look, and marceline snatched her box away from him, growling in his face.
"Don't touch my junk...", she hissed.
"What? i'm curious!", he held his hands out defensively, "Bubs said i was based off you and i wanted to see just how much-"
"Don't. . stuff...", she said again, "I'll have you know I've taken out some powerful vampires...i'm sure you don't wanna end up like the others...".
Bubba laughed awkwardly, "Trust me Marshall, when she thought i touched her stuff, she kicked me out of her home...you probably don't wanna tempt her to do anything worse...ok?"
Marceline gave him a light punch, "I'm still really sorry about that y'know...?"
"I know..."
Marshall looked between the two of them, "I'd tell you two to get a room, but you already are..."
Marceline stuck her tongue out, being playful, "Har har...stop snooping through my stuff, we have to unpack all this junk and separate it, the stuff that goes to my private room, and the stuff being moved into bub's...i'll need some help"
She dimmed her eyes,"And considering you being a snoop, i think i'll have to give that privilege to fionna or something...you weirdo.."
Marshall poked both bubba and marceline before heading off in another direction, "Pffft fine, i'll have plenty of time to snoop with you two together anyway, oh and you guys are still coming over for the party this weekend right?"
"Of course!", bubba said, "Marceline needs to properly meet you guys, well, personally meet you...instead of just simply reading about you..."
"I'm still inviting simon...", marceline said, "You aren't gonna convince me otherwise, you guys wouldn't even exist without him..."
"Yeah yeah i know, but i'm still trying to process the whole "Fictional character" thing, so meeting my apparent creator is a little...weird...", he said simply, "Anyway, i gotta run and...i'll see you lovebirds later..."
He floated his way out of the room awkwardly, leaving them alone.
"That reminds me, did all your friends agree to the party? I want to make sure everyone can make it...", bubba asked, taking the box from marceline and putting it back with he others.
"Yeah, don't worry...they're all coming, can you blame them? It's kinda gonna be a cool event...having our friends meet like this, just a casual outing between people from two different worlds, nothing special...", she joked.
"And jess?"
"She's gonna be late, in fact, i think her and the group of wizards are actually gonna be busy repairing the damage done to wizard city...but she's not gonna miss it for the world, don't worry...", she said, putting an arm around his shoulder.
"Good...", he concluded, as a small white dog trotted his way towards him, he delightfully picked him up, patting his soft head. "Hey schwabs...you can come too if you want, the more the merrier..."
After putting him down, the dog excitably went off to explore his new home more, leaving the royals laughing.
"That's my boy...", marceline said, "I'm sure he'll like having a big house to run around in..."
They entered bubba's room, it hadn't gone through many changes with marceline's presence , but she had her own dresser and kept a few personal things around that she couldn't bear to part with .
She had a feeling her personal room might have some of bubba's things in it too soon.
She flopped face first onto his bed, it was so much softer than hers, ugh and it smelled sickeningly sweet.
Even bonnie's didn't smell this good and she had a feeling it was because half the time her sweet smell was covered by the hard, strong smell of whatever experiment she had been doing earlier that day.
Bubba sat on the bed next to her, looking at his phone.
"Bonnie is saying they picked up the last of it, your old house is empty marceline...", He sighed, "I'm actually really gonna miss that place...so many great memories...what about you?"
"It won't be the last we see of it bubs...", she said, looking up at him, "I'm sure someday we'll go back...you know...the private life, just the two of us...". She put a hand on his shoulder, "That house still belongs to me..."
He smiled a bit, "Yeah, i'd like to have that someday..."
He received another text from bubblegum, " Bonnie is really digging being, you know,...the first to discover a new universe...", he chuckled a bit, "As long as she doesn't plan to dissect us...i'm fine.."
"I'm fine with giving her Marshall...", she said with a grin, "Someone's gotta pick on her while i'm living here..."
"Oh, i'm sure he'd relish that idea, he's already used all the tricks he can on me, maybe he needs someone new to try them on...", he mimicked her grin, "Just as long as you both don't plan on ganging up on me..."
"No promises bubs...", she winked, "I suggest you sleep with one eye open tonight..."
He laid back on the bed next to her, "You know...it''s never too late to move out...if you aren't ready...", it was clear he was joking but he certainly didn't want to force her to stay if she was uncomfortable.
"Bubba...I agreed for a reason...", she said, "I love being your roommate, and your friend...hanging out with you is way cooler than living in a cave all by myself back home, heck...what's so bad about dating a prince and living in a castle?!"
"Well, it's just...a whole new experience, and i don't know for sure how much time we'll have together because of my work and...", he started to ramble, "I don't want to be a bad friend or boyfriend to you cause this is all new an-"
Marceline had to yank on his collar, pulling him in for a kiss in order to calm him down.
"Hey...we'll work this out, we've been through so much worse...", she told him calmly, "Sure it's a whole new experience for both of us...but what's wrong with a little adventure in our lives? Who knows what's in store next for us ?"
He smiled in return.
"I suppose when it happens, we'll take them down?"
She took his hand, squeezing it a little, "Yeah, just make sure I don't go over the top..."
"As long as you keep giving me courage to fight back...", he squeezed in return.
"Well then, ready for our next adventure?", she said, "Cause I don't know bout your mortal ears, but I hear a couple of humans planning a duel to see who's really the greatest adventurer right below us..."
Bubba immediately got up, "Oh no, not in the library! I just had that repaired from when flame prince visited to learn new English...", marceline stood up after him, holding onto his arm.
"Wait, before you go...", she said, pulling a shiny object out of her jacket and placing it on the prince's head, "I think you should take this back...it'll make you look more important...".
He stuck his tongue out, adjusting his crown," Thank you, my queen..."
The two royals left, running down the hall to make it to the library before another epic battle ensued.
Holding hands the entire time.
Thank you guys so much for reading!
The story may be over but i'll make sure to write some short stories when i'm up to it, for gumceline, and other ships. :)