AN: Yo peeps! What up? Sorry for taking so long to update! I have no excuse. But here it is, a BIG new chapter! Hope you like it!

Chapter 6

Finn and Jake shot the breeze with Simon for awhile longer, then went off on their way.

"So what's next, my man?" Finn asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Jake scrutinized his list again.

"We've got a few invitations left to deliver; Susan, Billy, not to mention Lady's parents." Finn's brow furrowed.

"Wait, why didn't you invite them when you were helping Bob the other day?" Jake paused.

"I have no idea." He said.

"Fair enough." And so on they walked.

The pair walked along until a clearing with a certain sewer hatch came into view. Finn and Jake twisted the handle and clambered down into the brightly lit sewer. Here and there, various Hyoomans danced and drummed on old car hoods, with bonfires and fluorescent lights interspersed throughout, giving the sewer a surreal light. Finn scanned the scene before spotting the big blonde woman he was looking for.

"Susan!" He called, causing her to look up and bound towards them, hugging them tightly.

"Finn! Jake! How are you?" Her speech impediment was nearly gone these days, thanks to speech therapy with Princess Bubblegum. Finned hugged her back, lifting her from the ground. Susan laughed and said,

"You've gotten strong, Finn!" she giggled and flexed after he put her down. "Still not as strong as Susan, though!" Finn laughed.

"How are you doing, Susan?" Susan smiled.

"Susan is good. Hyoomans are happy being vege… vege… vegematarians." she stumbled over the last word, but smiled when she finished. "What you need, Finn?" Finn pulled a slip of paper from his pack and handed it to her.

"Susan Strong, leader of the Hyoomans, Princess Bubblegum would like to invite you to her baby shower barbecue jamboree! What do you say?" Susan thought for a moment, face contemplative.

"Mkay." She said after some time. A thought dawned on her. "Hey! Can you help with something?" Finn looked at Jake, who shrugged, then nodded. He turned to Susan.

"Sure, what do you need?" Susan gestured to her people.

"Hyoomans getting better, but Susan cannae help alo'. Need teachers. Need supplies. Books n' stuff. Can you find someone to help Hyoomans talk and write?" Finn thought it over.

"Yeah, we can probably do that. Right, Jake?" He asked his dog.

"Sure thing, brother." Finn nodded.

"Aiight, Susan, we'll totes find you some teachers. Is that all you need?" Susan smiled and nodded. "Aiight, cool." Finn high-fived her, she kissed him on the head, and he went for the door. "Oh," he said as an afterthought. "The barbecue's a potluck, so bring some sort of food, alright?" Susan smiled and nodded as Finn and Jake climbed up to the hatch and left.

The duo were on their way to Billy's when something caught Finn's eye.

"Hey, Jake, look at that."

"What is it?" The pair approached the "it" in question. It was a grey shack with a red door, he gleaming window on which had grabbed Finn's attention.

"What do you think's inside?" asked Jake, eyes huge.

"I dunno, man, but we're checking it out." Jake nodded, and Finn opened the door, breaking through with his shoulder when the knob stuck. Inside, they found two connected rooms. The first room was cluttered; he second was obscured behind a large door. On one wall(the wall with the inner door) was a large glass window, beneath which was a large table covered in buttons, sliders, and knobs. Another wall had a writing desk covered in notebooks and loose papers. The third and final wall had racks of CD's in two large rows, labeled BLANK and FILLED, along with a CD player and a sound system. The most striking, eyecatching aspect of the room, however, was definitely the corpse. Sitting in a chair at the soundboard, the skeleton wore jeans and a torn t-shirt. It was mostly decomposed, the only defining feature being the dark brown hair that inexplicably tumbled down onto its shoulders. Clutched in its desiccated hands was a CD case with PLAY ME emblazoned across it. Finn worked the case from the skeleton's grasp and inserted the CD into the disc tray. The sound of labored breathing poured from the speakers.

"Hrghh… hello. My name is John Marx, and the bombs have just begun to fall. If you're listening to this, then you've survived the apocalypse. Good for you!" the voice laughed harshly, degenerating into hacking coughs. The voice stopped, then resumed. "Alright, anyways, to business. People saw the end coming, and most did nothing. Some, however, made preparations for the future of humanity. Hideouts like these have been secreted away around California. This, entrusted to me, was created for the purpose of ensuring the survival of music after the end. The filled CD's are filled with my combined knowledge of music; theory, technique, and culture. The blank ones are for you. Fill them with beauty. It's your turn. My name is John Marx, and if you're hearing this, you're part of the resistance. Hehehe…" the voice coughed again, and the track went silent. Finn and Jake stood together in the dimly lit studio, taciturn. Finn screwed up his determination and wiped the dust from the window in the middle of the wall. His eyes widened at what he saw.

"Jake," the dog's ears perked up. "You're going to have to deliver those invitations without me." Jake looked concerned.

"What will you be doing?" he asked. Finn turned to him and grinned wolfishly.

"Learning."

Marceline the Vampire Queen was flipping the flop out. Inwardly, of course. Outwardly she had her poker face up. She was sitting in Princess Bubblegum's tearoom, lounging on a lumpy pink sofa while Prince Gumball put a kettle on while Bonnibel put her feet up on a table, once hand caressing her burgeoning baby bump.

"Now," she said, shooing away he fussy husband, "What is it that is so important that my aloof best bud has deigned to visit poor, boring Bonnie?" she said, a little smirk twitching about her mouth. Marceline took a deep breath, and, eyes scrunched up, said,

"I had sloppy hot makeouts with Finn." Gumball, who had been daintily sipping at his tea, spurted it out in a most undignified manner, as Bonnibel let out a flat "what." Quickly composing herself, she smiled sweetly to Gumball and said, "Bartleby, dear, could you let us be alone for a bit? Marceline and I need to have some… girl talk." Bartleby wiped his mouth and nodded, trying to maintain some dignity and walking out. Bonnie kept smiling as he left, and as soon as the door closed she turned dead serious and locked onto Marceline.

"Alright, chickie, dish. What happened?" Marceline took another breath before launching into her tale.

"Okay, so I was at Finn's house after we went shopping and I think it was a date? I'm still fuzzy on that. Anyways, Finn was talking to Jake when Beemo walks up and tells me he's got something I need to see." She downed her tea, ignoring the blandness of the brown liquid, needing only to lubricate a throat that had quickly gotten inexplicably dry. "Then, before I could say anything, he up and throws up this video of Finn singing. Did you know I taught him to play guitar?" Bubblegum shook her head. "Well I did, and he's a natural. Couple that that voice of his and well," She chuckled, "You got a teen heartthrob on your hands." Bonnie stifled a snigger. Marceline shot her a glare.

"You laugh now, but have you looked at him lately? I mean, really looked at him? He's not the goofy little kid we met all those years ago anymore. He's… hot, for lack of a better word. All muscle and blue eyes and gold hair…" She drifted off into daydreams. Bubblegum snapped her fingers, rousing her from her reverie.

"Alright, well then what happened?" Marceline blinked before continuing.

"Okay, well anyways the song was beautiful. Heartbreaking and vulnerable, but beautiful. Then I looked at him and he was just so adorkable and I couldn't help myself and I started kissing him and then he fainted and then he woke up and then he was kissing me back and he is a great kisser, by the way…" the story tumbled from her mouth as she told of the teasing, of how the pair eventually snuggled into Finn's bed, keeping their passion chaste(but not too chaste) and how she'd finally fallen asleep in his arms, blissfully happy for the first time in ages. Bubblegum sat in contemplative silence.

"Well," she said after a long while, "what are you going to do now?" Marceline hung her head.

"I dunno, I don't know if this was a one-time thing for him or if he wants something more…ugh!" Bubblegum eyed her.

"Are you kidding me?" she deadpanned, incredulous. "You've been spending way to much time with jerks if you think Finn is just gonna dump you after one night. I don't think he's capable of anything other than unconditional love. Chances are he's been crushing on you for awhile, and now he's got you. He's probably ecstatic." Marceline looked at her, hopeful.

"You think so?" Bonnibel nodded firmly.

"Without a doubt." Marceline sighed, visibly relieved. She sat back and regarded her friend.

"Thanks, Bonnie. You know, you're a pretty good friend. Even if you're gonna become a boring ol' mom." Bubblegum smiled primly.

"Just because I'm becoming a mother doesn't mean I'm going to stop being your bud. Children make things better, not worse. I hope my daughter will have her Auntie Marcie to count on." Marceline's countenance softened.

"Of course." She said softly. Princess Bubblegum grinned, and the two friends chatted for awhile more, important life decisions forgotten in favor of friendly company.