"Okay, Gretchen! The show's about to begin!" the Ice Queen shouted from down the hall. Her beloved penguin quacked in anticipation as she began munching on peanuts.
"A one, and a two, and a…" The Ice Queen appeared in the room wearing a short black Marshall Lee wig. In as passionate a voice as possible, she sang: "Gretchen, you gretched my onion rings. They were mine, that's the thing." Gretchen dropped her peanuts in amazement, and the Ice Queen swept her into her arms. "What kind of Gretch Gretches Gretchen's onion rings? The ones who Gretch everything. Gretchen, there was rage there. If you Gretchened it would you even care? Gretchen, you are such a bother..."
"Waaahh!" Gretchen quacked, devastated.
"No sweetie, not really," the Ice Queen clarified quickly. "It's Marshall Lee's songs; they're so good!" She thought for a moment as Gretchen slipped out of her grasp and climbed up her white hair to the top of her head. "I wonder if I could get him to write a song with me… Man, if I got that guy to help me write songs, the princes will be lined up at my door!"
She noticed that Gretchen was sitting on top of her head chewing on the Marshall wig, and she took her back in her arms. "Oh Gretchen, you adorable nut! You know, my music will need some quality lyrics to lure the hot babes in. Hmm…" She wandered over to a bookshelf and took one of the books down, flipping to a page and reading it. "Julia T. Catzone always says that men are usually willing to tend to women who've been through a hard time." She smiled confidently. "And I've had a really tough time!" Just as quickly, her smile fell. "At least, I think I have. I don't really…remember…"
Suddenly, she held Gretchen out in front of her and created a large block of ice under her feet to travel on. "Quickly, Gretchen! To the 'The Past' room!" She rode the massive chunk of ice through her castle until she came across a small alcove littered with dusty books and papers.
"Oh yes," Ice Queen sighed, picking up an old scrapbook. She picked it up and flipped through the pages, pleased with what she saw. "There's a lot of emotionally powerful stuff in here. Look, the pages are still wet with tears!" She ripped out some pages from the book, saying: "I'll use these for lyrical inspiration. So Gretchen, where does Marshall Lee live these days?"
"Wack!" Gretchen quacked.
"A cave?" Ice Queen snarled, disgusted.
The Ice Queen packed some instruments, tying them to her back before riding across the sky with Gretchen in her arms. This caught the eye of Fionna and Cake, who had been watching from afar.
"Well, well, well," Fionna said. "Looks like the Ice Queen is up to bad business."
"Bad business makes the banker broke, bro," Cake agreed.
"Ice queen makes our job too easy," Fionna continued. "Are you ready to roll, Cake?"
"Let's roll!" Cake approved.
Marshall Lee sat in his living room, quietly tuning his guitar. Suddenly, he heard a noise outside and glanced out the window. When he saw the Ice Queen riding into his cave on an icicle, he tensed up. "Oh, no…"
"Hello!?" Ice Queen called as she landed in front of Marshall's house. "Anybody home?"
Marshall burst out of his house and flew straight in front of the Ice Queen, shouting: "What are you doing here? I told you to stay away from me!"
The Ice Queen chuckled nervously. "I know, I know. But listen, I was hoping you could write me a song. One that can help me get fresh with the princes." She winked and smiled giddily.
"Ugh!" Marshall snarled, blushing. "I'm not gonna help you pick up guys!"
"Come on!" Ice Queen whined, pleadingly. "We can be a rock duo! We'll write music, become real famous…We can even split the fans! I get the princes and you get…whatever it is you're into. Yeah, that sounds good to me; let's do it!" She began nodding quickly, trying to win him over.
Marshall stared at her silently with a hard frown.
The Ice Queen quickly bounded past Marshall into his house. Marshall, outraged, readied to chase after her. But first, he glanced back at Gretchen and waved before taking off in pursuit of the Ice Queen. Feeling abandoned, Gretchen hung her head sadly and sauntered away.
In a blind rage, Marshall soared through his open door and spotted the Ice Queen in his living room. "Hey! Get out of my house!"
"Wait!" the Ice Queen pleaded. "Let me just play you what I have so far!" She untied the instruments from her back, but it fell to the floor in a cluttered heap of drums, synthesizers and tangled cords. Disgruntled, the Ice Queen began trying to pry the knots out of the cords. "Dangit, there's tangles in the cord. Sometimes this happens when you fly…the tangles are so hard…to get out…"
Marshall watched in fascination as the Ice Queen struggled with the cord, somehow managing to tie herself up with it. Before she knew it, she was an immobile heap on the floor.
"Hey, you know what? How about I just hum it for you?" Ice Queen eventually said, giving in. She hummed a few off-key notes and said: "How's that?"
Suddenly, the door burst open and Fionna and Cake charged inside shouting: "Ice Queen!" But they were quickly taken aback when they saw that she was tied up on the floor.
"Oh, you got him!" Cake exclaimed.
"Good job, Marshall," Fionna said, bewildered.
Cake marched up to the tied-up Ice Queen and said in a deep, growling voice: "Your constant harassment of random men makes me sick!"
After Cake picked up the Ice Queen, she and Fionna coolly started toward the backdoor, but Marshall stopped them in their tracks.
"No, it's okay," he said suddenly. "She can stay here."
"Wha?" Fionna and Cake simultaneously shrieked.
The Ice Queen was just as confused. "Yeah, wha?"
"It's cool," Marshall continued. "We're working on a song together."
Cake handed Ice Queen over to Marshall, who took her in his arms. But Fionna was beyond confused.
"You don't want us to rough her up for ya?" she asked.
"Don't worry about it," Marshall reassured. "You ladies can go."
"Okay," Fionna said hesitantly as she and Cake back toward the door. "Well…I guess we'll…see you, then." Once they were out the door, they awkwardly said goodbye and shut the door.
Once they were alone, the Ice Queen spoke up. "You know, I actually kinda like being tied up in these cords. Freaky, right?"
Marshall dropped the Ice Queen, weirded out by her statement.
Once the duo managed to hook up the synthesizer, Marshall began testing it, saying: "So what kinda song are we gonna play?"
The Ice queen reached into her hair and grabbed the scrapbook pages she had stowed away. She laid them on the synthesizer for Marshall to see. "I brought some of these for inspiration. You know, just something to work off of—a template."
Marshall awkwardly held up one of the pages, which was sopping wet with tears. "Alrighty, then…" He began playing the synthesizer, which prompted the Ice Queen to pick up the beat and start singing.
Slime Prince, you are alright
Flame Prince, you are okay
Wildberry Prince, you could be better
All of the sweet princes are pretty alright, but
O sweet Gumball
You look like a lot of fun
I'm right outside, and that is how I know
Hey, princes, did you get my text
With a picture of my awesome dance show?
I'm also working on my pecs
If you like I'll send you a picture of that, too
O sweet Gumball
I really need someone
Or anyone, pretty much anyone
I'm so alone
Won't somebody tell me what's wrong with me?
Anybody?
As the Ice Queen continued to sing, her emotions turned her into a blind rage, and she began blasting ice balls at Marshall's ceiling. Marshall became fed up.
"Stop acting like that!" he demanded, growing angry himself.
"NO!" Ice Queen screamed, tears in her eyes. "It was just starting to get good!" She threw more ice balls at the ceiling, causing bits of rubble to rain down on them. In both anger and panic, Marshall stopped her by tackling her to the ground.
"Stop acting like a nutball!" he growled.
"I JUST WANT TO BE LOVED!" Ice Queen screamed, shoving Marshall off of her and sending him three feet across the room. Suddenly, realization hit her and she came to her senses. "Uh-oh…I'm sorry I pushed you." She sighed with regret and stood up, wandering to the kitchen and slamming her head against the fridge. She felt frightened by how she had been acting and turned back to Marshall, saying: "Listen, I'll just stay out of your way." She climbed up onto the fridge, out of reach. "Honestly, I'm sorry I pushed you."
Marshall sighed heavily and opened the fridge, finding a tomato and taking it out. He felt Ice Queen's hair brush the top of his head, and he glanced up to see her gazing over him.
"Whatcha got there, a tomato?" she said.
Marshall growled, infuriated, and slid down the side of the fridge. He let go of the tomato, which rolled across the floor and hit a button on the synthesizer that made it start playing a series of notes. This time, Marshall began singing.
You're so annoying, you pitiful old hag
I want to help you, but the sight of you makes me gag
I thought you were nice,
But you're really, really, really not
Every time I move, eventually you find me
And start hanging around
Just another lame excuse to see me
Man, it's getting me down
You know, I'm actually glad to see you
Maybe I'm the one who's…nuts
"Wait, hold the phone!" Ice Queen shouted, climbing down from the fridge and confronting the vampire. "Are you saying that you…like me?"
Marshall clenched his fists, not knowing whether to be angry or forgiving. "Of course I like you, you old weirdo!"
"Really? Wow," Ice Queen said, taken aback. After a second of shy contemplation, she extended her arms. "How about…one of these?"
Hesitant yet desperate, Marshall fell into her arms and held her close, tried to find the person he once new somewhere in her hold. But that didn't last long when Ice Queen leaned in and tried to kiss him.
Disgusted, Marshall shoved her off of him. "Ugh! Not in that way! You don't remember anything, do you, Simone!"
"Si-what?" Ice Queen asked, her eyes wide.
"Why do you even come see me when you don't remember anything about me?" Marshall demanded, his rage returning. "You don't even know who you are!"
"Yes I do!" Ice Queen protested. "I am a songwriter!" She reached into her hair and yanked out more paper that she brought, tossing it in the air. "Look, it's all here! On the page! The whole bunch! On this receipt! On this takeout menu! On these newspapers! The song, baby!"
A newspaper clipping fell in front of Marshall, and he grabbed it. When he saw what was on it, he showed the Ice Queen. "Look, Simone! Look at this! This was you, before the war!"
The Ice Queen squinted her eyes at the newspaper, trying to recognize anything on it to no avail. Marshall grew desperate and began sifting through the pile of papers on the floor. He came across a picture of his younger self—a happy, carefree little demon child before he had been burdened by so much trauma. He held it up and showed it to the Ice Queen.
"Look!" he begged. "You took this picture! Ugh, and you scribbled all over it." But when he had a closer look at the back, he noticed that it was a note written to him by Simone.
"Ooh! Are they good lyrics?" the Ice Queen squeaked enthusiastically. She went to set up the synthesizer.
"Wait, listen!" Marshall pleaded.
"Yes, let's go!" Ice Queen said as she began playing. "What's it say?"
Marshall gave up the fight and began singing what was written on the back of the photo.
Marshall Lee,
Is it just you and me in this world, so destroyed?
That must be so confusing for a little boy
And I know you're going to need me here with you
But I'm losing myself and I'm afraid I'm going to lose you, too
"Awesome!" the Ice Queen cheered as she moved to the drums. "Keep it coming!" Marshall quickly sifted through the paper pile for more lyrics and continued.
This magic keeps me alive
But it's making me crazy, and I need to save you
But who's going to save me?
Please forgive me for whatever I do
When I don't remember you
"Did I write that?" Ice Queen chimed, excited with herself. "Neat stuff!"
Marshall became discouraged again and showed her another piece of paper. "You don't remember any of this? Look!"
Ice Queen glanced at the paper and started singing.
Marshall Lee,
I can feel myself slipping away
I can't remember what it made me say
But I remember that you were down and blue
It was the tiara, I promise you
Marshall joined her in singing, and both of them sung their hearts out. Ice Queen became excited with their progress while Marshall was on the verge of tears.
This magic keeps me alive
But it's making me crazy, and I need to save you
But who's going to save me?
Please forgive me for whatever I do
When I don't remember you
Fionna and Cake hid in the bushes outside Marshall's house, listening to the singing inside. Both were boggled by what they were witnessing.
"What is going on in there?" Cake demanded.
"I have no idea," Fionna whispered.
Everything was destroyed. The buildings had been distorted beyond recognition, and there was nothing left but rubble. The only living soul for miles was a small demon boy with dark hair. He was crying, alone and confused. He had no idea what was happening, or why it had to happen.
A woman with long white hair and a tiara tied to her waist ran up to him, kneeling beside him and wiping his tears away with her finger. Any bystander would have sworn they were mother and son by the love and understanding that passed between them. The woman stood and walked to the remains of a nearby toy factory, picking up a teddy bear and bringing it back to the boy. The boy took the bear gratefully, finally smiling again.