"Hello Finn, Jake…Marceline." Princess Bubblegum greeted. "Hey Princess!" the two radical dudes dais simultaneously. Marcie line flipped her hair out of her face. "Bonnie…" Marceline said mocking the tone the other female used pronouncing her name. "Anyway… I asked you two to come here for four different types of locks. I suppose you did bring them right?"
"Yes…. Well no. We only had three, so we asked Marceline if she had a lock, she said she'll give us one if she came along with us."
"I see… Well then, may I see these locks?"
Finn and Jake handed three locks to the Princess as Marceline said "Catch." Luckily for Jake, his stretchy powers helped him grab it just in time.
"Okay so what do we have here….. A pad lock, a combination lock, a key lock and…?"
The princess stared at the fourth lock. "What the hell is this thing?" the she asked franticly. "It's a lock." Marceline stepped in sarcastically. The lock was grey, with some hints of red. It was in the shape of a heart and there was a handle, too. The only problem was that there was no way of seeing how to open it. No knob, no keyhole, no slots with numbers…. Nothing.
"So are you going to tell us why you needed the locks?" Finn asked.
"Well, ever since that Door Lord problem, I've been working on an experiment that opens any lock. I needed to test it though. Are you ready to see it?"
Everyone nodded happily approving the revealing of said experiment.
Suddenly, a little blue blob appeared from behind PB. It wiggled and jiggled like jelly. After looking menacingly at the locks for a while, it hopped onto them.
*click*
*click*
*click*
*…*
The blob then slithered away back to where it came from. Everyone was dumbfounded. "Marceline, are you sure that thing is a lock? It sure doesn't look like one."
"It is one. When I was little my mom got this for me, she told me how to open it but I forgot. It won't open no matter what I do!"
The princess picked it up and tugged at the handle.
.
.
.
*click*
.
.
.
"Marceline, this is no time for jokes and pranks! Now I have to go and find a real lock to test!" the princess said accusingly at Marceline.
"I swear that lock wouldn't open before!" Princess Bubblegum put the lock down on the table. Marceline flew behind her and picked it up.
*click*
She tugged on it with all her strength and not a single sign of opening. "Marceline, you can stop faking it." The Princess of the Candy Kingdom said while rolling her eyes. "Finn, Jake, you try opening it." The boys did as they were told. Neither of the heroes could open it. Finn even tried using his sword to unlock but he seemed to epically fail. "See!" Marceline flew down in front of the now interested princess.
"Marceline," the princess calmly and sincerely started. "I know you like to prank people and play games, but this is serious. I need this experiment to work or my people can be in danger."
This would normally be appreciated by the average person.
Sadly, Marceline is not your average person.
"Oh so now you're talking to me like I'm a little kid. Gee, Bonnie," Marceline spat out her name as if someone shoved something nasty in her mouth and when they walked away removed it as soon as possible. "The 19-year-old princess telling the 1000-year-old queen what to do, sometimes I wonder if you really are classy, is that just a front? Imagine it," Marceline flew beside her wrapping her arm over her should and her hand in the sky as if she was presenting a painting. "Cute royal princess of Candy by day, super evil rock star wizard by night!" The princess yanked herself out of Marceline's grip with rage written on her face. How dare this low class vampire insult her as if she was a mere rock and in front of guests too? Oh-ho-ho….It. was. On.
"That's a lot to say for an old lady like you. You say, or should I say sing seeing how it's the only thing you do, about how 'sexy' you are, snatching up little boys to do your deeds. They should call you 'Marceline the Pedophile Queen'. Not to mention that you are no real queen, murdering that man of true royal blood, or whatever you dirty little vampires have running in your veins other than hate!" The Princess was walking towards Marceline pointing a finger in the direction of her prey, red as a beet. Marceline had stop floating, a little red too. All she was doing was joking but the Princess took it to another level. Marceline couldn't help but smirk. She knew that she can choose her on battles, and this one was on her wish list for a while now.
"Yo, boys. I don't think this is going to end very soon," she said completely brushing off PB's insults (which drove her mad) and turning to the said heroes "or pretty." Narrowing her eyes the boys got the message and awkwardly left the room.
The princess was late to the party on realizing what she just got herself into. Her eyes widened to a whole new level as her pupils were smaller than ever. Marceline read this expression like a book that she loved. Her inner-prankster was screaming for the chance to prank, and soon enough, Marceline gave it a chance.
"So Bonnie got any more to say to me, the pedophile queen?" Marceline crossed her arms while staring her with menacing eyes. Marceline could change the color of her eyes to any color at anytime. When she left her lair, she decided her eyes would a smooth teal, but at the moment, she changed them to gray, so when the moment was right, she would make them red, causing the fear in her pranked victim to be doubled.
The Princess decided something right then and there, and without thinking of the consequences, she taunted back:
"Yeah, eat a sandwich, grandma."
"I hope those words was worth your time, seeing how they will be your last."
During this drawl of taunts and threats, Finn and Jake were outside peeping through the window. Finn was wearing a bored expression while Jake was frowning. If the murder of PB wasn't a horror to think about, Finn's reaction to it was.
"Dude! Do you not see this? Princess Bubblegum is going to die."
"Can't you tell Marcie is just pranking her?" Finn looked at Jake and confirmed as a no. "If Marceline was really about to kill her, trust me, she would be dead by now. And besides, her eyes are gray, Marceline least favorite eye color is gray, so she obviously trying to scare her by changing them red when the time is right. Duh." Finn said calmly, as if he was explaining something simple to someone who should have known this.
"Oh look! More words! Blah blah blah blah blah!" PB snapped back.
Marceline was impressed. Usually her foes wouldn't get so ballsy when fighting with her. Time to roll in the big guns…
Marceline's challenging smirk turned into a powerful frown. She narrowed her eyes and turned them red slowly. "Big mistake," Marceline quietly informed as blackness started to surround her. The princess was now scared. She shouldn't have said that, or anything. She shouldn't have insulted Marceline's choice of locks, even if they were fake.
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The lock...
.
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.
Marceline had tentacles shooting out of her back. They all were menacing curved to point at the Candy ruler who was now on her back trying to get back up. She didn't even realize she had fallen until heard Marceline's chuckle. She got up and ran for the table with the lock. Marceline saw she was fleeing and got one of the weaker tentacles to smash the table. The lock flew in the air and slid right in the middle of the room. PB was never an athlete, but she flipped perfectly over the roaming tentacles trying to stop her. She picked the lock and was about to throw it to prolong the time she had to live before realizing Marceline was…. Frozen? The tentacles were crawling back to her and Marceline looked strained.
"What just happened?"
"Aha! This isn't a lock, it's a remote! I knew it all along! I told you, your tricks will never trick me!" PB cheered. Marceline was about to say "Whatever, I was only trying to not break the lock. It was the only thing she ever gave me other than Hambo." But something struck her.
^^^^^^^^^^FLASHBACK START^^^^^^^^^^^^
Marceline's mother hugged her daughter as if it was her last. "Marceline, I want you to have this. It's your heart. Whenever your true love touches it, it will affect you physically. You will not be able to transform while your true love holds this lock. You will return to your most natural state, from head to toe. Every inch of your body to every strand of your hair. Do you understand?"
Marceline nodded. "Yes Mommy."
^^^^^^^^^^^FLASHBACK END^^^^^^^^^^^^
PB looked at Marceline and noted that her hair was longer than how she was wearing it. Her eyes were emerald green, and her fangs were not as….. "Fangy".
.
.
.
The biggest thing to note was Marceline's blushing face.
"Y-you?"
PB was confused. "Me?"
"Why of all people, you?"
"What?"
"You are the key."
"What key?"
"The key to my… heart." Marceline made a stomp to the ground. "I'll be on my way then…" she said with the surprised expression glued to her face. "Your remote?" Princess Bubblegum tried to return, or at least get a better story on.
"My mother put a spell on that lock. Now that you have unlocked it, that thing is gonna follow you where ever you go." Marceline said as she was about to launch to the sky to leave.
"Wait!"
She stopped.
"What are you talking about!"
"It's pretty simple really… That's my heart, you're the key. Seeya." And with that Marceline 'the Pedophile Queen' was off.
.
.
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The Princess stared at the lock and ran to the window; Marceline was quite a distance from her castle, half way out of her kingdom. It must have been quite a 'drawl' because it was nighttime. She eyed her and then said called to her "It's not a lock!" before getting ready for bed.