Stretched out on top of the massive mausoleum, a spear stabbed through his torso, Marshall Lee was slowly bleeding to death as the sun was rising, the only things protecting him being Cake, the magical cat, and Fionna's mercy. Assuming that she had any in her little red heart, all warm and gooey and scarlet... Alright, he knew that she did, but it was fun to tease, even when she couldn't hear the thoughts in his head.
"Oh, this is bad guys, this is really bad." He turned his face away as the sun peeked over the Candy Mountains, the rays blistering at his skin, causing it to bubble.
As it sizzled like bacon, Fionna rushed to his side, Cake elongating to shadow him, the blonde exclaiming, "Marshall, come on, you gotta be ok!"
He coughed dramatically, half laughing, eyes remaining closed as the time drew closer, "I think this is it for me, Fionna. So why don't you just admit it? You're in love with me."
She gasped, dropping her head, "I...I get that you flirt with me all the time, and its funny or whatever," Fionna looked up excitedly, her hands in the air before slamming against her bunny hat, tears in her eyes, "But you're doing this now?! What are you trying to do to my head?!" He looked at her in shock as she went on, "You think that I have some little crush on you? Well, for however long we've got left, for once, drop it, you freak!"
Seeing just how upset she was, he jumped up, catching her by surprise, pulling the shaft from his chest, "Faking it, faking it!" He pulled open his shirt, showing her the sweets he stole from Gumball earlier, "Ok, my shirt is filled with crème puffs."
Cake let out a sigh, "Oh, goodness."
"Glob, Fionna, you're like the realest person I've ever met." Marshall Lee wiped his ebony hair from his face so he could look at her better, inadvertently creating a more perfect target for Fionna when she struck him, leaving a bright red mark upon his undead flesh. "Ah," He held his face, "my cheek meet!"
Holding her fists at the ready, Fionna merely laughed as new tears streamed down her rosy, living cheeks.
"Quit clownin', Fionna," He panicked, backing away from her, only to hear her laugh back at him in a crazed fashion, "F...Fionna?"
Thinking he got what he deserved, Cake watched as Fionna continued to wail on the Vampire King, amounting to what would have been gratuitous off-screen violence, assuming that there had been some kind of screen where people could look in and watch their every move, as if their lives were some sort of sick show, their actions manipulated by some unseen puppet master. But that wasn't how it was, thank Glob, so Cake calmly watched every blow, occasionally flickering her tail in excitement as she listened to every shake and rattle of bone inside of his face as it cracked underneath Fionna's fist, crinkling her nose as she scrunched up her face in thought, debating about whether or not she should stop Fionna from completely annihilating their rather unhinged 'friend'.
While Fionna may have stricken up some sort of non-dislike for the vampire, that didn't mean that she automatically had to like him, and from her perspective, that day was a long ways off, if it even happened at all. How anyone could like Marshall Lee was a complete bafflement to her, unless you only counted him as a musical act, in which case Cake would admit that he was pretty math. But even saying that, Cake did know of one other person besides Fionna that liked the Vampire King, and she hoped with all of her kitty heart that the same fate would not befall her best friend and little sister...
Chapter One: Prince Dry Balls
Climbing down the ladder, offended from his encounter with that infantile delinquent and slightly hurt that Fionna didn't immediately side with him, injury was added to insult when he slipped on the ladder - even though it was raining, it was still a very un-princely thing to do, so as he returned to the warmth of Fionna and Cake's tree house, alone, it was with even pinker cheeks. At least he was by himself, so no one was there to see him glubb up like that, nor were they there to witness his tantrum as he tried to overthrow a jar full of preservatives he had made for Fionna so she could save the remains of her more awesome triumphs, and fail epically in this endeavor. Or so he thought...
Stemming from nothingness in a blaze of white light, the golden tendrils blooming outwards like a flower before dissipating in a clear mist, a girl with a countenance to indicate that she was somewhere around his own age appeared behind him, her hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle her embarrassing than being caught with his pants down, Gumball was draped over the top of the candy cork, his legs hanging in the air, feet dangling against the wooden floor. Why did he have to use such a large and sturdy jar?! Strolling up to the downed royal, the girl knelt down so that they were eye level, and she burst out laughing. Oh, if only Marshall could see this!
Narrowing his eyes at the girl, he scowled, "Hem, a little help?"
That only caused her to laugh harder, "Ha! I think that you're doing a fabulous job on your own."
Muttering to himself about her, he pulled himself erect with some effort, dusting himself off before looking up at her, mouth falling agape as he saw her snooping around the place, looking through the various vials and bottles that lined the shelves, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Going through their things," She answered as if it were the most obvious, natural thing in the world. Floating along on particle of light that looked like hundreds of fireflies, the girl picked up a little pink container with a heart-stopper, and uncorking it, she held it to her nose, "Love potion. I bet I know who you would use it on, Ball-man."
Cheeks flaming up, he slammed the lid back in place and tried to pry it out of her hands, "So help me if you do not let go of this potion!"
Sighing, she let go so suddenly that his last yank caused him to whack himself in the chest with his own hand, still firmly clutch around the vial, "You never let me have any fun! Prince Dry Balls! Yeah, that's what you are! You're Prince Dry Balls!" She chuckled, watching him as his squishy constitution began to shake and quiver in rage, "Oh, did I strike a nerve, Prince Dry Balls? Whatever will I do?!"
Even though he would have loved nothing more than to shove her away and out of his face, it was against his alignment to lay a finger on a girl, and besides, in moments like these, he couldn't help but to think of the little girl that she used to be, pitiful but with stars in her eyes, "You used to be so nice... What happened to you, Skyla?"
Taken more off guard by the tone of voice he was using, that it was as tender as if speaking to one of his young candy citizens, that there was a morose kind of curiosity just below the surface, she floated back to the ground. What had happened to her, he asked? Was it so impossible to just believe that time had changed her, that there had been nothing in her past to change her so drastically? But then again, it had been a mostly rhetorical question, hadn't it?
While it was a topic that she had seldom chose to speak of, there were some very well known parts of her story, and more parts of which were nothing more than rumor and myth, but right here, speaking with Gumball in this context, there was a part of her that wasn't into making it a joke, which probably had something to do with the fact that he had been so earnest when he asked her, "You know the story as well as anybody else..." But instead of with a suggestive smile or cruel smirk or any other kind of goof-ball expression, Skyla looked at him, her one visible eyes glowing a bright purple as it begged not to have this incident repeated, "I'm just a dirty little scarlet tart."
He didn't believe her, "No, you're not just some lady of the evening. I used to know you, Skyla, and I know that you aren't the kind of girl to-"
"'You used to know me'?" She repeated indignantly, "If that's so true, then where were you when I lost everything? Where were you when I had to pick up the pieces of my life? Don't pretend like you care about me, because at the end of the day, I know that there's only one person I can count on - Me."
Seeing that she was about to leave, he said the only thing he could think of to make her stay, although if she hadn't been his childhood friend, why he wanted to associate with someone like the girl she was pretending to be was beyond him, "Then what does that make Marshall Lee to you?"
Freezing in place, she looked over her shoulder at him, wondering how he could ask her something like that...
Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time, although the creation of Skyla is all on me. Title the property of Marilyn Manson and all legal right holders, and yadda yadda.
Warning: This story may or may not flirt with darker concepts, although at this time, even I'm not sure if it will, so the rating and material will be subject to change, but for now at least, I will say that it's a heavy "T". But maybe that's that my more protective nature, and difficulty in accepting that times are changing, that things happen at a much younger age now.
A/N: Alright, here's crack two at Adventure Time! The first one didn't pan out in the long run, but I feel that I'm a bit better of a writer now, so here's hoping that everything works out...
