The Candy Kingdom had devolved into a warzone. Clusters of citizens ran at a breakneck pace through the streets, dodging heaps of debris and the spatter of fires that had broken out, the flames rising to devour some of the kingdom's structures. A miscellaneous collection of pursuers was on their heels, waving swords and knives and bellowing threats. Most of the candy people forged a trail toward the castle. They thought they could find refuge there, seek the safety that their prince had always afforded them. This time, though, there was no sanctuary waiting.
Something slammed into the front doors of the castle, most likely a battering ram. A row of banana guards waited in the foyer, spears at the ready. They wouldn't stand a chance against the invasion once they breached the castle, and the ruler of the Candy Kingdom knew it.
Prince Gumball had fled into the core of the castle, his retreat largely involuntarily. Fionna dashed along at his side, one hand gripping her sword and the other on the Prince's arm, dragging him along.
"I can't leave the candy people!" protested Gumball as he staggered along. "I must protect them!"
"There's nothing you can do," Fionna said, her pace not slowing. "There's too many, we can't fight them."
An explosion rocked the castle, sending the two flying. Gumball landed in the center of the hallway, unharmed, but Fionna crashed into the wall on her way down. The impact tore a painting from the wall and sent it hurdling to the floor.
Fionna was back on her feet in an instant, briefly pausing to press a hand against the side of her face. It came away tainted with red. "What was that?"
"One of the bubblegum guardians fell." Prince Gumball was still on the floor, staring at the ceiling in a daze. "This can't be happening, Fionna. I've ruled this kingdom for centuries."
"Fionna!"
She whipped her head around at the sound of her name to find Cake running toward her from the other end of the hall. Marshall Lee floated behind her, his typical easygoing attitude replaced by something more menacing.
"Cake! We have to get out now, the bubblegum guardians are falling."
"I know honey," said Cake. The cat looked at Gumball. "Well don't just lay there, let's get moving!"
"I can't leave them like this," the prince muttered. "I'm staying with my people. It's the right thing to do."
Marshall swooped in and hovered a foot above him. "Shut it," the vampire snapped. His eyes burned red, smoldering like the first spark of a flame. "If you're that eager to die I'll kill you and get it over with. It'll save us all some time."
"Marshall, stop!" Fionna said, shoving him away. "You're not helping."
The vampire stared at her for a long moment, tracing the drizzle of blood that snaked a trail along her cheek. Then he swallowed and looked back at the prince. "They won't kill your candy people," he said. "Not all of them, anyway. But they'll definitely kill you, and dying isn't going to help your kingdom at all."
Gumball still stared blankly at the ceiling as if the exchange hadn't happened.
"Cake?" Fionna asked, turning to her best friend. "Can you do something?"
"I'm on it," the feline replied. She inhaled and swelled like an inflating balloon, only stopping when the tips of her ears nearly touched the ceiling. Cake stepped forward and scooped up Gumball, trotting down the hallway with Fionna and Marshall close behind.
The group ventured deeper into the castle, rounding corners and climbing stairways until they reached the lab. Cake shrank just enough to fit through the doorway and Marshall followed her inside. Fionna, though, couldn't stop herself from peering through a window across the hall that overlooked the kingdom.
The fires had spread. A quarter of the wall-enclosed city was burning. Mayhem had erupted on the streets and her heart clenched at the sight. A large group of candy people had been corralled into one section of the kingdom. She could barely make them out, the group guarded by a ring of the opposing army. Even further in the distance she saw a few shapes disappearing into the forest. Some of them had escaped, but their number was very few.
"Fionna!"
Wrenching her gaze away, she turned and darted into the lab, slamming the door shut behind her. The room looked the same as it had during the zombie incident a few years before. The key difference was the company. Lord Monochromicorn and Cake had been her only companions then. That crisis had taught them all a valuable lesson and they had made preparations for the next time that such a catastrophe occurred. This happened to be that catastrophe.
"Okay people," Cake said, placing Gumball on his feet and shrinking back to her typical size. "Get in the science shower. Hustle, babies!" She stretched her arm and pulled open the transparent door, waiting for them to pile in.
Fionna grabbed Gumball and towed him across the room, pushing him into the shower stall and sliding in beside him. Cake shrank into a handful of fur and propelled herself up, burrowing underneath Fionna's hat. Marshall stared at them, floating just outside the science shower.
"Yeah, you guys go ahead," he said, waving them away. "I'm good."
"Shut up, Marshall," Fionna said, reaching out to yank him in. There was little room left with the three of them crammed into the stall and the space shrank even more when Fionna pulled the door shut.
"The control pad is right beside you," mumbled Fionna, one side of her face pressed against the glass. Cake peeked from beneath her white hat, a strand of the human's blonde hair curled around the cat's ear. "The code is 4479. Key it in."
Marshall, who appeared more uncomfortable than the rest of them combined, did as she said with palpable reluctance. A pale finger pressed the indicated keys and the floor dropped from beneath them, plunging the group into darkness.
The science shower had been rendered an escape pod, of sorts, that led to an underground tunnel that Gumball had commissioned after the zombie crisis. The small bundle of refugees followed the twists of the tunnel until finally emerging in a close copse of trees in the middle of the forest. They walked without speaking, occasionally exchanging sober glances for the exception of Marshall Lee, who avoided eye contact altogether. Eventually the sun began to peek over the horizon and the vampire's skin started to prickle with a warning.
"I have to stop," he said, watching pale smoke furl away from his flesh. "There's a cave just over this ridge. I'll hang out there and you guys can keep going."
"Shut up, Marshall," Fionna said again, glaring at the suggestion.
Moments later they had taken shelter in the cave that the vampire had led them to. The entrance was small, requiring them to crawl inside, but the interior was large enough to house them all comfortably. They stood around awkwardly, waiting for someone else to approach the problem that they were all deliberating.
"So…" Fionna started when it was clear that no one else would speak. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"We aren't doing anything," Marshall said. "You and your prince and your cat are going to keep running before they catch us."
"Don't be stupid. We're not leaving you here alone. We wouldn't have even made it out of there if it wasn't for you, Marshall. How'd you know they were planning to attack anyway?"
The vampire's eyes shifted away from her, staring at a fixed point across the cave. Without answering he leaned against a stone wall and slid into a sitting position, arms folded.
"Who is responsible?" Gumball asked. He still seemed somewhat dazed but he was beginning to sink back into the present, if slowly. "I could not see the invaders clearly enough to recognize them. I can't imagine who would be willing to wreak such destruction on my kingdom." He mimicked Marshall's motions, slumping into a heap on the cave floor. "My candy people are innocent. They don't deserve such a fate."
"It's kind of your own fault, Bubba," Marshall said, the snide comment slinking through the damp air like a cobra. "You're the one who made Lady Lemongrab. It's her soldiers out there killing everyone. Way to go."
Gumball shook his head. "That isn't true. She wouldn't launch an attack against me. We are allies."
"Not anymore."
"He's telling the truth," Fionna chimed in, recalling the scene that she had viewed through the high castle window. She hadn't been able to make out the individual foes, but they had been a suspiciously bright shade of yellow. "It was Lemongrab. But why would she want to do this? PG has only helped her!"
"Wasn't her idea," said Marshall.
"Then whose was it?"
Again Marshall failed to answer, suddenly finding the rocks at his feet fascinating.
"Marshall!"
"It doesn't matter," he snapped, his eyes flashing red for an instant before dimming back to shadowed black. "It doesn't change anything. They'll be looking for you, Bubba, and anyone who's close to you. So if you have any friends who aren't trapped in the kingdom they're going to have some problems of their own."
"Sweet babies!" Cake yelped, her tail exploding into bottlebrush frizz. "I have to warn Mo-Chro!"
"I wouldn't go near him if I were you," the vampire suggested.
"And why the glob not?"
"Well, he's a monochromicorn," Marshall said with a shrug. "Not exactly trustworthy, are they? He's probably waiting for you to show up so he can turn you in."
Cake didn't answer; at least not verbally. She lunged at him, a hiss bursting from behind sharply pointed teeth. Fionna caught her just before she pounced onto Marshall, her arms wrapped around the writhing furry body.
"Cake, stop!" she said, struggling to hold back her friend. "He doesn't know Lord Monochromicorn. He doesn't know any better."
"I'll claw your eyes out!" Cake screeched. "Don't you talk about my man!"
"Enough!" Fionna wedged herself between Marshall and Cake, blocking the latter's view. "It's okay, Cake. I'm sure Mo-Chro is fine, but it's not smart to go looking for him. What if the lemons are watching his place, waiting for us to show up?"
"That's just too bad then," Cake said. "I can't just sit around without knowing he's okay."
"Stupid," Marshall murmured under his breath. Fionna cut in before Cake could react.
"Fine, that's fine," she said quickly. "We'll go check on him. I'll go with you."
Cake looked up at her human companion. "Oh honey, no," she said. "If they are watching then I'm not going to let you get hurt. It's just a couple miles through the forest, I'll be there in two shakes of a kitty cat's tail." She swished her own tail back and forth, as if to emphasize the promise.
"Cake, no. I can't let you go on your own."
"I'm sorry honey." The cat wrapped her paws around Fionna's waist, hugging her tightly. Then Cake sidestepped around her and glared at Marshall. "If you have a decent bone in your creepy dead body you won't let her follow me."
"What?" Fionna said. "Cake, what does that—"
Before the question was finished Cake darted from the cave, disappearing through the small opening that was slowly being lit by the arrival of dawn.
"No," she said, staring after her. "No no no, Cake! Cake, come back here now!" She ran for the door but Marshall Lee swooped up to block the exit.
"Stop it!" Fionna shouted, shoving him. "I have to follow her! What if she gets hurt?"
"Are you kidding? She's too mean to get hurt," Marshall said. Fionna struggled to push past him and he gripped her upper arms firmly, holding her in place. He stared down at her, pinning her not only with his hands but with his gaze. "She's fine, Fionna," he said. "Just calm down. She'll be back soon, okay?"
Fionna's face crumpled and she yanked herself away from him, sharply turning her back and pacing to the far end of the shallow cave. She sank down beside Prince Gumball with a huff, masking her concern with irritation.
"You shouldn't have said that about Lord Monochromicorn," she said, crossing her arms and glaring at the vampire. "That just made her want to go more. If she gets hurt I'll kill you."
"Big words coming from such a little girl," Marshall said, though the usual spark that heated his taunts was absent. "Besides, you know I'm right. Monochromicorns are sketchy as hell. Maybe yours is different, but then again, maybe not."
"Of course he's different. If he wasn't Cake wouldn't like him."
"Right, because she's such a great judge of character."
"She doesn't like you," Fionna snapped. "That's proof enough for me."
"Lord Monichromicorn is my friend," announced Prince Gumball as if that ended the argument. His eyes were still somewhat distant, seeing something far beyond the cave.
Marshall scoffed at the declaration but stopped arguing.
For a while the trio sat in silence. Marshall and Gumball stared at different fixed points in the cave, both mentally elsewhere. Fionna buried her face in her arms and tried to convince herself that Cake was fine. She would be, anyway, until she got back. Then Fionna might maim her for leaving like that.
Time trickled by. Minutes leaked into an hour, then two. It appeared that Marshall had dozed against the wall, but Fionna didn't believe he was really sleeping. She had a lurking feeling that he was peeking at her when she looked away.
Finally she couldn't take the quiet anymore.
A/N I hope you enjoyed the beginning of this story! Reviews are appreciated, especially suggestions for improving my writing or the characters. I'm not sure which pairings are going to emerge yet. I prefer to just see how things happen. It seems more natural that way. Thanks for reading!
