Notes: Hello! So this is my first time writing in the Adventure Time fandom, which I am super excited about, because this show gives me life! And of course, I ship these two with my life! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! Feel free to review (after all, it makes an authors day!). :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time...I almost did, until Pendleton Ward escaped from my closet...
Sometimes, it's really hard for Marshall Lee to look at Fionna.
It's not that he doesn't enjoy looking at the adventuress, in fact, she's not bad to look at, and it's much better than staring at the grimy walls of a bat-guano covered cave, which, mind you, he has gotten quite used to. It's just that when he looks at her, with her bright blonde hair, and her bright crystal eyes, and bright smile, and bright-fucking-everything, it makes him feel as if he's standing outside on a full summer's day, the sun hanging over head, and burning his body to a crisp. When she flashes her toothy grin at him, and makes a move to punch his arm he wants to just yell: stop getting near me bunbun, do you want me to catch on fire!? Because Glob, if she isn't the brightest thing on the entire fucking planet, he doesn't know what is, and doesn't think he could ever find out.
He has been alive for a good millennium, maybe more, and doesn't think he's ever seen something as bright as Fionna.
And as much as he would like to throw her onto his bed, bare his fangs, and make sure she understands just what she is doing to him, he's a romantic at heart, and knows that Fionna is something special. She's not just some one time gig, one time stand, one time anything. She's his friend, and above all else a lady, despite her tomboyish attitude, and butt-kicking abilities. Fionna deserves better. Someone like Prince-Uppity-Gumball who is probably the definition of prissy, and by far one of the girliest dudes he's ever met (the guy wears pink for Glob's sake!) who could probably give Fionna more than he ever could in the span of mere seconds.
The thought alone makes him want to scare the sugar off of all the citizens in the Candy Kingdom, just to spite him.
He does once, but it results in a kick in the face from Fionna, who has to be the heroine of the story one hundred freaking percent of the time, and a stern sass down from Cake who has claws that can really cut a bitch if you're not careful.
His friends are jerks like that. Amazingly hilarious jerks, who he actually enjoys hanging out with, even though he would never admit it to anyone, but jerks nonetheless.
Which is why, when Fionna came barreling into his room with fire in her (already bright) eyes, and a grin plastered onto her face that just screamed: algebraic! the King of Perpetual Darkness couldn't bring himself to get mad.
"Marshall!" the adventuress screamed giddily, crashing through his doorway and barrel rolling across his floor. She laid flat on the ground, holding up some kind of map, and peering up at him excitedly. Fionna was already decked out from head to toe in her standard adventure gear. Her backpack was filled to the brim with items, ranging all the way from purple whatever's to her busted up flute. Her sword was also clasped against her back, and to Marshall Lee's chagrin, it was the pink one Prince Pinky had given her...or was it the Ice Queen? The whole story had confused him immensely, especially the part when he (she?) had lured Fionna up to the royal chambers. If she had told him about the Ice Queen any later, he might have rushed to conclusions, and busted the Prince's gumballs. Seriously, that whole situation was fucked up. He shook his head, and continued to observe her. As usual, that silly bunny hat was on her head, which made her look adorable...not that super tough vampires like himself used that kind of word...pshh, no way. Her knee high socks were already covered in holes, and her shirt plastered with mud. Typical Fionna.
A smile tugged at his mouth, quirking one side up like it was being pulled by a string. He floated lazily above her, and gave her an amused look. "Glob Fionna," he drawled slowly, baring his fangs at the sight of her exposed neck, "ever heard of knocking?"
"There's no time!" she insisted, holding out the map towards him with more force. She puffed her cheeks out. "Just look!"
The Vampire King raised an eyebrow, and leaned in closer to inspect the map. It was hand drawn, the ink partly smudged in some places, and in others rubbed off. It must have been pretty old, because there were many tears and holes covering it's expanse, and wrinkles galore. Still, he could still make out the basic shape of the terrain, and the giant red circle around one of the mountains. It seemed to be circling some kind of cave.
"It's an old map of Aah," explained Fionna, her eyes dancing with excitement, "Cake and I snagged it off some croanie we were fighting." She sat up and began to pace around his living room, her arms held outwards from her sides as if she were pretending to be an airplane. "I don't know why that cave is circled, but there must be something there! Cake was hoping there was treasure, but I just want to kick some monster butt." She grinned at him, showing off the gaps in her teeth.
"Oh? Well thanks for the update, Fi, but why are you telling me this, exactly?" He smiled down at her, flicking his dark hair with his hand. It was pretty unusual for her not to ditch everything she was doing as soon as she found some kind of lead to an adventure, and make it there as fast as she could. She had came to him instead. Very interesting...The vampire grinned. He floated down until he was level with her face.
"Because I want you to come with me, obviously," she said with a look on her face that said: duh!
He pretended not to be surprised. "Oh, I see how it is-" his demon eyes flashed with mirth, "-you've realized your feelings for me, and can't bear the thought of being away from me any longer! Now you want to do everything together." He gave her a wolfish grin.
"Pshh, as if." She glared stubbornly and pushed his body away from her. It didn't do much effect, just kind of sent his body floating freely in the opposite direction.
He gave a long sigh. "You so want me." The vampire rested his arms behind his head, and winked at her. So what if he was flirting? He was like an eighteen or nineteen year old teenage boy trapped in a thousand year old immortal body. When a pretty girl was near, he wasn't going to pass up the chance.
Fionna's cheeks blazed red, which brought a wicked laugh out of Marshall. It was just too easy. The adventuress gave an annoyed huff, before crossing her arms over her chest.
"Look, I simply wanted to invite you with me on this trip, because we haven't hung out in a while, and you're my friend, so I don't want to exclude you from things," she said pointedly. He was still looking at her with that flirty expression on his face. Fiona groaned. "Friend," she emphasized.
"Uh-huh," he agreed.
"You get it?"
"Sure."
"Marshall!"
"What," he laughed, "I get it!"
"Good! So you're coming?"
The King of Darkness made a show of mulling over her proposition. In all honesty he had jack-shit going on, so it wasn't like he wasn't free, but Fionna didn't have to know that. "Well, I suppose I can find time in my busy schedule to entertain a mere mortal like yourself." He grinned again, showing off his fangs.
"Really? Algebraic!" she screamed excitedly, pumping her fist up in joy. "Let's go then. Cake's waiting outside, so we better get a move on."
Marshall hissed out a laugh. So it seemed the kitty was too scared to enter his home. Cake had always been nervous around the vampire, which amused him greatly. Unless she was defending Fionna, Cake would stay as far as humanly (...felinely?) possible away from him. Marshall couldn't wait to scare one of her nine lives out of her.
He gave one more wicked laugh, before reaching for his pink umbrella (okay so it was more of a parasol, but Prince Gumball had given the damn thing to him!). With his axe bass draped over his back, and the totallynotaparasol in his hand, he was ready to go. Fionna sent him another one of her toothy grins before darting out the door.
Cake greeted her sister as soon as she got out. "Fionna gurl, what was taking you so lon-" .
"Hisssssss! Run kitty, run!" Marshall Lee jumped out at her, transforming his face into a look of horror. Cake screamed, rather loudly too. Her hair was standing up straight, which looked fucking hilarious. Marshall dropped to the floor with laughter.
"Marshall!" scolded Fionna.
After Cake recovered from her heart attack, she was quick to start yelling. "Fionna what did I tell you about this clown! That boy is trouble with a capital T!" Cake glared, smoothing down her tail.
"Oh come on!" Marshall said between fits of laughter. That was funny!" He shakily stood up, clutching his sides.
"I will cut you!" Cake threatened as she grew a couple sizes.
"Will you?" Marshall sneered down at her, his eyes turning red. Fionna stood in between the two of them, placing her hands on both of their chests to stop the fighting. Marshall hissed at the contact, her fingers spreading warmth against his body. He wasn't very used to that.
"Knock it off, you two! Friends aren't supposed to fight!" she reprimanded. Both of them turned away with a humph. "Come on, let's just go already!"
After staring at the intensity of Fionna's gaze, (damn she was as bright as ever) Marshall gave in. The Vampire floated a safe distance away from Cake with his arms crossed over his chest. "Whatever," he said stubbornly, "it wasn't like I was serious."
He wasn't, really. He just wanted to mess around. Cake was his friend, or whatever, he didn't actually mind her. It wasn't like he was trying to make her mad...or Fionna for that matter.
"Come on," Fionna nudged his arm, stopping his brooding (she tended to have that effect on him, getting him out of his dark angsty thoughts), "there's butts to be kicked!"
The mountain side loomed over them, casting a dark silhouette over the ground that enveloped their bodies appearing as though they were made out of the shadows themselves. The site felt as ancient as the map, the rock faces already crumbled, and eroded from many years of wear and tear, and harsh angry weather. The atmosphere buzzed, reverberating to the very core of their bones, and spreading out through their bodies like a blooming kind of stain. Marshall sensed a strong magic nearby, and instinctively stepped closer to Fionna as if to shield her. This was not a good kind of magic-it was a dark kind, forged by lament, and vengeful curses; the kind that the most powerful wizards used when they were desperate for power over others, to feed their insatiable hunger for lust and greed. Unfortunately for him, Marshall was all too familiar with it.
"So this is the place, huh?" he said casually, instinctively reaching for his axe base for comfort. He fingered the strings along its expanse. The atmosphere brought bad memories, and thoughts that he spent far too long burying deep in his mind to let resurface.
"Yup," the adventuress replied, performing a few stretches before they began their endeavor into the cave, "isn't it exciting?" She gazed up at him through her blonde bangs. Why were her eyes always so wide and full of sunshine? It was unnatural...unnatural, and aggravatingly beautiful.
"Tch, sure thing babe." He didn't like the feel of the place, but that of course meant that whatever was inside the cave had to be worth something. With adventuresses like Fionna and Cake, they'd stop at nothing to reach it. They were just lucky he was itching for some kind of adventure himself. Sitting at home sucking the color from strawberries, and screaming out songs about his anger for the past was beginning to wear him out. He needed action to get his mind off of his troubled thoughts. Being alive for 1003 years tended to do that to a guy. Luckily he had the best remedy for that: Fionna.
Cake suddenly cried out with glee. "Mmm, Mama is gonna get some booty for her booty! I can't wait to find some fancy jewels! They're like catnip, baby!"
Beside her, Fionna rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork," she said playfully.
"A dork who's about to be stinkin' rich! Let's go!"
At the top of the mountain, carved into its side was the cave. Cake had stretched her body to make it over, Fionna planted happily on her back. Marshall on the other hand, had chosen to float leisurely, and admittedly awesomely up. Because vampires had some pretty bad-ass powers, and one of them was being able to float around so his legs wouldn't get tired. Plus it was just like flying, and who didn't dream of doing that? They reached the top in no time flat.
"Wow," Fionna marveled at the entrance, holding out the sound as she did a panorama type look of the place. "This place is totally righteous."
The mouth of the cave was dripping with what Marshall hoped was water. The sound of the droplets hitting the floor echoed throughout the cave's expanse, which seemed to go on forever. Not that you could see much of the cave, or how far it went on, since it was so dark. Marshall was actually thankful for the lack of light, he did better in the shadows anyway. Plus, it meant he didn't have to carry around that umbrella. Yes, umbrella. He let it drop to the floor. Okay, actually he placed it on the ground gingerly, making sure to avoid a spider web. After all, it was still a gift, and from one of his closest friends too. Prince Pinky wasn't that bad, okay? Anyway, back to their surroundings. Scattered around the floor were various bones. Fionna stomped on one of the skulls, causing it to go straight through her leg almost as if she were wearing an anklet. She made a goofy face and showed Cake, who started snorting with laughter. Marshall rolled his eyes. Dorks. The vampire flicked his eyes to the cave's walls, and immediately frowned. That was not good.
"Whatcha looking at Marshall?" Fionna asked, moving over to stand by him, and peering over his shoulder. Normally, Marshall would have made some kind of comment, but it wasn't the time.
"Not good," he said, inwardly cursing.
Now here's the kicker. What they were looking at was a grade A booty trap. No joke, it was literally designed for suckers to fall in. The blood seal marking the wall was made by binding part of, usually a witch/wizard's, soul to a platform, and performing some intricate hypnosis spell on it. Upon touching it, the trap would be sprung, and hell would be released. Luckily it only worked on those who seriously had, like, no willpower to stop it. Mostly those who couldn't stop their curiosity. Aka: suckers. Good thing they didn't have any of those arou- oh wait.
Damn.
"Hey guys, what are you looking at? Some kind of cave painting? Ooh! Fancy!" Cake said excitedly.
"Oh Glob, Cake, no!" Marshall screamed.
The cat's eyes grew wide and sparkly. "Touch." Her paw was on it before Marshall could stop her.
He facepalmed.
"Heh heh, why you lookin' at me with that constipated face Marshall? You look ridiculous. Fionna come check this out!"
Suddenly there was a poof of smoke, and a witch appeared, holding Cake right under her arm. She cackled maniacally. "You fell for my trap! Ehhehehehe!" She did some kind of weird dance which exposed a fair amount of her pale legs peeking out from under her robe, which Marshall Lee really didn't need to see.
Fiona lunged at her. "Hey, you butt! Give Cake back!" As soon as the adventuress neared the witch, a force field suddenly appeared, knocking Fionna back and sending her straight into the wall. She grunted as her body hit the rocky terrain with a thud. The witch cackled, before showing off her force field generating necklace: a popular item on sale in the Magic Realm.
"Fionna!" Cake cried. "Let go of me you hag!"
"No! Ehehehehehe."
Marshall transformed himself into his demon bat form, and began to charge at her. Fionna had recovered herself, and fell into step with the vampire, her sword held out in front of her. Before the two could reach the witch, however, she erupted in a cloud of smoke. Fionna's sword sliced through thin air.
"Gumballs!" Fionna yelled in frustration, kicking a rock. On the ground where the witch had been standing there was a measly slip of paper.
Eat it! It said.
Marshall groaned. He couldn't believe he didn't warn Cake in time. What was he thinking!? Beside him Fionna's face was red, and scrunched up in frustration.
"What do we do!?" she cried, biting back tears. "That witch took Cake!"
Oh boy. Fionna looked like she might explode, and Marshall Lee knew she was blaming herself for the whole thing. It was that whole not protecting her sister kind of dilemma. The human girl looked like she was gonna burst from holding back her tears. Everyone knew that Fionna could be super sensitive, even though she tried her damnedest to hide It. Adventuresses were supposed to be tough as nails, at least, Fionna thought so. Which was why she didn't want anyone to see her cry. Marshall sighed, before changing back into his original form, and floating over to her.
"Don't worry Fi, we'll get Cake back," he promised her, placing a hand on her head. "We won't stop until we do." Fionna shakily nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
"You're right!" This time her voice didn't waver. "Thanks Marshall."
The vampire shrugged, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Whatever." Then he took the note the witch had left behind. "Look, that old hag even left us a clue."
On the back of the eloquent message were even more words: Don't try looking further into the cave because the cat and I aren't here-I mean there. Also, this note is laced with itching powder! Eheheheheh.
"Great," Marshall deadpanned. He scratched his back.
"So into the cave we go?" Fionna asked him, scratching her leg.
"Into the cave we go."
Remember when Marshall Lee said that Fionna was the brightest thing on the entire-fucking-planet? Well apparently he forgot to take that into account when he agreed to go on this whole adventure thing with her. Now they were alone. In the dark. With the path of the cave getting narrower and narrower, and Fionna being, well, Fionna.
Yeah...he really didn't think this one through. Oh well, witnessing the room get brighter with each passing word that came out of Fionna's mouth was worth it, and maybe he could have some fun while they were at it.
"So it turned out the monster was actually one of Cake's friends wearing a mop on his head, and his groans were just really loud snores. Apparently he had one cup of eggnog too many, and passed out in the broom closet. That's why we call him EggNogSnoresalot," Fionna finished, as she led Marshall down the cave passageway. Marshall snorted. They had already ran into fifty monsters, which Fionna slayed with ease, a dozen dead ends, which Marshall had to navigate out of, and surprisingly a ton of random baby socks laying on the ground. Despite all of the progress they had made, they were still not even close to finding Cake.
"Eggnog is disgusting anyway," Marshall said. "He deserves that stupid name."
"I happen to like eggnog!"
"Well, then you're disgusting too."
"Take that back!" Fionna declared, pointing her sword at him like she was ready to make him walk the plank. Despite her threat, she was grinning like a maniac.
"And if I don't?" he challenged, his voice dangerously low.
"Then I'll get rid of all of the red foods in the tree-fort, so when you come over to mooch off of Cake and me, you'll have nothing!" Her blue eyes flashed with amusement.
Marshall feigned shock. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh," Fionna grinned, "but I would."
"Well if you do that I'm afraid I'll have to prepare for the worst. After all, if you don't have any red colored foods, I'll have to go for the next best thing."
"What? Our red furniture?" She rolled her eyes, and playfully stuck out her tongue.
"Nope." He bared his fangs. "You're blood!" He put on one of his scary faces, and raised his arms at her. "Mwahahahaha!"
Fionna laughed, and began running down the cave passageway, inviting him to catch her if he could. Marshall continued to make a bunch of faces at her as he flew after her, laughing just as much as she was.
The truth was, he missed this - the hanging out, the goofing around, just the act of being near the adventuress. They hadn't done this in Grob knows how long, and Marshall hadn't realized just how empty he felt without it until then. Because to be perfectly honest, he actually loved hanging out with the people of Aah; he's said it before, and for all his terrorizing, and the scary masks he put on, the fact was that underneath it all he was just a boy trapped in an immortal body, who hated the weight of the world pushed onto his shoulders when loneliness crept in. It's happened far too much, like when his mother ate his fries, or when Simone slowly began losing her mind right in front of his eyes, or when Ashley totally betrayed his trust, and mostly the fact that for a thousand years every friend he had ever made in Aah had left him, because they weren't cursed with the immortal blood coursing through his veins. Marshall didn't like thinking about it, but he knew that one day Fionna, and Cake, and Glob knows who else would leave him just like the rest, and he'd be alone again. Fionna was only human, and the fact is humans die. Humans die, and cats only have nine lives, and candy doesn't last forever, and neither do hearts, but his was a black hole, so its reign would outlast mountains.
Even though he would rather escape this inevitable truth by hiding away in his cave sucking the red from strawberries, and screaming out songs about his anger for the past, the truth was he missed her. So at least for this adventure, he'd enjoy it while it lasted.
The two of them continued to run about the cave, their laughter echoing throughout its expanse. If they weren't careful, they might end up waking up a hoard of monsters, and then they'd be in serious trouble. But Fionna was pretty skilled with her sword, and Marshall Lee was a King, so they weren't completely helpless; that is, until the two of them accidently set off another trap.
Yeah, they really needed to start paying more attention.
What happened was Fionna had stopped abruptly, causing Marshall Lee to run straight into her back, which In turn caused Fionna to be pushed down onto the cave floor. Only, Marshall had ended up falling right on top of her, and as soon as he did so the cave floor began to glow a bright green color. Fionna stared at the color as if it were her enemy, and Marshall was sure if given the chance she would probably end up fighting the damn thing, if that were even possible. He was contemplating this, and ignoring Fionna's yelling at him to get off of her, when a sudden beeping noise sounded.
"This can't be good," Marshall warned, bracing himself for what was about to happen.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beeeeeeeep.
There was a sudden explosion, which sent their bodies flying into the air. As soon as they were airborne, a puff of smoke was lit up, magically turning the cave floor to a slant. Upon impact, their bodies rolled down it, picking up more and more speed with each passing second. Fionna grunted out some kind of cry every time her skin scraped against the floor, lodging rocks into her arms and legs, and leaving behind ugly dark bruises lined with sticky lacerations. Marshall would be in the same situation, if it weren't for his super-fast healing powers (yet another reason vampires are so freaking epic). Which was why he had attempted to throw his arms around Fionna so he could bare the weight of the fall. Fionna had been through worse, he was sure of it, but at the same time it would suck having her break a bone when they were supposed to be fighting a witch.
Their bodies were picking up so much speed that they had almost caught fire. They probably would have too, if it weren't for the giant green force field generated wall that had suddenly appeared. Their bodies (or rather Marshall's) hit the wall with a thud, and he had to admit, it hurt like hell. The vampire groaned. After colliding with The Green Wall of Breaking Limbs, their bodies crashed to the ground like a meteorite. All Marshall could see were stars. In fact, they were the only thing he could register, besides the warmth of Fionna's body from within his arms.
The last thing he thought about before he passed out was that he could get used to that feeling.
'Marshall.'
The vampire stirred, wearily cracking his eyes open, and staring up with bleary vision.
'Marshall.'
Marshall groaned. What was with the pounding in his head, and who was calling in his name? The voice sounded strangely angelic, and oddly familiar. He blinked a couple times to clear his vision, and winced at the brightness.
'Maaaaaarshaalll.'
"Whuzzat?" murmured Marshall Lee eloquently. He felt like shit. After taking time to rub his eyes, he opened them again to find himself face to face with Fionna.
'Marshall!'
The King blinked. Why did she seem so far away? His eyes swept along the length of her face, taking in the clear crystalline eyes, the pale pink of her lips, the slight burst of freckles along the bridge of her pert nose, and the stray locks of golden hair curling towards her chin. Despite the fact that she was a sun child, always basking in the star's light, her skin seemed so pale. He began to reach his hand out, only to find that his body felt like it had been dipped in molasses.
'Marshall?'
His eyes were really starting to hurt. Why was she so bright? He wanted to come closer to her though, to bask in the warmth her body seemed to exude. He was tired of being so cold. His body inched closer to her own. Finally, after what felt like ages, his hand came to rest against the flushed skin of her cheek, slowly drawing circles against it with his thumb.
'M-Marshall!?'
He tilted his head at the sight of the red hue that began to overtake her face. Wasn't that cute? Her breath seemed to hitch in her throat, and for a moment Fionna's eyes seemed to close, as if she were succumbing to some kind of blissful dream. Something had pooled inside of Marshall, a kind of wanting. The longing he felt to be warm was becoming so excruciatingly painful, and Fionna-oh Glob Fionna-she was so bright, and so warm, and everything he needed. Maybe if he just got a little bit closer...Ever so slightly the vampire began to inch his head towards her own.
Time stood still.
Marshall's forehead rested against Fionna's, the wispy strands of his jet black hair brushing the tips of her long eyelashes. His hand was still cupping the side of her face, and his lips were hovering over her own, painfully close to eradicating the miniscule breath of air that stood between them. There was a pounding in Marshall's ears. He could do it; he could cross the threshold. If only he could move a tiny bit forward, all of the warmth would be his. It would be washed over his body, and a thousand years of darkness would suddenly be wiped out completely by a moment's worth of light. Just a little closer, their lips would meet, and...
Time sped up.
Fionna suddenly gasped. Before Marshall could even register it, the adventuress' fist came down to connect with the side of his jaw, knocking him back a few inches. He hissed in pain, already feeling the bruise that was sure to follow.
"Marshall! What the heck!?" yelled Fionna, her face a comical shade of red. She was breathing heavily, and had an exasperated look on her face. Somehow, Marshall Lee was brought back to reality.
"Fionna," he groaned, "what was that for!?"
"Y-you know why! Don't act innocent with me!" She shakily brought out her sword. "You were making a move on me! Cake warned me what I should do in these situations!"
Marshall blinked. After much thought, it finally dawned on him. He wasn't dreaming. That voice was Fionna's, and he had almost...
He reeled back.
"Fuck! I'm sorry Fi, I thought I was dreaming!"
She blinked. "D-dreaming?"
Grob, he didn't just say that, did he? He raked a hand down the side of his face in frustration. So not cool. He wasn't blushing, was he? 'Cause that would make it a thousand times worse.
"I didn't mean to...you know," he choked out, an exasperated look on his face. To be honest, he really did think he was dreaming, that or he had died or something, which wouldn't make much sense since he was immortal, but give him a break, he was disorientated! It wasn't his fault Fionna looked so angelic like.
Fionna rubbed her shoulder awkwardly, before speaking in a squeaky voice. "Haha, yeah, it's um, cool dude." She coughed for no real reason, and put her sword away, her heated blush still yet to go down.
Man it was awkward.
Marshall scratched the side of his cheek, trying to look anywhere but in her eyes. "So, um, what happened anyway? Where are we?" The adventuress gave their surroundings a once over, Marshall following suit. It had seemed that they were still in the cave, that much was obvious, but for some reason all around them was a lurid green color, slightly transparent and very intrusive. Marshall groaned. Great, just great. "Don't tell me we are trapped in that force field thing!"
"Okay, I won't tell you."
"We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Come on, don't be like that! There has to be some way out! Watch, I'll break it down with brute force!" Fionna charged at the wall shoulder first, a determined look adorned on her face. Her body crashed against it, only to be knocked back a second later. She landed flat on her butt. "Oww."
Marshall sighed, they were going to be there for a while.
"So..." Cake started awkwardly, eyeing the witch carefully from within the cage she was in. The witch was too busy knitting a pair of socks to pay much attention. "This is, um, a lovely home you have. Very, erm, rocky."
"Why, thank you," the witch replied.
"I bet you get a lot of company down here...you know, from people who wouldn't mind the smell..."
"Surprisingly no."
"Huh, you don't say."
Marshall began humming to himself. He lazily floated up in the air while fingering the strings of his base (which had luckily survived their fall) and watched in amusement as Fionna performed many pitiful attempts to break the wall down.
"You're not going to break it," he informed her, cringing as she fell back for the umpteenth time.
"Well maybe," she began, unsheathing her sword, and charging toward the force field, "if you'd help me instead of just floating there, we'd make some progress!" She sliced the wall, causing sparks to fly around her.
"There's no point."
Fionna humphed. "And why not?" Despite her many attempts to break through it, when the smoke cleared the wall still looked as untouched as it was before. She groaned.
"That wall is magically enforced, Fi. Nothing's getting through it." Fionna was the strongest person he knew (he had been punched enough times to confirm this). If she couldn't break through it, then nothing would.
"That's what you think!" She gave a long winded battle cry, before running at the wall full force. Sadly, Marshall was right yet again. She fell backwards with another lousy plop. "Poop," she complained. The adventurers closed her eyes in annoyance. Fionna hated being defeated, and being bested by a lousy inanimate wall was just making her all kinds of frustrated.
"Relax," advised Marshall. He began to play a little tune. "We'll get out eventually."
"How?"
Marshall shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Prince Pinky will rescue you." He said this in jest, but couldn't quite hide the bitterness in his voice.
"If you're referring to Prince Gumball, then that's not funny." She sniffed. "Besides, I don't wait around to get rescued!"
The vampire hissed out a laugh. He knew that perfectly well. It was what he liked about her. "Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, bunbun, but unless Cake manages to break free from the witch and free us, or if by some Grob-sent miracle Pinky finds us, we aren't getting out of here, so you might as well sit back, and relax." He floated down and grabbed the ears of her bunny hat, flipping them around. "Capiche?"
Fionna slapped his hands away, and glared. "How am I supposed to relax when I know that Cake is out there all alone? What kind of sister just gives up on their sibling like that?"
Okay, so maybe Marshall could have been a little more sensitive about the situation, but honestly the whole tact thing wasn't really his strong suit. Besides, he was already getting annoyed that he and Fionna were stuck down there. The vampire was feeling a bit aggravated.
Which was why he kind of snapped at her. "Well she's not going to be saved anytime soon! We're trapped, okay? There's nothing we can do right now." He got in her face. "So it looks like all three of us are going to rot in here!"
Fionna tackled him, which crashed the two of them to the ground. "Why are you being so mean!?"
The vampire hissed. He pushed her off of him, and floated up so he was looking down at her. His eyes grew red: demon eyes. "Mean? You think I'm mean? Fionna, I'm more than that; i'm evil. King of darkness, I rule the vampire realm with an iron fist. You can't even begin to comprehend the power I have. What do you expect from me?"
Fionna rose to her feet, and raised an accusatory finger at him. "I expect you to stop lying, especially to a friend! You are not evil, Marshall, stop being a butt!"
Marshall Lee glared. Why was she always so persistent? He was evil! He was darkness manifested into a tangible form, he made children weep at just the mere sight of him, made mountains crumble and the earth shake in his wake; he was cruel! Why couldn't mortals understand this?
Because it's Fionna dimwit, a voice in his head sounded. Marshall scowled, and raked a hand down the side of his face in frustration. "You're going to get hurt around me Fi! Why don't you understand this?" he yelled.
And another voice in his head sounded: I'm going to get hurt by you. You'll leave me one day, and none of us will be able to stop it.
"That's crazy talk! Why would I ever leave you!?" Fionna bellowed, her hands clenched in fists at her sides. "I would never do that!"
Marshall's heart stopped. Had he just said that out loud? A blush climbed it's way up his neck. Not cool, so not cool.
"Marshall, why would you even say that?" Fionna asked again, seeing that Marshall Lee was in no condition to carry on the conversation by himself.
"Does it matter?" he spat out bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like you have a choice anyway. You'll die one day; I don't seem to have that option." Fionna grew quiet. "Everyone I have ever gotten close to has left me, and you'll be no different." He paused. "A thousand years, Fi...think about it."
She did, Marshall knew it, but what he didn't expect was for her to throw another punch at him. The King barely had time to dodge. "So what!?" Fionna screamed out again, her voice slightly strained. "It doesn't matter! I'm not dying anytime soon, right? You're my friend, Marshall, and for whatever time we have left together, we aren't going to waste it just because you're scared of losing me! I know what loss feels like, you butt! I lost my parents, right? Both humans, and cats! I know it hurts, and a thousand years' worth of it probably feels like a demon sword to the heart. But you know what? That's life! You can either spend it hollowed away in your cave feeling sad and lonely, or with someone you care about. And that's me, dude, I care about you!"
Marshall was taken back. Fionna stood level with his chest, and calmly placed her fist against his heart, feeling the beating of his heart from within his ribcage. She closed her eyes. "Why do you think I even asked you to come on this quest?" She wrapped her arms around his frame, and squeezed tightly, as if she were trying to place all his broken pieces back together.
Damn, she was bright. Something about her touch caused all of the tension to leave his body. He relaxed against her grip, letting a smile ease its way onto his features. Fionna cared about him, and even though that fact couldn't erase the future, it did feel nice knowing that he would have someone to be beside for years to come. After all, it was a long time since he felt like this: like he was loved.
It was a nice scene, really, until the vampire ruined it. Well could you blame him? Touchy feely moments couldn't last forever, and Marshall found that ending them in a way that would lead to Fionna blushing, was better than anything else.
"Wow," Marshall drawled, sobering up suddenly, "that was some confession of your undying love to me." He saw Fionna's eyes snap open, and a blush appear along her cheeks. He snickered as Fionna reeled away from him, her mouth gaping open like a fish. Marshall dramatically raised one of his arms up to his face, shielding his eyes with the sleeve. "Oh, Marshall," he put on his best Fionna impression, "I'll be by your side until the end of time! Even when my soul has ascended onto the astro-plane, and my ashes become stars, we'll be together forever!" He laughed again.
"I was not-I didn't mean it like-I never said-"
"That you loved me? Fionna I'm hurt! I thought that we had something there!"
"Marshall!"
"Relax," Marshall told her, "I'm joking." He smiled at her, and this time it was genuine. "Thanks Fi."
Everything was going great, and for the first time in a long time, Marshall actually felt a kind of warmth spreading across his chest. Until, of course, the mood was ruined again by a long winded sneeze from Fionna. "Atchooooooooooooooooooo!" She sniffed.
Suddenly the floor beneath them began to shake. Fionna's legs wobbled, which led to them giving out beneath her. Her body collided with Marshall's, and the vampire fell on his back. The floor beneath them suddenly caved in, causing their bodies to fall right alongside it.
"What the heck!?" Marshall protested as they fell, clinging to Fionna. "You mean to tell me that all it took to break that stupid spell was for one of us to sneeze!?"
They fell down, getting closer and closer to the ground.
From within the witch's room, pieces of the ceiling began to fall down. The dirt fell on the witch's head, causing her to look up in confusion. "What's going on?" she asked in her high cracking voice.
"Oh my Glob, EARTHQUAKE!" Cake screeched, flailing her paws around wildly.
Suddenly two bodies broke through the ceiling, landing right on top of the witch's pointy head. She was squashed like a pancake. When the smoke cleared, it became clear that the two figures were none other than Marshall Lee and Fionna.
Cake gasped. "Fionna!"
From underneath the rubble and, frankly, Fionna and Marshall's butts, the witch uttered some kind of groan. "I knew I shouldn't have placed that pitfall trap there."
"Cake! You're alive!" Fionna cheered happily, running over to her sister as fast as she could. She was a bit disoriented from the fall, and couldn't really run in a straight line, but that didn't seem to matter. Fionna coughed up a bobby pin from the back of her throat-Marshall wish he hadn't of saw that-and quickly picked the lock of the cage.
"Stop! You're stealing my dinner!" cried the witch. Marshall rolled his eyes, and swiftly picked up the witch from underneath the rubble. He hissed at her, inwardly laughing at the sight of fear in her black eyes, before landing a defining punch against her jaw. The witch coughed up a golden tooth, and promptly passed out. Marshall dusted his hands off, and grinned. A job well done.
"Fionna! Thank Glob you're alright!" Marshall heard Cake cry, and turned to see the sight of the two adventuresses embracing one another. The vampire nodded at the sight; it was about time they found Cake. Bending down Marshall Lee retrieved the golden tooth, and presented it to his favorite (this word is used very loosely) feline pal.
"I guess it's not a jewel, but it's better than nothing," he told her, shrugging his hands into his pockets.
Cake blinked, processing the fact that Marshall had actually done something nice for her, before letting out a yelp of joy. "Mama's rich now, baby! Thanks Marshall."
Fionna gave him a thumbs up from behind Cake, and Marshall suck his tongue out at her. "So," he said, "you two ready to get out of here?"
Fionna and Cake exchanged nervous glances. "Yeah, of course," Cake replied, rubbing her shoulder awkwardly. "It's just that…"
"It's just what?"
"We have no idea how to get out of here," Fionna finished for Cake, offering Marshall a wide apologetic smile.
Marshall Lee groaned. Why did he always get himself into these situations?