Marshall strummed his axe bass feeling as bored as can be. It was late at night and no one was awake except him, after all, he never needed to sleep. Sleeping was just something he did when he had nothing else to do, and though he was bored to tears right now, he couldn't bring himself to rest. He didn't have a good reason to stay up, but he had a feeling, and he was the type of guy who followed his instincts.
Hovering in the middle of his living room rather than sitting on his couch, he played song after song with an absent mind, his thoughts weren't on notes, but were rather on the rest of Aaa. He wondered what his fellow vampires, ghosts, ghouls, and other creatures of the night were up to. He hadn't seen Ghost Prince in a long time, but supposed he had finally moved on. It was good for him, maybe he and Claire had finally gotten back together.
He sighed and set down his guitar. He thought about eating some red, but he wasn't hungry, and eating out of boredom seemed far too cliché at the moment. He hovered over to his TV and thought about what movies he could watch, but seeing the case to Heat Signature only left him thinking about Fiona and Cake. They were surely sleeping at this hour, but he couldn't get his mind off his favorite Blondie. "Oh Fiona…" He sighed, finally ending his hovering and landing on his plush carpeted floor, "Get out of my head girl…"
He said the words, but knew no matter what he did, it would never happen. He was beyond interested in her, and his infatuation didn't completely stem from the fact that she was the only remaining human in all of Aaa. His own heart hadn't beat in years, but when he thought about her, he couldn't help but feel a little something in his long since dormant chest. She was, from time to time, making him wish that he wasn't a vampire. Seeing Fiona so full of life and happiness made him wish for the simplicity of a finite life, rather than the bothersome monotony of eternity that he was currently dealing with. It seemed that living forever wasn't all it was cracked up to be when the only interest or escape you had was a girl who would someday pass away and make her way to the pearly gates to meet Glob.
He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts; he hated to think about the fact that someday he was going to be without Fiona… his Fiona. She was the girl that could bring him happiness in even his darkest hour. She was the only person he ever thought about and she was always on his mind. He couldn't imagine life without her. He had, however given thought to what he would do if she passed away. As a vampire, he was given a gift and a curse to walk the Earth forever. The gift of it was that he could not die of disease or old age… none of the common deaths that humans and those with limited lives faced. However it was a curse in that he would have to live forever, watching friend, after friend die in front of his eyes… his only hope for escape was a violent, painful death. He could only be killed by fire or a stake to the heart… a silver bullet would be quick, but it would never work. Silver bullets were just something that people believed worked, truthfully it was just superstition like crosses and holy water, they were pretty and fancy and all, but would never kill him. Not even poison could take him peacefully, being impervious to it was good in some respects, but if he was trying to off himself, it was never going to work.
For now he tried to keep his mind off such morbid subjects and directed his thoughts back towards the here and now. He supposed that Fiona was asleep with the rest of Aaa, and that she would be up in the morning to hang out. Though he preferred to not go out into the sun, he supposed that he would just wear his sunglasses and carry an umbrella tomorrow, because he wanted to see her, and have the possibility of having her around him all day. He wondered if he could get Lord Monochromicorn to do him a solid and take out Cake for the day so that he could have Fi all to himself. He was generally pretty cool about things like that, and probably wanted to see Cake anyway, but before he could even begin to think about getting in contact with him, his heighted sense of hearing picked up the sound of rushed footsteps.
Unused to being disturbed in the middle of the night, being that almost everyone was asleep, Marshall was shocked and turned to see who was approaching his home in the darkness. Before he could even manage to ask who was there, the door swung open and who else ran in but an extremely exhausted looking Cake.
"Cake?" Marshall asked, extremely confused. She was the last person he had expected to bust down his door in the middle of the night, especially with the fact that last time he checked, she hated him. They had never gotten along, so whatever she was here for, she must be insane… or desperate, extremely desperate.
"Marshall!" She shouted between deep breaths of air. She had obviously come a long way, and by the looks of how tired she was, she must have been in a rush. "I stretched all the way here from the mountains… its Fiona! She's trapped… maybe hurt, I don't know… I tried to fit to get her or break them or something… anything, but I couldn't…" She was freaking out and wasn't acting like herself at all. "I tried the Prince's, but none of them can save themselves let alone Fi… the only one of any help was Gumball… but we need you… please help, please!"
"Cake, calm down, you're acting crazy!" He said trying to calm her down enough to get some information out of her, but he was freaking out internally himself. "Calm down." He repeated, "Tell me what happened to Fiona."
Cake tried to compose herself, but it was clear by how quickly she spoke that time was of the essence. " We were out on an adventure to find treasure up in the mountains when I tripped a wire and boulders fell… Fiona shoved me out of the way, but she got trapped on one side and I was on the other… I tried everything but couldn't get through… I went to Gumball first, but he could only come up with some science plan… he didn't want you to come, but we need you… you're the only one who can help us…"
It didn't take anything else for Marshall to run out the door and shout to cake to show him the way and tell him the plan on the way there. If Fiona was in danger, he was going to do everything he could do to save her, even if it killed him. Soon enough cake was stretching back to the mountains, and he was flying full speed to follow her. On their way, Cake explained the plan.
"We need you to open up a portal to the night o' sphere, go through to the other side, and bring her back with you. It was the fastest way we could think to do it…" Cake repeated the plan, obviously devised by Gumball, to him. Only Gumball would understand that the Night O' Sphere and Aaa were both intersecting planes of existence and that because of that, traveling in one realm would get you to places in the other realm and vice versa. It wasn't going to be the first time Marshall had done something like this, he had used the same theory to get around mountains and oceans before. It wasn't exactly a new concept, but it didn't always work as flawlessly as Gumball thought it did. He, of course, had never been to the Night O' Sphere, so he didn't realize that there were also obstacles to face there. In Aaa, there was a wall of Rock separating him from Fiona, but in the Night O' Sphere, it could be a volcano or nothing at all. It was tricky like that, and not knowing how thick the wall of Rock was, was another problem. If he went too far he may not find Fiona in time, but if he didn't go far enough, he would be stuck in a wall of rock. He wasn't sure whether or not that would kill him because personally, he had never tried it.
He didn't have time to think about what ifs and the possibility of things going wrong. All he could do right now was move even faster and hope and pray that his Fi would be okay when he got to her. He imagined a million different situations that could be waiting for him beyond that Rock wall. She could be perfectly fine, leaning against the rocks just waiting for something to happen, or more likely if she was okay, looking for a way out and hitting rocks with her pink crystal sword. There was also at the same time a chance that she was hurt. She may have broken an arm or a leg, or gotten cut, or worse… she could have been crushed or hit hard enough someplace vital to end her life. He didn't want to think about it, but there was a chance that just that had happened to her. He hated the thought of having to bring the lifeless shell of his friend out of the cave only to mourn her and eventually die himself. He wasn't afraid of dying… he was afraid of losing her forever.
There was one thing of which he was absolutely sure, and that was that if Fiona was going to heaven, he was definitely going to the opposite. He moved a little bit quicker and hoped and prayed that she would be okay.
When they finally made it to the cave after what felt like an eternity of moving their very fastest, Marshall spotted Prince Gumball with his fists both against the rocks. They looked pretty cut up, and for the first time in a long time Marshall wasn't angry with him. They had always argued about everything and anything, they had barely ever gotten along. They had been the best of friends and the bitterest of enemies, but right now they had an unspoken truce. They were both doing the very best they could to save the woman they loved, and Marshall supposed that it must be killing Gumball on the inside that it was Marshall rather than him who would be saving her. Though, regardless of who was doing the saving he seemed to be generally happy that Fiona was finally being rescued.
Gumball turned to face Marshall and to both of their credit they nodded at each other in recognition of each other and in recognition of the work that lay ahead of them. "According to my calculations the rock has a density of three point six and a relative thickness of six feet…" Gumball said as he straightened himself. "Supposing that there are no blocks in your way and with the cosmic stretch index, you'll have to walk just short of ten yards due north in order to pass the rock and get to her…" He had done all he could to help her by helping Marshall. It was all up to Marshall now, and they both knew it.
"Don't worry… I'll get her out of there." Marshall said to both Gumball and Cake, but trained the words more on Gumball. It was obvious that they both loved Fiona, and though officially they were romantic rivals, they had to team up in order to save her. They would probably never speak of it again, but for a moment, the bond of Fiona almost brought them together… not as friends of course, but as mutual workers… teammates of sorts.
"Try not to get yourself killed…" Gumball added before stepping away, breaking their moment, and allowing Marshall to form the portal that he would use to find Fiona.
If it weren't for the graveness of their current situation, Marshall would have laughed. Gumball's well-wishing definitely was a pick me up for the mood… He formed the portal with ease though he hadn't really been in the night o' sphere since the incident involving his mother and a certain container of French fries… He walked into the portal to his former home and felt the familiar darkness fill in around him. He began to walk north, as Gumball had told him, but he had to guess the correct distance. He was smack dab in the middle of the night O' Sphere's Great Forest, and avoiding trees while trying to stay due north meant that it was extremely difficult to know how far you had traveled and how far you had yet to go. He almost wished that he had a yard stick or something when he was distracted by movement in the trees. It was a raven, extending its wings and taking off into flight. No doubt it was one of his mother's messenger birds. It was probably flying back to the Bitch right at that moment to tell her that the King of Vampires had returned… what they didn't know was that it wouldn't be for long.
Deciding that he had gone just about far enough, he opened a second portal and holding his breath, stepped out from it. To his relief and surprise he was not in the middle of a wall or in the wrong place. He was luckily in a very dark cave, and was more than likely behind the wall of rock, just as Gumball had said he would be. He silently thanked the annoying brainiac for his 'calculations', and looked around. There was a small amount of light emitted from bioluminescent glowing mushrooms that grew on the cave walls and floor. They offered very little light, but it was enough to move about by. The portal had already closed behind him as Marshal stepped forward and shouted "Fi!" into the dark cavern.
He received no response so he shouted again and frantically looked around for her. "Fiona!" He called out listening for even the smallest sound to help him find her, but it wasn't a sound that gave her away… it was a smell. Turning down to a cavern on the right of the one he had been in, a metallic smell hit Marshall's nose… but it wasn't just the odd smell of a cave… it was the familiar smell of blood… Fiona's blood.
He ran towards the familiar scent, yelling her name all the way. He was frantic, he needed to find her, and he needed to make sure she was okay. By the glow of the mushrooms, he eventually found her. She was lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Tears formed in his eyes and Marshall fell to his knees thinking that he was too late to save her. "Damn it Fi… no… please don't be gone. Don't leave me…" He whispered softly as he reached out a hand to check the pulse in the main artery in her neck. Locating it quickly with two fingers he pressed on the space under her jaw, near her ear. "Please be okay…" He whispered as he found the right spot and felt for any movement at all. He almost missed it because it was so light, but he felt her pulse. It was extremely slow and light like the movement of butterfly's wings, but it was there, and he was beyond happy. He was over joyed even for a moment, before he remembered that she was still in danger every moment she spent lying on that cold cave floor, bleeding from what he now saw was a head wound.
He wasn't completely sure of what to do, he wasn't a doctor by any means, but he did the best he could. Gently and smoothly he removed her hat to get a better look at the gash, it was large and was bleeding heavily. He wondered how much longer it would have been before she bled out, but was afraid to even think about it. Pulling off his grey pinstriped dress shirt, he tore it to make a makeshift bandage to staunch her bleeding. He folded a section of the cloth to make a pad to absorb and stop blood flow, then tore another section to tie it there tightly. He moved her bloody hair away from her eyes and the gash on her forehead, and then placed both of his hands on his makeshift bandage to apply much needed pressure. "Fi, please wake up…" He said knowing that if she could regain consciousness, that everything would be alright until he could move her.
"Please Fi, please…" He said nearly crying in a mixture of half fear, half relief. "I can't live without you Fiona… you have to be alright… Please wake up. Look at me with those pretty eyes and call me…"
"Idiot…" She said as her eyes fluttered half open. Her voice was weak and she looked like she was tired, but apparently she still had enough energy to fool around.
He actually did cry now, tears streaking his face and making him feel like he was the luckiest idiot in the world. "I was going to say 'your hero', but idiot is just as well." He smiled a sad smile and watched her mimic it as her eyes fluttered back shut.
"No," He said quickly, "You have to stay awake Fi… keep your eyes open."
"But I'm so tired…" She muttered, she had lost a lot of blood, and it was probably hard for her to stay conscious, but if he was going to move her anywhere, she needed to stay awake.
That's when he did the only thing he could think of doing to keep her up. He said nothing, but put one hand under her chin while keeping the other or her wound. He leaned in towards her and kissed her passionately.
She almost shot up completely… she was awake, that was for sure. It wasn't really helping her light headedness, but he was a good kisser and she couldn't help herself but kiss back. She sighed into the kiss and closed her eyes, but the way her lips moved with his let him know that she was definitely awake.
When their lips finally parted, Marshall took a deep breath. "I'm going to get us out of her Fi… but you need to talk to me the whole time… I need to know you're okay."
"Oh, I'm more than okay…" She said, a little out of it, but otherwise okay.
He opened the portal and scooped her up, all the while listening to her talk about everything and anything that came to her mind, including a single comment that he swore made his dormant heart beat again for a moment.
"I knew you were coming to get me Marshall", she said softly, "I knew you wouldn't let me die… you're my hero… like you said… you really are my hero…" That was the last thing she said to him before they reemerged from the Night O' Sphere just feet away from Cake and Gum Ball who had apparently gotten a doctor already.
She was taken from his arms and was being looked over by the doctor when Marshall sat down next to her makeshift gurney bed. They would be moving her to a hospital in the candy kingdom soon, where gumball would around her almost every moment. This was his last chance to see her until she recovered, so placing his lips gently on her cheek, he kissed her tenderly. "I love you Fionna… never forget that." He whispered it low enough that only she could her, then put his finger to her lips so that she couldn't reply back. "We'll talk about all this when you're better…" He gave her hand a soft squeeze and they took her away. He would see her when she was better, but for now he had a lot to think about, He had almost lost the love of his life… and he never ever wanted to feel like that again.
He silently swore that once she was well again, he would never again miss another moment of her life… her fragile little precious life. He wasn't going to mope about fear of it ending; he was just going to live every day, every moment, and every breath with her like it was their last.