The length of this story is unknown, but I can assure you that there are more chapters on the way. If it wasn't clear, this will be a Bubbline fic.
This chapter is dedicated to NickelodeonPrincess. I hope this lifts your spirits
Word of Marceline's heroism travelled fast across Ooo. No longer was she the ghoul that kept children awake at night, but the superwoman that helped them sleep. It was a big change. A change that she couldn't adapt to as quickly as Finn wanted her to. He was constantly on her case about her manners and aloof behaviour. It wasn't her fault that she didn't care about some dude who was robbed and wanted her to help find the culprit simply out of the good of her heart. She had one of those now, one that actually worked.
But that didn't change who she was. Vampire or not, she still had her own personality, her own morals, neither of which altered with her species.
Presently, she was strolling through the Candy Kingdom, the place she first gained the unwanted reputation of a hero. Candy People smiled at her and some even presented her with goods. That was a neat benefit. Some old lollipop lady had given her a basket of hot muffins and she ate them feverishly. The taste of real food was definitely a perk she could get used to.
As Marceline buried into her seventh muffin, a cry came from behind her. She twisted her head around, muffin still in her mouth, and spotted a peppermint child running up to her.
"Um, hero lady, could you help me get my kite down from that tree?" he asked hopefully, pointing to a cotton candy tree a few metres away, a blue kite tangled in its limbs. For a candy that didn't even reach her knee, it would be impossible for him to get it down.
"Do it yourself, kid," she said dismissively, stuffing the rest of the muffin into her mouth.
The peppermint's eyes started to water and he whimpered. But Marceline's coldness didn't thaw. She had seen plenty of crocodile tears in her millennium and this whiny brat wasn't really upset. He just wanted to brag to his friends about how Marceline the Human gave him a hand.
"Don't be such a jerk, Marceline!"
The human rolled her eyes. Of course she had an audience and of course it had to be the bossiest goody-two-shoes on the planet. Marceline gruffly shoved her basket into the child's arms and stormed over to the tree. The kite was on the lowest branch and only required her to reach for it from the ground. She tore it free, moderately undamaged, and carried it over to the star struck peppermint. They exchanged items and he grinned up at her with such delight and admiration that it was almost sickening. She sighed and gave him a muffin.
Amazed, he took it and managed an even wider smile. "Thank you!" he chirped, then bounded away to join his friends, who had been watching from a short distance away.
Marceline then turned to her spectator and glared.
"Happy?"
"Yes. That was an act of a true hero," Bubblegum praised. The princess had been watching Marceline stride down the street with a sour expression that seemed to worsen when someone spoke to her. Only the braver Candy People approached her with cheerful words and gifts, while others were too intimidated to thank her or offer her something. She needed to fix her attitude, of that Bubblegum was certain.
"I'm so glad that everyone is on my back about this hero bizz. Can't I be left alone?" Marceline fumed, spinning around and stalking in the direction she'd come. Her axe bass slapped her back and made a foul sound. It matched her mood. She furiously sunk her teeth in to another muffin. If she still had her powers, she could've turned into a monster and eaten the princess by now.
"You make it sound like we're forcing you to help people," Bubblegum noted amusedly, following Marceline.
"You are! Everyone expects me to have changed now that I'm human. News flash, Bonni, I'm still the same!" To prove her point, she lugged a muffin at an ice cream woman who was cleaning her store window. She didn't even notice it get stuck in her creamy head. Marceline gestured to the oblivious shopkeeper with a snicker. "See?"
Bubblegum shook her head disapprovingly and asked, "Why are you pursuing the identity of a hero if you despise the idea so much?"
Marceline's smirk fell and she realised the princess had cornered her. She hadn't expected that question, nor had she asked herself it. She just felt inclined from the beginning to trial the life of a human, even though she knew being human didn't equate to being a hero.
"I… um… shut up…" she mumbled, blushing. She was caught.
"It seems there's a part of you that does want to help others. How sweet." If anything was sweet, it was the way Bubblegum smiled at her. As much as it bugged the human, it warmed her heart, too. Even when it wasn't beating. Yep, some things really didn't change.
Marceline brought a partially bandaged hand up to her face and rubbed at a band-aid covered scratch and moaned, "Why are you still here?"
"I came to invite you to a party I'm throwing in your honour. Someone told me you were wandering around the kingdom, so I thought I'd deliver the invitation myself," Bubblegum replied, fishing a scrap of paper from her pocket that held the details of the party. Marceline took it, scanned over the kind and flattering words regarding her rescue three days prior and continued to scratch her wound. Why did it itch so much? Slow healing was awful.
"Oh, uh, thanks. I love a good party."
"You saved my life; it's the least I can do."
Bubblegum touched Marceline's arm and when the human reluctantly met Bubblegum's gaze, feelings buried deep within herself, feelings she never wanted to rise, stirred from their dormant state. Like a fire in her belly, they danced and blazed and Marceline reacted the same way she did in the past when she experienced these unwanted emotions that only occurred when Bubblegum did something as simple as touch her. She pushed her nearly empty basket of muffins into Bubblegum's arms, freed herself, and ran away.
"Where are you going?!" the princess called after her.
"I think I hear a pixie stuck in a well!" she lied.
Finn and Jake arrived at the party late and made a very boisterous entrance. Jake was the size of a bull and Finn did a backflip off the dog's head and landed on his feet at the bottom of the stairs leading to the foyer. But no one noticed. Everyone's focus was on Marceline, who leant against a wall, plucking stings of her axe bass. People were throwing requests for songs at her, but she'd already sang three and now she wanted a break. The spotlight was on her and without a stage or the ability to fly, she was stuck amongst the grabbing hands of her admirers.
She rotated the strap so the weapon/instrument slid back behind her and the Candy People made disappointed noises as she did so. She felt so trapped.
Now that Marceline's music was no longer filling the room, Bubblegum took it as her opportunity to say a few words. She tapped her glass.
"Attention, friends!" she shouted.
All the partygoers faced the princess.
"I'd like to dedicate this wild night to Marceline for saving me. She's our new hero!"
Everyone clapped and if they were lucky enough to be close to her (and tall enough), some gave the human a congratulatory pat on the back. She didn't like to be touched. No one ever had the nerve to.
Finn thought the announcement would be longer, because he believed Bubblegum would mention how he was the one to defeat the Ice King, but she said no more. She set down her drink, turned on the stereo, and started to dance with her guests.
Jake had found Lady Rainicorn and was having some overly sappy conversation with her, so Finn, bitter with jealousy, sat down in a corner and watched everyone try to get near Marceline. He used to be the centre of attention and Marceline hadn't even been a hero for a week and she was stealing all his thunder. Not that being a hero was about being worshipped, but being acknowledged every now and again was nice.
"Hey, boy, why do you look so down?"
Finn glanced up to find an unfamiliar creature standing over him. It was a panther in a red dress. Her tail brushed his arm and she bent down to his level, staring at him with swirling gold eyes. The way they shifted was almost hypnotic, like a whirlpool of lava.
"No reason," he said gloomily, looking back at Marceline. She didn't appear happy with the way people treated her, and she was only acting like this under his instruction. Finn hated being jealous of something he created.
"This is a party, so you should be enjoying yourself," the panther said, her tail curling under Finn's chin and making him meet her heated gaze again. "Go dance with the happy little candies." For a second, her eyes turned red, but then they were gold again and swirling and Finn wrote it off as just the recently switched on disco lights.
"Yeah, I should," he agreed, his mood improving. Ooo needed more helping hands, so there was nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. "Thanks lady," he said over his shoulder.
The boy joined the group of Candy People who were throwing punch at each other and he picked one up and dumped him in the bowl with a splash. The others laughed and high fived Finn.
All was well for a while, but the party crasher, the panther, was starting to make Marceline suspicious. She kept weaving through the crowd, never participating in the chaotic events, just observing with a sneer. Things slowed down when she did this.
Bubblegum soon emerged, fresh from dancing up a sweat, and she stood beside Marceline. The human, suddenly nervous, bristled when she felt the princess' hand on her arm and breath on her ear.
"Marcy… something's wrong," she whispered.
Sobering, Marceline looked at her old friend worriedly.
"What is it?" she asked over the music. Bubblegum flapped her hand, indicating a lower volume. The human moved closer, turned her head, and tapped her ear impatiently. Bubblegum leant towards it.
"There's a succupuss here. She's draining everyone's energy. I need you to sing something sad, so everyone calms down. It's the only way to weaken her."
The only sad song Marceline ever willingly shared was about her dad eating her fries, and she still hated singing it in front of people other than Finn. Showing her emotions made her vulnerable and vulnerability only led to getting hurt, but, hey, she was the hero now. She had to make sacrifices, right?
Once Bubblegum disappeared, Marceline ungracefully pushed all the contents off a nearby table, drawing everyone's eyes, and then she stood on top of it and swung her bass into her hands. She strummed the chords and fiddled with the tuning keys until she was satisfied with the sound. Then she started to play the tormenting tune. Her voice, of its own accord, was forlorn, and no matter how many times she tried not to let her lyrics overcome her, she couldn't fight the sadness that the truth always induced. She felt like a child with scraped knees that no one would help.
The screams and laughter stopped as the atmosphere darkened and Marceline's voice rose. Smiles dropped and the overly-sensitive Candy People fought back tears as they listened to their hero expose herself.
But then there was a loud hiss. Everyone turned and found the succupuss wrestling with Bubblegum for a strange gun, one of her inventions, which had two rods on its nose that sizzled with electric currents. The princess had tried to taser the beast without being detected, but she was caught. Seeing this, everyone began to panic. These frantic exertions only empowered the succupuss. She broke Bubblegum's taser and drained her body until she passed out.
Finn hurled himself at the panther, but she only cackled and absorbed his energy, too. By the time he collided with her, he was too weak to do any damage. He collapsed to the floor.
Before Jake made the same error, Marceline leapt off the table and onto his back. He was sprinting at the succupuss, but Marceline clenched his ears and pulled them, like reigns, and made him skid to a stop.
"Jake, don't run at her! She'll only suck your energy away! Sneak up on her slowly, then hold her down," Marceline instructed.
When Jake nodded, she slid off the dog's back and grabbed an upended table. She flipped it so it was on its side and then hid behind it, peeking over the top to wait for Jake to get into position.
Candy People littered the floor, unconscious. Lady Rainicorn knew what the creature was, but was no match. She had been thrown into a pot plant and now lay with its shattered pieces around her.
Finn was trying to get up, and the succupuss was more than happy to sap him of even more of his strength. She laughed and started to grow. Her tail almost whipped Jake as he came up behind her, the size of a mouse. He then flattened himself against the ground and stretched out his arms, looping them around her ankles, anchoring her.
The succupuss felt the slither of his fur against hers and she looked down in confusion. His arms had proceeded to coil around her calves. Now distracted by the things still climbing her legs, she didn't notice Marceline stand from behind the table, nor did she notice the axe flying towards her.
Marceline was far away, and Finn managed to block out her energy currents, so she put all of her power into this single throw. The axe summersaulted through the air and made a whooshing sound loud enough to cause the succupuss to turn around, but seeing the oncoming weapon didn't change anything. The axe's blade smashed into her face, sliced through it and cut her head in half.
In a flood of light, the succupuss exploded. Beams of every colour shot from her body and dove back into her victims.
Jake was the only one that remained conscious alongside Marceline, and as he cradled Lady and Finn in his arms, he grinned at Marceline as everyone started to wake up. While the dog took care of those two, Marceline jogged over to Bubblegum and crouched beside her. The princess was on her back, an arm shielding her eyes. The human poked her cheek.
"Hey, nerdo, I killed the cat," she said, poking Bubblegum's cheek a few more times.
Bubblegum moaned, still feeling faint. She drowsily sat up with Marceline's aid, but she swayed and fell against the human's chest.
"Excellent job, hero," she complimented hoarsely.
"Guess the party's over. Jake, can you manage getting everyone home?" Marceline asked, surveying the room. No one seemed to be injured, but all the ruckus had left the foyer completely trashed.
"Sure thing. She hardly took any of my juice, but Finn was hit way hard. Poor kid's gonna be out for a while," he said, lifting up one of Finn's eyelids. Not because he was checking to see if the boy was conscious, he just thought it looked funny.
"I declare… tomorrow as a day of rest," Bubblegum mumbled into Marceline's shirt.
Jake lifted his paw and shifted it into the shape of a spoon, then it became massive and he used it to scoop all the woozy and fallen Candy People up onto his back. Lady was already sprawled across his shoulders along with Finn.
"All aboard the Jake express! Please put on your seatbelts, and by that, I mean hold onto my meat handles for dear life." The resounding fatigued murmurs of agreement made him chuckle and then he waved at Marceline and trotted out of the castle, ready to deliver everyone safely to their homes.
"You're getting good at this," Bubblegum said, taking Marceline's hand and shakily standing up. She feebly squeezed the human's fingers gratefully, but Marceline kept her eyes on anything but the princess as they made the journey to Bubblegum's room. It was hard enough having her arm smothered between Bubblegum's breasts and if she dared to glance to her right, she knew she'd find that cursed smile. There'd be a small crease in Bubblegum's cheek, her eyes would glitter like a lake under sunlight, and for that moment, Marceline would believe that Bubblegum genuinely cared about her, was glad to know her. She hated reading too much into a simple happy expression. She did it all the time when it came to Bubblegum and it gave her false hope. Hope was for suckers.
Heart pounding and face burning, Marceline cleared her throat and calmly replied, "Whatever. Just don't expect me to clean this place up."
Bubblegum giggled and leant her head on the human's shoulder.
Marceline was a sucker.
Also, can I just thank you all for the lovely reviews? I honestly didn't expect such a positive reaction and am pretty damn happy about it. You guys are super