Princess Bubblegum continued screaming until she felt a cold hand clasp over her mouth. The lamp on her bedside table flickered to life without her consent. She found herself face to face with Marceline, who looked like she was trying desperately not to burst into laughter. The Princess's face burned a light red. She swatted Marceline's hand away. "Y-YOU BUTT! WHAT THE FUDGE MARCELINE?" she cried indignantly. She grabbed a nearby pillow and hefted it at Marceline, but she just laughed and caught it easily. "Take it easy, Bonnie. Do you want the whole Candy Kingdom to know I'm here?"

The Princess panted angrily, and suddenly became aware of noise on the other side of the bed. She turned to Ann to make sure that she was o.k. and nearly had a heart attack. Practically lying on top of her was a monstrous canine, its nose tucked between her neck and collarbone. However, Ann didn't seem very distraught about her position.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. You're suffocating me here, buddy." The wolf looked at Ann with pleading eyes and let out a low whine. Ann looked sternly at it, and it hesitantly sat up. Ann instantly wrapped her arms around its neck. "I'm glad to see you're o.k. I've missed you."

Princess Bubblegum tried to process what was happening. "You mean…the friend that you lost…your best friend, Marie…is a…a…"

"Werewolf?" Marceline interjected.

"I actually have a bit of hug wolf on my dad's side, too," Marie added.

The Princess jumped a little when she heard Marie's voice, rough, but somewhat feminine. She knew in the back of her mind that it shouldn't have surprised her that Marie could speak, but she was still a little shaken from the night's events.

Even in her panicky state, Princess Bubblegum took time to make some observations on Marie's appearance. She really wasn't any bigger that Ann. She was far from being out of shape, but it was obvious that she was more fur than muscle. Her fur was thick, wavy, colored honey brown. She had teeth and claws like razor blades, much to the Princess's discomfort. Her eyes were a dull combination of blue and grey. Oddly enough, she wore clothes: a purple baseball cap, a rusty red short sleeved shirt with a hood, and a pair of blue jean shorts (complete with a small opening for her tail).

Ann finally let go of Marie and flicked her ear. "O.k. fluffy, where have you been? I've been worried sick."

Marie winced, even though Ann hadn't flicked her hard enough for it to hurt. "What do you mean 'Where have you been'? Don't you remember last night?" Marie asked.

Ann scrunched her nose and made a face like she was thinking. "Well…sort of…"

Marie took on a critical expression. "Mm-hm, well, let me catch you up then. O.k., remember, we were travelling through the candy kingdom and that storm came out of nowhere? Well, there was a twister too, and it sucked me up, but you got hit in the head with a tree branch and fell over. I got dropped off somewhere in the Dark Scary Forest after getting slammed into a tree."

Ann stared eagerly at Marie. "And then what happened?"

Marceline raised her hand. "I can answer that. I was on my way home, just floating along, when I saw this pile of road kill. So I thought 'Looks like I'm getting a new fur coat.' I bent over to grab it, but the thing lunged at my face."

Marie interrupted, "And then we had a battle of epic proportions! Werewolf versus vampire, beauty versus beast, hunter versus-"

This time Marceline interrupted. "You mean I caught you by the throat and you flailed your arms?"

Marie grunted, "Well, yeah… but if I actually got the chance to scratch you, these bad boys would've left a pretty nasty cut."

Marceline smirked. "Fair enough. So then, I-"

Marie spoke again. "She tried to cook me!"

Princess Bubblegum's eyes widened as she turned to Marceline. "You did what?"

Marie nodded fervently. "She threw me into a vat of boiling water and rubbed me with sauce…that smelled an awful lot like flowers."

Marceline winked at the Princess and mouthed the word "bath." Princess Bubblegum turned a darker shade of pink than usual. "Um, wow, Marceline, why would you do…that?"

Marceline shrugged. "Making a coat from a living wolf is messy work. I was trying to make it a little less messy. Besides," she added, whispering to the Princess, "I think her smell was seeping into my carpet."

Princess Bubblegum eyed Marie, who now lay at the end of the bed, her head resting where Ann's feet probably were. She found it hard to believe that this wolf with knotty, matted fur had ever bathed.

Ann caught on to what Marceline had done and giggled slightly. "I thought you smelled…different."

"Anyway," Marceline continued, "Marie acted really bummed out while I was wash- I mean, basting her. I could tell she had something on her mind, and I wanted her to focus on being scared of me. I thought 'What better way to cheer her up than to take her on a trip to the Candy Kingdom to meet my good friend Bonnibelle.'"

"How thoughtful of you," the Princess said in a tone that was clearly not amused.

Ann leaned forward to scratch the back of Marie's head and glanced towards Princess Bubblegum's alarm clock. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and looked over her shoulder at everyone. "Well, I guess we should be on our way."

The Princess grabbed her hand. "Oh, no, Ann, please don't leave yet. I'm a bit worried about your head injuries. We wouldn't want you to pass out on the road. Please stay, just for one more night."

Ann smiled sleepily. "Well, if you insist. Thank you."

Marceline looked at the alarm clock as well. "Oh my glob, I don't think I can make it home before sunrise. And I sort of left my umbrella at home."

Princess Bubblegum crawled out of her bed and made her way to her walk-in closet. "I'm sure I have an umbrella in here somewhere. Ah, here it is." She emerged from the closet and held up a pink parasol covered in lace and ribbon.

Marceline blinked. "So, what's for breakfast?"