Chapter III, Party
She sat by one of the tables. Finn was missing for quite some time now, and despite the fact what a prick he was lately, she began to worry about him. Asking anyone here would be pointless. Firstly, no one cared and secondly, spelling out his name in a place like that could bring quite the consequences. The goblin obviously wanted some coins, source didn't mattered. Others? Hard to tell what they would do. Her doings in the bedroom haven't gone unnoticed by the two other witches however, as they constantly came by just to check on her, seeing if she would like another round with one of them. They were cute, she could tell that for a fact, still, after the last intercourse, she hardly felt the need. Later, perhaps, when her thoughts will soothe, when she'll finally stop thinking about things that don't matter all that much. And the girls? Well, she could say many things about them, she clearly saw that they wanted to help her forget, as they poured more and more alcohol into her glass. And she just drank it all. Suddenly, music started to echo around her. Not the buzzing sounds that accompaniment the neon lights however, oh no. This one was cheerful, calm. Divine. The little vampire looked at the glasses on her table. How much she had? Her vision was clouded by the green colors, pouring from each and every direction, almost like wild wines. And then she came. She was dressed much like years before, hardly caring apparently about the fact that someone will notice her. That someone will recognize her. Her huge, green eyes looked at the vampire from within the clutch of her mask. Her leaf-like hair waved playfully, yet there was no wind. She simply sat opposite to the pale girl and gazed closely. There was some curiosity in her eyes. That, and a lot of courage.
"Hello Marceline."
She said. The girl almost tweeted in response. It was so long since she heard her own name, spoken with such warmth. With so much feeling. Despite the fact that she hardly knew the one before her, she already liked her, she wanted to listen to her, to go with her. And then, the cogs in her head began to work, as the smile disappeared. It was magic. Strong magic. Charms used by the most powerful wizards to mask their true nature.
"Hello, Huntress." She stated officially. "What prey brings you to this place?"
"Well, well, little one..." She took one of her drinks and swiftly took a sip. "You are quite something, if my charms won't work on you. Doesn't matter. I'm not after you." Her fingers circled around the glass. "I'm here to pass the good word. You're after things that hardly concern me. However, one day you'll have to pick a side in all of this." Grin appeared on her face. "You know. Rain is coming to Ooo. Some say it's about time. Others... let's just say that others will shiver in their homes. Rightfully so."
"Is that a threat?"
"No." She giggled. "Not yet at least."
Marceline once again looked at her. By all means she could be considered beautiful. The scent of forest surrounding her drove the girl crazy. Was it that way, or did she felt it because of all the charms? It was hard to tell. Still, she knew that the three witches combined with the Guardian Angel were less of a threat than her. Did that notion thrilled her a little? Perhaps so.
"So what do you want?"
"No need to be so... ill tempered." She chuckled. "Someone may pierce your heart with an arrow for that one day." The Huntress leaned towards her. "And that would be a shame. To hurt such a cutie."
Out of nowhere, she grabbed her pale hands and began to caress them. Was that one of her tricks? Was magic involved in those acts as well? Perhaps there was some. At least the vampire wanted to believe that was the case, as the green fingers tangled around hers. She kept in her mind however, that before her, sat a dangerous opponent. Now even more so than ever. Still, she sighted a little bit when the one before her took back her wonderful arms. Was she really that desperate, to search for love in a brothel? Twice?
"But, business. Always business." She coughed. "I'm just here to chat, believe it or not. Or rather, leave the information that you should pass onto your pink adorable thing, locked tight in a cage..."
She grabbed one of the leaves on her head and pulled it out. Then, she simply blew the little thing gracefully towards Marceline from the palm of her hand.
"Give her this. And tell her... Tell her, that I still want a kiss from that wizard farce way back in the days." She grinned viciously. "Say that I will take it one day, as I'll reach with my hand for her heart. Tell her that."
"You want to..."
"...kill her. Obviously." The Huntress shrugged. "No grudge against you however." She slowly began to fade, as the wind started to blow from unknown direction. "Keep in mind those that help you, alright? And I will do just that..." She whispered, as her voice sounded almost flirtatious. "You look for things that are hidden. Unraveling them may cause some problems. Still, my little hummingbird... your friend has a rough time. His opponent will have it even worse. And he has something you want." She smiled warmly. "So you may want to keep him alive."
And just like that, she disappeared. The little vampire had no doubt that she was real, as the leaf was still in her hand. She thought a bit about the things she heard. Then she reminded herself about Pat. As she quickly emptied one of the glasses, she rushed towards the exit.
###
Finn ran as fast as he could. Pat happened to be one slippery snake that knew his ways around this place. With each dumpster he jumped above, with each box he threw in the man's way, with each contraption he set in motion, he was getting further and further ahead. Eventually he vanished inside one of the old, abandoned buildings. The hero stopped right before the entrance and began to ponder. He knew a trap when he saw one. And this, out of all he saw in his lifespan, was one of the most obvious ones. Still, he dealt with such things in the past numerous times. Why this one would be different? He slowly entered the darkness before him. It was a huge hall, still, he could barely see what's inside as the shapes were twisted by the lack of light. From time to time, he saw a glimpse of something far in the distance. Something moving constantly and swiftly, almost like a lizard. When he got to the center of this chamber, noises began to pour from the objects around him. Rhythmic bumps of music trembled throughout the hall. Something was about to happen.
"Everyone ready on the dance floor? I can't hear you!"
Pat shouted somewhere from the distance, and before Finn could even comprehend, lights were fixated right at the bear's slim little figure. He stood before his machinery, as his hands were risen up in the air. He prepared quite the show for the hero it would seem. As his slick fingers began to hit and smudge the keys, the floor was lightened up in numerous colorful patterns. Whenever the man tried to take a step back or forward, it lightened up with a bright blaze even more so.
"Feeling alright? Doin it right? Let's begin!"
Numerous slim figurines emerged from behind the speakers. They looked almost like Pat himself, yet they clearly weren't bears. Instead, they simply wore white panda masks, perhaps to intimidate their prey, perhaps to simply look at least somewhat similar to their leader. All of them had some kind of makeshift weapons, as planks, pipes and even crudely made javelins came into play. And without a single notion, as yet another trembling sound came from the hands of Party Pat, his army began to charge right at the hero. With their steps combined, the floor seemed to erupt into colors. It changed numerous times with each hit, with each change of the beat, with each drip of blood that poured on the ground. They were hardly a match for Finn however. He trained all his life, his body was a weapon by itself. He didn't even had to pull out his sword. The floor changed to red as he punched the nearest goon in the face, shattering his mask, with his body flying behind unconscious. Pat swirled around up on his position and clapped his hands.
"There we have it, there, there! Vigorous dancer! Makin' it good! Makin' it rain!" He began to laugh. "Rain in Ooo! Rain in Ooo!"
The man's steel hand just ripped apart someone's wooden plank, as it's cold fingers cracked his arm open. He hardly had time for plays. The floor turned green as he kicked yet another one right in the chest with a cracking sound. It turned yellow when one of the goons felt flat on his face, as the warrior mangled his legs. It changed to purple as soon as he bashed out someone's teeth. In the meantime, Pat spanned around and danced to his own sounds, as his mind slipped away once again. In his head, all was beautiful. And to die on his last party, now that, that would be glorious.
"Oh yes, yes, we're all like moths in the light, in the light!"
He began to clap vigorously, as his people seemed to be crushed by Finn's mighty arms one by one. It was quite funny for him. Eventually however he knew that time will come for him to jump right in and once again save his people from the clutches of law and boredom. And then, perhaps die in the end. That notion appeared once again in his head. Oh yes, he would love that. As he opened his man-purse, he shuffled around his stuff only to find a couple of needles. He grinned and moaned like a bad little girl as they pierced his arms one by one, pouring his own kind of venom into his veins. Oh yes, that gave him much needed relief. That made his thoughts clear again. The sounds, oh the sounds. The melody. Ecstasy. Excitement! Shapes danced in his head. Shapes burned in his head! He clapped his hands one more time and jumped back on the dance floor, as the music got louder and louder. The speakers began to shake furiously as he approached. Smudges of light appeared exactly where he went. Once again he lit up his cigarette and grinned in his own twisted way. Without further delay, he charged right at Finn. He was faster than before, way faster, as his punches this time around left quite the impact. Everywhere he ran he left a trail of smoke behind him, instantly pierced by the numerous lights. He smashed the hero on his flesh hand numerous times. He bashed him with his slick fists on the back with ease. Big guy was simply to slow for Party Pat. Especially with whatever flew in the bear's blood right now.
"What's the matter, skinny Finny?" He shouted as he began to span once again on the dance floor. "Can't keep up with the groove, huh?" Pat moon-walked right past him, as the man tried to punch him in the groin. "Too slow, too slow, hah-ah!"
With another twist, the floor changed to red as the bear once again charged right at the knight, faking a punch only to slide right between his legs and appear from behind. There, he planed to finally end this long and tiresome dance, but as he took out his small butter-knife, a punch in the face with the man's steel fist greeted him almost instantly. He felt down on the floor, as it changed it's shade once again, this time to white. The bear snickered as he began to break dance to further confuse his opponent. As he finally stood up, a lighter appeared in his hand. It would seem that Party Pat still had numerous tricks in his sleeve.
"Rain is coming to Ooo, skinny Finny!" He shouted and took out a small bottle of alcohol. "You like that fire bitch of yours, huh? I'll make you look more to her tastes!"
He took a sip and almost instantly blew the fire right at him. Finn's steel hand however proven to be quite the shield alongside with his trusty sword. Despite the fire pouring from Pat's mouth, the man came closer and closer. Jokes ended and Pat knew it all to well. He began to jump around, spewing even more fire in his opponent's direction. It was hardly useful however. He should know better than to use flames on someone who dealt with them on a daily basis. And finally, with a swift stab, Finn impaled his shoulder to one of the speakers. As the thing shook from the music pouring from within it, so did Pat's body, twitching all around. He almost seemed to enjoy it, as his eyes swirled all around the place. Now that was a death he could enjoy. Death in motion, death with quite the impact! Death with a lot of sound!
"So. I danced with the chief." The hero grabbed him by the throat. "Now the chief will have some answers, huh?"
"Skinny Finny wants to ask about things..." He chuckled. "...look who grew a dick after all those years, eh? Ah-hah."
"Wrong answer." His grip tightened. "Simon Petrikov. Rings a bell?"
"Many bells..." The bear tried to catch his breath. "...so fuck off and let them ring, huh?"
"Listen, if I'll have to rip your limbs one by one I..."
Pale hand landed right on his shoulder. He didn't even had to turn around to knew whom was behind. Still, he waited with this thing in his grasp. It disgusted him more than it probably should. He dealt with many of his kin. Perhaps to many.
"Finn, enough."
"Why? One push and he'll sing."
"He will sing without pushing. Just let him go."
"You want to talk? Fine. Talk. I'll wait outside, don't have time for scums like this one here. Just make it swift."
He pulled out his sword and quickly left, as Pat's body landed right on the ground. Marceline leaned towards him and began to bandage his wound. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, as it would seem that whatever he poured into his body began to weaken. Eventually when she was done, he chuckled a little.
"I know you baby girl. Scream queen, huh?" He shook his head. "Those were the days, those were the parties..."
"Yeah. Were."
"Shame really..." He coughed a couple of times, as drips of blood appeared on the palm of his hand. He simply wiped them onto his clothes. "But, whatevs, huh? Baby girl. You're after the one that put a hole in nut king's head huh? The witch-bitch told you where to look, right? I can feel her scent on you baby girl." He found that quite funny apparently. "They bite hard, don't they?"
"Yeah, so?"
"I don't know who. You already know where." Pat snapped his fingers. "But I have something else for you. Ya know. To help you find what you're looking for. This guy over here knows his ways around. If you'll agree on something..."
"What?"
"Baby girl. I may bleed out today, or tomorrow." He sighted. "Or other day around. I don't care. But I saw you move back then." He closed his eyes almost as if he tried to catch a glimpse of those sweet memories. Finally, he began to speak again. "Rock with me on the floor one more time." He tried to get up. She quickly rushed in and aid him in just that. "Rock with me. If someone will stab me tomorrow, I want this to be the last fucking thing I remember, alright? So they will say - 'he was born to party, he died after one'..."
