Well, I made it to the main conflict. Or, one of them, anyway. I decided it was time to take a break. I stowed the book in a small shelf-like hole in the wall. I checked to make sure that the coast was clear before dashing waddling quickly toward the regular hang-out spots. As I neared, I noticed that the usual chatter of penguins was gone. The spot near the water was empty. That was everyone's favourite spot. Something fishy was going on… I went to the ice-shelters near the castle, and everyone was quiet. Most were lying on their stomachs, but some were sitting. And they were all writing in books. I slunk close to a tundra cliff. I didn't want to be swarmed for advice on writing, so I snuck away to the empty water to catch some fish. Once I had my fill, I went back to my covert little outpost and picked up where I left off.
Marshall was spit back out of the portal feet first. It was always discombobulating to go through the portal using the force of gravity, because the first thing to go in was the first thing to come out on the other side. Luckily, he could levitate, so he rearranged his center of gravity. The portal shrunk into a crack in the wall with a face around it. He wouldn't have to draw another one until it was washed away by the bug milk. He was still put-out because he was unhappy with his current responsibilities. He tossed the rag-beast on his couch and headed to the fridge. Generally, Marshall ate whenever he was feeling down. He was grabbing a bottle of ketchup when he heard sounds of struggle outside. He rushed to the window and saw two people and an animal fighting. One of the people didn't have a regular pulse… As soon as Marshall's brain caught up with itself, he realized that Ashley was trying to get rid of the competition. The competition was Fionna. He was frozen, unable to move from the spot near the window above the counter, ketchup in hand.
"I don't understand what you want! You're bizzonkers!" Fionna yelled at the angry vampire. She held her sword with two hands, confidently. To a lesser creature, she would've been very intimidating. Cake helped the image by stretching around behind Fionna, growing her fists into hammers.
"He. Him. You. You! Chump. Chump, Chump, CHUMP." Ashley couldn't even manage proper English. She charged at Fionna on foot, running like a madwoman. One hand held a dagger, the other a charged close-range spell.
"Fionna!" Marshall yelled as he clambered out of the window. As Ash ran by, Fionna got out of the way and stuck her blade out to the point where Ashley was headed. She had timed it properly so that Ash barely missed Fionna and instead caught her slash. Blood flowed from the wizard's abdomen, and the sound of the slash reverberated off the walls. This momentarily slowed Ashley, but soon she got back up. She giggled nervously from the cold pain that was screaming from her torso.
"We got this, bro." Fionna took another defensive stance, never taking her eyes off of the target. Marshall decided to just stay out of the way. Maybe Fionna could actually beat her. After all, she did have the demon blood sword. Ash rushed her again, but learned as she fought. She used her speed to get past Fionna's slash and had sliced into her neck within half a second. Fionna yelped in pain, but I stayed near my house against my better judgement. I was practically chewing my nails. Cake's hammer hit Ash in the forehead, sending her flying. Fionna and Cake could handle this. Ash caught herself and began to levitate around. She licked her lips in delight, still laughing eerily. Fionna tied a shred of cloth from her skirt around the wound in her neck.
Fionna yelled loudly and jumped toward the floating vampire, who practically flicked her back to the ground as if she were a bug. A smile of pure madness masked the once-familiar face of Ashley. Fionna laid there on the ground as the wizard dive-bombed, flame-engulfed dagger at the ready. Dread crossed Fionna's face when she realized that there was no way she could get back up in time, and her sword was too far away to reach. Marshall's face also deepened into dread as he attempted to stop the fight's progress. I'm too late. The thought repeated over and over in his head as he barreled through the air toward the heartbroken Wizard. Ashley collided with something. Was it him? Was it Fionna? His mind wasn't functioning properly due to the adrenaline coursing through it. She's dead. I'm too late. His mind had to catch up with itself again for him to realize what had just happened. Ashley was struggling to reach Cake over the demon blood sword that she was holding out in front of her in a blocking position. The cold from the sword only fueled Ashley's madness as she lunged again and again at Cake with her dagger.
Cake struggled. The wizard was too strong for her, and she knew it. Her arms were shaking, but she was determined to protect her little sister. There was no way she was going to let a wizard harm Fionna. Not after what her family worked toward, what they sacrificed. Suddenly, her enemy was ripped away from her grappled position. Marshall had tackled her. He had nicked his arm on the sword as he was passing by it, catching Ashley's slices. Some of Ashley's blood also stayed behind. Marshall followed through with the tackle, gaining more and more speed until he slammed her into the wall. The combination of falling stalactites and her pained grunt echoed through the cave. Marshall stared fiercely into Ashley's eyes. No words were exchanged, but he knew what she was thinking. She thought that he would love her again if she committed a violent act. But that was the old Marshall. There would be no forgiveness for her. Ash had blown her chance. He would destroy her.