The group sat in Marceline's house. Marceline herself was rummaging through her room and gathering up important items.
She came down with multiple daggers, a few rings, and a necklace.
Marceline herself had also been wearing shorts and a black, sleeveless, crop-top. She had also wrapped her hands and legs in wraps that were meant for kickboxers. The wraps themselves were white and even they had tiny runes carved smoothly into them.
"Alright. I'm all set!" Marceline said as she set down the rather large assortment of objects on the table. She then went to get something else, while she did so, Finn began to examine the different weapons, his eyes shining with delight upon getting a closer look.
"This is mathematical! All of these weapons have runes on them!" Finn said.
"The jewelry too. All of them have runes on them." Marceline said as she returned with two different pouches, each having leather straps attached to them. They were black and had a few different pockets on them.
"What are the runes for?" Finn asked. Marceline smirked as she answered.
"It's for magic. The runes cause magic to flow through the artifacts, it gives them special abilities." The entire time Marceline spoke she stared at Princess Bubblegum who was staring daggers into her eyes.
Marceline put the leather straps around her waist, hooking them up together like a belt; each pouch now sat on her left and right hips respectively. After that she used the remaining leather straps and wrapped them around her legs so that they were hooked on tight.
She then walked over to her items and began putting them into the pouches. Finn noticed that one of the items had also been scaly and different looking than the others.
"Hey what's that?" He asked, pointing at the object she was inserting into her pouch.
"Don't worry about it." Marceline replied.
"Alright, I've got what I need. Finn? Jake? Do you guys have anything that you think might be able to help us on our trip?" Marceline asked. Finn and Jake both collectively started laughing nervously at her question.
"Guys?" Marceline asked as the two continued to avoid her gaze.
"Well you seeee. We actually have a butt ton of stuff." Finn said.
"Ok that's great we can ju-"
"The problem is that we don't know where it is" Jake finished, interrupting Marceline in the process.
"Ohhhh... I get it. You guys are messy." Marceline said.
"We are not messy!" Jake said.
"Yes, yes you are. You guys have always been messy! But whatever. Look, let's just go to your place, find what we can, and then we'll be on our way." Marceline said.
The group then walked outside of Marceline's house, Jake grabbed them all as he became giant, put them on his back and then began his journey back to the house that he shared with his human brother.
"For glob's sake I can't find dink in here!" Marceline said as she rummaged through massive piles of gold coins. "What do you guys even have money for if you're just going to steal half of your stuff anyway!" Marceline asked.
"Hey! We do not steal!" Finn said.
"Oh yeah, all those magical swords that you've got and you didn't steal any of them huh?" Marceline asked.
"Nope! I earned em' all. Cause I'm super good." Finn said. Marceline just gave him a blank stare.
"Gee, so cool." She said flatly.
"All this gold we have is cashola that we earned from kicking huge monster butt." Jake said, searching through the piles.
"Yea. We had to fight through a bunch of goblins for this stuff!" Finn added.
After digging around for a few hours the group had finally assembled a decent amount of items and gear for Finn and Jake. From wands, to gauntlets, to rings, and even different amulets.
Finn and Jake had many many items, all of which they managed to fit in Finn's backpack.
"Alright, we're ready!" Finn said excitedly as he put the pack on.
"Finally!" Marceline shouted.
The group then left the house.
Led by Marceline, they walked into the woods; the orange glow of afternoon radiating through the sky above them.
They traversed through the forest in a fashion that was seamlessly aimless, after a while the darkness of night was becoming apparent.
"Where are we going?" Finn finally asked.
"We're going to get some help." Marceline said. She then stopped, the group stopping alongside her, noticing how they appeared to be deep in the woods with every path being covered by different plants and trees.
Marceline dug into one of her small bags and pulled out a whistle. She then blew into it.
Jake immediately began covering his ears. He began barking loudly and in an irritated fashion much to Finn's dismay.
Finn couldn't hear the actual sound itself which furthered his confusion.
"Only dogs can hear the whistle, it blows at a higher frequency than your ears can hear." Princess Bubblegum explained, having noticed Finn's confusion.
"What's a frequency?" Finn asked.
Marceline then stopped blowing the whistle.
"Sorry Jake, I forgot to mention that the whistle affects dogs." Marceline said, putting the whistle away.
"JEEZ Marceline! Thanks for telling me that NOW!" Jake said, rubbing his ears.
"What was that for anyway?" Finn asked.
"It's to call some people, all we need to do now is wait." Marceline said. Thus the group waited for five minutes in silence.
"Wait. How long is it gonna take for them to get here?" Finn asked.
"I dunno. Does it matter?" Marceline asked.
"Well I think I might have to pee soon so-"
"You didn't pee before we left?!" Jake interrupted.
"I did! I'm just saying I drank a bunch of lemonade so I might need to pee." Finn said.
"Don't worry, they should be here before that." Marceline said.
"Are they also vampire hunters?" Princess Bubblegum asked.
"I wouldn't be callin em' if they weren't." Marceline responded.
"Are there a lot of them?" Finn asked.
"Again with all the questions! What's with you guys always asking so many questions!?" Marceline asked.
"Dude you literally never explain things! How are we even supposed to know where we're going half the time!" Jake explained.
"You guys can't just trust that I know what I'm doing?" Marceline asked.
"Not when we don't know what you're doing half the time." Finn retorted. Marceline then sighed in exasperation.
"Fineeeeee. Whatever. Look, these guys are vampire hunters that helped me take down the vamps in the past." Marceline said.
"Woah. Really? Like as in they fought these vampires too?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, the very same. Regardless they were pretty good back in the day, I'm just hoping that they'll be just as good now." Marceline said.
"I hope so too." Princess Bubblegum said, giving a reassuring smile to Marceline who returned with her own expression of gratitude.
*Crack*
*Crack*
The sounds of sticks being broken echoed throughout the woods. The group immediately turned to face the cause of these noises and found wolves.
These wolves were clearly walking towards them, slowly but fiercely; snarling and bearing their teeth as well.
They were a large pack, clearly led by the one in the center. Each one of the wolves had also been large and grandiose enough to actually be nearly as tall as an adult male in spite of the fact that they were on all fours.
The one in the center, the leader, had a grey and white color palette on it's fur, it had also been even taller than a grown adult man and thus managed to easily tower over Finn once it finally made its way to the group.
By the time that the wolves had come face to face with the group everyone had been in a battle-ready stance. Everyone, except for Marceline.
Marceline kept her position, smiling at this main wolf in spite of the snarls. This wolf had been standing in front of her, looking down upon her with a cold expression.
It then began twitching violently.
As it did it so it's snarls became louder.
It started to jerk from left to right, shrinking in side as it did so. It's bones audibly cracking through the air.
Eventually it's fur began to shed in patches, bit by bit. It's knees snapped and formed into human legs, the arms following suit and soon the head after.
After a few moments, the wolf finally had finished its transformation.
Its shape was now that of a colossal adult male. This man had been covered in hulking bulky iron armor; armor that was some parts metal and some parts animal fur. As he stood up, a thick beard flowed down his face like a river with icy blue eyes to accompany it.
This man towered greatly over Marceline, his breathing being heavy enough that it could be heard by the entire group.
This man took a few steps closer to Marceline.
"Woah man! That's close enoug-"
"FINN! Don't worry... It's ok." Marceline shouted.
"Marceline." The man said. His voice low yet clear, like a stern yet loving father.
"Alvar." Marceline said, giving a name to this mysterious newcomer.
"You haven't aged a day." He said.
"Unlike you." She replied.
"What is the reason for you summoning us?" Alvar asked. Marceline paused for a moment as she stared at him.
"The vampires have returned." She finally said, a cool breeze blowing past the both of them.
"Vampires?" Alvar asked as he then let out a hearty laugh into the whistling breeze. His beard flowing in the wind and his laughs being loud enough to carry on for miles.
"Last I checked we eradicated the vampires. You and me." Alvar said.
"Yea I know, last I checked when you last saw me I was also a vampire." Marceline said. Alvar then notably began to sniff around in the air.
"Hmm." He groaned in interest. "You do smell human. What's changed?" Alvar asked.
"I'm human, that's what." Marceline said.
"Really? Human again? I thought that wasn't possible." Alvar said.
"Well I had a pretty rockin' scientist that helped out." Marceline said, eyeing a blushing Princess Bubblegum.
"Scientist eh? So do you have any proof of the vampires being back?" Alvar asked.
"Yeah, I actually do" Marceline said. She then reached into one of her bags and pulled out one of the Vampire King's fingers. It still had an original vampire crest ring on it.
Alvar's eyes widened upon seeing it.
"Well then... It's true, they managed to gut the king all on their own... My, how times have changed." Alvar said.
"We need your help. The Empress is inside of a city near here and, if you come along with us, I'm sure that we'll be able to take out the whole place no problem." Marceline said. Alvar chuckled.
"It's been hundreds of years since we last fought together, I wouldn't mind reliving the glory days one final time." Alvar said smiling courageously. The two of them then turned to face the group, the entirety of which had been incredibly confused.
"W-who are these guys supposed to be?!" Finn asked.
"Are they werewolves?!" Jake asked.
"When were these creatures produced?!" Princess Bubblegum shouted.
"Calm down everyone." Alvar said, lazily raising a hand. "We're not werewolves or anything like that. We're beast people. Part man, Part Beast. We used to hunt vampires back in the day with Marceline." Alvar said.
"Really? Then how come you never mentioned them Marceline?" Princess Bubblegum asked. Marceline looked down for a moment.
"Those aren't exactly happy memories. I don't really like to think about what it was like back then." Marceline said, her eyes glued to the floor.
"How could you not want to revisit those days?! They were pure perfection!" Alvar said with glee.
"Yeah... Not for all of us." Marceline said. Alvar then immediately began to calm down, almost as if he'd remembered some terrible event that'd happened.
"What's important is that I'm willing to help if it means that the vampire threat will be truly eradicated. All I require is a few minutes to round up some wolves and we'll be heading on our way." Alvar said.
Marcie then nodded at him in returned the favor. Afterwards Alvar turned back and raised his hand as he walked away. The other wolves immediately followed him into the woods.
"Hey Marcie?" Finn asked. Marcie turned to face him.
"Are you sure this will be enough?" Finn asked. Marceline smirked at him.
"I'm counting on it." She said, returning her gaze back into the woods.