Marshall Lee has never had a very good relationship with his mother, even though he tells his best friend how he always wished he had, in the best way he knows how: song. And when the woman he sings of comes knocking, all their troubles come right back.

Marshall Lee let his front door swing open with a deep sigh as he entered, not even noticing his burns from staying outside too long on his journey home. He'd been back to the Nightosphere for the first time in… he wasn't sure how long. It was only to get a new set of strings for his guitar from his favorite demonic music shop, and he'd done all he could to avoid anyone he knew except for the shopkeeper who was an old friend. And even though he missed her (but wouldn't admit it) he'd avoided his mother as well. She was embarrassing, but he could've gotten over that if not for their past together.

She'd lost him in the mortal world thanks to a mortal opening a portal up to let out the evils of the Nightosphere to help his allies win the war. All he'd gotten out of it was his own death, and when Marshall's mother had come to seal the portal, he'd tagged along. Back then, he'd wanted to grow up to be just like her, and he was her perfect little boy. She gladly brought him, but when he jumped through the portal out of curiosity to see the mortal world, she hadn't realized it. The portal was sealed and she didn't know where he'd gone. He'd wandered for days, nearly starving before Symone Petrikov found him. It wouldn't be until after Symone lost her mind and became the Ice Queen that Marshall Lee discovered the spell to open the portal back up. But he didn't return until just before he'd become the Vampire King, which was when he was about nineteen. He'd gained his title in the Nightosphere, and that got his mother's attention. She came running, but he refused to let her near him.

The fight they'd had, even if it was only verbal, had shaken the Nightosphere like an earthquake and ended in Marshall Lee returning to the mortal world and, after he had gone, both mother and son breaking down in tears. He made his own way in the new land of Aaa when the first civilizations appeared from the wreckage. He was there when the kingdoms were first built and he terrorized them all for fun, but that was much later after he'd been an evil warlord and had gathered forces to cause all the fear and pain he could. His pranks on the kingdoms were entirely harmless most of the time. His warmongering days were bloody and terrifying even to himself. But very quickly, he discovered that wasn't at all what he wanted. In fact, he wanted to create, not destroy, but he had no outlet for it. He settled for pranks for a while and it became a hobby, but he went through pastime after pastime to try to find something to do that wouldn't hurt people and kept him entertained.

At about thirty years old, Marshall Lee had just found a new home when his mother sought him out and they reconciled. She gave him a family heirloom, a millenniums-old blood-red axe that he loved but he didn't like that it was a tool of destruction. They were on good terms for a while even if his mother was neglectful, until one day when Marshall decided to explore the ruins of a city he and Symone had once walked through and he found an old diner with frozen fries in a still-working freezer, and then a fryer that he'd found oil for. He'd always liked fries, so he decided to try making them. They'd turned out perfectly and he brought them out to eat. As an afterthought, in a sort of weird respect for the dead owners of the diner, he left money on the counter that he'd collected from the ruins. He stepped out to fetch his bag from outside, but when he returned, he found his mother there and she'd eaten his fries.

He'd overreacted and he knew it. It wasn't even about the fries, but they were the last straw. She'd been so thoughtless and neglected him constantly since they'd reconciled. He'd exploded at her and flew off, leaving her fumbling to apologize and tell him she hadn't realized they were his. He returned to the Nightosphere while she was terrorizing Aaa for souls, and he came across a music shop. Going inside with the family axe on his back, he looked at all the beautiful guitars and basses on the walls and made a decision. He loved the axe and he wanted a guitar, so he asked the shopkeeper if he could turn the axe into an electric guitar. It had taken nearly a week, but the shopkeeper succeeded and brought the axe guitar to Marshall Lee along with books of chord charts, music, and his own guitar to teach Marshall to play.

His name was Bertram Cotton and he'd become a dear friend thanks to how hard he worked to make Marshall Lee a musician. It was just what Marshall needed, and he spent a century perfecting his technique before he discovered he could write his own music at Bertram's suggestion. He learned to compose and even learned several other instruments to experiment with sounds. By the time two-hundred years had passed, he could play almost any stringed instrument, even a violin or stand-up bass. His favorite remained his guitar.

And now with his new strings, he was prepared for Fionna to come over that evening. It was the first time he'd see her aside from a short passing-by since the Night of Noise two weeks before. She'd been preoccupied with her new boyfriend Flint and Marshall Lee didn't intrude, even if he missed her.

He took a shower and settled into bed, but it seemed like he'd only just closed his eyes when he heard a knock on the front door and sat up to see it was almost sunset. It hadn't even felt like a second… He rose and opened his window and called down, "Door's unlocked!"

As Fionna entered, Marshall Lee grabbed his guitar and floated down the ladder to his living room. "Hey," he gave her a tired smile.

"Hiya," Fionna responded brightly, but her expression became worried. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just didn't sleep too well."

"If you say so. What'd you have in mind tonight?" She pulled her backpack off her back and pulled out her flute, which Marshall Lee had left at the treehouse the day after the Night of Noise, and an old tape recorder. Not many things had survived the Great Mushroom War, but the things that had were eventually recreated and those that hadn't were reinvented. Gumball had given this recorder, apparently once called a 'Walkman' to her.

"I want to record something kind of… personal…" Marshall Lee sighed. "So don't laugh at me," he added quickly.

"I only laugh at you when you're being stupid," Fionna gave him a reassuring smile.

"Alright… gimme a beat." At that, Fionna began beatboxing an even, medium rhythm, and Marshall listened for several beats to get a feel for the speed. With a low chord, he began.

Mommy, why did you leave me?

You created me,

So don't you wanna see me?

Mommy, why did you make me

If you're not gonna take me

To get a burger and shakey?

My cursed blood is your cursed blood

Come on back and be my bud.

I can count your visits on my fingertips.

Come back and give me presents from your business trips.

Mommy, why did you mother me

If all you wanna do is bother me?

Don't you know that I love you

And I only wanna see more of you?

Mommy, why did you eat my fries?

I bought them

And they were mine.

But you ate them, you ate my fries,

And I cried

But you didn't see me cry.

Mommy, do you even love me?

Well I wish you would show it,

'cause I wouldn't know it.

What kinda mom eats her baby's fries

And doesn't even look him in the eyes?

Mommy, there were tears there.

If you saw them, would you even care…?

Marshall Lee didn't realize until the last notes of his guitar faded that Fionna had trailed off before the last two verses and she was now staring at him with a mix of pity and empathy. He didn't say a word, not even looking at her. He was waiting to hear her giggle at him. Him, the big bad Vampire King, singing about his mommy stealing his fries. But even if he wouldn't see it, Fionna understood that it wasn't about the fries. It was much deeper. And knowing that, she stepped forward to hug him tightly.

"What…?" He asked softly.

"You should talk to her."

"No."

"Marshall-"

"No. That's final."

Fionna said no more, and the two quietly traded songs back and forth for a couple hours, never really speaking, until a knock sounded on the front door. Marshall Lee raised an eyebrow and murmured, "Must be Cake… you told her you'd be here, right?"

"Yeah," Fionna nodded as Marshall went to open the door. When he did, he froze.

"… Mom?"

"Marshall, honey!" The Empress of the Nightosphere, in her smart and sharp black suit with her pin-straight long black hair, beamed at the sight of her only son, and she hugged him tightly. Marshall blushed as he found himself trapped in her embrace, and he saw Fionna smiling out of the corner of his eye. He quickly pulled away and looked at his mother with wide eyes.

"Wh-what the glob are you doing here?" Marshall Lee stuttered. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, running the Nightosphere or something?"

"I took a little time off to come see you. We haven't spent much time together lately."

"You mean in the past thousand years?"

"Marshall… it's not that I don't want to spend time with you, I'm just so busy-"

"Yeah, I know. You have an important job and no one else can do it. I know Mom, you've told me a million times."

"Well, I'm here now, so let's make the best-" but then she paused, seeing Fionna. "Oh, who's this?"

"My friend Fionna. You can't take her soul, Mom," Marshall warned her.

"It's a nice idea, but since she's your girlfriend-"

"Friend." He growled, even if he wished his mother were right.

"Ahem. Friend."

"Uh, hi," Fionna smiled a bit nervously. She knew the stories about the Empress of the Nightosphere.

"Hello, dear," the demonic woman smiled almost warmly, taking Fionna's hand to shake it. "Well, Marshall, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Ugh… Mom, this is Fionna, the Hero of Aaa. Fionna, this is my mother, Helen Abadeer."

"Hi, Mrs. Abadeer," Fionna spoke as politely as she could.

"Please, call me Helen." The blue-skinned woman grinned before stepping back to look around the room. "I see you've made a nice little home for yourself. Where's your girlfriend?"

"I don't have one."

"What happened to Ashley?"

"Ashley was a psychopath,Mom."

"I know. I liked her."

"She sold my stuff and ruined everything!"

"She sold that dirty old teddy bear, that's all."

"That was my favorite thing in the whole world, Mom," Marshall Lee snarled, fed up with how careless she was about his feelings. Helen knew she'd gone wrong and quickly turned to face Marshall.

"Honey, I didn't know-"

"I know you didn't, because you never listened! I told you a long time ago how much Hambo meant to me, how I got him after you lost me!"

"It's not my fault that I didn't know you'd jumped through the portal, Marshall! I looked everywhere for you!"

"Obviously you didn't, because if you remember, it was me who came back to the Nightosphere after I figured it out on my own."

"You know I couldn't come back to the mortal world back then."

"Why?"

"Because of your father, and you know it." At that, Marshall Lee's gaze fell to the carpet and he went silent. "He was sick. I couldn't leave him on his own."

"… I know. Just… get out."

"What…?"

"Go HOME!" He roared. Not only was Marshall hurt and angry that she didn't seem to care about his feelings, but now he was reminded of just why he'd been lost in the mortal world for so long and why his mother was all he had left. His uncaring, neglectful, thoughtless mother who, despite occasionally-good intentions, always made things so much worse.

"Marshall-" Fionna tried to intervene.

"No. It's alright, dear. I have work to do anyway," Helen spoke evenly, not showing her disappointment or heartbreak. "… Good night, Fionna. Marshall." Her son didn't respond, and she stepped out into the night.

"Marshall, she wanted to fix things. Couldn't you see that?" Fionna asked him softly as she took his arm.

"I know, but… she only makes things worse. That, on top of the fact that she's completely ignorant and never took the time to learn anything about me or listen. She didn't even know about Hambo…"

"… Who's Hambo?" Fionna questioned as if afraid he'd get angry.

"When I was seven years old, some idiot opened a portal to the Nightosphere during the Great Mushroom War. I went with my mom to watch her close it, but I got trapped on the wrong side when it closed. A woman named Symone Petrikov found me and took care of me. One morning after I had a nightmare, she gave me a pink teddy bear so I would never be alone while she was out exploring and looking for food and I stayed behind for safety. I named him Hambo… after Symone went crazy and left me, he was all I had til I found my way back to the Nightosphere, but hundreds of years later, my girlfriend Ashley sold Hambo to a witch and we broke up. I haven't seen him since."

"I'm sorry…"

"What're you sorry for?"

"That you're hurting so much." Fionna hugged him tightly, and he found that even though his first instinct was to pull away, he'd really needed it. Fionna always had a way of making him feel better.

But in the end, that night after she left for home, he only felt worse. He didn't want to be alone, but being a thousand-year old vampire with few friends and none who were up at night like him except occasionally Fionna, he was left entirely lonesome. His only solace was in his undead white cat, Schwable. He didn't sleep the next day, but come nightfall as he was lounging above the couch with Schwable on his chest, a tremor shook the entire house and made Schwable hop down and scurry for a hiding place. He sat up and flew over to the window to glance out. What he saw made his heart stop.

A huge creature stood above the grasslands, but he knew who it was by the black suit on its body and its white face with the vertical slit for a mouth. "Mom…" he whispered. He raced out into the night and high up to eye-level with his now hundred-foot tall monster mother.

"Mom! What the glob are you doing?!" Marshall cried.

Helen didn't even notice him and he dodged out of the way as white souls suddenly came from all directions and into her slitted mouth. So this was why she'd come. Not to see him, but to wreak havoc on Aaa. The thought was enough to leave Marshall Lee fuming, having thought she'd finally come just to see him, but he also felt a deep anger that she ruined everything around him. Every time he had a new home, she attacked the people nearby and left him in a wasteland.

He looked up from where he landed, literally shaking with anger, but he knew it was useless to try to do anything about it. He'd just have to move again… That was all he thought until out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fionna and Cake racing toward his mother to stop her. Marshall simply stepped back to watch in silence. Fionna would fail, he knew it, but he'd at least keep her from getting killed if required. And indeed it quickly became required as Fionna got herself caught in the web-like monster tentacles and lifted high up to have her soul sucked out. Marshall exploded into the sky, swiping Fionna from his mother.

"Don't take away my friends too, Mom," he snarled at his mother and set Fionna back down on the ground. To the surprise of both youths, Marshall was suddenly grabbed in Fionna's place and lifted up til he was eye-level with his mother. "Let me go!" He roared.

"Marshall Lee Abadeer, what has gotten into you! I know I haven't been around, but the way you're treating me is ridiculous!"

"I said let go! I don't wanna talk to you!"

"Not until you tell me-"

But then, below, a song stopped them both.

Mommy, why did you leave me?

You created me,

So don't you wanna see me?

"What is that…?" Helen asked over the music as she leaned down to see Fionna holding up her Walkman recorder.

My cursed blood is your cursed blood

Come on back and be my bud.

"Is that you?" She looked to Marshall, who was blushing uncontrollably now, and he nodded only slightly. She said no more, listening closely.

Mommy, why did you mother me

If all you wanna do is bother me?

Don't you know that I love you

And I only wanna see more of you?

Mommy, why did you eat my fries?

I bought them

And they were mine.

But you ate them, you ate my fries,

And I cried

But you didn't see me cry.

Mommy, do you even love me?

Well I wish you would show it,

'cause I wouldn't know it.

What kinda mom eats her baby's fries

And doesn't even look him in the eyes?

Mommy, there were tears there.

If you saw them, would you even care…?

As the last note trailed off, Helen set Marshall Lee down and suddenly released all the souls she'd pulled in. Shrinking back to normal size and form, she looked at her son with a deep pain evident in her expression. "Marshall… honey, of course I love you, and of course I care. I didn't know that I upset you so much… I really didn't mean to."

"It's not just about the fries, Mom…"

"I know it isn't. Even I'm not that thick-headed." She drew him into a tight hug, kissing his cheek. "I'll leave your little world be, sweetheart, and your friends." She then smiled to Fionna. "She's cute… You should keep her around. I like her." With that, she stepped back and opened a portal to disappear back into her own realm.

Marshall Lee turned to see Fionna looking somewhere between terrified and relieved, and he gave her an embarrassed smile. "Yeah… uh… that's my Mom. Crazy, right?" He simply chuckled as she keeled over backwards.

I've been excited since the beginning to introduce Helen Abadeer! I wanted her to be like Hunson, but a little more embarrassing in the department of 'Marshall, get a girlfriend so I can have grandbabies' because I can totally see that being a hilarious back-and-forth between them. Let me know what you guys thought, and maybe even what you might like to see in a future chapter!

P.S. Guess who got a Marshall Lee plushie and a bass guitar?! Rock on!

P.P.S. Hah, sweet. #13 is the chapter all about the Empress of Hell and her son. Haha!

-Taiylor Wallace