"LOOK OUT!" but of course he was too late. The hooded figure was on top of Marshal, and had one arm around his neck, his other hand holding the knife under Marshal's chin.
Marshal struggled for a moment, but stopped as he noticed the knife and growled furiously.
"WHAT THE HELL?" He shouted, thrashing and trying to get away from the knife. Gumball jumped to his feet, not sure what he was doing.
"Take one step closer and your friend dies." The stranger said calmly, holding Marshal down.
"We are NOT friends you ass hole, now get the hell off of me." Marshal hissed.
"Shut up you. I'm running out of patience and time. Start talking prince." He commanded Gumball, who stood frozen, his teeth bared in furry.
"What's he talking about?" Marshal asked as he continued to struggle pointlessly. He was only getting his neck cut, but the wounds healed just as fast as they were inflicted.
"Let go of him. He won't tell anyone about you, and we can talk." Gumball said, trying to sound calm and persuasive.
"Sorry, but if you don't want him dead he makes a good tool against you." The man said in an equally calm voice.
"What are you talking about?" Marshal said, now addressing the man, all the time hissing and growling.
"I didn't read to far into the letter, but I believe her name is Fionna." He said, saying her name carefully, as if it was a fragile object. Marshal froze.
"Ah! So you know her too…" The man said, sounding surprised and interested. Gumball mentally kicked himself. Of course Marshal cared about Fionna, and he didn't have a clue on how to negotiate. Gumball silently begged that Marshal wouldn't say anything.
"What do you want with Fionna?" Marshal hissed. Gumball brought his hand to his forehead, slapping it hard. He groaned internally at Marshal's stupidity.
"Just tell me about her. That's all I want, then I'm gone." The man said easily, making it sound like the smallest favor.
"Why?" Marshal asked suspiciously, his eyes hardening and glinting red.
"That's my secret. Maybe I'll share it later." He said sternly.
"Well I'm not telling you anything. If you barge into gummy's room and attack me I don't think I want you around my friend." Marshal said coldly.
"When was the last time she visited you?" He asked, ignoring Marshal's statement.
"6 years." Gumball said automatically. Maybe if this man though Fionna didn't come often he wouldn't wait around for her. And she said she was coming back…..
Gumball stared hard at Marshal, and when their eyes met, Marshal narrowed his, but remained silent.
"I guess she must really not like you guys." The man said in a joking manner. Marshal hissed.
"She likes me just fine!" He shouted angrily, his cheeks glowing dark. Gumball groaned. He prayed Marshal wouldn't say anything else.
"Oh? If she likes you so much, how come she stayed so long at this guy's place?" The stranger asked calmly. Gumball felt his insides squeeze. He had a very, very bad feeling about what was coming next.
"She…she visited me too!" Marshal said, but not as confidently.
"She did? But did she kiss you as well?" The stranger asked in a casual tone.
"Marshal, don't listen-
"She didn't kiss him!" Marshal shouted at the man, ignoring Gumball. Marshal's face was flushed.
"Why don't you ask your "friend" over there then?" The man replied. Marshal turned to Gumball.
"Don't listen to him, he only wants to get Fionna. Marshal, don't listen." Gumball said, trying to calm Marshal down.
"Did you two kiss?" Marshal hissed out.
"Marshal, you have to ignore him." Gumball said, trying desperately to avoid the answer.
"Answer the question gum-butt!" Marshal said angrily, apparently forgetting he was being held hostage.
"No, we didn't, now calm down-
"He's lying." The hooded man interrupted, whispering in Marshal's ear. Marshal's eyes flashed red and he growled.
"No! I'm not!" Gumball said frantically, but he felt his face heating up.
"I bet she even sees him more than you. She probably visits him all the time…." The man said calmly to Marshal. Marshal himself looked like he was going to burst.
"She visits me all the time!" Marshal growled, looking at Gumball.
"Marshal, don't!" Gumball pleaded.
"She even promised she would come see me soon!" He hissed. Gumball covered his face, defeated. It was out, the stranger knew.
"Marshal, what have you done?" the prince said miserably.
"Me? If you could protect yourself for five minutes without someone-
Marshal stopped and stared into space for a moment, finally realizing what he had just done. His mouth opened in horror.
"Guess I have a reason to stay after all." The man said quietly.
"No, wait, I didn't mean it." Marshal said feebly. The Man ignored him.
"What does she have to do in the meantime that's so important?" He asked, more to himself then the two others.
"What do you want with Fionna? If you don't mean any harm, I'm sure she will be happy to meet you." Gumball said, trying to sound reasonable. The man brought his attention back to Gumball.
"I don't mean her any harm, but I don't quite feel comfortable telling you my background information." The stranger replied.
"What makes you so special?" Marshal asked bitterly.
"I told you, none-
Gumball had taken advantage of his distraction and thrown himself at the man. Marshal saw Gumball coming first, and tried to wiggle away from the weapon and the three fell to the ground. The knife still managed to cut Marshal, but not so much that he would die. He was however bleeding too badly at the moment to help Gumball as he tried to wrestle the knife away from the clearly more powerful being. Gumball was thrown back, and hit the door loudly. The sound set the alarm off again, and it began to buzz. Through the pain Gumball was still able to comprehend the situation. The alarm had gone off, and if he didn't turn it off in exactly 2 minutes his guards would come, and there was no way the stranger could turn it off without him. Gumball raised himself off the floor to see the man dodging Marshal Lee, as Marshal Lee dodged a now full sword. Gumball dashed to his drawers and opened the second one down, and pulled the large dagger he kept in the hidden pocket. He made his way carefully over to the man, making sure to stay low and away from the slashing blade. Marshal managed to claw at the hood, and it fell back a bit.
Gumball took this moment to lunge at the man with his dagger, but felt a sharp pain in his chest as he was kicked back. He heard Marshal hiss as the window was opened, letting in the sunlight that Marshal was not prepared for. His umbrella had been tossed somewhere when he had first been attacked.
Gumball looked up to see the man heading for the window.
"Marshal! Grab him!" He yelled, trying to get up despite his severely bruised and possibly broken body.
"I can't!" Marshal hissed back, flattening himself against the ceiling, out of reach of the sun.
Gumball looked over to the man who was now halfway out the window. He could see up to his nose now. The skin was a light tan color, and the mouth was set in a hard frown. He thought he saw a flash of blue in the hidden eyes, but wasn't sure. He was gone in an instant.
Guards broke down the door at that moment, sending a large chunk of wood at Marshal's face.
"Sire!" the first night yelled, noticing the prince on the ground.
"Get him! The man in the cloak!" Gumball yelled, ignoring there efforts to help him as he pointed at the window. A few ran to it and looked down.
"There is no one there Prince Gumball!" one guard informed him.
"Impossible! He was just there!" hissed Marshal, who remained attached to the ceiling.
The guards raised their weapons in surprise at Marshal's presence, not trusting the vampire.
"Leave him, we need to find the man in the cloak." Gumball commanded, lifting himself yet again with the help of a guard and stumbling towards the window. He looked out.
Sure enough, there wasn't a soul around, and he could easily see the simple candy people walking about in town, unaware of any difference. Gumball stared for a moment, before turning back to everyone.
"Search the entire kingdom. Any stranger should be brought here for questioning." He commanded.