Chapter 9: An Old Friend
Pagos was walking around the Night-o-Sphere alongside Marshall Lee. He was thinking of talking to the vampire king to break the awkward silence. "So… why don't you wear a crown? If you are the king I mean," Pagos asked, mainly because he knew he had to get bubblegum and gumballs crown and tiara at least, along with flame princess and flame princes, which he was not looking forward to. The vampire boy just shrugged. "It's too tacky, man, and Marceline just doesn't like getting special treatment, so we threw them into a chest with our childhood junk," he explained why they disliked their crown and tiara so much.
Soon after, they arrived to a big open area in the Night-o-Sphere where they saw multiple monsters and demons working on a stage. Pagos noticed a girl with long black hair in a black sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and red boots, floating around the stage and examining it, making sure that the minions and demons were working correctly. "Yo, Marcy!" Marshall called her. The vampire queen floated down in front of them. "Oh hey, Finn! Come to see the concert?" Marceline greeted Pagos. She was good friends with the young human, and had multiple adventures with him, although she enjoyed playing pranks on him a lot.
"I suppose…" Pagos answered with a grumble while feeling distrusting of them. "What's up with him?" Marceline asked her band member. Marshall shrugged again. "A bit of amnesia, that's all," Marshall answered. They didn't seem to care about his hair color and skin since the Night-o-Sphere did odd changes to them anyway.
Soon they heard a loud creak. One of the rafters snapped from the ropes and was swinging toward them. Before Marceline and Marshall could react, Pagos stood in front of it, catching the rafter for them. It quickly slammed straight into him. Pagos panted while letting go of the rafter. "Whoa, Finn! That was pretty cool! …You okay dude?" Marshall asked before his eyes widened, seeing one of his fingers broken out of place. Like the others Pagos had met, the two vampires also believed Pagos to be Finn.
"Ugh… sorry, these demons aren't the best workers," Marceline apologized ready to slaughter and replace them instantly. "It's nothing. In comparison to half the things I've been through for you fools," Pagos responded trying to act like Finn in any way possible. He grabbed his own finger and snapped it back into place. The vampire duo was dumbfounded by him, since normally Finn would whine and cry over it.
They saw someone in a suit approach them. It was Marceline's father, who had seen the rafter falling and had come over to see if his daughter was alright, but he saw Pagos and just couldn't help but chuckle. "Abadeer?" Pagos asked trying to remember. Hudson Abadeer was the Lord of Evil who ran the Night-o-Sphere. He had also caused many problems for Finn and Jake before as well. "Well, well, well. Marceline, Marshall, can you let him and I talk privately?" Hudson asked. The two young vampires nodded, going off to help with the stage after the incident they just went through.
"Pagos… I didn't expect to see you again," Hudson said with a happy laugh. Pagos nodded in agreement. "Yes it is, certainly a welcomed surprise. Do you still run this place?" he asked. They had known each other from the past. In fact, the last time Pagos nearly died he had wound up here. He remembered being given mercy by giving Hudson one of the older princesses' jewels that was worth a fortune.
"Yeah, but lately it's gotten a bit of a rut. Anyway, how did you wind up possessing Finn?" Hudson questioned him somehow having known about it. Pagos just give him a grin, showing his sharp teeth. "He was on the verge of death, so I played the devil of the deal maker. I'll give him his body back when I get the last jewels," he explained. The Lord of Evil nodded and scratched his head. "Well, since they won't notice, why don't I help you there," he said and walked away. Pagos was confused, but he just followed him all the way to his home.
Once inside Hudson's house, they were in the basement. He was digging through a chest while Pagos was leaning on the wall by the stairway. The chest was full of different objects and items from the past. Hudson pulled out an oddly shaped tiara and an unusual crown with red jewels in each of them. "I suppose these belong to Marceline and Marshall?" Pagos asked while Hudson handed him them. "Yeah, but Marceline only wore the thing when she was little and played dress up. I don't know what Marshall did with his, but hey, his mother hates me a lot," Hudson claimed. Quickly, the ice prince chomped and crunched the jewels and swallowed them. He grinned feeling even stronger already.
"Thank you, Abadeer. You weren't kidding when you said you would repay me for helping you in this place," Pagos claimed since back then he had helped Hudson in the Night-o-Sphere as another worker to torture the demons and monsters. "Hey, it's not like they will notice. You want to hang out for the concert? I know you hate next to everything, but still," Hudson offered. The ice prince scratched his chin and nodded. "Sure, why not," he reluctantly agreed. He followed the Lord of Evil out of the house, leaving the tiara and crown lying on the floor after he had consumed their jewels.
End of Chapter 9