Yo! Crazy7634, here! So, yeah, I know that it's been quite a while since I last updated, but I have a reason for that. At first, I had intended to put up new chapters of each of my stories at once. Unfortunately, writer's block had a different plan. Due to the block, I have been having great difficulty in writing new chapters… BUT, I have managed to overcome it slightly and have managed to conjure content for both this story and my Naruto + Gravity Falls one, "Gravity Falls: Legend of the Nine-Tailed Guardian". Also, for those who are fans of my other stories, "A Second Chance" and "Son of Two Dragons", I assure you that chapters for those will be available shortly. Now, without further ado, I present to you the second chapter of… The Tenth Guardian.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Adventure Time.

Chapter 2 – The Fox's Gift

"…Jake, are you sure this is what one of them looked like?" a half-demon, half-human and now ex-vampire female asked, turning to the yellow-orange magic bulldog beside her. She had short black hair and wore a short-sleeved grey top, blue jeans and grey shoes. A piece of paper depicting a rectangular object with a frowny face on it was clutched in her left hand while the right unconsciously rubbed the area where her vampire bite had been at.

Jake squirmed in his seat nervously. "Yeah, how could I forget? The guy was wearing a white suit and had a cape on his back. His feet looked kinda like the ones that you'd see on a chicken and his arms were all scaly and clawed… Oh! He also had some sort of crown made of sticks on his head."

"Of all the things that could have been creating this mess, it had to be them…" Marceline muttered under her breath, gazing at the face on the paper. She looked up, a concerned frown on her face when she stared at her friends. They may have fought in many battles before now, and while two of them literally fought bad guys for a living, she wasn't all too sure if they could handle the Vampire King and his court… especially if they had managed restore themselves to full power in the short amount of time they had been reformed. "This is bad, you guys. Those vampires Jake saw? They were the five strongest vampires to ever live. If they're out there, then we'll have to take them out before they can fully recover their power. Who knows what destruction they'll bring into Ooo, especially that now they aren't used to preparing for nightly sieges. Worst part is, the vamp that Jake described? He was the Vampire King himself."

Her final sentence made the others gasp, the only canine in their group shivered in fear. He didn't know that he was so close to such a dangerous being, the knowledge that he was definitely didn't help with his fear of the blood-sucking race. Hearing her speak, Jake turned to Princess Bubblegum who was dressed in a white striped jumper with rolled-up sleeves, brown shorts and red sneakers while her long, pink hair was tied up in a ponytail.

"Well, if they're as strong as you say they are, then how do you suppose we fight them?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. But before Marceline could reply, they were interrupted by a harsh cough, their heads turning to the source; Peppermint Butler.

"If I may," He said, dropping a thick roll of cloth onto the wooden floor. He untied the knot of the string holding it in place, revealing a large arsenal of vampire hunting tools, smirking when he heard their gasps of awe. "The weapons here are strong enough to defeat an ultra-vampire and will do you well in your quest."

The youngest person in the room, Finn, let out a "whoa" at the collection of items. He was a full-blood human wearing a white hat, a blue shirt and dark blue shorts with black shoes while a green backpack was strapped to his back. Finn and Jake knelt down beside the butler, the teen pointing at various objects. "Look Jake, there's a two-pronged stake… a stake boomerang… and a vial of holy water!"

"Yes, but what is this behind your ear I see?" The peppermint smiled at their reactions and reached behind Finn's ear, gasping dramatically when he pulled out a big glass orb filled with greenish liquid and garlic cloves. "Oh! It's a super-garlic bomb-!"

"-Pepps, why do you have all this vampire stuff hanging around?" Bubblegum interjected, raising an eyebrow at her butler.

"Well, I have all these weapons, painstakingly stockpiled in case Ooo's resident ex-vampire had decided to turn on us for some random reason before her curing." the candy man said, giving the princess a deadpan stare.

"Pepps!"

"No, no… he's right. Before you cured me, I could have easily just gone nuts and took you guys down at any point in time." Marceline said nonchalantly, causing the already-shivering Jake to faint. Finn turned to look at his passed out brother.

"Uhm, Jake? You there, buddy?" The human tried to shake the magical dog awake to no avail. "Come on, bro. Wake up!"

PB turned to a snickering Marceline with a "really?" look. "Distractions and laughter aside. Thanks to Peppermint Butler, we now have our weapons. But how are we supposed to look for them? At this point in time, we're not sure if they're still in the cave that Jake saw them in earlier."

"Yeah, the chances of them still being there ARE quite low…" Marceline muttered, rubbing the back of her head in thought. "But it's the only lead we've got. Finn, since Jake is still out of commission, do you think you can take us to the cave?"

The human hoisted his brother on his shoulder and stood up, giving the females a thumbs up.

[One Long Walk Later]

Marceline narrowed her eyes when she the spotted tiny drops of blood along with animal indentations in the dark cave's floor. She spun on the balls of her feet and started to slowly make her way outside of the cavern. 'They were definitely the ones who took the livestock away alright. Judging from the amount of animal imprints here and that there are five of them in their little posse, they still haven't consumed enough blood to restore themselves to full strength. That's good. Their lack of energy should help us during upcoming clashes against them. But there's something tugging my mind… I guess HE's nearby.'

She was brought out of her musings when her eyesight was filled with bright sunlight. She raised her hand to cover her eyes slightly and blinked away the spots that appeared in her vision. Once she could see clearly again, she whistled, calling for Finn, Jake, Peppermint Butler and Princess Bubblegum to come out of their hiding places.

"Sooo…?" Bonnibel inquired, making a rolling motion with her hand to urge Marceline to talk.

"Nothing. They've left the area."

"Just as we thought… well, there weren't any signs of them being out here either." Bonnie sighed. She tilted her head down and rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe we should split up? It would be easier to find tracks or clues as to where their whereabouts may be that way."

Marceline narrowed her eyes, a slight disapproving frown on her face. "Hmm, alright… but make sure you guys watch your backs. They may not be at full health, but they still have enough strength to mess you up."

"Hah, don't worry about us Marceline. We're ready for anything!" Finn yelled confidently, pumping his fist up in the air. Unfortunately, this lead to the garlic bomb being held in his other arm to nearly slip off, causing him to panic as he managed to just catch the fragile item before it fell. He looked up at the uncertain ex-vampire, chuckling in a nervous way while blushing embarrassedly at the skeptical look she gave him and the others. Marceline walked away at a slow pace, her eyes staying on her friends for as long as possible. After a minute, she turned away and began to scan her surroundings.

"Now, where could those guys be- Ow!" She yelped when her body collided with an unknown force… or rather, an invisible force. She blinked in confusion when she saw that there was something obstructing her path and lifted a hand, placing it against a clear wall. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. This was obviously not natural, and there was only one person that she knew had the ability to do such a thing. "Ah, crud…"

Marceline flinched when she heard a crashing sound and quickly turned towards her friends, sweatdropping when she saw that Finn had dropped the garlic bomb he had been holding earlier, releasing the fumes into the air as well as covering him and Jake in garlic juice. She resisted the urge to facepalm when Peppermint Butler came running towards them to help, only to slip on the spilt liquid. Her pointed ears twitched slightly when she heard Bubblegum giggle and called out to her fellow female. "Hey Bonnie! Why don't you go on ahead and take the guys back to the cabin? They aren't in good enough shape to be out hunting vampires at the moment. I'll catch up with you later, I just have to investigate some stuff more and probably create some sort of… mental profile, about who we are going after."

"Sounds good!" PB managed to say in-between giggles before she began to usher the males back towards the small house, urging them on with a motherly tone. "Come on boys, let's get you cleaned up."

Marceline watched them walk away, and once they disappeared from her line of sight, she spun around to face the invisible wall that she had crashed into earlier. "Drop the camouflage already, I know you're there. Even with something like this to hide your stupid mug, it's easy to sense you. After all, your presence is like a stain that Ooo will never be able to get rid of."

The creaking of a door was heard as a rectangular part of the scenery in front of her dislodged itself from the landscape and swung open. The vampire hunter walked in, her mouth forming a snarl once the Vampire King entered her sights. Her eyes narrowed in anger, memories of what he had done to her first friend many centuries ago resurfaced from the back of her mind. She ignored the pang of hurt she felt in her heart at the remembrance of the canine, shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts and focused on the King instead, seemingly ignoring The Fool who flew around her head.

"Hey, it's Marceline! How've you been? Check me out, I'm a big boy now!" He tilted his head to the side in confusion at the lack of reaction. "Are you listening?"

Her left eye twitched as irritation at the small vampire began to bubble up. She kept her eyes on the lion-like being sat on a boulder as she spoke. "I see you're getting your strength back. The blood you and the others drank recently has probably quickened your recovery speed."

The male chuckled. "What harsh words you spoke outside the barrier, Marceline… and yes, it has. It won't be long now…"

"Tch, don't get your hopes up." Marceline scoffed. "Things have changed. Vampires no longer rule supreme and the humans are long gone."

The Vampire King sniffed the air, a smile stretching across his face before it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Yes, it also seems that someone is smelling a bit more human herself these days… and surprisingly less canine. A lot less canine. Now that leads me to wonder just what exactly has changed during our… departure from this plain of existence. Besides, you need not to worry. We have chosen to give up on the blood of humans and will feast on animals instead. I hope that this means we can be friends now, Marceline?"

The woman growled and nabbed The Fool from the air, her hand clutching his neck tightly. "It doesn't matter. Whether you pretend to have turned a new leaf or not, it won't fix all the damage you and your species caused centuries ago. The actions you have done to others in the past are more than enough to have you staked millions of times, again and again and again."

The King's face remained emotionless, even when Marceline staked The Fool right in the chest without any remorse. He grew a smirk as Marceline absorbed The Fool's soul once more. "You know the others aren't going to be so easy."

"Oh, really? Then what about you?" Marceline gave a fanged grin as she pounced on the Vampire King, stake in hand. She let out a grunt when she hit nothing and landed on the boulder the male had been sitting on.

"It doesn't have to be like this." He said, appearing a meter or so away from his previous position.

"Hah, those are some stupid last words, ya know that?" She pressed her feet against the rock and pushed off, spinning in the air as she propelled herself towards her target. The vampire teleported away, now standing on a vertical outcrop and watched Marceline land on her back in the grass. His eyes widened when he felt a slight sting on his cheek, and lifted a hand to ghost over the small cut the half-demon managed to get on him. He heard her laugh and his eyes turned their gaze from the minor injury to the one who caused it. "You've gotten slack. I'm not even going to need my powers for this."

The King's eyes narrowed, a smirk on his face once again. He cupped his chin with his right hand, while his left held onto his right elbow. "You know Marceline, I'm surprised."

She rolled her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh. "What now?"

He dismissed her attitude and continued on. "I'm surprised that you have enough time to mess around… while The Empress is on her way to the Land of Ice and Snow as we speak."

"Land of Ice and Snow…?" She muttered, wondering what the Empress was aiming to do. There weren't many interesting things there. In fact, the few things that are of some importance in the Land of Ice were snow, penguins and… the Ice King. Marceline gasped realization. "Simon! CRUD!"

She span on her feet and pushed through the invisible barrier, exiting the hidden area. She ran up a few rocks before jumping off a boulder to help launch herself through the treeline, speedily making her way to the Ice King's castle.

[The Land of Ice]

Since she had already reclaimed The Fool's levitation power, it only took Marceline mere minutes to reach the ice mountain where Simon Petrikov, more often known as the Ice King, resided. She hovered silently and peeked into the castle through one of its hollow eye-holes. She saw a female wearing a plain black dress seated on the Ice King's Throne; it was The Empress. The woman had a long snake wrapped around her neck and waist, the hair on her head was tied in a bun and covered her eyes, and she had what looked to be a rose quartz gem at the centre of the area where her eyebrows would have been, should they have not been covered. Marceline growled lowly in her throat when she heard The Empress laugh mockingly at an entry in her grandfather-figure's diary. The half-human flew to the back of the mountain, entering the castle through a back entrance. Marceline stealthily moved through the inside of the underground area she was in, occasionally hiding behind a few large icicles on her way. She poked her head through a doorway to the throne room and spotted the female vampire still sitting on the frozen seat. Without making a sound, she swiftly glided over to the back of the throne and held the stake above her head, ready to stab it straight through The Empress's heart. Just as she was about to follow through the motion, the Ice King walked in, his robe was off as it was currently being used to restrain the figure in the crazy human's arms.

"Simon!" Marceline immediately abandoned her mission and put the stake away, floating over to the Ice King who promptly dropped the cloaked form he had been holding into the cold floor.

"Marceline?!" The Empress shouted, surprised at her sudden appearance.

Said female ignored her, preferring instead to check the bony magician for any injuries. "Did she do anything to you? Are you hurt? Did she BITE you?"

"Hey, hey, calm down. She didn't do anything. Plus, you're ruining the mood." Simon said, before leaning closer to whisper to her. "As for the biting part, I'm trying to get her to do that later."

One of The Empress's eyes twitched in irritation. "Minion, enough! I'm standing right here and you're colluding against me with my sworn enemy? That's a bit rude."

The Ice King gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry…"

The kidnapped person, who turned out to be Finn, wiggled out of his prison and grabbed Marceline's stake, charging at The Empress. "I've got your back, Marceline!"

"Finn?" She muttered to herself confusedly. She hadn't realized that he was the one that the Ice King brought back to the castle. Marceline watched as the human raised the stake into the air, closing his eyes when he pulled it down with all his might, intending to get the vampire right in the chest. But since he had taken away his vision, he didn't see his target turn herself invisible and only managed to stab her in the back when she made a move to take off.

"Ow! You dare stake me in the back?!"

"I was aiming for your heart!" Finn bluntly yelled out in response.

"All right, that's it! Minion, capture these two trespassers at once!" She ordered, pointing a finger at Finn. The duo turned to their hypnotized friend with worried looks, not sure if the man would go follow the instructions he had been given. The Ice King gave them both an apologetic smile along with a nervous chuckle, raising his hands up as sparks of ice magic came to life. The two flinched and Marceline grabbed the human's hand, flying away as fast as she could through the ice caverns, Simon not far behind them. He winced at their screaming and spoke up as he chased them through the underground passage.

"Uh, do you guys think you can keep it down? My baby said that she wanted to rest."

Finn looked backed at him with an incredulous look, pausing his shouting for a moment to respond before continuing. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaa- Heck no! -Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The magician shot a bolt of ice in their direction, only for them to avoid the attack by ducking behind an over-sized icicle. "Come on you guys, be reasonable!"

"Simon, you have to resist her spell!" Marceline called out, pushing herself flat against the icy outcrop.

"I can't! She's a woman!" He retorted, walking over to the icicle he had seen them hide behind. He poked his head to the side of it, expecting to see the people he was after, only to be greeted by air. "AHA- aww…"

Marceline flew past their previous position, holding Finn with one hand as she levitated both him and her behind a bigger spike of ice. "She's a VAMPIRE! I hunt vampires because of you!"

Ice King paused his searching and blinked in confusion. "Because of me?!"

The half-demon sighed. She tilted her head down and stared at the ground beneath her, unconsciously gripping the crystal under her shirt. "When you left, I found it hard to stay alive. Getting around was so much easier when you were still with me. I felt abandoned and a bit depressed. But on a particularly hard day, I saw a small family of humans. They looked so happy… I-I was going to confront them when I spotted a vampire about to strike. I pounced and staked him before he could do any damage… but scared the family away in doing so. After that ordeal I felt even more depressed… if it weren't for Naruto being around, I wouldn't have been able to fully get back on my feet. He helped me through it all. Then, I started to make it my goal to destroy every single vampire, so that the few remaining humans would be protected. Every time I staked one… I felt like I was protecting you. Hunting vampires and his support were the only things that brought me happiness during those years."

Finn silently raised an eyebrow. 'Who's Naruto?'

The ex-vampire frowned when she felt another pang of sadness hit her heart at the mention of her friend before shaking the thoughts out of her head when she heard Simon beginning to speak.

"Na… ru… to?" He mumbled falling to his knees, a hand clutching his head tightly. Marceline's eyes widened at this and she dropped down to the ground, jogging towards the Ice King's location with a thinking Finn trailing behind. When they got close enough, the old man stood straight up, cackling evilly as he shot beams of ice at their hands. The magic wrapped around the two's wrists and created ice handcuffs attached to a heavy block that forced them to drop to their knees using its weight.

This brought the teen out of his musings and back into reality. "Aw, dang it."

"Please, Simon! You need to remember our history!" Marceline pleaded, crying slightly at the end.

"Our what?" Ice King wondered out loud before an evil laugh caught their attention. The Empress appeared by the Ice King's side, patting his head as if he were a puppy.

"Hahahah… oh, Marceline. I heard everything; I was invisible. These human emotions are starting to get to you. Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. Minion, kill Marceline!"

Ice King's head snapped to her direction with a stupefied expression. "What?! I can't do that, she's my pal!"

The woman placed her hands on her hips. The two faced each other, and began to argue. "Are you disobeying me?!"

"Psst, Marceline!" the vampire hunter turned to her friend after hearing his whisper. "Come on, here's our chance!"

The blonde smashed his skull against the frozen water around his wrists, shattering the binds without sustaining any minor injuries to the head at all. He rolled his wrists a bit to lessen the ache he felt on them before breaking Marceline's restraints just as how he broke his.

'How hard is his head? Jeez…' She muttered in her mind. She shook her thoughts away and glanced at the still arguing duo. Her eyes slid back to Finn and silently whispered to him "Okay, you distract The Empress, I'll stop her in her tracks."

The cerulean-eyed human nodded and rolled behind the oblivious vampire. He jumped up from his kneeling position and began to yell out random gibberish. The Empress and Ice King stopped arguing and looked at what was causing the commotion. Seeing that the vampire had her back turned, Marceline crept up behind the Ice King and wrapped her arms around his bony ribs. She squeezed, making beams of ice magic burst out of his hands and at the vampire. Unfortunately, The Empress's acute sense of hearing caught the sound or struggling behind her and immediately turned herself invisible after seeing the magic heading towards her. The vampire re-appeared a few centimetres to the left of where she had been before, a frown on her face. The gem holding her hair together glowed and released a ray of sound waves at the two. Marceline flinched at this and put more pressure around Simon's ribs, his hands discharging another stream of ice magic. Try as she might, The Empress failed to overwhelm the power of the crown and fell to her knees.

"Ah, dang it." She mumbled, grunting when the beam hit her and encased her in a dome of ice. Marceline slowly walked towards the vampire, a stake in her left hand while the Ice King was still being carried by her right arm.

"You had this coming…" The raven-haired woman murmured. Ice King's eyes widened at this and he began to struggle in Marceline's grasp. "Wah- Simon! What are you doing?!"

"No!" He broke free of her grip and stood stubbornly in front of the ice dome while Finn walked over to Marceline's side. "If you want to stake her, then you'll have to get through ME first!"

The blonde human sighed and Marceline groaned as she facepalmed, grumbling about troublesome old men. The Empress, at seeing Marceline seemingly distracted, stood up and banged her fist on her prison's wall. "Now, you oaf! KILL HER!"

Ice King gave her a side-glance, a slight sad undertone in his voice. "Sweetie, there's no need to raise your voice."

"WHAT?!" She yelled before letting out an aggravated sigh. She breathed in deeply in order to calm herself down and silently gave the snake around her neck the order to reveal her eyes. "Okay, that's it. Turn around."

Ice King gave a giddy smile at this. "Oh! Are we going to stare into each other's eyes again?"

The vampire ignored this and started to say her chant, her eyes glowing an ominous, pinkish colour. "You must fall deeper into my spell. Sell your spirit to the skies-"

"I can see myself in your pupils." The old man giggled, unintentionally interrupting the woman. At hearing this, the vampire paused the shining and spinning of her eyes, giving the male in front of her a frown.

"You're not even hypnotized… at all."

"Them gigantic sparkly orbs of yours could hypnotize an earclops." He flirted, winking at the deadpanning female.

"Soo… you're not?"

Ice King continued to give her a dazed smile. "Heh, no."

"You stupid donkey." She growled, the snake pushing her hair back into place before retreating back into its hiding spot behind her head. The Empress turned away from the Ice King, crossing her arms.

Simon blinked at this, a hurt look on his face. "H-Honey, why are you being so mean?"

The vampire didn't even look back to face him as she replied. "Because, you're too thick to even fall under my spell. Besides, you got no class."

Ice King's sad expression turned into an angered one as he placed his hands on his hips. Marceline and Finn shared half-concerned and half-confused glances before turning back to watch the scene unfolding in front of them.

"Oh, so you're doing THAT, huh? You gonna start name calling? FINE. If you wanna play the blame game, then FINE! If you weren't so perfect, a-a-and pretty, and statuesque…" Ice King trailed off, his arguments getting weaker as he went on. Finn gave him a small, sad, but understanding smile and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Simon, it's over. It's going to be okay." He consoled the older male as he cried on his shoulder. The king was about to look back towards the trapped figure but Finn lead him away from the vampire. "No, nope. This way. Come on. Let's go get some ice cream, yeah?"

Marceline gave Simon a somber glance and patted him on the back as he walked past. After seeing the duo walk around a corner, she turned back to The Empress and gave her a sharp glare. "That's the last time you're gonna toy with his heart."

The Empress rolled her eyes from under her hair and let out a disbelieving laugh. "Hah, if you really cared about him, then why did you let him fall into such a low, clown-like character? He used to have more of a silver fox thing going on with his hair and cute glasses… actually, speaking of foxes, where is that golden hunk that always hung around you? Don't tell me you replaced him with that "Finn" human. That canine was pretty good looking, especially when he dropped that animal form of his. They were way happier back then you know… when they were still serving me."

"Raaaah!" The half-demon gave out an enraged growl and aimed to stab the woman in the chest, breaking a large hole in the ice dome in her attempt to do so.

The vampire managed to jump back fast enough to avoid the charge. She whistled at the damage the vampire hunter did to the ice and knew that she would've been at the receiving end of it should she have moved a second too late. "Dang, girl!"

The Empress had to lift her hands up in order to protect herself from the shards of ice that Marceline's second strike broke off. She turned invisible when the hunter pounced on her again, the stake imbedding half of itself into the ice dome at the power she put behind the thrust. Marceline pulled it out and looked around to see where the vampire had run off to, only receive a handful of chipped ice to the face. She fell to her knees and hissed at her still invisible foe. The Empress saw an opening and pinned her to the ground.

"Open those peepers!" she commanded, her snake pulling her hair up once again.

"Eat a stake!" Marceline spat out, glaring at the vampire with as much hatred as she could. This turned out to be a bad move, since the blood-sucker's uncovered eyes had already begun shining and rotating. The Empress laughed when the ex-vampire forced her eyes to close and look away. "No!"

As the member of the Vampire King's court was about to start her chant, an odd ray of energy hit her and prevented her from moving. She felt herself being lifted up and said confusedly, "I don't understand this…"

"Marceline!" They heard a feminine voice yell. The half-human twisted her head to the direction the call had come from and blinked when she saw Finn, Jake and PB, who was holding some sort of gun that was currently releasing the pinkish energy. "Yeah, you're welcome!"

Marceline gave a deadpan stare at Princess Bubblegum's slightly mocking tone. She silently plucked the stake beside her off of the ground and floated up to look the frozen vampire in the eye. She shoved the stake into her heart and sucked up the soul cloud that remained of her. Marceline smirked and her form vanished into thin air. The trio from earlier had just made it to her location and looked around for their hidden friend.

"Umm… Marceline?" Bonnie asked, her eyes darting around the area. They heard a sigh and stood still as Marceline spoke.

"Alright! I shouldn't have tried to go it alone with the vamps… from now on, we do this team-up style."

Bonnibel raised an eyebrow. "Okay, "team". You're still invisible."

"Oh, whoops." Marceline reappeared with her arms on Jake's head. The sudden weight on his skull made the dog yelp in surprise, the four sharing a laugh at the canine's surprised reaction.

"Alright, now that all this is over, how about we go back to my place and plan on who we should go after next? Besides, it looks like you could use a bit of patching up." PB commented, gesturing to the cuts on Marceline's face. The ex-vampire scratched the back of her head sheepishly and nodded in agreement.

[A Little While Later]

Bubblegum looked on worriedly at Marceline. The half-demon now had a few patches to cover up the cuts on her face and had been sat outside on the porch ever since they had finished bandaging her up. Jake curled up by the couch, snoring quietly as he slept while Finn and Peppermint Butler were fletching more stakes. She turned to the teenaged human when he put the knife and stick in his hands down before lying back on the ground with his arms stretched out.

"Hey Finn?"

The adventurer blinked and tilted his head to her direction. "Yeah? What's up, PB?"

"Did… anything happen, while you and Marceline were dealing with the Ice King and that vampire by yourselves? She's been out there for quite a while now…" The two peered outside the window, staring at the back of Marceline's head.

"Well, other than the usual jump in and kick-some-butt stuff, she did talk a bit more about her past." Finn rubbed his chin in thought. In the background, Jake uncoiled his himself, stretching his body as he yawned before walking over to Finn.

PB stopped her staring and gave Finn a curious gaze. "What did she talk about?"

"Hmm… she said some stuff about her life after Simon left her. Oh yeah! She also mentioned something about a guy named "Naruto"! Do you know who that guy is, Bonnie? I think I've heard of that name before, but I can't remember from where…" He sat up as he tried to rack his brain for the memory of when he had heard the familiar word. He and Jake looked warily at Peppermint Butler and Princess Bubblegum when they flinched and gained dazed looks at the name. "Is… everything alright?"

The princess shook her head out of her thoughts and gave the teen a wavy smile. "Y-Yeah, everything's fine. *sigh* At least now we know why she's acting like this."

"Huh?" Seeing the inquiring look on brothers' faces, she sighed again and elaborated.

"About your other question, Finn, the answer is yes. We do know who Naruto is. As much as we would like to inform you two more about him, it's not our place to do so. But we can say this. Naruto was someone who had been with Marceline ever since she was a little girl; he was her first friend just as how she was his. Heh, there was always some sort of trouble wherever those two went. They had been near-inseparable. Whenever you saw one of them, the other wasn't far behind." Bonnibel trailed off at the end, a melancholic smile on her face.

"Wait, if Marceline and this Naruto guy were "near-inseparable", then how come we've never seen him?" Jake asked, scratching the top of his head with a finger. Bonnie and Peppermint Butler briefly glanced at each other with unsure gazes. Peppermint Butler gave her a nod and turned back to the two knights.

"That would be because something… happened, many centuries ago which lead to his disappearance. We don't know where he is now or… or if he is even still alive."

[With Marceline]

Marceline sat on the cabin's stoop, staring up at the sky as memories of the past flashed in her mind. She leaned back and laid against the wooden floor, jumping slightly in surprise when a hard object dropped onto the porch's planks, making a loud clattering sound. She picked it up, holding it above her head. Her face grew a fond yet sad smile once she saw that it was the green crystal that her golden-haired friend once wore. As a ray of sunlight shone on the shard, Marceline thought back to when she had first came into possession of it.

[Flashback]

[A Few Years Ago]

The dark grey clouds began to disperse, little by little. The speed and amount of rain began to lessen and slow, and soon enough, the downpour stopped and the clouds separated to show the beautiful cerulean sky. An ebony-haired woman who wore a grey top and dark-blue jeans along with scarlet boots stared at a human and magic dog as they walked away from their now former home. She stood away from the sunlight, an amused smirk appeared on her unusually pale-blue face, her fangs poking out from under her lips. She let out a small chuckle and paused when a small, sentient robot caught her eye as it climbed down the ladder that lead to the upper floor. It blinked up at her curiously.

"Hello, my name is BMO. Have you seen Finn and Jake? They were not in their bedroom!" It asked her. She stared at the odd, square piece of machinery for a few minutes before reaching for the adorable thing.

"Heh, the name's Marceline the Vampire Queen. Now come here, cutie!" She smiled, making BMO giggle when she picked him up from under his lanky arms. She turned him around, inspecting every inch of the robot. She poked his sides a bit, her smile growing when she heard the little thing giggle uncontrollably. "What are you?"

"Hahaha! Stop that, it tickles!" BMO managed to say through his laughter, his tiny arms and legs thrashed around as he tried to writhe himself out of the vampire's grip. The woman turned him back onto his front and pressed the big red button on what seemed to be his chest. The video shown on the screen on the robot's top half turned to static as it switched from BMO's laughing face to a list of available options. The Vampire Queen arched an eyebrow as her curiosity was piqued. She saw a game called "Kompy's Castle" and was about to press play, when the screen kept flashing the sentence "Please insert controller". She raised her other eyebrow and saw what she assumed to be the controller on the coffee table. Marceline was about to reach for the object when she spotted something in the corner of her eye. She turned her attention to the side of the "Home Sweet Home" sign nailed to the trunk of the tree. Bark had been chipped off of its surface and sunlight coming in from the window made something glint and reflect the light in her direction.

"What is this?" She muttered to herself, she dropped BMO and moved the sign to the side, using her pointer finger to trail the indentation she felt around the sign. It seemed that it hadn't been bark that was scratched off, but paint. Something had been obscured by paint for years. Marceline stared at the lines until her memory kicked in. Her eyes flashed in realization as memories of her, a pink haired lady and a man went through her head. She placed her hand against the small, hidden, metal door; laughing at the memories. "Now I remember… we always used this as a secret little mailbox just for laughs all those years ago."

She pulled the broken sign off and reached into the door's bent corner, gently prying it open, tearing the paint that hid it off. She waved away the dust that was kicked up by the motion, coughing when some of the tiny particles went into her throat. When the secret cubbyhole was open, she was surprised to see that there was a small red box with a yellowed letter attached to it. Marceline dusted the objects off and put the letter down. She opened the case and saw a beautiful, jadeite necklace strung by a strong black rope and had what seemed to be two small silver bells at each of the jewel's side. She gasped at the familiar piece of jewelry and instantly closed the red case, slowly placing it back down onto the coffee table, scared that at the slightest flinch, the object—along with the item inside it—would break into a thousand pieces. She took the letter and opened it gently, reading the slightly faded and smudged words written inside for answers.

Happy Birthday, Marceline!

Yeah, yeah, I know. After the centuries we've lived through, birthdays aren't all that fun for you anymore. But hey, it's just for good old times' sake, yeah? You didn't think that those promises that I'd let you make me swear were the only things I would give you for your birthday, did you? Today is the 300th year of your life as well as the 300th day since we met for crying out loud! Of course I'd have more than that. Come to think of it… today also means that been nearly one third of a millennia! Ahh, makes me start reminiscing. Heh, we've always been together through thick and thin. You're my first and greatest friend, and because of this, I'm entrusting you with something that is very important to me. My necklace. It's the only thing I have left of my family whom are long gone. It has always protected me from harm many times and I hope that it will do the same for you. I know that you'll keep it safe and I hope that you've had a great birthday.

From your favourite mischievous fox-man, Naruto.

Marceline tightened her grip on the letter slightly, her eyes clenched shut as tears rolled down her cheeks.

[Flashback End]

'If only I could change the past…'

Marceline gritted her teeth and gripped the crystal tightly in her fist. She sat back up and stared at the setting sun as it let out beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. After a few minutes of silence, she let out a heavy breath and stood up, rolling her neck to get rid of a few cricks before making her way towards the cabin door. After all, they still had to plan on how they were going to deal with the wayward vampires. As she walked back into the cabin, however, a small tremor rocked the entirety of Ooo for a moment, leaving certain residents of the planet confused and fearful.