Princess Bubblegum walked into the mine shaft where her workers were excavating. One led her through the maze of rocks and archaeologists, until they arrived at the main area being dug up. It had taken a few hours for her people to clear out a big enough area for her to makeshift a laboratory. A few instruments here and there to examine the wreckage. There had been a cave-in, as far as the Princess could see, but that was not what had caught her attention. What stood before her was a black coffin. It was covered with so much dust it almost looked gray, except in the areas where it had been touched by the workers.
Bubblegum pulled on some rubber gloves and called out to the excavators, "Everyone! I need you all to exit this area so I can experiment." She watched as her people obeyed, and left the site.
The pink Monarch went into scientist mode, and walked over to her tools. She sat down and tuned her heartbeat monitor. There was only one. Bubblegum rolled her chair down the table, and turned on her thermal reader. The coffin was not giving off any heat or containing any. These were both indicating that there was nothing alive in the wooden casket. There was most likely mummified remains inside. Bubblegum clenched her jaw. The only way she would find out was if she opened it up.
The Princess grabbed her notes, walked over to the coffin, and looked over its outside. It couldn't have been more than fifty years old. There was still a hint of clear polish near the underside of the lid. She wiped her gloved hand over its surface, making a swipe through the dust. She wrote down a few notes: The casket has been underground for less than half a century. Surface shows slight decomposition due to being under ruble (rather than soil). A cave-in is a plausible cause for all the loose rocks. Though why this casket is here in the first place is still unknown. Bubblegum set her notes down on a nearby table. If one of her citizen was in the coffin it could open up an investigation for Finn and Jake to handle. She was hoping it wouldn't come to that.
The Monarch turned back to the casket. "Please don't be one of mine," she mumbled and pried open the lid. It roughly popped from the base and swung open, creating a large dust cloud in the process. Coughing, Bubblegum waved her hand around so she could breath. Once the air settled she could see the person inside the casket.
"It's a woman," Bubblegum mumbled as she gazed in slight relief and wonder. The person inside was not made of candy. "She looks calm," she mused to herself and brushed dark locks of hair from the woman's face. "Interesting." Her skin was cold and a blueish-gray color. "I wonder why she's not-"
"Hey!"
Bubblegum jumped back in shock, "oh Glob!"
The woman had opened her eyes and now had a smile pulling at her lips. She stepped out of her coffin and stretched. "Man... how long was I out?" She yawned, showing sharp incisors, then looked around.
Bubblegum stared with disbelief. "A vampire." Her brow furrowed as she looked at the ground. "This can't be," she said, "all of the vampires were killed a long time ago."
Confusion spread over the woman's face as Bubblegum mumbled.
"Are you alright?" The woman asked and reached out a hand.
The Princess stepped back out of reflex. The woman pulled her hand back with a worried look.
"You must be the last vampire then?" Bubblegum asked while she took a few more steps back.
"Um, yeah." The woman's voice was gentle, "Look, I'm not going to hurt you."
Bubblegum studied her for a moment. "What's your name?"
"Marceline," she said frowning, "Marceline the Vampire Queen."
"It is an honor, Queen Marceline." Bubblegum stated.
"No need for formalities, Princess." Marceline said and ran a hand through her dark hair.
"How did you know I was a Princess?" Bubblegum raised an eyebrow at the stranger.
Marceline paused for a moment, "oh, it uh, it's the tiara. I just guessed." She motioned to her head as she spoke.
"Oh." Bubblegum couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something familiar about the woman. She watched Marceline's feet leave the ground. The vampire was floating and now observing her surroundings.
"There was a cave-in, I think," Bubblegum answered what she assumed Marceline was wondering. "My grounds keeper stumbled upon you." There was silence between them as Marceline scanned the area. "My name is Bonnibel," her voice cut through the quiet, "Bonnibel Bubblegum."
Marceline's eyes locked with her's with intensity. There was look to them that Bubblegum couldn't read. "It's a pleasure," she said, her voice low.
"Marceline, is there anyway I could take you back to my kingdom? I'd like to study your attributes in my laboratory."
"Uh, I guess so." The Queen shrugged and looked over her shoulder. "Hey!" She smiled and floated over to her coffin. "My bass!" Bubblegum hadn't noticed the red, double-sided ax-bass. It had been behind Marceline when she was in the casket. The dark haired girl strummed it, in return it sounded twangy and out of tune. Marceline grumbled as she tried to re-tune the strings.
"I may have some equipment that could help with that back in my lab," Bubblegum said.
"Alright, Bonnibel," The Queen sighed, "Let's go."
"Wonderful." Bubblegum smiled and led them out of the mine.
xXx
After a long and silent ride in the carriage, the Princess and the Queen had arrived in the Candy Kingdom. Bubblegum lead Marceline up to her laboratory, an awkward quiet hanging over them. Once at the door, she let the vampire in and sat her down in a chair near her desk.
"I'm going to examine your incisors first," Bubblegum pulled on gloves and grab a tongue depressor, "uh, if that's alright with you."
Marceline nodded. "How long is this going to take?" She asked before opening her mouth for the Monarch.
"A few hours I suppose." Bubblegum mumbled as she pressed the other girl's tongue down. She studied the sharpness of all her teeth. All of them were pointed; her incisors longer than the rest. Classic vampire fangs. "Do you have solenoglyphous fangs?"
"Uh..." Marceline's face scrunched up in a confused expression while the princess continued to study her mouth.
"Are your fangs hollow?" Bubblegum clarified, "can you suck fluids in through them?" She backed away so Marceline could speak.
"Yes, I can do that."
"Wonderful," the Princess stated and wrote in her note book.
Marceline watched her and sighed. "Anything else I can do for you, Princess?" She spoke in a quiet tone and tucked her hands into her lap.
"Actually yes. I'm going to have to ask you to remove your shirt." Bubblegum pointed at the vampire's chest.
Crimson eyes rolled and the Queen chuckled. "Come on, Bonnie. At least take me out to dinner first." Marceline stood and slipped off her shirt, revealing a black sports bra and a toned body.
The nickname the dark haired girl gave her rang in Bubblegum's head."Very funny, Queen Marceline," she smiled politely and stepped over to her, "I just need to examine your muscular structure."
"I told you I don't mind informality." The vampire's voice dropped, Bubblegum was now less than an arm's length away. "You can call me Marcy if you want."
The Princess smiled, "I'll uh, I'll just stick with Marceline." Holding strong eye contact again, the two were silent. Bubblegum was the first to break it. She looked down and cleared her throat. "Is it true that vampires can shapeshift?" Scientist mode was back on and Bubblegum was scanning over the other girl's torso. There were an awful lot of scars scattered on her grey skin.
"Not all," Marceline followed Bubblegum's eyes down near her navel, "only some."
"Where did these come from?" A pink finger lightly traced along a scar that ran diagonally down near her bellybutton.
"Those are a long story that I'd rather not get into right now." Marceline clenched her jaw and looked away.
"I didn't mean to bring up a touchy subject." Bubblegum spoke soft, trying to tread lightly. "Would it be possible to show me all our forms?"
"That would take quite awhile." Marceline looked passed her and read the clock on her desk. "It's kinda late, the sun is going to be up soon." She backed away from the younger girl. "I should probably go so I can get to my house before dawn."
Bubblegum turned to look at the clock. She hadn't realized that the excavation had taken so long. There were still a lot of things she wanted to examine before the vampire left, and if she let her go now, there was no telling if she'd even come back. "Well," Bubblegum chewed on her lip, "you could stay here for the night if you wanted. I'd really like to study more of you; you're the first vampire I've ever encountered."
Marceline's face dropped slightly, "right." She paused for a moment and swallowed thickly. "Okay. I'll uh- spend the night."
"Excellent." A grin spread across the Princess's face. "I'd like to observe your," she yawned mid-sentence, "levitation abilities now, if I may."
"Aren't you tired, Bonnie?" There was that nickname again. "Vampires don't really need to sleep that often. Candy people on the other hand."
"No no, I'm fine." Bubblegum waved a hand and walked to her desk. "I'm going to record more notes," she said as she sat down, yawning once more.
Marceline sighed with a smile and grabbed her shirt. "Can I at least put my shirt back on?" with the go-ahead from the pink scientist, she pulled the fabric back over her head. "Just so you know, I'm not really sure how my floaty powers work." The vampire lifted her feet and began to hover over the ground. She looked around the lab at all of the test tubes, vials and other complicated equipment. "It just kind of happens," she said. "I think up and then I go up. I don't really know how else to explain it." Marceline waited for an answer, and when there was none, she turned around to see Bubblegum asleep on top of her notes. "Oh, Bonnibel." She sighed and floated over to her. With ease she lifted the Monarch into her arms, scooping her up bridal style. Bubblegum grumbled a little and shifted in her arms so her head lay in the crook of Marceline's neck. The Queen opened the door and floated out into the hallway, carefully so as not to disturb the Princess.
"Marceline?" A small voice behind her rang out in the silent castle. She turned around to face the source.
"Peppermint." Marceline chewed on the inside of her cheek as he stared at her for a moment, and then looked at the sleeping girl in her arms.
Peppermint Butler's mouth formed a hard line before he spoke again. "Welcome back." His tone was not welcoming at all, though Marceline nodded in acknowledgment and watched as he turned on his heal. She watched him until he disappeared around a corner. Sighing, the Queen floated through the castle to Bubblegum's bedroom. She opened the door and glided to the bed. Marceline gently laid the other girl down and pulled the covers up to her chin. She lightly tucked a lock of pink hair behind Bubblegum's ear, studying the calmness on her face.
"Goodnight, my Princess," she murmured and turned to leave.
"Marcy, stay."
Marceline spun back around, her undead heart almost jumping into a beat. Though she was quickly deflated; Bubblegum was still asleep.