Old World Blues Chapter: 5.
Considering the size of the recently swelled party, Finn and Jake had thought it best to rustle-up enough provisions for their journey to Monolith Island, taking a quick detour to the tree for in order to supply. However, the question of its location had the sane members of the fellowship puzzled.
"Monolith Island?" Questioned Finn, hauling great stacks of sausages and cheese wheels out the front door.
"Dude, that place sounds sweet! Hey Jake how come we never heard of it before, I bet it's got lotsa sweet dungeon plunder!"
Jake, who was moving out the remaining two knapsacks of food and bedding in the guise of a bulldozer, did his best to answer.
"Dunno man, its not like we plan our dungeon crawls. Oh! You think Monolith Island is full of monoliths? Finn, I'm always telling you we need a monolith the living room."
Finn smiled, flashing a gangster pose.
"We need a lump of stone because we ROCK so hard!"
Ice King stood outside, surveying the hero's digs as the Vampire Queen hovered next to him. He called out to them in an excited, child-like manner.
"Ah, don't pack any gherkins guys, I hate gherkins. They give me wind, and well…that causes issues when you where this kind of get up." He then turned to Marceline, shyly prying apart his beard and pushing it back together.
"Heh, this baddy won't know what hit him! Check out these sweet moves Marceline Hoo-cha!"
Ice King stuck out a skinny blue leg from under his robes, and then tilted back on his heels, thrusting it as high as it would go.
The karate kick (for that's what Ice King had intended it to be) found its mark, arcing upwards into his face with a wet 'thud'.
Marceline had to look away as she bore witness the shambling actions of what had once been Simon Petrikov, hopping around with his foot wedged in his face by the toenails.
"Aw geeze, oh no…" Ice king squawked, flailing his hands around, then stood still upon his one leg and scratched at his chin, deep in thought, all the while the foot stuck fast across his icicle of a nose.
"You know something's not quite right with the move but I just can't put it into words. Ah well!"
"Just…don't,…" sighed Marceline in the kindest way she could manage.
Turning away the straw hat she wore cast her sheek opal hair in an even darker shade of black, yet somehow it succeeded in the opposite effect, giving her a sheen of radiance that could have reflected her innermost caring nature.
One might have thought her dead heart, hanging motionless inside her ribcage was beating afresh for the first time in centuries, giving the Vampire Queen a new vitality.
Then she turned back to Ice King and the moment passed. He caught her eye.
"Hey baby impressed yet?" He said coolly, foot still plastered in face.
"Oh my Glob Simon will you just give it a REST!"
She still wasn't used to seeing him like this, and deep down she knew she would never come to grips with it.
And then Solomon was besides them.
Marceline hadn't even heard him approach, so quick his land speed must have been to warrant the surprise.
"We are almost ready to depart." He grated, swiveling his fractured, bandaged hand to point to a forested road in the distance.
"It is important that we take the low roads. This will lead us down to sea level with minimal encounter probability."
The battered warrior then presented the clay flowerpot with its occupant daisy.
"Tim informs me that the soil of the marsh levels do not contain many nutrients and so can't support an eco-system. We should be able to pass through without attack."
Tim whiffled his petals up to Marceline's increasingly souring face.
"I've got a bachelorette in agriculture!" Tim beamed.
"OH, you do, do you?" She smiled evilly, making no effort to hide the fangs that filled her mouth like chainsaw blades.
Marceline flipped forward in her levitation, so that her darkening face was level to observe the small flower's shivers brought on by fear.
She licked her teeth with a forked tongue, chuckling sadistically. The thought process now buzzing in the more malicious part of her mind was that if she couldn't make Solomon shake in his boots, she'd do the next best thing to his companion. Just to make a point of course. It was doubtful she'd have traumatized the daisy if the stupid little thing were on its own.
"You know I could do with a nice salad right now…" She hissed, taking pleasure in the way that Tim's petals started to quake. Now, if she could just nip a single petal off the little daisy, one of the smaller white things on it's topmost edge, that would illustrate her point perfectly that the Vampire Queen didn't take any sass.
The fangs came in closer, but just as they reached their critical juncture she was suddenly distracted from her defiance by two luminous golden fingers that suddenly hovered between her eyes. Marceline's face twitched then a second later reformed in to an angry scowl as she realized her jostling with Solomon had come to threats.
"You hesitate in bullying a defenseless sapling." The warrior said with a voice of such utter contempt it seemed that he wanted to be pushed over the edge.
"Why is this? Could it be because I have charged in my hand the divine spell 'Searing Light', capable of warding off most undead beings with a Hit-Stat of below three?"
Marceline turned her full attention on Solomon, ready to contort her pretty ashen face into something grotesque.
"But you're too strong for that aren't you. Albeit prepared at its lowest level I judge its discomfort to be equal to that you are prepared to cause to Tim. All I ask is for your co-operation."
"OH, big man! You should know that the pain just makes me feel more alive!"
She raised her sharpened fingers at his head but by this time, both Finn and Jake were peering anxiously over to where their fight was about to break out, a look of genuine horror wrinkling their faces. If Marceline had to guess it was because of the more pressing matter at hand. If half of their fellowship got taken out before they even set off then Dagon the Obyrith Lord would have an even greater advantage than the one he currently held.
A fine sweat was breaking out over Tim's pollen-clad face.
Even if Marceline pounded Solomon into beef jerky, she would eventually need his help in the boss-battle to come. She would have to swallow her pride for the time being.
"Yeah fine, you're no fun." Marceline spat, turning in the air and floating over to where Finn and Jake were dragging over the huge knap-sacks.
"But just so you know, I'm helping my BUDS out, then I'm gone. OK. I don't follow orders, I dish em out and when you're nothing but bones, you're gonna find out all about that!"
Her words were as harsh as they were provocative, but Solomon stood firm.
He instead raised his arm, and by telekinetic force alone pulled Ice King's foot free from its painful 180-degree angle.
"OW! …Not so rough …HEY!." He exclaimed, wheeling round to face his adversary."
"I saw Marceline FIRST do you hear! What with Bubblegum turning our relationship into a 'will they won't they' deal, I need backup options!"
"You are strange." Solomon boomed, walking up to Finn and shouldering a bulging bag of supplies.
"When and if we survive this quest, I suggest you seek medical attention."
His full plate armor agleam in the afternoon heat, Solomon had just taken it upon himself to lead the company off when Jake stopped him, a noodily arm snagging his shoulder.
"Wait up dude. We gotta lock the door first. Wouldn't want any thieves coming and taking our things while we're away…or BMO."
From high above in the leaves of the tree fort, a lattice opened, revealing the small boxy frame of B.M.O, waving her heroes off.
"It's funny because I'm a liability!" She hollered.
"Good bye brave adventurers, Oh! Finn, Bring me back a 'biiiggg' ruby ring from the doubtless treasure chest and I use for the make believe of the marriage!, if you please, would not mind."
"Will do B.M.O!" Shouted Finn, and then turned to the path that lay before him, sword drawn.
"Yo Jake, let's scout it out! "
In an instance Jake had expanded himself under Finn and was running toward the tree tunnel on the horizon.
"Hey dude, we should sing our scouting rap!"
"Oh Yeah! I'd totally forgotten about that!"
"Scouting is dull, cos it's not a real fight, cos, we're just Looking Around, and, you know that ain't right! I gotta have some action Now, gotta have it real hot gotta have it real loud, NO reconnaissance!"
Jake hummed to himself in thought for a moment before turning to Finn.
"I still think we should made the rap about all the good things to do with scouting."
"Nah man, they'd be expecting that, we're making a point…er…cos it's art."
Marceline hovered after the bodacious brothers, anxious to keep some distance away from Ice King who started hiking next to the stoic figure of Solomon.
"Just us bachelors hey? That's cool, that's cool. So like you seen much action lately you 'Play-ya' cos the women must dig dose scar blows! Heh…Am I right?"
Solomon simply glanced at Ice King before silently matching Marceline's pace.
It would be a day traveling at least before they reached the beachhead.