Chapter XXIX, Various Acquaintances

The world before them constantly shifted, constantly moved in it's own directions, dictated by it's own weird laws, by it's own set of rules. Nothing here was consistent, nothing here was sure. There was nothing left to do but to go onwards in this spinning abyss, despite the pink one's fascination of this weird place. The rocks swirled around the path they moved on, colliding at times and at times simply passing by like flying creatures that just wanted to take a gaze. The princess apparently knew where to go as the little pink crystal, the very same that she snatched from the machine, had a map located deep underneath it's surface. It was only a matter of time before she figured how to turn it on, as the holographic picture showed them the way. It was a good thing that at least one of them knew where to go, as it all looked the same for the little vampire. Every rock, every narrow path, every block and every piece of dust. It was hardly a place full of entertainment, that she knew for a fact. That, and there was nothing alive within this vast space. Nothing at all.

"So Bonnie..." She said eventually as the silence got on her nerves yet again. "I'm a bit confused... Where exactly are we heading to?"

"Well..." The princess said as she tried to wedge her steps the best she could on their narrow path. "Into one of those doorways."

"Doorways? To where?"

"To many places. Worlds like ours Marceline. Like ours, yet a bit different." She shrugged. "But all of them have some kind of twist on them I would say. You cannot count on all of them to be just like ours." The pink one almost felt down but her lover swiftly caught her by the arm. "Thanks." She said as she quickly smooched her lover on the cheek. "Either way, we have to do so to reach our destination, there's like a seventy six percent chance to..."

"Right, right." She pondered about it for a second. "So, we could met ourselves in said words, right?"

"That would be a possibility, yes." The princess scratched her chin. "In some however, there is a possibility that we weren't even born you know."

They moved onwards. The information that Bubblegum gave her however made her thinking. Endless possibilities, endless variations on their little beings. That could provide an interesting outcome. Finally something in this place that was worth knowing about. Something that raised her curiosity as well.

"But in others... we're different." She scratched her pale chin as she decided to talk about it some more. She always was the curious sort. "Wonder if you are a dude in one of those words..."

"Well. Glad to see you're keeping your thoughts on the right track..." The princess hardly thought about her lover's ideas and jests as she jumped from one rock to another. "Perhaps I am? What if?"

"Nothing Bonnie, nothing..."

"Well if you said it already then..."

"Oh..." She grinned like a little urchin as she raised her index finger and flexed it up and down, up and down. "...you know..."

"Marceline, that's..."

On one of the rocks, the assassin stood, gazing at the two calmly. His red eyes were like small lanterns that lightened the way across the void. His hands began to shimmer with fire, as his body trembled a little, almost as if he was ready to attack in any second now. Perhaps that was the case. The girls hardly wanted to experience that on their own skin as they began to run as fast as possible, looking behind from time to time. The pink one knew him very well. Hitman, the very same that had his dealings with Finn and Jake. The very same that had his dealings with numerous others that hardly survived their encounter with him. A vile and dangerous foe. The one that's best to avoid. He sensed fear. He sensed her doubt from miles away. It would made him chuckle, should he was capable of letting out any kind of sound from his slim, horrible body. And with that notion, he finally went off. Was he so sure of himself that he wanted to give the two time for their escape? Or perhaps it was one of his sadistic, games to give someone false hope, just to crush it with one swift move? With one swift flame? Perhaps both, as the black smoke began to chase them down, almost tangling around their feet. He eventually appeared before them and tried to puff a choking smoke right in front of Marceline's face. She deflected it quickly and attempted to punch him in his slim face. The being quickly faded and tangled his weird, twisted body around her, trying to bend and break her body. As she struggled to break free, he began to immolate her body, as he wanted to burn her where she stood. A quick kick in his narrow face ended that procedure however, as the princess marked his forehead with her heel. When his body was tossed away, she grabbed her lover's hand and circled something in the air with the crystal she held. The nearest rift opened and both of them jumped in before he could reach out for them again. Not the wisest idea and Bubblegum knew it all to well. A random world that she knew nothing about. A detour, or a dead end?

###

Eventually the two landed on the other side. The first thing they noticed was the yellow color of everything that surrounded them. Yellow buildings, yellow walls, yellow roads. Everything was yellow. Yellow and smelled of lemons. The slim silhouettes passed them by, looking with both contempt and disgust at their colorful bodies. Almost each and every single one of them resembled Lemongrab in some twisted and weird way. Some of them had beards, some of them had various weird hats. Others even had some hair spewing from their yellow wobbling heads. Either way, they looked weird, obscure and apparently this very world belonged to them. That very notion terrified the princess a little bit. A world ruled by the likes of Earl. Now that was something she hardly looked forward to.

"Where are we?"

"In another word, silly."

"Yeah, but..." The vampire looked at all the yellow things. "It's kind off, well, weird."

"To yellow for your tastes?" The princess giggled. "I know, I know, you prefer it to be red."

"Yeah. Still, what now Bub-bubs?"

"Now? Now we have to get out of here. Just let me..." She pulled out the crystal. "Ah. We're here." She pointed with her pink finger on the right spot on the map "...and we need to get riiiight here."

Now, where was that spot, it was hard to tell. The world obviously looked different with all the lemon contraptions lying around and all the lemon people just passing them by. As much as Bonnibel disliked the idea, the only possible solution in this case was to actually ask one of the inhabitants of this weird word for directions. She knew that never worked with Earl. With them? She figured that some things hardly ever change. Still, she preferred to leave the actual talk to her lover. She had her share of sour talks.

"Hello there!" The pale one tapped the first one that came around by on the shoulder. He looked just like Earl but with long, swirly mustache. "Can I ask you something?"

"Nhhh..." He shook his head, quite displeased. "If you must. Candy things and other things like you. Ugh. Should be restrained to their place." He wanted to spit on the ground, still, the lemons are hardly capable of doing such things, therefore he almost slurred his shirt. "But if you must, ask, ask. Some say we should all be... equal. Nhhh."

"Right. So we want to find the fastest way to... um." She pointed on the shining spot on Bubblegum's map. "There and..."

"Outsider!" The lemon being began to scream out loud as others passing by joined in, creating a true cacophony of high pitched nonsense. "Outsider, no, no, no lemon ways for outsiders, no, candy things and other things, not capable, no, no, not capable of traveling the lemon tram, no, no, no! Disrespectful! Unacceptable, no, no, no! Not to the Lemon Palace, no, no, no!"

"Hm..." The vampire smirked. She knew her ways around with people. And lemon is still a lemon – easy to convince. Easy to fool. "Of course we won't go there. But, can you show us where is this... forbidden place? For us to, you know... avoid it of course!"

"I... well." The lemon calmed down, and so did the others. "Of course. Yes. That is understandable. That is acceptable. For you to avoid. Yes. There." He pointed with his yellow finger and swirled his mustache. "Through the street of Lemon Joy, right next to the path of Lemon Grace, within the Lemon Juice, right through the Lemon Cup. The Lemon Tram is next to Lemon Tasteful Coffee Without Much Caffeine Since Caffeine Is Bad For Lemons. Then, you shouldn't go through the Lemon Tram Of Glory, towards the Lemon Station Number As Grand As One Which Is Two that will lead you towards the Lemon Palace." He wobbled his head around and nodded. "Have a nice day not going there. Yes. Good that some of you know their places."

Obviously, there was only one thing to do. As soon as he vanished by the corner, as soon as the rest stopped paying any kind of attention to them, they rushed through the lemon streets, right towards said tram. Getting in through the front door was out of the picture, therefore the girls sneaked in unnoticed, passing by numerous lemon patrols, guards and citizens. Not that they were hard to fool. Lemons are hardly known for their sight. And their brains. As soon as the two got inside, they found themselves a spot placed a bit further, where no one was around. Where no one paid any kind of attention towards them. Getting on the tram through one of his many entrances? No, that would never worked. Instead, they planned on boarding it from a different, more thrilling angle. The one that the pale one quite enjoyed.

"So..." Marceline chuckled a little. She obviously hardly liked to abandon some topics that raised her curiosity to a certain level. "...wonder if we're lemons in this world as well." A smirk appeared on her face. "Wonder if you taste like sweet lemonade in this world, or are you more sour..."

"You like to go on and on with this, don't you?"

"Yep." She looked at the railroad. "I think our ride is coming. Hold on tight."

"Tight?" The princess chuckled a little. "How tight?"

"That's the spirit!"

As Bubblegum hold onto her, the vampire grabbed the handle of one of the doors and they both found themselves pulled by the train's motion as soon as it moved. Her grip was strong enough however to withstand the vehicle's pressure. She eventually managed to drag both her and her lover in between the wagons as they both found their way inside. There, numerous lemon people looked at them again with much hardly hidden disgust and began to scream loudly as the two tried to find a spot free from pesky glimpses. They obviously hardly thought this one through. Eventually they somewhat succeeded in getting away from everyone's sight, as they sat near the calm lemon lady dressed in black. She raised her eyebrow as soon as they came, tapping her foot on the ground a couple of times. After much staring, she finally decided to talk.

"Oh, right. Hello. You two look... different." She looked at them with her big, yellow eyes. There was much curiosity within them. That, and she looked different than the other lemons, almost humane. Her hair also looked like sliced pieces of lemons with pieces of green added for good measure. She looked quite young, despite her laced dress. "Not that I mind difference, oh, no, no."

She cough a couple of times, almost as if she wanted to indicate something and once again, she began to stare right at them. Yes, she surely was a lemon like the rest of them. The princess clearly saw many similarities to her own creations in her movements. Some things were different however.

"So, where are you from exactly?" She nonchalantly flipped her little handkerchief. "I'm asking since I would like to know, not because you're different, oh no. I don't have anything about the differences, oh no, no." She quickly shook her head as she blew her nose. Hardly with style she posed to have. "Hope you're not offended. Oh, hope not, sorry, sorry in advance. Oh. Sorry."

"No, no, calm down." The pink one said, still looking left and right if no one spies on them. "We're not offended, no."

"Oh, that's well. That's well. And why are you here?"

"We're just passing by..." The vampire smirked. "Towards the Lemon Palace."

"Oh, that's swell, that's swell. But kind off impossible." She scratched her yellow chin a couple of times to contemplate for a little bit. "You see, that place is off limits. By all standards. Off limits. To non lemons. Yes."

"Know anyone who can help us with that then?"

Help someone. Now that was a weird notion in the land of lemons. Mostly people aid each other only in the greatest times of needs, when they had some kind of benefit for themselves. Some kind of reward. Or other pleasant thing. But to help just like that, without reason? Now that was a weird thought. Thrilling even for the lemon lady.

"Help you..." She blinked a couple of times. "Oh, now that would be something weird to do. Weird and silly. Weird and weird." She scratched her chin once again. "Weird and weird indeed. But, why not. Why not. I would tell you that..."

They were swiftly interrupted by one of the lemons. This one looked, as previously, exactly like Earl, only his uniform hardly could be considered as fancy. His bow tie was enormous on the other hand, and it made Marceline giggle almost instantly. The lemon lady on the other hand blinked a couple of times as she looked at him. She saw so many lemons that one more was hardly a surprise for her. Unlike the two wondrous beings before her. They were something new, something fresh. Not dull, that's for sure.

"Oh. Right. Hello there."

"Nhhh... Yes. Greetings." He gazed at the two girls, then turned his head back at her. "Those aren't lemons. Non lemons aren't allowed into the lemon tram."

"Oh." She took off her glove as she began to shuffle around her purse. "But I assure you that they are lemons. As lemon lemons as you can possibly get."

"They hardly look as lemons."

"Oh, but they are, they are." She finally found the thing she looked for. "See? Two lemon passports for them, see? As lemon as you can get, yes."

He looked at them closely. Then looked once more. Then he tried to somehow lighten up the pictures. After that, he took out his glasses and gazed once more. If lemon had veins, they would surely appear on his yellow forehead, as he thought so much that his head looked like it was about to explode any second now.

"They don't match the pictures."

"Oh you know, mister lemon, people change, people change all the time, lemons change, yes. Our rulers even tell us that lemons can and should develop and change and..."

"Nhhh... Fine. Fine." He still looked at the two suspiciously. "One day someone will have enough of your tricks miss and then..."

"Oh, obviously, one day will come, not this day however, not when I'm having so much joy with my lemon friends mister lemon." She nonchalantly shooed him off. "Now, off you go, do your bidding mister lemon, come on now."

She waved once again towards him. He eventually left, muttering something to himself. Death threats perhaps. Perhaps something more sinister in vile. One could only guess. The lemon lady hardly cared about that however, as she flicked her fingers around.

"Thanks."

"Yeah." The vampire nodded and smirked. "That was nice of you."

"Don't mention it." She put on her glove and hid the lemon guard's walled right in her little purse. A slick individual she was it would seem. "So, back to our little topic. Yes. I can help you. Yes."

"Don't find it offensive but..." The princess asked suspiciously. "...why?"

"Oh, and why not?" Lime shrugged. "I were always the bad lemon on the tree. Or, at least they said I were. I don't know. That, and I'm a lime. Not a full lemon you see." She tapped her fingers over her knee. "Not that it matters. But oh, oh. What to call you two? Or you and you as individuals?"

"Bonnibel."

"Marceline."

"Oh. Nice names. Short ones." She blinked a couple of times. "I like them. Yes."

"And yours?"

"Oh, you wouldn't remember my name." She shrugged once again. "No lemon remembers the name of other lemon. Silly rules. Oh. Silly."

"We can try you know..."

"No, no need. Just call me Lime. Miss Lime if you wish and feel the need for titles. But I assure you, I don't find them needful." She vigorously shook her head. "Oh, no I don't, I don't at all."

The rest of their little journey was rather pleasing and quiet, as Miss Lime gazed at them constantly. She apparently never saw something like them in her entire life, and that very notion made her quite excited. Or, at least as excited as she could get, since her face still looked rather emotionless, so did the pupils in her eyes. She was overall a strange being in a strange world. She hardly belonged here in the first place, as she never quite understood what's so grand in the lemon ways. To be fair however, she hardly ever understood anything at all. Aside from pickpocketing. She excelled at that. Either way, they finally reached their destination. Before they got out of the tram, she labeled the two with little yellow sheets of paper which had one simple word written on them. Lemon. Would that be enough? The princess normally would doubt that, but she knew the lemon people all to well. She knew that they're hardly the most thoughtful sorts. The city itself however, or rather the center of it looked wondrous. The high lemon towers almost pierced the very sky above, numerous crowds poured from each and every gaping hole, minding their own business. The fountains on the pathways poured something that looked like a lemon juice, and the occasional sculptures also looked rather majestically.

"Welcome to the center of the city of... lemons. Yes."

She swirled around almost in a mesmerizing dance. The girls simply looked at each other. They just trusted both their lives and the success of their mission to this weird and strange person. One could say it was quite the usual matter, still, there was something in her that made them want to go as far from this little lime as possible.

"Oh, you two would like some snacks perhaps? We have..." She paused for a while and looked at them. "Well. Lemons." Once again, she blinked a couple of times as she looked at the princess. "I do wonder. How your hair taste like? Can I taste them? Can I? Oh, I offended you once again, didn't I? Oh, sorry, oh, oh..."