"What the hell are you doing here?" Marshall asked, getting in a fighting stance.
"I'm not here to fight you. Well... not right now, anyways." He said as he slammed the knife he was holding down on the table and got in Marshall's face. "You imprisoned me a long time ago. You betrayed me at the last moment! We were partners in that war! We fought side by side!" He yelled.
Xavier backed up a few steps as he composed himself and looked at the ground. "I guess brotherhood means nothing to you." He whispered sadly.
Marshall stayed silent for a moment. "What we were doing was wrong." He said softly, his eyes downcast.
"Wrong?!" Xavier asked in an incredulous voice. "The remaining humans that didn't get changed were trying to kill us! They were trying to 'cleanse the world of unholy and mutant creatures'!" He yelled.
Marshall's eyes flared with rage. "And what did we do?! We turned into monsters like them! We were killing off the last remaining humans when we should have been saving or relocating them! Now there aren't any left!" He yelled.
Xavier laughed. "Don't lie to me. I know there is one left. And you're dating 'it'." He gaged. "What? Is it out of pity? Do you feel bad for what you did?"
"NO! SHUT UP!" He yelled, grabbing his head and shaking it, trying to get rid of the screams that echoed throughout his mind. He was on the verge of tears and guilt gnawed inside of him. Those memories haunt him everyday and they become the worst when he falls asleep. At times he dreads falling sleep. He was a monster.
Xavier laughed evilly. "Look at how pathetic you've gotten. And you even have the nerve to call yourself the Vampire King!"
Marshall looked at him with his demon eyes. "And this is why I imprisoned you. You're a cruel and sadistic bastard. Even after I called off the war because the humans promised to stop killing any mutated creatures if we stopped killing them. And what did you do? You went behind my back and killed them!"
"Cruel and sadistic?" Xavier laughed. "I was trying to protect the Nightosphere! I was protecting the people inside of it! Unlike you! You betrayed us all!"
"I did what was right! And I regret nothing! Now get out!" Marshall yelled, shaking with rage.
"I'm not done with you yet. Since I'm such a generous person, I'll warn you before hand. I'm gathering an army of all the people that hate you, mainly, all the people you imprisoned after you called off the war."
Marshall's eyes widened. "How did you even get out?" He whispered.
"Do you remember that every one hundred years, the Nightosphere and the land of Aaa turns completely dark as a remembrance of The Great Mushroom War? Of the beginning of even worse days to come?"
Marshall stiffened and his mouth slightly gaped open.
Xavier laughed. "Of course you do. On that day, when I finally broke out, I was going to kill you because I knew you would get weak from it. That the sadness that filled you, the memories that resurfaced and tormented you on that day, would make you weak. I too, felt like you did until the humans tried to kill us. Then, I began to be filled with hate, and soon, I was engulfed by it. So every time the land goes black, the hatred inside of me is reawakened and I gain power. It wasn't until now that I realized the extent of my power. But when I finally did, I took the chance to break out of the eternal hell you put me in."
Marshall couldn't believe it. Panic started to rise into his throat and he couldn't speak.
"Anyway, the only reason I didn't kill you that day was because killing you when you're weak won't be as fulfilling. And since I'm such a generous person, I'm giving you a fair chance to gather your own little army. And I mean little because I doubt anyone likes you." Xavier laughed. "Within two days, we'll attack, killing both you and your precious human."
"I swear Xavier, if you touch even one hair on her head, I will rip you in half and feed you to the hellhounds!" Marshall yelled, lunging at Xavier.
Xavier dodged Marshall, grabbed and slammed him into the ground. "That's not very nice. For that, I will kill her right in front of you." He whispered in Marshall's ear. And with that, he was gone.
Marshall got up and flew as fast as he could towards the tree house. He burst in through the door and both Fionna and Cake jumped off the couch.
"Marshall, what's wrong?" Fionna asked, concern filling her eyes.
"I can't tell you right now, just come with me." He said, his voice filled with despair. He grabbed Cake and Fionna and headed towards the Candy Kingdom, the only place that he could think of that could keep Fionna safe.
Marshall flew into Gumball's castle uninvited and desperately looked around until he finally found Gumball.
"Gumball, even though it pains me to say this, I need your help." Marshall said as he floated down towards Gumball.
"Whats going on?" Gumball asked, suddenly alarmed. Marshall had never asked him for help and he never thought that he would either.
"My brother escaped the jail I imprisoned him in and he's coming with an army to kill me. He also threatened to kill Fionna. I need you to hide Fionna in the safest place you have." He said urgently as he placed Fionna and Cake down. He turned around and started to float towards the window to go and find an army.
"Wait!" Gumball yelled. "I thought you wanted my help! I'll get my army assembled for you!"
Marshall stopped in his tracks and he turned towards Gumball with wide eyes. "Wait... Wha? But don't you hate me?"
"You're insufferable sometimes and can be rather annoying and childish, but you need help. I just can't stand here and let you die without a fight."
Marshall's jaw dropped.
Fionna grabbed his hand. "You know, you're not as hated as you think."
He smiled fondly at her and intertwined their hands.
Gumball stared at them. "Y-you're dating?! Are you serious, Fionna?" He asked, turning towards her with an astonished look.
"You jealous?" Marshall asked, smirking at Gumball. "Too bad she's mine." He said mockingly, wrapping his arm around her. But then he stopped and backed away from her. Even though Gumball was willing to help him, Marshall knew that his brother always played dirty. So when, and if the time came when his brother somehow managed to threaten all the lives of the candy people, he would sacrifice himself. And if that happened, Fionna would be emotionally devastated and would probably try to avenge him. She would also want to fight by his side, but he wouldn't let that happen. So he needed to give her a reason to hate him. He was going to have to hurt her no matter how much it hurt him.
Marshall saw Gumball's face turn serious. "Marshall can I talk to you for a minute?" Gumball asked, stepping out into the hall. Marshall followed.
"Now, you already know what I'm going to say, right?" Gumball asked.
Marshall nodded sadly.
"If you really love her and want to keep her safe, you're going to have to let her go and give her a reason to stay away from you. I'll let you go talk to her as I arrange my army." He said, putting a hand on Marshall's shoulder and giving him a pained look before swiftly walking past him.
"Guards!" Gumball yelled. "Gather up the army. A war is about to happen." He said curtly.
Marshall looked behind him at Gumball. This was the first time that he ever saw Gumball this serious. He had such a powerful air of authority around him as he strutted down the hallway, talking to one of his guards that was trying to keep up with Gumball's pace. He smiled at the fact that Gumball was willing to help him. It was something that he would never forget.
Marshall slowly flew into the room, his shoulders hunched. He grabbed Fionna's hand and led her outside the room and into the hall.
"I'll help you." She said softly.
He sadly smiled down at her.
"Fionna, I'm sorry I let it get this far. A vampire and human don't belong together. Ever." Marshall said, emphasizing on the word 'ever'. "I should have stopped this a long time ago, but my boredom got the best of me and I thought that one more day of messing around with you wouldn't hurt. It was all a game, a joke. And like a game that has been played a while, it gets boring. So what do you do when that happens? You throw it away. That's as simple as I can put it for you. Goodbye." He said, shrugging his shoulders as if it was no big deal for him to say that, but in truth, it felt as if he was standing in front of the sun and he couldn't get away. Actually, even worse than that.
Fionna stared at him, devastated. He saw her lip tremble and her eyes began to glaze over with tears. Fionna clutched her hands and tried to compose herself. "I know you're lying. I know you love me and I love you. You wouldn't do that." She said, her voice trembling.
His eyes widened for a split second at what she just said. He felt a warmth spread throughout his chest and he shook his head. He tried to brush off the words so he wouldn't slip up and apologize, telling Fionna that he didn't mean anything he said.
Marshall got in her face, giving her his meanest smirk.
"You don't know me as well as you think you do. My brother and I were in a war a long time ago and we slaughtered the last remaining humans. They were killing off vampires and any other creatures that they deemed weird and unholy. They were going to invade the Nightosphere. I killed them Fionna. Every last one of them. I'm a monster because I regret nothing. I enjoyed every scream I heard, every body that fell to the ground. Even after they said that they would stop, we still killed them because their blood tasted so good." Marshall lied. He never once drank the blood of a human because he didn't want to be like the person who transformed him. He brought up a hand to his neck and touched his bite marks that wouldn't go away no matter what he did.
Fionna stood there frozen, staring at Marshall with wide eyes. She couldn't talk, her mouth going dry. He killed off my kind, she thought to herself. He's the reason why I'm the last human alive. Thoughts like that began to race through her head and her heart began to beat faster.
Marshall smirked at her. "Did it finally get through your head?"
All of a sudden, something snapped inside of Fionna. "Enough." She said curtly. She looked at Marshall with fire in her eyes. "I know you're lying, so just stop it you freak. For once, can't you just drop it? There is a chance you could die and I don't want this to be the last memory I have of you."
Marshall's expression faltered, but he quickly regained it and called one of the guards over, telling him to take Fionna to one of the safe houses located in the castle. The guard grabbed her and started pulling her away. Fionna tried to get out of the guards grip, but Marshall gave him a look that told the guard to get a better grip on her and keep pulling her away.
As Fionna was dragged away, Marshall decided to make one last final blow for good measure. "I know hope dies last in your species, but this is ridiculous. Stop living in a fantasy and finally face reality. I don't love you and I never did. I'm a vampire, I can't feel something like love."
Marshall turned around so Fionna couldn't see the tear that slid down his face as he walked away from her.
He got back into the room and by then, he was trembling. More tears had fallen and he felt dead inside.
Cake came up beside him. "You did the right thing, baby." She said as she patted his back, sadness filling her eyes because she knew how bad this hurt must him.
Marshall wiped the tears of his face and locked away his feelings when he heard Gumball come up from behind him. He turned towards Gumball with an emotionless face.
Gumball looked at Marshall for a few seconds with a grimace on his face. He stopped himself because he knew that Marshall didn't like pity, let alone to be pitied. He shook his head and focused on the real problem.
"The army is arranged Marshall. I'll be fighting by your side, as well as Lord Monochromicorn."
"Count me in too." Cake said, raising her hand as she went to stand by Lord Monochromicorn's side.
Marshall felt his eyes glazing over with new tears. He had never cried this much before. He thought that no one could even stand to look at him, let alone be around him. Yet here he was, with people willing to fight with him.
"You have no idea how grateful I am to you guys. I'll never forget this." He said, looking at each of them.
Cake and Gumball just smiled at him and Lord Monochromicorn tapped the ground. "Now, go get some rest. You look like you need it." Gumball said as he rested his hand on Marshall's shoulder and then walked out of the room.
"Ye-." Marshall began but stopped abruptly. His acute hearing picked up on a noise. It sounded like the marching of at least a thousand people. Marshall felt anger bubble up inside of him. "That bastard!" He yelled. "He said he would give me two days! But what should I have expected from someone like him." He muttered bitterly.
"Marshall, what's going on?" Gumball asked, concerned.
"The war has started." Marshall said curtly, with a grim look on his face.
Just as Marshall said that, one of Gumball's guards came running into the room. "Sir, we've spotted a large group of people from the Nightosphere coming towards us. Should we bring out the army?" He asked.
"Yes." Gumball confirmed.
"Thank you guys again and good luck. I'll try my best to protect you all." Marshall said and then turned and flew out the window, his face hard. It was time to put an end to all of this. His brother not only threatened his life, but he also threatened those of the people he cared for and made him hurt the person he loved the most. For that, he was going to pay dearly.
The army was assembled outside and he flew to the front of it. He was impressed, it was huge and well equipped. There were cannons, swords, and even flame throwers. Each soldier was covered from head to toe with armor and they had at least one weapon strapped to their belts.
Xavier suddenly appeared from the forest and he clapped. "Well well, I'm impressed. You actually managed to gather an army of people made of sugar. I don't know how more pathetic you can get." He said tauntingly.
Marshall couldn't help but laugh. He remembered all the various ways he got thrown out of Gumball's castle and the Kingdom when he pulled pranks on him and the candy people. Some ways were more painful than others and in most cases, he would leave with bruises and sometimes even cuts. "I don't know about that." Marshall said. "They might be made of sugar, but they can handle themselves pretty well."
"We'll see about that." Xavier said as he transformed into a bat and flew at Marshall with full speed.
Marshall dodged him and flew up into the air. In the corner of his eye he saw that Xavier's army had already attacked. He saw some of the candy people fall and he cringed. Then he saw Cake stretching herself as far as she could and start to squish and push aside some of the Nightosphere creatures. Gumball was at the canons giving instructions on how and where to position the canons to get the full amount of impact. Lord Monochromicorn twisted himself around a large group and squeezed them. The creature's faces turned red and they desperately tried to get out of Lord Monochromicorns grip. Eventually they stopped moving. He smiled and hoped that they wouldn't get hurt.
Marshall felt pain course through his side and he fell a good couple of feet in the air before he managed to regain his balance. He looked down and saw blood seeping through his shirt and he bared his fangs at his brother as he morphed into his bat form. Marshall flew at Xavier as fast as he could, punching him in the face. As his brother cringed from the pain and covered his cheek, Marshall grabbed him and flew towards the ground. As they got closer, Marshall braced himself for the impact as he crushed his brother against the ground. He heard a crack and his brother yelled in pain.
Even though Marshall had time to brace himself, pain still racked through his body. He rolled over with a groan. By the time he was able to get up, his brother was gone. "Show yourself you coward!" He yelled.
"Up here." His brother responded quickly.
Marshall snapped his head up and he felt his heart skip a beat and dread course through his body. In Xavier's arms, Fionna struggled to get out his grip. He held her with one hand and in the other, there was a knife.
"How did you find her?" He blurted out, suddenly filled with rage.
"Oh, I have my ways." Xavier said, swinging the blade around.
Marshall took a step towards him but then stopped when Xavier put the blade up to Fionna's throat. "This blade has a vile of poison in it. All I need to do is make one small cut on her and she'll be dead." Xavier said in a taunting voice.
He laughed when Marshall's face dropped and all the color seemed to drain from it. "Now, I have a proposition for you. If you surrender now, I will tell my army to back down and let her and everyone else live."
"DON'T DO IT MARSHALL!" Fionna yelled. "Don't surrender! I don't want to see you die!" She said, her voice cracking. Tears spilled in rivers down her face.
"Shut up you disgusting creature!" Xavier yelled.
Marshall held his breath as more pressure was put on the blade at Fionna's neck. "Fionna, I want you to know that everything I said earlier was a lie. I do love you and because of that, I would rather die than have anything happen to you. I'm sorry." He said, looking helplessly at her.
He changed back into his human form. "Alright." Marshall said in a defeated voice. "I give up."
Xavier smiled and flew to the ground. He set Fionna down on the grounf because both her hands and feet were bound so she couldn't run away.
He smiled sadistically at her. "Now watch as I kill him, you pathetic creature. Remember that you and your kind are the reason that Nightosphere creatures died. And now, Marshall will be added to the list because of you."
Fionna looked at him with wide eyes. She could feel pain and guilt start to course through her even though she knew that she wasn't the reason why Xavier wanted to kill Marshall.
She began to struggle against the ropes, trying to reach her crystal sword that was tucked away in her shoe. She bent her legs as much as she could as she reached for the sword. The ropes painfully rubbed against her wrists as she stretched her hands.
"I'm going to enjoy this." Xavier said as he forced Marshall to his knees, grabbing his hair and jerking his head up, exposing his neck. He brought the knife closer to Marshall's neck and was about to pierce it with the poisonous blade but stopped when a sharp pain shot through his leg. He dropped the sword and looked down at his leg. A small crystal sword was embedded in it and he held back a scream as he pulled it out.
He turned towards Fionna with his face contorted in rage.
Marshall took the chance to grab Xavier and push him to the ground, but before Marshall could pin him there, Xavier plunged the sword into Marshall's side. Marshall rolled onto his side, groaning from the pain.
Xavier laughed maniacally at Marshall and then turned his attention to Fionna. He grabbed his blade from the ground and ran towards her. She dodged his attack and tried to fight back, but without her sword, it was no use. In the corner of her eye, she saw that Marshall had pulled out the sword and the wound was closing up. She was relieved and more than happy that Marshall had the ability to heal fast. But she knew that as long as she was alive, Marshall would die. So Fionna put on a determined look and managed to knock the blade out of Xavier's hand.
"I'm done with you using me as blackmail!" She yelled at him.
She looked at Marshall and mouthed 'I love you' before taking the blade and cutting her arm. She fell to the ground and began to convulse.
"Fionna!" Marshall yelled in anguish. He got up and grabbed Xavier's hand and twisted it around. He twisted Xavier's arm until he heard a cracking noise. He ripped it off and threw it on the ground. He no longer was somewhat human. His animal instincts took full control of his body and his vision turned red around the edges. He repeatedly hit Xavier until he was a bloody, unconscious mess. He got up, took Fionna's crystal sword and stabbed it through Xavier's heart.
He stood above Xavier's body, breathing heavily. "If she dies, I will find your soul and send it to the deepest part of the Nightosphere where you can never escape and feel the same pain from tonight for the rest of eternity." Marshall promised to Xavier's unmoving body. He turned on his heel and was quickly by Fionna's side. She was still convulsing, so Marshall still had a chance to save her. He grabbed her and the knife and found Gumball amongst the fighting candy people.
"Gumball!" He cried desperately. "Help her! She cut herself with this poisoned knife!" He yelled carefully handing the knife over to Gumball.
Gumball nodded his head in understanding and ordered one of the guards that was helping with the cannons to carry Fionna into the lab. They quickly left into the castle.
Marshall turned into his bat form and focused on the fighting below. His stomach churned as he heard screams from both the candy people and the Nightosphere creatures. It looked like the war that happened years ago, the one that still haunts him to this day. But this time, he was determined to do what was right. He flew down into the midst of the battle and started fighting. He never fought as hard as he did that day. Eventually, the remaining Nightosphere creatures started to retreat, but Marshall was quicker than them. He blocked their escape and mumbled a spell that he learned a long time ago while exploring the library in his father's room. A light engulfed the creatures and then they disappeared back into the Nightosphere jail, this time to the lower depths to make sure that they wouldn't get out.
At first, everyone was silent, still registering the fact that they had won. But then, everyone began to cheer, raising their weapons in the air. Marshall smiled down at them, mentally thanking them as he flew towards the castle in search of Gumball.
"How is she?" He asked urgently as he fell to his knees by the bed the guard laid her in.
Gumball shook his head. "I studied the poison as quickly as I could and came up with an antitoxin, but I don't know for sure if it'll neutralize the poison." He said sadly.
Marshall took Fionna's hand and rested his forehead against it, tears streaming down his face.
Three days had passed and she still hadn't woken up. She was breathing and her heart beat was steady, but she just laid there as if she was sleeping.
"Please wake up, Fi. Please don't leave me." Marshall begged, looking at her face.
"It's time." Gumball said as he peeked his head through the door.
Marshall softly kissed her before he reluctantly left her side.
Gumball stood in front of all the candy people at a podium. "I would like to thank all of you who fought. We will never forget your bravery and nobility. Even though it does not give you justice, a plaque with all your names has been hung up in the castle. I would like to have a moment of silence for those who died in battle."
Marshall, Gumball and everyone in the kingdom bowed their heads in respect for the dead. After the moment passed, Marshall took a step forward to make his speech to the candy people.
"I thank you all for helping me. I know that in my past I haven't been the best and I probably won't be in the future, but right now, I am very grateful. You fought for me regardless of my past and I will never forget that. I wish I could have protected more of you and I am sorry for those who lost someone dear to them. I too..." Marshall began, giving up on the idea that Fionna would wake up. "have lost someone very dear to me. You all might have know her as Fionna The Adventuress, but to me, she wasn't just an adventuress, she was the person I loved with all my heart." His voice began to crack towards the end and his eyes were downcast. "Thank you again for your bravery." He said and quickly went back into the castle, his heart feeling as if it had shattered into a million pieces.
He slowly went back to Fionna's room and sat down by her bed and stared at her face. He had spent countless of hours sitting next to her, begging and willing her to wake up, but all of it was to no avail. Gumball came up from behind him.
"Are you sure you want to do it?" Gumball asked softly.
"I don't want to do it, but I have no choice. It's been three days and she hasn't woken up. And I don't think I can bare to handle it anymore. Looking at her like this..." Marshall said, his voice breaking.
"I'll get the morphine." Gumball said sadly. He went into one of his drawers and took out a little bottle and needle. He came back to Fionna's side and extracted the amount of dose that would kill her.
"Goodbye." Marshall whispered, as he kissed her one last time, slowly leaving. He didn't want to be there when Gumball would inject her with the morphine. But when he reached the door, Marshall couldn't help but look back at her one more time. He cringed as he saw Gumball get closer to her arm with the needle.
He was about to turn around when he saw her eyes flutter, or at least he thought he did.
"Wait!" Marshall yelled, running up next to Fionna. "I think I saw her eyes flutter!"
"Marshall, I know you want her to wake up, bu-" Gumball began but stopped when he saw her eyes flutter too.
They both got closer to her face and held their breaths. Her eyes flung open and they both jumped.
Marshall burst out into tears and he tackled her with a hug. "Fionna! You're okay!" He cried out in relief.
"What happened? How long have I been out?" She asked, her expression dazed and confused.
"Too long." Marshall said as he buried his face into her hair.
Cake walked in and she ran over to Fionna's side when she saw that she had woken up.
"Baby? Are you okay? Are you really awake or have I gone crazy?" Cake asked, grabbing Fionna's hand.
"Hey Cake." Fionna said, weakly smiling at her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She squeezed Cake's hand reassuringly.
Fionna looked around at the people crowding her and they all looked anxious.
"Guys. It's fine. I'm okay." Fionna said, putting on her best smile.
"Don't ever do something stupid like that again!" Fionna heard Marshall yell at her.
She looked at him adoringly and grabbed his face in her hands. "As long as you get to be by my side." She murmured and then kissed him.
"Will do." Marshall said as he pulled back and smiled at her. He felt at peace with himself and he could tell that by the wide grins on everyone else's faces, that they were also happy. Marshall yet again felt whole. And without a doubt, he knew that Fionna was the reason he felt like that. She showed him that he could love again.
Alright! This is the end of What Was Once Gone! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, any comments/votes would make me really happy. :)
- northernlightdream