Chapter 13: To Be Kind-of Alive

The group laughed as they watched the camp of humans running from them, faces completely in fear. The leader snapped his blue fingers and the rest of his party-three or four demons-ran after them, sucking souls, maiming, or killing as they so pleased. He laughed, watching mothers beg for their children, husbands beg for their wives, brothers for sisters, adults for children they didn't even know. Of course, it only made it all the more satisfying when the one they tried so hard to protect was killed or soul-sucked right in front of them.

Yes, the Mushroom War had done great things for the demons. Humans can be so stupid, and somehow or other, they opened portals to other dimensions. Most of the others simply closed the portals and went back to business, all too prepared for the end of the war-which was indeed nearing. But not those from the Night-O-Sphere. Oh no, those mortals had no idea what they were really getting into when they decided to blow a huge chunk out of their planet. Demons had been running rampant quite happily, and none more so than then self-proclaimed 'Lord of Evil' Maddox.

He chuckled lowly as he saw people start running back towards him, trying oh-so-hard to escape the demonic entities that they themselves had released upon the world. There were only three humans left from this camp, and he was seriously looking forward to eating their deliciously frightened souls. There was a man and women, who (judging by their body language) were a couple, and a teenage boy, who ended up running beside them. They all came to a terrified stop before him, and he smirked in satisfaction until he realized that they weren't stopped because they saw him, but were rather staring in awe and fear of something around his shins.

The man and woman hugged each other, and the boy stood firm and defiant. He looked down, and saw that there was a little girl standing right in front of him, dressed in a tattered pink shirt and overall dress with only one sock. She held onto a raggedy teddy bear by one hand and simply stared up at him. He wondered briefly if she had been standing there the whole time, and whether or not she feared him, as she hadn't run like she'd seen everyone else doing. His brows furrowed in fascination at the little girl who didn't run from a demon.

The rest of the group had dispersed for a while, leaving the remaining four to Maddox. He leaned down slowly to face the small child, and heard the woman scream. A scream quickly muffled by the man grabbing her and forcing her into his shoulder. The teenager said in a shocking act of bravery (considering what he'd seen) "You leave her alone!" Maddox simply glanced up at the boy and snarled at him with his double-mouth, which sent the boy back reeling to the couple, shooting daggers at the demon with his eyes.

The woman had taken to whispering, "She's only a baby, just a baby" Over and over into her lover's arms and shaking her head. Her lover, for his part, simply cooed meaningless reassurances at her, knowing that nothing was going to be all right for the little girl.

Maddox got down into a crouching position and came face to face with the girl. They looked at each other for a long moment, and he was surprised to see that the child portrayed no emotion whatsoever, and merely seemed to be studying him, or maybe just observing. "Hello," He said, voice rumbling and low like an angry stampede.

"Hello," she replied quietly. Maddox was having a hard time believing that this child was real. Here he was, Lord of Evil, soul-sucker, mutilator of men, a being whose very presence caused death by fear (or so he said) and he could not even shake this small girl. So he decided to converse.

"My name is Maddox, Lord of Evil." He said, splitting his face wide open and screeching at her. The woman screamed and the boy wretched, to afraid to move. But she didn't even flinch. In fact, her face remained completely neutral and (if he had to place it) slightly curious in a positive way. If he could be unsettled, he would have been.

"My name is Marceline. This is Hambo." She said, gesturing to her little teddy bear thing.

Maddox gave a low laugh. "I must say, I've never spoken to my meals before. You, my dear, look delicious." He took her free hand and licked it. Still, she simply looked at him. He was beginning to wonder what on the remaining earth was wrong with this kid. "Aren't you afraid of me?" he inquired, his demon pride being beaten and battered by a child who didn't even know she was doing it.

Still, she shook her head with a small, "No," And gazed up at him again. This infuriated him. No one was not afraid of the Lord of Evil.

He reared his ugly head, splitting it down the middle. "Well, you should be!" he roared, a million voices of the dead finding their way into his own voice. "Because I'm going to eat you!" The black clouds of chemical war swirled angrily in the night sky.

"No!" The teenage boy yelled, and began running at him. Maddox caught him by the head and split him long-ways down the middle, sucking the soul as it tried to make its way out of the body. The woman vomited and the man looked away. He threw the pieces on either side of Marceline, blood and guts sprinkling her ever-so-slightly.

"Afraid now, human girl?" He roared.

Again, Marceline shook her head and uttered a small, "No."

He deflated back into his humanoid form. He scowled at her, and walked over to the man and woman. Instead of begging for their own lives, or the lives of each other, they both pleaded with him to spare the little girl. He dragged them both over to right in front of him. "Don't be afraid, sweetie. It's okay." the woman told Marceline, who simply looked at her with that same blank face, just slightly tinged with curiosity. Maddox walked up to her and tore her heart out of her chest. Blood squirted everywhere as she collapsed, eyes rolling around wildly before they settled and she died. Still Marceline stared.

Maddox was having quite enough of this. The man, who had begun sobbing uncontrollably and speaking unintelligibly, had kneeled to the ground. He was hugging Marceline, who wasn't hugging back. Maddox lifted him up off the child, not without a fight and cries of mercy for the girl, and split his stomach open, sucking out the intestines like spaghetti noodles. After he had finished and the man lay dead, he turned and asked again, "Are you scared now?"

Marceline looked at him, then down at the bodies that lay before her. "No." Came the quiet reply.

Maddox roared at her, his opened mouth practically surrounding her entire being. "Why?" He thundered, before returning to normal and steaming in front of her.

"Because it won't do any good." Marceline replied, and he froze in his place. Here was this child, acting more composed than any adult human he had met. She seemed so level-headed and ready. She knew it was coming, and she just waited. It shook him. He looked at her to continue. "Well…" she began shyly, twirling her socked foot in the dirt and clasping her hands (and Hambo) behind her back. "One way or another I'm gonna die so…why be afraid if I can't stop it?" Maddox went bug-eyed. Never, not once, in all his ravaging, had he ever met someone who had said that (when they were given a chance to speak) let alone a small child.

"How old are you…what do you mean, 'one way or another'?" He asked.

"I'm three. And I'd like you to make me like you." She said. "I know you can. I've seen it."

It was true; demons could create demi-demons. Something the humans called 'vampires,' but Maddox was not particularly inclined into making 'children' for himself. It was a torturous process, and the creatures created were most often useless and weak, feeding far too heavily into new desires and being killed by a demon who grew tired of their animal-like antics. And for a child to be running around like that? True, she was a little different than other children, but kids are naturally uninhibited. There would be a total lack of self control.

Maddox narrowed his eyes at her. "Where are your parents?" He asked.

"I've never had any. Just Hambo. Hambo is my only friend." She said, and she smiled, actually smiled, at the Lord of Evil.

Just then, his gang decided to return. "Hey Maddox, what have you got there?" One of them said.

"A little pet, perhaps? Or maybe just a toy?" Said another. The three of them laughed, joining in behind him.

"Well hello there, girl. Why don't you run? It will make it more fun for us?" The third said, and another laugh followed.

"I'm not going to. I'm waiting for Mr. Maddox to tell me if he'll make me like him. I think he's a little bit scared to though." She mused quietly and without thinking, as children often do.

The group guffawed. "Well, Maddox, look like you've got a challenge there!"

"Yeah! Go ahead and change her. I know you don't like 'children' all that much, but one doesn't simply cast aside something like that!" The company again laughed at the double-meaning in children.

"Besides, you let her run around a bit, and someone'll kill her before the days out. No harm no foul."

Maddox looked at the group, then back at Marceline. He knew there was something different about the girl. He knew he probably shouldn't, at least not to one so young. But still, his friends were right? What harm could a convert ever do? He grinned, "Okay." He said, "It's going to feel like fire running through your veins as they turn ice cold and freeze you, sucking the life from your heart and filling your brain with throbbing desire to feed." She looked on at him. "Do you still want to change?"

Marceline looked up at him brightly. "Yes. At least that way, I'll still be kind-of alive."

Maddox stared at her for a moment. He hadn't thought of why the young child would want to change. There had been many fanatics who wanted to be vampires, but they all ended up dying. Simply wanting to be one is foolish. Never submit to a demon, ever. But this girl wanted to change to live, even if it was a short and tortured existence. It was a smart thing. Far too smart for a three-year-old and yet, here she was, asking all the same.

Maddox nodded. "Fine." He pricked his own gums and blood seeped over his fangs. He bent down and bit Marceline harshly and she let out a cry as his poisoned blood flowed into her and took over and he drank a bit from her. He couldn't take too much, or she'd simply die. It wasn't like she had much to give anyway, she was so small.

She keeled over onto the floor and writhed about in pain. Maddox and his group stared. They laughed, he didn't. When she stopped, he heard one of his friends say, "Come on, Maddox. Let's go. Leave the stupid kid be." They walked away and, after another moment of looking at the stilled girl, her ears now pointy, and her skin now blue, he too, began to walk away.

Just before he was out of ear shot, he heard a small, "Goodbye, Daddy."

He couldn't help but worry about the strange girl, before casting his doubts aside. After all, what could a convert ever amount to?

A/N

This is one of mine. Popped into my head. Next will definitely be how either Marceline or Bubblegum reacts after the break-up. I'm leaning towards Bubblegum, been doing a lot of Marci lately. I want to thank you all for the review, they've been wonderful and so kind! But I want suggestions! I'd sooner those than compliments!

*******PLEASE SUGGEST SCENES!********

PS guys: Don't know if you know this, but a two part episode is coming out. Episodes 5 and 6. Episode 5 is Marceline's dad throwing Finn and Jake into the Night-O-Sphere called "Return to the Nightosphere" (original). But episode 6 is entitled: Daddy's Little Monster! You know what that means: MARCELINE! It's about their relationship and thank god because Bubblegum is in like every GD episode and Marci's only been in like 7 so Marci needs to happen, and will happen! *Squee!* Thought you ought to know.

-JD