Chapter 26: In the In-Between

Marceline floated idly, staring out across the vastness of the ocean, strumming her axe-bass in an absent minded way. The day had been pretty bland. It was encroaching on two years since she had left her tree house, spent a year with her father, and then began adventuring in the most mindlessly dangerous ways imaginable. She had been all over Ooo and into every dimension and had visited lands that she was sure had no names to begin with. She had visited home to take care of this and that (what with her being the Queen and all) but generally she was left to her own devices. Now though, she was in the in-between; not home, not adventuring, simply being. It bothered her.

I wonder if anyone thinks about me…I did frighten all of those candy people half to exploding. She smirked and thought of those little candy citizens plagued for eternity with nightmares of the devilish Vampire Queen come to drink their blood and render them her mindless slaves. She lightly wondered if that's actually the person that she was, or if that was merely the image others forced upon her. She told herself it was the first; she knew it to be the second. Still, she couldn't go back to that life, back to those people, back to Bubblegum. After all, what am I to them? Just a monster that was 'using' their princess for nefarious means. Like…whatever, man.

Suddenly, a portal split its way open in the space next to her and a demon popped his head out. "Hey!" she reprimanded angrily, "You cannot leave the Night-O-Sphere!" her hair billowed in the windless air. After all, it had taken a lumping long time for that issue to be fully handled. Still, this was a lesser demon, and it wasn't like she couldn't rip him in two if she so desired.

"I know, Marceline! Apologies, but…you are needed in the Night-O-Sphere immediately!" The red man squeaked.

The vampire looked at him with suspicion, wondering if this was another attempt on her throne. Immediately? I am never needed immediately…Dad is, but I'm not. She continued to eye the demon, who was glancing behind himself nervously. "Please, highness…we…don't know what's going on and Lord Abadeer is no good at handling…um…political situations!"

Marceline nodded, deciding the plea to be true enough. After all, whenever something happened and deals with Death or the Cosmic Owl were involved, Hunson Abadeer either went full-on crazed demon, or simply dropped out of his dimension for a while to avoid it. He was simply no good at cross-dimensional dealings. So, she followed the demon through the portal, which closed up right behind the two of them.

To say the Night-O-Sphere was in chaos was putting it mildly. It was the Night-O-Sphere, it remained in perpetual chaos, but whatever this was, was something heretofore unknown to the Vampire queen. Walls were crumbling and demons were biting each other's heads off and the lines were in complete and total disarray. "What in the name of Ooo is going on here?" she shouted over the cacophony.

The demon simply tugged her along through the carnage and to her office doors. By the time she got there, she was entirely livid, having been bled on, spit on, attacked, and generally disregarded. Glob, Dad is supposed to take care of all this shit! She kicked open the double doors to her office only to find papers flying everywhere and demons in general panic, which was odd because demons don't usually panic about anything. She stormed through the mess and yelled, "All right, someone tell me what the fuck is going on right fucking now!" Passing by the two rows of desks and heading up to her own (generally) unused one where her phone was ringing.

Shouts for her to 'do something' and to 'fix it' permeated the air as demons of every shape and size fumbled around trying to find some way to make whatever was happening, stop happening. She pointed angrily to the demon that had brought her into the Night-O-Sphere, growing more demonic by the second at the lack of order and explanation. Her teeth fanged, her hair whipped in fierce tendrils, and her voice held the voices of a hundred souls as she yelled, "You! Tell me what's going on!"

A very small, very scared demon rushed up to her, "But Marceline! You have the Cosmic Owl on line on and Death is waiting as well! Not to mention the Ghost King and–" She picked the little demon up and unhinged her jaw, letting the entire expanse of her mouth envelop him, and let out a gut-wrenching death-inducing roar.

"I'm not talking to anybody until I know why my Night-O-Sphere is in total panic! Now!" The demon who had brought her coughed and she followed him to an adjoining room normally save for the (incredibly few) meeting she held. Inside it was much quieter, as not a single demon was present save for her guide, who was now hiding behind her, and herself. She calmed down significantly.

Before her were two demons who seemed to be phasing out of this world and into another. Half a body was there, half wasn't, sometimes they were whole, sometimes not there at all. It was as though something was pulling them away but they were pulling themselves back. She stared at them, the gears in her head grinding away. Never, in her over 900 years of being the logistical half of the Night-O-Sphere, had she ever seen anything like this. Not quite here, not quite there…what the glob is going on here? She burst through the doors and back out to the office space. She floated hurriedly to her desk.

"I have the Cosmic Owl on the line?" She received a nod. "Death too? And Ghost King?" More nodding. She scowled. Generally when they all contacted her, it was to cast blame. "Okay someone go into the library and find out if anything like this has ever happened in the past you hear me! And for shit's sake someone bring me the decree on inter-dimensional travel right fucking now! And I mean the whole fucking thing!" A few demons scuttled off to do this and that. She picked up the phone.

"Marceline." She said curtly, as the Cosmic Owl started ripping into her. "What? No you overgrown bird, I–well how am I supposed to know! –You should know you turkey! You're the fucking Cosmic Owl! You're supposed to know all! –My fault? How is I my fault I have– I'll let you know that is not what we do 'down here' and–"

A demon ran up to her with a piece of paper and handed it to her. It was the highly abridged decree on travel and she shouted, not bothering to cover the mouth piece, "No, you lumping idiot! The full 10-page deal, you got me! Find it! And for shit's sake someone get my fucking Dad in here right fucking now!" She turned back to the phone.

"I'll talk however the fuck I want to! –Yes, I am the Queen you 'All Knowing' sack of feathers! I'll figure this out since you can't seem to!" She slammed the phone down on its receiver (only to have it start ringing again immediately) and picked up another. "Marceline! Yes! Death! No I do not know what's going on; no it is not the doing of the Night-O-Sphere! –If anything I'd say it's your fucking fault you bag of bones! –You're the one with half dead people running around your realm! –Well I've got a couple ass holes here that seem to be in some freaky ass in-between place! –Well how do I know you aren't trying some sort of coup? We all know how power mad you are! –What? –You fucking rotting shell! I'm the reason you're realm still exists at all! Between you and the Cosmic Owl, you both couldn't figure out how to butter toast!"

She hung up the phone (it started ringing again), and a demon brought her the full manuscript on her decree for inter-dimensional travel and began skimming it as she picked up the third phone to find a Ghost King thoroughly panicked, but not nearly as accusatory at Death or the Cosmic Owl had been. "Marceline. –Yes, Ghost King. –Neither Death nor the Cosmic Owl know what– Well I'm trying to figure it out, highness! –No it wasn't us. –How do your affected look? –What?" she shouted, and tossed her decree aside.

"What do you mean like their becoming human again? –In-between whole and ghost? – What–" she cut herself off. "Okay look, Highness, I think I may know what's going on. We have the four death realms with beings who seem to be neither here nor there, suggesting that they are in-between life and death and– Yes I know that it isn't logical but– Look what can I say? –No, these people are trying to get back to earth. –Not in a necromancy way in a permanent way you spectral fuddy-duddy! –Fuck you! I'm the only one doing anything! All I know is someone or something back on Earth is calling these dead souls to– Aaargh! You are all useless!" She slammed the phone down on its receiver.

"Where the fuck is my fucking dad!" she yelled into the room. She picked up the first phone again. "Owl I–yes I fucking hung up on you, your self-righteous ass! –No! Shut up and listen! Someone on Earth is trying to call these souls back permanently and– What? Yes I realize it hasn't happened before! –No! Not a necromancer! –Fuck I'll just take care of it!" She yelled, before picking up Death's line.

"Death, something is going on on Earth because someone is trying to bring these souls back permanently and– Oh for fuck's sake I realize that! –Listen! None of you all can go to Earth so as fucking usual I'm going to go and fix this fucking problem! Useless, the lot of you!" She hung up and Made her way to a free space in the air so she could get back to Ooo. She yelled out to the demon who brought her and said, "If my Dad comes in you tell him I want to speak with I'm as soon as I'm fucking back!" and with that, she opened a portal and was back in Ooo. She flew all around and fast as she could (which is damn fast) and checked all the logical points.

Mages, magicians, witches, necromancers, wolf-men, wizards, and nothing. In desperation, she flew back over the Candy Kingdom and peeked in the castle to see a boy, a dog, and a bunch of candy people beating up zombies. She scoffed. Fucking Bubblegum and her fucking obsession with messing with things that shouldn't be messed with! Her and her fucking science! She growled and punched the glass, prepared to go all-kinds-of crazy on the zombies, but the next thing she knew, Bubblegum was handing out some kind of serum and everyone was returning to full life.

She knew a time skip when she saw one, but what really concerned her was that these people were back and kicking. She sighed, knowing a complete shit storm was headed her way. Fucking girl can't mind her own fucking business! She thought angrily, pretending not to notice how lovely and grown-up the princess looked, because she most definitely did not notice those things. She opened a portal and exhaustedly went back to the Night-O-Sphere only to find it in even more panic then before. Demons of all shapes and sizes yelled at her for this reason or that reason, thoroughly freaked out because the in-betweeners were gone.

She picked up Cosmic Owl's line. "Yes. –Yes, I know. –No it wasn't me. –Zombies. –Yes zombies. A Candy girl experimented with reanimation and succeeded. –Well I don't know or care because that is your responsibility! You're the cosmic owl! Ugh, just…whatever!"

She picked up Death's line. "Death– No I didn't take them I– Calm the fuck down! –Look! I went to Ooo and– Yes I found out! –Zombies that are now fully reanimated beings. –You got a problem, talk to the Cosmic Owl! You know, master of fate, life, death and destiny! Yeah, him!"

She picked up Ghost King's line. "Hello Majesty, I– Okay deep breath or –Just relax and –Okay listen just– calm the fuck down! –Better? –Okay look, a girl in Ooo fully reanimated dead being okay? Your ghosts are just back in their bodies. –Yes? –Yes. The Cosmic Owl, master of Time and the Passage of Time. Yup. Okay. Good night, Ghost King."

She went out to the balcony adjacent to her desk. Going full-on demon, she shouted over the masses, "People! The in-betweeners have gone back to Ooo. Don't freak, they were zombies who got fully re-animated, so calm the fuck down!" It was as if the entire Night-O-Sphere took a giant chill-pill. The chaos went back to a normal amount, and the walls stopped collapsing of their own accord.

"Marceline! Sweetie!" Came that deep rumbling voice she knew too well.

"Dad." She growled, and (for once) he cowered away from her. "I know you don't fucking like logistics but I swear to fucking life and death that if you ever fucking leave me to deal with a situation with the Cosmic Owl, Death, and Ghost King alone again, I'll make sure there's a new fucking King of the Night-O-Sphere, you got me? If you don't wanna deal with them fine, but you better fucking handle your realm because I can't fucking do both!" And she opened a portal and left the Night-O-Sphere.

The ocean whispered against the shore. Maybe it's time I go back home…to my tree house…all this shit is too…crazy for me. I need to relax.

She didn't want to go back for Bubblegum. Not at all.

A/N

I'm bad. I know. I'm so sorry. :( This is from Guest and Toolazytosignupforanaccount. The request was where Marci was for Zombies. Welp...this is what I thought about when it was mentioned. Grod guys I'm so, so, so sorry for being a shit at updating. SO sorry.

PLEASE REVIEW AND SUGGEST

I'm already writing the next chapter! I swear swear swear! It's going to be PBs reactions to all of Marcie's forms. (NSFW for the tentacle monster)

-Jupiter Delphinus