LegionnaireBlaze: I'll see what i can do.
loserkiduwu: Huntress Wizard? I thought about it, but Canyon feels like a better pick due her past friendship with Marshall.
Also, deeply disappointed no one got the Game Theory reference in the last chapter.
Enjoy.
xxXxx
"AAAAAHHHH!"
Roar*
Candy people screamed in fear as a giant crustacean monster threatened their kingdom. The monster roared as it leaped over the kingdom walls.
The gumball guardians rushed in to fight the monster, but it's shell proved too mighty to dent. The two only managed to slow down the creature as it rampaged about.
The battle of the giants took its toll on the candy kingdom, destroying roads and buildings alike.
Princess Bubblegum watched this exchange from atop the castle walls with a worried expression. "Where IS he?" She asked.
As if on que, a flash of blinding light appeared from nowhere and burned through the sky. In that one instant, the monster was killed as something tore a giant hole through its body.
The monster collapsed and succumbed to death as the one who defeated it floated high above its lifeless body.
It was a figure clad in night black armour, his face obscured by a helmet that only showed two glowing yellow orbs.
It was a hero known by all as Nightclad, the one who defeated the Lich.
The candy people cheered as they stared up at their savior. But Nightclad payed them no mind before fixing all the damage the fight had done with a wave of his hand. He then floated slowly towards Princess Bubblegum and kneeled.
His movements felt robotic, devoid of emotion and drive. As if the very soul of the person was sucked out.
"You can stand." Said the princess calmly in a tone heard by all her subjects, prompting the hero to stand up. "You've done well. If it weren't for you, the candy kingdom would've fallen. On behalf of us all, I thank you."
"It's only my duty, Princess." Said Nightclad staring at the ground.
His voice felt hollow, yet PB payed it no mind. The hero has been like this ever since his best friend, Billy passed away and she got used to it.
"Follow me inside, I have something to discuss with you." Said PB calmly as she gestured for the hero to follow her into the castle.
Nightclad lifelessly followed the Princess through the castle with heavy footsteps as she started speaking.
"What happened today was unacceptable. I understand that you can't be everywhere at once. And so, I have been on a solution." Said PB calmly as she lead Nightclad underground. "I'm going to show you something I've been working on."
"You want to use my magic and your science to create another magical hero." Replied Nightclad lifelessly.
"What?! How did you-" said PB in shock before remembering something and calming down. "Right, your mysterious omniscient helper. You talked about them before. When are you gonna let me meet them?" She asked with a smile in a tone that sounded as if she was joking, but she was serious.
Nightclad went silent, forcing Bubblegum to stand with him in awkward silence for a whole minute. And in that whole minute, Bonnibel couldn't help but have some...thoughts.
She knew very little about Nightclad and his absurd magical prowess that either destroyed her measuring devices or was completely invisible to them.
But there was one thing she kept in her mind at all times. The most important thing Bonnibel knew about Nightclad was the his feeling of guilt. The only leash around the absurdly dangerous hero's neck.
Deciding that she had enough of the awkward silence, PB changed the subject. "We'll get back to that. Now back to our original subject, let's-"
"I'm retiring." Nightclad cut her off tiredly.
It came so suddenly, PB had to take a few seconds to process what she had just heard. "Excuse me?" She asked in confusion.
"I can't be a hero anymore. I...just can't." The hero was shaking, finally starting to show some emotion.
PB panicked on the inside, she couldn't let him go no matter what. "But everyone needs you! Are you just gonna let everyone suffer? For what?" She asked with a frown.
"I-" he was hesitating, PB noted. She just needed to push a little more.
"You promised to protect everyone! Are you just gonna let them down-" said Bubblegum sternly as she stared the hero down, provoking his guilt. "-again."
The word "again" caused the hero to go stiff, the result PB wanted. She expected this would push him enough to stay a hero, but rarely does like go as one expects.
"I'm sorry." Nightclad apologized as he clutched his head by the ears through his helmet, his voice cracking as a portal spawned under his feet and began swallowing him. "I'm sorry. I can't. I don't wanna push her away again. I-i can't."
"Wait!" Exclaimed Princess Bubblegum before the hero was completely swallowed by the portal. "No!"
PB stared at the empty floor in shock. It happened so fast and without warning. What was he talking about? Who's her?
She hated how much of his personal life Nightclad hid. Because now, he was gone. The most dangerous person in all of Ooo was now out of Bonnibel's control and without any way to be tracked.
"This is bad." PB muttered to herself anxiously. "This is VERY bad."
Princess Bubblegum rushed out of the area and headed to her lab.
"I need to find him and fast." She said with a determined expression.
She spent hours trying to find a thread leading to Nightclad before it was too late. But just as she expected, she couldn't find anything and that meant one thing.
She had to make something that can defeat the absurd power of Nightclad for the moment he betrays her.
Something that can replace the hero and protect Ooo.
xxXxx
The present in Marceline's house where the twin Abadeers floated together on the couch.
"What do you think? What do you think? Is it good? Is it bad? Tell me everything! I need all the constructive criticism!" said Marshall, wearing a red tshirt and black shorts, as well as Billy's nose gem earring in extreme excitement as he handed his sister a comic book he made. "I'll make you a pen and paper so you can write a full review!"
Marceline, wearing a dark grey tshirt and dark blue shorts, snorted at her brother acting like a hyperexcited child, it was adorable. "Oh my gosh, you should've found this hobby centuries ago." She said adoring her brother's enthusiasm. "I've never seen you like this before."
Marshall felt embarrassed at his sister's comment, but he couldn't help but smile at it too as he held the back of his neck.
"Hey, it's a good thing. You don't need to be shy about it. Now gimme that pen and paper." Said Marceline cheerfully before a pen and paper immediately fell into her lap from nowhere. "Amma write a whole essay for this review."
Marceline opened the comic book and began to intensely read through the whole thing. After all, it was an important moment for both of them.
Just them messing around messing around with no hero stuff, no annoying dad and no crazy creep trying to destroy everything.
Ring ring*
Interrupting the sibling bonding was the sound of a call coming from Marshall's pocket. The wizard paused before waving his hand to create a hologram of the caller who was none other than Oracle Crystal.
"Marsh, there's a jelly primordial rampaging in the candy kingdom! Finn and Jake are stuck inside it!" Exclaimed OC in a panic.
The siblings both immediately became on edge. "A primordial primordial or one I made?" Asked Marshall immediately in a panic.
"Probably?" Said the sentient orb in horror and panic. "I'm not sure."
"What?!" Exclaimed Marshall in shock.
"But you know everything!" Added Marceline in shock.
"I know, girl! But this thing is blocking my powers somehow." Said OC scratching her head in worry. "Sorta like you, Marshall."
The twins both paused. Neither knowing what to do in this horrifying situation.
"I gotta go." Said Marshall breaking the silence as he flew from over the couch.
"I'm coming too." Added Marceline with a determined expression as she followed her brother.
Marshall shook his head. "No, you're not. I'm the guy who deals with primordials here." He said firmly. "That's my job. I'm the primordials guy."
Marceline grumbled knowing that her brother would probably teleport her away until she gives up.
"*Sigh* fine, but you're not wearing the armour." Replied Marceline with a frown as she crossed her arms. "I don't want you to ever go back to being Nightclad again. It's not good for you."
Marshall hesitated for a moment before seeing the look on his sister's face. She was REALLY concerned about him. About him becoming that lifeless hero he once was.
Marshall sighed in defeat. "Fine. Be back in a sec." He said with a smile.
Hearing this, Marceline gave her brother a thumbs up that he returned before teleporting away.
Marceline sighed. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
xxXxx
At the candy kingdom.
Marshall arrived next to the candy kingdom wearing a red flannel shirt and black pants with a smile on his face.
That smile was quickly wiped clean off when he saw the giant transparent yellow monster taking up most of the candy kingdom with people frozen inside.
"It's always the eldritch horrors with me, isn't it." Muttered Marshall dejectedly as he flew into the air. "Time to face my mistakes, again."
Marshall dashed through the air towards the giant yellow monster as he created thousands of ice quills around him and fired them all at the monster, expecting to pierce through it.
But something unexpected happened. The quills harmlessly bounced off the creature's jello like body.
"That's new." Marshall muttered as he turned all the ice quills into water and tried to slice the monster using it, but the water bounced off. "Guess that's why OC couldn't figure you out. Magic bounces off of of you."
Marshall then tried throwing a boulder at it and it ended up getting simply absorbed.
"Huh?"
"THAT WON'T WORK, NIGHTCLAD!"
Marshall instinctively turned to the source of the voice. It was Princess Bubblegum standing atop a tower. The moment Marshall realized he accidentally revealed his identity, it was already too late.
"It's alright, I already know!" She yelled as she held a strange device, prompting him to fly down to her.
Marshall was very nervous. He was afraid PB would figure out that monster was created with HIS magic.
"Uhh, hi? Long time no see?" Said Marshall awkwardly with a nervous smile as he landed next to Bonnibel while fidgeting with his fingers. "How have you been?"
"I'm fine, Nightclad. Or should I say Marshall? It was quite a surprise to learn you and Marceline are siblings." Said Bonnibel nonchalantly.
"Yeah, just please don't tell anyone about my identity." He said with a nervous chuckle.
"It'll be our secret." She said calmly before turning to the monster. "Now, back to our original problem."
"Yeah, huh? Magic completely bounces off that thing." Said Marshall turning to the beast in question. "You're smart. You have any ideas on how we can kill it?"
"I have a few ideas. But we need to work fast." Said Bubblegum calmly. "Are you with me?"
Marshall paused, it's been so long since he was in this same situation following PB like a lifeless doll. Was this really okay? He thought for a second before shrugging it off.
She wouldn't do anything to hurt him, would she?
"Totally, Princess."
xxXxx
And so, PB pulled out many machines from her lab. Machines that required to be strapped to Marshall as he fought the monster.
The half demon didn't question the princess despite not feeling much different when using the machines. And always, the machine ended up broken unable to handle his magic.
"*Sigh* okay, PB. What's next on our list?" Asked Marshall dejectedly only to be met with silence. "PB?"
Marshall turned to PB only to see her engrossed in some papers. Marshall believed it was some sciencey information that would help fight the monster and he was curious. Marshall decided to take a sneak peek and was shocked.
There was nothing about the monster, it was all about him. Why was did she need all that stuff about him?
Soon enough, PB noticed Marshall peeking and immediately pulled the paper away in a panic.
"What was that, PB? Why are you studying me?" Asked Marshall in confusion.
"Don't worry about it. It'll help us against that thing." PB reassured Marshall as she calmed down.
"Then why did you pull it away from me?" Asked Marshall in suspicion. "Why are you really studying m-...my magic."
When Marshall said it slowly, the sentence started to more sense that it should've.
PB having all these devices to assess his magic, the monster made from HIS MAGIC appearing in the middle of the candy kingdom. He was just paranoid, right? There was no way it was true. But he HAD to ask. He HAD to make sure.
"Princess, did you make that thing with my magic?" Marshall asked fully hoping that he was wrong.
PB paused. She paused long enough for it to be an answer. "After you retired, we needed a new hero. Someone we can depend on."
"Using MY magic?! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is?!" Marshall yelled angrily.
"I found out for myself." Said PB with a frown. "Your raw unfocused magic can only create stuff like that. I've been trying for years to make that into something intelligent, but only came out with failure."
"WHY?! YOU KNEW IT WAS DANGEROUS?!" Marshall screamed at the candy Princess. "YOU KNEW I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN CONTROL IT!?!"
"Because YOU left and I needed to protect my kingdom."
Marshall froze as a tear fell out of his eyes. He began feeling anger. "So this is MY fault?!" He yelled "I WORSHIPPED the ground you walked on! I became a slave to your orders! I did EVERYTHING you asked of me! What else do you want me to do?!"
"Protect Ooo and the Candy Kingdom again." Declared PB glaring at Marshall. "I want you to be Nightclad again."
Marshall went stiff. The thought of being that lifeless hero once again, the thought of pushing away his sister again disgusted him.
"You never cared about me at all, did you? You just wanted me under your thumb!" Exclaimed Marshall, his eyes glowing yellow as he glared at the Princess. "Well, I'm not going back to that and you will destroy all your experiments with my magic and never start another one or else I'll just leave and you'll live knowing that the monster who destroyed your stupid candy kingdom was YOU, princess."
Princess Bubblegum clenched her fist as she realized he was right. If Nightclad doesn't save the kingdom now, no one will.
"It's a deal." Agreed PB with a deep frown and a nod.
"I'll trust you'll have the dignity to actually do it." Said Marshall before flying into the air and taking a deep breath. "Just one more adventure, Billy... NOTHUNG!"
Suddenly, a giant sword appeared from nowhere and floated next to Marshall before the half demon rode it like a skateboard.
"This is the dumbest idea I've ever had. Billy would've been proud." Said Marshall before the sword dashed towards the monster.
The moment Nothung made contact with the monster, it managed to pierce through the jelly like body of the monster before it got ultimately absorbed.
But that was what Marshall wanted. Billy's sword managed to pierce through enough to allow Marshall, a being full of magic to get through the magic repelling skin of the monster.
Once inside, Marshall did the one thing Abadeers were known for. Sucking the life out his enemy. Marshall opened his mouth and began sucking in the being from the inside
Slowly, but surely the creature was completely eaten by Marshall and everyone trapped inside it was freed.
Seeing some candy people starting to wake up, Marshall knew it was time to leave. He turned to PB for one last glare before teleporting away with Nothung.
xxXxx
Inside Marceline's house.
Marshall arrived wearing the red tshirt and black shorts from before with a few tears spilling out of his eyes.
Marceline saw that and immediately rushed to see what happened. "Hey, what's going on? What happened?" She asked worriedly.
"I met someone I knew." Muttered Marshall dejectedly as he wiped his tears away. "Someone stupid."
"Dumb stupid or wanna strangle them stupid?" Asked Marceline narrowing her eyes.
"Second one, but a little of the first one too." Replied Marshall tiredly sniffling.
"Want me to bash their skull in?" Asked Marceline fully intending to follow her words.
"Nah. I wanna talk about something else." Said Marshall tiredly before remembering something very important. "Oh yeah, did you finish my comic book?"
"I've finished the whole and wrote a full half a page essay about it. Wanna hear it?" Asked Marceline with a smile.
"Yes please!" Exclaimed Marshall immediately in excitement.
And so, the two immortals sat down and had their fun. And in the midst of their laughter, Marshall knew he made the right decision.
xxXxx
Before anyone asks how OC didn't warn Marshall about what PB was doing before this chap it's because despite knowing everything, she doesn't have access to all that knowledge at the same time.
She can only process so much and thus rarely does more than skim over scenes to make sure everything is fine.
Also, the reason Marshall trusted PB despite seeing how devious she can be in the show was that he was a kid at the time and he never looked so deep into her actions.
Tell me how I did. Leave a review.
Toodles.