Chapter 4: The Vampire Queen
We see Yang and Booser taking a plane back to Toad Town, and they continue from there. They get hungry and decide to stop at a restaurant instead of eating the food they packed. They head into Tayce T's new restaurant, and enjoy a good Tayce Special. They pay, and head into the bathroom, where Yang can locate the next power shard. He meditates, and an image appears. It is a dark forest with some mazes.
"The Forest Maze?" asks Booser.
"No, I almost thought that, but then, I saw a mansion. It has to be Bow's Mansion, which means the shard is located in Forever Forest. Let's go."
They head outside, and see it is almost sunset. "I don't know, Booser, should we rest up?"
"Nah. I say we try to find it tonight, and if we can't, we set up camp. But even if we do find it, it might be too dark to see, so we’ll set up camp then."
"So basically we will be camping."
"... Yeah."
They head for Forever Forest and begin the search. They look in every bush, secret area, everything, even a beehive. They manage to get away from the bees. When it begins getting dark they decide to setup camp. Yang prepares a fire easily by using a fire shuriken to light up the wood, and Booser pitches the tent. They sit down to feel the warmth of the campfire. But, unknown to them, a figure appears in the bushes.
Booser lays down and looks up at the stars. Yes, he can see stars in a forest. How? They chose a nice clearing. Anyway, he looks up at them, while Yang tries to relax by meditating. The figure from the bushes begins to creep up on them, but steps on a stick. It quickly ducks back into the bushes. Booser heard the sound and begins looking around. He shrugs, and goes back to looking at the stars. The figure pokes its' head out again, and quietly sighs. It begins to creep forward again, but unknown to the figure, Yang has opened one of his eyes. He quickly jumps and throws a shuriken at the figure, who jumps out of the way. Booser looks and sees the figure too.
"What is THAT?!" cries Booser.
"Not sure. I can't make it out when it hides in the shadows," replies Yang. Then, they hear rustling. The figure leaps out from the bushes and begins flying around in the air.
"... Oh, well this is just great!" cries Booser. "A flying enemy! How are we supposed to... oh. Right."
Booser shoots some fireballs, but the figure swiftly dodges them and punches Booser, sending him into a tree. Yang jumps up and begins throwing shuriken like no tomorrow. The figure dodges them all too easily and is able to punch Yang as well, but unlike Booser, Yang recovers quickly.
"This doesn't make sense. How is this thing dodging our attacks so well?" Yang then notices a glowing blue necklace. "Hmmm... I wonder. Hey Booser, you think you can cause a distraction for me?"
Booser slowly recovers, and turns to Yang. "I'll try."
He charges at the figure and begins taunting it. The figure tries to throw punches at Booser, but he disappears and reappears in different places. Yang sneaks up behind the figure and manages to get on the figure’s back. Yang pulls out a shuriken and cuts the necklace. The figure then slowly closes its eyes, and falls to the ground. Booser and Yang land, and try to find the figure. It appears to have landed right next to the fire. They can finally see the figure’s face, and they are most certainly surprised. What they see is the same teenage girl Booshido ordered to find the power shard and kill Booser and Yang.
Now, since I didn't explain her last time, I might as well now. She has light blue-gray skin and long black hair that goes all the way down to her legs, and thin arms. She is wearing a short gray dress with the top ripped. She wears a dark pink band that goes across her dress. She has purple- and gray-striped socks that go up to her thighs, and has reddish-purple heels. She also has black beady eyes, and fangs. Yang cannot believe what he sees, while Booser has somewhat of an attraction to her.
"So... our figure... is a girl?" asks Yang.
"It seems that way," says Booser, hearts beginning to form in his eyes.
Yang approaches the girl, and sees she has two holes in her neck. Yang gets wide-eyed. "Booser, come look at this."
Booser approaches and he too sees the holes. "Wow, but what does this mean?"
"Pale skin. Fangs. Holes in her neck. Booser, this... is a vampire."
Booser is speechless. But this is what he's thinking in his mind. A vampire? Sweet! Me and her already have something in common! We're both dead.
***
Back with Booshido, the remote he used in the last chapter begins to malfunction, and shortcircuits.
"No... no... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! CURSE YOU, YANG!"
***
Back with our heroes, Booser and Yang have helped the vampire girl by giving her something to recover from the nasty fall. While she rests, Booser and Yang observe the necklace Yang was able to get off her. Its blue glow is gone, but they continue to observe it.
"What is it?" asks Booser.
"Well, judging on how she fell after I cut this thing off, I'd say that it was controlling her mind," says Yang.
"Wow. Who do you think did this?"
Yang continues to look at it. "I'm not sure... but I have a hunch. But I'm not..."
Then they hear a groaning sound. They look around, but don't notice anyone. They hear the sound once more, and look at the vampire girl. She slowly begins to get up, rubbing her head.
"... Where... where am... I?" She looks around, and doesn't recognize her surroundings. "This looks nothing like..." She then notices Booser and Yang. "And what are you two supposed to be?" she asks.
"We'd ask you the same thing. But we know you're a vampire. Those things really don't appear in the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Mushroom Kingdom? Man. I am a long way from home."
Then, a growling noise is heard. She looks down and realizes it's her stomach. "You guys got any food?"
Yang goes to say something, but Booser quickly pipes up. "We sure do."
He goes to the backpack Yang packed and searches for food. "Let’s see... She probably wouldn't like Mushrooms since she isn't from around here. Hmmm... Ah! A nice, juicy apple."
He picks it up and approaches the girl, and hands it to her. She takes it.
"Thanks." She opens her mouth, and bites the apple, but doesn't chew it. No, she begins sucking. The juice? No. The apple's color. She completely drains the apple's color. "Ah. Very good. Thanks," she says as she tosses the apple back to Booser, who is shocked alongside Yang.
"You're... you're no ordinary vampire, are you?" asks Yang.
The girl begins smoothing out her long, black hair, and answers Yang's question. "Nope."
"So... you don't suck blood?" asks Yang.
"Nope. I'm a vampire who rarely sucks blood. I feast on something else."
"What?" asks Booser.
"The shade of red."
Booser looks at the apple. "Well that explains why you didn't eat it."
The girl smiles at them. "So, who are you guys anyway?"
"Well, I'm Yang, and this here is my buddy Booser. And you are?"
The girl smiles. "My name is... Marceline... the Vampire Queen."
Booser and Yang look at each other in amazrment.
"Well what's a pretty girl like you doing all the way out here?" asks Booser.
Marceline chuckles. "Well, I was just relaxing, and some ghost with a silver cape and I think blood red eyes appeared and kidnapped me. Then, I remember appearing in a throne room, and the same guy put that blue necklace you're holding on me. After that, I can't remember a thing."
"Booshido!" cries Yang as he clutches his fist, about to break the necklace. "I can't believe he took another innocent live!"
While Yang begins ranting about Booshido, Booser makes a move. "So... how old are you?"
Marceline slaps him across the face.
"OW! I only asked because... you look so young."
Marceline blushes. "Oh... well... I was turned into a vampire at the age of eighteen, so that makes me 1,000 years old."
"Really? I died when I was eighteen too."
"How did you die?"
"Well... let’s just say... if you play with fire... you WILL get burned."
"Ah."
"And the ironic thing is, after I died and turned into a Boo, I gained the ability to breathe fire."
"Wow. And, what is a Boo?"
"Oh, it's what we become when we die. It's our ghost. Most Boos become evil when they appear. I was one of them, but tired of being ruled by a ruthless king, so I turned to the side of good."
"That's pretty interesting."
Booser and Marceline stare at each other for awhile, and inch closer to each other, but Yang interrupts them.
"Okay, now that I'm done ranting, let's get some sleep."
Yang goes inside the tent. Booser follows him, but stops and looks back at Marceline. "I think I'll stay up for a little while longer."
Yang shrugs and quickly falls asleep. Meanwhile, Booser and Marceline continue their conversation. Eventually they fall asleep.
Morning soon comes, and rays of light shine through the trees. A ray hits Marceline's arm and she quickly gets up. "YEOUCH!" She quickly runs over to find some shade. Booser wakes up and sees her in the shade.
"What happened?"
"I'm a vampire. I can't stand the sunlight. How come you aren't feeling any pain?"
"Well, some Boos are lucky enough to easily survive the sunlight. I'm one of those Boos. Don't you have something to protect you?"
"Oh yeah."
She pulls out a purple umbrella with boney linings, opens it, and walks out under it into the sunlight, unaffected. Yang then comes out, yawns, and turns to Booser and Marceline. "Well, we should get a move on. Let's pack up."
Booser and Yang quickly pack and go back to searching for the power shard. Marceline watches them walk away, then gets an idea. She goes after them. "Hey, guys!"
Booser turns around, as does Yang, and they see Marceline flying after them. She lands. "I think I should repay you guys for nursing me back to health."
"And how are you going to do that?" asks Yang.
Marceline smiles. "By joining you on your journey."
Booser gets a big smile on his face, as Yang ponders this. "Well... we wouldn't be able to take on Booshido alone... Okay. Yeah. Welcome to the team.
"Yeah!" cries Booser.
Marceline smiles, and the three of them go further into Forever Forest. What dangers await them?