literature

At Long Last - Part 11

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Chapter 11 - My Hero

Marshall sat on the roof of the cabin, his face hidden between his knees. Tears dripped slowly down his pale cheeks, stinging in the ice-cold air. Why? he asked himself. Why did he always screw up everything? Every relationship, every adventure, every friendship… they all ended the same - pain and sadness. I should have known better, he thought.

“When I was much younger, my parents had a special statue carved.” Marshall jumped, not having heard Gumball approach on MoCro’s back. He didn’t look up, but could tell that the candy prince was sitting next to him, their backs against a short clay chimney. “It was a beautiful statue, made from solid marble. It was the three of us, my parents and me, arm in arm, looking over our kingdom, and it was given to me as a birthday present.” Marshall stayed silent; Gumball had never talked about his parents before, at least not to Marshall or Fionna. “Two months after my birthday, they were killed by the Lich. This was when Willa the Hero trapped it in the amber resin, you see. There were three whole days of slaughter… Even though it was dangerous, my parents spent those days - their last days - in the streets with the people of the Candy Kingdom, helping them fortify against the Lich’s attacks. It was… it was horrible…” 

Gumball faltered, the memory raw and painful in his mind. Marshall grabbed his hand and squeezed gently, although he still avoided looking at the prince. “When I turned fift-… When I had my coronation, to officially take over as prince, we had a massive party in the castle. People from all over Ooo were there, from every kingdom, and we had the statue set out in the courtyard. I had too much to drink, it was the first time I had ever had alcohol at a party, and I got a little… rowdy. I don’t remember much from that night, but when I woke up the next morning, the statue had been smashed to rubble. I… I was the one who broke it. I don’t even remember doing it, and I broke it.”

Marshall sniffed, wiping the frozen tears from his face. “Uh, Gummy? I’m honored that you’re sharing this with me, but what’s this have to do with me?”

“Hold on, I’m getting there. I loved that statue, it made me feel like my parents were still with me, looking out over our kingdom. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss them, but I realized that beating myself up over breaking the statue wasn’t helping. I messed up, but all I can do now is apologize to myself and move on. And just now, I screwed up-“

“Gummy, I’m the one who screwed up.”

“Shh.” Gumball put his arm around Marshall’s shoulders. “You didn’t mean to. I know you would never, in a thousand years, intentionally push me off of MoCro. And I know you didn’t mean to knee my leg. So please know that I didn’t mean to get angry at you. You’re my friend, and nothing will change that.”

Marshall looked up at Gumball with huge wet eyes. Gumball paused, loosing himself in Marshall’s beautiful red irises for a moment. Even bloodshot from crying, they were still breathtaking. Marshall sighed, biting his lower lip. “But even so, I’m still dangerous. What if that happens again, and you get really really hurt?”

“Then don’t sleep in my hat.”

“But what if I’m flying and I loose my powers and fall on you?”

“Then don’t float directly above me.”

“And what if I trip and fall and pull you down a cliff?”

“OK, now you’re just being silly. That has nothing to do with your vampire things.”

“But really! I mean, I’m no good at this whole 'adventuring' thing. You really should have come with Fionna and Cake. I’m no hero,” he said bitterly.

There was a moment of silence, then Gumball stroked Marshall’s cheek gently. “You’re my hero,” he said simply, pulling Marshall into a hug. “There’s no one I’d rather be on this adventure with. If I seem anxious to get to the Draugur’s lair, it’s because I’ve seen enough people killed at the hands of ancient evil. No one should have to go through what I went through,” he sighed.

Marshall squeezed Gumball tightly. He had never heard about Gumball’s parents before, and felt terrible for the poor guy. Loosing one parent to the Draugur was bad enough, Marshall couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to loose both, seeing his kingdom in shambles, and having to deal with the aftermath as prince. No wonder he could be a little… chewy… sometimes.

“Gummy?”

“Yeah, Snowflake?”

Marshall paused, wondering how honest he should be about his feelings. “I think… I know, actually… that you’re a cheese brain. Seriously, you’d give LSP a run for his money on writing trashy love stories. But still… thanks, y’know, for sharing that with me. It means a lot… and… there’s no one I’d rather be on this trip with than you, either.” With that, the vampire stood, holding his hand out to help Gumball up. “Common, let’s kick the Draugur in its boing-loins.”


Five hours later, Marshall’s newfound energy and motivation were starting to wear off. For this being a “Grand Adventure”, there was an awful lot of sitting on a horse’s back and waiting. He wrapped his arms a little tighter around Gumball’s midriff, finding comfort in having the pink prince sitting directly in front of him. It was getting colder the further east they flew, and the overcast skies were getting progressively angrier-looking.

“Are we there yet?” he whined into Gumball’s ear.

“We weren’t there when you asked five minutes ago, and we aren’t there yet,” sighed Gumball.

“I’m BORED.” He buried his face into Gumball’s back, groaning into his puffy jacket.

“Let’s land, then. There’s something that we’re gonna need to do eventually, might as well do it now.” He patted Lord Monochromicorn’s mane, and they landed on a wide cliff.

Marshall gingerly flew down to the ground, worried that he would loose his ability to fly again. Offering his hand, he then helped Gumball down, careful of the prince’s leg. “So what is it we’re doing?”

“We’re finishing the Doom Door.” Gumball began to remove the massive stone from MoCro’s sling, before Marshall gently pushed him aside.

“Dude, your leg. Let me help.” The stone, although larger than himself, was surprisingly light in Marshall’s arms. 

“What’s that scribbledy-gook? Looks like Gnomish,” Marshall asked, pointing at the words written on the stone.

“It’s English. Come over here, you’re looking at it upside down, silly.”

“Oh…” Marshall walked sheepishly over to where Gumball was standing. “Oh! I see. Hey, aren’t magic things usually in, like, Latin or something?”

Gumball scrunched his nose up in thought. “Yeah, usually, but this is crazy old magic, from before the Mushroom War. Maybe even centuries before the war, no one knows.” Something stirred in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“So what do we need to do?” 

Gumball signed, looking at Marshall carefully. “I need to know something first. I know that we’ve not always gotten along in the past, but these past few days seem to have gone really well. I really like you, and you sure seem to like me-“

“Of course I like you, Gummybutt!” Marshall put his hands on Gumball’s shoulders, a little nervous of where the conversation was heading. 

“And I know that we haven’t even gone on a date or anything yet, and it’s not like we’re in a relationship yet, but things seem to be moving along really quickly, quicker than I had expected…”

Marshall felt a twinge in his chest. Is Gumball breaking up with me? he thought. Oh glob, I moved too fast. He’s using the ‘like’ word, he just wants to be friends.

“Marshall, are you paying attention? This is really important, it’s about us.”

Oh glob, he is breaking up with me! Marshall felt his eyebrows droop, and he broke eye contact with the pink prince, instead staring at a remarkably uninteresting patch of ground. “Gumball, I know what you’re getting at. I don’t want to, but if you do, it’s OK. I understand. I’m sorry.”

“What?” Gumball grabbed Marshall's thin wrists, confused. “What are you talking about? Marshall Lee, you’re not making sense. Let’s just start from the beginning.”

“Why?” moaned Marshall, surprised that he wasn’t tearing up. “It’ll just end up the same. I wanted this to be different, I wanted it to work with you, but I just beefed it up again, just like every other time.”

Gumball tried to pull Marshall closer, but the vampire resisted. “Snowflake! What’s gotten into you? I just want to know if you love me.”

“Of course I love you, you jerk!” Marshall said, smacking Gumball in the chest angrily.

Gumball sighed as he realized what Marshall thought was happening. He laid a hand on Marshall’s neck, guiding the vampire’s red eyes to look into his own. “Snowflake, my snowflake, I’m not leaving you. I’d never do that to you, I promise. You just misunderstood where I was going with the conversation. So stop this,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere, at least not without you.”

Gumball sat down, trying to relieve some pressure from his leg. The vampire sat next to him, leaning over and laying his head in Gumball’s lap, his eyes closed. “Marshall Lee Abadeer, I love you too. I know things have been crazy these past few days, but to be honest I’ve liked you for quite some time now. But I needed to know if you loved me back, because the Doom Door can only be finished with a kiss from a ‘true lover’, and I needed to know if your kiss would work.”

Marshall nodded, suddenly feeling very exhausted. Gumball pulled off Marshall’s hat and worked his fingers into his wavy black hair, massaging his scalp. They sat for a moment in silence, listening to the wind howl around them. “Hey Gummy? Did you have a plan for if I had said no?”

“Of course, MoCro and Cake are in love, he could have been the one to kiss it. But my vague understanding of how the magic works is that the newer the love the better.”

“Heh, sure… I’ll bet you just wanted to know what I thought of you.” Marshall smiled, his eyes still closed.

“…Maybe. Can you blame me?”

“Cheese brain,” Marshall teased, before standing up. “Here’s the deal. For every piece of rock you make me kiss, you have to give me two kisses in return.” He reached out to help Gumball up.

“Sounds fair to me. Together, then?” They leaned down, side by side, and kissed the rock at the same time. A slight yellow tinge spread through the rock, indicating that it had worked.

Marshall wiped his lips. “Y’know, kissing a rock really isn’t that fun.”

“Well, I owe you two kisses now, so that should help get that stone taste out of your mouth.” Gumball planted a soft kiss on Marshall’s lips.

“You’re yummy, Gummy,” said Marshall, licking his lips.

“Oh, and I’m the cheese brain?” laughed Gumball, kissing him again. After repacking the stone and feeding MoCro some carrots, they flew off again.


Lord Monochromicorn landed halfway up a tall, sinister-looking mountain. “I guess this is it,” said Gumball, sliding down to the ground. He winced in pain as his bad leg hit rock. “Look around for something that could be the Draugur’s cave. It may be hidden, so try-“

“Gumball? I think this is it.” Gumball turned to see where Marshall was standing, and his blood ran cold. A small crack in the rock opened into darkness, and the ground around it was streaked with… was that blood? Gumball shivered, sensing the dark magic around this place.

“Marshall, can you help me with… Marshall!” Gumball called as the pale vampire, his body trembling, walked toward the opening, then disappeared inside. 

Yay, chapter 11! Sorry that this one is a little on the short side, I had anticipated merging this with what will now be Chapter 12, but I wanted to post this sooner rather than later. Now that the insanity of the first few weeks of class are starting to subside, I might be able to crank these out a little faster. Also, working on a film set from 9:30 PM to 9:30 AM kinda wiped me out for the first part of this past week, so I lost a bit of productivity.

I wonder why Gumball avoids mentioning his age in his story? Hmm.... Perhaps we'll find out later? Also, does that mean that he should stay away from Marshall's vodka?

As always, please leave comments! Your feedback is my main motivation for finishing this story in a timely fashion. My next story, which is already in the works, will update regularly (probably every wednesday). 

First Chapter: Here
Next Chapter: Here

Cover Art by inorganico
© 2014 - 2024 aladdin-boy
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khdluv2read's avatar
A;LSDKJF;ALSKDJF;LKASDJ;F LKASD;JFLKSJ;DF I CAN'T HOLD ALL THE FEELS