The return to the Treehouse had been sweet, but it came with a price. Marceline hadn't just given the house back out of the goodness of her heart; she had developed a fascination with the brothers specifically Finn's unwavering heroic spirit and Kael's strange, unbreakable nature. A few days later, she appeared again, drifting through the window like a shadow.
"Finn, you're coming with me," she said, her red boots swinging back and forth in the air. "I've decided you're going to be my Henchman. You owe me for that punch to the face."
Finn, ever the boy of his word, looked at Kael and Jake with a worried frown. "I did punch her pretty hard, guys. A hero has to take responsibility for his nard-kicking."
"It's a trap, Finn!" Jake warned, stretching his ears into giant megaphones. "She's gonna make you do vampire stuff! Like... eating the color red out of things we like!"
Kael watched Marceline. She wasn't hissing or baring her fangs; she looked like a bored teenager looking for a way to pass a Tuesday. "Go with her, Finn," Kael said quietly. "Jake and I will be right behind you. If things get actually dark, we'll step in."
The "Evil" Deeds
The group traveled to a nearby valley where a village of Nut People lived. These were small, round creatures who spent their days gathering acorns and being generally adorable. Marceline landed on a high branch and pointed downward.
"Alright, Henchman," she drawled. "Your first evil task. Go down there and poke those Nut People! Poke them until they're totally annoyed!"
Finn's face twisted in agony. "But... they're so round! Poking them is wrong!"
"Do it!" she hissed.
Finn descended into the village. Kael and Jake watched from the bushes as Finn walked up to a group of sleeping Nut People and poked them with a stick. "I'm so sorry!" Finn sobbed. "I'm a terrible person! I'm an agent of chaos!"
Marceline was howling with laughter, clutching her axe-bass. "Yes! Look at their mild confusion! It's delicious!"
Kael didn't laugh. He looked at the terrain. He noticed that the Nut People Finn was "poking" were actually being moved away from a swarm of Emerald Horn-Wasps that were nesting in the tall grass nearby. By poking them and making them move, Finn was inadvertently saving them from a swarm of stings.
"She's doing it again," Kael whispered to Jake. "She's tricking him into being a hero, but she's calling it 'evil' so she can keep her reputation."
The "evil" continued for hours. Marceline had Finn "harass" an old man by making him dance (which Kael noticed helped the man get his stiff joints moving) and "scare" a group of children (which moved them away from a patch of poisonous berries).
But the Duke of Nuts didn't see the nuance. He flew over the ridge on his giant, armored squirrel, his monocle fogging up with rage. "Vampire! You and your yellow-hatted thug shall pay for bothering my subjects!"
The Duke launched a volley of explosive nut-bombs. These weren't the harmless pranks Marceline had been playing; they were packed with enough black powder to level the clearing. One of the bombs was headed straight for Finn, who was too busy apologizing to a Nut Person to see the danger.
"Finn! Look out!" Jake screamed, his body stretching toward his brother.
Kael was faster. He didn't have to think; his body just moved. He sprinted into the clearing, the grass whipping against his legs. He dove over Finn, wrapping his arms around his brother's head and chest. He focused everything he had on his internal density, feeling his skin turn as hard as a diamond.
BOOM!
The explosion sent a shockwave through the valley. A cloud of black smoke and wood splinters filled the air. Marceline stopped laughing, her eyes widening as she dove toward the smoke. "Finn?
When the smoke cleared, Kael was still there. He was on one knee, his back toward the Duke. His shirt was a mess of charred rags, and his skin was covered in black soot, but there wasn't a single scratch on him. He had acted as a human bunker, absorbing the blast that would have seriously hurt Finn.
"You okay, little brother?" Kael asked, his voice a bit raspy.
Finn looked up, his eyes wide. "Kael... you... you took the hit."
Kael stood up slowly, shaking the soot off his shoulders like it was dust. He looked up at Marceline, who was hovering just a few feet away. "The game's over, Marceline. My brother is a hero, not a henchman. And I'm the guy who makes sure he stays one."
Marceline landed, her usual smirk gone. She looked at Kael's unyielding form, then at the Duke of Nuts, who was preparing another volley. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a wave of dark energy that knocked the Duke's squirrel off balance, sending them retreating over the hills.
"You guys are way too much work," she sighed, though there was a hint of respect in her eyes. "Finn, you're fired. Go back to your tree and your 'righteousness.' It was getting a little too sappy for me anyway."
As she flew off into the sunset, strumming a low, melancholy note on her bass, Finn and Jake grabbed Kael.
"You're the toughest guy in Ooo!" Finn cheered, hugging him.
"I'm just the guy who stands in the middle," Kael replied. As they walked back to the Treehouse, Kael realized that while Finn was the sword of the family, he was the shield and in a world as crazy as Ooo, a good shield was worth its weight in gold.
Please go check out my other stories by the way whichever story has the most interest I start with that one first and give more chapters