The Demon laughed as he walked along the power chords. That was so easy. Should he start tipping them off so that the police will show up and actually try to stop him? That would make it more interesting... but he'd have to work on his armor so that he didn't accidentally die in the process. That'd just take the fun out of everything. 

"Hey, you!" 

He turned suddenly. Who the hell...? A girl was standing behind of him, scowling. A white mask covered the top half of her face, and... was that a sword by her side? Holy cow, that thing looked real. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, but a strand was in her face. She was wearing knee length blue boots, a short skirt that wasn't quite knee length, and a blue top that just reached her elbows at the very least, since the rest was covered by white gloves.

"Are you talking to me, sweetheart?" He grinned. 

"Yes, I am. You stole that from the museum!" She pointed angrily to the vase he was holding. 

He raised an eyebrow. "This old thing? Are you sure you're not interested in me, sweetheart?" 

"Why would I be?" She snapped, stepping closer. "Hand it over." 

"Oh, now I'm wounded. And who are you supposed to be, anyway?" 

She straightened. "I am the Shieldmaiden." 

He bowed. "And I am The Demon." 

That was his mistake. She lunged for the vase while he was distracted, and got it. However, she fell over the edge, in the process. He stared in horror as she rushed towards the ground, which turned to awe as she landed perfectly on her feet like a cat, uninjured. She smirked at him, before running off into the night. 

"Well, looks like I've got a nemesis." He muttered to himself, unable to keep the grin off of his face. "And damn, a hot one at that." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Fionna breathed a sigh of relief as she got back to the apartment that she shared with her sister uneventfully. She'd return the vase to the museum in the morning. 

"Where the hell were you, and why are you dressed like that?" She heard her sister ask. 

She jumped, the vase nearly slipping out of her hands. "Hey!" 

"Where did you get that?" Cake asked, pointing to the vase. "Also, do you have any idea what time it is?" 

"I was on a couple of power lines, I'm a superheroine now, I got it back from the guy who stole it, and no, I don't." Fionna answered, taking off her mask. 

"Superheroine?" Cake asked skeptically. "Why?" 

"This town..." Fionna shrugged, and her sister blinked her amber eyes. "You were just bored, weren't you?" 

Fionna shook her head. "A lot of innocent people have been hurt here. The police don't really do their job, and people steal things all the time. That Demon guy is the worst." 

"Okay, I get that, but why are you...?" 

"It takes a superheroine to fight a supervillain." Fionna shrugged. "And he's not just an ordinary thief."

Cake nodded. "Right... well, get to bed. You have the early class tomorrow, remember?" 

"Right. Thanks. Good night, Cake." Fionna sped off towards her bedroom, with Cake shaking her head behind her. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Fionna sighed, closing her eyes. She was almost certainly late— there was no way that she could get across the campus in time. 

She bumped into someone suddenly, her blue eyes flying open. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" 

The guy in front of her had messy black hair, brown (but kind of red...? How was that possible?) irises, was skinny and much taller than her. "Believe me, it was my fault. So, what year are you in?" 

"Ah... freshman." Fionna replied. "I'm late for my first class of the day." 

"No kidding? Who have you got?" 

"Dickinson, for Anthropology. I didn't even want to take that class— my boss made me." 

"Yeah, Dickinson's a real butt sometimes. And that's all the way across the campus... luckily you ran into the best person possible." 

He stuck his hand out. "Marshall Lee Abadeer." 

"Fionna Mertons." She replied, shaking his hand. 

"Nice to meet you. Now come on— we have to hustle. And hey, if you're late, I will accept all responsibility." 

"Really? That's nice of you." 

"Yeah, well, Dickinson already hates me. Isn't going to make much of a difference, now is it?" 

Fionna nodded as they jogged along the campus. He suddenly pulled her over to a wall and pulled out a brick. He smirked as part of the wall moved to create an opening. "Colonel Haverford, the guy who built this place, was super paranoid. He was also really good at making stuff. The combination resulted in a bunch of cool secret tunnels all over the city." 

"Sounds like he would have been a great superhero lair designer." Fionna commented, before mentally kicking herself. 

"Or supervillain." Marshall said darkly, leading her down the dark passageway. "Anyway, go through that door, and you'll be right outside of Dickinson's classroom." 

"Again, this was really nice of you." 

"I am not nice." Marshall snapped. "I'm not nice at all. That is a false, baseless accusation, and I won't allow you to insult me that way." 

Fionna chuckled, and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, Marshall. And thanks again." 

Marshall flushed immediately, which she didn't see, having left already. "She seemed... familiar." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"This is amazing, how did you get this back so quickly?" Gumball, the museum curator asked, holding up the vase. 

"Heh... I have my ways." Fionna deflected the question. 

Gumball put the vase down, before turning quickly and looking at her. "What kind of ways?" 

"Hey, you know what we've never discussed? How you got this job when you're so young." Fionna laughed nervously. 

Gumball wasn't amused. "Hard work and my predecessor being lazy. But the problem is, we know that The Demon stole it. And he can be a very dangerous man when he wants to be. I want to make sure you didn't do anything stupid— like try and seduce him." 

"WHAT?!" Fionna yelled, before covering her face. "No. No. Nothing like that, Gumball. Geez... as if I'd ever sleep with that guy." 

"Then how'd you do it?" Gumball questioned. 

"I grabbed it when he wasn't looking." 

"So you know where his base is...?" 

"No. This was kind of conducted on power lines..." Fionna sighed. 

Gumball raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? Well, then. Just... be careful around him, okay? I know that a lot of girls have fallen under his spell and I don't want you to get hurt by any of his actions." 

"Ha, no problem!" Fionna responded. 

"...indeed. By any chance, have you run into a student named Marshall Lee Abadeer at the university?" 

"Uh... I think I met him just this morning. What does he have to do with The Demon?" 

"Stay away from him too. He's disruptive, annoying, womanizing, reckless, irresponsible..." 

"He helped me get to Professor Dickinson's class on time..." 

"Don't fall for it. Don't. And don't trust him when possible. I know he seems nice, but he's basically a child in a man's body. He has no impulse control." 

"How do you even know him? You seem to hate him." 

"We used to be friends." Gumball said shortly. "Anyway, can you help me unload these boxes? We have to get them behind glass before that annoyance shows up." 

"Marshall or The Demon?" 

"Marshall knows better than to step foot in my museum." Gumball snorted. "Oh, and Fionna? Next time you borrow a sword, I recommend that you get the one in my office. It's sharper, in better condition, and less of a loss to the museum." 

*Author's Note* 

Definition of shieldmaiden: 'a woman who had chosen to fight as a warrior in Scandinavian folklore and mythology.' Bunnies are not threatening animals, unless you are the continent of Australia. So, I decided to go with the warrior aspect. 

Now, the important thing here is that Marshall has all of his powers because of his Mom. Fionna doesn't have any powers, besides... well, Marshall will bring it up later. She's kind of trying to Batman it, except she's a college student instead of a billionaire. And I will expand more on their backstories and motivation later.