It was a beautiful, sunny morning in the Land of Aaa. Rather quiet, too, save for the laughter of happy citizens. But one person was not so happy this fine day. In the Candy Kingdom, Prince Gumball paced back and forth within his throne room, a stack of papers in his hands. He muttered things to himself, a mixture of reading what was written on said papers, and what he thought about it. He continued this routine for a good five minutes before he heard the candy citizens below erupt in cheers. Oh good, they must finally be here. He had sent Lord Monochromicorn to go fetch Fionna and Cake for him. He needed to have a discussion with them about what he had discovered, and what he needed them to do.
Like clockwork, in popped Fionna and Cake, looking as ready as they always do for a challenge. Fionna, who had her sword out, quickly put it back into her backpack. "Gum-" She was cut off by Cake exclaiming in sudden excitement. The cat shuffled over to a dessert buffet, no doubt baked by the Prince himself. She popped one of the elegant cupcakes in her mouth. "So spice." She complimented. Fionna wasn't amused. "Cake." She reprimanded. The cat grumbled to herself about how she wasn't able to enjoy anything, and found her place next to the human once again. Prince Gumball, who watched the exchange with small interest, was glad to finally have their attention. "Fionna, Cake! It's alright, have some more if you want." As always, no matter what was going on, Prince Gumball managed to be so polite. One had to admire that about him.
Cake seemed to take the invitation as she stretched out her body and grabbed a full dozen of the tasty treats. She handed one to Fionna, who happily ate it. Now that she had been assured that he wasn't in a bad mood. "So what's up?" She asked. This seemed to make the Prince's face sour just a little. But nonetheless, he spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Ah, about that. My scientists have been doing some research lately, and it seems there's another kingdom that I know nothing about." He told them. The two heroines exchanged looks. "Another kingdom?" Fionna questioned. She would've thought this was good news, but Gumball was treating it as if this was a very bad thing. Which is odd, even for him. He nodded. "Yes. But I don't know what creatures live there. All we know is that they age rapidly." He told them.
This caused Fionna and Cake to spark with interest. What could he possibly mean by that? "Rapidly aging...? So they die really fast?" The blonde wondered aloud. Cake shook her head. "Mm-mm-mm. That's donked up." She said, Fionna nodding her head in agreement. Prince Gumball kept a straight face. "I'm not sure." He admitted, glancing down at the papers again. How strange that such a species existed, and he never knew until now. "How did you even find out about this kingdom?" The human asked, becoming more and more excited as the conversation went on. She was all about exploring and discovering new things. Although he hadn't said why he had called them here yet, she had a pretty good idea of what it was. The Prince blinked. "Oh. Well we just built a very large telescope." Exchanged looks via Fionna and Cake.
"...Oh. Okay. So I guess you want us to explore it?" Fionna asked. To be honest, she had been expecting a better answer then a telescope. Gumball nodded. "Yes. Go see if you can find out what species they are. And if possible, bring back their leader." He said. Fionna felt her eyes shine with excitement. Finally, something fun to do. The Land of Aaa had been rather peaceful lately, so she hasn't had to do much. The more she stared at Prince Gumball, the more she felt like he wasn't telling her the whole story. But she just wanted to get started, so she let it slide. For now. "You got it." She told him, hopping onto Cake's back. Cake stretched her face up to Fionna. "Psst. Aren't you gonna tell him he's hot?" She whispered commandingly. A faint blush fell on Fionna's face. "What? No. Shut up." She whispered back. Didn't they already have this experience once before?
Cake didn't seem pleased, but she let the subject drop. "We'll be back." Fionna told the Prince, who in turn waved goodbye. "Be careful." He told them. Cake arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. Lord Monochromicorn had made his way inside the room, and she was a little busy admiring him. Fionna noticed and tapped her head. "Hello?" She said, snapping the cat out of her daze. "Right, sorry. We'll play dinglehop later." She told the black stallion, and then they flew out the window. "You'll play what?" Fionna asked. "Noo..that's not for you." The cat said sternly. "Forget I asked."
~a~
Gumball must've had a super telescope if he was able to see this far away. Even with Cake stretched out a hundred feet long, it still took them all day to get here. The sun had already set. Perhaps they would have arrived a little earlier, hadn't Fionna stopped to help people in need about five times. Still, it took a long time to get to this kingdom regardless. And now that they were here, it was obvious that this place had been through some serious damage. What was once probably a wonderful kingdom was now dirty, and deserted. The structures were sturdy enough, considering most were still intact, but others were completely destroyed. Like they had been bombed. There was a small castle up on a hill, and it was one of the buildings that were intact. Maybe people did still live here?
Fionna slid off of Cake's back, her sword now back in her hand. Ready for some fighting if it came to it. "Glob, what happened?" The girl couldn't help but wonder. Cake reverted back to her small size, walking beside the blonde. "Looks like it's been abandoned. Maybe a war." The cat offered. Still, this place made her fur stand on end. And even though she had said deserted, she could feel hundreds of eyes watching her. "Maybe Gumball lost his marbles. I think we should leave." She added. Fionna shook her head. "We can't do that. We have to look around first." She told the cat. Reluctantly, the two of them searched the town, their guard up for any kind of attack. But surprisingly, there was nothing. No signs of life anywhere. At least, that's what they thought.
The last place they had to check was the kingdom. "Okay, after this we can go home." Fionna promised, leading the way. Just when they got close enough to open the door, they were attacked from all sides. Cake expanded her body, and the armor-clad warriors (helmets and all) flew back from the force. "Whoa!" Fionna exclaimed, jumping over Cake's body and sword-fighting with a warrior. She wound up punching the warrior in the face, and the helmet flew off, revealing the face of a pretty girl. Her skin color was a little off-kilter, but other than that she looked pretty...normal. But she didn't have time to observe her, because the warrior kneed Fionna in the gut, and then promptly kicked her away.
Cake gasped. "Fionna! RAWR!" She headbutted a warrior away, effectively knocking off the helmet. Another female. What was happening? Fionna picked up her sword just as another warrior came and attacked her. It took a few minutes to put the pieces together, but this was it. These were the villagers. How? Weren't they supposed to be rapidly aging? Shouldn't they be 80 now? Or dead? With so many of them attacking, Fionna really couldn't pinpoint what species they were. Which sucked, because that was the whole reason they were here.
Fionna was knocked over with the hilt of a sword, falling to the ground. A warrior raised her sword to the blonde, ready to smite her. Cake gasped again, stretching her body out and ready to smash the warrior. "No! Cake, don't! They're the civilians!" She called, lifting up her own sword and blocking the attack. Cake was stunned. "What?" The cat was promptly punched in the face. A hiss. "Why you..!" She expanded her body like a kite, making the warrior fly. Fionna swiped the legs out from under the warrior above her, causing her to fall. Just as she stood up, she felt her entire body float. Odd golden dust flew around her, and she was suddenly being dragged through the air by said dust.
The warrior on the floor laughed hard. And it was such a weird laugh; high and pitchy, but not annoying. It almost sounded like bells, or chimes. Not that it mattered. Fionna gasped. "Oh glob! They're magical?! CAKE!" She called. But the cat was already on it. The cat ran over to the warrior controlling the dust and slapped her with her tail. Then she stretched her body to catch the falling human. But even this wasn't enough. Now that the other warriors knew their weakness to their magic dust, they all began to use it. And soon, the two of them were floating in mid-air, weaponless, defenseless, with crazy warrior females with huge swords waiting to kill them. Fionna gasped, struggling against the tight hold.
"Son of a Bleeblop! What now?!"