"Craw, kill her, now!"

Finn had only a tiny window to protect Princess Bubblegum from Craw's decisive strike. An instant; less than an instant, his sword was out, and it was clashed with Craw's. Whose right arm sword was held back by Jake wrapping around that arm. Finn's grass blade barely dug the tiniest of notches into Craw's left hand sword, but he was able to stop it.

The princess was still alive.

Craw defeated them both atop Sky Mountain, but they weren't his target this time, and that gave them an edge.

Craw let go of his left hand sword, and grabbed Jake. Then, with a strength and speed that appeared physically impossible, he vaulted Jake's entire mass into Finn, and they both went tumbling down the side of the staircase leading up to the throne. Finn wrestled his way out of Jake's confused mass just in time to see Craw's sword come down on Princess Bubblegum.

"No!"

There was a flash, and he heard a sonic boom emanate from that location. The next thing Finn Saw was Craw back flipping through the air, and landing on his feet in the main floor. Gates and the projection of Empress Brimstone were gone.

In front of Princess Bubblegum, was a kneeling robot whom Finn recognized. The robot stood up, and leveled his sword at Craw. "I, Sir Rattleballs, shall be your opponent!"

Finn smiled at this. Craw was in for it now.

Rattleballs turned to Finn. "Finn, Jake, get the Princess out of here!"

After the order was given, and Craw struck out at Bubblegum, Gates turned to Brimstone. She looked down at him from the projection. Gates spoke: "Is it to begin?"

She nodded. "I hereby authorize the invasion of the Candy Kingdom." The projection vanished.

Gates got down on all fours and dashed out of the hall. As soon as he was outside, with exposure to open sky, he took out a small, yet two-handed gun, and fired it into the air. The projectile rocketed to a high altitude, then exploded into a purple flare.

Craw looked to the left, and saw his mark, the princess, fleeing deeper into the palace. The door sealed shut behind her. He moved his gaze back on the robot who stopped him. He looked like an upside down gumball dispenser, with mechanical arms and legs, and the normal components of a dispenser re-purposed into facial features. He carried a rapier in his right hand. Craw brought his sword up in a wide uppercut, backing the swing with two coordinated steps forward. The slice unleashed an almost sphere-shaped wave of force. It tore a fissure in the floor, the stairs, the walls, and even the ceiling. There was the sound of a large cannon being dry fired, and the area around the robot was unharmed. He was in a stance implying the aftermath of a heavy stroke, which he normalized with poise.

He called himself Sir Rattleballs. Craw threw off his cloak, and spoke to his new opponent. "You may call me Craw, the Human." He took a fresh sword out of his caddy, re-arming his left hand. "And you're in my way!" He pointed a sword at him, and a narrow space past its point began to blur. The next instant, the sword was buried in the headpiece of the empty throne in front of which Rattleballs stood. He'd ducked, dodging the projectile. He stood straight again. "My move." He sped up into a fast, gravity defying motion that went above Craw. Craw swung another wind blade at him while he was airborne. It had no effect, Rattleballs came down on him in a downward stab. That hit nothing but air and the floor. Craw slowed down to reappear behind Rattleballs, and struck him in the back. The blow met with his sword, lifted behind him with a mechanical flexibility possible only to a robot. Craw walked backward into a newly formed blur, and reappeared next to the door Princess Bubblegum fled the throne room through. He buried the fingers of his free hand into the door, and tore it out out its housing. Then he wheeled it around and pitched it at a pursuing Rattleballs. It flew at him with a velocity as though shot out of a cannon. Rattleballs sliced in half when it reached him. When the halves of the door cleared, Craw was already gone.

Root Beer Guy was manning the walls, along with the bulk of the Banana Guard. He had been ordered to be ready to defend the city from an immediate attack. One of his men pointed out to him, and he turned and saw a purple flare above the city. He didn't know what it meant, and so he went back to watching the road for any sign of an attack. The gates were sealed shut, and all civilians were told to stay in their homes.

The day had become cloudy and dim. And now it had gradually come to feel even darker.

Root Beer guy saw a shape appear in the distance, It was in the sky. The shape vivified, and what he saw it gradually become was something he had no frame of reference to comprehend. It flew, like a bird, it was giant, like the mountains on the horizon, and it had a loud, consistent roar, like the inside of a mill.

It came closer.

Now he saw it was made of metal. And there were giant propellers along its entire shape that produced the roaring sound. It was long, and impossibly wide and tall for an airship, with no wings to speak of. It passed over them, helping to damp out what little daylight remained in the sky. Stopping over the city, it ignited spotlights, at least fourty, to shine down on the city. It was the middle of the day, but the titanic airship's dark figure and its superfluous use of spotlights produced a sense of descending into an unnatural night.

It was only his training, and his objective faculty that pushed Root Beer Guy out of shock and awe, and made him realize what was about to happen. The walls they were manning had become pointless. In fact, they had become a liability, trapping them in the city. He looked left, and right, at the guards. All of their eyes were fixed on the alien behemoth above. He shouted out. "Everyone! Get to the city center, now!" He got some of their attention, and repeated the order. It took a short, yet unbearably long time to get the order out, but eventually, all of them began hastily filing into the walls, heading back into the city.

He peered down at the city center. It was a long shot, and truly unlikely to work, but maybe, just maybe he could buy time.

The airship lowered cables along its entire belly, arranged in quads. Large containers lowered themselves along the cables, descending safely to the ground. Root Beer Guy's hunch was right. It was a transport.

When Miccs Milkshake saw the airship, she ran, looking for the nearest place of cover. As she ran through the city, she began hearing the sound of fighting, and gunshots. She saw Banana guards run past her, heading toward the city center. They ignored her, concentrated on their mission. She ran more frantically, looking desperately for somewhere to hide.

She found an alley dumpster, and didn't even stop to consider how awful it probably smelled inside. Pushing open the flap, she hoisted herself inside.

As she sat in the dumpster, she heard the fighting get louder, closer. Her curiosity began to win over her fear, and she peeked open the dumpster flap. She saw a squad of banana guards out on the street. Then she heard a savage volley of gunshots, and they all went down in a matter of a single second. The footsteps that advanced to that position came into her view.

Metallic armor plating, with mechanical servos visible in the separation between the plates. Backpack sections with protruding gears and exhausts, implying clockwork mechanisms. They were humanoid, and carried large, two handed guns with full-bladed bayonets. Their faces were gas masks, and all that could be seen of their eyes was a glowing red from behind round glass plates. One of them stopped, and turned its head in her direction.

She dropped her head back down, and sat low. Her feet pushed against the garbage beneath her, as if to try to bury herself further in.

Princess Bubblegum still had Finn and Jake with her. They had reached her underground testing lab, and the palace was going into complete lockdown. She went to the surveillance terminal, and saw the giant airship above the city. She remained put, her teeth clenched, and her head down, darkening the top half of her face. "If only... if only I had more time."

"What is wrong with that Brimstone lady?" Jake exclaimed. "PB was going to give her what she wanted, so why?"

"That's irrelevant now." Said Bubblegum as she faced them. "Do you two understand what's to come? I need to be sure that you do."

"Finn's not all grown up yet." Remarked Jake, looking her in the eyes with a knowing gaze. "I think I know what your plan is, though."

She nodded. "We can't save the Candy Kingdom now." She went over to a section of the wall, and placed her hand on it. The featureless section of wall read her hand, and it opened, revealing a secret room. The room was a narrow staircase suspended in a hallway not like any other part of the candy palace. Its entire structure was made from shining metal, adorned with exquisitely shaped seams between the plates. It was brightly lit. She turned at Finn and Jake. "I need you both to get out of here. I'm taking this journey alone."

"What!" said Finn, "what do you mean run away? You're talking as if we can't beat them."

"Finn, I..."

"This is all a load of beorc! We can't just give up."
"I'm not giving up, Finn."

"Are you staying here?"
"Yes."

"Then you're asking me to abandon you." He had a hand on his heart. "I can't do that, princess, I swore myself to you, one hundred percent."

That man threatened the princess, and that could not be allowed nor forgiven. Rattleballs caught up to him along a hallway, the outer wall of which overlooked the outside. He closed the distance quickly, and struck him from behind.

Craw ducked, dodging the blow, he wheeled around and counterattacked.

Rattleballs used his secret technique at point-blank range, unleashing an unstoppable instance of raw force from his blade.

When it passed, Craw reappeared in front of him, unscathed. He became semi-transparent, and still as stone. More semi-transparent stills appeared in different spots, all of them in different postures. None of them moved.

Rattleballs caught the real Craw, and parried his attack as the stills began to vanish. That same instant, he was struck from behind. The sword blow dug through his body, another still image disappeared as another blow struck him in the same area, and he was taken off his feet. Impossible, he thought. There was nobody else in the corridor.

He flew out of the opening that ran along the side of the hall, and fell into the ground outside. On impact, with collusion to his wound, his body broke in half.

"Then do what I ask, Finn." Princess Bubblegum grabbed his shoulders. "I don't need you to understand right away, but you need to do this. Jake will help you escape. You're my backup plan, Finn." She indicated upward, outside. "That airship is only the tip of the iceberg. More, much more is on its way." She held his gaze inside her own. "Flee, to the farthest reaches of Ooo, grow stronger, and find a way, your own way, to fight against Brimstone." She had to bend over so their faces would be level. "Brimstone must be stopped. I don't know how Nugondowan still supports life, but anything that comes from it is cursed." Her face held in disciplined reserve, a genuine terror. "As you are now, I can't use you."

This sent waves down Finn's being. Of the same nature he felt when he realized Flame Princess thought less of him.

"She's right, Finn the Human." The voice was Craw's. "Your only chance is to escape."

Finn turned around, and saw him walking into the room. He drew his grass blade. "You!"

"Me..."

He couldn't contain his outrage. "Why? Why is your empress doing this? There could have been peace!"

Craw wore a solemn look on his face, his eyes pierced into Finn. "Don't be thick in front of me, Finn. Where do you think complaining is going to get you?" His blade moved with his hand, deliberately, methodically. "We're in the business of war, now. If you can't handle that then let Darwin feast on your fluffy soul."

"Is that what you tell yourself?" Finn rebutted. "Do you think that maybe your master is evil? That you're following her blindly?"

Craw shrugged. "A better question would be, what does your princess tell herself?" He looked past, at her. "That she actually didn't lie just to stall for time?"

"You're here to kill me." Said Princess Bubblegum. "Do you seriously think I care what you have to say?"

Craw looked down, smiling. "You're right. That was childish, I apologize." He took a few steps forward. "I haven't been ordered to kill you, Finn, Leave now, and I won't pursue you."

"What happened to Rattleballs?" Said Finn, realizing he should be here by now if he was chasing Craw.

"I killed him."

Finn lost his temper, beyond all control, and beyond all reason. He charged at Craw, sword drawn.

"Finn, no!" shouted Bubblegum.

Finn's connection with the time blade technique had waxed since learning it, his speed increased, and he closed the distance betwixt he and Craw in only a few seconds.

What happened next could only be recollected as confusion. A searing pain enveloped his entire upper body. And he found himself face-down on the floor.

Through the agony, he tried to push himself face-up, but his right arm couldn't push with near enough force to even shift his body. He moved on to his left arm, and found it still answered. With what felt like all his strength, he flipped himself. The motion caused unspeakable pain. It also spread to his head and gut. When his back hit the floor, it felt wet, and warm. His hearing felt muffled, his vision was blurry, and waves of nausea assaulted his conscious faculty. He felt the grass blade tighten around the area just past his right shoulder.

Then the world went black.

That was what it took, she realized, to finally make her snap out of the peaceful, happy existence she had spent so long living in. The sight of Finn, on the floor. His blood formed into a large puddle. She doubted he even heard himself howling in pain. Seeing him like this broke her heart, held it in the grip of cold, sharpened blades. All of the citizens of the Candy Kingdom were like her children, and Finn had a special place in her heart.

She saw Jake dash ahead, roaring with rage. He was as a giant wolf, bristling with muscle, with thicker front legs than back. He shook the building with each rapid step. His rows of teeth ready to chomp down on Craw, whose sword was wet with Finn's blood.

He timed it wrong, and missed. Craw slid underneath and uppercut across his entire body, causing him to slam into the high ceiling. A deep cut dug across his entire underbelly.

Craw continued to advance at her, his face was calm, perhaps even joyous. "Do you understand, princess of Ooo?" Jake fell onto the floor behind him, limp. "War is slaughter, a weapon is to kill, and the only power is the power to destroy." He dashed up close to her, and delivered a killing blow.

Princess Bubblegum squeezed a trigger, and a blast shot out of the weapon in her hand. Its scattered projectiles hit Craw point-blank as he was about to cut her down. The force knocked him back and left him laying on the floor. She spoke to him. "You have done what no force on earth would dare." She heard herself different. Her voice echoed through the hall, her face was practically transformed by raw emotion railing against its cage. It was as if all her intellect, all her insight in the ways of the world, was being pushed onto her face by raw, unbridled rage. "You have kindled my wrath!" She saw Jake get back on his feet, he was still alive. He ran over to Finn, and carried him away in his mouth. Craw was back on his feet. He produced an array of semi-transparent selves, all held perfectly still, and all in a position of being about to strike.

She stepped back into the metal hallway and shut the blast door, sealing herself in, and everything else out. She felt powerful vibration, like that of a hundred tonne battering ram, slam into the alloy door. It held, but this surprised, and terrified her, a human shouldn't be capable of producing such force.

She turned, and went up the stainless steel steps. They led to a tiny chamber with a capsule protruding from the floor in a cone shape. She touched an amulet she was wearing, and spoke to it. "Gumball Guardians, activate."

Hearing the call of their controller, the Gumball Guardians awoke. They got on their feet, and towered over the forest. Their gaze moved to the Candy Kingdom, and they saw the titanic airship. This set off their alert. The Candy Kingdom was in danger. They activated their long range weapons, but hesitated before firing. Their programming prohibited the endangerment of the kingdom, and shooting the airship down while it was above the city would undoubtedly cause a huge amount of damage.

Their programming became assaulted my an override. It was a precise order of where to shoot the airship. The danger they believed it presented to the kingdom became irrelevant. Their directive came, and they obeyed. They charged their energy weapons, and fired upon the airship.

Flame Princess awoke in a chamber of pitch black. There was no clue as to where she was. The walls were glass, and the chamber was round. It was the exact shape of the lamp she was kept in most of her life. Beyond the glass was all stone. She wandered in circles, letting her natural light illuminate her surroundings, but it was all monotonous stone wall past the glass. One other thing of note was that her crown was gone, and so was her armor, leaving a plain dress. Her Sky Crystal was also gone.

The one spot she hadn't checked was the top, where the lamp breathed. But even her highest jump did not push her light beyond the sides of a round shaft. All above was still dark.

She couldn't increase her volume, or burn brighter. Such was the design of the lamp prison. When a flame burned, it had to suck in fresh air to sustain itself. And only so much air could come in through the top hole at a time. It was the perfect prison for a fire elemental. There was a precise limit to how much she could fire up before beginning to suffocate.

She tried to remember how she ended up in here. She remembered walking through the pass, and being eager to return to her homeland. But beyond that, it was all blank.

She heard the sound of metallic creaking from the top of the prison. And a handful of rocks dropped through, landing on the floor with a resounding clank. She approached them and found that they were coal. Anything that could provide energy for a fire was potential food for a fire elemental, but coal was barely palletable. It produced so much waste that didn't want to burn. Yet still, it was sustenance, she could live off of it.

Jake had made it to the forest outside the city. Finn was held in his mouth. He saw the gumball guardians ahead of him fire energy blasts in the direction the airship. Then he looked back and saw the shots land a direct hit on the airship, causing it to shift unnaturally. The impact area had burst into flame, it lost stability, turning and losing altitude, and then crashed into the candy palace in the center of the city.

Jake turned away from this scene. He had to get his little brother somewhere safe, somewhere his wounds could be treated. Nothing else mattered right now. He ran through the woods. They were darkened by the cloudy day, and the trees made it more dark. It was as if the world couldn't decide whether it was day or night, and had chosen a middle ground.

Jake considered where to go. He emerged to the open fields of grass. In the distance, he saw their house. It was a familiar, comfortable place. Seeing it brought him a sense of homely security. There was a cold wind, and his wound was acting up. Going in there, where it was warm and cozy, then kicking back and taking it easy, he desperately wanted to be able to do this.

He heard something approach in the woods behind him. Relentless pounding of footsteps. They got louder, and louder with each passing second. He knew they had firearms, and he knew what firearms could do.

He resumed running, out in the open grass field, ignoring the cold and ignoring his wound. They couldn't catch up to him, if they did, he was done. He passed by their home. A home that was no longer safe.

Root Beer Guy had led a concentrated assault into the city center. Against all odds, he was able to rout the enemy in that area. It turned out that Banana guards had skin tough enough to not be pierced by bullets, and soft innards capable of absorbing their impact. Small arms fire was painful, and heavier bullets could knock them over, but overall, they could fight the enemy troops. He had retaken the city center, the enemy's drop-off zone, and established a makeshift field camp there.

He knew the enemy wouldn't waste manpower breaking into homes, as the Banana Guard all used melee weapons, there was no need to take cover from them. His biggest worry had been morale; the psychological effect the enemy soldiers would have on his men, their metal bodies, gas masks and glowing red eyes looked terrifying. But now they'd won a skirmish against them, proving they weren't unstoppable monsters.

But they were still all over the city. And he had to assume they were hammering the gates of the palace. Plus the airship still loomed overhead. With this situation, he made the call to continue their advance toward the palace, and ensure the princess' safety. The order was already given, and they were gathering and organizing for the next attack. He wished he'd planned for a situation like this. The Banana Guard were police, their command structure wasn't meant for operating in a warzone. If it was, then preparation would go more smoothly, and their next assault could commence a lot sooner.

He looked up, and saw the airship get hit by a pair of energy blasts from outside the walls. The hulking mass erupted into flame in the area it was hit, then, after a brief struggle to regain control of itself, it crashed into the palace. The ship was as large as the palace, if not larger. And so it crushed on the entire building, collapsing it and bathing the rubble with flame. Root Beer Guy was frozen by the sight of this.

He dropped to his knees. What had happened? He asked himself. What had just happened? No matter how many times he asked himself, the only answer he received was the sight of destruction before him.

"Captain, what do we do?"

He barely heard the voice. Did it even matter now? Could the princess have possibly survived that? If she didn't, then could the kingdom continue to exist? His mind became bombarded with questions.

"Captain!"

He could vaguely see several banana guards put up white flags. He turned around, away from the palace, heard his own heartbeat, measured his own breath, felt the air on his face. Felt the world. He lifted his head, and inhaled. "Everyone! We're retreating!"

His voice was loud, and resonant across the entire camp, across the entire city even. He stood still for a moment, only a moment, then he ran, away from the palace, and toward the gate leading out of the city. He heard the Banana guard following right behind him. He didn't know what he was doing, but the situation was well beyond the stage of knowing or not.

He approached the gate, and a horde of enemy troops had gathered to stop them. They stood between them and salvation. Root Beer Guy didn't slow down, he leveled his saber at the enemy, "charge!"

The enemy unleashed a volley of rifle blasts into them. Several banana guards went down, but the rest, unfazed, continued the charge. Root Beer Guy looked past the gate, and saw the gumball guardians in the distance. He saw their heads get blown up by explosions from an unseen source. Their lifeless bodies fell, and the horizon ahead darkened, reddened. They didn't have much time.

He, and his line collided with the enemy force. He went in headfirst, running through their heavy, armored bodies with his smaller figure. A bayonet swipe came at his head. He ducked, dodging the deadly blow, and didn't slow in his run. The gate came into view through the crowd. The drawbridge was rising shut. He ran faster, and cleared the crowd, running up the bridge as it rose, steepened. Realizing there was no way he could reach the top in time, he dropped his saber and took out two handguns. Guns were forbidden in the Candy Kingdom for anyone to carry, but earlier that day, when he was given the mission to protect the city, he took them out of his antique cabinet and loaded them each with a bullet and powder. He fired them each at the two bases where the chains attached to the drawbridge. The shots connected, and broke both the screw rings where the chains attached. The drawbridge fell back down, and let out a resounding slam on impact. The vibration made him almost lose his footing.

Dozens of banana guards charged past him, escaping into the wilderness. They'd broken through the enemy formation. He joined the flight, and they scattered out of the city and into the wilderness.

They ran for what felt like hours, heading for the nearby mountains. They passed by an overhead view on one of the now destroyed gumball guardians. Root Beer Guy looked back at the city, and saw three more giant airships appear overhead, replacing the one that had been shot down. Seeing this terrified him, with the prospect of what would have happened if they'd stayed, or if their escape had been delayed. His hunch was right, defending the city was a lost cause. But in the wilderness, they could regroup, and maybe warn the other kingdoms.

His wife was still in the city. But she was a civilian, he didn't see the enemy target anything non-military during the fighting, so he could assume she would be all right.

But the princess...

He clenched his teeth, looking at the ground. They would escape, he thought as he went back to running through the woods.

But they had lost.

Finn the Human felt so very human. He was in agony, his entire upper body felt a merciless throbbing. His entire body felt weak, and he drifted in and out of a dreamless sleep. His waking moments were spent in an unfocused, inept mindset he didn't have the energy to concentrate out of. His right arm felt cold, lifeless, a kind of unpleasantness associated with feeling numb.

He felt himself in a comfortable spot, though, and he no longer felt too cold. His eyes didn't want to open, but from feeling, he found he was in bed, and under covers. He felt a hand come around the back of his head, and lift it gently, then the rim of a bowl pushed into his lips.

"Finn? You need to drink this, come on now."

The voice was familiar, but he couldn't find a name through the haze in his mind. It was female, older than him, but still young, a voice, and person with an aesthetic he associated with the phrase: big sister. He pushed air out to speak, it was difficult. "Marceline?"

"Yeah," the voice replied. "You need to drink at least some of this." She tipped the bowl, pouring its content into his mouth. "I made it myself!"

He took it in, and swallowed, bit by tiny bit. It was hot, and tasted good. "What is it?"

"Food, and water combined; soup. You've been out for half the night."

"Where am I?"

"In my house. Don't worry, you're safe here." She rubbed on his head playfully. "Just get some more rest."

"What happened to Jake?" His memory of what happened had come back. Everything that happened before the agony began, then the blackout.

His right arm didn't let up on its relentless numb feeling, it became even more prominent than the pain in his upper body. He moved his left hand over to feel it, but Marceline stopped him, gripping his wrist.

She spoke: "Jake dropped you off here. He said he had to go make sure Lady Rainicorn, and their kids were alright."

He pushed against her, trying to get his left hand to his other arm. "Marceline, please." He needed to know.

She held for a moment. "Just... don't go into shock, okay?" She let his hand go.

He felt his right arm, and felt nothing but a stubby lump, wrapped with bandages, and squeezed shut by a wide belt clamp. He moved his hand up the length from the the lump, and reached his shoulder. His breathing became uneven and sporadic. The lump was less than a foot from his shoulder. As the reality manifested into his mind, he felt tears come down his face.

Marceline dug both her hands under him, and hugged him tight. "It's okay, Finn, it's alright, just don't... don't..."

What? He thought, don't do what? Feel pain? He opened his eyes, and saw her. She looked the same as always; pale skin, thick, black hair, and the tendency to levitate. She was a vampire. "I'm a mortal, Marceline." He saw her face, and tried to smile at her. "This kind of thing comes with the territory, you know?"

She put her feet on the floor, and stood straight. Her face was serious. "Who did this to you, Finn?"
The terrible memory emerged in his thoughts, fresher than ever. Rattleballs was dead, Jake was badly hurt, his arm... and Princess Bubblegum..." He looked at Marceline's face, saw what she meant to do. An image appeared in his imagination, an image of her ending up the same way. He shook his head. "Please, don't go after him. I don't want you to end up..." In his sleepy mindset, his imagination got ahead of him. The image of Marceline getting hurt, or killed became vivid. His head tightened, and he felt about to break into sobbing.

Immediately, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Finn. Nothing bad's gonna happen to me. I'm the Vampire Queen!"

Finn should have seen it sooner. What kind of person Craw was; his dark outlook, his calculating approach to everything, his defending of the character of someone who would invade the Candy Kingdom and try to have PB killed. What Bubblegum told him about him. Finn's anger at him was matched only by his newfound fear. He looked at Marceline, "he's a monster, Marceline. Not like the wild creatures who populate dungeons, or you. But a truly monstrous person." He shook his head. "I don't want you to go after him, I don't want you to fight him, Marceline, please."

Marceline sobered. "Jake had a bad cut on him, was that from..?"

Finn nodded. "I think so, also, Rattleballs..." Rattleballs was supposed to be a secret agent, but Marceline knew plenty enough things to know who he was, and that he was a master swordsbot.

She sighed. "All right, Finn. I can't leave you alone here anyway." She levitated over to the kitchen. Finn realized he was in bed in the living room, the bed unfolded out of the couch. Out of the window, he saw the cave entrance, and that it was the middle of the night outside. She looked over to him through the wide kitchen viewing window, smiling naturally. "I'm gonna try to cook you something solid, now that you're conscious, alright?"

Sensing her intent, he laughed. It ached, but after what happened, it was a really good feeling, to laugh.

A terrifying prospect made its way into Flame Princess' mind. What if nothing was to come for her? What if she was stuck in this place forever?

What if nothing changed?

In her rage, she had fled. In her wrath, she refused to fight her enemy. In her need for vengeance, she had embraced pragmatism.

Bonnibel Bubblegum was at a cliffside, overlooking the Candy Kingdom. She saw three Brimstone airships come to replace the one that was shot down. The Candy Kingdom had fallen.

The land had been stirred, and shaken. And now all of the capacities within her, that had remained dormant for so long, were needed.

It was time for the slumbering giant to awaken.

She turned around, and headed back inside her rocket capsule. There was much to do.

Welcome to the world. Where all actions have effect, all thoughts carry potential, and there is an end to every beginning.

-Z