Flame Princess immediately broke down in front of Princess Bubblegum, the burden of two kingdoms under her shoulders were bearing down on her and with the new threat from the enemy and her subjects it just felt like a steep mountain for her to overcome. "I-I-I c-can't do it anymore, the soldiers are dying and the officers aren't being helpful. At this rate the manner of which we wanted this war to end cannot be achieved." Bubblegum hugged her tight, Phoebe felt serene, and it was like a mother's embrace. "You've done more than enough these past weeks, I'm glad I left my kingdom in your care." The elemental looked up to her and asked, "But I-"

"Please hold out for one last time, one last trial will be given to you, it will be the hardest but if you see it through the land will return to its peaceful state." Bubblegum conveyed, she saw the future and how it unfolds. "How?" Phoebe asks. "Finn, he will guide all to work together for a mutual benefit and you, along with Marceline will make sure he continues the path to peace." That last statement triggered Flame Princess to remember all the great memories she and Finn had, maybe there's a chance to have a place in Finn's heart again, she thought to herself. "I will do it." She said with complete determination. "It's time for us to part." Bubblegum said.

Before it all faded she gave her heir a solemn smile, but then the place became dark. Flame princess puts her guard up but was swept away by a horrific sight. Another mountain, this time it was bodies of the dead and on top of it was Finn with dark eyes laughing. She woke up breathing heavily; looking at the clock it was nine in the morning. Phoebe carefully slowed her breathing and after she calmed down she donned her armor and looked at herself in the mirror. She still remembers the nightmare, but dismisses it since she never saw the owl. "Good thing that awful owl didn't show up, I could have strangled him for what he did to Finn and I."

"Sister, your meal is ready. In an hour and a half the meeting will start so I suggest you hurry." "I'll keep that in mind, thank you." She went down along with her brother and they ate breakfast silently, the princess can't help but notice how her brother is behaving. "Is he still hiding something from me?" "Is anything wrong, Andrew?" "Nothing, just a bit concerned. The council have been discussing long after we left the meeting, what do you think have they talked about?" "Same as we did I guess." She answered back. Finishing the meal they prepared and headed straight to the council meeting. As soon as the two siblings entered the premises the noise of talks died down.

"Great, now that you two are here, we can talk about our verdict." Phoebe was surprised, "A verdict? Without my input a verdict has been made about what!?" She looked at her brother and there she realized it, the trials have begun. Her brother couldn't look at her. "Is there a problem?" One of the council members asked. "None, continue." "We have talked among our members and we also consulted the other kingdoms including your own, we have decided for the Princess' participation in the war to be halted." She let out a deep sigh as the man continued. "She will however retain her position as the leader of the candy kingdom, but the handling of the army and the prisoners of war will be given to her brother, Andrew."

While change is happening in Ooo, Finn had just made his trip back to his own world. He felt urgency and told althea to take him straight back to where Marceline was. She hastily opened a portal and told Finn, "Be careful Finn, as soon as you subdue Seph, return the fragment to Maxwell." He looked at the ring and nodded. He left the place and stepped into Seph's domain, there he saw that he was stuck on the other world too long. Maxwell was impaled on a wall guarded by Hugo; Hunson was pinned down by Tyrone and Seph with swords. As for Marceline, Nico and Huntress, they were fighting against Samantha and Alesse. "Finn!" Marceline shouted.

She ran towards him but was blocked by a barrier, after that they were struck down by Alesse. "How did you escape? I made sure to send you far!" Seph said angrily. "Stop, the important matter is our target is here." Tyrone said. "You see, we, the pillars never forsake each other. The moment Seph was in danger we came to help, and now I'm guessing you'll do the same. Assuming you still own a soul." "What the hell are you saying? Release my friends right now!" Finn demanded. "If you agree to surrender to us we will, besides you're the only problem we have." Hugo said. Finn looked at the situation, his friends held captive and even if he fights he can't handle them.

"What is your answer Finn?" "You're crazy if you think I'll surrender." "Come on now, you have caused a lot of bad things to Ooo. It's better this way." Samantha added. She showed Finn images of the war and what was happening, he saw how Flame princess was in pain. Finn wanted to fight, but the ring wasn't cooperating, there was only one choice left. He dropped on his knees and said. "I surrender." "No..." Marceline said. Finn's body seized to move and the others were released. Marceline ran towards Finn but a bright light appeared stopping her. It was Bubblegum, "Bonnie!" Marceline was glad to see her friend but immediately she notices something was off.

"Do it." Tyrone commanded, Bubblegum nodded, she left Marceline and walked towards Finn who was still conscious. "It's been a while." She said as she kisses him on the lips. It was a long kiss which Marceline stopped. "It's done." "What did you do!?" Marceline asked her furiously. "Take him away Samantha." The vampire queen panicked, Finn just arrived and he's being taken away from her again. She struggles to break away from Bubblegum's grip but still she read her mouth saying, 'trust me.' At that moment she gave the others energies back and broke Finn from captivity. Finn fell and was caught by Marceline, soon the others joined their side. "You fools, you don't know what you're forsaking by helping him!"

Finn woke up and began hovering in the same level as the pillars. "You're going to fight us!?" Tyrone asked. "Yes." Finn answered with a blank expression, he cracked his knuckles and attacked Seph first. He caught him and drove his shadow sword into Seph. The four remaining Pillars were in shock as they saw their friend die and turn into a gem, soon after that a dark being came out but Finn used the ring to get rid of it quickly. "YOU INSOLENT-" Finn turned and shunned them. "That's only one, you tortured my friends and you think I'll let you go?" Finn noticed the reflection of his sword that his left eye was dark with a red iris meanwhile his right eye was slowly darkening but he stopped it so it retained its natural white and blue color.

He managed to stop the dark power from taking over but his left eye remained dark and red. Finn raised the ring and the four remaining pillars were thrown to the walls. "Finn stop we're all fine, we need to escape first." Maxwell said. "No, this ends now." Finn splits into four, the pillars were alarmed with Finn's newly acquired power so they withdrew. "Don't think you can escape." he said. Each of the three copies and Finn himself ran after their respective targets. "Marceline and I will go after Finn, Hunson and Huntress get Hugo, Maxwell you get Alesse and Nico go to Samantha." They all nodded and went on their way. So many questions were on Marceline's mind.

"Bonnie, I demand an explanation!" Bubblegum decided that it was fine while the battles haven't started yet so she explains, "There was no other way, Tyrone threatened my kingdom." "So, What was the kiss about!?" "I'm sorry, it was the only way to stall them but that kiss is costly." Marceline stopped and asked, "What will happen to Finn?" She was calm this time. "I took his immortality away." That answer places Marceline in a shock, which quickly boils up into anger. She charged at Bubblegum but when she caught her they then arrived at where Finn was, Tyrone's domain. "Let's help Finn now." Bubblegum said but she received a punch in the face as a response. "You betrayed us!"

Meanwhile Alesse was caught by one of Finn's copies early on and is locked in a heated battle, "Surrender to me and hand me your power." "It's funny how you abuse your power, even though you're not immortal anymore." She said. "You say that but what happened to Seph and Tia clearly showed how just vulnerable you pillars are." She snapped when he mentioned her late friends and attacks first, she summoned souls only to be cut down by the shadow sword. In return Finn rushed towards her and swung his sword. She caught it with ease and drove Finn to the ground, she leaps away but Finn slowly stood up and said, "Damn you hit hard, this will be a great fight."

Alesse released another set of souls towards Finn, the phantoms solidified and began attacking from all angles, giving Finn a hard time. "Is this all you can do?" Finn asked arrogantly. "I thought you'd never ask." Alesse was just finishing up a soul sphere, and Finn's eyes widened. He spun to push the souls back and uses his shadow as a shield as he braced himself for the impact of the large mass of souls heading down to crush him. "Our power exceeds yours in any way." When the mass dissipated, Alesse was disappointed that the copy was still there. She strikes at him just as he lowers his shield and pierces his back. "Ready to surrender now, Finn?"

Alesse had a victorious smile but it was dropped when she became aware of the shadows slowly engulfing the area around her. "Damn it." She cursed but as just she was almost swallowed by the darkness, Maxwell arrives and took her to safety. "Why are you helping me?" She asked, "I don't know either, it just feels wrong." Maxwell answered. Finn emerged from the crater and he demanded Maxwell to not interfere, "Finn, not this way, you need to stop." "I'm giving you a chance to get away, Maxwell." Finn started running towards them and as he attacked Maxwell blocked his sword using her spear. "So, this is how it will be." Finn said, dismayed. The copy began turning dark.

Samantha on the other side of her own realm was having a hard time shaking Finn's copy off, she pulled every evasive maneuver she could but the copy was persistent and self-learning. All the traps she laid and the illusions were dispelled by the moment they came into contact with the copy. "Is it Seph's power? Maybe Tia's?" Samantha thought while still trying to escape. The guardian of reality is slowly being consumed by the variability of her enemy, the idea of not knowing what part of Finn is sealing away her tools and making him murderous is gnawing inside her. "Why are you even doing this?" She asked trying to distract him. "You tell me, you guardians suddenly decided that I'm the bad person, yes?"

This made her stop, her action surprised the copy pursuing her and she took that opportunity to bury her hands deep inside the copy's body. He gave her a piercing glare but instead of finishing him off, she let her power flow into him destroying some of the shadows inside him. "What did you do?" he asked, calmly. "The most sensible thing don't you think?" The copy's glare turned to a puzzling look and by that time Nico catches up to them and kicked Finn away from Samantha thinking he was killing her. "NO!" Samantha yelled. Immediately Nico stopped, "I'll be protecting you lady, so you better be thankful. You still owe me from that headache you gave me."

Finn's copy simply lied down, he was confused. The daze he was in was removed and he was left with a confusing situation. "Should I destroy this one?" Nico asked himself and he was answered by Samantha seemingly reading his mind. "He's connected to Finn, maybe if I get to him through the copy I can save my fellow guardians." Nico then turned and pointed his blade, "I want to ask you something." "I don't have much choice with that dagger of yours don't I?" Samantha said. "Who the hell am I?" Her face grew pale. The threat of Finn was one thing but Nico... No Grayson who is standing right in front of her is another case altogether.

"I can't tell you that..." He sighed, dissatisfied with her answer. "I guess this is good bye then." Nico bared more blades from his cloak and he attacked Samantha but Finn's copy comes in and caught all of his blades. "She's the enemy Finn!" "I know..." Samantha's eyes grew wide as she felt alone with these two men trying to kill her. "No, please." She pleaded. Finn gave her a smile which made her put her guard down, as soon as she did this Finn took advantage and seized her. Finn used Samantha's own shadows against her restraining her to the ground. He then peered inside her head, there he saw the history of all. From the conception of the universe, the fall of man and down to the small details of Nico's true identity.

"Tell him." Finn commanded her. "I can't" "If I tell him, I can't guarantee you'll get out of here alive." Nico pulled up his daggers again which made her flinch, but still she refused. Finn raised his index finger and his friend threw a dagger to Samantha's abdomen. "GAH! A-alright... *cough* I'll tell you." Finn pulled the dagger and after healing her, the three of them sat down. "Start from Maxwell." Finn said. Although she was healed by Finn she was still shaking in fear, Finn saw this and held her hand. "If you go through this I will protect you." "Adding more women to your collection Finn? You're quite ambitious trying to snag a guardian." "Fuck off man."

"Nico secured Samantha. You two be careful, Hugo can control you huntress." "I'll keep that in mind, I'm more concerned about the king of darkness here with me." Hunson laughed and said, "I still got it." The two followed Finn to the realm of the guardian of the mind, Hugo. They lost them a few seconds after entering but it was understandable, the place was a mess. "There!" Hunson pointed out. The two rushed towards the direction of Hugo and they saw Finn badgering the door down with no avail. "That's a rather dark copy of Finn." Hunson expressed with a hint of approval and amusement. "Let's go stop him then." Huntress said. "Not yet, I'll act later and this'll all be over."

The two sat on a pile of rubbles as Finn continued assaulting the solid door which most likely held Hugo inside. "Is that guardian a coward?" Huntress asked. "No he is the bravest of them all, he's just wise enough not to go toe to toe with Finn in his state." Hunson revealed. "You see Finn is not of this world, he may appear human but his soul had been here for a long time." Huntress was intrigued wanting to hear more but then Finn had done part his job. He dug his hands on the door and amplified his strength using his power. After ripping the door out of its place Hugo tackled Finn and the two began trading blows.

The copy stood up and conjured his two weapons, the sword and gauntlet. "You're foolish to fight me like that." "Sure dude." Finn's copy lunged at his prey but before he could cut him down Hugo faded away and upon further inspection Finn was tricked, he was never holding his gear. "You see, foolish vampire." Finn tried to remain calm but even inside his thoughts he is battling against Hugo. "Our jobs is being cut out for us don't you think?" Hunson said while munching on a sandwich, huntress was watching Finn struggle. "He sacrificed his immortality to help us, why is that?" she asked. "Dunno, all the humans I knew who had immortality all sacrificed it in the end."

Hunson finished his sandwich, and came in to pull Finn's copy from its sorry state. "You're a few years too early to handle that much darkness boy." "I'll take that advice." The copy said as it began crumbling. Hugo seized his movements and approached the two. "What are you two doing here!?" he asked. The two stayed silent so he decided to poke into their minds. Hunson was first, but as soon as he came in he was driven out by the vile thoughts the king of darkness had. "Fuck you, hunson." "Told you, I still got it." He then proceeded to huntress but her mind was only darkness, it was a protection spell that he cannot overcome. "Still want to fight us both?"

Hugo glared at them but knowing how this will end he resigned to his fate. "Just one thing." "Sure what is it?" Huntress asked. "You're all dead." Hunson then consumed him, guardians don't have souls so Hunson eats the whole. "Disgusting." Huntress remarked as she watch hunson transform back to his humanoid form pulling out a gem from his arm. "Finn got to him first and there's nothing we could do to stop him, understood?" "Yeah, this works. What about that gem?" huntress gazed upon the gem marveling in its power. "I don't have a use for this, I think my retirement is near and I finally have a suitable candidate waiting." Hunson answered with a sinister smile.

Thank you for reading this new chapter, apologies for the long updates. Schedule restrictions and all, I hope you have enjoyed so far and I got a number in mind as to how much chapters are left for the story. After this I don't know how long I'll rest for a third story, I'll be posting as fast as I can.

Again thank you for taking your time reading.