The shootouts in the Candy Kingdom became more chaotic as Peppermint Butler waited for help. Windows were shattered, walls were blown up, and bullet casings littered the streets. Most of the buildings the Candy troops occupied as bunkers were gradually lit on fire as the elementals burned them from the ground upwards. It also didn't help the defenders with the fact that some the building materials were made of highly flammable candy.

"These flames are out of control!" A guard exclaimed as he used a fire extinguisher. Despite his efforts, the inferno rose quickly through the three-story building he was in until it reached the roof. The gunmen who fought on top of the structure were oblivious for a few moments until they felt the sudden heat emitting from the flames.

"Shoot! Get off the roof!" One guard shouted in panic.

Another darted his eyes left and right and stammered, "I-I can't find the exit!"

The flames roared intensely as it made its ominous approach from the stairway. The men back-pedaled slowly towards the edge from being burned directly, but the problem was that they were also suffocating from the black smoke that now swirled around them. They coughed and heaved during the whole experience with panic overcoming their senses.

Faced with imminent death, the men decided to end their lives quickly by leaping from the rooftop. Some were caught on fire in midair during the jump, while others simply fell onto the crude pavement leaving a splattered mess. Screams of fear and agony were heard collectively throughout the city limits as more defenders experienced similar fates.

The armored units engaging the elementals were also having difficulties. Although they were able to repel the first wave of intruders with ease, the situation became out of control as additional reinforcements emerged from the surface. The tanks fired their main cannons and coaxial machine guns desperately as the elementals scattered in multiple directions. However, this quickly led to another problem.

"Ground units," A tank commander ordered. "Watch the sides! They're flanking us through the nearby buildings!"

The candy troops that accompanied him redirected their machine guns and fired in response. "Suppressing," a guard announced.

"Great work," he replied. "Keep your eyes wide for more enemy movement." The commander then switched frequencies to Peppermint Butler, "The containment is failing, sir! Please advise!"

The mint replied, "Reinforcements are underway! Just hang in there!"

Moments later, a large wave of armored flame golems with shields and chained maces emerged from the distant crevasses. As hundreds of bullets were flung at their location, they immediately crouched behind their shields and started their slow approach towards the Candy tanks.

"Aim for the legs," the commander radioed to his men.

One tank fired its main cannon in response with a resolute boom. The shell traveled at high velocity with an intimidating whistle only to miss by flying right above its targets.

He frowned, "Dang it, adjust your aim!"

"Reloading, changing trajectory!"

The turret hummed as its barrel lowered closer to the ground.

"You're clear!"

"On the way!"

Another boom was uttered as the next shell traveled with a menacing whistle. This time it was guaranteed to hit and inflict casualties upon the elementals. However, instead of seeing a direct explosion, the defenders were horrified that the ordinance ricocheted from a golem's shield at an angle and landed straight into a nearby building.

"All tanks, reverse! Reverse," the leading commander radioed.

"Enemy closing in forty meters up front," a crew member announced.

"Keep firing!"

As the armored column backed further away a couple blocks, several flame troops were seen running across the nearby rooftops. Once the elementals reached a certain spot, each of them began generating an orb of flames with one hand until it grew to a comparable size of a basketball. Then, they waited a split second more before flinging them on top of the tanks. Most of the projectiles met their targets with small flames settling above the main turrets and upper rear panels. The vehicles overall continued to shoot on the move despite the damages they sustained, while some were less fortunate.

"Engine and fuel tanks are running on critical!" The leading commander radioed. Judging from the remaining ordinance that was stocked nearby, the blast would spread within approximately ten to fifteen feet. "Everybody out!"

The crew members rushed frantically in their movements as they tried to reach the bottom escape hatch. However, smoke began filling the cockpit and the men became disoriented. Flames began to seep through the top and soon they started to yell and scream collectively in despair.

"It's stuck," the leader grunted as he tried stomping the hatch with one foot. He began to cough constantly as he exerted himself until he finally relented. As he was void of strength and willpower, the commander could only watch in horror as the fire expanded and consumed his fellow teammates. His eyes darted back towards the gauges up front and realized from that moment he was out of time.

The leading tank from the column bursted into a blinding explosion as the battle progressed. At this point, the Candy infantrymen retreated towards the palace as they witnessed the rest of their support vehicles become demolished from the enemy golems. Peppermint Butler tried to radio the men to stay and fight, but was easily disregarded from the screams and shouts overhead. Realizing that he was in a hopeless situation, the mint began to make his personal escape from the kingdom he once cherished.

"Well, at least I tried," he thought to himself. He gathered his personal belongings and packed them into a briefcase before shredding a few documents on his desk. He then surveyed the room one last time before he finally walked outside of his office. An escort team of eight men stood nearby and awaited his instructions.

"The kingdom's been compromised," Peppermint Butler announced. "We've been cut off. It's a lost cause. Our only chance at survival now is to flee the city."

The men bowed collectively with woeful expressions.

Peppermint continued, "This place has always been our home as far as we can remember. We've shared countless memories with our friends and loved ones that it's hard to leave everything behind. But, such circumstances have led us to no other option. If we stay here and fight, we will all perish with no hope for our future. But if we leave, we will be able to go our separate ways, disappear, and start over."

One guard stepped forward, "How can we hope to escape if we are completely surrounded?"

Peppermint nodded, "I'm glad you pointed that out. I have just the thing." He brought forth a briefcase and grabbed a few potions. "My mastery with dark magic will give us the ability to blend in with the Fire Army."

"Is it safe?"

"Of course! It's simply an advanced illusion spell. We'll still look the same as we are now, while everyone else will think we're fire elementals. It's guaranteed to bypass their heat sense abilities, but just make sure you don't get too close to them. We can still get burned."

Another guard stepped in and asked, "What about the princess?"

Peppermint frowned, "She would have us executed for our incompetence if we are to see her again. And I can assure you the men retreating will fare no better."

The escort group lined up into a circle formation as the mint closed his eyes and chanted an incantation from the center. Ancient symbols could be seen swirling upwards from the ground until the room suddenly flashed with a blinding light. Everyone except Peppermint covered their eyes and recomposed themselves.

"I don't seem any different," one guard complained as he examined himself.

"You'll just have to trust me then," Peppermint retorted. "Now, come. There isn't much time."


Meanwhile, Finn was dashing and leaping across multiple rooftops in the downtown area. Friendly troops below at street level could be seen retreating towards the palace, but the human simply disregarded them. "They will be dealt with," he thought to himself. "Cowardice will not be tolerated." His eyes glanced at the Finn sword he wielded with his right hand, "But first, the fire elementals."

Finn continued the rest of his trip in silence with a determined expression. As he got closer to his destination, the buildings ahead of him were engulfed into large pillars of flames with smoke billowing across the skies. Some of them collapsed and tumbled into piles of rubble while others remained structurally intact. Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the distant background but the human noticed the noise gradually subsided moments later. His eyes narrowed, it could only mean one thing.

"The enemy has captured the western command post," Princess Bubblegum radioed to Finn. "You must take it back."

He nodded, "It shall be done, my lady."


"Commander," a Fire commando reported. "The area's clear!"

"Excellent," Erwin answered. He looked over to his left and noticed a nearby church two blocks away, "Get a team on that bell tower to provide overwatch. The enemy's fled, but it won't be long until they regroup for a counter attack."

A squad of three men rushed towards the building moments later.

Erwin briskly walked with his subordinates on the Candy streets until he approached a red pickup truck that was abandoned in the middle of an intersection. He pulled out a map that he recently obtained from a dead Candy officer and placed it on the hood. "According to intel, the force-field barrier is supported with four generators that are strategically placed on the kingdom's corners north, south, east, and west. If we can destroy at least one of them, it should result in a chain-link failure."

One guard beside him studied the map and asked, "Does it show where we can find one?"

The superior shook his head, "This map unfortunately doesn't show their exact locations. It's more of a general layout of the city if anything." He sighed in frustration and thought, "We're wasting time! Here we are behind enemy lines and we can't do squat!" He slammed a fist onto the hood.

"Sir, keep it together," the subordinate advised.

Erwin looked down and breathed deeply for a few moments until he composed himself. When he looked back up, his eyes surveyed the buildings around him until his gaze caught one in particular. It was a high rise building over fifty stories high that had a beam of energy protruding from the roof. His demeanor changed and he quickly pointed towards the tall structure saying, "Over there! Get a demolitions team on that location asap!"

"Right away, commander."

"In the meantime," Erwin continued as he drew on the map. "Get our golems to move some of these cars to block this street and the rest to block this one here. We'll force a choke point for the enemy troops where we can ambush them up high from the nearby buildings. I also need one squad to locate the communications post and another to disable the outer wall defenses. I need the cavalry at the ready once we complete the objective, otherwise we're in for the fight of our lives." He looked over to rest of the company and concluded, "The rest of you, stock up on weapons and ammo and take defensive positions!"


"Contact at eleven o'clock!" A Flame trooper announced.

The attackers readied their weapons as they hid behind several cars and buildings as cover.

Erwin tensed instantly at the news and made a direct observation from the roof of a three story hotel that overlooked the main street. He brought his binoculars towards his face and frantically scanned the ground below for enemy troops. Instead, he frowned in confusion when he saw a small group of nine men approaching, "What the?"

"We got bystanders," exclaimed another trooper. "Commander, please advise!"

Erwin blinked and shook his head quickly before radioing, "Get them out of there, now!"

The unarmed group below took on panicked expressions as three troopers approached them quickly with their guns pointed.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Peppermint cried with his hands waving in midair.

The squad leader lowered his weapon and ushered, "It's not safe here. Follow me!"

With that, the disguised mint and his group dashed towards the sidewalk until they were led inside a bakery. They discovered the food was gone in the shelves and counters, and that the chairs and tables were missing. Before they could make further observations however, the troops motioned them to follow through the back door. Minutes passed as they navigated through the alleyway and transitioned from one building to another. In time, they settled into Erwin's hotel with dozens of troops surrounding them at the lobby.

"You have to get us out of here," Peppermint said with fear apparent in his voice. "Please!"

"We will," Erwin assured as he approached them. "Just sit tight. Soon, you and the others will be safe again with your families." He picked up his communicator, "Cass, give me a sitrep!"

"We're almost on top of the outer wall," he answered. "We should have the guns disabled ten, fifteen minutes tops."

Erwin nodded and holstered his communicator. He was about to make inquiries with Peppermint's group, but reconsidered when they were seen trembling with hysteria. "We'll worry about the questions later," he said to Peppermint in understanding. He then walked away with two guards following him.

"Since when did Bubblegum start taking hostages," one of them asked whispering.

"No idea," Erwin replied. "Just keep your eyes on them..."