Chapter theme: Hymn of Granas


Phoebe could only think about Finn's last moments as she made her escape through the underground base. Even though she carried Jake and Marceline on her shoulders, the elemental battled an internal conflict. One part of her mind told her that Finn was on the verge of death anyway, while one part told her that it was somewhat possible to save him.

"He just has to be alive," Phoebe argued mentally as she flew through the hallways and corridors. "He survived an artillery blast of all things! I know he can make it!"

"He's gone," her conscience countered. "He only had minutes to live after that last injury."

"NO!" Phoebe gritted her teeth in sheer denial as she powered more flames from her feet to distance herself away from the trailing explosions. "He's still alive, I can feel it!"

Everything else was blurred out after the fact. Phoebe didn't remember how long she navigated through the base, nor did she recall how she eventually discovered the emergency train station. All she knew for certain was that she allowed her survival instincts to take over her mind completely and just find a way out. It didn't matter if she missed several opportunities to steal anything related to Princess Bubblegum. Whether it was experimental technology or incriminating evidence, the elemental only focused on controlling her overall heat to not burn her friends. She never did run past anyone as she made her escape, whether it was a flame soldier or a candy droid. She could only hope for their sake that they managed to flee to safety long beforehand and that she would have the chance to publicly declare the war being finally over.

When Phoebe reached the station, she stopped briefly in mid-flight and contemplated if she should use the locomotive. Unfortunately for her, the princess had no idea to operate it nor did she have time to experiment with a trail or error approach. The distant explosions behind her were approaching rapidly and Phoebe had doubts the transport would start fast enough to pick up enough speed anyway. She then peered into the pitch black tunnel the tracks lead to and fired a small flare projectile from the gem on her forehead to gauge the distance. After a few seconds, the flare quickly became engulfed in darkness as it traveled further away.

"The home stretch," Phoebe breathed out. "I can't give up now."

The elemental closed her eyes to prepare herself mentally as she summoned more power from her matrix. Despite the ground shaking constantly and the alarms blaring relentlessly, Phoebe willed herself into deep concentration. She could sense the explosions catching up to her position as she channeled more energy but remained composed regardless. The flames pursuing her started off at 400 feet, but that distance was zeroing fast by the second. In no time, the distance was down to 200 after a few seconds and then a hundred feet after a few more. Phoebe inhaled through the nose as she neared the peak with her power and once the explosions got closer to her at approximately 50 feet, she exhaled with her eyes open and bolted towards the tunnel at breakneck speed. Her arms were fastened tightly around Jake and Marceline as they draped over her shoulders and she followed the tracks which lead to a slight incline. It seemed like an eternity as she illuminated the darkness, but after six long minutes she blindly flew out of the opening and landed onto a grassy landscape. As she and her friends now lied scattering on the ground, a violent pillar of fire bursted from the secret exit before caving in altogether. Phoebe exhaled in relief that her group had finally made it to safety, but at the same time passed out from exerting her powers. The last thing she was able to see before her eyes fluttered shut was a large group of red silhouettes approaching her position.


Dozens of flame soldiers rushed outside the Candy Kingdom palace as it self-destructed. As they fled to safety, chunks of debris could be seen collapsing from its walls and corners and flames flared out from all the windows. The ground shook relentlessly from all the constant explosions that occurred deep below the palace and anything left behind was immediately incinerated. Eventually, as the last remnants of the army made their evacuation, the palace structure erupted into a miniature mushroom cloud. Although the blast was non nuclear, the capital was nowhere to be found without a trace and the Candy Kingdom was officially wiped from the face of the earth. Despite this, everyone who witnessed the spectacle were filled with uncertainty. Was the war finally over? Did Princess Bubblegum perish? And where was Phoebe and the friends who accompanied her?

A large pillar of black smoke billowed into the skies from the palace's previous spot. While one group of soldiers moved away to rest from the conflict, another group made its way towards the massive smoldering site to investigate.

"Princess," one elemental radioed from his headset. "Come in."

No response was given as he was met with static.

He looked over to the men walking beside him and ordered, "Fan out at a five meter spread."

The search lasted for about fifteen minutes until their comms went off.

"We just got a report of a distant explosion south west from your location," a flame officer radioed. "Divert search teams to investigate, over."

"Roger," a flame corporal replied. He then made a rallying gesture for the group to follow until they moved altogether.

"Do you think they made it out?" One follower asked.

"Let's hope so," the leader replied.

Moments later, another elemental radioed, "I see them, they're over here!"

As soon as everyone converged on the monarch's location, many of the troops expressed looks of worry and concern. Phoebe's entire body glowed weakly to a near maroon color while Jake and Marceline laid motionless beside her.

"They're still alive!" One soldier exclaimed as he knelt beside them.

"Get them on immediate treatment," the leader ordered. "And send out search teams to investigate the wreckage. This war isn't over until we have solid confirmation that Bubblegum is KIA. I also need either Prince Torcho or Furnius to get on the line asap."

Several minutes passed as each of the heroes were transported on separate gurneys to head towards the nearest medical tent. Space was already made prior beforehand and it wasn't long until the doctors began administering treatment to help the trio recover.

"This is Prince Torcho," the elemental announced over the phone.

"Your majesty," the leader greeted. "The Candy Kingdom's been destroyed and our forces have secured the mainland. However, Princess Phoebe has been rendered out of commission after the attack and we have no one else to lead us."

"Wait, what?"

"Chain of command has been passed onto you and Prince Furnius," the flame officer clarified. "What are your orders?"

"Ok," Torcho pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to process everything. "Just wait there and keep everyone calm as much as possible. I will be arriving shortly."

"Yes, sir."

As the call ended, Torcho looked over to his brother and asked, "You think you'll be alright holding down the fort?"

Furnius stared at him with an uncertain expression, "Not really, but I guess I'll do it. I'm just not sure if the people would mind me being in charge while you're away for the time being."

Torcho placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort, "You'll do fine. The people love and respect us as much as our cousin wanted them to be. Besides, I'm not going to a far away place or anything. We have our phones and we are both within reach. It'll be over soon enough."

Furnius nodded, "Alright, just be careful."


Torcho was stunned as he arrived at the Grasslands. Even though he had heard reports through the radio about the land being desolated, it was still shocking to see it first hand. The ground he traveled on was charred, barren, and void of grass. The skies remained dark and gloomy after several hours and the overall atmosphere made him feel unsettled. He could see dozens of unmarked graves scattering the region which included a mixture of swords and rifles plunged into the dirt with helmets topping them off. Even though he was among his fellow soldiers, the prince felt lost as though he had entered an alien world. One that could have rivaled the Nightosphere based on its overall scenery of immense death and destruction.

After the initial shock, the Fire Army quickly brought Torcho to speed regarding the recent operation. He was told how the ground forces encountered heavy resistance in storming the Candy palace and how Phoebe and her friends went underground to track down Finn and Bubblegum.

"Our comms had massive interference once they entered site 70599," a flame officer explained. "We tried sending reinforcements to their location as soon as possible, but we were forced to evacuate once the alarms went off."

"You mean to tell me that there were only four people who may or may not know if this war is over?" Torcho asked irritably, "Why didn't you guys reach them in time?"

Another officer replied, "Because Bubblegum deployed more guards and traps on the way there and also because we were spread too thin. The underground base had a wide network of branched corridors that our analysts believed the size was equivalent to a small city. We had no idea where to go when we made the infiltration and it wasn't until later that our techs spotted Finn through the camera feed to give us a lead on PB's exact location."

"That almost sounds like a trap," Torcho remarked. "Finn was reported to have been kidnapped according to Jake and now all of a sudden he's able to run free at the last possible second?"

"It's probable that our attack could have freed him indirectly somehow," the officer defended.

Before Torcho could retort however, his communicator went off right at that moment. "Sir," a flame grunt radioed. "We're picking up unusual activity over at an abandoned cabin by the lakeside!" After the transmission, the whole Grasslands was met with a large air raid siren, deafening its occupants as well as intimidating them.

Moments later, the lake receded as two blast doors parted from underneath. A large humming noise followed as a platform made its way to the surface and it didn't take long for the Fire Army to exchange looks of terror upon seeing their next encounter. Standing tall at approximately 200 feet was a mechanized gumbal guardian before them. Unlike its previous counterparts, this one was designed entirely with a black metallic exterior with pink trimmings down its sides, arms and legs. It remained idle after its initial arrival, but the elementals knew from instinct another battle was in the making.

"Um, sir?" A private anxiously asked. He looked over to his superior, hopeful that he had an answer.

The superior slowly lowered his binoculars to see the towering monstrosity with his own eyes and finally breathed, "We're gonna need a bigger gun..."