"So… Can you explain this in a little bit more detail? Because I'm confused as hell right now" asked Rose as she finally got a hold of herself and was now walking alongside Sweet P., or as he prefers to be called "Chief", across his resistance's base. "Sure. As you may know by now, war has been raging across Ooo for over 13 years now"
"Um, yeah? I've been sort of living this reality as far as I can remember?" said Rose sarcastically "Well, yes. As you may already know, the war right now is happening between three powerful human rulers, known as Finn the Blood King, Betty the Wizard Queen and Zane, the Savage Lord. Their war and means of war have ravaged this realm and others, destroying most of the main kingdoms ruling over Ooo in the process. The people have suffered for over a decade during the power struggle between them. There were countless casualties during that time as well, my family being one of them…" said Chief with futile struggles to hide the pain in his voice. "For 5 years, I've been fighting for the people, building up a resistance with citizens, mercenaries and retired soldiers- Every person willing to fight we were able to find. During these tough years I've recruited and lost many people to the cause" as he was saying that, they passed near a huge brick wall with countless names engraved in it. Rose's eyes shrunk with pain as she saw the mourning nymph mother of a recently fallen member screaming in agony and shedding tears over the address on it, saying 'Sgt. Shelby'
"Doesn't it all seem pointless to you? I mean, not to be a jerk but… Watching you guys and hearing how long you've been fighting, you don't exactly look like you have the upper hand here" said Rose, gesturing with her arm to her surroundings "And what exactly do I have to do with all this?"
"There's a simple answer for all of that: The prophecy"
"What, you mean like one of those childish 'The Chosen One' prophecies?" joked Rose, but stopped laughing when she saw the seriousness in his face. Chief continued: "It's true that our forces pale in front of the three kings' armies, but we never gave hope, for one of our late founders with the ability of foresight told us about a prophecy, a prophecy in which a young girl, hoisting a blade as white as the dove of peace, shall defeat the three tyrants and once again liberate the land and start a new golden age. And after seeing you swing that sword of yours with a bright light in your eyes and soul, I'm sure-no, I'm CONVINCED, that you're the girl" he said eventually stopping in front of a steel door "I know it's a tough decision, but will you join us?"
"Yeah, sure." She simply said. "Wha- Are you serious? I mean, don't get me wrong, but it's quite a decision and a dangerous one at that-" Rose raised her hand to stop him "Look, I'm no dumb person. I know how dangerous your work is and I've never believed in prophecies or in myself being any special. But seeing all this and living in this cruel world as a war orphan myself made want to help the people and families here, so if you're saying there's a slight chance of me being able to kick those jerks' asses and saving the world, then I'm saying: Let's do this!" Chief let out an old man's laughter as he saw how smart and cunning she was "I guess you're right" he said when opening the door, leading the way into a dark bunker with a hanging lightbulb emitting light over a skillfully drawn map of the Candy Kingdom.
"Chief, is that the girl?" asked a gumball robot, which looked at Rose with a suspicious look and looked so tense and focused she thought he could probably reach his sword and slice her in half in less than a second "Yes she is. At ease, Rattleballs" commanded chief as Rattleballs calmed down, yet the way he looked at Rose made her uneasy "So how are we going to defeat the three kings anyway?" asked Rose, trying to distract herself from Rattleballs "Whoa! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, their forces overpower ours by three thousand to one" said Chief "Then how the hell are we going to defeat them if we're so ridiculously outnumbered in comparison?" she asked, starting to think they were all crazy "We still have a chance to defeat them, but we can't attack them straight ahead. We must first grow in numbers and deal them small but deadly hits in their vital points by reclaiming kingdoms within their territory. Only then we'll be able to strike back" explained a girl wearing whit tops and strips with pink ribbons across her body. Her cat eyes stared at her in a form that made the hairs in the back of her neck stand stiff "Stacey, would you PLEASE stop scaring our new recruits to death?"
"Can you blame me? It's hard to keep this amazing body in shape with just the flesh of soldiers" replied Stacey jokingly. At least Rose hoped that she was joking. "So how are we going to do whatever she said?" asked Rose, starting to regret joining this creepy group of people "That's the harder part; In order to liberate the Candy Kingdom, we have to reboot the kingdom's defense and offense systems, like the sleeping gumball guardians, as well as reinforce them and re-establish a military stronghold at the castle. For that, we're going to need the greatest mind in Ooo, as well as the one and only ruler of the Candy Kingdom: Princess Bubblegum"
"Hey, my dad told me about her! But isn't she supposed to be dead by now? You know, for a couple of reasons?"
"Indeed, but according to our resources, she made some sort of deal with death that made her completely immortal and now she's being held in a prison under her own castle. Breaking her out and killing the stationed ruler Baron Chloro von Phil are vital parts in this whole operation" said Chief "Ok then, let's get down to business" suggested Rose "Not so fast. You shouldn't underestimate the guards and heavy security systems that she's being held under. Not to mention the Baron; He might be just one of Finn's weak underlings, but he's seriously powerful nonetheless. We have to go about this mission in a stealthy manner"
"Oooh! Just like ninjas?"
"Uh, yeah… Just like ninjas. So here's the plan" said Chief as he began to describe the details of the operation.
Rose, Chief, Stacey and Rattleballs moved covertly through the streets and alleys, disguised as volunteering citizens. "Okay, Alex. Do your thing" said Chief into a walkie-talkie. "Roger that" replied a fire elemental from the other side of the line, near the wall. He took in a very deep breath and extended his hands aggressively in the direction of a watch tower made of wood. Fire erupted from his hands and ignited the entire watch tower in a matter of seconds. Another horn was heard and guards from all over the kingdom began to move in the direction of the fire as it spread quickly all across the ruined candy wall. The group made it to the gates, but was stopped by two wooden spears from the guards "Hold it! You have no permission to go through this gate!" said one of the guards "We were sent here by the Baron. He said that this act of terror might be a distraction and there might be an infiltration going on. He ordered to back up the castle with troops"
"Then how come I didn't get an order?" asked the guard suspiciously "That's because… You are already stationed in the gates, you dumbass! Now let us in before we inform about your disobedience to the Baron and have you executed!" Said Rose with a threatening manner. Sweating and shaking, the soldiers lifted their spears and let through into the castle "These guys are just as dumb as the banana guards" noted Rattleballs "What do you… You know what? Never mind" said Rose, canceling her question. As they reached downstairs snuck through the surveillance cameras using electromagnetic charge disruptors, they burst the security door and found a chubby guard sitting on the chair in front of the monitors, drinking from a cup of coffee on which was written 'Lady Killer'. The guard spew his coffee out and took a gun from his desk "D-don't move! I won't hesitate t-to shoo-shoot you...!" he stuttered with clear fear in his eyes. "I got this" said Stacey in a delighted manner. She gently approached the guard and took the gun from his shaking hands, placing it back on the desk "Aren't you a big guy? Are these muscles?" she asked with fake impression while squeezing the lumps of fat on his arm "Uh.. Yeah! I've been working out recently!" he said, letting his guard down "Why don't you sit down? Here, how about a juicy apple?" she asked why sitting him down and taking from her satchel a shiny, tasty looking red apple. Knowing what the red fruit meant, both Chief and Rattleballs hurried to get out while dragging Rose with them and slamming the door.
"Whoa, what happened?" asked Rose, confused "Trust me, you DO NOT want to see what happens next" said a pale Chief "Oh, come on, how bad can that be-" Rose's intrigue grew at the moment as she reached the door knob, but both her hand and curiosity died down as she heard the scariest scream of pain and the most horrific screech she never thought a person could make. As Stacey opened the door and skipped cheerfully out of the scene, Rose snuck a peek in, only to find a pile of bones and blood, as well as what seemed like apple pieces. She quickly grabbed Chief and whispered in his ear with panic: "How, or more importantly, WHY did you recruit such a psychotic, carnivorous woman into your group!?"
"Stacey is one of our first members, from the time we were extremely desperate. I saved her life and promised her to eat whatever enemy soldiers or beasts we find. Ever since then she became a resistance member and she is the second one after me to serve the longest in this group"
"Not to mention, one of your best soldiers" she said from behind them, making Rose Jump in fear "Seriously, Stacey. Quit it" said Chief "Well, I'm sorry that she's making it so easy for me" she giggled as she patted her shoulder "Don't worry girl, so long as the chief doesn't give the order, I won't devour you alive" Somehow, that didn't made her feel in the slightest bit easier.
Passing through many security doors, which Rattleballs unlocked from his memory chip, they eventually reached a dark underground cave, with a single lamp illuminating what Rose considered to be the simplest cage ever, made of a net of thin iron bars. Sleeping in a fetal position was someone who Rose thought looked more like a scientist than a princess; she wore an overly patched lab coat, had a rusty crown on her head with a hole that seemed to host a jewel in it once and had pink skin and hair made of bubblegum "So she's supposed to be the 853 year old queen of the Candy Kingdom? Man, she doesn't look a year past 19!" stated Rose, to which she got a glare from Rattleballs.
Chief approached the cage and began to knock on the iron web, whispering like a dad slowly waking his son to show him his birthday surprise "(Hey..! Princess Bubblegum, come on! Wake up!)" The princess then opened her eyes and slowly sat down "Huh..? Who are you people?" she asked, half awake and rubbing her eyes "We're here to rescue you, princess" replied Rattleballs "Rattleballs… You're alive!" exclaimed Bubblegum in excitement, but the light in her eyes quickly faded "..You should all just go now"
"What? Why are you saying that, princess? We must leave now while we have a chance!" said Chief "Don't call me like that. I've failed my people, my kingdom and even my friends. A failure like me won't be of any help to you. Go now, before the Baron returns…" she said while going back to sleep "You haven't failed your friends! You can still make up for it! You can still save your kingdom" said Rose "What do you know about me?" she said in an angry, yet tired tone "I know about you because my father Jake told me about you" In that moment, all attention was turned towards Rose. Princess Bubblegum whipped her head around with eyes wide open while staring at her and catching a strange glimpse on her eyes "You said your dad was Jake?" asked Chief in an unbelieving tone "Well, technically, he's my adoptive father, though he won't admit it no matter what, but that's beyond the point! He told me just how amazing of a person you were, how smart, brave and cunning and also cool in the face of danger. He said you were so awesome that the Blood King even fell in love with you hard! Prove it to me. Prove it to everyone that you're still that awesome person"
"You know what? You might be right" she said, with a renewed sense of hope, which was then cut shortly as lights burst out of nowhere and illuminated the room. A slow and sarcastic handclap filled the entire cave as a green person in royal plant clothes with a grass sword attached to his hips stood against the wall with a smug look on his face "Wonderful! You almost made me cry there! Unfortunately, you won't get to show anything to anyone since you're all going to die" he said with a psychotic smile.
"Who's the fancy bush?" asked Rose with hostility.
"That's the Baron Chloro von Phil" replied Chief as he loaded his machine gun and signaled everyone to take out their weapons. The baron smiled as he detached his sword and licked the green blade with a snake-like tongue.