Moments after the doors were breached, the loyalists began rushing inside the throne room. The remaining rebels were easily overwhelmed from their numbers and were swiftly dealt with. During the confusion, Don John conjured a flame sword and made his way to a still unconscious Cinnamon Bun. "This is my chance. I will wipe this wretched pastry from existence and then I will end this coup by helping Flame King," he thought to himself.
Suddenly, he noticed a blue hooded figure standing in front of CB wielding a silver broadsword with a red hue reflecting from the blade. "Who are you," Don demanded.
The figure replied, "Your worst nightmare. I will offer you only one chance to surrender before I use lethal force."
Don laughed in response, "You, threatening me?! I must say you had me going! There's no way I'm going to listen to some random punk who thinks he's all scary! Besides, I ain't going back that darn glass prison!" With that, Don lunged towards him with a roar.
Finn watched as Don dashed at him. Everything began to move in slow motion as Finn readied his stance for the ultimate sword technique, the Shadow Thrust. "Remember, calm your mind and breathe in slow," Finn thought to himself. He waited a few more moments for Don to get closer and then performed the deadly move.
Don noticed that he ran past Finn and missed his strike. Before DJ could turn around and continue his charge, he stopped. Suddenly, his blade dematerialized and he felt his life fading away fast. He clutched his stomach where the fatal incision was, fell to his knees, and then fell down forward facedown.
The duel between Flame Princess and her father stopped momentarily as they watched in shock at Don's demise. "Whoever this guy is, he's a force to be reckoned with," FP said.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted when the figure addressed everyone, "This duel shall determine the one who is fit to rule this kingdom. According to the code of laws, the king can be challenged from a member of the royal family regardless of status or by a warrior that is deemed worthy. The duel is to be fought, uninterrupted and unaided."
Everyone was surprised this mysterious stranger knew about their kingdom's customs, but they adhered to the laws nonetheless. Finn then looked over to Flame Princess and said, "I believe in you, your highness. You have managed to proven yourself once and I'm sure you'll be able to do it again." Afterward, he backed away with the loyalists, giving the two royalties room to fight.
"Who is he?" Flame Princess wondered.
Flame King spat on the floor before talking to FP, "Well, here we are again. King to king, father to daughter. I don't believe you're gonna win this time." FP showed a fierce look of determination and shook her head. Her father continued, "No, I don't believe you got it in you, daughter. So, here's what I'll do: I'm gonna get that crown and then I'm gonna get my throne back. And you ain't gonna do a darn thing, cause you're too weak to beat me now are you?"
FP replied, "I'm not going to let everything I have accomplished for this beloved kingdom be wasted from the likes of you. Now, prepare yourself!"
The fight started with both adversaries drawing their flame swords. Then, they both ran at each other exchanging blows, neither of them faltering. Embers and flares parted from the blades as they clashed. After a while, Flame King decided to use his blade with a series of smashes in an effort to overwhelm his daughter with brute strength. Fortunately, FP was agile enough to dodge the attacks and managed to score a couple of slashes to his side.
Flame King laughed, "At this rate, it's gonna take you a million hits to inflict any real damage. I, on the other hand need only a few." Right after he said that, he managed to grab onto FP's hand holding the sword and followed up with a knee strike to her abdomen. FP's sword disappeared as she fell to the floor clutching her stomach. Then, Flame King punted her several feet into the air towards one of the tables in the throne room. He smiled at his own handiwork, "Like the rest of your people, you are weak and pathetic. To be strong, one must be evil and ruthless. That is how I achieved my right to rule these lands."
FP was grunting in pain as she struggled to get up, "...You've done ...nothing but used deceit ...and treachery to claim your power. Unlike you, I ...have rightfully challenged you to earn it ...and have used my power to guide our people towards a better future."
"But now, your pitiful future ends here. And when I retake my throne, my first order of business is to see to it that your pastry companion is roasted alive into ashes, nice and slow," Flame King said sadistically.
From that moment, FP's flames instantly increased in brightness and heat. "NOOOOO! YOU MONSTER!" She yelled in defiance, one that made Finn and the others feel unnerving. FP charged at her father with renewed strength and fought on the offensive. Flame King tried to stop her with his heavy swings but to no avail. As he missed, Flame Princess struck his bronze armor harder with each strike until it began to crack.
Finally, Flame King was fatigued enough that he dropped his guard. Noticing the armor was vulnerable, FP charged her energy and shot a powerful stream of flames towards her father. He flew across the room and crashed through the wall leading to one of the ballrooms. She cautiously approached the rubble and saw her father was wounded in defeat.
"You...(cough-cough)...have bested me again, daughter. Now...(cough)...put an end to my wretched life and...(cough)...seize your victory," Flame King said with sinister smile.
FP thought for a long moment, she wanted to do what her father wanted so she can get her satisfaction. She readied her flame sword, but hesitated. For some reason, no matter how much she was infuriated with him she just couldn't bring herself to do the unspeakable.
Ultimately, she dissipated her sword and said to him bitterly, "No, this fight has been decided already. You have lost and you WILL answer for all the crimes you have done today. GUARDS, take him away and get him out of my sight!" With that she walked away and headed straight for her chambers.
Finn was surprised at the outcome of the fight. He knew Flame King was evil, but he never expected that FP's father would stoop so far to kill his own without remorse. Just before Finn could follow FP, CB regained consciousness. Finn made his way towards him and asked, "Cinnamon Bun, are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, I'll live. I just have a couple cuts and scorch marks and this awful headache." CB narrowed his eyes and continued, "I haven't seen you before, may I ask who you are?"
"In due time, sir. Let's just say I am someone who shares the same interests of ensuring the well-being of this kingdom. For now, we need to get you patched up. Medic!"
Seconds later, a medic approached them and saluted, "Sir?"
"I need you to see to it that her majesty's knight gets treated immediately," Finn ordered.
"Yes sir!" Moments later a stretcher was being transferred. Before CB was taken away, Finn told him, "Major Hartsock or one of his subordinates should be able to tell you everything that's happened during your state of unconsciousness. Until then, I'll see you later." CB nodded and Finn left the throne room.
Finn thought for a moment if he should meet up with FP but then decided against it. He figured that after she withstood all the emotional pain, she would need her space to recover. For now, he decided to wait and use his time to contact Bubblegum on his phone about the news.
"Hey Bubblegum, this is Finn. I'm informing you right now that the situation in the Fire Kingdom has been secured. The coup was successfully prevented but it has been costly however."
Bubblegum breathed a sigh of relief and answered, "Good work, Finn. I'm sorry to hear that. I'll start making preparations to send in resources for the relief effort. Hopefully, this will make relations between our kingdoms easier."
Finn nodded, "I'm sure she will appreciate your generosity, the last thing we all need is another war on our hands. Anyway, I'm going to start helping these people now. Give me a call only if there's another emergency along the way."
"I will, Finn. Take care," PB hung up.
Hours passed and it was approximately 7:45 in the evening. Finn spent his time helping the locals by distributing food and magma. He thought about assisting the reconstruction project, but was turned down when the authorities insisted that the lava golems would handle it. As Finn finished his volunteering, he made his way to the local medical center to visit CB.
"Hey, you made it my friend," CB said.
"Yeah, nice to see you too," Finn replied. He grabbed a chair and sat next to CB's bed and then continued, "Have they brought you back up to speed with everything?"
CB answered, "Yes, they told me about your role in the fight. Thanks for saving my life. But I still don't know your name."
Finn looked down for a moment and then made eye contact with him and said, "My name is Finn the Human, peacekeeper of Ooo's Kingdoms."
CB was shocked, "Finn?! It can't be. I haven't seen you since-"
"Since the first time Flame King broke out of prison and you needed my help," Finn interrupted.
"Why do you have your face covered," CB asked.
Finn inhaled deeply and replied, "I use it to keep my identity a secret so I could make less enemies. If I do all my heroic duties as 'Finn' then I'll gather too much unwanted attention on myself. I don't want to spend every moment watching my back in that case. But the real truth is because I thought I would be shunned upon ever since my mistakes from the first coup."
CB shook his head, "Finn, you were never forbidden to visit the kingdom. Otherwise, Flame Princess or myself would have made that clear with you."
"(sigh) Figures, but still. I just couldn't bring myself to come here and see her back then, not unless it was an emergency. I'm sorry."
"I understand, Finn. However, it would have been a whole different story if your actions lead us to failure in retaking the kingdom. But it didn't!"
"Alright, CB. I'll get over it. The funny thing is, I was planning on coming here today anyway in hopes to reach closure."
CB leaned up closer to Finn, "Can I tell you something?" Finn nodded. "You've saved my life and more importantly you've saved this kingdom. I'm sure you've redeemed yourself well enough. In fact, how about I help you arrange a meeting with her. She has been wondering about you occasionally during your absence."
Finn blushed a little, "Really? W-well I don't want to do all this just as a means to get back together with her."
CB chuckled a little, "All I'm doing is making sure if Flame Princess will talk to you. I'll appeal for your case and then it all depends on how you two will go about. Either way, I'm sure she would be curious to see you."
Finn sighed, "Alright, when do you suppose we can meet?"
One half hour later, Finn checked CB out of the medical center with a wheelchair. They made their way to the palace which was still undergoing repairs. Since the royal guards knew about CB's rank and Finn's role from earlier, they granted them access without any hassle. The two made their way to the last hallway that led to Flame Princess's chambers. There were 20 guards stationed, each half lining up on both sides of the hallway. When the guards noticed them, they saluted to CB and stepped aside from the door way.
"Wait here, Finn," CB instructed. He knocked on the door a couple times, "Your majesty, it's me. May I speak with you?"
An uneasy silence lingered for a brief moment until she replied, "You may enter, CB."
He nodded and looked to Finn, "I'll be right back." After that, the pastry guardian walked inside and closed the door behind him. He found the fiery ruler sitting near her vanity dresser where she was cleaning her face with a dampened cloth.
She saw her friend in the reflection and faced him with joy, "Hey, you're back!"
He chuckled, "Yup, I'm still in one piece. How about you?"
FP nodded, "I'm holdin' up. My stomach's still sore from earlier, but it's nothing that a little alchemy can fix."
"I'm glad to hear that. You should take it easy these next couple of days."
She shook her head, "I'll try, but there's a lot of work to be done starting tomorrow. I need to secure my place in the throne by making active appearances with my people. More anarchists will try to overthrow me if they see me weak like this."
"You're not weak, Flame Princess," CB countered. "You've shown everyone from the duel that you are worthy to lead all of us. No one will try to challenge you especially since their leaders are taken down."
She hummed, "Which reminds me, who was that guy that took out Don a while ago? I was too busy recovering from my wounds that I never gave myself time to thank him."
"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said hesitantly.
"CB, I know you're always honest with me. I doubt you'll have anything to gain if you lie otherwise," she reassured.
"Alright then," the guardian cleared his throat. "The one who helped us back there was... Finn the Human."
The fire elemental expressed complete shock at that moment. Her mind swirled from mixed feelings upon hearing the name that she thought she would never hear again. She felt overjoyed at first, then sorrow and doubt from their last encounter. The most dominant feeling she felt for the human however was anxiety. She hasn't seen him for nearly half a decade, and she found herself curious to see what he looked like.
"He's changed for the better, your majesty," CB said breaking her thoughts. "We've talked to each other for a while and he did a great job helping us out."
FP asked almost in a whisper, "Is he here?"
CB nodded, "He is in fact waiting at your door to see if he can talk to you. But if you don't feel like doing so right now, then I'm sure we can set up another time for the meeting. He'll understand."
Her heart was beating fast as he told her. She thought about passing the opportunity at first, but was afraid she would never have another chance to meet with the long lost human. She took a deep breath and said, "Send him in."
Finally, CB walked out of the room and said, "Alright, Finn. She's ready to speak with you. For your sake, please don't mess this up." Finn nodded and watched as CB left. Then he shifted his gaze towards the door and waited several moments before he turned the knob and entered.