Never before has the Breakfast Kingdom experienced a full-scale invasion. Even though they were warned earlier from Flame Princess's emergency meeting, the army was no match for Flame King's forces. In just a few hours, the invaders breached through the outer defenses and approached the palace. The city was in ruins, and a huge inferno covered the background with ashes and embers littering the streets. One might say that it could have been a reenactment battle of the Mushroom War. Most of the defeated defenders were lying on the ground groaning in agony. Some of them suffered serious burns across the body, some were dismembered missing an arm or leg or even both, and others were incinerated altogether. The Central Park that Finn and Breakfast Princess met a few months ago was now a mass grave. Blood streaks stained the area and bodies of the valiant defenders were thrown into the park's fountain.
Inside the palace, the remaining troops were scrambling to barricade all the entrances. Papers flew in the air as council members attempted to shred any documents that could be exploited from Flame King. Most of the civilian population also took refuge in the palace by hiding in the underground bunkers. Meanwhile, Breakfast Princess herself was inside her bedroom with 10 royal guards. She tried to contact Finn on her phone numerous times, but reception was down. It turned out that Ramirez and his elite squadron captured the communications post and took away any chances of calling for help. It was hopeless.
Toast Princess sat beside BP, "What's going to happen to us?"
BP held her closely, "I don't know, sister. All we can do is hope for the best."
"I'm scared," TP was now in tears.
"Me too, be strong my little sister. If anything happens, I want you to know that I always love you. That is something those monsters out there can never take away." BP sniffled as she wiped her own tears and thought to herself, "Oh Finn, if only you were here."
"Alright everyone, stay clear of the windows and exits. They're going to bombard this place before they send in the infantry," a breakfast knight reported.
Immediately, everyone followed his instructions and proceeded to hide behind anything sturdy to block incoming debris. The knights themselves assembled shoulder to shoulder with their shields raised. Sweat dripped from their foreheads and some of their hands shook from anxiety. Few moments later, the bombardment commenced. The whole place shook as each stone met their mark causing dust to fall from the ceiling. It wasn't long until Flame King's catapults began creating serious damage that portions of the roof collapsed onto some unfortunate victims.
Suddenly, the main entrance blew wide open which killed even more bystanders. At that moment, the bombardment ceased and the defenders heard a terrifying battle cry that shook them to the core. The entrance to the palace was obscured from a big dust cloud, but the knights knew the Phoenix Brigade was seconds away from approaching.
The defenders quickly recovered from the blast and began to reassemble into the same formation with their shields. When the battle cry stopped, bursts of flames shot through the opening. The defending archers quickly returned fire but lost more units compared to the Phoenix Brigade. Then, knights from both sides clashed with each other face to face.
"This is it, men! Go down fighting," shouted one breakfast knight.
Breakfast Princess and her sister were still in their bedroom. They heard the sounds of chaos drawing nearby and held each other as their royal escort began to take defensive positions. Suddenly, the place became disturbingly quiet. From that instant, the two royalties took cover behind their bed in the corner while the guards readied their shields. As if on cue, the bedroom door blew wide open and all the guards were effortlessly dispatched.
The sisters were terrified. As they peeked from cover, they noticed that the enemy pointed spears and crossbows at them. With nowhere to run, Breakfast Princess and Toast Princess instinctively raised their hands in surrender. Moments later, two soldiers approached them at a brisk pace and applied handcuffs on both of them.
As the fighting subsided, Ramirez and his team gathered at the palace rooftop hoisting the flag of the Phoenix Brigade. Banners also draped along the balconies in succession. The remaining population that hid underneath the palace were kept in the bunkers as makeshift prisons.
Flame King was standing outside on top of the city's outer wall. He observed the destruction his army had wrought with a satisfactory grin. Just as he expected, his forces heeded his orders and have managed to conquer the Breakfast Kingdom in a few hours. Although it was already early in the afternoon, he was pleased enough to know the invasion was a success. Suddenly, his communicator beeped, "Report."
"My liege, this is Commander Dillon. I am happy to report that the Slime Kingdom has been taken over with little resistance. The only real casualties were our uniforms considering the environment."
FK nodded, "Excellent work! Do you have the princess?"
"Yes sir, she has been apprehended. What shall we do with her and the other royals?"
"Death is too easy for them. They must live so they can witness the shame of defeat and humiliation. Besides, if we kill them now, the world will look at them as martyrs who defied our forces to the bitter end," FK reasoned.
"I understand, my lord. In the meantime, I'll set up defenses for our units and schedule a council meeting for our next plan of attack. Commander Dillon out."
After FK hung up, his right hand man approached him at his side. They observed the landscape together as clean up crews gathered all the dropped weapons and corpses of their fallen comrades.
"Well Ramirez, it has begun," FK said with a deep breath.
His response was only a silent acknowledgement.
FK continued, "Operation Wildfire was a success, but this is only the beginning. These two kingdoms fell so easily because they were not prepared for such an attack. I know in the future that the others will truly be ready for us. It just simply means there won't be swift victories from here on out." He made a dismissive gesture, "No matter, we'll kill them all anyway won't we, Ramirez?"
Once again, he nodded his head in acceptance.
Meanwhile at the Fire Kingdom, Finn and Flame Princess were sleeping together in bed at the palace. FP was restless with her movements until she finally jolted awake. Apparently, the news of her father's third escape from prison gave her constant nightmares of losing her kingdom. Her distress only became worse when Cinnamon Bun knocked at her room frantically.
"Flame Princess and Finn, I have terrible news! It is with the utmost urgency that you must know this immediately."
Finn stretched and wiped his eyes, "What is it CB? What's going on?"
"I think it'll be easier for me to show you than explain. Please hurry!"
The couple quickly sprang from bed and left the room. Then, CB led them to one of the palace conference rooms. Several of FP's generals and representatives were seated already until FP entered the area.
"At ease, everyone," she ordered.
All of her subjects sat back down on their seats. They anxiously waited in silence as she took several deep breaths.
"Alright, what news do you have for me?"
One of her representatives replied, "Your majesty, we have been given reports that the Breakfast Kingdom and the Slime Kingdom have fallen to the Phoenix Brigade."
Finn instantly tensed himself. "Wait a minute, how could that have happened?! Shouldn't there have been something to warn us ahead of time? Why do we know this now and not before," he seethed.
"W-we're looking into it, sir," he stammered.
Suddenly, the television in the room gained everyone's attention from an incoming broadcast, "This is LSN (Lumpy Space News) reporting live with breaking news. Just a few hours ago, the Fire Kingdom's most wanted criminal, Flame King has conquered two civilizations from the Bad Lands known as the Breakfast and Slime Kingdoms after several weeks of hiding. The main cities are desolated from the conflict with flames raging across the skies and the death toll is currently unknown. Our sources are speculating about how they managed to complete such a feat unnoticed, but there is one thing we know for sure: Ooo is now at war."
Finn got up from his seat and started to leave, "I have to go." His voice was adamant and he dashed outside the palace.
FP recovered from her initial shock, "Finn, wait!" She ran after him only to discover that he was trying to conjure a portal from his teleportation book but with no success. Then, he tried dialing Breakfast Princess and Slime Princess on his phone only to find that the line was disconnected.
"Dang it," Finn shouted as he threw his teleportation book on the ground. "Something's preventing me from reaching the kingdoms. I couldn't save them! I couldn't save any of them!" He continued to vent out all his anger and frustration as FP solemnly watched in silence. Finally, Finn's aggression diminished after a few minutes. All he did now was look down and lean forward with his right forearm resting against a large rock.
"Finn," FP cautiously approached him with her hand outstretched. When she finally touched his shoulder, he looked at her and then embraced her. The hero of Ooo was in tears.
"Years of training. I've spent a great portion of my life trying to protect everyone, but I failed," Finn said.
"You haven't failed, Finn. There was no telling if they were in danger before it was too late," she comforted.
He made a silent acknowledgement then continued, "Breakfast Princess and I were good friends you know. She was the one who motivated me to visit you after being apart for four years."
She hugged him back with tears forming from her face, "Before the second coup..." She embraced him even harder.
"I loved her as a sister. She was someone who I consulted for good advice and I have no idea what will happen to her," Finn sniffled. He backed away but maintained his hold on FP. He stared into her eyes, "You're everything to me, Flame. You're the one person who's helping me keep sane right now. I don't want to lose you too."
She combed his short, shaggy hair with her fingers as she stared back into his eyes, "I love you, Finn. Both of us are tough and can defend ourselves. For me, I'm not your typical damsel in distress. But, I see your point. Just don't get yourself killed too, alright? Because right now, I wouldn't know what to do without you."
Finn chuckled through his tears, "I guess we both need to take strength from each other. I love you so much Flame Princess." His lips captured his fiery companion's and deepened the kiss moments later. He put all of his might and soul into it as FP's flames brightened in response. The world came to a brief standstill as they expressed their affection.
Finally, they broke for air and rested on each other's foreheads. Flame Princess spoke up, "Let's go, Finn. We'll gather our forces and liberate our allies together. First things first, we'll contact our friends for help and then we can move out."
Finn smiled as he wiped his eyes, "I can do that."
"Oh, and Finn?"
"Yes, my love?"
FP showed a faint smirk, "Looks like you won from that last bet."
They laughed together for a short time and then walked backed towards the palace.