"Everyone alright," Finn wearily asked as he dusted himself. His eyes wandered the ground for a while until he found his red silver blade nearby.
The throne room of the Breakfast Kingdom was partially covered in frost from Dillon's grenade.
"Flame Princess is fine. She was shielded at the last instant the cryo grenade went off," a fire knight responded. Then he looked down, "We lost Dale and Samuels."
Finn tightened his fists, "We've lost too many good men. Flame King has taken it too far this time!" Then he looked down, "What about Breakfast Princess and the others? Are they ok?"
"Yes, sir. She and the others are well and accounted for."
"Good. Now then, what did that jerk mean when he said they were back from where it began?"
"They're at the Fire Kingdom," FP said as she regained consciousness and got up. Finn rushed to her side and helped her stand.
"I need a medic over here," he ordered.
Two knights quickly approached and began treating her wounds. Luckily, Flame Princess suffered only minor injuries that she quickly recovered. Then she pulled out her phone and called Cinnamon Bun, "CB, are you there?"
"Flame Princess?! Great to hear from you! Listen, we need you and everyone else to return back to the Fire Kingdom as soon as possible. Your father's brought the whole Grod-darn army and we're holding them off as we speak!"
"What?! CB that's suicidal, just get everyone out of there!"
"Already ahead of you, your highness. But you must hurry! I don't know how long we can-(static)"
"CB? CB!" Flame Princess hung up with a panicked expression. "Ok, breathe," she thought to herself. She looked back from her memories when she practiced meditation. After a few moments, she regained her composure and told one of her generals, "Contact our allies from the Slime Kingdom and tell them to rendezvous over at the Grasslands."
"It shall be done, my lady," the general bowed.
She looked over to the rest of the group, "It turns out that my father staged a ruse to draw us far away from the Fire Kingdom. Now, I know that it will take everyone several hours to move. However, some of us have faster methods of travel but we can bring only 3 knights. Do I have any volunteers?"
Anthony, Benjamin, and Hartsock stepped up.
FP nodded, "It is decided. We'll fly back towards the kingdom and get our guys out. Saving the people is our top priority. Once we're out, we'll meet all of you back at the borderline of the Grasslands."
Flame Princess, Finn, and Hartsock mounted on Jake 2, while the other two knights rode with Simon and Betty on their magical carpet, Bubblegum summoned Marrow, while Jake stretched himself into a giant to cover more ground, and Marceline used her powers of flight. Quickly, they arrived at their destination in 15 minutes.
The Fire Kingdom was utterly devastated. Pillars of black smoke billowed from the background that shrouded the city in darkness. The only sources of light that were shown were pools of lava, the fire elementals, and the massive flames cast from Flame King's destruction. Screams and shouts echoed across the land as Finn and the others observed the horizon.
"My Glob, it's worse than before," Finn thought.
His train of thought was broken when Flame Princess gained his attention, "Come on, Finn. Let's not waste anymore time. We need to rescue CB and any survivors that may still be trapped in the city. Move!"
He gave his head a couple shakes to overcome the horrific vision he saw before his very eyes. Then, he and the others rushed into what seemed like the essence of fire and brimstone.
Back at one of the evacuation sites, some of the radio stations were audible over the speakers, "Good afternoon, Ooo. We're back and you're listening to 104.7 Pre-War Classics on the radio, and we have a special request from one of our callers. Song name is "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane (disclaimer: I don't own the song or the band). Stay classy, and be sure to lock your doors and keep your windows shut. Peace!"
One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call Alice
When she was just small
When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know
When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head
Feed your head
As the song ended, the loyalists were shooting relentlessly from the archer nests they set up at the military checkpoints.
"I need more arrows," one gunner shouted.
"Reloading, cover me," another troop shouted.
The defenders were effectively holding off the enemy infantry until a couple of fire golems charged at them.
"Fall back, fall back into the next checkpoint!"
As the defenders left their post, some of them were shot down from enemy fire, while others were pummeled from the hulking juggernauts. Despite the fact that the Phoenix Brigade gained more ground over time, some of the bystanders picked up a spear, a crossbow, or even rocks in an act of defiance. The Brigade admired them for their futile efforts for the moment, but continued to slaughter them with extreme prejudice. With another blockade overrun, the remaining defenders quickly assembled with the others at the next hardpoint.
It was the same routine for the loyalists as they continued a fire-and-retreat tactic. Sometimes when they regrouped at the next location, they would be fortunate enough to last longer thanks to the addition of ballista emplacements which could decimate large enemy units.
Suddenly, a wave of fire golems approached the area and began to tear through the next line of defense. Before they could get the chance, however Finn and his friends showed up in the nick of time. The enemy was stunned by this unexpected arrival and began to withdraw temporarily.
"Thanks for the save, guys. But they'll be back soon," the squad leader said.
"Don't mention it," Finn said. "Where's Cinnamon Bun?"
"He and his team were cut off somewhere downtown about 5 minutes from here. You better hurry!"
Finn and the others rushed through the intersections as trash and debris littered the streets. Finally, they discovered the next checkpoint was currently under fire with a wounded Cinnamon Bun clutching his stomach behind cover. His lancer was resting beside his lap.
Flame Princess ran up to him and gave him a light hug, "CB!"
He gave a weak smile, "Flame Princess, Finn, you guys all came for me."
Bubblegum nodded, "That's right Cinnamon Bun. We're getting you out of here. Just stay low and we'll take care of the rest."
He nodded as his friends repealed the enemy advance. Soon the Phoenix knights decided to withdraw which left the area with an eerie silence.
Finn looked back over at CB and noticed there were some defenders clutching their sides in agony, "Ok everyone, let's get the wounded out of here first. They've done their job, now we do ours." He and the others loaded them onto Jake, Jake 2, and Betty's carpet. After they were done, there was no more room remaining for Finn, Anthony, Benji, and Hartsock.
FP was bewildered by this upon realization, "Finn..."
He briskly approached her, firmly grabbed her biceps, and stared straight into her eyes, "I'll be right behind you, Flame. I'll see you on the other side, ok? I love you." They smashed their lips together with their eyes squeezed shut. Then, Finn backed away and kissed the gem adorned on her forehead, "Now go, FP! Save your people!"
She wiped her eyes from any stray tears she had and flew away with the rest of the group. With Finn and the 3 knights remaining, it was a race against time to evacuate the kingdom.
"Come on, let's get moving! I can already hear the enemy prepping for another attack," Hartsock said.
No one cared to object as they sprinted to the closest bridge. As they ran, volleys of arrows and fire blasts ricocheted past their sides and above their heads. In addition, enemy golems lodged chunks of debris near their location, disorienting the group.
After what seemed like an eternity, Finn and the remaining knights finally made it to the city limits. They quickly regained their breath as the now empty bridge was only 10 feet away. What was unusual, however was when the shooting stopped and that the enemy abandoned their pursuit.
"I can't believe we made it, major," Anthony exclaimed.
"Me neither," he replied skeptically with his eyes narrowed. "Something doesn't feel right."
"Well, I don't want to stick around and find out," Finn said.
They continued to run across the highway bridge until something occurred at the halfway point: Anthony's head was blown clean off. As his decapitated body collapsed on the ground, the others stopped completely in shock.
"NOOO!" Benji cried out. Then he pulled out his crossbow and began shooting back at the enemy infantry that seemingly appeared from behind out of nowhere. "You killed my brother, you freakin' bastards!" One by one, each Phoenix archer fell from Benji's blinded rage until he claimed at least a dozen lives. Then, he was nicked in his left shoulder and fell on his back grunting in pain.
"Come on, Benji," Hartsock pulled him up. "You can avenge your brother another day. Don't let it be in vain and die here too!"
Benji was back on his feet, holding his shoulder, "(grunt) Ok, I'm moving..." He continued to run across the bridge with the others.
Suddenly, the shooting stopped again. The group turned back at a glance to discover the enemy was just watching them with murderous intent. Then, as they looked away from them, Finn and his comrades noticed a lone Phoenix knight standing in front them several feet away with the same expression.
"We can take this joker," Benji hissed.
Hartsock had a gut feeling that he recognized the soldier. As he met his gaze with his own, the officer realized who he was. The major calmly spoke to the young knight, "Son, whatever you do. Do not engage him. There's more to him than you think. Finn and I will deal with him while you make a break for it. Understand?"
He was about to object until he saw the major's face that showed he wasn't up for arguing. Then, he reluctantly nodded.
"Good, wait for my go," the major pulled out his sword as Finn did the same.
"Who is he," Finn whispered.
"That man right over there is Ramirez. The legendary soldier of the Fire Kingdom known to be unconditionally loyal to Flame King. He is the one known to 'do everything' because his majesty would always call his name in favor out of all the men at his disposal. He's carried out hundreds of suicidal missions that make traveling the Night-O-Sphere look like a walk in the park. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if one them actually involved going there to begin with."
Finn frowned, "Why haven't I heard of him back then?"
"His reputation only inspires people that are fanatical to Flame King. That, and he was thought to be dead 5 years ago after he disappeared. When Flame Princess took control, she made sure it was forbidden to openly discuss such a figure because it could lead to anarchy. He truly is inspirational among his kind."
"And now he's finally out of the shadows trying to kill us," Finn concluded.
"Exactly. Don't underestimate him, Finn."
Ramirez's red eyes continued to stare down at the trio with utter disdain. Finally, he tightened his fists, cracked his neck, and then drew out a black broadsword with his right hand. Seconds later, he used his powers to ignite the entire blade with a dark purple flame. He closed his eyes ominously for a brief moment, channeling his inner energies. Then, he opened his now fiery purple eyes and charged at the three of them with blinding speed.
Finn and Hartsock immediately began to fight on the defensive. Benji on the other hand was knocked over from the charge stunned from the sudden impact.
"Go, get out of here," Hartsock roared.
With reinvigorated adrenaline, the young soldier quickly crossed the bridge as fast as his legs could carry. While his nightmare ended, Finn and Hartsock's has just begun.
Finn was the first one to get knocked backwards after Ramirez performed a spinning kick on the head. As Finn tried to recover, his ally was struggling to block every attack. He noticed that when the fight progressed, Ramirez kept fighting more aggressively, each blow being harder than the next.
"He's going to burn out real fast if he keeps this up," Finn thought. But, his assumption was quickly shot down when he realized his enemy showed no signs of fatigue. He quickly ran towards Hartsock only for Ramirez to use shoot a fire blast on the ground that temporarily blinded Finn. With the human unable to help once again, the Phoenix elemental focused all his energies and began to break through Hartsock's defense. Moments later, he parried a blow from the major and swiftly delivered a searing slash across the mid-left section of the torso.
The major gritted his teeth in excruciating pain. He leaned on his left side as a reflex to keep the incision from tearing further. Unfortunately, his opponent continued the offensive by tripping him with a circle drop kick. As the major flew in midair, Ramirez flipped his sword using the reverse grip. Once the wounded elemental landed on his back, Ramirez swiftly descended with his right knee on the ground along with blade and impaled him directly through the heart.
Finn was shocked, he had just witnessed another friend get killed before him. Then, righteous anger coursed through his veins and Finn began to fight aggressively.
Ramirez decided to fight conservatively from that instant to gage his adversary's fighting style. He was slightly impressed that Finn was able to match his speed and agility. Then after a few moments, the Phoenix fighter decided to go on the offensive again and delivered a vicious, right uppercut slash. Finn managed to deflect the hit, but this caused him to stumble backwards and drop his guard. Noticing this, the fire elemental withdrew his sword, leaned forward, then rammed Finn with his shoulders which sent him flying backwards at least 10 feet.
As Finn tried to shrug off the pain, he noticed that his opponent was already leaping towards him to deliver a two-handed, vertical sword smash. The human quickly rolled to the right on instinct. Once Ramirez missed, Finn used the Shadow Thrust only for his rival to evade with a combat roll.
The duelists began to slash at each other gradually building speed. As they gained more momentum, their swords and movements began to blur out. Finally, they stopped at a power exchange. Their blades gridded against each other as they stared at each other ferociously.
Unfortunately, before a winner could be decided, the bridge was suddenly collapsing from a sudden artillery strike. It turned out that there was a miscommunication from one of the Phoenix catapult crews that they were mistakenly ordered to destroy the bridge. Enraged with disappointment, Ramirez used his powers to teleport into a small pillar of flames and then reappeared back at the end with his comrades.
Finn on the other hand, ran as fast as he could to the other side. His escape was cut off, however when the bridge suddenly split in front of him. Shock and despair were etched on the young man's face. He looked below to discover the fall was at least a couple hundred feet with a sea of lava. Then, the bridge portion he stood on began to tip over in the same direction he was facing. Quickly, he turned around and attempted to run the opposite direction, but it was too late.
His life flashed before his eyes: he remembered most of his adventures he shared with Jake, the friendships he forged in Ooo, and most importantly the memories he shared with Flame Princess. He cursed to himself that he broke his promise about seeing her again. He wished for a lot of things from that moment like proposing to FP, growing old together, and perhaps even starting a family. Sadly, such a reality would only exist in a fantasy.
He was preoccupied with so much regret and self-pity that he didn't even realize his body splashed into the fiery ocean.