"Ok, everyone. Get into position," Finn ordered.
Ooo's artillery rolled towards the Fire Kingdom wall until they were in range.
The blonde hero looked over to his best friends beside him, "Are you guys all ready?"
Flame Princess spoke up first, "We are, Finn. Just say the word."
"So, we just do the same thing like last time? Yeah, I'm down for that," Jake said.
"You are the best hero we can count on. Where ever you go, we will follow," Marceline said as Simon and Betty nodded in agreement.
"We've covered the plan countless times. I guess all we have to do now is put it into action," Bubblegum said.
"We're ready on your go," Benji said with a determined expression as the Fiery Crusaders stood behind him.
Finn smiled at his company. From that moment, he believed that destiny was in their favor. He turned his attention to all the ground forces who stared back with confident expressions. Then, he looked over to wall defending the city of the Fire Kingdom, raised his right hand, and finally threw it down to commence the attack.
Seconds later, the trebuchets began to open fire and concentrate on targeting one section of the defensive structure. Ooo's infantry prepped their weapons for battle as they watched the wall sustain heavy fire once more. Then, horns blared throughout the occupied kingdom and a large wave of Phoenix knights were quickly deployed into the battlefield.
"This is it," one officer said. "Archers at the ready. Aim... FIRE!"
Hundreds of thousands of arrows hit their targets as the Phoenix knights recklessly charged into the open. But as the enemy force drew closer, the liberation archers instinctively lined up behind the swordsman. Close quarters combat was inevitable. No matter how many lives they claimed, the Phoenix Brigade had sheer numbers to continue the assault.
As the fight continued, Marceline, the Vampire Queen, alternated between her giant bat form and normal form slaying dozens of Phoenix knights. However, the vampire woman had to be cautious since the Phoenix archers tried to overwhelm her with a volley of garlic-tipped arrows. Acting fast, she occasionally used her powers of invisibility to fly away to safety.
Jake was fighting by himself in the field as he used his giant paws to pummel the enemy like he did back in the Slime and Breakfast Kingdoms. The Phoenix knights didn't know if the magical canine had any known weaknesses so they just relied on strength in numbers. Unfortunately for them, Jake just simply swiped them away high into the air as their helmets were left behind.
Simon and Betty were fighting alongside each other using their magic powers. While Simon relied on the ice crown's powers with only ranged attacks, Betty used her double-bladed sword to protect him whenever they would be engaged in close quarters combat. So, far they were able to dispatch their enemies with ease.
The royalties from the Fire and Candy Kingdoms fought together side by side. Flame Princess used her flame sword, while Bubblegum used a bow staff. They covered each other's backs as they took down enemies from each other's blind spots. Once again, the knights were easily dealt with.
Wave upon wave, the Phoenix Brigade dispatched additional troops into the field. Soon, enemy artillery began rolling out of the city walls and began to return fire at the liberation forces. In addition, heavily armored golems joined the fight to overwhelm Finn and his allies.
"It seems like the Phoenix Brigade wants to end this war today as well," Finn thought to himself. Then he radioed his forces and said, "Keep it up, everyone. Flame King will soon dispatch the Crimson Gauntlet in a desperate effort to turn the tide of battle. Prepare yourself!"
The rest of the battle seemed to continue normally for Finn and the others. Suddenly, a battle horn was blown audibly across the field. As the city gates opened again, another wave of enemy infantry advanced with a small cavalier unit leading the charge.
Finn took a closer look through his binoculars and noticed they were approaching faster than anticipated. He also noticed the leader of the calvary also had a pair of purple eyes instead of the usual red eyes the fire elementals shared.
"That's him," Finn thought to himself. He pulled out his communicator and said, "All units, be advised, we have the Crimson Gauntlet approaching our position. Stand your ground, but do not engage. I repeat, do not engage!" Then he switched channels and said, "Benji, you and the FC's are up!"
"Copy, that. We're on the move!"
As the transmission ended, Finn gave out a distinct whistle in the battlefield and summoned Jake 2, "Come on, buddy! There's no time to lose."
Ramirez felt irritated during the 4 week ceasefire. He wanted Flame King to give the order to strike the enemy base directly with just his team alone. Unfortunately for him, Flame King ordered the warrior to stand down with the intention of making the enemy withdraw or ask for surrender. He tried to release his aggression by destroying a lot of practice dummies with his powers, but it wasn't enough. Stationary targets gave Ramirez the impression that it was too easy for him. He knew he would feel true satisfaction course through his veins if he fought the real enemy.
Now, here he was leading the charge with the opportunity to unleash his power. He would finally get the chance to satisfy his bloodlust after waiting behind the wall too long. This time, he chose to make himself known to his enemies as he and his squad were wearing their proper uniforms that signified their elite status. The silent warrior thought to himself that it was time to bring an effective end to the war, and he wanted to do it by striking fear and intimidation to his enemies.
As the Crimson Gauntlet advanced to the closest artillery structure, Ramirez charged his lance with his alchemy. He thought to himself the same outcome would happen like before: he and his squad would destroy a good portion, force them into retreat, and then close in for kill. However, his advance was stalled when he noticed a cavalier unit obstructing his path. Ramirez motioned his team to slow down as he observed his new enemies. He noticed they were wearing crimson plated armor adorned with silver trimmings around the edges. On each of their chest plates was a small insignia that had a small white crescent shield. The insignia had red intricate initials that read, "FC" which were arranged diagonally from the top left to the bottom right.
Ramirez nodded his head in acknowledgement to them, intrigued that they were trying to imitate his squad. He realized to himself that Ooo's forces spent their ceasefire training their own elite force. Then, he mentally shrugged to himself that it wouldn't make a difference. As he finished his observation, he took a long look at the leader of the cavalier. Unlike the others, this one was wearing a black cape. From that moment, Ramirez decided to target him first and raised his lance again with the intent to kill.
The Fiery Crusaders raised their own lances as they ran towards the Crimson Gauntlet. As they clashed against each other, 4 squad members from both sides were lost instantly. The remaining knights who survived the joust immediately dismounted their fire hounds and began to face each other with sword fighting.
Ramirez was shocked from the fact that these new contenders were formidable opponents. He gave himself a mental reminder that he would not underestimate them ever again. Underneath his helmet, he briefly expressed a solemn look over the loss of his men. Then, his face changed into a fierce expression towards the rival's leader and dashed at him leaving a trail of purple flames behind.
The FC leader dived out of the way with a combat roll as Ramirez missed his strike. As the FC recovered, he used his flame powers to enhance his speed and leaped into the air to deliver a powerful sword smash. Acting fast, Ramirez used his own flame powers and leaped into air to counter the fatal blow. The sound of metal clanged audibly across the field as the two duelists landed opposite of each other with their backs turned.
Ramirez looked at his chest plate and noticed he was sliced across the body downward diagonally from the top-right. The cut wasn't too deep for him since most of his armor took the hit. However, the Crimson leader was genuinely surprised that his opponent managed to wound him in the first place. Infuriated with humiliation, Ramirez withdrew his sword and dashed at his rival with incredible speed and delivered a powerful right hook across the head.
The FC leader was too late to react as his body stumbled backwards. He bent down for a few seconds to recover from the pain. As he stood back up straight, he noticed his helmet was knocked away from that last attack. The leader's features were revealed, showing peach colored skin with his short blond hair flowing in the wind. "Now you know who you're fighting," Finn said in a low voice.
From that moment, Ramirez was stunned, he could have sworn his adversary was undeniably dead, but somehow this human survived and was standing right before him. He had so many speculations as to how Finn survived, but in the end Ramirez decided to shrug it off and simply accept the fact that he would have his rematch.
Earlier before the battle, Finn learned the basics of pyro kinesis with the help from his friends including Flame Princess, Betty, Marceline, and Benji. Each one taught him to hone different techniques for offensive and defensive situations. Once Finn gained a general command with his new attributes, he used them to enhance his overall strength and agility. Although Finn was able to keep in pace with Ramirez from his last showdown, he was not truly able to match his physical prowess until today. Had the last battle been left uninterrupted, Finn could have probably lost.
The two duelists charged at each other again with their swords drawn. Once they were in range, they rapidly slashed at each other in an effort to tire the other out. Then, Ramirez broke out of the exchange and bent forward on leg with the other extended to perform a vicious 360 degree horizontal slash. Finn countered this by somersaulting into the air and raised his sword for a vertical strike. As he landed, Ramirez raised his blade with both hands sideways to cushion the impact. The end result was that he stumbled backwards a little. Then, he shrugged off the pain and charged his energy to deliver the same sword uppercut slash that he did from the bridge. Instead of blocking the strike, Finn quickly withdrew his sword, side-stepped to the left, bent down on one knee, charged his own energy, and then delivered a flaming uppercut to the stomach, chest wound, and finally the chin.
The Crimson Gauntlet leader flew into the air and landed backwards as he experienced unbelievable pain and complete shock. This was definitely not the same fighter he fought before. Bewildered by this new development, Ramirez slowly got up, clutching his side and used his powers to teleport a short distance. Finn watched as he rode back on his wolf again and retreated towards the palace.
As Ramirez left the scene, the remaining squad members under his command were finally defeated from Benji and the other crusaders. Both teams started with 15 members from the beginning, but now there were only 8 crusaders left including Finn. Other than that, the tide of battle remained in Ooo's favor as the Phoenix knights were scrambling in mass confusion. It turned out they lost a great deal of their morale when they witnessed their best soldier and his team get defeated firsthand. As a result, the liberation troops broke through enemy lines and began to pursue the men retreating into the kingdom wall. It was now or never, Finn rallied the rest of his friends moments later and led the offensive towards the city.
And so, the battle marked beginning of the end for the Phoenix Brigade.