Hey there! Sorry for the delay. I've been wrapped up in school business and studies, plus final assessments on close down the road. I hope you enjoy this somewhat short chapter, and remember: constructive criticism is always welcomed!

-Ashenessence

BOOM! Flame Prince was blasted out of his bed and thrown against the wall. He grunted but almost immediately jumped to his feet. The door to his room was blasted apart, despite its obsidian composition. The walls were crumbling, and the stench of something toxic entered the prince's nose.

Looking to investigate, the prince pushed aside the damaged door and entered the hallway that led to the throne room. He noticed that the walls of the long entrance were crumbling as well, and as he neared the doors, the unnatural stench grew stronger. Once at the end of the hallway, the prince bolted through the doors, and they fell to the floor, having been devastated as well. The growing odor of toxic chemicals flooded the fire elemental's nose, and a large cloud of smoke blurred his vision.

Using his heat sense, the fiery prince was able to locate the doors to the laboratory, the seemingly source of the hideous smell and gases that were now abundant in the throne room. It took no struggle, for the entrance to the lab was wide open, the doors having been blasted away. Flame Prince stepped through the lab and he felt sharp pain shoot up from his foot to his leg. He gasped and cursed, clutching his foot, which was now dripping dark red droplets. The angry prince looked around for what had stung him so, and he perceived finally that the floor of the dysfunctional laboratory was littered with debris.

"Sire! Sire! The experiment went wrong!" a figure burst through the gases and clutched onto the prince's regalia. Having not the trait of callousness, Flame Prince helped the elemental to its feet and led it out of the palace, where the gases had not escaped.

"What happened?" the fiery prince asked patiently, not wanting to traumatize the hapless elemental with a score of questions.

"The… the… the experiment went wrong… We conducted the proper procedures and everything… The glass we used began to melt, and then exploded! The only samples of the elixir we produced are gone…" the scientist choked out.

Flame Prince groaned in disappointment, causing the elemental scientist to further back away like a kicked fire-wolf. The fiery prince softened his gaze and replied, "Do not hide, everyone makes mistakes." After hearing this, the elemental stood up again and nodded, but still looked doubtful, as if unsure of the impunity the prince has granted him.

The flaming prince wheezed, still feeling the smoke from the gases in his fiery lungs. The scientist handed him a small vial containing a golden substance, and he downed it. "Thank you," the prince gratefully acknowledged.

"No, your highness. Thank you for saving me," the chemist countered, causing the prince to smile.

The events from the laboratory explosion still lingered in our fiery prince's memory. He wheezed a short exhale, his throat still damaged from the lethal gases. Approaching the palace's stables, Flame Prince greeted one of its inhabitants, a flaming phoenix. The bird chirped and pecked playfully at his hand. He boarded the large bird and took ahold of the reins. "To the Candy Kingdom, Keegan."

The bird cawed in response, and flapped its beautiful, fiery wings. The bird pushed itself off from the ground and flew up to the top of the palace, the high exit from the large mountain the kingdom had been built in. The bird soared over the brightened skies of the grasslands and toward a pink-themed forest. Flying over the candy forest, the phoenix soon reached the Candy Kingdom.

Flame Prince dismounted from his companion, and dashed up the steps to the candy-made palace. He busted through the doors, surprising many of the royal candy denizens and banana guards. He ignored their bewilderment and stormed up to one of the guards. "Where can I find Gumball?" he demanded.

"Prince Gumball is in his laboratory, and he has requested that known disturb his work," the guard's husky voice replied.

"Can you show me where his lab is?"

The guard ignored this question. "Prince Gumball has re-"

"Yea, yea, well I'm a friend of his. He wouldn't mind."

Easily convinced, the guard showed the fiery prince to the candy monarch's laboratory. "Prince Gumball, the flame prince of the fire kingdom has requested to see you," the guard knocked on a slate colored door. The door was hastily opened by a man wearing a lab coat and a pair of goggles. The man's stern expression was portrayed by the slight change in gaze, and his pink-tinted cheeks had gone flushed with irritation.

"What do you -Oh! Hello, Flame Prince," the magenta-haired man removed the goggles and his expression softened. "I wasn't expecting you here. Come in!" He opened the door even wider and the fiery elemental walked in. The guard began to follow, but the man stopped it. "No… not you."

The candy-made made closed the lab door to a creaking shut, and Flame Prince had to cover his ears. "Sorry, it needs some oil," the man shrugged. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

Flame Prince sighed and gave the story of the lab experiment failure to the man. The man nodded and pulled his goggles back on. "So it seems you were trying to allow yourself and Fionna to mingle without harming her. A complex formula it will require indeed, and I'm not sure I can create the elixir in such a small laboratory as mine, but I will give it a go."

At these words, our fiery prince's disappointed expression lightened. He smiled, "Thank you, Gumball!"

Gumball smiled but FP could sense his tangible frown. He caught a glint of sadness in the other prince's eyes, and he knew what the pink-haired man must be feeling.

Seeing as the situation had become awkward, the candy prince turned away and began to gather the ingredients for the formula. Flame Prince left him alone to his work and left the palace hastily. He climbed onto his phoenix's back and the fiery creature carried him back to the fire kingdom.

Thanks for reading! I'm not sure when my next chapter will be out, but I'll try to schedule some writing time.

-Ashenessence