Family
Chapter 135 The Cooler
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, expect the OCs. This is just a story for fun.
At Castle Lemongrab, King was in his office with Sir Slicer and Toronto. King's hair was a mess and his eyes had bags under them from lack of sleep. The ruler was holding a sledgehammer, while Toronto was putting a stone bust of Bubblegum on a metal pedestal. Toronto walked away from the pedestal and King slammed his hammer onto the bust of Bubblegum smashing it to bits.
"Has our army increased?" Asked King as he looked away from the smashed bust, to Sir Slicer.
"Indeed it has greatly increased. Bandit Princess and her troops went to Thief City and managed to get all of the inhabitants to join our army." Said Sir Slicer.
"Good. With them on our side the army will be a true force to fear." Said King as he motioned for Toronto to bring him another Bubblegum bust from a pile of bust.
"My lord, I know Bubblegum's forces damaged the castle and took your girlfriend away along with the dungeon masters, but do you really think it's wise to directly attack the Candy Kingdom? They have quit a large army of their own and they have a great deal of powerful allies." Said Sir Slicer.
"Your point?" Asked King as he smashed another bust of Bubblegum.
"My point being, that I strongly advise against attacking the Candy Kingdom at this time. Let's gather more forces and wait for an opportunity to attack." Said Sir Slicer.
"Well your opinion is duly noted Slicer, but I refuse to back down. First Bubblegum has some heroes break Lemongrab and a few of our other prisoners out of the dungeon and then she has my girlfriend Sedusa and my dungeon masters captured and taken away! It's only a matter of time, before Bubblegum decides to try and take Castle Lemongrab back for Lemongrab! I've worked to hard to get this kingdom and I will not tolerate anymore break ins or risk having my kingdom taken away. You are my general Slicer and its your job to figure out how to deal with enemy armies, so figure out a way for us to defeat the Candy Kingdom and their allies!" Declared King as he glared at the knight.
Sir Slicer was fixing to speak back, when there was the sound of a phone ringing. King paled slightly as he recognized the ringing. The ruler motioned for Toronto and Sir Slicer to leave the office. The two were confused by King's behavior, but they left the office. King went over to his desk, opened a draw, and pulled out a red cellphone.
"Hello?" Said King.
"Hello King, I think it's time for you and me to have a little face to face chat." Said Crimson.
The voice of Crimson didn't come from the cellphone, instead it came from a few feet away from King. The ruler turned his head and saw Crimson standing three feet away from him. Crimson let out a chuckle as King turned pale and dropped the cellphone on the desk.
"What...do you want?" Asked King with a stutter.
"Why I simply want to help you fight the Candy Kingdom." Said Crimson.
"What?" Asked a stunned King.
"You see I'm well aware about the recent events that have been going on here and I know you desire revenge against Bubblegum for what she did. I know you desire revenge and plan to launch an attack on the Candy Kingdom that will result in war, however I have a way for the war to go in your favor and to have the other kingdoms and villages to turn their backs on the Candy Kingdom." Said Crimson.
"How are you going to do that?" Asked King.
"You see Bubblegum is very paranoid and easy to manipulate. I'm going to have Bubblegum see the Fire Kingdom as a threat to her own kingdom. Bubblegum will go to the Fire Kingdom and sabotage one of it's greatest and most sacred of weapons and she will be caught in the act. Tension will spread through the Candy Kingdom and Fire Kingdom and the heroes will try to make the rulers of both kingdoms have a peace conference and that's where you come in King and present the Fire Kingdom with evidence about Bubblegum spying on your kingdom and the Fire Kingdom. Flame King will be outraged and when word about what Bubblegum did gets around the other kingdoms and villages will no longer trust the Candy Kingdom." Said Crimson as he reached into his cloak, pulled out a tiny camera and placed it on the desk.
"How...exactly will this war...start?" Asked King as he eyed the camera.
"Oh let's just say things are going to get violent at the peace conference." Said Crimson with a chuckle.
"Um...ok. It sounds good, but who are you and how do you know all this?" Said King.
Crimson reached his hands up and removed his mask. King starred at the face of Peppermint Butler in shock. Crimson chuckled at King's shock.
"Now you know who I am. Crimson is my real name and the one you know as Peppermint Butler is simply a disguise. You can try and tell whoever you want, who I am but they won't believe you. As of now you take orders from me and if you try to disobey me, King, you will meet a very cruel end and I'll put someone in charge of Castle Lemongrab. I made you the man you are today King and I can easily unmake you." Said Crimson with a chuckle as he put his mask back on and then teleported away.
King sat alone in his office and shivered as he realized how trapped he was.
Crimson reappeared in the secret lair and summoned Bill. It was time to put an evil plan into action. The two villains went to the Candy Kingdom and headed towards the royal bed chamber, where they found Bubblegum and Braco sleeping. Bill floated over to Bubblegum and vanished into her head and began to mess with her dreams.
Bubblegum was currently having a dream about standing on the balcony on her castle and looking over her kingdom and the rest of Ooo, when suddenly she saw a bright red light in the distance that seemed to be spreading through Ooo and towards the Candy Kingdom. The Candy Queen pulled out some binoculars and saw that the red light was a growing fire! In the fire Bubblegum could make out several large shapes. The shapes turned out to be Sleeping Fire Giants and they were on a rampage. The Sleeping Fire Giants reached the walls of the Candy Kingdom and smashed them down with ease. A bunch of banana guards and gingerbread men charged at the invaders, but we're completely destroyed by a blast of flames. Candy people ran screaming for their lives as the Sleeping Fire Giants set everything on fire. Bubblegum watched in absolute horror as the Sleeping Fire Giants made their way towards the castle.
"This is what will happen if the Fire Kingdom activates the Sleeping Fire Giants." Said a booming voice from above.
Bubblegum looked up to see a massive golden owl flapping above. The candy ruler starred at the bird in shock as a part of her mind recognized it as the Cosmic Owl. Bubblegum had never seen the golden bird before, but she had heard accounts of a few of her friends meeting the great owl and though Bubblegum wasn't a superstitious person, she could understand why her friends took the sighting of the Cosmic Owl as something important. The Cosmic Owl was here to warn Bubblegum of impending trouble, so she could stop it.
"How did this happen?" Asked Bubblegum.
"The Fire Kingdom was threatened by a great evil and they activated the Sleeping Fire Giants to combat it. The evil was defeated, but the people of the Fire Kingdom became entranced by the destructive capabilities of the Sleeping Fire Giants and they decided they wanted to burn and conquer all of Ooo." Explained the Cosmic Owl.
"How do I prevent this from happening?" Asked Bubblegum.
"You must disable or destroy the Sleeping Fire Giants, while they are inactive. The Fire Kingdom will not listen to reason and the evil will be coming soon, so you must deal with the Sleeping Fire Giants swiftly, otherwise your kingdom and all of Ooo will be nothing but ashes." Said the Cosmic Owl.
At that moment the ground beneath Bubblegum crumbled and she fell to the ground below screaming and losing sight of the Cosmic Owl. As Bubblegum vanished, the Cosmic Owl chuckled as it's form began to change into Bill.
"All to easy." Said Bill as he teleported out of Bubblegum's dream.
In the real world, Bubblegum woke up and sat up in her bed gasping and breathing hard, Braco was woken up by this and he looked at his wife with concern.
"Is everything alright?" Asked Braco as he put a hand on Bubblegum's shoulder.
"Yeah...it was just a bad dream." Said Bubblegum.
"You want to talk about it?" Asked Braco.
"No...it's fine." Said Bubblegum.
"Ok then. Goodnight." Said Braco as he laid back down.
Bubblegum laid back down and starred at the celling thinking about the dream she had and what kind of action she needed to take. From the hallway Crimson and Bill were chuckling at the success of their plan. The two villains then teleported back to the secret lair.
A couple of days after the dream, Bubblegum had told no one including Braco about her nightmare and she had thought up a plan to disable the Sleeping Fire Giants and a way to get into the chamber, where they were kept. The plan was incredibly risky, but it should work. Bubblegum constructed a few high tech fire proof suits and gave them to Slush and Hot giving them careful instructions before sending them to the Fire Kingdom. A day later the Fire Kingdom began to suffer from a strange cool down. The fiery land became cold and gust of cold wind began to blast out of volcanic vents cooling down the Fire Kingdom and causing damage to all the buildings by weakening them tremendously. A few elderly fire people along with a few young ones died from the cold that was ravaging the Fire Kingdom. Flame King saw what a threat this presented to his kingdom and he made a call to the other kingdoms for help to deal with the crisis. Bubblegum was the first person to offer aid to the Fire Kingdom using her technology to find the source of the problem. The Candy Queen arrived at the Fire Kingdom carrying a fireproof satchel and wearing a high tech armored suit that protected her from the rough environment and made her way to the palace, where she was greeted byPhoebe.
"Hey Bubblegum, thanks for coming to help. My dads trying to calm the people down and maintain order, so he told me to help you out." Said Phoebe.
"Thank you Phoebe. I really appreciate it. Now according to my instruments the source of the cold seems to be coming from somewhere beneath the palace." Said Bubblegum as she pulled out a tiny scanner device.
"Alright I'll take you down to the lower levels of the palace." Said Phoebe as she lead Bubblegum down some stairs.
Meanwhile miles away at the Ice Kingdom, Slime Princess had come to visit Patience to help plan a party for Island Lady. The two Elementals were hanging in the living room of the palace, when Simon walked in with a grave look on, his face.
"What's up?" Asked Patience.
"I just got a call from the Fire Kingdom. Apparently something is cooling down the kingdom at an alarming rate and Flame King asked me to come figure out what the problem is. Bubblegum is already there and she and Phoebe are together trying to find the source of the problem." Explained Simon.
"Wait, so Phoebe home is in trouble and Bubblegum is trying to figure out what the problem is, well then count us in. We Elementals got each other's backs!" Said Patience.
"I always did want to visit the Fire Kingdom." Said Slime Princess.
"Ok you two can come." Said Simon as he cast flame shield on the two Elementals and himself.
The old wizard then went over to a closet and pulled out a small carpet and cast flame shield on it. Simon told the girls to come sit on the carpet and they did. The carpet rose into the air and Patience let out a wild cheer of excitement. Simon took off flying, with the flying carpet behind him. The group took off and soon arrived at the Fire Kingdom palace, where Flame King greeted them.
"Thank you for coming Simon and I see you brought company." Said Flame King.
Patience and Slime Prince introduced themselves to Flame King, who recognized both their names from, his daughter stories. Flame King told the two Elementals where he saw Bubblegum and Phoebe go and Patience held Slime Princess as she jumped off the carpet and headed down the stairs Bubblegum and Patience had gone down. Flame King then lead Simon to one of the colder areas of the Fire Kingdom. There was a huge crack in the ground surrounded by destroyed buildings. Simon went to the crack and found it to be quit cold.
"I'm going down there to take a look." Said Simon as he flew down the crack.
Beneath the palace, Bubblegum and Phoebe were walking down a long hallway.
"You know it's strange, knowing that the two of us along with Patience and Slime Princess have been reincarnated several times and that we've managed to find each other and become friends agin." Said Phoebe.
"I suppose it is quit odd. We all have powers and when we're together I recall a bit of all the past lives I had." Said Bubblegum as she checked her scanner.
"I guess some friendships transcend lifetimes and we're not the only ones who were reincarnated. Finn is the reincarnation of a girl you used to know named Shoko." Said Phoebe.
"That's right." Said Bubblegum.
"What was Shoko like?" Asked Phoebe.
"Well in someways, she was a lot like Finn. Shoko was strong, kind, funny, and someone you could like and trust, unfortunately she got mixed in with the wrong kind of people and that eventually lead to an accident that caused her death." Said Bubblegum with a sad look on her face.
"I'm sorry about your loss." Said Phoebe.
"It's ok. The spirit of Shoko lives on in Finn and the two of us made up." Said Bubblegum.
The two of them continued on walking and then Phoebe spoke again.
"You ever wonder about what would have happened if our past lives had gone along with Patience's plan to freeze ourselves?"
"I never gave it much thought, but I suppose our current reincarnations wouldn't exist and the Candy Kingdom wouldn't be what it is today. Ooo would most likely be a different place." Said Bubblegum.
"It's scary...how one little decision can make a big change." Said Phoebe.
"Indeed it is. The choices we make can determine the future not just for us, but for the world around us." Said Bubblegum.
The two Elementals continued down the hall.
Miles away, Simon was still floating down the crack, when he saw a dim light from below and heard a strange buzzing sound. A gust of cold air blew up the hole Simon was going down and up to the surface. Simon narrowed his eyes as he went further down and entered a large chamber full of black rocks and lava. On the ground below, Simon saw two figures wearing high tech looking armor. One was leaning against a rock, while the other was standing near the lava with a strange gun like device firing a constant blast of freezing energy into the lava creating a large amount of ice in the center of the lava cooling it down. The ice was melting, but the lava was loosing it's heat. Simon landed on the ground near the two figures and he was shocked to see that the armored figures were Hot and Slush.
"What is the meaning of this?" Demanded Simon.
Both candy warriors whirled around to see Simon and a startled look appeared on their faces. Hot tried to pull out his heat gun to blast Simon, but the old wizard was mush faster and he knocked Hot to the ground with an ice blast. Slush managed to point his gun at Simon and fired. Simon blocked the ice beam with an upraised hand and then he fired a ice beam from his free hand and knock Slush's gun out of his hand and sent it flying into the lava with a wet plop. Simon glared at Slush and Hot as he pointed his hands at the ice and used his powers to lift it out of the lava and dropped it on some black rocks. Slush tried to make a break for it, but Simon zapped his legs and froze them in ice. Hot was fixing to try and get up and attack, but Simon quickly walked over to him and snatched the heat gun away from him.
"Now start talking. Tell me why are you doing this?" Said Simon as he glared at the two candy warriors.
"You'll never get us to talk?" Shouted Slush in defiance.
"Oh your going to talk to me because your other options aren't going to be great." Said Simon.
"What do you mean?" Asked Hot.
"Well I could trap the two of you down here and damage your armor, to the point that it provides very little protection for you or I could deliver you to the Flame King and have him deal with. The choice is yours." Said Simon.
Hot and Slush were looking nervous after hearing the options. Finally Slush spoke.
"There's no need to do any of that, will talk."
"Alright, who told you to do this?" Said Simon.
"Our leader." Said Slush.
"Crimson?" Asked Simon.
"Queen...Bubblegum." Said Slush.
A look of shock and dread appeared on Simon's face. This was not good! Simon broke off a sheet of ice from the mound Slush had created and had Hot and Slush stand on it. Simon then used his powers to lift the sheet up through the hole and he followed it. The wizard managed to pull his phone out and started to make some calls.
Meanwhile back at the palace, Bubblegum's scanner lead her and Phoebe to the chamber that the Sleeping Fire Giants were kept. Phoebe was explaining what the ancient machines were by sining 'A Kingdom from a Spark' and while she was doing that Bubblegum was carefully sneaking up to the Sleeping Fire Giants, opening them up, removing their fuses, and putting them in her satchel. Phoebe finished her song and turned to see Bubblegum with one of the fuses.
"What are you doing?" Asked Phoebe.
"Oh this...fuse fell out and I was simply putting it back in. These machines are very old." Said Bubblegum as she put the fuse back into the machine.
"I guess these machines are quit old." Agreed Phoebe.
"Well let's move on. My scanner says the source of the cold is elsewhere." Said Bubblegum as she began to walk forward, but her satchel got caught on the fuse hatch, got torn open, and all the fuses she had stolen fell out.
"What the heck are you doing with those fuses?" Demanded Phoebe with an angry confused look in her eyes.
"Um...I can explain." Said Bubblegum as she looked at Phoebe nervously.
"Alright explain why your basically disarming my kingdom's greatest defenses." Said Phoebe.
"Look these giants are to dangerous and they cannot be allowed to be activated. Your people have a strong desire to cause destruction and once they turn these things on and see their destructive capabilities, they will release them onto Ooo and cause great havoc. As the ruler of the Candy Kingdom and one of the greatest minds in Ooo, it is my duty to prevent all future catastrophic events from happening. I'm doing this for the good of Ooo." Said Bubblegum.
"Your misjudging my people again! My kingdom would never release such a destructive force on Ooo! The people of the Fire Kingdom have strived to become better and be friends with the other kingdoms. The fire people are more then just mindless beings who crave destruction! Yet even after we became your allies and I became your friend and forgave you for what you did to me, when I was a child, you still see us as destructive beings, who are a threat to everyone! Your a close minded women, who thinks she knows everything, but you don't know everything. Your the one with the two giant destructive robot guardians and the factory that produces hundreds of gingerbread soldiers everyday. My kingdom isn't the threat, it's your kingdom that's a threat." Said Phoebe with an intense glare.
"The guardians and the gingerbread are made to protect my kingdom and Ooo. What I'm doing isn't personal, I'm simply doing it to protect my people and Ooo. I will defuse your giants and fix the source of the cooling." Said Bubblegum as she reached for the fuses, but a blast of flames forced her to leap back.
"I will not let you take the fuses. They belong to the Fire Kingdom and you have no right to take them." Said Phoebe with a determined glare as she lifted up into the air with her flames glowing angrily.
"So it has come to this. I tried to avoid fighting, but now you have forced my hand. I'm doing what I must for the good of all." Said Bubblegum.
Phoebe growled at Bubblegum as she hurled a fireball at her. Bubblegum activated a energy shield in her armor and deflected the fireball at one of the Sleeping Fire Giants. The fireball hit the machine and exploded into bits. Phoebe cried out in dismay and rage at the giant's destruction and Bubblegum activated a cloaking device in her armor that made her invisible. Bubblegum then crept around and activated some mini missiles in her armor and fired. The missiles became visible and flew through the air at the Sleeping Fire Giants. Phoebe destroyed one of the missiles, but the other struck one of the machines and destroyed it! Bubblegum fired more missiles at the remaining Sleeping Fire Giants, but this time Phoebe managed to destroy them all. Realizing she couldn't destroy the machines with Phoebe interfering, Bubblegum reached into her armor, pulled out a tiny metal sphere and threw it at Phoebe. The sphere split open and a cloud rose out and over Phoebe's head. Phoebe starred at the cloud in confusion and the cloud began to rain water on Phoebe. The fiery girl cried out in pain as her flames died down and she dropped to the ground in a weakened state. Bubblegum became visible and began destroying the other Sleeping Giants, until there was only one left. The giant that still had it's fuse.
"I know you hate me and you probably think I'm a horrible person Phoebe, but I'm trying to help your kingdom as well as mine. This is for the greater good." Said Bubblegum as she looked at Phoebe and then prepared to fire a missile at the last Sleeping Fire Giant.
"Well I think you and I have a different definition on good." Said a voice from the doorway.
Bubblegum turned to see Patience and Slime Princess. A look of shock appeared on Bubblegum's face as Slime Princess lifted her arms up and fired a stream of slime at her. The slime hit Bubblegum and knocked her to the ground. Patience then fired a freeze blast and incased Bubblegum's arms in ice shackles. The Ice Elemental placed Slime Princess on the ground, walked over to Phoebe, and helped her up.
"You ok?" Asked Patience.
"I'm...ok. Thanks for the save." Said Phoebe.
Phoebe then quickly filled Patience and Slime Princess on what happened and the two Elementals were shocked about what Bubblegum had tried to do.
"Why would you do this Bubblegum?" Asked Slime Princess.
"Because I had a dream with the Cosmic Owl in it, where he told me the Sleeping Fire Giants were a threat to us all and they needed to be eliminated." Said Bubblegum.
"Well betraying Phoebe wasn't cool." Said Patience as she hauled Bubblegum to her feet.
The group exited the chamber and headed up to the upper levels of the palace. They made their way to the throne room where they found, Simon, Hot, Slush, Flame King, and several guards waiting for them. Bubblegum paled as she saw Flame King glare daggers at her. Simon also glared at Bubblegum and made her shiver. Flame King saw his daughter and a look of concern appeared on his face as he went over to her.
"Are you alright sweetie?" Asked Flame King.
"I'm ok daddy, I just need to rest for a little bit and warm up." Said Phoebe.
Phoebe then quickly informed her father about what had happened with Bubblegum and that greatly enraged Flame King. The fiery monarch stomped over to Bubblegum and glared down at her.
"Queen Bubblegum you have committed several crimes against me and my people. You damaged our buildings, cost several of my people their lives, destroyed most of the Sleeping Fire Giants and betrayed my daughter's trust! Normally I would have you killed on the spot, but Simon has convinced me that would be cause nothing but trouble for both our kingdoms. Simon suggested that we should have a conference to discuss what should be done about the damage you caused. My people demand justice and they shall have it. Now leave my kingdom." Said Flame King.
Simon escorted Bubblegum, Hot, and Slush out of the Fire Kingdom and towards the Candy Kingdom. Patience and Slime Princess took the flying carpet back to the Ice Kingdom after saying goodbye to Phoebe. On the way to the Candy Kingdom, Bubblegum told Simon about the dream she had.
"I had a dream with the Cosmic Owl in it and he showed me what would happen once the Sleeping Fire Giants were awake. They would bring destruction to Ooo and the Cosmic Owl said the only way to prevent it was to either destroy or disable the Fire Giants before they became active."
"I see. Well the Cosmic Owl didn't tell you to harm the Fire Kingdom and betray Phoebe." Said Simon.
"I know, but I had to do what was necessary to get to the Sleeping Fire Giants and destroy them!" Said Bubblegum.
"Well from my personal experience with the Cosmic Owl, this command about destroying the Sleeping Fire Giants sounds a bit suspicious to me. You greatly damaged the Fire Kingdom and destroyed all, but one of their strongest weapon. The Cosmic Owl has given knowledge and advice in the past, not orders of destruction." Said Simon.
The group reached the Candy Kingdom, where the guards pulled the ice shackles and slime off of Bubblegum. Bubblegum was approached by Braco who had a grave look on his face.
"I heard about...what you did. Please...tell me it's not true." Said Braco.
"It is true...Braco, but you have to believe that what I did was for the good of us and the Candy Kingdom." Said Bubblegum.
"I...don't know what to believe." Said Braco as he walked away.
Bubblegum walked down to her lab and was shocked to see most of it in ruins.
"How's it feel to see something you care about get messed up?" Hissed an angry voice from behind.
Bubblegum turned pale as she recognized the voice as Marceline's voice. Before Bubblegum could reply, Marceline slammed into her and sent Bubblegum flipping over a table. The candy ruler groaned as she laid on the floor and then she tried to scramble to the exit, but saw that Lucinda, Lance, and Henry were blocking it. Bubblegum looked desperately for another escape way, but Marceline grabbed her and hurled her into a wall. The candy women crashed into the wall with a tremendous thud and Marceline flew over to her and ripped the helmet off. Marceline then grabbed Bubblegum by the throat and lifted her up and got her face up close to Bubblegum's face.
"I heard about what you did to my little sister and her home. You hurt and betrayed her and you betrayed me. I used to respect you Bubblegum, but then you pulled a stunt like this. It's unbelievable! I have no respect for you and if you ever hurt my sister or any of my family or friends, I will personally come after you and make you truly suffer! Our friendship is officially over." Said Marceline.
Bubblegum starred back at Marceline in wide eyed terror. Marceline dropped Bubblegum to the ground and stormed out of the lab with Lucinda, Lance, and Henry. Bubblegum rubbed her neck as she began to question her choices and wonder what the future held. From the shadows outside the lab, Crimson in his a butler disguise laughed. Soon everything would play out and all of Ooo would be thrown into a chaotic war.
To be continued.
