Chapter 4


As the land of Ooo sat in the darkness of night, one kingdom stood firmly against the dark. Burning brightly into the night was the infernal Fire Kingdom.
Lakes of lava bubbled and stirred, and a thick blanket of smoke choked the sky, blocking any outside light from gracing its territory.
While most would view this place as inhospitable, many strange creatures called this place their home.
Packs of fire wolves roamed the land, free to come and go wherever they wished.

True to its namesake, the Fire Kingdom was home to several fire people. Beings of pure fire, they sought to consume and burn any and all they came across.
They considered themselves to be evil, thought whether or not they truly were, was up for debate.
They had gone through several rulers in their existence, each more brutal than the last.

But their most recent ruler was far different. Their new ruler was the Flame Princess, daughter of the ousted Flame King. Her rule was absolute, yet she was a fair ruler. She kept the more radical members of her court in line, and thus prevented many international incidents from escalating.

Along side her was her most trusted lieutenant; Cinnamon Bun. Once a half-baked underling of the Candy Kingdom, he had become the Princesses' closest companions. She trusted him with the fullest extent of her abilities.
Yet, despite Cinnamon Bun's undying loyalty, Flame Princess still held a small place in her mind for doubt and distrust.

She had been hurt before, and the memory still burned her heart. Finn, her once closest friend and love had betrayed her trust and used her for his own personal needs. She didn't understand why he had done such a thing and now, she no longer cared.
Finn had betrayed her, and she was determined to never let anyone betray her again.

Such a jaded view of things was not healthy, and Flame Princess knew that. But such a mindset was what had kept her alive as ruler of the Fire Kingdom for so long. Never let anyone in too close, or they might drive a dagger into your back.
Despite this mindset, Flame Princess was not worried about threats from outside her kingdom.

Who would be foolish enough to attack the Fire Kingdom?


Flame Princess tossed and turned in her sleep as fitful dreams plagued her mind. In her dream she was stranded on a small rock of an island, surrounded by angry putrid black water. There was no sky, only darkness. Her flames could offer no light or warmth.

Then, over the roar of the waters that threatened to wash her island away came a loud piercing whirring sound.

A dull red light flooded from behind her, revealing the terror that was fast approaching. A wall of solid metal lined with rows upon rows of spinning circular saw blades.

She could not run, she could not hide, she was helpless. With a terrible grinding sound, the wall of bladed death overcame her.


With a scream, Flame Princess awoke from her nightmare with a jolt. Her heart pounded in chest as she tried to catch her breath.
As the initial panic ended, Flame Princess let out a groan of exhaustion.

Three nights now. She thought sadly. Three nights of nightmares.

Each night, the nightmares would get worse. At first, they were merely unsettling. A few drops of water here, a low rumbling there, nothing too alarming.
But each following night, the dreams would become more vivid, more real. This had been the worst she had had by far.

Flame Princess huffed angrily and stoked her flames. She was getting so frustrated with this nonsense.

All she wanted was one night of sleep. Was that too much to ask for?

As her anger dwindled, Flame Princess felt something poke her from under her blanket. After pulling the blanket away, she found what had been poking her.
It was a small box with strange runes carved into it. On the lid of the box was the words 'For Player Four,' written in red.
Despite her distrustful nature, Flame Princess' curiosity was far too strong. Cautiously, she opened the box and looked inside.
Inside the box was a tape recorder covered in the same runes that lined the box. Next to the tape recorder were several photos sealed in thick protective glass.

"What is this?" she hissed as she looked over the photos, particularly Finn's photo.

'Player One' was written under Finn's photo. 'Player Two' was under Princess Bubblegum's. 'Player Three' was under Marceline's.
Her flames suddenly died as she scanned over a photo of herself. The photo was of her sleeping, not a few moments ago.
Her photo was new, meaning the one that took it was still in the palace.

Flame Princess burned angrily, melting the glass, and destroying the photos. Someone was toying with her and she would not stand for it.

"Cinnamon Bun!" she screamed loudly.

The door to her sleeping chambers flew open as her lieutenant rushed to her aid.

"What is it my queen?!" he asked, alarmed but unafraid.

"There is an intruder in the palace!" she huffed angrily as her flames grew size. "Find them and bring them to me!"

"Yes, my queen!" Cinnamon Bun responded as he drew his dagger from its sheath. "They will be yours."

As her faithful lieutenant rushed and gathered some extra guards, Flame Princess felt a small trembling. She passed it off as nothing but another one of the Fire Kingdom's many tremors. But the tremors persisted and slowly but surely began to grow stronger. If she didn't know better Flame Princess could have sworn that the tremors were getting closer to the palace. Growing even more uneasy than she had been, Flame Princess picked up the tape recorder and looked over it again.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked bitterly.

With click, the tape recorder started to play.

"Hello, Flame Princess. You don't know me. But I know you. If you are playing this tape, then I have found you wanting."


The ground shook and heaved as massive legs unfurled from within the cloud of black smog.

Like an ancient evolving creature, the obscured object effortlessly waded into the lake of lava. The liquid rock did nothing to hinder the object's movement.

Massive gears and cogs ground and spun as a web of chain factory lines began to activate. Suspended by sharp hooks were dozens of rotting pigs.
One by one, the bloated carcasses were dropped into a massive grinder. The vile sludge that was produced was then pumped from a large basin into several containers.

Steam hissed as several long cannon barrels extended outward. With a loud whirring, the barrels all aligned themselves. Their target was within range.

Their target was the Fire Kingdom.


The palace was shaking harder than it ever had before. Flame Princess knew that this was no mere earthquake. This was something else, something worse. The tape recorder crackled before melting in her infernal grasp.

"I want to play a game."

Flame Princess looked out her window that oversaw her domain. Her eyes widened with awe and fear at what she saw.
Over the lake of lava and fire, she could see something moving, something massive. The lava did not seem to be bothering it.
All the lava did was bring a dull light underneath its giant form. It looked like a giant walking cloud of black smoke. With each step, the ground shook.
With each step, it drew closer to the palace.

Suddenly, several loud booms sounded as the object fired a salvo.

With a deafening boom and splash, the salvo struck the palace, drowning it in putrid liquid and coating it in a thick layer of rotten gore.

Shell shocked, Flame Princess uneasily pushed herself off of the floor. She gagged at the stench that was overpowering the palace.

Her flames had been temporarily extinguished from the fetid sludge of the gore artillery.
After reigniting herself, Flame Princess rushed back to where her window used to be.
Through the giant hole in her bed chambers, Flame Princess could see that the places struck by the vile artillery were no longer burning.

"Guards, send troops to the gate! Do not let that thing get any closer!" she ordered firmly.

Quickly, several battalions of troops were moved to the gates. No one had ever tried to attack the palace so brazenly, and they would fight to their last to defend their kingdom. But hope quickly was extinguished as the cloud approached the gates. Despite their best efforts, none of the Flame Kingdom's soldiers could leave even a tiny mark on the object's hulking, lumbering form.

Flame Princess watched in horror as several hoses began to spray jets of gore down upon the defenders, extinguishing them.

The gates crumbled as rows upon rows of giant circular saw blades tore the building to shreds.

Another salvo of gore struck the palace, smothering more of its infernal residents. The ground cracked and heaved as the invader strode over the smoldering ruins.
Flame Princess couldn't believe was she was seeing. Her kingdom was under attack, and none of her soldiers or guards could stop it.


"Choose." A cold voice spoke.

Flame Princess spun around to face the speaker. Standing firmly behind her was a feminine figure wearing a black and red robe.
Their face was hidden underneath a pig mask.

"Choose." The figure spoke again.

Flame Princess roared and rose herself to full height. With a ferocious snarl, Flame Princess unleashed a stream of flames from her body.
With a blue flash of light, the intruder summoned a wall of the thickest ice, shielding them from the flames.
The figure snapped her fingers as jettisoned the wall towards Flame Princess.

The wall shattered and melted against her body, smothering her flames momentarily. Flame Princess hissed in pain as she tried to reignite herself, but her attacker would have none of it. A jet of ice and snow shot out of the attacker's hand. Flame Princess screamed in pain as her body was covered in snow.

"Choose." The figure demanded.

The door to Flame Princess' bed chambers was suddenly kicked open as Cinnamon Bun and ten other guards stormed the room.

"My queen, we have-"

Before the words could leave Cinnamon Bun's mouth, he and the other guards were snap frozen in a flash of blue light.

"Cinnamon Bun!" Flame Princess shouted in horror.

"Choose." The figure demanded, letting their impatience slip through their cold tone.

With a terrifying roar, Flame Princess burst into a pillar of flames.

She wasn't thinking anymore. All she felt now was pure, infernal rage. Without thinking, Flame Princess threw a massive ball of fire at the attacker.

The attacker quickly sidestepped out of the fireball's path, dodging it completely.

But the still frozen Cinnamon Bun and the guards were instantly shattered by the force of the fireball.

Flame Princess' fire quickly died as she saw what she had done.

"Cinnamon Bun…?" she rasped as the weight of what she had done came crashing down on her. Having forgotten about her surroundings, Flame Princess rushed to the remains of her shattered lieutenant. Hot tears of liquid fire dripped onto the floor as Flame Princess began to weep.

"What have I done?" she asked weakly. "How could I…?"

A sudden jet of ice blasted against Flame Princess, forcing her to the floor.

"Choose." The masked attacker hissed venomously.

Through her tears and anguish, Flame Princess found her voice.

"Choose what?!" she sobbed, unable to tear her eyes away from the remains of her friend.

The attacker tightly wrapped their hand behind Flame Princess' head and forced her to look out the gaping hole in the wall. Her kingdom was now smoldering underneath the shrouded monster. It wouldn't take much to finish off her kingdom, but if it stopped now, it could still be saved.

"You?" the attacker spoke with a tone that sent a chill through the air. "Or your kingdom?"

Flame Princess was silent as a maelstrom of emotion rampaged inside of her.

They wanted to get to me. Flame Princess thought as the fire in her began to flicker and fade. They never wanted my kingdom. They wanted me. It's my fault…Cinnamon Bun…

"I surrender." She spoke with defeat heavy in her voice. "I'll come with you. Just please spare my kingdom."


An audible clink was heard as the attacker fastened a metal collar around Flame Princess' neck. Magical runes began to glow brightly on the metal. Flame Princess' flames began to die and burn dangerously low. Any lower and she would die.

Her attacker pulled her off of the floor. After taking one last look at her smoldering kingdom, Flame Princess felt a sharp pain as she was struck in the back of the head. With no need or will to fight, Flame Princess quickly slipped into unconsciousness.


Last chance to turn back...