•Fionna•

The Fire Kingdom just declared war on us.

No one moves, no one even blinks. The only thing any of us seem to do is let our jaws fall completely open and our eyes widen.

Until, that is, Ash lets out, "What?!"

That seems to be the trigger for everyone else to start freaking out as well.

"What do you mean 'what'? Didn't you already know about this? And why didn't you tell us this yourself?!" Jake shouts at Ash.

"I didn't tell you about it because I didn't know about it! Starting a war was NOT part of the plan! At least, it wasn't part of the plan I heard!" Ash shoots back.

"They... they declared war on us?" Bubblegum gulps, eyes wide and lips trembling.

"It actually makes sense that Flame Prince would do this," Ash speaks again, shaking his head solemnly. "Because he has that giant monster and all those soldiers, he probably knows that by declaring war on us we'll have to fight back and that could cause even more damage, which is Flame Prince's ultimate goal now that he's under the spell."

I nod. "The last war we had was the Great Mushroom War, and Marshall and Marcy told me that millions of people were killed. They said it was a miracle that they and their family survived at all."

"What does the war declaration say?" Flame Princess asks Gumball, who's still holding it.

Gumball mutely hands it over to her, and she takes it, careful not to have it set on fire again. Once she has it in her hands, we all lean over her shoulders, although that isn't necessary because she reads it out loud.

"To the Candy Kingdom and all its residents, specifically Prince Bubba Gumball and Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum as well as all your excuses for friends.

This message comes all the way from the Fire Kingdom where my accomplice and I are forming an army, an army bigger and more powerful than any of you could ever imagine. And, with this army, I officially declare war on the Candy Kingdom and all its citizens, as well as any of their allied kingdoms that foolishly wish to get involved.

Well, then again, it's not like they have a choice.

With this army of mine, I will kill every man, woman, and child in this world, and you'll all be helpless to stop it. My soldiers outnumber yours greatly, and I'm bringing something especially deadly to the party.

You've all had this coming for awhile now. I promised to myself long ago that you all would pay for crossing me, and now I'm carrying out that promise. You've really got no one to blame but yourselves.

I feel you should all think that over until the very inevitable moment you're blown up.

And as for your missing Vampires, I have them both in my kingdom. I'd like to say they're enjoying their stay, but I'd be lying.

If you want to see them again, then I suggest Fionna come to the Fire Kingdom; I want to have a private discussion with her.

Until next time. See you on the battlefield, and may the very best win."

When Flame Princess finishes, Finn sneers. "Evil bastard..." he grumbles.

"You can certainly say that again," Jake agrees with a growl.

"If Flame Prince has beef with us, then by all means, he can come to us and sort it out," Cake says before she shakes her head and her eyes narrow, "but to drag the entire world into it is completely unacceptable."

I nod in agreement. "Definitely. Absolutely. He's talking about taking innocent lives like it's nothing! The people of the world did nothing to him!" I shout, clenching my fists in anger.

And suddenly, someone rushes into the infirmary.

"Your Majesties, Your Majesties!" Peppermint Butler cries, running up to Bubblegum and Gumball. Peppermint Butler and his sister Peppermint Maid help PB and PG with most of their royal duties.

Bubblegum and Gumball look down at Peppermint Butler. "Yes, Peppermint Butler? What is it?" Bubblegum asks.

Peppermint Butler thrusts out a box with a stamp on it at her and Gumball. "A package just arrived for you, Your Highnesses," he tells them, and Bubblegum takes the package from him to look at it.

Gumball frowns. "I don't remember ordering anything..." he mumbles as he looks at the package in his sister's hands.

"Neither do I..." Bubblegum replies. She gives the package a good look before she shakes it gently.

"Who sent it?" Gumball asks Peppermint Butler.

Peppermint Butler shrugs. "No idea. There's no name or return address," he says in response.

"That's weird," Jake comments.

"Yeah. Who would send someone a package but not mention who it's from? Isn't that the whole point of gift-giving?" Cake questions.

"Maybe it isn't a gift," Flame Princess suggests.

"Then what is it?" Finn asks curiously.

Gumball takes the package from Bubblegum and gives it a shake. "No idea," he says as he gives it a long look.

Then everyone begins to spout out suggestions for what it might be.

"Maybe it's a prank," Breakfast Princess says, dubiously eyeing the package in Gumball's hands.

"It doesn't matter," I point out. "We've got bigger problems on our hands than a mysterious package! The world may very well be coming to an end, Marshall and Marceline are have been kidnapped, and here we are, debating over a package—"

I am interrupted. Ash holds up his hand that isn't cuffed to the bed. "Wait," he calls out, silencing all of us. "Do any of you hear that?"

We all stay silent and begin to listen.

And there it is.

Tick... tick... tick...

A ticking sound.

"Ticking...," Flame Princess observes, looking around. "I hear ticking. Where's it coming from?"

Everyone shrugs.

As the ticking continues, it begins to get louder and faster.

Tick, tick, tick...

Gumball's eyes widen before he looks down at the package in his hands. He puts his ear to it and listens. Then he brings his head back up, eyes widening wider. "It's... it's coming from the package..." he says slowly.

Bubblegum freezes. "What?"

Tickticktickticktick...

Oh my God. I realize what it is.

I feel my face pale over and my eyes widen just as everyone else begins to realize it too.

TICKTICKTICKTICK...

It's a—

"Bomb!" Ash cries out as he shields himself with his free arm. "HIT THE DECK!"

He barely gets to finish his sentence before an explosion is emitted from the package Gumball is holding.

Everything else happens in slow motion.

We all instantly jump back, as far away as we can before we throw ourselves to the ground just as the bomb goes off.

Even though I hit the ground, I feel myself being thrown backwards before I crash into a wall.

The bomb going off had an extremely loud BOOM and afterwards the sound of things crashing into each other is heard before everything goes silent.

Except for my ears that are now ringing.

My eyes seem to be glued shut, and I'm afraid to open them, fearing what I might see.

A few seconds pass of me just lying there on the ground, unmoving and not opening my eyes. Then, through the annoying ringing of my ears, I hear voices.

"Is everyone alright? Sound off!"

"I'm okay," says a voice that sounds like Finn.

"Me too," says another that sounds like Cake.

"And me," says a third that's definitely Jake.

More voices called out, stating they're okay just as I begin to slowly sit up. Once I am fully sitting up, I carefully open my eyes and take in my surroundings.

The beds that were the closest to the bomb are now overturned and upside-down, scattered across the infirmary. A bunch of stuff that's supposed to be on shelves or on bedside tables are scattered all over the floor just as some of the beds are.

All in all, the infirmary is a complete wreck. But then again, I thought it'd be much worse.

"Fionna! Fionna, are you okay?!" Breakfast Princess is suddenly beside me.

The ringing in my ears is luckily beginning to slowly fade, so I try to answer her question as good as I can without wincing. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. What about everyone else?" I reply.

"We're checking to see if everyone's okay. So far, they seem fine," BP says in response, though she looks just as shaken up as I feel. Surviving an explosion will do that to ya'.

I slowly stand with Breakfast Princess's assistance and look around the infirmary for my friends. Most of them are standing and the ones who aren't are attempting to stand.

I see Finn and Jake struggling to lift one of the beds that was overturned before they are able to lift it and flip it back over to its correct position. Once the bed is flipped, Ash is revealed to have been underneath it, and he's still handcuffed to it.

"W-What the hell was that...?" Flame Princess whimpers, a hand against her forehead.

"That," Bubblegum says, beginning to stand, "was our package that really turned out to be a bomb."

"Who in the world would send us something like that?!" BP yelps in outrage.

Jake raises an eyebrow at her. "You're seriously asking that question? It was obviously Flame Prince and Ashley! I mean, we get news of Flame Prince and Ashley trying to destroy or take over the world, then the Fire Kingdom declares war on us, and immediately after we receive a 'package' that's really a bomb and therefore almost get blown up; there's NO WAY all that is a coincidence!"

Before anyone else can comment, another scroll appears out of thin air next to Gumball's head. After it is done smoking, Gumball grabs it, opens it, and reads it silently. After he is done, his eyes narrow and he growls.

Before any of us can ask, he shows us what it says.

Hope you all had a blast with my little gift. This is just what happens when people cross me, and there's more where that came from.

Finn scoffs. "Wow. He even made a God-awful pun to go with it," he grumbles with a roll of his eyes.

Suddenly, Cake stretches her arm across and snatches it from PG before she crumbles it up and throws it on the ground. "This is getting way out of hand quickly. We can't just stay in the infirmary for much longer—we have to act now, and to do that we need to tell people! They need to know about this since it involves all of us," she says, crossing her arms.

Bubblegum immediately nods. "You're right, Cake. We definitely need to make some calls," She turns to Peppermint Butler, who's currently still shaking from the event of the explosion. "Peppermint Butler?"

Peppermint Butler takes a moment to collect himself before he nods. "Y-Yes, Your Highness. Of course. Peppermint Maid and I will make those calls," he says as he turns to go, but stops short and turns back to PB. "Who should we call?"

Gumball turns to him, his facial expression nothing short of serious. "Everyone."

——————————

The emergency gathering of all the leaders of the kingdoms of Ooo started out chaotic to say the least. After Gumball and Bubblegum alerted all the kings and queens and princes and princesses of, and I quote, "a grave matter of life and death", everyone arrived at the Candy Kingdom within the hour, the knifestorm-thunderstorm having finally calmed down enough to the point where it's relatively safe to go outside.

Bubblegum and Gumball gathered everyone in the biggest conference room in the entire palace so there's enough seats at the incredibly long table for everyone.

Before the meeting even started, everyone had sat down in their assigned seats and began gossiping about what emergency they were all called here for was. As theories went around people began shouting the rumors they heard at each other and had arguments about how serious the situation is.

At one point, it all turned into a shouting match between... well, everyone.  The shouting went from shocked, to panicked, to angry, and back to panicked. Although a couple of the leaders couldn't decide if they were confused or terrified.

After a couple of minutes of Finn, Cake, Jake, and I trying to calm all the leaders down, Bubblegum and Gumball finally enter the room and sit down in their assigned seats which are at the front of the table. Bubblegum has a gavel in her hand (like the ones they use in a courtroom) and bangs it down on the table to try and get the leaders' attention and to quiet them down.

"Delegates!" Bubblegum calls out, banging the gavel as the chatter continues. "Delegates, please, cease your shouting! We have something very important to discuss!"

The talking and shouting continues.

PB bangs the gavel some more. "Delegates—everyone—please—"

The yammer of their talking only seems to be getting louder and louder.

Bubblegum's face scrunches up in irritation and she lets go of the gavel as she clenches both her fists and screams, "EVERYBODY SHUT UP!"

The conversations all stop and everyone looks at Bubblegum, seeming surprised by her outburst.

Bubblegum's eyes widen as she realizes everyone in the room is staring at her now. She blushes a bit before she clears her throat and returns to looking businesslike. "As you all know, you've all been called here because of a very serious matter," she says as she tries to meet everyone's eyes. "A matter that involves all of us."

Across from Finn and me, Ice Queen cocks her head to the side and gives PB a skeptical look. "This better be good, Bubblegum. I was in the middle of writing an erotic fanfiction about my Gummy and me!" she says before she begins eyeing Gumball.

Everyone else in the room looks like they're going to be sick while Gumball pales over and BP rolls her eyes.

Ice King clears his throat. "And I was in the middle of having a very nice fantasy about my Bubblegum—er, I mean, I was just in the middle of... taking a shower..." His cheeks turns red.

Jake cringes. "Ew...! Y'all are still nasty...!" he grumbles, his face scrunching up.

Ash (who is no longer handcuffed to the bed in the infirmary but still has Bubblegum and Gumball's bracelet on) slowly scoots away from Ice King and Ice Queen. We had allowed Ash to be involved in the meeting as we all promised we'd keep a sharp eye on him.

"Princess Bubblegum, Prince Gumball," Breakfast Prince says, his nose snootily in the air, "why have you brought us here? What exactly is this 'grave matter of life and death' you're going on about?" Next to him, Toast Prince and Toast Princess, his and Breakfast Princess's siblings, nod in agreement with their brother's question.

Bubblegum laces her fingers together at the question and looks down nervously. "That's the thing...," She looks back up and takes a breath, meeting Breakfast Prince's gaze. "I suggest you listen carefully, because we have a big problem..."

So PB tells them everything.

She tells them about the thought-to-be-destroyed Enchiridion that's actually not destroyed after all.

She tells them about Flame Prince somehow finding out the secret location of the Enchiridion and stealing it.

She tells them about the ancient spell in the Enchiridion and what Flame Prince will do under the spell.

She tells them about Ashley being the mastermind behind the whole thing and her real plan to defeat Flame Prince before she would take over the world.

She tells them about the Fire Kingdom declaring war on us not too long ago and about the bomb.

She tells them what exactly would happen if we don't stop Flame Prince and Ashley.

She tells them the end of the world is upon us.

And all that certainly freaks them out.

"WHAT?!" Muscle Princess exclaims in utter shock once Bubblegum finishes explaining.

"Is this really for real?!" Muscle Prince gapes.

"Unfortunately, yes," Gumball answers him.

"You're saying the entire world is going to get blown up?!" Ice King exclaims, and when Gumball nods in response Ice King shakes his head and his eyes widen. "That's globing crazy, Gum."

"And the Fire Kingdom really declared war on us...?" Wildberry Princess squeaks in shock. "We're... we're all going to war?"

Lumpy Space Princess lets out something between a choke and a laugh. "We can't go to war; we're nowhere near prepared to go to war! The last war we had was the Great Mushroom War which was hundreds of lumping years ago!"

"My sister is right. We can't go to war! Our guards and soldiers are definitely not prepared to fight; we've all had hundreds of years of peace," Lumpy Space Prince points out.

"Our guards and soldiers have the training," Turtle Princess puts in.

"Surely they know what to do," her brother—Turtle Prince—agrees.

"Just because they know the drill doesn't mean they're ready and prepared to do it!" Lumpy Space Princess shoots back.

Jake scoffs. "After hundreds of years of peace; Flame Prince couldn't have picked a worse time to declare war on us and catch us off guard."

"That's exactly why he did it," Cake says, her eyes narrowed.

"That bastard..." Finn grumbles to himself.

"As for our soldiers," Bubblegum cuts in, shaking her head, "it doesn't matter if they're ready or not. They've got no choice—we've got no choice. Either we fight or the world comes to end. Or gets taken over by Ashley. Honestly, both outcomes are terrible."

"Well," Breakfast Princess speaks up, her hands folded neatly in her lap, "you have the support of the entire Breakfast Kingdom behind you. Our soldiers will fight beside yours."

Next to her, Breakfast Prince nods along with Toast Prince and Toast Princess.

Bubblegum and Gumball smile at them thankfully.

A few seconds pass before Muscle Prince speaks up. "You have our kingdom's support as well," he says, and his sister nods in agreement.

Ice Queen huffs. "I guess you have our support as well," she lets out before she smirks at Gumball. "Anything for my Gummy."

Gumball scoots away from her.

Ice King coughs. "That, and the world ending would be a very bad thing. And the other possible outcome doesn't sound pleasant, either."

And so, one by one, all the leaders of all the kingdoms voice their support to Bubblegum and Gumball.

But then Lumpy Space Princess just shakes her head, a disbelieved look on her face. "This is lumping insane! We can't do this! They have a giant monster that explodes and an army of undead, creepy people!" She turns to Ash. "And how many did you say there were?"

Ash swallows and looks down. "The spell unleashes an army of five hundred thousand soldiers..." he mumbles. Earlier, when we asked him exactly how many zombie soldiers there would be, he had reluctantly given us the answer of half a million.

Half a million. I still wonder if I had heard him right.

"Exactly! They have half a million creepy zombie soldiers and a giant exploding monster! How do you expect us to beat that? All of our armies combined don't have five hundred thousand soldiers!" Lumpy Space Princess cries out.

Bubblegum stands up from her seat and places her hands on the table, calm but at the same time authoritative. "Look around you—the greatest leaders and some of the most powerful people in Ooo are sitting at this table. I mean," She gestures at Finn and me, "we have two certified heroes who have saved us time and time again!" Then she gestures at Ash. "And, on top of that, we have Ash—we have a freaking wizard."

If he's truly on our side like he says he is.

Ash suddenly looks nervous but sits up a little straighter at the mention of his name. "Um... I must disclose that my magic isn't as... developed as my sister's...," he mumbles before he looks down. "She never let me practice."

Ashley didn't LET Ash? First she made him have his previous haircut for all those years, and now she didn't let him practice his magic? Was Ash basically a SLAVE to her?

Ice King raises his hand. "And, speaking of wizards, you actually have," He points at himself and smirks, "two of them."

"And a witch," Ice Queen says and beams proudly as she points to herself.

Bubblegum smiles at them before she continues speaking to Ash. "Ash, that doesn't matter. I mean, you're still here, aren't you? And we have all the other leaders, don't we?" She turns to everyone. "We're not fragile or defenseless; Flame Prince and Ashley underestimate us, and we kind of underestimate ourselves too. We are stronger than we think," she says, a no-nonsense look on her face. "We are stronger than everyone thinks."

Everyone goes completely silent at Bubblegum's statement, seeming to consider what she said.

And then I stand up from my seat as well, newfound determination now coursing through my veins. "Bubblegum's right. We have the resources to do this—we can defeat Flame Prince and Ashley and we can save the world. We are all powerful, capable people, and if we work together, I have the confidence that we can win this war." We have to. All our lives are on the line, and Marshall and Marceline are in the clutches of an insane witch and a power-crazy prince that are threatening to destroy the world as we know it. I will not rest until I know for sure that they, along with everyone else, are safe. I HAVE to save them.

I swallow down what I really want to say to avoid freaking them out even more than they already have been freaked out.

I don't care if I'll have to rescue Marshall and Marceline on my own. I'll most likely end up doing that anyway because everyone else will probably be preoccupied with fighting and saving the world.

So, yes, I'll probably be saving them on my own; I don't need anyone else's help, anyway. Besides, it's safer if only one person goes so other people aren't at risk. Also, Flame Prince asked for me, not anyone else.

And I doubt anyone will stop me since they'll all be too busy freaking out about going to war and how to stop Flame Prince and Ashley.

"But what about their army?" Lumpy Space Princess cries out, her arms in the air. "It's good to, like, believe in ourselves and all, but their army is going to be pretty lumping huge and bigger than ours! You know they have more soldiers than we have!"

"That may be so, but that doesn't mean we still don't have a fighting chance," Gumball points out, trying to sound hopeful. He knows just as we all do that, numbers-wise, our chances aren't good. But he also knows it doesn't matter; we have to try. "I know it doesn't look too good, but what else are we supposed to do? Just roll over and let them win? Considering what's on the line, I really don't recommend doing that."

"Okay. We've decided to fight back. Now, that's all well and good," Wildberry Princess speaks up, "but we still need to tell the people. And not just the Candy Kingdom citizens, but all our kingdoms' citizens. We can't just leave them in the dark!"

Bubblegum cringes. "How do you tell your subjects that the world is possibly coming to an end...?" she mutters.

"Just tell them," Gumball says with a sigh. "I mean, there's no other way to tell it. Any way you say it, it's still horrible."

"When should we tell them?" Jake asks.

Gumball stands up. "Right now," he replies, starting towards the exit of the room.

What?!

"Right now?!" Finn gapes, sounding as surprised as I am. "But... but we don't even have a plan yet...!"

Gumball stops walking towards the door. "Time is running out. We have no idea when Flame Prince and Ashley are going to attack, only that they will soon. We have to warn our people of what's coming! We have to prepare them!"

"I get that, Gumball, but Finn has a point; we need a plan so we can move forward on winning this war and defeating Flame Prince and Ashley!" Cake says, agreeing with Finn.

"I agree," I say, siding with Finn as well. "I'm really not sure that telling them right this second, especially when we don't have a plan, is the best idea..."

Bubblegum looks like she is about to say something about Gumball's declaration herself when Gumball holds up a hand to silence everyone. "We'll figure that out in a little bit, I promise. But right now, I need to talk to Bonnibel and I's subjects." Then he starts for the exit again, and this time no one speaks up to stop him as he opens the door and leaves the room.