For Flame Princess, getting to the machine had been her only concern. The war was no longer her priority; it was to keep the thousands of souls below them from dying to a Lich controlled superweapon. It was the only one left after Bubblegum had destroyed the rest, however, Phoebe secretly wished that Bubblegum had finished the deal. The moment that Finn, despite being wary of him, had told her what the Lich had done, wasting time worrying about a repeat incident with the Lich's power wasn't going to happen. Though, she had wondered why the Lich waited for her command; if he were truly a beast that only brings death, why wait? It boiled her blood that the Lich had been using her the entire time, long-term goal understood or not. Adding in the fact that Cinnamonbun was probably dead only primed her for the most explosive discharge of power she would ever willingly release in her life. She thought of Finn when she had rushed by: he had said something, but she didn't quite register it. She'd grown far too furious with both him and this monster to care.

It didn't matter.

Getting to the top of the spire, the observation floor that had been used to supervise the weapon, was fairly simple for her. Up the steps she had went in her enflamed form, rounding the spiral staircase with ease until the familiar architecture of the top filled her vision. The stone archways that held up the roofing of the circular room doubled as windows, places where the sun of a distant orange-red on the horizon could shine through with nary a cloud in sight. Somewhere below them would be the giant, and of which, the Lich had been messing with a metallic panel, the control panel, with its glowing red lights and dials that illuminated the interior of the tower, revealing the sinister features of the evil monster even as he was turned away from her.

"Get away from there!" Phoebe let her form expand and grow, which would have been intimidating had this not been the embodiment of fear she were talking to. The Lich turned to look at her, but this time around, the girl didn't give him a chance to speak. The monarch shot off like bullet and flanked the skeleton, being careful to only slam into the Lich and not the control panel. The Lich was knock off his feet, barreling right and into one of the archways, slightly cracking the stone as the concussive force shook through the tower. Unwilling to let up, Phoebe continued an onslaught of fire, a continuously streaming line of flame, aimed mostly at the vicious creatures face. All the while she kept her back on the control panel, guarding it against the evil at all costs. She figured that, if she could at least prevent him from speaking, he couldn't perform his magic.

However, as fate would have it, it wasn't that simple. The Lich stood up in the face of the flame, the force of which having lost its charm on the ages old creature as if he were adjusting to the weight of a new planet. He stared through her power, through the bright and brilliant flames that licked at his bones in vain, and then directed his gaze into her own. Phoebe stood utterly horrified, so much so that she had let her flames die down, returning her to her more docile form. The sheer horror that she, the arguably strongest power in all of Ooo, was helpless against this heap of bones was more than enough to freeze her on its own.

Phoebe was stuck, eyes locked on the Lich who just stared back at her. Then, with his skeletal arms creaking and swinging at his sides, he drew closer to her. Each step was the beating of a defeated drum, not matching at all the speed of her own heart that begged her to run. She couldn't run, though. It was her duty to face this, even if dying was certain and her body wouldn't fight.

The Lich had closed the space and Phoebe had stopped meeting the malicious gaze, opting instead to stare off into nothing and let her mind fade to black as demise approached. She considered firing yet another blast at him, but her fear quickly overtook the thought. The Lich continued to stare for a moment, only a breath away from her now. Suddenly and violently, he gripped at her throat with one fluid and demonically fast motion, raising her from the floor until her eyes met his.

"Even fires must go out." Droned the Lich, the tiny green pupils within his sockets revealed no emotions, only apathy. Dropping his jaw, a black storm of putrid magic poured forth from the literal maw of destruction itself. Phoebe clenched her eyes shut, terror spreading over her features as the mass approached her.

But it never even touched her.

A familiar blue arc of energy sliced swiftly through the air, sawing the arm bones of the Lich clean through. The Lich recoiled in surprise, causing the black mass to dissipate as his arm fell with the girl to the floor, the Princess landing with an inelegant oof. Finn had emerged from the tower staircase with initially mild exhaustion, but it quickly vanished as he noted the scene before him. Wasting no further time, Finn closed the gap between he and the Lich with dizzying speed, taking hold of the cobalt sword's hilt in both hands and striking from below at the hinge of the jaw, severing it from the skeleton's face. It fell to the ground with a clatter. At the same time, another blue arc of energy materialized from the swing, and something akin to yet more uncharacteristic surprise filled the space of the Lich's tiny pupils, at least, while he had them.

Point blank, the energy exploded, blasting through the Lich and opening a hole in the roof above. The skull, horns and all, had been obliterated; only the spinal column from which it once sat remained. Finn had clearly dazed the Lich, as he raised his hands to search for his eyes, stumbling backward quite a ways and then slipping from the ledge of one of the arched windows. Finn rushed to watch him fall, examining the body as it fell from the impressive height, landing with a sickening, yet satisfying thunk.

Nodding in recognition of a brief victory, Finn turned his attention toward the mortified girl and sheathed the now critically damaged sword, cracks spreading around every inch of the blade. Phoebe, who was sitting dazed beside the controls, hadn't moved a muscle. The spire being fairly small, he had moved to her side in the space of a blink, gazing first to the controls and then to her as he knelt to her side.

"Are you okay? Did he start the machine?" Came his frantic questions. She slowly turned to meet his gaze, utterly stupefied.

"H-How," she broke, "did you do that, Finn?" Her voice was as about as clear as a muddied pond, broken and dejected, almost raspy at times. Though, she had just been strangled.

"My fire," she paused, pleading with him through her eyes, "why wasn't it working on him?" Finn looked at her, slightly confused but he soon relaxed as he took her perplexed state to mean the giant hadn't been activated.

He scratched his head, dawning an expression of modesty, "I'm not sure. I kind of get the upperhand whenever the Lich is involved."

She stared at him in disbelief, totally dumbstruck, "You mean—you just get lucky?"

Finn shrugged, "FP, will smashing the controls stop the machine?"

Appalled at the thought, Phoebe stared back at him in amazement, utterly shocked at the suggestion, "You can't! If you smash the controls we can't use the machine for power! My people need that!"

"Then how do you turn it off?" Finn was being calm with her, not willing to escalate her anger and therefore the situation with his own impatience.

"Well," she paused, "he can't use it anyway; not without my jewel," she finished very quietly, pointing at her symbol or royalty.

"You—you came up here anyway?!" Finn's patience hadn't lasted long, his voice reflecting a mixture of estranged horror and baffled confusion. Though, he shouldn't have been surprised, this is how she always acted in a fight: direct and impulsive.

"He killed Cinnamonbun! I didn't care about anything else! Besides, the Lich probably didn't know that."

"Or," Finn patronized, "He went along to bait you, knowing you'd wake up. Probably didn't expect you to get here as fast as you did."

She looked down, obviously stunned and heartbroken by the loss of her friend, and confused by the fact she'd been reprimanded by someone who is supposed to be an enemy. Finn just looked at her, a mildly disapproving demeanor shooting from his eyes, but in the end he could only shake his head. What's done is done.

"You need to get out of here. Now." He commanded, his steely voice slamming home the urgency of the mistake she had made, only increasing the anxiety Phoebe now felt in the pit of her stomach.

Behind Finn, the eerie noise of tapping could be heard. The hairs on his neck began to stand on end, causing him to cast his gaze over his back, the creeping feeling of death retaking its hold of him in his gut like it does when danger nears. It was then he noticed the jaw he had sliced through earlier, the part that didn't turn to dust, was rattling back and forth, and then suddenly, it flew over the edge, undoubtedly piecing itself back together.

He just won't stay dead, thought Finn angrily.

"FP, I need to you to listen to me. Even if you hate me, you need to do this." He moved his face close to her own, his blue eyes more serious than she'd ever remembered them to be in her life. They painted a perfect contrast with the sunset that now shined directly behind him, complementary orange and blue locked into a small, fleeting moment of time with one another, his irises became like beacons of hope on the horizon: distant, yet there they were. This scene had inexplicably calmed her and stressed her out in the same stroke; dealing with Finn was complicated.

Damn him for being pretty, thought the monarch. This isn't the time, Phoebe.

"FP?" Finn was becoming worried that she had gone catatonic. However, just as he was about to check on the Lich, she reached out to him, but was careful not to touch his skin.

"Wait. Don't go," she caught his gaze, "what do I need to do?"

Leaning back to look at her, Finn smiled, "I need you to stop the armies; tell Bubblegum and the other monarchs what's happened. I'm not sure what his plan is, but I think he's just trying to destroy as much life in one go as he can."

"You want me to—what—you think they'll believe me?" Her reply was unsure, but her eyes revealed she was ready to trust him. Despite it going against the small part of her that still resented his involvement in the war, she knew she couldn't argue with him.

"Tell your army to stand down, and tell them I'm battling the Lich. Bubblegum knows better; she can be heartless sometimes, but she's not stupid."

Phoebe hesitated, "Wait, are you saying you're staying here? That's crazy!"

"FP, I can't risk him finding another way to activate your machine, and if you stay here you risk him getting your gem."

"But-" came her voice, but it was quickly interrupted.

"No! You need to do this, you'll be able to alert them much faster than me, anyway." Finn had reasoned and concluded this: there was no convincing him otherwise, now. She only looked at him, her expression softening into something more akin to a startling amount of worry, worry that he didn't think she would give for him. This just made him feel all the more guilty, because, at every step of the way, he's underestimated her.

"And, FP?" Finn's face was solemn, "I'm sorry, about your brother. He ..." Finn quieted himself, allowing now, while they had the one brief moment, to let the emotions wash over him and reveal his remorse. He knew it wouldn't be enough, just to be sad, but it's all he had to give her. Well, that, and his life, he supposed. Phoebe stared at him, examining his features, sifting through her own feelings as he began to wear his openly with his expression. This was more like the old Finn, the one that would apologize and not fully understand how to.

"It's Phoebe," she said, looking back at him with a weak grin. Finn's face was confused at first, giving her a puzzled expression, but then he quickly realized what she had said, and grinned back at her.

"Phoebe, huh? I—wow—I guess I had just gotten used to calling you FP for so long that I didn't ever bother to ask," he was happy, or at least as happy as the current situation would let him be. With this exchange over, Phoebe stood, turning toward the ledge of the tower. Finn took his cue to stand as well, taking his place at her side for what felt like the first time in ages. It was nostalgic, but not all of those memories were good. He shook his head.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"About?"

"Fighting the Lich while I go get help. Are you sure you can do it?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm Finn Mertens, girl," he paused to unsheathe his sword, twirling it up into the air and catching it in his off-hand, "this is just what I do!"

With a sympathetic look, Phoebe turned away from him, taking her place at the edge of the tower and readying herself before glancing one last time at Finn.

She nodded, and literally like a bolt of fire, she was off-hurtling toward the armies and their leaders. As he watched her fly away, the grin that he had worn, then, slowly slid from his face, leaving only an expression of deathly serious intention. It had been a reassuring gesture, he thought, to tell her he'd be okay. In actuality, you can only get lucky so much, and against something like the Lich, something that even Death himself won't claim, luck is almost all you have.

Finn glanced down at his sword, seeing that the crack had lengthened and deepened to such an extent, it probably wouldn't last even another swing. He'd have to make it count. Finn walked over to the side of the spire, bending to his knees to peer over the edge. The sight before him, however, wasn't one of a skeleton that had pieced itself together: it was just the ground.

"Oh Glob, what," he panicked for a moment, moving to take a couple back steps as the tower's deathly height suddenly amplified the fear he felt. He stared at the edge in confusion, thinking of where he may have gone, but that's when the hairs on his neck stood on end again.

"Glob can't save you," came the low and guttural voice, reverberating with power and practically shaking the core of his body with each syllable.

"Not Grod, not Gob, not Grob," it finished out, each mentioning of a name only deepening the pit of despair Finn felt himself falling into. He turned his head, slowly, to see the Lich in all his horned and terrifying damnation, standing not even a foot behind him.

"I will kill them all with the machine, or one-by-one." His words were apathetic, his soulless, fleshless face was deadpan, and Finn knew in his heart that he wasn't lying: what could stop him?

Before Finn could react, the Lich had grabbed him with both of his massive, bony palms, squeezing him tightly into his secure grasp. Finn struggled and gasped, cobalt sword still in his own grip, trying to desperately move it into a position to strikes at the Lich, but to no avail.

"I-," Finn choked, "Will—stop you!"

At this, the Lich said nothing, but let his crushing grasp do the speaking for him. Finn could feel ribs beginning to give way under the force of his arms being pushed into his gut, the pain from such a thing was terrible. They were going to break any second now.

Break, he thought, and then looked at his sword. He maneuvered the cobalt sword, severely cracked as it were, the soft metal having been no real substitute for steel, into both his hands. With one hand on the hilt and the other at the tip of the blade, he brought a knee up and began an attempt to snap the blade. His hand cutting into the edge of the tip, blood running down his fingers as he increased the force behind it.

"If this kills me, I'm sorry Phoebe, I tried."

With a final give of the blade, the entire shaft of the blade shattered into two pieces, bits of crystalized metal falling below him. Finn felt triumph and despair assail him all at the same time, waiting for a glow of blue to either become his savior, or an underling of death. He waited, but sickening realization hit him harder than it ever had before: nothing was happening. Then, Finn threw his head back in shock as he felt the first rib break in two, an elbow pushing into soft tissues with extreme ferocity. He dropped the sword pieces, gasping for breath as the Lich began to steal even that.

The pieces hit the floor, and suddenly a spark flew between the two, unbeknownst to Finn until it began filling the spire with an extremely bright, vibrant blue light.

With a smirk spreading over his lips, he could only mutter, "Stupid sword."

Phoebe blasted through air and space, desperately trying to close the gap between her and the battlefield. It wouldn't take her very long either way, but she knew every second counted for the lives of everyone there. She quickly came upon the masses of the armies, her own having dug in with lava moats around the entrance to her Kingdom, taking up a turtling stance and, she made note, impressively defending their home. On the other side, the armies of the Wildberry Kingdom and Candy Kingdom were using catapults to strike with gigantic ice blocks. She immediately zipped to the ground, landing at the center of the Fire Kingdom battlements. Her soldiers began to turn and gawk at her, astounded that their monarch had joined them on the front lines, but immediately, their astonishment turned to horror.

Phoebe rose an eyebrow as they began to yell, "Look out!"

When she turned around, it was immediately obvious they were talking about the block of ice falling toward her, but with a simple motion of her arm, she sent out a heat wave that she'd hoped would vaporize the block before it could ever reach her, but it was still about the size of a pebble when it landed on her face.

Her troops cheered, and some seemed to get humor from the event, but before they could do either for long, she began to yell, "To all the commanding officers here, I am ordering you to stand down."

The cheering instantly vanished, turning into grunts of disbelief and some flaring up in anger.

"Are you nuts?!" Someone called.

"I thought you were our King!"

"Why should we?" Came someone else. Phoebe quickly grew annoyed, and in the space of a second, she exploded into her behemoth form with exaggerated practice, quieting everyone there.

She then spoke as loudly as she could, loud enough that she hoped the otherside could hear it as well, "The Lich has tricked us all! He is the cause of this war, I've seen him myself! My dear companion, and brave knight Cinnamonbun, has been murdered by him."

The quietness hadn't livened up any, they merely watched her as the news spread from her lips.

"Have I ever steered you wrong before? I'm asking you, please, trust me! The Candy and Wildberry Kingdoms don't know we were just protecting ourselves!" She yelled out to them, everyone, no matter the person. She had looked around to still see the questioning stares upon their faces, when, to her immediate relief, a familiar voice spoke up from behind a stone palisade.

"The Lich?" Little Flambo, the friend of Finn and Jake, hopped out, putting himself directly in his King's sight.

"Come on guys, it's the Lich! Do we ever back down from a fight?" He encouraged them, and suddenly the crowd of faces were less tense, even almost eager to teach the new intruder a lesson. A rise of fists and fire flew into the air, and the Princess let out a large sigh of relief.

"Everyone, back to the Fire Kingdom!" She commanded. Files of soldiers began to pour of the battlements, rank by rank, assembling into a shoddy line, but moving quickly toward the main gates of the Kingdom itself. Satisfied, Flame Princess once again rose into the sky, this time aiming herself at the enemy encampment on the other side. She shot off like a cannon, a streak of flame soaring across the open sky unmistakable as anything other than the Princess of Flames herself. She wanted to be absolutely sure to stop the armies before something happened to Finn, though she knew it would probably give the wrong message to charge them so recklessly.

She had quickly passed the enemy troops below her, knowing full well that they wouldn't listen to the pleas of the enemy king. She headed straight for the tents on the horizon, the base camp that had been the source of the invaders. There, she knew, is where she would find the other royals.

Princess Bubblegum had been watching from afar, the battle keyed in on one of her telescopes. The coalition had been a smart move, neither her own kingdom nor the Wildberry Kingdom had the ability to face down the land of fire themselves, and up until an hour ago, the troops had been progressing at a fairly steady rate. That is, until the Fire Kingdom had dug in, falling back behind their lava moats. None of the engineering corps dared to build a bridge over it, and every time the Ice King would get close, the soldiers of the Fire Kingdom would begin bombarding him, causing him to tuck tail and run, shrieking all the way back.

However, she had taken an extreme interest in what lay beyond those magma moats. The Flame Princess had not only, apparently, told her soldiers to retreat, but she was already on her way here. Shock slammed into her, and even though she had prepared for it, Bubblegum hadn't thought Phoebe would be rash enough to fight on the field herself. From the top of an observation deck, Bubblegum jumped to the grassy ground and landing in the middle of camp, the tents being devoid of troops, and more importantly to Bubblegum, devoid of incessant chatter that that brought with it.

She ran as fast as she could in her dress, out of the camp and into the forest that lay just beyond the boundaries. She had begun to search for the one thing that had the ability to stand against such a super power: a gumball guardian. She had ordered one of them to follow from the Candy Kingdom and hide here just for this occasion; insurance against the possibility the dubious monarch would give them a personal visit. It turned out it was a good idea.

The sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs alerted the guardian long before he'd seen his Candy Monarch. He shifted his position, as he needed to lay prone so as to not give himself away to the distant army.

"Guardian! Get ready, the Fire Princess is on her way!" Bubblegum commanded, panting from the sudden exertion. Without missing a beat, the Guardian rose, standing to his full height and then reaching for his creator. With her in hand, he walked back to the center of the camp, his eyes fixed on the distant heat signature that was rapidly approaching them.

"Target locked." Replied the Guardian, his massive footsteps and booming voice alerted the other monarch to his presence as he positioned himself squarely at the other edge of camp, taking special care not to step on any tents. Bubblegum took out her binoculars and zoomed in on the Flame Monarch; her face was hard to make out in the distance, but Bubblegum could tell that she was waving her arms.

Huh, thought Bubblegum.

"Hold off on shooting her down, GG," she ordered, wishing not to jump straight to conclusions. The great giant looked at her in mild consideration, processing the gravity of the order, before returning its sights solely on the approaching king.

"You got it, Princess."

Crossing her arms, Bubblegum scowled, "If you're wanting to talk, you better not have hurt Finn," she muttered.

In only a matter of minutes, the Flame Princess had reached them. Despite the protests of Wildberry Princess below, Bubblegum waited patiently, curious to see what she could have to say. The fiery monarch landed before them at the edge of the camp, and Bubblegum promptly asked her Guardian to put her down before her. As he did so, Wildberry Princess boldly positioned herself next to the Candy Monarch despite her small stature, unwilling to let her steer this conversation merely in the direction of her own people.

"Have you come to surrender, Phoebe?" Bubblegum sounded quizzical, more puzzled at the fact she had drawn back her army more than anything. Even if she were to surrender, it wasn't a good strategy to give up the battle front.

As Phoebe stepped forward, she examined the faces of the two, both looking at her in mild contempt. Mentally she sighed, because what else could she do?

"No, and you need to listen to me, please," Phoebe's voice was strained, as if it were on the verge of breaking into a panic. Which, in truth, it was. She had left Finn the Hero all alone with the very thing that makes a living out of killing heroes.

Wildberry Princess scoffed, "Listen to you? After you've murdered so many for an expansion effort?"

Phoebe recoiled, appalled at her words, "Expansion effort? What?"

She shook her head, "What expansion effort? Wait, no—that's not what I need to talk about."

Bubblegum shifted her weight to her other foot, arms still crossed and observing the newcomer intently, "Wildberry Princess, let's just hear this."

Wildberry Princess looked up at her, obviously dissatisfied with the idea, but agreed nonetheless.

"Fine."

Phoebe nodded and cleared her throat, "It's the Lich. He's the one that started this whole war. Cinnamonbun—I don't know what happened, but somehow the Lich used him as a disguise. He was supposed to explain I had used the weapon to destroy the crater; some goolike zombies had started climbing out of it, and they were turning everything into one of them! I still don't know if he's still alive or not…" She trailed off, glancing up at the other two. Bubblegum had become skeptical at the first hearing of the Lich, but her features shifted to being that of a doting and worried mother when discovering the fate of one of her Candy Citizens.

"Cinnamonbun is dead?" Said Bubblegum, biting on the tip of her thumb, rolling in deep thought.

"As if I'm going to believe all this. You're desperate." The young Wildberry Princess held her stance firmly despite her size. It was kind of impressive to see, really.

"It's true! Finn is in danger!" Phoebe finally burst out.

"Finn?" Bubblegum narrowed her eyes. The fact that Phoebe knew of Finn wasn't a sure sign she was telling the truth, as she could have learned of his presence through rumors on the battlefield. This could all be a ploy to trick the both of them into dropping their guard.

"Phoebe, if what you say is true, then where is Finn now?" Bubblegum replied

"He said he was going to guard the controls to the machine. The Lich was going to use it to destroy all our armies." Phoebe was practically preaching this news now, yelling it as fact as one would at those who wish not to hear it. At least, as far as Wildberry Princess was concerned.

"You're lying." The Wildberry Monarch spat. At this, Phoebe's eye grew wide, the realization that she may not be able to convince them spread over her like a poison. Bubblegum continued to eye her curiously, taking in every expression.

"Then, I'll tell you this: the machine won't work if I'm not there to turn it on." Phoebe was reluctant to release this, but figured they probably wouldn't believe that either.

"Right, and so Finn decided to stay behind for no reason then?" Wildberry Princess was beginning to grate on Phoebe's nerves at this point, she was being unusually stubborn and sour.

"I'd believe you if the Lich weren't trapped in an organic shell right now. He's under the watchful eye of my ... banana guards." Bubblegum stated, not only dissatisfied with her own reasoning, but dissatisfied at the fact Finn is potentially in danger.

"You won't believe me.." Phoebe whispered, dumbstruck even though she knew it was a long shot.

Amidst the three, but closest to the Flame Princess, a sudden flash of white exploded into existence, the brilliance of which blinding them all, the fiery girl included. Blinking rapidly to clear the spots, Phoebe lowered her arms and look at the scene before her.

A white sword, shimmering from the remnants of its pearlescent entrance, had been embedded into the soft earth, hilt pointed toward Phoebe as if it wanted her to take it.

"That's… That's Finn's sword!" Cried Bubblegum, pure horror contorting her face into something unbecoming of a lady of her stature.

Bubblegum stared at Phoebe as she touched the sword, pulling it from the ground and lifting it into the air.

"It just can't be. The Lich—he shouldn't be active!" Bubblegum was frantic. She continued to resolve the impossibility of the Lich being restored, but she couldn't fight the event that had just happened before her. That was Finn's sword. It had, for some reason, come to Phoebe and not Finn, which could only mean something has happened.

Bubblegum straightened herself, her face filling with anger and conviction, "We're ending this. Now."

Wildberry Princess stared at Bubblegum with her mouth agape, unable to speak, and unable to move. The Gumball Guardian bent down to pick them both up, which shook her out of her momentary stupor.

"Hey—whoa!" Came the leafy princess of the wilds.

Phoebe gripped the sword tightly, confusion resurfacing in her heart, "This is … Finn's sword?" She muttered.

"Then … maybe that means—Oh no, Finn!" A thunderclap and scorched earth was all that remained of the Fire Princess as she rocketed back into the darkening sky, being in too much of a hurry to remember the fact that it is an impressive feat to break the sound barrier. Bubblegum watched her fly away, moving toward the distant post of the Fire Kingdom from which she had come.

Pointing in that same direction, Bubblegum commanded her Guardian, "Come on GG, I need to get to the front lines." The massive construct began to take hurried steps, then gradually broke into a run as it compensated for its immense weight, both hands carrying precious cargo.

As Phoebe flew, she brought the sword in her hands closer to inspect it, watching as the fire engulfed the blade but didn't seem to give way to the heat. She held it close, clutching it tightly so as to not drop it.

"You better be okay, Finn."