Fun fact: Despite their drastic differences, both Kingdoms speak the same language. The origin and name of this language, however, is disputed. The Candy Kingdom refers to it as Candish, and claims it was written wholesale by their goddess, Cadbury. The Vegetable Kingdom calls it Naturial and claims it grew from the ground.
Yes, it's the same language. Really.
MISSION RESULTS
SUCCEED: 3
FAIL: 1
Morale Attack: Propaganda ~ SUCCESS!
The mission went almost flawlessly. The propaganda team prepared the attached video, claiming it was leaked rough footage of the Candy Queen's next video.
The video quickly went viral across Candy Kingdom networks. The result: pandemonium.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Vegetable King read the news reports without emotion. In front of him was a large, black box.
"The last mission went flawlessly," he told the assembled advisors. "Now, we can win this war."
The King pressed his thumb to the front of the box. After an authentication delay, it opened. The only thing inside was a large, red button.
"It is time," the King said, bowing his head for a few moments. Then, he reached out—
"Not if we have anything to say about it!!"
Four voices spoke. Three belonged to several of the King's advisors— JacaByte , retep998 , and Shlimazel , all now showing their true colors. The fourth voice was young, cute, and heard far more often in song.
"Oh no," the four loyal advisors said to one another— and the Candy Queen herself walked into the room. She was wearing yellow today, a frilly yellow dress and cute yellow boots and bright yellow gloves with HAPPY! written on them, and a big, big machine gun of pure white plastic. It fired the kind of bullets that would explode in your mouth... or your head.
As the three traitors pulled out guns of their own, the Vegetable King seized his staff and made a lunge for the box. Shlimazel got to it first, holding it out of his reach and snapping it shut.
The Candy Queen opened fire in the next instant, but the King charged forward. Whirling his staff, he put himself between the advisors and their doom. He knew what he was doing. The bullets bounced off the whirling wood, to harmlessly detonate in the walls.
Meanwhile, the four advisors were getting out of harm's way. Mrxak reached into his jacket and brought out his Desert Eagle, firing a bullet of entangling vines at retep998. Retep didn't quite dodge, and the vines netted him. JacaByte tossed a jawbreaker-grenade towards the King, who managed to bat it back. Jaca dived beneath the table before the explosion left him dead due to candy shards.
Shlimazel tried to sneak out a back door of the throne room with the box, but he was spotted by the guards. As he quickly slammed and bolted the door to keep the green-suited troops from entering, he was tackled from both sides by Crow T. Robot and Techerakh. Techerakh tossed the box towards the center of the table— where Eugene Chin caught it.
Meanwhile, the Vegetable King was advancing on the Candy Queen, as bits of his staff reformed into entangling vine pellets and propelled themselves at the Queen. She was dodging all of them spectacularly, even sparing a second to pull a face at the King. However, she wasn't reckoning on mrxak, who aimed his huge gun at her just as the King launched another bolus of vines.
She dodged away from the Vegetable King's shot, but the movement took her right into mrxak's. She was on the ground in a vine net before she knew what hit her.
The Vegetable King sighed, slowly lowering his staff. "I'm sorry that had to happen, but—"
"Look out!" Crow yelled from across the room. "He's getting away!"
JacaByte had grabbed the black box, and was making a run for it. The King turned, but the Candy Queen reached an arm through the netting and tripped him. Mrxak's aim was blocked by a carved pillar.
But, Eugene Chin was waiting. The advisor-strategist launched himself at JacaByte in a full-body tackle, pinning the traitor upon the ground. The box flew out of JacaByte's grip, flying through the air...
...to be caught by the Vegetable King as he was getting to his feet.
The King bowed his head, and opened the box once again. " Ultima ratio regum ," the King said, referencing the ancient language that was a vague antecedent to Naturial. "The last argument of kings."
He extended his hand, and pressed the red button.
There was a pause. Near-silently, LCBII missiles left their silos deep in the Vegetable Kingdom, flying to every major Candy city. The world felt like it was holding its breath, as the end of a nation and the beginning of a new, unified one approached on silent fins.
Then, the bombs fell, reassembling the cities in shards of compost and noise, fragments of sugar-glass and hopes and dreams, burnt flesh and burnt screams and burnt spirits, until the cities stood magnified even as it liquefied into the puddles of their own destruction.
People screamed as the composting liquid consumed their flesh. Buildings groaned as their structures were eaten away.
In a single brilliant moment, the Kingdom of Sugar was now one more outpost of the Kingdom of Soil, and war would never trouble the two again.
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratulations to the innocent advisors, darth_vader Crow T. Robot, Eugene Chin , mrxak , and Techerakh for saving their kingdom from a short yet devastating obliteration! You have made the Vegetable Kingdom the dominant nation of the continent.
For those who are curious, the captured Candy Queen was sulkily put to work as a co-director of propaganda. The three traitorous advisors' minds were wiped, and then given to the Queen to be transformed to become her backup dancers.
A round of applause and thanks to everyone who participated. The game is done!
This post has been edited by SoItBegins : 15 September 2012 - 12:33 AM