The Aftermath

Finn groaned, peeling pumpkin guts off his face. The cheering crowd had already dispersed, leaving behind a few chuckling bystanders and an automaton sweeping up squash debris.

Zephyria loomed over him, fists clenched, her luxurious steam-threaded dress flickering with electrical surges.

"I swear," she hissed, "if you ever touch me again, I'll personally feed you to the Gilded Gears' Sky Lions."

Finn, still dazed, grinned sheepishly. "Technically, you touched me first."

A wrench bonked him on the head.

"Not helping, Finn," Tess called down from the rooftop, twirling another wrench in her hand.

Before Zephyria could throttle him, a deep, aristocratic ahem cut through the tension.

"Lady Zephyria," an old butler in polished brass armor approached, flanked by two intimidating, mustachioed guards. "Your father, Lord Stormhaven, requests your immediate return. Your… romantic suitor is most impatient."

The word suitor hit Finn's brain like a broken steam engine.

"Wait… what?"

Zephyria turned pale. "No. NO. You cannot mean—"

"I do," the butler said gravely. "Count Roderick von Gearsmith has formally requested your hand in marriage."

Zephyria looked ready to explode. "THAT SLIMY, OIL-SOAKED GOBLIN?! Over my dead, rusted body!"

Finn raised a hand. "Uh, quick question—why is this my problem?"

Zephyria whirled on him, jabbing a finger at his chest. "Because thanks to you, half the city thinks we're engaged!"

Silence.

Tess cackled.

Finn blinked. "I'm sorry, WHAT?!"

Before anyone could argue further, a deafening BOOM rocked the street. A massive airship, painted in blood-red steel and bristling with cannons, descended above them. A crew of sky pirates swung down on grappling hooks, their leader—a tall, silver-haired woman with a captain's coat and a smug grin—pointing directly at Finn.

"There you are, darling!" she called. "I accept your proposal!"

Finn's soul left his body.

"WHAT PROPOSAL?!"

Zephyria snapped her head to the pirate captain. "Excuse me—who are you?!"

The woman smirked. "Captain Vespera Blackwing, sky pirate, heartbreaker, and your new romantic rival."

Zephyria's eye twitched so violently that Finn feared for his life. "HE'S NOT MY—"

Tess wiped a tear from her eye. "Finn, buddy. I think you just got yourself a harem."

Finn's entire world collapsed.