Mourning.
It's all Bryson did in the strange swamp.
He mourned his four dead friends whose bodies rotted in front of him.
All those who died in the war. Glinda's sister
He wondered how many more had died.
If the war would still continue now that Rabadan had seemingly finished his extensive plannng.
The Ozians were sad enough, but he really wondered how this could've happened to Kyle. In some way, he had gotten to experience so much in his sixteen, seventeen years of living. Bu thee was so much more he had to do. He would never see another birthday, go to college, grow up, fall in love, get married, have kids of his own. And the boy's mother was all alone now.
The kid had been let down by so many people in his life and now finally the land of Oz. A place that was supposed to fix the lives of broken people, and instead took the boy's.
Something had to give, he briefly told himself.
But it seemed the dream was dead. Oz was just another cruel habitat for the tragedy of human life, and no matter what happened, Rabadan was right. He had won the argument.
And in hindsight, he deserved them.
"I.. deserve this." He told himself.
To die alone in this place.
To wonder what could be happening to Dorothy and to Glinda. Rabadan was a sick and twisted man, and he shuddered at what he could've been doing to those poor women. One of which was the love of his life.
He looked around to notice his dead friends.
Lion and Kyle were beginning to rot, but they somehow didn't smell. Maybe it was because the swamp already smelled terrible and he was numb to something like a bad smell when he felt so much pain on the inside.
Scarecrow and Tin Man's more mystical bodies remained unchanged, like vacant objects. Like toys. Lion looked malnourished and skeletal. Kyle's once pale skin was now gray.
Not wanting to watch the friends with more mortal bodies decompose into skeletons, or to see Scarecrow and Tin Man look so alive yet so vacant, he decided he should bury them.
There wasn't anything to dig holes with, but he noticed a black gritty bog down at the botom of a hill.
He found a long stick and approached the bog, sticking down deep into the bog and making it chrurn. It seemed the bog was bottomless, and he decided to dump the bodies inside.
Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion. The iconic trio, now buried in a bog.
"Be careful what you wish for, little fourteen year old Bryson. You just might actually get to go to Oz. And then bury everything you love about it." He scoffed bitterly to himself.
And his future self had killed them.
Or... Rabadan had, considering he created that future self.
It somehow made him feel better, knowing it was a creation of Rabadan. But also worse knowing Rabadan had the power of a god, and that tormenting Bryson in various ways was as easy as lifting a finger for him.
But what was the difference, really? He saw what his alternate self did. He may as well have been Rabadan.
The last body to go down the bog was Kyle, and it was the hardest considering he was a child. Burying three other people in such a gross way was one thing, but this was something else.
He placed Kyle's body in the bog and he watched as it sucked the kid down, making sick churning sounds, followed by a swallowing sound. Bryson thought about how ghoulish Kyle was and how cool he would think this was if he were here right now. It made him shudder.
...
How long had it been? Ah, it didn't matter, Bryson decided.
His longer brown hair that had went past his shoulders felt a bit longer now, but maybe that was just the mental weight on his shoulders feeling heavier. He was always rather hesitant about letting go of his locks, but now that short hair represented his disguise as the Wizard and Zavick, so he'd hold onto it forever now, he decided.
Had he even slept? He didn't know. He had never cared so little about his well-being.
His family would never see him again, at this rate, that was certain. The Oz-hauler device was broken and even if he made it out of this swamp, he didn't know if there was still magic around that was powerful enough to take him home. Only Rabadan, who didn't have his best interests at heart, to say the least.
But he wasn't exactly trying to escape. It seemed futile and he stayed where he was.
Until he could hear the sound of familiar flapping sounds and looked up to see a dragon-shaped shadowy figure flying through the mist.
He was so disoriented that he simply passed out from the surprise.
...
He woke up in a misty area of the swamp.
How did he get in this area of the swamp? It seemed.. different.
A faceless Scarecrow, a headless Tin Man, a skeletal Lion, and a gray-skinned, rotting Kyle stepped out of the mist suddenly.
"I could while away the hours..." A distant voice sang, echoing distantly in the background.
"When a man's an empty kettle..." Another distant voice sung.
Neither Scarecrow or Tin Man had visible mouths, but their voices still echoed.
He heard a high pitched roar, too.
"If we were alive.." Kyle's voice echoed. "We could do so many things..." The voice hissed.
"Murderer."
"Murderer."
"Murderer."
"Murderer"
Each of them chanted the phrase.
This felt like the first horror movie of Oz.
"I... I.. n-no.. I'm.. I'm not.." Bryson refuted.
"Do you truly deny it?" Lion's voice boomed.
"I... n-no..." Bryson stammered.
"Then we find you guilty.." His friends said in unison, as if it were now his own trial.
"You're in trouble again, Bryson. But this time Oz and your friends can't save you. And you kno why.." Scarecrow whispered. He suddenly shoved Bryson down a steep hill and he fell into the bog bellow.
"Ah! No.. no, Glinda.. Thersea... Dorothy... Rabadan's got them. The kids are still missing.." Bryson struggled in the bog, growling and hissing. "Please!"
His desperate attempts to free himself were to no avail.
A mud-covered brown skeleton Kyle, with his reddish hair and clothes still attached.. along with a faceless Scarecrow, headless Tin Man, and skeleton Lion all grabbed hold of him and the bog sucked them down.
...
Bryson's eyes shot open and he gasped, awakening from his dream.
He was in a new surrounding and as he lifted up and snapped his head around, he realized he was in the blue Dragon Machine. Of course. That was what was in it earlier. But.. who had flown it?
"Ah, good. You're up." An old man's voice greeted, a few feet from Bryson's right.
"Ah, Jesus!" Bryson gasped in surprise, clearing his throat and wiping his face. The man before him was wearing a black suit that looked very similar to the one Bryson was still wearing. Except Bryson's no longer had the bow tie and the jacket was undone, unlike the man before him.
In fact, the suit seemed to be of the exact same material.
"Wait.." Bryson's eyebrows furrowed.
The man had grey hair and a familiar face. A grey beard, too. And dark eyes. "You know who I am, don't you?"
Bryson titled his head. "I... wanna say I do, but I can't quite place it." He said, stunned.
"Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs. But you can just call me Oscar." The old man chuckled, extending his hand to shake.
Bryson shook the man's hand, shaking his hand in wonder. "You're... you're the real one. The real Wizard!" Bryson exclaimed with a slight smile, sitting up. "Can you help me? Please. You're the... wonderful Wizard of Oz! With all those wonderful things you do. Like the song says! Come on, I really need your help, man.."
Oscar squinted. "You seem slightly hysterical, young man. But I understand why. I was enjoying life in Kansas, and suddenly I'm swooped back here years and years later."
Bryson scooted over on the seat of the Dragon Machine and sat on it properly, Oscar sitting on the seat next to him.
"I was a man who had to rule a magical kingdom, pretending to be someone I was not. So I feel we can relate to one another in some ways, hm?" Oscar raised a brow.
Bryson shook his head in wonder. "I... how are you.. how do you know about me?"
"Glinda. I came back here, escaped 'Ozma'. Found Glinda, she filled me in on everything." Oscar smiled. "I understand Theodora has some sort of fascination with you, too."
"Uh.. y-yeah. There's a lot of weird things going on." Bryson shook his head and scoffed. "I can't believe it. I didn't know if you were alive or not."
Oscar scoffed. "Am I that old?"
"Oh, no, no, I didn't mean to.. offend y-"
"Just a joke, young man." Oscar chuckled.
Bryson settled down. "Oh... right, it's just. I.. I had to pretend to be you. Or.. younger you. For so long. And.. and we don't even look much alike, and the whole land of Oz bought it for a while."
"They're quite gullible. For years, I had those suckers thinking the Emerald City was much brighter than it really was because of some cheap phony glasses." Oscar chuckled. "And that fake head I had in my throne room, oh geez." Oscar laughed. "Fake as hell, and they bought it, eh?"
Bryson just looked troubled, shaking his head. "There's something worse now. A man was pretending to be Ozma. He's the one who brought back all the outsiders."
"Yes, yes. I heard recently. A trickster like you and I. Makes him a formidable foe." Oscar said. "But don't underestimate Oz, young one. I have.. many times. But it always works itself out in the end." Oscar smiled warmly.
The positiveness the old Wizard was radiating had Bryson's heart feeling healed. "I... you've come from nowhere. How did you get here?"
"A great Wizard never reveals his secrets. I'm here to bring you wisdom, that's my place in this." Oscar slapped Bryson's knee lightly and playfully. "I see the guilt in your eyes. Glinda told me a lot of things about you, how you remind her of me. And I believe that's why ol' Theodora seems to take a liking to you."
"I thought it was because she hates Dorothy and wants to steal what's hers." Bryson shrugged.
"That, too. But I.. must take responsibility for her wickedness. My womanizing ways are largely responsible for the final nail in her coffin of goodness. The final shade of green painted over her skin, even though I understand it's back to being white." Oscar shrugged.
"I don't... what's that have t-"
"It is my fault for this, in many ways. Had I treated her with more respect, she may have never fell into evil. But I was there, at the trial. With the green skin gone, she's much more like her old self. And.. despite her immaturity, she's a good soul beneath it all. And I always regretted what I did." Oscar said.
Bryson just stared on, listening to every word.
"There is so much hate and anger in her, but it stems from a lonesome and misunderstood youth with no one to turn to but a cold-hearted sister. I did terrible things, you did terrible things as ruler. But that is no reason to blame yourself. No one is perfect, and no land is perfect. What makes all the difference is what you do from here, how you pick up the pieces and right your wrongs." Oscar explained.
"I... what you're saying makes so much sense, but I d-"
Oscar cut him off again. "Apply this to Theodora. And apply it to yourself. And everything will turn out okay, kiddo."
Oscar faced Bryson. "You were trying to be me. Frauding the fraud. That's good stuff." Oscar laughed and patted his back and walked over to the door of the Dragon Machine, tapping it and letting it open to reveal the outskirts of the swamp.
"Hey, where are you going?" Bryson asked urgently. "I thought you were going to help me."
"What? And break a hip? I may not on the verge of death, but I am pretty damn old, kid. I did what I needed to." Oscar chuckled. "Wisdom, remember? Haven't you seen the pictures? It always happens before the big climax!"
"So you're just gonna stay in this swamp?!" Bryson scoffed.
"I know my way out, you do as you need." Oscar chuckled again.
"Wait, but.. what if I can't do it alone? Make Oz perfect again?!"
Oscar laughed loudly at that. "Oh, kid. Oz was never perfect."
The original Wizard of Oz shut the door and left Bryson in the Dragon Machine dumbfounded.
He certainly had.. a way with words.
It was such a strange, yet effective encounter.
"Great, I'm supposed to get out of this swamp myself?" Bryson scoffed.
"Correction. I will be controlling your flight-powered machine." A jovial, yet robotic voice suddenly said.
Bryson gasped and stood up, walking over to the voice. He looked over to see a small gold male robot sitting in the driver's seat. His body was completely circular and his torso was as round as a ball. His limbs were all jointed to his body with polished caps over the joints.
He had a winder on top of his head with a purple short-skirt like fabric, with pink feet.
To top it off, he had a gold mustache on his face.
"Oh... hey, yeah. I know you. Tik-Tok, right?" Bryson remembered from the books and movies. "Where did you come from?"
"I have rescued you from the Mystic Swamp." Tik-Tok said simply.
"What's.. what is that?" Bryson squinted.
"A place that strips people of positive emotion until they have no will to live. And then perish." Tik-Tok said if it was the most casual thing in the world.
"That.. I did feel pretty much like that, yeah." Bryson nodded. "But how did you.. get a hold of the Dragon Machine? How'd you find me?"
"This machine was seemingly donated to the land of Ev, courtesy of Emerald City. Princess Langweider of Ev, and her assistant Gloom held this machine for their own benefit. I rescued it, to come rescue you." Tik-Tok said. "I had heard of what had happened to you, everyone had. Rabadan has made sure that it is a popular tale, foolishly enough. His ego is his weakness. I deduced this was the place he would banish someone."
"Wow, um. And what about Oscar Diggs?" Bryson asked.
"This was largely his idea. But he will be joining us." Tik-Tok said.
"Uh, okay. Where.. where are we headed?" Bryson asked.
"The Land of Ev. To escape the war." Tik-Tok said.
Bryson thought about it.
"No.. no, none of that running and hiding. No." Bryson suddenly stepped over and picked up Tik-Tok, putting the round robot in the passenger's seat. Bryson got into the driver's seat.
"Alright. We're going back. I'm gonna think of something. My friends may be dead, but I can still save the rest. If I could stop that guy when I was fourteen, I can do it now." Bryson reasoned.
"Logically, that is impossible. John Rabadan has had a decade of plotting and his weapon is unobtainable by his command." Tik-Tok said.
"Emotionally, I don't care. Come on, you and me are gonna be a good duo. You, the round and quriky robot, and me, the emotionally traumatized fake Wizard. Sounds fun, right?"
"Not especially." Tik-Tok responded.
"We can plan, too. Let's get out of here." Bryson said, determined. "Oscar was right... I can do this."
...
Will Bryson be able to come up with a plan to stop Rabadan or is Oz doomed forever? What has Rabadan done to Oz and his friends in Bryson's absence? Find out soon. Thank you for all support and any reviews so far, it's appreciated. Hope you enjoyed and have a good day.x