Knights of the Neverending Story #12

"The Oz War, Part 2"

"Tom's in there," Huck said as he looked toward the Emerald City Tower, which was now covered in sleep-inducing poppies. "I can feel it. My little buddy's in there somewhere."

"We won't be any use to him or anyone if we fall asleep too," Bastian told him. "George, can you get us past this?"

"It'll be tricky," George told him. "This is a powerful magic behind these flowers."

"AURYN could fix all of this," Bastian said. "What if the Witch already has it?"

"Then we get it back," Nibs said as he put a hand on Bastian's shoulder. "Don't give up now, Bastian. We've come this far. Let's save our friends and kick that Witch's butt."

"Perhaps I can conjure up some gas masks," George suggested. "I can teleport in, but I can only take one of you with me."

"I'll go," Huck said. "I want to make sure Tom's okay."

"You two be careful," Bastian told them. "You have no idea what's waiting in there."

"What he said," Nibs said as he gently kissed Huck. "Come back safe."

Huck blushed as he walked over to George. Moments later, they were inside the tower with gas masks protecting them from the poppies.

"So, what do we do while we wait?" Mike asked.

"We make a plan," Bastian told them. "We make a list of what we have to fight with, and how to take on the Witch once we take the fight to her."

The Wicked Witch put on the silver slippers while wearing AURYN around her neck. She started cackling as she stood up, feeling as powerful as ever.

"I can feel the power," the Wicked Witch said as she stretched her arms. "Oz is mine! And soon, everything beyond Oz will be mine, as well! The door will require a lot of magic to open it so I can invade other worlds, but soon I will have more than enough power to do so. In the meantime, fly my monkeys, fly! Claim Oz for your new queen!"

"So, this is everything?" Bastian asked.

"No weapons, no real magic beyond George, and none of us really knows how to fight," Mike told him. "I mean, I can throw my book pretty hard, but I don't know how much damage that'll do to a six-foot winged monkey."

"Everyone, just- just keep your boots on, please," Bastian said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Let's start this again. We know what we DON'T have. So what do we have? What are our actual strengths here?"

"Well, Huck's got some muscle on him, and I've seen him throw a pretty mean punch," Mike said.

"Okay, that's a good start," Bastian said as he looked at Nibs. "I saw you carrying a dagger when we were in Neverland. What happened to that?"

"I must have lost it when we were searching for you," Nibs said. "But if I can get another one, I'm pretty good with a blade."

"And we've seen Tiny Tim wield that crutch like a weapon," Bastian said. "Mike, about those pistols-"

"Gonna stop you right there, chief," Mike told him. "I ain't pickin' up anymore guns. I'm done with weapons."

"What about me?" Terrance asked.

"You're small, you've got speed and the element of surprise," Bastian said. "You can get into places the rest of us can't. I guess I'm the only one here who has nothing to contribute."

"Are you kidding? Bastian, you're our leader, the brains of this outfit," Mike said. "Without you, we really are the Lost Boys."

"Yeah, so get off your butt and lead us, already," Nibs told him. "What's our next move?"

"Well, I guess we should-" Bastian started to say as the moonlight started dimming. "That's odd, it's already night. Why is it getting darker?"

"Maybe because something's drowning out the moon and stars," Mike said as he pointed to the sky. "What is that?"

The army of monkeys had begun to spread out through Oz, headed toward every land to start their conquest.

"An army," Bastian whispered. "We are too late. The Witch must have AURYN now. We've already lost."

Inside of the Emerald City, Huck and George were wearing gas masks as they walked around, seeing everyone inside had fallen asleep.

"Isn't there any way to stop this?" Huck asked.

"My magic's not strong enough for this kind of thing," George told him. "We're talking dozens of people, maybe more that have been affected by the poppies."

They reached the throne room, where Dorothy, the Lion, and Tom were all passed out on the floor.

"Tom?" Huck said as he noticed his best friend. "TOM!" Huck immediately raced over and pulled Tom into his lap. "Come on, buddy, wake up. It's me, Huck. Come on, Sawyer, wake your ass up. Please, wake up for me."

"It's no use," the Scarecrow said as he walked in. "The poppies are too powerful. Everyone's going to remain asleep as long as the poppies are surrounding the city."

"Okay, I'm going to try something," George said as he stood up. "Never attempted a spell this big before, so I don't know if it'll work."

George pulled out his wand and held it out as he concentrated. A blue energy started to ripple forward, but within seconds the energy repelled back into the wand, sending George flying onto his back.

"What happened?" Scarecrow asked.

"I lost my focus," George whispered. "I tried to cast a freezing spell to get rid of the poppies, but then I started thinking about... Fred, and how he'd handle this."

"Who's Fred?" Scarecrow asked.

"Long story," Huck said as he picked Tom up and slung him over his shoulder. "If we can't stop the poppies, then let's get Tom away from the source."

"We can't carry everyone out," George told him.

"We need Dorothy, she can fight the Witch," Scarecrow said. "And the Lion, too."

"I can't teleport more than one person, and now I'm not even sure I can handle that anymore," George said.

"Then carry Dorothy, I'll stay behind and try to find a way to destabilize the poppy's effects," Scarecrow told them. "Once you're a safe distance away, they should both wake up."

George picked Dorothy up as Huck looked at the Scarecrow. "We'll be back, I promise."

Soon the two young men were walking out of the Emerald City with Tom and Dorothy in their arms. Huck couldn't see George's face, but he could tell what he was thinking.

"This ain't your fault," Huck told him. "The Witch's magic is pretty powerful stuff. You might not have been able to pull it off, no matter what you tried."

"I haven't pulled off a decent spell since Fred died," George told him. "He was my partner, my best friend. Without him, I'm nothing. Maybe you and your friends are better off without me."

Huck just stared down at Tom as they continued walking, wondering if he could go on if his best friend had died.

"Alright, I say we cut our losses and find a nice little island somewhere to live out the rest of our days," Mike said as he watched the swarm of winged monkeys spread throughout Oz.

"Nah, with our luck, we'd just end up on the same island as 'Lord of the Flies'," Bastian said. "Our only chance now is to get AURYN back so we can fix this mess. And to do that, we have to stop her before she starts invading other worlds."

"Then what's our play, boss?" Mike asked.

"We wait for George and Huck, then we hit the Witch's castle," Bastian told him. Nibs pointed out toward the yellow brick road. "I see someone coming!"

Huck and George returned, setting Tom and Dorothy down in the grass.

"How long do we have to wait for the poppies to wear off?" Huck asked as he held Tom's hand.

"Hopefully not long," Bastian told him as he looked at Dorothy. "Is that who I think it is?"

"A Scarecrow told us she'd be our best shot at beating the Witch," George told him. "I tried to break the spell over the city, but I-"

"I told him to save his magic for the big fight," Huck interrupted. "We'll need everything we have when we go up against her," Huck felt someone squeezing his hand. "Tom?"

"Huck?" Tom asked. "Am I dead?"

"No, little buddy, you're right here with me," Huck smiled as Tom opened his eyes. "Don't go tellin' nobody, but I was worried about you."

"I was worried about you, too," Tom said. "Where the hell were you?"

"Long story," Huck said as he motioned Nibs over. "Tom, I got something to tell you. You ain't gonna like it, but-"

"You're queer, I already know," Tom smiled as he noticed the look Huck was giving to the other boy. "You think your best friend's not gonna be able to tell somethin' like that? I don't care who you like, Huck, you just be true to yourself."

Not too far away, Dorothy was starting to wake up.

"Great, you're awake," Bastian said. "Now we can start to-"

Dorothy grabbed Bastian and flipped him onto his back. "Who are you? How did you get us here?"

"It's alright, your highness, they're friends," Tom said as he stood up. "These are the guys I was telling you about. Well, Huck and Bastian, anyway, I don't know who the rest of them are."

"We'll tell you both the story along the way," Bastian said. "Right now we need to get to the Witch's castle to get AURYN back before this situation gets any worse."

Bastian looked up at the swarm of monkeys who were already beginning to terrorize Oz.

"Not that I could picture this getting any worse,"

At the Witch's castle, the Wicked Witch of the Southwest was starting to harness all of her dark magic to open the portal between worlds.

"Now, which world should I enslave first?" the Witch asked as she looked through her crystal ball. "Perhaps the place where AURYN originated. Ah, Fantasia, such a lovely world. At least until I get ahold of it."

In Fantasia, the Childlike Empress sensed the Witch's plan, just as Falkor arrived.

"We must hurry," the Childlike Empress told the Luck Dragon. "Go find Atreyu. It is time that he joined the fight. The Wicked Witch is wasting no time, we must protect Fantasia if she comes."

"What about Bastian?" Falkor asked.

"I still have faith that he will come through," the Childlike Empress told him. "He always has, but without AURYN he will need every ounce of help his friends can summon. The coming battle will not be easy, but we must hurry if Fantasia, as well, as the rest of the worlds, are to survive."

"There's the castle," Dorothy said as she led the group. "A direct invasion would not be wise since we don't have much in the way of power. But I do know another way in."

"Are you sure all of us should go in at once?" Nibs asked. "I mean, sending all you soldiers in at the same time doesn't seem wise."

"What do you suggest?" Bastian asked.

"I say Dorothy take a small group in," Nibs told him. "Another group provides a distraction to keep her off guard. And a third group tries the direct approach."

"Alright," Bastian told her. "Dorothy, you take Tom and Huck and go in through the back. Nibs, you take Mike and Terrance and try the direct approach while George and I will provide the distraction so all of you can get in."

"Be careful, Bastian," Huck told him. "We'll see you soon."

The group split up as Bastian and George walked toward the castle. George held out his wand started a fireworks show as the Wicked Witch approached the balcony.

"The boy who allowed me to take possession of AURYN," the Witch cackled. W"hat a pleasant surprise."

"We're here to take AURYN back!" Bastian shouted. "Just hand it over and we'll go away peacefully!"

"You know the funny thing about peace?" the Witch asked as something landed with a thud behind Bastian and George. "It's overrated."

The two young men turned around, and just as George raised his wand, he was immediately swatted away. George hit a tree and had been knocked out instantly. Bastian stared up at the eight-foot creature. He looked like a horrific combination between a werewolf and a yeti.

"What the hell are you?" Bastian asked with fear in his voice.

"You mean you don't recognize him?" the Wicked Witch asked. "Say hello to your friend, I believe you call him... Tiny Tim!"

The creature just roared at Bastian as it raised its hand to attack.

TO BE CONTINUED...