The Ruins of Oz
Starring Samurai Jack

Story by
Mercutio Puck

Chapter Three.

The wind had a slight breeze, as seen from dead , unraked leaves dancing side-to-side along the bricked path. It also produced a sound, accompanied by the steady clopping of Jack's sandals. He had embarked on a whole new world to him, yet his movement reveals an unnerving calm. Knowing himself, it's not the first time he's had to venture into the beyond alone; therefore, he was used to the silence and the sounds of nature.

Except he wasn't alone. His new companion, Gale, was a short distance ahead of him. She was his guide to this mysterious land of Oz and his aide if anything spontaneous were to happen. The silence between the two, after about two hours since departing Munchkinland, was beginning to seem awkward and neither Jack nor Gale could think of any small talk to make their journey remotely interesting. So they continued to follow the path, keeping all senses prepared for anything out of the ordinary.

"Wait." said Jack suddenly, halting himself. Gale stopped for one second before turning to him. She saw him in deep concentration. Keeping an eye on him, she too began to listen closely. She paid close attention, trying not to move because she might miss something with even the slightest sound from the rubbing of two separate fabrics. Jack slowly handled his sword, preparing for anything that might come his way. The intense blind stare in his eyes quickly shifted behind him and upwards as he saw some silhouettes with wings and tails, advancing in size as they made their way down. He put his hand over his brow to get a clearer look, while the other one was still on his sword. His eyes widened after a faint squint, followed by vengeful gasp.

"Aku!" "Monkeys!" Jack and Gale said at the same time. Jack turned around to ask Gale in confusion, "Monkeys?" as Gale stared at Jack questioning, "Aku?" The wind picked up from the many creatures' wings as they came closer as both Jack and Gale stopped asking questions and prepared to fight. As they came closer, it had become apparent to Jack that Gale was correct. They were indeed flying monkeys. Black, furry simians the size of gorilla with long tails and feathered wings, like vultures. However, Jack wasn't wrong. The monkeys all shared a certain black ghastly texture, green mouth, disfigured fangs, odd-shaped horns, and red flaming eyebrows with a beard to match that Jack's nemesis also sported. They were, indeed, very hideous creatures. Jack thought it was an absolute travesty that Aku had taken over this world as well and his stern scowl just grew angrier.

One particular primate descended laughing and landed first before the other four did. Despite being a little larger than the others, this one wore a red jacket that was the same color as his eyebrows. Jack had assumed that this one was the leader and would definitely have to be the one to destroy if he would win. "Hello, Gale." said the monkey with a grimace. "Who is your friend?"

"You know who I am, Aku!" said Jack, angered. "You have no need to play games!"

"Aku?" perplexed the monkey. "How do you know my name, foolish warrior?"

"I didn't know you even had a name." chimed in Gale. "The Munchkins have always referred you as 'the one that talks'."

"Enough!" continued the monkey Aku. "I don't care what anyone calls me! You are a well wanted woman in Oz, Gale. You will be taken prisoner!"

"Don't count on it." Gale smirked. She took her shotgun from behind her back and cocked it once. "Do you like the smell of lead burning into your flesh? It certainly beats your scent of wet fur and rotten bananas."

"Flattery will not get you anywhere." said Aku, peeved. "But your crimes will get you in a cell, where you belong. Guards! Seize them!"

When Aku pointed at Jack and Gale, that was the cue for the rest of the monkeys to attack. The smiled evilly and howled maniacally. The four flying monkeys leaped high into the air as Jack unsheathed his sword and Gale began to aim. The beasts, after reaching their peak, began to dive in all sorts of directions. But their confusing aerial tactics became more unusual as they began to swerve into a zig-zag pattern, making them a harder to hit. They began to encircle them and had them surrounded. The two stood back-to-back, but it didn't help them as one of the monkeys dove into the side of them, splitting them apart. Aku is quite pleased as this is all happening, heard from his diabolical cackle. Monkeys are now flying in every way within Jack and Gale's reach, zooming behind them before Jack can turn around a slash one down. They were also much too close for Gale's long range attack, but she was able to jump out of the way as one them tried a kamikaze tackle, avoiding the attack. There was action all around and both Jack and Gale had to pay attention what was happening to them individually since they were no longer next to each other in battle. The creatures themselves proved to be very swift and difficult to hit as the battle became longer, but the duo of Jack and Gale kept the battle and stood their ground.

Jack heard Gale cry out his name, "Jack!" as he was diving out of the way from a monkey tackle. He looked for her quickly and kept an extra heightened sense of his surroundings for other attacks. He finally spotted her red leather boots moving in an uncontrollable fashion, but they weren't on the ground. He adjusted his view upwards to see Gale being lifted by the inner shoulder above her triceps by one of Aku's look-a-likes. "Help!" she struggled to get out of the grasp from its ghost-like paws, but the simian's grip verified to be too strong. The leader, Aku, gave another laugh as the other monkeys howled in delight.

"Gale!" Jack said to himself. On instinct, he sprung into the air, evading another attack and plummeting a monkey face-first into the road. In that bound, he ascended himself upon the back of one of them flying in the air. From there, he jumped again, up and forward toward another winged primate. He landed on his back as well, crouched and ready for an even bigger leap. Finally, he took one final propulsion into the air from the back of the beast. His sword was held high over his head and it reflected the sun in Gale's capturer's eyes. As he had reached his peak from his jump, Jack began to descend, crying out loudly giving him that extra bit of strength. With the help of the force of gravity, Jack's sword came slicing down and the precise moment when he had reached the monkey, coming nowhere near in contact with Gale. The monkey shrieked in pain as it closed its eyes, not even bearing the affliction to even look what was done to him. The breeze entered the wound and somewhat calmed the creature to look down and see what happened; but the first thing it saw was Gale turning her front toward itself with its own arms still attached the falling girl, disintegrating into lit ash . She readied her shotgun, aimed, and fired a shot, dead-on between the eyes of the creature. The shot was so smooth that the flying monkey didn't even scream like it did when Jack cut off its arms. Gale was caught by Jack's arms, since Jack had landed first. The lifeless body fell to the ground and turned to dust on impact. Aku and the other monkeys made no sound. They stared at the clouds that have formed on the path in shock and in fear. Aku then saw Jack set Gale down as she cocked her gun at him. The monkey's arms were just burning down to their last smithereens. Jack smirked slightly.

"R-Retreat!" cried Aku. The now three and Aku flew off from where they came, howling in panic and fear. Jack began to follow, but was stopped by Gale.

"It's not them we're after." explained Gale.

"But that was Aku." said Jack. "He was the one that sent me here."

"Even if it is Aku, whoever he is, there's something bigger, more powerful, and more evil than the flying monkeys."

"An evil bigger than Aku?" Jack tried to imagine. "It can not be."

"Well, there is. That 'Aku' you're speaking of is only, like, the monkey commander, you know? There is someone paying him and his crew to capture me. And quite frankly, I don't want to be captured for something I'm pretty sure I didn't do because some loony thinks that General Banana-Brain is his key out of Oz. Got it?"

"I'm sorry." said Jack. "I did not know."

Gale looked at Jack, holding his head low. "It's fine."

"If there is an evil bigger than Aku," Jack began. "then Aku has been overthrown. Therefore..." Jack hesitated to even think what he was about to say. "I must be an even longer way from my time, the past." He sighed to much grief and disappointment. "I have taken a step backwards."

Gale put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Jack." she started. "I'm sure there's way."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know. But I've always believed that good things will happen to good people, like us, you know?"

"I hope you are right."

"And the longer we're patient, the better the good thing will be. So, in a way, it's actually one step closer to something really awesome. Do you understand, Jack?"

Jack listened to Gale's words. "You must forgive me. I find that a little hard to believe. I am sorry."

"Stop being sorry. I just thought of something. We have to keep going. I promise it will be worth it."

Jack lifted his head to Gale's hopeful grin. Jack, reluctantly returning the grin, nodded. "Very well. Where are we going?"

"There's a friend of mine past that curve and a little off the road. But it will be easy to find again."

"So, we are going... off-course?"

"We'll be back on the road, Jack. We're just going to visit someone who I know can help us."

"How?"

"He's only the wisest man I've ever known. Smarter than Thorn, even. And Thorn's a doctor. Do you know anyone smarter than a doctor, Jack? Do you?"

"I don't know anyone here, period."

"Oh, right... Well, he's right this way. It'll be easy to find, it's a huge tower in the shape of an ear of corn. You can't miss it."
"You mean to say," Jack interrupted. "that the wisest man you have ever known lives in a corn tower?"

"Will you just trust me?"

Jack nodded and followed the path. A tower of corn is definitely something Jack has never seen before in his life. His state of mind went from non-belief to curiosity. It was a little easy for him to transition from the thought of being one step behind in his quest. He actually walked a little faster and kept pace with Gale to not only see the this tower, but the wise man who has been to said to live there. It was all very humorous to Jack the more he thought about it, but he kept a very serious face until they finally reached the end of the turn. His serious face became shocked as he laid his upon the silhouette of a tower.

"Just across those fields of wheat." Gale said. "Or at least what's left of it. Do you see it?"

"Yes." Jack answered. "It is incredible. I, also, used to have wheat fields in my time." Jack reminisced when he was young, chasing grasshoppers with a certain female his age at that time in a brighter field then the one in front of him. His flashback of the girl and the fields morphed into reality, where Gale has taken the little girl's place, the shadow of the corn tower was in in the distance and the sky became orange again.

"Well, come on." Gale said.

"Yes." Jack nodded. He then began to slice down the stalks of wheat to make the path easier. He also had the idea that he could follow the chopped stalk back to the road after he met the man. He thought to himself, "Two birds, one stone." and grinned to himself as Gale followed.

The characters Samurai Jack, Aku, The Scotsman, and The Scotsman's Wife are all property of Genndy Tartakovsky. However, Aku's forms of a flying monkey and his minions are completely my ideas.