The Ruins of Oz
starring Samurai Jack

story by
Mercutio Puck

Chapter Seven.

"So, you're just trying to get home, huh?" Scarecrow asked after finally hearing the entire story of Jack's legacy. "There was a time where I thought I needed a brain. However, during this time of shock and awe, events have happened that made me realize that I was quite intelligent the whole time. And, not to put myself on a podium, I've become brighter than ever... despite this recent gloom set in Oz."

"I am sorry." said Jack, mere seconds away reassuring Scarecrow what he meant. "For your world, not your mind."

"The point is," began Scarecrow, not even thinking of what Jack said. "that the entire time I thought I needed something, I had it all along. An epiphany, if you will."

Jack still had no idea what he was talking about.

"Think of it this way. Your destiny right now is to return to your world. You're enduring flying monkeys, talking trees, Munchkins, and who knows what's to come your way. However, you're handling so well, especially during these harsh times. Don't you think it's possible that you've been home all along?"

Jack looked at Gale, who was on his right. Gale looked back, feeling that they were thinking the same thing at the same time. Jack returned his focus to Scarecrow, who was awaiting a logical rebuttal.

"Your philosophy is interesting, and you have proven your gift of intelligence." he replied.

Scarecrow nodded in recognition.

"However, my destiny is a fate, and my fate is sealed. Not only do I have to return to my world, but I must defeat Aku, travel back to my original time, and then defeat Aku once more so I can prevent his evil from the future. Or in this case, the present. That is why Oz can not be my home."

Scarecrow displayed his understanding by nodding.

"You, Jack, are also very intelligent." said Scarecrow. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder, almost patting him on the back. He knew he was beat, and he also knew that he should have listened more to Jack's story of adventure and treachery instead of trying to turn it into his tale of self-teaching and enlightenment. He thought himself to be arrogant and foolish, realizing he had no right to change Jack's mind. Instead of apologizing and admitting his flaws, he stared at Jack right in the eye. "It is my honor and privilege to aid you on your quest."

Jack smirked as they continued their way through the Black Forest. After Scarecrow had taken his hand away from Jack, his focus returned to the road. Gale almost chuckled to herself after overhearing the conversation. After knowing Scarecrow for so long, it was a little humorous for her to see him make things up on the spot as intelligent as he claims to be. It was also funny to see him losing a battle of wits like that, but nobody mentioned anything about it. The past was behind them already, however Gale was still laughing on the inside. She kept a slight smirk to herself as she continued with Scarecrow and Jack.

She suddenly couldn't stop thinking what had happened earlier with the encounter from the wolves. Particularly, their flee. Gale debated to herself whether it was derived from fear or from mercy. She made Jack promise not to kill them, and through that was the evident struggle for life they had to endure. They were almost killed themselves; however, they still walk.

Perhaps it was a matter of disbelief, she thought. The Dark Wolf was mere seconds from eating her alive; and out of a state of sub-conscious, she saw a familiarity and questioned it to be what was once another old friend. The beast responded peculiarly, as if having heard that name before. She vaguely remembers, but she can imagine being face-to-face with the Dark Wolf, gazing into its dark brown eyes. It backed away in surprise and uncertain thought. Then it came in closer to try to recognize a scent, not expecting the slim chance of probability. One inhale, and it swiftly backed away off her fallen body. It called its pack off of her comrades and disappeared into the Black Forest, never to be seen again.

Her memory hazed away from her thoughts and the vision of the road to Emerald City was now all she could see. She looked at her acquaintances, still walking with silent smugs. She grinned to herself once more. However, her sense of realization overcame herself. With no sign, she felt the guilt on her shoulders. She remembers agreeing to stay in Munchkinland to protect those who have helped her. Her mind always on alert for attacks, she can't even remember the last time she had seen him. If the Dark Wolf was Toto, then allowing her and her friends to live was a sign of forgiveness, for giving everything away to look after those in need in this time of ruin. She had no way to get it out of her mind that the Dark Wolf was more noble than she was. A light flood of grief poured on her shoulders all the way down to her heels.

She kept to herself, showing no signs of gloom in front of Scarecrow and Jack. They were too steady on their path to notice anyway. She could tell it would only slow things down and she wouldn't want to put a halt to Jack's quest. Gale's eyes went back to the road, glimpsing at her boots as they moved forward, step-by-step, unknown what was in front of her.

It was still dark. The branches from the trees began to sway with the wind. No birds, insects, not even wolves could be heard. The only sound available to their ears were that of the leaves whispering with the subtle breeze accompanied by their own walking footsteps.

Jack's eyes were directly on the road in front of him. His ears were on the trees. All of his senses have heightened since arriving in the Black Forest. He knew that this forest could not be trusted and could not let himself rest until he was out of it. Suspicions began to arise in his mind. As he peered left-to-right with his eyeballs and listened cautiously, he thought back to his encounter with the Trees that talked. Even for enchanted beings of nature, they acted so sinister. In the end, they didn't turn out to be a big a threat as originally thought; still, how can they judge an entire forest out of two Trees? The ones that surround the road could very well be laughing at them while they walked, plotting an idea to take them out or even make them wander the forest forever, only furthering Jack away from destroying Aku in his own time. He looked at Gale, who was looking down with her arms folded. She needed this done too, he thought. The minute Jack goes back in time to defeat Aku, then this time would surely live a better life without having to fear such evil. He could not afford to stop now, not ever.

Suddenly, Jack noticed something.

"Wait." he said. Gale and Scarecrow halted.

His ears opened as wide as they could. The only thing he heard was the leaves shaking in the wind. However, his gi wasn't shaking, nor could he feel any wind on his face. In the sharpest distance, he heard a wing flap.

"Look in the trees." he ordered. "Something else is moving the branches."

They looked up and around. Any tree that didn't have a moving leaf was quickly ignored. Their backs formed the corners of an acute triangle, circling so they each got a different view of above.

"Over there!" Scarecrow pointed to a section on the right of the road as he pulled out his scythe.

Gale aimed her shotgun directly at the rustling section of the branches. Her aim did not shake, but the rustling of leaves shifted quickly, like a fly flying away from a swatter. Surprised at first, she followed with the nose of her gun, not taking her sights off of it. The movement in the leaves was traveling even from tree to tree.

"BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

A raspy cackle forced them to turn around. Each person heard the laughter from a different direction, putting their backs on the inside of a tightly formed triangle. The leaves were rustling some more, but the shift had split into two, and then two again, and it duplicated once more. Eight forces were moving in such a chaotic fashion. From both side of the road, it was difficult for them to keep an eye on all of them at the same time. The phantom movements took a turn of events when they all began to go one direction. They made their way to a dark void in the foliage and the leaves suddenly stopped shaking.

All eyes were on the void, where there were no leaves, no branches, not even another tree was in sight. Just darkness.

A pair of eyes suddenly opened wide in two perfect circles underneath red, flaming eyebrows. They intently stared into the eyes of Gale. Then a green, bearded jaw with curved fangs appeared and slowly began to grin as the eyes narrowed.

"Monkeys." she whispered to herself.

Then another pair of eyes, in the same fashion as the first pair, opened with no hesitation. Then another. Then two and finally three more. Sixteen fiery eyes in various distances in the void were glaring the three travelers in truly an intimidating encounter. The one face flew out of the void, exposing it's identity and physique of the demonic, winged primate. Gorilla-sized simians that were black as evil with vulture-like wings and long tails all flew their way around them, following their leader with the dark red jacket and howling in the most primitive behavior.

"Aku." whispered Jack to himself, while tightening the grip of his sword. He remembered that they were after Gale, and he assumed that Scarecrow probably knew more about the situation than he did. Though Jack never knew or asked why his guide was sought out by the obviously corrupted law, he knew he had to do all he could to prevent her capture.

"We meet again, Dorothy Gale!" said Aku, sounding confident in his numbers. "Foolish Warrior! I see you have met Scarecrow."

Jack shifted his eyes to Scarecrow, as Scarecrow did the same to Jack. Both pairs of eyes turned back to the monkeys.

"Recruitment isn't in your favor, today." he continued. "The addition of one, pointless rag-doll can never compete with my infinite army. You're only endangering another life, Gale! Give yourself up while you still can!"

"Never!" she yelled back at Aku. "You're the one who should be locked up!"

"I'm only following orders, Dorothy Gale!" he replied. "And you! Accomplices! You will face great penalty if you do not cooperate. Your charge will be far worse than hers!"

Although Jack had no idea why she was being pursued, he only knew that if Aku was the officer of the peace that the law was corrupted and Gale was not evil at all. Thus, he stood his ground with her and Scarecrow.

"Your law shall not overcome the path of righteousness!" said Jack. "You will not hold any one of us captive no matter how infinite your numbers are. I will not end my quest by surrendering the help I have. The minute I return to the past, your reign of terror will only be referred to as an ancient myth that ends in your demise." He briefly paused momentarily as he stared into the eyes of Aku. "That is a promise."

"I'm warning you, Foolish Warrior." he continued. "There will be a price to pay if..."

"GWAAAAAAHH!!"

A painful scream from a monkey directly in front of Aku had cut off the leader before he could finish his threat towards Jack. All the monkeys, as well as Jack, Gale, and Scarecrow, made their attention to the screaming primate. At first sight, the one monkey appeared to have fallen to the ground split in half, about one foot from being cut into two. It writhed and cried in pain, lying their shocked, frozen stiff until it had turned into dust and ash, swept away by a mysterious breeze.

"Wha..?" a perplexed Aku couldn't even find the words to finish his question. Looking up from the ashes, he saw a figure emerge from the forest. The shadowy, human form was clanking its way to the road, wielding an wood-cutter's axe. As his features began to appear clearer, Aku began squint his eyes, trying to recognize the axe-wielding assassin. Then his eyes widened in shock.

"Tin Man!" he yelled in a mix of anger and slight fear. He turned to the monkey on his right, yelling at him. "I thought I ordered you to banish him forever nine years ago!"

The monkey grunted back, pointing its fingers on the forest ground and shrugging its shoulders.

"You just dropped him off in the Black Forest and the problem was solved?!" he retaliated, supposedly understanding the monkey tongue. "Why didn't you tell me that he was still alive in the Forest."

The monkey grunted some more.

"You guess you forgot?!"

"GWAAAAAAHH!!"

The Tin Man had sliced another one of the monkeys, who was distracted from the bickering going on between Aku and one of its comrades. His appearance became more into the light. His structure was like that of a human skeleton of dark steel, lacking luster and shine, but still very strong. Covering his skull was a metallic helmet with a visor, the kind that would be seen on a medieval knight, with a narrow nozzle emitting light clouds of steam sitting on the top where the plume would be. His shoulders were also armored, as well as his torso with an iron breast plate that made him appear to have a strong upper body. His upper arms were uncovered, but his forearms had very heavy vambraces, similar in color to that of his breast plate, that allowed the inner elbow to bend properly and protected the outer elbow. His hands were protected by strong gauntlets, proportioned to his forearmor and were wrapped around a giant wood-chopper's ax, ready to take another swing. The waist was under a tasset, which gave protection to his hips and the area right between his legs. His skeletal thighs were as protected as his upper arms, but his giant, full-plated greaves came all the way up to his knee caps. It was no wonder that the winged primates had wanted this man out of their hair. Because of this mysterious metal man, the number of simians had reduced in a matter of seconds. The battle was officially six against four.

"What is this?!" shouted an annoyed Aku. "A do-nothing contest?! Attack!"

The Tin Man took another swing at another monkey, but the creature evaded by hovering backwards inches from the ax. One from behind approached the Tin Man ready to attack, but he had turned around in enough time to stop the simian dead in his flight. Then from behind, the evading monkey flew in for an aerial strike. The one facing the Tin Man was grinning at the advantage. Unfortunately, a swift cut from a particular samurai sword caught the attacking simian before he could collide with the Tin Man. The sound had attracted the Tin Man to turn around and behold Jack for the very first time. Though he had never seen him ever in his life before, he showed his gratitude by closing his armored fist to his chest. The other monkey, still surprised that the sneak-attack-tactic had failed, kept his jaw hanging for a moment's pass. While trying to catch the Tin Man off-guard and raising its beastly arms in rage, it, too, met its fate and let out its final cry of failure and pain. The Tin Man turned around once more, to come in contact with a grinning Scarecrow.

"Don't tell me you were here this entire time." Scarecrow said to the Tin Man.

"GUYS!" screamed Gale, who was left in the center of all the remaining winged primates.

Aku and the other three monkeys quickly scattered around the forest, into the enigmatic foliage.

Gale kept her shotgun up and ready for fire. She tried to think why the other monkeys didn't just rush her when she was left in the center, surrounded by monkeys. However, she knew they were up to something and she had to keep all of her senses keen. Her weapon was hit out of her hand from a blind attack when she was looking up. She saw the gun slide across the road, away from her and the others, and reach the bushes, then turned around to see the red jacketed Aku laughing at her. She gave him a scowl and started to run to retrieve her shotgun. One of the surviving monkeys flew out of the bush that was mere inches where the gun had slid. At a great speed, it caught the right arm of Gale whom, out of instinct, stopped briefly to turn the other way. She began to ascend up in the air at the hands of the flying monkey, watching her view of the forest get smaller and smaller. Another monkey had flown in to grasp her other arm. She was rendered helpless once more. After she had screamed, kicking her only free limbs, the other primates flew upward, howling with success from capturing her.

"We have her!" cried Aku. "Fall back, and upwards! We won't repeat what happened last time!"

They followed Aku's orders, flying up as quick as they can so no one would be able to reach them from the ground. It appeared that their tactics were succeeding and they were going to get away with their captive. The creatures all howled with joy as they were making their way above the forest. Aku, in particular, was grinning the widest. He flew to the head of the pack right after they reached the right height and took his rightful place as the leader, making sure he was the first to appear when he delivered the good news.

A samurai sword launched its way into the sky. The monkeys were completely sidetracked by their success in capturing Gale that they hadn't noticed the steel projectile making its way toward them. The monkey carrying the left arm had let go after being impaled through the chest. Seconds after it let out a painful cry, a woodcutter's ax spun its way up like an over-sized tomahawk. The monkey on her right arm was too busy trying to keep balance since its comrade had unexpectedly fallen. The blade of the spinning ax had found its way to its skull, chopping its way down in its continuing rotation until the monkey was split in two. Like it's fallen comrade, a cry came from its separated throat. These cries quickly grabbed the attention of Aku, seeing two of the remaining three monkeys fall with familiar weapons in their bodies. Gale was free-falling for a split second until the last monkey grabbed her in mid-air with its feet. Aku instructed its final minion to move faster, but right behind him was Scarecrow defying all laws of physics with scythe in hand, positioned to take down the final monkey with one swath. Aku's eyes widened as the monkey carrying Gale kept its grip while losing the lower half of its body to the blade of Scarecrow. As Gale was going down with monkey legs still holding on to her arms, Scarecrow was unable to stop from flying. He made eye-contact with Aku and attempted to catch him with his scythe. Aku quickly moved out of the way from his death and watched Scarecrow fly across the forest, not stopping until he started to descend back down. Aku almost laughed at site of his adversary plummeting to the surface, but knew there was no time for revelling and dove back down to the forest to catch Gale and take her as his prisoner. After rigorously flying through the branches and trees, he finally spotted Gale being let down from the arms of the Tin Man. His velocity increased in his attempt to catch her once more. Gale ran to pick up her shot gun off the road. She cocked it once and aimed at the oncoming Aku. Aku was quick to see this and began to fly straight up with fear, just missing the fire that was shot head on. He was very lucky to escape death for the second time.

"This is not over, Dorothy Gale!" he screamed in his escape. "It is not over until you are taken prisoner to the witch! She has the whole world in her sight and her eyes are on you! This is not over!" He flew away, letting everyone know that he will be back, threatening next time, he may succeed.

Even though Gale, the Tin Man, and Waco (pronounced WAY-ko) are loosely based on characters created by L. Frank Baum, I still like to think of them as my own. However, the characters Samurai Jack, Aku, The Scotsman, and The Scotsman's Wife are all property of Genndy Tartakovsky.