They had been walking for a while now. It was dark out now, the flames on their torches providing an excellent source of light.
Munckins had been taking turns pushing the catapults. It took a lot of effort and switching of places to move.
They had been walking out for about an hour and a half now. Several munchkins asked if Bryson was sure about Rabadan having a castle. Unless Laura lied, Bryson was fairly certain he had a castle.
They trudged on for a while longer before, in the distance, they could all make out a tall structure. And it looked to be a castle. He was glad it didn't take so long.
Bingo..
Bryson's blue eyes went wide at the sight. His stomach dropped. He was glad he was right. But he had never been more nervous in his life. He tried to not have another anxiety attack. That wouldn't end well. He breathed and tried to stay collected. He sighed deeply. They all looked at each other, knowing that this could be their final moments.
"Everyone, uh... everyone remember the plan?"
They all slowly nodded.
Bryson looked around for the munchkins he was going to sneak into the castle with. They all gathered around him and they all looked at each other.
Bryson took a deep breath. "Alright, everyone... we've made it this far..."
Bryson practically trembled in fear as they began to slowly step closer to the castle. He had never been so fearful in his life, but he tried to be brave.
It felt like a dream, like his head was almost spinning as they edged closer and closer to the large castle.
Bryson felt like he could just explode at any moment as they eventually were only a few feet away from the castle. He didn't want to stop again, as he was getting anxious, so he kept walking as he turned around to ask, "So you guys rememer what to do, right?" He whispered.
They nodded slowly. He could tell they were about as stressed as he was.
"Alright, guys. I think it's time." Bryson said as they stopped at the castle, not too far away from it, but not close enough to be caught.
"Just think about what this guy's done. But don't try and destroy the place. There's innocent people in there that could get hurt." Bryson instructed.
They all nodded and Bryson walked behind the catapult.
"Alright, guys. Let's launch this thing. Try to aim for the door. I think we can go straight into the door at this ra-"
Bryson stopped when they all noticed the castle's doors slowly open. Bryson gulped and his heart raced, fearing the worst.
And the worst was what he got.
A muscular figure, scepeter in hand exited the castle, no doubt it being Rabadan. He didn't seem to notice them or look in their direction. Instead, he kept a neutral expression and suddenly, a herd of flying monkeys rushed out and flew out.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit.." Bryson cursed. He turned around, and he didn't need to say anything as the munchkins instantly started firing the catapults at the monkeys, boulders flying in the air and hitting a few of the monkeys, causing them to screech and fall to their demise.
"No one throw the torches!" Bryson commaned, wary of the fire causing throwing more fuel to the fire (literally), or any more stress.
One monkey came into the group and tried to pick up a munchkin. The munchkin screamed and picked up his sword, trying to slash at the creature, but being carried away instead.
Flying monkeys began to pick up different munchkins.
"Shit, no, no! Keep firing over there!" Bryson yelled.
They had two catapults and about 4 boulders for each, so they had to fire sparingly.
They screamed, gasped, and cried as they witnessed munchkins being picked up. Bryson and others took shelter behind the catapults, but the monkeys quickly began to fly over them and pick up people. Bryson looked around, fearing he would be picked up next. He realized some of the munchkins originally involved in splitting up with Bryson were probably gone by now. He was sweating as he saw everyone being carried off. He felt guilty. As if this was his fault.
He shook his head as different munchkins were being taken one by one, screaming as they were being taken away.
Eventually, Bryson noticed Donna being picked up. He tried to prevent it, but was to late as the monkey flew away with her. Bryson cursed.
Some munchkins working on the catapults got picked up and different ones had to fire.
Some threw their wooden knives and swords at the monkeys, injuring and killing some.
But they seemed to be no match for the swarm of monkeys, and Bryson realized they needed to change things up.
He looked at all the remaining munchkins.
"Quick, quick!"
He looked around and found disgarded weapons. He picked a small, wooden sword up and a torch.
They were only about 14 munchkins left. He looked around at them all, not believing how many were gone.
"Grab all the weapons you can, riot the castle!" Bryson ordered.
They all rushed towards the castle, some munchkins being picked up along the way.
Rabadan was now gone from the castle entrace, causing confusion to Bryson.
"Run into to the castle!" He commanded.
By the time they ran inside, only about 4 munchkins were left. The rest had all been carried away. They snapped their heads when they saw a monkey screaming and flying towards them.
They quickly rushed to the doors and shut them before the monkey could get to them.
They backed away from the door, looking at each other, panting. Bryson looked around the castle. It was all grey. Nothing. Just grey. There were different hallways and one staircase.
"Let's split up. Two of each of us will search the castle. If you get caught by a guard.. fight them off." Bryson instructed. This was all foreign to him, being a leader, but he felt like he was doing a decent job so far.
He gestured at which munchkins went with which.
He ended up going with the elder, dark skinned munchkin he had gone with earlier. He hadn't even noticed he was one of the remaining munchkins, but was glad to see him. He liked him.
The elder munchkin walked up beside him and they all looked at each other.
"Okay. Look for all those people captured. I'll go up the stairs. You'll go to the right hallways, you to the left." He ordered, gesturing.
"Quickly... good luck." He finished. He nodded at them and he and the elder munchkin began to walk up the stairs. There was a wooden door at the top of the stairs. He looked back at the elder munchkin.
"Kind of scared about what's back there.." Bryson softly confessed.
The elder patted his shoulder. "Go ahead. Open it."
Bryson slowly nodded, lifting up the torch, handing the knife to the elder so he could have a way of defense.
Bryson slowly opened the door with one hand, weilding his weapon in the other hand.
He studied the door, ever so slowly pushing it in. It creaked as he peeked in, and suddenly, a hand roughly grasped his throat, causing his heart to almost leap out of his chest and race. He was suddenly lifted into the air and he was scared but not surprised when he looked down to see Rabadan choking him. Rabadan had a look of pure anger on his face, scaring Bryson. But then, the fact he was being choked and the fear factor of it all caused him to drop his torch, forcing Rabadan to drop Bryson and catch it, his other hand wielding the scepter.
Bryson breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. Rabadan used his scepeter, poining at the torch, and suddenly, the flame went out. He tossed the scepeter away.
As Bryson tried to recover, laying on the ground, Rabadan kneeled down.
"I gave you an offer... and you refused to take it. But I'm glad. I'm glad. Because tonight? All those... people are gonna see why Oz isn't as great as it seems. I'm gonna break you."
Rabadan looked around, a small smirk forming on his face. "You know... I'm surprised you got together this little.. army. You just.. you think you've got it all figured out, but you don't.. you DON'T. I'm not as bad as you think I am. And who's to say what's good and what's bad, huh? Who's to say? Who makes up the rules? All this... what's good.. what's bad talk... it all varies, you know? In the end... there's no real set in stone what's good and what's bad. If you ask me... it's all an illusion. And tonight, you're gonna see. They're all gonna see. They'll find out. Just like I did."
"You're not gonna..." Bryson coughed. "You're not gonna win, you know. The people of Oz... they're... they're special. They don't give up as easy as you think they do. They're not as fragile as me and you."
"Me and you?" Rabadan inquired, an intruiged look on his face, sitting up.
"I know about what happened. I know that you're just pissed at Glinda for sending you back to your world. You're just a sad boy with a grudge. You're just trying to justify what you're doing, too. It's all you are. And that..." Bryson pointed to his scepeter. "That's just your little rattle." Bryson couldn't believe he was giving Rabadan a piece of his mind, but for once, he was done cowaring in fear.
Rabadan suddenly had a look of anger on his face.
Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut... Bryson thought.
Rabadan rushed towards him and kneeled back down to him.
"I'm gonna break you. And I'm gonna break your little monkey, and your little straw friend, and you tin friend."
Bryson grew an angry look on his face.
"And you don't even wanna know what I'm gonna do to your little.. girlfriend." Rabadan spat out, his teeth gritted.
Bryson looked up, panting, an angry look on his face. "You better not put your hands on her." He spat bitterly.
Rabadan chuckled. "Did I hit a soft spot there? Huh? Did I?" He lifted up his scepeter and suddenly smacked Bryson's back with it.
"Ow! Oh God! Ow..." Bryson screamed in pain, not expecting Rabadan to hit him like that.
"Ow.. oof..." Bryson reached for his back as he groaned in pain. "You really are a monster.." Bryson muttered against the floor.
Rabadan smirked. "Take the boy away. You can release him when I'm ready to torture and humilate his precious Dorothy.."
"You piece of sh-" Bryson jumped up in anger, but suddenly, two guards rushed in and roughly took him by the arms, hurting Bryson in the process.
He struggled, but to no avail. The guards took him out of the room and walked down the stairs. Bryson noticed some other munchkins had been caught, guards taking them away with depressed looks on their faces, causing Bryson to struggle more, even if he knew it was pointless.
The guards led him around and opened a door, forcing him into a very dark room. He could see different cages and random people from the Emerald City, Winkie County, and Munchkin Land in cages.
He tried to pull away, looking desperately for his friends, but didn't see any of them, to his disappointment. They led him into an empty cell, opening it and pushing him in, causing him to collide with the wall and fall down, bringing him pain.
He coughed and groaned in pain. He laid there for a bit. Just taking the situation in. He still couldn't believe it. He was in Oz. He always wanted to go to Oz. And here he was. In a cage, waiting to watch the best friends he had ever known be tortured. And he didn't know how. What kind of torture? The fact he didn't know just made it worse. But.. he was still glad he had went through all of this. He had become a more secure person. He believed in himself more. He didn't put blame on himself as easy. Took command. Lead orders. He wasn't the same meek and shy boy that he was when he had first got here. He had changed for the better. And even if he had died tonight, or soon... he'd rather die this early and be a changed person then live the rest of his life being unsure of himself. At least he had met the best people he had ever known. And after all of this danger and chaos.. he was still glad he came here.
He slowly hoisted himself up, sitting against the wall. He sighed.
But it still seemed hopeless.
How was he going to stop Rabadan now?
Everyone that could help was in a cage.
Every attempt to stop him had failed.
And the thought that he soon might watch his friends be tortured made his eyes tear up, and he started to cry. No, not just cry. He sobbed. He didn't wanna die. He especially didn't want his friends to die. He just wanted to be safe. Maybe he was confident in himself, but he felt hopeless.
So he thought of something that made him feel a little more safe every time he felt this way. Every time someone at school made fun of him. Every time his dad made him feel worthless. There was something that always made him feel a little better.
Somewhere... over the rainbow...
Way up high... there's a land that I've heard of... once in a lullaby.
The sheer sight of the song sent shivers up his spine.
He just wished that Dorothy was hear to sing it to him.
If happy little blue birds fly... beyond the rainbow...
Why, oh why... can't I?
He cried more, stuffing his face in his arm.