"I'd turn back if I were you."
The lion gulped after the sign was read out loud, before attempting to dash off only to be caught by the Scarecrow and Tin Man, who dragged him back as he yelped in both fear and pain from being yanked, before then screaming because heartless began to appear from the ground. Ren had to roll his eyes, before summoning his keyblade and slaying all the heartless that appeared, along with Alina and Gamma who assisted him. Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief, almost collapsing if she weren't caught by Scarecrow.
"Oh, I cannot wait until we are rid of these 'heartless' creatures", the silver slippered girl expressed, regaining the strength in her legs and standing up straight.
"Thank Oz you three came along when you did", the Tin Man expressed, his attitude towards the three having completely changed. "These creatures were a real rust in the butt until you came along... say, any chance I could get one of those 'keyblade' things to defeat these hearltess with?"
"That isn't possible, unfortunately, since you need a strong heart to wield the keyblade", Gamma explained, which caused Tin Man's face to fall. "Even then, you have to be chosen by the keyblade in order to wield one at all."
"A little on the nose to tell a man with no heart, don't you think", Alina pointed out, before stopping suddenly. "Wait... do you guys hear that? It sounds like wings flapping."
Ren didn't know what she was talking about at first, but then he heard it too and looked into the sky. Out of the blue, monkeys with wings appeared from the darkness, along with more portals spawning where heartless versions of the same monkeys began to appear. On the ground, more shadow heartless appeared, surrounding them before leaping for the attack. Ren twirled around and got a few of them in a single swing before hearing a scream, before he looked into the sky to see Dorothy being taken away by two of the monkeys.
"Dorothy!", Ren shouted, leaping after her, but he was tackled out of the sky by a number of the heartless winged monkeys.
"Lux!", Alina shouted, a burst of white light shooting out of her staff, vaporizing the monkey heartless instantly and freeing Ren from their grasp. She turned and stared into the sky, where Dorothy and the monkeys that took her were getting smaller and smaller. "Shoot, if I try and get them now, I might hit Dorothy. Even if I don't, they'll drop her from the sky."
Gamma shot the last few shadows, turning and giving a groan. "She most likely is being taken to the witch's castle. We will just have to go in and rescue her."
"We have to rescue Dorothy no matter what!" Scarecrow shouted with determination, pulling his legs back to his body, which were ripped off by the recent attack. "Come on gang!"
"H-hold on", Lion stuttered, looking nervously ahead of them. "S-shouldn't we think of a plan first?"
"What is there to think about?", Ren coldly asked, glaring at him. "We go in there, kill the witch, and rescue Dorothy. If you can't find even an ounce of courage to get your friend back, then are you even her friend?"
"Ren, that's-" Alina began to say, but Gamma put a hand on her shoulder.
"B-but I don't have any courage to find", Lion muttered. "I'm not like you, Ren! You're not afraid of anything!"
Ren sighed at that, dismissing his keyblade."You're wrong. I've been afraid of a lot of things, and I'm even afraid right now. But there is a difference between me and you, which makes me brave. I press on despite my fear, and that is what makes me brave. So, are you coming with us, or not?" Lion looked down, before looking up and nodding at Ren, causing the twilight teen to smirk as they pressed on into the darkness of the forest.
XxXxXxX
Dorothy sobbed in the cage that she was being held in, as the witch looked over her in fury. She had a hooked nose, green skin, and was wearing black robes which matched her hair, and bore a snarl on her face as she stared at the silver slippers on the feet of the girl. She was holding her hand in pain, it smoking a little from her just attempting to grab the slippers, but not being successful due to an unknown force hurting her when she attempted.
"Struggling?", asked the voice of Astos, who appeared in the room from a dark portal.
"Does it look like I'm not struggling, you idiot?", the witch spat, before walking towards the window and looking out it.
"Settle yourself", Astos suggested to her, looking at Dorothy. "Simply let the heartless feast on the girl, and the slippers will be yours!"
"I tried that you moronic buffoon", the witch growled, turning back to the imp. "But something happened. She clicked the shoes and the heartless vaporized instantly! It's like they're-"
"Enchanted by the light", Astos muttered, his happy facade finally failing as he frowned. "Then, we simply must wait for her to expire. Deprive her of water, and it'll take 72 hours."
"Or I kill her myself", the witch snarled, snapping her fingers as an hour glass appeared. "You got one hour, girl, until your life ends!"
"Why not just kill her now and be done with it?" Astos asked, watching as she left.
"I am not risking that light killing me as well", the witch remarked, shaking her head. "I'll brew my poison, force it down her throat with my minions, then those slippers will be mine!" She laughed menacingly, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Astos rolled his eyes, vanishing in a portal of darkness, leaving the girl sobbing alone.
XxXxXxX
"The Entrance Hall", Scarecrow remarked as they stepped into the large, stone structure. "The upper areas must be guarded something fierce... I got an idea though."
"You do?" Ren asked, looking at him shocked. "And I thought you didn't have a brain."
"Well, he might not have a brain, but he isn't stupid", Tin Man commented, sighing a little. "And I might not have a heart, but something in me just aches for poor Dorothy being up there all by herself."
"I... I might not have a lot of courage", the Lion remarked, dawning a brave face suddenly. "But I want to lead us in finding Dorothy!"
"Oh, look at you three", a voice rang out, causing them all to jump as Astos appeared out of nowhere, smirking at them all. "Unfortunately, this is as far as you'll go! In less then an hour, Dorothy will be dead, and the witch will get what she wants!"
"Are you sure about that?" Gamma roared, charging forward and tacking Astos, clearing the path.
"Go!" Ren shouted at Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. "We will hold off Astos!"
"But what about killing the witch?", Tin Man asked.
"Once Astos is done, we'll join you in taking out the witch", Alina declared, nodding and smiling at them. "Now go!" Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion all nodded and ran off, disappearing into the darkness of the castle. Astos snarled and kicked off Gamma, narrowly dodging a keyblade swing from Ren before leaping up and landing on a nearby window sill.
"Fira!", Astos shouted, holding out his hand and shooting a bunch of fire balls at them.
"Barrier!", Alina shouted, a wall of light energy appearing in front of all three of them. The fireballs slammed into the barrier, disappearing instantly in a puff of smoke.
"Oh, not bad little mage", Astos smirked and glared at them. "But I have more then that up my sleeve! Darkness!" With a snap of his fingers, the area around them suddenly became shrouded in darkness, causing all three of them to be unable to see. Astos began to crackle with laugher, which seemed to come from all around them. "In the darkness, I could be anywhere at anytime. You three will be slowly tortured by my powers, before I finally grant you mercy one by one."
"Lux!" Ren shouted, pointing his keyblade and shooting out a orb of light magic at the darkness, however the holy magic seemed to vanish into the darkness, uselessly disappearing as Astos laughed even harder.
"Not even your light magic can pierce this darkness!", Astos declared from all around them, as Ren and Alina both shot out more light magic, and Gamma began shooting anywhere he could. "Submit, and embrace the darkness, before your eventual death in the warm embrace of the shadows. Now, Drain!"
Dark tendrils shot forth from the darkness and wrapped themselves around Ren and Alina, causing them to scream in pain. Ren felt his life slowly begin to drain out of him and into the tendril, feeding Astos' mighty dark powers. Alina squirmed a bit, before slowly beginning to lose her strength as her eyes drooped. Gamma, who wasn't grabbed due to being a robot, charged forward and yanked Alina free from the darkness, before leaping forward and freeing Ren as well.
"You forgot about me", Gamma shouted, aiming his arm gun again.
"I didn't forget about you", Astos retorted. "I just cannot drain a robot! But it matters not, for your programming cannot stand your creator's daughter suffering. You three are still within my darkness, and you cannot escape while I continue to drain you again and again."
At that, Ren snarled a little, smirking suddenly. "Guess again, Astos! You shouldn't have done that, cause I think I can replicate that little trick of yours. DRAIN!" Ren held out his hand and a wave of darkness shot out of it and slammed into the darkness around them. Suddenly, as if a cloth that was being vacuumed into Ren's hand, the darkness began to be drained from the air and into Ren's hand, replenishing his strength and causing the dome of darkness to vanish, leaving Astos floating in the air, looking down at them stunned.
"H-how is that possible!? You were able to replicate my spell by only having it used once on you!"
"What can I say, I'm a natural at using the darkness". Ren smirked, his hand still brimming with a dark aura. "Your master used the same mistake of using darkness on me before I turned it back on him. Now it's your turn! Drainra!" A wave of darkness shot out of Ren's hand, slamming into Astos and causing him to scream in pain, as his body seemed to become thinner and wrinkle in various places. Ren gripped his hand to stop the spell, before suddenly his hand was filled with light as a white aura of energy surrounded him. "Luxra!" A white flash of light shot out of Ren's hand, vaporizing Astos within the energy, the only thing left being the four crystals that Astos mocked them with earlier. Ren walked forward and picked one up, the gem just barely fitting in his hand.
"Perhaps I should hold onto those", Gamma suggested, walking forward and supporting Alina, who was looking at Ren with a bit of fear.
"Ren", Alina muttered. "I'm a bit concerned with how adaptable you seem to be with darkness. I mean, this is the second time darkness hurt you, and you just turned it back on the person that used it on you."
"I can do the same with Light too, you know", Ren pointed out. "Cure!" Ren held his hand up, hitting her with a green light as Alina breathed a sigh of relief at the healing, standing up fully. Ren sighed, looking down at his hand. "I don't know, it just seems like when it comes to light and dark magic, I only need to be hit or see the spell once to be able to master at least the basic version of it. Not sure why I was able to pull of the intermediate versions just now, though."
"You just seem to be a natural at light and dark magic", Alina shrugged, before smirking a little. "But at least I still got the one up on you when it comes to the other spells, eh?"
"Very funny", Ren joked back, before turning back to the corridor that Scarecrow and the others ran down, missing Alina's smile fade as she looked at him concerned. "Alright, let's go kill a witch."
"RUN!", Dorothy's voice suddenly shouted. Ren and company stared shocked as Dorothy and the others came into view, running up to them and panting, stopping just short of them.
"Don't we still have to kill the witch?" Ren asked, looking at the exhausted group.
"You can if you want", Tin Man gasped for air, almost falling over. "We're getting out of here!"
"Leaving so soon?", the witch's voice asked, as she appeared in a puff of smoke, the wooden doors slamming shut that lead out of the entrance hall. "I think not! The heartless have yet to feed, and now that Astos is gone, I have the heartless all to myself. Appear!"
Swarms of heartless began to pour from the floor and walls, surrounding the group and slowing closing in on them. The witch's normal winged monkey minions stood around them as well, though did not approach and only held their weapons out to threaten them, just in case they broke out of the heartless wave. Ren, Alina and Gamma began to slay each heartless as they approached, with some help form Tin Man and Lion, though it was clear the witch was only toying with them, made even more clear by the fact that the witch was throwing fire balls at them and laughing, One of the fire balls grazed Scarecrow, who caught on fire instantly, which caught the attention of Alina, who held out her staff and shouted, "Water!". A burst of water shot out and put out the fire, though the water also flew at the witch, slamming into her, which caused her to let out a scream of pain as, suddenly, she began to shrink.
"Ah! Look at what you've done, you brat! I'm melting! Melting!". The next thing they knew, the broomstick clanked on the ground as the witch completely vanished, leaving behind only steam and her discarded robes.
"Did... did I just kill the witch with a splash of water?", Alina asked, blinking in shock as her companions finished off the remaining heartless.
"She's dead", one of the monkeys muttered, looking in shock from the still steaming robe to the group. "You killed her!"
"And what of it?", Ren asked, pointing his keyblade at the winged creature. "You want to join her in hell?"
"The Wicked Witch of the West is dead!", the monkey shouted, as all the monkeys suddenly cheered in joy. "Oh, thank you all, thanks to you we are free at last!"
Ren blinked in shock, lowering his keyblade and turning to everyone else, who all shrugged in shock at what was going on. Dorothy cleared her throat, stepping forward and speaking to the monkey nearest the broom. "Her broom... can we have it, please?"
"Yes, of course", the monkey said, picking up the broom and handing it to her. "We shall spread news of the Wicked Witch's death, now that we are free! We shall sing of your victory though the streets of all of Oz!"
"Alright, you do that", Ren sheepishly muttered, turning to the others and sighing a little. "Let's go back to Oz and see if this so-called wizard will keep his word." But as they began to leave, something inside of Ren caused him to stop and turn. A keyhole was shimmering in the middle of the castle floor, and before Ren even knew what was happening, a beam of light shot out of his Keyblade, entering the keyhole and causing it to vanish with a sound that sounded like something locking.
"What… was that?", Ren asked no one in particular.
"I think I know", Gamma said, walking up to him along with Alina. "The keyblade can be used to lock and unlock any lock, including the heart of worlds. I'm guessing the Wicked Witch of the West's castle is built on top of the heart of the worlds."
"Isn't that dangerous?", Alina shuttered. "I mean, if the heartless get to the heart of the world, they can devour it and send the world into the oblivion of darkness."
"Just like what happened to Destiny Islands", Ren sighed, shaking his head. "Ok… at least we know this world is safe now. Let's go back to Oz and get Dorothy and the others what they are searching for."
XxXxXxX
"I can't believe my eyes..."
Dorothy was holding up the broomstick to the giant, green floating head, before placing it on the ground at the throne of Oz. She stepped back, giving a small nod before clearing her throat and speaking. "Please, sir, we've done what you told us. We've brought you the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West, so we would like you to keep your promise to us and grant our wishes now."
"Not so fast!", Oz shouted, his voice booming out. "I'll have to give the matter some thought. Go away and come back tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow!?" Dorothy shouted, glaring at the head. "But you said-"
"Tomorrow", Oz commanded. "NOW GO!"
"You have had plenty of time to get our promises ready for us!", Tin Man yelled up at him.
"Yeah!", Lion roared, his bravery apparent for the first time ever.
"Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz", the head commanded. "I said to come back tomorrow."
"I think that's enough of your tricks, isn't it, Oz?", Ren asked, glaring up at him. "If you really were so great and powerful, you'd keep your promises to us. Or, is it that you are not as great and powerful as you claim to be?"
"Insolent fool, you dare-"
"I do", Ren stated, looking over at the curtain he noticed move earlier. "Though, I think we are all tired of talking to a projection... how about we see the real you? Fire!" He held his hand up, and before anyone could do anything, Ren shot out a blast of fire, which burned away the curtain and revealed a man sitting there at a computer which was attached to a camera, the man looking over at them, which caused the head projection to move the same way. Alina and Gamma both looked stunned, as slowly Dorothy and the others realized what exactly was going on.
"Oh... uh, pay no attention to the man who's behind the curtain", Oz muttered, the projection and the man speaking at the same time.
"You humbug!", Scarecrow shouted at him.
"Well, yes... I am a humbug", Oz admitted, standing up and walking forward, which caused the projected green head to vanish into nothing.
"You're a very bad man", Dorothy shouted at him.
"Oh, no, not a bad man", Oz cowered a little, nervously fidgeting. "I'm just a very bad wizard, that's all."
"Well, you better be good enough to keep your promise to Dorothy!", Scarecrow demanded, crossing his arms. "She was counting on you to go home! And what about my brain, what about the heart you promised Tin Man, or the courage you promised Lion?"
"Well, yes, but...", the old man muttered. "I don't necessarily need to keep my promise to you. You see, you've got them. You've had them all the-"
"Oh no you don't", Tin Man snarled. "You don't get off that easily!"
"Maybe he has a point", Alina suggested, looking over them all. "It was Scarecrow that made the plan to get Dorothy out of the castle, and Lion showed a lot of courage when he volunteered to come with us and even lead the way to Dorothy, and I don't know many people who don't have a heart that would care so much for someone held captive like Tin Man did."
"Exactly", Oz smiled, looking over all of them. "You see, you only were limiting yourselves by what you thought you didn't have. Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion... you have always had what you sought, it just took the right circumstances to let our what you always had all along."
"Just like what happened with my darkness", Ren muttered, looking at his hand.
For a few moments, no one said anything, not even Dorothy who just looked over all three of her friends with anticipation. Finally, it was Scarecrow who spoke first. "I think he's right... I mean, I always thought I was dumb just because I was made of straw... but when Dorothy was in danger, all I knew was that I had to think of something to do in order to help her, so... I did."
"And just thinking of Dorothy captured and held all alone made my chest hurt and my eyes water and begin to rust my body", Tin Man commented, looking down at his chest and putting his head over it. "Is... is that was heartache was? Did I have a heart this entire time?"
"And while I am so scared all the time, I can't help but think about what Ren said", Lion reminisced, looking at the purple eyed teen. "I might be scared, but my courage came from getting past the fears I had of what could happen to us, and just acting instead. I had courage all along, I just needed to get past my fear in order to use it!"
"But... what about me?", Dorothy asked, looking at Oz. "It's not like I've always had the ability to go home... right?"
"Probably not", Oz frowned, looking over at her. "But, I know where you are from, as I am from there myself. You see, I landed in this strange land from a trip I took on a hot air balloon, and I think I can make the journey back, but of course they made me ruler of this land, so I stayed."
"Y-you really think you can take me back?" Dorothy asked, grinning ear to ear.
"Yes, well, I need to repair my hot air balloon, but I believe I can do so", the pony wizard replied, scratching his head. "If you don't mind staying awhile while I make the preparations."
"Oh, of course", Dorothy smiled, nodding and looking over at Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. "I get to spend time with my new friends before I leave, after all."
Ren nodded, "You won't feel like the wait is as long with them here."
"You three aren't going to stay?", Tin Man asked, seeming disappointed.
"We can't", Alina replied, sighing. "We defeated Astos, but he already unleashed the four fiends onto the land. If we don't go and stop them, then Dorothy's home could be gone before she even gets a chance to go back."
"We understand", Lion smiled, nodding at them. "You three make sure nothing can threaten her home, while we make sure Oz keeps his promise to return her there."
"Right!" Gamma declared, making a fist and nodding. "Deal."
"Good luck to you guys", Scarecrow smiled.
"Goodbye", Dorothy nodded at them, "and thank you for everything."
"Take care", the three outlanders replied, knowing that as long as Dorothy had her three friends, now that they discovered what they had wanted all along was always with them, she would be okay, even if Oz took his time repairing that balloon to bring the young girl home.
A/N: I might start cross-posting this story on AO3, but I am not sure yet. Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Next post might not be until 2024, since the holidays get kind of busy for me.