**When the wicked witch takes over OZ, Emma and her friends travel there to stop her. They get more than they bargained for when she sends an army of undead flying monkeys after them. Desperate to save her family, Emma uses a dangerous spell in an attempt to create a weapon strong enough to defeat Zelena's army. Instead of the enchanted sword she was trying to conjure, Emma finds she has accidentally transported the fiercest zombie killer in the universe, Rick Grimes, into OZ.
Between Carl and Henry, no house has a chance of keeping them inside. Beth can control animals with her voice. Daryl's a werewolf. And since there's no swearing in the fairy tale realm, every time Merle talks, he sounds like Ned Flanders. Enjoy!**
Once Upon a Walker
Chapter 1
Traveling by tornado wasn't pleasant. But it was by far the quickest way to get to Oz. When the wind finally died down, Emma took in her surroundings. She and Mary Margaret exchanged concerned glances. The place looked much worse than they imagined it would. The last time they were here, the forest was lush and green. Birds were chirping and the singing of the munchkins filled the air. Now, the place was eerie and barren. Most of the trees were dead or dying. The entire forest was covered in a strange veil of sickly green moss.
David reached out, touching the moss with his fingertips and cringing at the texture. It was somehow slimy and dry feeling at the same time. When he raised his hand up and took an experimental sniff, the acrid smell of dark magic filled his nostrils. He held his hand out to his wife. Mary Margaret leaned slightly closer, quickly jerking back once the smell hit her.
"Smells charming," she joked. Henry giggled, lifting his hand to sample a bit of the nasty muck for himself. Regina snatched him by the hand before he could touch the closest tree.
"Do not touch that," she warned.
"Why?," Henry asked, "...is it dangerous." She wrinkled up her nose at the disgusting muck.
"No. It just stinks," she admitted. Emma snorted out a laugh.
Out of their small group, Regina was the most familiar with the land of Oz. She led them carefully through the dying forest, heading for the place she thought was the best place to start their quest. The munchkins hated the wicked witch almost as much as she did. And even if they weren't willing to help, she hoped they might be able to provide some information as to what had befallen this land. Not that she was underestimating Zelena's penchant for evil. But this looked like it might have been the work of more than just one witch.
"Whoa," Ruby said, stopping in her tracks and looking around her with wide eyes. She had only been to munchkin land once. Years ago. But she remembered it as a colorful and happy place. Now green moss grew on the previously happy yellow roofs of the munchkin homes. The yellow brick road remained. But the bricks were no longer flat and evenly spread. They buckled together on top of the uneven ground. In some spots the moss had overtaken them completely. The small pools were brightly colored fish used to swim were filled with dark stagnant water. Many of the small houses were caved in completely. Others had holes in the roofs and broken windows. All the giant flowers were dead, their sad crispy brown heads folded over and pointing towards the ground. Some of the damage was clearly from the moss. But there was no way all the visible damage was done by an invasive plant. The bridge that used to lead across the largest coy pond was broken and charred, like it had been hit with a ball of fire. And a few of the caved-in homes also appeared to have been burned down.
"Is this munchkin land?," Henry asked. Regina nodded her head. "What happened to all the munchkins?," he added, his eyebrows knitting together with concern.
"I'm sure they're just hiding somewhere," Mary Margaret said. Her words were clearly meant only to comfort her grandson. Because the look on her face indicated she didn't really believe the former inhabitants of this small village were alive. Looking around at the absolute destruction, she didn't know how anyone could have made it out alive.
Emma took a step forward, feeling the crunch of a long discarded lollipop under her boot. She headed towards the closest small cluster of destroyed cottages. Watching her step, she peeked inside a few of the broken windows, assessing how much damage had been done to the insides of the homes. They were full of broken furniture. And one was completely burnt black, like a bomb went off inside of it. Not very promising for the munchkins. But at least there weren't any dead bodies. The entire place looked like it had been deserted for years. Which was strange, because they knew it had only been a few weeks at most.
A strange noise caught Emma's attention, interrupting her exploration of the place. She was hard pressed to describe the noise. But it almost sounded like hundreds of bats flapping at the same time. Or a giant flock of birds taking flight. She glanced up at the sky, her body suddenly frozen in terror. The sky was darkening above them. And what looked like a cloud was moving towards them far too quickly.
"Henry!," Emma yelled. "GET DOWN!" She pulled the sword off her back, readying herself for a fight. Emma felt someone shoulder up next to her and was relieved to see David also had his sword out. Mary Margaret and Ruby were stringing arrows in their bows. And Regina had her hands up, a small ball of magic already swirling between them.
A body hit the ground a few feet away from them, rolling and twisting with the force of the impact. At first it appeared to be a disfigured man. But when the creature clambered to its feet and spread its ragged batlike wings out, Emma could see it was not a man at all. It was a giant monkey. With wings. The monkey bared its fangs at them, letting out an eerie high pitched scream. Its blood red eyes were focused on Mary Margaret. It only took one hop in her direction when she released an arrow, hitting the monster dead center in the chest.
"Not today!," she announced.
Emma noticed that while the arrow had taken the creature down, it wasn't dead. The giant monkey was flopping around on the ground, all of its limbs seizing at once. Sickening unnatural noises were coming from the monster. And finally its entire body went stiff, its back arching up off the ground so intensely that for a moment it almost appeared to be levitating. Emma breathed a sigh of relief when the monster's body finally went limp and collapsed onto the ground. But then a low growl emitted from the beast. Its body was moving in a jerky unnatural way. And when it rose back onto its feet, the creature's eyes had gone milky white. The creature was dead. But it was still up and moving. And after them. Regina hit it with a blast of light, knocking it down again. But other than slowing it down momentarily, the blast hadn't done any damage. David pressed forward, chopping the creature's head off the moment it regained its footing. The body of the monkey slumped to the ground. But quiet growls could still be heard coming from its decapitated head as the jaws chomped and its teeth gnashed.
"The monkeys. They're immortal," Regina said. Normally the woman was unshakable. But even she looked afraid as she glanced up at the giant swarm of flying monkeys that were headed straight for them.
"What should we do?," David asked, looking to Emma for an answer. She took one more look at the swarm of monkeys that was darkening the sky.
"RUN!," she hollered, grabbing for Henry's hand. Emma tugged the boy along with her as she moved, trying to put as much distance as she could between her son and the horrid creatures.
"Over here!," Ruby called out, ducking inside a dilapidated house. Unlike the smaller cottages, the house looked like it had not been burned too badly. The small group ducked inside, shoving anything they could find up against the windows and doors.
"What now?," Emma asked. She could hear monkeys landing nearby, their horrible screams filling the air outside their hiding place.
"We need something we can use to fight them," Regina hissed. She gestured for Emma to come closer to her.
"What are we doing?," Emma whispered. It was clear from Regina's expression that she didn't have a clear idea of what exactly they were about to do. But they had to do something. Unless they wanted to be torn apart and eaten by undead flying monkeys.
"A conjure spell," Regina said.
"What are we conjuring?," Emma asked.
"I'm not sure."
"Isn't it dangerous to do a conjure if you don't know what you're conjuring?," she asked. In fact, Emma was quite sure that she had been told never ever to do a conjure unless she was conjuring a specific item. Regina gave her a pointed glance, ticking her head towards the howling screaming giant monkeys outside. "Fair enough," Emma said. She placed her hands over Regina's. That way she could add her magic, but Regina could control the spell. Emma closed her eyes, saying a silent prayer first. Then trying to think about the best way to save them from the monkeys. They needed a powerful weapon. Something that would kill even the undead.
The ball of magic between Regina's hands began to grow and swirl. Emma kept her hands in place as long as she could, But soon the ball transformed into a small tornado. The swirling wind knocked her back. She scrambled backwards, trying to stay out of its path of destruction. Emma grabbed Henry, sheltering his body with hers. The tornado grew and expanded, forcing all of them to the edges of the room. And then just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone in a puff of magic.
Emma was expecting to see a weapon on the floor when the magic cleared. Instead, there was a small group of people huddled together. They looked strange. Almost like they were from Storybrooke. But dirty and disheveled. And they were all heavily armed. There were four men, a boy that looked about Henry's age, and a young woman with wavy blonde hair.
'What in the flock just happened?," one of the men asked, shaking his head like he was trying to make some sense of his surroundings. Before Emma or anyone else could even attempt to explain, the hastily barricaded door was smashed in. A monkey stepped forward, hissing and baring its teeth. The man that spoke didn't hesitate. He yanked a large colt python from the holster on his hip and fired, hitting the monkey between the eyes. Emma watched, expecting the monkey to begin thrashing as it reanimated. But instead, its body remained limp and still. The gun the man used killed the creature and stopped the magic from bringing it back to life. Or maybe it was the direct headshot that did it. Either way, Emma was taking it as a win.
More monkeys began to converge in the doorway of the house. Emma climbed to her feet, watching as the men that just arrived all began to draw their weapons and fire on the creatures. Before long, they had the monkeys on the run. The monsters took to the sky, flying back the way they came.
With the unexpected threat temporarily eliminated, the newcomers turned towards Emma and her group. Then they all started yelling at once. Where the hickory are we? What just happened? Where those flying monkeys? Where's Maggie? Who the funion are you? What in the fiddly diddly is going on?
Finally, the man with the colt python managed to quiet the rest of his companions down. He still had his gun in his hands. Emma looked down at her own hands, realizing she was holding her sword. She took a deep breath and tucked the weapon away. The man hesitated for a moment longer. Then he put his gun back in his holster.
"Where are we?," he asked. Before Emma could answer, one of the man's companions spoke up.
"In the middle of one bad fiddling acid trip," the man announced loudly, waving around the large metal sleeve on his arm. Ruby coughed, trying to hold in a laugh.
"Um," Emma said, "...you're actually in Oz. Like from the wizard of Oz."
"What?," the man with the colt asked, his face full of confusion and disbelief. "Oz?" Emma nodded. More than anyone, she was well aware of how crazy she must sound to these people. It took her a long time to really believe that all this was real. And sometimes she still had moments where she wondered if she wasn't caught inside some sort of strange dream.
"Is everyone here very flundering high right now?," the other man asked, "...or is it just me?" Ruby giggled again, this time not even bothering to hide it. Emma glanced at her, noticing Ruby's face was flushed. Her canines were also elongated. Though that was really to be expected since they just almost had to fight an entire flock of flying monkeys. Emma turned her attention back to the man that seemed to be the leader of the group. The man with the colt. She took another deep breath. And then she stuck her hand out, offering it to him.
"Thanks for saving our lives," she said. The man smiled at her, making her stomach flutter. He reached out and took her hand, gripping it firmly. Emma felt a charge of energy. And her skin tingled where it was touching his.
"Yer welcome," he said. "I'm Rick Grimes." Emma smiled back, swallowing the lump in her throat. Then she offered her name in exchange for his.
"Emma Swan."