(Terrible Scoodlers)

*June 15th, 1906*

*Scoolderland*

Dorothy held Toto in her arms while facing off against the terrible creatures while Button-Bright, Shaggy Man, and Polychrome stood by to watch the events unfolding right before them.

"I won't tolerate you nor anyone here messing with my friends and dog! Just leave us alone and allow us to proceed with our journey" Dorothy commanded the creatures before being met with a maniacal laugh from the creature which caused several more to appear from the cliffs while more laughter could be heard.

"Now there are more of them, lots of them! What shall we ever do.." Polychrome spoke out while looking in all directions in hopes of seeing something she could use to defend herself while Button-Bright shook his head in denial.

"Don't Know but I'm getting scared.." Button-Bright spoke out with growing fear in his voice which caused Shaggy Man to pat him on his fox head.

"Don't be! Dorothy shall save us from harm and I have my trusty love magnet as well, so fear not, my boy!" Shaggy Man advised Button-Bright before gulping in sign of slight fear as suddenly, one of the creatures began to cry out in a high-pitched voice.

"Scoodlers! We want you trespassers as soup! We shall boil everyone here alive so we can finally feast upon your bodies!" One of the creatures spoke to the gang while Dorothy remained calm but still a bit shocked nonetheless.

"These Scoodlers must be cannibals, if I wanna call it that considering we're human and they're not but we gotta find a way out of here before it's too late!" Dorothy advised her friends sternly while everyone nodded their heads in an understanding way as our heroes prepared for any means necessary to escape.

"I don't want to be eaten as a soup or anything of the sort.." Button-Bright spoke out fearfully while Shaggy Man nodded in agreement while gulping once more before pulling out his love magnet.

"I'm with you, my boy, But fear not! I have my love magnet and this shall make those terrible creatures love us as if a mother loves her child or rather how someone loves to eat a nice steak" Shaggy Man spoke out while showing off his object; however, this only made Dorothy and the others glare at him while the Scoodlers laughed at this.

"Oh, we will love you, all right. Love you in our SOUP!" Another scoolder responded before cackling to himself while Dorothy and the others were left to think on their toes during this.

"Alright, I guess our only option is to do something drastic.. something that will change the foundation of this adventure…" Shaggy Man spoke to everyone once more while Dorothy, Button-Bright, and Polychrome all stepped forward in anticipation of what their friend was going to say.

"You have a plan? I'm curious to know what it shall be. All I want is to escape this terrible place" Polychrome responded to Shaggy Man in a curious voice while she waited for whatever her new friend was going to say.

"Well, we should…RUN FOR OUR LIVES!" Shaggy Man responded in a panicky voice before quickly taking off while Dorothy and the others quickly followed suit as they began to run as well.

"G-Good thinking! If we were to fight them face to face then things would have been bad! So good thinking" Dorothy spoke to Shaggy Man with a slight smile on her face while continuing to run as far away as they could; however, things weren't gonna be that easy.

"Getting away. Huh? Not on our watch! You shall become our breakfast, lunch, supper, dinner, and dessert!" The scoodler spat out angrily before reaching for its head to take it right off.

Next, he aimed it at the back of Shaggy Man and finally, he threw it in hopes of hitting its target which of course was proven to be successful as it hit Shaggy Man on his back.

"W-We gotta get out.." Shaggy Man uttered before collapsing on the ground which led to Polychrome screaming while Dorothy and Button-Bright had shocked expressions on their faces.

"S-Shaggy Man?! Are you okay?! Get up!" Dorothy spoke to her friend with panic in her voice and as if things couldn't get worse. More heads of the scoolders surrounded them in huge numbers which was followed by Toto barking at the creatures.

"D-Damn it! They got us surrounded! That must have been their plan all along…" Dorothy spoke out in defeat before sitting on the ground along with Polychrome and Button-Bright.

"I guess we have no choice but to go with them. We can't afford to anger them any longer. I just hope they can let us go though.." Polychrome spoke to Dorothy with defeat in her voice while the rainbow girl saw another scoodler with a purple face approaching them with a rather angered look on his face.

"Follow us or your unconscious friend dies and gets eaten right in front of you people!" The scoodler commanded Dorothy, Button-Bright, and Polychrome in a threatening manner before turning around to direct them to their headquarters.

This was followed by Dorothy, Polychrome, and Button-Bright proceeding to walk over to their headquarters which was away from the main road while some scoodlers carried the unconscious body of Shaggy Man.

"I don't want to be soup. I wanna go home but I don't know where home is. I'm hungry.." Button-Bright spoke with sadness in his voice before being comforted by Polychrome who gently stroked his fox hair.

"We're going to be okay. I'm sure Dorothy has a plan so don't lose hope yet, okay?" Polychrome whispered to the boy while Button-Bright nodded in an understanding way which made the rainbow girl smile back as they made their way to the entrance of the headquarters of the Scoolders.

The main headquarters had a dark greenish color with a huge boiling pot in the center which was currently burning in anticipation of their next meal.

"Don't want to be Soup '' Button-Bright spoke out while looking at the huge kettle pot which was followed by more scoolders laughing maniacally.

"Too bad! We shall feast upon your meat! So shut up and keep following us or otherwise there will be trouble" The same scoodler spat out in a threatening way while making his way to the crown-shaped building as he opened the door.

"That must be the Scoolder Queen. Maybe if we can negotiate with her then maybe we can get out of here alive but the question is how are we even going to negotiate…" Dorothy thought to herself while observing the queen who was wearing all red.

"What have we here? It seems you've found more meat for us. I'm quite pleased with this!" The Scoodler Queen spoke in the same high-pitched voice as her fellow subjects with a proud tone of voice before walking over to Dorothy and observing her.

"Child, what is that mark on your forehead? It appears to be a star! Explain it to me at once!" The Scoolder Queen commanded Dorothy while pointing at her forehead as she waited for an answer in regards to the mark.

"This? Well, it was the result of me being protected by the Good Witch of the North. It's also a protection charm meaning that nobody and nothing can't harm me but It could be something more, I can't explain it.." Dorothy explained to the queen as this caused the scoolder leader to let out an expression of curiosity and wonder.

"If I can eat this girl and gain her powers. Then I shall be powerful enough to invade the rest of Oz and eat as many Ozians and other residents as I want!" The Scoolder Queen thought to herself before letting out a slasher smile which made Button-Bright shudder.

"Take them away at six o'clock. Put them in the meat choppers so we can start the boiling process and don't forget to add plenty of salt, onions, garlic, and a dash of red peppers as well!" The Scoolder Queen ordered one of her subjects with such joy in her voice while pointing at the dungeon door in the process which shocked Dorothy and the others.

"No, we won't be going! Let us free already! We haven't wronged you in the slightest" Dorothy spoke in defiance while crossing her arms which proved to be troublesome as the queen's face turned hot red before flipping her head to reveal a purple one.

"W-What did you say?! Who dares defy what I have to say or do! You impudent little BRAT" The Scoolder Queen spoke in response to Dorothy's words while angrily clenching her fists.

"S-She's right. W-We won't be ordered around by you people any longer. So please allow us to escape.." Polychrome spoke out in support of Dorothy while Button-Bright nodded in support; however, this only proved to be troublesome as the Scoodler Queen grabbed her head which quickly put Dorothy on her guard.

"Little, impatient, brats!" The Scoolder Queen screamed in anger while taking off her head and throwing her head in hopes of hurting them; however, this was quickly caught by Dorothy which surprised both the young girl and the queen.

"D-Dorothy!" Polychrome cried out in hopes of her new friend being okay as she saw a faint glow emitting from Dorothy's forehead which made her eyes widen with surprise.

"Run as fast as you can for the entrance and across the bridge! I'll follow you guys along once I deal with the queen" Dorothy advised her friends while feeling a purple aura appearing around her body as she pushed back the head of the queen, knocking her into a few scoolders.

"Got it! I'll carry Shaggy Man and we'll be waiting for you, Dorothy!" Polychrome responded before running over to pick up Shaggy Man and latching him onto her back; however, more scoodlers appeared to surround them.

"We're trapped! What shall we do? I don't wanna die and be eaten by these monsters" Button-Bright spoke in fear while running over to the nearest corner to protect himself as Dorothy began to speak out.

"I don't know but it seems like we gotta fight our way out of this place and with this mysterious power from my mark, we can get the job done so let's show these creeps what we got!" Dorothy responded in a motivated tone of voice before cracking her knuckles in preparation to face off against the scoolders alongside Polychrome.