(The Encounter)

*January 16th, 1907*

*Iv Plains*

The next morning arrived as everyone was ready to depart for Winkie Country to see Tin Woodman.

Dorothy was dressed in her fighting gi and her french bob-cut hair was done extremely well.

"Alright, this watch is going to take us to Winkie Country and that will save us trouble." Flynn spoke to everyone while Keiko and the others nodded.

Meanwhile, Rose locked her cottage door before turning around and walking toward the gang.

"It's been quite some time since I've been to that country, I wonder if Tin Woodman is still even ruling over those Winkies." Rose spoke to everyone as she got close to them.

Soon after, Flynn pressed the button on his watch and a brilliant flash of light consumed them, sending them straight to their destination.

*Winkie Country*

The gang arrived at the beautiful yellow country and not too far from them was Tin Woodman's castle.

The yellow imperial castle stood strong and was a beacon of hope to the Winkies.

"Wow, this castle looks great, I can't believe the Wicked Witch of the West used to live here.." Keiko spoke in awestruck and wonder as she walked across the road.

"Tell me about it, the castle used to be old and damp but my friend told the Winkies to remodel the old castle into a new one, and it turned out to be quite wonderful." Dorothy spoke to Keiko as she followed her.

The gang slowly made their way toward the castle as everyone admired the beauty of the palace and the statues of Tin Woodman.

"Your friend seems to be full of himself, no offense.." Keiko told Dorothy while she looked at the statues with an uninterested expression.

Dorothy on the other hand didn't take the comment well as she began to speak.

"My friend isn't full of himself. He likes his home that way, and he's a kind person, so don't say that about him, Keiko." Dorothy responded to Keiko about her comment; however, that didn't seem to matter to her.

"I'm just speaking my mind so don't attack me or anything Dorothy," Keiko clapped back at Dorothy as she continued walking toward the entrance.

After the small argument, Dorothy didn't press the issue but rather kept walking until she and the others reached the entrance.

"I hope he's not busy.." Betsy spoke out while seeing Dorothy ringing the doorbell.

The sound of the doorbell was loud as it generated a chime that resembled a lullaby.

"Coming!" A familiar voice called out from behind the door, surprising Dortoby as the door opened, revealing to be Scarecrow.

Once the door opened, Dorothy and Scarecrow were happy to see each other, the pair hugging each other warmly.

"My dear friend! I've missed you so much! I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye from the last time you visited." Scarecrow greeted Dorothy cheerfully while the young girl smiled warmly.

"I've missed you as well, my good friend. I wish we could catch up but I'm on an important mission with my friends.." Dorothy responded while introducing Scarecrow to Keiko, Flynn, and Rose, motioning her hands to present them.

The first to step up was Flynn, who shook hands with Scarecrow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Flynn, I hope we can become on good terms." Flynn greeted Scarecrow with a smile as he continued to shake hands.

"And I'm Scarecrow, it's always a pleasure to meet Dorothy's friends." Scarecrow greeted back, tipping his straw hat in respect as he saw Keiko being the next to step up.

"You can call me Keiko." Keiko greeted Scarecrow, her introduction being a simple one while she felt her hand being shaken.

"Pleasure, and what a beautiful name, I like it," Scarecrow greeted back as he finished shaking hands with Keiko.

The last person was Rose and she skipped the introduction and went straight to asking about Tin Woodman's whereabouts.

"Excuse my rudeness but I don't have time for such introductions, please tell us where Tin Woodman is at, he rules over the Winkies, correct?" Rose asked Scarecrow while she sat down on the couch, waiting for an answer.

This action caught Scarecrow and the others off guard as they sat down on the couches.

"He's off doing royal duties so I'm briefly watching over the castle and Winkies, why?" Scarecrow responded, eager to know what was going on.

This answer surprised everyone in the room since this meant their hopes of finding the Winkie Sword were low; however, our heroes were unaware that the sword had already been claimed.

Soon after, Flynn began to speak, a serious look forming on his face.

"We need to prevent someone from using it for terrible purposes and that someone is my twin sister Zorya." Flynn responded to Scarecrow, taking a deep breath before telling his story.

"Zorya intends to collect each sword from their respective countries, here, Quadling, Gillikin, and Munchkin country and if all swords are collected then the Sword of Oz shall appear, possibly granting them the power to do anything.." Flynn explained to Scarecrow as he looked down, not wanting to remember any painful memories as his expression was one of hurt.

"S-She wants to turn everything into darkness…" Flynn spoke once more while feeling Keiko's hand gently tuning his, making him smile.

The new information surprised Scarecrow greatly as he quickly stood up from the couch.

"Sword of Oz?! There's no way she wants that! Anyone who wields such a thing will be practically unstoppable; however, only a worthy warrior with a sword equal to its power can take care of the job.." Scarecrow responded in a shocked voice while Flynn looked up, feeling intrigued by this new information.

"What do you mean, Scarecrow? Could we find this sword?" Flynn curiously asked Scarecrow while this was met with him shaking his head in denial.

"No, that power must come from whatever sword is deemed worthy so it technically could be anybody.." Scarecrow responded, feeling confused as well.

During this, Rose showed no signs of worry as she got up from the couch.

"Interesting, not even I knew such a thing, tell me, do you know where the Sword of Winkie is? You seem like a friend of Tin Woodman." Rose spoke to Scarecrow, her expression being mixed with curiosity and seriousness.

This question made Scarecrow think for a moment, his mind going back to every important conversation he had with Tin Woodman and sadly, he had no information regarding the location.

"I'm afraid I don't have any information on this location…It seems.." Scarecrow attempted to answer; however, his words were cut off by the sound of laughter.

The laughter caught everyone's attention as Dorothy, Flynn, Keiko, and Betsy quickly got on guard while Scarecrow grew a little nervous.

Suddenly, a large explosion erupted, destroying a small part of the castle, and shocking everyone.

It was none other than Zorya, and her presence surprised everyone.

"S-Sister?!" Flynn cried out in desperation as he saw his sister for the first time in years.

After hearing this, Zorya looked at her brother and she smiled, not out of kindness.

"My dear brother. You truly intend to stop me rather than join me, right?" Zorya spoke to her brother in a calm yet disappointed tone of voice while she entered the palace, the sounds of rubble being moved over as she did so.

During this, Dorothy looked at Zorya and she noticed how sad she looked; however, there was a fierce determination as well within her eyes.

"So, you must be Zorya. Why do you plan on turning everything into darkness?!" Dorothy asked Zorya, eager to know why she was doing all of this while Flynn nodded alongside her.

"Sister! You don't have to do this, please give up on your plans or else you're gonna do something you'll regret…" Flynn pleaded with his sister, hoping she'd listen to his words.

Sadly, these words fell flat as Zorya shrugged it off by chuckling.

"Poor dear brother. You still believe in such fairy tales. I've chosen my path and there's nothing you can't do about it. I'm doing this for you, remember?" Zorya responded with a smile while Keiko stepped up, speaking for Flynn.

"Are you crazy?! Trying to turn the world into darkness isn't something you want to do for a loved one, tell us, what's your goal!" Keiko asked Zorya in an annoyed voice, hoping to get answers from the girl.

Once Zorya heard those words, she chuckled at Keiko before answering the question.

"You won't understand. None of you will. I'm doing this to make my dear brother happy, just imagine a world where nobody won't have to worry about their problems. A world where we're all dead.." Zorya responded in a serious voice while Dorothy shook her head in disbelief.

Following this, Dorothy turned into her super form, ready to take down Zorya.

"No. You're going down, Zorya! I won't let your nihilism consume you or us!" Dorothy cried out in motivation, ready to attack Zorya.

Once those words were spoken, Zorya smiled as she pulled out her sword.

Rose saw what was about to happen and she opened her mouth to warn Dorothy.

"Dorothy! Wait!" Rose warned her student; however, it was to no avail as she saw Dorothy already charging at her.

Dorothy charged toward Zorya, tackling her to the ground as both girls were pushed outside and into the garden where the statues of Tin Woodman were located.

"Do it. Kill me, Dorothy! Remove me from this world.." Zorya ordered Dorothy as she stared up at her opponent, eager for the girl to finish her off.

Of course, Dorothy wasn't going to give in as she tried to pin Zorya's arms to hold her down; however, she felt Zorya kicking her in the stomach.

The impact of the kick caused Dorothy to gasp in pain as she collapsed on the ground while Zorya got back up.

"Such a shame. It seems you don't have the willpower to shed innocent blood.." Zorya spoke to Dorothy with a smile, looking down at her as she got into a stance, preparing her attack.

Suddenly, Dorothy got up and she quickly backed up to give space.

"It's over, Zorya! Your brother doesn't want this. Your plans end today!" Dorothy cried out to Zorya, hoping to reach out as she charged directly at her, ready to attack.

"Lunar Moon: Eclipse Slash.." Zorya whispered in a soft quiet voice, slashing her sword directly at Dorothy.

All of a sudden, the entire area went quiet as moon crescents appeared before slashing Dorothy, causing her to scream in pain as she collapsed on the floor, reverting back to base form as she fell unconscious.

Soon after, Zorya walked toward Dorothy's unconscious body, ready to slit her throat.

"Goodbye Dorothy…" Zorya whispered to her as she was ready to kill her; however, her brother called her name, stopping her.

"STOP!" Flynn cried in desperation as he ran toward the scene along with the others.

During this, Scarecrow quickly came to Dorothy's assistance, picking up her body.

"Sister..please! This ain't what our family would have wanted.." Flynn pleaded with Zorya as those words seemed to strike a nerve with her as she stared at him.

Once Zorya turned her attention to her brother, she spoke once more.

"They weren't family. Just useless people that will eventually fade away, dear brother. With that, I shall take my leave. I came here in hopes of reconnecting but it seems you don't intend on joining me.." Zorya responded in a cold voice as she walked away from the scene before turning back for one more statement.

"Oh, the Sword of Winkie has already been retrieved, Flynn." Zorya spoke to her brother for the final time before quickly disappearing from the scene.

The revelation shocked Flynn and the others as they realized they had come out here for no reason.

"Damn it!" Keiko uttered in defeat while Rose shook her head in disbelief.

"That girl is going to be trouble for us…" Rose thought to herself as she had a serious look on her face.

Meanwhile, Flynn fell to his knees, longing for his sister to see the light.

"Zorya…" Flynn uttered in defeat as he knew that things weren't gonna get better between the pair.

*The heated encounter ends with Dorothy's defeat..*