The Wonderful Land Of Oz

Chapter 68: (Escaping the Scoolders)

"Guys! Run across the bridge!! We need to get out of here as soon as we can! Even if the queen fails, some of the others might still get us" Dorothy warned her friends, this was followed by Polychrome nodding her head before grabbing Button-Bright and quickly flying further away from the chaos with such speed; however, Shaggy Man slowly began to wake up from being knocked out.

"W-What in the world is going on?! Did we escape the creatures?!" Shaggy Man curiously asked the rainbow girl while looking over to see the many heads chasing after them which surprised him.

"Not quite but Dorothy will be following us so we gotta get out of here" Polychrome responded while continuing to fly further away while being cautious of her surroundings; however, the rainbow girl looked down and noticed water below them which prompted Shaggy Man to come up with a plan.

"I have a plan, Poly! You must fly below toward the water; however, you must quickly fly back up right before the heads get to us, right? The end goal is for them to fall into the water.." Shaggy Man whispered to Polychrome while this was met with the rainbow girl nodding her head before speaking once more.

"I don't know if this is going to work but I'm still going to try" Polychrome whispered back before flying below where the water was which was followed by the scoolder heads chasing after them.

"After them! Don't allow our meat to escape!! The queen will be angered if we fail'' The scoolder spat out to his fellow creatures before locking onto our heroes and proceeding to follow them toward the water, unknowingly falling right into Shaggy Man's trap.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Button-Bright asked his two friends while hanging on to the leg of Shaggy Man as he waited for an answer.

"This will work! These scoolders should fall right into our trap!" Shaggy Man responded while looking over to see the water getting closer.

"Alright! This should be enough. Let's hope this works.." Polychrome spoke to herself before quickly flying upwards with all of her might and with that, the scoolders that were chasing after them had fallen into the water.

"C-Curses!!" The Scoolder spat out in defeat before being sunk into the deep waters thus defeating that group of scoolders for good which was seen by Polychrome and her friends.

"I knew my plan would work! Let's settle down and wait for Dorothy, shall we?" Shaggy Man spoke out with relief while this was met with Button-Bright and Polychrome smiling warmly.

"Sounds like a plan. Good thinking back there.." Polychrome responded warmly while continuing to smile at Shaggy Man before noticing something approaching them.

"What's that?" Button-Bright asked curiously while Polychrome shrugged her shoulders with the same curiosity that the boy had.

"I don't know but I hope it's Dorothy.." Polychrome answered while continuing to look at the sky and to everyone's relief, it was Dorothy who brought smiles to their faces.

"Sorry for the wait. The queen's head got stuck in the cave entrance which allowed me to escape but I see that everyone is in one piece, right?" Dorothy spoke to her friends while everyone nodded their heads with a look of victory on their faces.

"We showed those creatures who's boss! I bet these whippersnappers won't eat anyone again! I'll tell you that!" Shaggy Man spoke out before laughing to himself victoriously while this was followed by Dorothy and the others laughing along with him.

"How funny. I don't know what that word means but I'm just glad we all made it out alive and that's what matters most" Polychrome spoke out while still laughing to herself at what she just heard.

"I agree! And now we can finally head to the Emerald City, let's go, everyone!" Dorothy responded to Polychrome and everyone else with a huge smile on her face before resuming the journey after a small detour filled with hopes of reaching the Emerald City as safely as possible.

Our heroes continued on their adventure for a short few hours until it was sunset and by now, Dorothy and the others were nearing closer to the Emerald City.

"It's so hot. It feels like we've been walking for hours. It reminds me of back when I was a little kid.." Dorothy spoke out while wiping some sweat that was on her forehead before taking a sip of water from a flask which was provided by Shaggy Man while Polychrome had a look of confusion on her face before realizing Dorothy's words.

"Oh yeah, my father told me that people like you get hot in certain areas. Must be a human thing since the heat isn't bothering me" Polychrome spoke out while looking over to see Shaggy Man slouched over on a tree alongside Button-Bright before turning back to Dorothy.

"Oh yeah, I also must ask you something and it's about what you said back at the scoolder area or whatever, mind if you tell me about it?" Polychrome curiously asked Dorothy while this was met with a confused look on the girl's face as she didn't know what was going on before speaking once more.

"I-I don't know. I caught one of their heads and the next thing I knew, I had a pink aura surrounding me. It's strange but I'm going to tell my friend about this once we reach the Emerald City" Dorothy responded before sitting down while Polychrome did the same thing.

"I see. I don't want to make judgments but maybe you were blessed with Queen Lurline's power some years ago. When I saw it, It reminded me of her but like I said, It's just me and my reckless guessing" Polychrome spoke to Dorothy while letting out a slight chuckle, this seemed to make Dorothy more intrigued as she was going to say something regarding the information; however, something else caught her attention.

"S-Sorry to change subjects but I believe I see a sign or something.." Dorothy spoke to her friend while pointing at the sign which wasn't far away from our heroes as this seemed to catch Polychrome's attention as well.

"I do. Let's check it out. It could lead us to the Emerald City..." Polychrome responded while she and Dorothy walked closer to the sign before stopping in front of the sign and this brought a smile to Dorothy's face as she began to look at the sign.

"All PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO VENTURE UPON THIS DESERT. For the Deadly Sands will turn any living flesh to dust in an instant. Beyond the Barrier is the LAND OF OZ. But no one can reach that beautiful country because of these sands." The sign displayed which made Dorothy smile with joy.

"The Deadly Desert! We're close to the Land of Oz!" Dorothy spoke to Polychrome with joy in her voice as the young girl knew that she and her friends were getting close to their destination; however, the Deadly Desert stood in the way of our heroes... 

*Scoolderland*

Despite being a few hours, the rest of the scoolders struggled to set their queen free whose giant grown head was stuck in the cave entrance.

"Are we still going to feast once we free the queen.." The scoodler spoke to his fellow creature; however, this was interrupted by the Scoolder Queen telling them to quiet down.

"Pipe it down and help me get out of this darn cave entrance! All of you scoolders are useless..." The Scoolder Queen spoke out with disappointment in her voice.

Alas, the terrible scoolders also didn't get their meal but maybe this is a lesson for those creatures to capture their prey more carefully next time.