Oz: Crossroad of Legends

"Yeah you better run loser," Bowser called out to the fleeing loser. "Gwa ha ha, I can't wait to see the look on lord minion face, when he sees how awesome I become," Bowser said with great pride.

"Phew its finally, over I think I am going to," Aylssa dozed off as her fatigue finally caught up to her. Aylssa unable to fight off fatigue any longer, fell asleep and off of Bowser's shoulder to the ground below

"Ms Aylssa," Kamek called out as he summoned a couple of Paratroopa who flew off to catch the falling Aylssa. "You okay?" Kamek asked Aylssa who nodded her head yes and was out like a light. While Kamek was checking up on Aylsaa, Kamek saw his wand give off a weird purple aura again.

As the last of the soldiers retreated from the battlefield, time seemed to come to a stop as the evoglobins revealed themselves to Kamek once again. "We thank you from the bottom of our globins," they told Kamek. "Unfortunately, the sacred power of adreline can't last forever," they told Kamek. "With the battle over and our Bowser like host safe he shall revert to normal very shortly," they told Kamek. "Remember to always be on the top of your globin there may be times that require your help again," the evoglobins said as they disappeared and time restored its self.

Kamek was only talking to the evoglobins for a few seconds but it felt much longer. While Kamek was getting adjusted to his surroundings he saw Bowser began to glow. "Hey neat trick, didn't know I could glow like this?" Bowser said in surprise.

"The battle is over and he is safe, umm sire," Kamek tried calling out to Bowser.

"What is it I just forced that oh so scary mage to flee like the loser he is," Bowser said as the light began to flicker faster. Suddenly, Bowser was engulfed in a purple light and as the light faded and flickers of green, red, and yellow lights began to flow away from Bowser, he saw he was high in the air and no longer a giant. "Uh, oh," Bowser said as he crashed right back into the earth face planting himself on the ground.

"Ouch what was that for, hey you make me big again," Bowser demanded from Kamek.

"Um sire I can't do that right now," Kamek replied.

"Whatever loser, just hand me my things and lets go see what lord minion face wants," Bowser huffed as he made his way to the south bridges along with Aylssa sound asleep upon the flying broom Kamek was using and Kamek chasing after Bowser.

---

Location; Palace throne room dood

While everything was going on Mario, Starlow, and Kammy were knocked out fast asleep. While Mario was fast asleep, one of his cards began to fade away, the one of Robin began to gradually fade away while Flanna could be seen perched on the shoulder of Rosalina.

"It probably won't work on me," Nobunaga answers, keeping his tone polite and civil. "I'm not human, or anything even close. And if there's even the faintest trace of anything even resembling Holy or Light Magic, it will do more harm than good. Besides, I possess natural regenerative powers."

He looks over at the giant tree in the far distance, and his tone turns serious. "How soon can you marshal your forces? I don't know if Mason was telling the truth... But if he was, then this whole damn battle was just a distraction. The main event is over there, at the World Tree. Apparently, the Ephesians have an Outlander of their own, and according to Mason, his power makes a mockery of mine. They've sent him to capture Yggdrassil."

Irving shrugged. "He was going to bleed to death anyway. Why not just kill 'im instead of leavin' him in pain? Yer not suggesting we waste precious items to heal someone who wants to kill us, are you?"

---

"Relax, it's non-elemental magic", said Sterling, "and if you don't want it, then just save it for later. Give it to the wife as a gift or somethin'."

Sterling tossed the cylinder to the Outlander to catch. "...I don't right know what they were tryin' to accomplish with a distraction. Sure, we want the territory, but the only reason ol' 'lexus hasn't captured it already was that he'd be caught in a three-way-war between the witch's forces 'n' a bunch of what-does-he-call-'em-oh-yeah 'profligate' rebels who've already fought off Ephesian forces before, so we know they ain't typical joke rebels. If nothin' else, the Outlander can clear one or the two of 'em out for us. 'Least we could have just one target then. Anyway, closest force there is ol' 'Lexus's Legion. He can be roarin' to go in no time, lest it turns out the Outlander in question is something that needs a mite more preparation time, like a behemoth, or dragon, or giant goat demon, or my ex-girlfiend.

...Anyway, I'm here to tell ya to get the hell off this field ASAP. It was nice to look at, but that little fight with Mason caused quite the damage to the Earth, which would mean The Witch is probably gonna show up soon, put the Earth good as new, and clobber anyone that happens to be nearby. She's a dangerous one, leads an army, and yer Outlander pals are lookin' like they could use a breather. No offense, but you lot would probably be wiped out if you stick around long enough to see her."

"Did you forget the 'wants to kill us' part?" said Irving. "This is a war, now. If we don't stop 'em, then they'll just keep tryin' to attack us and our friends and... what's the word? Yeah, comrades. If they're soldiers, that's what they signed up for. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't hold it against him. I wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't hold it against 'im."

"Whatever'" muttered Irving as June rode away. He glanced at one of the four healing cylinders given to him. "But I'd rather save these for friends instead of enemies."

Irving put the cylinder away and began walking to the bridge.

Location: Yggdrasil

It wasn't "darkness" that emanated from the tree, since it was daytime and that would be silly. But it certainly gave off a vibe one might attribute to darkness; a general sense of ill will and apprehension mentally, a churning stomach, senses dulled in favour of disgust, and the urge to avoid eye contact physically. Never mind how you avoid eye contact with a tree. Point is, the tree was doing something nasty.

Ozma and her army reapplied their gas masks before the wind could blow through the trees, and it was a good thing too since whatever malicious intent was being stored in the tree had at least partially traveled along that breeze. You could tell by the way the grass suddenly started re-sprouting over the battlefield that you didn't want to inhale any of whatever was in there.

"Prepare for entry!" Ozma shouted over radio, "Set time loop retrieval alarms and break out some big guns. No anti-magic inside the tree. We do this the old fashioned way."

"Yes boss!"

One of the big guns in question was an ATV with a gattling gun mounted on front. Totally old fashioned. The gun, which looked like it had be appropriated from something much larger, was quickly put to work along side many similar rigs, since the instant Ozma made for the entrance, Kalidahs streamed out of the entry way in defense. The bullets didn't exactly hurt them, but the tickling distracted them long enough douse them with paint guns filled with Soft potion. It was super effective.

"Follow my lead!" Ozma yelled, using the ground wet from potion and partially melted Kalidah as a slip'n'slide to get inside the tree. The smiled when she saw her usual bouncer missing. The anti-important-person spells on the entry way had faltered, and the tree was open for business.

"Actually," said Sterling, "they're not my men per-say, just on loan. But sure, we can extract ya'll. We were gonna take some of them robot ogres back for study anyway, a few hitchhikers ain't gonna be too heavy of cargo. Just get 'em all in one place to make things easier."

Two more Angelos appeared nearby, to which Sterling made a signal, they saluted, and they began teleporting the Ogre corpses away in pillars of light elsewhere.

"Don't worry about the Ephesians causing any more trouble as they run fer the hills with their tails between their legs. We'll watch 'em and make their journey home a bit 'interestin'' for 'em: land mines, hit-'n'-runs from Angelos, howitzer fire, sniper shots, pit falls, all that good stuff. Ya done good en--"

A distant roar diverted their attention. Sterling looked over to the world tree and saw a certain something perched on top.

"...Darn. I was jokin' 'bout the dragon thing", said Sterling. "Well, at least it's not my ex-girlfriend. Then we'd might as well wave the white flag."

---

Irving looked over the distance to see something moving ontop of a giant tree in the distance. Yep. That's definitely a dragon.

"...Well s***", he muttered under his breath.

As June approaches the bridge, the... spikey... turtle... dragon... thing is berating the commander person for some reason.  Another turtle-human-hybrid-looking thing shows up, carrying an unconscious woman on a floating broom.  That at least assuages June's fears that they're evil monsters... probably...

June's just reaching earshot when a loud roar pierces the air.  She notices a giant tree in the background that she somehow missed before.  A dragon is perched upon it, howling to the heavens.

Even from this distance, it's obvious the thing is massive.  "A... manakete?" June asks no one in particular.  He looks a good deal bigger than Drake, though...  Armads starts to glow warmly on her back.  She arrives at the bridge just as the... spikey-turtle-dragon yells a taunt back at the dragon.

Location: Yuleia

Celeste looked out the window.

"...huh"

*click*

He snapped a picture. Then he went back to the potions before him, figuring out how to create the ghost type.

---

When the Witch is attacking, you'd notice it immediately. There's the thunderclaps, the earthquakes, the tordanoes, and the ocean of witchspawn pouring out of every natural element in the immediate vicinity. You'd hear the cackling, ranting, barking, raving madness about home that pours from the Witches mouth more freely than Flying Monkeys pour from thin air. You'd see her slim feminine figure, black dress and dual-spire hat wrapped up in the shadow of a hellhound and a piercing green aura. That's two senses, which all things considered, is a good score. Oh wait no, you'd feel her kill you. That makes three.

But it's an entirely different scenario when the Witch is cleaning. Such a menial task isn't worth the effort. Sure the Witch is there, but she doesn't draw attention to herself. She's just a girl and her dog, floating above the clouds, looking down on the world and it's systems like one would an ant hill, while herself being the size of an ant.

The first thing anyone would notice is the wind. Just a breeze sweeping past that makes you cough. Depending on your distance from the epicentre, that might be all that you notice. From a hundred meters away you might get to notice the wind becoming so strong. From five hundred meters away, your body would have enough time to recognize the pain of explosive decompression, contrary to the previous cases. All that said, it's still just one sense.

If you were a kilometer away, you might get to notice the actual rounded funnel shape of the Witch's Vacuum Cleaner before it over took you and made your head explode. Another kilometer out and you might see the earth being melted down into lava before it catches you. That brings us back up to a fair three senses, since you'd undoubtedly hear the wind if you had a chance to see it.

If you were several kilometers out, and we're talking out-at-sea distances, you'd probably be safe if the Witch wasn't coming your way. And you'd be able to soak in the whole five sense experience. From that far off point, you would see what looks like a gigantic twister. But in reality that's not really a twister. That's a vacuum. There's no air on the inside, and what you're seeing is just the outer edge where the air meets the void. It's all being siphoned out and jettisoned into space. Who knows what kind of contaminants human filth pollutes the air with? The ground is liquefied beneath the vacuum as it travels, returning the earth to it's default state. Crevices are filled and blemishes are dissolved. The force of the vacuum leaves behind a non-uniform surface, but a bit of contouring gives the land a nice aesthetic. Rivers are vaporized instantly, but are put back into place and refilled once the sterilization is over.

Nothing living could really survive the process, as any good sterilization should ensure. But that's the circle of life. Organic matter does like to burn in the presence of lava, but in an oxygen-less vacuum it just shrivels up into charred husk. The nutrients aren't wasted at all. They sink into the lava to be distributed to the new soil. Occasionally there are stubborn blemishes that don't decompose, and those are dragged down into the mantle to be processed for a longer period of time.

After the Witch is done removing impurities, new seeds are blown in and planted through a second wind. The Earth is fertilized and irrigated as as it rapidly cools, and bears sprouts within a minute. By the end of the day, it looks good as new.

And now you may ask "Why does this only happen in plains, and not forests or over cities?" The most prominent theory is a simple one. The tool does not fit the task. Would you use a lawnmower to trim your hedges or take care of your rat problem? No, that would be silly. You use hedge trimmers on hedges, and use a combination of rat poison, traps, athletic cats, and a professional exterminator on rats. But I digress. There are many things about the Witch that simply aren't understood.

Anyways...right. The Ephesian army felt a breeze, and coughed.