Oz: Crossroad of Legends

Alexus looked down at the one non-turtle Outlander. "Ahh yes, I remember you now. You were the fool who made a spectacle out of themselves, only to be effortlessly crushed by the Ephesian general. You would've been pitifully slain, were it not for your teacher. Consider the fact that you stand here a chance to redeem yourself, Outlander."

He turned his attention back to June. "We should discuss this as we march. Join me in the front, and I shall explain in detail."

Once the Outlander signaled to the others to march, Alexus allowed June to join him at the front. Aside from the generals, the main branch army took up the front, the Legionaires were in the middle, and the Outlanders took the flank.

"I know not what the general of wind has already told you. The dragon is a shapeshifter, capable of fire magics. Claims to be immortal, but whether he spoke the truth will be irrelevant once his limbs have been torn, his head thrust through a spike, and his tongue torn out. My Legionaires are armed with Adamantium-tipped spears; capable of piercing the toughest materials and barriers. They shall pierce the dragon's wings, and we shall force him to ground level, where we shall strike him blind, further cripple his ability to fly, cut his windpipe, and maul him until he lays still. If the dragon continues to resist, we shall guide our forces into the tree's interior. He will be forced to follow in his human form, and he wouldn't dare damage the tree with his flames, less the Ephesians he serves like a dog turn against him.

There is also a sorceress wench, who appears to strike with light magic", Alexus continued. "I had requested to face the dragon in honorable combat -- honest and purchased in blood -- and the profligate launched a sneak attack in the middle of it. Your objective is to engage this wench, and execute her before she interferes again."

Alexus scoffed. "Your attempts at backtalk are meaningless, like that of a pup facing down a feral Dyrecat. It is almost comical. Do as you please regardless, although I warn you that the word of an Ephesian or their allies isn't worth the dirt in the sole of your boots. That is, even if they were to entertain the concept of negotiation."

June glances at Baron and mutters quietly.  "It appears Bowser believes he's found a compatriot in his pig-headed idiocy."

June gives Alexus the warmest smile she can muster.  "I'm glad we were able to come to a mutual understanding so handily, General Pussycat - so long as you remember I've sworn to serve your queen and your queen alone, we shall have no issue.  Your advice is noted, though I doubt I'll find them any less agreeable than yourself.  If there's nothing further?"

Yggdrasil towers ahead, looming through the trees of the forest...

The World Tree, Yggdrasil

Looming beyond the forests and plains of the eternal valley, the majestic tree of life stood tall and proud, towering above the surrounding mountains like a leviathan rising above the sea. But as the Outlanders and the armies of Yuelia approached the World Tree, a purple haze settled around them. The eery fog-like haze seeped down from the highest branches of the tree, where it appeared to be thickest, covering the valley below in an unsettling veil. And then, out of the fog at the highest point of the tree, humongous black wings seemed to materialize into existence, stretching from horizon to horizon. They were followed by a terrifying, vague outline of an impossibly, incomparably huge dragon, as dark as night with horns each as large as a city. Deep red eyes pierced through the fog, staring impassively down at the approaching army. It was a sight that would chill the blood of even the stoutest heart. It was like Fear itself sat perched atop the World Tree.

The dragon leaned down over the tree, the fog scattering before him, and his crimson eyes narrowed. When the dragon spoke, his voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was a terrible sound, like cracking thunder, only if thunder could speak.

"SO YOU COME AT LAST, LITTLE MAN, WITH YOUR ARMY OF ANTS TRAILING BEHIND YOU. THEY ARE NOTHING. YOU ARE NOTHING. I WILL SCATTER THEM ALL LIKE DUST TO THE WIND. BUT YOU SHALL NOT BE SO LUCKY. YOUR FOOLISH ARROGANCE AND MEANINGLESS PRIDE HAS INCURRED THE WRATH OF AN ENTITY YOU CANNOT HOPE TO COMPREHEND. I HUMORED YOU WITH YOUR MEANINGLESS DUEL AND HELD MY TRUE POWERS BACK. I SPARED YOUR LIFE. THAT SHALL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. YOU HAVE UNDERESTIMATED ME, AN ELDER GOD, AND YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE WITH YOUR VERY EXISTENCE."

Ethan's glowing crimson eyes suddenly snapped towards the young woman at Alexus's side. It can't be... That's... Armads? And her scent... Grima? Yet... Something is off. I see... She must be another Outlander, summoned to aid Yuelia just as I was summoned to aid Ephesus. She appears to be from my world, and yet... Ah. A different time. She must be from the past of my world- or a world parallel to mine.

Ethan's temper flared. More of the purple fog seeped from his nostrils. Even here, Grima still DARES to defy ME?! Defy my family?!

"YOU THERE, GIRL! WIELDER OF ARMADS! BEARER OF THE MARK OF GRIMA! YOU WOULD DARE RAISE YOUR WEAPON AGAINST ME?! YOU WOULD DARE TURN THAT AXE AGAINST YOUR FOREBEAR?!"

Location: Yuleia Celeste Tech Labs, Oz Division

A knocking on the door prevented Celeste from pressing the button. The doctor groaned. "What!?" He called out as the door opened.

Nelson was startled by two things. First, that Jirachi wasn't the one answering the door. Second, that Celeste seemed to be wrapped in Christmas lights and wearing a cross between a hockey helmet and a colander on his head.

"Um...I found this..." the Oz researcher said, producing a card. It was plain white with a symbol that cued Celeste to flicker through his mental catalogue.

"...Moran?" Celeste said, snatching it out of Nelson's hands. He quickly jumped over to a nearby magnifying glass-looking contraption and scanned it. "It's a magical card, with signatures similar to Anthea's. Possibly him. Or so it seems. Where did you find this?"

"Um...the soldier who passed it to me said it was found on the floor by the Maid's quarters. It reminded her of an Outlander card but, seeing as most of them have left, I thought maybe you'd know something."

Mention of the Outlanders leaving was filed away for future analysis, in favour of theories about why Moran was now a card. Maybe they only have a limited time as people. Maybe he ran into something that cued the transformation. His glasses immediately cued up relevant text from Yuleia's library but there was nothing conclusive he could find. Whatever ritual had brought them here had never been done before in this form, and this brand of magic is just so arbitrary it's impossible to make concrete decisions or connections...

"If I may," Nelson interrupted, "What are you doing now?"

"Ah!" Celeste said, snapping back to the real world (always eager to make a show of explaining himself), "Teleporting. I've figured out how to do it. I think. Kind of. I'm piggy-backing along some previously established extra-dimensional information highway I identified using Anthea's card. My problem before was trying to construct my own channels adapting what they call Warp Magic, but I couldn't use that for any long distance without established landmarks. Anthea's card had answers though, seeing as I managed to trace a thread of some kind of magic from her card off to some big tree over...there-ish," He took a breath to gesture at a nearby projection of a map on the wall, Yggdrasil clearly circled in what seemed to be crayon (Jirachi's fault, probably), "And-"

Nelson called off the monologue, "Oh never mind, just get on with your crazy attempts at suicide."

"Ok!" Celeste said, without even a moment's hesitation. "If I don't come back you can keep the Muffin Button. Help yourself."

Celeste hit the button on his gauntlet. Jirachi's embedded GS Ball began to glow, and then in a hot white flash there was nothing left of him in the room.

...

Nelson helped himself to a muffin and left, muttering to himself about now having to clean up the lab.

---

Location: Yggdrasil grounds

Is that the wind? Or is it something more Wicked?

From the top of Yggdrasil to the bottom the tree billowed in pulsing waves as wind swept outwards along branches through the leaves. The tree itself was tremoring as the wind became violent enough to be heard. Leaves whistled first as white noise, but with more acuity it could clearly be heard:

~AhhaHAHaHAHaaAaHaHaHa! iT's tiMe my PretTIeS~

As most organisms do, the land of Oz can detect when foreign invasive material is approaching a sensitive organ. As far as the Witch was concerned, with so many in one place, antibodies were in order.

The earth around the tree let loose a final cloud of volcanic ash, spiraling up into the sky, carried by the ever stronger gusts of wind. The broken ground began to fragment and rise in a reverse sandstorm, churning away volcanic terrain to leave behind moist fertile soil. It's job was done. High above the top of the tree, the ash began to swirl around a central point. The storm became clouds, became streams, became a grinding beating core slowly becoming something more concrete. But that would take time. The standard blueprints would do for now.

Water was scarce in the area, as were solid boulders. But wind...wind was always easy to make. From the branches of the tree burst forth an army of Flying Monkeys. They swarmed outwards from the twister whipping around the tree's centre, jumping down twenty at a time from each limb. They were armed with nothing but their teeth, claws, and wings, but that didn't seem to matter. The feral horde flew forth in a frenzy yearning for the blood of everything with a pulse. The Witch would wait to arm them until her most gracious roommate inevitably set something on fire.

"Accursed fool," Alexus muttered under his breath, watching the twister formed around the tree and the monkeys emerge in a bloodlust-fueled frenzy.

"Soldiers, to arms!" Alexus yelled to the company behind him. "The Witch is upon us! The objective is to enter Yggdrasil's interior! Strike down all who dare to stand in your way!"

A Flying Monkey, the first of many, swooped down at the two commanders. Alexus moved into its path and swung his blade downward, becoming drenched in blood as the monkey's limp body fell in either side of him.

"GO!"

Alexus orders his men to advance, but the dragon's gusts are making anything difficult.  The wind settles as the dragon unleashes its breath.  Even as the devastating attack eradicates anything it touches, it barely does anything to stanch the monkeys' overwhelming numbers.  Soldiers, monkeys, and legionnaires alike have been scattered by the sudden attack and gale-force winds.  The Yuelians are struggling to recover as the monkeys quickly return to the fray.

Many are panicking and firing blindly into the sky, others are fleeing only to be scooped up by monkeys.  A handful of monkeys manage to steal some equipment, making matters worse as they fire wildly at the confused troops.  The legionnaires are handling things relatively well.  Individually, they manage to hold the monkeys at bay with much more efficiency than the others.  Together, the legionnaires are quicker to react and band together into defensive formations the monkeys find themselves unable to penetrate.  The main branch soldiers start following their example, grouping together into small units as they attempt to reunite.

June pulls Armads from her back and looks down at Alexus.  "Rally your men, Pussycat!  Outlanders, charge!  Cut a path forward!"  She kicks Marth into a gallop towards the tree, hacking at low-flying monkeys without looking to see if the others are following.

Despite Irving being at the army's rear flank, the bulk of the monkey swarm was able to reach his group before he could think about shooting them from a distance. One monkey lunged at him from the front, which he was able to block by raising his ryfel, locking with its claws. Before either could parry the other, another monkey snatched Irving's ankle and darted upward, taking the bounty hunter with him.

Crap!

Reacting through instinct, Irving curled up and swung his ryfel upward pointing at his attempted abductor. A shot rang out, the recoil from the one-handed firing hurt Irving slightly and made him loosen his grip on his weapon. The monkey cried out as it was hit by an orb of death magick and let go of him, resulting in him plummeting to the ground screaming as the abomination dissolved into ash.

"AAGH!"

Irving groaned as he impacted the ground. He looked to the side to see the ryfel on the ground a few feet from him, the fall having made him lose his grip. He made a dash towards it, but was tackled by another flying monkey just as it came into arm's reach. Irving fell with his back to the ground, barely able to raise his arms defensively as the monkey standing overhead tried to claw as his face. His arms becoming increasingly bloodied, Irving quickly reached for the pistol in his hip and fired blindly at his attacker. The first shot hit it in the torso, which didn't phase it a whole lot. The second shot missed completely. The third shot hit it in the eye, which finally caused it to reel back in agony. Irving kicked it away and scrambled for his ryfel. The monkey was partway in standing back up when Irving clubbed it with his ryfel at the side of the face, causing a loud crack as it fell and laid still.

Irving ejected the slot.

S***, that was the type-2 one!

Irving quickly shifted to Type-7 fire before running to make an effort to keep pace with June and the others, having already fallen behind.