𝓦𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝓘𝙩 𝓑𝙪𝙧𝙣, 𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗖

𝓒𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝓝𝙞𝙣𝙚

Emerick Diggs' POV

"Okay, so this will either teleport us to Emerald City or murder us shamelessly," Emerick told his group bluntly. He had unofficially appointed himself as the team leader because they were all relying on his realm-hopping device to work. It should work, but this was his first test.

"Pardon?" Marigold Sun said, blinking blankly. Her long blond hair was braided to reduce drag and a sun necklace dangled on her chest. Emerick wondered how much force and weight Rapunzel's hair would logically take to actually pull someone up a tower, but stopped that train of thought when he knew he was getting distracted. "This is safe, right?"

"Forget I said anything." They were bookball field behind Ever After High where Emerick could safely conduct his experiment. They planted the big device on the field and Emerick stooped to the ground, making some last-minute adjustments.

"This will end badly," Aurelio Stiltskin said. "Have you considered the logical side of this?"

"Of course I have," Emerick protested. "Sort of."

"Let's just get started," Scout sighed as they set up Emerick's machine. It was quite large, it took all of them to heave it across the field. His machine was a creation of knobs, antenas, and whatnot. After some quick tinkering, Emerick grabbed the remote from his pockets.

"This isn't dangerous though, right, Emerick?" Scout asked once Marigold and Aurelio were out of earshot.

"I'd give it a 50% chance." The device was supposed to replicate the tornado that sent Dorthy to the Land of Oz. Of course, it was possible that the machine could fail and whisk them away to somewhere else entirely or rip them to shreds. Once noticing Scout's nervousness, Emerick assured him. "I was kidding, my research on this has been flawless. Even if it does fail, the chance of us getting harmed or worse is very small."

"Right..."

"Okay, guys, ready for this?" he declared, holding up his remote device. Marigold and Aurelio exchanged worrying glances, but nodded regardless. Emerick pushed down on the button, holding his breath.

Nothing happened.

"Uh," Emerick said anxiously, cracking an awkward smile. "Give it a sec." After waiting for a few minutes, it was a fruitless attempt. "C'mon, you stupid machine," Emerick swore under his breath, jabbing his finger on the button. "Why won't you work? Work, you piece of shi—"

Suddenly, strong gusts of wind erupted from the machine's opened sprout, almost like a teapot. Emerick yelped as he was carried by the currents of wind, floating around in the sky. In a blur of chaos, he heard Marigold scream, her braid coming undone and her hair whipping in the wild wind. They were swept away in the rapid tornado, spinning round and round until Emerick was dizzy.

Emerick spotted Aurelio who was uncontrollably being tossed around the wind. Wait, where's Scout? Shit."Scout? Scout!" he yelled, his voice muffled over the loud whips of the breeze. Pressure squeezed his chest as they spun viciously around the building tornado, losing sight of Ever After High. His ears popped as he tried to scream, but nothing came out. They were thrown around the skies like ragdolls. Where's Scout? Emerick thought of all the horrible things that could have happened, and Willow would never forgive him if something happened to her twin brother.

"What the hell is going on?" Aurelio's voice bellowed from below him, though it was faint.

"Hold on tight!" Emerick shouted drowsily, his energy taken away from him. He shut his eyes, clamping his hands over his ears, letting out a wordless wail. Through the slits of his eyelids, Emerick saw a growing glow above them as they were swept away by the tornado. "Brace for impact!" he screamed. The pressure rushed to his head, and it was unbearable, but then, Emerick realized he was falling.