It was strangely warm in the Vinkus and Dorothy and Lion were getting eaten alive by what must have been the equivalent of mosquitoes. They had been walking though a forest if a mass of dead looking, black trees constituted a forest. It was rather creepy looking, the way the branches twisted and contorted around one another, looking almost like claws. After a while, they came to a sign.

"I'd - turn - back - if - I – were – you." read Lion who nodded in agreement and turned away but Tinman and Scarecrow held him back, shaking their heads. They walked a few more steps and were confronted by two dark owls that hooted with a creepy directness as if they were intentionally hooting at them. Dorothy took a closer look. They had red eyes! Was it a disease? Lion shrieked and ran only to be lifted clear off the ground by his companions, his legs pedaling the air. They set him down, rolling their eyes, Dorothy as well. They should have just bought him vodka and let him loose. A drunken Lion must surely be courageous.

"I don't suppose there're any spooks around here?" said Scarecrow nonchalantly.

"That's ridiculous," scoffed Tinman. "Spooks. That's silly."

"D – Don't you believe in spooks?" said Lion, sounding like a child complaining about the monsters in their closet.

"No." replied Tinman. "Why would I – AH!"

Tinman suddenly whisked off his feet and thrust straight up above the treetops as if yanked by invisible strings tied to his head. He began to scream hysterically, waving his axe uselessly as he was suspended in mid air. They tilted their heads, watching the spectacle with raised brows, both in awe and trepidation at the spooks sudden resentment. Then out of the corner of her eye, Dorothy thought she detected movement and she turned to look. There was a sudden flash of green against the black bark of the trees and tall, indistinguishable shape shifting amongst the shadows. Dorothy felt her stomach sink and she yelled:

"IT'S THE WITCH!"

The Witch appeared around the corner of a tree and they all turned to face her except Lion who took one look at her and bolted into the trees, hollering bloody murderer.

"Aha! I got you now-" the Witch began when Tinman dropped from the sky and crashed almost on top of her. She jumped back, her eyes suddenly wide in surprise. "What the -" and was cut off as Tinman's axe came crashing down on her head, striking her with the top side of the blade with a loud, metallic pang. Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tinman watched helplessly as the Witch's body jerked at the impact and her eyes rolled back into her skull to expose the whites. Then she fell forward onto her face, unconscious.

They stood there for a moment at a loss.

"Well….." said Scarecrow after a while. "That was embarrassingly effective."

"Uh huh." said Dorothy, her voice rising with shock as she noticed red lines beginning to trail down the Witch's face. Turns out Witches do bleed. She turned to Tinman. "You alright?" she asked to distract herself.

"Yep I'm – whoa what happened?" he exclaimed, sitting up and gaping at the body on the ground.

"You're axe fell on her." said Scarecrow bluntly.

"It fell on her?"

"Quite hard actually."

"How the hell – oh." He got up surprisingly without any trouble and joined Dorothy and Scarecrow in their awkward befuddlement. Lion was still nowhere to be seen.

"Well the whole point of this trip was to eventually dispose of her." proposed Tinman.

"Nick Chopper that is just heartless." said Dorothy, slightly appalled that he could suggest killing someone so casually. Toto yapped in agreement. "I mean we can't just kill her."

"Well not kill her per say." replied Tinman. "I mean we could just….disable her or something."

"We'd better think of something fast before she wakes up." piped up Scarecrow, holding his pistol as nonchalant as ever.

"Wakes up?" said Dorothy, not meaning to sound patronizing. "She was hit in the head with an axe that dropped from the sky! I'm surprised her head hasn't completely split open!"

"So maybe we can just -" Tinman froze mid sentence and they all exchanged wide eyed expressions as a groan was sounded behind them. They turned around slowly in rising dread to see the Witch, painfully beginning to gain consciousness. She groaned again and rolled over onto her back, raising her hands to press against the sides of her bloody head.

"Owwww" she moaned, her eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings. They watched her slowly sit up, leaning heavily on her arm. She squinted up at her surroundings for a moment like a confused drunkard before catching sight of them, making them freeze in fearful anticipation. And what came out of her mouth surprised them all.

"Who are you people?" asked the Witch.


Soooooo what did ya think?