Chapter 4: Munchkin Land

Kara opened the door and emerged in a place with humble buildings and filled with color, almost like a movie musical. In the center of the town was a spiral of red and yellow that led out of the small village. She looked at the farm house, slightly lopsided where it landed, but otherwise surprisingly intact, and even that seemed more colorful here, or it simply could have been the result of contrasting with the greens, yellows, blues, and reds of the place.
"Krypto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Kara said as she looked around as a thought occurred to her as she looked at the colorful little village. "We must be over the rainbow!"
Just then, a figure flew to them, seeming to come out of the sun itself. She flew gracefully and landed as she looked around. At first, Kara thought she'd stumbled into the daughter of Captain America or something as the black haired woman had a red tube top with gold lining, a golden tiara with a red star on it, silver bracelets, and blue spandex pants with white stars along them with red boots. However, the woman clearly held a strong presence and seemed even older than Aunt Martha and Uncle Jonathan, though she looked about the same age as Clark back home.
"Now I know I'm not in Kansas." Kara said gaping as Krypto growled nervously.
"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" The woman asked.
"Who me?" Kara asked. "I'm not a witch at all. I'm Kara Kent from Kansas."
"Oh." The woman said as she looked down at Krypto. "Well is that the witch?"
"Krypto?" Kara asked. "Krypto's my dog."
"Well I'm a little muddled." The woman said with a chuckle. "The munchkins called me because a new witch has just dropped a house on the Wicked Witch of the East, and there's the house, and here you are, and there's all that's left of the Wicked Witch of the East."
The woman pointed to the bottom of the house, and to her horror, Kara saw two legs in black and white pinstripe socks and dazzling ruby slippers sticking out from under the house. Obviously, the house had landed on the woman Kara mistook for Tess Luthor.
"And so what the Munchkins want to know is if you're a good witch, or a bad witch." The woman finished.
"But I've already told you." Kara insisted. "I'm not a witch at all. Witches are old and ugly."
Suddenly, Kara heard giggling all around her.
"What was that?" Kara asked.
"The Munchkins." Kara said with a smile. "They're laughing because I am a witch. I'm Diana, the Witch of the North."
"You are?!" Kara said, alarmed at what she had just said. True she could get mean if she got stressed, but she tried to avoid anything horribly racist, thanks to having been raised by her aunt and uncle since she was very small.
"Oh, I beg your pardon!" Kara went on. "I've just never seen a beautiful witch before."
"Only bad witches are ugly." Diana explained.
"But my aunt and uncle told me when I was a kid that the witches had all died out in the Middle Ages or something like that."
"Is Kansas a civilized place?" Diana asked.
"A part of the United States of America." Kara confirmed. "One of the most civilized places in the world, despite its problems."
"Well that explains it." Diana explained. "Civilized countries lost the need of witches and magic thanks to electricity and the like; however Oz, the land you're in right now, is cut off from the rest of the world by the Deadly Desert. So much as touch the sands of it, and you turn into sand."
"Holy cow!" Kara gasped. "So if witches are needed here, why are the Munchkins so happy about it?"
"The Munchkins are happy because you have freed them from the Wicked Witch of the East." Diana began. "She ruled over them and made them slaves."
"Oh." Kara said. "But if you please, what are Munchkins?"
Just then, the Munchkins laughed again.
"The little people who live in this land." Diana explained. "It's called Munchkin Land, and you are their national hero, my dear."
Diana then addressed the area around them.
"It's alright. You may all come out and thank her."
Come out, come out,
Wherever you are,
And meet the young lady
Who fell from a star.
She fell from the sky,
She fell very far,
And Kansas she says is the name of the star.
"Kansas she says is the name of the star." The Munchkins repeated as they arrived. They were clearly adults, but they were all the size of children, with the tallest of them only coming to about four feet.
She brings you good news,
Or haven't you heard?
When she fell out of Kansas,
A miracle occurred.
Feeling self conscious, Kara tried to explain the incident to them.
It really was no miracle.
What happened was just this.
The wind began to switch.
The house took pitch,
And suddenly the hinges
Started to unhitch.
Just then, the witch,
To satisfy an itch,
Went flying on her broomstick
Thumbing for a hitch.
"And oh, what happened then was rich." An old munchkin said.
The house began to pitch.
The kitchen took a slitch.
It landed on the Wicked Witch,
In the middle of a ditch,
Which was not a healthy thing
To wish upon the Wicked Witch.
The house began to pitch.
The kitchen took a slitch.
It landed on the Wicked Witch,
In the middle of a ditch,
Which was not a healthy thing
To wish upon the Wicked Witch,
Who began to twitch
And was reduced,
To just a stitch,
Of what was once
The Wicked Witch.
Just then, several Munchkins arrived and handed Kara flowers.
We thank you very sweetly
For doing it so neatly.
You killed her so completely,
That we thank you very sweetly.
"Let the joyous news be spread!" Diana called out. "The Wicked Old Witch at last is dead!"
The whole town burst into cheers and began celebrating.
Ding-Dong! The Witch is dead!
Which old witch?
The Wicked Witch!
Ding-Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!
Wake up your sleepy heads!
Rub your eyes! Get out of bed!
Wake up! The Wicked Witch is dead!
She's gone where the goblins go below!
So go blow on your horns!
Let's all get up and sing!
And ring the bells out!
Ding-Dong! The merry-o!
Sing it high! Sing it low!
Let them know,
The Wicked Witch is dead!
Just then, two figures walked up to Kara. One was dressed very fine, and the other was dressed as some kind of priest or cleric.
"As mayor of the Munchkin City," the man in the suit, the mayor, said. "In the county of the land of Oz, I welcome you most gleefully."
"But we've got to verify it legally!" The cleric insisted. "To see..."
"To see..." The mayor agreed.
"If she..."
"If she..."
"Is morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably, and reliably dead."
Just then one of the taller Munchkins, dressed all in black arrived, obviously the undertaker, as he pulled out a death certificate.
As Coroner, I must affirm.
I thoroughly examined her.
And she's not only nearly dead.
She's really most sincerely dead.
"Then this is a day of independence for all the Munchkins, and their descendants!" The mayor called out.
"If any." The cleric added.
"Yes, let the joyous news be spread!" The mayor called out. "The Wicked Old Witch at last is dead!"
Ding-Dong! The Witch is dead!
Which old witch?
The Wicked Witch!
Ding-Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!
Wake up your sleepy heads!
Rub your eyes! Get out of bed!
Wake up! The Wicked Witch is dead!
She's gone where the goblins go below!
So go blow on your horns!
Let's all get up and sing!
And ring the bells out!
Ding-Dong! The merry-o!
Sing it high! Sing it low!
Let them know,
The Wicked Witch is dead!
As Kara was getting into the celebration, three Munchkins dressed as ballerinas danced up to her.
We represent the Lullaby League.
The Lullaby League.
The Lullaby League.
And in the name of the Lullaby League,
We wish to welcome you to Munchkin Land.
As the Lullaby League danced off, three Munchkin boys, about the same age as her, but only about three quarters her height, arrived with the one in the middle holding a lollipop.
We represent the Lollipop Guild.
The Lollipop Guild.
The Lollipop Guild.
And in the name of the Lollipop Guild,
We wish to welcome you to Munchkin Land.
The Munchkin in the middle handed Kara a lollipop as the Munchkins went around her, happily.
We welcome you to Munchkin Land.
Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la-la-la-la-la-la!
"From now on you'll be history." The mayor said.
You'll be hi...
You'll be hi...
You'll be history.
And we will glorify your name!
"You'll be a bust!" The cleric added.
Be a bust...
Be a bust...
In the hall of fame!
Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la-la-la-la-la-la!
Fa-la-la-la-la. La-la-la-la-la-la-la...!
Just then, in a flash of smoke and fire, a woman appeared. She was dressed all in black, with a pointed black hat. Her hair was red, her eyes were green, with her skin being a very bright green. Unlike the Witch of the East, her face was relatively normal, aside from her scowling appearance. At her sight, the Munchkins rushed off in fear.
"I thought you said she was dead." Kara said nervously.
"That was her sister, the Witch of the East." Diana explained. "This is the Wicked Witch of the West. She's worse than the other one was."
"Who killed my sister?" The witch asked. "Who killed the Witch of the East?"
She then glared at Kara almost instinctively.
"Was it you?!"
"No!" Kara said quickly. "No! It was an accident! I didn't mean to kill anybody!"
"Well my little pretty, I can cause accidents too." The witch said with an evil smirk.
"Aren't you forgetting the Ruby Slippers?" Diana asked quickly.
"Yes!" The witch said as her eyes widen in realization. "The slippers."
She went to the outstretched legs of her dead sister when the slippers were gone, and the legs withered away.
"They're gone!" The witch called out angrily. "The Ruby Slippers! What have you done with them?! Give them back to me, or I'll-"
"It's too late." Diana said calmly as she pointed down, and to Kara's shock, she was wearing the slippers. "There they are, and there they'll stay."
"Give me back my slippers." The Witch said darkly. "I'm the only one who knows how to use them. They're no use to you. Give them back to me. GIVE THEM BACK!"
"Keep tight inside them." Diana advised Kara. "Their magic must be very powerful, or she wouldn't want them so badly."
"You stay out of this, Diana!" The Witch barked as she conjured up a ball of fire. "Or I'll fix you as well!"
The Witch tossed the fireball at Kara when Diana deflected it with her bracelets.
"You have no power here!" Diana said defiantly. "Begone before someone drops a house on you!"
The witch looked up nervously before looking back at the two.
"Very well." The Witch said calmly. "I'll bide my time. But as for you my fine lady, it's true I can't deal with you now as I'd like, but just try to stay away from me. Just try. I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!"
The Witch laughed evilly as she disappeared in another ball of fire as the Munchkins began coming back out.
"It's alright." Diana assured the Munchkins. "You can get up. She's gone. It's alright. She's gone. Get up."
Diana then sighed as she waved her hand in front of her face.
"What a smell of sulfur." Diana remarked before turning to Kara. "I'm afraid you've made rather a bad enemy of the Wicked Witch. The sooner you get out of Oz altogether, the safer you'll sleep, my dear."
"I'd give anything to get out of Oz altogether, but which is the way back to Kansas?" Kara asked, thinking of the Deadly Desert and what Mr. Knight said about Aunt Martha. "I can't go the way I came."
"No, that's true." Diana remarked. "The only person who might know would be the great and powerful Wizard of Oz himself."
All the Munchkins bowed in awe at the mention of that name.
"Wizard of Oz?" Kara asked. "Is he good, or is he wicked?"
"Oh very good, but very mysterious." Diana said knowingly. "He lives in the Emerald City. That's a long journey from here. Did you bring your broomstick with you?"
"...No, I'm afraid I didn't." Kara said with a sigh.
"Well then, you'll have to walk." Diana explained. "The Munchkins will see you safely to the border of Munchkin Land, and remember, never let those Ruby Slippers off your feet for a moment, or you will be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West."
"But..." Kara began, caught off-guard by Diana's departure. "How do I start for Emerald City?"
"It's always best to start at the beginning." Diana explained. "All you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road."
Kara goes to the edge of the spiral pattern where the yellow brick starts.
"But, what happens if I-?" Kara began when Diana cut her off.
"Just follow the Yellow Brick Road."
Diana then flew off and disappeared into the horizon.
"My!" Kara said in awe of her soaring off. "People come and go here so quickly."
Kara then sighed as the Munchkins chuckled at her remark.
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road." Kara said to herself. "Follow the Yellow Brick Road?"
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road." The Mayor replied.
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road." A Munchkin man said also.
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road." A Munchkin woman repeated.
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road." The cleric repeated also.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road!
Follow, follow, follow,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road!
Follow the Yellow Brick
Follow the Yellow Brick
Follow the Yellow Brick Road!
You're off to find the Wizard,
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
You'll find he is the Wiz,
The Wiz if ever the Wiz there was!
If ever the Wonderful Wiz there was,
There is because, because, because, because...
Because of the wonderful things he does!
You're off to find the Wizard,
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
The lively tune the Munchkins sung to see her off, seemed to fill Kara with energy as she skipped along the road with Krypto, heading out of the village and down the Yellow Brick Road with Krypto, ready to get her way back home and get back to Aunt Martha and Uncle Jonathan.


Oh... This was a hard one to finish.