Wicked Comet part 10
5 years later
Oz had changed greatly ever since Elphaba and Rich "Defied Gravity" and escaped the Emerald City. All of the citizens were on alert for the sight of the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wicked Comet and its pilot. The Citizens of Oz were sceptical of Rich being wicked, since he had invented the wondorous Comet for Oz's benefit. They all chose to believe that Rich had been hypnotised by the Wicked Witch and was working for her against his will.
Rich and Elphaba had changed themselves; both of them had joined an underground resistance group fighting the wizard. They had worked tirelessly for these last five years and had become quite famous amongst the resistance's members.
Before Rich had joined, he had made the resistance's leaders promise not to use the Comet for any Combat purposes, only for transport and reconnaissance. In that role, the Comet proved extremely valuable to the resistance. For example, when the Resistance had attacked and liberated an Animal forced labour camp, Elphaba had assisted the troops in liberating the camp but they found that most of the animals were so badly sick, malnourished and injured, that they couldn't make it all the way back to the resistance's main camp by themselves, so Rich had been sent for and he landed the Comet in a nearby field and the sick, wounded and malnourished Animals were loaded onto the Comet and Rich flew them back to the main camp.
Rich also used his creative talents to invent gadgets to help those that needed it. Things like makeshift replacement limbs and Bullets that could be fired out of a normal weapon and looked like bullets but when the bullet hit a person, it shattered and released a Blue Gas that could knock out anyone that inhaled the gas for 3 hours. Most of the time however, Rich had worked on improving the Comet. The plane had been in the air more hours than it had been on the ground for most of the five years that Rich and Elphaba had worked with the resistance and lots of its parts needed fixing or modifying constantly.
When Elphaba had mentioned her concerns about how much work Rich was doing repairing the Comet, he had said,
"Well, the Comet is getting much more thorough testing than it ever would have under the wizard"
One evening, Rich was working on the Landing Gear when Elphaba came strolling down a dusty path in the middle of the rebel encampment and came across the covered space where the Comet was hidden. She saw Rich working on the aircraft and called out to him,
"Rich, What are you doing?" she said curiously.
Rich immediately stopped what he was doing and looked out towards Elphaba.
"Ah Elphie, I've just been working on the Landing Gear shock absorbers, they took a beating on the last mission and I have just had to replace them" Rich said.
Elphaba was silent as Rich said this and it took Rich a moment to realise something was up.
"Is something wrong?" Rich asked concern in his voice.
Elphaba sighed before she said,
"I've been thinking. The Resistance has made a lot of progress ever since we joined. But, because of the Comets increasing use and the resources it needs and the extra people here. I have a feeling we are going to need more help to keep us supplied and to take down the Wizard."
"But who?" Rich asked.
"My dad, he's the governor of Munchkinland. I know he doesn't like me very much but maybe I can persuade him to help us" Elphaba replied.
"Are you sure about this?" Rich asked in a worried tone.
Elphaba nodded and Rich knew that she was definitely sure of what she wanted to do.
"Alright, I'll fire up the Comet as soon as I have completed the Landing Gear Mods" Rich said to Elphaba.
Elphaba nodded and strode off to her tent and changed into a black dress that was tightish around her arms and torso and flared out near the bottom. It also looked like it had spider silk all over it, making it look like the dress had some other darker colours on it. On the back, a black cape that felt like satin but was much stronger and on top of Elphaba's head was her infamous witch's hat.
Rich changed inside the Comet into a black pair of trousers, black boots a black shirt and a black greatcoat. Inside the Greatcoat, Rich carried both his glasses when not in use and in the other pocket he carried a powerful revolver loaded with the knockout gas bullets, plus a small box full of extra bullets just in case.
Once they were both changed and the Comet was filled to the brim with fuel, Elphaba took off on her broom towards Munchkinland and Rich followed a few moments later in the Comet.