Chapter 14: Return To OZ

Once they got back to the Wizard's palace, the floating dinosaur head said

"Can I believe my eyes? Why have you come back?"

Peaches steps forward and puts the burned book to the ground and replied

"We've done what you told us! We've brought you the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West! Louis melted her"

The Wizard looks at Louis and asked

"You liquidated her, eh? Very resourceful!"

"Yes, sir... So we'd like you to keep your promise to us, if you please, sir" said Louis.

"Not so fast! Not so fast! My powers need to recharge some more. So go away and come back tomorrow!" said the Wizard.

"Tomorrow? But I want to go home now" Peaches gasped.

"You've had plenty of powers already!" The Scarecrow replied.

"Do not arouse the wrath of the Great and Powerful Oz! I said come back tomorrow!" The Wizard warned.

"If you were really great and powerful, you'd keep your promises!" Peaches snapped.

Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful creatures! Just consider yourselves lucky that I'm giving you audience tomorrow, instead of twenty years from now" The Wizard hissed.

"He does have a point" said the Lion.

"Look Mr Wizard, It's just Peaches's parents are so worried about her and she's worried about them too" Louis tried to explain.

"I said I'll do it tomorrow and I never breaks promises! Now get out of my palace and come back tomorrow wiener" The Wizard bellowed.

Louis then got angry as he finally snapped

"If I told everyone once, I told everyone a thousand times! I am NOT a wiener"

The molehog then throws the book at the Wizard's head as it hits the dinosaur head.

Suddenly sparks begin to fly out of it as the Wizard's head falls to pieces as the heroes can see a weasel that looks like Buck inside the dinosaur's head.

"Is that...the Wizard?" The Tin Mammoth asked.

The weasel looked at the others in alarmed and chuckles nervously as he said in the microphone.

"The Great Oz has spoken! Pay no attention to that weasel! Go or I lose my temper! The Great and Powerful Oz has spoken!"

Peaches and the others walks up to the weasel as the female mammoth asked

"Who are you?"

The weasel who resembles Buck looks at the others and then sighs as he replies

"I am the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz"

"You are?" Louis asked.

"Yeah" The Wizard nodded.

"But if you're the Wizard then why do you hide in that thing?" The Tin Mammoth asked.

"Well I did it because the people of Oz expect this sort of thing and well I gave them what they wanted" said the Wizard.

"I see...Sorry I broke your thing" Louis apologised.

"Ah it's fine! I can always rebuild it" The Wizard replied.

"So if you're the Wizard then...you don't have any powers or magic like Glinda?" Peaches asked.

"Well I am a wizard, I built things and grant most people their wishes, with some help of Glinda of course...but no, I don't have powers" said the Wizard.

"What about the heart that you promised Tin Mammoth?" The Scarecrow asked.

"And the courage that you promised Cowardly Lion?" The Tin Mammoth said.

"And Scarecrow's brain?" said the Lion

The Wizard looks at the Scarecrow and hearfully chuckled as he explains

"Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the earth or

slinks through slimy seas has a brain!"

"They do? Even me?" The Scarecrow asked.

"Oh yes my grand friend. You see, wack where I come from we have universities, seats of great learning where men go to become great thinkers and when they come out, they think deep

thoughts and with no more brains than you have... But! They have one thing you haven't got! A diploma!" The Wizard replied.

The weasel went to the drawers in the palace and find the Scarecrow a diploma.

"Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Universitatus Committeeatum e plurbis unum, I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of Th.D." The Wizard added.

"Th.D.?" The Scarecrow asked.

"That's Dr. of Thinkology!" The Wizard replied.

The Scarecrow bows before the Wizard as he recites the Pythagoras Theorem

"The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side"

Soon he realises what he said and cheers

"Yes! I've got a brain!"

The Wizard then turns to the Lion and said

"As for you, my fine friend, you're a victim of disorganized thinking. You are under the unfortunate delusion that simply because you run away from danger, you have no courage. However you're confusing courage with wisdom. Back where I come from, we have men who are called heroes. Once a year, they take their fortitude out of mothballs and parade it down the main street of the city. And they have no more courage than you have. But they have one thing that you haven't got!"

"And what's that Mr Wizard?" The Lion asked

The Wizard got out a royal metal and gives it to the Lion and replies

"A medal! Therefore for meritorious conduct, extraordinary valor, conspicuous bravery against wicked witches, I award you the Triple Cross"

"So what does that mean sir?" The Lion asked.

"It means you are now a member of the Legion of Courage!" The Wizard replied.

"Shucks, folks, I'm speechless!" The Lion chuckled as he blushes.

The Wizard then turns to the Tin Mammoth and said

"As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart! You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable. I could have been a world

figure, a power among male mammals, a successful wizard, had I not been obstructed by a heart"

"But I still want one" The Tin Mammoth replied.

"I know and back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called philosophers and doctors and their hearts are no bigger than yours. But they have one thing you haven't got! A testimonial!" The Wizard replied.

The Wizard bends down and gets a heart-shaped watch from his drawer and he gave it to the Tin Mammoth.

"Therefore, in consideration of your kindness, I take pleasure at this time in presenting you with a small token of our esteem and affection. And remember, my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others" The Wizard said.

The Tin Mammoth happily listens to his watch and replied.

"This is the happiest day of my life"

"Hey! What about Peaches and Louis?" The Scarecrow asked.

"I don't think there's anything in there for us" Louis said

"Well, no but on the contrary, I believe there is someone who can help you two get back home!" The Wizard replied.

"Really?" Peaches and Louis replied.

"Yes! We'll go and summon Glinda the Good here and she'll help you two get back home now that she has her powers back" The Wizard replied.

"Oh that is wonderful! You truly are a great wizard" Peaches happily said.

"Why thank you dear" The Wizard thanked.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Louis cheered.

"Yeah, Let's go" said The Wizard as they began to head outside to the Emerald City.

The Wizard turned out to a weasel who looks like Buck

But he still gave the trio what they wish for!

Now it's Peaches and Louis's turn

Will the Wizard or Glinda send them home?

What happens next?

Stay tune for the last chapter!