"Can I believe my eye? Why have you come back?" the Wizard's voice boomed in the throne room. The group have finally returned to the Emerald City as they stopped the Wicked Witch of the West. Madison didn't have time change back to the emerald dress cause of in a hurry to see the wizard.
Dorothy and Madison stepped forward as Dorothy held the broom in her hands. "Please, sir. We've done what you've told us. We brought you the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. We melted her." said Dorothy as she places the broomstick down on the floor. "Yeah, melted her with a bucket of water." said Madison.
"Ah, you liquidated her, eh? Very resourceful." said the Wizard as he looked impress but wouldn't show with all the smoke around. "Yes, sir. So, we'd like you to keep your promise to us, if you please, sir." said Dorothy until the flames roar. "Not so fast. Not so fast! I'll have to give the matter a little thought. Go away and come back tomorrow." he said.
"What?!" Madison exclaimed. "Tomorrow? Oh, but I wanna go home now!" "So do I!" the girls said as they couldn't believe what they heard, and their friends stood behind her. "You've had plenty of time already!" the Tin Man spoke angrily. "Yeah!" the Lion agreed. "Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz! I said come back tomorrow!" the Wizard said angrily.
Toto stood by Dorothy's feet until his nose picked up a scent and followed it. Abby looked at Toto to where he was going and followed him until they stopped at a curtain.
"If you were really great and powerful, you'd keep your promises." said Dorothy. "Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful creatures! Think yourselves lucky that I'm giving you audience tomorrow, instead of twenty years from now." said the Wizard.
Toto then grabbed the curtain with his mouth and pulled it to reveal a man dress in green. Abby barked at the man which got the groups' attentions. Scarecrow and Madison turned and saw the man, the Scarecrow tapped Dorothy's should. She looked and tapped the Tin Man's and Lion's shoulder. All five turned to see the man talking into a speaker, turning and pulling some levers. The man turned and gasp and looked away. "The Great Oz has spoken!" the man said through the microphone, and he quickly grabbed the curtain and pulled it back. Dorothy and Madison walked over as the voice kept on speaking. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Go, before I lose my temper! The Great and Powerful Oz has spoken!"
Dorothy quickly pulled the curtain and the girls looked at him. "Who are you?" Dorothy asked. "I am the great and powerful... Wizard of Oz." he answered and had his head down in shame. "You are?" "You're the Wizard?" the girls asked, and the wizard nod his head. "I don't believe you." said Dorothy.
"I'm afraid it's true. There's no other Wizard except me." he said ashamed. "You humbug!" Scarecrow shouted. "Yeah!" Lion agreed. "Yes, that's exactly so. I'm a humbug." said the Wizard. "Oh, you're a very bad man!" said Dorothy. "That's exactly what you are." said Madison. The Wizard shook his head, "Oh, no, my dears. I'm a very good man. I'm just a very bad wizard."
"What about the heart that you promised Tin Man? And the courage that you promised Cowardly Lion?" Scarecrow asked. "And Scarecrow's brain?" the Tin Man and Lion asked together.
"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!" said the Wizard as he placed his hand onto the scarecrow's shoulder as they both walked a bit. The others followed behind them. "Back where I come from, we have places some call 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!"
They stopped a cabinet, and the Wizard grabbed a bag brought out a few diplomas but took one out and hand it to the Scarecrow. "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." "Th.D?" "Yeah, that's for Doctor of Thinkology." he answered.
"The sum of the square roots of two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to square root of the remaining side." said Scarecrow as he placed a finger to his head but then paused for a moment realizing what he just did and smiled. "Oh, joy! Rapture! I've got a brain! How can I ever thank you enough?" he asked. "Well, you can't." said the Wizard and then turned to the Lion.
"As for you, my fine friend. You are the victim of disorganized thinking. You are under the unfortunate delusion that simply because you run away from danger, you have no courage. You're on fusing 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!" the Wizard reached into his bag and brought out something shiny and gold, "A medal!"
"Therefore, for meritorious conduct, extraordinary valor, conspicuous bravery against wicked witches, I award you the Triple Cross. You are now a member of the Legion of Courage!" he said as he presents Lion the medal as he carefully placed it on him and kisses his cheek which made the lion blush. "Shucks, folks, I'm speechless." he said as he chuckled, and Madison giggled a little. The Wizard turned to face Tin Man.
"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." "But I still want one." said Tin Man. "Back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called phil...er... phil...er, yes...good-deed-doers. And their hearts are no bigger than yours. But! They have one thing you haven't got! A testimonial!" he said and then he reached into the bag and pulled out a heart shaped watch.
"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." said the Wizard as he handed the watch to Tin Man.
The Tin Man smiled as he held up the watch to his ear and heard ticking. "Oh! It ticks! Listen! Look, it ticks!" he said and show it to his friends. "Read what my medal says. "Courage." Ain't it the truth? Ain't it the truth?" said Lion as he showed the medal and Madison nod her head. "Oh, they're all wonderful." said Dorothy.
"Hey, what about Dorothy and Madison?" Scarecrow asked. "Yeah, how about Dorothy and Madison?" Tin Man asked. "Yeah. Dorothy and Madison are next." said Lion. "Yes. Dorothy and Madison." said the Wizard as he looked at them. "Oh, I don't think there's anything in that black bag for me." "Me neither." said the girls.
"Well, you force me into a cataclysmic decision. The only way to get Dorothy and Madison back to Kansas and West Virginia, is for me to take them there myself." he answered. Madison and Dorothy looked at him by surprise. "Oh, will you? Could you?" Dorothy asked. "But are you a clever enough wizard to manage it?" Madison asked. "My dear girls, you cut me to the quick! I'm an old Kansas man myself, in fact I travel, born and bred in the western wilderness premier balloonist par excellence to the Miracle Wonderland Carnival Company. Until one day, while performing feats of stratospheric skill never before attempted by civilized man an unfortunate phenomenon occurred. The balloon failed to return to the fair."
"It did?" Lion asked. "Weren't you frightened?" Dorothy asked. "Frightened? You are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe. I was petrified. Then suddenly, the wind changed, and the balloon floated down into this noble city, where I was instantly acclaimed Oz, the first wizard deluxe. Times being what they were, I accepted the job retaining my balloon against the advent of a quick getaway." he said as he placed his hands on the girls' shoulders and they walked out with the three following, listening to his story.
"And in that balloon, my dear girls, you two and I will return to the land of E Pluribus Unum and to your home Madison."
To Be Continued...