Author Notes - Now we get introduced to my favourite character (from the movie): the Scarecrow! I say specifically the movie because my favourite character in the books is definitely the Tin Woodman.

CHAPTER THREE – STRAW FOR BRAINS

Molly was quickly beginning to have her doubts that this stupid brick road was actually going to help her out. While Bubble Puppy still enjoyed it, if his wagging tail was anything to go by, it was beginning to drain her already-stressed patience. She must've been swimming down this brick road for at least an hour now, and she hadn't come across anything but a field of corn. Now, she liked corn, but corn didn't exactly help her get home, now did it?

'You don't think that Oona, who's apparently the Good Witch of the North now, accidentally gave us the wrong directions, do you?' She asked. 'Because we've been swimming for who knows how long and I can't see this 'Emerald Sydney' anywhere.'

Bubble Puppy shook his head with a smile.

'Well, it is our only option right now. I can only hope this so-called Wizard can help us out.'

The yellow brick road went right through a cornfield, with the only thing between her and the crops being a wooden fence. Any joy that Molly could've possibly had about her current situation – which wasn't much – evaporated like steam when she arrived at the middle of the cornfield.

'Oh no…'

The road split into, not two, but three paths, each going a totally different direction: directly forward, left, or right. The helpful sparkles that Oona had given the path had faded half an hour ago, and nothing pointed to either direction being the correct one.

'You have got to be kidding me…' She muttered as she looked down each of the paths. 'Bubble Puppy, do you have any clue where we should go?'

Bubble Puppy put his nose to the ground and sniffed about, identifying the scents of all three options. While no two paths smelled exactly the same, he had no idea what each scent meant. What did the 'Emerald Sydney' even smell like to begin with? He turned back to Molly with a whimper.

The Guppy sighed. 'Aw, you're kidding right? Oona tells me to follow the road, but didn't tell me about any forks along the way. Oh… I need help.'

'You say you need help?'

Molly gasped, and scanned the surrounding area. That voice just came from somewhere in the cornfield, and she could definitely recognise it too. Even though they sounded pretty close, she couldn't see anyone or anything but Bubble Puppy, the road, and rows and rows of corn.

'Hello?' She called. 'Who said that? A-and, whoever you are… can you tell me which way I'm supposed to go? I need some help getting out of here.'

The voice giggled. 'Then you've certainly come to the right cornfield!'

Now Molly knew for certain who this voice reminded her of, but it still didn't answer her question of who the heck was talking to her in the first place. Only one thing stood out among the corn: a scarecrow, perched up on a wooden cross high above the crops. Molly approached the fence closest to this scarecrow, and she got a good look at it.

'Hm… looks kinda familiar…'

She wasn't quite sure why, yet. It wore a dark green shirt and a dark grey hat, both faded from the weather and with bits of straw sticking out from various holes. The shirt went all the way down to the tip of its light orange tail. Under that grey hat was a very familiar hairstyle. Molly managed a small smile as she realised why it looked so familiar – that hairstyle was near identical to Deema's! It even had her earrings and light blue eyes.

'You're a neat looking scarecrow.' She said.

'Like I said, you've certainly come to the right cornfield!'

Molly gasped. Did… did that scarecrow just talk?! No, it couldn't have. She had seen a lot of strange things in her life, even before this day – that UFO during the orchestra was a standout example – but this was above and beyond what she had ever seen before.

'D-Did you just talk to me?!'

The scarecrow giggled. 'Yep! I've been speaking since the day I was stuffed with straw!'

That did it for what little remained of Molly's sanity.

'AAAAAHHHHHHH!'

She dashed backwards until her back slammed into the fence on the other side of the road. The scarecrow watched her the entire way, and she was certain its eyes were tracking her every movement. That did little to calm down Molly's racing heart. Bubble Puppy hid by her side, nearly as uncomfortable as she was.

'What's wrong?' It asked. 'You're acting like you've never seen a talking scarecrow before!'

'That's because I HAVEN'T!' Molly yelled.

Its eyes widened. 'OH! You must be new around here then. Well, in that case, my name is Deema! At least, that's the name my farmer gave me when he built me.'

Molly rubbed her eyes, convinced that she was both seeing and hearing things. So, not only was this scarecrow talking, not only did it look exactly like Deema, but… her name was Deema too. That smile was very 'Deema-esque' as well. Molly's self-defence kicked in, and with a sigh she decided to just roll with it; she figured that questioning this would only result in her going insane.

'Okay then,' She said, swimming up to the fence again. 'My name is Molly. I'm trying to find my way home.'

Deema frowned. 'Oh, afraid I can't help you with anything like that.'

'Why not? Because you're tied to your post?'

The scarecrow shrugged as well as she could in her position. 'Well, that too, but mostly another thing.' She pointed to her head. 'Ain't got no brain, ya see. Nothing but straw in here!'

To demonstrate, she yanked out a small bit of straw from under her hat. She dangled it around in her fingers for a bit before she let it fall to the ground.

'Oh.' Molly said, before she furrowed her brow. 'Wait a moment. If you don't have a brain, then how can you talk?'

Deema shrugged again. 'I have no idea. Like I just said, I don't have a brain. But from what I've seen, you don't need a brain to talk. Some people without brains do WAAAY too much talking!'

Well, at least she could agree with this scarecrow on one thing. The cheeky smile on Deema's face turned into a frown, which managed to make Molly's heart sink. Sure, this was a scarecrow, but Molly still saw her curly-haired friend behind that fabric and straw.

'I wish I had a brain…' Deema said, solemnly. 'Can you imagine if I did? I would while away the hours, conferring with the flowers and consulting with the rain. I could tell you why the ocean's near the shore. I would not just be a nothing with my head all full of stuffing...' She sighed. 'If I only had a brain…'

Molly frowned. For a being stuffed with straw, she did a good job reminding Molly of her friend of the same name. Bubble Puppy whimpered for the poor scarecrow, and that helped her make up her mind.

'Hey Deema,' She said. 'I'm off to see the Wizard of Bubbledom so he can help me get home.'

'Wait, the Wizard?!' Deema echoed.

'Yeah. If he can give me a way home, maybe he could give you a brain.'

Molly winced. That didn't sound right when she said it out loud, thanks partially to it sounding like a surgery but also because insinuating that Deema (the non-scarecrow one) didn't have a brain made her feel a little uncomfortable. Deema (the scarecrow) didn't see any problem with this offer, judging by her massive smile.

'I could ask the Wizard for a brain?' She asked. 'I never thought about doing that. Well, I haven't thought about much cos I don't… ah, you get the point. Can I go with you?'

Molly smiled. 'I don't see why not!'

'Uh… I can see why not. I'm tied to this post remember. But if you undo the rope, I should be freed!'

'Alright, will do!'

Molly and Bubble Puppy had to wade through quite a bit of corn before they reached the post. Not only was Deema being suspended quite high off the ground, but the rope was tied around a hook pointed upwards. Molly reached out for the knot, but stopped when she realised she had no idea how to untie a knot that complicated. Loops and ties and bows… oh my.

'Oh…' She murmured. 'That's a tough one.'

Bubble Puppy grabbed onto the rope with his mouth and tugged on it, but like Molly biting off the gloves all it accomplished was hurting his teeth.

'Uh, small problem.' Molly said. 'The rope's on tight.'

'Hmmm… Oh, I got it!' Deema declared. 'I think the rope's attached to some sort of hook thing. If you push that hook thing down, that oughta loosen the rope enough for me to get out!'

'Oh, yeah! If I just grab this…'

The metal joint connecting the hook to the post was rather rusted from the weather and barely moved, and it required every bit of Molly's and Bubble Puppy's strength to move it, but just when Molly's hands began to ache they managed to flip it down.

'WAAAAH!' *THUD* 'Oof!'

It was enough to loosen the rope alright. It fell to the ground, and Deema fell with it. Her face hit the dirt first, and she kept tumbling until her back hit the same fence that Molly swam over. A large chunk of straw fell out of her chest as she rolled away.

'Oh my!' Molly cried, rushing to her side. 'Are you okay? Your, um, straw is everywhere!'

Deema just smiled, and grabbed most of the straw with just one grab. She opened up a hole in her chest and stuffed all the straw back in there, while Molly was very thankful she was just a scarecrow and not a real person.

'Don't worry, Molly!' Deema said, using the fence to help her get up. 'Whenever straw falls out of me, all I gotta do is shove it back in there.'

Molly sighed in relief. 'Okay, good. Now here's the important question: do you know the way to the Wizard of Bubbledom?'

Deema nodded. 'Oh heck yeah! I've seen so many people walk by my cornfield to ask him questions that I know the way really well. We just gotta go…'

In the middle of her answer, she tried vaulting over the fence. Key word being 'try'. She had been tied to that post for so long that she forgot how to swim properly, and so after she got herself over the fence she just fell onto her rear. Bubble Puppy and Molly rushed over to help her up.

'You sure you're okay?' Molly asked. 'That's the second fall you've taken.'

Deema smirked. 'I'll be fine! I've just never been able to use my tail to swim before. That's all.'

Molly tapped her fingers together. 'Are you sure you want to come with me? It could be a really dangerous path for someone who can't stand very well, and I do have a witch on my tail.'

'A witch, eh? Well, seeing as you're wearing Miss East's Ruby Gloves, you must mean that Mean Witch of the West, right? HA! I ain't scared of her. I ain't scared of anything!' She paused, and her bold expression was replaced by one more nervous. 'Well, there is one thing I'm scared of.'

'What's that?'

She scratched the back of her neck. 'A lighted match.'

Molly was about to ask why, but then she took another look at the dried straw sticking out of her body, and the old fabric that contained it.

'Oh, I can see why.' She said.

'Yep. Dried-out straw and dusty old fabrics aren't a good combination when you're up against fire. But that aside? Nothing scares me! I'll fight against an army of flaming torches if it meant I could get myself some brains!'

Molly found herself giggling. This scarecrow really was a lot like Deema, spunky personality and all. Bubble Puppy tugged on her tail just hard enough to get her attention, and he pointed at all three paths.

'Oh yeah!' She said. 'You said you know where to go! Is that true?'

Deema grinned. 'Hey, I may have no brains, but I still know where everyone goes to see the Wizard. It's down that way!'

She pointed to the path down the left, with confidence exuding from her every fibre.

'Are you sure?' Molly asked. 'I mean, you do lack, um, you-know-what.'

'Well, do you have any other lead? You could ask the crows, but they're kinda rude.'

A crow perched by on a nearby fence, and stared right at Deema. She spun around and gave it the 'what do you want' kind of look. Before she could say anything, the crow just laughed at her. It didn't even bother to steal some corn as it flew away, still laughing at her expense.

'See?!' Deema exclaimed. 'Those jerks come from all around just to laugh at me! I bet that if I had a brain, they wouldn't laugh at me nearly as much.'

'Well,' Molly said. 'Let's ignore those annoying crows and get going!'

'Yeah! LET'S GO!'

Deema couldn't stick to her own words, however, as she took the equivalent of two steps before she lost her balance and tumbled about while flailing her arms around. Bubble Puppy had to grab the rope tying her head to her shoulders to stop her from falling onto her face.

'I repeat,' Molly said. 'Are you absolutely sure you want to come?'

Once Bubble Puppy let go of her rope, Deema stood still for a moment to make sure that she could at least keep her balance for a few seconds. Now certain she could stand properly, she turned to Molly with a sincere smile.

'Oh yeah! I'll get used to these old tail fins of mine, and I won't give up until I get my brains.' With another step, she nearly fell over once again. 'Uh, then again…' She smiled nervously. 'Could you, maybe, help me out for a little while?'

Molly giggled. 'Of course I can!'

'Oh, thank you so much!'

Deema slung her arm over Molly's shoulder, using her like a crutch to keep herself hoisted up. The pink-haired Guppy found her surprisingly light and no trouble at all to carry, which was good because she had a good feeling that she'd be carrying her around for a long while.

'WOO-HOO!' Deema cheered, before she burst into a song. 'We're off to see the Wizard. The wonderful Wizard of Bubbledom!'

'Look Deema, I love singing too, but I just really want to get home. Can we save the song for later?'

'If ya want me to, I can try!'

Molly couldn't help but to think about her current situation. Off to see a 'wizard' after accidentally killing a mean witch's sister, now having to carry around a scarecrow counterpart of one of her friends around? She couldn't imagine it getting any weirder, but she just knew it would.

Author Notes - I've noticed that whenever a cartoon does a Wizard of Oz parody, they always get their stupid character to play the Scarecrow. For instance, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse used Goofy. This seems fitting at first ('If I only had a brain') but to me it comes across as missing the point. The Scarecrow is arguably the smartest character in the movie AND the book, as he's always the one to come up with the clever ideas and schemes. The point is that he's been smart the whole time and doesn't need a brain, and thus getting the stupid character to play him goes against all of that.

And I know exactly what you're thinking. 'Oh, but you chose Deema for the role, and she's one of the silly Guppies'. I understand. Let me explain. First, both Deema and the Scarecrow are my favourite characters from their respective media. More importantly, Deema's been shown to be a character who, while stupid on the surface, can actually be quite clever when she needs to be. I chose the characters to play Dorothy's friends VERY carefully, taking into account not just what they want but the fact that they already had it.

Also, Deema is the only Guppy who plays a character of the opposite gender, as she plays the male Scarecrow. This is because I never take gender into account when I'm doing things like this, only thinking about character roles or personalities.