Author Notes - Considering that, in the book, Scarecrow and Tin Man spend this entire scene dead with the Lion behind bars, you can tell that the movie really changed this scene up. For the most part, I think it was for the best, because it lets the trio actually do stuff.
Not to mention, it really helps demonstrate that they don't need what they want. Tin Man cries for Dorothy before even getting in the castle, Lion faces his fears head-on, and Scarecrow comes up with a couple of really good plans.
CHAPTER TEN - OH, WE'RE OFF TO SAVE MOLLY!
Though the frogs could not simply disobey their master in fear of retribution, they did their best to make sure that Molly was not hurt. While most of them returned to the moat, the ones with captives settled Molly down in front of the Witch nice and gently. The smaller one with Bubble Puppy in its mouth unrolled its tongue and let the little guy simply jump out before it and the others flew away.
Molly wiped the frog spit off her face as she looked up and saw the Mean Witch of the West herself staring down upon her. The little girl gasped, and Bubble Puppy jumped into her arms.
'Well well well!' The Witch said. 'What have we here? A little girl who has what is rightfully mine.'
Molly got to her tail and looked around for a way out or at least a weapon. There was nothing in sight, except for maybe that window but she didn't feel like dealing with those winged frogs again.
'Speaking of which,' The Witch continued. 'Hand them over!'
The pink-haired girl gulped. 'Uh, yeah, about that… they won't come off. I tried my hardest to remove them back in the Fishkin village, so I doubt they'll be coming off now.'
'We'll see about that!'
The Witch reached forward and grabbed one of the Ruby Gloves with both her hands, grasping them hard enough that Molly could feel it through the tough gemstones.
'AAARRRGGHH!'
Only for those magical gloves to electrocute that witch so hard that Molly could see her skeleton for a moment. Somehow, this didn't kill the Witch but just left her hair a little frazzled. Molly herself wasn't quite certain how to react to such an event, but the sight of lightning was enough to make Bubble Puppy run and hide.
'Alright, fine!' The Witch yelled like a petulant child. 'If those blasted gloves have chosen you instead of me, then I'll just have to keep you here. You good at work?'
'Does it really matter if I yes or no?' Molly asked.
'If you say no, I get to kill you.'
'YEP!'
The Witch carried a wooden bucket up to a sink and filled it with water, trying to keep it from splashing onto her own robe. Once it was filled to the brim, she dropped it in front of Molly, whereupon it splashed everywhere and made more mess, and tossed her a little sponge.
'How about you at least make yourself useful and clean up the place?' She said, acting as if it was a question. 'My guards have no idea how to do it, and I need time to figure out how to get those Ruby Gloves off you.'
'Why do you even want them?'
'BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN MAGIC SO POWERFUL THAT YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND!'
Molly's eyes widened. 'Okay. I was just asking you a question.'
'Alright then. I'll be looking out for your infuriating little friends, but I will be back. Just so you know when I'll be returning to exact my revenge…'
Just by waving her arms about, she spun a hourglass over from across the room. The red sands began to trickle down into the bottom half, far quicker than Molly was okay with.
'As soon as those sands run out, I'll be back!'
The Witch swam out of her room and slammed the door behind her. Bubble Puppy ran for the door and growled at it, as if doing so could possibly get it open. What, were you expecting the little doggy to escape? What do you think this is, the original 1939 movie or something? As if responding to the narrator's snark, Bubble Puppy barked at what appeared to be nothing but air.
'Don't bother, Bubble Puppy.' Molly said as she got onto her 'knees'. 'She isn't coming back.'
With nothing else to do, lest she get struck down and killed, she picked up the sponge and doused it in the soapy water. Only when she moved the wet sponge across the floor did she realise just how mucky it was, as the stones underneath the black layers were sparkling white.
'There's only one hope for us, Bubble Puppy, and that's our friends coming to save us. If they were our friends back in Bubbletucky, I'd know they would be able to do it, but…' She sighed. 'I want to believe our new friends can do it, but I'm not so sure.'
As she dropped the sponge back into the bucket, she heard a voice calling out to her. It wasn't of the Scarecrow, the Tin Guppy, or the Cowardly Lionfish, but still one she recognised from Fishkin Land and even her own dreams.
'Molly… Molly…?' Oona's voice blew into the room like dust in the wind.
The pink-haired Guppy looked around, but she couldn't see the Good Witch of the North anywhere. Still, she listened carefully.
'Oona? Is that you?'
'No one else!'
'Can you save me from the Witch's grasp? I assume you can't because you're not doing it right now.'
'No, I cannot not. As the Mean Witch said, our powers decline outside of our domains, and the west is full of mean magic that I simply cannot overcome. In fact, entering an area of such concentrated wicked magic is near impossible and could even kill me. Just talking to you right now is very difficult.'
Molly cringed. 'Oh, that sounds just awful. Look, if it's that hard for you to talk to me, you don't have to.'
'But I must, Molly, for I have something important I must say.'
She sat herself down on the ashy old floor and listened carefully to the Good Witch's words.
'I knew you had a certain magic about you Molly, even without those special Ruby Gloves. They chose you for a reason. I know it's hard to see the light at the end when the tunnel is full of obstacles, but the light is still there. You may have doubts in your new friends to save you, but I just know they will. They are much more than they or anyone else could ever imagine. And they won't be doing it alone…'
'Wait, they won't?' Molly asked. 'Who'll be helping them? Oona?'
The voice did not reply. She frowned; the magic of the west must've been too much for Oona to handle any longer. Through it all, she managed to smile. If Oona herself said that the situation was not yet bleak, then surely, she must've been right.
That hourglass made her uneasy. Would she die the moment the final sand ran out, or was it just a threat? Could she even touch it without something happening to her?
Gil hadn't stopped charging until he saw the very drawbridge of the castle. His claws sunk deep into the earth, as if he were pretending the ground beneath him was the Witch herself. He watched the guards walking around the entrance to the spooky castle, bared his teeth, and would've pounced if he didn't hear a voice behind him.
'Whoa, boy!' Deema said, holding onto his tail. 'Let's not get ourselves killed here.'
'We should hide here.' Nonny said, pointing to a good hiding place with his axe.
The three of them hid in a small ditch in the ashy earth, watching the guards from behind a small wall of rocks. There was fire in Gil's eyes as he watched them, and that made Deema a little nervous. Nonny couldn't help feeling bad for the poor little girl locked away, and began crying again.
'Aw…' He murmured. 'Poor Molly…'
Deema rolled her painted eyes. 'How many times do I have to tell you this? The more you cry, the more you rust!'
'SHHH!' Gil shushed. 'If you keep talking like that, you'll get us found out.'
'Hey, here's what I wanna know.' She said. 'What the heck did you do to Gil? Or did that Wizard give you your courage while I wasn't looking?'
'Don't be like that, straw for brains! I just wanna save Molly. I'm still terrified of literally everything in that castle, so I still need my-'
'AHEM!' Came an unfamiliar voice from behind them.
The three of them yelped and turned around. Gil even leapt into Deema's arms, which was a bad idea because his body was far heavier than her straw arms could handle, so they both just fell to the ground. Nonny, the only one still standing, shook in his joints and held up his axe. The voice behind them turned out to be one of the guards, and the only one who was a Guppy just like them. Yep: this was the same guard from before.
The guard saw the axe and gasped. 'Wait, don't attack me! I'm not gonna do anything to hurt you, I swear.'
'Oh… yeah?' Deema said.
Her voice was restrained thanks to her arms being trapped underneath Gil, as well as her trying too hard to get out from under him. He finally got back onto his tail, letting her stand up again.
'How can we be so sure?' She continued.
The guard removed her hat, revealing her purple hair. 'I know you guys: Deema the scarecrow, Nonny the tin Guppy, and Gil the lion. You guys have been accompanying that Molly girl, right? I've heard that Witch talk about you a lot, and I'm here to help you rescue your friend.'
Nonny smiled. 'That would be so sweet of you! But would your friends let you?'
The guard nodded. 'Name's Zooli, and us guards have been stuck working for this Mean Witch for generations. Since I stand out so much from the others for being the only Guppy, they treat me like I'm a chosen one of sorts. I don't get why, but that means it's up to me. If you guys have a chance to help me free everyone, they'll definitely let you in.'
Zooli focused her eyes on the drawbridge. As soon as her fellow guards saw her with the oddball trio, she knew they'd let them in without question. They weren't the problem – that honour went to the Mean Witch, who would have them put to death immediately.
'I will show you to exactly where they're keeping Molly captured.' She explained. 'But we have to get in without getting caught by the Witch.'
Gil growled. 'I'll walk up to that mean old Witch and roar right in her face! That'll scare her off.'
Zooli shook her head. 'That won't work. The Witch won't be scared of that. She'll probably just turn you into a frog, and that's if you're lucky.'
Deema grinned. 'Hey, those outfits look really big and stuff. I bet if we wore them, we could sneak in without the Witch seeing that we're actually made of straw or tin or even covered in fur!' She frowned. 'Of course, I'm just a brainless scarecrow. I don't know if that would actually work…'
Zooli grinned. 'No… it's perfect! If you guys wore our elaborate uniforms, you would blend in easily! Just give me a moment…' Right before she left, she counted. 'One girl, two boys, one's a lion… got it.'
The frustrated guard left the trio behind for just a minute, and one minute – and three half-naked soldiers – later, she returned with three different outfits just the right size for the three of them.
'Alright, here we go.' She said as she tossed them their way. 'Three uniforms that should fit the three of you just fine.'
Deema's painted eyes seem to sparkle a little as she got a look at her new outfit. Thanks to her flexible body, she was able to put hers on in moments. Nonny had a bit of trouble, mostly because his neck was still rusted over, but it wasn't that much harder. Gil, on the other paw, had no opposable thumbs at all and didn't know where to start. Well, he was just a lion.
As Zooli fitted him into his suit, she asked, 'Hey tin guy, can you lose the axe? It's making me nervous.'
'No.' Nonny replied, unable to just shake his head. 'I am a woodsman, and a woodsman is nothing without their axe. Even if it is the reason I am made of tin…'
Deema gasped. 'Wait, what?'
'It is not important. What is important right now is that we can save Molly. My past involving the witches is not important.'
'Alright Nonners, if you insist.'
'Please don't call me that.'
It took Zooli a little while to get Gil into his outfit, but once he was in it you could hardly even tell that he was just a lion. With the three of them all dressed up in the guard uniform, they looked just like the guards themselves. Well, not so much up close, but the Witch wouldn't be seeing them up so close anyway, and it wasn't like she paid any attention to how her guards looked to begin with.
'Alright, I'm in disguise.' Gil said. 'I'm gonna get that witch!'
And, staying on his tail only because the outfit made an all-fours run near impossible, Gil ran past the drawbridge guards and right into the castle. All by himself. Zooli's hand met her forehead, and she sighed.
'He's gonna get lost.' She said, putting her black fluffy hat back on. 'Come on, we gotta go find him.'
'Right with ya!' Deema said.
The two girls made their way down to the bridge, where hopefully Gil awaited. Before Nonny went to follow after them, he looked up towards the towers of the castle. He couldn't be certain where Molly was for he had no heart to follow, but still he placed his hand on his chest like he did have one.
'I will save you, Molly.' He said. 'I promise.'
By the time he and his stiff tin body made it across the moat, he had spotted Gil tearing apart a banner of that Mean old Witch, either thinking it was the real thing or simply being just that angry that he needed to destroy any image of her. Deema and Zooli had found him no problem, thanks to the banner serving as a nice distraction.
'We must hurry.' Zooli said, pulling Gil away from the destroyed banner. 'The Witch is out looking for you guys, and I just know she's got an hourglass counting down the time until she returns for Molly. We have to make it to that room before then, and I think our time is limited.'
'Then what are we doing just talking about it?' Deema asked. 'Let's go!'
Zooli nodded. 'Right. Hurry, but be quiet. We don't need to draw any attention to ourselves.'
So, Zooli guided them around the castle. Of course, Molly had been shut away in a room that was much harder to reach than it needed to be, so it took a little while. A lot of stairs, a lot of hallways… Nonny couldn't help but to notice that everyone was slowing down just for him, and he couldn't stand it.
'Leave me behind,' He said, close to crying again. 'And go save Molly without me.'
'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' Zooli said as she took them up a long staircase. 'If the Witch were to find you all by yourself, she could easily use you as blackmail bait. And, if she didn't, she'd just throw a bucket of water at you and leave you rusted forever. Then you won't be able to save anyone.'
'Oh no, I-I can't have that. Oh, I'm gonna cry again…'
Deema turned and gave him a smile. 'Yeah, don't fret about that, okay? We'll save Molly, and she'll have the oil. Cry your eyes out all you want!'
He frowned. 'No. I can't do that. Not until I know she's safe.'
As he walked up the stairs, Gil left deep claw marks in the castle walls. He had no idea where his fears had gone, and he certainly still felt them in the back of his mind, but all he cared about was saving Molly and getting revenge on that witch.
'We're nearly there!' Zooli said. 'We just have to make it down this one last hallway, and we'll be at the room!'
Indeed, the stairs led up to a hallway that wasn't even that long. At the end was a big set of black wooden doors unlike every other door in the entire castle. Most of the group ran down the hallway, but Deema stopped. She couldn't take a single 'step' further, locked up with fear.
'What are you doing, Deema?' Gil demanded. 'Get over here so we can save Molly!'
But Deema couldn't do it, for the hall was decorated by the one thing she feared the most – torches, lit up with bright orange flames that enveloped the entire room in a low red light. They made Deema shiver and shake so much that she appeared to be shedding straw.
'Molly's this way!' Gil yelled.
Deema, trying to put her crippling pyrophobia aside for just a moment, ran down the hallway until she met with her friends. Zooli grabbed the ringed handles of the doors and tried her hardest to open it both inward and outward, but it barely budged.
'Open that stupid door already!' Gil demanded.
'I understand your anger,' Zooli said. 'BUT I AM TRYING HERE! That dang Witch must've locked it behind her. And that hourglass is probably still ticking down.'
'C-Can we get Molly and then get ourselves out of here?' Deema asked, her voice shaking. 'I-I don't wanna be near this fire for much longer.'
Gil scoffed. 'And you call me a coward.'
'I AM MADE OF STRAW! Fire is literally the one thing that can kill me!'
Zooli glared at the both of them, shutting them up. 'Would you two be quiet?! I need a moment to think here!'
Fortunately, Deema's yell was more than loud enough for Molly to hear it. She dropped the sponge and jumped to her 'feet' in an instant, smiling for the first time since she had entered the Spooky Woods. Eyeing the almost-finished hourglass one more time, she rushed for the doors with Bubble Puppy by her side.
'Guys, you're here!' She cried.
'You bet we are!' Gil said, scratching on the other side of the door to no avail.
'And I'm helping them.' Zooli said. 'Don't ask who I am because I know we're running out of time. Can you unlock the door from your side?'
Molly looked around for any sort of lock, but couldn't see anything. 'Sorry, no.'
Zooli tapped the handle of her spear against her forehead, trying to get those gears turning. Of course, if the lock was just a keyhole this would be a lot easier, but the Witch never made her locks that easy. Gil's claws had left an impressive mark on the door, but by the time he got through, it would be too late.
While the others were trying to come up with an idea, Nonny tried to think about what he could do. His eyes fell upon the axe in his hand…
'Wait…' The Tin Guppy said. 'I think I've got it!'
Deema gasped. 'Your axe! Of course!'
'Get to chopping, Nonny!' Gil yelled.
Nonny smiled. Somehow, he just knew he would need this axe. Everyone else backed away from the door as he delivered the first chop. Molly jumped back with alarm as the blade went all the way through and got shockingly close to cutting her hand.
'Hurry, Nonny!' She cried. 'The hourglass is nearly up!'
Nonny gave the door another chop, and another, and another. He almost appeared to be making up for years of rust as he gunned down the door in an unrelenting fashion. Molly's eyes focused on that hourglass, for only a few grains were left.
'HURRY!'
CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!
And, finally…
'Nonny!' Molly cried in joy, for she could finally see his face.
The Tin Guppy began to cry again, but this time out of happiness. The hole was just big enough for any of them to get in or get out. Before Molly could leap through the hole, Deema jumped through instead and ran across the room. She picked up that hourglass and smashed it on the ground before the final grain could fall to the bottom.
'I had a reason to break that hourglass, right?'
Nonny got to work at making the hole a little bigger, before everyone's faces – except for Deema, who was just looking at them – lost any kind of victorious passion they had before.
'What?' Her eyes widened. 'The Witch is right behind me, isn't she?'
The hapless scarecrow turned around…
'AHHHH!'
Author Notes - What was the deal with that hourglass anyhow?
