"...Is that a robot?" Vaz wondered.
"I don't know." Billina replied as they saw a metal man in the room with them.
"Well, he sure is covered in dust and webs." Max said.
"I guess he's pretty old." Jetta winced about the dust and cobwebs.
"'The Royal Army of Oz'." Dorothy read aloud from a label that she found on the metal man as she explored with Toto.
"Army?" Billina scoffed. "It's just a bunch of old junk, like the copper kettle in the yard back home."
"Maybe he can tell us what happened." Toto said.
"How do we do that though? I don't think he's even awake." Jetta replied.
Clifford took a look around with Emily Elizabeth.
"But here's some directions," Emily Elizabeth soon said as she moved the cobwebs to get a look at the writing as she read them aloud. "'For thinking, wind number one under left arm. For speaking, wind number two under right arm. For walking and action, wind number three, middle of back. Guaranteed to work perfectly for 1,000 years'."
"Huh... Never would've guessed." Mike smiled.
"You don't believe that, do you?" Billina asked Dorothy.
"I don't know," Dorothy replied. "I'll wind him up and we'll see."
"Better you than me because I am not touching dust." Jetta groaned in disgust.
Dorothy soon began to wind up the first key which was for thinking. The wind-up key then started to turn slowly through the dusty cobwebs.
"I wonder what he's thinkin' about?" Billina commented.
"Dorothy, try the second key to wind up the speech so he can tell us." Charley suggested.
"All right." Dorothy nodded as she did just that.
"Maybe he can tell us what happened to the Emerald City." Estelle said as the robot's eyes were opening.
"That would be good to know." Felicity replied.
The robot spoke before sounding like gibberish until it properly spoke. "Good morning, little boys and girls." he then greeted them.
"Good morning, sir." The others greeted with bows and curtsies.
"Are you Dorothy Gale?" The robot asked once he faced Dorothy.
"Yes, sir," Dorothy nodded. "And these are some of my new friends.
"Pleased to meet you," The robot replied. "I am Tik-Tok: the Royal Army of Oz. His Majesty, the Scarecrow, locked me in here and told me to wait for you." he then informed.
"What happened to the Emerald City?" Emily Elizabeth asked. "And where is the scarecrow?"
"I do not know," Tik-Tok replied. "Suddenly everything living began to turn to stone. When you did not arrive, I called for help until my voice ran down," he then began to explain. "Then I paced back and forth until my action ran down. Then I stood and thought until my thought ran down."
"Well, that's you all over." Mike remarked from that.
"After that, I remember nothing until you wound me up," Tik-Tok then told Dorothy. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, it was Billina who found the key." Dorothy told him.
"Billina?" Tik-Tok asked.
"Over here." Billina clucked before the robot soon looked over to see her.
"Good morning, Mrs. Hen," Tik-Tok greeted. "Where did you find the key for this place?" he then asked.
"Over near the hog trough." Billina told him.
"Which is in Kansas." Scruffy said.
"Hog trough? Kansas?" Tik-Tok then asked. "The Scarecrow must have sent it to you somehow."
"Yep." Dot nodded.
"If you don't mind, Mr. Tok, I'll wind up your action." Dorothy decided as she wound up another wind-up key in the robot.
"That would please me very much," Tik-Tok approved. "And you may call me Tik-Tok."
"I guess at least he wasn't turned into stone like the others." Clifford smiled about Tik-Tok.
"That's right, boy." Max smiled back as he began to pet the red dog.
"Probably because he's not alive." Scruffy said.
"You are correct, Small Dog," Tik-Tok said to him and Scruffy smirked as he looked proud of himself for knowing that. "And I never will be. Thank goodness."
"Well, Tik-Tok, the first thing we have to do is to escape from the Wheelers," Dorothy soon told the robot. "They're outside and said they're going to throw us into the Deadly Desert."
"From now on, I will be your obedient servant," Tik-Tok vowed to the young girl before he tipped his top to her like a hat as he saluted her. "If you keep me wound up. Make sure my think-works are extra tight, and I will formulate a plan." he then told her.
Dorothy nodded. The door was cracked open before Snow White came out with the dogs to keep a look-out for the Wheelers before they would go out further.
"Well, it's quiet so far." Snow White said as she looked back at the humans.
Tik-Tok also looked before nodding at that before looking at Dorothy. "Lunch pail."
Dorothy then handed her lunch pail over to the robot.
"These Wheelers can be tricky customers." Tik-Tok advised before they walked out the door together.
"And away we go." Jetta said.
Dorothy carried Billina in her arms as Toto stood close beside his girl while they ventured out.
"Well, if those Wheelers come back, I'm not scared," Max glared bravely. "I've faced worse."
"I'm glad we have someone brave and adventurous like you with us." Emily Elizabeth smiled at him.
Mike began to look even more jealous after hearing that. Felicity glanced over as Mike's eyes seemed to flash green from his jealousy.
They soon made it out of the temple and took a look around as they couldn't seem to find any Wheelers yet.
"Oh, my goodness." Tik-Tok frowned as he saw how bad the Emerald City now looked.
"Yeah, we were shocked when we saw Emerald City like this." Emily Elizabeth said.
They came out a little more. Scruffy and Dot sensed something before they began to growl and stood in front of Akito and Estelle as the Wheelers came back.
"You run up the stairs," Tik-Tok told Dorothy and the others. "I will take care of them."
"You got it." Vincent said.
Dorothy and the others raced up the stairs as the Wheelers came to go after them. Tik-Tok soon spun his body all around and hit at the Wheelers with his arms which was able to knock them down on the ground.
"Well, I'm glad he's on our side." Charley laughed at that.
"Same here." Max added.
"Surprised you didn't think of it." Mike smirked at Max.
"We're just lucky to have Tik-Tok around with us." Max reassured.
"Uh-huh..." Mike kept his smirk. "No need to be jealous."
"Unlike you?" Felicity whispered to Mike.
"Hey." Mike frowned from that.
"Don't hey me," Felicity frowned back, though firmly. "You have been acting so green-eyed around Mighty Max lately."
"Maybe." Mike whispered.
"I believe I should help you..." Felicity said. "I've read about some sort of ritual on this from one of my books so you can stop being jealous of Mighty Max."
"Great," Mike grinned. "Let's get rid of him so Emily Elizabeth forgets all about him."
Felicity gave him a bit of a look.
"Or... We could follow whatever your book says..." Mike then said nervously.
Felicity nodded before they ran up the stairs with Dorothy.
"Okay, so after the Wheelers and Tik-Tok, who's next?" Charley asked Emily Elizabeth.
"Let's see..." Emily Elizabeth paused thoughtfully. "Up next should be Princess Mombi if I'm remembering correctly."
"And she's bad, right?" Jetta asked.
"If I remember correctly, yes." Emily Elizabeth said.
"Aw, great." Jetta sighed from that.
Dorothy and the others soon came back down as most of the Wheelers were gone, thanks to Tik-Tok.
"You'll be sorry for treating me like this!" The remaining Wheeler glared at Tik-Tok who had carried him by his arm. "I'm a terrible person!"
"You said it, not us." Jetta smirked slyly from that.
"I am only a machine, so I cannot be sorry or happy, no matter what happens." Tik-Tok told the Wheeler.
"He's right." Scruffy said.
"Now for some answers," Felicity crossed her arms. "To find out where the épouvantail is."
"...The what?" Dorothy asked.
"She means the Scarecrow." Akito and Estelle explained in unison.
"Then yeah, what she said," Dorothy then glared at the Wheeler. "What's happened to the Emerald City?"
The Wheeler was quiet for a moment.
"Answer her!" Tik-Tok demanded. "Answer her!"
"The Nome King!" The Wheeler soon confessed. "He conquered the Emerald City. He took all the emeralds. He turned everyone to stone."
"Oh, my..." Dot gulped.
"What about the Scarecrow?" Akito narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms like a stereotypical hardcore detective guy.
"There's only one person that knows where the Scarecrow is." The Wheeler smirked.
Everybody waited until Tik-Tok made the Wheeler talk again.
"And that's Princess M-M-Mom-" The Wheeler stammered at first before it was forced out of him. "Princess Mombi!"
"Of course it is." Jetta sighed.
"I guess at least I was right." Emily Elizabeth frowned at herself.
Mike patted her on the back before she smiled at him, so he smiled back before hiding a dark smirk at Max. Max looked confused from that.
"I don't remember her." Dorothy said about Princess Mombi.
"Me neither." Toto added.
"Take us to Mombi." Tik-Tok demanded to the Wheeler.
"No! No! No!" The Wheeler begged out of fear.
"Why so scared?" Scruffy asked the Wheeler.
"Have you seen Princess Mombi?!" The Wheeler replied. "That's a death-wish waiting to happen!"
"...Maybe we should go back home now?" Snow White grinned nervously.
"I'm sorry, Snow White, but we have a mission and we have to do it," Vincent told her. "Besides, it can't be any scarier than that subway chase with Jenny, Oliver, and Dodger and Company."
They soon followed the Wheeler to the front door of Princess Mombi.
Dorothy soon knocked on the door once they got there.
"Please, let me go," The Wheeler whimpered as Tik-Tok kept a hold of him. "Please! Please let me go. Please let me go! Let me go!"
"All right, Tik-Tok," Dorothy soon allowed. "Let him go."
"Behave yourself, now." Tik-Tok told the Wheeler as he let him go.
"I will behave. I'll behave!" The Wheeler replied, laughing a bit insanely as it rolled away from them. "Behave! I'll be... You behave!"
"I'm starting to think Janja and the other hyenas laugh less than that." Akito remarked.
"Same here." Estelle added.
"Door's still shut." Felicity spoke up.
Akito and Estelle looked over to see that that was true.
"Hello?" Dorothy called.
"Oh, well, nobody's home, better go home too." Vaz said nervously as he was getting ready to turn around and leave.
Dorothy soon opened the door as it wasn't locked.
"Or... I guess we could go inside." Vaz said.
"Aw, come on, Vaz!" Jetta told him as she pulled him inside. "Don't be such a baby."
They soon began to make their way inside.
"What a mess!" Billina remarked.
"It's messier than the old house." Toto added.
Dorothy looked over and gestured to the robot. "Come on, Tik-Tok."
Tik-Tok began to follow inside.
"This Mombi is some house-keeper." Billina muttered to herself.
Dorothy walked inside with Tik-Tok and the others as they looked all around, but didn't see a princess anywhere so far.
"Where could she be?" Akito asked.
"Maybe she's busy, we should come back later." Vaz said.
"Aw, cut that out," Max told him. "Trust me, if anything happens, I'll help out in any way I can."
"Wow! Thanks, Max." Vaz smiled.
"They don't call me 'Mighty Max' for nothing." Max smiled back.
"That's true." Emily Elizabeth smiled.
Mike glanced over sharply.
"I think it's up these stairs, Dorothy." Tik-Tok called.
The others looked to each other and followed him upstairs before they ended up in what looked like a grand throne room.
"Maybe she's in here." Charley said.
"Well, I'd love to live here," Jetta smirked. "Maybe for my next birthday party, I'll have a princess theme."
"Of course you will." Mike mumbled to himself.
The doors shut behind them as they stepped inside and took a look around.
"It sure is pretty," Estelle said. "Though probably not as pretty as Sofia's place."
"You're right about that." Akito said.
Eventually, they heard some music playing and began to follow the music as they found what appeared to be an adult princess who was playing the music on her lute as she sat by herself.
"That must be her." Jetta remarked.
Emily Elizabeth nodded as they approached the princess at her throne.
"Excuse me, Miss, but are you Princess Mombi?" Dorothy asked as they came to the princess.
The princess yawned a bit before she held out her hands with a request as she set down her instrument. "Help me to rise."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Charley said.
The others soon helped her up, even though Jetta complained about it. Dorothy set Billina down on the floor with the dogs as she also helped out.
"I think I'll put on something more appropriate," Princess Mombi said as she soon stood up to her feet. "Come with me. Your friends can stay here."
Scruffy looked confused as to why she only wanted Dorothy to come with her.
"Couldn't we all come too?" Estelle asked Princess Mombi.
"Well... You can..." Princess Mombi allowed to the kids.
"Works for us!" Emily Elizabeth beamed at that.
"We're really looking for the Scarecrow." Dorothy told the princess.
Princess Mombi didn't respond to that as she took Dorothy's hand and led her and the other kids all around her home as it took quite some time to get to her room to change her clothes. Akito was beginning to wonder about the princess.
"I think number four will do for this afternoon." Princess Mombi said as she unlocked a case and opened the door before she seemed to remove her head.
Dorothy and the others looked startled from that, especially with other heads looking at and watching them.
"Did she just take her head off?!" Jetta gulped.
"Yep." Emily Elizabeth nodded.
"I have a doll that can do that." Estelle muttered to herself as she had dolls of the Monster High girls that her parents and Aunt Cherry used to know.
"This is very interesting." Akito said.
"I guess..." Felicity shuddered as she felt uncomfortable at being stared at by the other heads.
Princess Mombi then found the head that she wanted and decided to wear it before she showed it to the kids. "What do you think?" she then asked as Dorothy felt startled by the head looking right at her.
"I think you're very beautiful." Dorothy said nervously.
"I should hope so," Princess Mombi replied before she put her head on. "And just who might you be? What are you doing here?"
The pets began to feel more and more nervous without their owners being there with them.
"I'm Dorothy Gale," Dorothy soon spoke up. "And these are my friends: Akito, Estelle, Vincent, Felicity, Charley, Jetta, Vaz, Mighty Max, Mike, and Emily Elizabeth."
"Dorothy Gale?" Princess Mombi repeated as that name seemed to interest her.
Dorothy did her best to hide her fear. "What's happened to the Scarecrow?" she then asked.
"Come nearer to me," Princess Mombi soon requested before Dorothy did as she was told. "The Nome King took the Scarecrow and all the emeralds back to his mountain. And turned everyone else to stone," she then explained before she took Dorothy's face a bit, taking a closer look at the girl. "You will be rather attractive one day. Not at all beautiful, you understand, but you have a certain prettiness. Different from my other heads. I believe I'll lock you in the tower for a few years 'til your head is ready. And then I'll take it."
"Why would you want her head?" Charley asked.
"Well, I have to wear something for special days, don't I?" Princess Mombi smirked.
"I believe you will not!" Dorothy shook her head as she tried to sound as assertive as she possibly could.
Princess Mombi then took a firm hold of Dorothy to drag her away.
"That's why she wanted Dorothy alone!" Scruffy glared. "Come on, guys!"
"Attack!" Dot barked.
Billina soon rushed over with the dogs as they began to bark and growl at Princess Mombi.
"Tik-Tok!" Billina soon clucked out.
"Billina! Toto!" Dorothy cried out as the chicken and dog soon began to attack Princess Mombi.
Scruffy, Dot, and Snow White soon joined in the attack. Clifford wasn't sure what to do himself as he was very rarely violent, especially when playing with T-Bone and Cleo.
"I am coming, Dorothy!" Tik-Tok called out as he came to help Dorothy. "Do not worry. I will save you."
"You, I'll have fried for breakfast!" Princess Mombi glared at Billina as the chicken flew out and pecked at her.
"Oh, no, you won't!" Scruffy told her.
"Tik-Tok! Help me!" Billina cried out as Princess Mombi dragged Dorothy while trying to avoid the dogs.
"Stop it!" Dot growled.
"Oh, dear. My action has run down," Tik-Tok said as he was suddenly unable to stop Princess Mombi. "This is too bad."
Princess Mombi laughed at that as she soon walked off, dragging Dorothy behind her.
"Let her go!" Akito told her as he and the others charged at Princess Mombi.
Princess Mombi glared as she pushed them back.
"I'm not afraid of you!" Akito said as he stood up straight.
"This is too bad," Tik-Tok frowned at himself. "I suppose my fight with the Wheelers made me run down faster than usual."
"We have to help somehow." Clifford said.
"Maybe I should launch that Princess Pain-in-the-Butt to the moon." Scruffy grinned darkly.
"I wouldn't stop you." Dot smirked.
"Aw, yeah," Scruffy smirked back as he got into position. "Future Paw Patrol/Pound Puppy member: Scruffy Pongo, is on the job!"
The others soon went to catch up, though it seemed like Dorothy, the other kids, and Princess Mombi were already gone.
"Hey! Where'd they go?" Scruffy complained.
"I believe they went through that door." Tik-Tok told them while he still could.
"Thanks, Tik-Tok; we'll be back soon, so then Dorothy or one of the kids can re-wind your action key." Dot said.
"Take care." Tik-Tok replied.