As Daniel walked down the long, winding road with faded yellow paint, something lurked in the bushes. It leapt our from the open, and made Daniel, as well as Toto II tumble down a great hill.

"OW!"

"OOH!"

"EEH!"

"WOAH!"

"HEY!"

"PAL!"

"WHATʼRE YA—"

"OW!"

"Ssh, youʼll blow my cover!" The person, a girl whispered.

"Wha?" Daniel started, then he noticed that this girl was rather...furry.

In fact, this was no ordinary girl, but an anthropomorphic liger—part tiger, part lion, as evidenced by the majority of her stripes were faded from the waist down on her slender, tall, yet muscular body with bright, green eyes.

"Thereʼs a RAK out there, man.." the liger girl said.

"Whatʼs that?" Daniel asked.

"Ugh..." the liger groaned. "You ainʼt from here, are you? Look, Iʼm Bebé, and a Rak is an animal that you canʼt avoid—it flies, it jumps, and it swims, and ergo, we are screwed in all departments."

EEEEEEeeeeEEEEEeeeeeeEEEEEPAAaaaAAAAAAAH!!* something loud

yelled.

"Is that it?" Daniel asked.

"...eeyup." Bebé said, checking under her claws.

Daniel quickly ducked into the bushes to hide from the great beast.

"If we donʼt move..." he whispered rather sharply to Bebé. "It might go away..."

"Youʼre not gonna get anything done just by beinʼ all hidey and stuff!!" The liger yelled, not whispering or hiding at all. "Lemme see this loser.."

"NOOO!!" Danny yelled. "BEBÉ, COME BAAAACK!!"

"RELAAAX!!" Bebé calmly walked over to the Rak. "This guy and me, we go way back!"

The enormous, bird-like beast gave a massive roar at Bebé, spit strands getting everywhere on her face. Bebé didnʼt care, she just smiled and roared louder!

"How ya like that?!" She remarked most confidently.

The Rak roared again, then swiped his claws on Bebéʼs arm until she had some extra scars.

"RUUUUUNNN!!" Danny yelled and grabbed Bebé, bandaging her wound with his shirt.

"Hey, whats the big deal?" She asked. "Itʼs just a little scratch!"

The Rak dove down in front of Danny, but he dodged it. Due to the way the light was from within the Mouse City, the mice thought the creature was running away from his "majesty".

"See!" said the Queen Mouse. "I told yʼall he was the one!"

"AMEN!"

The mice clapped and cheered.

"HALLELUJAH!"

"COME ON!!" Bebé yelled, grabbing Daniel.

Bebé and Daniel immediately leapt off a cliff, Daniel screamed at the top of his lungs.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Daniel yelled as they fell.

"MAYBE!" Bebé replied. "BUT WEʼRE GOINʼ DOWN THERE!"

"DOWN THERE?!" Daniel yelled. "But thatʼs—"

"This is the cactus patch of death, I know!" Bebé replied. "Just keep your legs straight, and youʼll be fine!"

"HOW ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT THIS?!" Daniel screamed, trying to keep his legs as straight as possible.

Pretty soon, Daniel and Bebé landed safely, as they went directly through a hole that the cactuses were making. The Rak screamed in pain for as it struggled to enter, it got repeatedly stabbed by the cactuses.

"HA!" Daniel yelled. "TAKE THAT! YOU SORRY SONUVA—WOAH!" Daniel tripped after jumping about.

"You okay?" Bebé asked.

"Uh, Yeah!" Daniel immediately jumped up to his feet. "Now what?"

Suddenly, from within the cactus field, was noises that sounded like

an axe chopping down a large tree.

"TIM-BERRRRR!!" A loud voice yelled.

The cacti in front of Bebé and Daniel fell to reveal a pretty girl made from metal. She was sleek, her arms were slender with pointed fingers that looked relatively robotic compared to the rest of her. Her eyes were extremely cute, black, and pie-shaped.

"The nameʼs Oilspot." The tin girl said. "I heard screaminʼ, and I thought you folks might need some help."

"My nameʼs Bebé." The liger rapidly shook her hand. "And this guyʼs Daniel Gale!"

"Wait, Gale?!" Oilspot asked, looking very surprised. "That means youʼre related to—"

"Dorothy Gale." Daniel spoke.

"Oh my gosh, then we havenʼt a moment to lose!" The tin girl took Danielʼs hand.

"Whyʼs that?" Daniel asked.

"Well, see, your momʼs rather tied up at the moment, literally." The tin girl grabbed her axe and started chopping at the cactuses once more. "Sheʼs been captured by the Gnome King—heʼs—heʼs this weirdo who took over the entire kingdom just last week!"

"Thatʼs impressive!" said Daniel.

"Yeah, I know!" Oilspot struggled to chop a particularity large cactus.

"So, can I come too?" Bebé asked.

"Sure!" Oilspot replied.

And with that, the three kids went off on their journey, the morning sun becoming afternoon, as well as a nice breeze wafting through the trees and flowers.