Elphaba took a deep breath from her place beside Galinda and began chanting again. Moments later a colossal ball of flame smashed into the prison entryway, knocking the door solidly off its hinges. The first thing either witch saw was Fiyero sprinting at them. "Run!" he shouted, grabbing their hands and dragging them back towards the entrance. Unfortunately that way out was now blocked by a battalion of guards.
Muttering curses the Winkie jerked his companions sideways, deeper into the prison. Elphaba was quite disoriented by this sudden turn of events. "Fiyero what in Oz's name is going on?"she demanded. "Where's Talor?"
"Probably chasing us," he responded. "There's no time to explain the particulars right now."
"Where are we going?" Galinda squeaked, struggling to keep up.
"I'm not quite sure," Fiyero admitted. "Hopefully there's another way out of here." They swung around another corner and were suddenly faced with Madame Morrible. As the three fugitives skidded to a halt several palace guards swarmed into the hallway behind them. They were trapped.
"Mister Tiggular I'm quite disappointed in you," the headmistress scoffed. "Not even an attempt at subtly." It took the green girl only a moment to understand who the real villain was.
"No; that's always been your specialty Madame," Elphaba quipped with a disdainful glance at the fish-like woman's voluminous dress.
"I'm not the one who agreed to betray you dearie," Morrible pointed out. Her eyes were fixed accusingly on Fiyero.
"What is she talking about?" Galinda squeaked.
"He consented to help us capture you," the headmistress leered at her emerald pupil. "Under the condition that the change wouldn't be painful for Miss Elphaba."
"And that we wouldn't mess with his head," Talor added, coming up behind the disgusting woman. Elphaba slipped her hand from the Winkie's grasp.
"Is that true?" she gasped. Fiyero felt a pain in his gut at the hurt trembling in those expressive brown eyes.
"Of course not," he exclaimed. "Fae she's toying with you. I just went along to try and trick them."
"Check his back pocket," Morrible suggested. "There's an enchanted syringe."
"This was part of the plan," the Winkie insisted, yanking out the needle himself. "I had to pretend." Elphaba jerked backward, warily watching the glinting hypodermic. "Fae, trust me," Fiyero pleaded. "I would never hurt you." The green girl continued to shrink away, but winked with the eye facing away from Morrible. Fiyero realized that he was being extremely dense.
"Get away from me you liar!" Elphaba hissed, inching towards the oblivious headmistress.
"Fae don't do this," he practically shouted. "Don't you know how much I care about you?" The green girl chose that moment to start chanting. Before Morrible could even register what was happening a rippling explosion had knocked her and Talor to the ground. Seconds later Elphaba, Fiyero, and Galinda were racing past them, pursued by the guards. It didn't take the green girl long to dispatch their pursuers with another blast of fire. When the smoke cleared ten men lay unconscious on the floor.
"So where do we go now?" Elphaba questioned as they slowed to a jog.
"Nowhere," Madame Morrible hissed, suddenly appearing in front of them. The headmistress cackled at the stunned expressions she received. "I'm not the only one who can use magic. Short distance transport spells are rather simple." Talor chose that moment to arrive behind them. Trapped again.
"Stand back Morrible," Fiyero shouted, pointing the syringe straight at her ample chest. "Or do you want to spend the rest of your life as a bubblehead?" For a moment fear flashed across Madame Morrible's face.
"Stabbing me won't change your fates," she sneered.
"But something tells me you care more about your fate than ours," Elphaba countered.
"Yeah," Galinda added. "Let us go or we'll give you a taste of your own medicine. Literally." The green girl grinned a little at her friend's attempt to be clever.
"Go ahead and stab me," Morrible invited, spreading her arms aside. "Let me have it."
"You're bluffing," Elphaba hissed.
"Try me," the headmistress exclaimed, sauntering forward. Suddenly the fugitives became aware of Talor approaching from behind. They couldn't stay locked in this debate forever.
"Do it," the green girl whispered in Fiyero's ear. He didn't waste another second. The Winkie whirled and, with impressive accuracy, hurled the hypodermic at Morrible. In the same instant Elphaba pinned Talor with a wall of energy.
Unfortunately the headmistress had another trick up her sleeve. A spell, probably placed in advance, slowed the needle as it approached. She easily reached out and snagged it from the air. Before the elderly sorceress could launch it at Elphaba's unprotected back Fiyero tackled her through the stomach. In surprise she dropped the needle, sending it sliding across the floor.
Angry at being thwarted Madame Morrible sent her Winkie attacker crashing into a wall with a simple shock spell. He fell into an unconscious heap. Elphaba had turned away from Talor and was facing Galinda. The blonde, in turn, gazed with surprise at the syringe lying beside her feet.
Immediately Madame Morrible grasped the perfection of this moment. Still lying on the ground she speedily muttered a well practiced spell. It caught Elphaba in the chest and flung her, encased in a crackling glow of red energy, against the wall. The green girl was nearly paralyzed as magic forced her into a trembling heap. Morrible couldn't move from her location on the floor else she give up the force of her spell, and Talor was unable to free himself from the green girl's earlier incantation.
Galinda was the only mobile person in the room. She had barely grasped the hypodermic when Talor started chanting. The blonde gasped and stumbled backwards, eyes wide. Slowly a calm, glazed expression overcame Galinda's face. Elphaba watched in horror as her friend took a few shaky steps towards the prone green girl.
"Don't do this Glin!" she shouted, struggling against Morrible spell. "You don't want to do this. I'm your best friend; listen to me!"
But the blonde didn't listen. She took increasingly steadier steps towards Elphaba and raised the needle in a trembling hand.
Ooh lookie; another cliffhanger!