The Genius of Oz.
Chapter 8: The Wicked Witch's Castle
Our heroes were still catching their breath after the Jitterbug incident when they heard the flapping of many wings. They looked up to see several small creatures flying towards them. "Are those gerbils?" asked Lilo. Simultaneously, all of the flying creatures said, "We're hamsters! Hamsters! Not gerbils!" Then the Winged Hamsters flew down on them. They grabbed the Scarecrow and started removing the straw from him. They took the Tin Woodbot's axe and got him tangled in the vines. The Cowardly Lion screamed and hide in the bushes. The Winged Hamsters went down and started yanking the Lion's tail and mane. Lilo tried to run but the chief Winged Hamster swooped down and grabbed her. She screamed as the Winged Hamster carried her away. Stitch was about to come to her rescue when another Winged Hamster grabbed him. After those two have been captured, the Winged Hamsters took off. The Tin Bot and the Lion removed themselves from the foliage they went to over the Scarecrow's side, or what was left of it. "What happened to you?" asked the Tin Woodbot. "Well," said the Scarecrow, "they took out my left arm and threw it over there. Then they took out my legs and threw them over there. Then they took out my tail and threw it over there." "They really took the stuffing out of ya, didn't they?" said the Cowardly Lion. "Enough puns," said the Tin Woodbot as he started re-stuffing the Scarecrow, "we have to save Lilo."
Meanwhile, the Winged Hamsters took Lilo and Stitch to the Wicked Witch's castle. They were taken to the Wicked Witch. To prevent any mischief, Stitch had tied up with some of the most complex knots known to witchcraft. "Now my dear," said the Wicked Witch to Lilo, "I finally have you in my clutches and your misfit friends aren't here to save you this time. There's nothing you can do, so why don't you give me those Ruby Sandals?" "I can't," said Lilo, "Glinda told me not to." "Fine," snarled the Wicked Witch. She turned to the chief Winged Hamster and said, "Throw that ugly dog into the river." Lilo gasped, knowing that Stitch wouldn't survive in the water. "Wait!" said Lilo, "Don't do it! You can have these Ruby Sandals, just give me my dog back." "See, my dear," said the Wicked Witch, "all it takes is the right words and you can get anything." She reached for the Ruby Sandals but she thrown back by a feedback pulse that emanated from them. As the Wicked Witch got up, Lilo said, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that. Can I have Stitch back?" "No!" said the Witch, "Fool that I am! I should have remembered. Those Sandals will never come off, as long as you're still alive. Now the question is not what to do, but how to do it. It has to be done carefully, or you'd ruin the magic."
While the Wicked Witch was talking, Stitch was continually slicing through the ropes that bound him by repeatedly extending and withdrawing the spines on his back. Now the ropes were weakened enough to break. Then Stitch went into alien mode and broke out. "Stitch, run!" yelled Lilo. Stitch ran out the door as the Wicked Witch yelled, "Stop that freak!" The Witch's guards came out of various doors to intercept Stitch. But Stitch easily evaded every one of them. Even the enormous Captain of the guards couldn't get a hand on him. Stitch jumped over his porpoise-like head and out a window to freedom.
"He got away!" cheered Lilo. The Wicked Witch snarled and said, "Yes, and that's more than you'll ever do." She picked up a red hourglass and said, "See this?" She flipped the hourglass and said, "That's how long you have to live. In the meantime, relax, make yourself comfortable, and don't get any ideas. The doors are lockpick-proof and the drop out of the window would kill you. Have a nice half-hour." The Wicked Witch left the room to go prepare a way of exterminating Lilo. When she left, Lilo looked around the room to find a way out. She went over to the crystal hologram projector and tried to activate it. Suddenly the projector turned on and Nani's image appeared on it. "Lilo?" said the image, "Lilo? Lilo, where are you?" "I'm here, Nani," said Lilo, "I'm stuck on Oz and the Wicked Witch has me prisoner." Suddenly the image warped and was replaced by the Wicked Witch. "Nani, Nani," mocked the image; "I'll give you Nani." The image disappeared with evil laughter, leaving a teary-eyed Lilo.
Stitch quickly ran through the forest to where he and the others had been attacked by the Winged Hamster. He found that the Scarecrow had just finished re-stuffing himself. Stitch bound into the clearing and started spouting alien language. "Whoa," said the Cowardly Lion, "slow down. I don't speak gobbly-gook." "Wait," said the Scarecrow, "Stitch was captured by those flying gerbil-things. If he's here, than that means he escaped. Which also means…" "He can lead us back to Lilo!" said the Tin Woodbot. Stitch grumbled to himself, "That's what I said." "Us?" said the Cowardly Lion, "G-go to the W-wicked W-witch's c-castle?" "It's the only way to say Lilo," said the Tin Woodbot. "All right," said the Cowardly Lion, "I'll go straight to that castle. I'll take out any guard in my way. And if that Witch tries to stop me, I'll throw her out a window. There's just one thing I want you guys to do for me." "What's that?" asked the others enthusiastically. "Talk me out of it," he bawled.
The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodbot, and the Cowardly Lion followed Stitch as he led the way towards the Wicked Witch's castle. They eventually reached it, but saw that to their dismay, it was heavily guarded. The guards were constantly marching in and out of the castle, chanting a toneless, yet strangely catchy, chant. "I think I know how we can get in there," said the Scarecrow, "here's my plan." While the Scarecrow was discussing the plan, four of the Wicked Witch's guards were sneaking up behind them. Just as the Scarecrow was reaching the crucial part of his plan, the Cowardly Lion noticed the guards were right behind them. His fear caused his tongue to tie itself and all he could say was "Hamana, hamana, hamana." "Not now," said the Scarecrow, "now as I was saying, all we need are four of those guards' uniforms. But where are we going to get those?" Suddenly the four guards pounced on the group and a rough tumble began.
Not very long after that, our four heroes were sneaking over to the rest of the guards, wearing the defeated guards' uniforms. They joined the line going into the castle and, to avoid being noticed, joined in the toneless chant the guards were humming. Our heroes made it inside where they broke off from the main group and started following Stitch to where Lilo was. As they went, they took off the quite uncomfortable uniforms. "Oh great," said the Tin Woodbot, "I got that chant stuck in my head." He opened his chest and reached upwards. He pulled out a small piece and said, "And now I don't." They quickly reached the room that Lilo was being held prisoner in. "Lilo!" cried Stitch. Lilo hurried to the door and yelled, "Stitch! Boy, am I glad to hear you! Get me outta here, the hourglass is almost empty, and the Witch will be back soon. Stitch and the Lion tried to tear down the door, but the doors were built to resist that. "Step aside and let me work," said the Tin Bot and he started chopping through the doors with his axe. Apparently, the prisoners the Witch normally captured were more in the brute-strength category than in the sharp-clawed category. Soon the doors were turned to splinters. Lilo came through the shattered doorway and gave Stitch a big hug. "When we get back home," said Lilo; "you're getting two coconut cakes and three jugs of coffee." This caused Stitch to drool on her shoulder. "Come on," said the Scarecrow, "we've got to go."
As the group was racing down the stairs, they heard a shrill cackle. They turned around to see the Wicked Witch holding the hourglass, with its top part empty. "Leaving so soon?" asked the Witch; "the party's only getting started." Several of the Witch's guards marched into the room. "I was thinking that I'd have to torture you to get those Sandals," said the Witch, "but now that you're all here, those Sandals would be as good as mine." The Wicked Witch threw the hourglass at the floor, which created a large cloud of red sand. At the same time, the Scarecrow made the Tin Woodbot's axe cut a rope that held up a chandelier. The chandelier dropped onto the guards and gave our heroes enough time to escape down a side hallway.
There was a long chase that went throughout the entire castle, eerily like a Scooby-Doo episode. It eventually ended when the guards had trapped our heroes in a corner wing of the castle. The Wicked Witch cackled as she approached them. "Five naughty strange-looking mice trapped in a corner. You'll watch your friends fall before you, Weirdlo, then you'll have no choice but to surrender." She grinned and put the straw end of her broomstick next to a torch on the wall. "How about a little fire, Scarecrow?" She thrust the lit broomstick at the Scarecrow, igniting his arm. Lilo quickly looked around for a fire extinguisher but only found a bucket of water. Deciding that would do, she picked it up and got ready to throw it. The Wicked Witch saw what she was doing and yelled, "Don't throw that water!" Lilo didn't hear this and threw the bucket's contents. The water put the Scarecrow's arm, but it also landed on the Witch.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" The Wicked Witch let out a scream so loud, it ringed in Lilo's ears for days to come. Everyone watched stupefied as the Wicked Witch started to shrink inside her robe. "Look what you've done! I'm melting, melting! Oh, how could I have let my beautiful wickedness be ruined by such a weird little girl and her ugly dog! I'm melting, melting, melting!" She continued until all that was left of her was a black robe and witch's hat floating in a pool of green slime. The Captain of the guards looked at the remains of the Witch and said, "She's dead. You killed her." "I didn't mean to do it," said Lilo, "it's just that he was on fire." The Captain of the guards knelt on one knee and proclaimed, "Hail Lilo, the Wicked Witch is dead!" The rest of the guards die the same and yelled, "Hail!" "May we have her broomstick?" asked Lilo. The Captain grabbed it, handed it to Lilo, and said, "It is yours." Then Lilo turned to the others and said, "Now we can go back to the Genius and tell him that the Wicked Witch is dead!"
There's another chapter. Don't we all remember that melting scene? It's been used countless times. Anyway, the next chapter is coming very soon so keep an eye out for it. Please review.