(AN: New chapter, as promised. I'm going a bit into The Wizard of Oz territory here, explaining several key events from the movie [and the book] through the eyes of Boq. Furthermore, though this will probably be song-verse Wicked, it will not be song-verse The Wizard of Oz.)

Heartless

How long had Boq remained frozen in place? A day, maybe two? He lost all sense of time, standing there on his own, his eyes sealed open and eternally gazing. A fitting end or an unfair twister of fate? He didn't care anymore. Vengeance was all that burned within his being, even though he had no heart to feel said vengeance.

After what seemed like an eternity, he saw two of the strangest figures walking down the Road towards him: a little girl and a walking scarecrow. They seemed to be running afoul of the trees nearby. He had seen those when he ran this way, blind to everything except the anger inside. But he had an ax and therefore they stayed back and did not touch him. These two unfortunate fools, however, were receiving quite the struggle from the curmudgeonly trees.

Suddenly the little girl was at his knees, banging against his body. He did not feel it, but it was quite bothersome. But wait, bothersome-ness be damned: she could help him, if he were able to make enough noise.

Success! She and the scarecrow were able to oil up his mouth and limbs, now he was free from being trapped in place.

"How did you end up this way?" the little girl asked. If only she hadn't.

"Well..." Boq began, trying to think of something on the spot. He wasn't exactly good with thinking. "I remember that I was chopping that tree," He pointed to the heavily damaged stump that had been the object of the venting of his rage. "When suddenly it began to rain. And right in the middle of a chop, I...I rusted solid. I've been that way ever since."

"Oh dear!" the little girl said as she began applying more and more oil to the tin thing. She was not revolted by his presence, it seemed, like the Munchkins had been. This made Boq happy - if he had a heart that could be happy.

"Well," she said. "You're perfect now."

"Huh, perfect?" he mocked. "Hardly. You see, I'm quite empty inside."

"Really?" the girl asked.

"How so?" the strange scarecrow asked.

"Well," Boq began, elaborating. "If you will let me, I'll tell you my story, and maybe you'll understand."

"We're listening," the little girl said, plopping down upon one of the many stumps around him.

"Once upon a time," Boq began. "I was in love with the most beautiful girl in the world. I purposed to marry her, you know. But the Wicked Witch enchanted my ax to come after me and chop me to pieces."

"Oh my!" the little girl squealed.

I can't believe they're buying this, Boq thought. Maybe they can help me find the Wicked Witch and kill her for turning me into this monstrosity.

"Fortunately," he continued, elaborating on his story. "There was a kindly tin-smith who made me this body of metal each time my ax cut a part of my body off, until I was completely made of tin. But he forgot to give me a heart."

"No heart?" the two asked in unison.

"No heart," Boq sighed. He lifted his fist and struck his chest with a loud gonk. "See? All hollow."

"Well, that's just terrible," the little girl said earnestly. "That the Wicked 'ol Witch made this happen to you."

"Yes, it is." he returned.

"I know!" she suddenly stated. "Maybe you could come with us to the Emerald City."

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yes!" she nodded. "You see, me and the Scarecrow here are going there to see the Great and Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself, to get him a brain and to find me a way back home. I'm sure if you asked, he'd give you a heart."

He had heard the legends of the Wizard of Oz. Had that been the answer all along? But there was always a dark-side to every silver-lined cloud, as he learned the hard way before.

"Well," he said. "Supposing we get there and the Wizard doesn't give me a heart?"

"Oh, but he must, he'll just have to!" the little girl whined. "We've come all a very long way."

The scarecrow nodded.

Suddenly, a high-pitched shriek sounded from behind. One and all they turned to look at the nearby woodsman's cabin, which they must have mistaken for his own. Standing atop it was the figure that Boq hated the most, just as he had remembered her from that fateful morning at Colwen Grounds. But there was something different about her: there was a frantic look in her eyes. Like she had lost everything and didn't care what happened next.

He knew that look: he had seen it in his own eyes just before he had walked in on her and her sister, and when he had been turned into this metal monstrosity.

"You call that long?" she mocked at the little girl. "Why, you've just barely begun." She then glared down at the Scarecrow. "Helping her along, I see? Well, stay away from her!"

"You don't frighten me!" the Scarecrow said.

"Do I, now?" the green monstrosity barked. Suddenly there was a flash of fire and the Scarecrow jumped back. Boq almost threw himself upon the flames, snuffing them out with his metallic body.

Another manic howl of mocking laughter rose up from the little green figure up on the roof, before she took off into the sky. Boq slowly pushed himself up onto his feet. He noticed that the little girl had jumped back in fright as well.

"Don't be afraid of her, Dorothy," the Scarecrow said to the little girl. "I'll see you get safely to the Wizard now, whether I get a brain or not!"

"Me too!" Boq said, then turned towards where the Witch had departed and made a rude gesture in her direction.

"Oh!" the innocent-looking little girl said to both of them. "You're the best friends I've ever had." Her face contorted in thought.

"What is it, Dorothy?" Boq asked.

"It's the strangest thing," she said. "I feel as if I've met you before, but I couldn't have, could I?"

"Well, I don't think so." Boq said. "I was standing over there, rusted for the longest time."

"And I haven't got a brain," the Scarecrow said. "So I wouldn't know if I met you before."

"Still, I wish I could remember." she said at last. "Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. We have each other now, don't we?" She offered an arm to each of them.

"That's right!" the Scarecrow said.

"We do!" Boq added.

"To Oz?" she asked.

"To Oz!" they said together, wrapping their arms in hers.

Traveling with this little girl was not as bad as Boq may have first thought. That odd-looking creature that she adored - Lotto, or was it Dodo? - usually only yapped. Fortunately, being made of tin had some advantages: namely, Boq was never hurt very badly. If Troto tried to bite him, it would hurt the little yapping thing more that it would hurt him.

He also discovered that, since he did not tire, he did not have to sleep as much as he thought he did. The Scarecrow, also, did not have to sleep. This meant that, while the little girl - whose name was Dorothy - and her dog Tootoo slept, these two could be up together and talk.

Which he both looked forward to and secretly dreaded. He looked forward to it because the Scarecrow's face reminded him fiercely of someone he knew...

He dreaded if it actually was the person he thought it was.

One night, the evening after he had been un-rusted, they were on the edge of the Pine Barrens, sleeping beneath the trees. Dorothy was fast asleep, her dog huddled up next to her. They lit no fire, because, as it turned out, the Scarecrow was stuffed with straw and was rather fearful of fire. This did not worry Boq much, because he didn't feel the chill of the cold as much as he used to.

"Scarecrow?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly. I might not be able to give you the right answer, because after all, I'm just a fool with no brain."

"Why do you want a brain?"

"Well," the Scarecrow began. "I really don't know. I mean, if I had a brain, I'd be able to think about the reasons why I'd want one. As I don't, I can't really say why I'd want a brain."

"Well, wouldn't you want a heart instead?"

"A brainless fool wouldn't know what to do with a heart if he had one." the Scarecrow returned.

"I had both once," Boq said. "And I'd prefer a heart. After all, I used to be able to love, but without a heart, I cannot love."

"Still," the Scarecrow said at last. "I'd still prefer brains."

Boq said nothing, but turned away. This was not possible. The Fiyero Tiggular he knew was a party-animal, who didn't care about brains or intelligence or anything. It was quite impossible for this odd-looking straw-man to have been the one he had lost Glinda to: after all, if he had been, than surely Glinda would not be with him anymore. Boq had hope, but it was a faint and fading hope.

This was definitely not Fiyero.

The next day passed relatively easy, though they did have to brave the Pine Barrens. No sign of any Kalidahs. Part of Boq wanted to face them again: after all, with this fine tin body, he would not be able to be harmed by them. He would protect them quite easily, no matter what creatures try to attack...

Oh my!

They were soon beset upon by a Lion. Not a lion, but a real Lion: one that could speak. Boq thought he recognized it, but there was not much to be seen. The beast smacked them around for a little while until the little yapping thing barked at him.

He fell to pieces. As Dorothy began scolding the Lion for what she saw as an attack on her poor pet, Boq noticed the way the huge cat was shivering and shaking. It could be...No, it couldn't be. That was three years ago. Then again, Animals grew faster than normal Ozians. A two year-old Animal was, in some cases, fully grown. It was quite possible that this nerve-less pussy-cat might be the Lion cub.

He had been there that day. He had crowded around Dr. Nikadik's cage with as much enthusiasm as the rest of them had...except for the green thing. She was freaking out, shouting silly concerns about the little thing. Then suddenly there was an explosion, and he was moving about jerkingly, he couldn't help himself. When he had at last been shaken out of whatever had happened, the cage was gone.

So she was a witch, all along, he noted.

Maybe this thing knew about it.

They made camp that night and, because of the coldness, they were more than able to make a fire. The Scarecrow, of course, kept his distance. At last Dorothy and the little yapping thing were asleep. The Lion was nervously pacing, jumping at the shadows made by the light of the fire.

"Uh, Lion?"

"Who's there? What are you?" the Lion cried, jumping up to his feet. "Put 'em up, put 'em..." But Boq clamped his metal hands over the Lion's snout.

"Shh!" he hissed. "I don't want to wake up Dorothy." A nod of the Lion's great mane gave Boq the okay to let him go.

"Why do you want to ask the Wizard for courage?" he asked at last.

"You heard me," the Lion answered. "Because I'm a coward."

"But, have you been a coward all your life?" he asked. "I mean, were you born that way?"

"I think so," he pondered. "I can't remember a single time I wasn't afraid of something."

"I see." Boq said. Well, that would make sense, if he had indeed been very young when Dr. Nikadik had caged him, possibly before he could remember.

But this was getting to be ridiculous. Boq needed to get Dorothy's help against the Wicked Witch. The Scarecrow told her that the witch was angry at her because she had killed her sister. A twinge of sadness eked through Boq's being, until he remembered what she had done to him. Still, she could be able to rid him of the other one, the greener one.

The Scarecrow had nothing against her, and therefore was just with Dorothy out of loyalty to her. If the Witch could indeed command fire like he had seen her do before, that made him quite useless against her when push finally came to shove. But Boq needed to get the rest of them on his side, because he needed his vengeance.

She had turned him into tin, and made it impossible for Glinda to possibly love him again (if she really had loved him to begin with). Therefore he had to get back at her, one way or another. And he needed their help. He had read the papers, and knew that the Wizard waged something of a cold war against the Witch: he must want her dead as well. He also knew the people hated the Witch: if he could just give them enough reason to go up against her, then they could finally corner the witch and close upon her like a pair of pincers.

Not pincers, clampers.

This brought something into Boq's mind. He saw the Lion was curled up in a ball over by the fire. He leaned over close to him and clapped his hands loudly by the Lion's ears.

It worked. The Lion was up and curled into a ball, bawling his eyes and begging for help. A wicked light appeared in Boq's eyes. Perhaps he could use the Lion's cowardice to his own advantage.

"Mr. Tin-man!" he turned and noted that Dorothy was, by now, wide awake. "Please stop! Can't you see he's frightened?"

"Oh," he stopped, taking a step back. "I wouldn't know, I haven't got a heart."

She nodded in recognition then went back to sleep. At least that excuse would work on them, and at least he had gotten away with it. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt now. Maybe now he could enact his plan against the Witch.

Vengeance would be sweet.

The rest of the trip to the Emerald City was interesting to say the least. They encountered the gulch that he and Nessa had crossed over, which the Lion made short work of by jumping across the gap. An encounter with Kalidahs, a short trip down the Munchkin-river and soon they were within sight of the Emerald City. The poppy-field complicated things, and Boq feared that it was the doing of the Witch. He never recalled seeing any poppies outside the carriage when he and Nessa had ridden past the Emerald City three years ago. It must be her fault.

Fortunately, an unexpected snow-storm saved them from a fate worse than death.

They found the welcome at the Emerald City to be quite cordial, despite having to wear green glasses and waiting for what seemed like hours on end to see the Wizard. Even the sudden appearance of the Witch in the sky was quickly forgotten once they were inside the Emerald Palace. They stood before the throne of the Wizard and saw him as a giant head, who had only one command.

Kill the Wicked Witch of the West.

It was exactly what he had been desiring. Now they were ordered to do it.

As they were leaving the city, a rowdy bunch of peasants were running after them, goading them on with their mission. At first they were chanting something, now their chant had risen up into a battle song.

Wickedness must be punished
Evil effectively eliminated
Wickedness must be punished
Kill the Witch!

Here was his moment. They were in the streets of a small village outside the city, the rest of them scurrying off one way or another. The Scarecrow was nowhere to be found, and neither were Dorothy and her yapping thing. At the sight of the villagers with their torches and pitch-forks, the Lion ran into a dark alley-way and was cowering in fear. Boq found a porch of one of the houses, got up on it and spoke to the angry villagers.

"Yes, we're off to kill the Witch!" he said, to the general cheers of the crowd. "But, this is more than just a service to the Wizard! Why, I have a personal score to settle with E..." But he halted. He knew her name, but she didn't deserve to be called that name, after what she had done.

"With the Witch!" he wailed.

It's due to her I'm made of tin
Her spell made this occur
So, for once, I'm glad I'm heartless
I'll be heartless killing her!

More cheers from those around. Boq looked up and saw, standing on a wall of the Emerald City, a lovely blond with the cod-faced head Shiz-tress of Shiz. He recognized her, even dressed up in her blue dress and wearing, of all things, a princess tiara. It fit, for only she deserved to be attired as such. If he had a heart, surely it was leaping by now.

Glinda.

"But I'm not the only one!" he said, trying to save face. Maybe she thought he was being a little harsh. No, he was not and he would prove it. He turned towards the alley and waved for the Lion. He shook his mane and turned away.

"Oh, come on, you!" he almost leaped at the Lion, grasping only onto his long tail. "Tell the nice people about that day in class! Remember? Tell them about how you were just a little cub, and she cub-napped you!"

"No!" the Lion wept, finally pulling free of Boq's metal clutches. Saving face, he turned back to the crowd and pointed into the alley.

See? The Lion also has a grievance to repay
If she'd let him fight his own battles
When he was young
He wouldn't be a coward today!

More cheers and cries of "Kill the Witch!" arose from the crowd. He rose his ax in one hand and a metal hand in the other. It felt good to be seen, to have so many people sympathize with his problem, to have them on his side when the time came. Looking up, he saw that Glinda wasn't looking at him. Did all this mean nothing to her? In fact, she looked shocked beyond belief, while the head Shiz-tress waved at them and gave them her blessing.

"Good fortune, witch-hunters!" she cried out.

On they went, a group of angry villagers behind them. They did not go far, for they had not the stomach to match their violent words or appearances. One by one, the Lion and Dorothy (with Frofro in hand) joined them. Just as Boq was about to ask where the Scarecrow was, he saw him appearing, tucking something into the folds of his jacket.

"Where did you go?" Boq asked.

"Oh, nowhere." he returned. "Just stepped out of sight to fix my stuffing, you know?"

He nodded, then turned his gaze to the western sky. It was time now, everything was set. They had their mandate and were now on their way: one way or another, he would be avenged for the loss of his heart on the Witch.

A smile crept across Boq's face.

(AN: I know it's kind of hard to be rooting for Boq in this chapter, but I can assure you that he'll be better in the next chapter. As you can see, he also is becoming more sinister, somewhat like Nessarose, which he will later notice.)

(Sparse song-verse here and there, with some influence from The Wizard of Oz and from the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Will try to get the new chapter posted a.s.a.p. It'll probably be the last one, because I think I can wrap the whole story up in only one more chapter.)