The Wizard of Oz
Retold by Mutitoon
Chapter Eight
After Dorothy, Toto, and Cerberus recovered from the sleeping sleep of the poppies and clearing the snow off of their bodies, the friends ran to the city's entrance gate, which was closed. The gate looked like it was made of what looked like crystal, which is transparent and showed different colors on the people and things in the city.
"Wow!" Dorothy said in awe of the gate, "If the gate looks this wonderful, I can't wait to see the city."
"But how do we get in?" Cerberus asked.
"That sign might be helpful." Tenchi announced to the friends, pointing to the left side of the gate.
The group looked at where the scarecrow pointed at and saw a white board with writing on it. Dorothy went to the sign and read it.
"'Bell out of service. Please wait.'" Dorothy looked at her friends with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Talk about bad luck." Cerberus said.
"So, what do we do?" Tenchi asked the others.
"We wait." Jigen said, "There's no other way into the Emerald City."
"Hello!" A voice rang out to the group, who looked up to see a blue hedgehog wearing a simple green outfit with red sneakers.
"Hello?" Dorothy shouted back.
"How long have you been waiting?" The hedgehog asked.
"We just started waiting." Tenchi announced.
"Good to hear." The blue hedgehog announced, "Here comes the rope."
Then, a long piece of rope fell to the group.
"Thank you!" Dorothy said to the hedgehog.
"Can you bring the sign in with you?" The blue hedeghog asked.
"Sure." Dorothy said, grabbing the sign.
"No problem." The blue hedgehog replied before disappearing.
"Wait!" Cerberus yelled, but it was too late. Seeing this, Cerberus asked the others, "How do we enter the Emerald City?"
"It's simple." Jigen said as he grabbed the rope, "You pull the rope."
The tin man pulled the rope, which caused a bell to ring.
"Now what?" Dorothy and Cerberus asked.
"Wait for it." The tin man said in a calm tone.
Then, the gate started moving to the right wall and stopped when the gate was completely in the right wall.
"Wow!" The girl awed the sight of the city.
The city was beautiful and shining, like jewels, but the people, who looked like animals, wore simple looking clothes, which confused Dorothy.
"Why are the people wearin' such simple clothing, when they live in a beatuiful city?" Dorothy asked out loud.
"It's the Wizard's command." The hedgehog's voice rang out.
Dorothy turned around and saw the blue hedgehog behind her.
"Oh, Mister Hedgehog!" Dorothy exclaimed, but the hedgehog interrupted her.
"Wait a minute! My name is Soinc!"
"Sorry." Dorothy said, blushing. Then, she gave the sign to Sonic.
"Thanks, Miss Gale." The hedgehog said to the girl.
Dorothy was shocked at the hedgehog's statement, because she did not give her name to Sonic.
"How that you know...?
Sonic grinned and replied before Dorothy finished her sentense.
"Don't worry about it. Zeniba came to the Emerald City and announced the death of Beryl. The Grandmother-Witch of the North told us to be on the lookout for Dorothy Gale, the Queen-Witch of the West's murderer, by looking at her feet."
Dorothy looked at the silver slippers at her feet.
"The silver slippers..." Jigen spoke out.
"That's right." Sonic said, "Oh! Before I forget, you, Dorothy Gale of Kansas, are going to be given the royal treatment."
"Why?" Dorothy asked.
"Because the Wizard of Oz is expecting you." Sonic answered with a kind grin.
The girl was in shock as well as her companions.
"Really?" Tenchi asked.
"That's right." Sonic confirmed.
"Excuse me," Dorothy mewed, "but can you allow my friends to get the same treatment? They want to see the Wizard too."
"Sure. Why not?" Sonic agreed, "Just make sure that your friends stay with you."
"All right." Dorothy nodded her head.
Dorothy went to a clothing store to get clothes for herself and Tenchi. Dorothy got a very white blouse, a pair of green dress pants, and a green vest, and Tenchi got a cleaner version of the outfit he had.
"Thank you." The clerk, a female rabbit, said, "Come again."
"Thanks." Tenchi said, while Dorothy just waved good-bye as the two left the store.
Outside of the store, Jigen and Cerberus were waiting for Dorothy and Tenchi with Toto, who wanted to enter the store to follow Dorothy, when the girl and the scarecrow exited the store, carrying two bags of clothing.
"Took you two long enough." The tin man grumbled loudly.
"Sorry, Jigen." Dorothy apologized, "It took us a while to find certain pieces of clothing."
"Hey! Where's Sonic?" Tenchi asked, looking for Sonic, who helped them find the store.
"Hi, guys!" The blue hedgehog greeted to the group.
"Sonic, where have you been?" Dorothy asked her guide of the Emerald City.
"I went to the local hotel to get you guys a room." The hedgehog answered, "I have to get back to work, but tell Amy Rose, the owner, that I sent you. She'll give you the room."
"Thank you." Dorothy said with a grateful smile, "Good-bye."
"Bye." Soinc announced before running off to do his job.
In the hotel room, Dorothy was exiting the bathroom after taking a bath, when she saw Jigen looking at his hands. The girl was curious until she saw rust on the tin man's hands.
"What's wrong, Jigen?" Dorothy asked.
The tin man looked and saw the girl in a white towel that concealed her body down to her knees. Seeing this, Jigen grabbed the helm of his fedora and pulled it over his all-ready covered eyes before he answered.
"It's nothin' much. My hands are getting rusty again."
"How can you rust? I don't think tin rusts like that." Dorothy thought out loud.
"You're right, but iron is another story." The tin man agreed.
"Iron?" Dorothy asked. She recalled on the day she and Tenchi met Jigen, when he said that his mother fused his magic guns into his hands and guessed, "The magic guns?"
"That's right." The tin man confirmed.
"I'll help you." Dorothy announced. Jigen froze, when the girl made her statement. Dorothy turned to her bed, where Toto was sleeping, and picked up her bag from the clothing store, and said, "But first, I better get dressed."
"Uh, all right." Jigen said as the girl re-entered the bathroom.
Then, Tenchi and Cerberus entered the hotel room.
"Did Dorothy get out of the bathroom?" The winged lion asked.
"She was for a minute," Jigen answered Cerberus's question, "but she needed to get her clothes."
"Why?" Tenchi asked, having no idea about privacy.
"Dorothy's a girl, and girls like to have their privacy." Jigen explained. He saw the confusion on Tenchi's face and said, "Privacy is when a person wants to be by themselves."
"Oh!" The scarecrow understood the explaination, "Thanks."
"Not a problem." Jigen said with a sigh, "I learned about privacy, thanks to my sisters."
"Sisters?" Tenchi asked in surprise, "You weren't an only child."
"That's right." The tin man confirmed the question.
"I can empathize with you, Jigen." Cerberus announced, "I have five older brothers, and they're all jealous of me."
"Why?" Tenchi asked the lion.
"Being a winged lion, I'm considered almost sacred." Cerberus explained, "And since I'm of royal blood, I was made the first one in line for the throne, right before my eldest brother."
"That doesn't sound good." Dorothy announced as she exited the bathroom, dressed in her new clothes. The girl's hair was now in a low ponytail.
"Dorothy!" The lion blushed, "I wasn't expecting you to hear me."
"I know, but I could hear you guys out here." The girl admitted with a giggle. Then, she went to Toto and woke him up.
"Dorothy," Jigen spoke out, "are you sure that we'll get what we what?"
"Of course." Dorothy said. Then, she asked, "Where's an oil can?"
"Don't worry." The tin man announced, "I'll leave with it."
"I guess we don't have to wait for Jigen to oil his hands before we could go see the Wizard." Cerberus said to the others.
"Yeah," The girl agreed as she picked up the dog into her arms, "but what's a few minutes more?"
Jigen said, "Compared to a few days, not much."
"At least, I'll finally get my brain!" Tenchi said in a hopefully tone of voice.
"And my beating heart." Jigen added.
"My courage." Cerberus announced hopefully.
"And my and Toto's chance to go back to Kansas." Dorothy said as tears formed in her eyes.
"Dorothy..." Tenchi said, seeing the girl's tears.
Dorothy wiped away her tears and placed a smile on her face, saying, "Don't worry about me."
Unknown to the friends, they were being watched by a person sitting in a dark room, which concealed the body's features and not the shape.
"It looks like I've really got to impress them." The person said.