"You can go in there and inspect my ornament collection," said the Nome King, explaining the rules of the game to Dorothy and her friends, "each of you may touch one of my treasures, if you believe one of them is either the Scarecrow or his subjects. If you touch an object and say the word 'Oz' at the same time, the Scarecrow or one of his friends will be restored to their original selves."
"Hold on a second, rock man!" interrupted Woodenhorse, who eyed the monarch suspiciously. "What happens if we don't guess right and we pic k the wrong object?"
The Nome King looked at him with a smug look. "Well, I'm afraid you will instantly become an ornament and a part of my collection."
Dorothy stared at him in disbelief as her friends glanced uneasily at each other.
"Ohhh, if he weren't so disgusting, I'd eat him up in a matter of seconds," the Tiger growled.
"But that's not fair!" Jack objected in dismay.
"Dorothy did say she was willing to take the risk," replied the Nome King. "It sounds very fair to me and what I think is all that really matters."
All eyes were on Dorothy, who was thinking the matter over.
"You can't do this, Dorothy!" exclaimed Tiktok. "If you guess wrong, you will be enchanted into an ornament!"
"Then I will accept the punishment I deserve for everything I've done," Dorothy said sorrowfully. Then she turned to the king. "I accept, Your Majesty."
The Nome King clasped his hands together looking pleased. "Oh, good. I just knew you would."
With a motion of his hand, the nomes made an opening in the wall for the Oz gang to pass through. The entire group walked cautiously down the staircase with Dorothy trailing behind when she heard the Nome King call her name.
"Dorothy!"
The teen glanced over at the rock-made monarch
"You don't have to go down there. I can use the ruby slippers to send you back to Kansas. And when you get home, you will never think of Oz again."
"But what about all my friends?" questioned Dorothy.
"Forget about them," answered the Nome King, "you can't help them now. After all…..there's no place like home."
Dorothy silently shook her head in refusal. "I would never abandon my friends." And with that, she walked down the staircase, with the entrance to the throne room closing up behind her.
-0o0o0-
Meanwhile, Mombi and Langwidere had driven the princess' chariot, pulled by the wheelers, through an underground tunnel that took them to the main entrance of the Nome King's domain. The winged baboons were flying behind the chariot as they made their way through the tunnel. Upon arriving, the rock minion's face appeared on the wall when he heard the howls of the wheelers and the shrieks of the winged baboons.
"Open up! Tell him it's important!" demanded Langwidere.
"We have news for the Nome King!" cried Mombi.
The rock minion obeyed and an opening parted in the wall for both parties to enter.
-0o0o0-
"Wow!" Woodenhorse gasped in awe upon entering the ornament chamber. "Get a load of this place."
The group found themselves in a splendid hall that looked very grand and beautiful. The ceilings were composed of great arches that rose far above their heads, and all the walls and floors were of polished marble exquisitely colored white. Upon the mantels and on many shelves and brackets and tables, were clusters of ornaments of every description, seemingly made out of all sorts of metals, glass, china, stones, and marbles. There were vases, figures or persons or animals, graven platters and bowls, and mosaics of precious gems, portraits on walls, and many other things.
"Goodness! How will we ever find His Majesty, the Scarecrow, or the others in all this?" asked Tiktok, his head turning around in a circle at all the ornaments around him.
"We'll have to split up," suggested the Tiger. "We must choose wisely, or we will all become ornaments as well."
"In case we don't make it…" Dorothy announced sadly. "I'm sorry I got you all into this mess. Mombi and the Nome King are right. It's my fault for what has happened to Oz."
"Aw, you don't have to apologize," said Jack, "if I hadn't met you, I would have been stuck as Mombi's slave forever."
"Don't let that old witch and old fossil tell you different," said the Tiger, "none of this is your fault. They're just trying to mess with your mind."
"And if it hadn't been for you, I would've been stuck on that pole forever," smiled Woodenhorse.
"It has always been an honor serving you, Dorothy of Oz," Tiktok saluted.
"I should have quit when I was a head," grumbled the Gump, before adding, "but it's been nice knowing you, kid."
Dorothy smiled, her spirits lifted as she was glad her friends weren't cross with her. "Thank you, for being such good friends."
She pulled them all into a big group hug, and they stayed that way for half a minute before an irritated clucking noise came from inside Jack's pumpkin head. Everyone had to let go so Jack could open the cap off his head and pull Billina out from his head.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I can hardly move in there!" Billina complained. Then the chicken fluttered out of Jack's grasp and walked underneath a table covered by a white table cloth and several Knick-knacks. "After all the craziness, I need a nap."
"Don't stay in there too long," warned Dorothy. "And remember, the nomes don't like chickens. So stay out of sight."
"Obviously, she's no spring chicken," joked Woodenhorse.
After that, the group split up and went to explore different rooms of the ornament chamber.
-0o0o0-
Upstairs, and in the throne room, Mombi and Langwidere advanced into the throne room. Before either of them could speak, the Nome King bellowed, "Kneel down before your king!"
Groaning exasperatedly, Mombi and Langwidere got down on their knees, bowing before the Nome King.
"Dorothy Gale has come back to Oz," said Langwidere.
"Yes, I know," replied the Nome King. "And one of you was supposed to bring her to me."
"What good is she if she were better off dead?" grumbled Mombi. "She has caused enough trouble for both of us! She corrupted pumpkinhead, tried to steal my broomstick, stole Langwidere's ruby key, my Powder of Life, and made antiques to make a flying sofa and she's heading this way…" Looking up at the smug look on the king, Mombi grinned. "You know."
"I know everything because she's already here…..but not for much longer," the Nome King smiled wickedly. "I asked them to play a game for me, betting that if they could find the transformed Scarecrow and his friends."
"Why didn't you just transform them all right away like you did with the Scarecrow and the others?" asked Langwidere.
"It's more fun this way and it keeps me amused," replied the Nome King with a laugh. "Besides, there is no chance of their guessing right. How can they not know that people from Oz are a royal green color?"
"But…" Mombi showed a worried look on her face, "if she guesses right and finds out about Ozma…"
Hearing the name, the Nome King stood up immediately in alarm. "Ozma!? You didn't let her escape as well, did you?"
"Of course not," said Mombi. "She's still a prisoner. Nobody even knows where or who she is."
"Oh. Then there's nothing to worry about." The Nome King relaxed and sat back down in his throne and smoked his pipe. "Soon, there will be nobody left who remembers Oz, and I will become king over the entire land."
Behind the silent stone wall, and at the top of the staircase, Billina, having kept her head and ear pressed against the wall, had listened carefully to all this talk, now chuckled softly to herself as she heard the king disclose his secret to the witches. Then as quietly as ever Billina made her way back downstairs.
-0o0o0-
Back in the ornament chamber, the guessing game didn't go quite as anyone expected.
First, the Tiger came upon a long table with ornaments and knick-knacks carved to look like delicious good things to eat. "Of all the ornaments I've seen, these certainly look delicious," said the Tiger, hungrily. But instead of eating it, he pressed his big paw against a marble bowl of fruit and said "Oz!" There was a loud thunderclap and a flash of bright light. In the Tiger's place stood a beautifully shaped green ornament that resembled a cake upon the table.
Tiktok looked at several soldier ornaments when he realized that his action was winding down. "Oh, no. My action is running down. I better pick quick." He touched a golden mantel clock and said, "Oz!" But there was no Tiktok when there was thunderclap and a flash of light. All that remained of Tiktok was a green alarm clock.
"Eenie, meenie, miney…" said Jack, as he tried to choose which ornament to touch. Woodenhorse noticed this and tried to stop him, knowing Jack was going to make a mistake. "No! Not that way, you old melon head!" "Mo!" Too late. When Jack touched a vase and said, "Oz!" He was gone, and so was Woodenhorse. In their place were a miniature green rocking horse and a green jack-o-lantern.
The Gump found a golden crown on a shelf and said, "Hmm, since the Scarecrow is a king, maybe this could be him." He used his antler to touch the crown ornament but accidently bumped his antler against the top shelf, knocking several ornaments to the floor except a green medal got caught in his antler. The Gump lowered his head so his antler could touch the crown and then said, "Oz!" But just like his comrades, the Gump failed and was transformed into a green shiny horseshoe.
At that moment, Billina rushed into the chamber, squawking like crazy. "Don't touch anything! Don't touch anything!"
But there was no one. Only Dorothy could be seen, gazing at a pretty star and reached out to touch it and say, 'Oz.'
"Dorothy! Don't touch it! That's not the right one!" cried Billina.
"Billina!" gasped Dorothy, turning to face the chicken. "I thought I told you to stay hidden," she scolded.
But the hen was not in the mood to be reprimanded when she had important news. "Now's not the time, Dorothy! I overheard the Nome King talking to Mombi and Langwidere. The Scarecrow and all your friends are the royal green ornaments!"
"Green ornaments!?" Dorothy gaped in a mixture of both amazement and shock. "Then it makes sense! People from Oz are green because they've come from the Emerald City! We must tell the others!"
"They're nowhere to be seen," said Billina. "They must've all turned into ornaments."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Dorothy in dismay.
"I'm sorry, Dorothy."
"Don't be sorry, Billina. You've been a big help to me. C'mon, let's find those green ornaments!"
The two friends searched the entire room, eyes scanning from table to shelf for anything green. Dorothy felt her heart sing when she discovered a green diploma on a table. Placing her hands on it, Dorothy shouted, "OZ!"
The green diploma disappeared, and lounging on the table in front of her was the Scarecrow.
"DOROTHY!"
His voice echoed throughout the chamber and to the Nome King's throne room, where the monarch gave a start of shock. "Smudge and blazes!"
"Scarecrow!" exclaimed Dorothy, filled with happiness and joy. She threw her arms around him and the straw man lovingly embraced her in his delight.
"Oh, Dorothy, I'm so glad you're okay," he said with relief.
"Me too," she replied.
Dorothy was about to let go when the Scarecrow pulled her close to him. "Dorothy, there's something I need to tell you. I l…"
"I'm sorry, Scarecrow, but it has to wait," interrupted Dorothy, pushing herself out of the Scarecrow's embrace. "We must find more green ornaments."
"Why?"
"All our friends have been turned into green ornaments. We must find them quickly!"
"You got it, kiddo!"
So Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and Billina spread out and searched the entire chamber for more green ornaments.
"Furnaces and fumes!" cried the Nome King with rage. He threw his pipe at the wall, and the second it made contact with the wall, it exploded in flame.
The Scarecrow scanned every shelf and table he could find. "Green, green, green, green…" His eyes stopped at a green heart. "Green! I found one, Dorothy!"
"Touch it and say Oz!" shouted Dorothy when she found a green badge that read 'courage.' She touched it and shouted, "Oz!" The badge vanished and in its place stood the Cowardly Lion.
The Scarecrow touched the green heart and said, "Oz!" The heart was gone and the Tin Man was sitting on the table.
"Oh, thank goodness you found me," said the Tin Man with a relieved sigh.
"You can thank Dorothy for that," smiled the Scarecrow.
Dorothy quickly gave the Tin Man and the Lion a warm hug before saying, "I need your help, guys. The Nome King has transformed all our friends into green ornaments."
"All you have to do is touch it, say the word 'Oz,' and then everyone will change back into their old selves," explained the Scarecrow.
"Not a problem, strawman, you can count on us," the Lion said, giving him a wink.
"We'll help however we can," said the Tin Man, saluting.
The Nome King was fuming mad back in the throne room. "You let her escape, you two idiots!" Mombi held her ground while Langwidere tried to back away looking terribly frightened.
"Oz!" The Lion found a pair of green glasses and it transformed at once into Wiser when he had touched it.
"Oz!" The Tin Man touched a green china teapot and the China Princess appeared on the table.
"Oz!" The Scarecrow discovered a green candy cane and it changed into Marshal Mallow.
"Oz!" Dorothy, to her delight, found the green jack-o-lantern and green rocking horse, and when she had touched them, they transformed into Jack Pumpkinhead and Woodenhorse.
"Oz!" Billina used her leg to touch the green alarm clock and Tiktok was now standing right in front of her.
"Oz!" The Scarecrow found the green cake and the Hungry Tiger gave him a big bone-crushing once he had been rescued.
"Oz!" Dorothy had found the last green ornament, the green horseshoe, and the Gump looked around in confusion when he had changed back to normal.
That word seemed to mock the Nome King every time he heard Dorothy or her friends say it. He smashed his throne chair in a rage and threw the pieces right at Mombi and Langwidere, but Mombi disintegrated it with a heat spell used from her broomstick scepter.
The body of the Nome King suddenly faded into the wall, his large face now imprinted on the wall, and he bellowed angrily at the witches, "YOU BOTH HAD HER AND BOTH OF YOU LET HER ESCAPE!"
"It wasn't our fault," objected Langwidere. "If you had given us a real army…"
"Hey! You should've let me kill her when I had the chance!" shouted Mombi.
"I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU LATER!"
The Nome King waved a giant hand and two cages sprung up to encircle the two witches. They cried out in anguish as the angry Nome King left to deal with Dorothy and her friends.