"Woah," Vella whispered, looking at the shattered remains of what used to be a small town.

Vella, Shay, Oz, and Finley had all left that morning and started down the yellow brick road. Finley blabbered the whole way-Vella and Shay ignored him by talking about home while Oz had to listen to everything the monkey said. Finley had also insisted that they take a look at the source of some smoke they saw billowing in the sky.

They'd found the ruins of China Town, a small village made of the same material as its name. The four walked through carefully, although they couldn't break anything any more than had been already.

"This is horrible," Vella whispered. "It reminds me of what they said Mog Chothra would do to our town if…"

A sound of something or someone sobbing interrupted her. All four of them looked around, trying to find the source. Oz ducked into a house and looked around. Finley, Vella, and Shay all stayed outside, knowing very well that there was not enough room in the house for them all. The house was too small for Oz to even stand up.

Oz lowered his voice and started talking to the person in the house. The others heard him introduce himself before he turned to them, moving out of the way so that the person in the house could see them.

"This is Finley," he gestured to the flying monkey behind him, "and these two kids are… er…"

"I'm Vella and this is Shay," Vella finished, gesturing between herself and Shay.

Oz turned back to the little girl inside the house. He took his bag from Finley, then disappeared into the little porcelain house. A few minutes later, Oz backed out of the house with a small girl made out of the same material as everything else in the town. She was smiling and thanking Oz as much as possible.

Later that day, the group-now there were five of them-found themselves at the edge of the dark forest, none daring to be the first to enter.

"Are you sure you kids want to do this?" Oz asked, addressing Vella, Shay, and the China Girl.

All three were, despite their hesitation. Oz took a deep breath and took a tentative step into the forest. Nothing had eaten alive (yet), so he took another. And another. And another. The others soon followed.

They all reached a graveyard a while later, after nearly getting eaten by some vicious… things. As they hid behind a rock by the graveyard, Vella tried to ignore the fact that whatever had attacked them reminded her of Mog Chothra's tentacles.

A cloaked figure walked in front of their rock, making its way to the graveyard's gate.

"The wicked witch," Oz whispered.

"She doesn't seem as dangerous as Evanora made her out to be," Vella whispered.

"How are we supposed to kill her?" Shay asked.

"We could use this!" China Girl said, whipping out a small blade.

"It has a knife!" Finley exclaimed, finding it very hard to continue whispering.

Oz took the blade from China Girl's hands, despite her protests, and pocketed it. Vella started checking her dress pockets for anything useful. Her hand came in contact with a hard, smooth material. She grabbed the object and pulled it out.

"Finally!" A voice said. "I was beginning to suffocate in there!"

"Shh!" Vella, Shay, Oz, China Girl, and Finley whispered in unison.

"Sorry," the knife, which Vella had forgotten she had, said.

"Is that knife… talking?" yet another voice asked. This one was a soft female voice, and most definitely did not belong to any of the six who were already there.

Everyone (except for the knife, of course) screamed. The black-cloaked figure stood over their rock, looking down at them. Oz curled into a ball and pleaded for the witch not to kill him. Vella and Shay stood there for a moment, stunned, before Vella lunged at the witch, knife in hand.

The witch raised a hand in self-defense and a bright light blew Vella back. Everyone looked at the witch in surprise.

The blast had also blown back the witch's hood, and everyone froze at what they saw. They had expected the witch to look just as horrible as her actions. But she didn't. The young, blonde-haired woman in front of them was nothing like how they'd pictured her. Oz stood up and looked at her.

"Do… do I know you?" he asked. The others in his company just shot each other worried glances.

The witch cocked her head. "I do not believe so. Are you the wizard?"

"I… I thi-I mean-yes. Yes, I am the wizard. "

The witch smiled. "Then there is hope."

"Who are you?" Vella asked, putting the knife away, much to his objections.

"I am Glinda, the Good Witch of the South," the witch replied.

The company of five looked at each other.

"I-I thought Evanora was the good witch," Oz said.

Glinda sighed. "Evanora. She is the true wicked witch."

"I knew it!" Vella whispered.

"She led everyone to believe that I poisoned the king-my father. But really, it was her," Glinda explained.

Shay cringed internally. Would he ever have good enough judgement to trust the right people? This was the second time one of his "allies" had turned out to be his enemy in disguise.

"Then she was the one who destroyed my village?" China Girl asked in a small voice.

Glinda looked at her, her eyes full of sympathy. "I'm so sorry…"

China Girl looked away.

"Jeez," Vella said. "Your world is just as bad off as ours."

"Your world?" Glinda asked.

"Yeah… We had some-er-monster issues there too," Vella said. Thoughts of mogs, her family, and Shay's family flooded her mind.

While Glinda told Oz the story of everything that had happened between her and Evanora, Vella and Shay's heads buzzed with thoughts of their families. Both thought of how much their parents surely missed them. Both realized their families probably assumed they were dead. Those thoughts were all forced away as an oh-so-familiar cry filled the air.

"Not again," Vella muttered.

"Oh, Wizard, now's the time," Glinda said as flying baboons flooded the air and swarmed towards them.

"What?" Oz asked, in too much of a panic to think properly.

"Aren't you supposed to have magic or something?" Vella asked. She was beginning to doubt his credibility.

"Oh, yeah…" Oz said. He fumbled with his various pockets, turning up nothing, before turning to everyone else. "I think we should run."

"Really?" Shay asked.

More cries filled the air. All of them started running, an unspoken agreement and panic fueling them. Glinda looked back at the encroaching minions. She stopped, took out her wand, and started covering the ground with a thick white fog.

"What are you doing?" Shay asked.

"Slowing them down!" Glinda called. "Go!"

Shay started running, only to run into Vella, sending both teenagers to the ground. Fog filled the air and they all saw nothing but white.

Everyone called each other's names, lost in the confusion caused by the fog. Shay and Vella were the first to run into each other, ending up sprawled on the ground once more. Oz came running and tripped over the two as Finley (who was carrying the China Girl) ran into Oz's face as he toppled to the ground.

The fog started clearing as everyone got back up and started running once more. All 6 came to a halt, nearly falling over a cliff. The minions' cries filled the air, seeming to tell the group that they weren't going to back off.

An idea flashed in Glinda's eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Sure?" the other five said hesitantly.

"Then just do as I do," Glinda said. She turned to Oz. "Unless you've got something?" He shook his head.

Glinda stepped forward and fell off the edge of the cliff. Vella, Shay, and Oz all called after her. China Girl grabbed onto Finley as he prepared to fly off the cliff.

"Wait! Just because she jumps off a cliff doesn't mean you should!" Oz said.

Finley shrugged. "I have wings." Oz couldn't get out any more protests as Finley and China Girl flew over the edge.

Shay and Vella stared after them.

"Isn't jumping off of things what got us into this mess?" Shay asked panic flooding his eyes.

Vella shrugged and grabbed Shay's hand, dragging him with her as she jumped headfirst into yet another abyss.