The crowd gazed at the green-skinned woman in silent horror. She had already gone around terrorizing everyone in the square. Vella and Shay heard Oz whisper something to Glinda. The woman whipped around and looked at him.
"Don't you recognize me, Wizard?" the woman asked. "Have I changed so much?"
"Theodora?" Oz almost whispered the name, not sure if he wanted to believe it.
"Is that really Theodora?" Vella whispered, looking at Shay.
A few facial similarities were there, but this woman before them was not the kind-hearted witch they once knew. Her skin was now a sickly green color, her hair tucked up under a pointy hat. Her face wasn't even the same- its features were much more pointed than before. No longer did she wear shades of red, no, now her attire was strictly black. She looked at the crowd with a mix between a snarl and a sneer on her face.
"May I have this dance?" Theodora asked, lowering her head and snapping her fingers.
Almost instantly, Oz lifted up off of the ground. Theodora lifted him through the air, almost bashing him into everything as he shouted protests and the crowd gasped.
Vella resisted the urge to lunge at her. Shay grabbed her shoulders and held her in place.
"Theodora, stop!" Glinda exclaimed, interrupting the other witch's antics. "You're hurting him!"
Theodora looked at her before slamming Oz into a wall. She turned towards Glinda and Vella backed up towards Shay. Theodora continued talking to Glinda, almost mockingly, as Oz got up and brushed himself up.
A particularly audacious woman spoke up. "Begone, witch, before the Wizard makes mush of you!"
"Oh, how sweet," Theodora said. "They all believe in you. So did I, once."
She turned to Glinda, getting very up close and personal. Shay watched the scene unfold as he held Vella back (oh, how badly did she want to deal with Theodora herself).
Theodora turned towards Oz, flame dancing at her fingertips. "How easy it would be to kill you right now."
Oz backed up as Theodora advanced. The flames at her hands grew ever so slightly as Oz backed into a wall.
"But I can wait," Theodora said, the flames going out. Oz sighed in relief.
"What happened to you?" Vella asked, not even bothering to try and wiggle out of Shay's grasp.
Theodora whipped around to face her.
"You two!" Theodora said. "Gone over to Glinda's side too?"
Shay and Vella just looked at her, all previous confidence lost.
"If you must know," Theodora continued, "My sister made me better."
"Better?" Vella asked. "How is this an improvement? Can't you see that your sister is the evil one?"
Theodora laughed-it was a very horrible, grating cackle rather than its usual, more gentle sound-and shook her head.
"There is so much you don't know. And perhaps it is better that you never find out."
Before either teen could say another word, Theodora drew her hand back, preparing to throw an ever-growing ball of fire that she held in her hand at Vella. Before she could, Shay pulled out his spoon and chucked it at Theodora's head. The ball of fire vanished and Theodora looked at him for a moment, stunned.
"Ouch," the spoon said from the ground. Shay picked him back up.
Theodora's stunned look turned into one of anger. She summoned another, much smaller fireball and threw it at Vella again. Vella dodged it, pulled the knife out of her pocket, and deflected a third one that Theodora threw.
Theodora growled in frustration and turned to Shay, prepared to aim all of her fire at Shay. She created a particularly large fireball, aiming it at his head. Just as she was about to throw it, a bright light extinguished the flames.
"Theodora! Stop, your fight is not with them!" Glinda said, wand in hand, preparing to strike again if need be.
Theodora walked over to Glinda once more, chuckling softly. "Believe me, you will ALL die when my sister and I come back." She looked at one of the townsfolk, who was holding a broom.
"Give me that!" she commanded, drawing the broom towards herself and corrupting it with her magic. She looked at Oz. "It was a broom you wanted, wasn't it, Wizard?"
She hopped on the broom and flew off, cackling the whole way.