Wonderful Wizard of Nick - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Go West, Young Witch Hunters

The next day, the group left Emerald City quite early, this time heading west. As Cindy told them, there was no road to follow this time, so they relied on Chuckie's animal instincts and orientation to go west without getting lost.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Jenny asked him after they had to deviate their route a bit to surround a small hill.

"I'm pretty sure we're going west... because all my instincts are yelling at me to run exactly at the opposite direction." Chuckie admitted, still not fond at all on this journey; then again, nobody in the group liked the idea of battling a witch.

"I just hope we don't need to walk for several days." Lila commented. Just in case, she was now carrying a couple of blankets and a clothing change (both courtesy of Libby) in her magical basket, since it was very possible they'd need to camp at least once on their way to the witch's lands.

"I still wonder, how is this witch gonna know we're going her way?" Jimmy shrugged as they continued.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Vicky, the Wicked Witch of The West, a redhead using stereotypical witch outfit, used her magical eye, aka a special monocle that was as effective as a very powerful telescope, to give a look around her kingdom. The witch's castle was on top of a large, creepy-looking hill, giving her a perfect observation point of her lands, and when she wasn't terrorizing her slaves-servants, the witch often went to the tallest tower for some surveillance work.

"Mmmm... a short guy dressed with straw and old clothing, a girl in cheap armor, a geeky guy with messy red hair, a twerpy girl with silly pigtails, and a small mutt." Vicky got a sly grin. "I doubt any of them is a good enough slave... no case on catching them alive. Better send them my welcome party."

Vicky whistled, and a moment later, a huge, gray, mean-looking wolf appeared out of thin air.

"Jacklondius Wildfangius." Vicky cackled and used her magic on the canine, sending him out of the castle. The moment the wolf was out, the witch's magic made him to multiply over and over again until this lone wolf became a large pack. Some of Vicky's servants, who were doing chores right out of the castle, panicked at this and ran for cover; they knew this meant their evil dictator had seen someone approaching her land, and that someone was about to get severely punished.

"Go, my puppies. Go get your food!" Vicky cackled while the wolves howled and started dashing at the direction Lila's group was. "Who let the dogs out? Oh, right... I did it! HAHAHAHA!" Vicky then paused and got a sly grin. "Mmm... I have time until they find those fools. Better get some snacks ready to watch the massacre."

After a whole day of walking, the group decided to stop and camp for the night. They set it up right next to an old, semi-dry tree, so Jenny could get some branches and use it as firewood; the tree was on top of a small hill, so they also had a good observation point from there. While Lila, Chuckie and Spunky ate dinner, and Jenny lubricated her joints, Jimmy moved a few feet away from the group, both to play watcher and to stay away from the fire.

"Mmm... good dinner, Lila; thanks." Chuckie said to the girl while finishing his last burrito. "Really, I was so hungry I'd have eaten a wolf."

HOOOOOWL!

Everyone froze at the spot, and Chuckie gulped.

"I didn't mean it literally."

Jimmy gave a look around, and, as much as he hated to get close to the fire, he asked Jenny to bring a flaming branch with her and use it as a torch to have some light, since even his night vision wasn't that good to see something coming from a very long distance. Once Jenny did, the metal girl and the scarecrow gulped.

"Wolves... and they're a lot!" Jimmy informed Lila and Chuckie. The lion, who now could see the pack as well, started shaking in fear.

"I... I might be able to roar and scare one or two wolves away... but these many? They're gonna feast on us!" Chuckie started hyperventilating.

"W-wait, wolves can't climb trees." Lila pointed out, reminding everyone there was a tree right behind them.

"Yes, but this isn't a very big tree, and we can't stay up there for life." Jimmy said. Jenny frowned, getting an idea.

"Lila, grab Spunky; Chuckie, you get them and Jimmy up there, and stay as high as you can. I'll handle the wolves."

"But Jenny, this is ever-so dangerous!" Lila said while grabbing Spunky.

"Yes, maybe you'd let Chuckie help you." Jimmy added.

"Don't help me here, compadre." Chuckie groaned while grabbing the scarecrow, the redhead and the dog, and climbing up to the tree's highest branches that could stand their weight. Jenny stayed at the tree's bottom, waiting for the wolves to arrive.

A few minutes later, the wolves ran uphill, ready to charge at the group. The wolf leading the attack pounced on Jenny the moment she was close enough, and the metal girl covered with her arms.

CRUNCH!

YEOOOOOWL!

Jenny smirked as the wolf that attacked her started yelping and covering his muzzle in pain. The rest of the pack stopped and now kept a respectful distance from the girl, as the first wolf shook his head and some of his fangs fell down.

"You can't bite me, guys; so... Dentist Jenny's in the house." Jenny grinned while morphing her left hand into a hammer and the right one into a mace. "Who's next?"

After a few moments, the wolves decided to continue with the attack, trying to get past Jenny and catch the others. Jenny started swinging her fists/weapons left and right, hitting most of the wolves. A few ones managed to get past her defense and started jumping at the ones on the tree, but they were too far from the wolves' normal reach, and whenever Jenny saw a wolf getting too close to success, she turned at him and hit the canine from behind at full force. One wolf, apparently bolder or more agile than the others, actually tried climbing up, but he was stopped by Chuckie's roaring, that surprised the canine and made him to fall down.

The battle lasted for several minutes until all the wolves were limping, bruised, and mostly toothless.

"Yes, I don't fear the big bad wolf." Jenny changed her hands into axes now. "Wanna continue playing?"

The wolves ran away as fast as their battered bodies allowed it.

"That was impressive, Jenny!" Jimmy congratulated the metal girl as Chuckie helped him, Lila and Spunky down the tree.

"And very nice of you about not... chopping them." Lila gulped. As much as she hated to see anyone, person or animal, getting beaten, she knew it was necessary in this case, yet was happy that Jenny didn't use lethal methods on the wolves despite how badly she injured them.

"Remember, not being cruel to anyone... as much as I can avoid it." Jenny pointed out as her hands returned to normal.

"Maybe we should get on the move now. Obviously, this place isn't exactly safe... and I have a bad feeling. Somehow, this pack attack didn't seem natural." Chuckie's natural instincts, combined with his usual fear, made him feel very uneasy. The others agreed with him and, after Lila and Jenny turned off the campfire, the group looked for another place to camp for the night.

"Okay... my favorite couch... popcorn... a pillow... Yes, I'm ready to see the attack." Vicky grinned while getting herself comfortable and grabbing her monocle. "Hope the wolves haven't finished them yet. I hate when I don't see the whole show."

Vicky gasped when looking at the scene. The wolves were returning to the palace, very slowly, and they looked in terrible conditions. Vicky then turned at the site she had seen the group camping, and didn't find them or any blood traces, meaning they haven't only battled the wolves but they also had won and ended relatively unharmed. Vicky started looking around but, unknown to her, the group was now setting a hidden camp, this time without any fire, and even if Vicky's magic allowed her to see at impressive distances, she had no night vision and there was no full moon that night, so she couldn't find them.

"Rats. I underestimated those guys. Now I wish I had seen the whole fight." Vicky thought out loud, frowning. Evidently, these strangers had some sort of power or abilities that allowed them to best her wolves. The evil witch decided to call it a night and go to sleep after telling one of her servants to wake her up very early the next day so she could focus all her attention on the intruders.

The next morning, Vicky got back to her observation point on top of the tower. She grinned when seeing the group again, realizing they were heading to her palace almost in a straight line, even if they were still too far away to get a good look of their destination.

"Well, since my K-9 squad didn't work, maybe I'd try my air force." Vicky put her hands together and, when separating them, a large, dark blue pigeon appeared on them.

"Oh, so good, appearing pigeons; what a great spellcaster you are." The pigeon said in a tough-guy voice. "What's next? Getting a rabbit out of your hat or a coin from my ear? Oh, wait, I have no ears. Tough luck, Girl."

"Shut up, Frankie, or I'll turn you into my dinner." Vicky growled at the pigeon, effectively scaring him. Then, the witch smirked and informed him of his mission. "Peck those pests until they're nothing. Go now! Flockius Hitchcockian."

Vicky threw the pigeon up in the air, and a moment later, his feathers became completely black and the bird grew in size and strength, getting a large, sharp beak; the pigeon, now transformed into a crow, then started multiplying just like the wolf did the previous night, and soon a huge flock flew away from the castle, heading to the group's encounter. This time, Vicky would see the whole thing.

The group had started walking again almost at sunrise, and Lila, Spunky and Chuckie had their breakfast as they moved. After a while of walking, they entered a high-grass area, and Lila had to carry Spunky to avoid losing him in the literal sea of grass.

"Hey, look, up in the sky." Jenny pointed up. "It's a bird... no, it's a lot of birds! It's a flock of crows."

The others looked at the crows too, and Chuckie realized they seemed very hostile.

"Maybe I can scare them away... then again, if I could do that, I wouldn't be here on first place." Jimmy groaned. This time Chuckie was the one with an idea.

"Jimmy, I'm gonna make you the world's scariest scarecrow." The lion grinned. "After all, I'm the expert when it comes to fears."

Once Chuckie explained his plan, the group went down, covering up with the grass. The crows, still looking for them, started descending to search in the grassy area, and once they were close enough...

ROOOOAR!

Jimmy, making his scariest face, emerged from the high grass, with Chuckie (obviously, the one roaring) behind him, both guys extending their arms and Chuckie showing his claws, while Jenny, still covering herself with the grass, lifted Jimmy to make him look taller and also to cover Chuckie's presence a lot better. From the flock's point of view, they had just found a monstrous, huge, roaring, clawed four-armed scarecrow; the scare was so effective that all the crows disappeared on thin air, except one, that morphed back into a pigeon and flew away in fear.

"I don't get paid enough for this! Help!" Frankie yelled, completely panicked, and soon he was out of sight.

"Whoa... I don't know what was more impressive; how scary you guys were or what happened to the crows." Lila, emerging from her hiding place, gasped at the scene.

"I think both!" Chuckie gulped. "We were so scary that I got afraid of myself... and... those birds disappeared just like... magic!"

"It's the witch's work." Jenny frowned. "And I'm almost sure the wolves that attacked us last night are her work too."

"On the bright side, this means we're getting closer to wherever she lives." Jimmy pointed out.

"Aren't we the lucky ones?"Chuckie groaned while Lila comforted him.

"Well, at least now we know we can defend ourselves... or more precisely, that you guys can. I only have the protection of the blessing, and without it, I'm ever so defenseless." Lila pointed out.

"Hey, don't say that. After all, you're the one who rallied us to get here on first place." Jimmy grinned. "And yes, you're right; we're doing well so far, and we're not giving up now."

Jenny and even Chuckie felt a bit more encouraged by this, and they continued with their journey.

Vicky frowned and facepalmed; then, she snapped her fingers and appeared a pencil and a piece of paper; using her magic, she made the pencil to write what she was saying.

"Note to self; get a good roast pigeon's recipe. Second note; replace Frankie with a turkey. That way, if he fails, I'll have something bigger to roast." Vicky snapped her fingers once the note was ready, and started pondering on her next move.

"Okay, these guys are resourceful... I give them that. I need to send someone who doesn't get afraid, and that they can't fight back so easily." Vicky smirked. "Time to call... the bees."

Ten minutes later...

"Here's your taffy, Miss Vicky." A nerdy girl in yellow and brown scout uniform handled Vicky a box of candy. "Again, the Honeybees, number 828 troop, thanks you for your preference."

"Thanks, Bessie. I needed something sweet to help me think." Vicky thanked the girl scout while eating some taffy. "Tell my servant to pay you at the exit."

"Okay, Miss Vicky." The girl extended her hand. "Uh... any tip?"

"Yes, get another job."

The girl sighed, rolled her eyes, and left, while Vicky continued eating her candy.

"Mmmm... good taffy. Okay, time to get to work." Vicky grinned and used another spell. "Blackellowius Stingus."

A hive appeared on her hands and, a moment later, a huge swarm of hornets emerged from it.

"You have a mission for us, Chief?" One of the hornets, with an evil grin, flew in front of Vicky.

"Of course; you didn't think I call you just because I want some company, right?" Vicky smirked. "Look, there are a few morons I want you to sting; a lot, in a very painful way, and until they move no more."

"Oh, yes, we love stinging others!" A second hornet added, with a similar evil expression.

"My favorite part is when they yell." The first hornet commented.

Once Vicky told them where to go, the large swarm flew away from the castle, and Vicky, still eating her taffy, went back to her observation point.

The group stopped walking in the middle of a forest. Unlike the one where Jenny and Chuckie used to live, this forest wasn't too dense, probably because it didn't have a river and there weren't many other water sources. In fact, it seemed Nick's western area was quite dry.

"Maybe I should consider moving around here in the future." Jenny commented. "Less humidity means less risks of rusting."

"Yeah, but who wants to move to a place with wicked witches, and furious wolves, and killer crows, and..." Chuckie got interrupted by Lila.

"A swarm!" Lila looked up, seeing the hornets coming. "Quick, we need to set up a campfire; bugs don't like fire or smoke."

"We have no time... quick, Jenny, use my straw." Jimmy opened up his shirt. "Don't worry, this won't hurt me; cover Lila, Spunky and Chuckie with the straw so the bugs don't find them."

Jenny did as the scarecrow told her, with Lila, Spunky and Chuckie laying down, with their bellies on the ground, as the metal girl covered them with Jimmy's straw. When the hornets finally saw Jenny, they only found her and a large pile of straw, without any signs of the other intruders Vicky told them to sting.

"Hey, there's only one! I thought we'd sting a small group, but nothing this small." A random hornet commented, visibly annoyed.

"Who cares? We can still sting her." Another hornet commented, smirking at rest of the insects agreed with him, and soon they all charged at Jenny... with predictable results.

"If I could feel something in my skin, this would be tickling me now." Jenny grinned as the hornets tried to sting her, breaking their 'weaponry' in the process. Since they were no bees, the hornets didn't die after stinging, but they still felt pain from trying to stab a metallic surface, while Jenny, completely unfazed, moved away from the straw pile, and made a quick campfire, now using the flame and the smoke against the hornets.

"Argh, this is too much! Let's get out of here!" A hornet yelled in pain and fear while his companions started coughing due to the smoke. After a few minutes, the whole swarm left.

"Okay, guys, you can get out now." Jenny said to her companions, and Lila, Spunky and Chuckie emerged from under the straw.

"Very clever, Jimmy." Lila said to the scarecrow, as she had been holding his head all the time.

"I wouldn't say 'clever', but thanks... now, can you refill me, please? I don't wanna lose too much weight." Jimmy joked while his friends collected the straw and started stuffing it back in his body.

Vicky growled a bit, having watched her hornets getting defeated. However, this time the group was close enough so she could actually see them in detail; the tall girl wasn't wearing some cheap armor, as she had thought, but she was made entirely of metal, and the guys weren't a short boy dressed on straw and old clothing and a geek with a messy hairdo but a living scarecrow and a humanoid lion.

"So, this girl..." Vicky now looked at Lila. "Mmm... what shoes is she wearing? I like... Hey, those are Sartana's shoes!"

Vicky gasped in realization. Being a witch herself, she knew about Sartana's definitive defeat, and also heard rumors about how the one who destroyed her was now using her magical shoes; nothing too surprising, actually, since Vicky wouldn't think twice before stealing a fallen enemy's property. And now it seemed the same person was coming to her lands.

"Mmm... she looks like such a weak, silly little twerp... but then again, maybe those who come with her are magical beings she created..." Vicky thought out loud. "Of course; that's why they could get past my wild guardians. She has two servants that are immune to most animal attacks, and an animal servant of her own. Not bad... well, guess that I'll need to go for some old-fashioned human servants. Francis!"

A large, gray-skinned, brute-looking boy arrived a few moments later.

"Yes, Your Witchness?"

"I need you to go get rid of some intruders. They're ready to battle my animals, so we'll need to use weaponry." Vicky explained while walking down from her observation point, Francis following after her, as she lead the guy to a large room filled up with axes, swords, whips, spears, maces and similar. "Ah, my toys room. Hadn't been here in a while."

"Alright, Your Witchness." Francis smirked. "But I can't do this alone. Should I take the guards?"

Vicky looked at the guards in charge of protecting her weaponry, a pair of boys; one was a bald, black-race one, while the other was blonde with tooth braces.

"Please, don't send us, please, don't send us..." The bald one closed his eyes and whispered a plead.

"Please, please, please, I only took this job because of the dental plan..." The blonde one joined the plead.

"Ugh. Sending these two would be like feeding the lion." Vicky rolled her eyes. "No, take the elite guards. The... Loincloth Men! HAHAHAHA!" Vicky paused and got a sly smirk. "What can I say? I'm a witch but I'm also a girl."

A while later, Francis and a dozen of tall, muscular men dressed in loincloth left the castle, all of them carrying weaponry from Vicky's room. Unlike Francis, the Loincloth Men weren't too fond on the idea, but they were even less fond of angering Vicky, so they obeyed her orders just like everyone else in her kingdom.

"Mmmm... I should make this a daily parade." Vicky smirked while watching the marching muscular men. "But... this is taking too long. Better give them some transportation... got it. Rampagious Jumanjis!"

Vicky summoned several battle rhinos that Francis and the Loincloth Men could ride on, and soon they were moving at top speed to the group's encounter.

"Heh, much better." Vicky grinned, and, a moment later, she smirked when hearing the villagers' yelling and seeing the destruction the rhinos were causing in their ride/rampage. "Yes! Bonus points."

The group was now advancing much faster than before, as they now knew for sure that they were getting closer to the witch's home. Chuckie suggested, despite his better judgment, to walk in the same direction they saw the swarm coming from, as it was almost sure that they came right from Vicky's place.

"If they do, then this witch has an ever so peculiar taste in pets." Lila commented.

"I think they qualify more like attack beasts or something like that." Jenny pointed out. Then, Spunky, who had been walking a bit ahead of the group, stopped and got alert, something he rarely did.

"What's going on, Spunky?" Jimmy asked while petting the dog. Chuckie got alert as well.

"I feel it too... the ground... vibrations." The lion stood on his four paws now to sense them better. "Mmm... oh, no... a stampede. Several animals, VERY big ones; probably buffalos or rhinos."

Jenny climbed up to a nearby tree to get a better look and realized Chuckie was right.

"Yes, they're rhinos... and they have riders." Jenny paused. "Men in loincloth... and a boy so ugly I'm happy he's fully dressed."

"Rhinos... rhinos eat straw." Jimmy gulped.

"And they're too strong and too many; there's no way I can fight both the rhinos and the riders as I did with the wolves." Jenny added, visibly worried, as she jumped down the tree.

"Then, our only option is... do the same as with the crows; scaring them away." Lila commented, getting worried herself. "But how are we scaring them away?"

They all looked at Chuckie now, the lion gulping at the implications.

"You want ME to fight a bunch of rampant rhinos? I wouldn't be able to do that even if it was just one!" Chuckie was panicking now. "And I don't think I can scare them away just by roaring. I'd need my own army and..."

The lion paused, getting an idea and turning at Jimmy and Jenny.

"Aren't you guys friends with the mice?" Once the duo nodded, Chuckie rubbed his chin in thought. "Well.. this would work better against elephants... but..."

After some minutes, Francis and his riders were now getting very close to the little forest the group was hiding. Francis grinned when seeing the first line of very small, scarce trees, knowing the intruders were behind them and that they wouldn't survive the charge.

"Alright, let's crush those fools. Charge!" Francis commanded, and he and the Loincloth Men charged with their battle rhinos. Right before they reached the trees, however, they got ambushed by a living sea of charging mice.

"You heard Grey Guy, mice. Charge!" Pip, leading the rodents, made them climb up the rhinos' legs, making the large beasts to shake and move out of control trying to get rid of the mice. The Loincloth Men also panicked when many of the mice reached them and started climbing up their legs, and when trying to hit them, the men only managed to injure themselves and discomfort the rhinos with their own weapons. Francis, angry with the rodents, jumped down his own rhino and started chasing after them, trying to hit them with the mace and sword he was carrying.

The Loincloth Men decided to do the same as Francis, and jumped down the rhinos to attack the mice directly. At this moment, Chuckie charged out from the forest, roaring and showing his fangs and claws at the attackers; the rhinos, confused by the mice's ambush and no longer having riders to guide them, got surprised by Chuckie's charge and they ran at the opposite direction, almost crushing the Loincloth Men and Francis. Before the humans could react, they found themselves attacked by Chuckie, who, cowardly and all, was still a lion, and at this moment he felt quite encouraged due to having an army of his own. One of the Loincloth Men tried to hit him with a spear but Chuckie broke it with his claws and then punched him, sending the guy several feet away.

"Uh... eh... s-stand back... I..." Francis, very scared by now, pointed his sword as Chuckie as the lion stood in front of him. "I... I command you... to give up... in the name of Vicky, The Wicked Witch of The West."

"Okay... you command me... You and what army?" Chuckie grinned. "Always wanted to say that."

Francis, paler than usual, kept pointing at him.

"Uh... this is the part when you say 'This army'; do your part, can you?" Chuckie said in a matter-of-fact way while Pip climbed up to his shoulder.

"Yeah, come on, we thought the witch worked with professionals." The mouse commented.

"I... uh... This army!" Francis, now a bit angry, continued pointing with his sword.

"And this is the part when you look around and see you're alone." Pip continued.

Francis looked around, and saw the Loincloth Men were gone by now, and the rhinos were nowhere in sight as well. The grey guy looked back at Chuckie, the lion now, very casually, grabbing the sword from his hands, and breaking it apart with ease. Chuckie got a bit closer to Francis and then used his 'furious lion' roaring and attack pose, paralyzing Francis in fear.

"And now, you run away." Chuckie whispered at the guy. A split second later, Francis dashed away in a panic, and some mice could swear he now needed a change of underwear.

"That was brilliant!" Jimmy emerged from the forest, the girls and Spunky closely behind them.

"Thanks again for your help, Pip." Lila thanked the mouse as Chuckie gently placed him back on the ground.

"Hey, my pleasure; told you, mice are everywhere. And you guys were lucky I was visiting some of my ten thousand cousins around here." Pip chuckled before looking back at Chuckie. "And good roaring. You almost convinced me that you wanted to eat those guys."

"Nah, the loincloth ones are probably full of steroids, and as for the last one... I can't eat another coward; professional courtesy." Chuckie chuckled slightly.

"You didn't look so cowardly a moment ago." Jenny pointed out.

"Cowards often have to deal with bullies, and I've learned that many bullies are even more cowardly than their victims. Show them that you aren't defenseless, and they run away." Chuckie shrugged. "Besides, I had a little yet big army on my side. Thanks again to you all, mice."

The rodents thanked Chuckie back, as they had enjoyed this a lot, and even more when Lila paid them with several cheese quesadillas she took out of her magical basket.

"Ugh. I'll need to punish those men later... maybe forcing them to wear pants." Vicky frowned while removing her monocle. "Nah, that wouldn't be punishment for them but for me. Oh, well, I'll think about something."

Vicky was now getting more than a bit frustrated. Lila (she thought) was a more dangerous spell-caster than she had originally considered; and now Vicky was running out of options.

"I need to stop those twerps, like, now. If they can stop an elite group, a rhino stampede, and all my other attackers, they are a real threat... Shouldn't be so surprised since this gal crushed Sartana."

"Uh, are you talking to me?"

Vicky looked down to see a buck-toothed boy, wearing a pink cap, cleaning up her living quarters.

"No, Turner. I was talking to myself. I enjoy a smart conversation." Vicky grinned. "Oh, and you missed a spot."

Timmy Turner, one of Vicky's favorite servants (meaning she enjoyed torturing him more than most of the others) turned at where the witch was pointing at, and gulped when seeing a spotted vicious watch dog growling at him.

"I hate my life." Timmy yelped and ran away with the dog in hot pursuit.

"Ah, the little pleasures." Vicky sighed and smiled before getting a thoughtful expression. "Mmm... back to topic, guess I'll need to use the emergency measures. I was saving this for a special occasion, and apparently, the time is now."

Vicky removed her witch hat and took a small golden cap out of it. She put on the cap, after getting closer to a large open window, she closed her eyes and extended her arms before chanting her spell, that made the golden cap to glow with great intensity.

"Jinxus Magicus Pestus MILITIA!"

The skies darkened, and then, the darkness seemed to get alive, as hundreds, if not thousands of black and dark blue small humanoid creatures, with bat-like wings in their backs, flew around Vicky's castle, terrorizing all her servants, as they knew what this meant.

"Anti-Fairies, come to me!" Vicky cackled, and soon the huge army she had summoned was hovering right outside her window. Then, one of the flying guys, that seemed to be leading them, flew closer to her; he was green-eyed and when in front of Vicky, got a formal attitude and spoke in a very stereotypical British accent.

"Hello, Clarice."

"Wait, what?" Vicky growled.

"Oh, sorry. You know I can't see that well without my monocle." The newcomer took out a monocle and placed it over his right eye. This creature was wearing clothes with a blue and black color scheme, consisting of a blue bowler hat (unlike most of the other creatures, that wore small black crowns), a formal suit, and black shoes. Like his companions, he had pointy ears, and like most of the other Anti-Fairies, had a pair of small fangs protruding from his upper lip. "So, you finally called us again. You know it's your third call, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. No more calling after this one." Vicky rolled her eyes, obviously not so happy about summoning this guy.

"Aw, so it's the last time you call us?" A pink-eyed female, with pink eyes and large crooked teeth, approached Vicky too, speaking in a hillbilly accent. "You want your 'goodbye present'? It's a yogurt can."

The creature took a large can out of nowhere, filled up with spoiled yogurt, and offered it to the witch.

"I'd been saving this for you for years now."

"Anti-Wanda, I love you, but you're such a twit." The anti-fairies leader rolled his eyes while Vicky just shrugged, grabbed the can, and threw it at Timmy, who was still being chased by the dog, hitting him right in the face and making him to fall.

"Great. Now I got flavorized for the dog." Timmy groaned before the dog finally got him.

"Yogurt and a show. Nice." Vicky grinned before looking back at the flying guy, also handling him her own monocle. "I need you guys to deal with these intruders. They don't look like a serious threat but they already managed to defeat most of my defenses. Better play it safe now."

The leader took the monocle, and used it to look at Lila and her friends.

"Mmm... interesting group of twits. So, you want all of them destroyed?"

"No, not all of them, Anti-Cosmo." Vicky got a sly smirk. "You know I have a thing for using wild animals as slaves-servants-attack force. I want you and your anti-fairies to capture the lion and bring him here. If I can't use him as a watchdog... or watch-lion...  I'll make him pull my carriage. It will be very original, and he probably will do it much better than my servants."

"They'd do better if your carriage had wheels." Anti-Cosmo smirked back.

"I don't trust wheels." Vicky shrugged. "Anyway, bring the lion here, and get rid of the others. Do it, and you'll have completed your last service to me."

"Aw, we're getting retired, just like that? No party? No 'good luck'? No recommendations from our previous boss?" Anti-Wanda grinned stupidly.

"Yes, here's a recommendation; don't fail me, or I'll make sure your next boss makes you clean toilets with your toothbrushes." Vicky replied nonchalantly but it was obvious she was serious.

"What's a toothbrush?" Anti-Wanda asked his husband, who just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'll explain you later, my beloved ignoramus spouse. Now, we have work to do. Let's go get them!" Despite hating to take orders, it was obvious Anti-Cosmo was about to enjoy this work. A moment later, all the anti-fairies started flying away from the castle.

"And I always wanted to say this." Vicky smirked before yelling and cackling. "Fly, my pretties! FLY! HAHAHAAHAHA!"

"Aw, she called us 'pretties'. She cares!" Anti-Wanda commented to nobody in particular while Anti-Cosmo rolled his eyes and the anti-fairies flock-army-whatever headed to find their prey.

This time, the group advanced much faster. Once they thanked Pip and the other mice for their help, Jimmy suggested following the rhino tracks, and their path of destruction, back to their origin. As he correctly guessed, the rhinos and their riders had to come from the witch's home, so they no longer had to rely on just Chuckie's instincts or whatever attack the witch used against them to find out the correct way.

"Hey, it seems we really are getting closer now." Jenny pointed out at a distance, seeing a large sign. They approached to read it.

"Mmm... 'You are now entering the Wicked Witch of The West's main domains'..." Lila paused before reading the next part. "'I would get back if I were you'... 'No kidding'... 'Seriously, go away'..."

"Ah, okay, we tried. We can't disobey the signs." Chuckie turned back but Jenny grabbed the lion's tail to stop him.

"Chuckie..."

"Heh... sorry, force of habit." Chuckie sheepishly grinned.

"Well, we already faced a whole 'zoo of terror' to get here. I doubt the witch can do anything worse." Jimmy shrugged, and a moment later, Chuckie and Jenny covered his mouth.

"Jimmy, you know I'm not the coward here… and we know you're brainless so not blaming you... BUT NEVER, EVER, SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Jenny groaned.

"Yes, every time you say something among the lines of 'what's the worse that can happen' or 'things can't get worse', well, surprise! They do get worse!" Chuckie exclaimed while removing his hand/paw.

"I'd normally say that's just a superstition... but considering we're witch hunting here..." Lila nodded at her friends, agreeing with them. The scarecrow sighed and nodded.

"Okay, I get it. Those phrases are forbidden; same as 'Nothing can stop us now'?" Jimmy asked.

"And... you said it." Chuckie face-palmed. In a perfect cue, the group heard wild, numerous laughs coming from right above them. When they looked up, they barely had time to yell when the anti-fairies literally rained over them.

"Divide and conquer! Separate them! This will be fun!" Anti-Cosmo directed his troops, cackling slightly at the last part. The anti-fairies, obeying him, divided their forces in smaller groups to separate the group, so they couldn't coordinate a counter-attack.

Jimmy and Jenny were lifted by the flying attackers, and carried up and away from each other. Due to the anti-fairies' speed, the scarecrow and metallic girl were soon apart by several miles.

"Let me go! Let me..." Jimmy then looked down. "Uh. Oh... Another forbidden phrase?"

"Ah, aren't you the smart one?" Anti-Cosmo flew in front of Jimmy and the anti-fairies carrying him. "Too bad. You already said it. Drop him!"

The anti-fairies dropped Jimmy in a forest where most of the trees were pretty tall and their branches covered in thorns. Jimmy didn't feel pain from the fall but he got stuck on the branches, several feet over the ground and very far from anyone who might be able to take him down. It was like getting back at his old cornfield but a hundred times worse.

Meanwhile, Jenny continued struggling to escape the anti-fairies. Being much more stronger and heavier than Jimmy, she had to be restrained and carried by several ones, and she still kept fighting back despite already being at a very large height. She only stopped fighting when realizing the anti-fairies had moved her right over a large chasm, similar to the ones she and her friends had found on their way to Emerald City.

"And this is where I'm thankful I don't really feel pain... but somehow, I'm sure this will still hurt." Jenny said to nobody in particular before the anti-fairies dropped her. The metal girl tried to get a hold on any of the flying creatures, in a very desperate attempt of stopping her fall, but was unsuccessful, and Jenny fell several hundred feet down, the anti-fairies laughing when seeing her impacting against the rocky ground and getting completely immobile afterwards.

Chuckie had made a decent job keeping the anti-fairies at a distance by roaring and throwing quick claw attacks at them, but he soon got overwhelmed by his attackers' sheer number, and when several of them managed to grab him by the tail, he knew he was done. The lion tried to charge at these anti-fairies but right when he turned at them, the rest of them attacked him at once, and taking ropes out of nowhere, they managed to immobilize Chuckie before carrying him up. The lion stopped struggling when realizing his situation, and didn't offer further resistance.

Lila, carrying Spunky, tried to escape the anti-fairies by throwing them random stuff from her magical basket, but the most she was doing was delaying and feeding them.

"Mmmm... assaulted with cake. Nice." Anti-Wanda licked her fingers and clothing after Lila threw a large cake at her. "Too bad we have to be harsh with her."

However, right before the anti-fairies touched Lila, Maria's blessing mark appeared on her forehead. This stopped the attack force immediately.

"You twits, why you stopped?" Anti-Cosmo joined his wife's group, once he had finished dealing with Jimmy.

"This girl got blessed by The Good Witch of the North." Anti-Wanda pointed at Lila. "And even 'I' am not stupid enough to try anything against her."

Anti-Cosmo had to admit his dimwitted wife was right. This blessing was a very powerful protection spell; hurting Lila would be quite hard for the anti-fairies, and if succeeding, they'd need to deal with a very angry Maria later; and an angry Maria equaled Plata Peligrosa, someone even Anti-Cosmo wasn't eager to fight.

"Okay... we can't hurt her, but we can't leave her here… I got it; let's take her, and that pup she's carrying, to Vicky's castle. Let her be that witch's problem." The anti-fairies' leader grinned, loving this idea that was a no-lose situation for him; either Vicky destroyed the girl herself or Plata Peligrosa trashed Vicky's castle for hurting one of her protegees.

Lila yelled one last time before the anti-fairies carried her and Spunky up. Even if they were careful about not hurting them, it was still a very scary experience. And even scarier when Lila realized their final destination was Vicky's castle.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

(Now, for this chapter's notes. Again, the dangers Lila and company face in this chapter are based on the original story, with the Wicked Witch of The West having several groups of attack animals under her command besides her many slaves.)

(The wolf is from the first 'Rugrats' movie, while Frankie, the pigeon, is a secondary-recurrent character from 'The Penguins of Madagascar', same as the hornets. Bessie Higgenbottom, the scout girl, is from 'The Mighty B!", appearing as a gag/joke referring the use of bees in the original story, with Vicky using the hornets instead. The rest of the characters, including Timmy Turner, Chester and AJ - the blonde and bald guards respectively -, Francis and the Loincloth Men, are from 'The Fairly Oddparents.', all of them fulfilling the roles of the Winkies, the witch's enslaved people; also from 'FOP', the Anti-Fairies appear as The Winged Monkeys, the witch's most efficient servants.)

(Also, Vicky's spells make reference to other literary and filmic works; the wolf pack's summon spell makes reference to novelist Jack London, author of 'White Fang' and 'Call of the Wild', stories where canines play a main role; the spell that turns Frankie into a whole flock of crows, or a 'murder', the proper name for a flock of these birds, makes reference to Alfred Hitchcock, famous British filmmaker, and one of his most famous works, 'The Birds' with pigeons and ravens/crows among the primary antagonists; finally, the rhinos' spell makes reference to the 'Jumanji' movie, starring Robin Williams, and the TV series; as for the hornets, the spell only makes reference to the insects' characteristics, no other fictional work involved.)