Wizard of Gears/Story

Prologue
Wiz and the wizard were traveling on a country road when they heard a series of rapid explosions and the screeches of some animal.

"what was that!?" Wiz asked. "Let's go take a look."

They ran in the direction of the sound and slowed when they saw a girl through the trees stooped next to a machine. A gray dog sat next to her. Wiz and the wizard approached her to ask if she knew what the sounds from earlier came from, but the machine started flashing and making a lot of noise. When she noticed them coming, She said something unintelligible over the machine, then frantically starting pressing buttons.

Then, there was a bright flash and deafening roar.

"That flying monkey sure was a handful, wasn't he, Toto?"

Dorothy asked her dog as she walked back to the plane sprocket, or whatever it was called. The Munchkins lent it to her to use in the pursuit of the monkey who took off with one of their dubious contraptions. It made a beeping sound from the inside of Dorothy's pack, which was making her nervous. Equipment manufactured in Munchkin Land was notoriously unpredictable.

Dorothy pressed the switches while reading the guide that came with it. Maybe they'll let me keep this machine in place of the bounty money. The machine that brought her to this world from Oz began whining as it charged.

Dorothy caught some movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see a wizard and a black cat approaching.

"Wait, stay back!"

she yelled, but her voice was drowned out by the charging machine. She franatically started hammering buttons in an attempt to stop it, but she was too late.

Chapter I


Why won't they quit, Ai thought. It's not my fault I'm an android.

Ai was fleeing through the forest from a gang of robots. They disliked humans, but the fact that she looked half-machine sent them into a rage.

"Enjoy running while you can, you half-breed tin!"

She looked over her shoulder to see how close they were. By the time she turned back around and noticed the steep decline, it was too late to stop. Ai let out a squeal of surprise and tumbled head over heels down the hill. When she finally rolled to a stop, she was looking at the feet of two people, a gray dog, and a black cat.

Chapter II
The Lion had not moved for hours. He was too terrified to move.

He was just walking through the forest when a squealing 'something' crashed through the trees and smashed into the ground right behind him. He immediately scrambled behind a tree and hid from whatever was hissing and chirping on the other side.

He was building the courage to peek around the tree trunk when he heard snapping twigs and rustling leaves through the trees ahead. Several more 'somethings' were coming. Now he had to choose between facing whatever was behind the tree or the group that approached him. He decided to risk combat with things that did NOT come swooping out of the air and charged forward with teeth and claws bared.

Chapter III
Tears flowed freely down the Scarecrow's cheeks. He was clearing up the mess created by the flying piece of metal. The Scarecrow still did not understand. Why did a piece of metal come flying out of nowhere? And why did it have to hit Billy' nest?

The crow stood around the nest silently. The Scarecrow stood up, wiping his face.

"Don't worry. I'll find out who was responsible for this."

Just then, he saw a pair of people and their pets step out of the forest.

Chapter IV
"AAGHHH!" the witch screamed. Her third attempt to clean her favorite hat ended in failure. When a machine fragment inexplicably plummeted from the sky into her cauldron, her potion splashed onto her hat and stained it.

"If I ever find out whose this is..." she said through gritted teeth. The witch picked up the device of obviously Munchkin origin. "Maybe I'll go pay those infuriatingly cheerful midgets a visit."

She had just grabbed her broom when there was a knock on her door.

Chapter V


A maintenance automaton buzzed overhead, repairing the hole in the ceiling that the falling metal fragment blew open. Oliver had already forgotten about the damage, engrossed in examining what must have been the power source of a magnificent machine. Stupendous! What are the odds that exactly what I needed would land right in my lab from the sky? It must be destiny.

Oliver ran over to the security automaton he was developing to try installing the power source. Nothing that a wrench, blow torch, and the help of five other automatons cannot handle.

"At last," Oliver said, gazing with pride as the security automaton began blinking and whirring. He did not have much time to revel in the moment before his doorbell rang.

Epilogue
Oliver and his security automaton collapsed into a heap of dented gears and twitching joints. The power source from the Munchkin's world-traveling machine tumbled out and stopped at Dorothy's feet.

""Now I can finally finish this job,"" Dorothy said with a satisfied smile after picking up the power source.

""And we can finally go home,"" the wizard said.

---

Dorothy and the wizard managed to put the machine back together to send Wiz and the wizard back to their world. Dorothy checked the guide and set the machine to send Wiz and the wizard on a one-way trip, leaving the machine behind.

""Good luck!"" the wizard waved at Dorothy, who had backed away from the machine to stay out of its range.

""I hope the ride back is more comfortable,"" Wiz said.

In a moment, the two vanished from Oz as suddenly as they first appeared.