[CG]

"What is it? A cube?" Billina asked as she examined him with her beady eyes. Once upon a time he probably would have shown her reflection, but now he was dust covered and well worn.

"A... mechanical thing." Mac said after long enough, before spotting a coat of arms just above his right arm. "The Royal Army of Oz." he read, before staring back at the creature.

"Pretty small army." the hen said.

Mac made his way around the mechanical marvel, before he spotted instructions on its back. "Presenting Oz's Patented Army of Oz. Does everything but live. To turn on thoughts, wind up key in back. To turn on voice, wind key on left side. To turn on actions, wind key on right side."

"Seems simple enough." Billina said, "Go on. Turn him on."

"Might as well, if he's the Army of Oz then he'd be on our side." Mac replied, and wound the key that was on his back as tight as it could go. Once that was done, it very slowly began to rotate back, ticking like a clock as it did. "...wonder what he's thinking." Mac said, as he heard some gears within the square's body begin to turn on.

"Turn on his speech so he can tell us, lets just hope it isn't anything naughty." Billina hurried around to left side of the square, and Mac did just as he had done with the back key.

It took a few moments before the creature seemed to realise it could talk again. His eyes snapped open and his eyes, also made of copper, looked around the room until Mac and Billina walked around to his front so he could see them. The grin on his face grew, showing some badly made teeth. But they weren't the problem at hand. "Hel-lo litt-le boy!" he spoke finally, his voice sounding metallic but very deep. "Me Tik-Tok, Roy-al Ar-my of Oz."

"Uh.. hi, Tik-Tok. I'm Mac, and this is Billina." Mac motioned to the hen, who clucked a greeting.

"Chic-ken!" Tik-Tok declared, proud of himself for saying the word apparently. Maybe the springs in his brain wasn't as tight as they once was.

"Tik-Tok, what are you doing in here?" Mac asked.

Tik-Tok looked back to Mac for a moment, looking in deep thought. "Wait. Mac?" he asked, if he could he probably would have tilted his head to the side. But given he couldn't move yet, or have possession of a neck, his huge copper mono brow rose against his forehead making a squeak as it did. Mac suddenly wished he had picked up the Tin Bird's oil can. But he nodded. "MAC!" Tik-Tok shouted in joy, "Oh me knew you come, me knew it! Scare-crow put me in here when all bad stuff was happ-en-ing! Shout-ing, yell-ing. Scare-crow told Tik-Tok, to wait here un-til Mac would come. So Tik-Tok wait, me wait-ed until yell-ing stop. Then I call for help un-til me voice run out. Then I pace un-til act-ion run out. Then Tik-Tok thought and thought. Tik-Tok no re-mem-ber an-y-thing un-til you wound me up."

It took Mac a few moments to grow used to just how this odd, Tik-Tok spoke. Obviously being man made he wasn't alive like the Tin Bird had been. He had problems saying long words, and maybe he had suffered some damage to his thought mechanisms since he could hear them squeaking from here. "The Scarecrow... I knew it!" Mac said.

It had been an awful day. At first, the sun had been shining as normal and the citizens of the great Emerald City had been living their lives as they had every day. No worries, no nothing. But then the ground began to shake, something that had never happened before in the land of Oz. It was a square flat piece of land, without fault lines. So how could there be an earthquake? The Scarecrow had rushed to a window, and watched as some of the buildings began to fade from the shining green he knew to regular stone, but what he saw next chilled him to his non-existent bones. Creatures were erupting from the ground itself, it took him a moment but he realised what they were. Gnomes.

He ran as fast as he could through the hallways until he found two of the flying monkeys that had taken up home in the Emerald City since their freedom from the Witch. He begged them, pleaded, never one to give orders was the Scarecrow, to go to the West and the North to get the Lion and Tin Bird. He needed their help, and the monkeys flew away as fast as they could. The attacks were still happening when the Lion and Tin Bird arrived. Both with their own armies, of both animals and Winkies. The Scarecrow didn't know what else to do, and in a panic he grabbed the Royal Army of Oz, Tik-Tok, and managed to get their way through all the fighting to the room. "I'm sorry but please, wait! Mac will come, I know he will! You have to wait, he'll save us, he will!" the door had slammed shut and that was all Tik-Tok had witnessed.

Realised they were being over powered by the animals and Winkies, the Gnomes had asked their King for help. Using powers he had never had at his disposal before, he cast everyone to stone. All but the Scarecrow. Everyone having been turned to stone didn't witness the Gnomes grabbing their ruler, and pulling him right down into the Earth never to be seen again.