Oh thank Oz I've finally finished this chapter. I don't think I've ever had as much trouble writing anything else in my entire life. I suppose that's what I get for not planning this ending out ahead of time.

I know a lot of you were expecting me to just send them home last chapter, but it didn't feel right to do that without finishing things up with the Wizard. However, I had no idea how to do that believably, and so was born the worst case of writer's block I've ever experienced. I have no idea how many times I rewrote this chapter. I'd start, get halfway through, then realize I hated it and have to start over. I feel like this whole story was a bit bleh (for lack of a better term), and I don't know how happy I am with this ending. However, it's much better than what I'd had here in my earlier tries, trust me.

Well anyway, I won't say much else. As I said, I'm not really sure this turned out so well, but I'll let you decide.

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The Wizard stood before them, a smug look on his face and with Zeke and Hickory on either side of him. Hunk stood a little way off behind them, looking powerless to do anything. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Wizard was the one who'd lead the angry crowd into the town. He'd no doubt known that's where they were headed after running into Dorothy, Elphaba and Glinda there earlier. Fiyero could see Elphaba's knuckles turning white as she gripped the Grimmerie. He knew she was probably doing everything in her power to keep calm right now.

Suddenly, Elphaba whispered something to Fiyero, not taking her gaze off of the three people in front of her, "Fiyero, join hands."

"What?" he asked, turning to her with a skeptical look on his face.

"Tell everyone to join hands," she whispered again, more urgently this time. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her slip her thumb between two pages of the Grimmerie, but no one else seemed to notice the action.

Catching on to what she was about to do, he grabbed the hand nearest to him, which happened to be Boq's. The Munchkin looked up at him for a moment, shocked, before Fiyero rolled his eyes. He motioned for Boq to take Glinda's hand, and Boq's eyes returned to normal size as he caught on. Soon everyone in the line was holding hands behind their backs, and the men in front of them were none the wiser.

The Wizard stepped forward, a smirk fixed upon his face. He turned to address Elphaba, "Well, it looks like after all of this time you haven't changed. You never did know what was good for you, did you dearest daughter."

Elphaba's eyes blazed, "Don't you dare."

Suddenly, before anyone knew what was happening, Elphaba threw the spellbook down on the ground, opened to the page she'd been saving. She dropped down beside it and began chanting immediately. She grabbed Fiyero's arm as she drew near the end of the spell, and it was at this moment that the Wizard tried to pull her back to her feet and stop her. There was a shout, and then suddenly six people disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but a bewildered crowd and a smiling Hunk behind.

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After a few moments of frenzied teleportation, Elphaba and the others found themselves standing in the main square at the center of the Emerald City. A few passing Ozians shouted, before they realized that it was only Elphaba. They'd grown used to the fact that one of their leaders was the former Wicked Witch of the West, and had by now accepted that her magic went along with that. However, that didn't mean it didn't still make them a bit nervous. After all, the Ozians tended to be a bit afraid of anything they didn't fully understand.

Their heads still reeling from the sudden departure the spell had caused, it took the five travelers a few moments to realize there was an unwelcome guest in their midst. It seemed that because the Wizard had been touching Elphaba when the spell was cast, he'd been transported back to Oz along with them.

For a moment everyone froze, the five friends staring at the Wizard in shock as he stared back with an equally confused expression. Everything had happened so quickly that no one was really quite sure what was going on. Elphaba was the first to regain her composure.

"Well well, how the tables have turned," she said, smirking as she got to her feet.

However, the Wizard did not seem afraid. Quite the contrary actually, he looked absolutely baffled. The Wicked Witch of the West was standing in the center of one of the busiest parts of Oz, and yet there was no panic. The Ozians didn't even seem to spare a glance to the green woman and her friends as they rushed past. There was most definitely something wrong here.

Thinking that perhaps the Ozians were just too dense to figure out what was going on, the Wizard decided to take matters into his own hands. He stood, trying to look as frightened as possible, and shouted, "Help! It's the Wicked Witch of the West!"

This got the Ozians attention, but did not generate the type of reaction the Wizard had been expecting. Passerby stopped, looking from Elphaba to the Wizard with bemused expressions on their faces. They were wondering who this man was and why he hadn't heard about the change in the social status of the Wicked Witch of the West. For a moment it seemed as though no one would recognize the former Wizard of Oz.

However eventually there came a voice from the back of the crowd, "Hey, that's the Wizard!"

This comment was met by shouts of disbelief. Everyone in the crowd knew that the Wizard had returned to Kansas in his hot air balloon some time ago. Few had actually been present to actually see the man off, but those present had been shocked by his rather unimposing appearance. It was one of these people who had just identified the rather frail looking man at the front of the crowd as Oz's former leader.

Seeing that he'd generated no response thus far, the Wizard tried again now that he had the crowd's attention, "Yes, I am the Wizard of Oz! The Wicked Witch of the West and her accomplices have kidnapped me!"

Elphaba let out a loud cackle as the still skeptical Ozians still made no move to help the Wizard. Upon hearing the rather frightening laugh the Ozians eyed Elphaba nervously, and the Wizard began to grow concerned for his safety.

Elphaba eyes burned with hatred as she finally spoke, "Apparently you haven't been kept up to date your Ozness. I'm not the Wicked Witch of the West anymore, I'm the governor of Munchkinland, and you are most certainly no longer the Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Elphaba smirked as the Wizard visibly paled at her words, obviously not having expected anything along the lines of Elphaba's name having been cleared. Elphaba was not usually a cruel person, but she could help but feel a strange sort of satisfaction as she watched the Wizard squirm under her gaze. She was calling the shots now and they both knew it.

At this point several Gale Forcers had arrived at the scene, having come to see what the commotion was. Glinda, Boq, Dorothy and Fiyero were still frozen in place where they'd appeared, unable to take their wide eyes off the scene in front of them. They recognized the look in Elphaba's eye, but none of them had the guts to try and stop her. Secretly, they were all enjoying watching the Wizard get what was coming to him.

Elphaba couldn't control herself at this point. If she'd thought she'd hated Morrible, it was nothing compared to the contempt she felt for the Wizard. At least Morible had admitted to the fact that she was evil, but the Wizard continued to try and play the victim. He was nothing but a powerless con-artist, a bully who oppressed those weaker than him. Elphaba was sick of his games.

She moved closer to the Wizard now, dropping her voice to a whisper, "I meant it when I said I didn't need your help. If you'd just left us alone in the first place you wouldn't even be in this situation. But I suppose I wouldn't have expected anything less from you. After all, you never did know what was good for you father." Elphaba said the last word of her sentence with such venom that the others were surprised the Wizard's skin wasn't burned from his body. He flinched visibly as she spat his own line back at him. By now he appeared utterly defeated.

Whipping around fiercely, Elphaba finally acknowledged the guards who had been standing behind her for some time. Still looking livid, she barked, "Guards, take this man to the dungeons."

The Gale Forcers obeyed immediately, seizing the Wizard by the arms. The man didn't even seem to put up a fight as he was led away. He knew he was defeated, and hung his head in shame as the Ozians who had once adored him now made no move to help him. It seemed that all of the wrongs he'd done them had finally caught up to him in the end.

After the Wizard had been dragged out of sight, Elphaba finally seemed to compose herself. Her breathing returned to normal after a few moments and her gaze softened a bit. She looked around a bit sheepishly, as if just noticing the crowd of gaping Ozians around her. She knew she'd flown off the handle, but she hadn't bee able to control herself.

It was Glinda who stepped in, realizing that Elphaba had seemingly returned to normal. Well, as normal as Elphaba could be anyway. She turned to address the crowd, putting on her best Glinda the Good persona, which seemed a bit out of place given the scene that had just taken place. "Fellow Ozians, there's nothing else to see here. Go about your business as usual."

The crowd just stood there for a few moments longer, still looking awestruck. Eventually, after realizing that the ordeal was over, the Ozians began to disperse slowly. They still looked a bit shook up, and they continued casting uneasy glances at Elphaba as they went away. Once all of the Ozians had returned to their affairs, Elphaba finally turned and faced her friends.

Fiyero spoke first, trying, and failing, to sound casual, "Well…that was…interesting."

Elphaba looked at her hands, "I know I probably sounded a bit crazed, but you know how I feel about that man. I couldn't help myself."

Fiyero nodded, taking Elphaba into his arms, "It's alright Fae. You've been through a lot in the past few days, we all have. But we're home now, and the Wizard is behind bars. Everything is going to be alright now."

Elphaba seemed to relax into his arms for a moment, before she suddenly tensed again, "Oh no…"

Fiyero let go of her immediately, "Oh Fae, you didn't…"

Elphaba looked at him with wide eyes, when suddenly Glinda tapped her from behind. Smirking, she held the Grimmerie out for Elphaba to take. "You really must learn to hold onto this book Elphie."

Elphaba relaxed instantly, breathing a sigh of relief as she accepted the large spellbook from Glinda, "Oh thank Oz. I really wasn't looking forward to having to get this book back again. I think I've seen enough of Kansas for this lifetime."

No one, including Dorothy, could agree more with that statement.

And, that would be the end. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed. I really, really appreciate hearing from you, and you're all awesomely amazing…ful. Well, anyways, please review and tell me what you thought of this ending, because at this point I'm not even too sure what I think of it.

Well, that's it for this story. Currently I'm working on my next one, and I'm halfway through chapter three at this point. Not sure when I'm going to post it. I think I want to get a couple more chapters done first.

Oh, and while I'm rambling, I'm totally excited because I'm going to see RENT again next Sunday with all of my friends. One of them got an offer for $30 tickets, so we sort of emptied our pockets and were able to afford them. This means I'll have seen both of my favorite plays in the span of a month. This shall also be my first time in Manhattan with no adult supervision. I'm soooo excited, even though only one of my friends is actually really looking forward to it. The rest of them are either mildly excited or couldn't care less. What strange friends I have.

Well anyways, I think I've taken up enough author's note room. I think I should shut up now. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story!

S.P.