"So, Gale, what did Oz say when you went to visit him?" Bo asked. He had his eyes fixed on her. Even in the dim light, Dorothy realized that they weren't brown-- but a deep brown with a light haze of forests that surrounded his pupils.

Dorothy hesitated, releasing a heavy sigh.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it right now, or ever," Bo said quickly, "But if he said anything important or suspicious, you're going to have to tell me or Aras."

Dorothy sighed again. She was definitely more comfortable with telling Bo, since she knew him. She had only shaken Aras's hand and had a short exchange of words with her once.

"He called Oz a pathetic planet," Dorothy told Bo, "Then he went on this little rant about how he's from Earth, like me, and that he knew me before I came here, and that he knows about my past."

"Ugh, that's rough." Bo reached his metal hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it a bit, glancing away slightly.

"Yeah. He didn't even bother telling me how he remembers. But he also told me that it's been fifty years since my ship had left Earth, and how... how my aunt and uncle died." She looked down a little and attempted to blink back her tears.

Bo opened his mouth a little, but then just put one of his arms around Dorothy, pulling her close. She tensed a bit and looked up at him, but then wrapped both of her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry about that, Gale," Bo told her as slid his hand under her backpack so he could rub her back, careful not to jab her with his metal fingertips.

She pulled away a little with a quiet sniff, and she brushed her face with the knuckles of her fingers.

"Hey... I'm sorry things turned out like this, Gale. I would make everything alright and better if I could," Bo said quietly.

"It isn't your fault," she sniffed quietly, "But thank you, Bo."

He gave her another hug, then began to walk forward again. Dorothy walked with him, making a quick dash to catch up with him so they could walk side by side.

Effigy strode beside her, and tilted her silvery head at her.

"I am very sorry for your loss, Miss Dorothy. Is there anything I can do to assist you in your time of grief?" Effigy asked.

"No, but thanks anyway," Dorothy replied.

"You are most welcome," Effigy said, "Mr. Bo, would you like anything?"

Bo let out a laugh that sounded completely forced. "Nah, I'm fine, android."

Effigy gave a nod and fell silent.

They all walked for a few more minutes, then they reached the roadblock-- stacks of bricks with a door in the center of it.

"See, there it is," Bo said, gesturing towards it. "It has a scanner that's only receptive to certain people. If anyone attempted to tear the wall down, the tunnel would collapse completely."

"That's smart," Dorothy said with an impressed smile.

"Yeah. Now, the exit is up there." Bo pointed up to the ceiling.

Dorothy nodded.

"I'll pop the lid out, then I'll hoist you up so you can climb out, then I'll hand you Toto, help Effigy up, then I'll climb out myself."

With that, Bo lifted his arms off and lifted the lid up and pushed it away from the hole. He lifted Dorothy up by the legs and hoisted her up. Her breath hitched slightly at his touch, and her heart pounded. She blinked her eyes quickly as she tried to get a grip on herself and grabbed onto the ledge and pulled herself out.
After that, she grabbed Toto from him, then Effigy climbed up and through the hole.

Now, it had been five minutes since Effigy had climbed up, but Bo hadn't climbed up himself.

"Bo?" Dorothy called, peering down into the hole, her hands gripped ot the edge of it.

"Coming," he mumbled, "I just thought I heard something. It's fine, though." Through Toto's now dim nose light, she saw his metal hand as he reached up.

She reached out and clamped her fingers with his, and pulled, standing up and stepping back as he emerged from the hole as she helped him.
They suddenly heard the echo of several footsteps from down below.

"In the name of the Wizard, you are under arrest!" someone yelled from the tunnel.

"No we aren't!" Bo shouted, shoving the lid to the hole back onto it.

There were shouts and footsteps all around them suddenly. Dorothy jumped up to her feet in surprise as the soldiers surrounded them.
Bo stood up quickly, raising his hands up into the air.

"You are under arrest in the name of the Wizard," one of the soldiers shouted-- the one just behind Dorothy. "Surrender yourselves now, and you may receive mercy from the Wizard."

Just then, Bo folded in all of his fingers of his pointer finger and fired a laser in between the soldiers in front of him.

The soldiers erupted into a manic fury, charging towards Bo.

"Gale! Call the monkeys! Leave, now!"

Monkeys, come!

They heard the screams and hollers of the monkeys as they swooped down. Two grabbed a hold of Effigy and flew up with her, while another grabbed Toto and flew up as well.
A couple of the soldiers fired their laser rifles up at them.

"I won't leave without you!" Dorothy said as a few monkeys lifted her up and the others tried to pull Bo away from the soldiers who had now had him in their grasp.

"Just go! I'll be fine!" Bo screamed at her as the soldiers shot the monkeys off him.

The monkeys that held Dorothy began to fly higher to escape the laser fire from the soldiers.

"No!" she screamed. "No!"

Bo and the soldiers that had him surrounded now appeared tiny as the monkeys carried Dorothy, Toto, and Effigy far, far away.
Monkeys, headquarters, Dorothy thought as tears welled up in her eyes and she let out a single sob, the wind rushing in her ears and whipping around her.

A/N: So sorry for that last bit.
Fun fact: M.I.C.E. is actually based on the field mice from the book. In the book, the Tin Man (actually called the Tin Woodsman in the book) killed a bobcat that was chasing after the queen of the field mice, and the queen agreed to have the mice help the Tin Man whenever he needed it. The field mice actually rescued Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and Toto from the field of poppies!

1. What do you think about the action so far?

2. In the rewrites, should I work hard to incorporate Effigy and Luav more into the story? Sorry to answer my own question basically, but I really think I should make them more important.