Omega and Diamond walked with Tech-Crow down the yellow brick road into a forest full of peach trees with lots of beautiful pink blossoms growing on them, and of course peaches.

"Wow, look at all those peaches." Omega said.
The peaches looked so good. So yellow orange, such soft peachy skin, just ripe enough for picking for a sweet and juicy snack.

"Ripe for picking!" Diamond exclaimed. And she immediately flew up to pick the first ripe peach she saw hanging off a branch.

"I don't think you should-" Tech-Crow began, but Diamond was already at the branch.

Diamond bit the peach and started yanking it from the branch, only to hear someone yell "Ouch!"

Omega and Diamond were shocked to see that the tree was the one who'd said that. It had a face, and sure enough he was not happy that Diamond yanked a peach from his branch.

"I'm sorry." Diamond said. "I just saw a tasty peach and thought-"

"Thought you could just go around yanking at it?!" said the tree angrily. "How'd you like it if I came and yanked a hair off that little head of yours!"

That was when more of the peach trees also started yelling at the three friends and started throwing more peaches at them. And in less than two seconds, there were peaches flying through the air from all directions. And despite the initial soft feeling of a peach's skin when you only held it in your hands, a whole peach coming at you like a baseball thrown by a strong pitcher... it hurt.

"Ouch!" Omega yelped at a peach hitting her head.

Tech-Crow, however, didn't react as badly. Being mostly cloth and straw, he didn't feel pain the same way as Omega and/or Diamond.

"Don't worry about me, my inside is mainly medicago sativa, more commonly known as straw or hay." said the scarecrow. "Perhaps, I could provide a shield."

And Tech-Crow proved that by picking up Omega and shielding her from the peaches that were thrown at them until they were out of range of the angry peach trees. Surprisingly, not even when a peach clocked him in the head, he was not thrown off his balance.

"Ouch!" he yelped.

But... it did still hurt, especially he had a brain in that head of his.

Diamond mainly avoided getting hit by zigging and zagging in quick flying maneuvers her mother and aunt had taught her. Picking peaches would definitely be a challenge now. Unless...

"Hey, Peachy!" Diamond called. "Na, na, na, na!"
Diamond taunted the trees by spitting raspberries and shaking her butt at them. That angered the trees more and made them throw more peaches up for the grab. Tech-Crow saw an opportunity for the girls. They were going to need snacks for the long journey, and they would certainly need to gather as much as they could.

"Keep going if you want more of a snack." Tech-Crow called. "Hey, trees! Bet you can't hit two moving targets at once!"

Tech put Omega down and started making faces at the trees to taunt them more.

"Follow my lead, Princess." Tech-Crow said, and began running around in circles.

Then Omega did the same and ran.
And she finally landed when the throwing of the peaches stopped. Omega, on the other hand, picked up as many as she could carry in the basket, and took a bite of an extra one after all the excitement. Running from angry trees worked up an appetite.

Diamond landed and breathed with relief that the peach fight was over.

"Not very peachy for a bunch of peach trees, are they?" Omega said.

"Even I did not anticipate such a forest would be so rough." Tech-Crow said. "Fortunately, I was the one to get the worst of the hits, seeing as most of me is straw, meaning I do not feel as much pain as a human girl might."

"At least they weren't throwing pineapples," said Diamond.

But then Diamond backed into something that felt like it was made of metal, and she whinnied in panic when she looked and saw what looked like a man carrying an axe. Omega saw it too. Except, this man looked like he was completely made of tin. And he looked a bit rusty.

"Wow. A man made of tin?" Omega said, astonished. "Looks like someone might've been doing a little sculpting around here."

"But why would they leave it here?"

"Maybe to scare away animals that may try to invade someone's home nearby?" Omega shrugged.

But then the group heard what sounded like a muffled voice.

"Did you say something?" Omega asked Tech-Crow.

"No. Diamond?" Tech-Crow looked at the little horse.

"Not guilty." Diamond shook her head.

There was another grunt, and when Omega looked at what she'd thought was a statue before, she realized the voice was coming from the tin man. And when she looked at him a little more, she saw that he looked like...

"Crosshair?" she gasped.

"Oil...can." said the tin man.

"Oil can what?" Diamond said.

"Oil can!" Omega exclaimed, seeing a can of oil sitting on a stump.

"Allow me to get the higher parts, Princess." Tech-Crow said.

Together, the group started oiling the tin man, starting at the head, then his arms and legs. And little by little, the tin man was able to move and talk clearly again!

"Are you okay?" Omega asked.

"Agh! Phew! Much better. I've been stuck like that for days already." said the tin man.

"How did you end up frozen and rusted like that?"

"That darn wicked warlock made up a storm around here while I was in the middle of chopping firewood." Crosshair grumbled. "Next thing I know, I'm rusted here with that oil can taunting me, and everyone who comes by just runs away from me!"

Tin Man Crosshair threw his axe and hit a target right in the center without even aiming at first. Though initially startled, Omega had to admit, she was impressed. This tin version of Crosshair didn't use a blaster, but he still had amazing sharp shooting skills. He even had a kind of surly attitude like the human version of him.

"I wonder if my brother Crosshair has ever tried throwing axes before." Omega said.

"That just happens to be my name as well," said the tin man. "And you all are...?"

"Oh! I'm Omega Skywalker." she then motioned to her friends. "This is Diamond and Tech-Crow."

"Well, thank you for getting me free. Now I gotta get back to chopping."

Crosshair got another piece of wood and chopped it. He didn't look happy doing it, and no one else was around. So... who or what was he chopping all this wood for?

"If you don't mind me asking," said Omega. "What's all this wood for?"

"I don't know. Firewood for anyone who's brave enough to find it and take any? I chop all this wood, and some ungrateful kids just see a tin guy to poke fun at, and then I gotta throw my axe to teach 'em a lesson."

That made everyone back away from him. Crosshair sighed in frustration.

"Relax, I didn't kill anyone. I always aimed for a tree just to scare them. Doesn't affect me too bad though. When you lack a heart, you don't feel much when you do anything. Doesn't really matter that you don't have anyone either."

Omega couldn't believe what she'd just heard. This Crosshair didn't have anyone and he didn't even care? He doesn't even know what it feels like to feel anything? That just sounded terrible.

"You mean you don't even know what it's like to be happy? Or have friends?"

"I don't have a heart. What's the use? But I do imagine it must be nice. Once, I was a real human, but that warlock did this to me, and now he mainly taunts me with rain to make me rust until someone with a heart oils me again."
Omega then had an idea.

"You know, we're actually on our way to see the Wizard." she said. "He's gonna help me and Diamond get home."

"And help me gain some creativity." Tech-Crow said. "Perhaps you can get a heart."

Tin Crosshair seemed intrigued. "You really think so?"

"I definitely think he can," said Omega with a smile. "So, what do you say? Will you come with us?"

"Count me in." But Crosshair tripped, as his legs were still adjusting.

"Oh! I know what to do." Omega said. She gave Crosshair her arm, and Tech-Crow gave him the other, and together, they and Diamond continued along the yellow brick road.

Everyone: We're off to see the wizard. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!