The New Virus
The shot carries us over what is left of Wikia in present day; it is a veritable wasteland after what the Virus did to it, with not a soul in sight… except one. A man, swathed in expensive-looking clothes and jewelry with golden rings decorating his fingers, which are grasping a shiny gold oil lamp, is seen running through the desolateness of the Once Upon a Time Wiki – his name is Tysonjackson. It isn't long until he makes it to an abandoned palace, quickly running up the steps and closing the doors firmly behind him when he enters. He then spends a small while rushing about the maze of hallways and staircases, until eventually he finds himself in a cushy-looking bedroom. Or at least it was pre-Virus. Tyson shuts and locks the windows and draws the drapes as fast as he can, before pulling a dusty set of drawers in front of the door in order to barricade it. He then takes a sigh of relief, staring at the oil lamp in his hand and smiling, but when he turns around, a blonde woman dressed exquisitely and carrying an ancient leather-bound book is seen staring back at him firmly. "Oh hi," she says. "Prima… Primadonna Girl…" Tysonjackson utters, fear biting his voice. "Did you really think you could escape… us?" she questions, thus queuing James 1234 – the father of DeviousPeep – to emerge and stand beside her, looking crazed in all his unkemptness and old blood-red outfit; the Blood Warlock has certainly seen better days, but he looks particularly happy now. "You have but two wishes left," he points out to Tyson, unsheathing a small knife from his waste-band, "Need help making them?" "As a matter of fact," the young man says nervously, "No!" Clutching the lamp tightly, he exclaims, "I wish for you and I to be anywhere but here!" He closes his eyes as a burst of magic is let forth, and when he opens them he is standing in the Once Upon a Time Wiki's vast woodland. He hugs the lamp and whispers, "Thank you, genie," before continuing to run through the forest.
In the forest of Storywik meanwhile, Joanna Seer – still scantily-clad in DeviousPeep's regular skimpy red ensemble – is seen with a laptop nearby, in which the USB she earlier picked up is plugged, as she drops magical ingredients into the boiling vat before her. "I wonder what this Virus does," she says to herself happily, "I hope it's something… destructive." She gives herself a smile as she stares down at her bubbling reflection, continuing to work towards what she prays is this town's doom.
"Where is she?" Josh is heard saying as he, Liz, Rena, Justine and Joe approach the sheriff's station which, thanks to Natalia, is still missing a wall and, thanks to Joanna, is laden with debris. "Last thing I remember is she was unconscious by the computer," says Rena, pointing over to what's left of the machine. "Well she's notthere," Josh tells him indignantly. "So how do we find out where she is?" asks Justine. "With this," Liz suddenly exclaims, and everyone turns to see her standing by a small television screen as she points out that this, as well as the nearby CCTV camera, is still intact.
We cut to Liz inserting a videotape into the machine, and all five of them watch as Joanna walks her way into the station, having just fired a blast into it, and finds a memory stick amidst the wreckage, smiling to herself as she promises that this town's about to experience a whole new kind of Virus (see "Ultimate Power"). They look shocked and worried, not sure of what that even means, but deduce that they have to find her and stop her from doing whatever it is she's doing. "We need a locator spell," Josh decides, "Alright, I'll go to my vault and collect one, and one of you needs to go to Joanna's apartment and pick up one of her possessions to use it on, while someone else heads over to the fairies. Meet back here as soon as possible." "Why do we need the fairies?" Liz questions, to which Josh explains that they may need magical backup. "In case you've forgotten," says the sheriff, wary of Joe and lowering her voice to a whisper, "Most of them are dead." "Well then ask the ones thataren't, obviously," he tells her. "Who put you in charge?" Rena asks, to which Josh smiles and says, "Me," before disappearing in a flurry of black smoke. "Alright," Liz says, "I'll go to Keegan's B&B, you two alright getting something of Joanna's from her apartment?" she asks Rena and Justine. "Sure," the latter replies, turning her attention to Joe and coyly asking if he'd like to go with them. Joe, who looks as though he's only just started paying attention to the unravelling of affairs, simply says, "Oh…" before deciding, "I'll just… go with Liz I guess." "Okay," the sheriff says hurriedly, "See you soon, your majesties," and the two groups of two set off in opposite directions.
Liz and Joe are seen making their way to Keegan and Rappy's B&B as she says, "It's okay. We'll sort this mess out soon." She tries placing her hand on his shoulder but, like at the funeral, he shrugs it off. "You're being awfully unresponsive," she says, "Are you, um… are you feeling guilty?" "Of course I am…" Joe tells her, stopping. She stops also, and he reminds her that they buried three people just this morning; "For God's sake, we're still all wearing black!" "I know…" she tries, but he tears up as he assures her, "No… you don't. I… I don't understand why you don't all hate me. I mean… I stabbed you, Liz. You easily could've been in the ground with them." "But I'm not," she says, "And it doesn't matter either way because no matter what I know that you wouldnever try to kill anyone. And last night… is no exception. Jdg98 did those things, not you." "But Jdg98 is me… or, a part of me, or… something. I don't even understand it but, it's like I can feel him there, in the back of my head, and he feels so… cheated. So angry. I've felt that way my entire life, besides magic, what's the real difference between the two of us?" "Well," Liz replies, "For starters, I love one and not the other. And, to give you a clue, I'm not awfully fond of the dude who rammed me with a sword." "You… you love me? You've only known me for… well, not long. What you said before we fought… before you and him fought, or… whatever. I thought you were just trying to talk me… him, down." "I was," she says, "But that doesn't mean I wasn't telling the truth." She kisses him, briefly, but he turns away from her, and so she says that she understands; "I know what it's like to… to refrain from happiness because you feel as though you don't deserve it, and I don't expect you to say that you love me too, but it's out there, and I also want you to know… to believe that you can and will absolve yourself, and you can make a start by helping stop DeviousPeep and the untold destruction she's about to unleash. This locator spell is going to work…"
"A little locator spell is what we need," Primadonna Girl concludes over in Wikia as James 1234 holds on to one of Tyson's many rings which fell from his fingers when he disappeared. Prima opens her leather book and waves her hand over the ink, causing it to rise from the page and form a glass flask filled with liquid. She takes it from the page and pours it over the ring, then allowing the flask to turn back to ink and reform the written word. Shutting the book, she and James watch happily as the ring glows and flies up into the air. They begin following it back through the palace, and as they walk, Prima asks what James will call himself if they build any sort of life in the new land they want to go to. "I was thinking… Jack Divine." "Ooh, I like it," Prima commends. "And you?" he wonders, to which she replies, "Alison Queen." "Regal," James says, and she tells him that that's what she was going for. She wonders how much longer they have to wait, and James says to his partner, "One more wish to go." Prima smiles, adding, "Yes. And then we can have what we want."
"This isn't what I want," moans Justine as she and Rena head inside the building which contains Joanna's apartment, "I wanna be with… I don't even know what to call our son at the moment." "I'm pretty sure he prefers 'Joe'," Rena tells her, "And you'll have plenty of time to be with him once the Blood Wiccan's plan is stopped." "Do you think it's a bad sign that he chose not to come with us?" she wonders. "I don't… see it as anything," her husband assures her. "That's easy for you to say," she points out, "You've spent weeks living with him, whereas I know practically nothing about my own child." He stops her and says that everything's going to be okay because they're together now and nothing can tear them apart ever again. She smiles, comforted slightly, and kisses her husband, who promises that they'll start building a relationship with their son as soon as they can. They proceed to approach Joanna's apartment door and enter, for she has left the door unlocked, and Rena grabs a necklace from a nearby surface, saying that he thinks it will suffice for the locator spell. They leave with it.
At the same time, Josh enters his vault on the outskirts of town and quickly pockets a small bottle containing some locator spell. He goes to leave, but then he spots his crown on a nearby shelf, and he can't prevent himself from placing it upon his head and staring at himself in the mirror proudly. But he soon shakes his head and puts it back, at which point he notices a rare potion ingredient and begins to think to himself. Using his magic he makes a number of magical items from all around the vault float around him, then causing them to clash together into one bottle of fiery orange liquid. He grabs the newly-made potion from mid-air and smiles to himself, commenting, "This should take care of that bitch once and for all." Pocketing this as well, he exits the vault.
Joe and Liz finally enter the B&B across town, but Joe is immediately hit with a ball of fairy dust which causes him to keel over in pain. Sannse, completely grief-stricken, then runs over and begins kicking him as she cries, only to be pulled away by Dr. Sonya. "What the hell are you doing?!" Liz exclaims. "You… you killed him!" Sannse exclaims, staring at Joe, "You killed them all!" Joe manages to get to his feet as Liz attempts explaining that that was an entirely different consciousness which is gone now and that they have bigger problems now because DeviousPeep has managed to obtain a whole new Virus, the likes of which they know pretty much nothing about, but Viruses are never good. "We… we need your help," she finishes with, but Sannse spitefully tells them no, pointing out that her whole family died the last time she agreed to help them. She tells them that they're on their own this time. "But… it could destroy the town," Liz argues. "I don't care!" Sannse exclaims. "How can you say that about your own town!" "But it isn't my town! We were transported here against our will! Do you really think I give a damn what happens to it?! Especially now… what… what am I supposed to do without him…" She falls into Sonya's arms, blubbering, as he recommends that they leave. Before they do, Sannse curses Joe's name, and he looks incredibly guilty as she wishes bad fortune upon him.
"Looks like good fortune for us," James 1234 points out, grabbing Tyson by the scruff of his shirt in the woods, having been led straight there by the ring, which now drops to the ground. "One more wish," Prima says as she plucks the golden oil lamp from his hands, "How are you going to use it?" "I'm not," Tyson says bravely, "I will never give in to you two wretched curs!" "Now, now," James says, "Another stubborn child for me to deal with. When I met my daughter, she was just as insolent."
Joanna cackles madly as she adds some of the last ingredients to her Virus. The vat begins rattling as she yells, "Shake, dish! We are in the final stages! Time for them to get what they deserve for ruining my sacred plan! This is my moment! Glory! Glory!" She reaches into the sky and cackles some more before abruptly stopping and saying to herself, "Meh, about a 5.1. My evil monologues are a tad rusty." She casually adds another ingredient before stirring the pot.
Back at the sheriff's station, everyone has met up and watch as Josh's locator spell is poured onto Joanna's necklace, which then begins to float. They follow it, and as they do, Justine lags behind with Joe in order to talk to him. "I know that this may be… delicate," she says, "But… I'd really like to start establishing a relationship with you, Jd— Joe." He doesn't respond, a little shocked, and so she continues, "I know it must be hard for you to look at me like a mother…" "It is," he assures her, "I… Growing up in foster care, I would imagine what my parents would be like, and of all the scenarios I concocted, I never… I mean, you guys are Kings and Queens and Princes and Princesses or… Bureaucrats and Administrators, whatever that means. The only memories I have of you are Natalia's, and it's going to take some getting used to. You're… heroes. And right now… I can't help feeling like a villain. Or at least a big disappointment." "No…" she tries assuring him, but he says that maybe they should just focus on finding Nurse Seer right now. He walks forward while Justine remains behind, but she is soon joined by her husband, who heard the whole thing and warns her not to push it. "I'm not pushing it," she insists, at which he gives her a look and she says, "Alright, but can you blame me?" He looks and Joe sadly and replies with, "No."
"No… No… NO!" Tysonjackson, now strung up between two trees, exclaims as James digs his knife into the young man's flesh. Prima caresses the lamp meanwhile, urging him to make his last wish. "Never!" Tyson exclaims. "Well, Jack, I think you need to cut a little deeper." "My pleasure, Alison," he laughs, continuing to torture Tyson with glee in his eyes.
Determination is in the eyes of everyone following Joanna's necklace as they are led to the woods by it. As they come up to the town exit, Liz asks why Peep doesn't just leave if she wants to. "Go ahead," says Josh, "Try." "Um… okay," says the former Chat Moderator, but when she attempts to exit Storywik, she finds herself stopped by a rippling mystical barrier. "Victims of the Virus are doomed to stay," the Evil Bureaucrat explains, "Sorry about that." "Right, and what are we gonna do when we find Joanna exactly?" Liz wonders further. "Don't worry," Josh says, "I'm gonna bring her to justice." Justine notices something in her father's eyes, and she grabs on to him, forcing him to lag far behind with her as the others continue after the necklace. "You plan on killing her, don't you?" she realizes. "Sweetheart, this woman has—" "I know full well what she's done! But daddy… I'll never be able to fully forgive you for whatever you've done if you continue to take lives." Josh contemplates this, and eventually says, "Okay," taking the orange potion from his pocket and explaining that it would cause a witch to uncontrollably combust upon contact. He drops it to the ground, allowing it to smash, and assures his daughter that he would do anything for her, for she is the love of his life; "You're… all I've had ever since your mother died all those years ago." "I know, daddy. And I promise we'll find another way to deal with DeviousPeep. Just not one which involves you further darkening your heart." The two of them continue in following the rest of the group.
Joanna adds the very last ingredient to her Virus, just as Joe, Rena and Liz show up. She sees her necklace floating towards her and says, "Huh. I've been wondering where that got to." She then grabs it from thin air and fastens it around her neck, before taking the liberty of pointing out that the so-called "heroes" are too late. "Although, I guess it's not all heroes, is it? Tell me, Jdg98, how's the maid?" A tear drips from his eye and Justine and Josh show up behind him and the others. "Speaking of non-heroes," says Peep, "Wouldn't be a party without the Evil Bureaucrat, would it? Maybe this Virus will kill you and your daughter in a bloody mess. Oh, I do hope so. And the rest of you of course." "You're insane," Rena exclaims. "Well yeah," says Liz, "You didn't get that from the outfit?" "Well, you gotta admit, I put the 'hot' in 'psychotic'," Peep announces proudly. "Stop this…" Justine begs. "Sorry, honey… I'm afraid Viruses can't be stopped once they've been enacted. The results of which I expect to see in about three… two… one." Suddenly, a burst of magic is expelled from the vat which causes everyone within proximity to fall to the ground. Joanna stands up first, followed by Liz, then Rena, then Justine. "Where's Joe?" Rena wonders. "And daddy?" asks Justine. "Oh," says Joanna, realizing the effects of her Virus at last, "Well that's kinda disappointing."
Twisting. Swirling. Screaming. Joe and Josh are contorted through an abyss. Limbo. Spinning and twirling and bending. It's happening fast and painfully.
We cut back to Joanna, who is commanded to explain. "Ugh, you pathetic imbeciles, it's a companion Virus. Meant to be used along with the Dark Virus." "What do you mean…" Liz demands. "It was meant for when the savior shows up in town. It eradicates this place of anyone who's not a victim of the main Virus. Of course, had the Evil Bureaucrat enacted it himself, he'd have been protected. But, as it is…" she smiles, "You'll never see them again." She cackles madly before melting into a puddle of blood and slithering away. Justine begins tearing up and Rena Charming holds his wife. "What do we do now?" asks ImmaGleek.
Tyson's blood runs down his chest as he is further cut into. "Make your wish!" James commands. "Alright!" Tyson yells, crying, "Okay… I wish… I wish…" Prima and James look at him excitedly as he says, "I wish for a hero!" "Great," says James, "That'll do," and he proceeds to slit Tyson's throat with ease. Suddenly, a rupture opens in the sky, from which Joe and Josh fall. They cause Primadonna Girl to drop the lamp as they land in a heap, which Joe then catches as he lays on the ground, inadvertently rubbing it. Golden smoke pours from the spout, and before they know it, a genie is crouching above them. "Hi," says a familiar someone, "I'm Dlrgirl75. Usually I'd start with the whole 'master mine, my will is thine' crap, but, in this instance... I'm just gonna say that you might wanna run."