Title: Loba

Author: Joshua

Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time, and all associated characters, are owned by ABC, and by proxy, Disney. Garo is a Japanese TV tokusatsu, and all associated concepts and characters were created and are owned by Keita Amemiya and broadcast by TV Tokyo. I own neither and stand to make zero profit from writing this bit of fiction, beyond personal enjoyment. So enjoy, and do not sue me!

Summary: AU, Extreme-AU in fact. Emma came through the wardrobe some place else, some place where she was raised and trained to be more than just a savior to a few kingdoms. She is now Loba, the first female Makai Knight, enemy of Horrors and protector of mankind!

Premise: Garo is a live-action adult fantasy action series that involves heroes transforming into 'magic' armors and fighting monsters with lots and lots of wire-work, in the same genre as Power Rangers or Kamen Rider, but again, geared towards adult audiences instead of kids or teens. The concept is based around three factions; the first is the 'monsters' in this case called Horrors. Horrors are black inky white-eyed demons that come through "inga" portals, inga being the word the series uses for sin basically. Evil human intentions, where some action involving one or more of the seven deadly sins (pride, lust, envy, wrath, greed, sloth, gluttony) occurred and thereby allowing a Horror to crossover from the netherworld. It will then possess/consume a human host, and use that individual's particular... "sin" to then turn around and cannibalize other humans. Which brings us to the two anti-Horror factions; the Makai Knights (Kishi) and the Makai Priests (Hoshi). The Priests have existed for as long as the Horrors have plagued humanity, using their magic and power to fend off, seal, and banish the demons from the human realm. As humanity's darkness grew, so did the Horror's powers, and so the Priests created the Knights, dedicated warriors that were granted special armors and weapons and trained solely in destroying Horrors and nothing else. A Priest can use a variety of focus tools, but the most common is a brush, much like those used by priests of old in Fuedal Japan to ward off evil spirits and the like. From it, they 'paint' their spells into the air or fire blasts of energy or create barriers to trap the demons. Some even use mechanical puppets to allow them to go on the offensive next to their Knight partners. Knights, on the other hand, tend to work alone, receiving orders on where to go and what Horrors have been sighted from 'Watchdog' posts in each Area. They wield one weapon they've specialized in, most use single blade swords, but others have wielded twin-blades, others spears, axes, sword and shield, and one even a bow and arrows. When summoning their armor, which all Knights have a 'wolf' inspired visage to in all cases, they make a circle with the edge of their weapon, which creates a ring of light, which then breaks open and their armor then falls out of and surrounds them. The armor and weapons of the Makai Knights are made out of a very special material known as "Soul Metal" which is very toxic to human skin, and can weigh several tons or be light as a feather in the hands of a trained Knight. It is especially effective against Horrors. Due to the dangers, a Knight cannot wear their armor for very long, in fact there is a built in timer of 99.9 seconds, because when that time runs out, their armor begins to consume them, transforming them into a Makai Beast, which in some ways is worse than becoming a Horror. Each Knight is also equipped with a Madougu, a Horror detector and sometimes adviser. Madougu take the appearance of silver jewelry, sometimes rings, sometimes necklaces, sometimes bracelets. Each has their own personality and in addition to the support they provide, some can generate Madou Flames, which can further damage Horrors, and also help in identifying Horrors still in human disguise. Also, after defeating 100 Horrors, each Knight faces a challenge, of fighting their armor in order to gain a greater power, specifically the ability to summon a Mado Horse, or steed. This increases the Knights fighting power by more than a hundred, and grants them the ability to cross realms as well.

Emma was initially trained to be a Makai Priestess, but when it was discovered that she could control Soul Metal, with only minimal training, a great number of exceptions were made and she became the first female knight to be trained and issued armor, ever! Her weapon is a straight-edged longsword, her Armor bears the title Loba, and is a white wolf with gold accents and female... features. Her steed is named Garou. Her Madougu is an armband around her right bicep, taking the appearance of a howling wolf, the head of which can still move and talk, that goes by the name Tenka, which means 'snow'. She's also trained in the ways of the Makai Priests, but most of her power and experience has gone towards the sword rather than the brush.

Storybrooke:

Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns.

And yet by the blade of knights, mankind was given hope.

It was night. The city was alive with activity and people running about. Since midsummer, things had been rather quiet in the city of Boston. Well, compared to how it had been before Emma Swan's—the Makai Knight known as Loba—arrival in the city and in the years since. As a matter of fact, tonight's orders from the Watchdog were the first she'd received in a month, having occupied her time by hunting down Inga Portals and a few cold cases.

By that, of course she meant all the cold cases. It had taken her a little over twenty-eight months, but she had tracked down and resolved all the old stories and mysteries of the Eastern district since her arrival and discovering that the Watchdog tended to only have a mission for her once a week at first. Since the end of summer, though, the new pattern had been set to once a month, which was something to be concerned about, if only for the sake of her sanity and keeping her skills sharp.

This particular Horror seemed to like the dating scene, having been active for less than a week, but already consumed more than eight different women. All on first dates. First dates organized by one particular dating site. Which is why she was currently walking into a high-end restaurant wearing pink stiletto heels and a hot pink dress that came to just above her knees with a plunging neckline that gave a better view of her cleavage than she was strictly comfortable with. This was one of the times that she was truly jealous of her fellow—male—Makai Knights. They could actually show up to something like this in their standard leather armor and coats, making them look eccentric and trendy. Her? No, she had to wear a dress! Because anything else would make her look uncivilized.

Sexist pigs.

She kept her trademark red jacket on though, glaring at the maîtré d' when he initially offered to take it for her until he backed off. Walking steadily through the restaurant, much like when she was tracking Horrors—which was sort of what she was doing now—Emma made her way to the table and where she sensed the Horror's presence. She would need to confirm before taking action, but she was at least sure that there was in fact a Horror here.

Finding her 'date' wasn't that difficult in the end, she just followed the stench of Horror.

"Emma?" the man at the table stood to his feet upon seeing her approach.

"Ryan?" she identified him from the dating profile on the site. "You look relieved."

"Well, it is the internet," he shrugged, holding out her chair for her as she sat. "Pictures can be..."

"Fake, outdated, photo shopped onto the the bodies of Victoria Secret models," she supplied.

"So, tell me something about yourself Emma," he said as a way of getting the date started once they were sat down across from each other.

"Oh, uh, well, today's my birthday actually," she admitted, ignoring the pinch on her arm as she did so.

"And you're spending it with me? What about your friends?" he asked, surprised.

"Kind of a loner," she shrugged. "Plus my job keeps me busy. Things have been slow of late, hence the blind date to fill in the hours."

"What about your family? You don't like them or something?" There was a sudden interest that hadn't been there, in his eyes and the way he was rubbing his hands together.

"No family to like," she shrugged again, reaching for the Madou Lighter in her clutch purse.

"Oh, that's a shame," he said with just the appropriate amount of sympathy and not a hair more. He'd stopped rubbing his hand and started licking his lips by now. "Well, I'm hungry. Shall we eat?"

"Sure," she grinned, all the more convinced that this was indeed the target. "Just one thing first, hope you don't mind, and I'm glad you chose a spot in the smoking section..." she trailed off, pulling out a rolled up piece of paper and the Lighter.

"Oh, not a problem," he shrugged, paying more attention to the menu at the moment. "I managed to go through my pack before you even got here. I'll probably beg one off you later on."

"Sure," she smirked.

"Hey, help a girl out?" she held up the paper and lighter. He looked up and she ignited the green Madou Flames so she could see his eyes as they did their magic. The man's pupils turned white and glyphs formed around them, positive sign for a Horror.

He snarled suddenly and tipped the table over before running for the exit. She only just managed to move out of the way to avoid getting anything spilled on her dress. Just because she didn't like wearing them didn't mean she was about to let her only one get messed up because of a spooked Horror.

Nice work. Now he's getting away. Perhaps you might have waited until the end of the date, hm?

The blond woman in red and pink ignored the commentary from the silver and gold band of a howling wolf on her right bicep, and steadily followed her prey out of the restaurant, avoiding the chaos left in its wake with a practiced gait. To her surprise, the monster had actually run to its car across the street. Fortunately, she had anticipated that and continued across the street, actually stopping traffic as she passed. There was a joke somewhere in there about that, she just couldn't be bothered to deal with it at the moment.

Starting the car and shifting it into drive, the Horror was, well horrified to find that the car was not moving. Looking out the window he saw that there was a wheel lock, keeping the car from moving at all. Knowing that it was dead if it didn't keep running, the Horror crawled out the other end of the car and ran down an alley between the nearest buildings. Emma did not bother slowing or speeding up, though once she was in the shadows of the buildings, she pulled her Soul Metal Sword from where she'd hidden it in her jacket.

The white scabbard and hilt gleamed in the low lighting of the alley, letting the Horror know just how close its predator was, and her approach. After a few panicked turns down blind alleyways, it was only a matter of time and circumstance that ended the chase at a virtual dead end. The man tried to find some way out before turning back to try some other route, only to come face to face with the woman in red, wielding a white sword.

"Please," he begged, backing away, "Don't do this. You don't have to do this!"

"I'm pretty sure that's what all those women screamed out when you devoured them," Emma replied, drawing her sword. "Besides, it's my job. You know, the one that takes up so much of my time? I hunt Horrors like you, and I protect humanity from your kind."

"Makai Kishi!" the Horror, its eyes still white, growled.

The blond knight just smiled and said, "Got it in one. You must be one of the smart ones."

Must you always taunt them?

"Shut up, Tenka," she snapped at the armband Madougu.

Seeing that as an opportunity, the Horror hissed and growled before jumping the space between them through the air, arms outstretched like claws. Emma took a short breath and then hopped back to meet the charge, using her sword and scabbard both to block his swipes. He tried to overpower her, but when she didn't so much as flinch, let alone crumble in her defense, he looked shocked. She just smirked at him and did a quick flip, striking out with both her feet to his sternum, chest, neck, chin, and head in a rapid delivery of kicks. The Horror flew back and struck the wall hard enough to kick up a fresh layer of brick dust.

Giving off that growling hiss again, it picked itself up and charged again, throwing whatever debris it could find at her along the way. She deflected it with simple swipes of her sword, meeting the charge with one of her own. She slid past the Horror and from its unguarded side, she jumped up and slammed a couple more kicks into it, knocking it back and away. She then blocked its flailing limbs with her arms and sword and scabbard. Seeing that it wasn't getting anywhere like this, the Horror stopped holding back and put all the force it could summon behind its next blow, aiming to take down her defenses straight on since it wasn't having much luck getting by them. Emma took the hit, blocking it with a cross section of sword and scabbard. She was knocked back to the other end of the alley, hitting the wall hard enough that she definitely felt it, but not enough to keep her down for any length of time.

Taking what little chance it had, the Horror jumped up to the roof of the tallest building around them, intending on getting away to snatch a meal of opportunity later on. The important part was getting away from the Makai Knight! And weren't they all supposed to be men? Who'd ever heard of a woman knight?

He's getting away.

"Remind me again why I even bring you along on these things?" Emma sighed, jumping up to the same roof the Horror had with the same level of effort, which is to say none at all.

This would be why.

Emma grunted her frustration at the arm band and looked down at it, asking, "So, Tenka, do your job, and please tell me where the stinking Horror is. I'm actually hoping to get some sleep for once, on my birthday no less."

I do so love it when you say 'please'. He's close. Two roofs to the north, still in human form.

Emma dashed across the gravel-top roof toward the northern edge, spotting her prey as soon as the distant roofs came into view. Seeing that she was unlikely to catch up before civilians got in the way, she decided to take a shot at slowing it down. Tracking the fleeing man's movements, she quickly identified where he would be going next and the moment that she jumped off the roof of the building, she threw her sword there as hard as she possibly could.

That was reckless.

The white handled blade soared through the air like a sniper's bullet and struck the Horror in the back through the chest and driving him forward to be stuck to the wall of the building he'd just been about to jump onto like a bug in a display case. His scream of pain was loud enough to hear even from the distance she was at.

"You were saying," Emma smirked down at her right bicep as she landed on the nearest roof and quickly dashed across to the next.

Lucky shot.

By the time she got there, not even a full minute from when it had jumped up from the alley, the Horror had managed to dislodge itself by tearing an even bigger hole in itself, seeing as it could not handle a Soul Metal sword. The hole, of course, immediately regenerated, but it cost the Horror precious energy. It needed to feed.

Emma did not hesitate after seeing the Horror drop below. She jumped across the gap, retrieved her sword, which had been lodged into the stone masonry up to nearly half its length, and then dropped. She landed on her pink heels, only just managing not to scuff them in the process, and cast about with her senses for the Horror. A woman's scream from further towards the street gave her direction. Seeing the man drag a woman not much older than her, grocery bags dropped on the ground, told her the rest. Sheathing her sword, she ran all out for where the Horror had dragged the civilian woman.

She didn't bother with threats or ultimatums, that was for human adversaries, not beasts like these.

"Please, help me!" the woman screamed.

"Shut up!" he yelled at her, taking her by the arm and back of the neck.

"Hey," Emma said as she dropped down in front of them. "What happened to all those nice manners from before? You should know by now, when a lady says no, she means, no!" The blond struck out with a fast roundhouse kick and then a straight side-kick after grabbing his arm with hard-trained strength, forcing him to let go of the woman, dropping her to the ground but knocking him back and away.

"Go, get out of here," she shouted to the woman, keeping an eye on the Horror. "I'm a cop, back up is already on the way. This man is a wanted fugitive and serial killer."

"Th-thank you," she whimpered and then scrambled away.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," the Horror chuckled as he got back to his feet.

"Good thing I'm not wearing pants then," Emma tossed back.

"So," the Horror rolled his head around, cracking his neck, "I guess we're really doing this."

"Uh, yeah," she said, drawing her sword once again.

"Shame, I was having such a nice time on our date, too." His body began to morph and twist, becoming thicker in some areas, leaner in others. The end result was a monster that looked like a cross between a gorilla and a mantis, given that it only had four really thick limbs though the rest was a distinctively insect-based. Tenka quickly filled her in on the necessities.

It is Kamatourou, known for feeding off the tortured emotions of couples in love. The man it possessed must be married. No worries about it infesting the wife though. It feeds off of the emotional turmoil of making its host's mate think they're cheating on them. Not very strong compared to most, unless right after a feeding. You should have no trouble.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Emma chuckled and charged the transformed Horror.

It immediately jumped up and kicked her away. She caught herself before hitting anything and briefly spun the blade along her wrist before adopting a reverse grip and holding it even with her waist as she crouched down. As the mantis-gorilla monster fell toward her, just as it came into range she launched herself from her ready position and struck with her sword faster than a snake ever could.

"Aghhhh!" the beast screamed, falling to the ground.

How much longer are you going to toy with it?

The Horror regenerated the wound and charged again, moving faster than before. She was forced on the defensive, blocking everything she could with the flat of her blade, dancing around the Horror beast like they were doing the tango or something. Until finally, after a solid minute of blocking, kicking, punching, ducking, and dancing, the Horror landed a heavy blow that she couldn't block that well, sending her skidding along the ground until she slammed up against the alley wall. Not wanting to lose what little advantage it had, Kamatourou jumped over and manhandled the woman up off the ground and sought to inflict greater damage.

Emma wasn't having any of that though, and quickly got herself free with a simple self defense move, just performed with the greater strength afforded to her by her Knight training. Picking herself up off the ground, she decided that it was time to end this.

"Ladies and gentlemen, start your clocks," she joked as she held her sword horizontally above her head, before spinning it along her wrist so that it cut a perfect halo around her at the height of her outstretched arm.

Kamatourou recoiled, instinctively knowing what this meant, and too far away to do anything about it.

The halo of blinding white light was pierced, with the crash of something breaking, the barrier was broken and a heavenly light shone down all around the blond woman in red. Faster than the eye could track, though knowing that it happened had her sometimes thinking she could see them, cherub angels brought down and placed the pieces of her Soul Metal Armor onto her body and then vanished as quickly as they came, making it look like the Armor actually fell down onto her body from the breached barrier. Once the light faded with the closing of the barrier, the Makai Knight Loba stood before the Horror Kamatourou.

The Armor only added a few inches to her height, and most of that was from the wolf-ear-features of the helmet. The overall color scheme was white with gold trim and gold-plated chain mail beneath and between the joints. The helmet was a snarling wolfshead, or perhaps werewolf visage, with gleaming gold fangs coming from the mouth and cobalt blue eyes shining from within the gleaming white face mask. Unlike most knights, that had large barrel-chested armor plates with huge elaborate shoulder pads, Loba's shoulders were sleek and unadorned, though with a single crescent moon symbol in gold along each shoulder. Her chest plate was conformed and freely displayed her womanly features, flowing along her lines exactly like most of those leather superheroine outfits in the movies these days, except made out of gleaming white metal with gold highlights instead of black leather. Her arms and legs were covered by the same gleaming white plate metal and golden chain mail under-armor, and at her belt was the symbol of her 'house', or in this case the symbol of the Loba Armor; a crescent moon framing a howling wolf. As the Armor came into place, her sword also transformed to its more powerful for; a double edged long sword, the hilt now forming a crescent pointing outwards, clear white diamonds at the pommel and center of the hilt. Some Makai weapons included symbols of protection or strength on them to increase their power, added to them over their years of use by each Knight that had wielded it before. Emma's had no such markings, being a shining double-edged blade of pure Soul Metal.

In the Netherworld, a clock began counting down from 99.9 seconds.

Loba wasted no time, and Kamatourou already knew that it could not escape. Its only hope lay in defeating the Makai Knight it faced. It hissed/growled and launched itself at her.

Loba moved quickly, more quickly that she had unencumbered by armor, flip-kicking the Horror further into the air before falling back down and jumping back up to meet it mid-fall. She struck, cutting a deep gash along one side, landed along the side of a nearby building with one foot before pushing off with said foot for another nearby building, landing another strike against the Horror. Another leap, another pass, another strike, this time actually taking off one of its arms!

Faster and faster, more and more strikes landed against the falling beast, dismembering it entirely and cutting so deep into its body that it could no longer regenerate. The final strike was just as it was about to hit the ground, but Loba landed first, taking the beast's head as she did.

"H-how...?" the head gargled its last word as it dissolved into purified inga and returned to the Netherworld from whence it came.

Once the Horror was gone, Emma allowed Loba to return to its resting place, flying back up into a halo of light that was there and gone so fast, most would see only the light reflecting off the Armor as it was pulled off of her and vanished. Nodding to see that there were no more threats, she wiped her sword clean, just to be thorough, and sheathed it beneath her armored red coat.

Impressive. You didn't even have to use Blazing Armament. I almost expected you to play with him a bit more. Not that you should ever play with Horrors in the first place.

"Ah, I just had to get his timing down," she shrugged, walking back over to where the groceries had been dropped. Oh, a gourmet cupcake, yummy! "Once I had that, the only other thing was getting the angles of the area. I would end up wasting time if I summoned my armor at the start of the fight. Anyway," she took a quick bite of an apple that had been left in the bag, forcing her to talk around it, "lezz go cee da What-dawg and, mm, hopefully I can take the rest of the night off."

And what exactly would you do with your early night? You are not exactly one to indulge in watching television or reading novels. Dare I say it, most of your night life consists of hunting Horrors. So what is with this sudden need to have a night off?

"Not that it is any of your concern, Tenka, but sometimes a girl has to keep her secrets, and keep her skills up," Emma said impishly.

Ah, I should have known. Beating up on helpless civilians is hardly a way to keep your skills sharp.

"Hey, I hold back, and yeah, street fights actually do help me keep my skills sharp. It helps me to know when and how much to hold back on. If I wanted to focus on getting stronger, I'd have accepted the offer of taking on that old estate, the one that has its own training space? I'm already the first acknowledged female Makai Knight ever. I'm not so ambitious to try climbing any higher up the ranks than that, thank you very much. Now open the path already?"

Tenka gave a metallic sigh, shaking its tiny wolf head. Right in front of them, a section of wall, completely out of sight unless you were standing right in front of it, fell away into the shadows, reappearing only after the blond woman in red had passed through it.

After a brief walk through a dark featureless corridor, she came out in the Watchdog's Sanctuary, a space created just for them, accessible only by the Makai Path. Each Watchdog decorated their space according to their own style, though the common feature was that the walls and ceiling were covered in shadows and the room itself was quite cavernous. This particular Watchdog was apparently really into fairy tales as the whole place looked like something out of a Grimm's Classic, especially with the medieval castle interior and prince's throne at the center. The only reason Emma bothered to listen to this particular Watchdog—aside from the rules that is—is because whenever she showed up, he was usually lounging sideways across the throne, or pacing around it. She had never seen him actually sit down in it like some kind of king presiding over his subjects. That and the fact that he looked like he was barely out of high school and made jokes about his own appearance and age were the only reasons she liked him.

"Emma! Wow, that didn't take long, did it?" he crowed from his position, which was sitting upside down on the throne, arms spread wide and a large grin on his youthful face.

"Eh, what can I say?" she shrugged. "He just wasn't my type."

"Such is the game of life," the Watchdog sighed. He suddenly flipped up off the throne and stood before her with an easy smile. "And can I just say, looking good, girl!"

"Oh stop," she teased. Then she pulled out her sword and said in a more serious tone, "But seriously, stop."

"Yikes! Hint taken, but can I just say that I love a woman that knows how to accessorize?"

Emma just smiled without saying anything, beyond unsheathing her blade that is.

"Right, gotcha, just this way then," he bowed and gestured toward the wolf statue just in front of the throne. "Doesn't this make your two hundredth Horror?" he commented just as she slid the blade home into the wolf's mouth.

"It does," she confirmed. "Uh, there isn't another trial like there was with the one hundredth, is there?"

"I think you would have found out already," the Watchdog commented, as the light shone from the statue and an explosion of purifying mist came from it as Emma retrieved her Soul Metal Sword from it. "So not to worry. Enjoy the rest of your night off, Emma!"

"Wait, seriously? I don't even have to ask?" she said, surprised.

"Why would you have to ask?" the Watchdog shrugged, draping himself across the arms of his throne. "You've been a Horror-slaying machine since you first got your Armor, and you somehow seem to be able to track down inga portals before anything can actually come through them, before even I can track them down! As far as my senses and sources can tell me, there are no Horrors within the entire district. I say you deserve a night off after this. Enjoy!"

"Thanks," Emma said over her shoulder, already on her way out.

A quarter hour later, Emma was walking into her apartment, grocery bag in hand. She wasn't in the habit of stealing, but far be it from her to let fresh food go to waste. Especially that gourmet cupcake!

Speaking of which, she pulled it out as well as a small blue star candle from the drawer and lit it. Leaning down to rest her head on her arms, she stared into the candle and contemplated her life so far. She'd been told the story of her discovery since she was a young child, how the oldest tree in the Makai Forest had exploded under the light of a crescent moon, leaving behind a baby wrapped up in a blanket with her name and the image of a swan in flight stitched into it. A Makai Priest had witnessed the event and saved the infant from the Horrors that would have consumed her without hesitation. The Makai Council debated for a full year about what to do with the newborn infant. Meanwhile she was raised by the Priest and his family in Kantai village.

Though raised as their own, it was clear to everybody that Emma was an orphan and a foreigner at that, with her blond hair, blue/green eyes, peach white skin, and western features. So as much as she tried to fit in, children will be children and Emma was made to feel every bit as inferior and unwanted as was possible. Thus, when the Council decided that she should be trained as a Makai Priest, well, needless to say things did not go smoothly. She could certainly learn the moves and the spells, her problem was that she could never get anybody to practice with her outside of the main classes. So she spent a lot of time alone, getting a reputation as a loner, and also finding all sorts of places that technically she wasn't supposed to get into. Places like the Makai Knight Training Camp.

For the longest time, she hid and secretly observed the training of the boys and their Knight Trainers, all the while practicing both Makai Priest skills and the physical skills of the Makai Knights in private. It wasn't until Kantai was attacked by a hoard of Horrors that she finally was given the opportunity to prove herself. The event was burned into her mind even more vividly than the candle flame was burned into her retinas.

A transformed Horror was indiscriminately slaughtering knights and students alike. She'd been hiding up in the trees, trying to observe something that she hadn't seen dozens of times before when the Horror began its attack. Almost right below her, a Knight had summoned his Armor and was trying to buy time for the recruits to evacuate to safety. The Horror had gotten in a hit on his blind side, knocking him down and dropping his weapon. Emma hadn't even considered the consequences to her actions. She saw what needed to be done, her body knew how to do it from her private training, and her heart knew it was the right thing to do, no matter what anyone else might say in the end.

She jumped down from her hiding spot, grabbed the knight's weapon, in this case a short sword, and though it was Soul Metal, she'd managed to sneak one of the training pieces that the trainee knights use to practice controlling Soul Metal, so she had long since figured out the trick and handled it like any apprentice, which is to say that she could pick it up as though it were a feather, but she'd had no sword training at all. Nevertheless, the startling sight of a blue-eyed blond girl wielding a sharp sword that as long as she was tall—or nearly so—as though it were a foot long stick was enough to startle even the Horror, enough so that she could actually cut it on its main body and get it to retreat in pain. Having no real training in using a sword at that point, she'd pretty much flailed the deadly weapon around like a stick against a wild animal. Against trained opponents, or even an observant Horror, she should have been knocked aside or killed with one blow. As it turned out, in an unprecedented display of luck, the Horror was struck dumb and received several more deep cuts thanks to her flailing, enough that it decided retreat was better than even taking revenge on this insane hellion. Well, that's the way she told the story anyway.

Fact is, she only landed about three scratches on the thing, enough to startle it for sure, but before it could regroup and kill her where she stood, the knight had recovered and several others had rallied and drove it back before destroying it for good. Luck not only kept her from getting killed, but also kept any of the Horror's blood from getting on her during her flailing or the beast's destruction. She still got in trouble though, her luck wasn't quite that good.

A week after that event, she'd been confronted by her adopted parents and several of the Makai Council, as well as the Knight she'd inadvertently saved. They wanted to know what she'd been doing and to see how well she could, or could not, control Soul Metal. She'd confessed to her 'private' training and picked up every piece of Soul Metal that they put in front of her with ease, everything from a similar training blade to what she'd practiced with before, to swords, axes, flails and pole-arms. Finally, her participation in the debate ended when the Knight asked her if she wanted to be a Knight instead of a Priestess. Her answer then is what lead to her being where she is now.

Happy Birthday, Emma.

"Another banner year," she said to Tenka, blowing out the candle as she closed her eyes and made a wish.

There was a knock at the door.

Emma frowned and got up. "Are we expecting anyone?" she asked her armband.

No. But I can tell that whoever it is, is human.

Opening the door, Emma found a ten year old boy standing there, looking expectantly up at her.

"Can I help you?" she asked, trying to be polite. Still, she kept one hand on her sword, just in case.

"Are you Emma Swan?" he asked.

"Who wants to know?" she demanded, dropping politeness for caution.

"My name is Henry," he said, ignoring her sudden rudeness. "I'm your son."

He then moved passed her into the spartan apartment, and she just stood there, letting him. A soft noise from her Madougu interrupted her brief lapse into catatonia and she closed the door and followed the young boy into her kitchen. "I don't have a son," she stated as clearly as she possibly could.

Without missing a beat, he responded, "Ten years ago, did you give a baby up for adoption? That was me."

Something before my time?

"What was that?" Henry asked, looking around for the source of the voice he'd just heard, which had most definitely not been Emma's.

Ignoring both questions, the woman closed down all emotions, which were running rampant throughout her at the moment, transforming her face into an expression of virtual stone. Her stance was stiff and fluid at the same time, similar to how it was whenever she faced a Horror that had succeeded in royally pissing her off. When she spoke, her voice was like a cold wind that would freeze falling drops of water in the air.

"That was a closed adoption. I was promised that no one would ever be able to track you back to me. This was for your protection! How did you find me?" she demanded, actually scaring the kid.

He began to doubt whether this was a good idea or not, seeing that at least the Evil Queen didn't act like some kind of stone cold killer. "A-a-a website," he stammered, "whosyourmomma dot org. I'm sorry, I just… I need your help! There's a curse and a…" She held up her hand, cutting off his diatribe.

You're scaring your son, Emma.

"Not now," she growled down at Tenka. She pulled out a smart phone from her coat pocket, which she'd still been wearing all this time, and dialed a number from memory, planning on destroying the phone after this call. Once the line connected, she screamed—in Japanese—at the phone, "Why the HELL is my son sitting across from me, teme? How did an American website; whosyourmomma dot org, get a hold of my information so he can track me to my CURRENT ADDRESS?! You promised me that he would disappear and NO ONE would ever find him or knew that he existed! Explain this, teme, or I will come for you and END you!"

She listened attentively as the timid voice on the other end tried to offer up an explanation. In the end, she decided to hang up before she had to listen to any more lies—didn't even need to see the slimy weasel of a rat to know that he was—and dialed another number from memory. This one went to voicemail, and she merely gave the name of the person she'd called previously, three addresses, and a price in Euros. The money would be automatically withdrawn upon completion of the contract. Once that bit of dirty business was taken care of, she took out the battery and the SIM card, crushing the latter between thumb and forefinger, before tossing the phone up in the air over the counter, and drawing her sword and destroying the device with a single stroke.

Henry stared in open mouthed awe. This was definitely the Savior, he realized then and there.

"Uh, we should, probably get, uh, going," he suggested, having trouble swallowing.

Putting away her weapon, she looked over at him and asked, "Where?"

"Back home," he answered, before realizing that wasn't enough information and quickly added, "Storybrooke, Maine. I… I need your help."

Calming down, and seeing that he truly was her son… as well as his… with how quickly he was overcoming his fear of her, she sat down at the counter and with a considerable bit more warmth from before, she said, "What do you need help with? I have a limited skill set, so if you're needing help with your homework, sorry kid, you're plum out of luck. Now if you've got monsters under your bed, that's a whole other ball of wax."

You shouldn't joke about things like that, you know.

"Shut up Tenka," she laughed, bringing her arm forward so that Henry could see the armband talking.

"Whoa, what… what is that?"

Hmph. *I* am a Madougu, a device that aids Makai Knights in their battles against Horrors. Why are you being so free with classified information, Emma? I know you're good with memory spells, but even they have limits.

"Memory spells?" Henry repeated, suddenly nervous. "You can do magic? But you're also a knight? What kind of knight? Do you slay dragons and save princesses?"

"No to the princesses, dragons are peaceful unless provoked, I hunt demons called Horrors, and if it helps you to think of it as such, yes, I can do magic," she answered him, before directing to her bicep, "As for why I'm not bothering with hiding anything, he's my son. Family is the universal exception to the rules. Plus he's ten, who is he going to tell that will believe him?"

"Can I be a knight?" Henry asked, eyes bright.

"No."

No.

That they both answered together and with such conviction snapped Henry back to reality. She said she hunted demons. Nothing in his book ever said anything about demons, and the closest had been the Imp that made deals with everyone, but he'd never been called a demon.

"OK, but, will you help me?" he decided to broach the subject of being a knight later. After the curse was lifted and the final battle finished perhaps.

"You still haven't told me with what," Emma commented, cutting her birthday cupcake in half, giving him the other while quickly devouring the first for herself.

Seeing that she was actually more than what he'd expected, and was already a knight, Henry saw no reason to hide the whole truth from her. "My home town is under a curse," he said as he pulled the book out of his backpack. "Every story in this book really happened. Pinnochio, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen. They're all real. Here, see? The Evil Queen cast a curse that took away the Happy Endings and sent all the people of the Enchanted Forest to a world without magic. Our world. Or rather, this world. Everyone, except you. See?" he pointed out the pictures and passages in the book.

Hm, this would explain a lot.

"What, that I came through a… Oh," Emma stopped responding to Tenka as she came to the image of the wardrobe she'd been 'placed' into by her father. "Yes, I suppose it does. All right, kid, what kind of curse are we talking about here?"

"None of them remember who they are," he answered.

"Amnesia?" she asked, being quite serious.

"No, they… it's hard to explain. They have names and identities, but they're not the right ones. Jiminy Cricket is my therapist, his name is Archie Hopper. My teacher at school is really Snow White, but her name is Mary Margaret Blanchard and she's way too timid for how Snow White is supposed to be. And my mom is the Evil Queen."

Emma nodded, sorting through her knowledge of such curses, taking into account the fact that apparently it transported an entire population across realms and created a town where there used to be none. "Alternate identities then. Coupled with barriers to keep strangers out, keep the townspeople in, and to avoid outside detection. Can you show me where this town is on a map?"

Surprised at the straight-forward belief he was receiving after months of disbelief from both Archie, his mom and Miss Blanchard, Henry was all too eager to help. They pulled up out an atlas of the Northeastern United States, and Henry pointed out the general area along the Maine coast where Storybrooke was located. Emma considered and calculated that it was still within her 'district' though only barely. Everything within two hours travel from the Watchdog space was part of the Northeastern District. The exceptions being Manhattan, which actually hosted a team of three Makai Knights and dozens of Makai Priests, while New York state fell under the Eastern District's domain. The point was, she could go to this Storybrooke without having to inform anyone that she was leaving the district or get any extra permissions or anything.

"All right," she decided. "Eat whatever you want out of the fridge. It's going to go bad otherwise. I'm going to go pack some things for the trip. And rent a car. Is there a car rental place in Storybrooke where I can return vehicles? Or any place nearby?"

"Uh, I actually had to hitchhike to the nearest town to get on a bus here to Boston," he sheepishly admitted. "And it was over three miles of walking past the town border before I saw anybody to hitchhike with."

"So, that would be a no," Emma sighed, and instead called for a car service.

Two and a half hours later, Emma and Henry were dropped off at the center of town, when it became clear that he really did not want to go home, she just had the driver drop them off in front of the broken clock tower and sent the car back to Boston. Henry had already asked if she was rich, to which she replied, knights don't care about money, only the mission. It was true enough, and thankfully Tenka was bound to silence when in strange company, which Henry had already proved that he was not, but the driver had not been in the know.

Now dressed as she normally did when not on the hunt; in tight fitting denim pants, heavy boots that were comfortable to run or walk in, and a tight wrap-around white tunic beneath her ever-present armored red coat, Emma shouldered the bottomless shoulder pack that contained all her worldly possessions, as well as Henry's backpack on the other shoulder. Seeing and identifying more than possibly even Henry suspected she would see, Emma looked up and down the street before asking, "OK kid, how 'bout an address?"

"I…" Henry almost retorted with a smart remark, but quickly thought better of it. "Please don't take me back there! You don't know what it's like! She's the Evil Queen!"

Frowning to herself, and considering the possibility of something more… sinister going on, Emma weighed her options. While she was doing that, she noticed that they'd been standing on the curb for more than three minutes now, and the clock hadn't so much as twitched. "What's with the clock?" she asked.

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here," he answered.

"Excuse me?" she said, adding the information to her growing list of this curse's effects.

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. When she sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here. And now they're trapped," he explained.

"Crossing realms, spontaneous manifestation, alternate identities, multipurpose and multi-target barriers, and a stasis field? Kid, I think you've been understating just how powerful this curse is," she grumbled. "Tenka, how are things here? Are we looking at an infestation here, or just a honeypot?"

I love your spy terms for this job. That's the strange thing though. Outside of the town border, I could sense nothing here, not even the humans or animals in the area. It is a very effective barrier. Since crossing the border, I find that I cannot sense anything outside of it, as though my senses are bouncing back at me as though with a mirror.

"See, a mirror!" Henry exclaimed. "Mirrors are the Evil Queen's thing!"

"Got it kid. Tenka?" Emma held her arm forward to look at the talking wolfshead.

There are no Horrors in this entire town. There are no inga portals in this entire town. Though there is inga, as there always is wherever there are humans, it is not able to come together to bring forth Horrors. The barriers here, and I suspect even the stasis that is in place, actually keep out all Netherworld influences. You can summon your Armor, but honestly there would never be a need. There are no Horrors here and there can never be Horrors here.

"Are you serious?" Emma gasped, looking at the quiet little town with new eyes.

"What does that mean, Emma?" Henry asked.

"It means, that this cursed town may be the most important discovery humanity has yet come across, or may ever come across," she said with awe in her voice. "A place where Horrors can't reach, can't come, cannot even appear? Not even Kantai has such protections!"

"What's 'can-tie'?" he asked.

"Kantai," Emma answered automatically. "It's the village where I was raised. The… hometown of the Makai Knights and Makai Priests. It is the most protected, and at the same time the most assaulted place on Earth. When it comes to Horrors that is. Sorry kid, but I have to talk to this Evil Queen. If she can teach me just the Barrier spell she used on this town…"

"But, it's all part of the curse, isn't it?" he pointed out.

"That… is a lesson for later, kid," she trailed off as she noticed someone approaching. She knew after their time together to trust Tenka's senses, but it was the dead of night in a town that could be the next set for Mayberry. At least she hadn't drawn her sword.

A tall man with curly red hair and glasses leading a dalmatian by leash walked up, saying as soon as he spotted them, "Henry! What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine, Archie," Henry answered with a smile, petting the dog.

"Who's this?" Archie gestured to the intimidating woman standing next to his patient.

Emma just smiled pleasantly at him, but kept her peace for the moment, instead analyzing one of these 'cursed people' up close and personal. Henry, on the other hand, saw no reason to lie or withhold anything and replied straight away, "She's my mom, Archie."

"Oh… I see," the psychiatrist said with new understanding.

Seeing an opportunity to gain information that Henry had proved reluctant to give, she asked him, "You wouldn't by any chance happen to know where Henry lives, would you?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure, just uh, right up on Mifflin Street; the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block," Archie pointed in the general direction along the road.

Eyebrow raised in Henry's direction, she repeated, "The Mayor's house?" He wouldn't meet her eye.

"Uh, maybe?"

"Hey," Archie knelt down so he and the boy were eye-to-eye. "Where were you today, Henry, because you missed our session. When I called your… the Mayor, she was really upset."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip," Henry lied. Emma rolled her eyes. Kid could not lie.

"Henry, what'd I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything," Archie admonished his young charge.

"Giving into ones selfish nature is the dark side, doc, not lying in general," Emma quickly corrected him. "If you are protecting a secret or your own life, then sometimes lying is necessary. Lying because you don't want to admit you put yourself in potential danger for the selfish pursuit of accomplishing a task that others would prevent you from undertaking… is neither," she said to Henry. "From what I can see here, while you may be unhappy with your life, you have not been in immediate danger and at no point during our journey did I indicate that you coming to get me was a secret that you could not share."

Henry opened his mouth to protest, but she caught his eye and he remembered just in time that she had actually told him that some things were secret, but their relationship and him coming to get her hadn't been part of that secret. He closed his mouth and ducked his head, before turning to Archie and apologizing. "I'm sorry, Archie. You're right."

"That's OK, Henry," he smiled. "Just so long as you remember the lesson for the future and live by it." Standing up, he looked between Emma and Henry for a moment before deciding that he needed to get on about his business and leave them with theirs. "Well, listen, uh, have a good night, and uh, you be good, Henry."

Once he'd walked away, Emma started her and Henry down the road toward the Mayor's house. "So, that was Jiminy Cricket? Emphasis on cricket?"

"The curse transformed him. And, uh, actually according to the book he wasn't always a cricket. The Blue Fairy turned him into that when he made a wish, for penance after hurting a young boy's parents. Geppetto's parents, actually," Henry explained, falling into step beside her.

"The curse actually reversed the magic that initially transformed him?" she inquired. He nodded.

They walked for two blocks before coming to Mifflin Street, the comfortable silence occasionally broken by questions from the Knight or the boy in turn. Now close to her son's home, Emma decided now was the point at which to start planning strategy.

"I'll need to judge for myself how much this Mayor may or may not know about the Curse and the town. For something so powerful, the possibility exists that it may have affected her as much as it did everyone else, whether through mistake or by design. I've met people that actually prefer the oblivion of a fresh start and false memories to the truth of their past. But I need her in a receptive mood, so no temper tantrums, and at no point are you to call her the Evil Queen, do you understand me?"

"Why? She is!" he argued.

"But there is a chance that she doesn't know that," Emma pointed out. "What if you were actually the reincarnation of Hitler? Or the Anti-Christ? Would you want to be reminded of it by the people closest to you at every turn? Especially if you had no memory or reason to believe that you were?"

Frowning at the twist in logic, he shrugged, neither admitting nor denying the possibility she was right.

"For right now, until I know for sure, I need her to believe that I'm on 'her' side, which is to say that I don't believe in curses or magic or the possibility of fairy tales being real. She needs to think I'm an ordinary woman that gave you up for a closed adoption for the usual reasons."

"Usual reasons?" he repeated, confused.

"Homeless, drug addict, convict in prison, paid for it, y'know, the usual reasons," she shrugged.

"What was the actual reason?" he asked softly.

Emma missed a step, stumbling for a bit before catching herself. For all those that know exactly what a Makai Knight is and can do, this was more telling about her emotional state than if she'd fainted on the spot. Taking a deep breath, she slowed their pace and tried to explain her reasons as best she could.

"I keep talking about them like you should know exactly what they are, but I know that you don't. And I will be forever grateful to your Mom for that fact. I could use all the words in any language you'd like to hear it in, but all of them together cannot properly describe what Horrors are. What they can do. What it means to fight them. I had only been a Knight for a short while when I first met your father. He never knew what I did. He thought I was a thief, same as him. He was… a spot of normalcy in the chaos my life had become since gaining my armor, my title as a knight. Then, one night, I saved him from a Horror. He thought I was just acting jealous. He never knew how close to death he'd come. I left town for a different area after that, never even said goodbye. I found out I was pregnant with you shortly after. I… I hid your existence from the Makai Order. Part of why Makai Knights don't have to worry about money is that Makai Priests have long since perfected the arts of alchemy. Common elements like gold, diamond, other jewels are easy compared to the more valued elements such as Soul Metal. I may not be as powerful as the average Priest, but I still know the basics. During my pregnancy, I amassed a fortune daily, to the point that I am now obscenely rich. I did that and maintain it for the sole purpose of keeping you safe, away from the Makai Order, away from Horrors… away from harm."

She stopped them just outside the hedge leading up to his house, wiping away the tears and hiding the signs that she'd even been crying. "I chose this life for myself, Henry. You don't deserve to follow me into it. You deserve a normal life, a chance at what I never knew I was giving up. I wanted you to have your best chance. That is why I gave you up. That is why I continue to protect you to this day, and why I will protect you until the day that I die."

"Shouldn't," Henry's voice cracked a little, but he soldiered on, "shouldn't that be my decision?"

"When you come of age, yeah," she laughed a little. "But by then, you'll be too old for training."

"That's not fair!" he protested, perhaps a little too loudly.

She sighed and pulled him close. "It may not be fair, but believe me kid, it is so much better than the alternative. Let me try and put this as simply as I can so you'll understand." She knelt and looked him in the eye, bringing him close enough their foreheads touched. "I'm going to die, Henry."

He gasped and though he'd only *known* her for a few hours, the mere thought brought fresh tears to his eyes. She didn't let him go though, and refused to let him get a word in until she was done.

"I am going to be killed by a Horror. Probably in the most painful and excruciating way that it can, and it will torture me without end if it is able to do so. And between now and then, I will face monsters and sights and events that would break a person's spirit from just the knowledge of such things. I do my job knowing this, accepting it, and with the full understanding of what it means. So please understand that when I say I am protecting you, that means I'm not just protecting you from the Horrors, but I'm also protecting you from the pain of knowing one day I won't come back."

"No," he cried.

"Yes," she said, holding him tighter. "But that is the future. And you heard Tenka; there are no Horrors here, there can be no Horrors here. So as long as I am here, I'm off the clock. So no worries, all right? Let tomorrow take care of tomorrow."

"All-all right," he hiccuped, drying his tears.

"Good boy," she kissed his forehead. "Now, let's go meet the Evil Queen and get some answers. Remember, no taunting her or aggravating her, OK? Just go straight up to your room. If you have to, give her the silent treatment, but try to pretend like everything is normal."

"OK," he nodded, sniffling a little bit, but soon back to normal.

"Here we go," she said and they turned the corner and started the walk up to the front door.

Before they were halfway up the walk, the door was opened in a rush and a pretty brunette in a tight gray dress and designer heels came running out, yelling, "Henry? Henry!" she reached the young boy and immediately embraced him with a loving hug. "Are you OK? Where have you been? What happened?"

She looked between the blond woman in a red coat and her son, confusion and concern the primary emotions shining through her expression. Henry spared a brief glance at Emma, before taking a chance and answering as honestly as he could, "I found my... mom, OK? Sorry to have worried you!" Then he rushed past her into the house.

Emma winced and put a practiced look of uncomfortable embarrassment on her face. That last line had been said with a bit too much anger and not enough sincerity, but at least he hadn't thrown it in her face that he was trying to replace her or anything.

Meanwhile, Regina Mills was standing to her feet, a look of hurt and utter perplexity crossing her face as she looked at the blond woman across from her with a new light. "You're... Henry's birth mother?" she said.

"Hi," she said, giving a bit of a shrug.

"I'll just," the man wearing the sheriff's badge standing behind the Mayor said uncomfortably, "go check on the lad, make sure he's all right." He then left and went inside the house.

Visibly struggling to pull herself together, Regina put on a smile and offered to the interloper, "How would you like a taste of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

"Please and thank you," Emma nodded her head with a self-depreciating grin.

A few minutes later, after introductions were made, they were inside and Regina brought out a couple glasses to the dining room, where she kept an ice bucket on hand next to the aforementioned apple cider.

"Do you know how he found me?" Emma offered as a conversation starter.

"No idea," Regina shook her head, loading the glasses with ice cubes before pouring a healthy amount of cider into each glass. "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed. I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact."

"You were told right," she confirmed, shifting 'nervously' from one foot to the other. It was different, acting emotional with her real emotions, instead of hiding or masking them as she'd been trained to do for all of her adult life.

"And the father?" the brunette questioned.

"There was one."

"Do I need to be worried about him?"

"Nope, doesn't even know."

"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss Swan?" Regina asked, handing the blond her glass before taking a sip of her own.

"I won't lie to you," Emma said, accepting the drink, "I'm concerned that he not only found me, he managed to knock on my front door without anyone around here knowing where he'd gone."

Regina's eyebrows lifted and fell, acknowledging the point and took a longer pull from her glass.

"Madam Mayor," the sheriff called as he started his way down the stairs, "You can relax. Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's just fine."

"Thank you, Sheriff," Regina offered the man a brief smile. He nodded in reply and left out the front.

"I'm sorry he dragged you out of your life," she said, leading them into the sitting room, "I really don't know what's gotten into him."

"Kid's having a rough time," the blond offered with a shrug. "It happens."

"You have to understand, ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky. You have a job I assume?" she inquired.

"You could say so," she nodded, putting down her drink after a brief sip. It was actually pretty good.

"Imagine having another one on top of it," she said. "That's being a single mom. So I pushed for order. Am I strict? I suppose, but I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me 'evil', do you?"

Emma was never so glad that she had perfect control over her expressions and emotional outlooks, at least to the point that the less observant would see only what she wanted them to see of herself. If she didn't, she'd probably be squinting her eyes and her face would be scrunched up into a look of intense suspicion, instead of the innocent 'why is she asking me that?' look that she was actually displaying. Thus far in the conversation, everything this woman had said to her, that wasn't a question to see what her own motives were, was perfectly calculated and definitely rehearsed to make her seem like the 'perfect' adoptive parent to any birth parent that came sniffing around. From years dealing with demons that could possess and often pretended to be 'perfectly ordinary' human beings, her instincts when it came to detecting false tales were sharper than ever.

Time to play her first card, see what came up.

"I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairy tale thing," Emma said as she reached for her glass, keeping her eyes locked onto the mother of her child.

"What fairy tale thing?" she asked, her face now frozen in the last expression she wore.

Wow, she was good, but could still be surprised it would seem.

Smiling now, like it was a big joke, Emma said, "You know, his book? How he thinks everyone is a cartoon character from it? Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

With each word, every muscle in the brunette woman's face was forcefully relaxed, giving her a cold, indifferent look, though nothing like Emma's 'expressionless' look. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Controlling her look so that it now read 'Uh oh, we're in trouble!', she swallowed the drink she'd just taken in an audible gulp and replied, "Of course, it's not any of my business. But, uh, back to the heart of the matter. I'm not about to step in and fight for custody or anything like that. Henry's you're kid, you've done the best you can raising him, and he's healthy, safe, and while nobody can be happy all the time, he's not a psychopath or emo or anything, so I think you've done a great job with him."

"Thank you, Miss Swan," the brunette gave her a thousand watt smile, as practiced and rehearsed as her speech earlier. "That means a great deal coming from—"

"So how the hell did he leave the city, walk three miles outside the town border, hitchhike to the next town over to buy a bus ticket to Boston?" Emma snapped, now openly glaring with only a very tiny fraction of the true anger she felt for the breach in her son's security. She slammed the glass down on the wooden coffee table between them for good measure, pleased to see how she'd made the dark haired woman jump.

"Miss Swan, I assure you—" she tried to defend herself, but Emma wasn't quite ready for her to twist her way out of the corner she'd been backed into just yet.

"You asked if I had a job," she interrupted, turning her nose up at the woman slightly, to make it look like she was smelling for something to find odorous. "I replied, you could say so. You see, I don't really get paid for what I do, it's more of a calling. And not everyone is fit for it. I think you understand what I'm saying here, that my line of... work, is dangerous. You are, understanding that, aren't you?" She picked the glass back up and took a small sip, eyes never leaving her verbal opponent, not even blinking.

"Uh, y-yes, I think I am," Regina said, quickly reevaluating what she'd previously assumed about this woman, Henry's birth mother.

"Let's leave it a vague notion for the moment," Emma said, putting her glass back down. "Because I'm not here to threaten you, Ms. Mills. I meant what I said about how you've done a great job raising Henry so far. But today, you screwed the pooch something awful. I don't care what you've done before, I don't care about how great a job you've been doing alongside being the mayor of this cursed little 'burg." She really liked the way the woman flinched at the word 'cursed' and tried to cover it up by looking down like she was ashamed. "All I care about, Ms. Mills, is finding out what the fucking hell happened today."

"I... I'm not sure, but I, I can..." Regina tried to rally herself, but Emma wouldn't let her.

"Let me share something real quick, so that you can know exactly how much of a clusterfuck this is," she snapped. "The apartment that Henry found me in? Where he knocked on my door, less than a minute after I walked through it from coming home from work," she let those words hang in the air for a second, "I've lived in that apartment for less than two months. I've spent a grand total of maybe fifty hours there, total. I haven't even slept there every night I've lived there. So now that you have all the clues to understanding just how catastrophic this SNAFU is, it is your turn to talk, Madam Mayor." She sat back, taking her drink with her and crossed her legs—like a man—and waited to see what the Evil Queen would say in her defense.

"I, you, I..." Regina tried to think of something to say or do to turn this around for her, but the facts that Emma had pointed out kept circling back through her head. "I..." Henry had gotten a hold of some book that had given him an inkling of an idea of the truth, "You..." This inkling of an idea had taken root so firmly that he'd actually planned out a way of leaving town, and making his way to another—by hitchhiking!—town to get on a bus to Boston! "He..." Then there was the fact that he had a specific address and time to be at in order to meet and convince this woman to drive him all the way back home, "I..." And along with the facts were the fears! What if he'd gone to the wrong address? What if she hadn't been there when he arrived? What if he'd actually tried waiting for her? And worst of all, what if he'd tried to follow her while she was... working?

"I'm gonna be sick," was all she had time to say before lurching for the waste basket and actually heaving part of her dinner back up from the stress of those thoughts running through her mind.

"That is but a small fraction of how I feel about the situation," Emma calmly retorted once the mayor had stopped throwing up. "And that was just in the first two minutes of my meeting him. It'll get worse, trust me on that much."

"How dare you," the Evil Queen growled out from where she was hunched over the mess she'd made. "How dare you come into my home and accuse me of..."

Emma was in her face and had her literally backed into a corner before another word could be said. They glared at one another, anger, rage, and fear shooting back and forth between their hard stares. Anger at one another and themselves, rage at the situation, fear for Henry on Emma's side, and fear of Emma on Regina's side. After a few seconds, Emma backed off, shaking her head with pity.

"I'm going to take a few minutes to cool off," she announced. "I suggest you take the same to clean yourself up, and have some valid answers for me when I get back. If my son is not as safe here as he was yesterday, I will find someplace where he can be safe. Without something like this ever happening again."

She left the room and made her way back over to the dining room. From there, she found the door to the kitchen easily enough and took advantage of her privacy, bringing her bicep forward, she looked down at the wolfshead armband and asked Tenka, "Well? What do you think?"

I think that your acting was a bit over the top, but hers was surprisingly impressive. I think you fooled her though with that last bit. I'm no mind reader, but it is clear that she thinks you're some kind of assassin or spook or something very shady. She might even think you're a prostitute given her ultimate reaction.

"I was going for secret agent, but whatever keeps her off balance," Emma shrugged. "So, what can you tell me about her? I mean, obviously she's not a Horror, but..."

That's just the thing though. I have never encountered a human with so much inga before!

"You say that about most of the criminals I come across in my street fights," she reminded the Madougu.

In those cases, I always stipulate, that I have yet to encounter. To compare, if she were to step outside of the town's barrier, she would attract Horrors to the same degree one showered in a Horror's blood would, just from her stains of inga. Whether this is a result of casting the curse, or past sins, it is impossible to say without more information. Since first sensing her, I've been checking the town. Only one other has as much inga staining as this woman, but I hesitate to call him human. I would confuse him for a Horror if not for my keen senses and past experience with Horrors.

"Great," Emma sighed. "Do you think that if I break this curse like Henry wants me to, the barrier will come down? Will I be condemning these refugees to the terror the rest of the world faces? Do I even have that right?"

You may not have much of a choice. The book called the child of Snow White, the Savior. In the passage where Snow White learns of the Savior, the one to save them from the Queen's curse, she gave the child's name as Emma. Before you were ever a Makai Knight, you were this town's Savior, predestined to break the Curse and restore the Happy Endings. According to the book.

"Not helping," she grumbled down at the smirking wolfshead. "Fine. I'll think about it. Now, is she hiding who she is, or does she genuinely not remember?" Rather than answer, the piece of silver and gold jewelry made a closed-mouth sound for 'I don't know'.

"Lot of help you are," she grumbled and slowly made her way back to the sitting room, even trying to find a 'long way' about getting there.

When she finally stepped back into the room, she found Regina sitting in the chair facing the door, her arms perched precisely along the armrests and her legs crossed primly, the complete picture making her look very queen-like-on-a-throne. Arching a single eyebrow at the image, Emma decided to complete the image and strode forward, letting her coat swish a little bit, before standing right in front of the regal looking woman in an At Ease posture, which was the closest she could come up with to looking like a knight errant without bringing out her sword.

Looking down at the woman, they each took a moment to appreciate the power play being worked here.

"Well," she said, pausing before continuing, as though certain words were supposed to be fit into the empty space of silence, "have you composed yourself? Do you have a satisfactory explanation as to how this occurred and how to prevent it from happening again?"

Regina just smirked up at her, setting her shoulders as though getting comfortable, before snapping out in a demeaning tone, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Surprised, Emma took half a step back, hands settled on her hips, head cocked, inviting her to continue.

"You cannot just come into my home and accuse me of negligence after having been absent for over ten years, no matter your excuses," she gave a brief derisive laugh. "And to be honest, they're sounding more and more ridiculous by the second. Whatever your," her eyes shot up and down the blond's frame, judging, "occupation, my dear, it is no excuse and no reason for the accusations you have levied at me. Whats more, I'm not even confident that you are Henry's birth mother. Oh, I'm sure that you did give a child up for adoption ten years ago, I'm just not convinced that Henry was that child. I strongly suggest that you leave and do not bother us again, or I will have you arrested and a restraining order placed against you."

Emma raised an eyebrow, acknowledging the move and how perfect it was for the situation. It was even designed to put Emma back on the defensive, to make her try and make her own case for being Henry's mother and leading credence to the suggestion that she was not and was just trying to get her foot in the door for some long con. She nodded once, to indicate her comprehension and appreciation of the complexity of the move. Then she took the game to the next level. Time to find out once and for all if this was the Evil Queen or not.

"The other possibility," she grinned darkly down at the brunette, "is that I'm actually one of those imaginary threats and I've been working a con on your son, without you knowing about it, so he'll 'bring me home' with him, putting me in a room, alone, with the mayor of someplace in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh please," Regina scoffed.

"You don't have a weapon," Emma pointed out. "If you did have a gun, and I certainly gave you enough time to get one, you would keep it close at hand. Same for a can of mace or defense baton. You sent the sheriff away, after letting me into your home and telling him I am not a threat. The nearest phone is on the other side of this room, behind me, and your cell phone is still in your purse, in the kitchen. And for all you know, I'm carrying a god damned rocket launcher under this coat. Or just a knife that I swiped from the kitchen."

She was definitely starting to get nervous, but her composure hadn't broken yet. Time to push a few more buttons.

"Now see here, Ms. Swan, if that is indeed your real name," Regina got to her feet, nose to nose with the blond knight, "I do not take kindly to threats! If what you were insinuating were the least bit true, what I can do to you legally is the least of your concerns. And do not think me helpless or some victim. You have no idea what I'm capable of, and if you so much as think of trying anything against me or my son, I will destroy you!"

Hm, close, but not quite enough.

"Lady," Emma moved her face that much closer, forcing Regina to either hold and risk physical contact, or pull her head back, an indication of fear. "We've only just met. You've made a lot of assumptions about me. Not all of them were accurate. So allow me to assure you, that you have no idea what I am capable of. Because if you did, I guarantee you that you would not have let me get this close to you."

"Again with the threats, dear? Smoke and mirrors. Take it from someone who knows," she sneered.

Emma smirked again, not moving from their close proximity, wanting to see if she could actually make this person flinch first. "An observation of fact, based upon personal experience," she said. "After all, would you let a suicide bomber anywhere near a place with crowds? Or a known poisoner in a kitchen?"

There was a subtle flinch, more a shifting of the eyes. Almost like she feared it had been a reference about herself, rather than any kind of threat that she'd actually poisoned the food in the kitchen herself during their 'time out'. Interesting.

"However, you're right," Emma shrugged and turned her back on the mayor. "I don't know what you're capable of. Until a little under an hour ago, I didn't even know your name, let alone that you were the mayor of Storybrooke, Maine. I didn't even know your address, as Henry wouldn't give it to me, had to get it off the kid's therapist, who we met when we were dropped off down town. So, point to you Madam Mayor. Legally, and probably less than legally, you could make my life quite difficult and put up all kinds of road blocks. Here, in Storybrooke."

Emma moved her arms from her hips to across the chest, mimicking what Regina had done with her own arms and posture.

"But outside your little... kingdom?" she paid close attention to all of the woman's expressions. "In a city like Boston, where there are as many places to hide and disappear as there are that can easily be found? Dealing with people, criminals or otherwise, that have never even heard of this cozy little town?"

She said nothing, though she did fidget a little at the term kingdom and her fingers curled up into claws at the veiled threats being implied. Time for the final push. If she didn't get what she wanted by then, she'd finally drop all pretenses.

"Your son was missing for the better part of the day and you had no clue about where he was until he walked up to your front door with a strange woman he claimed is his birth mother," the blond said, arms still crossed. "What is to stop him from doing it again, but heading off for Miami instead of Boston? Or Los Angeles? Or Paris, France!? And what if you're right and I'm not his birth mother? What's to stop him from trying again, and again, and again until he gets it right? Answer me!"

"I don't have to answer to you! I'm the—" she snarled, finally losing it, but still managed to keep from saying anything too revealing. "I'm his mother! I'll take care of my son my own way, and not that it is any of your business, but he will be suitably punished to ensure that this sort of behavior does not continue! Now, I believe Ms. Swan that you have overstayed your welcome. Please leave, before I test your earlier veiled threats, and call the police to have you escorted off my property. And perhaps handed over to Federal custody for attempted kidnapping and threats against me and my son."

It hadn't been said outright, and she'd covered it up with enough bluster that anyone less observant would be too blinded by rage and fear to catch onto it, but it had been enough. The game was over. She had what she needed.

"I'll let myself out," Emma said, turning on her heel, her coat flaring out behind her, and marched out to the front door. She let it slam shut behind her, not caring or noticing if Regina, the Evil Queen of the Enchanted Forest followed her or not. Once the door was shut, she jumped up to the roof of the mansion, and made herself comfortable.

Did you have fun arguing with the Evil Queen?

"I did actually," Emma smiled down at Tenka. "She's a smart one. I'll have to make sure that she dies a natural death. I think that if she actually became a Horror, its words alone would be enough to kill a thousand Makai Knights. She's definitely the queen though, and her identity wasn't changed like the others. She may have had some knowledge put in her head, but she's still who she was before casting the Curse."

So how do you want to handle this?

"How do you think?" she replied with a smirk, tucking her hands behind her head as she lay back against the mansion's chimney and looked up at the stars.

Mendokusai.

Emma just smirked, saying nothing.

End Part 1