Storybrooke, present:
"Phew, crisis averted I'd say", Emma sighed in relief, looking around the pawnshop.
They had successfully sucked the Darkness out of Gold using the sorcerer's hat. It had tried to break free from the hat, but Emma and Regina had combined their powers and their joint effort had been able to contain it.
"We'll see how long until the next one", David responded dryly.
If he'd known just how quickly the next problem would arise, he would not have said that. Because right in that second, the sheriff leaned against one of the exhibition counters, knocking down a … thing, whatever it was. It looked like a weird little box, that's all Emma could tell before the thing shattered on the floor.
"Oh really Miss Swan, why do you have to be such a klutz?!" It was pretty obvious who that snark had come from. "Whatever." Emma mindlessly put out her foot, kicking the remains to the side. But instead of kicking them to the side, she managed to land them directly in front of Regina, who was engulfed by grey smoke that started to pour out of the box. Her eyes widened in confusion and shock over the unpleasant feeling of being invaded by an unknown magic.
"Woah, what the hell is happening?!", the savior asked. But the only one who would know was still unconscious on the floor, recovering from his heart being almost completely black and then having the Darkness sucked out.
A vortical aquamarine swirl formed behind the mayor, sucking her, and only her, in. Regina lost her footing and desperately tried to hold onto something, but her hands were only grasping into thin air. Mary Margaret and Robin had the presence of mind to run over to her and grab her arms. But the swirl's pull was stronger than them. Regina was slipping through their fingers and disappeared into the swirl, which vanished immediately.
For a few moments, no one knew what to say. Until Emma broke the silence. "What was that, what happened? Where is Regina?", she demanded harshly from Gold, who had woken up during the next escalation and brought himself into a standing position with the help from Belle. The imp shrugged. "The question is not where, but when."