Rumple soon took out the amulet he brought from his shop and dropped it on the ground in a small clearing, his dagger in hand.
"Dad...?" Ben called warily.
"Please, Benjamin, don't interrupt," Rumple told his son before he held his dagger aloft. "The Dark One summons thee!" he then announced before stabbing the dagger into the ground which would affect Regina since she had the mark of the beast.
"Dad... What's that?" Ben asked out of fear once he saw a spooky and ominous being emerge from the amulet before it rose above with the amulet around its neck.
"That is known as The Wraith, my dear boy," Rumple concluded with a dark grin on his face. "Don't worry though. It won't hurt us."
"Hmm..." Ben paused thoughtfully as he looked unsure about that, but he was definitely shaken up from the experience.
"Hmm..." Rumple frowned and checked his teenage son's forehead. "You look a little pale, Benjamin. Maybe we should head back to the shop and get you some tea."
Ben just glanced over with very wide hazel eyes as he felt like it should've been obvious why he looked shook up all of a sudden. Soon, they went back to the shop as it was almost getting dark as The Wraith was unleashed into Storybrooke and the Gold father and son were going to let nature run its course. Henry and Dee Dee were soon taken away by Ruby and Kiara to keep them safe while the adults would try to figure out what to do now after the curse was broken and the teenagers would also try to make their own plans. Once the younger kids were safe and taken care of properly, the adults decided to go to the pawnshop for some answers as Rumple brewed tea for himself and his family as Ben was trying not to be traumatized by seeing what his father just do just as Evie, Mal, Emma, Mary Margaret, and David arrived into the shop.
"What can I do for you?" Rumple asked once he saw that he had company before Ben looked up and over.
"What you can do is tell us what you did." Emma demanded with a glare.
"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific." Rumple retorted.
"You know damn well what we're talking about." David replied sternly.
"You double-crossed Emma, you, uh, took your—uh—potion from her." Mary Margaret added.
"And did who-knows-what to this town." Mal soon added.
"And worst of all you risked Henry's life," Evie said with a firm pout. "You were always like an uncle to me, Mr. Gold."
"Well, that is quite a litany of grievances, now, isn't it?" Rumple retorted a bit coldly to his company.
"Maybe I don't need answers. Maybe I just need to punch you in the face." Emma challenged.
"Oh. Really, dearie?" Rumple replied, laughing from the threat before he then came from behind the counter to approach the group at his door. "Allow me to answer your questions with some of my own, all right? Did your dear boy, Henry, survive?" he then asked the blonde woman and now blue-haired girl.
"Yeah." Emma added quietly.
"That doesn't change that you nearly got my little brother killed though." Evie piped up then.
"Yes, young Evie, but is the curse broken?" Rumple then asked her.
Evie opened her mouth for a moment before she then decided to close it and then looked down with a pout, then nodded as he had pretty good points right there.
"And let's see here, Miss Swan, how long have you been searching for your parents and how long has young Miss Draconis been looking to free her mother?" Rumple then continued rather slyly. "Looks like you're reunited and that young Miss Draconis has freed her mother."
Emma winced a bit nervously because she still hadn't told Mal about what really happened to her mother.
"Seems like rather a punch in the face, I deserve a thank you." Rumple then concluded.
"Twist my words all you want," Emma huffed at the man before she decided to change the subject. "What was the purple haze that you brought?" she then asked.
"You know. Magic." Rumple stated and added with a flourish.
"Why?" Mary Margaret then asked.
"Not telling." Rumple grinned in response.
There was then a rumbling which then shook the store suddenly and car horns could be heard from outside. Evie and Mal gasped before they held onto each other as that startled both of them, even the purple-haired girl.
"What the hell was that?" Mal groaned a bit.
"Language, dearie." Rumple tutted as Mal was a teenager after all and he wasn't fond of those younger than him using salty language in his shop.
Soon, David and Mary Margaret looked out the door window and heard The Wraith wailing and a strong wind was blowing along the main street. Streetlights flickered and sparks flew into the night.
"That is my gift to you," Rumple then told them all. "That is gonna take care of Regina."
"Emma, come on!" Mary Margaret soon cried out.
"We need to go take care of this." David added.
"We're not done." Emma firmly told Rumple then.
"Oh, I know. You still owe me a favor." Rumple nodded as Ben came out from the back to see Mal and Evie.
"What can we do to help?" Evie then asked, referring to Mal and herself.
"You two should go back home," David told the teenage girls. "We know you're capable, but you're both still only 16."
"Psh... The Boogeyman checks me for under his bed." Mal scoffed and rolled her emerald eyes.
"Regardless, my point still stands," David defended. "I'm the adult and you are both still children."
Mal scoffed and rolled her eyes in response.
"Come on, Mal. We should go check on my mom." Evie then suggested.
"Oh, yes. We wouldn't want anything to happen to precious Queen Mommy, now would we?" Mal replied before shrugging. "Well, seeing as I have no other choice..."
"That's the spirit," Evie nodded with a small smile. "Mal, I think in honor of the curse breaking in Storybrooke that we should start over or at least attempt to start over and maybe even become friends. Maybe you could also introduce me to Jay and Carlos better since I share a class with Carlos and maybe I could help you get to know Ben better."
"I think that starting over is a good idea." Ben spoke up as he stepped over from behind his father's work counter.
Mal and Evie then looked over as Ben walked between them.
"If you don't mind that is," Ben then said before he held out his hand to shake hands with Mal in an attempt to become friends. "It's so good to finally meet you. I'm Ben."
Mal shrugged before she just decided to fist bump him instead of shaking his hand.
Ben then took both of their hands with his free hand and shook them up and down a couple of times before letting go and dropping both of his hands to his sides. "This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history" he then said, starting to think of something new to do for Storybrooke after things were already going to change for all of them with the curse broken and the descendants learning more about their fairy tale heritage.
"Or the day you decided to get moving with us to stop this beast with Emma Swan and her parents before it eats everybody we all know and love in our town!" Mal then retorted, imitating his tone of voice as he tried to sound brave and mature as time was on the essence right now with the Wraith loose.
"I think Mal has a point," Emma replied. "We better get going. Like, right now."
David and Mary Margaret agreed as they didn't have much time left.
"We'll go home with you to help stop this Wraith," Evie soon told the three adults. "Teenage meddling or not."
"Fine. Let's just go right now before it's way too late." David then said.
"Right." Mal nodded.
And so, they then left the shop to get started on a brand new adventure.
"A little bit over the top?" Ben then asked as they left the shop together.
"A little more than a little bit." Mal smirked slyly.
"Well, so much for my second first impression." Ben then said bashfully.
Mal left a little bit as Rumple continued to make tea until he was given more company who was already in the shop earlier that day and hadn't left.
"Hey." Rumple greeted Belle once he saw her.
"You lied to me and Benjamin." Belle frowned firmly as she looked troubled.
"No, I-I kept my word," Rumple defended calmly. "I will not kill her."
"You toy with words like you do people," Belle retorted. "You're still a man who makes wrong choices. I thought you'd changed." she then added as he looked down before looking back again.
"What, in the hour you've known me?" Rumple scoffed in response.
Belle looked visibly hurt at that response before she decided to head for the door.
"Belle, I-I-I'm sorry. Belle, I'm sorry," Rumple then said, trying to stop her as she opened the door, pausing to look back at him. "I am."
Belle decided not to listen to another word and just exited the shop, slamming the door behind her. Rumple sighed as he was now all alone in his shop with his lover and son both gone, but he just hoped that he wouldn't lose them like he did his last lover and son, but we would find out more about those two later.
Mal and Evie were at the mansion together, watching some TV until they saw that the adults were up to something. The girls looked curious before they decided to see what was going on even though they were told to stay out of this.
"Did Henry and Evie really ask you to protect me?" Regina asked Emma as she brought out a certain box on her desk.
"Yes." Emma nodded.
Regina smiled slightly at that and took the hat out of its box.
Emma flinched as though she had recognized that hat. "The hat. You had it all along." she then said softly.
"What do you mean?" Regina asked then.
"That's Jefferson's hat." Emma replied.
Regina paused as that name seemed to mean something to her, but she of course chose to ignore it. "Who's Jefferson?" she then asked.
David soon came into the room with Mary Margaret, carrying brooms. "Torches. For when it comes back. I know it's old-fashioned, but so am I." he then said as he walked in.
"Funny. Those look more like brooms to me." Mal spoke up.
David and Mary Margaret then looked over.
"I thought we told you girls to stay out of sight." David said to the two teenagers once they all saw Mal and Evie.
"Uh, well, you technically said we should've gone home and in a way, this place IS Evie's home." Mal retorted a bit snarkily.
David narrowed his eyes in response.
"Well... You might as well stay, but stay out of trouble and danger," Regina replied. "I almost lost my soul just recently."
"Oh... Mom... Are you okay?" Evie asked out of concern.
"I'll be fine, dear. Now that I have this." Regina replied as she showed the hat.
"A hat?" Mal asked.
"Believe me, Mal. This is no ordinary hat." Regina reassured.
"We also found out The Wraith's weakness," Emma told the two teenage girls. "Fire."
"Well, that should at least give us all an advantage, right?" Mal replied with a shrug.
"Hopefully it does," Mary Margaret nodded before looking over at Regina. "So, how does it work?"
Regina then went to take them into the main hall of Town Hall as Ben walked out of the bathroom after flushing and drying his hands with a towel.
"Your soap smells like apple cinnamon," Ben then said before looking over. "Say... What's going on here?"
David sighed and shook his head. "Teenagers... They just always gotta get involved somehow, don't they?" he then remarked.
"...Did I do something wrong?" Ben asked.
"No, Ben, it's not your fault," Evie reassured. "Come on. You might as well join us too."
Ben looked over before shrugging as he came to follow them into Town Hall as Regina took the hat she needed.
"It will open a portal to our land," Regina soon told the others about the hat. "All we have to do is send the Wraith in there."
"Oh, yeah, just that." David scoffed before he began to light up the brooms to scare away the monster in town.
"But Mom, I thought that you said that the old land was gone?" Evie piped up.
"It is, but sending it to a place that no longer exists... Well, that's banishing it to oblivion." Regina replied as she soon began to attempt to spin the hat as David gave extra brooms to the teenagers, reminding them to be very careful with their new torches.
"Goodness..." Evie whispered.
"Pretty dark..." Mal commented. "I think I kinda like that."
"Of course she does." Ben whispered to Evie with a smirk.
Evie shushed and nudged his arm before smirking back a little bit. Mal then flashed Ben and Evie a look as she looked curious before they then started to look innocent.
"Regina..." Emma called as the lights flickered and the Wraith's wailing could be heard as Regina was trying to spin the hat with all of her might.
"I'm trying." Regina said, still attempting to spin the hat even if nothing was happening while the wailing continued.
The doors to the main hall soon blew open as the wailing was getting closer and closer.
David then readied himself to fight the Wraith with a torch on one side of a railing as Regina continued to attempt to spin the hat with Emma and Mary Margaret on the other side as Ben, Mal, and Evie were on another, trying to defend themselves.
"Mom!" Evie yelped as she and the others tried to swat away at the Wraith while Regina was with the hat.
"I know." Regina replied, trying to remain calm.
Mary Margaret was soon pouring alcohol along the railing to set it on fire. "David!" she then called out.
David then closed the gate of the railing and set it alight with his torch. "Hurry!" he then told Regina.
"It's not working." Regina grunted in frustration.
David then continued to slash at the Wraith with his torch while the teenagers tried to help out.
"Mom!" Evie cried out nervously as she tried to use her own torch.
"Mommy's trying, Evie!" Regina called back as she was still failing and getting more and more frustrated the more times it didn't work. "It's not working!"
"Mayor Mills, what's going on?!" Ben cried out urgently.
"Magic. It's different here." Regina said softly.
"Now would be the time!" David soon cried out.
Evie soon went to try to help her mother by touching her arm. Suddenly, bright blue magic that made Evie's hair glow began to surge from her body suddenly before making Regina glow too and this soon caused the hat to spin, opening a portal. David and Ben were then knocked back, and the Wraith headed for Regina and Evie, standing between it and the portal with Emma.
"It's coming!" Mal called out suddenly.
"Regina! Evie!" Emma cried out, pushing Regina and Evie out of the way.
The Wraith was soon sucked into the portal, but as it disappeared, it grabbed Emma's ankle and pulled her in too. Evie took Emma's hands to try to pull her back and help her, though she was slowly being sucked in after Emma right into the hat's portal.
"EVIE!" Regina screamed with tears in her eyes for her daughter.
"Whoa..." Mal whispered with wide eyes.
"No... Evie..." Ben frowned a bit.
"NOOOO!" David and Mary Margaret cried out for their daughter.
"I'm not losing her again!" Mary Margaret yelled out before jumping into the portal after Emma.
"Neither am I!" David added as he attempted to follow, but the portal closed so he simply landed on top of the hat.
Ben and Mal winced as David crashed onto the floor before they looked at each other as they were all now alone in the darkness.
"Evie..." Regina whispered fearfully for her daughter, looking very sad and scared about the situation.
However, no one was as devastated about what just happened as probably David. "No..." he then said before getting up off of the floor and then approaching Regina with tears in his eyes as he looked very sad and angry about the situation. "Where are they?!"
"I have no idea." Regina replied softly.
"Are they dead?" David demanded.
"The curse, it destroyed all the lands-" Regina tried to explain to him.
"ARE THEY DEAD?!" David repeated, practically roaring like a wild beast.
"I don't know!" Regina told him, a bit louder.
"I should've killed you myself!" David glared as he stepped closer.
"Well, then, what's stopping you?" Regina huffed before she shoved him back, using magic to slam him against the wall as vines from the wallpaper hold him in place just off the ground, choking him.
"Mayor Mills!" Ben cried out then.
"You think you're some heroic prince? Please. You're nothing but the son of a shepherd," Regina scoffed at David, ignoring Ben. "I should've killed you when I could. And now... Now I can."
Then suddenly... "Mom?"
Ben and Mal then looked over and saw that Henry was there now with Ruby who was dropping him off.
"Henry, what are you doing here?" Regina asked the boy softly.
"What are you doing?" Henry asked once he saw what was going on with David.
Regina then walked over to the boy, trying to soothe him about the situation. "It's okay. You're safe now." she then said before using the vines to release David as he then fell to the floor.
Ruby then rushed over to David to aid him.
"Wh-Where's my mom?" Henry soon asked weakly. "Where's-"
"They're gone." Mal spoke up as she stepped by.
"Yeah. They fell through a portal." Ben added.
Regina sighed sharply before she looked at Henry, trying to be calm and soothing as any mother should. "They're... Henry, I'm sorry." she then said.
"No, you're not. You really are The Evil Queen," Henry frowned tearfully. "I don't wanna see you again."
"No, don't say that," Regina told Henry. "I love you and Evie."
"Then, prove it," Henry retorted, both sad and angry. "Get Emma, Evie, and Mary Margaret back. And until then, leave me, leave everyone alone."
Regina frowned. "Where will you go?" she then asked.
"With me." David then spoke up before he walked over to Henry to leave with him as Ruby followed by closely, leaving Regina alone.
"I should probably go home." Ben then said softly.
Mal looked over before shrugging at Ben.
"...Do you at least wanna come spend the night?" Ben then asked Mal. "We have a guest room if you want."
"I don't know if I'd be intruding or not," Mal said before shrugging. "Especially with that disaster date night we both tried out and you went all 'Beast' on me."
"...Yes, I was a bit frustrated about that," Ben said softly before nodding, then thought about it a little. "But I'm going to try to give you a second chance and we're starting over, remember? So that night never happened."
"So... We can try again?" Mal then asked.
"That's what a second chance is for, Mal," Ben said with a small smile. "I wanna give you another chance... And the villain kids in Storybrooke too."
"What do you mean by that?" Mal asked.
"I don't fully know yet, but... Mal, in every friendship, you get one chance to say: I need you to do this with me," Ben said before he held out his hand to Mal. "And there's only one answer when somebody says that."
Mal then looked over at his hand before she then shrugged and then took his hand in her hand. "Okay, Ben. I'm with you," she then said softly, still unsure, but looked a little more motivated in helping him help her out for a brighter future in Storybrooke. "Erm... Good night Mayor Mills."
Regina merely nodded in silence as there wasn't really anything she could do right now about this situation. Ben and Mal then smiled at each other before they then left the mansion, leaving Regina all on her own since Evie was sent away elsewhere and Henry would be staying with David. It was definitely going to be a lonely night in the mansion that night. The two teenagers then went off to the pawnshop to go to Ben's parents right away.
Back at the shop, Rumple was shown to be smiling as he had been talking to Belle as they held onto a certain item from the shop.
"Mom? Dad?" Ben called before going into the shop with the purple-haired girl.
"Benjamin?" Rumple asked as he poked his head out before he then looked over. "Oh. There you are, my boy."
"Hey, Dad," Ben replied. "Is this a bad time? It sounded like you were talking to Mom from the outside."
"It's all right, Benjamin," Rumple said with a small smile. "I see that you have a friend of yours with you too."
"Yeah... This is Mal," Ben nodded as he glanced at the purple-haired girl. "Can she stay for the night or for a while? Apparently, her mother went missing when the curse broke and I don't want her to be all alone. Not that this town is dangerous or has a lot of crime, but... She's my friend."
"I see..." Rumple nodded as Belle stepped out to see the two, holding onto a certain item in her hands.
"Oh, dear... I think you should stay, dear..." Belle said softly before nodding. "Is that all right with you too, Rumple?"
"Well... Okay... But she has to stay in the guest bed tonight," Rumple then said. "I know you used to sleep in the same room with Evie when you were children, Benjamin, but it's different for teenagers."
"I know, Dad. I already told her about the guest room," Ben replied with a nod. "Thank you."
"Of course." Rumple smiled and nodded.
"Thank you... Uh... Mr. and Mrs. Gold." Mal then said.
"It's our pleasure, dear." Belle replied.
Ben then looked over, seeing a chipped teacup in his mother's hands. "Chip." he then whispered softly.
"Huh?" Mal then asked.
"Right... Chip..." Rumple chuckled. "I remember that you used to name that cup that when you saw that when you were a little boy."
"Oh... The cup... What a... What an interesting name for a teacup." Mal then said with a shrug, not sure what else to do or say to that.
"Now we all had a long day, so I suggest we all head home with Mal here and get ready for some rest," Rumple soon suggested. "Come along, Mal. We'll help you get settled."
"Thanks, Mr. Gold. This should be interesting." Mal replied.
"Glad that you think so." Rumple replied to her.
And so, Rumple closed his shop, turning the lights out, locking the doors, and then switched his sign to take his family and their guest to his black Cadaliac to turn in for the night.
Meanwhile, in a very different location far away from Storybrooke...
"What did it bring? What is it? What do you see?" Aurora urgently asked the warrior woman as she stood with Audrey and Lonnie.
Mulan soon left up a piece of the rubble. The two women and two teenage girls and Lonnie's pet lizard who was sitting on her shoulder then stared at what was lying beneath.
"Mulan, what is that?" Audrey asked.
"That? That is what brought the Wraith here," Mulan replied as she began to show them what she saw. "That's what killed our Prince."
In the ground, they all looked down to find an unconscious Emma, Evie, and Mary Margaret lying in the rubble. Emma was shown to be moving as if to awaken while Mulan and Aurora would later decide what to do with the three of the intruders as Lonnie and Audrey looked curious while Mushu quickly slithered from her shoulder to hide in her pocket.
"Some dragon..." Audrey huffed and crossed her arms at how Mushu reacted.
Lonnie firmly pouted at Audrey before she then looked over at the fallen three very curiously.