Just in case: warning for deaths

Chapter 8: The Race for The End

Everything comes to a head and stances are taken.

"Kill him?" Emma spluttered. "How is she planning on doing that?"

Red shrugged. "Beats me."

"Then we absolutely have to stop her. If she dies, we can't get out of here," Emma said.

Snow timidly piped up, "Would that be so bad? I mean, I would love to get to know you...and maybe make amends with Regina?"

Regina looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She cleared her throat and said, "That would be nice. And it'd also give me time to reverse the spell on your husband."

Emma knew that Regina was being diplomatic for her and Henry's sake. She was still hurting from being branded the Evil Queen, and it's take a lot more than a bonding session to fix that. "But our going back home doesn't have to be forever, we can figure out a way to come back on weekends."

That appeased Snow, but time was of the essence.

They decided that Emma and Regina would have the best chance of getting through to Lacey.

"Lacey doesn't even know Regina, and I think she feels guilty of embroiling Emma in all of this," Red said.

They wouldn't take Henry because of the danger it posed.

When they woke him up before leaving, he was less than receptive of the situation.

"Come on! I went with you to meet the supposed Evil Queen!" Henry whined.

Before Regina could reproach Emma, she said, "I will remind you that you ran away and I went out to find you."

He was still sulking, so Regina offered, "Perhaps you can find a spell or potion that I can concoct to help your grandfather?"

That seemed to enthuse Henry, so he nodded eagerly. Regina conjured up a few lengthy tomes - "There are some things I kept hidden away from everyone just in case it all went to hell, seems like it was a smart move," - and instructed him to dogear any pages of interest.

That caused the book restorer in Emma to have a conniption. "Betrayed by my own wife."

Regina rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at Emma, causing the latter to break out in laughter.

"Now come on, we have to get going," Regina said, kissing Henry's forehead.

Emma nodded, ruffling Henry's hair, and as they were about to leave, Henry said, "Come back, okay?"

"We will, Henry," Emma said.

"We promise," Regina reassured him.

They decided that magic would be the fastest way to reach a woman who had a few hours ahead of them, and a horse.

Although they couldn't specifically pinpoint, they could travel as close as they could towards the castle that used to be Regina's, and wait for her.

And that's what they did. They managed to reach just outside the outskirts of the castle, and found a secluded area that provided them with a good advantage of the path from the forest.

While waiting, they filled each other in on their respective lives.

Regina spoke about learning her magic from the various wolves in Graham's command, as well as using her power to get what she needed. It was a lonely life, but it did the trick for survival. She also explained about her attempts to find a way back home, and of trying to see if any Silvertongues were still around, though it seemed that there were no more.

Meanwhile Emma spoke of the little things about Henry. Regina had already heard about the overarching story regarding their misadventures with Red and the rest of their merry band of fairytales. But she desperately wanted to hear more about her so grown-up son.

"Regina, he's still a teenager, it's not a matter of giving me a heart attack quite yet."

"But I missed so much in six years! At least tell me he hasn't dated yet," Regina said. "I'd hate to miss that."

Emma shook her head. "No worries, you can still experience that."

The sound of hooves stopped their conversation.

Just as expected, Lacey was riding fast.

Much to Regina's disapproval, Emma walked out to stand in the middle of the road. Regina would magically move Emma out of the way if need be, but why her wife had to put herself in danger like that was beyond her.

Thankfully, Lacey had enough sense to stop her horse.

"Get out the way Emma," Lacey ordered.

"No. I get that you're angry. You've been betrayed and lied to, but think about something other than yourself for a change. You're heading into a suicide mission! And you'd be stranding us all here."

Lacey scoffed.

"Think about it! Without you, my family can't leave. You're the author. You brought us here, and you can't just not give us a way out."

That got Lacey to show a bit of remorse. "I can't stop now Emma. I have to do this. The imp must die."

"Sure, just go and screw my life over once again," Emma spitefully spat.

Lacey sighed and got off her horse. "I am sorry for how things worked out. But I promise you, I will make all of this right."

She pushed through past Emma, heading towards the castle. But Emma wasn't going to let this go so easily. So she began following a few steps behind.

"Wait, stop!" Regina couldn't stop herself. She had been intending to stay quiet, but they were heading into Rumpelstiltskin's castle, and there was no way of knowing what could be awaiting them.

Lacey frowned. "Who is she?"

"My wife. And the infamous Evil Queen, so if I were you, I'd listen to her." Emma was flying by the seat of her pants, and while she knew that Regina didn't particularly enjoy the monicker, if it helped them to get through Lacey, she would use it to their advantage.

"No one can stop me," Lacey muttered, continuing, dragging her horse along towards the looming castle. "But go ahead, follow me if you're so inclined and stubborn."

Emma stomped after her, and Regina trailed last.

Until they crossed the threshold of the palace.

Emma, the horse, and Lacey all passed by without a problem, but Regina found herself being held back by a seemingly invisible barrier.

Regina growled, and tried to thrust a fireball. It just ricocheted and went flying upwards.

At hearing Regina's frustration, Emma turned, to see Regina trying to magic herself inside. She jogged back to Regina and said, "Hey, don't worry, I've got this."

"Emma, please don't leave, I can't lose you again," Regina tearfully responded.

"You won't lose me, I'll be back soon, I just have to get Lacey to stop before she gets herself killed.

And as much as it pained her to do so, she let Emma go.

"You're different than the others."

The room was dank and smelled musty. There were no windows, and the only furniture was a table and a chair. The chair Belle was currently sitting on.

In front of her, the infamous Rumpelstiltskin was pacing, the table the only thing separating them.

"And why do you say that?" Belle didn't have much in the realm of courage, but she would be damned if she'd let this imp get to her.

"Because you have a fire. You will do great things, I know that much," the imp said, finally facing her and fixing her with a calculating gaze.

Belle scoffed. "Yeah, except you'll be killing me before that happens, right?"

"To the contrary. I won't. I want for us to work together," he offered.

"Together? You have killed dozens of my people, and you have a dozen more locked up with me. Why do you think I'd work with you?"

"Like I said, you have something special. The other Silvertongues are too scared to do what's necessary." When Belle didn't seem too impressed, he added, "Oh and there's the little caveat of me sparing your life."

That got Belle to sit up a bit straighter. "Go on?"

"My plan is simple…" Rumpelstiltskin went on to explain what he had in mind. He would be using a child of true love to open their world up for inter-world travelling.

"And how would I fit in?" Belle asked.

"You will have to steal the child for me. She is the child of the White Kingdom's monarchs. Emma is her name. I will let you go so you can go to them, spin a wild story, and acquire the child. Then, you will bring her to me."

Not one to have the wool pulled over her eyes so easily, she said, "And then what? You'll kill me?"

The imp shook his head. "No. You will live, and witness my new world."

Belle held her hand out. "Promise me. Once I deliver the girl to you, you will not be able to harm or kill me. Not without equal harm on yourself."

Rumpelstiltskin's lips twitched. "You are something else. But very well."

And he shook her hand.

Lacey was sure that her heart was about to beat out of her chest. She had taken quite a gamble, but it was going to work out. She knew it.

She felt Emma catch up to her again, and there were so many things she wanted to say. Mainly apologize.

And tell her the truth of what had really happened.

It hadn't been her feat of Emma's scepticism, or the system working against her that had stopped her from taking Emma in.

She had been afraid of her own parenting skills. Or lack thereof.

A Silvertongue's life was a lonely one. After she transferred her powers to Emma and they made it to the other world, Belle had shedded her old life. She had become Lacey, and tiny Emma was so fragile and worried about this strange new world.

So what did she do?

She took Emma in her arms, took her to the nearest establishment - an old diner off the side of a highway - and said that she found this child alone in the woods.

And she left.

But then the guilt settled in, and when she tried to find Emma again, she couldn't. So she wrote a book, for when she did find Emma.

The only problem was, when she did find Emma, she couldn't bring herself to face the girl whose life she had screwed over. But it was all for the best for her. A life without Silvertongues and magic and any nonsense to leave her jaded and lonely.

But she still kept tabs on her. Every now and then she'd search for Emma, and she found her just in time for her high school graduation, for her first day of college, her marriage to Regina, and the moving day for their house.

It might've seemed creepy if anyone had figured it out, but she felt responsible to make sure Emma was okay. She had screwed everyone else from their deals: Rumpelstiltskin, Snow and Charming; she'd be damned if she let anything happen to Emma.

But it seemed she didn't do Emma any favours. Especially when the imp showed up at her door in the other world and forced her at gunpoint to do his bidding.

With a loud pop and a cloud of dark smoke, the other subject of her thoughts had appeared in front of her.

"Well then, it seems like you just saved me quite a bit of time dearie. You brought yourself and Emma to me. Now we can begin."

Emma spoke up. "Begin what?"

"My final plan. A portal for inter-world travelling. Allowing me to spread my domain. Total domination."

"And what makes you think we'll agree to do anything you say?" Emma asked.

The imp made a show of seeming like she had actually asked a hard question. "Let's see. I have your wife within my sight, so I'm sure you'll cave in and read. As for the lovely Belle.." the latter shuddered at that, "well she'll do anything provided it protects you. You see, she has a soft spot for you. Despite abandoning you, she does have a bit of a maternal bond for your well-being.

"So if I were to do this," he snapped his fingers and the same gun he had used at Emma's home materialized. He aimed it, and two voices chorused "NO!"

Regina was frozen to her spot, literally. A crossbow was magically aimed at her heart, and she watched with trepidation as her wife was suddenly in the line of fire of the imp's gun.

Lacey stepped in between Emma and the imp, her hands up. "I'll do it."

Rumpelstiltskin grinned. "Exactly what I expected."

He magicked a writing desk, a stool, some parchment and a quill to her side. "I'm sure you know what to do. And no funny business. There are no pens to click and sneak secret messages."

And so Lacey began to write. She wrote fast, but with purpose, while also reaching into her sleeve and pulling out another piece of parchment paper. Thankfully Emma was keeping him occupied from having him check.

"So this is it? Your grand plan? You take over all the worlds? For what? To make up for your fragile ego?"

"Careful. I may need you alive, but it doesn't mean I can't shoot another body part to make sure you get the message," the imp waved his gun to her legs and arms.

Emma shrugged. "Okay, no ego talk. But you don't own this world, wouldn't it make sense to first take over this world, then the next ones?"

"I don't need to take over the world. The White Kingdom are a bunch of cowards, they would never be able to defeat me. Everyone else fears speaking my name, and I have immeasurable power. I have already won."

"But you don't have power in my world. How do you plan on taking over it?"

"Maybe you've forgotten, but I spent six years there. I have planted my seeds, and I'll return to see them come into fruition."

Lacey suddenly exclaimed, "I'm finished!"

"Good. Give it to me. And no funny business."

Lacey handed the parchment paper to the imp. He glanced at the words, and deemed it passable. He extended the sheet to Emma. "Read it."

And Emma took it.

Before Emma could even glance at the first sentence, Rumpelstiltskin's lightning fast moves had him plunging his hand deep into Lacey's chest and extracting her heart.

Emma was sure she was going to be sick.

The pulsating red organ with black spots looked so weird in the imp's hand. "Just some extra security in case you decide to try something. Now dearie, get to reading."

With shaking hands, Emma took a deep breath.

"In a world unlike any other, a powerful imp was on the cusp of having everything he ever wanted. Total domination. With just a few words, a portal would be created that would allow the traveller to go to any world they so wished. It would be a large, almost round self-powered portal that would never wane or disappear. It would appear just a few feet from where a tense scene was playing out, where three women were on the verge of losing their lives. But everything would work out in the end."

Rumpelstiltskin scoffed. "Wishful thinking on your part."

No sooner had he said that, and a portal just like Emma had described appeared.

With an almost manic gleam in his eyes, he eyed the portal. But before he could do that…"I do thank you all for your services, but I no longer have any uses for any of you."

So he began to squeeze Lacey's heart.

Lacey screamed out, dropping to her knees. Emma wanted to try to stop it, but the imp's steady hand with the gun aimed right at her stopped her in her tracks.

But then something unexpected happened.

Lacey began to laugh.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't stop squeezing as he demanded, "What the hell is so funny?"

"I outsmarted the great Rumpelstiltskin. I bided my time, and now you will perish." Turning to Emma, she said, "I'm sorry Emma, I wish I could have done so much more for you. I hope one day you will forgive me."

With a final squeeze, Lacey's heart turned to dust, and she fell backwards on her knees with a finality.

As the imp shook his hand from all the dust, he felt there was something wrong.

And in that moment, he recalled a deal he had made. "Promise me. Once I deliver the girl to you, you will not be able to harm or kill me. Not without equal harm on yourself."

He clutched at his chest. The gun dropped from his hand, and he felt his breath catch. She had just delivered Emma to him.

He dropped to his knees, trying to wildly think of a way to stop this.

But his mind just drew a giant blank.

And in his final moments, he could just longingly stare at the portal, before turning to face Emma.

The woman looked terrified of what was happening, and he felt his magic grow weaker that the crossbow aimed at the brunette had disappeared, and she had broken through to take Emma in her arms.

They were speaking, but he couldn't hear them. He just saw and heard his greatest regrets, the voices of his many victims pleading for their lives.

And then, silence.