Darkness is a Funny Thing… It Creeps Up in You
Chapter Three
Some time ago, at the Forbidden Fortress deep within the Enchanted Forest…
After calling the Queens of Darkness together at Maleficent's Castle, Rumplestiltskin sat before them so he could continue to discuss his plan, but before he could begin, after having told them briefly why he had brought them there moments earlier, Cruella spoke again as she questioned him snidely, "Now then, this happy ending shenanigan you're promising us… can you really do that? Are you really that powerful?"
Maleficent remained standing among them as she kept her eyes down on the Dark One while she answered her for him crossly, "Yeah, he's powerful, but not that powerful."
"No one is," Ursula curtly replied in agreement with Maleficent, out of disbelief in Rumplestiltskin's ability to pull his plan off.
At last, the Dark One spoke as he responded to each them smugly, "Love how you underestimate me. Adorable."
Cruella then asked at last, "What exactly are you offering, short stuff?"
"Only the answer to all your prayers," he answered her wittingly, in his usual whimsical manner.
"I'm not exactly the religious sort," the woman who had a thing for fur coats and who hated all dogs retorted.
Rumplestiltskin quipped back, "Shocked."
All of a sudden, Cruella swiftly stood from her chair and out of frustration from the Dark One mocking her as she leaned down in front of him, she replied angrily, "Look… I was quite content with my life until I received this summons, and I do not appreciate being dragged around on false promises."
"Nothing false about it, dearie," the most powerful of the four villains coolly responded while he stood up with Cruella. "I know exactly what you want."
"And you," he added as he looked over at Ursula and pointed in her direction, then looked to Maleficent while he pointed towards her as well. "And you."
However, Maleficent questioned him skeptically, "Really?"
Rumplestiltskin then stepped into the center of the room between them as he answered haughtily, "Really. But don't worry. I'm not one to betray trusts, so your secrets can remain your own. What I will share is what we all have in common… A desire for happiness. A desire to do what villains can never do. To win. And I'm here to show you how… together."
"Even if we would work together, no spell known to man or woman can do what you're saying," the Queen of the castle where they were currently residing cynically replied to him once more.
"Of course not, dearie," the Dark One responded to her when he walked over to stand before Maleficent as well. "But we're not looking for a spell. We're looking for a curse."
Then, he walked around between each one of the villainess' while he whimsically continued, "A dark curse. One that, if you help procure it, can get each and every one of you exactly what you want… Your… Happy… Ending."
Present day, New York City…
Once the three villains left Central Park upon coming together again after it had been so long since their last encounter within the Enchanted Forest, Cruella De Vil got behind the wheel of her classic and one of a kind roadster, then started driving through the city as much like a madwoman as the city traffic allowed for her to, while Gold gave her directions to a place where they could talk freely so he could continue to explain the rest of his plan to the women who were even more skeptical of the Dark One's true motives than they were back when he first made this proposal to them so long ago.
Without saying much more about his plan, Gold's thoughts drifted back to a number of memories, one of which was when he had first brought the Queens of Darkness together to talk about seeking out their happy endings together. Unfortunately, he also couldn't help but think back to the night his wife forced him out of Storybrooke by controlling him with his dagger, but he didn't want to share more of his plan with them either, until he was ready to share it with them. Until they arrived again just outside of Storybrooke. He just needed to collect a few things before their journey to Maine.
At last, Cruella pulled over and parked outside of an old apartment building within the city, then once they entered the apartment after the villainesses followed him up, Cruella finally questioned, "What are we doing here? I thought you said we were on our way to this strange town you said was called… Storybrooke?"
"We're here… dearies, because before we head to this strange town, I need to gather a few things together," Gold sternly answered her as he walked over to the table within the kitchen area where he had set up an old computer, then sat down and began to type the keys while he kept his eyes on the computer screen. "And it appears, I've just received the email from my wife that I've been waiting for. And by the way… we're currently inside my son's old apartment where I've been staying for the last six weeks, so don't touch anything."
"An email?" Ursula frustratingly grumbled.
Without looking away from the screen, the Dark One snidely replied, "An email… is a sort of letter that is typed into what's much like a 'magic box', rather than this letter being written out with ink and a quill."
The Sea Witch glared down at him as she retorted curtly, "I know what an email is. Just as I know what your 'magic box' is. It's called a computer, and you're currently playing on the internet. Don't forget, Dark One… Cruella and I have been trapped here in this Hell of a world for even longer than you have. We know the ways of this world. What I meant was…why are you emailing your precious wife? I thought she forced you to leave?"
"I never said she was the one who kicked me out?" Gold then responded once he finally turned his head to look up at the villainesses, while they continued to stand a few feet away from him.
"You told us that these heroes you hate so much corrupted your love and turned your maid against you," Ursula cruelly taunted with a smile on her face. "I only assumed it was her who forced you to leave this Storybrooke. Either way… what could possibly be so important in this email that you need to answer it right now?"
He finally motioned for his guests to have a seat on the couch, then turned back to finish reading the email Belle had written, and began to type out his reply while he began to explain what he was doing as he answered, "I've hacked into my wife's email account, because I suspected she would want to do everything in her power to try to fix the terrible things I did before I left Storybrooke. Including wanting to find a way to free the fairies, all of which I forced Hook to help me entrap within a magic and powerful hat. Long story. Let's just say… it turns out I was right. Belle's been searching my many books for a spell to help her do so, and has finally reached out to certain linguists and professors who might be able to help her translate the passages that will reveal the spell the heroes can use to free the fairies. One of whom… is me."
Cruella sat down beside Ursula once the other villainess had done so, then turned her head to look at the Dark One again as she questioned, "How does this help us, darling?"
"It helps us, because right now no one on the outside can enter Storybrooke, as it is sealed off so that no outsider can find their way inside, mistakenly… or on purpose," Gold sternly replied to her. "It's sealed by a barrier spell that has made the town invisible and unable to be found even by me."
"Then how exactly are we supposed to get in?" Cruella curtly asked once more. "And what does this have to do with you wasting our time so you can email your precious maid?"
Simply out of annoyance, Gold continued, "Because with what I'm trying to write to her in return, is a spell that will help her to release the fairies from the hat just like she wants. But little will she and the heroes realize that the fairies aren't the only ones who will become released. Something else will also be freed from that hat. And that something else… will give the heroes reason to let you and Ursula here into Storybrooke just like we want. Because you two will give them the answer on how to defeat the demon. You ought to remember facing it before with Maleficent… the Chernabog."
Cruella let out a sigh of frustration and then she asked again snidely, "So why should I think this new plan will work when all the others have failed?"
"Our failures in the past have been for one reason…" the Dark One coldly responded to her. "The odds were stacked against us. Now we're gonna change the odds."
"With this Author you keep babbling on about," the Sea Witch coldly uttered with a roll of her eyes in disbelief.
He ignored her skepticism as Gold answered, "His book harnesses a great power. One that exceeds anything we've ever experienced, giving villains and heroes what he deems just desserts. Our collective frustrations? They're because of his will, not our missteps."
Cruella looked over at him out of curiosity as he explained and then she shrugged while she replied, "Well, I suppose that's better than blaming bad judgment and gin."
"Much better," Ursula stated in agreement, then questioned Gold once more. "Do you know where we can find him?"
"I'm fairly certain this Author's in Storybrooke," the Dark One darkly responded. "And if we want to enlist his help, we have to get there before the heroes do."