Chapter 15: Unleash the Power
"NO!" screams the Doctor, helpless to do anything, still tangled and dangling in the air above the town. "RORY! AMY!"
…
Rory awaits the pain from the dragon's fire, knowing he'd do anything to protect his wife, including giving his life… again.
However, the pain doesn't come. It never comes… the temperature doesn't even change at all.
He opens his eyes and he and Amy look at one another. They smile and hug one another.
As suddenly as that happiness comes, they see a shimmer of purple above them, and everything stops.
The two look up… the brunette girl, Crystal is standing in front of them, and some kind of purple bubble surrounds all three of them. What's even more shocking is that the purple energy is coming from her hands, which are also glowing.
Crystal looks back, knowing what she's just done, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let these innocent people die, besides… her dad technically started it.
"You guys okay?" she asks.
The Ponds just look on in shock, unable to comprehend what's happening. Their mouths are just agape, and no words are expressed to indicate an answer to the question.
"I'll take that as a yes," the woman says sarcastically.
Regina and Emma are shooting Crystal death glares, and thoughts of the consequences of this fill their minds. It's over. Their secret is blown. Nothing will ever be the same.
However, the young woman only gets a glimpse of them before the dragon breathes another round of fire at them. The flames lick the sides of the tiny protective bubble and scorch the pavement surrounding it. Several things nearby burst into flames, including the weeds between the sidewalk cracks and an unfortunate awning hanging over one of the stores in town.
"A little help would be nice!" Crystal screams out, doing her best to keep her shield up. This thing was powerful enough on its own, but add in the anger and maximum firepower, and you had a recipe for the total annihilation of the town and possible death for the three in the bubble if the daughter of the Dark One did not receive backup.
Everyone jumps into action to draw the unusual creature away from the innocents.
Rumple, following his daughter's lead, rushes into the street before launching a stream of dark magic at the creature to distract it.
It turns, its orange eyes glow with malice and it roars at the imp and throws all the magic he can muster at it.
Emma looks at Regina and then lets her hands light up with white magic.
"What are you doing?" the mayor says.
"There's no point now Regina. Let's end this before the whole town gets destroyed," she replies.
Regina sighs and rolls her eyes, knowing and resenting that the Saviour was right. The cat is out of the bag and they're just going to have to deal with the aftermath. The Evil Queen follows the Saviour's lead into battle.
"Be careful Love," Killian says.
She nods, knowing he was worried about the baby.
They launch their own beams of magic at the dragon. It continues to growl in rage and attempts to fight back, but the magic is keeping its fire at bay.
Meanwhile, the others are worried about the Doctor's well-being. Still dangling from a rope of some kind, the alien is very likely to be caught in the crossfire and hit with stray magic. It was also likely that if the others brought the dragon down to the ground, he could potentially be crushed by it.
"We have to save him," Belle says.
"Bloody Madman is going to be killed," Killian agrees.
"Take out its wings," Crystal calls out. Her voice is then drowned out by another round of fire. When the dragon cannot get a clean shot at the other magic users, it goes back to its first target. She wishes she could just teleport Rory and Amy away and help, but with the mouth of this thing still aimed at them, she needs to put all her power into protecting them.
Rumple heard his daughter's demand and aims a blast at what is keeping this thing airborne. Fortunately, the magic is keeping it from flying off completely.
Belle is eyeing the rope wrapped around the alien's leg.
"RUMPLE STOP!" she shouts. "DON'T TAKE OUT THE WINGS YET! WE NEED TO GET THE DOCTOR DOWN!"
"DOCTOR!" Amy calls out, finding her voice now with the realization that her friend is in trouble.
"What's your plan, Belle?" Emma says, trying to aim for the dragon's mouth.
"And please do so quickly!" Regina shouts, barely dodging a fireball.
"Snow, I need you to try and aim for the rope with your arrows,"
"What are you crazy? He'll fall and be killed."
"Leave that part to us, but use as many arrows as you can to cut that rope,"
The bandit princess inhales sharply. That would be difficult, especially with a moving and extremely thin target. She positions herself behind a car and focuses her bow to ensure that she can get a clear shot.
"Just wait for the signal," Belle says.
"What signal?" Snow shouts, but her husband, brother-in-law and friends leave without answering. They keep low and approach Snow and David's truck.
"David… you, Killian, Zelena and I need to get close enough with a tarp or something to catch the Doctor when Snow cuts the rope."
"Are you insane Bookworm? We'll be killed if it sees us!" Zelena points out.
"We can get Rumple and the others to lure it closer to the buildings over there…" she points to an area where the roof slopes out. "It will give us some cover. Enough cover to save him."
"I've got a tarp in the back of the truck," David says, he goes to grab it, staying close to the ground.
"Love, as much as I love this plan, and I really do… how are we going to get over there?" Killian asks. "The pathway is not exactly level nor is it at survivable temperature."
Belle glances over in the direction of the current battle. He wasn't wrong. The whole road has been ripped to shreds with asphalt and concrete and even rocks from the mine make it impossible to navigate. The constant balls of fire are also a huge problem. If only it was easy to simply ask Crystal, but she's still protecting Rory and Amy, and everyone else is occupied.
With her mind racing, Belle whips out her phone and dials a number.
It's picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?"
"It's Belle… How fast can you drive?"
…
The screeching of tires is heard down the street within minutes of the phone call.
The four heroes crouched down behind the Charming's truck turn. A familiar blonde woman gets out of the car. Suddenly, she vanishes, and a small light approaches them.
"What do you need?" Tinkerbell asks in her fairy form. She nods knowingly at Killian, her ally and friend.
"We need to be over there," Belle indicates. "Can you teleport us?"
"There should be enough fairy dust," she replies.
"Good, we also might need you to ease the fall of a certain person," the beauty nods up to the man in the bow tie dangling from the dragon. While making the Doctor fly was a viable option, the dragon could easily turn and
"I won't even ask," the fairy says. She takes her wand and showers the four of them in pixie dust.
In an instant, they are all on the other side, sheltered and concealed under the overhead.
"Get ready," Belle says.
Placing her hand in her mouth, she gives a sharp whistle. Her husband notices her, and she points upwards.
Trusting his wife, Rumple begins to direct the flying dragon closer to the building. Emma and Regina follow suit. Fortunately, this also stops the firestorm that was bombarding the trio in the bubble.
Crystal sighs in relief but keeps her shield up. While the attack has stopped for a moment, they were still in the line of fire. She knows she needs to help somehow, finish this thing off. Once the Doctor is rescued and the dragon's wings are taken out, they then had an overgrown stone lizard to contend with. She looks around, looking for something to take out its fire. She spots what might work the best.
…
Another sharp whistle is heard, and Snow takes aim with her bow.
It's extremely difficult to get at the rope as it swings back and forth with each flap of the dragon's wings.
Her first shot misses completely, flying off into the woods somewhere, as does her second. The third manages to graze the rope a little bit, cutting a few strands but it's not enough for it to snap.
She's about to fire again when out of the corner of her eye, she sees the dragon staring at her. Perhaps it noticed what was flying at it and decided to pick a new target.
With seconds to react, after the thing opens its mouth and a glowing fire begins to emanate from it, Snow ducks behind the car and moves to get out of range as fast as possible. She barely avoids the blast, feeling the heat near her neck. The car provided some cover, but her quick movement allowed her to avoid the worst.
Her coat, however, is not so lucky.
"SNOW!" David screams out, he's ready to run through the rubble to his wife. Killian grabs his jacket.
"I'm fine David!" she screams out, having removed the flaming garment quickly to avoid any burns. However, the heat caused the string to snap as she continues to retreat.
"Tink, can you finish what Snow started?" Belle calls out.
Without hesitation, the brave green fairy flies towards the dragon and using her wand, provides just enough magic to sever the rope completely. Quick as a flash, she flies down next to the Doctor and covers him in some pixie dust, just enough to slow his fall into the awaiting tarp.
"You all right mate?" Killian asks, with the alien now safely down.
"I suppose so."
Both the pirate and prince work quickly to help the alien off the tarp.
"All clear Rumple!" Belle calls.
The group then uses the cover over the overhead to escape the scene.
The Dark One nods and redirects his magic to take out the creatures' wings.
Tinkerbell reappears close to Emma and takes aim with her wand, using her pixie dust to fight and also redirect any fire that came her way.
…
Crystal hurries down the sidewalk, flanked by the Doctor's companions, who are unsure of what to do. At least the Doctor was now safe.
Finding the dented fire hydrant, Crystal smiles, ready to end this.
"Are you… are you…?" Rory stumbles, still trying to find the words.
"Are you aliens?" Amy finally manages to say.
Crystal's hands glow purple again as she prepares to unleash the next phase of the attack.
She waits for her father to finally make the dragon's wings crumble, only half listening to the question being asked of her.
There's a roar and a massive impact against the ground, knocking several people off their feet. Crystal knows this is.
"Sorry, what?" she asks.
"Are you an alien?" Rory repeats his wife's question.
"No… not even close," Crystal replies. With a twist of her hand, the cap of the fire comes loose and begins spewing a rush of cold water. "I'm the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin and welcome to Storybrooke."