6
~ We Are The Others ~
Archie grew concerned when Selene suddenly froze in his arms and stepped back away from him, her eyes wide with shock and horror. Pongo and Perdy barked frantically.
Perdy, what's wrong with her? Pongo demanded.
I don't know! The female Dalmatian was as terrified as her mistress.
"Selene? Selene? What is it? Was it something I did?" he cried.
"Oh my God….Oh my God!" she screamed. "She's real….they're real…all of it!"
He reached for her and drew her back into his arms. "Selene, sweetheart, what is it?"
"All this time I thought it was just characters in a movie but they're real….and two of them were my parents!" she sobbed into his shoulder. "You're going to think I'm crazy!"
Not when I tell you who I am, Archie thought, already having an inkling what she was going to say since the kids suspected it all along.
"You're remembering, aren't you?"
She raised her tear filled eyes to his. "My real name isn't Selene Paddington, it's Selene Dearly." She sighed deeply before she continued. "My parents…..were Anita and Roger and they did own over a hundred Dalmatians….I know…I know it's crazy! Go on then….put the jacket on me and toss me in the padded cell because you think I'm boxed out of my mind!" she ranted. "Well here's the best part…..there really was a Cruella De Vil and all this time she's passed herself off as my mother when she killed my nanny and had those bastards Horace and Jasper kidnap me!"
"Were your parents there the night you were taken?" he inquired gently. He hated having to do this to her now and ruin what had been some wonderful moments for them but Cruella had already done that by lying to her in the first place.
She shook her head. "Mum and Dad always had Mrs. Tisdale stay with me when they took Pongo and Perdy for a walk." The Dalmatians' ears perked up. "Yes, Perdy….I named you after the dog in the movie never realizing I named you after the dog I did have as a little girl too. And I guess you did the same thing too, didn't you?" she asked Archie.
"I did," he admitted with a smile. "After the movie, I mean. It's always been one of my favorites though my friend thought it odd I watched a cartoon."
"And….we met the same way my parents did…..crashed right into each other. It was in a park and Pongo broke off the leash to chase Perdy….and Mum assaulted Dad with her purse, telling him to get glasses or watch where he was going. Dad always said it was love at first swat. Mum's parents didn't approve."
"Was he a songwriter?"
"Yes…and he actually did write a song called Cruella De Vil but he never published it. It was a bit more vicious than the Disney version I can tell you. Mum worked in Cruella's shop…she didn't design clothes but she sold them and was always going around wearing clothes from animal pelts."
"That part about the puppies, did that actually happen?"
"It was why she was in prison. She went to Mum and Dad and tried to pay them twenty thousand pounds for Pongo and Perdy's puppies but Dad tore the check up and threw her out. Then she had Horace and Jasper try to steal them but Nanny stopped them…that time. She beat them off with Dad's cricket bat and Mum called the police when they got home. They found over a dozen animal pelts in Cruella's house."
"Did all that happen before you were born, or after?"
"Before, but Mum and Dad talked about it a lot. Cruella escaped from prison when I was five. She….she…cut my arm, put some of the blood on my nightgown and then I fell asleep. The next thing I knew I was Selene Paddington and she was my mother Carla…but I don't know how I could've just forgotten everything about my life!"
"I…I think I know how…but when I tell you, you're going to think I'm the crazy one!"
"You're taking what I've told you rather well, especially for a psychologist or are you trying to humor me?"
He sighed. "Because you're not the only Disney movie character that's real…" he said nervously.
"Now I know you're trying to humor me," she said angrily. "So you can just shove it…and just bugger off while you're at it!"
"Selene, dammit, I'm not trying to humor you. I'm serious. I'll prove it to you!" he cried.
"Oh?" And just how do you plan on doing that?"
He knew he was taking a great risk by telling her the truth about himself and the others but he didn't want to lose her now that their relationship was starting to get more serious. Also, she'd just told him she was that daughter of the couple from 101 Dalmatians. Anyone else would have assumed she was making it up but not him….not when it appeared their kiss had broken what was possibly a memory spell or a curse. Only Rumple would be able to tell.
"Why are you fighting?" Belle asked sadly when the others returned. Archie breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by the Belle….and the Golds.
"Rumple, I need you to change back…please," he begged.
The toddler's eyes widened. "You tole her?!"
"Not yet. Listen, I'll explain everything shortly but I need you to change back to your normal selves; you Belle and Regina," he begged.
"Kay but if she freaks out I'm wipin her memory!" Rumple warned and turned them all back into their adult selves. Selene gasped and fainted in Archie's arms. He picked her up and carried her over to a nearby bench while he tried to revive her.
"Archie, what in the seven hells is going on? Why are you going to tell Selene who we are?" the now adult Rumple demanded.
"You better brace yourselves because I'm still trying to deal with the shock of it….we're not the only Disney characters that are real."
"Y…You mean she's….?" Bae stuttered.
"She's the daughter of Anita and Roger Dearly and you were right….Carla is Cruella De Vil!"
"I knew it!" Regina exclaimed. "It was too damned obvious. She kept calling you the wrong name the way Glenn Close does in the movie Archie and she wears animal clothing."
Rumple waved his hand over the unconscious woman.
"Ohhh…" Selene moaned and opened her eyes. "Archie…what happened?"
"You fainted, sweetheart."
"They….they were children…and now they're adults!? H…how?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Archie sighed. "Rumple is Rumplestiltskin….also the beast from Beauty and the Beast. Belle is well….Belle. Regina is the Evil Queen from Snow White; Emma is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Bae is Rumple's son and Killian used to be Captain Hook."
"You're forgetting someone dearie. Yourself," Rumple pointed out.
"Yeah but I wanted to stay a kid cause I wanna be raised right this time," Killian piped up.
"So….humor me…who are you?" Selene asked Archie.
"My real name is Jiminy but I haven't gone by that in a long time and in our land…I was turned into a cricket…" Archie explained.
"J…Jiminy Cricket? You're telling me you're Jiminy Cricket? No…this and what I think I remember…I'm hallucinating. That's it. I've gone mad!" Selene wailed.
"You're not mad, dearie," Rumple assured her, sitting beside them on the bench. "And I suspect you were given a memory curse that's been broken."
"A curse!"
"Or a spell."
"But w…what made me remember all of a sudden?"
Belle smiled. "Archie kissing you, but not just with any kiss. True love's kiss can break any spell or curse. We should know. We've had our share and seen them broken with it, haven't we, Emma?"
"Yes."
"So I'm not mad?"
"No, Selene you're not," Regina assured her. "We are very real and unfortunately so is Cruella but my question is Rumple: is she from our world or this one?"
"You're from another world? Aliens?"
"No, we're not aliens and our world is a bit behind the times," Bae answered. "They're probably still in their version of the medieval period compared to this world."
"She's not from our world, Regina but she is versed in dark magic and so is Putin," Rumple stated.
"Selene, you can't go back to your apartment," Archie said.
"What? Why?"
"It's too dangerous. We don't know what that woman will try to do to you if she thinks you remember who she is," he argued.
"I don't have anywhere else to go!"
"You're staying with us," Bae told her before his father had a chance to and they drove back to their hotel, thinking a conversation like this was better held in private.
"I couldn't impose…." Selene said.
"Nonsense, dearie. Our suite has plenty of room and she's not getting past the wards we're setting up."
"Rumple, we really should call Detective Carlyle…" Emma began.
"And tell him what, Emma? We have a seventy year old woman killing animals for their pelts?" Belle asked. "He won't believe it."
"He will when you show him this!" Henry handed his mother his phone with an article on Selene's abduction. She quickly read it over, wishing she had the hag in the room at that moment so she could skin her! Everyone believed Selene to be dead after her nightgown with her blood on it had been fished out of the Thames along with a large clump of her hair.
"All right. Archie, take Selene back to her apartment to pack some things. Regina, go with them in case the bitch shows up," Emma instructed.
The former Evil Queen smirked. "She's going to be in for quite a shock when she sees me."
"Regina, take caution. We don't know what kind of mage we're dealing with," Emma pleaded.
"Sounds like a wendigo," Killian spoke up.
Everyone looked at him. "All right, what did you watch that gave you that idea, Killian Gold?" Emma demanded sternly.
"Was on the X-Files. Y'know….wendigo, shapeshifter….called em skinwalkers."
Belle shook her head. "No, Killian, wendigos are different from skinwalkers, at least according to what I've read."
"Huh? How?"
Belle started explaining some of what she read on the legendary Navajo beings to the toddler. He yelped and dived behind the sofa.
"I hated doing that, but to be honest...he could be right," Belle sighed.
"So you're telling us SHE was the lion that killed Detective Carlyle's friend?"
"Yes, because it is possible to change your shape as a mage," Rumple replied. "Though it's not as easy as everyone thinks. Unless you have were blood in you or are a natural earth mage with an affinity for a particular animal. And even then there are dangers. You could . . .lose yourself in the shape, and become an animal and forget your human self. And if that happens . . .only the greatest of magicians can change you back and maybe not even then."
Selene clung to Archie. "And if she finds out I remember...she'll kill me!"
"We won't let that happen," Rumple assured her. "But you must pretend, pretend as if your life depends upon it-for it does, dearie." He sighed. "Cruella, if she is a skinwalker, can borrow the shape of anything she's killed and has the pelt of. It's dark magic, so she never need fear losing herself . . .except when she kills in that form. But a strong willed mage can overcome that."
"Do we need to start making silver bullets and stakes, Papa?" Bae asked.
Rumple shook his head. "No. Silver is only for were creatures, who because of their curse are allergic to it, and the allergy of silver-the blessed metal-kills them. That won't work against a skinwalker."
"Then what can?" Archie demanded.
Rumple thought for a moment. "Enchanted items-crossbows, spears, swords. but the most powerful enemy of a skinwalker is their own flesh-hair, skin, fingernail clippings. Get those and bind them to an object and it has the power to return them to their native form and stop them from shifting."
"That settles it. We're going back to your apartment to get your things Selene and search for something to bind that bitch," Regina said firmly.
"Be careful," Rumple warned. "Knowing her, she won't leave her hairbrush lying about with hair in it."
"I don't even want to go back there..." she sobbed fearfully.
"Then I'll go...alone," Regina said.
Rumple wove something with his magic, and it solidified into a purple ribbon. "Here, Selene. Wear this, it's a protection charm and will repel any sort of harmful compulsion spell or attack upon you. I'd do more but then she might sense it."
Selene took the ribbon and tied her hair into a ponytail with it.
'Rumple do you think it would be best if Selene stayed here and I went to the apartment myself?" Regina asked.
She was the only mage whose powers were nearly equal to his.
"It may." He looked over at the younger woman and thought she was too frazzled and upset right now to maintain the facade she needed. As anyone would be. "Go and return as quickly as you can. And if you run into a problem-call me."
"I will. You take care of them and as soon as I come back, we're gonna talk about our little Pukin the pervert problem too."
"All right. I think a strong cup of tea is in order," said the former Dark One. "Maybe with some of this in it," he pulled a small bottle of Scotch whiskey out of his pocket.
"Sweetheart, let's sit down over here," Archie said softly and helped Selene onto the sofa.
The former queen vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Rumple, you'd better put some wards up here too," Belle suggested.
"Yes, dearie," the master mage murmured, then quickly sketched several magical symbols into the air and muttered, "By my power and my name, I abjure thee to protect all here, against any that would harm or ill wish them."
"Papa, what are you doing with a mini bottle of Johnny Walker? Do the customers drive you THAT crazy?"
His father smirked. "On occasion, dearie. But no, this isn't for me. It's for emergencies. Like old Mrs. Armbruster having a fit of the vapors and passing out on my floor when she found out her heirloom emerald necklace was paste and glass."
"Rumple, you becomin' an alkie?" Killian asked.
The sorcerer regarded the child with fond exaspration. "No, and you keep your sticky fingers off this bottle, young man, or else we're going to have another serious 'talk' in my back room about touching things that are off limits." He warned.
He was referring to a time when he had watched the little boy just before they had come to Disney and told him not to touch anything in his display case, and had gone to take a phone call, and when he'd returned, found the intrepid child uncorking a spelled bottle which held a minor djinn of a nasty disposition.
"Kay."
"Rumple, think I'll need a shot of that," Archie was saying while he cradled Selene in his arms. She looked like she was going to faint again.
Rumple conjured up a small shot glass and poured some into it. "Here you go."
"Thanks."
"That whatever you call it was a meanie!" Killian was saying.
Rumple shook a finger at the youngster. "Yes, which is why she was in there, so she couldn't hurt people, and YOU let her out without knowing what you were doing to wreak havoc."
Henry was on pins and needles waiting for Regina to return. She magicked her phone so that they could see each other while they talked.
"Henry, I'm in. Can you see the inside of the apartment good?"
"Yeah, Mom. I can," he replied.
"Okay...I'm sending Selene's suitcase now, let me know if you get it. I'm trying to reserve as much energy as I can in case Cruella shows up."
"Okay."
She waved her hand over the suitcase in the apartment and it vanished.
Then it reappeared in the suite. "Got it!" Henry told her.
At the same time, Bae was frowning at his youngest. "How come I never heard about this . . .bottle mishap?"
"Ummm...ummm..." Killian glanced over at Rumple and shrugged.
"We decided to . . . just keep it between us back then." Rumple said. "Besides, I did exactly the same thing to him as I did to you that time for playing with my sharpened shears."
"Ya gave him a spankin' an put him in time out?" Killian asked.
"Yes, and he never touched my shears again, did you, Baelfire?"
"No, Papa." He looked at his son. "I hope you learned your lesson too . . .because letting a genie out of a bottle is a lot worse than touching sewing shears."
"I'll 'member."
"Henry, tell your grandfather I found the pelts!" Regina called out over the phone.
"Grandpa! Mom found the pelts!" Henry called excitedly, waving his phone.
"Oh my God!" Selene moaned and fainted.
"You could have been a bit more tactful, lad," Rumple sighed. "Tell her not to touch them yet, it could summon Cruella back-" he began.
"Shit! She's here!" Regina cursed.
Suddenly the magical phone connection went dead as Regina severed it so she could fight Cruella.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Cruella demanded.
She didn't know who this woman was but she had a strong aura...possibly stronger than her own. No matter. Even a mage was no match for her corpse dust.
"Surprise, darling!" Regina sneered and then sent a barrage of magical projectiles at the other woman.
Cruella smirked and turned them to dust.
"Amateurs," she scoffed.
She shifted into crow form and flew above Regina, a pouch of corpse dust dangling from her foot.
"No you don't, skinwalker!" Regina spat, and then she conjured a gust of wind that threw the crow through the apartment window. "Bye bye blackbird!"
The pouch was knocked out of Cruella's talons as she flew out the window.
"Bitch!"
Cruella flew back into the apartment and landed on one of the pelts, switching to leopard form.
She snarled but before she could tackle Regina, the former queen vanished.
"Now who's an amateur?" Regina taunted.
The leopard growled.
Regina conjured a collar and a set of chains and restrained the animal. Seeing a crow's foot hanging around her neck on a chain, Regina tore it off.
Then she conjured a bag and put the pelts in it. While she had her back turned Cruella was chanting a spell in Russian Rasputin taught her and the chains disintegrated. She was back in human form.
"As I said...amateur," Cruella murmured. "You didn't think you were just dealing with a skinwalker, did you little sorceress?"
"Oh, would you care to enlighten me?"
"Why, when it would be more entertaining watching you die?" Cruella laughed and summoned another pouch of corpse dust from her wall safe.
She sprinkled some of it into her hand. Regina conjured a fireball and threw it at the other woman's hand.
"You bitch! You burned me!"
"In more ways than one," Regina giggled.
"I'm going to enjoy ripping your soul from your body!" Cruella hissed and sent a lamp flying at the younger sorceress, knocking her to the floor.
A soul eater! Regina thought.
"I usually like them younger but you'll do...with all that power."
"Eat this bitch!" Regina yelled as she got to her feet and conjured a basket of rotten apple bombs. She sent them flying over to the other women and they exploded, dropping rotten fruit particles all over her. Then she conjured a pile of feces and shoved it into the shocked woman's mouth.
"You...vile..." Cruella sputtered.
Regina laughed, remembering how much fun she and the other Nevengers had doing that to Felix in Neverland.
"Betcha that tastes worse than a soul, doesn't it?"
She conjured the chains again and wrapped them around the other woman. She yanked a piece of Cruella's hair out of her head and bound it to the chains. "Try and change now...if you can."
Cruella howled with rage.
Regina knew there was a possibility the binding wouldn't hold her since she seemed to know more forms of dark magic than just skinwalking.
Regina conjured a bag and floated the pelts and crow's foot into it, sending it back to their hotel. While she was looking around for any other animal remains the woman was using Cruella was chanting again and vanished leaving only a set of chains on the floor.
"Dammit!" Regina cried and opened the connection on her phone again. "Henry, did you get the pelts?"
"Yeah. Did you whup her ass?"
"I'll let that slide for now but we've got another serious problem. She can't shift but she escaped my binds. She's not just a skinwalker...a soul eater too and gods knows what else!"
"You'd better come back, dearie," Rumple advised.
Regina vanished again and reappeared back in the hotel suite exhausted.
She lay down on the love seat. "She was doing some sort of chant Rumple and I swear it sounded Russian."
"Dammit. That means she's in league with Putin."
"Now what are we going to do? If she's a soul eater, that means he is too!" Emma exclaimed.
"They're after us...and the baby, Emma. Cruella, especially is after the baby."
"Corpse dust," Belle murmured. "That's the other way she's killing them."
"She tried using it on me twice."
Emma cringed. "Dust from bodies as a weapon?"
"And she wants Aria for that purpose."
Emma's hands cradled her belly protectively. "Never!"
"Don't you worry, Emma. No one is going to harm my granddaughter." Rumple assured her.
"Papa, we really should at least try to let that detective know what's going on," Bae insisted.
"We've had a game changer Bae and Detective Carlyle, even as clever as he is, cannot fight in a game with magic but we can." his father said.
"You have a plan?"
"Indeed I do and it will require us to turn back into our child selves in order for it to work." The sorcerer grinned. "Mr. Putin's unholy desires both for souls and flesh will be his undoing and the skinwalker's."
"You're going to set yourselves up as bait?!" Bae exclaimed. "Papa!"
"If we don't other children's' lives are threatened, including Aria's and Henry's and I WILL NOT let anyone or anything harm my grandchildren!"
Bae sighed deeply. He knew his father was right but he was worried for him. Danger always seemed to find Rumple when he was his child self and he could feel the gray hairs sprouting every time the toddler put himself at risk. Now he understood too well the stress that Rumple went through every time he got in one of his scrapes as a child.
"All right, Papa. What do you have in mind?"
"All right, Papa. What do you have in mind?"
Belle decided to check on Archie and Selene while the others discussed their plans for Cruella and Putin. The other Nevengers would fill her in later. She made a pot of tea and carried it into the guest room. Archie was trying to make himself comfortable on the loveseat while Selene was in bed reading.
"It doesn't have a shot in it but you could use it," Belle said softly and handed the other woman one of the cups.
"Thank you," Selene murmured.
She handed the other one to Archie. "You'll need this too."
"Please tell me Rumple has a plan to stop that woman," he pleaded.
"He does...we'll be changing back to children soon. That's part of how we want to trap her and Putin."
"He reminds me of that crazy Russian monk," Archie mumbled.
Belle nearly dropped the tray she was holding. She set it down and ran out of the room in search of the other and found them still discussing their plans.
"Archie brought up something interesting: how Mr. Putin reminds him of Rasputin."
"Ra Ra Rasputin lover of the Russian queen!" Killian sang. Rumple frowned at him
"Not funny lad."
"Grandpa, Archie could be right. They shot the guy, poisoned him and drowned him and he still didn't die. What if never did and he's been feeding on souls to keep him alive?" Henry suggested.
"An he's a pervert too, goin around looking at your butt." Killian added.
"Don't remind us lad," Rumple groaned. "It makes sense. The man was known for his eccentricities and it's no surprise he is a practitioner of dark magic. Our plans stay the same. His shop is most likely where he takes the children and somewhere secret inside it. We just have to find that location."
Killian was falling asleep with the others talked. Bae put him to bed and Rumple and Regina strengthened the wards on the suite before they retired for the night.
Rasputin was ready to vomit when the scent of feces polluted his shop. He looked up from the potion he was making to see Cruella standing before him in her true form.
"What on earth did you do, fall into a sewer?" he demanded. "You could have taken a bath first!"
"We have a problem and it's another sorceress, not one we've seen before. She has my pelts and she's bound me to keep me from shifting! And...Selene is missing but worse than that...she's starting to remember!"
Rasputin smirked. "Encouraging her little affair with a psychologist to get your hands on a Dalmatian skin backfired quite nicely, didn't it?"
"Shut up!" she hissed.
"And you are correct, this does present a problem...now the children and their parents will be on their guard now more than they have before."
"Nothing was supposed to break that spell...nothing!" Cruella raged. "How the hell could a goddamn doctor break it when I took her to the best ones around the world as a test and they couldn't even make a dent!?"
"The magic the family he's travelling with...if it's not from this world..."
Cruella laughed harshly. "Did you have a bit too much vodka tonight dear?"
"No more than usual. But it is something to think about."
She grinned. "Magic from another world...the soul of a magician from another world...the possibilities are endless."
They'd suffered a few minor setbacks but all would be as it should be around the time of the full moon.
The next morning the Nevengers were changed back into their child selves though they still retained their adult memories and were eager to see more of Disney and do a little detective work.
They were all eating breakfast when Selene and Archie shuffled into the dining room, both having dark circles under their eyes. Selene was too terrified to sleep and when she did she had terrible nightmares, her screams waking Archie.
Rumple waved his hand and a dreamcatcher appeared in it. "Put this above your bed tonight Selene an it'll chase the bad dreams away."
"Why are you children again?"
"Cause we wanna see more of Disney an we 'vestigating, right Henry?" Regina asked her son.
"Yep."
"We're gonna put Ra Ra Rasputin in jail with some big guy named Bubba who's gonna make him..."
"Killian Gold, do you want to have Ivory for breakfast?" Emma threatened.
"Ummm...no."
"Then don't finish that sentence."
He bowed his head in shame. "Sorry, Mom."
"We're going to stay here Bae. Selene...doesn't feel safe going out of the hotel," Archie said.
"Okay."
She'd already called in to work telling them she wasn't feeling well and needed to take a vacation day. She had a feeling she would be using all of it to find another job...and another home.
Bae turned to the toddlers. "Now...you guys need to act like kids while we're in the park and be on your best behavior."
Rumple scoffed. "An how many times did I give you that speech Baelfire and you got in trouble, hmmm dearie?"
"Uhhh..."
"More'n I can count is how many!"
Selene started laughing. "I can't help it...his father is a kid...and arguing with his adult son."
"Oh, they have their moments," Emma told her.
After breakfast they all got dressed and went to the park while Archie, Selene and the Dalmatians stayed at the hotel.
They all wanted to meet Mickey Mouse this time and Rumple wanted to see if he could participate in a sketch of Fantasia. Emma had to stop and rest a few times since Aria was more active that day. The young mother suspected the baby wasn't going to wait much longer to be born.
The toddlers were keen to keep their promise to Bae to be on their best behavior but an incident near Epcott changed their minds quickly. Bae was at one of the stands getting them all some snacks and Emma was taking a short rest on one of the benches when the Nevengers spotted a group of boys surrounding another, smaller child with glasses, taunting him and snatched the balloons he was holding out of his hand.
"Hey Kev, why don't we tie em to him and see if he flies away?" asked one of them.
"Jerks!" Henry growled.
"Where the heck's the adults?" demanded Regina.
"Over there playin on their phones," Rumple said angrily, pointing to a group of teenagers in a line on their cellphones. All of them wore the same shirts as did the boys, labeling them as campers and counselors.
"Leeme alone!" yelled the small boy.
"What're ya gonna do 'bout it, shortie?" challenged one of the boys.
"Here's what WE'RE gonna do bout it!" snarled Belle as she stomped on one's foot and smacked his backside with the book she was holding.
"An this!" Rumple swung his cane and smacked another with it.
"How bout a little a this?" Killian smirked and kicked the boy in the groin as he lay on the ground.
Regina ran over to one of the others and yanked his underwear up. "Have fun pickin' that out jerk!"
Henry hi-fived her and shoved the remaining boy against a trashcan. "You leave him alone or we're taking the trash out...get it?" he threatened.
"Henry! Rumple, Regina, Belle…Killian! You stop that right now!" Emma yelled as she struggled to get up from the bench.
The younger boy watched with awe as children younger than he was took on the biggest bullies at Camp Mohawk and were winning!
Several of his fellow campers ran over to the scene and started cheering. "Yeah! Give it em!"
"That's enough!" Emma barked.
Everyone froze.
"Now do you want to tell me what is going here?" she demanded of her children.
"Emma, they was pickin on this kid!" Rumple protested.
"And what have we told you about fighting?"
"Umm...not to do it. But..."
"No buts! You should've come over and got me and you all know what we have to do, don't you?"
She gave them all a Disappointed Look. "And Henry, you certainly know better!"
"I know Mom."
The group of teenagers came up to them. "What's going on?"
"Ya'd know if you was payin' 'ttention 'stead of playin' on your phone!" Rumple snapped.
"They was picking on me!" cried the little boy, pointing at the group of sore older ones. "They always pick on me an you don't care!"
"Yeah!" added one of the other children. "You suck! You let em pick on us cause you think it's cool!"
Emma glared at the counselors. "Just what kind of joint are you running where you encourage bullying?"
"Mind your own business lady," one of them said smartly. Belle snuck up behind him and smacked him with her book.
"You don't talk like that to Emma, you creep!"
"Well I'll be having a talk with whoever runs the place and you might want to look for another summer job," Emma said stiffly.
"You tell em Emma!" Regina hooted.
Bae returned with the snacks, groaning with frustration when he realized the kids had gotten into trouble...again.
They sat all of the children down, lecturing them again, Bae giving them a speech is father often gave him when he got in fights. "The best fight is one you can walk away from. You all could've gotten hurt. I know you meant well but next time you need to come find an adult."
"Now we want you to sit here and think about why what you did was wrong," Emma said sternly. "Consider this your time out…and Henry...you'll be handing over your tablet."
"Mom!"
"Do you want to lose the phone as well? Don't argue with me."
He sighed. "Okay Mom."
The kids were miserable during their time out but they'd learned their lesson, the next time they would do as they were told and find an adult.
An hour later the group went in search of Mickey Mouse.
Rasputin was looking forward to another day of searching for souls when the door to his shop opened and one of the banes to his existence walked in, that meddling detective.
Nick walked up to where he was behind the counter and said, "How's business, Putin? Looks like those toys are flying off the shelves, eh?"
"Have you thought of taking a comedy class Detective," the shop owner countered bitterly. "You could use it."
Insolent bastard, he seethed inwardly. How I would love to see you thrown on a rack and your entrails fed to demons!
Nick smirked. "You're a pretty funny guy yourself. You need to lighten up. Maybe listen to some music." He pressed a button on his phone. "Like this." A familiar song began playing and a voice sang, "Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen!" Nick leaned on the counter, watching the other's face. "Catchy, isn't it?"
"Irritating is more like it!" The monk wanted to find the imbecile who wrote the trash and the group that sang it and dissolve them in acid.
Nick flicked the button off, thinking it might be slightly petty but he'd gotten Putin's goat with that little stunt, and he wanted the man off balance, since then they slipped up. And he was sure that the man was not at all what he seemed. He might LOOK legit but there was scum lurking below the surface.
"Now is there something pressing you need to speak to me about Detective or are you just here to irritate me for your own amusement with silly music and tasteless jokes?"
"About that incident yesterday with the Gold boy . . .you were rather unsympathetic and nasty. Kind of a strange attitude for someone who has children around constantly." The detective's gaze sharpened. "I'm wondering, is that why so few children leave here happy?"
"Would you be pleased if someone vomited on you, Detective. I think not. And despite your opinion on the matter, it was intentional. That boy is a brat who deserves to have his backside thrashed."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Really? You'd beat a kid because he got sick? You forget, I saw the whole thing."
"Your opinion on the matter is somewhat biased."
The older man glowered at the detective.
"You were in the wrong time and place. And accidents happen. But the question remains-why WERE you even over there at that time? The afternoon, after lunch . . .shouldn't you have been here, minding your shop? Are you that slow you can afford to close your business during one of the busiest hours of operation?" Nick pressed.
"If you must know I take my lunch late in the afternoon and my customers usually visit earlier in the day when the park is not so crowded," Rasputin lied coolly.
Nick cocked an eyebrow. "You say that like it's a bad thing. I thought retail owners liked it when things got busy-more opportunities for customers to buy," he pressed thinking, you lie like a rug! You were following that family!
His instincts were screaming that here was a child molester and he longed for the good old days when he could have shoved the bastard against a wall and made him talk.
Rasputin reached under the counter and took out his ledger, opening it to his list of sales for that day.
All of them had been Cruella...in different forms.
"There. You see, Detective...I had many customers that day and not all of them have children. Many are collectors."
Nick studied the ledger, thinking how easily such things could be doctored. He knew there was something fishy going on, he just couldn't pin his finger on it.
"Or you can view the security tapes if you'd like," Rasputin added swiftly.
He's hiding something, dammit! I know it. Nick swore. Then he said, "No, I've seen enough." The tapes more than likely would have been altered as well, and without some kind of warrant, he couldn't take them and have them analyzed for tampering.
Then he tossed out another barb. "Just out of curiosity . . .do you even like kids, Putin?"
"When they are not brats, yes."
"All kids are brats sometimes," the detective drawled, speaking from experience. "You have kids?" He knew the man was single, but that didn't mean he always was.
"Three..." Rasputin murmured.
"You have three kids? They live with their mother? Or are they old enough to be on their own?"
He hadn't thought about Marie, Dimiri and Varvara in such a long time. "They are...adults now..."
"Once there were five...but my sons...died young..."
"I see. That can be tough. They here in the US? Or back in Russia?"
"They are in Russia."
And all of them would have been ashamed to see what their father had become.
He hadn't pegged Putin as a family man . . .and now he had some new leads to follow up on. "It must be lonely here without your family," Carlyle said. "Your wife . . .she pass on?"
"She did."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"I wish not to talk about it anymore."
Carlyle nodded. Funny, how the background checks hadn't mentioned Putin's wife or children though.
His beloved daughter Maria had defended her father's name until the day of her death and now he shamed her memory with his debauchery.
He never saw her or his grandchildren. It was the price he paid for his dark deeds.
And he had no regrets.
He watched with great pleasure as Mother Russia seemed to collapse within itself and his prediction that that the royal family would die within a year came true...with a little assistance on his part. After all, hadn't they deserved it when they banished him?
They may have written songs to mock him but none could deny that he was now a legend, one both feared and admired. It was quite a step up from his humble beginnings.
Even if the damned song irritated him, he was enough of a legend to have one.
However it was not as creative as Cruella's.
"Was there something else you needed Detective?"
He wanted to get the nuisance out of his shop quickly
Nick decide to back off for now, besides he now had some new names to run through the database and see what came up.
"No, thank you, Mr. Putin," he said politely and walked out, his fingers already punching an inquiry into the police database.
After he left Rasputin locked the shop and continued his search.
Elsewhere in the park the children were waiting to see the legendary mouse barely able to contain their excitement.
They had waited on line to get pictures with his sidekicks Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. Belle and Regina got pictures with Minnie.
Henry added more pictures and video to the Nevengers Adventures album.
"So when're you an Mickey gonna have kids?" Belle asked Minnie.
"Yeah isn't your clock ticking?" added Regina.
Minnie giggled. "Maybe someday soon . . .and since I'm a mouse . . .I don't have a clock to worry about."
"So how bout you duck? You gonna have kids?"
"Uh . . .you'd have to ask Daisy," Donald stammered. "But I've got three nephews."
"Yeah but you gotta have kids too."
Henry had to walk away, he was laughing so hard.
Rumple appeared and grabbed Belle's hand. "C'mon, we gotta get on line to see the Sorcerer's 'Prentice show!"
"Ya think they'll let us be in it?"
"I dunno," he shrugged.
"Hope so."
"Good luck!" Donald said. "Sometimes Mickey chooses a kid to help him."
"You should be Rumple!"
"Guess we'll see," said the little pawnbroker. He would like to, since Fantasia was one of his favorite movies, but he wasn't betting on it.
"I wanna help too," Regina cried.
"We're never gonna get the chance less we're over there," Rumple pointed out.
"We're going!"
They filed into the big auditorium where Mickey was scheduled to do his show from the Sorcerer's Apprentice. Because they had Fast Passes and Rumple was disabled, they got to get front row seats by the stage.
"Now they gotta pick ya mate," Killian whispered.
"Prolly pick the crip," a boy behind them grouched.
"Yeah pity pick," said his companion.
Killian turned around. "Ya wanna knuckle sandwich?"
"Well, if they picked you it'd be outta pity cause you're so ugly you look like roadkill!" Regina growled.
"You look like something my dog puked up!"
Bae turned around and said coldly, "Now that's enough. Mickey is the only one who decides who is going to help or not, but if you misbehave, you get ordered to leave the building and miss the show."
One of the boys kicked the back of Rumple's seat.
Bae's eyes narrowed. "Knock it off, before you don't even get to see the show, kid!"
"Derek!" His father cuffed him on the back of the head.
Bae turned back around and asked Rumple if he was okay.
"I'm okay Bae."
Bae hoped the show started soon . . .and the brats in back of them behaved before he blew a gasket. He also hoped Mickey did pick Rumple . . . because Rumple deserved it.
One of the boys elbowed Derek and showed him a straw and in it he had a spitball ready to launch.
Derek gave him a thumbs up when his father wasn't looking.
The other boy blew threw the straw and the spitball landed on the back of Rumple's neck.
The boys started laughing.
Rumple wiped it off and turned and glared at them. "Think that's funny do ya?" he began.
The boy raised the straw again and blew through it, another spitball sticking to Rumple's forehead.
Rumple wanted badly to use his magic to give the bully a real beatdown, but he didn't dare. Instead he did something else . . .he silently summoned the usher whose job it was to make sure all the kids were behaving before the show. Then he said loudly, "Quit shooting spitballs at me, you dumb butt!"
"Are we having some trouble here?" the usher demanded.
"Yeah! That kid keeps spitting spitballs at me and kicking the back of my seat. And I was mindin' my own business!"
"Was not ya liar!"
"Derek!" his father yelled.
The usher frowned when he saw the spitball plastered to Rumple's forehead. "That looks like a spitball to me."
"An here's the other one," he showed him the one that had been on the back of his neck."
"We don't tolerate that kind of behavior here. I'm afraid you'll have to leave," the usher said coldly to the boys and the father accompanying them.
They all glared at Rumple.
"I'm very sorry," their harried father apologized. "You are all in so much trouble!" he snapped at his sons. "What am I raising here, a pack of wild animals? Your mom's gonna kill you . . .and me too."
"It's that crip's fault!" Derek protested. "Why's he have to get special treatment. Needs to learn to walk right like everybody else!"
Belle wanted to send Mister common Sense after this jerk.
"Is that what you think?" Rumple demanded. "That I'm like this cause I want to be treated different? Then you don't know nothin'! I got this way in an accident . . .and some kids are born this way! It's got nothin' t'do with wantin' things. An' makin' fun of kids like me show's you're an ignorant idiot! You oughta think fore you open up your mouth, 'fore I sue ya for discrimination!"
The usher smirked. The little boy talked just like a lawyer.
"Sue schmoo!" Derek blew a raspberry at him while they were being escorted out.
The father turned several shades of red. "Forgive my son . . .his mouth's two steps ahead of his brain. Let's go-now! Where the heck did I go wrong? I'm almost ashamed to know you, young man!" he cried as he led the three away. "And none of you are getting any dessert and you're gonna have a hard time sitting down tonight for supper once your mom finds out about this atrocious behavior!"
"Good riddance," Emma muttered.
Bae shook his head. "If I were him, I'd not wait till you got home; I'd have warmed their butts soon as we got in the door."
"Enjoy the show, sir" said the usher, thinking that sometimes that was just what some of these kids needed.
"It's starting," Belle whispered to Rumple.
Rumple smiled and clapped his hands, the previous incident forgotten as Mickey came out on the stage dressed in his Sorcerer's Apprentice outfit.
Kids cheered and clapped wildly.
Mickey waved to all of them and said, "Hello, boys and girls! Are you all ready to go on a magical journey with me?"
All the kids screamed, "Yes!"
"Good! Then let's go all the way back in time-way back-to a time when magic was still practiced here . . ."
As he gestured, the stage spun around and green and red smoke billowed up behind him.
When the smoke cleared, the stage now looked like the inside of a castle, with a very deep stone well.
The children all gasped in awe.
"Cool!" Killian exclaimed.
"This is the castle of the wise old sorcerer Yen Sid," Mickey told them. "Yen Sid was a powerful sorcerer . . .and he made many things to help him bring light and hope to the world. Like his magic hat."
Mickey showed them the hat on his head.
"This hat could do many things . . .when commanded by its master . . and one day Yen Sid took his apprentice-" he gestured to himself. "-and used the hat to help an old woman with her chores."
An old woman hobbled onto the stage with her crooked cane, and a small house appeared behind her.
So did the tall figure of the sorcerer, with the hat on his head. And the hat glowed and brooms and mops animated themselves and began cleaning the old woman's cottage.
"The old woman was so happy, she thanked Yen Sid for his kindness and baked him a special cake."
The old woman handed the sorcerer a large chocolate cake.
"Well, I saw what my master had done and I wished I could do it too. But . . .I forgot that my master told me to NEVER touch his magic items without asking him first." Mickey put his hands to his mouth.
Rumple slanted a glance at Killian. "Boy, does that sound familiar."
"Ummm...yeah," he said sheepishly.
"So . . .one day Yen Sid went out and left me a list of chores he wanted me to do before he came back. Like wash the castle floors and sweep the hall and wash the dishes." Mickey held up his fingers.
"And I thought-uh oh! That's an awful lotta work . . .and then I saw his hat on the shelf," he continued. He went over to the shelf and climbed on a chair to get the hat down, then he set it on his head.
"So I took his hat and I tried to use it to make it help me."
He gestured with his hands at the mop and the broom.
Nothing happened.
Frowning, Mickey took off the hat and peered in it. Then he put it back on his head and gestured again.
Still nothing happened.
"S'what happened when I tried to open the bottle the first time," Killian whispered to Rumple.
"Uh oh! It's not working!" Mickey cried. "What should I do?"
"And you shoulda quit while you were ahead," Rumple hissed back.
Some of the kids cried, "Put the hat down!"
Others yelled, "Try again!"
But Rumple cried, "You gotta believe Mickey!"
Mickey chuckled. "Who said that?"
Rumple waved his hand. "I did! Over here!"
"Now he's gonna pick you for sure!" Belle beamed.
Mickey came to the edge of the stage and said, "That's correct! If you believe, you can do anything! Even magic!" He beckoned to Rumple. "Come up here, young man! I need someone who believes in magic to help me."
"YAY!" the Nevengers cheered.
Rumple slid off his seat and limped onto the stage. "Hi. I'm Rumple."
Mickey shook his hand. "Pleased to meet ya, Rumple! I'm Mickey." He pulled out another hat like his and put it on his head. "Now . . .we need to believe really hard. Think you can do it?"
Rumple nodded. "Uh huh."
"Piece a cake for him," Regina bragged.
"Okay. Ready? Do what I do."
Mickey gestured at the brooms and mops. So did Rumple.
At first nothing happened.
Then the brooms and mops began to shimmer with magical light.
"Ooooo!" screamed the other children.
Mickey turned back to the audience. "Now we might need your help too. So on the count of three, I want you all to say-I believe in magic. Okay!"
Mickey began counting.
"One . . two . . . THREE!"
"I believe in magic!" all the children yelled.
And the shimmering around the mops and brooms increased.
"Now, Rumple, let's try this again!" Mickey said, and he rolled up his sleeves and gestured.
Rumple followed . . .and the brooms and mops suddenly grew hands and became animated like in the movie.
"Rumple coulda done that easy," Regina whispered to Belle.
"I know but he's gotta act normal now."
"YAY!" All the kids screamed and clapped.
The Fantasia music began to play and as Mickey and Rumple pointed to the well, the brooms and mops marched over and began filling up buckets of water.
Mickey and Rumple directed them to clean the floor, and others to wash all the dishes in soapy water.
Soon the stage floor was covered in soapy water.
"Uh oh...now they're gonna get in trouble..." Killian whispered.
He certainly had when Rumple saw the Djinn on the loose.
Mickey turned back to the audience. "The castle was sparkling clean and soon all the chores I had were done."
He turned back to the mops and brooms washing the floor and cried, "STOP!"
But the mops and brooms kept right on getting water from the well and washing the floor.
"I said STOP!" Mickey yelled, gesturing frantically. He indicated Rumple should also.
The two yelled stop at the brooms and mops.
But nothing stopped them . . .as they were not the hat's true master.
Their hats glowed . . .and the mops kept right on washing and washing . . until the whole castle was filled with water.
"Uh oh now they gots the Johnstown flood goin," Regina mumbled.
"Awww!" groaned all the children.
Mickey took Rumple and said, "Maybe you'd better leave now. The water's awfully high . . ."
Rumple shook his head. "But I wanna help."
"I don't think you can," said Mickey sadly. "There's only one person who can now and he's-"
Suddenly thunder boomed and Yen Sid stood there in all his might. "What is the meaning of this?"
Mickey stepped in front of Rumple. "Umm . . .well, you see, sir . . ."
Yen Sid saw the hat on Mickey's head. He gestured and said, "Halt!"
All the buckets and mops stopped washing and cleaning.
Then Yen Sid took the hat off Mickey's head. "You touched my hat, apprentice! You disobeyed me . . .and how can I have an apprentice who doesn't listen?" Scowling, the sorcerer pointed to the door of the castle. "I should dismiss you, right now!"
Mickey bowed his head in shame.
Normally this was when the play would end. But Rumple spoke up.
"No! Master, everyone makes mistakes," the boy said, coming out from behind Mickey. "Won't you forgive him and give him another chance?"
A startled Yen Sid stared at Rumple. "What? You want me to forgive my apprentice?"
"Yes. Cause . . .sometimes we do bad things and get in trouble but . . .if we're sorry, our parents forgive us."
"Oh?" Yen Sid crossed his arms. Then he lofted an eyebrow and said, "Let me think."
He paced up and down the stage, then at last he came back to Rumple and Mickey. "Very well! I shall not dismiss you . . . BUT you will clean this castle from top to bottom without magic . . .and next time keep your hands off my magic hat!" he scolded fiercely.
"I will, Master," Mickey promised.
Bae was grinning. "Reminds me of Papa's punishments."
The audience cheered wildly and the stage swirled again and the castle vanished and Mickey bowed to Rumple and whispered, "That was a great ad lib, kid! Maybe you ought to be in pictures!" He shook Rumple's hand again and then escorted him back to his seat, saying, "Keep the hat for remembrance, my fellow apprentice!"
All the children cheered.
Mickey returned to the stage and said, "So that's the story of the Sorcerer's Apprentice!"
He bowed to them all, and the curtain came down.
"That was awesome!" Henry hugged his grandfather.
Rumple smiled. "I always thought his master should have punished him and given him a second chance. It's what I would have done!"
"Yeah an don't I know it," Killian mumbled.
An usher approached and said to Bae and Emma, "Hello. We'd like to get your names so we can credit you when we make you a copy of the play. The execs were so impressed with your son that they'd like to change the play's ending to show Yen Sid being merciful. And get your permission to show this version on a special channel here in the park so everyone who stays here can see it."
"Rumple you're gonna be a movie star!" Killian exclaimed.
"Great now he's gonna have lotsa girls chasing him," Belle complained.
The usher chuckled. "Umm . . .he's a little young for that!" He took down Bae and Emma's names and Rumple's and had both of them sign an agreement allowing the studio to show the play with Rumple in it which they had taped on all the TV's in the park hotels.
Rumple read the agreement carefully making certain all was in order before Bae signed.
"We'd also like to give you these free passes to the park and to a free 6 day stay at any of the park hotels as well as to Universal Studios and Sea World for a day's admission for you and your family. It's the studio's way of thanking you for coming up with that brilliant ending."
"Thank you. The kids will love it." Emma said.
"We hope you enjoy your stay at the Magic Kingdom and please come back and visit again," the usher said.
"Oh we will!
"The tape should arrive at your room tonight," he added.
Archie and Selene spent most of the day doing searches online for any articles about her parents. She wanted to find them but was terrified they'd think she was a fraud.
Finally she found one written six months earlier about the couple's hopes that their daughter still lived...and they still lived on the farm she remembered.
She decided she would go to England to see him and to her surprise, he wanted to go with her.
"You do?"
"Of course I do."
She stopped believing in love at first sight a long time ago but Archie Hopper had a way of changing a girl's mind.
"We're mad, you know that? Completely mad," she said softly.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he said and kissed her.
She was suddenly reminded of her favorite scene in Bridget Jones' Diary. "Nice boys don't kiss like this..."
"Oh yes we do," he chuckled and kissed her again to prove it.
"At least I'm not in my knickers in the middle of a snowstorm. I never quite got that part..." But like Bridget she was certain now she'd found her Mr. Darcy.
They were too focused on each other to realize they now had company.
Belle and Regina started giggling at the sight of the two kissing on the couch, while Killian, always the most direct one, blurted, "Hey, you been doin' the nasty while we was gone?"
Archie flushed scarlet. "Ummm...no..."
"Cause if you are, you better marry her quick," Rumple lectured.
Selene buried her face in Archie's shoulder and laughed. "You thought we were shagging?"
"What's Shaggy gotta do with it?" Killian asked.
"Umm not Shaggy...shagging...it's ahhh what we say in England ..."
"Never mind, Selene!" Archie cried. The last thing they needed to do was teach the kids British slang terms for sex.
"You need to get your own room?" Emma teased. "Things looked pretty heated in here."
'We were just kissing! Nothing else!" Archie protested.
"Didja give her the tongue?" Killian inquired.
"That is none of your business Killian Gold!"
"You did. You did, you did, you did! Your face is as red as your hair!" the little pirate teased.
Belle hopped onto the couch beside Selene. "Sooooo...did he make your toes curl?"
Oh yes, Selene thought dreamily.
"An when are ya gettin married? Better do it before you get a bun in the oven."
"Well, ahhhh, we just started dating...and..."
"You're almost to home plate," Killian reminded Archie.
"And you know too much about that stuff for your age!" Bae said sharply.
"Sorry Dad."
"We spent most of the day trying to find my parents," Selene said.
"You have any luck?" Henry asked.
She nodded. "They still live on the farm and I'd like to go see them...Archie said he'd come with me…"
"You're not gonna leave now, are you?" Belle asked sadly.
"No, not yet," Archie assured her.
"So what did you do today?" Selene asked them.
"Umm we hadta deal with some bullies an now Rumple's a big shot movie star!' Regina answered.
"What?" the couple gasped.
"Big time! M'on my way out makin it!" Killian sang.
"Ummm...I got to do "Sorcerer's Apprentice with Mickey," Rumple explained.
"I wish we could have seen it. I'm sure you were good," Archie said.
"Actually, you can see it," Bae said. "They're sending us a DVD of the show . . .and also putting it on the free TV channels in all the hotels because Rumple made up an alternate ending to the play."
"Well then I guess we'll have to watch it now, won't we?" Selene smiled at the toddler. "You know you are adorable as a little boy," she said and ruffled his hair.
Rumple blushed.
"Yeah but he's my husband...You gots your own boyfriend!" Belle huffed.
"I know sweetie."
"Now, there's no need to be jealous, Belle," Rumple said. "Selene and Archie are true love just like us, and nothing comes between a couple like that. It's forever, dearie."
And Archie and Selene were starting to believe it.
"Why don't I make us some popcorn for the movie?" Emma suggested.
The kids cheered.
"Any special requests?"
"Popcorn with cinnamon sugar?" Henry asked.
"Comin up, kid!"
As Emma was making the popcorn in the kitchenette microwave, there was a knock on their suite door. It was a bellhop delivering the DVD and the package of tickets and hotel options they'd been told about.
The kids sat on the floor in front of the TV, Emma and Bae were on the sofa and Archie and Selene on the love seat. Though it was just a staged performance, they all knew Rumple's plea to Yen Sid had been from his heart, and spoken from experience. There were people that made mistakes and deserved second chances...and in the basement of a toy shop were two people who would never deserve them for evil was too deeply rooted in them.