Regina hung up the phone with Emma and strode over to the building where she saw the lurking deity. As soon as she thought she was alone, she saw Robin Hood out of the corner of her eye striding closely beside her.

"What are you doing?" she asked him nervously.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he said defiantly.

"This could be dangerous."

"I love danger."

"I'm serious. There's a lot of magic at play here and you could get hurt. I don't want to be responsible for your injuries."

"And how do you think Henry will feel when I have to explain to him that his mother injured herself because she went up to face a deity by herself?"

"You can say that his mother was trying to do what she thought was best for him and this town."

"Now look who's starting to sound like a hero."

Regina shrugged off Robin's comment by rolling her eyes. He could see through her rough exterior that she meant well by her intentions. "Hercules mentioned that it had been Hades creating these monsters to destroy him."

"Yeah?" Robin asked, curious to find out Regina's plan. As both she and Robin approached the suspect building, she waved her hands over the locks and the door sprung open for them.

"Well, I think I saw him loitering at the top of this building," she said, holding the door open for him as they entered the darkened building together.

"And what do you intend to say or do when you confront Hades?" Robin inquired as they ascended the emergency stairway up to the rooftop.

"Confront him, convince him to take his monsters back and leave Storybrooke."

"How?"

"I… haven't exactly figured that part out yet."

Robin and Regina reached the top of the building and pushed open the emergency door giving them access to the flat rooftop. Regina and Robin stepped out into the clearing to discover nobody in sight. She looked up into the distance and could see the monster perfectly. As Elsa created her ice wall to protect the town, Hercules sliced and slashed at the monster directing its attention away from Elsa.

"You guys came just in time to see the show!" said Hades from behind Robin and Regina. The delighted deity sat in a throne he had set up for himself, snacking on hideous worms as he watched. "There's plenty of space up here, and I'm telling you… these are the best seats in the house."

"How did you get into Storybrooke?" Regina asked.

"And why are you here?" added Robin.

"Fair questions. You know," Hades said pointing a sickly-looking worm at Regina before slurping it whole, "you should probably talk to your son more."

"What does my son have to do with all of this?" Regina asked alarmed.

"Well, thanks to Henry, his belief in me gave me enough juice to cross realms on my own. You really brought him up to be a stout believer. Well done! Anyways, I am here because Wonderful Hercules is here. It turns out, no matter where he goes he's still prophesized to ruin my plans to take Mount Olympus."

"What do you want from Storybrooke?" Robin asked braving the next question.

"Look children, I couldn't care less about this place. I just want Hercules out of the equation. Now if you could step aside, you're kind of standing in the way of the performance."

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I want you to take your monster and leave this place immediately."

"Aww, c'mon. Really? The game hasn't even begun yet."

Regina created a fireball the size of a bowling ball and hurled it towards Hades. The fireball hit him square in the face, but was unaffected by the flames.

"Sweetie, seriously, do you not see the hair? It's literally made of flames," Hades said pointing at his flaming head.

"Get out of Storybrooke!" ordered Regina.

"Ooo!" Hades replied excitedly, surprised but not intimidated by Regina. "Aren't you the little spitfire?"

"You're not welcome here," yelled Robin, as he stood protectively between Regina and Hades.

Hades arms and hands transformed into long thick tendrils of black smoke. "What and miss out on all this fun? You see, if we're gonna keep playing like this, we're gonna miss all the good parts. So why don't we all just calm down," he said as the black smoke grabbed Robin and Regina, restricting them of movement, "have a seat," he continued, forcing their limp bodies into chairs he created from out of nowhere, "and enjoy the show."

… …

A giant thick glacier wall sprung up from the ground encompassing and protecting the town's border from the incumbent fight.

"How's that wall coming along?" shouted Hercules to Elsa. Nighttime had fallen and it was getting difficult to see in the dark.

"It's coming…" she called back.

Hercules planted the two floodlights strategically facing the woods. "How do these things work? Are they like the streetlamps? Don't they need this same lex-trecity?"

"Yes, hold on…" said Elsa as she finished erecting the last portion of the ice wall around the town. Another horrifying shriek emerged from the woods followed by a haunting haggard breath that could be heard getting closer to them. Elsa ran over to Hercules and fiddled with the equipment. Her hands shook nervously as she struggled to find the switch to turn it on. She felt the back of the lamp, tugging and turning at every knob until she found a promising switch. She switched the lever on and the lamp exploded with a brilliant light.

"I found it!" she exclaimed excitedly. She looked at the partnering lamp and threw out her hand, magically turning the switch on the other lamp. When both flood lights turned on, the lights revealed a serpent-like beast with four legs staring ravenously at them. The monster roared at the sudden light in its face. Elsa froze in place, stunned by fear at the terrifying sight. Unlike Elsa, the serpent beast was not stunned by the light and it reared back its dragon-like head preparing to strike.

"Elsa! Move!" called out Hercules, quickly unsheathing his sword. The beast made its daring strike towards Elsa, unhinging its jaw exposing its jagged razor sharp teeth. Ice formed at Elsa's feet and then grew outwards toward the monster. As the monster approached it began to slip on the ice, exposing its vulnerable neck. Hercules seized the moment and in one swift motion, ran onto the newly created ice, slid underneath the monster, swung his blade and decapitated the beast.

The beast's incoming body was still sliding quickly towards Elsa and she protected herself by creating an ice dome. Just as she completed her dome, the monster's body slammed into it.

"Elsa!" shouted Hercules as he ran forward to separate her from the monster collision. Hercules pulled at the monster's leg and dragged it towards him. He then placed his body in between Elsa's ice shield and with one hand pushed against the monster's severed body away from Elsa's protective dome.

Elsa peeked beyond her miniature ice sanctuary and, seeing that it was safe, stepped cautiously away from the mangled creature. "Hercules?" Elsa called after him.

"Phew! That was close," Hercules exhaled as a bunch of the monster's bodily fluid gushed out of its body onto him.

Elsa giggled a little and then gawked at his current disgusting state pitifully. "I should say so…" she said trying not to laugh while plugging her nose from the vulgar smell.

Hercules looked down at his liquid soaked body and noted, "I will admit… not my cleanest victory."

Hercules shook his body like a wet dog and rung out his hair when suddenly the monster's body twitched. Hercules turned at the sudden movement and gasped, "uh oh."

"Hercules," said Elsa with nervous hesitance, "how is that monster still moving?"

"That's no ordinary monster…" The creature shook violently on its own accord and from the open wound sprouted three heads. "…that's a hydra."

Both Elsa and Hercules slowly stepped backwards in horror as the hydra rose from the ground. After the hydra oriented itself with its new form it quickly positioned itself to attack, appearing even more threatening than it did before. The three independent heads looked this way and that searching for sudden movements when one of the heads spotted Hercules slip a little on the ice. Hercules' little movement sounded the alarm and all three heads turned towards them erupting in terrifying cries.

"Hercules, if decapitation isn't going to take this beast down, then what will?" cried out Elsa in alarm. The hydra retracted its three heads and positioned itself for another attack.

"Uh… I dunno. RUN!"

Elsa hurled sharp icicles towards the hydra's three heads, thwarting the beast's attack. Elsa's quick thinking stalled the hydra and allowed the two heroines enough time to escape. Hercules took Elsa by the hand and darted off into the woods putting as much as distance as possible between them and the creature. The hydra shook its three heads, doing its best to shake out the icicles.

After placing some safe distance between themselves and the beast, they reached the forest's border. Hercules brought Elsa around to face her and pleaded, "Elsa! I need you to keep running! Go hide in the woods while I figure out how to destroy the hydra."

"What! Are you crazy? I'm not going to leave you by yourself."

"Elsa, you have a family here. Your sister, Anna and her husband Kristoff, they both need you! I don't have family here, that's why I need to do this alone. I need to be a hero in the eyes of my family!"

The monster managed to rid itself of Elsa's icicles and headed directly toward the couple without hesitation. The hydra's giant silhouette could be seen heading toward them and with each thunderous step the ground quaked.

"There's more to being a hero than just constantly placing yourself in danger!"

"And what's that?" said Hercules, forgetting the world for a moment to listen to her pearls of wisdom. It was neither the time nor the place to be having this conversation, but Hercules didn't care. His whole life, he desperately sought out answers and ways to be reunited with his family and if Elsa was the one who had all the answers, then he could spare this one crucial moment to listen. The Hydra stampeded and got dangerously close to the couple. Hercules instinctively wrapped his arms protectively around Elsa, shielding her body by using the bulk of his muscular body to cover her. They both closed their eyes and waited for the violent impact to come, but it never did. They waited a few moments before they both opened their eyes and to their amazement, discovered that the hydra had suddenly disappeared.

… …

"WHAT THE?!... GAAAAAHHHH!" screamed Hades out of frustration from the building's rooftop. His frustration amassed so immensely that red flames exploded from the top of his head. His throne disappeared and the magical muffles and restraints that bound Robin and Regina fell away.

"What just happened?" Robin asked as both he and Regina tumbled to the ground.

"It looks like Hades somehow lost his power," Regina observed as she massaged her exposed wrists that were once cuffed from restraints. Regina looked up at the powerless deity and smirked, "but I still have mine…"

Regina stood up from where she fell and casted her hands at Hades. It was her sole intention to blow him up into smithereens but nothing happened. She threw her hands out at him again and nothing happened. "My magic," she said looking down at her hands in shock, "it's gone too!"

As he continued staring down at Elsa and Hercules, the flames of his hair cooled back to blue. He slicked his flames and calmly reasoned out loud, "Fine! Fine. If you want to get things done, you've got to do it yourself."

In a blink of an eye, Hades disappeared from the rooftop, leaving both Robin and Regina behind completely stunned and confused.

… …

"What just happened?" asked Elsa who was still holding Hercules close. She was just as confused as Hercules.

Hercules released his protective embrace and walked cautiously back toward the flood lights by the ice wall. He looked back and forth for any signs of the monster and asked out loud to himself, "Where did the monster go?"

"You!" said Hades from out of nowhere. "You just had to be all noble! You just had to be the hero! Why can't I get rid of you?"

"Hercules," said Elsa looking at Hades both fearfully and questionably "is that Hades?"

"Elsa stay away from him!" Hercules said out of alarm, "According to Henry, he's dangerous and malicious."

"And now thanks to that twerp I can't get back to my world to finish what I've started."

"Finish what?" Hercules questioned, demanding to know.

"Uh… What do you take me for, an idiot? I'm not gonna tell you," he replied nastily. Hades turned to Hercules and stealthily approached Hercules in a threatening manner, "You see, I need deity power to get back to my world, so with you being the only viable candidate around here…" Hades darted towards Hercules and grabbed him quickly by the throat. "I suppose it's fate that you would be the one to give me enough juice to get me home. And since you're not completely a god this makes extraction a lot easier."

With one hand, Hades clenched tightly onto Hercules throat. At Hades touch, Hercules was paralyzed. Hercules could feel his strength draining from his body when he heard Elsa shout, "Stop!"

"Ugh! What now?"

"You need deity power to get home… right?" Elsa reiterated back to Hades.

"Yes, yes… time is of the essence sweetie. Get to your point," Hades seethed impatiently, still holding on to Hercules' throat.

Elsa took a few moments to contemplate what she was about to do next. So she reasoned what was in her head out loud, "If two people have what the other one needs, a deal can always be struck… Let me make you a deal!"

"A deal?! What could you possibly have that I want? I'm killing two birds with one stone here. I doubt you have anything that would keep me from accomplishing this."

"I have deity power," claimed Elsa, bravely. "I'm a descendent from one of the Danish gods."

"Elsa, no don't it!" strained Hercules.

Elsa ignored Hercules plights and carried on with her negotiation, "Take my powers and you can leave Storybrooke in peace. There aren't any ways to cross worlds from here. If I give you my power to go home, then you can still carry out your dastardly plans. Hercules will reside here in Storybrooke with no means to follow you and we'll both have what the other wants. You want Hercules out of your hair and we don't want you in Storybrooke anymore. I would say that's a fair deal."

The deity smoothly and quickly approached Elsa and held out his hand with a mischievous smirk on his face, "I think, little lady, that it's more than fair."

Elsa shook Hades hand and upon contact a blue glow engulfed her body and funneled through her hand into Hades. The sudden withdrawal of power crippled her and she collapsed before him. "Oh, and by the way," Hades added spitefully, "This will… kind of, sort of feel like death in the morning, that is, if you last till the morning. I doubt it though, because in order for the transference to work it takes a life. And believe me, your sacrifice will not go unappreciated. Sorry doll-face. Thanks for the fuel."

When Hades was finished extracting power from Elsa he noticed Hercules coming at him from the corner of his eye. With a simple flick of his wrist, Hades used his newly acquired power and flung Hercules into Elsa's ice wall. "I'm absolutely done with you Wonderbreath. Enjoy your new life here in Storybrooke!"

Hades waved his hand in front of him and a portal sprung open before him. The deity looked back at Hercules' pathetic form and chuckled evilly as he walked through the portal. Hercules ran forward to dive into the shrinking portal, but by the time he got close enough to it, it had sealed up along with the opportunity to fight Hades ever again. He turned and raced to be by Elsa's side. "Elsa! Wha… Why did you do that?"

He delicately lifted Elsa's body from off the ground and cradled her in his arms. "Because…" she said weakly looking up into his pleasant eyes, "heroes… sacrifice everything for the people they love. I learned that from my sister."

Elsa struggled to breathe as tears began to formulate in Hercules' eyes. "Hercules," Elsa continued with limited breath, "I lied to Hades. There is one last way to travel between worlds and defeat him."

"How?" Hercules asked with desperate sad eyes, holding Elsa's dying body in his arms.

"You mentioned earlier how you first made it into Storybrooke… Henry's pocket-watch. Find Henry… find his pocket-watch and be the hero I know you are." Her eyes fluttered and her body fell completely limp in his hands.

"Elsa!" shouted Hercules as he wept over Elsa's lifeless form. He allowed only a few tears to fall when he looked up angrily, gritting his teeth, "Hades…"

He closed his eyes and could still hear Elsa's advice echo in his head. He knew what he had to do. He needed Henry's pocket-watch. He needed to find Henry. He made up his mind. He wasn't sure how he was going to do it, but he was going to somehow go after Hades, defeat him and save Elsa.

I know, I know. Gods can't take powers from each other. But in my story, deities are actual creatures with their own sets of rules and magical guidelines. However, if you do your research into Greek mythology, those gods have done some pretty crazy kinky stuff that's pretty unbelievable, so who knows? I just figured… meh… this is the OUAT universe, anything's possible here too. So… why not?

So enough about that. Obviously, it's taking me longer this go around to post up chapters and I apologize if it feels like a long time in between chapters. Lots of distractions at home. Good distractions though. Life. Family events. Parties. Friends. Being with my significant other.

Writing this fanfiction started out as a therapeutic exercise and I was so surprised and overwhelmed by how greatly it was received it. All thanks to you guys! So I write in my downtime, to unwind. I write when I can. If anything, I'm prolonging the inevitable… finishing this story.

I can't thank you guys enough. Especially OUATgirl17, BreathingintheSun, and Montreat11.