Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"You really need to check out Gol-Rumpelstiltskin's house."

David's head snapped up to look at Ruby. "What's wrong? He's working on fixing that hat, and I promised I wouldn't bother him in exchange for finding it."

"There's been this weird moaning coming from the house since magic came back," Leroy supplied. "It's weirding people out."

"You guys are just jumpy because he has his powers back. He and Belle are probably just celebrating having their memories back, but if it makes you feel better, I'll go look."

Both Ruby and Leroy shuddered at the thought of Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. When they were cursed, it had been gross. Now, it was downright creepy.

On the other side of town, Rumpelstiltskin carefully looked out of his window in hopes of spotting the town's fill in sheriff. David was nowhere in sight, so Rum called back to the ghost in his living room.

"Are you ready for this, BJ?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Beetlejuice materialized as a perfect copy of Rumpel. "If you can't count on yourself, who can you count on?"

On the couch, Lydia and Belle looked up at the two Rumpels. They'd been planning this little prank for days, and the girls had no intention on interfering. Pass or fail, it was going be funny with those two involved.

"Just when I thought my marriage couldn't get any worse," Belle said dryly. "There's another one to worry about."

Beetle-Rum cleared his throat dramatically and came to kneel by Belle's side. "Sweetheart. I don't know how to tell you this, but I've been cheating on you."

Lydia covered her mouth with her hand. Their practicing had paid off, and the two men could do perfect imitations of each other. Her grin only grew when Belle went along with his act.

"Rum," she said mock tearfully. "How could you? How long has this been going on?"

"For years, dearie. I just didn't have the heart to tell you."

"Who is it? Can you at least tell me that?"

"You'll hate me even more for this, but I will tell you. It was…Granny from the diner."

That was it for Belle. She fell back on the couch in stitches. Both Lydia and Belle were rolling with laughter as the real Rumpel glared at his double.

"You sick bastard."

"I know you are but what am I?" Beetle-Rum said with Rumpel's high-pitched voice.

"Completely deranged," Rumpel mumbled. "The thought of me with that old bat is just sick."

"Aren't you centuries old anyway?" Lydia asked after recovering from laughter. "If it wasn't for your curse, you'd be dead as me and Beej."

Rumpelstiltskin realized that he couldn't argue with her and looked out the window again. He then spotted David Nolan walking towards his house and grinned evilly.

"It's showtime!"

Beetle-Rum glared at him before he was gone in a puff of smoke. "That's my line!"

At the door, both Rumpels appeared with matching smirks, and the original opened the door before David could knock.

"Rumpelstiltskin I-" The prince stopped short at the sight of two imps instead of one. "There are two of you."

"Nice to see that you can count," Beetle-Rum said sarcastically.

"Magic here is tricky, and even I haven't gotten just right yet. A spell misfired on me, and he appeared," said Rumpel pointing at his doppelganger. "He's very useful when I work."

David continued to look back and forth between the two imps. "Wait. There are two of you."

"Well, it's safe to say that Snow doesn't want you for your brains," Beetle-Rum said.

"We knew that from the start. He's a shepherd, what do you expect?"

"The same thing you expect, very little."

David had finally snapped out of his confusion and realized that he was being insulted. "Hey! I didn't come over here for this, but since I'm here, you can tell me what you plan to do with him."

"I'm keeping him, of course," Rumpel said, throwing his arm around Beetle-Rum's shoulders. "It's nice to be able to talk to myself and get a real reply."

"Plus, it's not as if…

"…I can just get rid of him."

"He is me…

"…and I am him. I can't kill him…

"…and he can't kill me."

"That would be suicide." They said in unison

David clutched his head in pain. Hearing those two finish each other's sentences had made him dizzy. He rubbed his eyes and say one of the Rumpels begin to fade away. Soon, the second Dark-One was gone, and David rubbed his eyes again.

"What the-How the-Where'd he go?!"

"He was never there, dearie. Surely, you've seen a hologram spell done before."

The look on his face was truly priceless. Rumpelstiltskin savored his victory before slamming the door in David's face. He quickly materialized in the living room along with Beetlejuice. Both men were laughing like maniacs.

"Did you see his face?!" Rumpel asked between fits of laughter.

"Priceless!"

Both Belle and Lydia shook their heads and held back laughter of their own. With those two together, the two women knew that this was only the beginning.

TBC