Chapter 18: Villains

(*PRESENT DAY IN STORYBROOKE*)

Storybrooke

Mary Margaret was driving her truck with Regina and Belle sitting next to her. After getting a suspicious tip from Zelena that Rumplestiltskin, Maleficent, Ingrid, and the Jabberwocky were going to use Pinocchio to find the Author so they could rewrite history, they were driving to Marco's house to warn him. They just hoped they weren't already too late.

Marco and his young son Pinocchio were inside their garage working on a motorcycle. Marco told Pinocchio that the bike belonged to him from when he was older before the Blue Fairy was able to return him to a child. It was an activity that they could do together as father and son. Suddenly, the garage door started to slide upwards. Marco found this peculiar because he had not pressed the button for the door to open. When the door fully opened, he was horrified to see Maleficent and the Jabberwocky standing there.

"Get behind me." Marco told Pinocchio, who ran behind his father. "What are you witches doing here?"

"We're here for the boy." Maleficent said. "Hand him over."

"No." Marco said. "Leave here at once."

"I was hoping he'd resist." The Jabberwocky said and then licked her lips. She could taste Marco's fear and was ready to feast.

Maleficent then waved her arm. Suddenly, Marco flew backwards into the air and landed on the back wall. The Jabberwocky then ran at lightning speed to his body to start eating.

"Papa!" Pinocchio shouted.

"You better be worth it." Maleficent said before using magic to knock Pinocchio unconscious.

Mary Margaret, Regina, and Belle drove up to Marco's house and found the garage door open. They got out of the truck and walked inside the garage. They found a motorcycle. There were also tools on the ground. Regina bent down, put her hand on the floor, and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Mary Margaret asked her.

"Trying to figure out what happened." Regina said.

"I guess there's a spell for everything." Belle remarked.

Regina then stood up again.

"They took Pinocchio." She said. "Marco is dead. We have to get to that cabin and stop them before they kill Pinnochio too."

Regina used her magic to transport the three of them to the outside of the cabin in the woods. Zelena told them that this is where Rumple, Maleficent, Ingrid, and the Jabberwocky were staying. Regina used magic to bust the door open, but it was too late. Pinnochio was not a kid anymore. He was strapped to a chair surrounded by the Dark One and his associates, as August Booth. They had returned him to his mature self, but they had not started to torture him yet.

"We know what you're doing." Regina said. "I'm ending this right now."

"Don't you dare try and stop us Regina." Maleficent said.

"Rumple!" Belle shouted as she entered the cabin.

"Belle?" Rumple asked with his puppy dog eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to talk some sense into you and to tell you that I still love you." Belle said.

"I love you too Belle." Rumple said. "That's why I'm doing this. Without the Author, I'll die and we'll never be together again."

"We can be together now." Belle said. "If you go through with this, I will never forgive you. Even if you live forever. You'll never have me."

"Belle..." Rumple whimpered.

"We need the Author." Maleficent said. "I need it to find my children. My daughter is somewhere in this world. I still have no idea where my son is."

Mary Margaret could feel Maleficent's cold stare. She sent Maleficent's children away to two different worlds. Now Maleficent was back and angry about it.

"I need him to reunite my family." Ingrid said.

Rumplestiltskin them disappeared in a cloud of magic smoke. He wanted to be alone to think about what he should do. With the Author, he could live forever, but would it be worth it without Belle or Baelfire?

"Where'd he go?" Mary Margaret asked.

"He's too weak to do what's necessary." Ingrid said.

The Snow Queen then thrusted her arms forward and unleashed a powerful icy wind at the three intruders. They were all blown through the door back outside and landed on the ground. Ingrid and the Jabberwocky then walked outside and it started to snow around them. Suddenly, the entire cabin expanded and was destroyed as Maleficent turned herself into a powerful dragon. Instead of attacking, Maleficent jumped into the air and flew away across the sky. Ingrid then unleashed a blast of ice magic at Regina. The former Evil Queen countered by firing a blast of fire at Ingrid. Their beams were locked in the middle, but Regina's fire was much stronger than Ingrid's ice. The blast of fire eventually hit Ingrid and sent her flying back into the ruins of the cabin. The Jabberwocky, seeing that the villains had lost this fight, ran away into the forest with intense speed. Regina then walked over to Ingrid's unconscious body and ripped out her heart. Then, Regina crushed the heart. Now officially dead, Ingrid's body turned into snow and flew off with the breeze into tiny snowflakes. Rumple, Maleficent, and the Jabberwocky had all escaped. Mary Margaret and Belle walked through what used to be the cabin and freed August from the chair.

"She killed my dad." August said, still in shock. "The Jabberwocky killed my father."

Snow and Mary Margaret then hugged him to try and help him feel better. Mary Margaret knew all too well the pain of losing a parent. Regina stood back and contemplated what to do next. Belle had successfully emotionally confused the Dark One. So as of now, Rumple was not an immediate threat. However, the Dragon Queen Maleficent and the Jabberwocky were still loose in somewhere in Storybrooke. While she thought of a plan for their next course of action, Jafar and Ursula were preparing to face Iago in Agrabah, where Emma, Aladdin, and Eric had been imprisoned.