Henry's Adventures in Fairytale Land

The Rescue

Silence filled the village, as those who were not frozen were too stunned to say anything. They stared at the young man standing in their midst, smiling as if it were his birthday. Or Christmas.

His smile began to dim as he looked around and he tilted his head. "I expected a little more fanfare."

"Oh my gods," Will said. "He's actually real!"

Little John shrugged. "Guess I owe you some gold coins, mate."

The Toymaker dropped his arms, frowning. "Wait, no one actually thought I existed?"

"Well, you've been gone so long," Red replied, kneeling beside Robin to check on Regina.

"Right," he agreed. "I do apologize about that. But I'm here now."

"You're nothing," Zelena said. "I can defeat you with a hand tied behind my back."

The Toymaker chuckled. "Someone is feeling cocky. Let's see what you can do."

"Gladly." Zelena raised her hands, throwing a green energy burst at him. He blocked it with his own white energy, causing it to dissipate.

"Is that all you got?" The Toymaker asked. "Because you might as well surrender now."

Yelling, Zelena threw more magic at him. He deflected each other blows with ease, chuckling as he did so. "Pathetic."

"You do not call me pathetic. You're the pathetic one!" Zelena yelled.

The Toymaker looked surprised. "Me? How?"

"You hid," Zelena taunted. "I took over easily because you were in hiding. You were afraid to fight me."

"That's just what you tell yourself to make yourself feel invincible. But we both know the truth, don't we?"

She frowned. "What are you going on about? That is the truth and you know it. Playing mind games is my thing, not yours."

"I'm not playing games," he replied, stepping closer to Zelena. "We both know I wasn't able to come to my people's aid because you cast a spell to make them stop believing. And I am powerless without that."

Zelena shook her head. "I would love to take credit for that. Because that was genius. Sadly, it wasn't mine."

"It was mine." Gold appeared in a cloud of mauve smoke. He grinned as he approached the Toymaker. "I got rid of a nuisance who was interfering with my business."

"You mean someone who prevented you from tricking and cheating the innocent people of Fairytale Land," the Toymaker replied.

Ignoring the Toymaker, Gold glanced at Zelena. "I see you're still around."

"Expected otherwise?" she asked. She pointed to their group on the ground. "Expected them to really be able to destroy me?"

"She did seem determined, but no, I guess not." Gold shrugged. He ambled over to Regina, who shrank into Robin's embrace. "I see you've failed to live up to your end of the bargain."

Will stepped forward, arms crossed. "There wasn't a time limit. Regina could still defeat the Wicked Witch."

Gold let out a high pitched chuckle as Robin looked between the man and Regina shaking in his arms. "What's going on?" he asked her.