SCARSDALE - PAST - DECEMBER 1966
A knight rode his horse on TV. Isaac tried to sell a new TV to a couple.
"I don't know," the man said. "Do we really need color?"
""Do we really need color?"" Isaac repeated. "Do we need to settle for what came before? Don't you want to really see the world? It's a complicated place, and people are complex creatures. Their interior lives are painted with many different hues and shades. And the Zenith Marseille color TV... It brings the profound complications of the universe right into your living room."
"Does it have a clicker?"
"What?"
"A clicker."
"You mean the space command remote?" the boss questioned. "Why, that's included in the price, sir."
"Now we're talking."
"Hey. Were you a ranger?"
"Damn right. 25th infantry division. You were in the service? "
"You bet, 187th airborne, company "A." We heard a lot about your unit. You guys were real heroes. Tell you what... Why don't you take this out for a test drive, huh? See how it feels." He turned to Isaac. "What the hell are you doing, Isaac? Huh? Rambling on about weird technical crap? You're supposed to be selling."
"I was," Isaac replied.
"No. No. You were sending them across the street to Gimbels. Now, I hired you because you said you wanted to be a writer."
"I'm a writer."
"Stacks of rejected manuscripts in the break room don't count. But I figured you knew something about telling stories. That's how you sell. But now I get why you don't have a picture on the back of a book yet. You don't tell stories people want."
Isaac searched in the mail. "Maybe that's about to change."
---
Isaac entered Star Publishing's office and called, "Hello?"
"Over here," the Apprentice said.
"Oh. I-I'm Isaac Heller."
"Yes, I know who you are. Please... Take a seat."
Isaac sat. "Mm... I've never met a publisher before. I'm not sure exactly how this works. So, you want to publish a book. Is there a contract..."
"You may find that our organization does things a bit... Differently... Choose one." He gestured to the pens that had been laid out.
"Oh, actually, I'm more of an IBM Selectric kind of guy."
"Choose one."
"Okay. Okay. What is this? Some kind of signing bonus? The last time I got a fountain pen was for my bar mitzvah."
"This is a test. We need to know what kind of writer you really are. Choose the one that calls out to you."
Isaac took the quill and magic pulsed. "Uh... What the hell was that?"
"It is a sign... That you are to be our next Author. You see, the last one... Well... He just recently passed away."
"Author of what?"
"There is much to explain. How would you like to take a trip?"
"I-I-I'm not so great with traveling. I-I've never been further than Scarsdale."
"Yes, I know. But that is about to change." The Apprentice made a door appear. "The time has come to stop selling televisions. The time has come to take on the most important job in all the realms."
"What the hell?"
"You can see that?"
"I see it, but I don't believe it."
"Actually, the fact that you can see it tells me that you do believe."
"Believe in what?"
"In magic. I think it is time that you find your destiny. Come with me. All of your questions will be answered."
STORYBROOKE - PRESENT - LIBRARY AT THE SORCERER'S MANSION
"Nothing," Regina said. "They're all still blank. Whatever the Author is writing, it's not appearing in the books. This is useless."
"Easy," Robin Hood told her. "This is not your fault."
"Even so, tomorrow, thanks to Gold and the Author, I can wake up a talking frog."
"At least you'll wake up," Hook commented. "I don't doubt whatever the Dark One has in store for me is a far worse fate."
"Well, there's no use speculating what he wants," David said. "We just need to stop it. And if there's nothing useful here, we need to move on, find something else that can help."
"I might know just the thing," August replied.
"August. I thought you didn't know anything more about the Author."
"He doesn't, but he knows someone who does. That's why I called him here," Emma explained.
"Who?" Mary Margaret asked.
"The man who gave him his power... The Apprentice," August answered. "I met him once when I was living in Phuket. He was the one who told me about the story book and that I should learn everything about it."
"If he was in Storybrooke, could you find him?" David questioned.
"Well, I haven't seen him. But... That's what he looks like." He showed them a picture.
"I know this man," Hook said.
"You do?" Emma and Nevaeh inquired.
"More importantly, I know exactly where to find him."
APPRENTICE'S HOUSE
"I trapped him in there," Hook said. "I didn't know."
"It's okay," Emma reassured. "It was Gold, not you. Blue was in there. She can get him out."
"Don't you need the Dark One's dagger?"
"Well, not if I have something that belonged to the Apprentice," Mother Superior replied, freeing the Apprentice.
"Are you..." Emma and Nevaeh trailed.
"Yes," the Apprentice finished. "And there is no time to waste. Isaac has abused his power for too long. The time has come to set... Things right."
"How?" Regina wondered.
"By putting him back where he can't harm anyone... In the book. I will need the page with the painted door and the key. We shall return him to his prison. And this time, I would wager none of you will set him free again. The page."
"It's back in the loft," Henry said.
"Mom, Dad, Killian, Jefferson, watch Henry and Grace," Emma told them. "If Gold's smart, he'll go after the page, too. Nevaeh, where are the twins?"
"They're with Scarlet," Nevaeh replied.
MR. GOLD'S SHOP
"Are you, uh... Close?" Mr. Gold asked.
"Hang in there, Dark One," Isaac told him. "Don't let that heart turn to coal just yet. You'll be fine. Better than ever."
"Why help me? You have the quill now. You don't need me anymore."
"We're a lot alike. We've both struggled mightily for happiness all our lives. You got power, became the Dark One, but you've never been the content one. I know what that's like... To always have dissatisfaction gnawing at you, watching other people's happiness bloom. It's time for a world where up is down, where villains can have happy endings."
"And what does your ending look like? A castle? Treasure? Power?"
"In the Enchanted Forest? Do you think I like dysentery and a 40-year life expectancy? No, no, that's your world. I like room service and indoor plumbing. You're welcome to a happy ending in your land. I'll take one in mine."
"Continue with the writing, if you please."
"Of course. I-I just need one last detail. Your son... Baelfire."
"Don't toy with me, scribe. Magic can't bring back the dead."
"No. It can't. This quill and ink can only change a past it has created. Which is why I have to write your new story from this moment forward and into the future. But... In your new life, I can make you forget him."
"No, never. I want my memories of him. But maybe with a... Slight adjustment. I would like a world where I remember doing right by my boy. Where he may be gone, but I can live with that loss. Where Bae sees me as a hero right at the end."
"I think I can do that. And with that last piece, it's time to finish."
---
Emma, Regina, Nevaeh and the Apprentice were walking to Mr. Gold's shop.
---
David, Mary Margaret, Hook, Jefferson, Grace and Henry were looking for the door's page at the loft. Hook and Jefferson found the storybook.
---
Isaac finished writing his story. ""The end.""
There was an earthquake and light.
---
Henry and Grace woke up at the loft, with the key. He had a confused/concerned look before calling, "Grandma? Grandpa! Hook! Nevaeh! Scarlet! Jefferson!" In the streets, everybody was gone. "Hello?! Hello?! Is anyone here?! Hello?!"
"Mama! Papa! Scarlet! Tatiana! Tobias!" Grace called. "Henry, what are we supposed to do?"
Henry gave her a small smile and entered Mr. Gold's shop. Grace followed after him. They stopped the gramophone. Henry and Grace, after getting the twins, left Storybrooke.
ON THE ROAD
Henry parked the car and he and Grace, holding her brother and sister's hands, entered a restaurant.
"Nice parking job," the waitress commented. "You old enough to drive?"
"Yeah. Are you? I need some help. Have you seen any of these people?" He showed her a picture and Grace showed her another.
"Mm... No. No, I haven't."
"It's our families. Are you sure?"
"Look, why don't you two wait here, and I can, um... I-I'll ask some of the others..." She went to a phone. "Yeah, I've got a few someones here. Yeah, I-I think they're runaways."
Henry and Grace took the photos and saw the book "Heroes and Villains" on a sales stand.
NEW YORK
Isaac made a speech. "Thank you. Thank you very much! Please. Please, please. I-I-I'm not worthy... Someone once told me I don't tell stories people want. But I say, write what you're passionate about. That's what matters most. "Heroes and Villains" is close to my heart. It's been a passion project for longer than you would believe. I wrote it because I think folks are sick of heroes getting everything in these classic fairy tales. Hence, the radically different endings for Snow White, Prince Charming, and all the rest... Something different for a modern audience. What happens when villains win the day?" He signed books. "Thank you... Thank you."
"Long live Regina," a woman said. "Please, can I give you a present... A little token of my love for the world that you've created? Regina... She's my favorite character."
"She's a real doozy, isn't she?"
"Her life is just so unfair. Is she gonna get a happy ending in the sequel? Please, you have to tell me."
"Sure. I can tell you. She... Sorry. No spoilers. You'll have to buy the next book when it's finished."
"All right."
Henry put the page's door on the table and Isaac asked, "What are you doing here?"
"What did you do with my family?" Henry demanded. "And where are they?"
"I, uh... I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Unh-unh," he argued, shaking his head as he pointed a couple colored pencils in a threatening manner. "You're lying. Now, you know what this does, so you either give me some answers or I open this door again and you get a whole new ending."
BACKSTAGE
"Okay," Isaac said. "Much to the chagrin of my publicist, you have my undivided attention."
"Where's my family?" Henry asked.
"And mine?" Grace added.
"You really want to know?" Isaac replied. "Look around you. They're all right there... In my best-selling book."
"What does that mean?" Henry demanded. "Are they still alive?"
"Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut. Easy with the key, cowboy. Your families are fine. If you want to get technical... They're in here. See? The original copy of my book... The one that I always wanted to write. They all live in here now in kind of an alternate reality."
"You made them miserable."
"I see that you've read some of my book. Good. Good. Then... Then you know that everyone got the ending they deserve. Except Emma and Nevaeh, of course. You won't find them in the book. There was no room for a savior or a redeemed Wonderland queen in my world."
"Bring them back, or I use this," Henry threatened, holding the pen up.
"Ch, ch, ch, ch, ch. I can't. I don't have the power. The cardinal rule of the Authors is "don't write your own happy ending." As you can see I broke that rule. So this... It's just a pen now. And me? Ohh. Well, I'm nothing more than a best-selling writer with legions of fans and a penthouse over Central Park."
"If you can't get them out, then give me the book and I will."
"You? Do you know why you're still out here, kid? Because you aren't from a magical world. I let Grace stay with you. So take it from me... You will never be a knight in shining armor. You're just a poor, innocent child who needs saving. So, why don't you put the key away and, uh, stick to the role you're both best at?" Henry attacked Isaac and took the book. "Now what? You're gonna tear up the book?" Henry opened a door to get inside the book. "Wait! Don't be stupid!" Henry, Grace, Tatiana, Tobias and Isaac were sucked into the book.
ENCHANTED FOREST
Henry, Grace, Tatiana, Tobias and Isaac appeared in a village.
"Unh! Cool," Henry said.
Grace frowned. "Not cool, Henry. It's dangerous here and I don't want Tati or Toby here at all."
"Feel like a real hero now?" Isaac shot back. "Don't get used to it." He knocked Henry and Grace out and tied them, then tied Tatiana and Tobias up. Henry and Grace woke up. "So, now we're all trapped in the book. Congratulations. Let me tell you about this place. It's cold, there's no running water, and things are always trying to kill you."
"Let me go!"
"Not a chance. This book we're in, it's worked out quite nicely for me. I don't need you running around changing things. This is my story. And no hero gets a happy ending."
"Why? Would that somehow destroy the book? That's what you're afraid of. Isn't it?"
"Doesn't matter. You brought us into the final chapter. How do you know? I know because I wrote it. And I know how it ends... With the loud tolling of bells at sunset. When you hear that sound, it'll mean we've reached the last page. The book will end, and everything will remain exactly how I wrote it." An ogre arrived. "There we are. Right on time."
"What is that?"
"Oh, the inciting incident of this chapter... An ogre attack. And you know what they say... You don't have to be faster than the ogre. You just have to be faster than the next guy."
"Wait!" Henry and Grace cried. "Help! Help me!"
A knight arrived and defeated the ogre with magic.
"The monster is dead," a woman said. "The ogre slayer saved us! Thank you. If there's anything my family and I can do to repay you..."
"Good deeds have their own reward," Rumpelstiltskin told her. "This comes with no price." He untied Henry, then Grace. "Are you all right, boy, girl? What are your names?"
"Uh, Henry. This is Grace," Henry answered. "And the little ones are her siblings Tatiana and Tobias."
"I am Rumpelstiltskin, a knight at your service. Do you have any family around here?"
"Y-yeah. I think so. Yeah."
"Then I suggest you take the little ones and run home for your supper, Henry, Grace, because I... I have another village to save."
---
Henry, Tobias, Tatiana and Grace were walking into the woods and the former said, ""Many deadly traps were set to protect the forest hideaway, a pit trap under the cedar tree... a falling log hung just beyond... and finally, at the center of the willow forest, there was a rustic version of... Home.""
Henry saw a stump and asked, "Hello? Is anyone here?"
"Turn around slowly," Regina ordered. "Who are you? What do you want?
"My name's Henry. And I'm your son."
A man walked up from behind and Grace smiled. "Papa!"
Jefferson frowned. "I'm not your father."
The twins squealed, seeing their father.
VILLAGE
"Come on, Henry," Isaac mumbled. "Please be dead. Please be dead. Please be dead." He found Henry and Grace gone. "I should have remembered. I wrote the book. The ogre slayer."
STUMPS
"But I'm telling you..." Henry was cut off.
"That we're trapped inside a book?" Regina finished.
"Yeah."
"And I'm supposed to live in a place called Maine? Where I became your adopted mother after someone named Emma gave you up?"
"Come on, Mom. You can remember."
"Well, now that I think about it... This does make me wonder one thing. Who sent you?" Regina threatened Henry with a knife.
"Mom, please. Nobody sent me."
"Stop calling me that! Are you working for the queen?"
"No. Grace and I are trying to help you two."
"Help us what?" Jefferson demanded, frowning as Tatiana and Tobias tried taking his hands and reaching up to him.
"Find your happy endings. In my world, we called it "Operation Mongoose.""
"That is a very silly name," Regina commented.
"Well, it was your idea."
"You actually believe this. So you're crazy."
"I'm not, and I can prove it." He held the book up. "This is a copy of the book we're trapped in."
"Let me see..." Regina looked through the book. "This... This says I'm... Going to rob a royal tax carriage today to buy passage out of the kingdom... How did the book know all that? It can see my future?"
Grace nodded. "Something like that."
"Then I don't want any part of it." Regina threw the book into the fire.
"No!" Grace and Henry cried.
Henry saved the map.
WOODS
"Don't follow us!" Regina cried. "Whatever world you think you're from, go back there."
"We can't... Not until you find true love," Henry explained.
"Then you're stuck. Never gonna happen for me."
"His name is Robin Hood. I-I think the only way for us to escape this book is for you to find him in a tavern and kiss him. True love's kiss... It can fix anything."
Grace nodded. "Papa, your true love is named Nevaeh. She's the White Queen."
Jefferson frowned. "The White Queen? Ha! That's a mad thought."
"Not as mad as you think, Papa." She held her siblings' hands. "Stay close, Tati, Toby."
"Wow," Regina commented. "You are crazy. If I ever meet Robin Hood in person, the only thing he gets is a broken nose."
"Wait... What are you talking about?" Henry asked.
"He's my competition. Every robbery I plan, he beats me to it. He's the reason I'm stuck in this kingdom. Why am I still talking to you?"
"'Cause I'm your son. Jefferson, Gracie and Tatiana are your daughters and Tobias is your son."
"Look, kid. If you read about me or Jefferson in that book, you both know I got to go. The queen wants me dead. She thinks I ruined her life."
"Did you?"
"Yes. So... If it's happy endings you're after, look someplace else."
WOODS
"Henry! Grace! Tatiana! Tobias!" Isaac called. "Where'd you go? Come on out! I can help you!" The seven dwarves trapped Isaac. "Oh, no. Not these guys."
"Welcome to the queen's woods, trespasser," Grumpy said.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!! No, don't kill me!! No, no!!" Grumpy freed Isaac. "Unh!"
"Search him."
"No. No. No!"
"Oh, goody," Happy said. "Look at this." He held up a poster.
""Long live Regina"? So, you're a trespasser and a traitor," Grumpy stated.
"That's not mine. I..." Isaac was cut off.
"Hi-ho, boys. It's off to work we go." Grumpy brought Isaac to Snow White in her castle.
"You... Speak," Snow White ordered.
"We found him in the queen's woods, your majesty... With this." He showed her the poster.
""Long live Regina"? Not very likely... Although, she'll certainly live longer than you... Now, what do we remove first? Your fingers? Or your ears?"
"No removing," Isaac said. "Please. I-I hate Regina as much as you do. I'm on your side."
"Technically, you're at my feet."
"We want the same thing... To keep everything in this realm exactly how it is, with you in charge. A boy just arrived in this land. He fancies himself a hero. He wants to take away everything you have. Somebody has to stop him."
"Get in here!"
"Finally... Someone listens to me."
Charming arrived and said, "No need to yell, Snow. I will always find you."
"I'm sorry... You will always find me, what?" Snow White replied.
"I will always find you, your majesty."
"Mm! That's better. Now, will you please help me with something? Remove his head."
"Of course, your majesty."
"No, no, no!" Isaac cried. "You don't understand! I can help you! I know things! I know who Snow White really loves! Ah. Aah."
"What did you say?"
"You had a twin brother... James. He was the one who Snow truly loved... Before the tragedy."
"Want me to kill him, your majesty?" Grumpy asked. "Save you both the trouble?"
"Let him speak," Snow White answered. "How do you know this?"
"A magical book told me everything about this land," Isaac said. "James was cruel... Like you. You understood each other. You fell in love. It was everything. But then, because of Regina, he died. So you took Charming's heart and you forced him to be yours, but it never satisfied you. He's just a pale imitation of his brother. It's a sad story. But it can still have a happy ending."
"How?"
"I know exactly where to find Regina. Revenge can be yours."
"And what is it that you want in return... Aside from your life?"
"The boy I told you about... Henry... He'll be trying to help Regina. I want you to kill them both."
"Gladly."
---
Regina attacked a carriage into the woods and noticed someone appear. "Unh! Snow White."
"Surprised to see me?" Snow White said. "Charming, disarm her." He did so.
"Ohh!"
"I've waited so long for this moment. Your head is going to look lovely in my trophy room."
"Please, Snow. How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"
"Once more... From your grave."
"I didn't know what would happen to James. I was a child. I was only trying to help you."
"You broke a promise. Because of your poor, poor judgment, my true love is dead." Snow White was about to rip out Regina's heart.
"Your majesty, before you rip her heart out, perhaps you should ask her about the boy," Charming suggested.
"So, you do have a brain somewhere in that pretty head. Where's the girl? Where... Is... He?"
"When does this end, Snow?" Regina questioned. "This blood feud... When does it stop?"
"When I've killed you and every one of your followers."
"You lost one happy ending. And I'm sorry for that, but... All this killing will only bring more hatred into your life, and all you'll be left with is a hole in your heart... And no hope of ever finding true happiness."
"You... Know nothing of my happiness." Snow White made a fire ball.
"Unh!" She was about to kill Regina when Robin Hood casted an arrow and stopped Snow White.
"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Come on!" Robin Hood cried and Regina ran away with him. "Milady. Hyah!"
"I had the situation under control," Regina told him.
"A simple "thank you" would suffice. Hyah!" Robin Hood and Regina entered a pub.
"I told you I didn't need rescuing."
"Believe me, I'm already questioning helping the competition."
"Competition? Robin Hood?"
"Well, I'm not Friar Tuck. Now hold still, please, milady."
"Why?"
"Because this may sting a little. Now sit down before you pass out."
"I'm fine. It's just a scratch."
"What's that?"
"Your cut."
"You still can't say "thank you," can you?"
"Thank you."
"And thank you. So, to... New friends and old rivals... What is it?"
"Just thought you'd be... Dirtier."
"Well, thank you. I'll choose to take that as a compliment. Regina, while we may never have met, I always admired your skills... I'm getting out of this game, and I have a proposition for you. I'm in search of someone to take my place as leader of the Merry Men."
"Oh. I'm flattered, but... Can't accept. This forest isn't the place for me anymore."
"Well, that's a shame."
"So, what's driving you out of the business?"
"Have you ever met someone that you would change your entire world for? Someone whose eyes you just knew you were born to gaze into?"
"Uh..."
"I have. And that's why I can't be a thief anymore. It wouldn't be fair to my new bride."
"Bride?"
"Well, she will be when we marry later today."
Zelena entered and said, "Hello, darling."
"Mm."
"So, who's this?"
"Regina, I'd like you to meet my fiancée. This is Zelena."
"I just can't believe I'm finally meeting the bandit Regina."
"Thank you, but I should go," Regina told them.
"Oh, w-well, why don't you stay for the ceremony? I mean, it'll be a simple affair, but... We'd love to have you there, wouldn't we, darling?"
"Of course," Robin Hood agreed. "It would be our honor."
"O-oh, I... I should try to get a head start on Snow White," Regina said. "I'm sure she has the entire black guard looking for me... Thank you... For saving my life... Congratulations again. Both of you." She left.
OUTSIDE THE PUB
"Mom!" Henry called, followed by Grace and her siblings and Jefferson.
"You have to stop calling me that," Regina told him. "How do you keep finding me, anyway?"
"I figured if our plan worked, you'd be in Sherwood forest with Robin Hood."
"I hate to break it to you, but Robin's already found his true love. And they're getting married... Today."
"No, no, no. T-this is all wrong. That's Zelena, your siste..."
STREETS
"Wait. You have to listen to me."
"I heard enough. I don't have a sister. My mother abandoned me when I was a baby."
Grace shook her head. "No, your mother abandoned Zelena. Everything's flipped. This must be Zelena's happy ending. Hmm, I wonder where Scarlet is. Maybe she's found her happy ending."
"Look, I have to go. And you should, too. Snow White's looking for you."
"Wait. You can't tell me that you didn't feel anything when you met Robin Hood..." Henry trailed, noticing a change in her expression. "See? That's proof. He's your true love."
"No. It's proof that I'm not the kind of person that gets a happy ending. I'll never have true love. But you... You gave me the worst thing you can give anyone. Hope. Now, I'd like to get far enough away that I don't have to hear Robin and Zelena's wedding bells proclaim their love."
"Wait... Did you say "wedding bells"?"
"Yes. Now please let me be."
"The bells... From the end of the book. That's what he was talking about. Those bells... This wedding... It's our last chance to stop this from becoming real forever!"
"It already is real," Jefferson and Regina said.
"Not yet. We have to stop this wedding."
"Look... You seem like a nice boy," Regina told Henry. "And clearly, you and your friend believe all this... Nonsense. But didn't you say I was your adopted mother? That Jefferson is Grace, Tatiana and Tobias' father? That you have another mother out there, named, uh... Emma? And a friend named Nevaeh, their mother? So, if you want help, maybe you should start by finding them."
"Grace and I tried. They weren't in the book. And if they were, believe me, you'd know. She and Nevaeh are the most powerful sorceresses there are."
"The only sorceress in this land is Snow White and the Red Queen, a moniker previously held by another."
"She's more powerful than her. She has, uh, special magic. Nevaeh is equally powerful."
"Special magic?"
"In my world, she was called "the savior." Nevaeh was the Red Queen and became the White Queen and married the Mad Hatter."
"Never heard of them."
"Mom. No, I know that face. What aren't you telling me?"
"There were rumors once of a woman who called herself that. The savior."
Jefferson nodded slowly. "There were also rumors of a woman calling herself the White Queen."
"Isaac lied," Grace realized. "He couldn't write them out of the story. Where can Henry and I find them?"
"You can't. Snow White locked them up years ago. No one has set eyes on them since. The prison they're in is impenetrable."
THE TOWER
Emma and Nevaeh made their way to their feet, gasping hysterically. They struggled against their shackles, but to no avail as they screamed.