"Hello," a doctor with bleach blonde hair that was spiked in certain places. He looked like he should be at a punk-rock concert rather than working in a hospital. He approaches the place where Mal is sitting on an examination table. She was unable to stay with Ben and Evie in the flurry of hospital activity. Nurses were rushing everywhere with these patients, the place was a mess of chaos, and both of her friends were wheeled away on gurneys in commotion. Mal tried to insist that she was fine and that she didn't need any medical attention, but a nurse put her in an examination room and locked the door. Normally, Mal would just pick the lock, but it was locked from the outside, so she was stuck until the doctor entered. "Sorry it took so long to see you since all of you have come through that portal, we've been busier than ever."
Mal crosses her arms in annoyance, knowing this freaky doctor should be treating her friends rather than her.
"There's no reason for me to be here, I'm fine."
"I will be the judge of that," he says firmly, taking his stethoscope from around his neck and putting it against her chest. "I'm Doctor Whale by the way and your name is..."
"Mal..."
"Well Mal, just take a deep breath in for me."
Knowing that the faster this is over, the faster she can find her friends, the daughter of Maleficent does as she is told. She takes a frustrated breath in.
"And out."
She releases it.
"I know travelling through portals is a nasty business, so we need to give each of you a check-up to ensure you weren't hurt by any of the magical side effects..." he explains. He then reaches into the pocket of his lab coat and removes a small bright light. She begins shining it in her eyes. She blinks rapidly, not appreciative of a light in her eyes. "Can you look up at the ceiling please?"
She rolls her eyes upward.
"And down to your left... now right... Now follow my finger..."
Mal's eyes begin to glow green as she continues to tolerate this ridiculous exam. Dr. Whale looks surprised for a moment but then goes about examining her ears as if nothing had happened.
"And have you felt any pain in your joints or your head?"
"No," she grumbles.
"Not even when you banged your wings against the building? I'm surprised turning into a dragon doesn't cause more physiological pain to the body."
"Wait, you know about that?"
"This is a small town, nothing stays a secret for very long, plus it's hard not to see a giant purple dragon flying through town."
He then puts on a pair of rubber gloves. He gently takes her neck in his hands.
Mal pulls away, very alarmed. It feels as if he's going to strangle her.
"What are you doing?!" she screeches.
"I'm checking to see if you have any head trauma by rotating your neck."
"I don't,"
"Well you may know that, but I don't. I'll be very careful, and it will only take a minute, I promise."
With a sigh, she lets the doctor do what he needs to. He rotates her neck from all sides and checks for any bumps or bruises. Dr. Whale then goes to the nearby counter to search for more supplies.
"I'm just going to take a blood sample now..." he says holding up a needle.
Mal flinches, never having liked needles. She pulls her arm away. "Why do you need my blood?"
"We're feeding it to a vampire."
The purple-haired teenager's eyes glow green again.
"I'm kidding," he chuckles. "It's standard procedure for all new patients."
"I'm not a patient," she insists.
"If you are in this hospital, you are now," he says. "It won't hurt I promise."
Knowing that they were wasting time, the teenager gives her arm back for the doctor to take her blood. She cringes and looks away. The sharp feeling of it being inserted into her arm is felt and she grinds her teeth to bite back the pain. She then feels pressure and something soft on her arm. She turns to see the doctor pressing cotton on her arm as the procedure was over.
"There, all done, thank you for being patient. I do detect that you are slightly dehydrated, possible because of all the flying you did. You must have also had some form of distress that has caused you to cry, mixed with slight exhaustion, as your eyes are slightly bloodshot and inflamed. I recommend that you find a glass of water immediately and get some rest. Other than that, you're in perfect health. Thank you Mal, you are free to go, and I will go tend to your other friends. I have another fellow in a pirate hat to tend to next."
"Finally," she sighs as she gets off the table. She then hurries into the hallway. She begins to look for her friends as nurses and doctors mill about the place. She's about to turn around to go with Dr. Whale to find everyone, but instead, he's already disappeared down another corridor.
She starts to hear voices coming from further down the hall. She decides to go there, find her friends and maybe get some answers.
She finds the waiting room of the hospital filled with people from the town, some were familiar to her and others were not.
"There's been no sign of the blue-haired octopus..." a voice is saying.
Captain Hook or Killian stands with his good arm hooked around the waist of the blonde woman in the red leather jacket. The two seemed to match each other in terms of outfits. Mal then sees that the woman wears a silver band on her hand, indicating marriage. Was she... married to Captain Hook? This pirate captain... Killian certainly was different from the ruthless villain she knew. The Captain Hook or James Hook she knew was ruthless, sadistic, arrogant, manipulative, clumsy, and sometimes even abusive. He ran Hook's Inlet and Shack, a fishing shop close to the docks on the Isle, where his ship The Jolly Roger used to moored nearby before Harry and Gil likely stole it to come to Auradon, and there were often crocodiles that swam in the nearby waters surrounding the shack. He was cranky and obviously, like many of the villain parents, he treated his children, including Harry with no love or respect. This Hook, however, seemed nicer, gentler, willing to help free Ben and do what he could to aid everyone who had come through the portal. It was almost alien for her to see him so kind. Everyone seemed to trust the villain as the blonde woman lays her head on his shoulder, a sign of comfort and affection.
The brown-haired girl with the jean jacket who helped Ben is there; her blue eyes filled with worry. She wears a golden, heart-shaped locket around her neck and she holds her jacket in her arms.
She stands next to a man with a cane. He is dressed in a black business suit. His dark brown/graying hair is trimmed neatly and his brown eyes give off an air of menace to them as he stands firmly in place. A woman with dark brown hair, with a hint of red shining in her curls, stands next to him. Her bright blue eyes convey worry and she holds a baby, who seemed to have similar hair to the man. Mal immediately assumes that they are some kind of family. The baby seems to be sleeping on his mother's shoulder comfortably
The woman who had helped Jay is also there, her dark black hair now pulled up into a messy ponytail, her dark brown eyes looking concerned at whatever was being said in the group. Her appearance looked almost strangely familiar to Mal, but she couldn't quite place the woman's face in her memories.
The man who examined Dude on the street has dirty blonde hair, an unshaven face and bright blue eyes, which gaze down at the sleeping dog in his arms. His hands gently stroke the dog's fur to keep him content. The woman with ebony black hair in a bob cut also had very pale skin and green eyes. She holds another baby in her arms. The couple seemed familiar too, but the daughter of Maleficent was not sure where she had seen them before. The little baby boy peers around at the hospital in curiosity. He locks eyes with Mal for a moment and smiles. He points imperiously at her and starts babbling. The girl with brown hair looks in the direction of the boy's tiny finger and the two girls lock eyes again. The first time they had encountered one another; Mal could tell almost immediately that this girl was not evil and that she didn't want to hurt her in dragon-form. It's as if the girl understood that Mal was merely afraid and didn't want to hurt anyone. Her eyes conveyed a personality of knowledge, patience, kindness and a little bit of sadness and anger. The purple-haired teen had seen the sad look before; all the VKs had it, expressing the frustration of who they were as people and hiding the sadness of rejection they felt from society. It was a tough façade that even Mal gave the world daily to hide her insecurities as a person.
"Mal..." the girl says.
The group of adults and children turn towards where the purple-haired girl is standing. Once again, the younger girl with the golden locket is the first to approach her. It was as if this girl either had more courage than the others to approach this Villain Kid or that they agreed that someone closer in age to Mal would make her feel more comfortable to talk to.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"I'm fine, I was fine the whole time."
"Sorry, regular procedure," the woman with black hair and brown eyes says, coming to stand next to the girl with the locket.
"Do you know where my friends are?" she asks.
"We will take you to all of them Mal," the blonde woman says. She then shines a star-shaped badge that is hanging from her belt to the teenager. "Killian and I are the sheriff and deputy of this town and we're going to need your help in identifying everyone and telling us what happened to you."
Mal just nods. The blonde-haired man comes over with Dude.
"Is this your dog?" he asks.
"He belongs to my friend Carlos. Is he okay?"
"He's fine, nothing to worry about, he's just sleeping," he then carefully hands the brown dog to her. "I'm David by the way, David Nolan."
"I'm Crystal, Crystal Miller," the brown-haired girl says, twirling her locket between her fingers.
"I'm Regina Mills," the woman who looked vaguely familiar to Mal, introduces herself. "I'm the mayor of Storybrooke."
"Storybrooke?" Mal asks, raising her eyebrow. How very cliché and a weird sounding name.
"That's the name of the town," Regina explains.
"I'm Belle and this is Gideon," the woman with curly dark hair says.
"B-Belle as in..."
"From Beauty and the Beast, yes" Crystal nods.
Mal's eyes go wide and her mouth drops open. She holds tightly to Dude in confusion and takes a step back to process this. Her mind is now a whirlwind of questions that needed answers. Belle was Ben's mother, but... she looked so different and she had a son named Gideon... How was that possible?! She then remembers her conversations with Ariel and her mentioning a Belle and her having a son named Gideon and she was married to... Suddenly, it all clicks into place!
"Does... does that make you Rumpelstiltskin?" she asks pointing to the man with the cane.
He raises his eyebrow. "It does,"
"How do you know that?" Killian asks.
"I... I met Ariel, at least your version of Ariel not too long ago. She told me about this place in The Land Without Magic realm and that there was a Belle here who had a son named Gideon and married Rumpelstiltskin instead of King Beast/Adam."
"What do you mean a version of Ariel?" Regina asks.
"Well, Henry is in love with another Cinderella, so I guess in another realm Belle would have married someone else..." the blonde woman pipes up.
"Like in the movie!" Crystal agrees. "That explains why you said your mother was Maleficent, you weren't lying, it was just a different Maleficent."
"I...I guess."
"Well, I'm Snow White," the woman with short hair introduces herself.
"That's why you look so familiar," Mal gasps, connecting the dots. "You're Snow White!"
"Yes, I am, and this is Neal, our son," she says to the little boy. He waves at her happily. The purple-haired teenager can't help but smile at him.
"So that makes you Prince Charming," the teenager realizes, pointing at David.
"That's just a nickname, my real name is David," he says.
"I'm Emma Swan-Jones," the blonde woman says. "And this is Killian."
"We've already met, you're Captain Hook,"
"Aye," the blue-eyed pirate nods.
"What princess are you?" Mal asks Emma.
"I'm actually the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming."
"But... that's impossible...you-you're...you all look the same age!"
"It's a long story," Rumpelstiltskin says.
"A VERY long story," Crystal agrees. She goes over and takes Gideon from Belle to give her step-mother a break.
"So, who are you?" Mal asks Regina.
"I am... I mean I was known as The Evil Queen..."
Mal's mouth hangs open in shock, realizing that this was another version of Evie's mother. Her eyes go wide, and she feels unable to really speak.
However, at that moment, Dude wakes up in her arms and starts speaking for her. He stretches out.
"Ah, man, am I hungry," he says. He turns to Mal and smiles. "Oh hey Mal, do you mind scratching my butt, it really itches."
It's the group from Storybrooke's turn to look shocked by what has just happened. While they were all fairy tale characters, and dragons were a common staple around here, apparently talking dogs were not.
"Did he just... talk?" Regina gasps.
Dude answers with a wag of his tail. "Yeah, of course, I can talk. Just wait for it lady, you haven't seen anything yet..."