Puck's wings sprang from his back and he stepped in front of the Wolf.
'What's this? An appetizer?' the beast asked. 'Relda, you sure do put on a fancy party.'
'You know me, Wolf,' Puck said bravely. 'You take another step or try to harm anyone here and you will have to answer to me.'
The beast studied the boy for a long moment and then a chuckle came up through his throat. 'Trickster,' he said, sniffing the boy. 'Love will be the end of you.'
Puck blushed. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'
The Wolf turned and eyed Sabrina. He chuckled and then turned his eyes back on the boy.
'All right, hero. I'm going to make you famous,' the Wolf growled.
The boy spun around on his feet and immediately transformed into an elephant. He snatched the Wolf up in his long trunk and smashed him against the wall. The Wolf fell to the floor, stunned.
'Fantastic!' Rumpelstiltskin cried out. A glimmer of the blue energy began to swirl around him.
'Puck, stop!' Sabrina cried out, but Puck was still in the moment. He transformed back into his true form and drew his wooden sword. He jammed it into the beast's belly and the Wolf winced. Puck couldn't know he was actually helping Rumpelstiltskin build the Wolf's rage.
'Stay down, dog,' the boy shouted, smacking the Wolf on the top of the head with his sword. 'Or there'll be no table scraps for you.'
The beast opened his big blue eyes and laughed. 'You're a funny boy!' He sprang to his feet so quickly that Puck nearly fell backward. The boy's wings erupted from his back and he flew into the air, hovering at the top of the cave. The Wolf leaped high, grabbing at the boy with his claws, missing him by only inches.
Puck laughed and stung the beast's paws with his sword. If it hurt, the Wolf didn't seem to mind. His face was a combination of anger and amusement. It was horrifying to watch. Luckily, Puck seemed to be out of his reach, until the boy's wing clipped the ceiling and he fell to the ground. The beast lunged at the boy, grabbed him in his huge claws, and opened his jaws wide. His fangs glistened in the tunnel light.
Suddenly, Daphne was standing in front of him.
'Stop it right now!' she demanded.
The Wolf turned to look at the little girl with sadistic amusement. 'Don't worry, child,' the Wolf said. 'You'll get your turn to fight for your life.'
'Daphne!' Granny cried.
'Leave Puck alone,' Daphne said. 'And let me talk to Mr. Canis.'
The Wolf snarled. 'Child, Mr. Canis is not real. There is only me.
'I know that's a lie!' the little girl cried. If she was afraid, Sabrina couldn't see it. 'Mr. Canis is real because I said he is. He's part of my family and I love him!'
Briefly, the Wolf's face changed. For a flickering moment, Sabrina saw his steel-blue eyes change to Mr. Canis's dull gray ones. The old man was inside, trying to control himself.
'Daphne,' the Wolf said quietly, dropping Puck. Then a shudder ran through him and any trace of their family friend was buried again. His disorientation gave Puck another opportunity to attack. The boy climbed to his feet and picked up a large rock from the ground. He tossed it as hard as he could, beaming the beast in the head.
'Hey, Wolf, you ever hear of a game called dodgeball?' he said.
'Death is moments away for you and you want to discuss a child's game?' The Wolf laughed.
Puck threw the boulder and it hit the Wolf in the chest, knocking the air out of the big brute.
'I don't want to talk about it,' he shouted, bending over for another boulder. 'I want to play it!' With impossible speed, he tossed one heavy rock after another at the beast.
'Puck! Stop!' Sabrina shouted.
The boy looked over at her. His face was red with excitement, but his eyes were full of confusion.
'Uh, I'm trying to save your life, Grimm,' the boy said.
'You're going to kill us all,' Sabrina said. 'You're making Rumpelstiltskin stronger.'
The Wolf staggered to his feet. 'No child, you've got it wrong. I'm going to kill you all.'
'Take a look around you, rover,' Snow White said, stepping between the Wolf and Sabrina. 'Your little tantrum is helping to fuel your destruction.'
The Wolf turned to face the beautiful teacher. She continued, 'The angrier you get the stronger the real enemy becomes.' She pointed at Rumpelstiltskin, who was encircled in his blue energy. He seemed to be enjoying each second of the fight. The Wolf turned to face the little creature and immediately the blue glow around him expanded.
'What are you up to, little man?' the beast growled.
'Fantastic,' Rumpelstiltskin cried. 'Your rage is unbelievable.'
'He's powering himself with your anger and when he has enough he's going to blow up this cave and bury everyone in it, including you,' Granny Relda chimed in.
'You're signing your own death warrant!' Hamelin added. He had managed to get Wendell to his feet, but the boy was dizzy and obviously needed a doctor.
'Keep going, people,' Rumpelstiltskin shouted. 'Direct his anger at me!'
'You want my rage?' the Wolf said.
'It's fantastic,' the creature said.
The Wolf eyed Sabrina closely. He had an odd expression on his face, filled with disgust and disbelief, one that seemed to say, Can you believe this guy? If Sabrina hadn't been so terrified, she might have laughed, but she did recognize the opportunity. The Wolf's attention was no longer on eating everyone in the room. He wanted a fight.
Sabrina cocked an eyebrow at the Wolf and said, 'Sick 'em, boy!'
The Wolf turned on Rumpelstiltskin and lunged forward, grabbing the little creature. As soon as they collided, both were enveloped in the blue energy.
Sabrina's arm hurt so much she tried to prop it up with her knee. It brushed against a lump in her pocket. The little matchbox! Her eyes lit up as she pulled it out. Inside were the two matches. She removed one, wished she were outside, and struck the match. In the flame, she could see the outside of the school. Everywhere, dirty students milled around in confusion, having just broken free from the piper's magic.
'Sabrina, where did you get those?' Granny Relda asked.
'Charming. We need to get everyone out of here!' Sabrina shouted over the fighting. She tossed the match on the floor and a giant flame appeared.
'Mr. Hamelin,' Sabrina shouted, 'get Wendell out of here!' Hamelin nodded, picked up his son, and stepped into the flame. Daphne and Granny rushed to Toby, and together they dragged the big spider by his legs through the portal. As they did, Sabrina heard the old woman ask Puck to help with the other Everafter children. He spun around on his heels and transformed into a gorilla, hoisted Bella and Natalie onto his back, then raced through the flames himself. Snow White and Sheriff Hamstead helped the mayor to his feet and together they raced to the portal.
'I'msupposed to rescue you,'Charming said to Snow White.
'Maybe it's time we both started trying some new things,' Snow White said as the three disappeared into the flames.
Granny came back through the portal and waited for Sabrina.
'We can't leave him down here,' Sabrina cried, as she watched the Wolf and Rumpelstiltskin fighting.
'I believe Mr. Canis knows what he is doing,' Granny Relda said.
'I won't go,' Sabrina insisted, but Granny grabbed her sweater and dragged her through the portal. In a flash, they were standing outside in the cold, with a hundred elementary school students, who were staring at the gorilla carrying a big, hairy girl and a frog monster.
'This is going to take a lot of forgetful dust!' Daphne said, under her breath.
'Get away from the school!' Sabrina shouted to the children and they obeyed. They ran for the parking lot just as Sabrina heard a slow, horrible rumble from below. Everyone raced to the other side of the road, where some children were already congregated. When she reached them, Sabrina turned and watched the school. The horror unreeled like a car crash you couldn't stop watching. First, smoke billowed out of the school's windows, then a terrible explosion blew out the glass and knocked the doors off their hinges. The roof collapsed, a flame a hundred feet high shot out of the center, and then the ground around it sank and the school fell into it. Finally, a cloud of dust rose up, covering the site, and when it settled again, the school was gone. Only a huge hole remained as evidence that there had been anything there at all.
'Mr. Canis,' Sabrina gasped. 'He's gone. I killed him.'
'Sabrina, don't,' Granny pleaded.
'This is all my fault!' the girl said as she broke down in tears.
'No, child, you are not responsible for this.' Granny tried to reassure her. Sabrina pulled away.
'It was my anger and my prejudice that did this,' she cried.
'Child, Rumpelstiltskin manipulated you,' her grandmother insisted.
'He only manipulated what was already inside of me.' 'Oh, libeling.”
Suddenly, Beauty and the Beast, the Frog Prince and his Princess, and Little Miss Muffet (aka Mrs. Arachnid) and the spider raced through the crowd of children.
'We heard there was trouble at the school,' the Beast grunted. 'Have you found our kids?'
Puck pointed at the three unconscious monsters lying on the ground. The parents cried out in unison and rushed to their children. The Beast picked up his grotesque, unconscious daughter, Natalie, and lifted her into the air. 'She's beautiful, darling,' he cried to his wife.
