; all magic comes with a price ! {strange/invite!}

[Regina Mills]

OOC:// Yepyep, just ask to join please n' thanks! OR ELSE REGINA WILL FORCEFEED YOU POISON APPLEZ.



With Henry gone and her mayoral duties...well, hardly relevant anymore, Regina didn't exactly have a whole to to occupy her time these days. Except, well...plotting. There was always that; simmering in her spite and hatred and longing for revenge. Revenge against Mr. Gold, for lying to her nearly at the cost of Henry's life. Revenge against Snow, because although a deeply rooted part of her was starting to realize how messy all of this was getting, Regina honestly didn't think she had it in her to finally let her grudge go. And revenge against...well. She wasn't exactly sure how much she did or did not desire some form of vengeance against Emma Swan. On one hand, the defiant, obnoxiously stubborn woman had ruined everything. On the other hand, she'd done it to save Henry - and she knew how that her son was willing to give his life for his biological mother. It almost physically hurt to think about, him caring about her so much while he seemed to have hated Regina since the moment he'd discovered she was the Evil Queen.

Still. However much she despised Emma, she knew now the amount of devastation Henry would feel if he ever lost her. And that made things considerably more complicated.

So she'd been stalling for time by tending to her apple tree (with the return of magic, it'd been fairly easy to restore it) and her garden outside - plants, Regina had always said, were much preferable to people. And the people of Storybrooke had yet to attempt an attack on her mansion, much to her surprise. Perhaps they could sense that most of the returned magic had settled around its two most powerful users - Mr. Gold and herself - and they were simply too terrified to try anything. Or perhaps they were just biding their time. She was certain Snow would enjoy every moment of rallying an attempt to take her life, because her stepdaughter did so enjoy taking things that didn't belong to her..but Regina would deal with that when the time came.

At present, she became quite abruptly distracted by an odd sort of commotion that seemed to be coming from somewhere out on the streets. Screaming, to be precise. And considering the fact that she was at home, actually refraining from terrorizing anyone - and Mr. Gold wasn't the type to launch any sort of large, public attack - that left Regina very puzzled as to what on earth could be going on. At any rate, she most certainly was about to find out. Rising to her feet, she brushed herself off and stalked quickly across the yard, heading out onto the main street and narrowing her eyes slightly as she looked around for the source of the trouble. The most immediate thing that caught her attention was...fire. And lots of it. Across the street, an assortment of hedges were aflame, and the fire seemed to be spreading at an alarming rate. A random dwarf ran past, howling as he frantically tried to put out...was that...yes, his beard was on fire. Regina sort of hoped it was one of Snow's friends.

But still, things didn't simply catch fire all of the sudden, despite the heat wave they'd been experiencing recently. And Regina was fairly certain there weren't any dragons around...anymore. The issue was very quickly answered, however, when a blood-curdling roar sounded through the air...and a bizarre creature that Regina had only ever heard warnings of came charging down the street. At first it appeared to be some sort of lion - until she spotted its two...extra heads. One of a snake, and one of a...goat. And it seemed very, very determined to ignite every living creature in its path. But what was a chimera doing in Storybrooke? Regina had never even seen one before - and then it occurred to her: the spell she'd been working on lately, for Henry. It was one she'd never intended to tell him about; she was going to cast it without him even realizing - but it was one of the most powerful protection spells known to their world. And three of the ingredients it required were hair from a lion's mane, venom from the most potent of vipers, and ...a goat horn, oddly enough.

It all seemed to click together as she watched the chimera rampage down the street towards a fleeing group of children, and she sighed. All magic came with a price, as she so often seemed to forget - and she supposed she was going to have to pay this one now.

[docstrange]

The events in Storybrooke Maine were enough to attract Doctor Strange's attention. A sudden spike in magical energy was not normal for anywhere on Earth, unless it were the summoning of some powerful being or perhaps someone using their own magic to do something terribly powerful. At any rate, Doctor Strange had sensed it and put it on his list to investigate into. Unfortunately, as the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange had very many things to do and investigating a magical spike in a small town in Maine was not very high on his list. However, he had eventually gotten to it and taken a look in the Orb of Agamatto. In the Orb he saw a normal town filled with normal people. There was magical energy there, for sure, but it didn't seem as though many people were using it and, unless you considered gardening evil, the only magic-user he sensed was certainly not up to no good.

But then the Sorcerer Supreme sensed another presence. One that was not entirely human. After moving the Orb's view he spotted what appeared to be a chimera. Doctor Strange wasn't quite sure what a chimera was doing in a small town in Maine, but he was sure that this may need his intervention. Thinking for a moment, Doctor Strange realized the creature might just have been drawn by the large amounts of magical energy there. It could have also been the work of some villain, like Baron Mordo or Loki. Those two were known for causing random things like this across the world. Doctor Strange took one last look at the Orb of Agamatto before teleporting to the location of the Chimera. Doctor Strange appeared right in front of it in a suddenly flash of golden light. The Sorcerer Supreme began his attack with a burst of magical energy to the chimera's lion face, which only made it retaliate by having it's goat head spout fire at Doctor Strange.

He just managed to block the fire with his Cloak of Levitation, which was notably immune to that sort of thing. Doctor Strange stepped back, preparing for the oncoming battle.... When suddenly he noticed something else approaching from behind the chimera. It was a large man, a giant to be precise. It carried a large club and seemed to be trying to destroy houses. Doctor Strange began trying to telekinetically wrench the club from the giant's hand, but that only left the chimera open to attack him. It spat out another burst of flames, which headed right for Doctor Strange....

[bravescot]

A fair mist alighted on the kingdom of DunBroch. It was around midday, the sun still bright in the sky, when the clap of hooves thudded through the forest. Within the woods adjacent to King Fergus’ kingdom, a black horse rode quickly, weaving through the trees. Atop the horse, a figure was hidden with a turquoise riding cloak. Through the forest, the duo of horse and rider raced. With a shout, the rider encouraged the horse to quicken its speed. In a sudden gust of wind, the hood of the rider’s cloak was blown back to release a mane of fiery red hair, spilling forth like the rays of light licking the earth of the world.

The horse came to an abrupt halt as they exited the forest into a clearing. Arrayed before the duo was a circle of standing stone pillars. Each block of rock had its own unique shape and the area within thrummed with the pulse of magic. The girl stepped down from her faithful horse, having prepared herself for the horse’s reluctance to enter the circle. “Donnae worry, Angus.” The young maiden reassured her steed with a pat to his muzzle. Beneath her cloak, Merida, Princess of Scotland, wore her favored garments; a gown of turquoise with gold trim and elbows. The clothe was loose-fitting an allowed her to move freely. That freedom of movement was certainly needed for her passion with marksmanship. She absolutely despised restraining clothes.

Striding confidently into the circle of stone, Merida’s gaze swept the area. Behind her, Angus let out a worried snort full of concern for his caretaker and rider. After giving him a warm smile, the young girl finally heard what she had been listening for. Faint as a spring breeze, soft whispers drifted to Merida’s ears. They were whispers of promises and dreams; of fate. She turned and spotted it almost instantly. Continuing its whispered chant, the Will-o’-the-Whisp gestured for her to come closer, urging her to come with it. Looking beyond the small, blue Whisp of ethereal fire, Merida could see a trail of them leading off into the distance. It had been quite a while since she’d last encountered one of the Fae creatures. She had come to this clearing, half expecting never to see them and half expecting... she didn’t know what. As a light wind blew her cloak and gown about her lanky figure, she began to step towards the Whisp. Eagerly, it continued to gesture for her to come, to follow. Merida motioned for Angus to follow her and the horse travelled the circumference of the stone circle, still wary of the magic within.

The Whisps led her far and long; she followed them without thinking, quickly losing track of the time. Briefly, she thought of the worry and concern her parents, especially her mum, would have when she didn’t immediately come home. Ever since... the spell, her mother had been incredibly mistrustful of the Will-o’-the-Whisps. But Merida knew better; she knew they would show her the way; they would show her to where she needed to go. Everytime she got close enough to reach out and touch one, the Whisp would vanish into thin air. Afterwards, she would be left only to follow the next Whisp hidden behind it.

As the sun began to set along the horizon, Merida finally exited the woods into a new clearing, one she hadn’t yet seen. Across the way, a dense wood loomed. The tree trunks were too thick and close together to allow her to see very far into the forest and the mist hung heavily here. There was only a single break in the wall of bark and leaves. Two solitary trees, different from the others, stood guard; their bodies and branches forming a sort of archway. As she came to the entrance of the forest, the Whisp within the arch, the last in the trail leading her, vanished without warning. Merida breathed an admiring sigh as she peered up into the canopy of thick leaves, her gaze lowering to rest on the archway.

With more confidence than she imagined she had, she stepped, blinking, through the trees. In that solitary blink, her entire world changed. Instead of walking into a dense forest like she had been expecting, Merida stepped out from behind a single tree; an apple tree. A small plain of well-kept grass stretched out before her. In another moment, Angus followed hesitantly after her. Looking around, Merida felt incredibly disoreiented. Odd structures, smaller than the stone castles and wooden homes she was used to, rose along either side of a gray strip of pathway.

Her brilliant blue eyes drank in the sight of the small town of Storybrooke, Maine, her voice unusually soft. “W-where did theh Whisps lead me now?”

Steeling herself (after all, she'd asked for this, hadn't she?), Merida gestured for Angus to wait by the lone apple tree and strides forth into this new world. She quickly came upon a startling sight! The first thing she noticed was a woman, a solitary figure standing watch over the events occurring before them. After that, the Princess of Ancient Scotland quickly took in the sight of the monstrous, three-headed beast that was rampaging through the town and the lone man fighting against the creature. She marveled as he managed to deflect the monster's fire with his cape, alone. He must be magic~! the spirited girl thought to herself. She was about to ask the woman before her what, exactly, was going on; however, before she could, she saw another tragedy. A giant, humanoid figure was also destroying this new place she'd found herself in!

Darted quickly past the mayor of Storybrooke, Merida shouted to the man as she passed him. "Keep yer head!"

In the rush of the moment, she couldn't think of anything else to say as she continued past him. She unslung her bow from where it lain across her back and quickly notched an arrow, taking careful and quick aim. "Hey!! Cannae, ye pick on someone yer own size?" Yelling her taunt at the giant, she loosed her arrow. With precision accuracy, the arrowhead was embedded into the back of the humanoid's neck. She grimaced as the he-thing swiftly turned on her. She'd really hoped that would've been more effective. As it lumbered toward her, she hiked up her dress and ran a circle around her opponent. Notching another of her projectiles, she aimed once more. Releasing her tight grasp on the arrow, it flew through the air, straight for his face; straight for his eye. Unforunately, the beast anticipated another attack and, in an attempt to swat her away, rose his arm in time so that the arrow struck his forearm, instead.

Muttering a very unladylike curse under her breath, Merida was on the move again. Risking a glimpse the the Strange man, she yelled to him. "I've got thes beg, bad, an' gruesome; if ye can manage theh wee cat!"

[Regina Mills]

This was most certainly the downside of having magic return, Regina thought with a faint snort as she advanced upon the chimera - only to pause as a man appeared right before the beast. For a fraction of a second, her eyes widened in disbelief. What on earth was he thinking, confronting such a dangerous creature? A moment later, however, she had her answer: this was no ordinary man. He appeared to possess some form of...very powerful magic, which was more than enough cause for wariness in Regina's book. For a moment, she wasn't sure whether to intervene or not...right up until an actual giant stormed onto the scene. Well, that was quite enough. She would not have these untamed creatures making a mess of her town! And seeing as this man seemed very much bent on trying to stop them, she supposed that put them on the same side - for now at least.

So when the chimera unleashed another burst of flame, heading directly toward the distracted sorcerer, Regina shot a hand forward and instantly took control of the element. Fire was wild, destructive - while you had to coax and ease some elements into obeying you, fire required sheer force, and it was that which she used to halt the flames, swirl them around, and send them back toward the chimera itself. The creature let out an outraged roar, rearing up and back to try and escape the sudden burst of heat. It was lucky she'd managed to occupy it for the moment - otherwise, it might've taken advantage of the thing that distracted her in the next moment.

A girl - Regina hadn't gotten a good look at her, but she was fairly sure she'd never seen her before (that wild, fiery red hair was something of a memorable trait, after all) shot past her and sprung to the other stranger's side to confront the giant, betraying not so much as a glimpse of fear as she raised her bow and shot at it - twice. What in magic's name...? Where were all these people coming from? She did suppose they were preferable to, say...Prince Charming bursting onto the scene prepared for battle, but still...it was baffling, to say the least.

Well. There'd be time for questions later.

Wasting no further time, she conjured gnarled, twisting roots from the hedges that lined the streets and willed them to shoot straight for the chimera's hind legs. The creature whipped its heads to and fro as the makeshift tendrils attempted to drag it backwards. With the brute strength that such a monster possessed, it was a distraction that probably wouldn't hold it for long - but perhaps long enough for the strange, sorcerer man to get a good blow in.

[johnseever]

Another was here as well, having spent the time traveling to see the new places that this world offered. Since he was new here, and from the future, he really did not have a place to live, besides the various homeless shelters and the Batmobile. However, traveling from Gotham to a town called Storybooke, in whatever part of the United States it was, allowed Terry to see things differently than the streets of Gotham.

Relaxing in the cockpit of the Batmobile, Terry had the cloak on to hide the craft, as it was a head of its time by common standards. So, if anyone got a hold of it, things would and could be bad to Terry and the rest of the 21st century at least this part of the 21st century. As Terry flew, he looked and saw the sign for Storybrooke and than saw the scene that was going on; a Chimera and he blinked, "What the ...." he says as he flies the Batmobile over the town, and sees the creature and the two who are standing up to it, a man who uses magic and a girl with a bow.

Thinking, he banked the Batmobile around and lined up on the creature, and fired the grappling hooks at the creatures necks and and tried to wrap them around, to bring them close and tie them up. Grunting as the Batmobile shutters from the pull, Terry mutters "Great, first time ever doing this" he says as he sets the Batmobile on Auto after Terry flies around a few times before cutting the lines.

As the lines are cut, Terry drops out of the bottom of the Batmobile as it decloaks and flies off and he looks for a moment "What I would not give for Mr. Freeze's gun," he says as he fires some batarangs at the eyes of the Chimera, while hovering in the air.