2,949Happy fucking pride my lgbt loves! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. This has been in the works for MONTHS, but writer's block plus other priorities, PLUS BEING SICK WITH A STOMACH VIRUS FOR ALMOST TWO GODDAMN WEEKS has not been helpful.
That said and because it is pride month, if you feel so inclined to support a fellow lgbt creator, you can purchase my novels on Amazon. Just type in Darkness Is Rising by CM Sipes on amazon and it should come right up, from there you can check out my author page to purchase all three novels.
I also have a redbubble page, username chesip14. Bunch of different designs I've made.
As well as an Etsy shop where I make handmade essential oil roll ons. The shop is WitchoftheWildsShop
"Come here you little bastard," Cora growled as she clicked away at her computer.
Sweat beaded on her brow and her tongue poked out between her lips. Her eyes were locked on her screen in intense concentration. She was almost to the end. She only had one more—
"SON OF A FUCKING BITCH YOU MOTHERFUCKER ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Cora screeched as the screen lit up with a little blue creature violently stabbing her red one. Her little red character became a ghost and floated above her half cut off body. She was one of three teammates left and she was dead with just one task to finish.
She grumbled as she completed the task before her body was discovered. Her screen flashed a 'BODY REPORTED' and cut to the chat.
Blue: where?
Snow: Aww Cora nooooo. It was in electrical.
Hook: MY CAPTAIN NO! I shall avenge thee!
"THEN FUCKING VOTE BLUE, HOOK!" Cora yelled at her screen. She bit her lip waiting. They used to do voice chat for their games but had to stop when Snow got a little too rowdy and colorful with her language. By the end of one of her rants even Cora was blushing, and THAT was saying something.
Snow: Blue sus
Hook: I mean it IS Rachel Tice
Blue: how the fuck do you not know it's Snow?!
Snow: *gasp* I would NEVER…unless I was impostor then I would but it wasn't me
Hook: Sorry luv but I'm voting you
There was a pop and an 'I voted' sticker stamped Hook's black character bubble. Then another appeared above Snow's and then Blue's.
Blue: This is bullshit
The screen changed and Blue's blue character floated across the screen.
Blue was the impostor
"Yeah no fucking shit," Cora grumbled before sitting back in her chair and waiting for another game to start.
She hated when Blue was impostor and killed her. However, it was an incredibly rare occurrence. She had become addicted to the game Among Us when her grandson had showed her. Then she introduced it to her friends and everyone became addicted. Now they always had a group to play with. There could be ten maximum but they only ever had nine. She'd been trying to find someone else but no one had gotten into it other than them. She even created a discord server called Storybrooke Among Us where people could join and chat while they played.
She was the admin for the server and a little pop sounded. She glanced at the server, eyebrows rising in surprise when a new member joined.
"NinjaKiller," Cora said aloud.
Suddenly her door flew open and Emma slid in. "I'm off shift are we playing?!"
Cora eyed her daughter-in-law with surprise. "We were just about to start another round." She glanced at the clock. "Henry home?"
"He's already in his room he should be on in a second," Emma replied as she skittered from the room and down the hall.
Cora rolled her eyes. Getting Emma addicted to Among Us had not been one of her better ideas, and that was saying something…again…she was noticing a theme.
Regina was NOT pleased to have the game take up so much of her wife's attention. In fact, Regina was rather angry about it taking up so much time that she threatened to turn Cora into a bug and step on her. So, they compromised. Regina usually left the office around 7pm and Emma's shift ended at 5, so she had two hours to play before having family time with Regina and Henry.
Cora's gaze lingered on this NinjaKiller and wondered who it was. No one in Storybrooke was a ninja…that she was aware of. They all played as characters who were decorated to resemble them.
For instance, Cora's character was red and her name was QOH, standing for Queen of Hearts. She wore devil horns…just because. Zelena would play as a green character and wear a witch hat, with the name Wicked. Snow was white with a birds nest on her head, since there were no apples, and of course she had a little white pet that she was VERY protective of. Hook was black with a pirate hat, simply going by Hook. Blue was blue, with bat wings on her head since there were no fairy wings, and Cora found it fitting calling her a blue demon most of the time. Emma played as yellow with a sheriff hat with the name Sheriff. Henry was lime green with the name Author and an explorer hat. Granny was cyan with the name OG and a machete on her head. Charming played as orange with the original name of Charming, and a knight helmet as his hat.
Everyone was logging on and joining the room one at a time. That's when NinjaKiller joined the lobby.
Purple in color with a ninja headband around its head.
Cora opened the chat.
QOH: Welcome NinjaKiller! Who are you if I can ask?
Sheriff: Yeah who is the new guy? Welcome! We finally have 10!
NinjaKiller: anonymous. I'm new.
Snow: Mysterious…
Blue: sus
QOH: we haven't even started stfu blue
Blue: start
QOH: omfg
Charming: welcome newbie!
Hook: aye welcome to the crew luv
Blue: start
Cora slammed the start button. She growled at Blue's name, hoping she would be impostor so she could get revenge on Blue.
The game loaded and she was, unfortunately, a crewmate.
See the objective of the game was simple enough. Crewmates were given tasks that they had to complete, and they had to figure out who the impostor was and boot them without dying. If they died they could still finish their tasks though as a ghost. If they completed their tasks before the impostor killed everyone or ejected the correct person, they would win. If not, the impostor would win. The impostor had to kill everyone without being suspected, and could vent and sabotage the ship to prevent the crewmates from winning, and to make the kills easier. Crewmates, or the impostor, could report the dead bodies which led to a discussion about who did it.
So Cora hightailed it out of the cafeteria, they were on the Skeld map, and ran to do her tasks. With ten of them, anyone of them could be the impostor and the kill cooldown was at 15 seconds so she had to move fast. She darted to electrical, passing Snow and Charming running in the opposite direction.
Suddenly Cora heard Emma scream from the other room.
"SON OF A BITCH YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE I WILL EAT YOUR CHILD!"
Cora chuckled, knowing Emma was just murdered and wondering where the body was. She did her task with the wires and left electrical, seeing no body lying around on the way to the reactor.
"YOU DEMON SPAWN HOW DARE YOU!" Henry screeched down the hallway.
Cora gulped. "Holy shit this person is good." She continued with her task and then ran into security to look at the cameras.
No dead bodies on the camera. She watched Charming and Snow run down to navigation. She knew it couldn't be them since they were sticking together and there was only one impostor. Then Zelena ran by on another camera, followed by Granny, and then Hook.
NinjaKiller ran by a few seconds after on a separate camera.
Cora hummed to herself. She didn't see Blue anywhere…
Cora pulled out of security and ran off, wanting to get to the caf and call an emergency meeting to see how many were dead.
That's when she saw the cut in half body.
"Fuck," Cora muttered as she hit report.
It was Blue. Dead. Bleeding in the hallway.
Snow: where?
Charming: where?
Wicked: where?
Hook: where?
QOH: upper engine.
Snow: self report? You do hate blue
QOH: self-reporting on blue would be the dumbest thing I could do. Bitch can rot there
Cora exited out of the chat to see who all was dead. She sighed and clicked back into the chat.
QOH: granny is gone too. Along with Emma and Henry
Snow: nooooo
QOH: any sus?
NinjaKiller: Ive been with green most of the game
Wicked: that's true
Snow: well charming and I have been together
Charming: that leaves QOH and Hook
Hook: ive been in admin this whole bloody time trying to swipe that bloody card!
Snow: A likely excuse...
Hook: In case you forgot luv I have ONE HAND
Snow: ...a likely excuse...this time...
QOH: I was on cams and didn't see anything suspicious but nobody was coming and going out of admin and there's a vent there…
Snow: skip?
QOH: skip
Cora clicked out of the chat and skipped her vote. Hook was playing with one hand so she really couldn't fault him for taking forever to swipe.
Everyone else skipped, and then the game was afoot once more.
Cora headed to navigation, passing purp and green along the way. She began her task, charting navigation. Then the lights went out.
Cora sighed.
"Damnit I have to go all the way back there or they'll think it's me." She turned…
The screen lit up and there was purp, sharp tongue flying out and slicing right through her head, leaving her cut in half corpse on the ground.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Cora yelled.
About ten seconds later, Henry and Emma opened the door.
"They got you too, huh," Emma said with a shake of her head.
Cora waved them away, intently staring at her screen as she did her tasks as a ghost.
She glided through the hallways, passing Zelena's corpse along the way. She whistled.
"Damn that purp is good for being a newbie."
Then she spotted Hook's body. She floated around more, trying to find Snow and Charming. They could still win the round.
That's when she saw it happen in electrical. Snow was clearly doing a task, one of the long ones, a download, and Charming was next to her doing wires. The lights went out and Cora could see Charming leave his task to turn on the lights. Purp popped up from the vent and ran past Snow, killing him against the electrical box before the lights could be fixed.
Then they waited for the cooldown. Snow moved back and forth clearly confused before heading to the box to fix the lights. Purp stood perfectly in front of Charming's body, blocking it from view. Snow clearly didn't notice the report button light up, making Cora roll her eyes. The lights came on and then, Snow was murdered.
Even with the distance between the mansion and Snow and Charming's home, Cora could hear Snow scream in terror.
The screen lit up with DEFEAT and purple standing victorious.
She hit play again and returned to the lobby, immediately opening the chat.
QOH: gg purp
Sheriff: yeah seriously great for you being a newb
Author: I was impressed
OG: speak for yourself. MURDERER
QOH: relax OG you'll be able to have your revenge eventually if purp keeps playing with us
Hook: aye, they really lived up to the name ninjakiller
Ninjakiller: thanks beginners luck I guess?
OG: Captain let's do two impostors since we have a full ten
QOH: Okay everyone I'm making a new game, check the server for the code
Cora exited the lobby and created a new game with two impostors, then pasted the code in the server and entered the game.
Before long everyone had arrived and she hit the start button. She waited patiently to see if she was an impostor or not.
As luck would have it, she and Hook were impostors.
She giggled quietly to herself as everyone scattered for their tasks. She went to admin first, faking a task and plotting her move. Hook was with her. Soon it was just them and Granny in admin. She was clearly struggling with the swipe card. She went over to fake the task with Hook as Henry entered. Cora hit the lights.
As they all exited to head toward electrical she and Hook double killed at the same time right at the top of storage and then circled down to the right and around to make it look like they came from the right side of the map.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" She heard Henry yell from his room.
As they arrived in electrical the lights went on. Then the report button came in.
BODY REPORTED
Sheriff: who killed my son?
QOH: My first mate!
Wicked: where?
Snow: two bodies granny and henry are down right at the top of storage
Charming: who saw them last?
Hook: Cora and I were with them in admin then we headed through caf to do weapons. Then the lights went out.
Sheriff: someone could've vented in admin easily
Wicked: purp and I have been together doing tasks
QOH: Hook and I have been together as well
Sheriff: it pains me to say but Blue has been with me the whole time
Blue: Charming was running around without snow for a bit
Ninjakiller: sus
Charming: We got separated
QOH: how do you get separated our speed is not that fast. I'm with purp. Sus
'Ninjakiller has voted' popped up in the chat. Cora went to vote and voted for Charming as well.
The other votes came in.
Snow: Charming how could you?
Charming: It's not me!
The votes were in and Charming was ejected, and he was not the impostor.
Cora chuckled and took off away from Hook, wanting to give them some space so that people wouldn't think they were in on it together.
The lights went out and Cora ran down the map to electrical to catch anyone on the way.
She saw Emma running ahead and waited a moment. Then Blue appeared and Cora took her opportunity, killing Blue instantly and then doubling back toward med bay, through the caf and storage. She just arrived outside electrical when the lights went back up. She waited until the small group saw her and then turned and headed to the right side of the map, passing Hook along the way. She went to communications and waited, faking a task.
"FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCKADOODLE!" Emma shrieked from her room.
Cora whistled to herself. "Okay just a few more, you got this."
She ran through storage and up toward admin. Emma, granny, henry, and blue were all dead. Charming was voted out. That left Zelena, Snow, and ninjakiller.
She snickered, ready to hunt the remaining ones down. Then Emma's body was reported.
BODY REPORTED
Purp reported the body.
QOH: where?
Hook: where?
Ninjakiller: its black and red
QOH: um proof?
Ninjakiller: green, white, and I are the only ones left. I've been with green the whole round and there are two imp.
Hook: Snow is unaccounted for
Snow: I've been with green and purp since you voted Charming out!
Wicked: I say sus
QOH: you can't vote two people out right now tho
Ninjakiller: no but I can call an emergency meeting right after we vote one of you out
Snow: I say we vote black first then red
'Wicked has voted'
'Ninjakiller has voted'
'Snow has voted'
Cora growled and skipped voting, as did Hook.
The votes tallied and Hook was voted out.
'Hook was an impostor' read across the screen as he floated by.
"I'm gonna kill purp just because," Cora muttered. She was going to get voted out next anyway so she might as well go hard.
As soon as they appeared in the caf, purp took off.
Cora hightailed after them, hoping to catch them before Zelena or Snow called an emergency meeting.
"Come here you little eggplant motherfucker!" Cora yelled. She was almost on her…
EMERGENCY MEETING
"FUCKING SHIT FUCK!" Cora yelled.
Snow: bye Cora
Wicked: sry not sry
'Ninjakiller has voted'
'Snow has voted'
'Wicked has voted'
"Damnit!" Cora groaned. She looked at the time.
Votes tallied in and she was ejected.
"SERVES YOU RIGHT!" Henry yelled from his room.
"DON'T BE A LITTLE SHIT, HENRY, OR I'LL GET YOU AGAIN!" Cora yelled back.
They all entered the lobby.
QOH: we have time for a round of hide n seek before Regina gets home
Wicked: sounds good to me
Cora lowered the impostor vision down to .50x and shortened the kill distance.
Charming: you all voted me out and it was cora and hook. Thx guys
Snow: sorry honey
Blue: thx for not even finding me
QOH: anytime. Happy to let you rot
Blue: YOU WANNA FUCKING GO
QOH: I ALWAYS WANNA GO YOU SNOT RAG
Blue: BRING IT YOU USED TAMPON LOOKING MOTHERFUCKER
Wicked: can we just play
Ninjakiller: how do you play hide n seek?
QOH: I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE YOU LIMP DICK BATHBOMB
Snow: whoever is imp says they are when we call an emergency meeting at the beginning. Imp no venting and the only sabotage you can do is comms. Try to kill everyone. Crewmates do tasks and don't report bodies
Sheriff: vision is turned down so it's harder for the imps to see and find people and imps have to wait for the kill cooldown to hit 0 before they can chase so that ppl have a chance to run
Blue: I'LL BE FUCKING WAITING HERE FOR YOU
Ninjakiller: got it
Author: START
Cora huffed and slammed the start button. The screen darkened and she was a crewmate.
They all waited around the button until they could hit it.
OG: It's purp and I
Everyone skipped voting and waited until they could run, each of them hightailing it in a different direction.
Cora ran as fast as she could, memorizing her tasks as best as she could. Then the comms went out and her tasks disappeared.
"Well shit."
"NOOOOO STAY AWAY!" Emma shrieked from the other room. She pterodactyl screeched for the next few minutes and before long Cora could see purp chasing after her.
"EMMA!" Cora yelled as she ran in between purp and Emma just as the kill happened.
She sacrificed herself for Emma.
"CORA YOU SAVED ME!" Emma yelled as Cora watched the yellow character run as far away from purp as she could.
"DON'T LET IT BE IN VAIN!" Cora yelled back. Her lifeless red body lay on the floor as she hovered above it.
Cora floated through the map, doing her tasks. She was trying to find her next one when she saw Snow get wrecked by Purp, leaving her little pet sitting on the floor terribly sad next to her corpse.
"God that is so rough to see," Cora muttered.
All the way down the street Cora could hear Snow scream in agony.
"MY CHILD! YOU LEFT MY CHILD AN ORPHAN YOU ABSOLUTE MONSTER," Snow screamed.
Emma yelled from down the hall as loud as she could, "OH SURE CRY OVER A FAKE FUCKING PET BUT LETS PUT YOUR ACTUAL CHILD IN A GODDAMN TREE AND SEND HER OFF TO A TOTALLY SEPARATE LAND."
"Valid point," Cora said to herself, nodding in approval.
"THAT WAS ONE TIME!" Snow bellowed back.
"ONE TIME WAS ONE TIME TOO GODDAMN MANY!" Emma retorted, voice shaking the house a little.
Cora slouched down in her seat, just trying to finish her tasks so they could end this round before Regina got home.
Cora saw Granny continuously bumping into things, unable to see well and missing two people that ran right past her.
"Holy shit Eugenia come ON," Cora groaned, watching as Granny continuously tried to get out of the boxes she was somehow trapped in because she couldn't see the ONLY exit anywhere.
Purp appeared by Granny, clearly able to see her struggling a little and walked right up to her, and very slowly led her out. Then purp went off to find their next victim. Granny followed behind.
Then Zelena made the mistake of running out in front of them, thinking she could get by quickly. But purp was too fast—slicing Zelena right there and continuing on like nothing happened.
Blue appeared then, and upon seeing the pair leaving Zelena's green body—turned tail and ran away.
Surprisingly Granny gathered her senses and gave chase. Cora had completed her tasks, so she followed along to watch the bloodshed.
Henry ran out then, thinking he was clear of Granny. But purp was there and sliced him down.
"NOOOOOO," Henry cried.
"Emma you have to make it!" Cora yelled. "Henry is DOWN, I repeat the Author is DOWN."
Emma pterodactyl screeched and Cora could see her crewmate running as fast as the little legs could go. She continued to screech as she ran and Cora just accepted that it would continue happening.
Cora saw Blue's body cut in half and knew Granny had caught up and cut her down. That still left Hook, Charming, and Emma.
Then Cora saw purp cut down Hook and Charming stood right there—frozen in terror and surrounded by impostors.
It was tense.
Cora wondered if Granny would go for it, or wait for the kill cooldown for purp to end.
Granny sprinted forward suddenly, and slashed Charming in half.
The screen went black and a big red DEFEAT appeared with purp and Granny's characters.
Cora grumbled and left the game, saying goodbye to everyone in the discord server.
Emma popped into her room, looking like she just ran a marathon.
"You good?" Cora asked, voice full of concern.
Her shoulders slumped. "The stress of being hunted…I cannot even explain," Emma stated and sat down on the bed.
Henry came in then, looking a bit haggard as well. "I'm going to go take a bath before dinner. I need to relax and de-stress."
"There's a bottle of lavender bubble bath in the bathroom closet," Emma informed him as he left. She turned and looked at Cora. "That ninjakiller was really good for being a newb."
Cora nodded. "I believe that they've been training."
Emma eyed her quizzically.
"I think they have been playing more than they admitted," Cora continued. "Most likely they've watched videos of impostor kills, knowing where to hide and how to fake tasks the best way they can. Their methods are strategic and carefully planned. This is no amateur. This is an assassin."
Emma's eyes widened. "Cora…do you have a new nemesis?"
Cora released a heavy sigh. "I believe I do, Emma. I believe I do."
"So…what do we do?"
"We must find out who this ninjakiller is in Storybrooke. It will be difficult. It could be anyone. They're clearly using a fake identity so that no one will know who they are in the server."
"Emma, Henry, mother, I'm home!" Regina called from downstairs.
"Up here, babe!" Emma called back.
They heard Regina's footsteps as she climbed the stairs, making her way into Cora's room. Her heels were off, dangling from her fingertips. She looked tired but in good spirits.
"Rough day?" Emma asked as she stood, noticing the tired look in her wife's eyes.
"Not at all, just long," Regina replied as she sank into Emma's embrace. "How was your game?" She turned her head and nuzzled her wife's neck, breathing in the familiar scent before pulling back and kissing her sweetly.
Emma returned the affection and pulled back, taking her wife's hand and leading her to sit down on the bed.
"Cora has a new nemesis," Emma stated.
Regina rolled her eyes. "Mother, really?"
"This isn't a joke, Regina," Cora said seriously.
Regina turned to look at her wife, surprised when she saw the serious look in her eyes. "You're serious?"
Emma nodded. "There was a new member on the server."
Regina quirked an eyebrow. "And that is surprising because? Mother put flyers all over town, including outside of my office which isn't allow." She eyed her mother a moment. "So it isn't surprising that a new person joined."
Cora shook her head. "This isn't just some amateur, Regina. They have a clear strategy as impostor. They said they're new but they're too good, too methodical, too…sinister," Cora hissed.
Regina blinked. "And you took the objective of the game as a personal attack against you?"
"Every time they were impostor I was one of the first to die."
"Cora rarely dies. When she does it's usually an oversight on her part," Emma explained.
Cora nodded enthusiastically. "Blue killed me earlier but that was my fault for waiting to do things in electrical at the end. You got to do it first because everyone wants to kill in electrical," Cora explained.
Regina hummed. "Okay and what happened tonight?"
"They were a menace," Emma began. Her eyes were wide in remembrance of what transpired just minutes ago. "They cut down everyone around in a short time. Cora saved me in the last round."
Regina rubbed her wife's back as Emma shuddered.
"They just wrecked everyone. It was a slaughter," Cora said matter-of-factly.
"Well it sounds intense but I fail to see why they're your nemesis."
"I was targeted, Regina. My group, was targeted…it's personal now. I must find who this ninjakiller is."
Regina cocked an eyebrow. "Ninjakiller?"
"It's their username," Emma supplied. She looked to Cora. "I'll help you find them. We will call a meeting and have all hands on deck, captain." Then Emma saluted her before turning and kissing Regina's cheek. "I'm going to go get dinner out of the slow cooker and get things set up while you get changed."
"Where's Henry," Regina asked, casting a loving glance at her wife.
"He's taking a bath. Unwinding from the round. Poor kid got wrecked," Emma answered with a shake of her head. "He didn't stand a chance."
Regina nodded slowly and then exited the room to change as Emma departed.
Cora spun back around in her chair and entered the discord server and posted 'Puppies'. Hook would know what it meant, as would Granny. It was their code word for a meeting to be called.
She entered the voice chat of their group and waited. Shortly after, both members joined.
"I assume we are meeting to talk about that purple menace?" Granny asked over the call.
"You assume correctly," Cora replied.
"Where are the puppies?"
"Snow?" the group said in unison.
"I saw the word puppies. Puppies!" Snow said excitedly.
"No, luv, no puppies. We're just calling a meeting to discuss that ninjakiller," Hook replied.
"Oh yeah fuck that guy," Snow seethed. "He left my child an orphan."
"I mean, again, you left Emma in a tree as an infant right after you dropped her out…but go off I guess…" Cora trailed off. "We need to find out who ninjakiller really is."
Hook hummed. "Perhaps we will learn more about them as we play against them. Understand the way they think. That'll narrow some suspects down."
"I agree with Hook. There aren't many people in town that are tech savvy enough to play, or smart enough to strategize like that."
Cora nodded. "So outside of the game we keep an eye on everyone in Storybrooke and see who is sus. Emma will be helping so she can keep an eye out on shit. Then we can play against them and gather a list of suspects and compare."
"That sounds good to me!" Snow chirped. "I can enlist my furry friends to keep their eyes peeled as well."
"Excellent. Granny, keep your ears open for any talk of the game at the diner. Hook, be on the lookout at the Rabbit Hole for anyone talking about the game at all. Emma, myself, and Snow will handle the folks out and about," she instructed. "The game is afoot."
"Cora!" Ruby cried happily as her girlfriend entered the diner. When she saw the determination in her eyes—and the weary frown on her face, Ruby knew something was off. "What's wrong?"
"There's a situation…" Cora trailed off. She locked eyes with Granny and gave her a nod.
Ruby's brow furrowed. "A situation?"
"There was a new player on our game last night…they decimated everyone. I believe they targeted me and that I have a new nemesis."
Ruby's eyes widened and she leaned in closer to whisper, "I heard Granny mention it last night. Do you have any suspects?"
Cora shook her head. "There's no one in Storybrooke that is a ninja…I mean the closest we have would be a warrior—two of which are already in the server group…I guess Mulan could be a suspect but that doesn't explain why."
Ruby worried her lip. "It isn't Mulan. She and Aurora have been too busy planning their wedding."
"Well," Cora began, releasing a breath and tilting her head back, "who the fuck is it then? And why?"
"I assume Blue isn't a suspect."
"Correct. She was in the game…unless she had one of her little fairy bitches…" Cora trailed off. "Hmm…that wouldn't be out of the ordinary for her…the hatter could also be a suspect. I did abuse the powers of the hat."
"Maybe you should start there then," Ruby suggested. Her eyes trailed over to one booth. "I gotta go give them their check, but keep me in the loop." She leaned over and kissed Cora sweetly before walking away.
Granny appeared on the other side of the counter. Her eyes lingered on each patron suspiciously.
"Anything?"
Granny shook her head. "Nothing at all."
"Ruby aided me in possible suspects…either on of Blue's little fairy friends, or possibly the hatter."
"Ohhhh," Granny drawled as realization hit. "Because you joyrode the hat so much that it tore a little and hatter lost his shit?"
Cora nodded.
"He makes sense. Do you want me to come with you?"
"No no. Stay here and keep an eye out just in case. I'll call Hook and have him meet up with me."
"Aye aye, captain."
"Oh and, Granny, have Ruby scope out the diner for suspects while the game is happening tonight. I won't be present so that I can patrol the town. Keep me updated," Cora instructed before disappearing in her cloud of red smoke.
"So, we are scoping out the hatter's place to see if he is the one?" Hook asked.
"Yes. He would have the motive."
"To be fair, luv, the whole town has cause to get back at you…a few hundred times over by now."
"Shut the fuck up," Cora said quickly. Then her eyes shifted to the door and she saw movement. "DOWN!" she hissed as she pushed Hook into some bushes—diving in right after him.
Jefferson opened the door and stepped outside, carrying a trash bag and whistling as he walked to the end of the driveway. He plopped the trash in the bin and turned to walk back to the house.
Cora and Hook were smushed together in the one bush, and Hook kept wriggling to try and free his hook from one of the branches.
"It's got my fucking hook," he whispered frantically.
"You're fine just stop moving," Cora hissed back.
"It's like the crocodile all over again. My hand…" Hook breathed, eyes blown wide with panic. His breathing became shallow and quickened.
Cora growled in irritation, about to magick them away when a large squeak nearby sounded. A big bushy squirrel leapt from a nearby bush and ran past Jefferson.
Jefferson sighed, chuckled to himself about paranoia, and headed back up the walk and into the house. Once he was gone, Cora breathed out a sigh of relief.
"It's clear," Snow said from above.
Cora looked up as she magicked Hook out of the bush, leaving him kissing his hook in gratitude while she addressed Snow.
"So, what crackpot shit have you been up to?" Cora asked, arching an eyebrow as her gaze eyed the tree.
The woman was squatting on a tree branch, the leaves and smaller branches obscuring her face partially while shadows obscured the rest.
"I've dispatched my furry friends all over town to see who the culprit is. It isn't Jefferson. Frank, here, saw Jefferson playing with his daughter last night while we were on the server," Snow explained. She leaned forward, out from the shadow of the branches so the light hit her. Her face was painted in camouflage.
Cora didn't even blink at Snow's batshit craziness anymore.
"Any leads?" Cora inquired.
Snow shook her head. "I'm having the rest cover extra areas tonight. You should play tonight instead of staking things out, my animals can cover that."
Cora hummed and nodded her agreement before she realized what Snow had said. "Wait…how did you know I wasn't going to play tonight?"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere, Cora," Snow replied before slinking back into the shadow of the trees.
"I know you're still there," Cora commented.
"Shhh," Snow shushed. "There is no one hereeeeee."
"Snow, you're responding."
"I am the green, I am everywhere…" Snow hissed, and then disappeared.
Cora's eyebrows rose. "White chocolate gets more batshit every day…and somehow more fucking useful." She looked at Hook, who was still cooing to his hook. "Oy, get up let's go. We have a game to play."
Cora logged on to the server, and opened her game as well. The group was all there. She sent a private message to Snow, asking if her agents were in place.
Snow: they are in position all around town
QOH: no place left uncovered?
Snow: they aren't amateurs, Cora. These guys are the best of the best. I've never served with a group so dedicated to their mission
QOH: …okayyyyyyy. Great!
"Fucking cookoo ass bitch," Cora muttered.
Snow: I heard that…
Cora paled. She swung around in her chair, eyes landing on her window and the bird that was staring at her intently. It then leaned over and pecked at a cellphone near it.
"Does…does that bird have a fucking cellphone?" Cora asked herself, officially freaked the fuck out.
Snow: I taught them Morsecode
Cora eyed the screen and then the bird…
She decided to just turn around and pretend there wasn't some random ass bird staring at her through her window and sending morsecode messages to her daughter-in-law's mother.
Wicked: hello all! Ready for another exciting game?
Sheriff: hell yeah let's gooooo
Author: I need to be impostor so that I can get my revenge
QOH: do not worry, henry, I will seek vengeance for you if you cannot get it yourself
Ninjakiller: good to be here again. Last time was fun!
"Oh I bet it fucking was you dragon dildo," Cora growled as the lobby filled and she hit the start button.
She had selected two impostors for the round and was impatiently waiting to see what she would get.
'CREWMATE,' popped up on her screen and Cora groaned. She would have to get her most difficult tasks out of the way first. She wanted to catch purple in the act if they were an impostor.
When her screen changed to the map, Cora wasted no time in running toward electrical. She had three tasks to do there and she needed to be quick. Her little red legs carried her as fast as possible while Cora's tongue poked out between her lips.
She connected the wires for her first task, then moved a few steps over to do an upload. This was one of the longer tasks as she just had to wait.
She could see Ninjakiller moving around in the background and she grew nervous. She then saw Granny and Henry enter and breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe for the moment.
Cora finished her task and moved to her last task in electrical, making quick work of it before taking off away from that death trap.
Then she saw it.
Snow…her lifeless lower half lay on the floor. Her little pet sat on the ground, sadness conveyed in its little features.
'REPORT'
Wicked: who?
Charming: SNOW!
Ninjakiller: where?
Sheriff: MOM
QOH: Snow, and lower engine
Blue: Last I saw her she was with Sheriff and Charming
OG: so are we skipping?
QOH: skip for now. We can see who dies next
Ninjakiller: that sounded ominous
QOH: DON'T PLAY THE GAME IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE PAIN
The game resumed and Cora quickly headed to the asteroids. She hopped in the game and began blasting, her eyes keeping an eye on the background screen as well just in case. She saw purp and Hook run by, followed then by Wicked.
She finished her task and made her way south on the map, heading toward navigation. Something caught her eye and she walked further south. Then she saw her.
Granny; sliced in half.
"Fuuuuuck," Cora breathed as she hit the report button.
Ninjakiller: self report maybe?
QOH: yeah yeah, I know how it looks. BUT, I can vouch for purp, hook, and wicked as I saw them together
Hook: we've been together since we resumed
Author: I've been flying solo running around…I think it's weird that I haven't seen Sheriff or Charming tho…
Sheriff: we've been doing tasks!
Charming: kind of sus that you're by yourself running around
QOH: that is rather sus, Henry
Author: I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING
QOH: Blue has been rather quiet…
Blue: I'm just sitting back and listening to you all squabble
Hook: lets just skip for now
Cora huffed and waited for the game to resume. Once it did, she took off to finish her last task in communications. Once she was finished she headed toward security so she could get on the cameras and keep an eye on everyone.
She made it without incident, and then turned on the cameras. She flicked through them all and saw nothing suspicious. She exited out of the cameras and noticed something in the corner of her screen. She walked over to the wall, so she could see the upper corner of the map.
That's when she saw it.
Charming, slicing right through Blue.
Cora immediately made her character run to the caf, and then she slammed on the emergency button.
QOH: IT'S CHARMING
Ninjakiller: proof?
QOH: I saw him slice Blue in medical
'Ninjakiller has voted'
'Hook has voted'
'Author has voted'
'QOH has voted'
'Sheriff has voted'
QOH: Wait…where's Zelena?
Hook: bloody hell she's dead too
Ninjakiller: I saw her veer off toward the top of the map during the middle point of the game
The game resumed and Cora had a sneaking suspicion she knew who the other impostor was. So she hit the emergency meeting button, pulling them back into the chat.
Ninjakiller: It's Sheriff
QOH: It's Sheriff
Sheriff: wait what?
Ninjakiller: QOH, go ahead
QOH: Emma was with Charming the whole game and he was definitely an impostor. Zelena was killed sometime in the middle of the game at the top of the map, which is nearby Charming. Charming and Emma have been inseparable since the game began
Ninjakiller: plus there's the whole getting revenge thing on Snow for putting Sheriff in a tree as a baby
QOH: MOTIVE
'Author has voted'
'QOH has voted'
'Ninjakiller has voted'
'Hook has voted'
Sheriff: YEAH I DID IT. AND I'D DO IT AGAIN TOO
QOH: Honestly, dear, I don't blame you
Sheriff: IT FELT GOOD TO TAKE DOWN PRECIOUS SNOW WHITE
QOH: Regina definitely has rubbed off on you
Hook: Yeah she has…
QOH: kinky bitches *smirk*
Sheriff: MY ONLY REGRET IS THAT I DIDN'T CAUSE MORE PAIN. MORE SUFFERING.
Author: oh boy, ma, let's take it down a notch
QOH: Henry go tend to your mother we will wait
Cora could hear Henry's door open down the hall, followed by Emma and Regina's bedroom door.
"I'M FINE, HENRY," Emma yelled.
"OBVIOUSLY YOU AREN'T. YOU GAVE PART OF MOM'S EXECUTION SPEECH!" Henry countered.
"I SAID I'M FINE DAMNIT!"
Then Cora heard a slap.
"…Henry, did you just slap me?"
"AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF WOMAN!" Henry yelled.
Cora snickered to herself before a 'ping' sounded on her computer.
It was a message from Snow, and she quickly opened it.
"Well, well, well…" Cora murmured. A slow grin spread across her face. "I've got you now..."
She shot a message off to Hook to meet her.
Hook: Cora remember that rabid raccoon that was stealing my money?
QOH: Yes...
Hook: The little bastard is back
QOH: I'll be right there. This won't take long, keep playing we will return
Then she signed off and magicked herself to Hook's ship.
"So, we have a lead?" Hook asked as he took Cora's hand.
They were engulfed in a plume of red smoke as they were transported to outside of City Hall.
"Yes," Cora answered as they eyed the building. "A little birdie told Snow that the culprit is here. They aren't sure who it is but this is the closest thing we have right now. And they're playing right now. Frank, the squirrel, heard the sounds of the game."
"I see."
They quickly dashed inside, stealthily passing through the deserted hallways. They didn't see a soul as they scanned the first floor.
"Offices are the next level," Cora whispered as she gestured for Hook to follow her.
They poked their heads around the corner and saw a few doors open, signaling that the offices were occupied.
"It could be any of those," Cora murmured as she creeped up to the first door. She peaked in, eyes falling on Mother Goose. Her eyes narrowed, attempting to see if it looked like she was playing a game.
"Come on I wanna cook your juicy ass," Cora muttered.
"What?" Hook hissed, eyebrows furrowed.
"You heard me!" Cora snapped quietly. "She is a goose and I want to cook her...her goose is cooked...understand?"
Hook nodded and gave a half-hearted shrug. "It just sounded sexual."
"Blasted Minesweeper!" Mother Goose roared. "Why can I not do well on this game?"
Cora and Hook shared a glance.
"Minesweeper? What is this 2002?" Cora chided to him.
They creeped by while Mother Goose was cursing her computer. They made it to the next office and it was empty, so she waved Hook on to the next.
Empty.
"Okay so these people clearly don't give a shit if someone would prank their office." She waved her hand, magicking a whoopie cushion to just beneath the seat cushio.
Then they proceeded to the last office.
The office of the Mayor.
"It must be her secretary," Cora said to Hook. "She knows Regina's schedule in and out which means she knows OUR schedule in and out. She knows that Regina works later to get caught up which gives Emma time to play with us."
Hook's eyes widened. "The secretary of our Regina! That fucking fairy."
Cora nodded her agreement. "Tinkerbell has always been a thorn in our side, why should this be any different. She has more than enough reason to, mind you, but that's beside the point!"
"I say we confront her. Once her identity is out there she can keep playing of course."
"Absolutely, it's been great having a full ten," Cora agreed. "Okay let's own this bitch."
They both took a breath and opened the door, fully ready to rain hellfire down on Tinkebell—a full on duel that even the gods would tremble in fear—
"What the fuck," Cora and Hook said in tandem.
Tink's desk was deserted. The computer was shut down, indicating she hadn't been there in some time.
They shared a look and moved toward Regina's door. Cora pressed her ear against it, listening intently...
Then she heard it. The distinctive sound of a round starting.
She pushed open the doors, eyes blazing as her hands fell to her hips.
"MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD!"
Regina looked up quickly, clearly startled by the sudden intrusion.
"M-mother!" Regina squeaked.
Cora's eyebrows rose impossibly higher. If Regina's voice went very high, she was definitely caught red handed.
"YOU DARE MOVE AGAINST THE FAMILY!"
"Mother," Regina tried again, regaining her full composure. She pushed herself away from her desk and stood—hands smoothing the creases on her dress. "Yes. It's me. Ninja killer is me."
"BUT WHY REGINA?!" Cora demanded, tears springing to her eyes.
"BECAUSE ALL YOU AND EMMA DID WAS PLAY THIS FUCKING GAME!" Regina pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh. "Emma barely had time for me in the evenings, same goes for Henry...and even you. You were all involved in this game I didn't understand..." she trailed off.
Cora felt herself soften. "You were jealous of the game and you were left out of our fun."
Regina shifted uncomfortably. "Yes." She cleared her throat. "It also felt really good to kill you and Emma now and then."
Cora smirked. "That's my daughter. Going undercover and becoming a pro at the game to take out her family." Cora felt tears well up in her eyes. "I am so proud of you."
Regina's laugh was melodic and she shook her head at her mother.
"I have to say, luv, you really give us all a run for our money."
"You should have heard Emma screaming the whole time the other night when you were chasing her," Cora supplied before she barked out a laugh. "Why don't you come home and rejoin the game properly?"
"Gladly." Regina closed her laptop and packed up her items. "I can't wait to see the look on Emma's face when she knows it was me."
They magicked back to the house and Regina headed to her den, where she would rejoin the match—properly this time.
Cora raced to her room, seeing that Hook had just joined back into the game.
*QOH entered the game*
Sheriff: There you are! That took longer than we expected. Did you get the raccoon?
QOH: Oh yes...we took care of it
Snow: CORA IT PROBABLY HAD A FAMILY
QOH: Snow you know there was no actual raccoon
*EQ has entered the game*
EQ: hello, dears
Sheriff: REGINA?!
Author: MOM?!
Sheriff: YOU WERE NINJAKILLER?! YOU KILLED ME
EQ: fuck yea I did
Author: Mom! Why didn't you tell us!
Wicked: Holy shit this is amazing
EQ: thank you Zee. And because Henry I wanted to get some payback for you all being to engrossed with the game instead of spending time with me
Sheriff: Aw I'm sorry, babe. Henry and I will be better about that
EQ: thank you, darling
Snow: *cough cough* can I get a thank you here?
QOH: yes yes thank you for using your furry friends to track down our mystery player
Snow: so hard to get a little fucking appreciation around here
Charming: Snow...
Snow: yea yea I'll be nice
OG: So are we fucking playing or what
Blue: start
QOH: WE ARE HAVING A FAMILY MOMENT HERE
Blue: start
Hook: this round will be fun
Sheriff: ohhh maybe ill get imposter and can get revenge
Blue: start
QOH: SHUT THE FUCK UP BLUE WE ARE GOING
Cora slammed the start button. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw it was her and Regina as imposters. She maigicked herself and her set up to the den, opposite of Regina's side.
"Let's fuck them up," Cora said with a malicious grin.
"It would be a pleasure, Mother," Regina replied, her own signature Evil Queen smirk gracing her face.
They ran together, down the hall toward the engines. They saw Snow working on a task at one end of the room, and Charming at the other.
They broke from each other and approached, killing their victims at the same time with precision. Then they ran from the room and dashed to security. They checked the cameras, and seeing their ghost was clear—proceeded to electrical.
They took their time getting there as they waited for their kill counts to go down. Once they were in electrical they faked their tasks.
"Kill the lights," Cora instructed.
Regina did as told, encasing their domain in darkness.
Shortly after, OG and Wicked entered the room.
Cora quickly closed the door behind them, and she and Regina ran at them—taking them out instantly.
"To the vent!" Regina hissed as their characters ran to the vent and hopped in.
"Med bay is clear. We can hop out there and then move through the caf to get to the other side."
They hopped out in med bay and headed east on the map. They watched as Hook, Emma, and Henry were all gathered around the asteroids.
"Shit. Let's go down more and see if we can't snuff out a certain fairy."
"She's all yours, Mother. Emma is mine."
"Of course, dear," Cora replied as they headed south. They spotted Blue in navigation and Cora took her out quickly. It was just the three left. All they needed was one more kill and they would win.
"Mother, head to the cafeteria and block anyone that tries to hit the emergency button. I'm going after a swan," Regina instructed. Her eyes flashed purple as she clicked away at her keyboard.
Cora did as instructed and casually walked passed Emma, Hook, and Henry. Regina stopped in weapons and waited as her kill count went down.
Then, as if sensing the danger that had approached, Hook's little character went around the weapon machine to get around Regina. She let him go without incident. Henry followed after, running as fast as his little legs could go.
Emma was the only one left, and her little character turned back and forth as if inspecting where her companions went…and then the realization that Regina was standing there.
Regina and Cora heard Emma screech from upstairs just as her character turned to run out of weapons to the cafeteria. Then she saw that Cora was there lying in wait.
Another screech echoed through the house.
"You can run but you cannot hide, dear!" Regina yelled loudly so Emma could hear her.
Regina hightailed after her and they both ran past Cora. Regina caught her before she even made it out of the cafeteria, killing her immediately.
The screen went dark and Cora and Regina's characters appeared signaling their win.
"That was fantastic, dear. We make an excellent team," Cora said proudly from her seat across her daughter. A huge grin was plastered on her face.
Regina sat back and let out a contented sigh.
Soon after, they heard the pitter patter of feet on floor. Emma appeared in the den doorway, a pout on her lips.
"You killed me. Your own wife," Emma whined.
Regina arched an eyebrow. "That's funny, I could swear you're standing before me perfectly unharmed."
Emma scowled and crossed her arms.
"I'll let you two talk," Cora stated as she rose, magicking her setup back to her room and exiting swiftly.
Within seconds of leaving she heard Regina's voice.
"Let me make it up to you, darling."
Followed by a distinctive moan.
Cora rolled her eyes. "Fucking kinky bitches."
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Happy Pride everyone and don't forget to go and check out my wares lol