After a couple minutes, Ruby had woken up. She looked around for a moment, trying to clear her head.
   "You ok?" They all asked.
   "Yea. It's just that little brat hit me with fairy dust! Whatever. I don't care anymore!"
   They all sat down to think in silence when someone suddenly came running over. "Ruby, are you ok?"
   They all glanced up to see a woman about as old as the rest of the older generation with dark hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, dressed in a dress and a long red cloak.
   "Who are you?" Ruby blurted out.
   "Red. They call me Red."
   "Red? Red Riding Hood?" Ruby asked, distress beginning to creep into her voice. "My father told me all about you! About how you ruined his life and the horrible things you'd do to me if we ever met."
   "That's not true." Red said, gently. "I'd never hurt with of you. I loved your father." She sighed. "Whatever he's told you or whatever these people here have said, it's not true. Please let me explain."
   "Why should I listen to whatever you've got to say?"
   "Because I'm your mother."
                           * * * * *
   Silence.
   For several minutes, there was silence.
   It was so quiet that the VKs could heard the sounds of the Storybrooke residents putting things right.
   Then...
   "You're a liar!"
   "Ruby, I'm not..."
   "If you were my mother, then why did you abandon me? If you were my mother, why do you never attempt to find me or contact me? If you were my mother, you'd care what happened to me! But you don't! You never have! So get away from me and my friends! I'm already on the verge of making a meal out of someone today! Don't make it be you!"
   "But--"
   "I said," Ruby said, her eyes beginning to glow gold, "leave!" She growled the last word.
   Gideon got in front of Ruby, sword raised towards Red. "I suggest you listen to her. She doesn't make threats lightly."
   Red took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll go. But, please, Ruby, come visit me sometime. We need to talk. Take care, sweetheart."
   With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared.
                              * * * * *
   Some minutes later, Percival came to try to comfort Ruby but Gideon and Elsa threatened him until he left. He made a face like a kicked puppy before he did so, though, which made Ruby feel bad about it.
   The VKs sat at their table, each feeling horrible about how the whole day had turned out.
    Rose came by, eventually, to check on them. "I am so sorry about everything that's happened. I can't believe how Karayan and Audrey were acting! Snow was mortified when she heard how her son and mother treated you as if what Regina did was your fault! I wish Audrey would've gotten a similar reaction but Aurora isn't very good at disciplinary action."
   "It's fine, Rose." Merlin said. "We're used to being treated like the bad guys. Mostly because we are."
   "No, Merl, you're not." Rose said, moving closer to Merlin, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I just wish I could make them see you the way I do." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Merlin's cheek. "I'll come by your room later to check on you all." She said to the VKs before turning back to Merlin. "We'll figure this out. Just trust me, ok?"
   Then she turned and walked away.
   Not even two minutes after she left, Karayan, Audrey, and the other members of their gang came walking by.
   "Pretty words." Audrey said. "Too bad it won't last."
   Karayan smirked. "Soon she'll see things how they are and realize there's no saving any of you."
   "Besides," Lacey added, "no one wants a villain for a king."
   Merlin felt himself growing angry. He hissed a spell under his breath and Lacey's hair turned back to how it was before he fixed it.
   "And there's plenty more where that came from!"
   "You're a menace!" Audrey shouted.
   "No. You're just a brat!" With that, he used another spell that sent them all flying far away. Turning to his friends, he said, "I can't wait til tomorrow."
  They all nodded solemnly.