Rights to Once Upon A Time is held by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Those to Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, et al to DC Comics/Warner Bros. Joe 90 is owned by the estate of the late Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson, ITC, etc. Rights to other franchises used are owned by: Marvel Comics; NOW Comics/Moonstone Books; the BBC; JK Rowling; Jim Butcher; Charles Addams; the estate of Peter O'Donnell; amongst others. This is a non-profit attempt to play with favourite franchises.
Thank you to my fellow author on this site Model Builder for his advice and encouragement. If you haven't read any of his stories yet, I strongly advise that you do so.
Late July 2015
"I don't see why they requested Henry and Ava to come with us," Emma Swan grumbled to Regina Mills.
"Well, Mom, maybe they want us to keep Athena or Joe company?" Henry Mills suggested brightly.
"Yes, Swan," Regina added, "Sometimes the simplest solution is correct."
"I hope not!" Ava Zimmer complained. "Nothing exciting has happened in at least a month!
"At least I get to spend time with my boyfriend. Kissing Henry is even better than practising MMA on Nicholas!"
"Thanks, I think!" Henry quipped.
Ava, once known in Fairy Tale Land as Gretel, had begun dating Henry in late March when the villainous Ra's Al Ghul had nearly started a war between Storybrooke and Themyscira, the island paradise in the Bermuda Triangle that was home to the Amazons. Luckily, with the help of a number of heroes and heroines, Ra's plan to force Henry to marry Princess Athena of Themyscira had failed. Ra's and his daughter Talia were currently residing at Belle Reve Super-Maximum Security Prison, alongside other menaces to humanity. As far as Regina and Emma were concerned, both father and daughter were lucky to still have beating hearts within their chests.
"Henry! Ava! Regina! Emma!" a familiar Dorset burr called. Joseph McClaine, recently turned twelve and having been the World Intelligence Network's Most Special Agent Joe 90 for about a quarter of his life, had been a close friend of Henry's ever since he and his adoptive father Ian McClaine (known universally as Mac) had been sent into Storybrooke almost exactly a year earlier to persuade the former Fairy Tale folk to join the rest of the world. Like Themyscira, Pellucidar and a number of other "hidden" places, Storybrooke now had semi-official (albeit secret) membership of the UN and full membership of the Council. This was a liaison between the W.I.N., SHADO, UNCLE, SHIELD, UNIT, Torchwood, IADC, the White Council and several others. It was also to the main conference at the Council's Above Top Secret headquarters that the party was proceeding.
"Good to see you again, Joe!" Henry replied, as the Storybrooke contingent took it in terms to hug him, Mac and Sam Loover. "Uncle Sam", as Joe invariably called him, was both Mac's best friend and Joe's W.I.N. handler.
"Do you have any idea what this is all about, Mac?" Emma asked.
It was Sam who responded. "Something to do with missing naval vessels from at least five different countries, or so Shane Weston told me this morning." Weston was the American Director of the W.I.N.'s London Branch. "I assume why Illya Kuryakin wanted you to bring Henry and Ava, and for Queen Hippolyta to bring Princess Athena to this meeting will become clear in due course."
"That is what I would like to know too!" Hippolyta responded. Her granddaughter Athena rushed to embrace Henry, Ava and Joe, whilst the Queen of the Amazons warmly greeted Regina.
"How's Robin?" Hippolyta asked Regina.
"Still well. And Heracles?"
"Still nothing but my sex toy! As, I've said before, thank you for teaching me that heart-rip technique."
Illya Kuryakin, President of the Council, looked around the conference room, before rising to his feet. With the preliminaries dealt with, it was time to make his announcement. "As you know, a number of military vessels have gone missing in the Caribbean, near Trinidad and Tobago. No S.O.S. has ever been received and the countries involved are neither all allied nor share a clear common enemy.
"No terrorist group has claimed responsibility. It could be SPECTRE, THRUSH or HYDRA, but it doesn't appear to fit the MO of any of those three organisations."
"I've never heard of any of them!" Regina muttered.
"The Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion is a top criminal organisation and backer of terrorist groups, whilst the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjection of Humanity is bent on world domination. HYDRA are a right-wing terrorist organisation, started by a disaffected Nazi during the Second World War," Joe informed her.
"Yes, I remember working with Captain America, Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos to take them down in the 1940s," Diana reminisced.
"What does HYDRA stand for?" Emma asked.
"Nothing! It's named after the many-headed snakes from our native Realm," Diana explained. "'For every head you cut off, two more will rise'. As with the snakes' heads, so with their agents!"
"Well, I can see why SPECTRE and THRUSH don't use their full titles!" Regina quipped. "How the latter didn't realise, though, that it shared its name with both a songbird and a venereal disease is beyond me!"
"Actually, the songbird is their emblem. Having spent most of my life fighting THRUSH," Illya continued, "I can assure you that they are a genuine threat. I don't, however, get the feeling any of the three are involved here. The League of Assassins could be involved, but that doesn't seem right either. Ra's and Talia Al Ghul are still in Belle Reve.
"Mr Weston?"
Shane Weston stood up. "Thank you, Mr Chairman. We intend to send Agent Joe 90 on a cruise of that part of the Caribbean. With the B.I.G.R.A.T., he will be given the brain-patterns of a top salvage diver. We will provide a yacht for a group of young people, all learning sailing, as a cover. If Ms Mills and Queen Hippolyta could provide seven or eight additional young people, we can arrange for Mr Loover, Professor McClaine and Ms Prince and her spouses to go as additional chaperones.
"Please note that no civilian pleasure craft has yet been sunk. As long as the other youngsters don't get involved in the operation itself, they should be safe. If not, we can make no guarantees as to their safety. We will, however, take every step possible to rescue them."
"What will they be doing?" Regina asked.
Weston shrugged. "Scuba diving, sailing, visiting various islands, swimming, sun-bathing and the like, I presume. It will be a modern yacht, with motors, a proper galley, full toilet and washing facilities, even Wi-Fi and satellite television. Would you, Ms Swan, Mr Jones and your own paramour be able to come? Queen Hippolyta, can you come along as well?"
When they had agreed, Henry asked: "What's this mission called? Operation Calypso?"
"Nothing at the moment, Mr Mills, although that title will do for now," Illya commented. "Actually, I believe the calypso originated in Trinidad and Tobago, so it does fit."
He tried to ignore Mac and Joe singing "Oh, now carry me…" sotto voce.
"Actually," Henry continued "I was thinking Operation Sidewinder. Who would suspect a desert snake of referring to a nautical matter! After all, if they overhear us talking about it…"
"Who?" asked a baffled Weston.
"The bad guys, of course!"
"Err, Henry," Joe told him, "if we simply don't discuss our plans in public, there is no danger of us being overheard in the first place."
"What do you think?" Henry asked Joe, Ava and Athena as they left the conference room.
Joe shrugged. "For me, business as usual! As for you, I guess you get to see Ava in swimwear."
Ava grinned. "Henry in swim shorts? That would be good to see!"
Back home in Culver Bay on the Dorset coast, Joe was sitting in the spinning "Rat Trap" that transferred the recorded brain-patterns of a top Special Boat Service veteran turned salvage diver to him. He would then be able to receive them remotely via the distinctive square-framed spectacles he wore on assignment.
Once completed, he was handed the spectacles and the briefcase with the secret compartments containing his W.I.N. identity badge, communicator, spare spectacles and automatic with silencer and spare clips. Operation Calypso was under way.
It was the following day. Diana Prince, her spouses Clark Kent and Lois Lane and her sister Donna Troy were sitting in Regina's house in Storybrooke, alongside Hippolyta, Athena and the latter's best friends Sappho and Chloe. The former was a blonde Amazon, of about the same age as Athena, whilst the latter was a red-head about Joe's age. Joe, Mac and Sam were there, as were Emma, Henry, Ava, Ava's twin brother Nicholas, their father Michael Tillman and a close friend Grace Jefferson.
"What about swimwear?" Emma asked.
"Show her the deep-sea costume, Auntie Di!" Athena begged. Diana grinned, stood up and one "quick spin change act" later was clad in a blue wetsuit.
"And for sun-bathing and the on-board pool?"
Athena shrugged. "We will go sky-clad, I suppose."
Regina, Michael, Mac and Sam all inhaled sharply, with Diana, Donna, Lois and Clark face-palming themselves. Joe turned a deep shade of crimson. A distinctly lecherous look came over Nicholas.
"Sky-clad?" asked a bemused Emma. "How can you be clad in the sky? It's nothing but fresh air!"
"Exactly," Hippolyta agreed.
"Really…?" Emma asked stunned. "You do realise there will be males present on that boat?"
"Yes, I see your point," Hippolyta admitted. "Where can we get the appropriate attire?"
"Well," Nicholas suggested, "Why not go down to Granny's Diner and ask that really cute young waitress where she gets hers?"
"No!" his father and both Henry's Moms yelled in unison. "Ruby is a sweet girl," Emma clarified, "but her choice in swimwear is rather minimal!"
"Minimal?" Regina erupted. "You would barely be less covered in your usual bathing attire, Hippolyta. Ruby Lucas' choice would be four small pieces of fabric held together by dental floss!"
"Athena and Sappho would look hot in them!" Nicholas protested.
"I'm not dressing up in any such attire, Nicholas!" Athena protested. "Not with men other than Uncle Clark around anyway."
"Why him?"
"Put it this way, if Auntie Di and Auntie Lois were dressed in full formal gowns and the rest of us were sky-clad, they would still be the only two of us he would see!"
"Yes," Diana agreed, pecking first Clark and then Lois on the lips, "I really did strike lucky with these two!"
"We both got lucky with you as well, Themyscira!" Lois pointed out after pecking Clark's lips herself.
"The way I look at it," Clark commented, "I have the two most beautiful, affectionate, lovable women in the world as my wives. I love the two of them equally and they love me and each other equally. We just work!"
"You will definitely be getting lucky, Smallville!"
"Anyway, Swan, Mary Margaret and I can take Hippolyta and the girls swimwear shopping," Regina decided. "David and Michael can take the Storybrooke boys. I'm sure Mac can do any for Joe."
"Gee," Nicholas complained "they'll be in those Islamic all-covering costumes!"
"We will buy one-pieces for the beaches and sea and bikinis for the deck and pool," Emma assured him. "No really skimpy ones, though! You will have some smaller swim shorts, but nothing too short or tight!"
"It might be a good idea to get some light, Summer clothes as well," Diana noted. "It can get pretty hot in July around Trinidad and Tobago."
"Again, nothing too revealing," Regina added hastily.
"Great!" Lois complained. "After staying in Themyscira so much recently, I thought I would never have to worry about tan lines again! Still, a free vacation is a free vacation."
"By the way, Henry, this is for you." Joe handed his friend a watch identical to his own. "Knowing you and your Storybrooke friends tend to get into trouble, Dad asked MI6's Quartermaster Division, or Q-Branch, to have this made for you. Push here and a black light flashes on the dial, signifying a distress signal has been sent. A yellow light should briefly replace it, indicating the signal has been received, before a continuous white light indicates it is now functioning as an accurate homing device. It also has a bug-detector, diamond-encrusted circular saw blade, a torchlight and a laser-cutter concealed inside. In addition, it still tells the time and date! Finally, it is waterproof to a depth of three miles and highly shockproof.
"I can show you how to use the other functions later. What do you think?"
"Thank you, Joe!" Henry beamed. "This might save my life some day!"
The newly-completed yacht Nike was purpose-built by MI6's Q-Branch for the W.I.N. It had a carport big enough to hold both Mac's Jet Air Car and Diana's Invisible Jet. The swimming pool could slide into the deck to allow VTOL for both vehicles. It also had a disguised underwater outer airlock door and concealed external weapons systems. There was even the Poseidon, a mini-sub that could be launched via a larger second disguised underwater airlock system. That also had an array of hidden defence functions. Joe, Nicholas and Henry would be sharing a cabin and en suite shower room, complete with toilet and basin. Ava and Grace would be sharing a second suite and Athena, Sappho and Chloe a third. Mac and Sam were sharing a fourth, with Emma, Regina and Donna berthed with their respective boyfriends Robin, Killian and Roy Harper. Hippolyta would have Heracles along as her "personal vibrator". Needless to say, Diana was sharing with her husband and wife.
Steve Trevor IV, the Director of the Inter-Agency Defence Command, was waiting by the dockside for Diana, his Senior Caseworker. He handed her the dog-like robot named Rover II, before embracing her and her spouses.
"Good luck, Diana!" he said. "There's a secure link with IADC Headquarters. Obviously, Rover can satellite link with Ira. I can arrange support, should you need it."
"Thank you, Steve! I've arranged secure communications with others, should they be needed, too!"
"So if I hear about a bat-themed plane flying towards the Caribbean…?"
"He is a close friend of ours, Steve!"
Regina was saying to Mary Margaret and David: "Right, Charmings, you are in charge of Storybrooke while I am gone. Please resist the temptation to do anything too idiotic!"
"Seriously…?" the former Snow White muttered in exasperation, before she and her husband said farewell to their daughter and grandson. Henry handed his uncle back to his grandparents.
Whilst Killian Jones inspected the rigging, Mac and Diana led Regina and Emma to the control room.
"What are your experiences of controlling a yacht?" Mac asked.
"Sailing one, some! Steering one using some controls straight out of NASA, none!" Emma replied.
"Well, we can give you a primer later," Diana decided. She reached under the main dashboard and flicked a hidden switch. A number of concealed control panels were revealed. "Weapons systems are controlled from here, the airlocks from there and that one allows us to communicate securely with others." She pressed a button. "Wonder Woman calling Batman, repeat…"
"I heard you, Diana!" the familiar, deep voice growled over the speaker. "Is Clark with you?"
"No, just Mac, Regina Mills and Emma Swan."
"Good to hear your voice again, Batman," Mac commented.
"And yours, professor."
"Is the Batplane ready for a flight to the Caribbean?" Diana asked.
"What do you think?"
"I only asked to confirm! Of course you would be ready!
"SHIELD have promised support, if necessary, with Steve, Clint and Natasha on stand-by. Zee, Harry and Wednesday have been placed at our disposal, too."
"Good!" growled her old friend. "Batman over and out!"
"He's always highly talkative, then?" Emma asked rhetorically.
The Storybrooke folk and the Amazons stood on the main deck, as Killian cast off and Mac started the engines. They waved goodbye to their friends on shore.
"Well, three weeks or so of sunbathing, swimming and visiting exotic islands," Emma commented. "Not to mention learning motor-yachting and scuba diving! Should be fun!"
"Yeah," Ava agreed. "Hopefully, we get to beat up some bad guys as well!"
"We're not supposed to get involved in the mission itself, sis!" Nicholas protested.
Ava glared at her brother. Where's your sense of adventure?