SHIELD had installed a mini-sub on board the "bus". The gigantic aeroplane lowered its rear ramp and Spider-Man, Captain America and Iron Man lifted the submarine, before carrying it to the sea. Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Doctor boarded the craft and set off for the mysterious spacecraft.
"Aren't we cloaking?" Spider-Man asked.
"No, we want to provoke a reaction," Iron Man stated. "I want some idea of what its capabilities are in a fight, Pete. Bruce agrees, as does the other Bruce."
"It was suggested that the first Bruce was here in my place," the Doctor noted. "Unfortunately, he is not best suited to being in a confined space under heavy fire."
"You don't say!"
"We have arrived!" Iron Man called. "What do the scanners tell you, Doctor?"
"There's something wrong about that spaceship. It seems to be a mixture of Klingon, Sontaran and even Vorlon technology. I guess the latter makes sense as I can also sense a powerful telepath. There's something familiar about our visitor…"
Approaching vessel detected. I sense a powerful telepath on board. Craft assumed hostile. Defences activated!
"Part of that 'rock' appears to be opening," Spider-Man observed. "A welcome party?!"
"I wouldn't expect a warm welcome!" the Doctor advised. "Energy readings suggest our friend is just about to launch one or more projectile weapons." As if in response to his words, a torpedo was fired through the opening.
"It's locked onto us!" announced Iron Man, swerving to take evasive action. The Doctor activated his sonic sunglasses and detonated the torpedo harmlessly. Spider-Man fired a torpedo of their own, but it was intercepted harmlessly by another from the spaceship.
"The ship is taking off!" the Doctor called. It was and headed for the surface. As it did so, it projected a force field of some kind, with the Doctor alerting his friends to its presence. Once the ship reached the surface, it floated like a cork. A hatch opened and a gun-like barrel protruded. From this, some kind of ray projected an image in the sky. An image of a part of space not recognisable as any view seen from Earth, with what appeared to be a handful of spacecraft ready to come through. As these craft came through the portal to Earth, a hatch opened in the fake asteroid and a figure emerged. This figure was a tall, dark-haired, very human-looking woman. At a gesture from her, a nearby Atlantean was deprived of his spear.
"Well, she's clearly a witch," Harry noted, "but that doesn't seem to be a standard disarming spell. The spear just, well, vanished."
"Non-terrestrial magic, Harry," the Doctor said, the SHIELD mini-sub having returned to Themyscira whilst the portal was opening. "What are you after?" he called to the alien witch.
To the surprise of everyone not used to translation devices, the woman spoke in clear English. "We have come to stop this planet from starting the Federation. That evil organisation killed most of my people, when they deliberately infected my home planet with a disease..."
"What is the Federation?" Harry asked.
"The United Federation of Planets will be founded in 2161 at the suggestion of humans from Earth," the Doctor told him. "It is a military and diplomatic organisation, but not partial to biological warfare.
"Maybe these people come from a Mirror Universe…?"
It was, however, too late for such speculations. The other spacecraft had taken offensive positions. "Battle Stations!" Superman called, as he, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, Wonder Witch, Spider-Woman and Iron Man took to the air. Aquaman jumped on a humpback whale and telepathically summoned other humpbacks, plus killer whales, dolphins and great white sharks to form a barricade, manned by his Atlanteans. On the island, the Amazons assembled into battle formation, with Hawkeye joining the archers and Cap the phalanx. Spider-Man and the Hulk were on the flanks. The Bats and the Black Widow joined a small group of guerrilla fighters lying in ambush. The Storybrooke folk, Jack, Kate, the Doctor, Harry Dresden, Zee, the Scarlet Witch and Pugsley were assembled at ground level, whilst Harry Potter, Ginny and Wednesday had mounted brooms.
Pansy, Lois, Chloe (Joe's young Amazonian girlfriend), Henry, Ava, Nicholas "Hansel" Zimmer, his girlfriend Louise Webster (the daughter of Jeff Webster and Liz Spencer of the team of no-longer junior sleuths the Baker Street Irregulars), Grace Jefferson, her Amazonian girlfriend Sappho, Princess Athena of Themyscira (the daughter of Diana and Donna's sister Drusilla) and her new fiancé Reuben Morton (son of Richard and Fenella Morton of the Lone Pine Club) were looking after the children. Rex Milligan, the Quibbler's muggle correspondent (in both senses of the phrase) was recording the action in a battered notebook, having been covering the betrothal ceremony.
Joe, Mac and Sam Loover of the W.I.N. were at the controls of the Nike. Twin machine cannons and twin torpedo tubes were revealed when two concealed hatches opened at the fore of the ship. A flying scout supplied by Kono Kato (based on the one used in the current Black Beauty) emerged from a hatch in the foredeck and immediately disappeared, the adaptive camouflage activated remotely. Two other hatches alongside it opened for the anti-aircraft cannons to be raised into position, with a section of the rear deck sliding away to reveal a surface-to-air missile launcher.
"We are dauntless in battle!" boasted the alien witch. "Land troops, advance!"
One spacecraft, larger than the rest, landed on the beach in front of the defenders. A hatch opened and aliens of both sexes emerged. Harry Dresden raised his staff and bellowed "Forzare!" The whole force found themselves pushed back against the spacecraft. One female raised a gun and fired a beam of energy. It missed any living target. Suddenly, some kind of webbing stuck to the other end of the gun and it was yanked forcefully out of her hands. "Naughty! Naughty!" chided Spider-Man.
One of the other spacecraft fired a missile at the American Harry, but one of Spider-Woman's venom blasts blew it into smithereens before it got anywhere near its target. Two other alien vessels landed in the sea and tried an amphibious assault, but a phalanx of humpback whales rammed them back.
Wonder Witch and Iron Man had landed on the disguised meteorite. The former drew her Caduceus wand from its holster on her magic belt and engaged the alien witch in a magical duel. Iron Man tried to access the ship's interior, but was currently struggling to open the hatch.
"Stupefy!" shouted Wonder Witch, which her opponent blocked by waving a hand imperiously, before sending a jet of light back. Wonder Witch deflected this away with her right bracelet and sighed. This could be quite the fight! Wait, I get a sense she is sad and isolated. What did this "Federation" do to her people? Why does the Doctor think that they are on the side of the angels?
With Harry Dresden having moved on to another target, the landing party tried to advance again. Two arrows hit the sand in front of them, before the tips exploded, causing a thick black smoke to cover the aliens. Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl activated their night vision lenses and charged into the chaos caused by Hawkeye's arrows, using fists, feet and batarangs to great effect.
"You can't win," one alien shouted, before ducking to avoid a fireball conjured and thrown by Regina Mills. "We are determined to ensure…"
"That this Federation, whatever it is, doesn't do something that practically wipes out your species," Regina finished. "Well, I don't like being attacked for something I didn't do."
"Or for something she did do!" Mary Margaret Blanchard interrupted.
"If I had wanted your idiotic opinion, Snow, I would have asked for it! I don't know where Swan got her smarts from, as it sure as hell wasn't you or Charming!"
"We are fighting them," Zee reminded them, "not trying to relive the Enchanted Forest Civil War! Elgnatne seniv!" At that, two advancing extra-terrestrials were suddenly startled to find vines become animated, wrapping them up and dragging them into the air. "Always make use of your surroundings."
In the air, Superman and Supergirl's heat vision, Spider-Woman's venom blasts and Harry, Ginny and Wednesday's Reductor hexes, allied to the four metahumans' (including Wonder Girl) super-strength, were proving effective at slowing the spacecraft down, supported by the Nike's anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missiles. In the sea, the Atlanteans, their tridents and their shark, dolphin and whale allies were holding the line, whilst a shield charge led by Wonder Woman, Troia and Captain America was pushing back the land force. The Black Widow was using her automatics and Widow's Bites to good effect in a guerrilla campaign, with Pugsley using his wand, sword, gestures and, where all else failed, his fists to good effect. Other land forces were trying to charge the citadel, but the Hulk had leapt in front of them and they were now bouncing off him like kids on a bouncy castle. Spider-Man was halfway up a cliff using his web-shooters to great effect. Hawkeye was using Teflon-coated incendiary tips on his arrows to discourage the alien spacecraft from getting too close. Kate's automatic and Jack's heavy revolver were providing further firepower.
Wonder Witch had deflected more spells with bracelet and shield and was now using the flat of her sword and the enhanced strength and speed provided by her magic belt. The alien witch looked up and saw a mini-missile from Iron Man almost get the hatch open. With simultaneous waves of both hands, she just knocked both Wonder Witch and Iron Man out of her way. By the time both had got their senses back, their opponent was back inside the craft, with the hatch closed. Wonder Witch felt another telepathic signal, which she correctly deduced meant: Fall back! Return home and await our next opportunity!
Whilst the spacecraft from air and sea could take off easily and return to their native whatever, some of the ground troops were unable to get back to their craft because some sort of red barrier had cut off their retreat back to the landing craft. Looking around, they saw a levitating figure, with that same eldritch red energy glowing around her hands. "Thank you Wanda," barked Harry Dresden. "You are all Prisoners of War!"
The landing craft was forced to take off without a decent portion of the ground force. Rex Milligan, however, spotted something. "Fossilised Fishhooks!"
Hearing his exclamation, Supergirl looked around her. "Sweet Rao! Harry, Ginny, Wednesday, look out!"
Too late! The landing craft opened its landing ramp and scooped up the broomstick-riding wizard and witches. Before a hastily airborne Wonder Witch could reach them, the hatch had sealed and the spaceship had vanished through the closing portal. The Doctor tried using his Sonic Sunglasses to stop the portal from sealing, but was too late. "Wait! That portal technology – it's Gallifreyan. They are being supplied by a Time Lord…"
"Mummy! Daddy! Auntie Wednesday!" sobbed Lily, as Pansy held her tight. "They're all gone!"
"They'll be needed alive to exchange for this lot," Jack told her.
"Do we need all of them in that state?!" snarled a furious Pugsley, approaching the prisoners with a sword he had seemingly conjured from nowhere.
"Easy, pal!" Harry Dresden cautioned. "We don't want to start an intergalactic war!"
"Wait! Start an…?! What the hell do you think we've just been fighting?!" Regina interjected.
"Point taken!"
"I'm sorry, kids," Wonder Witch said. "I did try…"
"We know you did, Auntie Wonder Witch," Albus assured her. Lily said nothing, but simply hugged her tightly. Wonder Witch nodded and turned to the POWs. "Now, I want answers and I want them now!"
"Well, we have to stop the Federation and its corrupt ex-President from coming to power, before she is even born," one of the extra-terrestrial POWs said.
"You say this Federation used biological warfare…?" the Doctor prompted.
"Yes! They unleashed a disease which she said only she could cure, in a bid to get herself cloned…"
"Still think this Federation are the good guys, Doctor?!" Emma Swan asked.
"That portal must lead to a Mirror Universe. That's the only explanation. Which President was she?"
"Why, Servalan, of course!"
"So, not the United Federation of Planets, but the Terran Federation. Yes, she would do that!"
"What's the Terran Federation, Doctor?" Jack asked. "I mean, I know the United Federation, but…"
"It's from a different part of the multiverse, Jack. A nasty Earth empire that subjugated weaker planets and used mind-control drugs on vast swathes of the planets they did control.
"Servalan somehow rose from nowhere to become first Supreme Commander of the military and then President. She is a sociopathic, conniving, calculating fiend who makes Dolores Umbridge look like a rank amateur…
"You are Aurons from Auron, aren't you? I met one a couple of times. Her name was Cally. She used to travel with a man named – Blake, that was it, Roj Blake."
"New Auron, now," came the tart reply. "After our brave rescuer came and cured this pitiful remnant of a race, she gave us this technology. Our beloved Missy…"
"Why am I not surprised?! What has my old friend done this time?"
"You know Missy?"
"Since before she was the Master!"
"Always good to hear you call me friend, dearie!" came the familiar Glaswegian tones. They turned to see the familiar tall brunette, dressed like a Goth Mary Poppins. "Look at the entertainment I have provided you with!"
"Next time, try a CD boxed set of The Archers…"
"Typical man!"
"Fair enough. Everyone, this is my old friend and fellow Time Lord, the Master. Or he was, before he was a she. She calls herself "Missy" now, short for the Mistress. We were childhood friends, attended the Academy together, then she was retrospectively driven mad by the High Council of the Time Lords and became a power-hungry psychopath. Now, whatever sex he or she is, he or she keeps trying to kill me.
"Have I missed anything?"
"That's about it.
"Can you give me a lift to New Auron. I am sure we could sort this whole thing out peacefully."
"I did just hear her suggesting to the Doctor a peaceful resolution?" Kate asked Jack.
"You did. Weird!"
The council of New Auron were having a meeting. Harry, Ginny and Wednesday sat bound hand and foot on the floor nearby. Their wands and brooms had been placed on a nearby table. Since the talk was being conducted telepathically, the three captives could not eavesdrop.
"Cut them loose and take them to the large cell for the time being," a tall man, presumably the leader, ordered, pointing at the prisoners. "We can exchange them for our fellow Aurons later."
"Thank you," Harry said, as the cords binding his wrists and ankles were cut. "Why are you doing this? We know nothing of this Federation. From what you say, we would disapprove of their actions."
"Maybe you would. Perhaps we could just conquer you and ensure no human rises to power without our patronage?"
"Bit thin on the ground for a conquering army, non?" Wednesday countered, rubbing the circulation back into her limbs.
"We are, granted. However, when our beloved Missy returns…"
"Just our luck!" Ginny complained. "A psychotic Time Lord, or is that Time Lady now…?"
