As they were some distance below the surface, Joe and Chloe selected the heavier diving gear and specialist air-tanks for deep-sea work. Once changed, they entered the airlock, flooded it, opened the exit hatch and swam out.

They cut the camouflage netting and entered the wreck and swam through the vessel, finding waterlogged equipment and the corpses of the unfortunate crew. Other than that, there was little to find.

"The guidance computer for the surface-to-air missiles is missing," Joe noted. "Odd, as there were no similar systems on a couple of the other missing ships. Something weird is going on here!"

As they were leaving, the wreck started to vibrate with increasing vehemence. Joe grabbed Chloe's hand and they swam for the exit.

Disaster struck! Part of the ceiling collapsed, trapping Chloe's right leg. With access to the memories and abilities of a top salvage diver, the boy spy was able to ensure no serious injury had been sustained. The fact was, however, he was not strong enough to lift the rubble. He did, however, have a friend who was.

"Diana!" he yelled into the radio in his diving helmet, "Please send Clark asap."

On board the Nike, Clark hastily changed into his Superman costume, removed his spectacles and changed his hairstyle. That done, he entered the second airlock chamber, the one for divers. Once the hidden door had closed behind him and the inner airlock door had sealed shut, the place was flooded and the outer door opened. He shot through the water at top speed.

Joe was aware of another presence in the boat. A tiger shark had spotted the tear in the net and had come to feast on the corpses. It moved towards the trapped Chloe. She was helpless against the 12-foot long apex predator.

Pulling a spear gun from his shoulder, Joe took aim and fired at the shark. The spear penetrated its left eye and the point embedded itself in the brain. Whilst the boy spy was loath to kill a member of a critically endangered species, they had been known to attack humans.

Where was Superman? Neither he nor Chloe had that much air left. Needless to say, the Kryptonian (able to survive in outer space and not reliant on air to live) reached the wreck surprisingly quickly. Finding Chloe, a couple of seconds of clearance work was enough time to free her. With Joe's help, Clark was able to lead the girl back to the cloaked Poseidon and safety. The girl was given basic first aid as Sam steered the submarine back towards the Nike.

"There! No serious injuries sustained," Mac assured Chloe in the Nike's sickbay. Whilst he was not a medic, he had picked up a number of skills from having both his adopted son and his best friend in the W.I.N.

"Thank you, professor," Chloe said. Her ankle was sprained, but the heavy diving suit had protected her from serious injury. "Thank you, Prince Clark. You too, Mr Loover. Oh, and Joe…" She hobbled up to the boy and pecked him on the lips. "Thank you."

Joe blushed, then beamed. "No thanks necessary, Chloe. I'm just glad you are OK." He thought for a moment. "There is a folk festival coming up not far from Culver Bay. Would you like to stay with us for a few days whilst it's on? I mean…?"

"Sure, Joe!" She blinked. "Wait, did you just ask me out on a date?"

"Well, technically a series of dates, but…" He was stopped by Chloe pecking his lips again. "I could get used to this. Now I'm kind of seeing why Henry and Ava keep talking about this True Love thing."

"It took you long enough!" his father commented. "I thought you would never see that Chloe had a crush on you ever since you first met her."

"She did?" Joe turned to Chloe. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'll need to be convinced." This time it was her turn to have her lips pecked. "Yes!"

Everyone was delighted to learn that Chloe had bagged her boy spy.

"Thank you for saving young Chloe, Joe," Hippolyta thanked him. "You'll make a fine husband for her in due course. Won't she, Heracles?"

Her fellow demi-god had been "summoned" out of her cabin for once. "Yes, your majesty. Brains better than brawn. Me Heracles know that now!"

"You do know Lord Greystoke speaks in a cultured English accent, don't you?" Joe asked the Amazon Queen.

"He does," she agreed, "but making Heracles speak like the Lord of the Apes is portrayed as doing in the old movies adds to the fun!

"Now, I have a need for his main function these days. Goodnight, Joe. Come, my toy!"

"Coming, your Majesty! Me nothing but sex toy, you great queen!"

"You won't ever do that to me, will you?" Robin asked Regina.

"Not if you don't rape me, darling!"

Robin kissed her passionately. "Why? I like you willing!"

"Well, my love, take me to our cabin and I will show you just how willing I can be!"

"Well," Sam announced over a light breakfast the following day, "We need to visit Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Partly for replacing the used food and partly because we believe the cave system the culprits are using to be almost directly underneath. They must be based in the area."

"Dad and I will stay behind to look after the boat and even more importantly Chloe," Joe announced. He was rewarded with a chaste kiss.

"Sappho, would you like to…?" Nicholas stopped as the Amazon pulled Grace in for a long, deep kiss. "You are…"

"A girl named Sappho of Greek descent from an island of women turning out to be a lesbian. What were the odds?" Ava quipped. She turned to her brother. "You know, it was kind of obvious that she and Grace were flirting."

"Flirting? No, Sappho is my One True Love!" Grace proclaimed proudly. "We are planning to marry in due course."

"Well," Nicholas turned to Athena, "since we are the only unattached youngsters on the boat, now will you be my girlfriend?"

"Nicholas, if we were the last youngsters on Earth, I still wouldn't go out with you. Now, leave me alone!"

As Athena had a warlike look on her face, Nicholas decided not to push the issue further.

Port of Spain was a vibrant city. A bustling port city, the air was full of calypso rhythms. A number of children were playing street cricket. Since Sam was the only fan of the sport present (Mac and Joe being back on the Nike), he decided to leave a tour of the Queen's Park Oval for another occasion, as with a visit to the Emperor Valley Zoo. The main purpose of the day was shopping. In addition, the couples wanted to go on dates.

"If we take Nicholas to lunch, will you and Henry take Athena?" Grace asked Ava. "We can swap later, but I think we should keep them apart."

"OK!" her friend agreed. "You do realise he'll be pestering you for a three-way, right?"

"Probably not. In his own way, he believes in True Love. He always seems to be after it, even when the girl isn't interested. I don't think he would try to make a move on Sappho now that he knows that she's my girlfriend, though. He is a Fairy Tale Boy, after all!"

"True. Could you imagine what he would be like if he hailed from the Land Without Colour?"

The Diner they found for lunch, once the main shopping had been completed, was not vastly different to the ones back home. The burgers were actually made from lumps of meat and not processed. These were covered in a "jerk" barbecue sauce that was hot and spicy.

"I wouldn't swap the burger and fries at Granny's for this, but a change is good sometimes," Henry concluded. He was in jean shorts and a T-shirt, as were Ava and Athena. Having the prettiest girl in the room (but then when wasn't Ava the most gorgeous female present?) and another budding beauty as his companions was a pleasure.

"Yeah," Ava said. "Our backpacks are heavy, though. Emma," she said, going over to the table where Emma and Killian were enjoying a romantic lunch date, "Would you and Captain Jones look after our bags for an hour or so, please?"

"Sure," Emma agreed.

The three teenagers walked out into the street. All the locals had beaming smiles, with Caribbean music playing and more impromptu games of cricket. They seemed to be having fun, although as Joe was looking after Chloe, they could not ask him if the players were any good.

Mac was busy examining geophysical surveys of the Port of Spain area. He was hoping to find possible locations around the cave system where the culprits' hideout might be based.

"Any luck, Dad?" Joe asked, bringing him a plate of roast beef and horseradish sauce sandwiches.

"Thank you Joe! Not really. There are some possible locations, but nothing definite yet. We may need to go back to the wreck at some point."

"Actually, Dad, I've a better idea. Maybe we can contact Aquaman? The Atlanteans would be better suited for searching for clues down there. Besides, he can command the sharks to stay away!"

"In the meantime, I haven't kissed Chloe for at least twenty minutes. I'll be back later, Dad."

After he left, Mac stared incredulously at the door. This is the boy who was completely clueless around girls this time yesterday?! Chloe is the best thing that has ever happened to him.

Nicholas had indeed refrained from flirting with Sappho. As a Fairy Tale character, he was genetically predisposed to look for True Love rather than Meaningless Sex and never to make a move for another's True Love. True, Enchanted Forest people could have Meaningless Sex (Regina had any number of notches on her bedposts, as did Cora before her), but it was not in their nature to seek such things.

Actually, treated as a friend only, Sappho proved to be good company. She had a somewhat dry sense of humour, an amiable manner and was proving a fun dining companion. In addition, Nicholas was fond of Grace and was glad that she had found her True Love.

Regina was with Robin, looking for rings. He had asked her to marry him the night before and had been accepted immediately. Since Henry and Emma both liked Robin, there was unlikely to be any objections to her betrothal. For the first time since her mother had murdered Daniel, she felt truly happy. Maybe that curse had finally ended?

Clark, Diana, Lois, Donna and Roy were visiting the local planning department, looking for buildings above the cave network that might be linked to the disappearing warships.

"We would be better served going after the local underworld," Roy complained. "They may know of a new gang in town."

"I did receive a list of potential leads," Diana noted, "from a Detective Inspector Goodman, formerly of the London Metropolitan Police and now working for the police on the island of Saint Marie. Apparently, one of his officers seems to know every small-time crook or conman in the Caribbean.

"Perhaps Superman, Wonder Woman Troia and Arsenal could persuade the local fences and fixers to tell us something? An excellent suggestion, Roy. Thank you."

Henry, Ava and Athena were enjoying a stroll when a man carrying a laptop bag slipped on some common street litter. Whilst Henry and Athena helped him to his feet, Ava picked up the bag. As she handed it to him, she saw circuit board showing signs of severe water damage inside, rather than the expected laptop.

Once he had thanked them and continued on his way, Ava grabbed hold of her boyfriend and their Amazon friend and led them after him.

"He's got water-damaged computer parts in that bag. Didn't Joe say computer equipment was missing from that ship? We may be able to follow him to their lair."

Regina and Robin entered the Diner. "Emma, where's Henry? We have some good news to share!"

"He went off somewhere with Ava and Athena," Emma replied. "Ava asked us to look after their bags for an hour or so. They must have been gone at least that long now. I'll call them."

She rang Henry's cell phone number. His ringtone sounded from his backpack. It transpired Ava and Athena had also left their cell phones behind.

"Damn! Why didn't I ask if they had their cell phones with them?"

"Don't blame yourself, Swan!" Regina snapped. "This must be the first time in months Henry has gone anywhere without it.

"Now, we had better contact the others."

Since Hippolyta, Killian, Nicholas, Sappho and Grace were all in the Diner, Regina only had to ring Diana in the planning department and Joe on the Nike. Neither knew where the three missing teenagers were.

Once Joe had finished talking to Regina, he turned to Mac and Chloe. "Henry, Ava and Athena have gone off without their mobiles. No-one has seen them in a couple of hours."

He disappeared into the control room, flicked the hidden switch and went to the panel that allowed secure communications with various friends. Pressing a button with a picture of a bat in flight on it, he began to say "Joe 90 calling Batman, I repeat…"

"I heard you, Joe!" came the expected growl.

"Henry Mills, Ava Zimmer and Princess Athena have gone missing, Batman."

"I'll be with you in a few hours. The Batplane is on standby and I've been working from home. Both Catwoman and Nightwing will be coming with me.

"Batman over and out!"

Joe pressed a button with a SHIELD emblem on it. "Joe 90 calling the Black Widow…" He repeated his news, before contacting Aquaman, Harry Potter, Wednesday Addams, Zatanna Zatara and Kate Stewart. The latter promised she would contact a certain "mutual friend", whilst the others all said they would come.

Within minutes, portkeys linked to a magic mirror in the passageway leading to the main deck had brought Harry and the two witches on board. Meanwhile, Clint Barton was at the controls of a SHIELD Jumper taking off from a base in the Caribbean, with Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff aboard. In the Batcave, Batman and his allies were taking the monorail to the "hanger" cave for the Batplane and Batcopter. Aquaman was leading a party of Atlanteans towards Trinidad. Finally, something that appeared to be a blue 1960s police box was materialising in the control room itself.

Help was at hand.

The three missing teenagers had followed their suspect to a disused manufacturing plant. He had gone inside.

As they prepared to look for an entrance they could use, Henry commented, "We've been gone some time and none of us have our cell phones. Won't my Moms and Athena's grandmother, aunts and uncle be worried about us by now?"

"Where's your sense of adventure, Henry?" Ava demanded. "We can tell everyone we know where the criminals are based. Let's have a look inside!"

Henry and Athena looked at each other bemusedly. They both felt that this could prove to be a very bad idea indeed.