Chapter 13: The Battle for Wonderland part 2

Clara was horrified. She couldn't move. Neither could Rose, Hook, Cyrus, or the Daleks. The Queen of Hearts stood in front of them all in the Red Queen's grand hall with two flaming balls of fire on her hands. Cora was enraged by the fact that the Daleks, who were working for the Red Queen, had brutally slaughtered her army, which lay dead behind her. She was about to throw the first fireball at Clara, when suddenly the Red Queen appeared in front of Clara in a puff of magic smoke.

"Don't you dare." The Red Queen said.

With a wave of her hand, Anastasia unfroze everyone. Then, Hook and Cyrus drew up their swords, Rose and Clara summoned their own, less powerful fireballs, and the Daleks hovered in the air and cried for the Queen of Hearts' extermination. Cora, realizing that even she with all her power could not fight off everyone, let her fireballs disappear.

"There's no need for all this." Cora said to Anastasia. "This war has cost us our entire armies and countless other lives. Why don't we settle this."

"I never thought you were the type for diplomacy." The Red Queen said.

"Oh I'm not." Cora replied. "I'm talking about a battle. One last fight. Just you and me and no one else."

"No." Anastasia said. "Now that I have the Daleks, you're intimidated, but you know you might win if it's just you and me."

"That's not entirely true." Cora said. "You see that big, blue box behind me? That would be the TARDIS. The Doctor and some of his friends are inside, including a man who can never die. You have your weapons. I have mine. What I'm asking is that we both not use our weapons. Since fighting is the only way to end this conflict, why not have a final fight between the two of us? If you really think you deserve to rule over all of Wonderland, then prove it. Prove that you have the power. Prove to Wonderland that you have the power. Having others do your work for you proves nothing about your own strength."

After some consideration, the Red Queen spoke again.

"Alright." She said. "I'll fight you."

The Red Queen then conjured puffs of purple smoke around herself and the Queen of Hearts, teleporting them both to the outside maze, adjacent to the castle. Cora and Anastasia each stood a long distance across from each other.

"If you'd just stayed out of my love life," Anastasia said, "none of this would've happened."

"How many times must I say it?" Cora asked. "Love is weakness."

Cora and Anastasia each conjured a magical fireball and threw them at each other. The two fireballs met half way between the two queens and violently exploded. As the two women continued their intense battle outside, Rose, Clara, Hook, and Cyrus were left inside the grand hall with the Daleks. Rose and Clara, who had both summoned fireballs to fight the Queen of Hearts decided to use this opportunity to destroy the Daleks and stop them from going to Neverland. They both threw their fireballs at the Daleks, seeming to forget the fire has no effect on the Daleks. In outrage, the three Daleks started firing their deadly lasers as they cried for extermination. Rose, Clara, Hook, and Cyrus dodged all the beams and ran inside the TARDIS, shutting the doors behind them.

"Doctor!" Rose and Clara shouted at the same time.

"We'll have to catch up later ladies." The Doctor said. "We saw everything on the TARDIS viewing screen."

"And you didn't think to come out and help?" Clara asked.

"We were arguing about what to do." Martha said.

"It's actually quite simple." Hook said. "Just walk out the doors and help us."

"You handled yourselves with the Daleks just fine." The Doctor said. "The queens are going to destroy Wonderland with their fighting if they aren't stopped soon."

As the Doctor and his friends continued to bicker inside the TARDIS, the Daleks were turning their attention back to the mission at hand. They knew it would be useless to try to break into the Doctor's TARDIS. So they focused on their original goal of getting to Neverland. The Red Queen promised that she would send them there. If she died in this epic battle with the Queen of Hearts, the Daleks would have no assurance of reaching Neverland. So, they decided to intervene. They blasted open the window and flew outside over the maze looking for the two feuding queens, which was not difficult to do. They were making a lot of noise setting most of the maze aflame by this point.

Within the labyrinth, which had been turned into a battlefield. Anastasia stood opposite of Cora. Each of them were determined to kill the other at any cost. Soon, the Daleks arrived and hovered above Anastasia.

"We agreed that this would be between us." Cora said.

"Get out of here." Anastasia ordered the Daleks.

"No." The Daleks said simultaneously. "Exterminate."

The three flying aliens then shot three lasers at the Queen of Hearts, who lifted her arms, and surrounded herself in a magical bubble to protect herself from the blasts.

"I ordered you to leave!" The Red Queen shouted.

"We are not your soldiers." The first Dalek said. "You will bring us to Neverland now."

"This is very important." The Red Queen said. "We're fighting for the future of this land. Let us finish."

"No." The first Dalek said. "It is likely you will lose the battle. We cannot allow this."

The Daleks continued to fire at the Queen of Hearts, whose magical shield was weakening. Finally, the bubble broke apart and disappeared. Cora shot a glance of pure hatred at Anastasia before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke, so as to save herself from the Daleks.

"You will take us to Neverland now, or you will be exterminated." The second Dalek said.

The Doctor and his friends all ran out of the TARDIS and up to the window to see what had happened outside. They could barely see clearly as the Red Queen consumed herself and the Daleks in a puff of magic smoke.

"We're too late." Jack said.

"No we're not." Cyrus said. "That's not how magic works. You can't just poof from one world to another."

"They're still here." Alice said.

"They're probably in the Queen's chamber at the top of the castle." Rose said. "She had an entire shelf full of what I can only guess are magical items."

Without wasting any time, they started running to the nearest staircase and then upwards towards the top of the castle

Rose was correct. Anastasia had transported herself and the Daleks into her chamber at the top of the castle. She then walked over to her large shelf and picked up a small box. She opened the lid and took out a small, bright, green bean.

"What is that?" The first Dalek asked. "Explain."

"This is a magic bean." The Red Queen said. "I was saving it for a special occasion, but I guess getting you terrible creatures out of Wonderland will have to do. I'll throw it on the ground and then a large portal will open. All you have to do is go through it and you'll be in Neverland."

Anastasia then threw the bean downwards. Within seconds, a swirling green portal opened on the floor.

"Now," the first Dalek said, "you will be exterminated."

"What?" The Red Queen asked.

"Exterminate!" The Daleks chanted.

"But I helped you!" She yelled.

"Exterminate!" The Daleks repeated.

Seeing no other means to save her own life, Anastasia jumped into the portal bound for Neverland, leaving her castle and her entire kingdom behind. Then, one by one, the Daleks descended into the portal. The Doctor and his friends arrived to see the last Dalek enter the swirling portal before it closed.

"No!" The Doctor said.

"After all that we still failed." Alice said.

"They've still gone to Neverland." Rose said.

"Now Pan will get them." Hook said.

"We still don't even know what he's planning." Jack said.

"We have to go after them." Martha said.

"The portal is closed." Cyrus said. "We can't follow them."

"Sure we can." The Doctor said. "We'll take the TARDIS. It's gone to Neverland before, it can go again."

"You went to Neverland before?" Alice asked.

"Yes." The Doctor said. "I went with Rose a long time ago."

"I remember." Hook said.

"Don't remind me." Rose said. She had been disgusted by Captain Hook since the moment they first met on his ship in Neverland. "We have to go back don't we?"

"I'm afraid so." The Doctor said.

"It's Neverland really that bad?" Cyrus asked.

"It's worse than you can possibly imagine." Hook said.

The Doctor, Hook, Rose, Alice, Clara, Cyrus, Martha, and Jack all went back down the stairs and into the TARDIS. The Doctor did not waste any time in leaving Wonderland. Next stop: Neverland.

Peter Pan stood at the very top of Neverland looking over his green jungle island under the night sky. In his hands, he held the red and blue diamonds, the most powerful magical jewels in existence. He smiled, for he knew the Daleks would soon arrive in Neverland, and his plans would start to play out.

(to be continued in Once Upon a Time Machine 1-9: The Demon's Army)