“…So we’re in the future, huh?” asked Iron Man. “Looks kinda sucky.”
“She also said we’re in Gotham, Tin Man,” replied Wolverine. “Remember how much of a hellhole it is?”
“You’re not questioning how you got here?” asked Tysar.
“Lady, this ain’t our first time travel rodeo,” retorted Wolverine.
“Well, the method might be new to you,” said the Doctor. “It was an energy wave called a chronal surge. That kind of energy wave takes random people and plops them into points of space and time that are foreign to them. Right now, there’s a series of chronal surges, creating an event known as the Grouping. Tysar and I have been tracking the chronal surges and followed you two and a third person from the future…a very ghastly future. …Unfortunately, my arrival point could have been chosen better as I landed in a warehouse held by Gotham’s greatest criminal, the Joker. My TARDIS had to choose a safer place to rest, so it vanished on me temporarily. I’m going to need your help, gentlemen, and the help of the person from the future and Batman in order to find the TARDIS. With it returned to me, I can get you all home.”
“…Fair deal to me,” remarked Iron Man.
“Same,” agreed Wolverine.
“Excellent!” cheered the Doctor. “Batman went that way towards the warehouse, so he’ll be busy with the Joker.”
The Doctor was right. Batman had already taken out the Joker’s thugs and was going after him, dodging or deflecting all the Joker’s tricks. Acid boutonniere, razor playing cards, giant hammer, gun, they paled in comparison to Batman’s bag of tricks. “Come on, Batsy!” taunted the Joker. “Do you really think you have time to stop me?! Don’t you have a gala to host at Wayne Manor?!”
“There’s always room in my schedule for stopping criminals,” replied Batman. As he prepared to throw a batarang at the Joker, a glowing, golden rope wrapped around the Joker’s wrist.
“Hey, who invited little miss bondage?!” cackled the Joker.
“Little?” asked Batman. Little was NOT a word Batman would use with the owner of the rope. The Joker was then launched through the roof of the warehouse as the rope untied itself from his wrist. Batman looked up through the hole. “…You know, Diana,” he remarked, “you didn’t give it that Joker shape. He would have-.” He stopped when he saw his friend. She…looked haggard, wore black and gray armor instead of her usual red, blue, and gold outfit, and carried a sword and shield. “…Wonder Woman?” asked Batman. “What happened to you?”
“What happened to me?” asked Wonder Woman. “Apparently I was sent back in time to when you were alive, Bruce.”
“…So you’re from the future,” remarked Batman. “A chronal surge?”
“I have no idea what that is, but an energy wave plucked me from 2167 and put me here. …When is this?”
“2029,” called the Doctor as she stepped into the warehouse. “And that energy wave is called a chronal surge.
“Doctor?” asked Batman. “So the Grouping’s still going on.”
“Sadly, yes,” said the Doctor. “And, in order to fix time, I have to send Iron Man, Wolverine, and Wonder Woman back to their proper times. …Therein lies the problem. Before you arrived, the Joker attacked in a way that made my TARDIS think the area wasn’t safe for it, so it moved itself, so I’ll need everyone’s help to find it so Iron Man and Wolverine can live to the end of their days and Wonder Woman can see the end of the Dalek Occupation in 2167.”
“The end? …Doctor, there IS no end to their occupation,” sighed Wonder Woman. Everyone could tell that her spirit was broken somehow and she was just focused on survival.
“…What happened?” asked Batman.
“Diana…does Themyscira-?” asked the Doctor.
“It’s all gone, Doctor,” replied Wonder Woman. “The island, my sisters, my mother, all of it! The Daleks just killed them all! And not just them! The Avengers, the Justice League, the X-men, the Teen Titans, for Hera’s sake! …They all died defending the planet. The Daleks succeeded where Darkseid failed. Even his Parademons couldn’t destroy them. They somehow even immunized themselves against his Omega Effect! I don’t even know what their mission is!”
“To mine Earth’s core and replace it with an interstellar engine,” said the Doctor. “The primary mineshaft is in England, Bedfordshire to be precise.”
“…How on Earth do you-?”
“Because the Daleks fail in that regard, thanks her first incarnation,” explained Tysar.
“…Don’t give me hope, child,” sighed Wonder Woman. “Hope died a long time ago.”
“That’s what the humans thought too, at least the general population,” said the Doctor. “But…there ARE resistance groups.”
“…You’re sure?” asked Wonder Woman.
“They helped me defeat the Daleks in that time,” confirmed the Doctor. “When I send you back, you must promise me you’ll find a resistance group. Give them the hope they need to fight back! You’ll see the end of the occupation! You’ll avenge the Amazons by defying the Daleks and saying to them ‘No! Earth will NOT be exterminated!’ …Now, I can’t say that the pain of being the last will go away. It never does. …But you CAN prevent others from suffering that fate!” Wonder Woman looked at the Doctor…and saw genuine understanding in her eyes. …The Amazon then clenched her fist.
“…You’re right, Doctor!” she said. “My friends would not give up…neither will I!” There was a ferocity in her voice, a ferocity she had forgotten so long ago.
“First things first, Wondy,” said Wolverine. “We gotta find her box.”
“It’s still in Gotham, probably near here,” explained the Doctor.
“…Hey, didn’t someone go through the roof?” asked Iron Man.
“…You’re right, the Joker should have come back by now.” A portal then appeared above their heads and the Joker fell out of it, landing face first on the ground. He picked himself up and snarled.
“…I HAVE BEEN FALLING…FOR THIRTY MINUTES!” he shouted.
“Whoever cast that portal must have slowed down time in that hole,” remarked the Doctor.
“I thought it would amuse me, Doctor,” replied a voice the Doctor hadn’t heard in a long time. Stepping into the warehouse with divine swagger reserved for those that were so sure of their power was a man with black hair in a green outfit with gold trim and a gold helmet with horns on it. He carried a spear with a green stone in it.
“…Loki Laufeyson,” greeted the Doctor.
“The Norse god of trickery and fire?” asked Wonder Woman.
“Hey, just a second!” protested the Joker. “I didn’t get my prize yet!” He pointed at the stone in the spear.
“Oh yes, the deal we made,” said Loki. “My apologies.”
“Loki, what are you talking about?” asked Iron Man. “And why do you have the Time Stone?”
“It’s my best weapon of keeping Omega at bay,” replied Loki. The Doctor flinched at that. “…Ah, you know of whom I speak, don’t you, Doctor?”
“…Doc, you wanna shed some light?” asked Wolverine.
“…Omega was one of the founders of Time Lord society,” explained the Doctor. “He was a brilliant stellar engineer and learned how to harness a singularity to become a rich source of power for my people. …But his experiments sent him to an anti-matter universe and he went mad with revenge against the universe for thinking the Time Lords had abandoned him in favor of Rassilon. This current Grouping crisis is the result of him trying to escape once again.”
“Trying to, Doctor?” chuckled Loki. “No. Omega IS free and walks our universe. He’s developed a full body for himself. With the Time Stone, I can track him down and slay him!”
“No, Loki, you can’t!” replied the Doctor. “His power is too much, even for you or Darkseid! Even all six Infinity Stones and the Omega Effect can’t stop him!”
“I’m willing to put that to the test,” dismissed Loki. “But first, a little test. Wonder Woman, you came from 2167, is that right?”
“That’s correct,” replied Wonder Woman.
“Then I think you know who I will summon.” The wicked grin revealed his intentions! Wonder Woman used her lasso to grab the spear and pull it towards her.
“Never!” she snarled with Amazonian zeal! “No one in this century will suffer those monsters!”
“Give that back, you primitive!” snarled Loki as he prepared his magic.
“I went to a lot of trouble getting that thing,” said the Joker as he aimed his gun, “and I intend to keep it!”
“I’m sorry, 2029 is closed to evil today!” retorted Iron Man as he fired a repulsor beam at the Joker. The clown was knocked back as Loki fired his own magic blast, but Wonder Woman deflected it with her shield. Batman then got up close and kneed Loki in the stomach, winding the Asgardian.
“Quick! Into the Batmobile!” called Batman. He led everyone to his car and they all jumped in. The Joker shot at the car and Loki fired magic blasts, but it sped away, taking its passengers to safety.