They're off! Series of adventures with the Doctor and Rainbow Dash after they've left Equestria. Ranging in rating. Locations include alien and human worlds, plus Equestria.
Rainbow Dash screamed. Her body felt like it was on fire. It was getting hard to breathe, and black spots randomly appeared in her line of sight. The pegasus was dimly aware of the Doctor yelling something from behind her, along the lines of:
"Don't fight it!" and "Oh god what is going on?!"
Dash toppled over, suddenly not able to stand or feel her hooves. Her whole body started going numb, and the last thing she saw before she passed out was a hand reaching for her.
Rainbow Dash's head pounded dully. Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. She raised her head slightly to check out her surroundings. Blinking, Dash gasped as she saw the Doctor laying across the room, his back to her. The TARDIS control room was demolished; wires hung from the ceiling in clumps, and sparks randomly flew out from the console. Rainbow pushed herself into a sitting position, her hands gripping the floor.
Wait, hands?!
Rainbow looked down at her body, a look of utter shock on her face. She brought her hands up to her face, studying both sides. She wiggled her fingers and reached over to pick something up. She grabbed a piece of rounded metal. It felt cool in her grasp, the grey metallic surface leaving her in awe. Putting the item down, Dash inspected the rest of her body. The thing that caught her attention the most, though, were the long, slender, sky blue wings protruding from between her shoulder blades. Looking back over her shoulder, the pegasus gave them a few flaps, feeling herself rise slightly off the floor.
Hadn't the Doctor said humans didn't have wings or magic?
Deciding she had checked her new body out enough, Rainbow Dash attempted to stand up. She got to her feet. . .
And promptly fell onto her face.
Growling, Dash tried again, this time holding her arms out for balance. She teetered back and forth, wobbling over to the Doctor, who was still limp on the floor. She got there just in time, falling to her knees. She breathed a sigh of relief and put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.
"Doctor! Doctor, wake up!" Rainbow Dash hissed. She shook his shoulder. A groan emanated from his throat, and he rolled over to face Dash. His brown eyes blinked open, and he immediately freaked, scooting away and turning his head.
"What? Yeah, I know, I changed. Weird, huh?" the pegasus asked, looking at her arms. The Doctor grimaced, keeping a hand over his eyes.
"You're naked. . ." he squeaked. His face burned bright red.
"Oh! Oh!" Dash blushed as well. She put a hand up to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I guess I didn't think about that before I came to wake you up-"
"No, it's fine, it's just. . . I don't-" He stopped with his stammering. "There's a wardrobe room, um, it's. . ." He was too embarrassed to finish speaking.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "It's fine. I'll find it." She flapped her wings to get herself onto her feet, then walked off, still tottering slightly.
The Doctor sighed, slapping himself in the face.
Rainbow Dash eventually found it. She walked up the stairs, looking for something she considered tasteful. After searching and finding nothing she really liked, she came upon a small sky blue entry way. On the top of the ledge, it had the letters RD imprinted on it in red. Narrowing her eyes, Dash entered.
She gasped.
Inside, there was a whole room filled with clothes that were seemingly designed to her. Smirking, she flew up, testing out her different wings. She flitted around, finding an outfit that would suit her perfectly.
After finding one, she hurried back to the Doctor.
The Doctor was tidying up the TARDIS, again, when he heard the gentle flapping of wings. He turned around, leaving the wires he had been melding together to look at Dash. His mouth popped open.
She was wearing a sky blue T-shirt, the sleeves and bottom outlined with rainbow; her cutie mark was printed on her chest. She had white shorts on, and long, light blue socks with rainbow on the tops, just like her shirt. Her sport shoes were white also with red lacing, and had a red check on the sides of them. A long rainbow scarf edged with gold was wrapped around her neck, the tasseled ends swinging down next to her knees. A set of dark blue goggles with multicolored lenses were resting upon her head, pushing her bangs out of her face. Three bands of silver and gold were on her wrists. Her rainbow hair was short in length, barely past her chin. She looked like she was eighteen years old.
Rainbow Dash spread her wings out, turning around. "Well, what do you think?"
The Doctor floundered with his words before finally managing to choke something out. "You look wonderful." He gave her a smile.
"It's not bad is it? I won't be a freak if I go out like this?" Her face turned into one of worry.
"No, you really look beautiful. Now, help me clean up the TARDIS a bit and then we'll be on our way." He bent over to grab some broken wires.
"What happened anyhow?" She flew up and shoved some wires back into the ceiling.
"Um, I don't really know how to explain, but it was a bit like regeneration. Once you passed out, your body gave off this wave of energy, sending me flying backwards and destroying the TARDIS. It's like what happens during regeneration, which is why it was so weird. But no worries." He shrugged.
"Okay. Well, what about my wings? I'm sure if they see my wings it'll be quite a shock to them. They'd know right away I was 'alien'." She made quotation marks in the air as she said that.
The Doctor put his hands on his hips. "Right. What to do. . ." He pondered it for a moment. He then perked up, putting a finger in the air. "Ah! I know!" He got out his sonic and began fiddling with the TARDIS controls. "Alright Dash, stand right there, and don't move." Rainbow hovered over to the spot he'd pointed at. "Three, two, one!" The Time Lord pulled a lever on the console and then a blue beam swept across the pegasus. She jumped, not sure what was happening. A few small beeps were heard and then the beam flickered, going back into the controls.
"What's the difference? I can still see them," Rainbow Dash said, shifting her wings. She looked back at them over her shoulder.
"We can, but nobody else can! I gave you a perception field. They also can't feel them either, so if anybody would happen to run into you, they would not even know!" the Doctor laughed.
"I can still use them, right?"
"Yup. Just try not to when we're somewhere human or anything. If we're somewhere alien friendly, you can use them and I'll take the perception field away so you can show them off." He grinned.
Dash fist pumped. "Alright! Well, let's go!"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Hmm. . . I'd like to go to somewhere human. I've never seen an actual human before. You may look like one, but you're still a Time Lord."
"I can make that happen." He grinned at her then pulled a lever. The whirring sound of the TARDIS filled the air, and a final screeching, along with the last boom of the ship touching down. The Doctor walked towards the door, long coat flapping behind him, and motioned towards the door. Rainbow giggled like a child and followed the Time Lord, hands at her face. She glanced at him, her eyes big. He nodded. Dash pushed the door open slowly, as if she were a teenager sneaking out at night.
The bright sun made her squint, but she continued. Seeing the different buildings around them, along with the people milling about, made Dash squee. She bounced up and down as the Doctor just stood behind her smiling.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow squealed, her wings fluttering involuntarily. The Time Lord quickly pulled her back to the ground by her scarf. She rubbed the back of her head. "Eh heh, sorry. I'm just so excited! I finally get to meet aliens- well, different aliens!" She paused. "Where are we?"
"From the looks of it, we're in. . ." the Doctor trailed off, having no idea where they were. He glanced around. Seeing a newspaper stand nearby, he went up and grabbed one. "Ah! We're in the United States, in the state of North Dakota. Bismarck, the state's capital, to be exact. It's March 13th, 2015." He smiled. "In all my years of phone box travel, I've never been here! Should be fun." He looked at Dash. "What do you want to do first?" She thought for a moment.
"I don't know. What do humans do? I'm pretty hungry right now, though." She smiled sheepishly as her stomach growled.
"All right," the Doctor said, looping his arm though hers, "we shall go find some food!"
"Where are we going? And do they have good food here?"
"I have no idea! Never been here, remember?"
"Right. Where are we going to eat? And do you have any bits on you? I didn't bring any." She emphasized her point by pulling her short pockets out.
"Ah. Thanks for reminding me. We need money," the Doctor told her. He walked into a large building: The Kirkwood Mall.
"What is this place?" Dash asked. It was huge; there were doors everywhere, leading into different places. Rainbow narrowed her eyes to read to read the nearest one: Target.
"It's a mall. You don't have malls in Equestria?"
"No. We have stalls."
"Well, the mall is a place with a lot of stores combined into one building. We're in here to get some money, but I'm sure we can find something to eat while we're here." He found an ATM and took out his sonic screwdriver, making sure no one was watching before using it. As soon as he had the money in his hand, another immediately stole it from him. Rainbow held the green bills up to her eye, studying it.
"This is their money? What if it gets torn or something? Because I could easily just rip this in half." She tugged on both sides of the dollar.
"Yes, and it's called a dollar bill. Don't rip it, just take half of the money and give the other half to me." He waited until she finally figured out how much it was worth. They had two hundred dollars in total. She handed him five twenties and took the others.
"So, how does this money work? It has numbers on it, so. . . what? Just hand it to the sales pony- I mean, sales person and they take it?" Rainbow fiddled with one of her bills.
"They'll tell you your total, you'll hand them the money, and they give you your change. Simple."
"Change?" Dash asked.
"Money back. They have other amount of dollars to give you, plus coins so you can have your exact change," the Time Lord explained.
Rainbow glanced once more at the money in her hand. "Huh. It's so complicated here. Back in Equestria, we only had bits, and it was always an exact amount." She laughed. "I never thought I'd be saying things like 'back in Equestria'." The Doctor smiled.
"So, what do you feel in the mood to eat?"
"I don't know. I doubt they eat hay here, just saying."
"Point taken. Alright, how about you wait here, and I'll go get us something to eat, 'kay?" He pushed her into a chair in the middle of the room. It was kind of like a food court, but not exactly. There were some small metal tables with chairs around them, next to a hat store. "I'll be back. If you want, go browse the stores in this area. Don't go far; I won't be gone long." With that, he strolled off.
Rainbow Dash sighed, looking around. She leaned on the table with an elbow, one hand holding up her head. Bored, she stood up, going to look around. Seeing the small hat store next to her, she just went under the small doorway. It wasn't technically big enough to be called a store, as it was just a bunch of hats hung up on a small frame. Dash looked at the selection of headwear. After a little testing, she found one that she decided she liked. It was a dark blue one with red trimming on the flat rim. There was a gold arrow, like the weapon, on the front. She purchased it, keeping it in the small black bag the cashier had put it in.
Rainbow plopped down at her table again. She ran a finger across the smooth surface. She groaned and rolled her eyes. What was taking the Doctor so long? She leaned back in her chair, crossing her long legs on top of the table. She shifted her wings to a more comfortable position, held out to either side of her. Dash closed her eyes and it wasn't long before she was asleep. But she wasn't asleep for more than five minutes when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. The pegasus woke with a start, nearly kicking the Doctor in the face.
"Good afternoon, sleepyhead! I got some lunch from Subway," the Time lord said, holding up the bag.
The smell of the food reached Rainbow Dash's nose, causing her mouth to start watering. "Ooh, smells good. Sandwiches?"
"Yup. I know ponies don't eat meat, but I got you ham, if that's alright. Maybe you'll like it, I don't know. You aren't exactly a pony anymore." He handed her a foot long sub. Dash, upon hearing meat, had gained an uncertain air to her. She hesitantly took the sandwich. The Doctor noticed this, a frown on his face. "If you don't want it, you can get something from somewhere else."
"I. . . I can try it. I don't know, I've just never eaten meat before," the pegasus responded unsurely, unwrapping the food. The smell of the meat and other toppings was absolutely mouthwatering, but she was still hesitant. Dash took a bite, crunching through the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions, tasting the ranch as she bit down. When she had reached the meat, she continued. She chewed slowly, getting the full flavor out of the bite.
"So?" the Doctor asked after taking a few bites out of his sandwich. Rainbow licked her lips.
"Not bad actually."
The Doctor and Rainbow Dash were sitting in a park bench. It was late now, stars shining in the sky.
"Reminds me of Princess Luna's night. Of course, hers are more beautiful. These stars do whatever they want. It's like the EverFree Forest all the time, here in the human world," Rainbow Dash commented, leaning against the Doctor sideways. She kicked her feet together, liking the sound they made when they touched.
"Yeah. It's more natural, and not controlled by all that magic," the Doctor added.
"I like magic. Always so cool. Of course, I could probably control these clouds if I tried. But you said I can't fly while we're here." She sat up and fluttered her wings, lifting herself off the bench.
"Well, there's no one outside right now, and I'm kinda bored, so maybe a little show wouldn't hurt. . ."
Dash grinned. "Sweet!" She flew up, cracking her knuckles. After several more areas of body crackage, she headed into the clouds, pulling her goggles down over her eyes. She went up high, feeling the cool air on her face. Her wings were like a duck's; the water that collected on them rolling right off.
Back on the ground, the Doctor waited. The small hole in the clouds where Rainbow had entered was starting to close, but that was none of his worries. The only thing he did worry about was somebody seeing her flying.
Rainbow Dash kicked a cloud, sending a bolt of electricity shooting out. She laughed; the elements were hers to control. The air crackled with static, and she decided to get moving. She propelled herself up, going into a flip, the momentum sending her down. Her body streamlined, forming a cone. But as she broke through the cloud layer, she saw something that stopped her in her tracks.
"You're coming with us!" a large man shouted, shoving the Doctor into the back of a van, his hands tied behind his back. Two other people, one male and one female, climbed in after them closing the black van's doors. The screeching of the tires on the asphalt hurt Dash's ears as she watched them from her eye in the sky. Blinking in surprise, she shook her head to clear her mind. She pounded her chest, yelling.
"I'm coming Doctor! Hold on!" Rainbow Dash yelled, taking off. The black van was still in sight as she sped after it. Only taking a few moments for Dash to reach the vehicle at her speed, she landed on top of it, denting the metal. She heard yelling from inside the van, and it swerved slightly on the road. Rainbow growled, kicking the windshield, cracking it. A head popped out of the passenger's window; the girl. She had black hair tied up in a bun, with lots of dark makeup on her face. She gasped when she saw the pegasus, brown eyes going wide. Her head ducked back inside the van.
"Give him back!" Rainbow shouted again. She opened her wings, letting herself get pulled back into the air by the wind. Dash took off again, this time going for the back doors. She held out a foot, and crashed right through the van's doors. The broken pieces of metal crumpled and one of them fell out into the road, clattering against the ground loudly. There were six people inside; three men, the woman, the Doctor, and another younger girl. The teen was shivering, her mouth taped shut and hands taped together. The Doctor was in a similar condition, except he had his feet tied up also, and he was unconscious. Blood was dripping down his face.
"Stop right there, criminal scum!"
"Who the hell are you?!" the large man shouted, holding up a gun.
Rainbow smirked, adjusting her goggles. "That's classified information, dirtbag, but I'll show you what I'm going to do instead!" As soon as she said that, she leapt forward, striking the man in the chest. He hit the side of the van. The gun went off, shooting the already cracked windshield. Dash then turned to the other man, who was standing over by the Doctor and the child. Rainbow grabbed ahold of a handle on the van and kicked the man out onto the road. The girl in the front and the driver were the easiest. She grabbed both of their heads quickly and slammed them together with a crunching sound. The van spun out of control and headed towards the sidewalk. The pegasus quickly grabbed the Doctor and the teenager, and flew out of the van.
The large man held up his phone, snapping a picture of her leaving. That girl had wings.
Rainbow Dash was back in the TARDIS. The Doctor was laying on the floor with bandages wrapped around his head. The teen girl was huddled up on the chair with a blue blanket around her, tremors wracking her body. Dash was making some hot chocolate for her; she added the marshmallows and hovered over to the child. Her hair was bright red and she had violet eyes.
"Thanks for saving me," she said.
"Not a problem. Might as well kill two birds with one stone," Rainbow said, waving the thanks off with a flip of her hand. She handed the warm mug of coco to the kid. "I'm Rainbow Dash. What's your name?"
The girl looked down at her cup, then back to Dash. "Seven."
"Seven? Like the number?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow.
"I forgot my real name, and I've always liked the number seven." She took a sip of hot chocolate.
"You forgot your real name? How long have you been with those awful people?"
"Five days."
"How can you forget your name after five days?"
"I'm not as young as I look. I'm actually not even human, and I know you're not either, pegasus." She took another sip. "I'm not sure what kind of operation you've got going on here, but I want in on it."
Rainbow looked shocked. "Can you see my wings?"
"Of course we can!"
"Um, we?"
"Look, you may be new here, but everybody can see those things."
"But there was a perception filter on them!"
"Well, not anymore. Did you go near anything that could've messed with it?"
"On second thought, I was up in the clouds. The electricity must've canceled it out." Rainbow scowled and pounded her fist on the control panel, causing a few sparks to fly off.
Seven nodded. "It'll do that. So, your friend, what's his deal then?"
Dash glanced over at the Time Lord. "This is his ship. And since you already know I'm not human, he's not either."
"Figures," Seven muttered, rolling her eyes.
"And what's your deal? How old are you?" the pegasus asked.
"Around three hundred, give or take. I don't care really." She stood up, her knee high boots clicking on the floor. "I'm supposed to look like fifteen. Is it working?" She was dressed in an all-black leather outfit. Her fiery red hair was down to the middle of her back, held back by a pair of sunglasses. Her makeup added a dark appearance to her.
"Yeah. Your clothes make you look way older though." Dash shrugged. "So, what species are you?"
"I'm a Dranna. We're shape shifters. See?" Seven changed into a mirror image of Rainbow Dash with a shimmering of blue.
Rainbow shuddered. "Don't do that. I had a very horrible experience with changelings this summer. That's how I met the Doctor actually." She jerked a thumb back at his sleeping body.
"Changelings?" Seven tilted her head, raising an eyebrow as she turned back into herself.
"Yeah. They change form too, but they feed on love."
Seven nodded. "Okay, I told you what I am. What are you?"
"Nothing special really. Just a pony in human form."
"A pony? Interesting." She tapped her fingers on the console. "So, why are you here?"
"Why are you here?"
Seven narrowed her eyes. "I'm supposed to be investigating my sister's disappearance, but then those goons caught me. You?" She crossed her arms.
"He and I were just on a little trip. I've never seen real humans before." Rainbow floated nonchalantly over Seven's head, hands behind her own.
"Then what would those thugs want with him then? They want everybody for a reason, you know."
"I don't know. He said he'd never been here before."
"Well then. We'll have to ask him when he wakes up."
"Who said you were staying?" Dash asked, crossing her arms.
"I did. And I think you'll need my help, to be honest," Seven said.
"Help with what?"
"Anything. Everything." Seven smirked. "Besides, I'm sure you both could help me with my problem as well. I need to find my sister. She could be killed. She's my only sibling and I want her back." She sighed. "It's her first time out and her signal went offline. You see, we all have a microscopic chip in the back of our heads. If it goes out, then we have no communication. We're stranded."
Rainbow thought about this, one hand to her mouth. Then she grinned. "Okay, we'll help."
"What if he disagrees?" Seven looked at the Doctor.
"Oh, he'll listen to me." Rainbow waved a hand. "So, back to business. Do you know anything about those thugs? Do they have a hideout?"
The Doctor heard voices. He tried to block them out; get back into the peaceful slumber he had been in earlier. He failed.
With a slight whine sounding much like a child when they were awoken for school, the Time Lord blinked open his eyes. He sat up, the beginning of a headache starting to pound dully in the back of his brain.
“Doctor! You’re awake!” a loud voice exclaimed in delight. Before he could react, a grinning face was shoved in his, pushing his head back. He felt two hands on his shoulder and then he was lifted on his feet suddenly. The Doctor stumbled a little bit, holding out his hands for balance.
Rainbow Dash grinned wider, keeping herself hovering in the air in front of him. “Feel better?”
The Doctor blew out of his mouth, smiling slightly. “For the most part.”
“Good! Because we have a visitor!” The pegasus moved out of the way, directing her long arm to the girl on other side of the TARDIS. The teen smiled, fluttering her fingers at the Time Lord. Her violet eyes flashed.
“Oh, I see. . .” he uttered. “So. . .?”
Rainbow nodded, rolling her eyes. “Yes, she’s alien. A—”
“—Dranna, yes, I know. I can tell by the smell.”
“Wait, what?” Dash questioned, raising a finger in the air.
“Oh, yes, indeed. Very unique smell, Dranna. A bit too salty for my taste, but other than that they don’t smell too bad,” the Doctor commented. The girl looked surprised—somewhat offended, also—and walked closer to the Time Lord.
“You know us, huh? Think you’re an expert, do you? Well then, tell me this—”
She was quickly cut off by the Doctor stopping her with his finger on her lips. “You all have chips in the backs of your heads to track you all and to let the agency know if you are hurt. Dranna come from the planet Kasten, run by a group of people that call themselves the Darks. I also know you are all stubborn as mules and demand something in return if you do something for someone else. You all have fake names and ages but tell others lies so they don’t know.”
Rainbow Dash looked completely shocked. Her mouth was open. “Oh my gosh!” She blinked once. “Hey, that means you lied to me!” She pointed a finger at the girl accusingly.
“Oh, and also, your code name is Seven,” the Time Lord added, his glasses on his face, looking quite intrigued, into Seven’s bright purple eyes.
Seven gaped, pulling away from the Doctor. She held her arms close to her as if she were cold. “How did you know all that?”
“Oh please. I knew it as soon as I got in the TARDIS. She was tracking you for some reason. She merely followed you here, taking her own course when Dash and I were incapacitated.” He took his glasses off his face and folded them back up. He tapped them against his palm a few times. “I knew I would have to find you; Dranna are always causing trouble. And I was right. Look where you ended up.”
“But you were caught too!” Seven defended herself.
“Oh please, if I had wanted to get away I would have. Didn’t exactly expect them to split my head open, mind you, but in the end my plan worked. Do you really think I would’ve let Rainbow just fly out in the open?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” the said pegasus inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Because I knew you would go blabbing about it,” the Doctor said bluntly. Dash gasped. “And I expect you took the van by air?” He slowly turned to the side without moving his feet, raising an eyebrow.
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and avoided eye contact. “Eh heh, whatever gave you that idea. . .?”
“. . . Uh huh. You can get careless sometimes, that’s all I’m saying.”
Rainbow scoffed, turning her head away. “Me, careless? Never.”
The Doctor rolled his eyes and then directed his gaze back to Seven. “So, what’s been discussed while I was out?”
“How did you know my code name?” Seven asked quietly, eyes dark.
“Your eyes.”
“Then I’m guessing you know my age, too?”
The Doctor nodded.
“And my real name?”
Another nod. “But since I’m the good guy, I’m not going to let that information be public.” The Time Lord walked to the other side on the console and started fiddling with a few knobs absentmindedly. “Might as well get to work. So, Seven, Dash, what’s your most likely ridiculous plan?” He looked up from the controls.
“Well, Seven knows where their lair is,” Rainbow Dash explained. She looked over to Seven, indicating that she should take over from there.
Seven cleared her throat, shaking out of her thoughts. She reached into a pocket of her utility belt and removed a map. She brought it over to the Doctor and showed it to him. “Well, we’re here,” she said, indicating to the TARDIS which had been crudely drawn on, “and this is the thugs’ hideout,” she continued with a finger pointed to a spot across town.
“How did you find that out?” the Doctor inquired. His glasses were back on his face.
Seven snorted angrily, a look of hate creeping into her violet eyes. “It’s where my sister’s chip went offline. I checked it out upon arriving in America. Didn’t take too long to find out.”
“And I’m assuming that in return for helping us, we have to find your sister?”
Seven smirked. “You bet.”
“Well, come on then. We need to find out what those thugs are working for. It’s nonhuman, that much is certain,” the Doctor said. He took off his glasses and stuck them back in his pocket.
“But we need a plan, surely?” Seven guessed, placing her hands on her hips.
“Mmm . . . no.” He shook his head after pondering it. Before Seven could object, the TARDIS lights started to flash randomly. The Doctor jumped into action, running around the console, pressing buttons.
“What’s going on?” Seven exclaimed.
“She’s detected something! We’re about to move,” the Doctor responded. He flicked a switch above his head and then the familiar whirring sound filled the air. Rainbow Dash remained in her position in the air, while Seven fell against the railing when the spacecraft shifted.
“You can’t fly a box through the city! People will notice!” Seven exclaimed. She picked herself off the floor.
“Will you shut up for two seconds?!”
Seven gasped, mouth agape.
Suddenly, the TARDIS gave a massive jerk and stopped completely. A final dull thud signaled they were done. The Doctor slipped on his overcoat and stepped outside, Rainbow Dash right behind him. Seven glanced about the spacecraft once more before heading after the duo.
A large, factory like building loomed over them. It even looked like a hideout. A large metal fence separated them from the building. The Doctor stopped, waiting. After a moment, he motioned for them to follow.
“So, what do we do?” Dash whispered, her eyes roaming the dark atmosphere. Instead of flying, she had her wings folded on her back.
The Doctor cast his gaze around. “I say we head straight for the doors.” He stopped. “Seven, you got good defensive skills?”
Seven smirked, holding up her fists. “I can take these puny humans.”
Rainbow scoffed. “Then why didn’t you get out of their grasps earlier if you can kick their butts?”
“I didn’t want them to know for sure that I was an alien. I had to keep some profile.”
“Hey!” the Doctor hissed, “will you two be quiet? No need to blow our cover so soon into the mission.” He kept low to the ground as they snuck around the perimeter. They cam upon a metal door; a large lock was keeping them securely out. Once he was sure no one was watching, he took out his sonic screwdriver. As it buzzed, Seven cringed.
“Keep that thing quiet, will you? Talk to us about shutting up,” the Dranna growled irritably. The Doctor stood up in an exaggerated fashion, jerking the sonic about in his hand.
“It’s a sonic screwdriver! Sonic equals sound!” he whined in exasperation. At the outburst, a siren suddenly went off; red lights flashed brightly from the building. “They’re not very discreet with their business, are they?”
Rainbow Dash shot him a glare. She unfurled a wing, smacking the Time Lord upside the head, earning a yelp of pain from him. “You bucking idiot! Now they know we’re here!”
“. . Sorry. I’m not always the most discreet.”
Seven brought her hands up to chest level, shaking them angrily, a grimace on her face. “Will you hurry up and open the lock then?! We need to hide!”
The Doctor seemed to remember this and swiftly jerked his sonic down to the lock. It clicked open and the three stumbled in. They raced across the empty ground, going for a door. As soon as it was opened—revealing it to be a supply closet—they hid inside. The Time Lord locked it again.
As soon as they were settled in the darkness, Rainbow Dash let out a growl. She faced the Doctor. “I swear, you are the dumbest genius in the universe.” Another smack was heard.
The Doctor whimpered slightly. “Sorry. But—”
“Uh-uh-uh! No speaking unless you have some way of getting out of this mess.”
“Okay, okay. Let me just peek outside and we’ll go from there, alright?” The Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver and unlocked the door. He opened it a crack and put his eye up to it. After a moment, he nodded. “All clear, it looks like. Sirens and lights are off. Come on, let’s actually get inside the building this time.”
Dash and Seven followed behind the Doctor as he snuck up to a door. He unlocked it and carefully pushed it open.
They emerged into the large room. It was mostly empty, save for a smaller room right in the center. That one looked barely big enough for a person. Some chairs, a table, and a kitchen area with a stove, fridge, and other necessities were in an opposite corner from them. A map hung on the wall beside the chairs, numerous pins and tacks stuck in it. The room was dim; only ten large lights of the several hundred working. The ones that were on were in the corner. Several different corridors led away from the main room—also dimly lit. The room was empty.
“This place is really depressing,” Dash commented absentmindedly.
“Yeah. . . come on, let’s see what this thing is in the middle,” the Doctor said. He started approaching the room. It had glass covering it on one side to see into it. They walked to that side, as it was on the other side of them.
Seven quickly reached out, snagging the Doctor’s wrist. “I really don’t think we should look.”
“What are you talking about? Why not?” the Doctor questioned. His eyes narrowed.
“I-I . . . just don’t think it’s safe, that’s all.” She let her grip on the Time Lord soften slightly.
“It’s fine. Come on.” He broke free of the girl’s grip. He cast her one more glance and continued towards the center of the room.
Seven hesitated, cringing. She quickly looked around, searching. Finding what she was looking for, she snuck towards it. The large red lever felt cool on her hand as she gave it a swift yank. An extremely loud siren started wailing. The room’s lights flickered on at the same time, illuminating every shadow. Seven smiled slightly and returned to her spot beside the Doctor and Dash.
“What happened?” Rainbow asked, wings opening in alarm, ready to flee if they had to.
“Something triggered the alarm!” the Doctor exclaimed, “quick, run!” The trio sprinted towards the exit they had come from. Suddenly, a large metal covering snapped down in front of every door. Since there were no windows, they had no escape.
The rumbling of an engine roared from the largest corridor. A fairly large yellow hummer emerged, its engine growling menacingly at the intruders. Three people jumped out; the same thugs from earlier.
The large man held up a gun, aimed right at them. The smaller man and the girl grinned, brandishing their weapons as well.
“Well, well, well,” the big man started, chuckling darkly, “what do we have here? Trespassers?” He began a slow approach towards the group. “And aliens, no less.” He stopped. A snarl found its way onto his lips. “Since we have to have you in good condition for the bosses, we’ll go easy on ya. But not too easy, get what I’m saying? If you value your health, you’ll just surrender nicely.”
Rainbow Dash snarled, her upper lip pulling back to reveal her sparkling white teeth. Her wings flared menacingly. “Never.”
The large man smirked coldly for a moment before it vanished, replaced with a cruel snort. “So be it.”
The thugs lifted up their weapons and started firing. What came out were not regular bullets, but tranquilizers. The trio shot apart, dodging the first attack.
Rainbow instinctively took to the sky. She was a blur, going every which way to confuse the thugs. The Doctor had his sonic screwdriver out, jamming the firing mechanisms on the guns. Seven had retrieved two whips from her belt. She lashed them at the team, catching their wrists and yanking back fiercely.
Dash dive-bombed straight at the woman. The pegasus was a multicolored blur. As she sped towards the ground, she knocked the gun out of the woman’s hands in one well-aimed smack. As a retaliation, she grabbed a small device from her back pocket and threw it at Rainbow. She dodged it, confused, until the thing stopped in midair and created an electrical field. Dash was caught inside it. She yowled in pain and thrashed about wildly, stuck in the same spot.
Seven continued with her whips, shrieking in laughter. But the large man quickly reached out and took hold of one of the flailing weapons. Seven was tugged forward harshly, landing on her stomach. She winced and then looked up upon seeing the shadow over her. A foot crashed down on her back before she could get out of harm’s way. Seven growled angrily, then grabbed his foot. She pulled hard, and the man came crashing down on her. She was now on top of him, preparing to stab him in the throat with a sharp switchblade she had pulled out of her belt. A tranquilizer was suddenly stabbed in the side of her neck, courtesy of the smaller man. Seven woozily slumped to the ground, knife slipping out of her hand.
The Doctor saw both of the females go down, a tiny bit of worry slipping into his thoughts. He really didn’t have much time to help when suddenly the hummer was speeding towards him. The Time Lord’s eyes widened in surprise and he turned tail and ran. Being used to running (plus the fact that he was an alien), it wasn’t hard for him to run at a full out sprint and keep it up for over ten minutes. But it wasn’t like he had very many escape options, since he had no idea where any of the corridors led off to. Taking a chance, the Doctor ran into a hallway. The one he picked was quite long, so he had plenty of space to get his speed up.
He heard the vehicle’s engine blare loudly, its speed increasing. It was closing in on him, preparing to run him down. A sudden blast of air going by surprised him.
Rainbow Dash was right next to him, a dart in her neck. She had somehow managed to break free of the electrical field, going after the Time Lord.
“Doctor! Let me help!” she grunted, obviously struggling to stay in flight. With the last ounce of energy she had in her, Dash sprinted in a circle around the Doctor, increasing his speed so he was a blur. A swift wind started up under his feet, carrying him along, nearly as fast as the pegasus herself. As her tornado ended, she fell under the tranquilizer’s drug. Her wing beat slowed down and she wearily stopped, falling into the Doctor’s arms.
The Time Lord caught her and continued on his way. He skidded around a corner, finding another long hall. But when he rounded the next corner, there was a door. He quickly stopped, the extra speed boost he had gotten from Dash gone. Panting, the Doctor fumbled in his pocket for his sonic screwdriver. He groaned, exasperated, as he dropped it on the ground. He switched positions and slung Rainbow over his shoulder. Then he held the sonic up to the code pad on the side of the wall, overriding it and letting the door open. He began his sprint again. A huge crash sounded from behind him.
The large hummer smashed right through the doorframe, scattering chunks of concrete and plaster around the now gaping hole in the wall. The Doctor was watching from over his shoulder, eyes wide. He was slower now, and the vehicle was closing in on him.
Inside the hummer, the smaller man sat in the front seat, tranquilizer gun focused on the Doctor’s neck. One eye was closed, making sure he had a good aim. The driver carefully held the hummer steady, as not to run into anything unnecessarily. (That hadn’t, of course, applied to the door). A message buzzed in through the radio attached to the smaller man’s belt. He lowered his gun and unclipped it from his belt, bringing it up to his mouth.
“Did you get him yet?” It was the large man.
“Not yet, Jay, but don’t worry. This hallway comes to a metal grate covered door. He can’t get out. Plus, his little friend is unconscious, so it’s extra weight for him to carry,” the smaller man told to—presumably—Jay.
“Just get him, Simon,” came the growled reply. “Me and Steph are getting antsy.”
Deciding against correcting his boss on his horrible grammar, Simon gave a grunt in reply. “James and I are almost on top of him.”
Indeed they were. Only about twenty feet behind, Simon set his radio down and brought his gun up again. He waited for the image to come into focus, then fired. The small dart, tipped with a blue (oh, the audacity of that dart to be blue) fuzz, it connected with the Doctor’s neck. The Time Lord stumbled in surprise, but regained his footing and continued onwards. He didn’t show any signs of weariness.
Simon heard the crackling of static on the radio once again. “Get him?” asked Jay.
Simon narrowed his eyes angrily as he brought the small device up to his mouth. “No. The tranqs don’t seem to work on him.”
“Fuck!” came the muffled response. The sound of something breaking was heard in the background. Jay sighed. “Listen, who cares anymore about whether or not the bosses need him in top condition. Take him out, now.”
“Got that.” Simon clipped the radio back onto his belt. He turned to the driver and nodded.
James grinned and pushed on the gas pedal. The hummer sped down the hall, mere feet from the Doctor now. As the Time Lord skidded around a corner; his feet squeaking as he did, long brown coat flying out behind, that was it. The two in the car bore down on him.
The Doctor was smashed into by the bumper with a crunch. He flew forward, landing hard on his stomach. The hummer stopped with a screech, their target down at last. The Time Lord gave a long groan, trying to push himself up. He had thrown Rainbow Dash ahead of him so she wouldn’t be injured, but the hit had sent him flying way up past where she had tumbled along the hard concrete floor.
Simon quickly got out of the car, gun still in hand. The hummer’s engine rumbled idly behind him as he approached the Doctor. He towered over the downed Time Lord. Simon brought his gun up and for a moment the Doctor thought he saw a bit of remorse flash through his eyes, but he may have imagined it in his state. He saw the butt of the gun coming towards his head and that was it.
Simon saw the gleam of sadness in the man’s eyes as he slammed the gun into the side of his head. Though it really wasn’t sadness as in he’d been caught, but that Simon had done what he’d done. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, the criminal bent down to pick the man up. He slipped his arms under his and started pulling the unconscious alien back to the vehicle. Once he got him in the hummer, he went for the winged girl. She was rather light, actually, for a teenager.
James, the driver, looked over at Simon once he positioned himself in the passenger seat. “You good?”
Simon nodded. “Yep. Let’s go back. Jay’s getting impatient.” As if on cue, the telltale buzz came through the radio.
“You’ve got him, then?” Jay asked roughly.
“Yeah,” James smirked, leaning over to talk into the radio, “ran him down like an animal!” He then honked the horn loudly.
A small laugh was heard on the other side. “Good. Now, get back here. We’ll need to question them and then take ‘em to the bosses.” The static went out, signifying that Jay was off the line.
“You heard him. Get a move on,” Simon said gruffly. James gave him a quick glare and then put the great yellow hummer into drive.
Simon sighed, rubbing his temples. He was a smaller guy (compared with the other men, anyways), with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He wore a black turtle neck with black running shoes (and blue jeans). He had matching gloves that were cut off at the middle of each finger on each hand. A thick belt—also of the same color—looped around his waist, going slightly sideways, with all his supplies and weapons hidden in it.
Simon served as the brains of the bunch, AKA the weakest guy of the group. Tech guy, mostly. Also, obviously, he went after the runaways with James.
James was larger than Simon, mostly because he was six foot eight. He wore a red T-shirt with the words “Fuck Bitches Get M$ney” printed upon the front. (Personally, Simon always thought that shirt was rather disrespectful of women whenever he saw it. He didn’t exactly see how women were female dogs or anything in that vulgar area). James wore regular blue jeans; torn at the knees. He had a pair of large black boots on. His hair was thick—though not long, only covering his ears—wavy, and blonde, plus he also had light blue eyes, which were usually concealed with a pair of dark sunglasses. Not in this case, though, as he had them lifted on top. He served as the permanent driver of the gang.
Jay was the largest, but not by height. He was just built bigger; large muscles, thick legs. He wore a black T-shirt with blue jeans and large black combat boots—similar somewhat to how James dressed, although without the vulgar words and images on the shirt. His gun was tucked in his pants while his sharp dagger was carefully stowed in his boot top for easy access. Jay’s hair was brown and he had thick eyebrows over his matching eyes. He was the leader of the ragtag team. Many people thought he was horrible; in all reality, he actually wasn’t that bad. He mostly acted tough to intimidate.
Stephanie, or Steph, as most called her, was short with black hair she kept in a bun and brown eyes. She was Asian (but don’t tell her I said that. She doesn’t like it. She prefers ‘multicultural’). She wore a completely black outfit that matched Simon’s in nearly every way, except for the fact she wore knee-high boots and her jeans were also black. She was the feisty one, always looking for a fight. (James had learned that the hard way when he had first met her). She barely came up to Simon’s chest.
Now, with James whooping in victory as he pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes, the two were performing a U-turn in a small side room. James honked the horn loudly, startling the other man, who jumped in his seat.
“Woo! I got that guy so good!” James hollered. He proceeded to do a quick victory dance, wiggling in his seat. Simon groaned, putting his face in his hands. He then raised his face to the sky, mouthing ‘why me, why me?’ to the gods. James saw this and grinned. “What’s the matter, Si? Sad because you’re not nearly as awesome as me?”
Simon shot him a glare. “If you don’t shut up, then you might wake up our, you know, passengers?” He jerked his head to the two unconscious forms in the back.
James seemed to realize this and quieted down. “Right.” They resumed their journey in silence. Once reaching the main room, Jay and Steph hopped into the hummer with the other unconscious girl. James drove them to a small interrogation room. All it had was a few chairs—enough for their ‘guests’—and a table. It had a door leading into it and one-sided glass so they could see into the room.
Upon arriving at the room’s door, they all got off and went around to the back of the hummer. Jay slung the aliens over his shoulder, with the exception of the winged girl, who was in Simon’s arms, and walked over to the door. Steph tapped in the key code and stepped back, allowing the two to enter.
Jay tied all three aliens to their chairs. Once he was done, they wouldn’t be able to move anything except their heads.
“What do we do now?” James asked when he took the cigarette he was smoking away from his mouth as he leaned against the wall.
“Easy. We wait for our victims to wake up,” Jay responded coldly.
There was a fierce pain in the back of the Doctor’s skull. Come to think of it, his whole body hurt with such an intensity that he thought he might’ve been regenerating again. But as he blinked open his eyes, vision bleary, wearily looking around, nothing looked different about him.
Well, unless being tied down to a chair was different.
Startled from seeing it, the Time Lord jerked from his grogginess, struggling against his restraints. He tugged at his hands, which were tied behind his back.
“No use, freak,” a deep voice said, “You can’t get away.”
The Doctor looked up at the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of him. He cocked an eyebrow. Yes, this person was once of the bad guys, if he was correct.
“So, mind telling me where I am?” the Doctor asked in a completely unconcerned tone of voice. He glanced about the room. “Nice for an interrogation room. Very—secret lairish.” He smirked slightly.
“Oh shut up you freak of nature,” came another voice. The one who had spoken was currently smoking a cigarette.
“Nah, I don’t think I will—and that’s not very nice. I’m as close to a freak of nature as you are,” the Time Lord chided lightly.
“Ha! I’m human; you’re not.” The man flicked his cigarette at the Doctor, where it tapped his shoulder, falling into his lap.
“But at least I am polite.” The Doctor shifted, letting the cancer stick fall between the gaps in his legs.
“James, shut up,” the other man ordered.
“Whatever.” With a roll of his eyes, James left the room.
“He wasn't very nice, was he?" the Doctor commented idly, glancing around the room, unconcerned.
"Shut up!" the large man snarled.
"Why?"
"Because you're just an alien with no brains!"
"I have a brain. How could I live without a brain? It runs all functions in the body, after all."
"You know what I—hey! No turning my words on me!" The man pointed an accusing finger at the Doctor.
"I technically didn't; I was just correcting your mistake," the Time Lord defended himself with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
The large man was suddenly in his face, a snarl on his lips. His hand was on the back of the chair, holding it back slightly so the Time Lord was lifted backwards. He shifted his gaze down at the chair for a moment before returning his eyes to the man.
"Listen, alien. I don't know what the bosses want from you, but we're going to get answers from you someway. So I suggest you start talking," he growled.
"Uh, okay . . ." the Doctor started cautiously, as if he was thinking, "I got hit by a car, so I'm not sure if I'm really injured. Will I be receiving medical attention?"
"That's not what I meant!" The man threw up his hands, irritated. "Simon, get in here!" A short moment later, another man walked in.
"Yeah?" the new arrival asked.
"Deal with this guy?"
"Uh, okay?" They exchanged awkward glances for a few moments before the guy left.
"Oh. Well, I'm actually kinda serious. I might need medical attention." The Time Lord blinked innocently up at the man.
It was such an unknowing gaze that Simon nearly wanted to help this man. He settled instead for face palming, drawing his hand slowly down his face, then shifting his fingers to rub at the bridge of his nose.
"So . . . is that a 'no' then?"
"Will you—just stop, okay? Stop." Simon held up his hands in defeat.
"No, I'm actually serious. I'm bleeding," the Doctor said. Indeed he was; a large dark stain was coating the chair and the back half of his overcoat.
"I'm not sure I'm qualified to do that."
"But you're a doctor, I'm a doctor, so come on; help another out, huh?"
"I—how did you know that?" Simon cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't really know." They stared at each other for a while.
"I'll have to get . . . clearance from Jay."
"If it's not too much of a trouble, would you? My physiology is better than humans, by far, but I’m not sure how long it will take to heal. Would have to assess the damage first. I don’t want to regenerate. I can lose quite a bit of blood, but there's limits for me, too," the Doctor said matter-of-factly with a nod of his head.
Simon glanced around, biting his lip. Should I? He might die. Then where would we be? We’d all be killed before we could escape.
“I’ll be right back,” Simon said slowly, starting to back out of the room. He kept his gaze on the Doctor all the while as he closed the door. Once out, he turned to Jay. The larger man had his arms crossed, leaning on the wall, while James was against the hummer with Steph on the hood.
Jay raised an eyebrow. “That was quick. Get any answers out of him?”
“No. I think he might die before we get any answers at all, to be truthful,” Simon answered worriedly.
“What do you mean? He was being a smartass and looked completely fine when I was in there,” James piped up, his voice slightly muffled as he lit a cigarette once again; hand cupped around his mouth and the other lighting the cigarette with a lighter, a ‘shk shk’ coming from the item as he pressed down on it.
“He’s got a point,” Jay said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Maybe you should look in the glass,” Steph suggested, rolling her eyes. She kicked a black-booted foot lazily in the direction of the room. With a glance among them, the three took a few steps towards the glass to sneak a peek.
The Doctor was sitting limply in his seat, eyes half closed. His shoulders slumped down, significantly changing his demeanor from earlier.
“Good; let the freak die,” James muttered, taking a puff of his cigarette.
“You know as well as I do that we can’t afford to do that,” Jay snapped angrily. His eyes glittered with sadness for a moment before hardening again. “I’ll allow you to fix him. Just make sure he doesn’t get away.” He gave Simon a stern look and then walked away.
Simon nodded and went around the back of the parked vehicle to retrieve his medical kit. As much as he wanted to just let the captives go, he knew they had to keep them there. They wouldn’t live. He knew all the others regretted this as much as he did, including James.
But it was for a good cause, right?
Simon brushed off the regrets and tightened his grip on the orange first aid kit in his hand. He would at least ease the suffering as much as he could for now.
He entered the room again and found the alien was unconscious. He quickly started cutting the ropes from around his body. As soon as he was free, he lifted the blood-soaked Time Lord onto the single table in the room. Simon found he was actually pretty light, surprisingly.
Simon removed the man’s coat and suit jacket, then unbuttoned his undershirt. Being a doctor, it didn’t affect him in the slightest. He rolled him onto his stomach and observed the damage. A large gash was going across the Time Lord’s back where the hummer had hit him; blood still ran freely from the wound and it looked quite bad. The rest of his back was bruised—probably quite a bit of his body was bruised as well.
Simon began cleaning the gash quickly and efficiently. Soon all the blood was cleaned up (though, unfortunately, his clothes were ruined) and he got out a needle to stitch the skin back together. The wound was neatly stitched and then Simon covered it.
Simon rolled the Time Lord over once again. He redressed him and returned him to his seat, tying him up again.
His work here was done.
Rainbow Dash groaned slightly. She heard voices. Her rose eyes blinked open and she sighed deeply, seeing where she was. She had nearly hoped that she was still at home in her cloud bed and had just dreamed about the changelings and meeting the Doctor, who, speaking of him, was slumped in the seat next to her, blood all over him. Dash grimaced; that didn’t smell very good. Even though she was in human form—mostly—she still had her acute hearing and smell. And a ton of blood wasn’t something she wanted to smell right when she woke up from being tranquilized. The irony tang assaulted her nose. Rainbow’s nostrils flared and she tried to scoot her chair away from the bloody Time Lord.
“Hey! It stinks in here! Let me out!” she yelled loudly, fighting against her restraints. Her muscles strained. “Get me out of here! It stinks soo bad!” She lifted her head up and continued yelling. “Let me out!”
“Will you shut up?” James growled.
“No! It stinks in here.”
“Who cares?”
“I do, dumb buck. Your ridiculous human nose might not be able to smell it that strongly, but mine can. And all I smell right now is bloody Doctor.” She huffed at the man.
“Not my fault.”
Rainbow laughed. “Actually, it is. If you hadn’t hit the Doctor with your car, then he wouldn’t be covered in blood.”
“How would you know?”
“It’s pretty obvious that’s what happened. We were getting chased by a car, I passed out, then we’re here and he’s all bloody. Not really hard to figure out, even for me.”
“How do you know I ran him over?”
“I don’t know. Lucky guess.” Dash shrugged. “But I was right!”
Jay wrung his hands together. "We don't know for sure."
"You must locate the Doctor!"
"Well, we think we have, but he hasn't given us any information. He's just not telling us, plus the girl he has with him isn't helpful either."
"Your family will become like us if you do not get the Doctor."
"Please, don't! We'll get the Doctor! Just give us a little more time. . "
"You have one more day. That's it."
"One day?"
"Yes, one. We need the Doctor!"
"I'm not telling you anything," the Doctor said defiantly. He shook his head and looked away.
"Better speak up, or you'll regret it!" Jay growled.
"How many times have you said that? Oh, nine? Yeah, seems right."
"I think it was actually eight times," Rainbow Dash corrected. The Doctor glanced over at her.
"I never get it wrong. I know what I'm doing."
"Yeah, but not this time."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Seven exclaimed, throwing her head back in her chair. Rainbow and the Time Lord glanced over at her. "Will you two shut the fuck up?!"
"That kind of language is not appreciated. This is a family friendly environment," the Doctor scolded.
"We're tied to chairs, in an interrogation room! You've been hit by a car! This was never family friendly!"
"She's kinda right," Dash agreed. She looked over at the Doctor.
"Who's side are you on?" he asked sharply.
"Oh my god, kill me now," Seven groaned. If she could facepalm, she would.
"I think we can arrange that," James muttered.
"James," Jay warned.
"Why do you need us alive, huh? That question's been on my mind for so long now," the Doctor said.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Steph snapped.
"The bosses need you. That's all you're getting from us," James growled.
"Well, yeah, but for what? That's what I want to know," the Doctor repeated. "I also want to know why you need a Dranna to take the form of another Dranna just to 'pretend' to be our ally when all she would do is something so stupid that it gives her away on sight."
Everyone in the room gasped, excluding the Doctor and Rainbow Dash.
"What? How'd he know?" James exclaimed.
"What the hell did you do?" Jay demanded, pointing at Seven.
"I didn't do anything! I thought I'd done a pretty good job!" she replied. Five pairs of eyes turned to the Doctor and Dash.
"Oh please, you think that I of all people wouldn't be able to tell? I'm here for a reason, you know," the Time Lord smirked.
"He and I have known for a while. He told me after he knew," Rainbow added. She flashed a grin at the assembled people.
"And now would be the time to activate our plan, Dashie."
"Right."
Rainbow Dash kicked up her leg, hitting the nearest person in between their legs, which just happened to be James. He cried out and fell over from the hard kick. She then stood up and grabbed the chair she was sitting on. Jay took out his gun and fired at her, but she quickly ducked down and then brought the chair swinging across the room. He was smashed in the head and fell over.
"Come and get me, buckers," Dash said mockingly. Her wings spread open and she smashed right through the door with a flying kick. Steph screamed in anger and took off after her, a shocked Simon following close after.
The Doctor, meanwhile, was slipping out of his ropes. The stitches in his back pulled on his skin and he grimaced, but he continued. His feet slipped away and he stood up, brushing himself off.
"Not so fast!" 'Seven' yelled, shrugging her ropes off. She hurled herself at the Time Lord. He quickly took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at her, clutching onto the doorframe as he tried to leave the room. The fake alien slammed into the Doctor, her disguise wearing off. As she sat on the Time Lord's chest, she glanced down at her hands.
"I'm so good at this," the Time Lord snickered as he saw her. Instead of the red-haired violet-eyed Dranna, there was now a brunette, hazel-eyed girl. She had a white t-shirt and jeans on, with small white shoes.
"How'd you know I wasn't Seven?" she demanded.
"Please, you might as well have just written a blog post about it! I've known since I laid my eyes on you."
"That still doesn't explain how."
"Well, here's how it works: you tell me who you are, and I'll tell you what you'd like to know." The Doctor smirked until a gun was held up to his forehead.
"No, here's how it's going to go down: you tell me what the fuck the Cybermen would want you for!"
A pregnant pause followed.
It was a few minutes before any of them spoke.
"Cybermen?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes!" the Dranna blurted, eyes darting across the room, "yes. We had to! We didn't want to die!" Her voiced died down. "They have our families. That's the only reason we're doing this. We didn't want to do any of this, but the Cybermen said they'd turn them into one of them if we didn't. I could never stand that happening to anyone, especially Seven." Her eyes glittered with sadness for a moment. "When I said it was my sister's first time out; I meant me. She's way older and more experienced than me. If I was in her position, she probably could've pulled this off."
"Please, um. ." He trailed off, studying her eyes. She met his gaze and answered before he could say anything.
"Lae," she said.
"Nice to meet you Lae; in person this time, not with you in what I presume to be your sister's body," the Time Lord responded. "And by the way, no one could ever pull a fast one on me." He gave her a grin.
"Nice to meet you in real time too." She got up and helped the Doctor to his feet. "I better help Jay and James. They'll want to talk to you."
"Then what're we going to do? Doctor, we can't let their families die. I'm loyalty incarnate; I have to make sure their loved ones are safe," Rainbow Dash stated firmly.
"I know, Dash. We just need something; anything! to beat them with. I'm thinking, but they've got us in a trap," the Doctor replied as he paced the room. They had all gotten together to think of a plan once Lae had said the gig was up. They were now in a different room, still sparsely furnished, but it didn't matter.
"Well, I think I know a way. . ." Simon admitted, shrinking in his chair. Everyone's eyes turned to him. He tapped his fingers together and then stood up, going to the whiteboard on the far side of the room. He grabbed a black marker and began drawing.
"Okay, here's the plan: the Cybermen need the Doctor, right?" Simon started, glancing at the assembled group. They all nodded. "So all we need to do is give him up."
"But they'll kill him!" Rainbow Dash yelled, jumping off the ground in indignation.
"They'll kill our families, too, if we don't!" Simon growled, "and you didn't let me finish." He took a breath. "Anyways, we give them the Doctor. Then, presuming they'll ignore us afterwards, we stay down in the basement. I'm not sure what the Cybermen need, because, according to the Doctor, they can't make him into one of them as he has two hearts; which, by the way, I think is pretty sweet. Then we just find some weapons and kill them or whatever. I don't know anything about alien technology."
"Like. . bait?" James asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Technically," Simon answered.
"But how do we get anything strong enough to kill those things?"
"I don't know. But we need some sort of weapon."
"Urg, I wish I was still in Maui." James sighed and dug around in his pocket, searching for his cigarettes. He lit one up and took a deep drag, then slowly blew it out. Dash, who was right next to him, coughed, waving her hand in front of her face.
"Can you not smoke here? My nose is once again dying," she groaned.
James shot her a look. "Hey, Miss Falcon Kick, shut up."
"What did you just say to me? I will not shut up!" She lifted a wing and smacked him upside the head with it, causing him to fall off the table he was sitting on. She smirked and turned back to the conversation.
Jay ran a hand down his face, then shot a look at the Doctor. "How do you travel with her?"
The Time Lord grinned, shrugging. "I don't even know."
"Doctor, you tread on dangerous ground," the pegasus warned.
"Right." He gave her a sheepish smile. "So, back to the plan. I think it'll work."
"You do?" Steph asked, surprised. She cast a glance at Simon. "This is probably one of his stupidest ideas, not that they're not all stupid. ."
"Hey!" Simon growled, shaking his fist.
"You guys are so childish," Lae moaned.
"Calm down. Let's put this into action, shall we?" the Doctor suggested.
"But what do we kill the Cybermen with?" James asked, pulling himself off the floor, cigarette still sticking out of his mouth.
"Just trust me on this one. We won't need anything."
"Okay: act natural. Just lead me downstairs and I'll do the talking," the Doctor said to Jay, who was standing behind him. His hands were 'tied' behind his back. Rainbow Dash stood next to James. Both were currently giving each other death glares.
"Alright. Here we go," Jay responded shakily. He opened the door to the basement and walked with the Doctor down.
Lae and Steph exchanged glances, but kept going. Simon closed the door after everyone had entered, taking one last glance at the outside world. Would they ever see the light again? If this plan didn't work, he doubted they would.
The basement was dark. But as soon as they reached the bottoms step, lights flickered on. The whole room was illuminated. Dozens upon dozens of rows showcased the Cybermen waiting to be activated. In the center of the room was a single Cyberman. As the lights came on, it turned around.
"I see you have brought the Doctor," it droned on.
Jay shakily nodded. "Yes. Here you go." He shoved the Doctor towards the Cyberman. The Time Lord smirked, facing the alien creature with no fear.
"Hi! Long time no see," he said cheekily.
"Silence, Doctor," it commanded. "Your talking will get you nowhere." It took a few steps towards him.
"So, why am I here exactly?" the Doctor asked, glancing around as if he couldn't care less.
"You will fix the Cyber controls. Fix the controls. Save our race."
The Doctor blinked in surprise. "Technical support? That's the reason you wanted me? To fix the controls?"
"Our components are broken. You will rebuild us and restore us, so that we may continue fixing the Earth's people."
"Psshh, that's so ridiculous! Why would I help some of my greatest enemies?" The Time Lord gave a few laughs.
"Would you allow a race to be extinguished, Doctor?" The Cyberman took a step forward. "Would you allow a race to die slowly, with no means of rebuilding themselves?"
The Doctor stopped. He glanced at the hundreds of Cybermen, waiting; waiting to be freed from their eternal slumber. "I. ."
"Don't you even think about it!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Her growl vanished from her face when she saw the expression upon the Doctor's.
He glanced back at the Cyberman. "Why can't you do it?"
"We do not have communications with the mothership. We are isolated," it answered.
"I know you have the knowledge at your disposal."
"There was a system failure. I know nothing."
"I see. . ." The Doctor let his eyes roam the seemingly endless supply of Cybermen. "But even if I do fix you, I can't allow you to use the people of Earth to restore your army."
"The humans of Earth are inadequate. They must be changed."
"No, they aren't," the Time Lord growled. He let his arms fall to his sides. "But I'll fix you." He walked towards the controls located by the single wake Cyberman.
"Doctor!" Rainbow Dash yelled, zipping up near him, ignoring the metal creature, "you realize if you do this, you may endanger the whole planet?"
"I do, but. . " The Doctor was already fiddling with the various wires inside the large, metal container, using his sonic screwdriver to meld some together. "I can't let any races die because of me." With a final zap, every single Cyberman burst into life. The lights flickered dimly. But nothing else happened.
"Goodbye, Doctor," said the Cyberman that had been talking earlier. The herd of aliens started walking, mechanically, slow, and with purpose, towards the center of the room. A teleportation device sat there.
"Oops, right. Better fix this also," the Time Lord realized, taking his sonic yet again and opening a hatch on the side of the machine. A few moments later, it buzzed into life, a thin, light blue layer encasing the inside. Then, slowly, one by one, the Cybermen entered. In a matter of minutes, they were gone.
"Wha- what?" Lae stuttered. All eyes turned to the Doctor, who was grinning.
"They wanted me to reprogram them, so I did. To not kill. Won't last forever, of course. But long enough for their ruler to find out how to undo what I did, so that they're long gone from anywhere near Earth before they finally know," the Doctor said.
"Wow. . thanks Doctor," Jay said, smiling.
"Whoops! Almost forgot!" The Doctor leaned over the the control panel and flicked a switch. A door opened on the far side of the room. A few people stumbled out blearily. Upon seeing the people waiting for them, they burst into smiles and ran towards them.
A girl with bright red hair and violet eyes emerged, then ran towards Lae. "Oh, Lae, I'm so glad you're alright!" She hugged her sister ferociously. The brunette Dranna caught the Time Lord's eye and winked at him.
"Well, Doctor, you did it again," Rainbow Dash congratulated, hovering in the air next to him. They traded grins.
"Yep, guess I did," he responded. He stuck his hands in his pockets.
James had two little children in his arms, along with a pretty young woman who was standing next to him. She looked very small next to him, that's all she could say. Simon was holding his very pregnant wife in his arms, while Jay was bent down, smiling at a kid who looked to be around ten. Steph was in her husband's arms.
"Of course, out of all the people in this room, James is the one with the most children," Dash said sarcastically. James glanced up, a glare on his face, but it quickly turned into a smirk, which Rainbow gladly returned. When his wife and kids weren't watching, it turned into a middle finger, which Dash also returned.
"Well, we have two on the way here," Steph said, smirking.
"You're having twins?" Jay asked, looking over at Steph.
"No, moron! But Simon's wife is pregnant. That's where the other kid comes from." She lets out a laugh and everyone else joins in.
"Well," the Doctor started, casting his gaze onto Dash, looping his arm through hers, "ready to go?"
Rainbow grins and shakes him. "Yep."
"Bye, Doctor! We'll see you again someday, I'm sure of it," Jay said, saluting the Time Lord.
"And sorry for hitting you with my hummer!" James called. He gave a wave.
"Seeyah, Doc," Simon grinned.
"Bye!" Steph giggled.
"Hope to see you all again one day," the Doctor said. He gave a small wave. "Take care." And with that, Rainbow picked him up, a complete surprise to him, and zipped out the basement door.
“Woo hoooo!” the Doctor screeched as the TARDIS spun around violently in the vortex, throwing the two occupants every which way. His hands gripped the console tightly, giving him some balance as the ride tossed them about. Rainbow Dash, hovering above the console, rolled her eyes. A sudden dip in the flight pattern caused her to slam into the Time Column in the center of the room. She groaned and slid down a bit before her wings started back up again and she shook her head shakily.
“You okay, Dash? Didn’t get too much of a bump, did ya?” the Doctor teased, grinning wildly up at her. The pegasus grinned back and landed back on the floor, dipping down, knees bent to stop her from falling over immediately.
“I think the only thing we should worry about is you, Doctor!” Rainbow yelled over the swooshing and wheezing of the TARDIS in flight. “I mean, you’re the one flying this thing! Do you even have formal instruction?”
“Nah, never! Instructions are for chumps!” He looked up briefly at the Time Column and then gasped as he fell over. He was quickly on his feet again, blinking in surprise. There was a screeching, followed by a thump, then all was quiet.
“We landed?” Dash asked, aware of the sudden silence.
“Yeah, and since we’re here, might as well let the TARDIS refuel.” The Time Lord pressed a few buttons on the console, then threw his coat on and adjusted the collar as he walked over to the double doors.
“The TARDIS has to refuel? What does she need? Gas? Energy? What?”
“There’s a rift in space and time here, emitting radiation. It’s perfect for the TARDIS, and works a bit like gas, yeah. Just let her soak it up and we’re off.”
He finished speaking and extended a hand. Rainbow Dash took it and they exited the spacecraft. They were in the middle of what was obviously Cardiff. The fountain they always saw at the Rift sprayed water out at an ever constant rate. A few people milled about the square.
“I’ll be right back,” Dash said, scooting back into the spacecraft. The Doctor glanced back, confused, then decided to just lean against his box. A few minutes later, his companions reemerged from the TARDIS. Instead of her shorts, she was wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a deep blue hoodie, her new hat backwards on her head, making her rainbow hair jut out from under the front. Her footwear was also different; a pair of black boots. A red lightning bolt hung from the tiny silver chain wrapped around her neck.
“Well, I like this better. Much better. Don’t you?” Rainbow asked, grinning. She stuck her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.
“Much less colorful, so, agreeable,” the Doctor said, grinning back at her.
“Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I know what I was thinking.” They started walking.
“I was probably thinking that in my head.” Rainbow grimaced. “Yikes.” She then bit her lip, smiling. “So, what’s the agenda for today, hmm?” She looked up at him.
“Considering it’s me, we’ll probably end up saving world from some sort of evil, but hey—never know,” the Time Lord responded. “You’d think I’d have learned that by now.”
The duo strolled along the streets, the Doctor all the while pointing out interesting spots and places. They mostly just toured, stopping for a bite to each whenever they got hungry. As it was nearing the end of the day, the two headed back to the TARDIS.
“Well, I’m pooped,” Rainbow sighed, yawning. She wearily stepped into the spacecraft, the Doctor right behind her. He threw his ever-present coat over one of the coral-like supports.
“Right then. You head on down to bed,” he replied, starting to fiddle with the console. The pegasus cast a quick glance back at him but continued on her way. As soon as she was gone and the lights dimmed in that section of the TARDIS, the Time Lord scurried on out of his ship.
Something was odd here. It felt like a bubble in time, expanding and fluctuating in an odd pattern. He hadn’t wanted to concern Dash, so he’d kept his findings secret. The Doctor held his sonic in both hands, aiming it in different directions so he’d get an idea of where the problem was. The alien put his feet down carefully. If there was a distortion in time, then he’d have to be extra careful not to do anything to upset the possibly thin balance between obliterating the world and not doing that. Hoping it was just the Rift acting up for some reason, though he’d closed it way back when. Way back in his Ninth regeneration. . .
The Doctor growled in his throat. The feeling of time being disturbed bothered him to no end, but it wasn’t like he knew where to look. The Rift was but a scar and nothing else seemed off. Nonetheless, he continued to search for about a half-hour longer. Still finding nothing (though he really hadn’t expected to find anything), he headed back to the TARDIS. Time Lords almost never needed sleep, so he simply trotted down to the library, deciding to finish reading the entirety of the books. The library was huge—over 100 feet of books upon books.
There was a certain book he was looking for as of currently, though, so the Doctor fetched his ladder. He wheeled it along to the bookshelf he needed it at. Not wasting a moment, he started up the 100 foot ladder, determined to get to the one reading device he required. His Converse clad feet skipped every other rung, sending him nearly leaping up the tall ladder. The height and the speed of his travel was not frightening in the least, so the Doctor was making fairly good time.
Not that that would have ever been a problem, of course.
“Aha! Found you, devious thing,” the Time Lord chittered to himself (and partially the book). Swiftly flipping through the pages, just to skim about three-fifths of the book, he grinned and began making his way down, book under one arm. Never throw books. Not ever ever.
Groooan
The Doctor stopped, his heartbeats pounding in his ears. He looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Upon seeing nothing, he decided it was time to take a quicker route down.
“Alright, hold on, book,” the Time Lord mumbled, stuffing it his bigger-on-the-inside pockets. He then hopped, letting his grip on the rungs go. His hands grabbed the sides of the ladder and his feet squeezed the wood in the same way. Not even a moment later, he was flying down the ladder, grinning wildly as the speed of his descent increased by 75%.
Grooooann
“Oh dear me,” the Doctor grumbled as he felt the TARDIS shift. At least he was almost at the bottom.
Crack
The TARDIS suddenly, and quite violently, rocked, tipping over. The floor was now a bookshelf as the spacecraft landed on its side. Books spilt out of the shelves and the ladder broke in half. It leaned over.
“Oh boy!”
The Doctor landed in a large pile of books, a few being thrown as his weight came down on top of them. Dozens more books rained down on top of his head, seemingly drowning the poor Time Lord in novels. As the downpour stopped, the Doctor poked his head out of the pile. He was bleeding a bit, but it was mostly from paper cuts. He hauled himself out of the books, groaning as he saw the huge mess.
“Ah man, it’s going to take forever to clean this all up!” he complained. He slumped his shoulders, kicking a book out of his way. “I can’t even be sorry for that right now.” He emerged from the destroyed library, fully expecting a furious Dash to be waiting for him. He saw no sign of her.
“Hmm, must be out in the console room. Which is now sideways. . .” The Doctor sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He began his walk along the sloped walls, keeping one hand on the used-to-be-floor for support.
The Time Lord peeked into the console room, but saw nothing. He glanced around a bit. No one. Furrowing his eyebrows, he made his way to Dash’s room . . . and more or less fell into it, slamming into the ceiling on the other side.
“Er—Dash? Rainbow Dash?” he called, rubbing his head. There was a muffled call and he looked over. A pile of blankets shifted and a multicolored head popped up, pushing a few pillows out of the way from where they sat on top.
“Gah! Hey, what—um, what happened?” Rainbow asked, kicking the blankets off her, feet somewhat tangled in the soft fabric. She wore a white T-shirt and orange pajama pants, the cloth speckled with a starry pattern. “I mean, I could’ve swore I was laying peacefully in bed when all of a sudden I was thrown out as the floor became the wall. But—ya know—could’ve just been me.” She glowered at him. “Maybe, I’m just overreacting!” She hurled a pillow at him, which he dodged. You could nearly see the smoke pouring out of her ears.
“We . . . may have a bit of a problem on our hands,” the Doctor responded, somewhat sheepishly.
“No, REALLY?!”
“Here, help me move this,” the Doctor grunted, struggling to lift a broken piece of coral out of the way so he could get to the console. They might have looked light, but they were actually quite heavy!
“’kay,” Dash responded, flying over to help him. She held one end of the coral and he held the other. With a mighty shove, they toppled it to the other side. The Time Lord exhaled loudly and wearily began messing with the controls. “Do you have any idea of what happened? I mean, shouldn’t we go outside to see?”
“We will. Just wait. . .” he mumbled, trailing off while he fiddled with the console. There was a small buzz and an explosion of sparks that rained down from above. “. . And there!” The TARDIS began resetting itself, the whole room flipping around. It happened so fast that Rainbow barely had any idea what was going on. In a matter of seconds, they were standing regularly again, the floor beneath their feet.
“Alright, that’s good. No longer sideways; I like it. She always did look better with everything organized.” There was a hum after Dash said that, indicating the TARDIS had heard that—she agreed. “So do we go outside and check it out?”
“Yes, of course. But first, you might want to go get changed into day clothes again.” The Doctor nodded his head towards the pajamas she was still wearing.
“Be back in ten seconds flat.” She gave him a cocky grin and then shot out of the console room. In exactly ten seconds, by the Doctor’s count (and Time Lords were never wrong), she was turning her hat backwards, still hovering in midair. “Come on! I super-duperly want to know what just happened.” She landed and padded towards the set of blue double doors. The Time Lord trotted after, hands in his pockets.
Upon arriving outside (still nighttime), they found nothing out of the ordinary. Well, except for the fact that they fell out of the TARDIS considering she was laying on her side.
“How in Rassilon did that happen? How?” the Doctor exclaimed, looking at his beloved spaceship. The top light was blown, a few shards of glass around the area. He pouted, placing his hands on his hips. He walked around the TARDIS, examining her. She was slightly burnt, a few areas actually without paint. The Time Lord ran his pointer finger down a portion of warm, burnt wood, then stuck his finger in his mouth.
Rainbow grimaced. “What are you doing?”
“Well, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this . . .”
“What? Doctor? What are you not telling me? What’s wrong?”
The Doctor sighed, blowing air out his nose. “I sensed it almost immediately after we landed. There was this feeling, as if time was disrupted. And I was right. There’s been an explosion of time.”
“Wait wait wait, wait a minute.” Rainbow stopped, closing her eyes and holding up a slim index finger—“An explosion of time? What the hay does that mean?”
“It means the Time Vortex has somewhat—imploded—and some leaked out in forms of radiation. There was such a strong blast that it rammed into the TARDIS with full force. It only affected her because she and I are the only ones who would be affected if caught in a direct wave. Completely harmless to humans though, but not some certain species.”
“And by ‘certain species’ you mean Time Lords, don’t you?”
“No! No, of course not. The Time Vortex is a wonderful place for my race. We’re lords of time, remember?” The Doctor cracked her a smirk. “No, some primitive species. I would doubt there’d be any on Earth, so there’s really no problem there.”
“Then why is it so bad?” Rainbow asked, shrugging.
“Why is it bad? Why is it bad?!” the Doctor screeched, gripping his dark hair tightly in his fists, “it’s a time explosion! It’s bad enough when there’s a regular explosion!”
“Well then, tell me what will happen!”
“When something like this occurs, things of all time periods can leak through. Anytime, anywhere, anyone. And some things are best left in the past.” He finished with an utter look of horror on his face.
“How do we fix it then?”
“We’d have to go into the Time Vortex and repair it from the inside—which is extremely dangerous. And as the Time Vortex is extremely tough, I can only assume someone deliberately attacked it.”
“Great.” If she still had her tail, she’d definitely be flicking it in annoyance. Instead, her wings twitched in irritation, so she gave them a single angry flap to steady herself out. “So I’m guessing we’ll have to be on the lookout for things from the past and future and stuff?”
“For sure,” the Doctor sighed.
A small child ran around a corner, giddy and carefree. He giggled as he heard his older sister catching up to him. He turned his head, blonde hair ruffled by the wind.
“You’ll never catch me, Elise!” he squealed.
“Robby, come back here! It’s nearly time for school!” Elise yelled, coming around the corner. Her little brother was always running off. She saw him vanish behind another wall, so she slowed down and peeked around the corner.
Instead of finding her little brother, happy and out of breath, she saw him staring, gazing upwards. She stopped too, in bewilderment.
There, in the dim light of early morning, sat the bluest of boxes, an eerie light shining from the words at the top.
“Come on, Doctor! You don’t want to miss the film, do you?” a giddy voice asked, being heard as the doors to a blue police box opened partially.
“I don’t really want to go in the first place, so yeah, I’m good with missin’ it,” the Doctor replied.
“Don’t be so grumpy.” She giggled and the doors swung open fully. The blonde haired woman stepped out into the alley, a man following her.
“I’m 900 years old, I think I can be grumpy when I feel like it.” The Doctor gave Rose a look and she grinned, biting her lip. He couldn’t resist smiling in the end, so he gave in, grabbing her hand in his.
“Ooh, look who can’t be grumpy anymore, huh?” Rose teased as they walked along.
The Doctor glanced down at his companion is mock seriousness. “Oi, I could be grumpy anytime I want.”
“Alright you, come on. Let’s go quick. It’s been forever since I went to a film in a regular theater and not some alien place.” The couple strolled along the street, hands swinging back and forth as they walked. They chatted about random things until they reached their destination.
“This is going to be horrible. I can’t stay still for two hours. I’ll be dying by the end of this,” the Doctor breathed as he looked at where they were at.
“Stop that!” Rose exclaimed, lightly hitting the Time Lord in the chest. He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced down at her. “You’re not going to die.”
“With this one, I just might.” He rolled his eyes.
“Shush up now. I’ve wanted to see this film for a while now.”
“But it just came out!” He threw his free hand up at the title of the movie, which was on a poster outside of the theater.
“Yes, I know, but I’ve known about it for months. Transformers 4 is supposed to be amazing!” Rose argued, pulling her companion inside.
“But the facts in this series are so off! I mean, they’re totally wrong about the living metal! I would know, the TARDIS is proof,” the Doctor retorted. He raised his eyebrows at her as they waited in line to get tickets.
“Oh shut up.” Rose laughed at the expression on his face.
“Ugh, fine, but then we do something really entertaining after this.”
“And what’s that then?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“I—alright, you got me. I don’t have anything.” He straightened out his leather jacket with a quick tug.
“That’s what I thought,” Rose smirked, winking.
Rose held onto the Doctor’s arm, giggling as they emerged from the theater. She put a hand over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter.
“Did—did you think that fat one was as funny as I did?” the blonde woman asked, still laughing.
“I think they had no good scientific facts, that’s what I think,” the Doctor replied, grinning as well.
“Of course you’re still griping about that.” She let out another string of giggles. “You should’ve seen your face during that movie! You looked so outraged!” She threw her head back in mirth, blonde hair swinging from her head. The Doctor just gave a few laughs and grinned. The two walked arm-in-arm down the streets to the TARDIS. It was getting rather late, as they had taken a later Showtime. The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket for the key to his beloved time ship. It was then that a huge blast knocked him off his feet, sort of like a strong wind, sending him completely backwards. Rose let out a shriek as she was nearly pulled off her feet as well, but she let the Doctor go just in time.
As she was about to help the Time Lord up, she heard a loud crash from beside her. She jumped in fright, screaming into her hands. The TARDIS was lying on her side, slightly smoking. The air smelt of burnt wood and Rose shivered, mouth open.
“Doctor! Doctor!” she yelled, dropping down onto her knees. She put her hands on one of the Doctor’s leather clad shoulders and shook him from his woozy state.
“Ugh, Rose-? Oh, thank goodness you’re alright,” the Time Lord mumbled, lifting his shoulders from the ground. He shook his head violently, trying to clear his mind.
“Doctor, what happened?” Rose latched onto his arm and helped him get to his feet. He stumbled slightly as he stood up, but regained his balance quickly.
“An, uh. . .” he started woozily, holding his head. “An explosion. Inside the Time Vortex. Blast of radiation,” he explained quickly, nearly falling over again.
“Hold on, hold on,” Rose stammered, letting him lean against a brick wall. “There ya go. Now, clear your head. Just regain—regain your senses.” She was quite shaken by this; she’d never seen anything like it. Although Rose had seen her fair share of the Doctor beat, bruised, and out of action, she’d never seen him completely knocked off his feet from seemingly nowhere. Taking a swift glance around them, just to make sure no one had seen anything they might find as suspicious, Rose dug her key to the TARDIS out of her pocket. She bent down to the cement and stuck the key in, though it was rather awkward as it was now sideways, and unlocked the door.
“Oh my god,” Rose gasped, seeing the interior of the TARDIS. Wires and supports were all over the place. “Doctor, I thought the TARDIS had her own gravity!”
The Doctor, still leaning against the wall, heaved in a breath, holding his side in pain. “Yes, she does. But the extreme amount of radiation outside of the vortex that blew through here knocked her good. She’s only scrambled; it’d take but a moment to fix her.” He managed a small, halfhearted smile as Rose looked up at him from where she was still crouched on the ground.
“But how long will it take to fix you?” Rose stood up and let the Doctor lean onto her for support, as he was slightly limping from the blast.
“A bit longer than my ship, but I’m of no concern. Basically we were caught in the ‘blast zone’, and since you’re human, it didn’t affect you. Only the TARDIS and I would—were—affected by it.” He gave a long, outgoing breath. He stiffly reached into his jacket pocket for his sonic screwdriver. He aimed it inside at the console. A few levers pulled on their own and a small fire broke out. It was quickly extinguished, however, as the inside began switching. Panels flipped and some got destroyed completely, but soon the interior of the spacecraft looked good as new.
“Alright, now for getting the outside to match the inside,” the Time Lord sighed. He unhooked himself from his companion and got to the top of the TARDIS. The light glowed dimly. Rose quickly got into position right beside him, placing her hands underneath the very edge. “Okay, on the count of three.” He gave a small huff. “Three!” The two strained, using all their strength to push the little blue box back into correct position. It may have been wood, but it was still a spaceship. Soon enough, the TARDIS was standing upright again.
Rose wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead. “Oof, she might need to lose a few pounds, yeah?”
“Oi!” the Doctor exclaimed, looking with surprise at his companion. “She’ll get you for that.” He grinned and entered his ship. Rose followed after him.
“Are you good now?” she asked.
“Yup, just need to get my breath. That was a lot of radiation at one time. Drained me a bit.” He blew out his nose, tilting his head back as he leaned against the console, hands gripping the edge of it. “Boy, wonder what hit the vortex so hard it ruptured like that.”
“I guess we’ll have to find out, won’t we?”
“Yep! Into the Vortex!” He danced about the console, gracefully and purposely flipping switches. “And, off we go!”
Silence.
Rose turned to the Doctor. “Um, Doctor?”
The Doctor frowned, then turned to Rose, a sheepish and regretful smile on his face. “The vortex is overrated anyways.” Rose raised an eyebrow at him. “Ah, you see, we can’t get into the Time Vortex. We’re trapped here.”
The Doctor finished polishing what used to be tarnished wood. He lifted his goggles off his head and observed the shining new exterior of his TARDIS with a wide smile, showing his teeth. He lovingly patted the side of the spacecraft, exhaling through his mouth in a content sigh.
Rainbow Dash stuck her multicolored head out of the TARDIS door, glancing around. She set her sight upon the Doctor. “So, you done yet?”
The Doctor grinned. “Yep, I’m done. Looks great, doesn’t she? Like a brand new TARDIS,” he commented, running a hand along the side panels. There was a small purr as the spacecraft agreed with him, obviously loving the paint job.
Dash beamed, feeling the wood vibrate underneath her fingers that gripped the doorframe. “Seems like she likes it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy.”
“And so she should like it. I spent 3 hours and seven minutes working on ‘er.” He stroked the wood. “Isn’t that right, dear?” Another rumble told him all he needed to know. “So, now that she’s done and right side up, I say we go check this hole out. We’ll need to get on it right away.” The Doctor scooted past his companion standing in the doorway. She eagerly followed him up to the console, unfurling her wings.
“Alright, sweet! I wonder what it could be. I’ll teach them to mess with time,” Dash growled, throwing mock punches at the air as she hovered over the railing.
“Hold your . . . ponies,” the Time Lord said, getting them ready for flight. “We don’t want any trouble. It could’ve been some careless time agent that damaged it for all we know. And if it is dangerous, we don’t want to provoke them if unnecessary.” He pulled the final lever with a strong stroke of his arm. Nothing happened. The Doctor paused. He glanced around, meeting concerned eyes with Rainbow, who had stalled in her wing beats.
“Uh, maybe I did something,” the Doctor choked. He pulled at his tie nervously. He quickly checked and rechecked all the settings.
“Don’t tell me we’re stuck here,” Rainbow said, flaps slow and careful.
“We aren’t.”
“Then why aren’t we going?”
The Doctor rubbed the back of his head. “You said not to tell you.”
“Don’t play that game with me.” She furrowed her brow at the Time Lord.
“Heh, game—what game?” He looked away quickly.
“Doctor. . .”
“Okay, so we’re stuck here.” He gripped at his hair. “We can’t get into the Time Vortex.”
A screeching, groaning sound echoed through the abandoned building. The reflection of a blue box slowly appeared in a puddle. The words shining at the top shed an eerie glow upon all the space around it, illuminating the otherwise darkened warehouse. As the Time Rotor at the center of the spacecraft dropped, sending out the final thud and signaling the last sequence of landing, the wind that had picked up faded out. The few leaves that had managed to get inside the destroyed building settled down; the puddle nearby lost its ripples.
A single head popped out of the shining blue doors. The short brown hair that covered his right eye bounced as he spun his head around. The bright grin that always accompanied him became known as he surveyed the area.
“Move it, Chin Boy,” a female’s voice ordered playfully from the TARDIS. In a matter of a few seconds, the Doctor was pushed out of the way by a short brown haired woman in a purple dress that only went down to the middle of her thighs accompanied by a black pair of leggings and flats.
“Oi, Clara, don’t be rude,” the Doctor admonished, dusting off his jacket. He straightened his bowtie and continued inspecting where they were. He then twisted his arm around like he always did to check the time. The complicated circles that no one else in the universe could read told him exactly when they were. “Present day—well, year, anyways. 2014. But a might off. . .” He lowered his arm, the observing face on.
“What do you mean, ‘a might off’?” Clara asked, looking nearly straight up at the goofy Time Lord.
“It’s probably nothing,” the Doctor replied quickly. Better to stay silent for now. . . “Besides, don’t we have stuff to do?” He gave her a false smile.
“No. . . and you better tell me what’s going on. I can read you like a book.”
“Now that you’ve said that, I have the strangest feeling I’m going to do something ridiculous involving books later today.”
“When aren’t you doing something ridiculous?” Clara joked.
“Oi!”
“Strike! That’s another turkey for the Doctor!” the Time Lord yelled, throwing his hands up. Clara, sitting nearby, rolled her eyes as she stood up to grab the purple bowling ball that was making its way up out of the machine.
“How are you so good at this game?” she asked, holding her ball up. The Doctor grinned at her.
“Maybe you shouldn’t roll like a granny then.” He quickly ducked under the bowling ball that she chucked at him as he was standing right in front of the lane.
“There—not a granny roll.” She gave him a smirk as he pouted at her. Clara turned around with that usual sass in her step. As soon as she rolled her second ball, the Doctor stepped up again.
“You are so mean.” He took his blue (what other color did you expect?) ball. “You really could’ve hurt me.” He rolled his ball down the lane, getting another strike as Clara blew air out her nose at seeing that she got a gutter ball. “And I think I win.” He smirked as their game ended. 264 to 73.
“Come on Chin, let’s go. I feel like a nice warm bath,” Clara said, untying her bowler shoes. The Doctor began doing the same, putting his black boots on as his companion got her flats back upon her feet.
“I really don’t need to know that, Clara,” the Time Lord responded, wrinkling his nose.
“I suppose not. But hurry up anyways.” She put her hands on her hip as he laced his boots.
“Right, let me return the shoes and we’ll go.” He quickly did that and they headed back to the TARDIS.
As they were walking, the Doctor suddenly stopped. A few people that had been walking behind him growled and muttered angrily under their breath as they nearly rammed into him, but continued on their ways. Clara took a step back and narrowed her eyes at the Time Lord.
“Doctor?” Clara asked, voice raising in pitch just barely.
“It’s, it’s nothing. It’s fine. Fine. But let’s, um, let’s just hurry on to the TARDIS,” he muttered, quickly starting off again, getting himself into a swift jog. Clara, having short legs compared to the Doctor’s slim, long ones, had to practically run to keep up.
“Doctor! Tell me!” she demanded, yanking on his arm as soon as she caught up. She huffed angrily when he didn’t respond. “I’ll tell the TARDIS on you!” she threatened finally, seeing he had no intentions of stopping.
“Not now Clara. I promise, I’ll explain when we get back to the TARDIS, but right now, we really need to get in and get out of here.” He sounded very worried as he rushed along.
“But—ah!” Clara let out a shriek as the Time Lord was thrown forward, stumbling onto the sidewalk and landing on his chest. Several passerby glanced over, mutterings of ‘Is he drunk?’ passing through the crowd. The short woman quickly got down on her hands and knees, resting right beside his head. She was about to poke him, see if he was conscious, when he groaned—a long, choked out groan, a mix between pain and annoyance. He lifted his head, hair sticking up in different directions.
“That was unpleasant,” the Doctor grumbled, eyes wide. He swiftly pushed himself back up, nearly stumbling backwards as momentum carried him, but he managed to stay balanced. His arms pin wheeled before stopping up near his head, making him look like a clumsy ballerina.
“What is going on?” Clara exclaimed as the two raced off once again.
“Time stuff! Lots of time stuff!” he yelled, coat flapping behind him, arms pumping at his sides, “and something big is going to happen! We need to stop it!”
“What big stuff?”
“Um, like past, present, and future all coming together at once because there’s been a big boooom in the vortex.” They slowed down as they neared the abandoned warehouse and the Doctor prepared to snap his fingers. Luckily, when he saw the wonderful blue box, it wasn’t laying on its side, as he thought it would be. “Thank goodness. Maybe being inside has had some sort of effect on the radiation. She’s not dama”—the Doctor wrinkled his nose—“not demolished.”
“Wait, is the TARDIS burning?” Clara gaped, plugging her nose as they reached their destination. The Time Lord rubbed off some melted paint, grimaced, and wiped it off on Clara as she stood next to him. She growled but did nothing, just settling instead for giving the Doctor the evil eye.
“And yes,” the Doctor replied, entering his ship, “the TARDIS is burning. It’s not hurting her, it’s just because there’s been a massive intake of radiation so suddenly that she couldn’t absorb it all. ‘s the same thing that knocked me down. It’s great, really, but bad.” He then waved his hands. “No, it’s not great, and it’s not bad, well, it is bad, wait—”
“Shush. It’s either good or bad,” Clara said, silencing him and stopping his hands from doing so many motions she couldn’t keep up with them.
“Bad. It’s bad.”
“And why is it bad?”
“The Time Vortex has ruptured.”
“So time is all wacked up?”
“Precisely!” the Doctor yelled, clapping his hands together. “We’ll have to go into the vortex to fix it.” He swung around, coat swinging, and bolted around the TARDIS control room as fast as he could.
Is everything a game to him? Clara thought as she watched him. Suddenly, he stopped, puzzled.
“Uh oh,” he muttered.
“Uh oh,” Clara repeated, getting in closer to him, “uh oh?”
“Yes, seems as though we’re stuck on Earth. The TARDIS can’t enter the vortex.”
